Round 5: Day 69: Insanity: Pure Cardio

I'm feeling a little more tired than usual today, having cycled to the office following this morning's Insanity workout. The workout was great. I managed to complete it without pausing; however, I did take a few seconds out here and there for a minor breather (frog jumps, suicide jacks near the end) but the breaks were of insufficient duration to pause the workout.

I would have to say that this is my favourite Insanity workout, for two reasons: firstly, I can do it without pausing the DVD; secondly, none of the moves repeat. This is not a circuit training workout, where a series of exercises are done, then repeated following a 30 second break. This is 16 minutes of non-stop exercises, each one different. I find the variety of exercises is what keeps me interested in this workout and motivate me to complete it without pause.

There is one exercise which I find really difficult: switch kicks. This consists of kicking one leg forward to waist height, then leaping off the stationary leg and bringing it to waist height, then repeating back and forth. It's non-stop jumping from one leg to the other for a full minute. It's tough on the quads, glutes, and abs all at the same time. It's also the second exercise in the sequence, so it tires me out almost immediately. Fortunately, there are some exercises which I find easier (level 2 drills) so there are some minor opportunities to catch my breath.

Cycling into the office wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. No doubt, the cycling motion uses slightly different muscles from the Insanity workout. It's also beneficial that the route to the office is all downhill. On the other hand, it's all uphill on the way home. At least by then, I'll have recovered from the workout.

End of Week 10. Looking forward to Week 11. Following a day of rest, it's time to Bring It!

Round 5: Day 68: Just Arms

My arms have been a little sore lately, specifically, my right bicep, so I was a little tentative about starting this workout this morning. My concerns vanished with the first exercise, plain and simple bicep curls. There's no warmup prior to jumping right into the first exercise. That's always a bit of a surprise to me, because Tony is usually consistent in advising the viewer to warm up the parts of the body which will be used during the workout. I guess he feels that either no warmup, or a minimal warmup are sufficient when exercising the arms. I don't really subscribe to that theory, so I do some arm stretching prior to starting the workout.

This is a nice, compact, no-nonsense workout, which follows a bicep-forearm-tricep pattern of exercises, the first 9 of which repeat as a circuit, followed by 5 bonus exercises. I like the circuit exercises because there is an opportunity to make adjustments in either weights or repetitions (or both) if the first time through isn't as intense or satisfying as you'd like it to be. For that reason, I keep a workout sheet for this workout (and for all the resistance workouts in the One on One series) because, as in P90X, information is the key to success.

Although this workout is approximately 47 minutes in length, I tend to take additional breaks between exercises when necessary. I used to feel that pausing the workout for some additional recovery time was tantamount to failure; now, I no longer feel that way (except, perhaps, for cardio routines). I want to be able to push myself hard during each exercise and if I feel my arms burning out, it doesn't make sense for me to take on an exercise where I'll only be able to do 6 reps just because I'm not ready to start. I'd rather wait an extra 30 seconds and do 10 reps with good form, so that I derive a greater benefit. I want to work hard, and I also want to be smart about how I go about doing it.

I'm starting to see some nice gains now. My body seems more firm and toned, and I'm seeing greater definition in my shoulders, arms and abs. It is, after all, the middle of Phase 3, so I should be Bringing It. It will be interesting to see how Insanity goes tomorrow, since I've started riding my bicycle to the office. I'm not sure whether there will be a setback or an improvement. Time will tell.

Round 5: Day 67: Yoga

Hey! This is post #300. Where does the time go?

This morning was a study in contrasts: the calmness of yoga, followed by the chaos of riding a bicycle through downtown Toronto traffic. If not for the former, the latter would have been much less tolerable.

This morning's session was Patience "Hummingbird" Yoga. The more I do this workout, the more I enjoy it. Tony is very low-key, giving cues sparingly and sometimes not at all, and his voice is calm and quiet, except for the introduction. I enjoy holding the poses for extended periods of time, which brings the challenge of breathing and an awareness of the body that doesn't come with more frequent movement. There's still ample opportunity to tune out the world and anything on your mind.

There were a couple of moves today which I really enjoyed: warrior 3 with straight front leg, and triangle pose. Warrior 3 with the straight front leg gave me a fantastic stretch extending from my hips to my fingertips. Holding that pose for an extended period of time was terrific. Triangle pose gave me an opportunity to really stretch out my hamstrings, which have felt a little tight lately. At the same time, it opened up my chest and allowed me to stretch out my shoulder as I extended my arm towards the ceiling, my open hand in line with my face. I felt that all the way through the back of my shoulder, and could feel the muscles of my shoulder squeeze the bones in my shoulder.

I also appreciate a minute just holding downward dog and breathing. It's a great calf stretch, exactly what I need before jumping onto the bicycle. As always, yoga comes at the right time of the week and offers a great mental, as well as physical, release.

Namaste.

Round 5: Day 66: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

This workout, while challenging, has never been a favourite of mine. I usually take my time, adding several breaks along the way, to recover a bit between exercises so that my form won't suffer and I'll be better able to focus on the objective of each exercise. The result is that it takes me about 1:20 to complete this workout, which makes for some timing issues if I'm doing the workout first thing in the morning on a weekday, such as today.

This landed on a weekday (instead of Day 1 which, for me, is a Sunday) because I had to make a schedule adjustment a couple of days ago. Such is the flow of life. At least I'm still getting in my workouts.

As with some other resistance workouts, my numbers in this workout have been somewhat static over the past while. This is an indication that I should either increase my weight or repetitions or both. I noticed that I was able to increase my repetitions in a number of exercises today to 12-15, so I made a note to myself (the benefits of writing everything down!) to increase the weight for those exercises. My objective this round is to top out at 10 reps. To achieve this, I'd rather do 8 reps at a higher weight than 12 reps at a lower weight.

Overall, the workout went well. I'm looking forward to next time when I'll make the appropriate adjustments.

Following the workout, I rode my bicycle to the office (first time this year). I had absolutely no fatigue, as though I were in mid-season form. I clearly owe a debt of gratitude to Shaun T and Insanity. The ride home is all uphill. We'll see how enthusiastic I remain and how much gas there is left in the tank.

Round 5: Day 65: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

Today was one of those days where, upon awakening, I just didn't feel like working out. I was tired from gardening(!) activities yesterday, and my quads were a little stiff, probably from all of the bending and squatting I did over the period of several hours out in the garden. When I awoke today, my legs felt like they needed a rest. I thought that this would be a workout where I just tried to get through it. I was almost going to mention my lack of motivation to my wife, but thought twice. Admitting that you don't feel like working out is almost like giving up, and I wasn't close to giving up without at least giving this workout my best shot.

This is a tough workout to do when your legs are sore. This workout has at least as much leg work in it as a typical Insanity workout, and likely, a bit more. There are numerous jumping sequences which, by the third round, are really intense. It's like Dominic going full-out for 30 seconds on Jump Knee Tucks in P90X's Plyometrics, but for a longer duration of time. Some of the kids on the DVD are able to handle it; others, like me, have to take a short break before getting back into it. The key is to get back into it and not to give up.

Fortunately, this workout includes a number of resistance moves (pike presses, walking push-ups, table dips) which are tantamount to a break for me. Otherwise, I'd probably never get through the routine.

As in the other Insanity workouts, I'm sensing a small amount of improvements in terms of endurance. I paused the DVD between circuits, allowed my heart rate to descend to a non-life-threatening number, and then finished off the workout. I'm hoping to complete the workout non-stop prior to the end of this Round. It's always nice to set a goal for yourself. Even if you don't reach that goal, at least you're in the room, doing the workout with intensity, and trying to achieve something positive.

Hopefully, I'll get there. It just takes time and patience.

Round 5: Day 64: Diamond Delts

I made a last minute substitution today, moving Chest, Shoulders and Triceps to Thursday, and worked out using Diamond Delts today instead. Location was the driving issue. I was unable to work out in my usual room today, so the change of venue necessitated a change in workout. This won't be a major issue, unless it takes me longer than normal to get through the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout later this week.

I had good intensity today, possibly because my son was in the room while I worked out, and he kept staring back and forth between me and Tony, comparing our shoulders and arms. Unfortunately, I don't stack up to Tony (in his opinion), but I was given sufficient motivation when he kept calling Tony "buff". The fall of a hero isn't a pretty thing to watch.

The workout went well. My left arm has been able to keep up with my right for a few workouts now, and it's nice to have made that improvement. I'm also lifting consistently heavy weights for the last few workouts, and have made some minor improvements in repetitions. The next time I do this workout, I'll increase the weight on several exercises, as that is the next step I take when I've successfully lifted the same weight for the same number of repetitions over the past few workouts.

I still give myself six extra bonus moves to do after the video workout is over, just to give my shoulders extra work. That in itself is likely indicative that I should be lifting heavier or with higher reps. Perhaps increasing the weight next time will result in cutting back on the extra moves.

It's been a good start to Week 10.