Round 5: Day 72: Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Today was the last time for this workout during this Round, and I desperately wanted to complete it without pausing the DVD. This has become an ongoing theme for Insanity workouts for me and, although I don't apply this metric to other (non-Insanity workouts), for some reason, I hold myself to a higher (or different) standard for Insanity. These workouts present a certain type of challenge to me, in that I deem myself successful if I can persevere without pausing. I used to feel the same way about Plyometrics and Core Synergistics and felt that once I could do the entire workout without pausing, I had achieved some sort of milestone.

Unfortunately, I didn't achieve that milestone with today's workout, so I am forced to look for other signs of success. Those would be: completing the warmup without being completely exhausted; making it through the first round of circuit training with my lungs intact; almost making it through the second round of circuit training, but still getting hung up on the ski abs and in-and-outs; increased lung capacity; increased leg power; increased awareness of what my body is capable of doing and achieving; increased understanding of where my threshold tolerance lies; increased mental toughness. Success has definitely been incremental with this workout program. Perhaps if I had been doing it on a daily basis (heaven forbid!) I would have seen more tangible improvements. On the other hand, since these workouts have kicked my butt, I'm going to keep them around for the next Round. I'm not giving up on the workouts or on myself; I'm going to keep at it until I can make it through a workout without pausing. That may even take several rounds, but I'm not going to roll over and quit.

I like Shaun T. He doesn't come across on the DVD as personably as Tony Horton does, but his workouts are much tougher than P90X cardio workouts. He just has a different style. Personally, I prefer Tony's style. Tony seems more forgiving and understanding of your weaknesses and failures, whereas Shaun T screams at you to push through your pain. I think I'm more responsive to Tony' sympathetic approach than Shaun T's tough-love approach, but different strokes for different folks. It's all good if a workout encourages muscle confusion and assists in changing your body.