Insanity – Day 44: …what a fantastic workout.

Tonight’s workout was Max Interval Circuit…and I have to say I had an absolute blast for pretty much the entirety of the hour long routine.  Yes…I still had to take unscheduled breaks…but nowhere near the amount I had to last week.  I easily pushed myself nearly twice as hard, twice as long, through each of the 3 minute circuits.  I couldn’t believe the difference in my body tonight – it was like somebody just flipped a switch in me and the muscle burn disappeared and I could just…push…and push…and push.  It was GREAT!  I was sweating like crazy, my muscles were exhausted…and by the time that last second ticked past on my last set of plank punches, I just collapsed into a puddle of sweat, chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.

 

…..and I can’t wait to do it again (with Max Interval Plyo) tomorrow.   I’m not even kidding.  To top it all off, I ended my night with a killer steak dinner  Yay lean protein!

Insanity – Day 40: Max Interval Circuit, Take 2

Today marks the 40th day since I started this crazy journey.   I can’t believe that – 40 days!  I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I can tell you this: I am in SUCH better shape now, than I was 40 days ago.  I went for a jog this afternoon, first one in a long time, since the weather was actually nice for a change.  I’ll admit, it was a short jog – only about half a mile.  I wanted to make sure I wasn’t tired before I got to my workout, since the Max Interval Circuit is a doozy.  But!  I couldn’t believe how much stronger my legs are…and how much better my cardio endurance is.  A year ago..jogging half a mile made me feel like I was going to die.   Today…I could have easily run at least 2, if not 3.

Now, as for the workout – the first time I did this, was immediately following my 3rd Fit Test, and it was HORRIBLE.  No joke…easily one of the hardest, most physically demanding things I’ve ever put myself through.   Tonight felt like a completely different story.  It was still brutal…there were still a lot of times I just had to take a short break…I was still POURING sweat…and I still lost nearly a pound during my workout, but by the time I got out of my shower 30 minutes after finishing, I actually felt somewhat energized. I didn’t have to summon every ounce of willpower to make myself go up the staircase.  …and anyone who’s ever worked out before can testify – that’s saying something.

One more day of my first week in month 2, and then I get to measure and take results pics.  I’m pretty excited – I peeked today and I’ve already lost another inch of my waist this week.  Plus I was down to 181 lbs at the end of my workout tonight.  I would LOVE to see 179.9lbs on Sunday morning!

Week 6, Day 2 – Hitting a Mental Block

After my 3rd Fit Test, AND My first "Max" Workout - Max Interval Circuit

Well, I’m into the second day of the second month, now…sitting here a few hours after my second workout.  I have to say, I had good reason to approach this month a bit nervously.  Month one of Insanity is, quite literally, insane…Month 2?  Might as well bring in the straightjacket and cart those crazy enough to put themselves through this into a padded room until they decide to be normal again.

….what does that say about me?  I don’t know.  The “MAX” workouts I’ve done so far have been both longer AND far more intense – the warmups seem to consist mainly of exercises that were reserved for the workouts last month, and the new exercises are just bananas….sometimes stringing 3 or 4 first month exercises into one continuous exercise, like 4 ski abs into 4 push-up jacks into 4 “In and out” abs into 4 oblique push-ups…then you stand up, go back down…and do all 16 again. I hate to say it…but if you can’t do a decent amount of push-ups, you’ll really struggle with these second month workouts.  I’ve also finally run into significant muscle soreness, despite even doubling up the portion of my protein recovery shake last night.  I am SORE tonight…and tomorrow, I know, will be much worse.

That makes this next fact even harder to deal with – I realized at the end of my workout tonight that, while I was exhausted, and soaked, and breathing hard…there were a lot of times I took a break that I knew I WANTED to more than I NEEDED to.  My muscles start to burn, and I find myself having a seriously hard time breaking through that mental barrier and really “digging deeper” to push myself to the limit.  I’m confident this is impacting my results, even though they’ve been pretty phenomenal…and I’m also confident that if I hurt already before I even start my workout…pushing through the added pain of muscle fatigue and burn is going to be that much harder.

At least I realized it now, on day two…rather than the end of week 8 when I barely have time to benefit from correcting my habits.  Tomorrow brings Max Cardio Conditioning…and I’m ready to hit it.

Dig Deeper!

Day 31 – Reflecting, Halfway Through Recovery Week

So….I haven’t blogged in FOREVER, but I’ve been plugging away with Insanity nonetheless.  Sitting at the halfway point of recovery week, and I have to say that I’m feeling pretty good.  Weighed in tonight after my workout at 183.2, which is the lightest I’ve been since I started…and this is AFTER a day of eating.  My muscles are recovering, slowly…and I feel like I’m still getting stronger.  The level 1 drills in the Core Cardio & Balance routine go for a full minute, and maybe it’s just because the rest of the workout isn’t very intense or tiring, especially of your upper body, but I can actually keep up and do the complete drill, all four full pushups, each time, for the full minute.  In fact…I feel like by the end of this week (three more nights of the same workout), I’ll be able to do my first Insanity workout from start to finish without a single rest other than the scheduled ones.  THAT…is a HUGE accomplishment for me, even if this is the easiest workout in the program.

Now, for the not so fun stuff.  No, I haven’t skipped a single day of my workout…BUT…I have been struggling with motivation this week.  This program isn’t for the weak of heart.  Seriously.  Does it work? Absolutely. Is it hard? Yes. Is it worth it? Again, yes. And that’s the sole factor that’s kept me lacing up my sneakers and turning on my tv every night.  I see the results in the mirror, I feel them in even the smallest of things like kneeling down to tie my shoes…and I can tell I’m steadily growing stronger.

So, perhaps I’m learning a more emotional/mental side to “digging deeper.”  It definitely is pushing the limits of my dedication and determination…but I’m not going to give in.  I WILL finish all 63 days.  And I WILL be a better person because of it.

Insanity: Day 26 – AKA Don’t Skip Your Recovery Shake.

Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs, today.  Ouch.  After last night’s Cardio Recovery…I hardly broke a sweat and wasn’t that tired so I figured I’d skip the protein shake after my workout.  Bad idea.  Today was the first day since starting Insanity that my muscles hurt at all.  The high knees, power jacks, mountain climbers…butt kicks…pretty much anything that used my quads at all…were rough tonight.  Oh well.  No pain, no gain, right?  It feels good to be able continually push myself harder, every single day.  I’ve never experienced a workout with such continual gains…and it’s pretty encouraging.  Those results, the ones nobody can see but me…seem a lot greater than the numbers I’m seeing on the scale and my tape measure.  That’s enough motivation to keep on pushing when I don’t see a change in the mirror, and to jump back into it after the scale went backwards from pigging out on vacation.  Because of that, the scale’s going back down, now, and, as Shaun T says, I’m in it.

..just a few minutes after Cardio Abs.

Insanity Day 23 – Digging Deeper-er.

I didn’t know it was possible to sweat as much as I did with today’s workout.  Seriously.  They should put a warning on these dvd’s stating that doing them on a tile floor could be hazardous and potentially fatal. Alright, I know…it’s gross, but tile floors + sweat = seriously slippery conditions.

Scary floors aside, though, it still amazes me how much more these workouts are the stronger I get.  There’s not really a light at the end of the tunnel, at least not yet…where I could honestly say that they’ll be easy at some point.  The stronger I get, the harder I can push myself, and the more I get out of my workout….which is awesome, frankly.  At the same time, though…they’re also taking more out of me.  Well, nobody ever got in shape without putting in the work, right?

Can’t wait to see my results this coming Sunday…after the end of month 1.

That’s so crazy…4 more workouts and I’m through my first month of Insanity.  Let’s go!

Day 22 – Insanity + Vacation = …Interesting. (Week 3 Results)

Alright, So…keeping up with everything related to my workout during vacation has proven all but impossible…BUT, I didn’t skip a single day of actually working out, so I’m proud of myself for that.  My DIET, on the other hand…completely went out the window.  We’ve eaten out nearly every meal so far, and I can’t get half the things they have down here back home in PA, so I just let myself enjoy vacation.

That being said…I was very surprised when I looked in the mirror on Sunday morning:

Wish I'd brought my tape measure along...I think I'd see a difference in the numbers this week.

I jumped back into it yesterday with Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs, and I have to say…either my body isn’t made for that ab workout, or my abs just really aren’t very strong.  I have a really hard time keeping up with it and even doing any of some of the parts of it.  Oh well, it’s all about progress, right?  These pics show me progress, and that makes me happy .

Dig Deeper!