I made it! Two months, dang...What a
workout program. So much sweat, so much soreness. I'd definitely call
it an investment in fitness. I had to change my diet, adjust my
schedule so I'd have enough time to workout when I get home, and
occasionally do a late-night workout. I stayed pretty true to the
program. I missed one full workout, and two half-workouts. So overall
I guess I missed two workout days. Not bad considering there's 54
total workout days. I'll count that as a win.
Fit Test
Insanity begins
with a fitness test, which you repeat about every two weeks and, of
course, the program ends with it. The Fit Test consists of 8
exercises. You perform each exercise for one minute and go for as
many repetitions as you can. Take a one minute rest, then on to the
next exercise. You're supposed to track your results to see how you
improve. So I did! Here they are:
|
|
Week 1
|
Week 3
|
Week 6
|
Week 8
|
Week 9 (final)
|
Improvement
Day 1 to Day 60 |
|
Switch Kicks |
95
|
101
|
116
|
124
|
132
|
37
|
|
Power Jacks |
42
|
46
|
51
|
53
|
59
|
17
|
|
Power Knees |
74
|
88
|
95
|
99
|
103
|
29
|
|
Power Jumps |
32
|
35
|
40
|
46
|
58
|
26
|
|
Globe Jumps |
8
|
9
|
10
|
9
|
10
|
2
|
|
Suicide Jumps |
13
|
16
|
18
|
19
|
20
|
7
|
|
Push-Up Jacks |
28
|
33
|
37
|
40
|
44
|
16
|
|
Low Plank Oblique |
50
|
52
|
62
|
67
|
74
|
24
|
Description of
each exercise:
Switch Kicks –
Standing straight, kick your leg forward at hip-height, hop as you
switch legs and kick the other one, each kick is 1 rep.
Power Jacks - Start standing feet together,
hands above head. Legs move apart like a jumping jack and go into a
squat, arms come down to your side as you squat. Really burns the
legs.
Power Knees - Support your weight on your right
leg, body is at a slight angle, hold your hands above your head.
Raise your left knee toward your chest as you bring your hands to
your knee. It's like a Tae Bo move. My standing leg tires out more
than everything else.
Power Jumps – Start in a slight squat, jump
and raise your knees to the same level as your hips, bring your hands
to knees while in the air. Land and repeat. This one's exhausting.
Globe Jumps – Start in a squat, hands on the
ground. Jump to the right, raise your hands above your head as you
jump and land back in a squat, hands back on the ground. Jump
back, then jump left, then jump forward. That's 1 rep...yeah, 4
jumps is 1 rep. Really tires me out.
Suicide Jumps – Start in plank (aka push-up
position), kick your feet in close to your hands, jump straight up
while reaching your hands overhead, land and go back into plank.
That's 1 rep.
Push-Up Jacks – Start in a normal push-up
position, do a push-up. As you bring your chest to the ground kick
your feet apart about shoulder-width. As you push back up kick your
feet back together.
Low Plank Oblique – Hold a low plank with your
forearms on the ground. Bring your right knee up toward your right
elbow (I count that as 1 rep), right let goes back and do the same
thing on the left side (2 reps). Kind of feels like a lizard-crawl.
Pictures
I can hear some of my friends saying, “pics or it
didn't happen!” So here you go. Just keep in mind the quality of my
camera sucks. Things like lighting and how steady my hand is effects
the picture a lot.
 |
 |
 |
|
Day 1 |
|
Week 5 |
 |
 |
|
|
Week 8 |
Day 60 |
|
Looking back at the pictures (I actually haven't looked at any of them until I wrote this), I look the most trimmed down at week 5. I think that's because the first month of Insanity is heavy on cardio. The second month has more strength training based workouts so while I was getting more exhausted I don't think I was burning off as much. That's what I tell myself.
Now, the more I
think about this the more it doesn't make sense to me because muscle
burns fat, so if I'm building more muscle I should be trimming down
in month 2 just as much as in month 1. So I'll get real here. I
slipped in my diet the 2nd month. Not badly, but enough to
make the week 5 pic look like the best one, of course camera quality
could also be to blame...right? I have a reason for the diet slip up, more on that later. Right
now, let's focus on the positives. Given the picture quality, it's
tough to really see the changes in my physique. So here's some of the
things I notice are different from day 1 to today.
- Today, what my gut looks like normal is what it used to look like when I'd suck it in
- All my clothes fit more loosely
- I had to tighten my belt a notch
- My chest resembles a pectoral muscle and doesn't look so man-boobish
- I still got some love-handle action going, but for the first time ever my lats are broader than the love-handles
- I feel more fit and confident in my appearance
What I Got Out of It
I learned a few
things doing Insanity. Like I make a variety of noises depending one
how close I am to my limit. As I start to get tired I breath heavy.
When I get more tired I start panting. Grunting kicks in near
exhaustion. Then when I'm really near the breaking point, I start to
whimper. Sort of a high-pitched squeal. Never knew I did that before,
it's kind of funny.
When
it comes to eating I can resist temptation. I passed on several
desserts and dining out opportunities. But I can't fight off stress
and I stress-eat. Now I don't mean the “I had such a long day”
kind of stress, I mean the kind of stress that's subtle and dwells in
the back of your mind. When you worry about something inwardly, but
outwardly you seem fine. That kind of stress. It's like a silent
doomsday countdown. I had some of that going on during the second
month of Insanity. I ate some cakes, some pizzas, drank some beers,
and ate a few larger portions. Now I didn't completely gorge myself,
but I let it go enough that you can see a slight inflation going on
in the week 8 picture. Guess I need to find a good way to deal with
that kind of stress. If I can, who knows, I just might get that sweet
tooth under control.
I
managed to get a few new eating habits. Vegetables aren't so foreign
to me and I even started liking vegetable juice. There's a dash of
portion control going on too. I get full on less food, which is
different...and good I guess. I cook for myself more often, which is
both healthier and less expensive than eating out as much as I did
before Insanity.
Most
importantly, I got through it! It's a tough workout and I was able to
push through the moments of utter exhaustion. And I got results! Not
the whole “ripped in 60 days” you see on TV but I'm slimmer and
have some muscle definition. I feel a bit proud of myself.
What's Next?
Good
question! I could do Insanity again. Maybe. I definitely feel that if
I did it again I'd continue to improve my fitness. The better I got
the further I could push myself during the workouts. The fit test
results show I haven't hit my limit yet. But...not right now though.
It's time to mix things up. The new UFC gym is opening up soon
(hopefully within a week of writing this) and I got a good deal there
so I'll check that place out. I'm sure they'll have some
Insanity-type workouts.
Thanks
to everybody who's been reading these blogs. I appreciate the
comments and all you silent readers. Much mahalos. And keep reading.
Though Insanity is finished, the blogging shall go on!
Oh,
and since the start of Insanity I talked about how Shaun T. would ask
“How y'all doin?” and my reply was always “fricken horrible!”
Well, at the end of Insanity it's still the same ;)
