Day 5

Pure Cardio

Oh. My. Goodness.

This workout started out just like the other ones. The 9 minute warm up consisted of several moves (jogs, butt-kicks, heismans, high knees, etc.) repeated and sped up three times. That was followed by a 6 minute stretching routine. The previous workouts follow the warm up model with 30sec water breaks in between each set.

I noticed there was 25 minutes left on the count down timer when the stretch ended. As we went in to the first set of the cardio portion I felt pretty good. As time ticked on and we continued to "Dig Deeper" I kept waiting for the 30sec water break.

There was none.

Even the people *in the video* were taking breaks and unable to finish all of the reps before we switched (immediately) to the next exercise. With 10 minutes left, the only thing that spurned me on was the hope that the cool down was about 5 minutes long. The last move was burpees...I could not make myself *jump* back into plank - but I walked it. I did keep moving the whole time, but modified towards the end.

I know there is a lot of hype around this workout series. It's supposed to be really tough, and they show sweaty people working out. I'm sure you think that some of that is contrived, like TV often is. Well, I'm here to tell you - it's ALL REAL. If you are even considering doing these workouts, I would caution you to seriously access your fitness level beforehand. I ran a half marathon earlier this month and it's kicking MY butt. I'm SO tired today...one more day and then we get a full rest day.

Day 4

Cardio Recovery

I was ever so looking forward to a day marked "recovery." On Monday I did my Insanity workout in the morning and an hour Yoga class in the evening. On Tuesday I did my Insanity workout in the morning and then decided to run 3 miles on the treadmill at the YMCA while waiting for my son to finish baseball practice.

My cardio really needed some recovering!

This workout starts out with some yoga style stretching then moves on to some plank, lunge and squat series. I did work up a sweat with all the instruction to "get lower, hold and pulse." Ugh. There was a nice stretch series at the end and overall it was only 33 minutes. Not bad.

Before

This is me. Glowing red eyes and all - hey, not a bad photo for a 9 year old. I don't do the bra top photos... my belly has told me repeatedly that she's not going anywhere, so why show you before and after? If I send in my before and after photos, I will get a free INSANITY t-shirt. Woooo....

Day 3

Cardio Power and Resistance

And here we have a horrible picture after a horrible workout. I could not properly convey the amount of sweat dripping from my hair/nose/chin but you get the idea.

Cardio Power and Resistance started out with a similar 10 minute warm up, followed by 6 or so minutes of stretching. It's still a little weird to stretch for that long, that far in to a workout - but technically, those first 10 minutes ARE a warm up. I guess.

There was a lot more jumping in this workout - using your own body weight as resistance to tone your legs. I don't have a problem with squats and kicks - but this white girl CAN'T jump. Or, rather, "I currently struggle with" jumping. Not much air for me, but I keep trying.

We had some walking and inverted push ups, some triceps dips (one-legged as well) and some crazy Ball Tricep Dips. Hard to explain that one - but suffice it to say that I can feel all of this in my shoulders already.

Tomorrow is Cardio Recovery...maybe a little break!?

Day 2

Plyometric Cardio Circuit - 40 minutes

This workout was amazingly difficult. I'm used to running for hours - and sort of scoffed at the short duration of this workout. By the last 10 minutes I was thanking the Lord that it was almost over.

The warm up was 10 minutes of running in place, jumping jacks, Heismans (tires), and butt-kicks. It starts out slow and you repeat (hence "circuit") going faster each time. Following the warm up - which had me drenched in sweat - was 10 minutes of stretching. Oh what a relief! I've never done stretching that far in to a workout, but it was welcome!

The rest of this workout is just as it sounds. Repeating circuits of plyometric moves (squat jumps, tires, jumping jacks, butt-kicks, burpees, prison cell push ups) all done for two minutes with a 30 second break.

I pushed myself so hard. I can't imagine trying harder. I've run for hours on end and NEVER pushed through pain like this. In the last 10 minutes I nearly cried, but I didn't quit. I was so glad when this was over.

Seriously.

Insane.

Day 1 & Fit Test

Day 1 of Insanity leads you in completing your first Fit Test. Different than P90X, Insanity has the Fit Test as a workout day every 2 weeks, and there is a DVD to lead you through it versus a list of moves to complete every 30 days. It takes about 30 minutes, and I was honestly dripping with sweat afterward.

I felt pretty good about how many reps I could do as a baseline. Each move was "to failure" during a 60 second period. I did the moves as fast as I could and made it 45 seconds with most and 60 with a few. I struggled with the Power Jumps because my knee was being a big wuss. I hope that taking some time off of running will help.

Starting numbers on Day 1:

Weight - 163.0

Body Fat % - 34.5

Hips - 39.5

Waist - 33.5

Personally - I don't really care about my bicep, thigh, chest or neck measurements. If they get smaller - yay - if they get stronger, more cut, yay.

Fit Test Results Day 1:

Switch Kicks - 35

Power Jacks - 34

Power Knees - 57

Power Jumps - 20

Globe Jumps - 6

Suicide Jumps - 14

Push Up Jacks - 35

Low Plank Oblique - 46

I will post a "before" picture later. Today is Mother's Day so we are off...church, baseball practice, volleyball game...I've already yelled at everybody - so my day is at least normal. *sigh*

Mission Accomplished

Lincoln Half Marathon 5/1/11. Chip time - 2:39:22!