The Fitness Ninja

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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Should have been a rest day today but as I have to do a full Max workout tomorrow, I figure I would get the fourth fit test out of the way.  Here are the results:

Insanity Fit Test

TEST 1

TEST 2

TEST 3

TEST 4

TEST 5

Switch Kicks

103

120

131

135

Power Jacks

47

55

56

61

Power Knees

87

95

103

109

Power Jumps

35

54

68

71

Globe Jumps

9

10

11

11

Suicide Jumps

14

19

21

21

Push-Up Jacks

30

40

44

50

Low Plank Obliques

52

66

78

85

Overall, not bad as I still keep improving in general.  Although, man, by the time I get to the globe jumps I am wasted.  When I do the final test, I think I will ask my wife to do the counting of the reps so I can just go balls out on it.  My eating was pretty good today except for these damn Krispy Creme donuts my mom left at my house.  I haven’t had those in YEARS.  Thankfully she only left a few.

Alright peace out!

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Breakfast: Oatmeal with crushed almonds, watered juice.

Snack 1: Granola bar (170)

Lunch: Triscuits, turkey cold slices, cheddar, yogurt with granola.

Snack 2: One and a half Krispy Creme donuts (I know… my mom brought over a few).

Dinner: Rice, chicken adobo, wonton soup.

Snack 3: Another donut and a handful of Shreddies.

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Decided to get the fit test out of the way today as tomorrow is the first day of Max workouts.  I also have a family engagement to go to tomorrow so I don’t think I’ll have time for both.  Overall, this fit test was very good.  I’m still improving in each category even if only in very small increments.  Make me wonder though if I’ve hit my limit on the exercises.  I mean, there has to be a physical limit as to how many reps you can fit in during a minute and I feel so burned down by the end of the sets especially once I get into the middle of the routine.  Also, got to remain aware of form otherwise I’m just cheating myself.  I know my globe jumps got sloppy… need to work on that.  I am really surprised by power knees and how I totally destroyed the second test.

Hehe.  I am really, really interested in seeing how tiring Max Interval Circuit will be tomorrow.  I’ll do it in the afternoon after having slept in.  No way I want to tackle that sleep deprived after changing the baby throughout the night.

Insanity Fit Test

TEST 1

TEST 2

TEST 3

TEST 4

TEST 5

Switch Kicks

103

120

131

Power Jacks

47

55

56

Power Knees

87

95

103

Power Jumps

35

54

68

Globe Jumps

9

10

11

Suicide Jumps

14

19

21

Push-Up Jacks

30

40

44

Low Plank Obliques

52

66

78

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Breakfast:  I skipped it today as I woke up so late and we had to take the baby for his hearing test.  The test came out inconclusive for his left ear which has me a little anxious.  We have a refferal now for an appointment with an audiologist.  His hearing in the right ear is good.  Man… I really hope the little guy is ok.

Snack 1: None.

Lunch: Went to Shoeless Joe’s Restuarant.  Got a grilled vegetable sandwich with a small Caesar Salad and water with lemon slice.  Awesome lunch.  That vegetable sandwich is sooo damn good.

Snack 2:  Small low fat chocolate frozen yogurt from Yogen Fruz.  Had it with orange slices mixed in.

Dinner: Terrific.  My wife made a pot roast in the crock pot with potatoes.  Along with this we had Yorkshire pudding (my wife makes killer puddings) and mixed vegetables.

Snack 3: bowl of ice cream and granola.

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Gonna watch the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight.  GO CANADA!

Alrighty… so I did the second fit test.  Scored much better than the first one as I know what to expect and I sped up my repetitions (still very mindful of form though).  One thing I do notice though is that Tanya is generally much faster than the other guy and that’s what’s netting her the higher rep count.  This seems obvious but … that guy (forgot his name) seems to also take several more pauses than Tanya in between reps and even DURING reps.  Like on Power Jumps he seems to hold himself for about 0.5 to 1 second in the squat position.  Maybe he’s recuperating from being winded? I dunno… I tended to do the power jumps like Tanya (aka like Bobbi doing the Jump Knee Tucks from P90x).  In any case here are my results (in the second column).

Hopefully, I can improve even if only by a few reps each test.

TEST 1

TEST 2

TEST 3

TEST 4

TEST 5

Switch Kicks

103

120

Power Jacks

47

55

Power Knees

87

95

Power Jumps

35

54

Globe Jumps

9

10

Suicide Jumps

14

19

Push-Up Jacks

30

40

Low Plank Obliques

52

66

Woohoo!  K… just finished taking the fit test.  I can already tell this is going to be an altogether different beast from P90x.  The fact that you are always going all out and there’s really no modification available (not that any are needed in the fit test… they’re all pretty simple moves) leaves me thinking this exercise program is gonna hurt… but in a good way.  I need to torch this flab around the abdominals and I hope Insanity goes a long way towards doing that.

There are 5 fit tests scattered throughout the 60 days so I made this chart in Word to record my progress (easier to cut and paste to the blog — see below).  I wasn’t able to best most of the numbers posted by the two test subject but oh well.  I did my best… and I guess I’ll forget the rest.

One thing I can already tell from this fit test: I like the way Shaun T. presents himself better than Tony.  He’s motivational but very business like.  He doesn’t mug for the camera, tell jokes or rambles on about himself.  I like that straightforwardness.  He just wants you to go as hard as you can for the prescribed time, compliments you at the end of the exercise then moves on.  Good stuff.

After the workout, I downed 1 cup of 1% milk with a scoop of whey protein powder along with a glass of water.

Oh… in order to keep up with my pull ups, I’ve decided to do something I’ve recently read about called “greasing the groove”.  Basically, whenever I go upstairs and pass the pull up bar I try to pop off 5 pullups, chinups, or military style chin ups.  I then record it on a very basic chart.  I focus on proper form, slow controlled movement and squeezing my muscles at the top end of the exercise.  Hopefully this helps maintain what little upper body muscle I’ve developed from doing P90x.

Peace!

Insanity Fit Test

Switch Kicks

103

Power Jacks

47

Power Knees

87

Power Jumps

35

Globe Jumps

9

Suicide Jumps

14

Push-Up Jacks

30

Low Plank Obliques

52