Insanity Workout Days 2 & 3: Sore at a Sadist

1-7-10: Well, I found challenge 3. This is getting up in the morning (which I had certainly anticipated). I am attempting to do this workout before work which means, not only do I have to get up earlier for the workout, but I also have to have additional time to throw in a breakfast (Aside from the workouts, one of the cornerstones of the Insanity workout is the food consumption habits. And while there is no way I'm going to be flawless in this part of the endeavor, I am going to try really hard to at least follow through with the "five meals a day aspect" of it) which I typically skipped due to lateness. Oddly, with a rare bit of motivation I woke up at a good time on Day 2 and Day 3, arriving to work about the same time as normal (perhaps earlier).

While day 1 focused simply on a fitness test, day 2 actually began the first workout. Being in rather abysmal shape led to an amazing number of breaks. It is a bad sign when far too many breaks need to be taken during the 15 minute warm-up/stretch. The actual workout had fledgling energy thrown at the exercises as best as possible, but, trying to monitor the heart rate without a heart monitor, and deciding the workout was not worth death led to many more breaks being taken.

On day 3 I felt sore and exhausted. This made me feel comfortable that the program was working. If you haven't been exercising in a while and then start up again and do not feel sore and miserable the next day, you are doing something wrong. Since walking was hurting, I wondered how in the world I was going to manage the workout for the day. I loaded up the DVD video and Shaun T started the warm-up. During the first three minutes I was thinking "Oh DEAR GOD!!!" Now it was the same warm-up as the day before (mostly) but certain drills were causing crazy aching pain in the quads. Thankfully, by the second warm-up, my muscles had loosened up and I did not even feel the soreness. Then it just became a cardio battle which I either brutally lost (if you consider the breaks, speed, and percent complete) or won (if you decide the effort of persisting through the workout even with the many many breaks being considered).

I find myself answering the TV in these early days. Shaun T. will at points ask how everyone is doing. The exhausted individuals on the TV are not overly responsive, but I emphatically answer "terrible"! Then, either dismayed by the lack of response or realizing my negativity, he says that he can not hear you, even though I know that he can. At this point I will answer "I hate you Shaun T." with extreme venom.

I also decided that, especially in these early days, that Ibuprofen will become quite important. Realizing my mistake in not taking it after the day 2 workout, I took some after the day 3 workout. I still felt sore after.

I also went shopping after they day 2 workout (and after work). I am going to give some of his nutritional ideas as good a go as I can. I will try to list what I've tried, estimated calories, protein, fat, and carbs. This will no doubt be the most difficult part, and one that I will certainly cheat on occasionally. I am currently working on a spreadsheet for the meals I try with associated health information. I will only list a few interesting ones that I truly enjoyed here and there.

For instance, meal 5 on day 3 was as follows:

4 slices Roast Beef

2 Tbsp Lite Italian Dressing

3 oz Dole Classic Romaine Salad

1 LaTortilla Factory Soft Wraps (Multi-Grain)

1 Tbsp Cold Milled Ground Premium Flaxseed

1 Cup Skim Milk

Calories: 370
Total Fat: 15 g
Saturated: 2.5 g
Carbohydrates: 44g
Fiber: 18 g
Sugars: 19 g
Protein: 32 g
Extra: Great source of Vitamin A and K. Great source of Omega 3. (Also has Omega 6 and 9).

His rule of thumb is to try to get a 20% fat, 40% Protein, 40% Carb mix falling somewhere in between 300-500 calories.

This meal does quite well. 370 calories. Also 16.5% fat, 48.4% carbs, and 35.2% protein. Maybe a bit too much in the way of Carbs for the fifth meal (ideally the higher carbs should be earlier in the day), but still pretty close for a first attempt and very delicious.