Round 5: Day 20: Insanity: Cardio Power & Resistance

The second time through this routine was definitely better than the first. I managed to slightly increase my endurance, and only paused the DVD once during the workout, at about the 12-minute remaining mark.

I like this workout, as there are a limited number of moves (four, actually) between 30 second breaks. Since this is partially a resistance workout, I also find it easier than the other Insanity workouts, due to my background in resistance training from P90X and the One on One series. I find that I have an opportunity to calm my heart rate a bit when doing the various types of pushups, giving me a chance to recover a bit so that I can carry onto the next set of exercises. The walking pushups and the pike presses (Shaun T calls them V-pushups, I believe) are pretty straightforward. All you have to do is grind them out. I'm not watching the TV at that moment, so I can't see whether or not the pushups are done at faster and faster rates of speed.

I'm definitely a fan of this workout.

Great end to Week 3. Looking forward to a recovery week next week.

Round 5: Day 19: Back & Belly

Back and Belly is a fairly recent workout from Tony Horton's One on One series. I've never done it before, but as I'm looking to make improvements in my abdominal area, I felt that including this workout, as well as Butt & Belly, would be worthwhile.


I have to say that I was disappointed with the workout. It's 30 minutes in length, and alternates between pull-ups and abdominal exercises. The abdominal exercises weren't particularly exerting, with the exception of Golden Gate / Up and Down, executed at a rather excruciatingly slow pace. Other than that, the moves were generally from Ab Ripper X and, as I've been trying to get away from that due to overexposure, I wasn't really impressed by the repertoire. I never broke a sweat, and never felt particularly pushed or challenged by this workout.


So far this Round, Day 5 has been difficult to come to terms with. I had initially seen it as a day to pound away at the core, in an effort to improve my abs. So far, it has failed to meet expectations. I'll probably take a look at Butt and Belly, but I'm not sure whether that should have a place in my current workout regimen. I think that there are several modifications worth considering:


Option 1
Revamp the entire workout schedule to include 3 days of Insanity workouts. Insanity, Resistance, Insanity, Yoga, Insanity, Resistance, Rest or Stretch. If Insanity three times a week becomes too much for me, I can always substitute Kenpo Cardio Plus, or P90X Plyometrics for an Insanity workout.


Option 2
Revamp Day 5 to really focus on the core by doing several ab-specific workouts back to back.


Option 3
Alternate between ab workouts and additional resistance workouts.


As it is right now, Day 5 is feeling more like a rest day than a workout day. More intensity on Day 5 is clearly required in order to achieve results.

Round 5: Day 18: Yoga

I had a lousy sleep last night. My day yesterday was überstressful, and when I got home, my chest was still constricted and my heart palpitating. Well, perhaps I exaggerate, but it was really difficult to leave work at the office. Sometimes you have those days where you just can't dismiss the issues you've dealt with and focus on the home front. Yesterday was definitely one of those days. It still affected me as I lay in bed trying to sleep (the whole notion of trying to sleep illustrates perfectly how tightly wound I was) and, frustrated, I stayed up late, trying to drain my mind by watching Olympic curling (go Cheryl Bernard!) on the tele. Eventually, I drifted off, had a restless sleep, and awoke, unrefreshed, having accumulated fewer than 5h of shuteye. Not a good night to let your body recover.

Thank goodness today's workout was Yoga. I staggered to the tele, plunked in Patience, Hummingbird, and commenced. No problem clearing the mind and staying in the present today, as I didn't have much of a mind to clear, due to fatigue. The slow motion moves, and the almost interminable holding of poses was really good for me. I didn't need anything too strenuous, just the rhythmic flow of upward and downward dog, a good hamstring stretch, Warrior 1, 2 and 3, an enhanced shoulder stretch, and I was good to go.

I don't know how long my mind will hold out today, but I'll definitely be looking forward to more rest tonight and will be ready to complete this week's workouts.

Namaste.

Round 5: Day 17: Diamond Delts

It's been a long time since I did this workout, and I'm not quite sure why. My shoulders are definitely one of my weaknesses, so it makes sense that I focus a little more on shoulder workouts to improve that area. I suppose that many of the resistance workouts incorporate some shoulder work into them, along with other body parts, so I've felt that it's important not to neglect the other body parts to focus specifically and exclusively on the shoulders. That's probably a reasonable compromise.

This workout is difficult in that it targets only the deltoids, to the exclusion of the other muscles in the arm. There is a little pump in the biceps and triceps, but that's really just a side benefit from working the shoulders, and not the point of the workout. Since only one body part is primarily worked, the shoulders get fatigued early and often, and I find it necessary to take mini-breaks to allow time for some recovery during the workout.

I like the pace of the workout, and today, I had a good attitude and good intensity. I was able to increase my weight, or repetitions, or both, on most exercises. I have a worksheet for this project, developed by a FaceBook friend, and have been using it to write down my results. The workout consists of 9 exercises, each exercise repeated, for a total of 18 exercises. My FaceBook friend included three additional blanks for 3 bonus exercises of my choosing. I'm a competitive person by nature, and am especially competitive with myself. When I arrived at the bonus moves, Tony was already in his cool-down stretches. Not me. I still had some gas left in the tank and decided to push out some additional pike presses, military presses, and side flys. Following two rounds of bonus moves, I felt sufficiently bagged to join Tony for a brief Shavasana, followed by some cool-down stretches. Needless to say, my shoulders are still burnt out at the time of writing this.

Great workout, and so far, it's been a terrific week. I'm really looking forward to Yoga tomorrow.

Round 5: Day 16: Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

I was hoping for an improvement in cardio durability today, but was disappointed to find that this workout beat me again. I did manage to extend my workout time, prior to pausing the DVD; however, the pause did eventually arrive. The workout went a little better for me, having done it once before, so I was somewhat ready for the various moves. Knowledge, however, does not equal ability. I started to flag on the ski-jump ab move (or whatever it's called). That, followed by the in-and-out ab move is really challenging for me. At least I recognize my weaknesses. Now, I'll have to take steps to address the weakness in order to show some improvement.

I'm enjoying the Insanity workouts. At this rate, I figure it will take me about 6 months to feel really comfortable with the intensity. Actually, I don't know that I'll ever really feel comfortable with the intensity. I suspect that as I improve, I'll be able to work harder and faster, which will make me more fatigued. It's a never-ending vicious cycle of pain and endurance.

I picked up a heart rate monitor recently. The Insanity routines typically push my heart rate into the 90% plus zone, which is a little uncomfortable for me. I'm more uncomfortable with that mentally, rather than physically, but it's nice to have the information. The monitor also has a calorie burning counter on it, the accuracy of which is really unknown, but it's telling me that I'm burning around 630 calories per Insanity workout. I saw on the informercial that if you really push yourself, you can burn up to 1000 calories. That may apply to the longer, Phase 2 workouts, or to people who are capable of doing the workouts without pausing the DVD. At present, I clearly don't fall into that category. On the other hand, I don't really care how much others are burning. I'm only competing with myself and, as an Insane beginner, I'm reasonably content with my progress so far. I will endeavour to push harder next time.

I'm enjoying Shaun T's instruction and I like his approach and personality. It's significantly different from Tony Horton, but I'm enjoying the variety this workout schedule offers.

So far, a great start to Week 3.

Round 5: Day 15: Chest and Back

This was a fantastic workout today. I felt really strong, and, for the first time, I'd say that I crushed it today. I made some notes to myself to increase the number of repetitions for next time. The only disappointment was Decline Pushups. I limited myself to 25 during the first round, expecting to run out of gas. During the second round, I pumped out 25 again, and stopped. I should have kept going. I stopped because again, I was afraid of running out of gas and of not being able to complete the workout. A note to myself will correct that situation the next time I do this workout.

I matched my previous bests in every category, improved in some exercises, and increased my weights during dumbbell exercises. I felt fabulous following the workout, and am really looking forward to doing this workout again. It's definitely one of my favourites.