1-9-10: So, today was Pure Cardio. The big difference with this workout compared to the previous ones is that, after the warmup, there are no breaks. I believe what he is attempting with the breaks in the first few workouts is to give everyone a moment to realize what is happening and the pain that is surely to follow. Psychological torture if you will, designed to get people to kill themselves.
With Pure Cardio, he is attempting to kill you himself in a sort of "If you want something done right" sort of motif. Aside from the lack of breaks, the exercise designs have changed to all be completely exhausting.
Every 30-40 seconds, Shaun T switches to a new exercise. With this being about a 13-15 minute time period without breaks, there were about 15 fun exercises, many which were new, and all of which were pure evil.
Around the middle of...oh...exercise 11, Shaun T tells us to hang on, because the next exercise is a bit of a break. We then start scissor kicks...another painful little cardio exercise in a long list of painful cardio exercises. Even better is that even if this was actually a break (it wasn't! you are a liar Shaun T!!!), by him telling us to speed up, any possibility of this being a break was thrown right out the window.
Good workouts though. Still fighting through (amazing number of breaks taken for this one).
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Insanity Workout Day 4: Recovery...of DOOM!!!
1-8-10: So, knowing I had half a day on Friday, I decided to do the workout after work, since I was still a bit sore from the day before. When I got home, I realized there was a bit of luck on my side. Recovery day!!! Now, of course I wasn't naive enough to think that this was going to be a day off. No idea what to suspect. Only, with Shaun T running things, I assumed the worst, namely 2 hours of globe jumps, sprinting, and...oh...there are so many painful drills to choose from...skiing. Instead, what I encountered was a short little workout revolving completely around stretching.
Now is as good a time as ever to say that starting out completely inflexible makes for the short three minute stretches found in the daily workouts to be extremely painful. Now doing these stretches for 8 times as long (with a few other "I am Shaun T and I hate you" drills) made me wonder whether Shaun T was an extreme sadist or I was an extreme masochist. On the one hand I did not really need too many breaks (on occasion a stretch was held a bit longer than I could hold it). On the other hand, it was painful painful painful.
Magcially, these stretches did seem to help my muscles out and by the end of the day (even with a special home designed workout thrown in called "Snow Shoveling") my muscles felt pretty good. Completely prepared for the next day.
Now is as good a time as ever to say that starting out completely inflexible makes for the short three minute stretches found in the daily workouts to be extremely painful. Now doing these stretches for 8 times as long (with a few other "I am Shaun T and I hate you" drills) made me wonder whether Shaun T was an extreme sadist or I was an extreme masochist. On the one hand I did not really need too many breaks (on occasion a stretch was held a bit longer than I could hold it). On the other hand, it was painful painful painful.
Magcially, these stretches did seem to help my muscles out and by the end of the day (even with a special home designed workout thrown in called "Snow Shoveling") my muscles felt pretty good. Completely prepared for the next day.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
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:
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.
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.
Insanity Workout Day 1 - Fitness Test
1-5-10: Upon arriving home from work, I saw the package at the front door, immediately opened it, read through the materials and set up an Insanity environment in my basement. I then put disk 1 in, the fitness test. I immediately discovered that I do not like Shaun T. He made me tired...for a stupid fitness test. I found myself responding to his orders with "You do five more Shaun T" or "You suck Shaun T". Maybe I've seen too many movies, but he was not my TV friend. He was my nemesis (Joe mentioned at some point that I should do Insanity and try to make it a competition of sorts. I said I wasn't as competitive as I used to be. However, it turns out that my motivation will be hate).
So, first day challenges. Aside from the actual workout (which hurt me - I thought I might have to sleep in the basement). Challenge one was the low ceiling. I totally forgot about the jumping aspects of the workout. Thankfully, so far, the only jumping that I could not do naturally were the basic jumping jacks. I had to short arm them. My remedy for this will be to either run upstairs to do them or run to the laundry room (if there is enough jumping room in there) and then run back when the next part of the workout comes around. I figure this should add some much needed cardio. What the hell am I talking about??? Realistically, I will short arm them until I am in sufficient shape to attempt a better location.
The second challenge comes in the form of his ludicrous Elite Nutrition guidebook. This will be the real challenge of the program. I think I can manage the five meals per day, but his recommended recipes are for nazis and communists. I may be overreacting to the level of fruits and vegetables thrown in. And the time preparation. I spend as long as it takes to punch in microwave instructions on most meals now. How will I be able to start working longer on meals. Still, there is a Michi's Ladder which highlights many acceptable foods and what positives they provide, which might make things more realistic (and my own recipes will no doubt be much quicker). The basic concept of calorie intake and spaced out meals will be attempted. Of course, he does not mention anything about cheat days...and I like food too much for there to not be the occasional buffet or pizza gorging. All gorging will be done in moderation though, if that makes sense.
Finally, when I told Vince that I was starting, he got pretty excited to start up again as well. With any luck, we just might be able to motivate ourselves into the full fledged program. Good Journey.
So, first day challenges. Aside from the actual workout (which hurt me - I thought I might have to sleep in the basement). Challenge one was the low ceiling. I totally forgot about the jumping aspects of the workout. Thankfully, so far, the only jumping that I could not do naturally were the basic jumping jacks. I had to short arm them. My remedy for this will be to either run upstairs to do them or run to the laundry room (if there is enough jumping room in there) and then run back when the next part of the workout comes around. I figure this should add some much needed cardio. What the hell am I talking about??? Realistically, I will short arm them until I am in sufficient shape to attempt a better location.
The second challenge comes in the form of his ludicrous Elite Nutrition guidebook. This will be the real challenge of the program. I think I can manage the five meals per day, but his recommended recipes are for nazis and communists. I may be overreacting to the level of fruits and vegetables thrown in. And the time preparation. I spend as long as it takes to punch in microwave instructions on most meals now. How will I be able to start working longer on meals. Still, there is a Michi's Ladder which highlights many acceptable foods and what positives they provide, which might make things more realistic (and my own recipes will no doubt be much quicker). The basic concept of calorie intake and spaced out meals will be attempted. Of course, he does not mention anything about cheat days...and I like food too much for there to not be the occasional buffet or pizza gorging. All gorging will be done in moderation though, if that makes sense.
Finally, when I told Vince that I was starting, he got pretty excited to start up again as well. With any luck, we just might be able to motivate ourselves into the full fledged program. Good Journey.
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