One man's voice Thoughts, rants and commentary of a simple man

Insanity: Day 56 – Rest

Oh good God I need some rest today. I am so tired and so sore. And I don't think it's from my workout yesterday, though it could be since it was a new workout yesterday working out new muscle groups in new ways. I think it is a combination of our workout, all of the running around we did yesterday and the late night exercise we had moving props and such around.

Whatever the case, I am tired. And sore. And I am so taking advantage of this rest day. At least until Sandi wakes up, when my work for today will really start as I tend to her every motherly need with the kids.

Enjoy your rest today, especially if you are a mother. Mother's work harder than anyone I have ever known. If there was ever a day to be deserved for honor, Mother's day is it.

Insanity: Day 55 – Max Interval Sports Training

Today marks the end of our eighth week of our journey to complete Insanity. I'm kinda excited about that, and a little sad by it at the same time. On the one hand I am greatly looking forward to taking a break from the body pounding I am taking right now. On the other hand, I am getting more and more motivated by my success and really want to push through for as long as I can to get the most out of this program that I can.

Today was supposed to be Core Cardio and Balance. But the program does allow for substitution exercises if you have the upgraded Insanity package, which I do. So Rebekah and I decided we were going to do Max Interval Sports Training instead. And was that ever a good decision.

Max Interval Sports training is about 55 minutes long and has the funnest collection of exercises I have done so far in Insanity. The warm up is a little light compared to the other warm ups we do, but it is filled with fun exercises that move at a pretty decent pace.

The program itself is made up of four circuits from five different sports: Boxing, Football, Basketball, Track and Gymnastics. Each circuit has different exercises but all of the circuits target your core, your legs and your chest. However they do it in different ways that are fun and challenging without being murderous. At the end of it I almost wanted to run it back again because of how much fun it was.

If you are doing the Insanity program and happen to have the package that comes with Max Interval Sports Training, I would highly recommend you take advantage of the ability to swap routines as soon as you can (which I think happens at the end of week seven). Seriously, you will not have as much fun in Insanity as you will doing Max Interval Sports Training. And you will continue to push the boundaries of fitness and weight loss.

This morning, after doing this routine, I was a shocking four pounds lighter than when I started. I lose pounds in every workout I do on Insanity, but I have never lost that much in one workout ever on the Insanity program. I think that is a testament to how effective this program is and how powerful it is, especially when you enjoy the routine you are doing. Which is something that I plan to work on a lot more for my last week.

If I can make it fun to do then I am sure I will reap extraordinary results from that. So dig deep, find the fun in your fitness routines and push as hard as you can. You'll be glad you did as you look at the scale and watch it plummet or look in the mirror and watch yourself get smaller.

Insanity: Day 54 – Max Interval Circuit

Sometimes it's hard to believe that I have been at this thing for almost 60 days. Straight through, without interrupting my schedule, without making excuses and without complaining about it (for the most part ). I have to say that I am a little proud of myself for making this commitment to my health. And I will say that I am very, very proud of my daughter Rebekah for taking this challenge on with me. She really had no real reason to do this other than she wanted to and I am so blessed by that I can't really put it into words. We have bonded, we have grown together and have actually watched each other change, for the better, in the last two months.

Today was a fun workout, although it was pretty hard on us both this morning. I think for me it was a combination of being a little dehydrated and a little tired. It was a struggle for me today to perform all of the routines throughout the workout but I pushed through and dug as deep as I could for as many as I could. And for the most part I did alright. The full body drills, however, destroyed me as they usually do. I have one week to go before I complete my first Insanity journey and I would love to be able to complete a full body drill in the circuit. I have yet to do that.

The hook jumps are another exercise that do me in proper. Pretty much anything that requires my quadriceps is going to pummel me and hook jumps fit neatly into that category. These are another exercise I would love to be able to complete before the end of next week.

Tomorrow is my weigh in day. That means that tomorrow morning is my "last chance" workout before checking my weight. I have eaten pretty well today and I hope I can carry that into tomorrow morning so that I can blast through the workout and really get a good loss tomorrow. I'm not sure I'm going to hit my 255.0 pound goal tomorrow, but anything less than I was last week will be a big win for me. So wish me luck. I have some serious work to do tomorrow when I take on Max Interval Sports Training.

Insanity: Day 53: Max Recovery

Today was another "recovery" day for us and it left me still trying to figure out how Shaun T defines recovery. Right now I'm thinking it is a slower, more punishing version of the death that he wreaks on us every single day.

I like my recovery days. A lot. Mostly because I get to not pound my body while still getting some sort of a workout. And while recovery isn't necessarily heart pounding work when it comes to the exercises, in Insanity it is still very intense. From the start you are moving your body, mostly with stretches, faster and faster until your heart rate climbs to that cardiovascular level. Believe me when I tell you that just because it is called recovery does not mean that you are not going to be working it.

There is lots of stretching in the recovery programs, enough cardio to make it a work out but, in Max Recovery, there is mostly stretching and endurance work with a little bit of strength thrown in for good measure. And I'm good with that, for the most part, except when we get to the slooooooow pushups to one arm balance moves. Then I get not cool with any of it and want to punch Shaun T in the face.

This morning was one of those days for me. I was able to do very well through the entire workout but struggled mightily when it came to a few specific exercises. Push up to one arm balancers were very hard for me today. Squat pulses to oblique floor touches were also very hard for me today. In the end though I was worked up into a nice sweat and I was breathing hard as I looked at the ground and wondered where my recovery went.

Still, I'm loving what Shaun T's evilness is doing to my body so I am not complaining. I just wish I had more to give when doing these exercises so I could really get a lot more out of them. Which shouldn't be a problem for the next go around, when I should be plenty in shape enough to handle whatever Shaun T decides to throw at me.

Insanity: Day 52 – Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs

I'm wondering if my diet is affecting my workouts toward the negative over the last few days. Yesterday was an alright day for me as I was able to workout pretty hard through the entire program. Today though, today was a rough day for me. I have no idea why but every movement required my utmost effort to get through it. Throw in the fact that about 825% of today's workout is quadriceps based exercises and you can imagine that I was struggling for almost the entire hour we were working out this morning.

I'm still very excited at my progress so far. And I still get excited at the thought of what Insanity will do to me when it is all said and done. But I am really starting to get concerned for how exhausted I am and how hard it is for me to push through the workouts over the last few days.

There are some things that I believe may be causing it. Like not sleeping enough and not having enough water during the day. I know yesterday I didn't hydrate myself nearly enough. And I know I didn't sleep enough last night. Also, looking back over the last couple of days, my sugar intake has been significantly higher which I think is having a dramatic effect on my stamina and energy every morning.

Regardless, I know that I can immediately change these conditions. Starting today I will push hard to get my body hydrated. I will make sure I get to sleep on time tonight and I will stay far away from sugars over the next couple of days. I really want to get myself to 255.0 pounds by this Saturday. And as it stands right now, I may not hit that goal if I can't get myself in gear every morning.

Insanity: Day 51 – Max Interval Plyo

Today I had a killer workout. I felt refreshed, energized and totally strong enough to kick Max Interval Plyo's butt. I wish I could explain why that was. I didn't sleep a whole lot last night. I ate kinda a lot of calories yesterday, too. But when I woke up, at 4:45 this morning, I was wide-eyed and ready to take on my day.

The workout was a nice push this morning until the very last circuit. Up until that point I was pretty much able to handle anything Shaun T could throw at me with the exception of level 3 drills - a movement in which you start in the plank position, do 16 push ups then 16 knee ups from the plank, then stand to your feet and jump. These always destroy me and today was no exception. But the rest of the workout up to the last circuit I did really well in.

The last circuit, however, always does me in. I'm not sure if its because I'm wiped out by that point or because the moves are literally that hard, but almost every time I get to the last circuit I have nothing left to give. It is sort of like my last 30 seconds of the third round of a wrestling match. You've gone balls to the wall for the entire time and the last couple seconds just hang there, like a weight suspended from the ceiling.

Still, I can't complain. I enjoyed the work this morning, I did a really good job and I am inching closer to being able to complete a full max program. I only have about a week and a half to go before I'm done with this thing. I'm shooting to get an entire Max routine completed without stopping by the time my last day rolls around.

Think I can do it?

Insanity: Day 49 – Rest

The more the weeks progress on my Insanity journey to more I come to appreciate rest days. My body takes a pounding during the week so when days like today come around, I take advantage of them.

If you are working out regularly, make sure to take your rest days. And make sure when you take them, you actually rest. Your body needs it in order to recover and your workouts will improve because of it.

Until tomorrow, rest. As hard as you can.