One man’s voice Thoughts, rants and commentary from a husband, father of five and professional web geek

Insanity: Day 61 – Max Interval Plyo

Only Shaun T would be so evil as to put switch leaps AND power jumps in the same circuit. Ok, perhaps evil isn't the best word, but this morning, when my legs felt like they had red hot lava flowing through them, I sure thought he was evil.

I loved this morning's work out. I can totally feel my energy and stamina increasing through the max programs. I wish I would have gotten to this point sooner, but I'm glad I have gotten as far as I have. The first circuit, consisting of switch leaps, squat push ups, wide in-n-out abs and power jumps were awesome this morning. I was able to push all the way through the first two rounds of the the first circuit, which is something I have not been able to do ever. The third round was a different story, but I was able to get most of it completed with only taking minimal breaks. Of course the challenge exercise, one-legged V push ups, devastated me, but I still managed to get through some of them.

The second circuit destroyed me. I think it was a combination of the effort I put into the first circuit and the fact that I am battling this stupid bug, which seems to have turned itself into a chest infection. Regardless, I had very little to give in the second circuit so it was all hard work from that point on. The second circuit consists of the pogo, power push ups, globe twists and level 3 drills. All of these were hard for me to stay into. Pogos are hard because my balance stinks. On the right leg I am alright, but on the left leg I am all over the place. Power push ups I am actually now able to do, but not nearly as fast paced as I'd like. Globe Twists hurt me primarily because my quads are still very weak. And the level 3 drills... well, those are just insane from top to bottom. I was able to get through the very first rep of the first circuit of these without stopping, but after that it was a challenge just to get off the floor.

The challenge for the second circuit is switch lunges into hop squats. Two of each a total of eight times. And strangely, even with weak quads, I was able to get them done with only missing one for rest. I actually felt accomplished in this challenge today because I was able to do more of them than ever before.

The third circuit was a one-time through series of exercises: side push ups done 15 per side, kickstand touch the floor done 15 per leg, 8 power knees into 4 diamond jumps done twice on each side alternating between sides and balance pushups done 12 times alternating each side. Pretty much every one of these kicked my butt today. I was able to do all of the side push ups on the left and about half on the right. I was able to do all of the kickstand exercises without stopping, but the power knee to diamond jumps were nearly impossible for me. I was able to do about half of the balance push ups.

Given that I was competing not only with being tired but handling a chest cold at the same time, I'd say I did pretty well in today's program. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I do Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs. It's sort of my very last chance to nail a great workout and hammer out a huge weight loss for the week. Wish me luck. I want to be at 250 pounds tomorrow.

Insanity: Day 60 – Max Interval Sports Training

Today was a wonderful workout day for me. I really, really love working out to Max Interval Sports Training and I think when I go through Insanity again I am going to replace Core Cardio and Balance with Max Interval Sports Training throughout the program.

There is something awesome about the way this program is put together. I don't know if it is the pace, the circuits, the way that we workout or what, but it totally captivates me and makes me want to kick its butt so bad. There were only a few of the exercises today that really challenged me - like the football drills, where we stand and sprint step very quickly then hit the ground in a down plank position and move across the floor, and some of the later jumping exercises - but overall I was pretty stoked about my ability to do the exercises this morning. Even more when you factor in that I may very well be getting the front end of a chest infection even as I write this.

Another thing that I love about this workout is since I enjoy doing it so much I don't find it nearly as much "work" as "fun". Because of that I kinda get lost in the exercise and end up drenched in sweat at the end. Today was no exception. So combined, I am getting a huge workout and a wonderful weight loss out of the deal every time I do this workout. Which for me is the best of all worlds when it comes to my health. The end result, for me, when doing this workout is a massive sweat, a major sense of accomplishment and huge boost in my energy with a strong desire to hit it again.

Speaking of which, I have just two more days until my final weigh in for this Insanity journey so you have to know that I am digging deeper than I have and pushing through as many limits as I can to hit my goal of 250 pounds by Saturday. I'm pretty stoked about it. And I'm pretty stoked about posting some before and after pics. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook you may have seen a few of the recent pics I posted in my Insanity photo album. Saturday I hope to post a few more.

Until tomorrow, stay strong and stay hungry for success. It is yours for the taking. Will you take it?

Insanity: Day 59 – Max Interval Circuit

Today was a monumental day of exercise for me. Even though I'm still fighting a bug in my system, I got closer to completing all routines in a Max program than I have ever been before. I worked harder than I have worked since I started the program, sweated more than I've sweated in any program and actually completed some of the 45 second quadriceps based jumping exercise segments for the first time ever. It was quite an accomplishment for me to say the least.

As has been the case lately, I was able to blow through the warm ups. I was even able to complete the first of the three segments in the first circuit, which I thought was pretty neat. From there it began to get really challenging but I was able to get back into the swing of things quickly every time I stopped to rest. I love that I am progressing as much as I am in this thing, and I love that I can push myself through my own limits even now, at this stage of the game.

This excitement, and the sheer number of web site hits I am getting from searches that people are performing on Insanity, is leading me toward the launch of a new web site. I am not going to go into great detail just yet, but I have an idea for something very helpful to anyone that is either thinking about getting started or is in the process of their Insanity Journey. If I do decide to launch it, it will be very informational, hopefully motivational and somewhat instructional. We'll have to see if this is something that I am indeed intended to do.

But before I get into all that I need to make sure I finish my own Insanity journey. Which I will be doing this Sunday. The last day of the program, the fifth and final Fit Test, is this Sunday. And it is this Sunday that I am planning on launching myself into another round of it. If I hit my preliminary weight goal of 250 pounds by Saturday that will leave only 30 pounds to go to hit my overall weight goal of 220 pounds. Which I know I can do.

So until tomorrow, when I push through yet another set of limits toward my 250 pound goal, I dare you to dig deeper and look for your own limits so you can blast through them, destroying them forever as you push onward toward a more healthy, fit you.

Insanity: Day 58 – Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs

Today was a hard work out for me. Hard as in it was difficult for me to do. I think my body is trying to come down with something right now. My wife got sick about a week ago and I think I may have gotten whatever bug she had, so this morning it was a chore to get up and get motivated. I still worked out, but it was hard for me.

It was a strange feeling, honestly, being able to work out while being sick. I was able to do some of every routine this morning, including the ab work out. But it was challenging, and I had to stop in every single one of them except the warm up. I felt energized but only for short durations. So while I managed some work in every routine, it was only about half the routine that I was able to work out in.

No matter, I still worked out, still pushed myself and felt great doing it. I wish I would not have been fighting this bug because I would have tore it up if I could have. I'm really trying my hardest to dig into each of the exercises this week to push through to my goal. I don't want any excuses. I want to be at 250 on Saturday.

I'm also preparing myself for what's next, so I want to make sure I get as much out of each work out as I can. I've always had that mentality, but this week i'm looking for all new personal boundaries to push through. I've been fortunate enough to push beyond what I thought I could bare so far. I just want to test myself a little more this week to see, really, if I can push any more so that next week, when I start what I think I am going to start, I will be well prepared for it. We'll see.

Insanity: Day 57 – Max Interval Plyo

This morning was an awesome workout. I'm going into this week with the attitude that everything needs to be left on the floor come Saturday and it showed in my workout this morning.

The workout was hard, as is the case in all Insanity programs. But I felt refreshed, energized and well able to do pretty much anything this morning. I blasted through the warm ups and was able to handle pretty much all of the first circuit. The second circuit was definitely more intense than the first and was equally more challenging. I was able to push through a lot of the second circuit as well, but I noticed that I was slowing down quite a bit during the second circuit.

The third circuit destroyed me. But that is to be expected. I don't suspect I will have enough stamina to make into the third circuit of a Max Insanity workout any time soon. Still, I was able to get some work out of it.

While I couldn't do everything in the routine this morning, I was able to do a lot more than I have been able to do so far. I noticed that I have significantly improved in the area of push ups as I was able to do pretty much all of the push up exercises today. Of course, as has been my greatest weakness so far, my quadriceps failed me numerous times today, especially in the power jacks and diamond jumps.

Still, I have no complaints. It was a great workout and a great way to start my day. I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I try to destroy myself with some Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs. Here's to tomorrow.