Round 2, Weeks 2 and 3

Hello.
I don't have too much to say about week 2.  Mainly because it was so long ago and my memory sucks.  I did not miss any workouts and the muscle soreness has subsided.  Maybe I did miss a workout. I vaguely remember writing something about missing a day in my last update.  I'm not going to check.

I do know for certain that I missed two workouts during week three.  One was unavoidable due to a concert I didn't want to miss (it was the "rock" show, so no orchestra and choir, but still awesome) and I would like to say the other one was unavoidable but that would just be me making excuses.  I ended up rearranging the schedule a bit so that the missed workouts were running ones instead of Insanity ones.  I'll more than make up for missed running workouts when I get back into marathon training so I'm less concerned about missing those. Missing Insanity workouts would defeat the whole point of doing this so I make an extra effort to get those in.  If I do end up missing one I guess I'll just make it up after I get through my whole program.

The running days I haven't skipped have not been great.  Most of them are on the treadmill because I'm too much of a weenie to go out in the cold. I've also been having these strange leg stiffening problems about 15 minutes into the runs.  They make my form suck and force me to stop and stretch ever mile or so.  It is pretty annoying and I hope I figure out the problem soon.  It might be from shitty form and it might be because I'm a shitty runner.  It's most likely a combination of the two!  That does bring up one of my favorite aspects of running: its a learning experience. After every run I look back to see how it could have gone better and I look forward to trying to improve my next one.

Happy Thanksgiving, USA readers! Happy Hanukkah, Jewish readers!

Round 2, Week 1

I had forgotten how difficult Insanity was!  While it definitely went better than my very first week, I was a little surprised at how sore I actually was.  I shouldn't be surprised, of course.  I had been focusing on running so most of these moves were using muscles that have been sleeping for a few months.  I was most sore in my chest, abs and back.

I still suck at Plyometric Cardio Circuit and still do best at Pure Cardio.  PCC just has way too much upper body during the second routine.  Maybe by the end of this round I won't suck at in anymore.

One thing I forgot when I started round two is that I am on vacation (more of a staycation) during the second week (which I am halfway through now).  That's a bit of a problem because I am never healthy on my vacations.  I tend to eat out every night and drink more booze since I don't have to be up in the morning.  So far it hasn't been too bad but I do have some events that I'm attending in the next few days that might make it difficult to get my workouts in.

Halfway through week one I was considering dropping the running/Insanity hybrid just to get Insanity over with.  I'm going to stick with the hybrid for now, because what's the rush?  Week two and three are the first weeks with a fair amount of running but I have to be honest, I skipped the running workout at the beginning of the week.  I had a rough (but fun!) weekend and I needed a recovery day.

I think the biggest difference I've noticed so far is that I am in better shape which lets me focus more on my form.  It has improved considerably.  I think doing the workouts barefoot helps a lot too.

Round 2!

Hello again!

In the time since I last finished the Insanity program, I did a lot of training for a half marathon in April followed by a full marathon a month ago.  I was planning on relaxing for a month and then starting my second round of Insanity at the beginning of December.  That wasn't really working for me, though.  I tend to become very, very unhealthy when I'm not working towards a workout goal.  Therefore I decided to start round 2 a month early!

Things are going to be a little different this time.  Here's what's changing:

1. The biggest change is going to be with the actual workout schedule.  I have trained very hard to become the mediocre runner that I am today and I really don't want to lose that. I modified the program to create a running/Insanity hybrid schedule.  It looks something like this:

If you are familiar with the program then you might be able to pick up what I actually did.  First, I got rid of the recovery days on Thursdays because I hated them.  I replaced all those with an easy run.  I also got rid of the fit test because I hate those as well and don't give a shit if I improve my reps. I'm in the best shape of my life and I don't really need any evidence of getting in even better shape.  The proof will be in the before and after pics (I hope!).  I then alternate between running and Insanity for every other week of the original insanity schedule.  That changed this beast into a 3 month program instead of 2 but that actually works better with my longer term plans of starting training for my next marathon.  Oh, this might help: PCC=Plyometric Cardio Circuit, CPR=Cardio Power and Resistance, PC= Pure Cardio, Run=Run (DUH!), Abs=Cardio Abs, MIC=Max Interval Circuit, MIP=Max Interval Plyo, MCC=Max Cardio Conditioning, CCB=Core Cardio and Balance.  I think that's what all the workouts are called.  I don't feel like grabbing the Insanity workout calendar to check.

2. I won't be doing daily updates this time. Daily blogging was important to me during the first round to keep me honest and accountable.  Life was different back then and I had time to do that.  I'm a busy dude these days so updates will be far less frequent.  Maybe I'll shoot for a check-in on the Off days.

3. No shoes! I learned from Shaun T's blog that he doesn't wear shoes when he does Insanity at home. I gave it a shot back when I was doing Insanity workouts alongside my marathon training and it really helps with the form and landing softly. It will also be better on my poor carpet.

I believe that's it.  I think I actually lost a fair amount of fat during my marathon training so my goal with this round of Insanity is to get some more definition.  I do not want to bulk up because I am still a runner and don't need that added weight.

I did a nice and easy 3 mile run today.  Tomorrow is Plyometric Cardio Circuit! I'm excited!

What's Next?

Insanity was a great experience.  It was the hardest physical thing I have ever done and also the most rewarding.  On top of that, it delivered the best results with losing weight and toning my body.  Even though I finished the program, I will continue to integrate the Insanity workouts into my new workout routines.  I still have a ways to go before I am satisfied with my workout results and it would be a pity to lose the work I have already put in.  I think doing Insanity less frequently and mixing it in with other physical activities will help me reach those goals without getting burned out or injured.

I now move into my next phase of training which will be a mix of running and Insanity.  I plan to run my next half marathon in April so I really need to start training.  I have created a program that is a mix between easy runs, long runs, Max Insanity workouts and routines from the first month.  After I put the program on paper I laughed at how ridiculous it is so I might have to change it if it proves to be too much.  It's a work in progress!  This blog doesn't seem appropriate for this type of program so I have created a new one that you can find here.  I won't update it as frequently as I did with this blog because it was a huge time sink and a pain in the ass.

Finally, I will share some things that I am proud of and things I would change about my first round of Insanity.  I am proud that I was able to do the entire program without skipping any days or modifying the schedule too much.  It was tough and involved a few 3:00 AM workouts but I was committed.  I am also proud that I was able to post an update on this blog every day for the past 2 months.  I am so glad I don't have to do that anymore!  I am happy with my results even though I am not quite satisfied yet.  If I could go back and talk to pre-Insanity me I would definitely tell myself to get some push-ups and triceps dips in before I start!  My lack of upper body strength really held me back for a lot of the program.  I would also tell myself to put the plug in the jug!  I had a few workouts done while hungover and that is almost a waste of time.  Alcohol also has a ton of calories and makes me want to eat really shitty food so that probably hindered some of my weight loss.  Of course I probably wouldn't have started on the first week of December if I had the choice.  That probably would have cut out some of the booze since Christmas and New Years always involves liquor and unhealthy food.  Oh well.  I am a regular guy and do things that regular guys do.

Well, that's about it.  Thanks for reading and I hope you have benefited some from my experience!

Day 63 - Fit Test and Final Results

I have such a feeling of accomplishment right now.  It's the same feeling I had when I finished the last of my final exams in college.  Just like a final exam,  the results are what matters, so here goes!

Well, it's nice to see positive change with all the moves.  The only one I did not improve in this time was the globe jumps.  That's fine.  It's such a long move that it really is hard to squeeze out any more reps.

I'm glad I don't have to do the fit test anymore.  I hate it.  I think it is the harder than any of the workouts since you can't really pace yourself.

Again, everything moved in the right direction.  I decided to add a tenth of an inch on to my biceps because I thought it would be funny.  I was a little disappointed with my weight loss because I came into the program expecting to have lost all the weight I needed to by the end.  Then I thought back to day one when I calculated my daily calorie requirements.  The number I came up with was the amount I would need to lose one pound per week.  That was almost the rate that I was losing, so I can't be too disappointed.  I'll continue to lose weight after Insanity, too.  Losing 9.5% of my body fat is pretty impressive, too.

We don't care about the numbers, though.  Here are the pics I promised:

I still have a ways to go but Insanity definitely gave me a jump start.  The end of Insanity feels like the beginning of the next phase of my life.  I am excited to continue on this healthy path and push myself to keep improving.

I'll be back tomorrow or sometime later this week for some final thoughts and what comes next.

Day 62 - Max Cardio Conditioning

Here we are at the final workout of Insanity.  It is amazing how far I've come from the day-one-almost-vomit-inducing-fit test.  Today's workout wasn't the best but that's alright.  My knee was still aching a little but felt a lot better.  I found myself getting fatigued faster than normal.  I'm blaming that on working out in the morning and staying up too late last night, as well as general Insanity burnout.  Even though this was the last workout, I'm not completely across the finish line yet.  I still have my final fit test tomorrow.  How perfect that it is on Super Bowl Sunday.  I'm going to reward myself with pizza and lots of beer while I watch the game.  I'm getting ahead of myself.  Anyway, I'll also post my final weigh in, measurements and some before and after pics.

Tomorrow: Fit Test

Day 61 - Max Interval Plyo (and Cardio Abs)

Oops.  For some reason I was certain that today was Max Cardio and Cardio Abs so I set my alarm early to get the Cardio Abs out of the way before work.  It wasn't until after the ab routine that I decided to actually check to see if that was the correct workout for today.  It was not.  Oh well, no blood no foul.  I ended up just mixing the workouts up a bit so I did Cardio Abs this morning and Max Interval Plyo in the afternoon.  That probably works out better since tomorrow is my day off and I have shit to do so the shorter the workout, the better.

Max Plyo wasn't the best workout of my life.  My right knee has been kind of bothering me all day, especially when descending stairs.  I did take notice and tried to compensate my landings today but I took one bad one during the switch jumps and it sure hurt.  I caught myself before anything bad happened and sat out the rest of that interval but that was alarming.  Hopefully it is nothing to worry about.  The rest of the workout was ho hum.  I'm mostly just trying to get through them at this point.  Two more days!

Tomorrow is Max Cardio Conditioning for real.