Insanity Workout

hello Henstooth and the rest of you crazy people on this blog!

i dont consider myself to be excessively unfit. i have cycled from lands end to john o groats recently and gym a few times a week but after doing a PUMA FAAS class at Virgin gym recently i heard through a friend about this insanity program and decided to give it a crack. i have always struggled with running even while playing rugby and wanted something that was going to challenge me and improve my core/leg strengt and insanity sounded as close to those PUMA classes as i could getin the comfort of my own home.

i have just started the Insanity program (Day 3 today) and wanted to find a place to share my experience with like-minded people while still at work (blog sites are usually bloked!) and having read some of this thread it looked a right treat.

i will have to check what my Fit Test results were later when i get home but my initial measurements on monday were as follows:

height - 6ft 2in

weight - 110kgs

Waist - 106.5cm

i also measured the stomach with callipers and they're a whopping 38 on the front and 24 on the side. so there is definitely some work to be done there.

i am trying to do the workouts in the morning before work and so far so good. Day 2 was definitely the hardest with the plyo card resistence workout and this morning's workout was a different type of tough. i have had to take regular breaks though and the sweat has covered most of my carpeted floor depsite having a towel or 2 handy.

having played touch rugby last night i could already feel the difference and that was only after the fit test and the plyo yesterday morning, now that is insane. i am having the same sleeping issues as Ged where i feel i am just buzzing but when i do hit the sack i am tickets. am able to wake up early again without much hassle and looking forward to doing more.

will be hitting the pool tonight to do some light swimming as i am also training for the london triathlon later in september.

Henstooth - well done on the Three Peaks. It sounded really tough - my absolute worst nightmare with the rain and the wind. Fare weather walker me!

Have to say this weather is seriously depressing me and all I want to curl up on the sofa and hide away from the world at the moment. Where is our Summer?? Grrrr.

I started my recovery week today. I had great expectations of it being much easier on the body.... hmmm, well the tempo is certainly slower but it still hurt deep in the muscles and still made me a sweaty betty... But I am looking forward to completing this week.

I am dreading next week when I move on to the Max sessions. I really don't think i'm ready for it, particulary in terms of my upper body strength. But I guess it's all about doing what you can to improve. I will not be giving up.

Thinking about doing P90X after Insanity! But will see how the next month goes first.

Bret  Welcome buddy. Sounds like this is the training session for you. be mindful that this will KNACKER you out and you might find it tough to keep to your normal training. Identify what training is necessary (i.e - Rugby) and keep that in the diary. If you maintain the insanity course you will find that your cardio and core body strength will shoot through the roof.

AliK - The 3 Peaks was great for me. Insanity was the best prep i could have done. the weather was mental and remains so for the whole of the UK - where is the summer? As for your recovery week - remember that I skipped that so I could get more of month 2 done before the mountains, so I don't know what the recovery is like BUT I can't emphasis enough that you will have to DIG DEEP for month 2 and just hang in there. I might focus on my running distance and inter space some Insanity on non run days so as to keep the body cardio to look good for summer hols.

Well done Henstooth! That is an amazing experience especially considering the weather. I was wondering if you were going to do the entire insanity thing again or if you have had enough???

Welcome Brett good luck!! 

I am officially half way through recovery week and I am really enjoying the slightly less intense pace compared to month one.....BUT I am slightly worried about next week got a bad bad bad feeling about the month 2 workouts......!!!!

Got to say like the rest of you I was thinking about doing p90x or possibly doing insanity asylum after I come back off holiday.......mind you I need to get through month 2 yet........

thanks for the welcome guys! i am really enjoying pushing myself in the few sessions ive done. 

Henstooth - i am only planning on playing touch rugby and doing a relaxed swim or a short (< 5miles) run on top of insanity, so nothing too crazy i dont think??? congrats on that awesome challenge of the 3 peaks, i believe its pretty intense itself. 

EMG - how are you feeling after month 1 though? 

here are my first test results:

switch kicks - 70

power jacks - 25

power knees - 50

power jumps - 20

globe jumps - 6

suicide jumps - 14

push-up jacks - 16

low plank obliques - 30

so definitely some work to do....

Well done Brett keep with it you will definitely improve if you stick with it.

Honestly I feel amazing I feel a lot stronger especially on my upper body and I have definitely gained some muscle and definition plus my running is stronger than ever although I may tone the running down depending on how I cope with month 2......

thanks EMG thats great i am def looking forward to it and sticking to it. did Pure Cardio this morning, legs were heavy and had an ice bath afterwards, great work out though and enjoying the after feeling (when i've caught my breathe!!!)

im glad to hear the running is better EMG, i really need to get it up myself so i look forward to those results. not seeing much on the weight front at the moment, still hovering around the same as when i started and i am sticking to a similar diet as well...

recovery shake time

day 6 done, def felt a lot fitter this morning, i have to admit that the ice bath worked and i had a massage on my hamstrings and calves. they were super tight this morning though but i pushed through and felt pretty good during the first super set and then the 2nd super set with the suicide level 1 drills i was dying and buckets of sweat dripping everywhere! i am battling with the ski abs thing, but i think i need to use my core more instead of my legs which i feel i am using too much in anycase. hoepfully it'll come with time. 

now i get to look forward to the rest of the weekend off and hopefully lay off the junk food today and tomororw!  

hope you are all doing well and keep strong and keep at it!!!

We have a great gang now - all working hard, all at slightly different stages. As for myself, having completed the session (with minor adjustments because of the mountain climbs), I feel at a bit of a loss. I have one month before I travel to Spain (holidays), and I want to look good. What I have neglected (through no real fault other than I WAS EXHAUSTED BY INSANITY MONTH 2!), is my running. I did a 10k event and a 5.5 mile before the mountains and felt strong, so I think I will start to ramp that up and interspace some Insanity on days off. After holiday - Mmmmm, what to do? The session again OR Asylum! Perhaps the session again as I reckon i would have lost some stamina from the holiday (despite the fact that I will do a couple of runs out there.)

Does anyone here use a running / exercise website? I have used map My Run for ages now and it's great for stats / maps and groups. have a look.

howzit Hen! i use map my run/ride as well but also use Endomondo from timte to time as i prefer some its functionality. i think both are much of a muchness though

i am feeling grand this afternoon after the plyo dvd again, still havent seen much weight loss but feeling stronger with more puff as well. looking forward to next weeks challenge but you are scaring me with this talk of month 2 Hen!!! haha

Henstooth - I use map my run and real buzz to plan my run. I like map my run but only problem is my phones GPS is sometimes out of whack which is really annoying!

As for insanity well I had to bring month 2 forward to today which should have been a rest day as I am out at the end of the week so I needed an extra 'spare day'.....

Hmmmmm so I did the fit test (all well)....then I did the max interval circuit.......OMG

Well all I can say is by the end my top was literally stuck to me.....I kept up ok till the last full body drill set when all I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me up whole! The extra 20 minutes BURNS........

Sooooo this is month two then........!!!!! 

hahahaha EMG! hang in there, massive day and sounds really tough, mental strenght to keep in it!!! i am dreading month 2 but i must first face another 3 weeks of month 1 so i am trying to not even think about it. one day at a time, thats the attitude im taking. hope you feeling the benefits after today! good work pal!

month1-week2-day1 for me tomorrow morning before work, cardio power...GET IN!!! lets see if im this chirpy afterwards, watch this space!!! 

cardio power, my word! i was a bit sluggish starting off but then got into it and my HR shot up and i was feeling goooood! still battling to get through all exercises without a break but i am defintiley feeling fitter and despite all the sweat and pain at the end i am feeling magic after an ice bath and cold shower ready to face the day ahead! i am not so sure i'll be so chirpy come 4pm or when i have to crack it again early tomorrow morning with PURE CARDIO!!! prepare to sweat buckets and bust a lung!!!

on another note RE Diet - i am sticking to it pretty well, although i had a GU chocolate mousse on saturday and had a banging headache most of yesterday and i think that might have come from the sugar spike of the mousse, what are your thoughts? also, had a lunch to go to with a mate who's swimming the channel this week and shared a pint of guiness with him and to be honest, i thought i'd really feel worse than i did this morning (sluggish start) but it wasnt too bad...will be cutting alcohol completely though from now.

my flexibility has also increased, my hamstrings which are usually as tight and short as matchsticks are definitely getting looser and i can stretch further into them so i am very excited about that!

good things people!!!!

Last day of recovery today.... actually really enjoyed this week despite it being the same session over and over. I think I might do it again at the end of month 2 to round off the programme. 

Tomorrow is meant to be my rest day but I am away at the weekend so will have two rest days then and so balance this a bit I will crack on with month 2 tomorrow. I'm dreading it a little but also a little excited to get on with it. I have a feeling it is going to hurt for the first few days. 

ali!! good luck for your first day of month 2!!! awesome work....

pure carido is super tough today! legs felt tight and heavy despite full stretching and an ice bath yesterday, was mentally pumped but my body was refusing to cooporate and meant that i was sitting out some of the warmup already. the switch kicks require some coordination when you are that tired but i got around that. suicide drills are not my favourite yet but i am getting there. definitely feeling better and again core is feeling tighter and my legs stronger. shoulders i think are starting to feel it now too despite my collapsing on the floor in a puddle of my own sweat! ordered some rubber flooring for my lounge to softne the noise of my 110kgs landing on the floor while doing these exercises and so that the sweat doesnt soak into the carpet! have been using a yoga mat but not quite doing the job...haha

plyo tomorrow which i am looking forward to like a needle in my eyeball! fun times but im up for the challenge...come on legs, work man!!!  hehe