Insanity - Week 6, Another Level

This past Monday began the second phase of the Insanity program. New workouts! I was beginning to perform well towards the end of the first month. Fewer breaks, not as sore the next day. Getting better. I went into the next level of workouts confident that I could keep up and push through them. Yep, I was wrong.

The first month of Insanity focused heavily on cardio and high intensity exercises. The second month keeps up that same level of intensity but the exercises utilize more muscle groups making things much, much more tiring...and sore...and exhausting. I can't even make it through the warm up without taking two or three breaks. It's like starting day 1 all over again.

There are more push-up based exercises, a lot more planks, and a lot of jump-squats. I thought the planks would kill me the most but it turns out the push-ups kill me more than anything else. Of course a push-up incorporates a plank so I guess that makes sense (I just realized that as I wrote this). Plus there are push up variations that I've never heard of before like these crazy side-planking push ups. Then there's what's called a power push-up, which is a regular push-up but you push with enough force to bring your feet towards your hands and finish in a standing position. That one's kind of tough.

These next level workouts are brutal. I'm left gasping, sore, and pouring sweat when there's still 2 more sets left. I break pretty often and it takes a lot to regain my focus and get back into it. I try to keep my breaks under 10 seconds, just enough to take a few breaths and shake out whatever muscles are screaming at me. I feel pretty horrible during the workouts but really accomplished when I make it to the end. At least Mr. Shaun T doesn't ask “how y'all doing?” as much...we all know what the answer to that one would be: fricken horrible! But yet I keep going :)