Ok guys, normally I am all sunshine and flowers about Insanity, but today I have a confession to make.  I need to be honest here . . . I AM READY FOR THIS TO BE DONE!  Don’t get me wrong, I really do love the Insanity workout and am extremely proud of myself (and all of you who are doing it with me) it is just that I feel like I need a break.  I have really only felt this way here in the last week.  It is mentally and physically wearing on me. There are a couple of main reasons for this:

1. Physically, my knees need rest.  Coming into today’s workout my knee issue turned into knees issues.  My right knee was hurting all day as well as the normal left knee.  It was probably the worst they have felt the entire time.  These knees have been through a lot and deserve a break.  I was dreading starting today because I was afraid of how they would do. The rest of my body feels good with a little muscle soreness here and there (which I kind of like).
2. The second reason is more compelling: there are times when I feel like my life revolves around Insanity!  I find myself rescheduling items so I can get in a workout.  Or sacrificing other important tasks or time with the family to do a workout.  Now I understand that you have to be committed to this, which I am, it has just been tough juggling being a good dad, husband, and getting these workouts done without stress.   I am looking forward to coming home from work one day next week and just playing with the kids for an hour instead of huffing and puffing in front of a TV.  This part of Insanity is much tougher for me than the physical part.

The second reason brings me to the “Modification” part of this post.  Here is an example of the choice I had to make today.  I had volunteered to move some items around at my daughter’s school in preparation for the annual auction.  I was slated to show up at 6:00pm and it would only take a half hour.  Well, by the time I get home from work and get prepped and ready to do my workout it is 5:00pm.  Today I was scheduled to do Max Interval Circuit which is a full hour long.  So I had some choices:

1. Skip the workout
2. Do the workout in the evening, which probably wouldn’t get started until 8:30pm or so and mess up my dinner/eating schedule
3. Do a shorter workout

I chose #3.  Instead of Max Cardio Circuit I did the Month 1 Plyometric Cardio Circuit which is 40 minutes long vs. 60 minutes.  This allowed me to get over to the school in time and enjoy dinner with the family.  It was the modification for today that I had to do.

Knowing that I am so close to the finish line is keeping me motivated though.  I only have 3 more workouts and one fit test to go!

Day 58 – Max Cardio Conditioning

Back to the Max Cardio Conditioning today.  It was a really good workout, unlike yesterday.  I came into it much more rested and ready to go.  Plus I still think this is one of my favorite routines of the second month.  I think the reason is because it never stops.  As crazy as that sounds, without breaks between circuits I feel like I am more into it and look at the clock less.  Before you know it, it is halfway over then you are done!

I was drenched in sweat today and tried to push myself as hard as possible.  Each time you do these routines you do get better (unless you are having an off day).  That was true today as well.  I felt satisfied afterward as was ready for the rest of the evening.  4 more workouts and a final fit test to go!

Calorie burn: 548 calories (all negated by a piece of cheesecake later in the night!)

Day 57 – Max Interval Plyometrics

Some days are harder than other for sure.  This was one of those days.  Monday’s in general suck for me, but this one was even worse.  I felt tired all day and came into the workout with a headache which is never a good thing.  Then top it off with the time change and I was pretty grumpy about getting started.  But I did.

The warm up felt harder than normal and I had to stop a couple of times.  It just took a little longer to get the blood flowing.  When you start with a headache, each jump throbs the head.  The good news though is that (at least for me) it seems to pass.  I think Shaun T just scares it away!

That first circuit is a killer for me with all of those squats.  I am slowing down the squats to make sure I stay in form and not hurt the knees.  And how many power jumps can a human do?  I even saw Lloyd stopping during this circuit (he is the army vet that seems unstoppable on the video).

Then we go onto the push up drills.  I think I did 8,457 push ups in 10 minutes, or something like that.  He likes to disguise these in different ways, but they are all still push ups!  Seriously though, I did do pretty well with those.  On the Level 3 drills I am making a ton of progress which is cool.

By this point, all of the grumpiness and headaches and any other thoughts other than exercising disappear.  I know this happens that I why you just have to “push play” and go for it.  As always, I felt better when it was done and am one step closer to completion!

Day 56 – The Final Rest Day!

Just writing that title makes me realize how close to completion I really am.  It really is hard to believe I started this in January and it is almost springtime and I am still at it.  One more week to dig deeper and conquer this thing we call Insanity!

Today was an uneventful rest day.  The weather was kind of crappy outside so there really wasn’t much to do.  I pretty much hung around the house and played with kids and watched some NCAA basketball.  It was nice because on previous rest days I have been really active as well, so this was truly a day of rest.

I can barely feel any twinge at all in the knees which is great.  I still go gingerly up and down stairs from habit.  All I need is for them to hold out one more week!

Ok, off to visualize the final week of Insanity . . .

Day 55 – Max Interval Sports Training

I know I am a little late posting this one, sorry guys! Yesterday was the second time through for the Max Interval Sports Training routine. I think this is one of my favorite routines to do. As mentioned before, it is split up into sections based on the following sports: boxing, football, basketball, gymnastics, and track.

My favorite part is the boxing. It really is kinda fun to punch. I was really feeling the power and understanding how to use all of my muscles to create more strength in the different punches.

The football and basketball drills are taxing, but fun to do for me. I have always loved to play sports (basketball especially) so i can really visualize while doing these drills the meaning behind them.

The gymnastic drills are challenging, I can see how strong you must be to pull off some of the things gymnasts do.

Then came the track and field. I had fun pushing myself here. I was determined to do the ladders and complete them all the way through. And I did. Here is how the ladders work: It is basically just sets of high knees. You start with 15 seconds, rest for 15 seconds, then go 30 seconds, rest, 45 seconds, rest, 60 seconds, rest, then go down the ladder 45, 30, and finally 15. It is fun because at that last 15 second repetition everyone in the video gets together and just pushes it 100%. You really feel good after this!

My knee has been holding up pretty well. I can still feel it and am still cautious. During the ladders I was forced to keep good form. If I didn’t I would feel a twinge, so in a way it was helpful to me as a reminder of how I should be exercising.

Calorie burn for this exercise today was 536 calories. Oh, and did I mention I AM DONE WITH WEEK 8 AND HAVE ONLY ONE MORE WEEK TO GO!

Day 54 – Max Interval Circuit

This is my least favorite routine of this month.  I think it is mostly mental just because I know it is the longest.  I mean, working out at your max for a full hour?

I left work a bit early today (hey it’s Friday) to get home and bust this out before my brother came over.  He was passing through for one night on his way to Florida and I didn’t want to spend my time exercising while he was here.

The routine went fairly well.  I am definitely getting better conditioned as the weeks go by.  I was able to power through most everything it felt like, until I got to the last circuit.  By the second round of that last circuit I start to fade.  I did my best and kept form and dug through it.

The knee is doing doing fairly well too.  I mentioned yesterday it was feeling better and I am happy to say that has carried into today.  Although I still feel it, it is less painful than before.  I am extremely conscious of form of course and slow down through the many squat and knee pounding exercises.  I am fairly sure when my 9 weeks are up it will come back to full strength after a few days of good rest.

Pushing it burned a ton of calories today. . . . 727 to be exact!

Day 53 – Max Recovery

It’s always nice looking forward to Thursday and the Max Recovery days.  Today was no different.  Although it is still 47 minutes long, there is not the usual cardio to kill you.

Today was quite good.  I was able to do more of the exercises than in previous weeks.  There is a lot of deep muscle work that will have your arms or legs shaking at some point.  The slow push ups are deadly, but feel good at the same time.  I was also surprisingly better in the plie squat exercises (although I did have to break a few times).

My one concern is still my left knee.  Going into the workout it had been bothering me throughout the day.  I can feel it when I stand up, or go up stairs, or just bend a little too far.  I was very careful during the workout not to overextend it.  Since everything is a little slower, it makes it easier to maintain the form.  During the workout, the pain was more noticeable than ever before.  Some simple moves, like jumping back into plank , were causing me pain.  I just took those moves slow and walked the leg back.

Now for the odd part.  I noticed after the workout was done that the knee actually felt better!  It is not back to normal, but it seems as though the pain has gone away?  I wonder what happened.  Maybe the knee got stretched out or something or magically has popped back in place.  I don’t really know, but I am knocking on wood right now that it is getting better.  I will let you all know tomorrow if the pain returns.

I also did not wear the heart rate monitor today.  Since there isn’t much cardio, you don’t really need to monitor your heart rate.  It’s all about stretching and muscle work on Recovery day.

Day 52 – Max Cardio Conditioning

Ok, back in the saddle!  After missing my first workout yesterday I am motivated to push through these last 11 days and finish strong.  Today is one of those days where you are supposed to do both Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs.  I have resigned to the fact that I am not going to do Insane Abs.  I plan on picking it up after the 63 days are up and will write my reviews and experiences then.  So for now, I am pretending I didn’t see that on the calendar.   As people have posted in the forum, we have our whole lives to get in shape, not just these 63 days!

Max Cardio Conditioning went pretty well for me today.  I felt like I performed most of the exercises and was able to keep the heart rate up and pumping the entire time.  My cardio conditioning is definitely improving.  Some of the exercises they just go too fast for me, but I slow them down and try to keep good form and push through as long as possible.

My knee was bothering me throughout the workout.  I noticed it almost immediately in the warm up.  This did change the workout for me in some ways.  While doing anything with a squat I was very very conscious of my knee being placed behind the big toe.  I almost have a built in warning system now since if  the knee is too far forward I can feel the twinge.  I made sure to slow down on those exercises and concentrate on the form.

I still think this is my favorite workout of the month.  It is non-stop, but seems very doable for me.  Today’s calorie burn: 563 calories.

Day 51 – Max Nothing Circuit

Well, I guess it was bound to happen.

It did.

I missed a workout.

I suppose a 50 day streak is pretty good, but I was really hoping to push the entire way through.  I know it’s not the end of the world, but it’s hard to accept missing a workout.  Plus I have to reveal it here publicly to all of my readers!  I know you guys, and I know you will be supportive

The reason for missing the workout was two-fold.  The first and real reason was that I had a choice to go to our kids first soccer practice and meet the coach, or stay at home and exercise.  For my son, this was his first time.  He is supposed to be <ahem> 4 to play (although he isn’t “officially” 4 until June).  He even told me before we left “Dad, I am going to do great!”.  And of course he did!  So, I wasn’t going to miss being there for my kids.  There are some things that are even more important that Insanity!  By the time we got home and ate dinner it was 7:30pm.  This meant I couldn’t think of starting until after 9:00pm or so.

The second reason is that I think my knees are getting a tad worse.  It is not to the point where they are in constant pain, but I am noticing more and more how tender they are and how I am favoring them, especially my left.  Things like getting up off the floor, and climbing stairs, and even getting out of chairs has me noticing the tenderness.  I really don’t want to make them worse, so an extra rest day may not be a bad thing.  I did notice them hurting a bit during the workout yesterday too. It seems like a good percentage of people develop some sort of knee pain during Insanity judging by all of the people in the forums.  It is a strenuous program for sure and I suppose we really really need to make sure our form is perfect on some of these exercises.

So, those are the reasons that I missed the workout today.  I plan on jumping right back in tomorrow and pick up with the scheduled workout.  I am so close now that I have to finish strong!

Day 50 – Max Interval Circuit

Day 50!  Wow, that is a lot of days when you think about it.

As these workouts progress, it is getting more and more difficult for me to figure out the time constraints and how I am going to get in all of the remaining workouts.  It may end up that I get up at 4:30am and do some of them.   That is not ideal, but I HAVE to finish this program and will do whatever it takes to get them done.

Today was Max Interval Circuit.  This is the longest workout of the month at a full 60 minutes.  I was unable to do this workout when I got home from work due to some other commitments I had to attend to.  So, I had to do it at night.  I wasn’t able to get started until 8:45pm.  I begrudgingly put on my shoes and started the warmup.  It’s really hard to get going when kids are already sleeping and you have already eaten dinner!

But, like all days, I dug deeper and got into the groove of the workout.  I felt pretty good afterwards and had a nice protein shake as a reward (my special mix of vanilla protein powder and chocoloate soy milk!).  Exercising at night did sort of wake me up as would be expected and kept me up later than normal.  But I got it done and that is what was most important.

Day 49 – Rest Day