I think the rest days during this second month should be called Max Rest Days, you should be allowed to sleep in, do nothing and order out

In all seriousness, it is greatly satisfying that I got through this week.  It was definitely as tough (although seems tougher at the moment) as the first week of Insanity.  It’s kind of hard to compare because the memory is so short term these days when working out so often.

The week started off painful, with muscles soreness all around, but subsided as the week went on.  I don’t have any muscle soreness at all right now.  However, I am experiencing some knee pain.  It started yesterday after the last workout.  It isn’t serious, but it is definitely there.  I am not sure if it was from the one workout, or a culmination of the week, but I am very glad today is the rest day.  Hopefully by tomorrow they will feel better and I will be ready for the next week.

I also realized today that I only have 3 more weeks to go!  It seems like such a short period of time, but I know better. Nothing breezes by with Shaun T yelling in your ear!

If the pattern continues, this next week will also be difficult (like week 2 of Insanity), but it will be much more familiar and I will see progress as to how many of the moves I can do.  That is what I anticipate anyways.  I feel like month 2 is a mirror of month 1 as far as pushing the limits of your body and conditioning if that makes any sense.

Ok, off to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics and to rest up the body for week SEVEN!

Day 41 – Max Interval Plyometrics

Woo hoo!  The last exercise of the week!  I can’t believe I made it through this week to be honest, it is HARD.  I am not going to sugar coat it for you all, I have been huffing and puffing my way through all week.  There is a reason this is called INSANITY!  I miss the days of 35 minute workouts

I don’t want to scare anyone away, but I have to be straight up and tell you how I feel.  The workouts are almost an hour long each day and it certainly is harder than month 1.  I do believe though this is all for a reason.  By the end of this thing I think I will be able to run a marathon and then bench press a car!

Now for the good part, I am feeling like this week I made progress each day.  I am getting stronger, my endurance is increasing and I really feel like I could do just about anything athletic better than most anyone I know.  I am curious to go for a run and see how I perform or go out on the basketball court and test my fitness level against everyone else.  Of course that will have to wait until it is all done because I can’t see myself doing more exercise in a day than a round of Insanity.

Today was the second time I have done Max Interval Plyo.  This one to me is just about as hard as the Max Interval Circuit.  It so strangely comforting that it is 5 minutes less than Circuit though.  I did a lot better this time around, but of course there were times where I was holding my knees panting.  There are just some parts of the routine that are truly INSANE!  Like doing power jumps after 2 or 3 other quad buring exercises, or doing to rounds of Level 3 Drills resulting in 32 push ups in like 45 seconds or something.

Overall, I powered through it though and left with a feeling of great satisfaction.  It is hard to believe I have been at this so long already.  Now that I am rested, I feel great and am SOOOOO looking forward to the rest day, especially since I didn’t have one last week.

Day 40 – Max Interval Circuit

Today’s workout was the Max Interval Circuit.  This is the same workout I did on Monday as the first day of this month.  Before starting today I am happy to report that the body is feeling good.  All of the soreness I obtained earlier in the week has pretty much gone away.  This is great because I think I am adjusting to this month much like I did in the first month.

The workout is a full hour in length which is a really long time to me.  Even though this was the second time doing this, it didn’t feel any easier.  The warm ups alone are extremely difficult.   I did better though than the first time around, partly due to knowing the moves and partly due to increasing my conditioning to the Max level.  I started running out of gas though with about 15 minutes to go, but dug deeper and pushed through it.  The best thing about today is knowing I only have one more day to go and this week will be done!

Day 39 – Max Cardio Recovery

Today I did Max Cardio Recovery for the first time. This routine is also like a big brother to the Month 1 routine of Cardio Recovery. It is a good deep muscle workout without a lot of the cardio. But, as usual, it is hard in some spots and creates that ‘o so familiar burning feeling in your body!  I came into today feeling pretty good.  Most of the muscle soreness is gone, so I feel I am getting into the groove of Month 2.  I still have some pain in my glutes , hip flexors, and hamstrings, but it is not too bad.

The routine is 47 minutes long and is broken down into 5 exercise segments. First there is a nice long warmup and stretch and then you go into the exercises. Each segment works a different area of your body. In the first segment you are asked to do push-ups, but not just any push ups! The form is having your arms so your elbows go back, much like in upward dog pose and slowly go down and up. You do a push up on a four count down (super slow) and a four count up.  Ok, doing the set of 4 was not too bad, but then he asks for a set of 8 . . . . and then a set of 16! Those are super hard.

In the third workout you are standing in a squat plie position. Doesn’t sound too bad until you realize you are not moving out of a squat for like 7 minutes! He has you pulsing and bending and lifting until your legs are on fire. A real challenging exercise for sure.  I definitely had to break a few times in this pose.

Next you move into a plank position, which at this point is a nice change for the legs.  The exercise is moving slowly from a low plank to a high plank position.  At first it is a repetition of 4, then 8, then of course 16!  At first these seem doable, but as the repetitions increase, so does the pain and burn.

Lastly, you end up still in the plank position doing knee to elbow oblique push ups.  I felt pretty strong in these as I think that area of my body is getting stronger.   And the final exercise is called The Hammer.  I was scared when I heard the name of this exercise, but it was one of the easier ones in the workout.  It is basically an exercise where you start with your arms above your head and then bring them down on either side of your legs, which you are kicking out straight up to about hip level.

Then we cool down with a stretch and we are done!

Overall, this was a nice recovery day workout.  There isn’t anything too heart pumping in this routine, which is of course the whole point of it.  But, as like any exercise routine in Insanity it is by no means ‘easy’.  There are some real challenging exercises that definitely get you sweating and burning.   I felt good afterward and feel like I am ready to take on the challenge of the rest of the week.

Day 38 – Max Cardio Conditioning

Do any of you use protein powder supplements?  I am thinking I need something since part of my goal is to gain weight and muscle.

I am finding I cannot eat enough food in the day as much as I try!  Of course, I am referring to healthy food.  I am trying to pick up the portions and add more to the mid-day meal/snacks, but think I could benefit from a protein powder.

The one I am going to try is MHP Probolic-Sr Vanilla – 2 Pound Powder – Protein Shakes.  My only reasoning on this particular brand is that I asked a friend and this is what he uses.  He said he did all sorts of research and decided this was the best one for him.   Any advice though would be appreciated!

Today’s workout was the Max Cardio Conditioning.  The Max Cardio Conditioning is similar to the Pure Cardio workout as it is one long circuit of non-stop exercises . . .  only longer!  The total workout is about 45 minutes.   I went into this one feeling pretty good.  The muscles were still sore, but subsiding.  In fact, this whole week has mirrored the first week for me in those respects.

The workout starts with the new and improved warm up, which is definitely harder than the Month 1 warmups.  Is is really necessary to have switch kicks as a warm up?   The warmup is the same as it has been on the other Max workouts so far, except the last round seemed shorter and it was modified to the ‘easier’ warm up exercises.  Then, of course is the stretch and then you dive into the main workout.

The main part of the workout is about 29 minutes compared to I think about 15 minutes in Pure Cardio (correct me if I am wrong).  So it is definitely longer and more intense.    You jump from one exercise to the next without any scheduled water breaks.  Each exercise is about 1 minute, along with the time he explains each.    Here are all of the exercises in the circuit:

• High Low Jab with Squat
  
• Football Runs
  
• 8 Basketball Ball Shots with Squat
  
• Right and Left Kicks
  
• Diamond Jumps - I have trouble with the form on this one
  
• In-Out Push Up Jacks (4 in-outs/4 push-up jacks)
  
• Suicide Jumps
  
• High Knee/Low/Floor Sprints (8 high knees/8 sprints/8 floor sprints)
  
• Ski Abs
  
• Kick Step Back
  
• Squat Twists
  
• Over the River Hops
  
• Attack
• Power Knees
  
• Ski Down Hooks
  
• Belt Kicks
• Forward Back Suicides
  
• Push Up Abs – these are super burners!  sort of like a half push up where your knee comes to your elbow.
  
• Plank Punches – ouch
  
• 8 Jump Ropes/8 Hop Squats
• Squat Speed Bag – just power through it, it is the last exercise!

Overall, this has been the least hardest (I can’t use the word ‘easiest’ when describing any Insanity workout!) routine for me so far this month.  While it is non-stop cardio, it wasn’t as intense as I remember the previous 2 days.  So, maybe I am getting into the groove of this month, but it was inspiring knowing that I could do more today than before.  Some of the exercises it took me a little while to get coordinated and figure them out, but they should make more sense the second time around.  I am looking forward to the ‘recovery’ day tomorrow and should be in good shape to power through the rest of this week.

Day 37 – Max Interval Plyo

I am pleased to announce that we have added a forum to our site!  The purpose of this forum is to give you all a place to discuss the Insanity workout program.

You are here on my blog reading these posts because you are either on the fence about trying Insanity, or are already in it digging deeper.  Please come join us and feel free to ask questions, share tips, post recipes, or share anything you would like with our great community.

I look forward to seeing you all there and getting to know you all a bit better!  Here is the link:

http://www.crazyworkoutblog.com/forum/

Today’s workout was the Max Interval Plyo.  I came into this one feeling much better simply due to all of the good hard sleep I had last night.  I do have to admit though, my body is SORE!  Pretty much all over, but especially in the neck/shoulder area, arms, and hamstrings.  It feels like Week 1 when your muscles get shocked.  I assume it is from the different exercises.

After the routine I was spent as usual, but I was able to recover much quicker than yesterday, and didn’t pass out at 8:00pm!  In fact, I felt good after I was cooled down and had some food.  So, hopefully the body is adjusting to these more intense workouts.

Max Interval Plyo is 55 minutes long . . . 55 minutes of muscle grinding exercises that had me saying “are you kidding me?” more than once!

As always, we start with the warm ups.  The warm ups are the same as the Max Interval Circuit.  It was hard to get started today, my body felt real heavy and slow.  But as always, the sweat starts pouring down your face and your muscles get warmed up and you push through it.

After the warm ups and stretches there is about 39 minutes left.  I guess that is psychologically better than the 43 from yesterday!  But that is still a long time to go full force.

The first circuit is all about legs.  There are 4 exercises that are either squats or jumps or similar.   You start with Switch Jumps which are not too bad, jumping in the air and rotating 180 degrees into a squat.  But the killer here is that after 3 exercises he yells at you to get up and start doing Power Jumps!  Seriously?  Ok, but by the 3rd rotation your legs are like Udon noodles dangling about.  So be prepared for leg work in the first circuit.

The second set of exercises has varied exercises, but 2 of them are push ups.  And not just normal pushups of course!  The first of them is Power Pushups.  Basically, you jump back to a push up position, go down, then when you come up you power your legs up to a standing position and repeat.  Pretty insane, right?  Well, then you haven’t yet done the Level 3 Drills!  Level THREE you ask?  Yes.  “Down, back, 16 pushups, 16 knees, up down . . .”  So you do 16 pushups each time in level 3 drills and I think they repeat it twice per rotation (what is that like 8,000 push ups in this circuit?).  Needless to say, I couldn’t get close to doing all of those!  Then you repeat this rotation 3 times as normal.

The last circuit is about 5 minutes long, and you only go through this set of exercises once.  The exercises in this round are  Side Push Ups (once you get the form it is really hard),  Kickstand Touch the Floor, 8 Power Knees/4 Diamond Jumps, and  Balance Push Ups.  Balance Push Ups were really hard for me.  I couldn’t quite get the rhythm, plus I had nothing left in the tank to power myself through them.  What you do is go down like a regular pushup and then as you come up you extend one arm and opposite leg off the ground and power/balance yourself up.  Ouchie!

Then comes the closing stretch of course.

At the end I was thinking to myself how Insane this program really is.  I am sure as I get through this week it will get easier, just like it did in Week 1.  I am happy to have gotten through this one and knowing it didn’t completely sap me like yesterday.  Each day I am getting stronger and digging deeper!

Day 36 – Max Interval Circuit

Here we go, bring it on Month 2!  I am ready to conquer you and make you whimper! . .  . . NOT

Today was the first day of Month 2 of Insanity.  It starts out by thrusting you into the Max Interval Circuit. I was excited to start today, but rightfully nervous as well.  It wasn’t a good start to the day that I had been up since around 4:00am due to thunderstorms and kids overtaking our bed.  Then top that off with the fact that it was Monday.  So, I entered into the workout tired and with a headache, hardly the way to start off!

I do have to say, I don’t think there is any way I could have done the Fit Test the same day and still survived.  The disadvantage though of doing it the way I did is that I did not get a rest day this past week.  My muscles were also very sore today, probably from pushing it hard in the Fit Test combined with no rest.

Anyways, I did get through the workout, but man it was hard.  It is a full 60 minutes of exercise.  I think the body is in a bit of shock after having a leisurely week of recovery.  I have mixed feelings now about having that full recovery week.  Maybe 3 days or something would be appropriate, but that would probably throw off the schedule of 60 days.

The workout starts out with the warm up.  The nice thing is that the warm up is different (in fact, most of the entire workout is new exercises which is a nice change).  It is still an intense warm up and gets the blood flowing for sure.   There are harder exercises in here like switch kicks and high knees while holding out your arms straight to the side.  But our bodies are ready for these by now   Then of course the stretches.

Then you enter the heart (no pun intended) of the workout.  At this point there is about 45 minutes on the clock.  There are 3 main circuits in this workout, just like other workouts, only they are longer in each.

The first circuit is intense (they all are) and consists of some new exercises.  One of these is real tough.  It is done in the plank position. It is a combo of  ski abs, in and out abs, push up jacks, and oblique knees to elbows.  There are also some punching exercises which is nice as you can scream at Shaun T and pretend to punch him while still working out!

The second circuit incorporates more punching exercises.  The punching is sort of fun in a way and you can time them up with curse words . . .”@#$%@#$” . . … “you” during your repetitions .  This second circuit incorporates Floor Switch Kicks which is basically reverse plank with your belly and jumping switch kicks from the floor.  I think I initially had my arms too far back and my triceps tightened up fiercely.

The third circuit has a total of 4 exercises in them.  Some of them are burners (of course).  There are Side Suicide Jumps (instead of straight back you go off to the side), Squat Hooks (burn your legs),  Full Body Drill (just know these suck!),  and Plank Punches.  (will have your core on fire).

And then that’s it!  Doesn’t that sound easy?

I got through it all and didn’t feel too terrible.  It did remind me though of the first week where your body is screaming back at you “what the hell are you doing?”.  It took me a good 30 minutes to stop sweating and get back to normal.  Then after dinner it hit me hard.  I was exhausted.  I ended up going to bed at 8:00pm!  I couldn’t stay awake if I wanted to and desperately needed some recovery.  So yeah, it kicked my ass.

Day 35 – Fit Test #3 (No Rest Day!)

Today is Sunday, and Sunday’s are supposed to be my rest day. However, as mentioned in my previous post, I looked at the schedule for Monday and it has me slated to do both the Fit Test and the first ONE HOUR workout of Month 2 (Max Interval Circuit). I decided instead to do my fit test today and skip the rest day so I wouldn’t have to be carted off to the hospital on Monday!

Here are my results for the 3rd Fit Test. I have compared my increase in percentage from the last fit test and also show my overall increase since my first fit test. I am very happy with the results!

I am getting stronger at absolutely every exercise which is amazing and a testament to the Insanity workout program. My biggest increase is with push-up jacks where I have doubled my output.  This one particularly makes me happy as one of my goals is to build upper body strength.

After the fit test today I went and did a bunch of yard work with the family since the weather was sooo nice.  It’s funny though, as I am raking leaves, I can feel how much stronger my body is.  I find myself tightening my core and holding form during my raking!  Perhaps I will develop an outdoor yard work exercise program that uses shoveling, raking, weed pulling, and lawn mowing as the exercises.

Alright Month 2, let’s GO!

Day 34 – Core Cardio and Balance: Done!