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.

Day 49 - Fit Test # 4

DVD - Fit Test

The following are my Fit Test results, with the improvement from Fit Test #3 in parentheses:

Switch Kicks 70 (+ 1)
Power Jacks 70 (+ 1)
Power Knees 124 (+ 5)
Power Jumps 52 (+ 8)
Globe Jumps 10 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 22 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 29 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 68 (+ 8)

My improvement since the beginning:

Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 15)
Power Knees (+ 23)
Power Jumps (+ 20)
Globe Jumps (+ 5)
Suicide Jumps (+ 6)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 9)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 22)

2 weeks from today I will take this Fit Test for the 5th and last time as part of the 63-day Insanity boot camp.

I can’t believe how much of an improvement I made in some of the exercises! The intensity of the workouts these last 2 weeks has clearly made a big difference.

I did 8 more Power Jumps this time. My improvement between previous Fit Tests had been 6. Overall, I’ve improved by 20 reps since the pre-Insanity Fit Test. I improved by 7 Power Jacks, which surprised me since I’d only improved by 1 rep last time AND my knees had been so sore when I’d tried them yesterday (today they didn’t bother me at all).

When we do our Switch Kicks, the chart that came inside the Insanity package says that 2 kicks = one rep. I’ve only improve by 1 rep each time, while the girl in the video (Tanya) has improved by 30, which according to the chart would mean 60 more kicks. I’ve been thinking for a while there was something off with their count here, because she says she started at 80 and after the 9 weeks is at 110.

80 reps means 160 kicks. 110 reps means 220 kicks. That just isn’t physically possibly (or so I tell myself as I look at my measly 70 reps). Done for a minute, that means she’s doing somewhere between 3 and 4 kicks a second.

I call bullshit just on the math.

Today after I was done I decided I was going to count the number of kicks they did on the video. This was made a little hard because the cameras switch back and forth between Tanya & Chris (the guy in the video) doing the kicks, but I figure I’d just count every kick I saw between the two of them for an average. Counting Chris alone would make the number smaller - he doesn’t move quite as fast as Tanya. Conversely, counting Tanya alone would have slightly raised the numbers.

I counted 116. Kicks, not reps. Divided by 2 to get reps, that’s 58 reps.

They simply must be counting kicks, not reps. If so, and I am convinced it IS so, I’m pretty happy with my 140 kicks today. Even if it is only 2 more kicks, 1 little rep more, I’m still kicking the ass of the two Beach Body coaches on the DVD. Take that, Tanya & Chris!

Day 35 - Fit Test #3

DVD - Fit Test
+ 3.5 miles of walking

1st Fit Test Results
Fit Test # 2 Results

These are my latest results, showing how many more reps I've managed to gain since Fit Test # 2:

Switch Kicks 69 (+ 3)
Power Jacks 63 (+ 1)
Power Knees 119 (+ 3)
Power Jumps 44 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 9 (+ 2)
Suicide Jumps 20 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 26 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 60 (+ 10)

My improvement since the beginning

Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 8)
Power Knees (+ 18)
Power Jumps (+ 12)
Globe Jumps (+ 4)
Suicide Jumps (+ 4)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 6)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 14)

So I improved in every category, in some more than others. Interestingly, with Power Jumps, Globe Jumps, Suicide Jumps and Push-up Jacks I have improved by the same number of reps between each of the Fit Tests.

I think I may have pretty much topped out on the number of Power Knees I'm going to be able to do. I improved by +15 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but only by +3 between the 2nd and 3rd. I feel like my leg is moving at jack-hammer speed already, I don't know that I can make it go much faster. I assume there will be a little bit of improvement over the course of the next 4 weeks, but I doubt there will be another +15.

There was a pretty big advancement in my Low Plank Oblique this time. I improved by +4 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but by +10 from the 2nd to the 3rd. And that was with stopping twice to wipe down my forearms, which were sweating so much that my arms were sliding on the floor in the low plank position

Tomorrow the really Insane workouts begin. I previewed the warm-up of the first workout, Max Interval Cardio, and I now know that it is indeed almost a full 60 minutes (it comes in at 59:40). The warm-up has gotten rid of some of the moves that can be done at really fast pace (Heismanns, Butt Kicks, Mummy Kicks) and replaced them with moves that fall more into the realm of Plyo. So I know the warm-up will be harder. I stopped it without watching the rest. I'm worried, but I'm also looking forward to the challenge.

Days 33 & 34

DVD - Core Cardio & Balance (both days)
+ 3.5 miles of walking (Saturday only)

Well, that is pretty much it for the Recovery Week. Next week begins the final, super intense phase. I have to admit I'm a little scared about what's to come. I've already pushed myself harder than I thought I could, and the next set of workouts is going to ask me to push myself even harder, to dig deeper into my willpower and fight my way through my body's desire to quit.

This isn't the last I'll see of Core Cardio & Balance, though. It gets worked into the rotation a couple of times during the last 4 weeks.

I'm supposed to do the Fit Test again on Monday immediately before I do the first of the Max workouts, Max Interval Circuit. This DVD is "approx. 60 min" which probably means that it is closer to 55 minutes. But 55 minutes is 14 minutes longer than any of the other workouts I've done (except on the combo Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs days). The insert that came with the DVD set bills this workout as "Yes, the interval circuits get even harder".

Even harder? What does that mean? The moves are harder? The interval circuits are longer? There are more interval circuits? I guess I'll find out on Monday.

But the not knowing has me not wanting to do the Fit Test right before this workout. I know from my previous two experiences with the Fit Test that even though it is only a 16 minute workout with 8 of those minutes being super, super intense. The whole point is to push yourself as hard as possible through each of the 8 exercises and do as many reps as you can. It's physically exhausting, and I want to have all my stores of strength for the Max Interval Circuit.

What all of this means is that instead of honoring the Sunday rest day tomorrow, I'm going to do the Fit Test.

I suspect this means I'll be ready to collapse next Saturday after my last of the first week of Max workouts.

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.

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