Howie

[wardjf79]

I will find this app. Thanks. Not where you're at yet. You're doing great sir.

[Howie]

You can always try competing against my "Coopers" time. It's the distance traveled in 12min. Right now I think my best is 1.51miles in 12min.
I had planed to run today (Friday) but I don't think I'm going to be able to find the time so instead I'll just to my scheduled cardio program and try to slip a run in tomorrow some time.
I'm running 5Ks each time and plan to get my time down to as close to 20 min as I can. I used to run a 5k in just over 22min on a treadmil so I'd like to beat that.

Next month I think I am going to deviate from my scheduled hybrid (Insanity X+) and create my own using some of the Asylum videos. Additionally, this week I plan to include the use of my 50# weight vest into my cardio workouts. It's time to take this shit up a notch!

[Howie]

Did Max Interval Plyo last night and burned approx. 600cal! My previous best calorie burn for this workout was 497.
The workout went great and for the most part I was exceeding the speed and reps in the video. The place I need to improve on is the shoulder and pushup stamina. Doing Insanity by it's self is a lot different than incorporating it with resistance training. I struggle with level 3 drills now and recall not having so much trouble when I was doing Insanity alone. I assume this is because I burn so much of my muscle reserves on my resistance training days.
I'm really starting to learn that pushing myself so hard may be having diminishing returns. I've started stepping things back just a hair and instead using weight I can comfortably handle and plan to bump weight up a little slower.
One of the things that has been really irritating me lately is how long it's taking me to burn this last little bit of fat on my gut. I'm getting faster, stronger, and gaining more endurance so I know I'm getting results, but what I still see is an annoying fat layer over the muscle I've been working hard for. I think I may go back to taking pictures every Monday again so that I can visually see if I'm making progress or if I need to change things up.

[wardjf79]

I could tell early on with myself that the gut was going to be the last man standing in the equation. It stacks on thick there and where I was noticing a lot of improvement in other areas fast including there, it just doesn't decline as rapidly as other areas. It'll get there. I think it's just something that's gonna hang on a little longer.

[Howie]

Yeah well this gut has worn out It's welcome. I have been debating on making my final month of this hybrid program the Asylum/P90x program. We'll see.

[Howie]

Did Max Cardio Circuit last night! If you are looking to burn maximum calories this is the workout for you! Prior to this workout last night my highest calorie burn from any one exercise was 626 doing Max Interval Plyometrics. Last night doing Max Cardio Circuit I burned over 700 calories in 51min according to my heart rate monitor! The funny part about it is that I could have pushed harder! I estimate my performance last night at about 95% (% listed is my estimate of usage of time given for each exercise not reps. This is because I frequently exceed the reps/speed of the instructors).
So if you're looking to burn off maximum calories press play on Insanity's Max Cardio Circuit and dig deeper!

[Howie]

Started my second recovery week with a 3.13 mile run and Core Cardio & Balance.
My run went well at first but just after hitting mile 2 my left knee started hurting a bit and slowly got much worse toward the last 1/4mile. I made it through the run, but my time was terrible.
Later I did the first workout for my 2nd recovery week of this hybrid, Core Cardio & Balance. My knee didn't give me too many problems during this workout with the exception of one of the jump exercises
Looks like I'll either have to keep my runs to once or twice tips per week or shorten the runs to just a Coopers every other day or as much as I can.
Once my knee starts feeling a bit better I'll start working in some Coopers runs and see how well I hold up to that.

[Howie]

I've had three days of rest this week. It actually the most time I've ever taken off from working out. This is, however, my recovery week and I'm making sure I get an opportunity to fully recover. I've also been sick all week so pushing myself as hard as I had planned seems like a poor choice.
I'll be putting together my calendar together for my last month of this hybrid program. I plan to keep it mostly the same but I want to toss in some of the Asylum programs as well as get a feel for the Weight lifting video on the Insanity Deluxe disks.

[Howie]

Last night of my recovery week. Tomorrow will be my first day of month 3 in Insanity X+. I plan to really step things up this month but I've got to do it smart. I've given myself a massive week of recovery, I'm cleaning up my meals and eating habbits, and I'm going to refocus on performance results rather than visual.
Additionally I want to incorporate running into my routine as much as I can by starting off slow. I tried working in 5k several times last month and it was great but the stress it put on my body was too much. Not sure if I need more time to heal, time to get stronger, or if my body is just at It's limit with these beach body programs.
Cheers to a successful new month for us all!

[Howie]

Ok so I had told Ward I would post this pic of my finished calendar for this past month. As you can see there is a total of one week of rest days. That's a little more than I wanted but i added a lot of rest days this week to help my shins and knee.

Attachments:

[wardjf79]

I like the idea of the big calendar in general; it allows you to modify the calendar in a way that works for your schedule with having to go on the fly and also pick workouts that you may enjoy more or get more out of. There's a lot of pros to this idea. I like it. I also don't think there was any Yoga in there and that's always a plus in my book. I know it's beneficial, but it's long and boring/redundant.

[Howie]

Exactly! I was moving days around and swapping shit out so all my printed calendars have scribbled shit all over em. This just seemed like the easy solution. Additionally it just makes it easy to track progress and see what workouts burn more calories for me.
...and fuck Yoga! I am about to post a custom 5 week program that combines P90X, P90X+, Insanity, Insanity Deluxe, & Insanity Asylum which contains NO YOGA and I feel will probably promote a better stretch regimen. I am going to be testing this program this month so I may make small changes to it where I see fit.

[Howie]

Had an amazing workout tonight and I feel great! That recovery week helped out so much. Tonight I did Max Cardio Circuit followed by Relief and burned a total of 830+ calories! 713 calories just from MCC which is my new record!
So far I'm starting off this new month with a bang!

[Howie]

Had a great workout last night doing Total Body+ from P90X+ than Ab Ripper X after. Per Ward's advise I charted my Reps and weight used through the workout so that I have targets next time I do it. I'll post the numbers up in the P90X+ thread later if I get a chance so you guys can use em as targets.
Tonight is Asylum's Speed & Agility w/Relief and I couldn't be more stoked to get back into some Asylum. I'm gonna go ape-shit on this bitch tonight and see what kind of calories I can burn.
I have been doing a lot of health research and have figured out some of the things I may be doing wrong in my eating to cut this last bit of body fat. I think my carbohydrate intake is too high so I'm cutting back to approx 50g per day. I tried to do this yesterday and fail miserably. I know this from past experience with the Atkins diet that making significant carbohydrate reductions in your diet is REALLY challenging. Today is a new day and I'm gonna give it another stab. This reduction is also apart of an overhaul in my diet plan and an increase in my workout schedule. With a bit of luck I'll hit the nail on the head and have some great results buy the end of this workout month.

[jeremy]

I'm working on my last bit of fat as well, but I'm not focusing on removing any part of my diet. Just quantity and having more control - no sweets and super fatty food. Cutting out carbs is a mistake because it's your primary energy source and it's what mainly fills you up. Plus, I try to get as much protein, fiber, and vegis in as possible.