Round 5: Day 2: Insanity: Fit Test

I've been looking forward to this day with mixed emotions: excitement and dread. During the last Round, I felt that the cardio component was not challenging enough. I resorted to doubling up some of the cardio exercises, which did give me the burn I was looking for, but not in the timeframe I wanted. Plyometrics, while still challenging, was becoming a bit boring because I had done it so frequently. I realized that cardio is a weakness of mine and understood that I needed to do more cardio to improve; therefore, I purchased Shaun T's Insanity.

I had read over the Internet that Insanity is like P90X's Plyometrics times three, and that it would be the most difficult workout I've ever done. Those reviews were sufficient to scare me away from Insanity for 6 months. I felt that my cardio abilities would not be sufficiently developed to take on that program. Following the last round, I realized that in order to improve, one must face one's shortcomings. In order to change your body, break through plateaus and continue muscle confusion, you have to do what you don't like, or what you're not good at doing. For me, that's cardio. That meant that even though my body likely isn't ready for Insanity, I'm going to try it anyway.

Today was the Fit Test. There's a fairly brief warmup prior to engaging in 8 fitness exercises. The warmup wasn't particularly strenuous; however, the 8 fitness exercises were challenging (some more than others). The most difficult of the batch was an exercise similar to Plyometrics' Jump Knee Tuck, except that you're in more of a squat position, leaping into the air with knees wide apart. That got the heart pumping.

Overall, I managed to survive the Fit Test. In many cases, I matched, or was close to the numbers originally posted by the two Fit Test participants. There was a measure of satisfaction in that for me, as the participants seem like they're in the 20's or early 30's, while here I am, an old fart nearing 50. Besides, I only intend to make improvements from here, even though I'll only be doing Insanity workouts twice a week, excluding abdominal workouts.

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

A postscript to today's post:
Pain and discomfort. That's what I'm feeling right now, and that mean's that something good is happening. I'm not experiencing pain due to an injury; just the kind of soreness you get when you've pushed yourself slightly out of your comfort zone. I haven't felt that in awhile, likely due to my time off. In addition, my little Insanity introduction left me in a state of jelly-leggedness, which I also haven't experienced in some time. If the Fit Test is sufficient to give me some leg-shake, then I can hardly wait to see what happens following this week's full-blown, genuine Insanity workout.