The Fitness Ninja

P90x / Insanity Hybrid Schedule

Format Explanation

So here’s my P90x / Insanity Hybrid calendar.  I’ve basically set it up in a similar format as the classic P90x schedule.  That is, most weeks have:

-3 weight training days.  These days are also paired up with 15 min. of abdominal work in the form of either Ab Ripper X (ARX) or Cardio Abs.  I alternate these two core routines so you are constantly changing up from week to week.

-2 cardio days (1 of which is a strenuous Max workout while the other is a regular Insanity routine.  This was intentional as classic P90x paired the much harder Plyo X with the wimpy Kenpo X every week [although, in actuality, a regular Insanity workout is much tougher than Kenpo X hands down]).

-1 day of low-impact muscle / stretch work (a la Yoga X)

-1 rest day (this is not listed on the calendar as it is a given).

-my one exception is running… during the week, if I feel like it on either a stretch or light cardio day I might swap out for an 8k run home instead.  I don’t want to stop running altogether especially with the weather getting nicer.

The final week of each month is a recovery period where you do low impact routines in order to help your muscles “recover” from the wear and tear of the previous weeks.  I’ve used a mix of all the low-impact stuff from both programs so that there is no repetition during this period.

MONTH ONE

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Chest & Back +ARX	Max Interval Circuit	Shoulders & Arms +Cardio Abs	Modified Yoga X	Modified Angie +ARX	Pure Cardio
Chest & Back +Cardio Abs	Max Plyo Intervals	Shoulders & Arms +ARX	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Angie +Cardio Abs	Cardio Power & Resistance
Chest & Back +ARX	Max Cardio Conditioning	Shoulders & Arms +Cardio Abs	Max Recovery	Modified Angie +ARX	Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Cardio Recovery	Core Synergistics	Max Recovery	Cardio X	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Yoga X

MONTH TWO

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps +Cardio Abs	Max Interval Circuit	Back & Bicep +ARX	Modified Yoga X	Modified Angie +Cardio Abs	Pure Cardio
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps +ARX	Max Plyo Intervals	Back & Bicep +Cardio Abs	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Angie +ARX	Cardio Power & Resistance
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps +Cardio Abs	Max Cardio Conditioning	Back & Bicep +ARX	Max Recovery	Modified Angie +Cardio Abs	Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Cardio Recovery	Core Synergistics	Max Recovery	Cardio X	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Yoga X

MONTH THREE

Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6
Chest & Back +ARX	Max Interval Circuit	Shoulders & Arms +Cardio Abs	Modified Yoga X	Modified Angie +ARX	Pure Cardio
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps +Cardio Abs	Max Plyo Intervals	Back & Bicep +ARX	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Angie +Cardio Abs	Cardio Power & Resistance
Chest & Back	Max Cardio Conditioning	Shoulders & Arms +Cardio Abs	Max Recovery	Modified Angie +ARX	Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps +Cardio Abs	Max Interval Circuit	Back & Bicep +ARX	Modified Yoga X	Modified Angie +Cardio Abs	Pure Cardio
Cardio Recovery	Core Synergistics	Max Recovery	Cardio X	Core Cardio & Balance	Modified Yoga X

A Few Ground Rules

-What I really want to stress with this hybrid is the use of heavy weights.  Thus, whenever given the option, I will opt to do 8 reps max with as heavy a weight as I can bear rather than going for 10 or 12 reps.  Some of the exercises where Tony mandates 16 reps, I might just cut down myself to 8 reps and use heavy weights to make up for the new low count.

-Really focus on form.

-Not worry too much about writing down the reps as all I want to do is make it to 8 on each exercise.

-I will boil down the bar work to simple chin ups, pull ups and military grip chin ups. No more of this towel or corn cob stuff.  Also, I will only aim for 10 reps per session on the pull up bar but I will always use a 20 pound dip belt.  I’ll allow myself to take 10-15 second breaks between every 5 reps to shake out the old arms just to help keep them “fresh”.

-Start taking protein powder or EAS supplements again after each weight training session.  I kinda slacked on this during Insanity, only taking them after max workouts.

-Here’s the biggest change: I’m not going to do any of the warm ups or cool down sessions.  Taking these out of a P90x routine lets you add the 15 min. of abdominal work and still leave the exercise room in under an hour.  I’ll use a Men’s Health stretch / warm up routine that only takes 2 minutes prior to working out.  Check it out here.

One key modification I will make while doing this warm-up is, whenever possible, to do some static and ballistic stretching with the arms.  For instance, while doing high knee runs, as your arms are basically free to do whatever, I would do ‘pterodactyl’ straight arm rotations a la P90x.  (“Caw,caw, CAW!!”).

Special Workout Explanations

2 routines which may look puzzling to anyone who has done both Beachbody programs is the Modified Yoga X & Modified Angie.

-Basically, for Modified Yoga X, all I am going to do is the first 45 min. of Yoga X (the moving Ashtangas) then the Yoga Belly 7 at the end of the DVD.  These two portions cut the routine down from 90 min. to about 50.  Much, much more digestible!

-The Modified Angie is taken not from P90x or Insanity but from Crossfit.  An Angie, as I understand it, is a simple routine where you try to complete the following as quickly as possible: 100 chin ups / 100 sit ups / 100 push ups / 100 squats.  However, where I modify it is, rather than do all the chin ups in one sitting, I break them up into 10 circuits of 40 reps a piece (doing 10 reps per exercise).  As well, each circuit will do different variations on the exercises (ex. 1 circuit may ask for decline push ups while another has you doing pike presses and still another asks for one arm).  Most of the bar work for this modified Angie will use a dip belt of 20 or 10 lbs.  I’ll post a chart later on breaking down the exercises I’ll use for each circuit.

-The moves on the chart are generally self-explanatory.  However, instead of sit-ups I’ve opted to do weighted and serratus crunches.  Both are explained more clearly part way down this page (long story short: weighted crunches lay the dumbbell close to the chest while serratus crunches have you holding the dumbbell with straight arms above your chest).  Medicine ball pushups are diamond push-ups done while balancing on a (you guessed it) medicine ball.  You can use a soccer or basketball if a medicine ball isn’t handy. Similarly, 1-arm medicine ball push-ups have you doing push-ups with one hand on a medicine ball (you can think of it as an assisted 1-handed push-up).

-With regards to the squats / lunges, these exercises are done with a dumbell in each hand of the listed weight.  Meaning that first circuit has you doing squats with a 50 lb. dumbell in each hand (so total 100 lbs. for the entire lift).

Here’s a video example of the Angie:

Modified Angie

Circuit	Bar Work	Abs  – 1 dumbell in 2 hands	Push Up	Squats / Lunges w/ 2 dumbells
1	Pull up – 20 lbs	Serratus Crunch (50 lbs)	Standard	50 lbs Squats
2	Chin up – 20 lbs	Weighted (50 lbs)	Decline	50 lbs Lunges
3	Mil. Chin up – 20 lbs	Serratus Crunch (40 lbs)	Pike Presses	40 lbs Squats
4	Pull up – 10 lbs	Weighted (40 lbs)	Dive-bombers	40 lbs Lunges
5	Chin up – 10 lbs	Serratus Crunch (30 lbs)	1-arm 10 per hand side	30 lbs Squats
6	Mil. Chin up – 10 lbs	Weighted (30 lbs)	Medicine ball	30 lbs Lunges
7	Pull up with 0 lbs	Serratus Crunch (20 lbs)	Military	20 lbs Squats
8	Chin up with 0 lbs	Weighted (20 lbs)	Diamond	20 lbs Lunges
9	Mil. Chin up with 0 lbs	Serratus Crunch (10 lbs)	1-arm med. ball, 10 per side	10 lbs Squats
10	Chin up with knee lifts	Weighted (10 lbs)	Standard to failure (1 min.)	10 lbs Lunges

Here’s a JPEG version of the calendar and Angie chart:

Wow… it’s been like forever since I’ve run home from work (in actuality it’s been like 4 months as the last time I did it was mid-November).  The weather was great, hovering around 13 celsius or so.  I was running into a headwind so it was exhilirating and tiring at the same time (it didn’t help that I weighed myself down with a big snack of Shreddies, raisins and almonds about an hour prior to running).

As usual, I loved every minute of it. Felt like I was going faster than I remember.  However, it still took the usual 40 min. or so to get home.  I know I’ll get faster with a bit more pratice throughout the spring, summer and fall.

God, I feel so wiped Ican’t even think straight.  Hmmm… oh yeah I bought a pair of these a couple of months ago and finally used them tonight:

It’s just a reflective band to put around your arms and legs so that you’re more visible at night. A bit of precaution as there are so many crazy drivers on the road.  Gotta make sure they can see you (not that may change anything considering how stupid / unobservant drivers can be even with stuff like this on).

I gotta get something off my chest.  It has nothing to do with health or fitness.  I work with kids all the time and sometimes I deal with special needs families.  I took a family out tonight to a local coffee shop where there were a bunch of ‘rough’ looking teenagers having dinner or something (they looked to range between 16-18 as they had a car).  As the teens finished and were walking out, they started to heckle the special needs mother and son I was with.  I don’t know if the family I was with noticed as they were having a conversation with each other but *I* noticed.  The teens took off after a minute and we were left alone in the coffee shop. The mother and son continued like nothing had happened, eating and talking, generally having a good time with each other.  I felt bad for them.

Then I thought of my son.  It’s inevitable, I know. A part of childhood and growing up, I know.  But I don’t want him to be subjected to bullying or taunts.  More importantly, I want him to know the difference between right and wrong and what it means to be compassionate and empathetic.

I don’t want him to grow up to be an asshole.  I also don’t want him to be weak.  But, God knows, I don’t want him to have my temper.

I have to figure out how to help him get there.

Have a good night.

Ah… I was feeling a bit better today and so did a lot of extra walking and runninng to make up for my lethargy over the past day or so.  In all, I ran / walked approx. 7 km.  After work, I decided to get a haircut.  Seriously, I need to figure out a style.  I usually just go for a loosely spiked look as I am lazy when it comes to doing anything with my hair (that’s a big part of the problem really).  I get it trimmed really short then wait like 2 to 2 1/2 months before returning to the barber for another haircut.  In the interim it grows out and I start to look more and more like I am homeless (at least that’s what my mother told me once when I had gone for like 3 months without a cut).  The people who cut my hair are always like “You want spiky hair?!?!?! You sure that was your style” because it gets so grown out there’s no way you’d associate the mop on my head with spikes.

Yeesh… like anyone cares (then again you could say that about this entire blog hahaha).

Once I got home, I took a bit of a rest then decided to do the last Insanity bonus workout: Upper Body Training.  This is Shaun T. basically trying to rectify (in one video no less) the fact that Insanity neglects upper body development.  It’s basically Shaun and two others working with weights inwhat looks like a community gym center.

Let’s just say my impression of this is: AHHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHHHAAHHAHAHAAHAAHAHAA!

Let me repeat that:  BAAAAAHHAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAHHAHAHA!!!

*whew*

Man, this video is ghetto.  Unlike the rest of the Insanity dvds which have pretty decent production values, this Upper Body Training routine looks like it was cooked up in an hour and they got a camcorder along with an extra (probably Tanya) to film it at the nearest gym.  Hell, the gym isn’t even booked off for the shoot.  In the background you can see a bunch of people (who are NOT extras) milling about using equipment in another portion of the weight room.  There’s this one slightly portly, older man on a treadmill slowly plodding along that gets caught in a couple of the shots.  It would have been hilarious had Shaun T. gone up to him and yelled “DIG DEEPER!” then ramped up the speed followed by his trademark “THIS IS INSANITY BABY!!”

*ahem*

So yeah, Shaun T. does weight training.  You’ll need a varied set of dumbells and a bench to do all the moves he asks.  Really, I don’t find any rhyme or reason to the sets.  Even some of the compound work seems slightly contradictory.  For instance, during one exercise he pairs bent over rows and and bent over flies in the same set (one row then one fly repeat till end of the set).  Well, maybe it’s just me but it feels like a row could really call on some very heavy weights while flies generally require much lighter weights because of the nature of the muscles it targets.  So pairing the two together in one exercise … I dunno, it feels like you never get the optimal workout you should. It seems like he tries to target everything with the exercises he chooses but then he also adds tiny bits of cardio, abs and lower body leg work.  If you’re going to focus on the upper body, focus on the upper body man!  The stretch at the end doesn’t make much sense either as it is basically an abbreviated version of the regular Insanity cool down…. a cool down which generally targets the LOWER BODY! Not much help when the bulk of the dvd was spent working your shoulders, triceps and biceps.

What else… oh yeah, the two extras working out along with Shaun T. are pretty much non-existent as the space they are working in is so cramped that the camera man almost never even gets a full on shot of them exercising.  It basically on Shaun T. 80% of the time.  In short, this video is pretty sloppy.  Sad really, considering how well put together the rest of the dvds were.  This just brings home the fact that if you want dedicated upper body work from Beachbody, you gotta go to Mr. Horton for it (definitely Shaun T. is your man for cardio though).

In any case, this was the first time in two months I’ve used my brother’s awesome powerblocks.  Man, have I missed using weights.  Makes me even more excited to get into this new hybrid program.  Just putting the last finishing touches on it and I think I’ll be able to post it this Friday. K, peace out!

Today was a strange day.  I felt kinda sick last night and so took today off of work.  Spent most of the morning just resting and sleeping, playing a bit of PS3.  I hope my immune system isn’t taking a hit because of the lack of sleep from trying to feed the baby at night.  Last thing we need is a sick baby (my wife tells me she dreads the day he gets his first cold / fever… inevitable… but still dreaded).

Around 5 I finally mustered up the strength to try and struggle through another bonus Insanity video.  This time it was Insane Abs.  35 minutes of pure abdominal work.  It wasn’t too bad as there were plenty of 10-15 second breaks in between sets when Shaun T. is trying to show you how to do a move.  There’s some overlap with moves from Cardio Abs but also a lot of new ones… mainly variations of in and outs with the legs while seated on the yoga mat.  I really didn’t get a wicked sweat on (thank God as my body probably could not have taken it) as the dvd is pretty low impact (except for those damn dreaded tuck jumps at the start).  I might work this into my P90x / Insanity hybrid during a recovery week.  Still, no ab workout in Insanity is as tough as ARX in P90x.  Probably cause Shaun T. hates anything that resembles a crunch or sit up.

Speaking of which, I should have that chart written up and done by the end of the week (I hope).

As for food… pretty good today.  Breakfast was PB wholewheat toast, snacks were 2 granola bars and granola and yogurt, pineapple slices (throughout the whole day of course, not 1 sitting). lunch was 2 hot dogs, dinner was Wendy’s 3 chicken strips, a small cup of chili and a diet coke.

Peace!

As you can see I’ve taken the last day off of blogging.  I posted my Insanity overall review on Saturday (darn thing took *forever* to write) and took both Saturday and Sunday off of working out.  It was a small indulgence I allowed myself.  Strangely, though, not working out seems to throw me out of sorts like … I feel a small twang of guilt for not doing them … like part of my day is missing but at the same time I know my body needs the rest so… meh.  It has to be.  Plust it allowed me to do a little bit more gaming which is nice.  I haven’t sat in front of the TV and PS3 for a while to just chill out and kill monsters (currently working on the God of War Collection at the moment).

Today, however, I did work out and completed one of the bonus Insanity videos: Max Interval Sport Training or something like that.  Basically, Shaun T. and company go through 4 sequences mimicing moves found in various sports (boxing, basketball, football, gymnastics and track).  It was a mix of several moves from various dvds plus 1 or 2 new moves (or variations of old movess) thrown in for good measure.  Overall, it was pretty good… typical insanity video.  Lotta sweat, lotta movement.  I don’t think it’s as hard as Max Plyo Intervals but you could probably interchange this one with Max Interval Circuit and you’d still get the same effect.  I always find it strange doing these sports based exercise routines because I never feel like my body actually goes through the same motion or strain it would  had I actual sports equipment.  It’s basically an exercise in miming and imagining what you think you should look like when playing a sport (when in reality it would probably really different due to the weight and momentum of gear like basketballs or boxing gloves in your hands).  I dunno… did that make any sense? I hope so…  I’m so tired I can’t tell anymore.

I ate out quite a bit on the weekend but tried to make sensible choices.  To be honest, since I was “resting” I didn’t really pay much attention to recording all my food intake.  Just tried to stay on the good side of things if you know what I mean.

Peace!

Like a lot of people, I was introduced to Beachbody via P90x.  However, last year they released Shaun T.’s Insanity which they billed “as the hardest workout series” ever put on dvd (Shaun T. BTW is the same guy who did Hip Hop Abs).  That kind of advertising seemed like a challenge and so I decided after completing round 1 of P90x I would give Insanity a go (looking around the interwebs and blogging community, this seems to be a very logical progression for a lot of people: P90x –> Insanity).  However, structurally and thematically, Insanity is a very different beast from P90x.

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What is it?

Insanity is a 60 day cardio-intensive fitness bootcamp.  The program is broken up into 2 four week phases divided by a recovery week. Since the bulk of the workouts in both months are cardio-centric, what differentiates them is primarily duration and intensity.  Phase 1 workouts are approximately 35-45 minutes in length while phase 2 varies from 45-60 minutes.  As well, during phase 2, it seemed to me that there were more push up variations and plyometric / ‘explosive’ movements (thereby resulting in greater ‘intensity’).  As such, phase 1 workouts are the ‘regular’ workouts while titles in phase 2 are preceded by the “MAX” moniker.

The addition of an extra 10-15 minutes may not seem like a lot but in the world of Insanity, this is plenty of hurt.  See, while P90x marketed the concept of ‘muscle confusion’, Shaun T.’s product pushes the notion of ‘max interval training’.  A basic definition of interval training would simply be a period of intense physical exertion (say 90% -100 % effort) followed by a period of recovery (say maybe 20% effort or less or just complete rest altogether [0%]).  In more traditional settings, the duration of the rest is often near equal to or greater than the period of exertion.  So, you might sprint for 1 minute then rest for 1 minute.  In tabata intervals, the ratio is 20 seconds of hard work versus 10 seconds of rest.  Insanity turns this concept on its head by asking you to exert yourself for far longer than usual and rest for a much shorter period of time.  The common ratio for most routines is 3 minutes of hard exercise followed by 30 seconds of rest (and in the both the regular and Max Cardio conditioning series, there’s no real rest at all… it’s 30 minutes of solid exercise interspersed with low impact moves maybe every 10 minutes or so).

All the workouts also follow the same general formula. Everything, including the 9 minute warm up, is laid out in circuit fashion. You bust your butt for 3 minutes on approximately 4-5 exercises, rest for 30 seconds, then repeat twice more thereby completing the circuit 3 times total.  Once done, you move on to another circuit which is again repeated 3 times.  This continues until the cool down stretch found in the last 3-4 minutes of each video.

An Insanity week, like a P90x week, is divided into 6 days of exercise followed by a day of rest.  During the week, there is one day in Phase 1 dedicated to low intensity exercise or stretch work (dubbed a ‘recovery’ or ‘Max recovery workout’).  This doubles in Phase 2 as most weeks have a recovery workout and a Core Cardio & Balance workout (stressing, you guessed it, core exercises and balance work).  However, unlike P90x where you could expect to do Yoga X every day 4 and Kenpo X every day 6, in Insanity the order of the workouts change from week to week.  As well, where P90x had you doing Ab Ripper X 3 days a week, in Insanity core work is emphasized in EVERY workout as Shaun T. is constantly reminding you to “keep your core tight” or “lift with your core” when doing running / jumping motions.  There is a dedicated 15 minute video emphasizing pure abdominal work but this done only once per week, usually after a cardio endurance routine.

Lastly, unlike P90x where Tony’s always reminding you to write down your progress with regards to weights / reps, Insanity instead has a ‘Fit Test’ that you take every 2 weeks (by program’s end, you will have done the fit test 5 times).  The fit test itself is 25 minutes long and you are given 1 minute to complete as many reps of a given exercise as possible.  You write down reps accomplished for each and, as you progress through Insanity, the hope is that these numbers go up with each test completed.  There are 8 exercises during the test and each is followed by a minute of rest.

Wow, that took much longer to explain than my P90x summary.  Whew…

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Equipment Needed:

None.  Insanity is pure body work.  No weights, no push up stands, no pull up bars, no wall or chair needed.  You don’t even need shoes.  I did the entire program barefoot in my carpeted basement (I did, however, do all my running and jumping on a yoga mat).

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Now onto the “Likes vs Dislikes” (Everything here is, of course, in my own humble opinion).

The Likes

Liked: Instructor and crew.  This one is contentious as I wasn’t a big fan of Tony Horton’s personality in P90x but I know that there are a lot of people who really dig his cornball sense of humor (it’s ok in small doses I guess… just not daily over the course of 3 months).  Shaun T., on the other hand, I like very much.  He’s all business in the sense that he doesn’t ham it up for the camera or tell side stories about his life or do bad impersonations of actors.  He’s also very ‘minimalist’ in what he says.  Rather than telling you how to do the moves, he sets up almost every exercise by doing a rep or two himself then counting down “3…2…1” for the start of the interval.  The rest of the time he’s usually just yelling at  you several catch phrases like:

“FOCUS!!!” “Dig deep.” “Dig deeper!” “C’mon people!!” “Use the core!” “Lift with your core!” “Land softly, people.”  “Get to your spots!” “C’mon and get there!” (These last two occur after water breaks and he wants you and his crew not to dawdle).

On a related note, I also like the crew that Insanity presents especially since I DON’T GET TO KNOW THEM! I think the most insightful pieces of information you get is that one of the participants is a Beachbody coach, another is a former marine, one is a b-boy, there’s a guy who does marathons while another was a spin class instructor.  There’s no weird extended interviews with people about their lives and the people with him are pretty much silent throughout the workouts (yeah they yell incoherent stuff in the background, give each other plenty of high-fives or say one or two things when Shaun T. goes beside them to showcase form… but you won’t see the same nattering types like Katie or Dreya here [thank God]).

Liked: Format.  The Insanity set looks to be a simple community basketball court.  Unlike P90x’s dungeon gym, this is a nice bright airy space. I don’t have anything bad to say about it.  I really like that you see more than the Instructor and 2 participants at a time when the camera pans out.  Why? Well, because it’s a regular thing to see people doubled over in exhaustion throughout the videos (especially Phase 2).  I found this ‘communal’ sense of pain comforting as there were many times I found myself doubled over heaving.  Even Shaun T. gets wiped which is nice… he doesn’t attempt to keep up the same façade Tony maintains of being a “machine”.

Added to this, I really dug the timer format they superimposed on the screen. Throughout the video, there is an animated bar with demarcations that move slowly to the left alongside a timer counting down at the bottom of the screen.  Both visual cues indicate when an exercise ends and another begins.  This was nice as I often found myself thinking while looking at the screen, “Ok, I just need to make it until this yellow bar is gone… just a little further… *collapse*”. Occasionally, helpful hints / reminders pop up such as “Go at your own pace” or “Land softly”.  It’s a format I hope they use in future Beachbody products.   (Pic courtesy of Fitbomb).

Liked: Difficulty / Intensity.  This is probably the best thing about Insanity.  As I said earlier, Beachbody has billed Insanity as the hardest workout put to DVD.  I wouldn’t know how to even start testing a claim like that but I do know one thing: Insanity will kick your butt!  The very nature of interval work asks you to give an exercise a 100% in controlled bursts.  As such, I don’t think it’s possible to get through a video without feeling totally burned down.  I remember feeling the same way about Plyo X when I first started doing that workout but by the end of P90x I actually found it quite manageable.  I never once felt that way about any of the workouts in Insanity.  Moreover, there was this level of fatigue and exhaustion I encountered throughout Insanity that was really only present for me at the start of P90x.  In short, I love the intensity of this program.  Although, as a caveat, because of its intensity I could not see myself doing this program over and over again the same way you could P90x.  The high-impact nature of the moves (there is a tonne of jumping, running, squatting and lunging going on) will kill your legs (knees especially).

Liked: Simplicity.  Insanity requires no workout equipment.  As such, it’s a very portable system.  Fly away on a business trip or on vacation, pack the DVDs in your suitcase and you’re still good to go (provided your accomodations have a TV and movie player).  It also makes the purchase much cheaper than P90x as you won’t have to invest in weights, resistance bands or a pull up bar.  You will probably want a water bottle close by during the workouts as you’ll be drowning in your own sweat once you’re in the thick of it.

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The Dreaded Dislikes

Disliked: Similarity of workouts.  This point might seem slightly odd considering I said I liked the simplicity of Shaun T.’s program.  However, the one thing that will strike anyone doing Insanity after a week is how similar each DVD is to the other.  I guess this couldn’t be avoided considering how limited Shaun T.’s reptertoire of exercises must be since he stuck to the no equipment rule (not even a chair or a wall to work against).  The routines, as such, seem to blend into one another and you would be hard pressed to clearly point out key differences between Max Interval Plyo and Max Interval Circuit  workouts (I think the former is just a bit harder than the latter because of 2 or 3 different moves but other than that they are pretty interchangeable).  It doesn’t help that the warm ups and cool downs used for all regular and Max workouts are near carbon copies of each other and recovery week is comprised of the same routine for six days straight.  As much as I love this system, there were times when it was slightly monotonous.  This ’sameness’ is also the reason I didn’t do separate reviews of each DVD in the manner I did for P90x .

This similarity between workouts actually segways well into the next point…

Disliked: Lopsided development.  This is the biggest strike against Insanity.  Because it is cardio based, strength development takes a backseat to ramping up your body’s cardiovascular endurance.  As a result, if you don’t supplement Insanity with some form of upper body conditioning, you will more than likely feel yourself weakening in the arms and back (at least, this was my experience coming from a total body conditioning program like P90x and some weight training prior to that).  What limited upper body work Shaun T. does comes primarily in the form of push ups (and boy does he love push ups… in all shapes and sizes).  And while push ups are great for the chest, core and triceps, your back, biceps and shoulders are somewhat neglected.  Oh sure he does one or two exercises here and there to strengthen these regions, just not enough I think to make much of a difference.  For my part, I supplemented Insanity with a grease-the-groove pull up system that you can learn more about here.

Your quads, hamstrings and calves sure do get a hell of a lot of punishment that’s for sure.

Things other people may dislike: No modification / Slightly exclusive. I had originally intended to do these as two separate points but realized they are interrelated.  Unlike P90x where Tony is always showing you how to change a move if your abilities can’t match his, I think I can count on one hand the number of times Shaun T. downgrades an exercise.  Granted, I wouldn’t even know how to start offering variations to the moves in the routines as many of them seem ‘unalterable’.  Example: How do you do a low impact version of a jump knee tuck or high knee runs? Those two moves [or variations there of] are done ad naseum throughout the 60 days.

This lack of alterability leads to Insanity’s other key shortcoming and that is it can be pretty exclusive.  Tony Horton once said that in looking through copious before and after pics of those who had attempted and completed P90x, he was surprised at how out of shape or obese some of the people were.  In his opinion, it might have been a more logical progression to have them start off on a less grueling program like Power 90 then move up to P90x when they had reached the recommended fitness level.

I don’t think this same scenario plays out as often with those who attempt Insanity.  If you look at all the before and after pics of people on the infomercial, basically all of them are ALREADY slim and somewhat fit.  What Insanity did for them was trim back some body fat % thereby allowing muscle definition to show through.  The kind of intensity and relentless high-impact movement Shaun T. asks you to do is not, I think, something you can ask of someone who is severely out of shape.  It will run them right into the ground if not outright injure them.

I hope I’m not sounding like Insanity is some kind of elitist program.  It isn’t (as testimony to this fact *I* was able to complete it and I’m the farthest thing from being ‘elite’… I did, however, take a year to exercise and lose weight before attempting Insanity).  I guess all I am saying is that you need a half-decent base of fitness already established in your life before attempting this program because IT IS so strenuous.  Geez, I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way.

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In any case, if you have any questions, leave them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

If you are interested, I dug up some of the Insanity infomercials listed on YouTube.  They might better explain the product than I did.

PS Ariel is totally hawt.

WOOOOHOOO!! Just finished the last fit test half an hour ago then took a shower.  Here are the results for test five relative to all the prior tests:

Insanity Fit Test

TEST 1

TEST 2

TEST 3

TEST 4

TEST 5

Switch Kicks

103

120

131

135

139

Power Jacks

47

55

56

61

62

Power Knees

87

95

103

109

113

Power Jumps

35

54

68

71

75

Globe Jumps

9

10

11

11

11

Suicide Jumps

14

19

21

21

24

Push-Up Jacks

30

40

44

50

47

Low Plank Obliques

52

66

78

85

95

As you can see, overall I improved with only push-up jacks going down and globe jumps remaining steady at 11.  Man, I feel so relieved that this set is done (and I am proud that I basically did Insanity as it was meant to be done, sticking with the schedule and not making any major alterations.  I think the biggest change I did was to move around a rest day here and there when the baby was being born). Now, onto writing up my review of the program.  Generally, I really liked Insanity but there is no way I could see myself doing multiple rounds of this program unaltered.  It’s super-high-impact nature is just way too much to continue month after month, six-days a week.  But I’ll talk more about that in the review.

Oh yeah, great news! I weighed myself this morning and the scale clocked in at 137 pounds! WOW! I wasn’t expecting the decrease from last month’s weight check.  I could have sworn I was going to be over 140 considering all the junk I ate over the course of the month so I was pleasantly surprised.  I guess all that cardio did trim me down a little bit.

Alrighty, peace!

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Breakfast: 3 pandesal with a pat of margerine each, watered juice.
Snack 1: A whole wheat blueberry muffin (small size) included flax seed and was cooked with olive oil, small granola bar (100).
Lunch: Two pieces whole wheat toast with PB, apple, granola bar (170).
Snack 2: 2 more muffins, another granola bar (170).
Dinner: 4 chicken strips from Wendy’s, small diet coke.
Snack 3: 3 pineapple slices.

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Phew! That was the last full routine for this round of Insanity.  Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs paired together like that are absolute killer.  Just when you think you’re done, you realize you have 15 more minutes of core work to do.

I’m glad I was able to get through this system in much the same way that I was glad to get through P90x.  It’s a hell of an accomplishment.  I know the old me a year ago would have died having attempted to do something this cardio intense.  It just brings into focus how far I’ve come… and yet how far I have yet to go still.  This might sound pessimistic, but I’m pretty sure that when I weigh myself tomorrow I will almost surely have gained weight.  I’m not panicking or fretting about this but it is odd considering how hard a cardio system Insanity is that I would actually gain weight on it.  I chalk that up really to lapses in my nutrition as always.

Interestingly, though, Fitbomb has put up a really good article here about the greater importance nutrition plays (versus that of exercise) if you are trying to either lose weight or stay trim.  I want to get down to a (seemingly impossible) 10% bodyfat rating and I know I won’t be able to get there if I don’t buckle down and just eat right.  I have to really get back on track and refocus my efforts come this next hybrid round.  Ironically, exercise might cause you to actually gain weight because hard workouts tend to stimulates hunger tremendously.  Not only that, but the “afterburn” (increased metabolic boost)  often touted as continuing to melt calories long after a workout is done may, in fact, be a lie. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!  All these year’s Men’s Health has lied to me (this afterburn thing is something they are always flogging when pushing their weight training routines).

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Breakfast:  2 Pandesal and a 2 filet of sole (from last night’s dinner), watered juice.
Snack 1: Granola bar.
Lunch: Teriyaki salmon, cup of cooked white rice, cup of bean sprouts, cup of salad and miso soup.
Snack 2: Mix of Shreddies, raisins, almonds, granola bar.
Dinner: Roasted potatoes, 3 chicken legs, corn, watered juice.
Snack 3: Oatmeal cookie.

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Alrighty! Did my last Max Plyo Intervals for this round of Insanity! Thank God! That circuit is BRUTAL.  I felt myself slowing down today and hated knowing I was slowing down as I really wanted to go balls out this one last time.  But really, the intervals are so hard I just can’t help it.  For instance during the second set of intervals you do something like 96 push ups (32 x 3) interspersed between sets of sprints, ab work (in and outs) AND even MORE push ups (the dreaded power pushups which I can do about 30-45 depending on how wasted I feel)… WTF was Shaun T. thinking?  In honesty, I’m glad that Insanity is as hard as they made it because after you finish a workout you know you burned those calories.

And because you burned a tonne of calories… it doesn’t feel so bad when you chow down on a jumbo sundae.   JUST KIDDING! I didn’t have a sundae today (key word is “today”).

K… I’m gonna keep this short as I’ve actually been typing for over an hour already.  I’m working on getting that P90x / Insanity hybrid schedule ready to post in addition to an overall review of the program.  I should have it up in the next few days (probably the weekend).

Oh and in addition to the workout, I did an extra hour of walking and running today (about 7 km).  I was pretty beat when I got home from work and had a number of snacks.

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Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins, watered juice.

Snack 1: Granola bar (110)

Lunch: Michelinas frozen macaroni and cheese dinner (390), apple, granola bar (170)

Snack 2: Granola bar x2 (220), 6 arrow root cookies (180), yogurt and granola (135)

Dinner: Rice and fish in a soy sauce based sauce, watered juice.

Snack 3: Granola bar (110)

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Oh… yeah… I know I forgot to weigh myself at the start of this month.  I’m gonna wait till Friday to do it when I am officially finished Insanity.  I figure that would be an appropriate milestone.  Peace!

Pretty tiring day today as I opted to do the bulk of the evening feedings last night because the wife had done them the prior night and was pretty wiped.  I finally, got to sleep around 3 AM.  Poor baby has a wicked diaper rash which is starting to heal up (thank God for modern creams – what the heck did they use before Penetin?)

Around 12:30 this afternoon I got the motivation to do Core Cardio and Balance.  This routine always seems to land on the right days for me … just when I am totally wiped.

Y’know even though I’ve been planning a second recovery period next week, I’m thinking of changing plans and doing the first week of Slim in Six.  I know right?!?!?  Slim in Six? That’s a “girly” program.  Well, see, my wife is eager to lose some weight (especially in light of the pregnancy) and it might be fun for us to work out together.  I’m happy and proud of her for getting up the initiative to try and tackle Sin6.  I don’t foresee it being anywhere near as strenuous as Insanity (but, then again, what is?) so it might serve well as a recovery week workout.  However, if she feels self-conscious working out with me, then I’ll go back to my original plan.

God knows, I’d feel pretty self conscious working out with others.  It’s the whole reason I avoid the gym and kinda hated physical education class as a kid (definitely as a teenager).  I couldn’t stand the whole “jock” mentality that seemed to pervade high school athletics.  This is a key reason why I love the Beachbody programs so much.  It’s like having a personal trainer whenever you need one in the privacy of your own home at a fraction of the cost.

Check out the Slim in 6 Infomercial here…

GEEZ! Rereading all that I realize I sound like an adman for Beachbody… REMEMBER folks I’m not affiliated with the company in any way.  I just like their stuff.  Buy whatever the heck you want!!

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Breakfast:  Two pandesal, 6 slices of cheddar, watered juice.

Snack 1:  Yogurt and granola.

Lunch:  Two pieces whole wheat toast with PB & J, watered juice, granola bar.

Snack 2: Shreddies, raisins, almond mix.

Dinner: Caesar salad, 2 hotdogs and hotdog buns.

Snack 3: Cup of vanilla ice cream, granola, 6 arrowroot cookies.

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