Round 5: Day 48: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

Further to the end of yesterday's post, I think that the word I was looking for was: sustainable. A good workout program, or a healthy life program, if you will, should be sustainable. That is, it shouldn't just be something you can do when you're in your 20s or 30s; it should be a lifestyle you can sustain into your golden years. It seem obvious to me that Insanity falls outside of that category, and likely, P90X does as well. This isn't to say that each has its place somewhere within your workout regimen, it's just that perhaps you'll have to give up one or the other, or both at some point in your life, when your body can no longer take the stress that these programs impose on it.

Fortunately, I'm not at that point in my life where I have to give up a workout regimen. I'm still at a place where I'm trying to increase the load on my body, to really whip it into shape and to see just how far I can push myself, both physically and mentally. That's why I added Insanity to this Round to begin with.

That said, it did take me some time this morning to mentally prepare myself for today's workout. Even though I'm doing two Insanity workouts per week, it seems as though so much time elapses between workouts that I tend to forget the moves. I now find the warmup enjoyable. I look forward to increasing the intensity level as the warmup moves along and try to push my heart rate really high by the time it's over. I don't find myself huffing and puffing so much during that portion of the workout anymore; it's more like a good, warm feeling all over by the time I take the first 30 second break.

I'm still having some problems sustaining my energy level during the workout, which I guess is to be expected if you're really exerting yourself, and I pause the tape between rounds to allow my heart rate to recover a little bit. That's an improvement over the first few times through the DVD, so there is a small improvement. I don't really want to slow down and pace myself just to make it through the entire video without pausing; I think it's more productive to push harder, raise my heart rate, sweat more, then pause, if necessary. Hopefully, I'll eventually make it through the entire workout employing this approach without pausing. I'm stubborn and persistent, perhaps not a great combination, but it is my character.

That ends Week 7. The time is just flying by. I'm looking forward to Recovery Week.