Insanity

[wardjf79]

Oh man WadeO! I played football in highschool and took weeklong backpack trips in the Idaho Montana wilderness once a year for seven years starting when I was 12. That about covers the level of fitness I incurred in my lifetime up until starting P90X in April. Seeing an actual person with whom I've had contact with have amazing results and swearing by the programs as Howie has, reinforced the decision to start. I'm so glad I did that I can't help but prattle on like this at any given opportunity, but to answer your question, yes. P90X was/is intense and I would say was a great primer for Insanity for me. I'm struggling already (good struggle) with Insanity, but I don't want to even think of how it might have been had I started with it. Tony Horton presents it with his "Do Your Best" quote and encourages improving at a pace that works for you. When I initially started it was tough, but I got better each week. Insanity pushes hard. I can only speak for my second day in, but I don't know if I would have physically and mentally handled it had I started with it. I am loving it so far.

[wardjf79]

You seem like you're doing great WadeO. Numbers don't lie. Keep it up and hang in there. As you continue, everything will continue to improve. There's highs and lows in progression, like anything.

[wade0]

Thanks mate I can feel my fitness improving. Good to hear your loving it mate. I definitely know what you mean about Howie giving motivation to do it. That's exactly why I started and keep pushing to do each day. I have another mate that just lost 18kg and defeated diabetes through serious workouts. He did it with a personal trainer but it's still inspiring cos he really looks amazing. I'm loving this forum and getting to chat with you and Howie about progress and extra workouts. I'm really interested to see how you go with your first 2 weeks.

[Howie]

Don't worry about not feeling sore Wade. If you really want your abs to hurt search for "P90X Ab Ripper X" and do that program instead of Cardio Abs from insanity. The Ab workouts from Insanity are very sports oriented and are integrated into the whole program rather than isolating it to a single ab program like P90X does. This will reduce your soreness because it's spreading out the impact to your core over a longer period of time.
Concentrate on form, and always look for the purpose for each move you do. Insanity has a lot of fast moves that can be "Cheated" so you can keep up your pace. Instead of "Cheating" your moves focus on keeping the form and pushing as hard as you can. I tell Bri this all the time when we're working out "Let the video's pace motivate you but don't let it control you". Move at your own pace, Keep your form clean and focused so your progress will be in the right areas.
A tip I can toss in but I'm not sure how much help it will be until you've progress a bit further is to listen to EVERYTHING Shaun T is telling you. When he says "Move, Move, Move! This is about SPEED!" than it's time to move, focus on your agility and speed, move fast. When he tells you "Keep your core tight" do so. Making progress in your workouts isn't going to happen if you stop when it get's hard, you HAVE to push past your wall and keep going.
Wade, you are going into week 3, right? Now is the time to push HARD. You are past the point where you'll feel like throwing up all the time, you should be familiar with the moves, and your body is somewhat conditioned to handle the program. I'm telling you this because if you don't push yourself now Max Insanity in Month 2 is gonna suck.
Additionally Tony Horton says in P90X "Don't feel like you need to do what we're doing, if you can do more, do more" apply this to your strong areas. If you have strong points and don't feel like your being challenged do more. You guys should see me doing Insanity, I do most of the moves at 120-150%. I thank Asylum for that, but it's an example of not letting the videos set your pace.
This is a bit long winded but it's hard to do cover the fine tricks you'll pick up along the way. You both are doing great and as long as you keep it up I'm certain you'll get results beyond what you've expected from yourself.

[wardjf79]

I'm repeating week two of Insanity because with vacation and injury I only completed 3 days of the week successfully. I did however do another fit test before beginning Cardio Power and Resistance. Reads L-R Oldest to Newest.

SWITCH KICKS: 112 ^ 119 ^ 123
POWER JACKS: 55 ^ 59 ^ 61
POWER KNEES: 90 ^ 94 =94
POWER JUMPS: 37 ^ 44 ^ 45
GLOBE JUMPS: 10 = 10 = 10
SUICIDE JUMPS: 15 ^ 16 ^ 17
PUSH UP JACKS: 35 v 34 ^ 38
LOW PLANK OBLIQUE: 65 = 65 v 60

[Howie]

Ahh shit! Is it already time for Fit tests again? Ugh! Looks like for the most part you've made some great progress.

[wardjf79]

I felt like I kinda just broke even, cause I really had to push for a couple of those. Getting back on track now and hopefully in two weeks I can improve on those.

[wardjf79]

222lbs/375kcal/Hi 176bpm/Av 145 27 minutes Fit Test

Here's My Fit Test Check In

SWITCH KICKS: 112 ^ 119 ^ 123 ^ 130
POWER JACKS: 55 ^ 59 ^ 61 ^ 66
POWER KNEES: 90 ^ 94 =94 ^ 103
POWER JUMPS: 37 ^ 44 ^ 45 ^ 52
GLOBE JUMPS: 10 = 10 = 10 ^ 11
SUICIDE JUMPS: 15 ^ 16 ^ 17 ^ 19
PUSH UP JACKS: 35 v 34 ^ 38 ^ 40
LOW PLANK OBLIQUE: 65 = 65 v 60 ^ 75

[jeremy]

Switch kicks 80
power jacks 65
power knees 90
power jumps 40
globe jumps 9
suicide jumps 20
Push up jacks 25
Lower plank oblique 45

[Howie]

Keep in mind Jeremy's switch kicks are recorded as the chart asks (1:1 count). For comparison double his count (160).

[Howie]

Not sure I've posted this here yet but here is my suggestion:
I HIGHLY recommend if you have Insanity Deluxe and are physically feeling sound after completing month 1 of Insanity you should swap out the "Core Cardio & Balance" routine for your recovery week and replace it with "Max Interval Sports Training" (This suggestion will probably be listed at the bottom of your calendar as well just in case you forget).
The reason for this is that Core Cardio & Balance is great for recovery but it is pretty light weight and in no way will it prepare you properly for the cardio punch Insanity Month 2 will bring. On the other hand Max Interval Sports Training is challenging enough to help keep you ready for the "Max" workouts, but fun enough to keep you engaged.

[jeremy]

I wrote down the highest scores recorded here, and when I took the fit test I focused on beating them. Most of them I did, but in order to do that I noticed I had to let up on form a little. I didn't sabotage my form to the point that I was doing them incorrectly though.
1. Switch Kicks - didn't really get a count, somewhere between mumbling the numbers and breathing like crazy I lost count, I had the same problem last time...something I'll have to work on.
2. Power Jacks - 65 - Since the crazy asian bitch got one hundred something with switch kicks I thought I'd follow her lead assuming she would get a crazy high score on this one as well...nope.
3. Power Knees - 121
4. Power Jumps - 72
5. Globe Jumps - 15
6. Suicide Jumps - 27 - almost didn't make it
7. Push-up Jacks - 40 - WTF!
8. Low Planks Oblique - 79 - I was basically running

That was rough

[Howie]

Awesome! Looks like I've found my challenge for this week. I'll take these numbers and see if I can beat them. I actually hate taking this test now cause these numbers are getting so high that I really have to dig deep to beat them. Haha