INSANITY Journal

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DBroncos27

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For anyone interested, I figured I would document my progress in the Team BeachBody INSANITY program over the next 60 days. I recently got the program and decided to go through with it with a couple of friends throughout the summer, so here it is.

First, a little about me and why I chose INSANITY. I'm a 20 year old college student and former high school athlete. After my first year of college I noticed that I put on some weight due to a lack of time and discipline to bring myself to exercise regular. I ended up weighing more than I can ever remember and I decided that it was time to get back into shape to be more content with myself. I'm not looking for a drastic change or some magic cure, just something to keep me busy and working out regularly. Now that I have some time I decided it was time to get back in shape. I heard a lot about INSANITY as well as P90X. I chose insanity because I knew it was a lot more cardio as well as a general fitness program rather than the muscle building and toning program that P90X is. Now that I bored you with my situation, let's get into the program itself.

I have the general INSANITY program with the Diet Plan and the Calendar. I do not plan on using the Diet Plan very strictly, but rather, plan on following the calorie count and general amounts of the major nutrients suggested by the plan. I do not plan on using any supplements other than a daily multivitamin and only drinking water during the program.

Note: I am approximately 1 week into the program now and I will upload my progress for those days first and try post each day after I finish.
 
Day 1: Fit Test

Waking up at 8:30 to do this workout wasn't the ideal start to my morning, but there I was reluctantly rolling out of bed, gathering myself, and popping in the first Insanity "Fit Test" DVD.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't think the fit test would be a big deal. I thought it would be a nice warm up into the program to see where you started mainly to see how much you progressed, about that much I was correct. However, the Fit Test was far from a walk in the park. I was dripping in sweat within 10 minutes. I quickly learned that I hate Switch Kicks with a passion and Globe Jumps are borderline cruel and unusual punishment. For the first few exercises I didn't make the connection that the workout was over and I must have zoned out because I completely forgot to count my reps and for the rest of the exercises I was too focused on getting the form right that I forgot to count. I don't see this as a huge deal, I plan to continue to program without re-doing it.

Overall, I feel pretty good about this program. The other two guys I am doing this with had just as much trouble as I did (and they are in MUCH better physical condition). If anything, I didn't expect the amount of work this would give my legs. My calves are literally on fire!

Day 2 coming up soon!
 
Day 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Even the name sounds intense. Plyometrics are great and all, add that to cardio and you've got yourself a workout. Throw it in a 3x circuit and wow.. I wasn't sure that my body could hurt or sweat as much as it did this evening. (We switched our workout times to 6:00 to make it more convenient for the 3 of us). Having someone else to struggle through with this has been a HUGE help. It's a good way to see how everyone has progresses and in a subconscious way, makes you push harder to look better. Anyway, the plyo cardio circuit is quickly becoming one of the most difficult workouts I've done. suicides, mountain climbers, level 1 drills and a slue of other muscle ripping, heart pumping exercises have me feeling exhausted.

(The morning after this workout I was barely able to move my legs my calves were so sore)
 
Day 3: Cardio Power and Resistance

Day 3 of Insanity Started just like the first, and even this time, it kicked my ass. After 3 rounds of jogging, power jacks, log jumps, 123s, butt kicks, and high knees, I was seriously starting to sweat and feel it. At the same moment I heard Shaun T tell us that we were done with the warm up. The warm up... I couldn't even imagine what the diabolical Shaun T had in store for the actual workout.

I soon found out that after the standard stretch (very important and feels great before and after the workouts). After a variety of leg numbing workouts including shoulder press pushups, power jumps, and "hit the floors" over what seemed like a lifetime, there was one of the coveted 25 second water breaks incorporated into the program.

After that, I met my old nemesis from the Fit Test, the Globe Jumps. These are still very difficult to do, especially in larger numbers. A few more exercises and a few more gallons of sweat and it was almost over. But I pushed through it and sweated it out until the final stretches.

Still feel kind of sore from the first few workouts, but I can't say I expected much less. It has been a while since I've seriously worked out and I expected some challenges getting into it. Not a problem, feeling better every day, and I plan to keep pushing through the program.
 
Day 4: Cardio Recovery

Feeling great going into the recovery day. I very quickly learned that recovery has apparently taken on a new meaning. Although it wasn't nearly as strenuous as days 1-3, the Cardio Recovery is still a pretty solid workout. A lot of stretching and some yoga poses to let the muscles recover from the beating they took for 2 days. Not entirely a "recovery" by definition, but I'm not going to complain.

Not a lot to say about this workout. So far I REALLY like the program. It was definitely worth the money and it only takes 45-55 minutes per day for this part of the program. Can't complain about that.
 
Day 5: Pure Cardio

When I say there are no breaks in the workout, I literally mean there are no breaks for about 25 minutes. And for those 25 minutes, as the title so generously suggest, you do nothing but cardio, cardio, and some more cardio until your body decided it has had enough or Shaun T decided you've had enough. The latter is much less likely than the former. Just a note, when Shaun T tells you at the beginning of the warmup (TWICE actually) that he is "nervous" for the workout, you know you're really in for it.

Pure Cardio started with the typical warmup repeated three times. The sequence for this is jog, jumping jacks, heisman, 123 (extended heisman with steps in between), Butt Kicks, high knees, and mummy kicks (my personal favorite--seriously). After three sets of these nonstop, you get a water break before the standard Insanity stretching.

The main workout consists of suicide drills followed by switch kicks (still hate these), football stance, stance jacks (sort of like squats), sprints to lunges, hooks and ropes, power jacks, level 2 drills (squat, thrust, 8 push ups, 8 mountain climbers, in, jump), frog jumps, power knees, standing mountain climbers, ski downs, switch feet, suicide jumps, push up jacks, water break, stretch. After this hellish circuit, if you aren't sweating and borderline falling over, you're not doing it right.

Still feeling pretty good about the
 
Day 6: Plyometric Cardio Circuit Take 2

This is the first workout to be repeated and frankly, I was excited to see if it was any easier for me to do. Since I didn't do a breakdown of the workout in the last post, I'll include it in this one.

The plyo cardio circuit begins with the same warmup as the Pure Cardio workout, so you can look at the post about this is you are curious.

First Circuit:
The next exercises are repeated 2 times with a 30 second water break between each.

1. Suicides- everyone's favorite high school basketball drills. Shuffling back and forth touching the floor with the opposite hand each time.
2. Power Squats- normal squats with a jump at the end.
3. Mountain Climbers- reaching up with the hands and essentially high knees simultaneously
4. Ski downs- jumping laterally with both feet and knees together while performing a skiing motion with both arms.

The third round replaces Ski Downs with switch feet and football wide sprints (sometimes called quarter eagles: essentially quick feet in a wide stance, turn right, turn middle, turn left, move right, left, back, down, sprint...if that makes any sense to anyone)

Second Circuit:

1. Basketball Drills- squat down, Pick up basketball, jump shot, repeat
2. Level 1 Drills- Same as Level 2 Drills (See Day 5: Pure Cardio, but with 4 pushups and 4 mountain climbers)
3. Ski Drills- plank position, keep legs together, jump right, middle, left, repeat.
4. In and Out- Plank (push up) position, legs in, jump back, repeat...alot. These are kind of rough

Repeat x2

Final Circuit

1. Jabs
2. Cross Jacks- jumping jacks with 1 arm and crossing legs
3. uppercuts
4. Attacks -wide stance, palms out, punches (Horse Stance palm strikes for any of my fellow karate practitioners)

A fantastic workout once again. I felt much better about it this time as well. I was able to do almost all of the exercises without much or any of a break. Tomorrow is the first "rest day" where there is no workout. I intend to use the day to get a weightlifting workout and maybe a run in. The soreness from the first few days is gone (Thankfully) and I think my body is starting to like the pain. I feel much, much better than I used to (after only one week!) and I feel like I alread
 
Day 7: Rest Day

Day 8: Cardio Power and Resistance

Unfortunately this is the first (and hopefully only!) day that I had to miss for personal reasons.

Day 9: Pure Cardio

Same workout as Day 5. Armed with my gallon of water I felt pretty good about this workout. The fact that Shaun T verbalized his worry about the workout while people in the back call him insane and say they want to leave still has my skin crawling a little bit. Either way I pushed through the workout as best as I could. I had to take one water break that was not scheduled, but I still consider it a good day considering the intensity of the workout. I feel great today, especially after a shower and some dry clothes. Tomorrow is recovery part 2, so we shall see how how the rest of the week progresses.

Hope somebody actually reads this and finds it helpful!
 
The insanity workouts are truly insane and leave you feeling so satisfied. Good for you for your discipline over the summer - are you still doing them? Shaun T's crazy.
 
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