Insanity Workout. It's well titled (part one)

Insanity... for the insane (part one)

This is the tale of how a slightly overweight, middle aged coach potato (but former elite athlete (sort of)) took on the Insanity Challenge.

 For those of you who don't know, Insanity, is a work out program owned by a company called Beachbody based in the US.  The program was put together by a guy called Shaun T (apparently that's his last name, but I cannot deny or confirm that he is Mr T's son).

 The name "Insanity" I think comes from the fact that the routine is a series of physical exercises done at an absolutely mental pace. The program guarantees significant results in terms of body shaping and weight loss in 60 days and I can immediately see why. You dedicate 45 mins per day to the workouts. It's a series of high intensity exercises going at full tilt with very short rest periods.

Day one - Fitness test

The fitness test consists of 8 separate exercises that you do for a minute each.  The idea is that you count and record the reps you do for each exercise.  You then repeat the fitness test at various intervals to measure your improvement. A good way to measure your progress and I didn't do too bad compared with the "machines" in the DVD who are doing it.

Day two - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Just a fancy name for a bit of circuit training.  It's tough though. Of course, I'm starting in bulk from day one's affects.  It's really hard on your thighs as Shaun T likes doing loads of squats.

Day three - Cardio Power and Resistance

This is really difficult now as the accumulative effect of the first 2 days is really taking its toll. I actually can't walk without either mincing or looking like I have shat myself. I can't do stairs at all.  I actually did use the lift to get to my first floor office for the first time ever.  I begin to question my own sanity.

Day four - Cardio Recovery

Recovery, now there's a word I want to hear.  At this stage I am not sure how much more punishment I can take.  It turned out that the workout wasn't easy, but the affects of doing it did help a lot. Maybe it's not so bad afterall...

Day five - Pure Cardio


Now here is 38 minutes of a new level of pain and torture I previously couldn't imagine. Obviously, like all these exercises, it's as hard as you make them. But trying to keep up is tough! But, do you know what, I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm less sore (still knackered) but beginning to be able to "hurt" myself without fear of "hurting" myself if you know what I mean.

Day six - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Back to this again and I notice I real difference in the amount I can do of each exercise. It helps that I'm not in bulk to start with, but I do find the warm up more tiring than the rest of the workout! 

Day seven - ...and rest....

Never have I enjoyed a Sunday evening so much! The unbelievable relief that there is no guilt in sitting and enjoying relaxing in front of the box because I'm not meant to be doing anything else. Sweet.

Week Two

Second week is more of the same. Different order but the same routines.

Until Saturday.

Then some sick bar steward came up with the cunning plan that it would be a great idea to do TWO workouts one straight after another. Ingenious. Pure Cardio PLUS a new thing called Cardio Abs.  Sounds painful and is.  I have to be honest here and say that my abs are so well covered by my protective layer of fat at this stage that they really don't have the strength to do a quarter of what's asked for in the Cardio Abs workout.  It's super tough, especially as I've just given my all in Pure Cardio.

Despite this I give it everything and yet still manage to get out of bed on Sunday.

Week Three

This starts with another fitness test.  Same drill as week one day one. Incredibly I managed to more than double the initial fitness test results.  Something is working!  It's a real boost knowing that it may not be all in vain.  I do some measurements and I have lost an inch from my waist and gain a half inch on my thighs and biceps. Pretty chuffed. The rest of the week goes well with more of the same as the first two weeks.

Week Four

I'm halfway through week four, feeling like it's making a difference. But then disaster strikes. I'm hit hard by the dreaded man flu.  I stop the work outs and try to recover fast. The cold drags on and it's 10 days before I feel well enough to carry on.

So I decide to go back to the beginning of week four instead of trying to start week 6. This is going to push back my schedule to dangerously close to Christmas. But, as they say, it's tough at the top.  Stay tuned for further updates to come...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recovery Day One. Officially

Image
Today I did something I hadn't done for 52 days.  Not like I was counting or anything, but yes, I cocked my leg over a bike and turned the pedals.  I managed a massive 11kms on the turbo trainer in the back garden.  About a 20 minute ride.  My legs barely noticed, but my lungs felt like I had just grimped up Alpe D'Huez in the big ring. Despite this poor performance I am hugely pleased and somewhat relieved that I managed that much without my back or ribs aching.  I sat on my bike, spinning a low gear, grinning, no headphones on, no distractions, just listening intently to my body.  In all honesty, waiting for something to give in, crack or fall off.  Thankfully nothing did. It was a big leap forward considering that at the beginning of July I couldn't walk more than two steps without getting out of breath.  I couldn't bend over, couldn't dress myself, was generally in a terrible state living on morphine to allow me to be able to breath in deep or cough. I fin
Read more

Legends of Birkenhead Park Bike Racing

Image
I discovered from Twitter, I think, that racing is returning to Birkenhead Park this year.  This prompted me to writing a little blog on my experiences through the 80's and early 90's of my all time favourite course. I actually raced around the park on 44 separate occasions and won there 6 times. Before I get into the story of my times racing round the park, I will give a little background history, on the park itself. (Oh blimey, I'm almost writing an informative blog!) For the uncultured of you reading this, Birkenhead Park was opened in 1847 and was the first park built with public money, after the town of Birkenhead asked Parliament for the powers to use the money to build a municipal park.  More famously though, the designer of New York's Central Park  Freddy Olmsted visited Birkenhead Park and used some of the features from it in his design for Central Park. Birkenhead Park has recently been the subject of an £11.5 million renovation, funded jointly by the
Read more

The Science of Selecting Your Seat on the Bus

Image
You would probably guess that most people would say that they don't think about where they sit on a bus. But a recent study using 4 years worth of data* suggests otherwise.  This applies mainly to the frequent bus user in particular as they use previous experiences of bus rides to influence their decision. Infrequent bus passengers are initially distracted by the novelty factor to make any sort of calculated choice. This research is based on frequent  commuter passengers typically spending over 20 minutes on each journey. First of all, the bus type plays a big part in seating tactics. For example the back seats on a single decker bus are viewed very differently to the back downstairs seats on a double decker or indeed the upstairs back seats. Here's a break down of the areas and my advice on where to sit to achieve the ultimate goal for a sole traveller... A double seat to yourself... Lets face it.  First aim is to sit by yourself.  Secondary to that is to sit
Read more