Round 6: Day 20: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

It's been a strong finish to Week 3. Yesterday, I didn't particularly feel like riding my bicycle to the office in the morning, nor riding back home after work, but I pushed through (literally), did it, and enjoyed myself. This morning, it took awhile for me to turn over the old heart and get it going, and I even struggled a bit during the Insanity warmup. But by the time the regular workout commenced, I was ready to get at it, had my mind right, and put in a strong effort, completing the entire workout again without having to pause the DVD.

This workout is, at last, becoming a little easier for me to get through. I wouldn't say that I'm crushing it, but I'm reasonably competent at it. I'm going to keep doing the current selection of Insanity workouts through Phase 2, following which I'll re-evaluate my progress and perhaps try some other Insanity workouts (the 50 minute ones) during Phase 3, to make life a little more challenging.

It's been a great Week 3; challenging, to be sure, but really rewarding and satisfying. I'm feeling a little beaten up by this Phase, and I'm really looking forward to easing off a bit (but not too much) during next week's Recovery Week. Right now, I feel like I deserve to recover.

Round 6: Day 9: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

I was really active yesterday and, as a result, wasn't sure how much energy I would have for this workout this morning. The point of all these workouts, of course, is to raise my energy level and train my body into shape for all the other things I want to do in life. The irony would be if working out hard prevented me from doing other activities. So, with that in mind, I tossed aside any feelings of fatigue this morning, jumped out of bed, checked on the baseball scores (although I'm Canadian, and enjoy hockey, baseball is my first love), and hit Insanity. Hard.

This workout has frustrated me so far in that I've never been able to complete it without pausing the DVD. Until today. Usually, I find that I require extra breathing time between the circuit sets. Today, although I was fatigued by the running in plank position at the end of the first circuit, I had sufficient gas left in the tank to do the second circuit. I wouldn't say that everything was pretty, but I did manage to make my way through the workout. Now that I know it's possible (hey, it only took me 7 tries before I met with success!) I'm looking forward to further improvements.

Following the workout, I rode my bicycle to the office. I still don't feel weak-kneed. So far, Week 2 continues to impress.

Round 5: Day 76: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

It was a very tough workout today, for some odd reason. I found the warmup to be really exerting, which is not a good sign with an Insanity workout, as the warmup is just a hint of what's to come. I managed to work my way through the exercises, but I never really felt that my heart was in it. I found the "Hit the Floor" exercise to be tough on my lower back, so part of the exercise felt like I was just going through the motions, rather than really jumping and leaping.

So, the end of Week 11 goes out with a whimper, rather than a bang. It just goes to show that, even with a lot of workouts behind me, there will still be off-days, where your body just doesn't respond the way you'd like it to. It's important to realize that off-days aren't what characterize your workout regimen, as there will be many, many more "on" days, and you shouldn't feel discouraged by one isolated workout. Still, as the Round is wrapping up, I would have liked to have pounded this workout into submission. There will be other opportunities in the future.

I'm looking forward to a good sleep tonight and a rest day tomorrow. That should recharge the batteries for Week 12.

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 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.

Round 5: Day 37: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

Oooohhh, I was so close to completing this workout today without pausing the DVD. I bravely soldiered on until the last 6 minutes, when I thought that my form was being so severely compromised that I was no longer really benefitting from doing the workout. In retrospect, I should have pushed through to the end, but now I'll know better for next time.

This is probably the easiest (if one can say that with any form of sincerity) Insanity workout for me, because of the numerous resistance moves involved: pike presses, walking pushups, table dips with leg raise, and others similar to P90X and various and sundry Tony Horton One on One DVDs. I'm sure that if a participant has had little or no experience in resistance training, these would be much more difficult; however, having been happily resisting for over a year, these portions of the workout are a welcome break from the cardio work. I'll be the first one to admit that cardio is not really my specialty (as if I have one to brag about); that's the driving reason behind my doing the Insanity workouts in the first place. It's part of my philosophy of challenging myself to do what I'm NOT good at doing. On the other hand, I love doing resistance workouts, and am reasonably successful at them. But back to my point, if a participant hadn't been doing any resistance training prior to taking on Insanity, this workout would be tough. On the other hand, I don't really see this amount of resistance leading to any significant muscle gains. On the contrary, I've heard that people who pursue a 60 day period of Insanity tend to lose muscle mass. Hence, my approach to this Round, which is an attempt to balance intensive cardio with equally intensive resistance. There's some method to my madness.

Having said that, I'll admit that I'm pretty wiped as I write this. I'll assign blame to the change in DST last weekend. I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with my conditioning. Nah.

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 13: Insanity: Cardio Power & Resistance

I'm starting to get used to the Insanity warmups. There is a subtle difference between warmups from one workout to another, depending upon the focus of the particular workout, but there is a consistency in the overall approach. I enjoy these warmups, as they get my heart pumping, they're not too strenuous, and they put me in a good frame of mind for the workout of the day.

Today's workout was Cardio Power & Resistance. I specifically scheduled this for Day 6, rather than Day 2, as I was concerned about resistance training three days in a row and wanted to ensure that there was a clean break of cardio interrupting Days 1 and 3. I really needn't have worried, as the resistance component in this workout is really mild compared to P90X. Resistance moves consist of a variety of pushups: pike presses, side to side walking pushups, and standard pushups. By now, pushups are somewhat of a specialty of mine, so those portions of the workout seemed more like rest than stress.

The cardio portions, however, still challenge. As in previous Insanity workouts, I was able to complete more than 20 minutes without pausing, but took a couple of breaks during the final 17 minutes. I paused the DVD when my heart rate hit about 96% of maximum (a man's got to know his limitations!) and when I felt my form was really heading south. I'd rather take a couple of breaks to ensure that my form is correct than push through, trying to be a hero. Incorrect form can lead to injuries. It's just not worth it.

I'm really enjoying the Insanity workouts and am looking forward to improvements. During the day following my Insanity workout, I feel relaxed, energized and limber. This hybrid program is starting to grow on me.

End of Week 2. Looking forward to a little more intensity during Week 3.