DVD - None.
That's it! I'm done with the first month. I start the "recovery week" tomorrow, and then the last 4 weeks begin the following Monday.
* * *
I'd written another couple of paragraphs following the above statement (and watched it auto save numerous times) when some snafu ate my post.
I've just finished working on a self-evaluation and I'm a little over the introspection for now.
So, the important update. I took my measurements again today. Not much improvement over the unofficial reading I took earlier in the week. From the last official measurement check to now I've lost another inch from my waist, an inch and a half from my hips, another inch from my chest, bringing my overall inches lost since the beginning of Insanity to 11.75. I was hoping for a little more, but I'm not going to dwell on the numbers. The important thing is that I made it through the first 4 weeks! I'm pretty sure the final 4 will see an increased rate of slimming as the workouts get even more crazy, or so I hope.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Day 27
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
+ 3 miles of walking & chores
Today I did the workout earlier in the day than I normally do because I invited friends over for a soup and movie night. For them to come over at 7:00, I had to start the workout well before my usual 6:30. Man, if only I could workout every day at 4:00 pm - I had a lot more energy than I normally do, even after walking 3 miles, grocery shopping, doing laundry and cleaning my apartment for company. Given my higher energy level during the day, you might be wondering, why don't I try working out in the morning before work?
Let's just say I am not an early morning person. I hated getting up for school when I was a teenager, and I actually really loved school. Starting my first year of college, I got used to getting up later in the morning and found I much preferred it. My ideal lifestyle would be up at 9 am and working from 11 - 7. Too bad the rest of that world doesn't like that schedule.
I adapted quite easily to the funky schedule of restaurant life. Maybe because I was younger then. But I've been getting up to be at work by 9:00 am for going on 10 years now and I still haven't adapted to mornings. I'm a firm believer that our bodies have an internal clock. Mine is not set for working 9 - 5, but I struggle through. Even if I could get my ass out of bed early enough to workout before the office, my energy level would not comply. While I am moving and/or engaged to some extent pretty much until I pass out on the sofa or go to bed each night - the flip side is that it is really hard to re-animate me in the morning. I refuse to pop pills to start my day.
But I digress.
Today was my last day with the first month's DVDs. I finished on the same disc I started. Whether it was working out in the afternoon or a return to my pre-ankle-twisting stamina, I was able to get through as much if not more of this workout than before I hurt my ankle. I noted that I was concentrating harder on my form than I had been, and I know from experience that the better your form gets with these exercises, the harder you work and the harder the exercise becomes.
That being said, I confess I am still worried about starting the 50 - 60 minute workouts a week from Monday.
+ 3 miles of walking & chores
Today I did the workout earlier in the day than I normally do because I invited friends over for a soup and movie night. For them to come over at 7:00, I had to start the workout well before my usual 6:30. Man, if only I could workout every day at 4:00 pm - I had a lot more energy than I normally do, even after walking 3 miles, grocery shopping, doing laundry and cleaning my apartment for company. Given my higher energy level during the day, you might be wondering, why don't I try working out in the morning before work?
Let's just say I am not an early morning person. I hated getting up for school when I was a teenager, and I actually really loved school. Starting my first year of college, I got used to getting up later in the morning and found I much preferred it. My ideal lifestyle would be up at 9 am and working from 11 - 7. Too bad the rest of that world doesn't like that schedule.
I adapted quite easily to the funky schedule of restaurant life. Maybe because I was younger then. But I've been getting up to be at work by 9:00 am for going on 10 years now and I still haven't adapted to mornings. I'm a firm believer that our bodies have an internal clock. Mine is not set for working 9 - 5, but I struggle through. Even if I could get my ass out of bed early enough to workout before the office, my energy level would not comply. While I am moving and/or engaged to some extent pretty much until I pass out on the sofa or go to bed each night - the flip side is that it is really hard to re-animate me in the morning. I refuse to pop pills to start my day.
But I digress.
Today was my last day with the first month's DVDs. I finished on the same disc I started. Whether it was working out in the afternoon or a return to my pre-ankle-twisting stamina, I was able to get through as much if not more of this workout than before I hurt my ankle. I noted that I was concentrating harder on my form than I had been, and I know from experience that the better your form gets with these exercises, the harder you work and the harder the exercise becomes.
That being said, I confess I am still worried about starting the 50 - 60 minute workouts a week from Monday.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Day 26
DVD - Pure Cardio
DVD - Cardio Abs
Good warm-up today. I'm still a little perturbed I'm not able to get all the way through the warm-up like I had been doing before the ankle incident. Still, I was able to get through more of the meat of the workout than I have been in about a week. Part of me is actually tempted to go back and repeat one of the weeks (not this week though, because of the skewed rotation of the workouts). I have a fit test coming up next weekend and I don't think I'm going to have made much, if any progress at all. I think this is the kind of thing where you need to have steady, daily improvement. And the fact that I just couldn't give it my all for a week has to have affected my rep capacity, in the same way it's affected my ability to get all through the warm-up.
I'm frustrated with my weight loss progress to date and beating myself up a little bit for it. I was hoping for more progress in the fat loss department than I've made this month, and I feel like the week of taking it easier than the workout demands has stalled that more than would have been true otherwise. With only 5 more weeks to go, I'm not feeling as optimistic that I'll reach my goals as I was at the end of week 2. What makes that even more frustrating is that I am devoting a lot of time to this by following the meal plans (it's time consuming to have to prepare 5 meals a day that aren't pre-packaged) and keeping up with the 6-workout-per-week schedule. I'm feeling like I've given up a lot, for not as much progress as I like.
I'm hoping after the recovery week when I start the 2nd phase the results will speed up a little bit. The workouts will be longer by 10 to 20 minutes depending on which one, but I'm not sure how much of those extra minutes I'll be able to get through. I'd be feeling better about it if I knew I'd been steadily progressing with my ability to get through the shorter workouts, but that hasn't been the case since I hurt my stupid ankle.
I'm trying to remind myself that part of doing Insanity is just to see if I can get through it - it's just that it's such an effort I'd appreciate more in the way of visually verifiable results.
DVD - Cardio Abs
Good warm-up today. I'm still a little perturbed I'm not able to get all the way through the warm-up like I had been doing before the ankle incident. Still, I was able to get through more of the meat of the workout than I have been in about a week. Part of me is actually tempted to go back and repeat one of the weeks (not this week though, because of the skewed rotation of the workouts). I have a fit test coming up next weekend and I don't think I'm going to have made much, if any progress at all. I think this is the kind of thing where you need to have steady, daily improvement. And the fact that I just couldn't give it my all for a week has to have affected my rep capacity, in the same way it's affected my ability to get all through the warm-up.
I'm frustrated with my weight loss progress to date and beating myself up a little bit for it. I was hoping for more progress in the fat loss department than I've made this month, and I feel like the week of taking it easier than the workout demands has stalled that more than would have been true otherwise. With only 5 more weeks to go, I'm not feeling as optimistic that I'll reach my goals as I was at the end of week 2. What makes that even more frustrating is that I am devoting a lot of time to this by following the meal plans (it's time consuming to have to prepare 5 meals a day that aren't pre-packaged) and keeping up with the 6-workout-per-week schedule. I'm feeling like I've given up a lot, for not as much progress as I like.
I'm hoping after the recovery week when I start the 2nd phase the results will speed up a little bit. The workouts will be longer by 10 to 20 minutes depending on which one, but I'm not sure how much of those extra minutes I'll be able to get through. I'd be feeling better about it if I knew I'd been steadily progressing with my ability to get through the shorter workouts, but that hasn't been the case since I hurt my stupid ankle.
I'm trying to remind myself that part of doing Insanity is just to see if I can get through it - it's just that it's such an effort I'd appreciate more in the way of visually verifiable results.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Day 25
DVD - Cardio Recovery
I've been following the weight loss travails of a couple of friends on their blogs, and reading some of the comments. So many people talk about having problems with motivation or just not having the time to work out, and I've been wondering why I haven't had some of the same issues. I know I have more time than some (especially the ones with new families) to actually devote to something like this, though not without some other sacrifices. The time investment is a big deal for a lot of people, espeically busy people with many responsibilities to juggle.
That's why I'm a big advocate of working out at home. It's funny, ever since I first started working out, I've always preferred doing it at home. Part of the reason is that it is less of a time commitment to pop in a DVD when you are already at home. There is no getting to and from the gym, no having to wait for a machine, I can do it whenever I want.
One of the main reasons people dislike working out at home that I hear a lot, particularly with people who have live-in partners or roommates is that they feel uncomfortable demanding the use of the shared living space for something as "selfish" as working out. That, and some degree of self-consciousness (people are more willing to sweat in front of strangers than to huff and puff away in front of the person or people with whom they live).
But, the thing is, all relationships require negotiation and compromise. One person's right to leisure doesn't trump another's right to use the same space for a different activity a few times a week. Your partner or roommate can find something to do to entertain themselves for a little while.
I worked out at home (thanks, rowing machine!) even when I was married and living in a one bedroom apartment. I talked it over with my husband, who in general was a pretty selfish guy who couldn't stand being inconvenienced, and he was happy to let me have the living room for 45 minutes to an hour a few times a week if it was going to make me happier with myself and more healthy. My workout time became sanctioned porn time for him (not that he needed my permission or a special time for his porn habit - I was cool with it). Was I being selfish in relegating him to the bedroom? Maybe. And sure, it would have been better if we'd lived in more than a 1-bedroom apartment and I'd had another place in the house besides the living room to work out. But seriously? If someone can't find something to do other than sit on the sofa staring at the tube for a couple of hours a week - isn't that their problem?
Working out at home in a roommate situation was a little more tough to navigate, especially because a roommate is less invested in another roommate's health and happiness in the same manner as a spouse or partner. You just have to learn to negotiate for your time. This is something that happens anyway with a shared living room and television: you're never always going to be wanting to watch the same things, so you take turns with the space. It's just that instead of clearing your roommate out so you can watch Jersey Shore, you do it so you can pop in your Tae Bo and have at it. And hey, if you have DVR - there's no worry about "missing" a show. They can record it and watch it another time.
It's different, I think, if you share a big studio or loft space. That means your partner or roommate physically has to leave the only space you have, because it is all shared. And let's face it, if you are working out at home, chances are part of the reason is that you don't want to work out in front of other people, so you do want to be alone when you do it. And unless your partner or roommate gets off on watching people workout, you sweating away in the middle of the room isn't all that entertaining. Still, it's worth talking to them about, particularly if you don't like or can't afford the gym and the choice is your living room or nothing at all.
I've been following the weight loss travails of a couple of friends on their blogs, and reading some of the comments. So many people talk about having problems with motivation or just not having the time to work out, and I've been wondering why I haven't had some of the same issues. I know I have more time than some (especially the ones with new families) to actually devote to something like this, though not without some other sacrifices. The time investment is a big deal for a lot of people, espeically busy people with many responsibilities to juggle.
That's why I'm a big advocate of working out at home. It's funny, ever since I first started working out, I've always preferred doing it at home. Part of the reason is that it is less of a time commitment to pop in a DVD when you are already at home. There is no getting to and from the gym, no having to wait for a machine, I can do it whenever I want.
One of the main reasons people dislike working out at home that I hear a lot, particularly with people who have live-in partners or roommates is that they feel uncomfortable demanding the use of the shared living space for something as "selfish" as working out. That, and some degree of self-consciousness (people are more willing to sweat in front of strangers than to huff and puff away in front of the person or people with whom they live).
But, the thing is, all relationships require negotiation and compromise. One person's right to leisure doesn't trump another's right to use the same space for a different activity a few times a week. Your partner or roommate can find something to do to entertain themselves for a little while.
I worked out at home (thanks, rowing machine!) even when I was married and living in a one bedroom apartment. I talked it over with my husband, who in general was a pretty selfish guy who couldn't stand being inconvenienced, and he was happy to let me have the living room for 45 minutes to an hour a few times a week if it was going to make me happier with myself and more healthy. My workout time became sanctioned porn time for him (not that he needed my permission or a special time for his porn habit - I was cool with it). Was I being selfish in relegating him to the bedroom? Maybe. And sure, it would have been better if we'd lived in more than a 1-bedroom apartment and I'd had another place in the house besides the living room to work out. But seriously? If someone can't find something to do other than sit on the sofa staring at the tube for a couple of hours a week - isn't that their problem?
Working out at home in a roommate situation was a little more tough to navigate, especially because a roommate is less invested in another roommate's health and happiness in the same manner as a spouse or partner. You just have to learn to negotiate for your time. This is something that happens anyway with a shared living room and television: you're never always going to be wanting to watch the same things, so you take turns with the space. It's just that instead of clearing your roommate out so you can watch Jersey Shore, you do it so you can pop in your Tae Bo and have at it. And hey, if you have DVR - there's no worry about "missing" a show. They can record it and watch it another time.
It's different, I think, if you share a big studio or loft space. That means your partner or roommate physically has to leave the only space you have, because it is all shared. And let's face it, if you are working out at home, chances are part of the reason is that you don't want to work out in front of other people, so you do want to be alone when you do it. And unless your partner or roommate gets off on watching people workout, you sweating away in the middle of the room isn't all that entertaining. Still, it's worth talking to them about, particularly if you don't like or can't afford the gym and the choice is your living room or nothing at all.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Day 24
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit.
Huzzah! My ankle held up. Took about a week. It still hurt a little toward the end of the workout, but not so much that it had any effect on my ability to do the workout. I was ecstatic. I'd halfway begun to believe maybe I just had weak ankles and I'd reached the critical point with my right ankle. Or maybe my new shoes were the culprit. I often by 7 1/2 because I have wide feet, and the unless shoes are 7W, 7's tend not to fit. The 7 1/2 in the FILAs I bought was both too long and too wide, so I bought 7s. I was starting to worry that my ankles were having trouble with the arch being in a different spot than my old shoes, but when I checked, those were 7's, too. So, not the shoes. Not a general ankle weakness. Just a little strain that took a week to repair itself.
I thought this would be my last night of Plyo, because of the rotation. But it turns out I do Plyo again on Saturday, when I thought I would be doing Cardio Power & Resistance. Turns out, I did Power and Resistance for the last time on Monday. For some reason, this last week, the whole order got skewed. I suspect part of it is that Plyo is a bit longer than Power & Resistance, and the goal is to get you ready for the even longer workouts that come during month two. I'm a little sad though, that I didn't get to "say goodbye" to Resistance & Power by kicking ass all through my last turn with it - although maybe if I had known I would have pushed myself harder than my ankle could sustain that day.
Huzzah! My ankle held up. Took about a week. It still hurt a little toward the end of the workout, but not so much that it had any effect on my ability to do the workout. I was ecstatic. I'd halfway begun to believe maybe I just had weak ankles and I'd reached the critical point with my right ankle. Or maybe my new shoes were the culprit. I often by 7 1/2 because I have wide feet, and the unless shoes are 7W, 7's tend not to fit. The 7 1/2 in the FILAs I bought was both too long and too wide, so I bought 7s. I was starting to worry that my ankles were having trouble with the arch being in a different spot than my old shoes, but when I checked, those were 7's, too. So, not the shoes. Not a general ankle weakness. Just a little strain that took a week to repair itself.
I thought this would be my last night of Plyo, because of the rotation. But it turns out I do Plyo again on Saturday, when I thought I would be doing Cardio Power & Resistance. Turns out, I did Power and Resistance for the last time on Monday. For some reason, this last week, the whole order got skewed. I suspect part of it is that Plyo is a bit longer than Power & Resistance, and the goal is to get you ready for the even longer workouts that come during month two. I'm a little sad though, that I didn't get to "say goodbye" to Resistance & Power by kicking ass all through my last turn with it - although maybe if I had known I would have pushed myself harder than my ankle could sustain that day.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Day 23
DVD - Cardio Power & Resistance
I woke up feeling like ass today. Sinus headache with nausea from the intensity of the pain that led to revisiting my breakfast and calling in sick to the office. A few hours more of sleep and the nausea subsided enough for me to keep down the allergy meds to make the sinus congestion and pain go away as well as eat a little something. Another lengthy nap and I woke up starving with only the merest tinge of sinus discomfort and a whole lot of sneezing. After sneezing my way through a meal, I took another dose of allergy medication, and waited.
By 5:00 pm, I was feeling relatively normal physically, if not mentally. I mean, I'd have to be crazy to even *think* about wanting to workout given my earlier day, right?
Well, is is Insanity after all.
By 6:00 pm I'd talked myself into it. The conversation went something like this:
So I got suited up and went at it. Saner Me kept (crazy)Me from giving the "warm up" my all. Concentrating on how I felt physically as a whole gave me something to focus on other than my ankle. The ankle started to nag at me eventually about half way through the "pure cardio" section of Pure Cardio - that 18 minute strech of 1 minute drills - but not like it had been hurting. I only had to modify the moves slightly. The other modification I made was to monitor my pace rather than try to push through as hard and fast as I could until I hit cardio walls. Shaun stresses "form" over "speed", so that if you can't keep up the cardio pace he demands of you and maintain proper form, you are expected to either slow your pace or take a break. In other words, I tried to stay at aerobic or anaerobic levels rather than in the Red Line Zone .
Thanks to my modifications I made it through without feeling the need to quit, and afterward I felt even better than I had when I'd started - just a little more body-tired and sweaty.
Tomorrow I'm adding a Green Tea extract supplement to my routine. I never know whether to trust these fad herbal things or not, but there seem to be some reputable studies backing up at least some of the claims used to market green tea products, ie: increased energy and a slightly elevated body fat loss rate when combined with diet and exercise (up to 17% more, primarily fat around your core). Some of the other, non-scientifically studied claims include: increased cognitive function, increased metabolism and reduced levels of LDL (the bad cholesterol. ) Even if none of it is scientifically true, perhaps the psychological desire for it to be so will have a positive effect. If I think it's giving me more energy, maybe my brain will fool my body into thinking that is true. There's a lot to be said for thinking "Yes I can!"
I woke up feeling like ass today. Sinus headache with nausea from the intensity of the pain that led to revisiting my breakfast and calling in sick to the office. A few hours more of sleep and the nausea subsided enough for me to keep down the allergy meds to make the sinus congestion and pain go away as well as eat a little something. Another lengthy nap and I woke up starving with only the merest tinge of sinus discomfort and a whole lot of sneezing. After sneezing my way through a meal, I took another dose of allergy medication, and waited.
By 5:00 pm, I was feeling relatively normal physically, if not mentally. I mean, I'd have to be crazy to even *think* about wanting to workout given my earlier day, right?
Well, is is Insanity after all.
By 6:00 pm I'd talked myself into it. The conversation went something like this:
Me: I can do it!
Saner Me: Give it a rest, you didn't feel good today.
Me: But I don't want to throw off my schedule!
Saner Me: You're crazy!
Me: I know!
Marginally Saner Me: Well, I suppose you can try it and if it feels like you can't get through it, stop.
Me: Perfect!
So I got suited up and went at it. Saner Me kept (crazy)Me from giving the "warm up" my all. Concentrating on how I felt physically as a whole gave me something to focus on other than my ankle. The ankle started to nag at me eventually about half way through the "pure cardio" section of Pure Cardio - that 18 minute strech of 1 minute drills - but not like it had been hurting. I only had to modify the moves slightly. The other modification I made was to monitor my pace rather than try to push through as hard and fast as I could until I hit cardio walls. Shaun stresses "form" over "speed", so that if you can't keep up the cardio pace he demands of you and maintain proper form, you are expected to either slow your pace or take a break. In other words, I tried to stay at aerobic or anaerobic levels rather than in the Red Line Zone .
Thanks to my modifications I made it through without feeling the need to quit, and afterward I felt even better than I had when I'd started - just a little more body-tired and sweaty.
Tomorrow I'm adding a Green Tea extract supplement to my routine. I never know whether to trust these fad herbal things or not, but there seem to be some reputable studies backing up at least some of the claims used to market green tea products, ie: increased energy and a slightly elevated body fat loss rate when combined with diet and exercise (up to 17% more, primarily fat around your core). Some of the other, non-scientifically studied claims include: increased cognitive function, increased metabolism and reduced levels of LDL (the bad cholesterol. ) Even if none of it is scientifically true, perhaps the psychological desire for it to be so will have a positive effect. If I think it's giving me more energy, maybe my brain will fool my body into thinking that is true. There's a lot to be said for thinking "Yes I can!"
Monday, January 25, 2010
Day 22
DVD - Pure Cardio
DVD - Cardio Abs
My ankle was able to handle more of the workout tonight, but I still had to baby it which meant that I wasn't at full cardio capacity. It's frustrating to have my progress seemingly stalled owing to an injury I could have avoided if only I'd had another pair of flat shoes, or had been able to telecommute to the office rather than actually commute like I'd wanted given the storm.
What I have to keep in mind is that though I haven't grown my ability to manage the cardio pace I have been working hard and I am experience positive physical changes. I'm not supposed to officially take my body measurements until this coming Sunday at the 4 week mark, but I broke out the tailor's tape today anyway. At just over 3 weeks I've lost just over 2 inches from my waist, about an inch and a half from my hips and good progress on my uppers thighs and upper arms. With most of the weeks' workouts still to come, I anticipate even better progress on Sunday when I take my sanctioned readings.
I can also feel the results, and I don't mean things like "more energy" or "sleeping better", though both of course are true. I mean, when I feel my body, I note a difference. There is less to pinch on the sides of my torso, and good god my quads are getting hard and tight. I think by the end of Insanity you might just be able to see the definition of the muscles in my thighs.
DVD - Cardio Abs
My ankle was able to handle more of the workout tonight, but I still had to baby it which meant that I wasn't at full cardio capacity. It's frustrating to have my progress seemingly stalled owing to an injury I could have avoided if only I'd had another pair of flat shoes, or had been able to telecommute to the office rather than actually commute like I'd wanted given the storm.
What I have to keep in mind is that though I haven't grown my ability to manage the cardio pace I have been working hard and I am experience positive physical changes. I'm not supposed to officially take my body measurements until this coming Sunday at the 4 week mark, but I broke out the tailor's tape today anyway. At just over 3 weeks I've lost just over 2 inches from my waist, about an inch and a half from my hips and good progress on my uppers thighs and upper arms. With most of the weeks' workouts still to come, I anticipate even better progress on Sunday when I take my sanctioned readings.
I can also feel the results, and I don't mean things like "more energy" or "sleeping better", though both of course are true. I mean, when I feel my body, I note a difference. There is less to pinch on the sides of my torso, and good god my quads are getting hard and tight. I think by the end of Insanity you might just be able to see the definition of the muscles in my thighs.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Day 21
DVD - None
That's it for week 3, I have 6 more to go.
Last week seemed to drag. This week didn't have that same unending feeling, thank goodness.
What it did have, though, was ankle pain. I'm a little worried going into next week that I won't be able to push as hard to get myself ready for the 2nd phase. I think I'm a little more worried because I know that I don't go straight from the first set of DVDs to the 2nd - I have this nebulous sounding "recovery week" in between. It isn't recovery as in I don't do any workouts. Quite the contrary. I'm supposed to do Core Cardio & Balance Monday through Sunday of the 5th week. Since I have the "Deluxe" edition of Insanity, I can alternate Core with another DVD called Max Interval Sports Training. I really don't know what to expect from these two workouts. "Max Interval" and "Cardio" suggest they will be ass-kickers. But calling it a "recovery" week makes me think the two workouts will be more like the Cardio Recovery disc, essentially just stretching and yoga.
I suppose I could watch them both to see what to expect, but I've been so far I've been trying not to watch the discs before I do them for the first time, with the notable exception of Cardio Abs.
If the recovery week is stretching and yoga, that makes me worry more about my readiness for the 2nd series of DVDs. If my ankle doesn't improve and/or I am unable to work around it, I will have gone more than 2 weeks without making it through one of the discs of the first set at my max cardio capacity. It also means my max cardio capacity won't have been steadily improving.
Well, FUCK.
I guess I'm just going to have to deal with the ankle and push myself. I'm a third of the way through, and I don't want to stop because my ankle kinda hurts, and with 6 more weeks to go, I'm not eager to pro-long the ordeal. A single girl can only willingly give up most of her opportunity for social interaction for so long without becoming horribly depressed or otherwise just batshit crazy. And by "a girl", I mean me.
On a happier note, I saw a couple of people this weekend who I haven't seen in 2 weeks or more, one of whom is probably more familiar with my body than I am. Both of them commented that they noticed I am getting slimmer, particularly around my core. When I've been working this hard, that's a really nice thing to hear.
That's it for week 3, I have 6 more to go.
Last week seemed to drag. This week didn't have that same unending feeling, thank goodness.
What it did have, though, was ankle pain. I'm a little worried going into next week that I won't be able to push as hard to get myself ready for the 2nd phase. I think I'm a little more worried because I know that I don't go straight from the first set of DVDs to the 2nd - I have this nebulous sounding "recovery week" in between. It isn't recovery as in I don't do any workouts. Quite the contrary. I'm supposed to do Core Cardio & Balance Monday through Sunday of the 5th week. Since I have the "Deluxe" edition of Insanity, I can alternate Core with another DVD called Max Interval Sports Training. I really don't know what to expect from these two workouts. "Max Interval" and "Cardio" suggest they will be ass-kickers. But calling it a "recovery" week makes me think the two workouts will be more like the Cardio Recovery disc, essentially just stretching and yoga.
I suppose I could watch them both to see what to expect, but I've been so far I've been trying not to watch the discs before I do them for the first time, with the notable exception of Cardio Abs.
If the recovery week is stretching and yoga, that makes me worry more about my readiness for the 2nd series of DVDs. If my ankle doesn't improve and/or I am unable to work around it, I will have gone more than 2 weeks without making it through one of the discs of the first set at my max cardio capacity. It also means my max cardio capacity won't have been steadily improving.
Well, FUCK.
I guess I'm just going to have to deal with the ankle and push myself. I'm a third of the way through, and I don't want to stop because my ankle kinda hurts, and with 6 more weeks to go, I'm not eager to pro-long the ordeal. A single girl can only willingly give up most of her opportunity for social interaction for so long without becoming horribly depressed or otherwise just batshit crazy. And by "a girl", I mean me.
On a happier note, I saw a couple of people this weekend who I haven't seen in 2 weeks or more, one of whom is probably more familiar with my body than I am. Both of them commented that they noticed I am getting slimmer, particularly around my core. When I've been working this hard, that's a really nice thing to hear.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Days 19 & 20
Day 19 DVD - Cardio Power & Resistance
Day 20 DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
My ankle is still bothering me, and it affected my ability to do both of these workouts. I pushed through as much as I could, but found that the further into the workout, the harder some specific moves became. The ankle hurts on the inside, above the bone and to the back. The moves that hurt are the ones that involve a quick directional change (like suicides) or pressure on the inner part of the ankle (like football sprints) or jumping from and landing in a squat (like power jumps).
It's not incredibly painful, but I can feel its weakness as I try moves in the families of those I mentioned above. I considered maybe trying to wrap my ankle before the next workout to see if added support would help, but I am worried that might cause me to work it to hard without noticing, to my later detriment. Instead, I think I will continue to make modifcations to the workout so that I am still keeping up the cardio pace. For example, tonight during the power jumps I just did jumping jacks. Still an up and down cardio movement, but without so much pressure on my inner ankle.
Not falling back on my ability with the cardio is important. I'm just about to go into my last week of this first set of DVDs. Next month, the workouts get harder in that they get longer, so I want my endurance to continue to increase. I noticed that as at first I tried to force myself to continue without modification I was struggling more to get through the cardio. Because the cardio is so intense for me still, I think I need to be as close to 100% physically when I start each workout as possible. Any diversion of my focus to some other twinge or ailment makes it harder for me mentally to push myself through the cardio because I rather obviously don't want to hurt myself more.
Day 20 DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
My ankle is still bothering me, and it affected my ability to do both of these workouts. I pushed through as much as I could, but found that the further into the workout, the harder some specific moves became. The ankle hurts on the inside, above the bone and to the back. The moves that hurt are the ones that involve a quick directional change (like suicides) or pressure on the inner part of the ankle (like football sprints) or jumping from and landing in a squat (like power jumps).
It's not incredibly painful, but I can feel its weakness as I try moves in the families of those I mentioned above. I considered maybe trying to wrap my ankle before the next workout to see if added support would help, but I am worried that might cause me to work it to hard without noticing, to my later detriment. Instead, I think I will continue to make modifcations to the workout so that I am still keeping up the cardio pace. For example, tonight during the power jumps I just did jumping jacks. Still an up and down cardio movement, but without so much pressure on my inner ankle.
Not falling back on my ability with the cardio is important. I'm just about to go into my last week of this first set of DVDs. Next month, the workouts get harder in that they get longer, so I want my endurance to continue to increase. I noticed that as at first I tried to force myself to continue without modification I was struggling more to get through the cardio. Because the cardio is so intense for me still, I think I need to be as close to 100% physically when I start each workout as possible. Any diversion of my focus to some other twinge or ailment makes it harder for me mentally to push myself through the cardio because I rather obviously don't want to hurt myself more.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Day 18
DVD - Cardio Recovery
There is not much to say about this workout now that I've done it three times.
I realized earlier today that other than a small helping of pesto pasta the Jamesand a little bit of sugar in my coffee each day (and a couple of bites of tiramisu at a hotel visit) - I haven't had any white flour or refined sugar in almost 3 weeks. It's been all lean protein, whole grains and fruit and veggies for me, baby. Well, and wine.
Between the healthier eating and the workouts, I've been sleeping better, able to get up a little earlier and don't get that late afternoon fatigue I used to get that had me dozing off on the commute home.
I've been thinking about what I want to do when I finish Insanity. My top three choices are:
1) Take up running. The attraction here is that it is essentially free. Once I have the right shoes and some running clothes, that will be the extent of my investment. I will be used to an elevated heart rate for extended periods, so right off the bat I should be able to do a 30 - 40 minute run (I'm hoping). The downside is I can't keep up running during the rainy parts of the year, so I will have to supplement with other things. The other moment of pause is that my biological father was/is a runner. I don't keep in touch with him and in general I would prefer (strongly prefer) to have as little in common with him as possible.
2) Another set of videos. I like Shaun T as an instructor a lot, and am interested in his Hip Hop Abs series. I love to dance, so a workout disguised as dancing would be wonderful! And oh, the abs I could have ...
3)Try a martial art again. Kickboxing was too intense for me when I was pushing 200lbs. But after Insanity, I think I can keep up. So maybe I'll try kickboxing again. Or Krav Maga. Or maybe Capoeira: dancing AND kicking ass.
4) Some combination of all three above.
I'm leaning toward door #4.
There is not much to say about this workout now that I've done it three times.
I realized earlier today that other than a small helping of pesto pasta the Jamesand a little bit of sugar in my coffee each day (and a couple of bites of tiramisu at a hotel visit) - I haven't had any white flour or refined sugar in almost 3 weeks. It's been all lean protein, whole grains and fruit and veggies for me, baby. Well, and wine.
Between the healthier eating and the workouts, I've been sleeping better, able to get up a little earlier and don't get that late afternoon fatigue I used to get that had me dozing off on the commute home.
I've been thinking about what I want to do when I finish Insanity. My top three choices are:
1) Take up running. The attraction here is that it is essentially free. Once I have the right shoes and some running clothes, that will be the extent of my investment. I will be used to an elevated heart rate for extended periods, so right off the bat I should be able to do a 30 - 40 minute run (I'm hoping). The downside is I can't keep up running during the rainy parts of the year, so I will have to supplement with other things. The other moment of pause is that my biological father was/is a runner. I don't keep in touch with him and in general I would prefer (strongly prefer) to have as little in common with him as possible.
2) Another set of videos. I like Shaun T as an instructor a lot, and am interested in his Hip Hop Abs series. I love to dance, so a workout disguised as dancing would be wonderful! And oh, the abs I could have ...
3)Try a martial art again. Kickboxing was too intense for me when I was pushing 200lbs. But after Insanity, I think I can keep up. So maybe I'll try kickboxing again. Or Krav Maga. Or maybe Capoeira: dancing AND kicking ass.
4) Some combination of all three above.
I'm leaning toward door #4.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Day 17
DVD - Pure Cardio
DVD - Cardio Abs
The sequence got a little skewed tonight. For the first two weeks, it went 1) Plyometric Cardio Circuit; 2) Cardio Power & Resistance; 3) Cardio Power (& Abs), with Cardio Recovery and the rest day falling sometimes between that sequence. I did Plyo yesterday, so should have done Power & Resistance today. For the rest of this month, Cardio Power & Cardio Abs will always follow Plyo.
I twisted my ankle slightly today on the walk home from BART. Slippery wet ground & pumps are not the safest combo, but my flat shoes were soaked through this morning when I was outside waiting for a bus in the heaviest part of our most recent storm's deluge. That made some of Pure Cardio difficult. It isn't throbbing or swollen in any way, just a little tender when moving in certain ways, or if I poke at it. I'm hoping the tenderness will be gone by Friday when I do Cardio Power & Resistance again (the yoga and stretching of Cardio Recovery won't tax my ankle much tomorrow).
Luckily, Cardio Abs is done mostly on the floor so there was no additional taxing of my ankle. However, Cardio Abs seemed a lot easier the first time. There are no crunches or sit-ups, but that doesn't make the moves easy.
An example: Sit on the floor in the C-sit position. Place your palms on the floor next to you, so they are in front and to the side of your glutes. Now, lift your legs and draw them into your chest, then extend and lift your straight legs into the air. Do this repeatedly for a minute, never letting your feet touch the ground. And do this after you've the same with each leg on its own, as well as a couple of other ab moves in the C-sit position.
Struggle!
DVD - Cardio Abs
The sequence got a little skewed tonight. For the first two weeks, it went 1) Plyometric Cardio Circuit; 2) Cardio Power & Resistance; 3) Cardio Power (& Abs), with Cardio Recovery and the rest day falling sometimes between that sequence. I did Plyo yesterday, so should have done Power & Resistance today. For the rest of this month, Cardio Power & Cardio Abs will always follow Plyo.
I twisted my ankle slightly today on the walk home from BART. Slippery wet ground & pumps are not the safest combo, but my flat shoes were soaked through this morning when I was outside waiting for a bus in the heaviest part of our most recent storm's deluge. That made some of Pure Cardio difficult. It isn't throbbing or swollen in any way, just a little tender when moving in certain ways, or if I poke at it. I'm hoping the tenderness will be gone by Friday when I do Cardio Power & Resistance again (the yoga and stretching of Cardio Recovery won't tax my ankle much tomorrow).
Luckily, Cardio Abs is done mostly on the floor so there was no additional taxing of my ankle. However, Cardio Abs seemed a lot easier the first time. There are no crunches or sit-ups, but that doesn't make the moves easy.
An example: Sit on the floor in the C-sit position. Place your palms on the floor next to you, so they are in front and to the side of your glutes. Now, lift your legs and draw them into your chest, then extend and lift your straight legs into the air. Do this repeatedly for a minute, never letting your feet touch the ground. And do this after you've the same with each leg on its own, as well as a couple of other ab moves in the C-sit position.
Struggle!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Day 16
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
I noticed a breakthrough this evening. I made it through the first interval circuit set with minimal breaks; one, maybe two per circuit that lasted about 5 seconds each. But when I took the breaks, it tended to be toward the end of an interval circuit, when I knew the 30 second rest break was coming up. An extra 5 or 10 seconds per 2-minute circuit is a lot better than multiple breaks that total more. With any luck, I'll be able to get through all of the first circuit without any extra breaks, just in time for the 2nd month and 2nd set of DVDs.
The second interval circuit set was a little harder to push through than it has been. I'm pretty sure this is because I expended more energy up front by being and staying stronger during the first interval set. This mirrors the crew pretty well: they all fall off at some point during the second set of intervals.
What is interesting to me is that at the same time as I am adapting to the workout, it really isn't getting any easier. I'm just able to get more of everything done, and with better form. The nice thing about Cardio Circuit Training is that your body never completely adapts to the workout, which means you will never plateau as long as you give it all you've got each time. You'll get faster and do more reps in the allotted time, but your ass is still going to be kicked after each workout just as hard as it was the first (albeit with less soreness later). I like that. A lot.
I noticed a breakthrough this evening. I made it through the first interval circuit set with minimal breaks; one, maybe two per circuit that lasted about 5 seconds each. But when I took the breaks, it tended to be toward the end of an interval circuit, when I knew the 30 second rest break was coming up. An extra 5 or 10 seconds per 2-minute circuit is a lot better than multiple breaks that total more. With any luck, I'll be able to get through all of the first circuit without any extra breaks, just in time for the 2nd month and 2nd set of DVDs.
The second interval circuit set was a little harder to push through than it has been. I'm pretty sure this is because I expended more energy up front by being and staying stronger during the first interval set. This mirrors the crew pretty well: they all fall off at some point during the second set of intervals.
What is interesting to me is that at the same time as I am adapting to the workout, it really isn't getting any easier. I'm just able to get more of everything done, and with better form. The nice thing about Cardio Circuit Training is that your body never completely adapts to the workout, which means you will never plateau as long as you give it all you've got each time. You'll get faster and do more reps in the allotted time, but your ass is still going to be kicked after each workout just as hard as it was the first (albeit with less soreness later). I like that. A lot.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day 15 - Fit Test #2
DVD - Fit Test
This is my second Fit Test, taken exactly 2 weeks after I started Insanity.
For my pre-Insanity results on January 3, click here
Below are the results of Fit Test # 2, with the change from the first Fit Test in parantheses.
Switch Kicks 65 (-13)
Power Jacks 62 (+ 7)
Power Knees 116 (+15)
Power Jumps 38 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 7 (+ 2)
Suicide Jumps 18 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 23 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 50 (+ 4)
As you can see, I improved in every category except for the switch kicks, which leads me to believe I counted incorrectly the first time around. Either that or I wasn't doing them with proper form the first time and so was able to do more. I do know that I initially did the math wrong. The Switch Kick requires you to jump from foot to foot with a kick repeatedly, and 1 rep involves kicking both legs. I initially counted 136, then divided that by 2 to get the right number of reps. Only I did the math when I was still wheezing and feeling like I was going to fall over, sans calculator, and my math was wrong. If I did 136 kicks, that's 68 reps, not 78. Even with that miscalculation, I still think I must have counted wrong. It doesn't make sense that it would be the one area where I not only didn't improve, but back-slid.
Some of my improvements may seem miniscule (+2 or +3 reps) but the thing to note is that these improvements are in the moves that were super difficult to begin with, or as in the case of Globe Jumps, multiple moves within 1 rep (so a +2 improvement corresponds to 8 more times launching my body from a squat position and returning to said position a few feet away). One thing I noticed, is that I felt stronger during each exercise and like I was doing a better job of keeping the correct form for each exercise.
The other thing I noticed while I was doing the Fit Test this time around is that Shaun says that the two people in the Fit Test video (Tania & Chris) have already completed 60 days of Insanity by the time this DVD was filmed. That made me happy, because going into it I thought they were at the 2 week mark like I was today and I hadn't improved nearly as much as they did. But knowing they had completed the full course of Insanity was good - I'm pretty well on target to match their improvement.
This is my second Fit Test, taken exactly 2 weeks after I started Insanity.
For my pre-Insanity results on January 3, click here
Below are the results of Fit Test # 2, with the change from the first Fit Test in parantheses.
Switch Kicks 65 (-13)
Power Jacks 62 (+ 7)
Power Knees 116 (+15)
Power Jumps 38 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 7 (+ 2)
Suicide Jumps 18 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 23 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 50 (+ 4)
As you can see, I improved in every category except for the switch kicks, which leads me to believe I counted incorrectly the first time around. Either that or I wasn't doing them with proper form the first time and so was able to do more. I do know that I initially did the math wrong. The Switch Kick requires you to jump from foot to foot with a kick repeatedly, and 1 rep involves kicking both legs. I initially counted 136, then divided that by 2 to get the right number of reps. Only I did the math when I was still wheezing and feeling like I was going to fall over, sans calculator, and my math was wrong. If I did 136 kicks, that's 68 reps, not 78. Even with that miscalculation, I still think I must have counted wrong. It doesn't make sense that it would be the one area where I not only didn't improve, but back-slid.
Some of my improvements may seem miniscule (+2 or +3 reps) but the thing to note is that these improvements are in the moves that were super difficult to begin with, or as in the case of Globe Jumps, multiple moves within 1 rep (so a +2 improvement corresponds to 8 more times launching my body from a squat position and returning to said position a few feet away). One thing I noticed, is that I felt stronger during each exercise and like I was doing a better job of keeping the correct form for each exercise.
The other thing I noticed while I was doing the Fit Test this time around is that Shaun says that the two people in the Fit Test video (Tania & Chris) have already completed 60 days of Insanity by the time this DVD was filmed. That made me happy, because going into it I thought they were at the 2 week mark like I was today and I hadn't improved nearly as much as they did. But knowing they had completed the full course of Insanity was good - I'm pretty well on target to match their improvement.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Day 14
DVD - None
I've made it through the first two weeks, and as scheduled this morning I took my body measurements and input them into a tracking spreadsheet I created. I have no idea how much weight I've lost at this point, but I have confirmation that my body is indeed changing.
It turns out I've lost 1 1/2 inches from my waist, just over an inch from my chest and 1/2 inch from my hips. When you add up the incremental loss in other places, it totals roughly 5 1/2 inches. Not too shabby for 2 weeks! One of my goals is to lose 5 inches from my waist. If I continue at the pace of 1 1/2 inches every 2 weeks, over the course of the 9 weeks I will have lost 6 3/4 inches (9/2*1.5 = 6.75). I'm not going to count my chickens, though. I'd love it if I do that well, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it if I don't.
Tomorrow I do the Fit Test again. We'll see how much endurance I've built up in 2 weeks. The Fit Test is in lieu of one of the other workouts. This is the last time that will be true. For the rest of the program, with the exception of the very last day, I will do the Fit Test prior to one of the other workouts.
For now, I'm off to get stuff done.
I've made it through the first two weeks, and as scheduled this morning I took my body measurements and input them into a tracking spreadsheet I created. I have no idea how much weight I've lost at this point, but I have confirmation that my body is indeed changing.
It turns out I've lost 1 1/2 inches from my waist, just over an inch from my chest and 1/2 inch from my hips. When you add up the incremental loss in other places, it totals roughly 5 1/2 inches. Not too shabby for 2 weeks! One of my goals is to lose 5 inches from my waist. If I continue at the pace of 1 1/2 inches every 2 weeks, over the course of the 9 weeks I will have lost 6 3/4 inches (9/2*1.5 = 6.75). I'm not going to count my chickens, though. I'd love it if I do that well, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it if I don't.
Tomorrow I do the Fit Test again. We'll see how much endurance I've built up in 2 weeks. The Fit Test is in lieu of one of the other workouts. This is the last time that will be true. For the rest of the program, with the exception of the very last day, I will do the Fit Test prior to one of the other workouts.
For now, I'm off to get stuff done.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Day 13
DVD 1 - Pure Cardio (38 min. 15 sec)
DVD 2 - Cardio Abs (16 min. 45 sec)
55 minutes of pure Insanity!
These two workouts were supposed to be on the same DVD. Curious to see what sort of crazy ab workout would be expected of me after Pure Cardio later in the evening I popped the DVD in a quick scan before heading out to do some retail therapy. Unfortunately, the DVD seems to be blank in the place Cardio Abs should be. Oh no! Some people might be happy about the unexpected break. I was disappointed I wouldn't have the added challenge.
I took the DVD out and "cleaned" it, hoping this would clear the problem. But nope. At that point, I remembered that if you have the deluxe edition of Insanity like I do, in month 2 you get to swap Cardio Abs with Insane Abs. I figured I would just do Insane Abs tonight instead. As I went through the DVDs to find Insane Abs to preview, I came to another one called Cardio Abs with no other workout on it. Score! When I first got the set, I wondered why Cardio Abs came on its own as well as attached to another workout. Now I know.
The retail therapy I mentioned above included a stop at the bookstore, Lush cosmetics, lunch & Ross. Sometimes it helps to pamper myself when I've been feeling down for a couple of days. At the bookstore I picked up the first paperback printing of one of my favorite author's newest book (After Dark by Haruki Murakami) and a book by an Indian writer, Manil Suri called The Age of Shiva. At Lush I picked up a 2 bath bombs, 2 bubble bars and a double sized bath melt with various combinations of my favorite smells: jasmine, lavender, honey, rose, citrus. I lunched at Asqew Grill - you can't go too far off the rails with 3 prawns and some veggies on a stick on top of a salad.
Finally, at Ross, I rounded out my athletic wardrobe: a pair of black and fuchsia workout pants with a pink sports bra, a dark grey sports bra with matching pants by Fila and white, black, pink, grey & silver Fila cross-trainers. I had workout clothes, but only 4 sets. The amount of sweat I produce per Insanity DVD is so intense I felt kinda gross wearing a set of clothes twice without washing them, but the time commitment needed for Insanity makes it hard for me to hit the laundromat more than once per week on the weekend so I had to do just that. 2 more sets of workout clothes, and my problem is solved. The great thing about Ross: my entire purchase (including some slippers and hair ties) was $20 less than I would have paid for the Fila pants alone elsewhere. I love Ross.
What a difference the new cross trainers made! Their soles are thicker than on the shoes I already own, and I really felt that during the workout. Much, much better support during the moves requiring me to launch myself into the air and land "softly".
Cardio Abs was great. The first 3 minutes are a warm-up (sprints, jumping jacks and a couple of other up-and-down-from-the-floor moves) followed by going right into the ab workout. You're already warmed up and stretched out from Pure Cardio but Shaun takes you through that brief warm-up anyway. The warm-up was hard. Even though I had the extra break due to taking out one DVD to replace it with another and going through all of the commercial-y stuff at the beginning of the 2nd DVD I still wasn't quite prepared to add that extra bit of high level cardio after just completing a full workout. Nevertheless, I did what I could until knowing eventually I'd be spending the majority of this shorter workout on the floor.
The best thing about this ab workout? No crunches or sit ups. The majority of the workout is done while sitting in the c-sit position (like Shaun T in the picture). The first part is easy, just twisting side to side in this position, then twisting with one leg raised, then the other, then staying centered and alternately bringing each knee up between your arms. Where it gets difficult is when you have to start doing alternating, then simultaneous leg lifts in this position with your palms on the floor by your ass.
You round out Cardio Abs by flipping over and doing several variations of push-ups and/or moves from the plank position. I had started to feel the ab work toward the end of the c-sit moves, but it was obvious I'd taxed them more than I imagined when I got into plank position. It takes a lot of ab and back support to hold yourself in plank position for a sustained amount of time, let alone do any maneuvers.
Most of the ab work is done at a cardio pace, though not in intervals. It was pretty intense doing another 16 minute workout after Pure Cardio, though not as intense as it will be next month when I am doing 55 - 60 minutes of interval cardio.
Tomorrow I rest again. I also take my measurements for the first time (officially, I couldn't keep myself from checking part way through this week) since January 3, the day before I started Insanity. For now, I'm off for a luxuriating soaking of my weary muscles in a fragrant bath.
DVD 2 - Cardio Abs (16 min. 45 sec)
55 minutes of pure Insanity!
These two workouts were supposed to be on the same DVD. Curious to see what sort of crazy ab workout would be expected of me after Pure Cardio later in the evening I popped the DVD in a quick scan before heading out to do some retail therapy. Unfortunately, the DVD seems to be blank in the place Cardio Abs should be. Oh no! Some people might be happy about the unexpected break. I was disappointed I wouldn't have the added challenge.
I took the DVD out and "cleaned" it, hoping this would clear the problem. But nope. At that point, I remembered that if you have the deluxe edition of Insanity like I do, in month 2 you get to swap Cardio Abs with Insane Abs. I figured I would just do Insane Abs tonight instead. As I went through the DVDs to find Insane Abs to preview, I came to another one called Cardio Abs with no other workout on it. Score! When I first got the set, I wondered why Cardio Abs came on its own as well as attached to another workout. Now I know.
The retail therapy I mentioned above included a stop at the bookstore, Lush cosmetics, lunch & Ross. Sometimes it helps to pamper myself when I've been feeling down for a couple of days. At the bookstore I picked up the first paperback printing of one of my favorite author's newest book (After Dark by Haruki Murakami) and a book by an Indian writer, Manil Suri called The Age of Shiva. At Lush I picked up a 2 bath bombs, 2 bubble bars and a double sized bath melt with various combinations of my favorite smells: jasmine, lavender, honey, rose, citrus. I lunched at Asqew Grill - you can't go too far off the rails with 3 prawns and some veggies on a stick on top of a salad.
Finally, at Ross, I rounded out my athletic wardrobe: a pair of black and fuchsia workout pants with a pink sports bra, a dark grey sports bra with matching pants by Fila and white, black, pink, grey & silver Fila cross-trainers. I had workout clothes, but only 4 sets. The amount of sweat I produce per Insanity DVD is so intense I felt kinda gross wearing a set of clothes twice without washing them, but the time commitment needed for Insanity makes it hard for me to hit the laundromat more than once per week on the weekend so I had to do just that. 2 more sets of workout clothes, and my problem is solved. The great thing about Ross: my entire purchase (including some slippers and hair ties) was $20 less than I would have paid for the Fila pants alone elsewhere. I love Ross.
What a difference the new cross trainers made! Their soles are thicker than on the shoes I already own, and I really felt that during the workout. Much, much better support during the moves requiring me to launch myself into the air and land "softly".
Cardio Abs was great. The first 3 minutes are a warm-up (sprints, jumping jacks and a couple of other up-and-down-from-the-floor moves) followed by going right into the ab workout. You're already warmed up and stretched out from Pure Cardio but Shaun takes you through that brief warm-up anyway. The warm-up was hard. Even though I had the extra break due to taking out one DVD to replace it with another and going through all of the commercial-y stuff at the beginning of the 2nd DVD I still wasn't quite prepared to add that extra bit of high level cardio after just completing a full workout. Nevertheless, I did what I could until knowing eventually I'd be spending the majority of this shorter workout on the floor.
The best thing about this ab workout? No crunches or sit ups. The majority of the workout is done while sitting in the c-sit position (like Shaun T in the picture). The first part is easy, just twisting side to side in this position, then twisting with one leg raised, then the other, then staying centered and alternately bringing each knee up between your arms. Where it gets difficult is when you have to start doing alternating, then simultaneous leg lifts in this position with your palms on the floor by your ass.You round out Cardio Abs by flipping over and doing several variations of push-ups and/or moves from the plank position. I had started to feel the ab work toward the end of the c-sit moves, but it was obvious I'd taxed them more than I imagined when I got into plank position. It takes a lot of ab and back support to hold yourself in plank position for a sustained amount of time, let alone do any maneuvers.
Most of the ab work is done at a cardio pace, though not in intervals. It was pretty intense doing another 16 minute workout after Pure Cardio, though not as intense as it will be next month when I am doing 55 - 60 minutes of interval cardio.
Tomorrow I rest again. I also take my measurements for the first time (officially, I couldn't keep myself from checking part way through this week) since January 3, the day before I started Insanity. For now, I'm off for a luxuriating soaking of my weary muscles in a fragrant bath.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 12
DVD - Cardio Power & Resistance
Another hard day for me in terms of motivation. Because I've chosen to do this, it means I have chosen to isolate myself from social interaction during the evenings which I can remedy on the weekends to some extent, except when all of my friends have other things to do. Then, spending a Friday night working out and going into a 3-day weekend with no hope of interaction other than with my cats and any people at stores/shops i visit can provide makes me feel kind of depressed and pathetic. Even though I know I'm doing something to help and improve myself.
What can I say? I am a Gemini. I often hold two contradictory feelings about something, or want two contradictory things. For example: I want to be able to eat everything I want in the quantities I want, but I also don't want to be huge. Or I want to test myself and workout and be totally focused on that, but I also want social interaction. The answer might be communal workout, except that I can't really afford a gym.
So anyway. I made myself do the workout, in spite of not really feeling it. It was obvious I wasn't really feeling it because I couldn't work the will up to push myself as hard as I have while doing this work-out in the past. Conversely, I was able to do more reps of some of the up-and-down-from-the-floor than I ever had. And!
I mastered the Moving Push-up! I still can't do as many as the folks on the screen, but I can do the move. Woohoo!
Tomorrow I go back to Cardio Power, but with a twist. I now have to add Cardio Abs to Cardio Power, which is going to extend the workout by 15-20 minutes. For the rest of this month, I will continue to do these two workouts together. Hopefully close to an hour workout will get me geared up for next month, when all of the workouts are between 50 & 60 minutes.
Another hard day for me in terms of motivation. Because I've chosen to do this, it means I have chosen to isolate myself from social interaction during the evenings which I can remedy on the weekends to some extent, except when all of my friends have other things to do. Then, spending a Friday night working out and going into a 3-day weekend with no hope of interaction other than with my cats and any people at stores/shops i visit can provide makes me feel kind of depressed and pathetic. Even though I know I'm doing something to help and improve myself.
What can I say? I am a Gemini. I often hold two contradictory feelings about something, or want two contradictory things. For example: I want to be able to eat everything I want in the quantities I want, but I also don't want to be huge. Or I want to test myself and workout and be totally focused on that, but I also want social interaction. The answer might be communal workout, except that I can't really afford a gym.
So anyway. I made myself do the workout, in spite of not really feeling it. It was obvious I wasn't really feeling it because I couldn't work the will up to push myself as hard as I have while doing this work-out in the past. Conversely, I was able to do more reps of some of the up-and-down-from-the-floor than I ever had. And!
I mastered the Moving Push-up! I still can't do as many as the folks on the screen, but I can do the move. Woohoo!
Tomorrow I go back to Cardio Power, but with a twist. I now have to add Cardio Abs to Cardio Power, which is going to extend the workout by 15-20 minutes. For the rest of this month, I will continue to do these two workouts together. Hopefully close to an hour workout will get me geared up for next month, when all of the workouts are between 50 & 60 minutes.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 11
DVD - Cardio Recovery
There's not a whole lot to say about the Cardio Recovery days. They aren't a challenge. My body and my will power appreciate this. It's nice to have a break from the Insanity.
It’s not that the workout is easy. It’s not. Some of the moves require balancing on one foot for upwards of a minute, but in a way that pulls a lot on your hamstrings and quads. You are also expected to maintain slightly stressed squat positions which again require a lot of balance and pull on your hamstrings and quads. I must confess I can’t always hold the positions for the duration of the stretch, particularly when moving from one intense hamstring-quad stretch combination to another. I am happy to report, however, that my balance seems to have improved greatly in the last 11 days. Before Insanity, there were moves in Tae Bo that required balance and I struggled with them every time. Today, I can stand on one foot and hold that position for much longer than I ever could with Tae-Bo and I do not have to work extra hard to do so.
One area I’d really like to work on is my flexibility, particularly in my groin and hips, so that I can do something approximating the splits. At the moment, if I try to do the splits from a seated position, I am only able to open my legs wide enough that they form just over a 90 degree angle. If I start from a standing position, I can get the angle between my legs greater than 90 degrees, but not by much. If I try to push beyond this, if feels like I’m going to tear some vital muscle or tendon in my legs, especially in my thighs. I notice my flexibility improves from one end of the cardio videos to the next, but not so much during the Cardio Recovery DVD. From what I understand, the difference is the workout. Once you've warmed up your muscles, they are more inclined to stretch farther.
There's not a whole lot to say about the Cardio Recovery days. They aren't a challenge. My body and my will power appreciate this. It's nice to have a break from the Insanity.
It’s not that the workout is easy. It’s not. Some of the moves require balancing on one foot for upwards of a minute, but in a way that pulls a lot on your hamstrings and quads. You are also expected to maintain slightly stressed squat positions which again require a lot of balance and pull on your hamstrings and quads. I must confess I can’t always hold the positions for the duration of the stretch, particularly when moving from one intense hamstring-quad stretch combination to another. I am happy to report, however, that my balance seems to have improved greatly in the last 11 days. Before Insanity, there were moves in Tae Bo that required balance and I struggled with them every time. Today, I can stand on one foot and hold that position for much longer than I ever could with Tae-Bo and I do not have to work extra hard to do so.
One area I’d really like to work on is my flexibility, particularly in my groin and hips, so that I can do something approximating the splits. At the moment, if I try to do the splits from a seated position, I am only able to open my legs wide enough that they form just over a 90 degree angle. If I start from a standing position, I can get the angle between my legs greater than 90 degrees, but not by much. If I try to push beyond this, if feels like I’m going to tear some vital muscle or tendon in my legs, especially in my thighs. I notice my flexibility improves from one end of the cardio videos to the next, but not so much during the Cardio Recovery DVD. From what I understand, the difference is the workout. Once you've warmed up your muscles, they are more inclined to stretch farther.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Day 10
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Something interesting happened with my motivation today. It was a rough day on a personal level at the office, and in the past when I've had days like this I've found it difficult to workout. It's not so much that I have trouble motivating myself to start. It's that I get derailed by my thoughts part way through. My previous workouts were less of a rotation of DVDs - either a single disc with several 15-minute workouts you can configure how you like to do 30 or 45 minutes, a single disc with a 52 minute workout comprised of short 3 - 5 minute segments, or 2 or 3 discs. I get bored with them after a while. At that point if something is bothering me when I start, my mind will wander and before I know it I'm standing in the middle of the room replaying scenes in my head like I'm working my way backward through a movie to understand what happened, often berating myself for my shortcomings, real or perceived. Sometimes I can do the mental gymnastics to talk myself into and through the workout knowing I'm not in the mood, but often enough that isn't the case.
Today I was able to do the mental gymnastics and channel that blah feeling into energy to better myself in the way I want. The derailing never happened. In fact, once I started, the workout is so hard and requires so much of my focus to push through that I didn't think once about my day. My thoughts were more like a continuous stream of "Move. Move. Breathe. Move. Breathe. Move. Breathe. Holyfuckingshitthisishard. Move. Breathe" Part way through my thoughts weren't being formed in words anymore. "Breathe" turned into thinking of the sound that corresponds to "sharp intake of breath" with breathing followed by the "whew" sound of blowing air out in short spurts. "Ah-whew. Ah-whew. Ah-whew."
One of the things Shaun reminds you to do while doing the workout is to check your heart rate at the end of a max interval. They want to make sure you aren't going to blow out your heart. I hadn't actually done it until tonight. I don't have a heart rate monitor, so I had to make do with the old "take your pulse for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6" method, which is imperfect but will give you a good idea. They say when working out to this workout, your heart will be pumping at 85% of its max capacity, in what is called the "anerobic zone". Depending on level of intensity of movement, the BPM max changes.
For my age, at rest, my heart rate should be below the range of 93 - 95 BPM. During my 10-second measure, I counted 31 beats. 31 X 6 = 186. This puts me in the Red-Line limit for my age and level of exertion at the end of each warm-up and the end of the max interval circuits, which means that even after I stop working out, my body is going to be pulling from my stores of fat to replenish my muscles. For up to 48 hours. Since I don't go 48 hours without a workout on this plan, if the science is right, I'm burning fat pretty constantly. That's awesome! There are other benefits, too: increased cardiovascular health, increased lung function, increased speed.
I'll be checking my body measurements this coming Sunday, so at that point I'll have some idea how this is working for me. I won't be doing a weigh-in (I don't have a scale).
To revisit the food subject of yesterday's blog entry, today I was unable to eat at my 10:30 feeding due to a meeting, and somehow I made it all the way to the 1:30 pm meal time without getting hungry. I didn't incorporate all of he calories from 10:30 to my 1:30 meal, but I did add a little blue cheese to my salad and grabbed an extra piece of fruit. Funny how your stomach acclimates to the amount of food you give it regularly ... just like your body acclimates to your level of activity.
Something interesting happened with my motivation today. It was a rough day on a personal level at the office, and in the past when I've had days like this I've found it difficult to workout. It's not so much that I have trouble motivating myself to start. It's that I get derailed by my thoughts part way through. My previous workouts were less of a rotation of DVDs - either a single disc with several 15-minute workouts you can configure how you like to do 30 or 45 minutes, a single disc with a 52 minute workout comprised of short 3 - 5 minute segments, or 2 or 3 discs. I get bored with them after a while. At that point if something is bothering me when I start, my mind will wander and before I know it I'm standing in the middle of the room replaying scenes in my head like I'm working my way backward through a movie to understand what happened, often berating myself for my shortcomings, real or perceived. Sometimes I can do the mental gymnastics to talk myself into and through the workout knowing I'm not in the mood, but often enough that isn't the case.
Today I was able to do the mental gymnastics and channel that blah feeling into energy to better myself in the way I want. The derailing never happened. In fact, once I started, the workout is so hard and requires so much of my focus to push through that I didn't think once about my day. My thoughts were more like a continuous stream of "Move. Move. Breathe. Move. Breathe. Move. Breathe. Holyfuckingshitthisishard. Move. Breathe" Part way through my thoughts weren't being formed in words anymore. "Breathe" turned into thinking of the sound that corresponds to "sharp intake of breath" with breathing followed by the "whew" sound of blowing air out in short spurts. "Ah-whew. Ah-whew. Ah-whew."
One of the things Shaun reminds you to do while doing the workout is to check your heart rate at the end of a max interval. They want to make sure you aren't going to blow out your heart. I hadn't actually done it until tonight. I don't have a heart rate monitor, so I had to make do with the old "take your pulse for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6" method, which is imperfect but will give you a good idea. They say when working out to this workout, your heart will be pumping at 85% of its max capacity, in what is called the "anerobic zone". Depending on level of intensity of movement, the BPM max changes.
For my age, at rest, my heart rate should be below the range of 93 - 95 BPM. During my 10-second measure, I counted 31 beats. 31 X 6 = 186. This puts me in the Red-Line limit for my age and level of exertion at the end of each warm-up and the end of the max interval circuits, which means that even after I stop working out, my body is going to be pulling from my stores of fat to replenish my muscles. For up to 48 hours. Since I don't go 48 hours without a workout on this plan, if the science is right, I'm burning fat pretty constantly. That's awesome! There are other benefits, too: increased cardiovascular health, increased lung function, increased speed.
I'll be checking my body measurements this coming Sunday, so at that point I'll have some idea how this is working for me. I won't be doing a weigh-in (I don't have a scale).
To revisit the food subject of yesterday's blog entry, today I was unable to eat at my 10:30 feeding due to a meeting, and somehow I made it all the way to the 1:30 pm meal time without getting hungry. I didn't incorporate all of he calories from 10:30 to my 1:30 meal, but I did add a little blue cheese to my salad and grabbed an extra piece of fruit. Funny how your stomach acclimates to the amount of food you give it regularly ... just like your body acclimates to your level of activity.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Day 9
DVD - Pure Cardio
I have no major break throughs with the workout to report, and I figure anyone who is reading this will get tired of "I took fewer breaks this time" reports (however true they might be).
Instead, I will talk a little about food.
The first few days of the diet plan were hard. I was eating regularly, but somehow I felt an underlying hunger all day.I had a couple of extra "snacks" the first couple of days, but they were healthy. When doing insanity, snacks of a certain variety are called "food blocks" and you are supposed to add them in 100 at a time. Things like 1 small banana, or 12 almonds, or 1/2 cup of yogurt with 1 tbsp. of high-fiber cereal, or 1/2 an apple with reduced-fat cheese. When I snacked, I tended not to add the full 100 calories and only did so once per day (mostly because I still wanted to have a glass of wine later). A full apple. A banana. String cheese. By Thursday of the first week, I noticed that slight pang of hunger throughout the day had gone away and I wasn't needing an extras.
Today I went on a site visit to a hotel we are considering using for an upcoming conference at work. As part of the visit, I was treated to lunch in the hotel's breakfast and lunch restaurant (Park Grill in the Financial District). As you might expect, it's hard to stick to 300 calories when dining out. I made the best choices I could and tried to stick to a mixture of lean protein and vegetables: a mixed green salad followed by a Mexican seafood mixed grill with one bay scallop, two large prawns & a 3 to 4 oz piece of salmon served with broccoli and spaghetti squash (I am not sure what was Mexican about it). The food was fucking amazing, and worth every last calorie.
I don't beat myself up about this sort of "slip" when I am dieting. I know I'm never going to lose a pound a day. I'd have to somehow consume a net -3,500 calories a day to do that. Considering my base caloric in-take were I to lay in bed and not move all day is over 1,400 ... do the math. If you figure out how to consume and burn -6,000 calories a day and not keel over and die, let me know. Instead, I consider my caloric restriction as a cumulative weekly total. If I stick to the Insanity meal plan the rest of the week, even if I ate 1,000 calories more than I burned today (which I doubt, since I slightly adjusted the rest of the meals downward), I'm still going to burn roughly 5,000 calories less than I consume. And I also know that a regular but infrequent splurge, for me, will keep me more on track than if I try to give up everything I like for a sustained amount of time because I'm a fairly serious Foodie so it's hard for me to exist in food-as-fuel mode for too long without falling off the wagon, as it were.
The other pertinent thing about my site visit was that it gave me the opportunity to discuss my "boot camp" with a new person, which in turn got me excited about my plan again. Other people sharing my enthusiasm and being impressed with my effort is a nice little jolt of motivation. And I figure, the more people I tell, the more I'm going to feel accountable, like I have to stick to it. I'm doing this for me, ultimately, but I'm someone who sometimes requires a little help and external motivation. To put it bluntly, I don't want to have to explain why I gave up. Hence the blog.
I have no major break throughs with the workout to report, and I figure anyone who is reading this will get tired of "I took fewer breaks this time" reports (however true they might be).
Instead, I will talk a little about food.
The first few days of the diet plan were hard. I was eating regularly, but somehow I felt an underlying hunger all day.I had a couple of extra "snacks" the first couple of days, but they were healthy. When doing insanity, snacks of a certain variety are called "food blocks" and you are supposed to add them in 100 at a time. Things like 1 small banana, or 12 almonds, or 1/2 cup of yogurt with 1 tbsp. of high-fiber cereal, or 1/2 an apple with reduced-fat cheese. When I snacked, I tended not to add the full 100 calories and only did so once per day (mostly because I still wanted to have a glass of wine later). A full apple. A banana. String cheese. By Thursday of the first week, I noticed that slight pang of hunger throughout the day had gone away and I wasn't needing an extras.
Today I went on a site visit to a hotel we are considering using for an upcoming conference at work. As part of the visit, I was treated to lunch in the hotel's breakfast and lunch restaurant (Park Grill in the Financial District). As you might expect, it's hard to stick to 300 calories when dining out. I made the best choices I could and tried to stick to a mixture of lean protein and vegetables: a mixed green salad followed by a Mexican seafood mixed grill with one bay scallop, two large prawns & a 3 to 4 oz piece of salmon served with broccoli and spaghetti squash (I am not sure what was Mexican about it). The food was fucking amazing, and worth every last calorie.
I don't beat myself up about this sort of "slip" when I am dieting. I know I'm never going to lose a pound a day. I'd have to somehow consume a net -3,500 calories a day to do that. Considering my base caloric in-take were I to lay in bed and not move all day is over 1,400 ... do the math. If you figure out how to consume and burn -6,000 calories a day and not keel over and die, let me know. Instead, I consider my caloric restriction as a cumulative weekly total. If I stick to the Insanity meal plan the rest of the week, even if I ate 1,000 calories more than I burned today (which I doubt, since I slightly adjusted the rest of the meals downward), I'm still going to burn roughly 5,000 calories less than I consume. And I also know that a regular but infrequent splurge, for me, will keep me more on track than if I try to give up everything I like for a sustained amount of time because I'm a fairly serious Foodie so it's hard for me to exist in food-as-fuel mode for too long without falling off the wagon, as it were.
The other pertinent thing about my site visit was that it gave me the opportunity to discuss my "boot camp" with a new person, which in turn got me excited about my plan again. Other people sharing my enthusiasm and being impressed with my effort is a nice little jolt of motivation. And I figure, the more people I tell, the more I'm going to feel accountable, like I have to stick to it. I'm doing this for me, ultimately, but I'm someone who sometimes requires a little help and external motivation. To put it bluntly, I don't want to have to explain why I gave up. Hence the blog.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Day 8
DVD - Cardio Power & Resistance
note: Coming up with a new riff on "crazy" for the title is getting cumbersome ... I think I'll stop it, for now.
I had a little motivation problem today. That's a bit of an over-statement. I just wasn't as gung-ho about getting home to do the workout as I was last week. I keep saying it's only 9 weeks (8 now), but today 8 weeks seemed like a long time. I think I psyched myself out a bit reading a review of Insanity first thing this morning. The reviewer gave up 1 1/2 weeks in and stated repeatedly only the people in the best physical shape should be doing this workout. He complained of legs hurting and too much strain on his knees.
Note to self: Don't let other people's limitations become yours. (Side-note to everyone else: I have enough trouble managing my own self-imposed limitations). My legs and knees are holding up so far. Since Friday last week, I notice pain or tightness most first thing in the morning when I get up after being still all night to sleep, and also when I get up after having been seated for a while. But the constant ache the day after the first couple of workouts has subsided. Last week, after Power & Resistance I was waddling around my apartment. Tonight my legs and knees feel no different than before the workout. I don't know if the other reviewer had other problems, but I self-assessed and compared the way I feel to what he said, I realized I could largely dismiss his experience.
There wasn't a huge improvement over the first time I did this workout. I don't really expect huge improvements, but I guess maybe part of me does because I was a little disappointed that there wasn't exponential improvement. Reminder: check expectations. I am however noticing incremental improvement, and I think that's really what I should be expecting right now. Each time I'm getting a little more done and my breaks are getting shorter. That's what happened tonight. I took 2 2 or 3 seconds-long breaks during the warm-up (it is different than the warm-up in Plyo & Pure Cardio), and made it almost all the way through the first 2 intervals of the first circuit before needing a break. I took a couple more during this circuit, but they were shorter than the ones last week.
The 2nd interval circuit went much the same. With the Power Jump (start in a squat, launch yourself straight up, bring your knees as close to your shoulders as you can, return to squat and repeat), I am unable to do more than 10 reps in a row without stopping for a moment. So that's what I do. I still had trouble with the Moving Push-up. I was able to get the move in, but noticed I was bending the leg in whichever direction I was going, and you are supposed to keep it straight. So I modified a bit to stay with the workout: alternating between regular push-ups and Push Up Jacks. Modifying the moves so I can keep good form and keep the cardio pace seems a good idea. I think I'll have to practice the Moving Push-up before I do this workout again, to see if I can get it down when I don't have to do it at a cardio-pace.
After the workout, as I mentioned earlier, my knees were fine. My shoulders hurt a bit from all of the push-up type moves, but my legs held up well. No pain the rest of the evening. That, in my humble opinion, is excellent progress in a week.
note: Coming up with a new riff on "crazy" for the title is getting cumbersome ... I think I'll stop it, for now.
I had a little motivation problem today. That's a bit of an over-statement. I just wasn't as gung-ho about getting home to do the workout as I was last week. I keep saying it's only 9 weeks (8 now), but today 8 weeks seemed like a long time. I think I psyched myself out a bit reading a review of Insanity first thing this morning. The reviewer gave up 1 1/2 weeks in and stated repeatedly only the people in the best physical shape should be doing this workout. He complained of legs hurting and too much strain on his knees.
Note to self: Don't let other people's limitations become yours. (Side-note to everyone else: I have enough trouble managing my own self-imposed limitations). My legs and knees are holding up so far. Since Friday last week, I notice pain or tightness most first thing in the morning when I get up after being still all night to sleep, and also when I get up after having been seated for a while. But the constant ache the day after the first couple of workouts has subsided. Last week, after Power & Resistance I was waddling around my apartment. Tonight my legs and knees feel no different than before the workout. I don't know if the other reviewer had other problems, but I self-assessed and compared the way I feel to what he said, I realized I could largely dismiss his experience.
There wasn't a huge improvement over the first time I did this workout. I don't really expect huge improvements, but I guess maybe part of me does because I was a little disappointed that there wasn't exponential improvement. Reminder: check expectations. I am however noticing incremental improvement, and I think that's really what I should be expecting right now. Each time I'm getting a little more done and my breaks are getting shorter. That's what happened tonight. I took 2 2 or 3 seconds-long breaks during the warm-up (it is different than the warm-up in Plyo & Pure Cardio), and made it almost all the way through the first 2 intervals of the first circuit before needing a break. I took a couple more during this circuit, but they were shorter than the ones last week.
The 2nd interval circuit went much the same. With the Power Jump (start in a squat, launch yourself straight up, bring your knees as close to your shoulders as you can, return to squat and repeat), I am unable to do more than 10 reps in a row without stopping for a moment. So that's what I do. I still had trouble with the Moving Push-up. I was able to get the move in, but noticed I was bending the leg in whichever direction I was going, and you are supposed to keep it straight. So I modified a bit to stay with the workout: alternating between regular push-ups and Push Up Jacks. Modifying the moves so I can keep good form and keep the cardio pace seems a good idea. I think I'll have to practice the Moving Push-up before I do this workout again, to see if I can get it down when I don't have to do it at a cardio-pace.
After the workout, as I mentioned earlier, my knees were fine. My shoulders hurt a bit from all of the push-up type moves, but my legs held up well. No pain the rest of the evening. That, in my humble opinion, is excellent progress in a week.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
And on the 7th Day, I rested
DVD - None
Having a day to off from Insanity was nice, but I wouldn't exactly say I "rested". I packed most of my weekly chores into Sunday (produce shopping, laundry, cleaning) which included about 3 miles worth of walking. Then I cooked food for a potluck I attend with friends on the 2nd Sunday of every month. I tried to keep it healthy: kabobs made of chicken breast and red onion with a lemon-pepper yogurt sauce (used lowfat yogurt).
Having completed Week 1, with 8 more to go I'm pretty sure there is going to come a time when I falter, particularly because in order to do what I am doing, much of the rest of my life has to be put briefly on hold. By the time I get home from work, it's roughly 6:00 pm. It takes me a little while to change into work-out clothes and prep. I'm usually done with the workout by 7:30, collapse for a few moments and take a quick rinse-off shower. Then I start prepping dinner. By now it's somewhere around 9:30 - not exactly a great time to go out and start hooting it up when I've got to be at work the next morning (and have enough sleep to be strong through the next day's workout).
But, it IS only 8 weeks. As I'm writing this, I'm wondering where the hell 2009 went (it seems like I was just finishing up my MPA, but that happened at the end of 2008). Not that I'm unhappy to see 2009 end, because GAH, what a crap year overall (for the world, not necessarily me personally) - but comparatively, 8 weeks is nothin'.
Having a day to off from Insanity was nice, but I wouldn't exactly say I "rested". I packed most of my weekly chores into Sunday (produce shopping, laundry, cleaning) which included about 3 miles worth of walking. Then I cooked food for a potluck I attend with friends on the 2nd Sunday of every month. I tried to keep it healthy: kabobs made of chicken breast and red onion with a lemon-pepper yogurt sauce (used lowfat yogurt).
Having completed Week 1, with 8 more to go I'm pretty sure there is going to come a time when I falter, particularly because in order to do what I am doing, much of the rest of my life has to be put briefly on hold. By the time I get home from work, it's roughly 6:00 pm. It takes me a little while to change into work-out clothes and prep. I'm usually done with the workout by 7:30, collapse for a few moments and take a quick rinse-off shower. Then I start prepping dinner. By now it's somewhere around 9:30 - not exactly a great time to go out and start hooting it up when I've got to be at work the next morning (and have enough sleep to be strong through the next day's workout).
But, it IS only 8 weeks. As I'm writing this, I'm wondering where the hell 2009 went (it seems like I was just finishing up my MPA, but that happened at the end of 2008). Not that I'm unhappy to see 2009 end, because GAH, what a crap year overall (for the world, not necessarily me personally) - but comparatively, 8 weeks is nothin'.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Day 6 - Casa de loco
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Today I went back and repeated the first workout. After today, I'll do this DVD 5 more times. It turns out my memory of the workout was a little off when I reviewed it here. I've been thinking this whole time that there were rest periods between the intervals during the warm-up. There weren't. It was straight through just like Pure Cardio last night. To go from not being able to make it through a 10-minute intense cardio segment without breaks to doing so 2 nights in a row in 3 workouts in the space of 5 days is pretty insane. Thanks Shaun T!
I won't re-hash the rest of the workout: other than inserting non-existent scheduled breaks during the warm-up, my description was accurate.
As I mentioned above, I made it through the entirety of the warm-up without rests. The warm-up is the same as Pure Cardio last night. The variant is Resistance & Plyo. The stretch session is the same in all three and I am noticing a slight increase in my flexibility and balance.
I did better during the interval series - made it through the first 2 intervals of the first circuit and almost to the end of the 3rd before needing an extra break, where I'd needed an extra break during the 1st interval on Day 2. I am still stopping for a few seconds more frequently than the crew, but can notice a gradual improvement.
I started strong during the 1st interval during the 2nd circuit, but was knocked off my game by the heart-burn/indigestion I'd been suffering all day (this happens to me at certain times of the month). The first exercise in the circuit is "Basketball Drill" where you start from a bent-knee position and launch yourself up like you're shooting a free-throw. I'd been jumping up and down during other parts of the workout, but at this point the sourness of my stomach was working upward a little bit and as I started the "Level One Drill" (jumping down to the floor for push-ups, running in a plank position and jumping up repeatedly) I burped and felt a warm and acrid taste rise in my throat.
I considered giving-up; several times earlier I'd thought to myself "I've worked hard and I'm feeling a little funky, maybe this time I'll fast-forward to the cool down. What's a few less minutes? Instead, I ran to the bathroom for some Tums, sat out for 2 minutes and then tried to push through as much of the rest as I could, avoiding any of the serious up-and-down from the floor moves but doing any that were all on the floor, or all upright. It really wasn't serious enough to completely stop, and part of challenging myself and my limits is to try to get through some of these lesser physical obstacles. Don't worry, I know the difference between accommodating a little indigestion and needing to stop because I've seriously strained or otherwise injured something. If it so happens I have another bout, I'll remember to take the Tums early enough before the workout that it won't be a factor.
Since it is the weekend, I didn't want to have to get up for my 7:30am feeding. I was up in time for 10:30 and had some coffee (I haven't given up coffee), but didn't get around to "breakfast" until closer to 1:00 pm when I had 1-550 calorie meal consisting of a 2 egg, 1 egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach and mozzarella cheese, 2 veggie sausage links and an english muffin. For a late afternoon snack I had half a peanut butter sandwich and a small banana (about 250 calories). Dinner was a small piece of steak (4 oz before cooking), a good-sized broccoli crown steamed and tossed with 1 oz. of goat cheese and half a medium-sized red potato, baked and topped with 1. tbsp light sour cream (about 600 calories). Today felt like splurging, even though calorie-wise I consumed slightly less than on my 5 small meals days.
And so that's the first week of Insanity. On Sundays I rest.
Today I went back and repeated the first workout. After today, I'll do this DVD 5 more times. It turns out my memory of the workout was a little off when I reviewed it here. I've been thinking this whole time that there were rest periods between the intervals during the warm-up. There weren't. It was straight through just like Pure Cardio last night. To go from not being able to make it through a 10-minute intense cardio segment without breaks to doing so 2 nights in a row in 3 workouts in the space of 5 days is pretty insane. Thanks Shaun T!
I won't re-hash the rest of the workout: other than inserting non-existent scheduled breaks during the warm-up, my description was accurate.
As I mentioned above, I made it through the entirety of the warm-up without rests. The warm-up is the same as Pure Cardio last night. The variant is Resistance & Plyo. The stretch session is the same in all three and I am noticing a slight increase in my flexibility and balance.
I did better during the interval series - made it through the first 2 intervals of the first circuit and almost to the end of the 3rd before needing an extra break, where I'd needed an extra break during the 1st interval on Day 2. I am still stopping for a few seconds more frequently than the crew, but can notice a gradual improvement.
I started strong during the 1st interval during the 2nd circuit, but was knocked off my game by the heart-burn/indigestion I'd been suffering all day (this happens to me at certain times of the month). The first exercise in the circuit is "Basketball Drill" where you start from a bent-knee position and launch yourself up like you're shooting a free-throw. I'd been jumping up and down during other parts of the workout, but at this point the sourness of my stomach was working upward a little bit and as I started the "Level One Drill" (jumping down to the floor for push-ups, running in a plank position and jumping up repeatedly) I burped and felt a warm and acrid taste rise in my throat.
I considered giving-up; several times earlier I'd thought to myself "I've worked hard and I'm feeling a little funky, maybe this time I'll fast-forward to the cool down. What's a few less minutes? Instead, I ran to the bathroom for some Tums, sat out for 2 minutes and then tried to push through as much of the rest as I could, avoiding any of the serious up-and-down from the floor moves but doing any that were all on the floor, or all upright. It really wasn't serious enough to completely stop, and part of challenging myself and my limits is to try to get through some of these lesser physical obstacles. Don't worry, I know the difference between accommodating a little indigestion and needing to stop because I've seriously strained or otherwise injured something. If it so happens I have another bout, I'll remember to take the Tums early enough before the workout that it won't be a factor.
Since it is the weekend, I didn't want to have to get up for my 7:30am feeding. I was up in time for 10:30 and had some coffee (I haven't given up coffee), but didn't get around to "breakfast" until closer to 1:00 pm when I had 1-550 calorie meal consisting of a 2 egg, 1 egg white omelet with mushrooms, spinach and mozzarella cheese, 2 veggie sausage links and an english muffin. For a late afternoon snack I had half a peanut butter sandwich and a small banana (about 250 calories). Dinner was a small piece of steak (4 oz before cooking), a good-sized broccoli crown steamed and tossed with 1 oz. of goat cheese and half a medium-sized red potato, baked and topped with 1. tbsp light sour cream (about 600 calories). Today felt like splurging, even though calorie-wise I consumed slightly less than on my 5 small meals days.
And so that's the first week of Insanity. On Sundays I rest.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Day 5 - Almost certifiable
DVD - Pure Cardio
No rest!
As it turns out, "no rest" meant something a little different than I thought, which was that I would be constantly admonished to work harder and keep going. I'm working as hard as I can without hurting myself and I don't need that kind of de-motivation. I've seen Full Metal Jacket too many times: I think calling it my "personal boot camp" has me half-expecting Shaun at some point to turn into Gunnery Sgt. Hartman and scream "Move Maggot!" from the TV. But this isn't the military and though it's called "Insanity", the Instructor still has to be likable.
Shaun is pretty cool about taking breaks. In fact, if your form suffers because of the speed or if it is clear you are hitting a personal wall, he tells you to stop and rest and go get some water but come right back into it. He says the same thing to his crew as he walks around motivating them. He'll look directly into the camera and say "Do what you can do. You'll get there"
So I did what I could do and tonight for the first time I made it all the way through the warm up without stopping for a few extra seconds occasionally between the scheduled rest periods between intervals. In Plyo, I was in the 2nd set before I needed an extra break. In Power & Resistance I was in the 3rd set. Because it was "no rest" tonight, there were no 30-second rest/water breaks between the warm-up intervals. Just straight through. And I made it all the way through, keeping up with the crew!
The typical stretch followed, but toward the end of the sequence, Shaun actually says "I'm nervous about what's coming up". Twice.
He's nervous?
Holy CRAP! Don't scare me like that!
I suspect that's the point, though. If they psyche us out a little about how hard it is going to be, we'll feel more accomplished when we get through it and it IS hard, but not as scary-hard (read: impossible) as they seemed to suggest. At least, that's how I feel.
This DVD was different from both Plyo and Cardio Power & Resistance. The main portion of the workout didn't contain any intervals. I was worried it would, and that it would be like the warm-up with no rest but an ever-increasing pace through successive intervals. But it was more like the Fit Test, a series of exercises, each discrete from the rest, done for a minute during which you do as many reps as you can. There were brief rests between each exercise, but because there were no intervals, there was no need for the 30-second rest between them. So, "no rest" didn't really mean "no rest", but "no intervals". Pure Cardio. No new moves here, we simply revisited moves we'd in Plyo and/or Power & Resistance.
Coming off the no-rest warm-up during which I really didn't rest, pushing myself through the main segment was tough, even after the cooling off during the stretch. I started strong through the first two exercises and then we got to one of the exercises that has you launching yourself off the floor and returning to a squat at a cardio pace. I did maybe 4 reps and then I just couldn't.
At that moment, I glanced at the TV, and Chris, the guy from the Fit Test whose initial numbers were sometimes below mine, was also coming to a stop. As was another guy behind him. Wow! These people are fitness instructors who having been doing Insantiy for over 2 weeks at the point they were videoed, and I'm keeping up with some of them!
I'm not going to lie, the next 12 minutes were a struggle. I was struggling, the crew was struggling, even Shaun was talking about how he was struggling. "This is so hard I'm forgetting the names of my moves," he said at one point. I couldn't keep up with the Pure Cardio pace without taking rests. Thank God Shaun kept telling me and his crew to do so. But for each new exercise, I would start off doing 4 or 5 reps, hit a wall, stop, pant, get water, and do 4 or 5 more. Repeat for one minute. Given the reaction of the crew who've been doing it longer, I think it's going to take me a while before I can make it more solidly through.
At this point, I have now been through all of the DVDs I will do for the first month, with the exception of Cardio Abs, which I will do for the first time the next time I do Pure Cardio. They are on the same DVD. Pure Cardio is about 38 minutes. Cardio Abs is supposed to be 20. For the rest of Month 1, I will do both of these workouts together. Tomorrow I go back to Plyo.
No rest!
As it turns out, "no rest" meant something a little different than I thought, which was that I would be constantly admonished to work harder and keep going. I'm working as hard as I can without hurting myself and I don't need that kind of de-motivation. I've seen Full Metal Jacket too many times: I think calling it my "personal boot camp" has me half-expecting Shaun at some point to turn into Gunnery Sgt. Hartman and scream "Move Maggot!" from the TV. But this isn't the military and though it's called "Insanity", the Instructor still has to be likable.
Shaun is pretty cool about taking breaks. In fact, if your form suffers because of the speed or if it is clear you are hitting a personal wall, he tells you to stop and rest and go get some water but come right back into it. He says the same thing to his crew as he walks around motivating them. He'll look directly into the camera and say "Do what you can do. You'll get there"
So I did what I could do and tonight for the first time I made it all the way through the warm up without stopping for a few extra seconds occasionally between the scheduled rest periods between intervals. In Plyo, I was in the 2nd set before I needed an extra break. In Power & Resistance I was in the 3rd set. Because it was "no rest" tonight, there were no 30-second rest/water breaks between the warm-up intervals. Just straight through. And I made it all the way through, keeping up with the crew!
The typical stretch followed, but toward the end of the sequence, Shaun actually says "I'm nervous about what's coming up". Twice.
He's nervous?
Holy CRAP! Don't scare me like that!
I suspect that's the point, though. If they psyche us out a little about how hard it is going to be, we'll feel more accomplished when we get through it and it IS hard, but not as scary-hard (read: impossible) as they seemed to suggest. At least, that's how I feel.
This DVD was different from both Plyo and Cardio Power & Resistance. The main portion of the workout didn't contain any intervals. I was worried it would, and that it would be like the warm-up with no rest but an ever-increasing pace through successive intervals. But it was more like the Fit Test, a series of exercises, each discrete from the rest, done for a minute during which you do as many reps as you can. There were brief rests between each exercise, but because there were no intervals, there was no need for the 30-second rest between them. So, "no rest" didn't really mean "no rest", but "no intervals". Pure Cardio. No new moves here, we simply revisited moves we'd in Plyo and/or Power & Resistance.
Coming off the no-rest warm-up during which I really didn't rest, pushing myself through the main segment was tough, even after the cooling off during the stretch. I started strong through the first two exercises and then we got to one of the exercises that has you launching yourself off the floor and returning to a squat at a cardio pace. I did maybe 4 reps and then I just couldn't.
At that moment, I glanced at the TV, and Chris, the guy from the Fit Test whose initial numbers were sometimes below mine, was also coming to a stop. As was another guy behind him. Wow! These people are fitness instructors who having been doing Insantiy for over 2 weeks at the point they were videoed, and I'm keeping up with some of them!
I'm not going to lie, the next 12 minutes were a struggle. I was struggling, the crew was struggling, even Shaun was talking about how he was struggling. "This is so hard I'm forgetting the names of my moves," he said at one point. I couldn't keep up with the Pure Cardio pace without taking rests. Thank God Shaun kept telling me and his crew to do so. But for each new exercise, I would start off doing 4 or 5 reps, hit a wall, stop, pant, get water, and do 4 or 5 more. Repeat for one minute. Given the reaction of the crew who've been doing it longer, I think it's going to take me a while before I can make it more solidly through.
At this point, I have now been through all of the DVDs I will do for the first month, with the exception of Cardio Abs, which I will do for the first time the next time I do Pure Cardio. They are on the same DVD. Pure Cardio is about 38 minutes. Cardio Abs is supposed to be 20. For the rest of Month 1, I will do both of these workouts together. Tomorrow I go back to Plyo.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 4 - An Unexpected Break
DVD - Cardio Recovery
The welcome insert says "Don't get your hopes up - it isn't the recovery you're expecting. But it should help you prepare your body and muscles for more Insanity"
They were half right. It wasn't what I was expecting, but "hopes"? I wasn't exactly jumping with joy over what I was expecting.
I was expecting it would be a toned down cardio workout - or, because it's Insanity, something crazy. Instead it was a bunch of stretching, slow resistance moves, and even some yoga poses. This DVD is designed to stretch the whole body with extra focus on hips, quads, hamstrings, groin and arms/shoulders. No warm up or cool down, just a methodical working of the body.
My favorite new move was primarily for the glutes but also works your abs, quads & arms/shoulders. You start with your hands and knees on the floor in bench position. Your hands on the ground should be under your shoulders. Then raise your knees 5 or 6 inches from the ground, so you are balancing on your toes but putting most of your weight on your arms. Now extend a leg backward so that your leg and back are in a straight line and pulse the leg 8 times. Repeat with the other leg. Then you do it again but with 16 pulses for each leg.
I was sore today before the stretch session, but not as sore as I thought I would be last night when I was walking like a duck and it also felt like I was less sore than I'd been when I woke up the morning after Plyo. Now that I'm all stretched out, I'm feeling even better. I can skip the soak in the tub.
There really isn't much else to say. The workout was pretty straight-forward and not a challenge for me. I'll do this one once a week, every Thursday. With the rest day on Sunday, that means I'll never have more than 3 consecutive nights of intense cardio every week.
Tomorrow I get to do Pure Cardio - "intense and extreme cardio all the way - no rest!"
Oh JOY!
I think maybe Shaun is a sadist: tease me with an easy one before kicking my ass harder than ever.
Who wants to be my lifeline in case I need someone to come scrape me off the floor?
The welcome insert says "Don't get your hopes up - it isn't the recovery you're expecting. But it should help you prepare your body and muscles for more Insanity"
They were half right. It wasn't what I was expecting, but "hopes"? I wasn't exactly jumping with joy over what I was expecting.
I was expecting it would be a toned down cardio workout - or, because it's Insanity, something crazy. Instead it was a bunch of stretching, slow resistance moves, and even some yoga poses. This DVD is designed to stretch the whole body with extra focus on hips, quads, hamstrings, groin and arms/shoulders. No warm up or cool down, just a methodical working of the body.
My favorite new move was primarily for the glutes but also works your abs, quads & arms/shoulders. You start with your hands and knees on the floor in bench position. Your hands on the ground should be under your shoulders. Then raise your knees 5 or 6 inches from the ground, so you are balancing on your toes but putting most of your weight on your arms. Now extend a leg backward so that your leg and back are in a straight line and pulse the leg 8 times. Repeat with the other leg. Then you do it again but with 16 pulses for each leg.
I was sore today before the stretch session, but not as sore as I thought I would be last night when I was walking like a duck and it also felt like I was less sore than I'd been when I woke up the morning after Plyo. Now that I'm all stretched out, I'm feeling even better. I can skip the soak in the tub.
There really isn't much else to say. The workout was pretty straight-forward and not a challenge for me. I'll do this one once a week, every Thursday. With the rest day on Sunday, that means I'll never have more than 3 consecutive nights of intense cardio every week.
Tomorrow I get to do Pure Cardio - "intense and extreme cardio all the way - no rest!"
Oh JOY!
I think maybe Shaun is a sadist: tease me with an easy one before kicking my ass harder than ever.
Who wants to be my lifeline in case I need someone to come scrape me off the floor?
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Day 3 - A glimpse of sanity
DVD - Cardio Power & Resistance
Oh thank God.
I know my endurance can't have increased much in one day, so I have to assume this workout was a little easier than the Plyometric Cardio Circuit. And by "easier" I mean I needed to take fewer, and shorter, breaks.
Right before starting, I adjusted the laces on my cross trainers so I could tie them tighter. Bad move. It changed the position of the arch support enough that about a minute into the DVD, my right foot began to feel as though it were in the throes of a charlie horse cramp (it wasn't). I had to stop and re-adjust. Ok, back to it. And no, I didn't start it over. I'm smarter than that. I knew what was coming.
The workout is structured the same was as the Plyo Circuit. 10 1/2 minute warm up, consisting of the following circuit: Jog, Power Jacks, Log Jump, 1-2-3 Heismann, Butt Kicks, High Knees and Vertical Jump. I made it through the first two reps of the warm-up pretty well. The third was tough and I took a couple of extra seconds-long rest breaks. Better than last night. Then the same stretch session as the Plyo DVD. Tonight, the warm-up and stretch portion were 20 minutes - half the DVD.
The first set of intervals were a combination of moves to work the legs and moves to work the upper body, always employing your core, done at a cardio pace. Power jumps & squat kicks (legs), and 2 different riffs on push-ups.
After the first set, there was an "extra move". I dare you to try these and see how many reps you can do. Start in a V position with your palms flat on the floor a little more than shoulder width apart and your feet behind you so that you are on your toes. Now bring your knees down so you are crouching and they are between your arms. Keep only your toes on the foor. Now raise and lower yourself with your arms like you would if you are doing a push-up. One of the push-ups we'd done earlier also started with a similar V position, but this time our hands were turned in toward each other and we raised and lowered from that position.
The second interval set featured more moves to alternately work the legs and upper body, but they were a little more complex to execute. For some reason, I couldn't get the hang of the Moving Push-up, where you move your body sideways while doing a push-up. It sounds easy, but I couldn't figure it out. I'll watch it in slow motion so I can see what was going on, but I couldn't do that mid-workout. So I just did regular push-ups.
With just over 3 minutes left to go, Shaun takes it back down with a shortened version of the stretch you did earlier. In order to do the cool down, most of the crew had to peel themselves off the floor.
As I've been writing this, I've realized why this workout seemed easier for me to get through with fewer rest periods. Power and resistance were the focus. I was moving at a cardio pace, but the nature of the moves was such that you couldn't do them as rapidly, even at your fastest, as the more cardio focused moves in Plyo. I've always had a fair amount of strength in both my arms and legs and some of these moves were similar to Tae-bo and other workout series I've done. Don't get me wrong, some of these moves really tested my strength and I would often reach my limit with the cardio-level before the end of the interval. I was happy, though, that whenever this happened it seemed like Shaun would magically say "ten more seconds" and I would haul my ass back up for the last 5-4-3-2-1. I don't miss the counting you get with Tae-bo in general, but having those last few moments counted down really helps me for some reason. I tell myself "it's only 5 more. You can take 5 more."
My calves and outer thighs were sore today, as were my shoulders, both back and front. Not unbearably sore. No where near as sore as the first time I did kickboxing, after which I literally could not get up from the floor I'd sat down on the next afternoon. Not sore enough to make tonight's workout impossible. I'm not so sure about tomorrow. My calves hurt, and that is saying something. When I say "hurt" I mean I am walking like a duck around my aparment tonight. I can't remember any other workout that made calves hurt like this. I wonder what they'll look like 60 days from now?
Oh thank God.
I know my endurance can't have increased much in one day, so I have to assume this workout was a little easier than the Plyometric Cardio Circuit. And by "easier" I mean I needed to take fewer, and shorter, breaks.
Right before starting, I adjusted the laces on my cross trainers so I could tie them tighter. Bad move. It changed the position of the arch support enough that about a minute into the DVD, my right foot began to feel as though it were in the throes of a charlie horse cramp (it wasn't). I had to stop and re-adjust. Ok, back to it. And no, I didn't start it over. I'm smarter than that. I knew what was coming.
The workout is structured the same was as the Plyo Circuit. 10 1/2 minute warm up, consisting of the following circuit: Jog, Power Jacks, Log Jump, 1-2-3 Heismann, Butt Kicks, High Knees and Vertical Jump. I made it through the first two reps of the warm-up pretty well. The third was tough and I took a couple of extra seconds-long rest breaks. Better than last night. Then the same stretch session as the Plyo DVD. Tonight, the warm-up and stretch portion were 20 minutes - half the DVD.
The first set of intervals were a combination of moves to work the legs and moves to work the upper body, always employing your core, done at a cardio pace. Power jumps & squat kicks (legs), and 2 different riffs on push-ups.
After the first set, there was an "extra move". I dare you to try these and see how many reps you can do. Start in a V position with your palms flat on the floor a little more than shoulder width apart and your feet behind you so that you are on your toes. Now bring your knees down so you are crouching and they are between your arms. Keep only your toes on the foor. Now raise and lower yourself with your arms like you would if you are doing a push-up. One of the push-ups we'd done earlier also started with a similar V position, but this time our hands were turned in toward each other and we raised and lowered from that position.
The second interval set featured more moves to alternately work the legs and upper body, but they were a little more complex to execute. For some reason, I couldn't get the hang of the Moving Push-up, where you move your body sideways while doing a push-up. It sounds easy, but I couldn't figure it out. I'll watch it in slow motion so I can see what was going on, but I couldn't do that mid-workout. So I just did regular push-ups.
With just over 3 minutes left to go, Shaun takes it back down with a shortened version of the stretch you did earlier. In order to do the cool down, most of the crew had to peel themselves off the floor.
As I've been writing this, I've realized why this workout seemed easier for me to get through with fewer rest periods. Power and resistance were the focus. I was moving at a cardio pace, but the nature of the moves was such that you couldn't do them as rapidly, even at your fastest, as the more cardio focused moves in Plyo. I've always had a fair amount of strength in both my arms and legs and some of these moves were similar to Tae-bo and other workout series I've done. Don't get me wrong, some of these moves really tested my strength and I would often reach my limit with the cardio-level before the end of the interval. I was happy, though, that whenever this happened it seemed like Shaun would magically say "ten more seconds" and I would haul my ass back up for the last 5-4-3-2-1. I don't miss the counting you get with Tae-bo in general, but having those last few moments counted down really helps me for some reason. I tell myself "it's only 5 more. You can take 5 more."
My calves and outer thighs were sore today, as were my shoulders, both back and front. Not unbearably sore. No where near as sore as the first time I did kickboxing, after which I literally could not get up from the floor I'd sat down on the next afternoon. Not sore enough to make tonight's workout impossible. I'm not so sure about tomorrow. My calves hurt, and that is saying something. When I say "hurt" I mean I am walking like a duck around my aparment tonight. I can't remember any other workout that made calves hurt like this. I wonder what they'll look like 60 days from now?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Day 2 - The Insanity Begins
DVD - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Wow. They weren't kidding. It IS hard.
It starts with a warm-up. A warm-up on steroids. 10 1/2 minutes, 7 exercises, each for 30 to 60 seconds. Jumping Jacks. Heismanns. Heismanns with steps in between. Mummy Kicks. And more. Those first 3 minutes were the longest three minutes of my life! Then a water break (30 sec). Then another set of the same 7 exercises, only more, and faster, in the same time frame. Then water again. Then a final set, more and faster still. I made it all the way through the first set of reps no problem. The 2nd was a struggle. By the third, I was having to stop for water. I chugged a little too fast and started feeling a bit nauseous.
Remember, that was just the warm-up.
Luckily, the warm-up is followed by a 7-minute stretch session where Shaun takes it down a notch or 50. By the end of the stretch, the nausea had subsided but I was covered in a not-so-fine sheen of sweat.
Warm-up plus stretch, and 18 of the 40 minutes are up! Only 22 more to go. 22 more of mostly "Max Interval Training". These are like the first 10 1/2, but with harder exercises and a lot more getting up and down from the floor. Example: Stand up. Now jump to the floor and get into plank position. Do 4 push ups. Then jump up again. Repeat to the point of failure as many times as you can in 60 seconds. And that's only 1/4 of the drill. You do that drill 3 times, in the same manner as the warm-up. Fast, faster, fastest, with 30 second water breaks in between. And then there is a whole new set of 4 exercises before you reach the cool down. I forget the name of the move I found super cool: you are essentially in the position you would be in to start a push-up but instead of lowering your chest and chin to the floor, you jump forward and to the side with your legs while your torso and arms stay as still as possible. The wall I hit came from my arms: my legs and abs wanted to keep going but after all the push-ups my shoulders didn't want to hold me up anymore.
No, I didn't make it through Max Intervals. I stopped, took breaks, but tried to keep moving to keep my heart rate up by walking or jogging around or jumping and shaking out my muscles. If I was on the floor, I went into a crouching yoga position and breathed deeply for a few moments before starting again. At no point did I just completely give up. I'm not sure my heartrate has ever been that high for a sustained period of time, and I know I've never sweated that much.
Quite honestly, my need for breaks happened more quickly than to the people in the video. But they all hit walls too, literally collapsing out of position in some cases (luckily they were close to the ground). Even Shaun doesn't do the whole workout from beginning to end. This heartens me. I feel good about my early goal, which is to increase my stamina and endurance enough to get through as much of the work-out as the people on the video. According to the dialogue, they are all in week 3, and are still at the collapse point. If I get to there from taking frequent breaks like I did tonight at the end of 2 weeks, I'll be damn impressed with myself.
So how am I feeling physically? Sore. I went into the workout feeling sore from yesterday, and started to feel more sore soon after I finished. I popped a couple of Excedrin Back & Body tabs after dinner and drew a nice hot bath. Ibuprofen or some other painkiller is recommended in the beginning while doing this workout (follow the pill manufacturer's directions) because you are going to hurt. I'm clearly using muscles in ways I haven't before, and my joints in particular are letting me know. Mercifully, the bath and Excedrin helped a lot.
So that's Plyometric Cardio Circuit in a nutshell. I'm scheduled to do this DVD 6 more times this first 4 weeks. The next time will be Saturday.
Wow. They weren't kidding. It IS hard.
It starts with a warm-up. A warm-up on steroids. 10 1/2 minutes, 7 exercises, each for 30 to 60 seconds. Jumping Jacks. Heismanns. Heismanns with steps in between. Mummy Kicks. And more. Those first 3 minutes were the longest three minutes of my life! Then a water break (30 sec). Then another set of the same 7 exercises, only more, and faster, in the same time frame. Then water again. Then a final set, more and faster still. I made it all the way through the first set of reps no problem. The 2nd was a struggle. By the third, I was having to stop for water. I chugged a little too fast and started feeling a bit nauseous.
Remember, that was just the warm-up.
Luckily, the warm-up is followed by a 7-minute stretch session where Shaun takes it down a notch or 50. By the end of the stretch, the nausea had subsided but I was covered in a not-so-fine sheen of sweat.
Warm-up plus stretch, and 18 of the 40 minutes are up! Only 22 more to go. 22 more of mostly "Max Interval Training". These are like the first 10 1/2, but with harder exercises and a lot more getting up and down from the floor. Example: Stand up. Now jump to the floor and get into plank position. Do 4 push ups. Then jump up again. Repeat to the point of failure as many times as you can in 60 seconds. And that's only 1/4 of the drill. You do that drill 3 times, in the same manner as the warm-up. Fast, faster, fastest, with 30 second water breaks in between. And then there is a whole new set of 4 exercises before you reach the cool down. I forget the name of the move I found super cool: you are essentially in the position you would be in to start a push-up but instead of lowering your chest and chin to the floor, you jump forward and to the side with your legs while your torso and arms stay as still as possible. The wall I hit came from my arms: my legs and abs wanted to keep going but after all the push-ups my shoulders didn't want to hold me up anymore.
No, I didn't make it through Max Intervals. I stopped, took breaks, but tried to keep moving to keep my heart rate up by walking or jogging around or jumping and shaking out my muscles. If I was on the floor, I went into a crouching yoga position and breathed deeply for a few moments before starting again. At no point did I just completely give up. I'm not sure my heartrate has ever been that high for a sustained period of time, and I know I've never sweated that much.
Quite honestly, my need for breaks happened more quickly than to the people in the video. But they all hit walls too, literally collapsing out of position in some cases (luckily they were close to the ground). Even Shaun doesn't do the whole workout from beginning to end. This heartens me. I feel good about my early goal, which is to increase my stamina and endurance enough to get through as much of the work-out as the people on the video. According to the dialogue, they are all in week 3, and are still at the collapse point. If I get to there from taking frequent breaks like I did tonight at the end of 2 weeks, I'll be damn impressed with myself.
So how am I feeling physically? Sore. I went into the workout feeling sore from yesterday, and started to feel more sore soon after I finished. I popped a couple of Excedrin Back & Body tabs after dinner and drew a nice hot bath. Ibuprofen or some other painkiller is recommended in the beginning while doing this workout (follow the pill manufacturer's directions) because you are going to hurt. I'm clearly using muscles in ways I haven't before, and my joints in particular are letting me know. Mercifully, the bath and Excedrin helped a lot.
So that's Plyometric Cardio Circuit in a nutshell. I'm scheduled to do this DVD 6 more times this first 4 weeks. The next time will be Saturday.
Sample Daily Menu
As I mentioned in the inagural post on this blog, the meal plan that comes with Insanity requires you to eat 5 small meals (300 - 500 calories depending on your goals) at regular intervals throughout the day to keep your metabolism and energy steady so you don't keel over during the workout. The foods are high in protein, low in fat, and include whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
The biggest hardship for me is going to be the no full-fat cheese. I love cheese! At any given point there are usually at least 5, if not 7, different types of cheese in my fridge. I'm also supposed to give up drinking.
Sorry, Shaun. I'll give up cheese for you, but you can't take my red wine, too! At least the latter is good for my heart.
Below you'll find my menu for yesterday. For the most part, I adhered to it, except that I made some fruit and vegetable substitutions using the section of the plan book called "subsitutions lists", which includes a table that shows you how to switch things out on an on-par basis. For example, if a menu asks for tuna, you can sub shrimp: 1.5 oz. of shrimp for every 1 oz of tuna or salmon the recipe calls far. Or 1 cup of berries = 1 med. apple = 1/2 med. banana. I'll indicate where I made substitutions. I'll also include the nutrition breakdown given in the book, but be aware that any substitutions I make will alter these and I won't be able to give you the updated stats. I'm not making drastic changes to anything, so it shouldn't change the nutrition or calories that much.
Meal 1: Proatmeal 7:30 am
2/3 cups cooked oatmeal, prepared with water
1 scoop of protein powder
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen berries
1-1/2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts (I skipped the walnuts)
1/4 cup skim, almond, rice, or soy milk (I used skim)
*Nutrition breakdown (assuming use of walnuts)
Calories = 307
Protein = 26g
Carbs = 34g
Fat = 9g
Fiber = 9g
Meal 2: Mexican Style Eggs 10:30 am
2 Large eggs, scrambled
Whole grain tortilla
1/4 low fat cheddar (I used part skim mozzarella)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries (I used 1/2 a very small banana)
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 301
Protein = 23g
Carbs = 28g
Fat = 12g
Fiber = 6g
Meal 3: Roast Beef Sandwich 1:30 pm
4 oz lean roast beef (I used 3 oz. turkey and added 1 tbsp whipped cream cheese)
1/2 6-inch whole wheat pita
Sliced Cherry Tomatoes
Dark Salad Greens (I used spinach)
Sliced Bell pepper (skipped, I don't like them raw)
Sliced Mushrooms (skipped, I don't like them raw)
Sliced Cucumber
(I made the salad stuff into a salad with very low-cal spray on dressing, and warmed the pita with turkey and cream cheese in the microwave)
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 292
Protein = 20g
Carbs = 41g
Fat = 6g
Fiber = 12g
Meal 4: Insanity Nut Butter and Jelly Sandwich 4:30 pm
1 slice whole grain bread
1 tbsp. all natural peanut or almond butter (I used peanut)
1 tbsp. all-fruit preserves or 1/4 sliced banana (I used banana)
1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1% fat (I ate an apple instead)
*Nutrition Breakdown:
Calories = 289
Protein = 22g
Carbs = 29g
Fat = 11g
Fiber = 4g
Meal 5: Steak with Broccoli 8:00 pm
3 to 4 oz flank steak, filet mignon or sirloin, grilled or broiled (I used sirloin)
Olive Oil (I used Worcesteshire)
Seat Salt and pepper to taste (I used garlic salt)
1 small baked potato (I used a red potato and mashed it)
Dijon Mustard (for the potato, I also added 1/2 tbsp lite cream cheese and some skim milk to bind the mashers)
1 cup steamed broccoli w/ fresh lemon juice to taste
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 304
Protein = 30g
Carbs = 33g
Fat = 6g
Fiber = 7.5g
Daily Totals:
Calories = 1493 (add another 200 or so for wine and coffee)
Protein = 121g
Carbs = 165g (not including the wine)
Fat = 44g
Fiber = 38.5g
The biggest hardship for me is going to be the no full-fat cheese. I love cheese! At any given point there are usually at least 5, if not 7, different types of cheese in my fridge. I'm also supposed to give up drinking.
Sorry, Shaun. I'll give up cheese for you, but you can't take my red wine, too! At least the latter is good for my heart.
Below you'll find my menu for yesterday. For the most part, I adhered to it, except that I made some fruit and vegetable substitutions using the section of the plan book called "subsitutions lists", which includes a table that shows you how to switch things out on an on-par basis. For example, if a menu asks for tuna, you can sub shrimp: 1.5 oz. of shrimp for every 1 oz of tuna or salmon the recipe calls far. Or 1 cup of berries = 1 med. apple = 1/2 med. banana. I'll indicate where I made substitutions. I'll also include the nutrition breakdown given in the book, but be aware that any substitutions I make will alter these and I won't be able to give you the updated stats. I'm not making drastic changes to anything, so it shouldn't change the nutrition or calories that much.
Meal 1: Proatmeal 7:30 am
2/3 cups cooked oatmeal, prepared with water
1 scoop of protein powder
1/2 cup of fresh or frozen berries
1-1/2 Tbsp. chopped walnuts (I skipped the walnuts)
1/4 cup skim, almond, rice, or soy milk (I used skim)
*Nutrition breakdown (assuming use of walnuts)
Calories = 307
Protein = 26g
Carbs = 34g
Fat = 9g
Fiber = 9g
Meal 2: Mexican Style Eggs 10:30 am
2 Large eggs, scrambled
Whole grain tortilla
1/4 low fat cheddar (I used part skim mozzarella)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen berries (I used 1/2 a very small banana)
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 301
Protein = 23g
Carbs = 28g
Fat = 12g
Fiber = 6g
Meal 3: Roast Beef Sandwich 1:30 pm
4 oz lean roast beef (I used 3 oz. turkey and added 1 tbsp whipped cream cheese)
1/2 6-inch whole wheat pita
Sliced Cherry Tomatoes
Dark Salad Greens (I used spinach)
Sliced Bell pepper (skipped, I don't like them raw)
Sliced Mushrooms (skipped, I don't like them raw)
Sliced Cucumber
(I made the salad stuff into a salad with very low-cal spray on dressing, and warmed the pita with turkey and cream cheese in the microwave)
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 292
Protein = 20g
Carbs = 41g
Fat = 6g
Fiber = 12g
Meal 4: Insanity Nut Butter and Jelly Sandwich 4:30 pm
1 slice whole grain bread
1 tbsp. all natural peanut or almond butter (I used peanut)
1 tbsp. all-fruit preserves or 1/4 sliced banana (I used banana)
1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1% fat (I ate an apple instead)
*Nutrition Breakdown:
Calories = 289
Protein = 22g
Carbs = 29g
Fat = 11g
Fiber = 4g
Meal 5: Steak with Broccoli 8:00 pm
3 to 4 oz flank steak, filet mignon or sirloin, grilled or broiled (I used sirloin)
Olive Oil (I used Worcesteshire)
Seat Salt and pepper to taste (I used garlic salt)
1 small baked potato (I used a red potato and mashed it)
Dijon Mustard (for the potato, I also added 1/2 tbsp lite cream cheese and some skim milk to bind the mashers)
1 cup steamed broccoli w/ fresh lemon juice to taste
*Nutrition breakdown
Calories = 304
Protein = 30g
Carbs = 33g
Fat = 6g
Fiber = 7.5g
Daily Totals:
Calories = 1493 (add another 200 or so for wine and coffee)
Protein = 121g
Carbs = 165g (not including the wine)
Fat = 44g
Fiber = 38.5g
Monday, January 4, 2010
Day 1 - First Fit Test
DVD - Digging Deep (instructional pep-talk from Shaun) & Fit Test
Before beginning Insanity's max interval discs, you're supposed to take a fit test. The fit test consists of 8 discrete exercises. You are timed 1 minute for each exercise. During that minute you do as many reps as you can, at whatever pace you can manage. The idea is that you repeat this test at roughly 2-week intervals throughout the program to track your progress and see how your fitness improves. I did it tonight and will do it again on Jan. 18th.
In the Fit Test DVD, Shaun has two of his crew, one woman and one man, complete the Fit Test. I didn't catch if he said how many weeks they'd been following the program, but they were comparing the results to the first Fit Test, so I'll assume they had completed the first 2 weeks. There is a brief warm-up, then some stretching, then the Fit Test. 8 different exercises at 1 minute each might seem like something to sniff at, but DAMN. With the cool down and stretching the DVD is 25 minutes. I worked harder and sweated more during the 8 1-minute tests than I ever did completing a 50 or more minute Tae-Bo disc.
I'm starting from a place of more flab and less fit than any of the people in his video and most of the online reviewers I've found, so I was fully prepared to be able to complete far fewer reps than the already hard-bodied who started this workout. I surprised myself! In most cases, I was within 5 reps of where the woman started, and sometimes I was able to do more than the man had his 1st time. I've also since compared my results to a couple of people online who had been doing fitness training for a while when they started Insanity, and I'm still fairly in line with them. I got my ass kicked, but it's nice to know I don't have light years to go to catch up with them.
My results (note, reps = 1 unless otherwise noted):
Switch Kicks (2 kicks = 1 rep) - 78
Power Jacks - 55
Power Knees - 101
Power Jumps - 32
Globe Jumps (4 jumps = 1 rep) - 5
Suicide Jumps 16
Push-Up Jacks - 20
Low Plank Oblique - 46
Before beginning Insanity's max interval discs, you're supposed to take a fit test. The fit test consists of 8 discrete exercises. You are timed 1 minute for each exercise. During that minute you do as many reps as you can, at whatever pace you can manage. The idea is that you repeat this test at roughly 2-week intervals throughout the program to track your progress and see how your fitness improves. I did it tonight and will do it again on Jan. 18th.
In the Fit Test DVD, Shaun has two of his crew, one woman and one man, complete the Fit Test. I didn't catch if he said how many weeks they'd been following the program, but they were comparing the results to the first Fit Test, so I'll assume they had completed the first 2 weeks. There is a brief warm-up, then some stretching, then the Fit Test. 8 different exercises at 1 minute each might seem like something to sniff at, but DAMN. With the cool down and stretching the DVD is 25 minutes. I worked harder and sweated more during the 8 1-minute tests than I ever did completing a 50 or more minute Tae-Bo disc.
I'm starting from a place of more flab and less fit than any of the people in his video and most of the online reviewers I've found, so I was fully prepared to be able to complete far fewer reps than the already hard-bodied who started this workout. I surprised myself! In most cases, I was within 5 reps of where the woman started, and sometimes I was able to do more than the man had his 1st time. I've also since compared my results to a couple of people online who had been doing fitness training for a while when they started Insanity, and I'm still fairly in line with them. I got my ass kicked, but it's nice to know I don't have light years to go to catch up with them.
My results (note, reps = 1 unless otherwise noted):
Switch Kicks (2 kicks = 1 rep) - 78
Power Jacks - 55
Power Knees - 101
Power Jumps - 32
Globe Jumps (4 jumps = 1 rep) - 5
Suicide Jumps 16
Push-Up Jacks - 20
Low Plank Oblique - 46
Sunday, January 3, 2010
I'm going bananas
We can all thank my cat Serge for sitting on the TV remote when I left the room a couple of months ago. His furry mass was sufficient to change the channel on Dish Network to 000-072, the infomercial channel only insomniacs and early risers have the fortitude to watch. It took me longer than it should have to figure out what he'd done. Right after I asked my cat "Why is this commercial STILL on?" Sadly, leaving the room at commercial time and coming back to 000-072 is not an infrequent occurrence at Chez Nugget East Bay. Just recently there was an incident involving Charleton Heston narrating the Bible.
A normal person might have changed the channel with the realization that the commercial for Shaun T's Insanity Workout wasn't going to end anytime soon. If I were normal, we wouldn't be here. I kept watching. I'm no sucker for advertising ... but. There were smokin' hot, sweaty people! They were working out really hard! There were promises to get me into the best shape of my life! In only 63 days! Did I mention the smokin' hot, sweaty people?
I was intrigued. Minutes later I was researching the product on the Internet. When I was satisfied about the quality and intensity of the workouts (and when I found a new copy on eBay for a Buy It Now price that was half the TV price), I bought it. (Ooops, Sorry Shaun)
Here is how it works. For the 1st month, you alternate through a series of 5 different workouts, working out 6 times per week. When you reach the 5th week you do the "Recovery" workout for that week. Starting in week 6, you rotate through 4 new DVDs, for a total of 10 DVDs. At the end of 9 weeks, you've completed an intense training program. What makes the workouts different from others on the market, the "insane" part, is that rather than moderate cardio with short bursts of intense cardio over the course of 30 - 60 minutes, you do the exact opposite. It's called Max Interval Training, "long bursts of maximum-intensity exercises with short periods of rest."
Starting the program now at the New Year is really just coincidence. I'd been wanting to do something. My clothes were starting to strain thanks to life circumstances that got me off my usual Tae-Bo & mostly healthy eating routine: first looking for a new place and then the move, followed by slacking off in the beginning part of the fall as I settled into my new diggs. At the time I bought the discs I knew the crazy non-routine months of the holidays were not optimal for me to start.
But now, no more excuses. I've got a nice 63 day stretch of deliberately under-scheduled social activity through the beginning of March, and I'm going to get my butt in shape. I don't have a particular weight goal in mind. My attitude starting out is less about defined goals and more about "Let's see what I can accomplish". I'll be following the meal plan (5 300-calorie meals a day) and doing crazy cardio. Obviously I'm going to lose weight, and yes, I want to. But within that crazy cardio is intense resistance training, so I'll be gaining muscle. And that's what I want: shed fat, but gain muscle. What the number on the scale says is less important to me than how I feel, how my clothes fit, and how I look to myself in the mirror.
Sure, I have some results I'd like to see. I'd like to see my upper-thighs as firm as the rest of my rather shapely and muscular legs. I'd like to lose the back roll. I'd like, once and for all, to get rid of that little pocket of fat that hangs around my upper arms near my pits keeping me from the cut look of Michelle Obama. I'd like a slimmer waist, but want to keep some of the softness of my lower abdomen. I'm not sure these things are possible, but I'm going to try.
As much as this is about trying to reshape my body and improve my overall health and fitness, there is also the mental aspect. I want to know I can do this. I've been told that when I set my mind to something - really, really decide something - that I can accomplish that thing. It's not universally true, but it's true enough. It was true when I decided at 8 years old that I would have a Masters if not a PhD. It was true again 7 years ago when I finally decided that though I'd always been overweight, I didn't need to spend the rest of my life pushing the scales close to 200 lbs and managed to lose over 50 in less than a year.
This time around, I've deliberately chosen a workout that I know is beyond me. At least it will be to start. I imagine I will take a lot of extra "rests" during the workout. But that's the point. You don't test your limits, mind or body, by doing things that are easy. It's a crazy-hard workout. I'm crazy to want to do it. But I want to find out what it takes for me to push through whatever walls I hit, mental and physical. I think when I'm through, I'll have accomplished something pretty incredible.
This blog is intended to be in some ways a review of the DVD series. But it will include my thoughts on the process, on my progress, check-ins on my motivation and more. Ultimately I hope to create a history of what I went through to accomplish whatever results I achieve.
A normal person might have changed the channel with the realization that the commercial for Shaun T's Insanity Workout wasn't going to end anytime soon. If I were normal, we wouldn't be here. I kept watching. I'm no sucker for advertising ... but. There were smokin' hot, sweaty people! They were working out really hard! There were promises to get me into the best shape of my life! In only 63 days! Did I mention the smokin' hot, sweaty people?
I was intrigued. Minutes later I was researching the product on the Internet. When I was satisfied about the quality and intensity of the workouts (and when I found a new copy on eBay for a Buy It Now price that was half the TV price), I bought it. (Ooops, Sorry Shaun)
Here is how it works. For the 1st month, you alternate through a series of 5 different workouts, working out 6 times per week. When you reach the 5th week you do the "Recovery" workout for that week. Starting in week 6, you rotate through 4 new DVDs, for a total of 10 DVDs. At the end of 9 weeks, you've completed an intense training program. What makes the workouts different from others on the market, the "insane" part, is that rather than moderate cardio with short bursts of intense cardio over the course of 30 - 60 minutes, you do the exact opposite. It's called Max Interval Training, "long bursts of maximum-intensity exercises with short periods of rest."
Starting the program now at the New Year is really just coincidence. I'd been wanting to do something. My clothes were starting to strain thanks to life circumstances that got me off my usual Tae-Bo & mostly healthy eating routine: first looking for a new place and then the move, followed by slacking off in the beginning part of the fall as I settled into my new diggs. At the time I bought the discs I knew the crazy non-routine months of the holidays were not optimal for me to start.
But now, no more excuses. I've got a nice 63 day stretch of deliberately under-scheduled social activity through the beginning of March, and I'm going to get my butt in shape. I don't have a particular weight goal in mind. My attitude starting out is less about defined goals and more about "Let's see what I can accomplish". I'll be following the meal plan (5 300-calorie meals a day) and doing crazy cardio. Obviously I'm going to lose weight, and yes, I want to. But within that crazy cardio is intense resistance training, so I'll be gaining muscle. And that's what I want: shed fat, but gain muscle. What the number on the scale says is less important to me than how I feel, how my clothes fit, and how I look to myself in the mirror.
Sure, I have some results I'd like to see. I'd like to see my upper-thighs as firm as the rest of my rather shapely and muscular legs. I'd like to lose the back roll. I'd like, once and for all, to get rid of that little pocket of fat that hangs around my upper arms near my pits keeping me from the cut look of Michelle Obama. I'd like a slimmer waist, but want to keep some of the softness of my lower abdomen. I'm not sure these things are possible, but I'm going to try.
As much as this is about trying to reshape my body and improve my overall health and fitness, there is also the mental aspect. I want to know I can do this. I've been told that when I set my mind to something - really, really decide something - that I can accomplish that thing. It's not universally true, but it's true enough. It was true when I decided at 8 years old that I would have a Masters if not a PhD. It was true again 7 years ago when I finally decided that though I'd always been overweight, I didn't need to spend the rest of my life pushing the scales close to 200 lbs and managed to lose over 50 in less than a year.
This time around, I've deliberately chosen a workout that I know is beyond me. At least it will be to start. I imagine I will take a lot of extra "rests" during the workout. But that's the point. You don't test your limits, mind or body, by doing things that are easy. It's a crazy-hard workout. I'm crazy to want to do it. But I want to find out what it takes for me to push through whatever walls I hit, mental and physical. I think when I'm through, I'll have accomplished something pretty incredible.
This blog is intended to be in some ways a review of the DVD series. But it will include my thoughts on the process, on my progress, check-ins on my motivation and more. Ultimately I hope to create a history of what I went through to accomplish whatever results I achieve.
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