Now you can see some of what I was doing!
Side note - I think Shaun is adorable. That and I'm pretty sure a Tyra appearance is more proof that he's one of my people.
Pay attention to Floor Switch Kicks - these were super hard for me and I wasn't able to get them down really well until the final week of month 2.
Note Tyra also wants Michelle Obama arms (one of my goals) and wonders if she does Ball Push-ups in the White House. I sure did them in my house!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
After Insanity - Spa Day disappointment
Spa Day was a complete and utter disappointment.
The massage started, and as usual I was asked "how is the pressure". I told her she could do harder. She adjusted and it didn't feel very different. I told her she could go a lot harder. She got moderately harder and then I told her she could do it as hard as she could, that I would be able to take it.
Her hardest felt like she was rubbing me.
I haven't had a whole lot of massages in my life - under 10 - so I don't really know the etiquitte. Can you tell them you want to stop and ask for someone who has more strentgh?
At any rate, I feel like the massage was a total waste of money. Now that I've spent the money, I can't go and get myself a better massage somewhere else.
I consoled myself with a fish taco nearby while waiting for my hair appointment. I really needed a haircut 2 months ago, but I wanted to wait until after Insanity so that my hair would continue to be long enough to pull back through the program.
Anyway, I went into the salon (a new one for me, my old one is too far out of the way now that I live across the bay) with a different version of this picture of Drew Barrymore, and said I wanted the same, but for it to be a little bit longer, coming UNDER my chin:
I walked out of the salon with this, instead, and I HATE it on me:
Under normal circumstances, I would be only moderately upset by the wasted money on the massage and able to rationalize "it's only hair, it'll grow" better, but today was supposed to be my reward for putting myself through the intensive 9-week Insanity program. Instead I feel cheated, like it was more of a punishment.
I hope you'll understand why I'm not in the mood to reflect more on the last 9 weeks tonight.
The massage started, and as usual I was asked "how is the pressure". I told her she could do harder. She adjusted and it didn't feel very different. I told her she could go a lot harder. She got moderately harder and then I told her she could do it as hard as she could, that I would be able to take it.
Her hardest felt like she was rubbing me.
I haven't had a whole lot of massages in my life - under 10 - so I don't really know the etiquitte. Can you tell them you want to stop and ask for someone who has more strentgh?
At any rate, I feel like the massage was a total waste of money. Now that I've spent the money, I can't go and get myself a better massage somewhere else.
I consoled myself with a fish taco nearby while waiting for my hair appointment. I really needed a haircut 2 months ago, but I wanted to wait until after Insanity so that my hair would continue to be long enough to pull back through the program.
Anyway, I went into the salon (a new one for me, my old one is too far out of the way now that I live across the bay) with a different version of this picture of Drew Barrymore, and said I wanted the same, but for it to be a little bit longer, coming UNDER my chin:
I walked out of the salon with this, instead, and I HATE it on me:
Under normal circumstances, I would be only moderately upset by the wasted money on the massage and able to rationalize "it's only hair, it'll grow" better, but today was supposed to be my reward for putting myself through the intensive 9-week Insanity program. Instead I feel cheated, like it was more of a punishment.
I hope you'll understand why I'm not in the mood to reflect more on the last 9 weeks tonight.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Day 63 - Final Fit Test
DVD -Fit Test
+ 2.5 miles of walking
That's it. I am officially done with my boot camp!
I really didn't think I'd see much improvement from my last Fit Test. Just goes to show, I under-estimated myself (and Shaun T and his Insanity program).
Links to previous Fit Tests:
First Fit Test
Fit Test # 2
Fit Test # 3
Fit Test # 4
Today's Results
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 0)
Power Jacks 78 (+ 8)
Power Knees 128 (+ 4)
Power Jumps 58 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 11 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 24 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 34 (+ 5)
Low Plank Oblique 74 (+ 6)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (due to the counting snafu of Fit Test #1, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 23)
Power Knees (+ 27)
Power Jumps (+ 26)
Globe Jumps (+ 6)
Suicide Jumps (+ 8)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 14)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 28)
I'm actually pretty impressed with myself. If you'll remember back in the beginning, my first results were fairly in line with Tanya's, +/- a few reps in most cases. That continues to be true now that I've been following the program for 63 days. In many cases, I came from 1 or 2 reps behind Tanya, to 1 or 2 reps more. I'd be less impressed I didn't know how hard I fought for those extra couple of reps.
In some cases, such as Globe Jumps, she started way ahead of me (she did 9 full reps, or 36 jumps her first time out, I did 5 full reps, or 20 jumps total) but ended in the same place (11 full reps, 44 jumps). So my improvement in this was better than hers, but that's because I was so much less fit the first time around. Still, to have come from 4 reps/16 jumps behind to ending in the same place in 63 days is an amazing testament both to my efforts and to the workout. Thanks, Shaun T!
Stay tuned for a more introspective post in the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to give myself a "Spa Day", complete with massage and new haircut.
+ 2.5 miles of walking
That's it. I am officially done with my boot camp!
I really didn't think I'd see much improvement from my last Fit Test. Just goes to show, I under-estimated myself (and Shaun T and his Insanity program).
Links to previous Fit Tests:
First Fit Test
Fit Test # 2
Fit Test # 3
Fit Test # 4
Today's Results
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 0)
Power Jacks 78 (+ 8)
Power Knees 128 (+ 4)
Power Jumps 58 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 11 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 24 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 34 (+ 5)
Low Plank Oblique 74 (+ 6)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (due to the counting snafu of Fit Test #1, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 23)
Power Knees (+ 27)
Power Jumps (+ 26)
Globe Jumps (+ 6)
Suicide Jumps (+ 8)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 14)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 28)
I'm actually pretty impressed with myself. If you'll remember back in the beginning, my first results were fairly in line with Tanya's, +/- a few reps in most cases. That continues to be true now that I've been following the program for 63 days. In many cases, I came from 1 or 2 reps behind Tanya, to 1 or 2 reps more. I'd be less impressed I didn't know how hard I fought for those extra couple of reps.
In some cases, such as Globe Jumps, she started way ahead of me (she did 9 full reps, or 36 jumps her first time out, I did 5 full reps, or 20 jumps total) but ended in the same place (11 full reps, 44 jumps). So my improvement in this was better than hers, but that's because I was so much less fit the first time around. Still, to have come from 4 reps/16 jumps behind to ending in the same place in 63 days is an amazing testament both to my efforts and to the workout. Thanks, Shaun T!
Stay tuned for a more introspective post in the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to give myself a "Spa Day", complete with massage and new haircut.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Day 62
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
That's it! I'm officially done with what I consider my Insanity "boot camp"!
I still have the Fit Test tomorrow, but it's really more administrative. It's a workout, but only really for 8 minutes, so I'm not terribly concerned about how much it will tax me.
The important thing is, I did it!! I made it through the 6-day per week "most extreme workout ever filmed".
What's more, I actually did all of both workouts. I made it a little easier on myself by doing Cardio Abs first, while my clothes were in the wash at the laundromat. Then I went back and put the clothes in the dryer, and returned home for the longer Conditioning workout.
I'm off to find something to do to celebrate.
DVD - Cardio Abs
That's it! I'm officially done with what I consider my Insanity "boot camp"!
I still have the Fit Test tomorrow, but it's really more administrative. It's a workout, but only really for 8 minutes, so I'm not terribly concerned about how much it will tax me.
The important thing is, I did it!! I made it through the 6-day per week "most extreme workout ever filmed".
What's more, I actually did all of both workouts. I made it a little easier on myself by doing Cardio Abs first, while my clothes were in the wash at the laundromat. Then I went back and put the clothes in the dryer, and returned home for the longer Conditioning workout.
I'm off to find something to do to celebrate.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 61
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
OMG OMG OMG. My last intense workout until after Hip Hop Abs. My last intense workout on a 6-day per week basis.
Or so I thought.
Then I looked at my workout calendar tonight and noticed that tomorrow I'm supposed to do Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs again.
MERDE!
Merde! especially because I didn't find this out until AFTER I FINISHED TONIGHT!
Well, obviously I knew at some point, because I had read the chart before. I guess I just suppressed the knowledge all week, looking forward to tonight as the end my Insanity boot camp.
Overall I pretty much kicked ass tonight, with the exception of not doing one of the 32 Push-up/32 Floor Sprint circuits, because for the past few workouts one of the muscles, nerves or tendons on the inside of my left elbow has been feeling really over taxed. When stressed in certain positions it starts to give out, in the same manner your leg does when someone comes up behind you and while you are standing and knees your knee cap. Know what I mean? And then your knee involuntarily bends? Same thing. But this actually hurts, and I've promised myself from the beginning of Insanity that I wouldn't push myself to injury. I've made it this far, I'm not going to break that promise now!
What sucks is that I've finally gotten past the constant shoulder pain, so without this new weakness in my arm I'd be able to do all of the Push-ups (I think).
I bet when I've had a chance to rest little more and the pain goes away, I'll be able to do just that.
It actually makes sense to me I'd end up with some sort of pain in my left arm. I'm right-handed, so my right arm was in better shape going into Insanity. For a long time I worked in restaurants and over the years I did everything from lift hundreds of sauced & cheesed pizza skins on cooking screens in a 4 hour period to carrying trays full of drinks and lugging cases of liquor up a ladder to the 2nd floor, all with my dominate arm. My right bicep was buff. Even now when I flex, my right arm is much harder than my left, while both have visible musculature.
After Sunday, when I've finished "boot camp", I'll talk a little bit more about my muscle development.
OMG OMG OMG. My last intense workout until after Hip Hop Abs. My last intense workout on a 6-day per week basis.
Or so I thought.
Then I looked at my workout calendar tonight and noticed that tomorrow I'm supposed to do Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs again.
MERDE!
Merde! especially because I didn't find this out until AFTER I FINISHED TONIGHT!
Well, obviously I knew at some point, because I had read the chart before. I guess I just suppressed the knowledge all week, looking forward to tonight as the end my Insanity boot camp.
Overall I pretty much kicked ass tonight, with the exception of not doing one of the 32 Push-up/32 Floor Sprint circuits, because for the past few workouts one of the muscles, nerves or tendons on the inside of my left elbow has been feeling really over taxed. When stressed in certain positions it starts to give out, in the same manner your leg does when someone comes up behind you and while you are standing and knees your knee cap. Know what I mean? And then your knee involuntarily bends? Same thing. But this actually hurts, and I've promised myself from the beginning of Insanity that I wouldn't push myself to injury. I've made it this far, I'm not going to break that promise now!
What sucks is that I've finally gotten past the constant shoulder pain, so without this new weakness in my arm I'd be able to do all of the Push-ups (I think).
I bet when I've had a chance to rest little more and the pain goes away, I'll be able to do just that.
It actually makes sense to me I'd end up with some sort of pain in my left arm. I'm right-handed, so my right arm was in better shape going into Insanity. For a long time I worked in restaurants and over the years I did everything from lift hundreds of sauced & cheesed pizza skins on cooking screens in a 4 hour period to carrying trays full of drinks and lugging cases of liquor up a ladder to the 2nd floor, all with my dominate arm. My right bicep was buff. Even now when I flex, my right arm is much harder than my left, while both have visible musculature.
After Sunday, when I've finished "boot camp", I'll talk a little bit more about my muscle development.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 60
DVD - Core Cardio & Resistance
Hip Hop Abs arrived yesterday and after the workout tonight I decided to pop the first DVD in and check it out.
I had suspicions before, but now I am pretty sure Shaun is "one of my people" (meaning LGBT).
His Ellen appearance was my first clue.
*Btw? I fucking love the chick in the high wedge heels whose like "yeah, I'm gonna workout with Shaun T"
**And PS? The Ellen boxers?? Straight men don't wear Ellen boxers, heh.
Now, I didn't watch all of the Hip Hop Abs video, but what I did see, was Shaun:
- workin' it like a Diva (complete with a drag queen's "I'm FabULOUS!" head toss)
- lip syncing to "Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot like Me" while sashaying forward
Plus the initial background music was some hip hop-esque thing with Shaun going "It's me, Shaun T".
I certainly could be wrong. I hope I'm not though.
Either way, he could kick most guys' ass.
Hip Hop Abs arrived yesterday and after the workout tonight I decided to pop the first DVD in and check it out.
I had suspicions before, but now I am pretty sure Shaun is "one of my people" (meaning LGBT).
His Ellen appearance was my first clue.
*Btw? I fucking love the chick in the high wedge heels whose like "yeah, I'm gonna workout with Shaun T"
**And PS? The Ellen boxers?? Straight men don't wear Ellen boxers, heh.
Now, I didn't watch all of the Hip Hop Abs video, but what I did see, was Shaun:
- workin' it like a Diva (complete with a drag queen's "I'm FabULOUS!" head toss)
- lip syncing to "Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot like Me" while sashaying forward
Plus the initial background music was some hip hop-esque thing with Shaun going "It's me, Shaun T".
I certainly could be wrong. I hope I'm not though.
Either way, he could kick most guys' ass.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 59
DVD - Max Cardio Interval
I finally got the Floor Switch Kicks! This is the move where your hands and feet are on the floor and you're making something of a table with your torso, belly up. Then you alternately kick your feet off of the floor with a hop so that at points both your feet are off the ground. It's fucking hard to hold yourself up on your arms and not crash land on your ass (as I did a few times) when both your feet are off the ground, because your center of gravity is in your hips, lower abs and buns. I wasn't strong enough to do it for long until tonight. I generally modified this move so that I was going slower, bringing my leg up higher, and always keeping one foot on the floor. This is a modification made by some of the people in the video, too. Remember, form trumps speed.
Overall, tonight was the best I have done with any of these workouts. I lagged a little the last two nights, but tonight I gave it my all and did more of each move at a faster pace than I've ever managed before. 59 days of Insanity has definitely made me more fit!
I finally got the Floor Switch Kicks! This is the move where your hands and feet are on the floor and you're making something of a table with your torso, belly up. Then you alternately kick your feet off of the floor with a hop so that at points both your feet are off the ground. It's fucking hard to hold yourself up on your arms and not crash land on your ass (as I did a few times) when both your feet are off the ground, because your center of gravity is in your hips, lower abs and buns. I wasn't strong enough to do it for long until tonight. I generally modified this move so that I was going slower, bringing my leg up higher, and always keeping one foot on the floor. This is a modification made by some of the people in the video, too. Remember, form trumps speed.
Overall, tonight was the best I have done with any of these workouts. I lagged a little the last two nights, but tonight I gave it my all and did more of each move at a faster pace than I've ever managed before. 59 days of Insanity has definitely made me more fit!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 58
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
I cheated a little tonight and skipped the warm-up on Cardio Abs. Hell, I'd just completed 43 minutes of a different workout, I was already "warm".
I've been trying to pay attention to my heart rate more the last week or so. I've noticed that my maximum heart rate seems to be the same as at the beginning of Insanity. What's changed is that it takes me a little longer to get there, especially during the warm-up intervals. Curiously, I do start to sweat earlier with the Max workout warm-ups, and I'm pretty sure it has something to with the Side to Side Floor Hops, because there is a slight break in the cardio pace as you get into position, and the move itself is a little harder to do as fast as the rest. I've noticed that I tend to heat up and start to drip when I stop after an exertion. During Insanity, this has usually meant that I start to get really hot and sweaty during the warm-up stretch, when I am no longer flinging my body around at high velocities, but executing slow, deliberate moves. Or when I walk really fast to BART on a cold morning, feeling chilled until I stop on the platform to wait for the train.
It's interesting to me how different types of exercises effect my heart rate. Obviously the exercises that require me to move fast will raise my heart rate rapidly: they are the equivalent of sprinting, and we're asked to "sprint" for anywhere from 2 - 3 minutes straight. Seriously - that's a pretty long time to sprint. But then moves like Suicides, where I am only able to do about 20 in the allotted time instead of 60 - 100, because it requires getting up and down from the floor. According to Shaun, engaging all of your major muscles increases your heart rate just as well as sprinting. My experience suggests he is right.
Now, if you'll forgive the clunky segue to a bit of nostalgia, I'm going to end this blog entry by noting this was my final run through of these two DVDs during the initial 9 weeks of Insanity, so this was my goodbye workout. But "goodbye" for a break, no permanently. I'll be seeing them again once I implement my plan to incorporate Insanity into an ongoing regime including running and Hip Hop Abs.
DVD - Cardio Abs
I cheated a little tonight and skipped the warm-up on Cardio Abs. Hell, I'd just completed 43 minutes of a different workout, I was already "warm".
I've been trying to pay attention to my heart rate more the last week or so. I've noticed that my maximum heart rate seems to be the same as at the beginning of Insanity. What's changed is that it takes me a little longer to get there, especially during the warm-up intervals. Curiously, I do start to sweat earlier with the Max workout warm-ups, and I'm pretty sure it has something to with the Side to Side Floor Hops, because there is a slight break in the cardio pace as you get into position, and the move itself is a little harder to do as fast as the rest. I've noticed that I tend to heat up and start to drip when I stop after an exertion. During Insanity, this has usually meant that I start to get really hot and sweaty during the warm-up stretch, when I am no longer flinging my body around at high velocities, but executing slow, deliberate moves. Or when I walk really fast to BART on a cold morning, feeling chilled until I stop on the platform to wait for the train.
It's interesting to me how different types of exercises effect my heart rate. Obviously the exercises that require me to move fast will raise my heart rate rapidly: they are the equivalent of sprinting, and we're asked to "sprint" for anywhere from 2 - 3 minutes straight. Seriously - that's a pretty long time to sprint. But then moves like Suicides, where I am only able to do about 20 in the allotted time instead of 60 - 100, because it requires getting up and down from the floor. According to Shaun, engaging all of your major muscles increases your heart rate just as well as sprinting. My experience suggests he is right.
Now, if you'll forgive the clunky segue to a bit of nostalgia, I'm going to end this blog entry by noting this was my final run through of these two DVDs during the initial 9 weeks of Insanity, so this was my goodbye workout. But "goodbye" for a break, no permanently. I'll be seeing them again once I implement my plan to incorporate Insanity into an ongoing regime including running and Hip Hop Abs.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day 57
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
I'm in the home stretch!
And finding the blogging to be more tedious than the workouts. I can summon the will to push my body, but writing takes a different kind of push, and I just don't have it in me at the moment to come up with something new and interesting about this workout.
That being said, I don't have much else to add today except to note that I'll do this workout one more time before the end of the program, on Friday night, bookended by doing Core Cardio & Balance the day before and day after.
I'm in the home stretch!
And finding the blogging to be more tedious than the workouts. I can summon the will to push my body, but writing takes a different kind of push, and I just don't have it in me at the moment to come up with something new and interesting about this workout.
That being said, I don't have much else to add today except to note that I'll do this workout one more time before the end of the program, on Friday night, bookended by doing Core Cardio & Balance the day before and day after.
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