1-30-10: I made it past sprinting in the third iteration of the warm-up. I made it halfway through the hyperspeed jumping jacks as well, but still needed a few breaks. I feel I am in a good spot though. I can force myself through the hyper butt kicks and the hyper high knees and while I stop hyper mummy kicks a 5-10 seconds early to catch my breath before stretching (which oddly starts off with breathing, but whatever), I know I could push through those if the motivation of getting through the whole warm-up was on the line. The other main roadblock is the hyper Heisman. The Hyper 1-2-3 Heisman isn’t as bad because there is a shuffle step break in between the Heisman which is definitely not a Cardio break, but at least gives the quads a break. That is why the hyper Heisman is still a formidable foe. I can do it at a slower pace, but that isn’t what the almighty Shaun T wants in the third iteration. He wants me to push it. He wants hyper. He wants insane. The non-hyper Heisman will not do. Still, not ridiculously far out on this one.
I made it through most of the first iteration of the workout as well. The power jacks (or…is it a slight variation…still jumping into a squat position and jumping up…just not sure if there is a slight variation on what you do with the arms) were burning in that first round, but I grunted and screamed and clawed and made it through the first time. I also climbed the mountain. Good ole mountain climbers. Of course, I needed to break when skiing down the mountain. I have gone cross-country skiing and downhill skiing and neither compare to this tomfoolery. It actually reminds me of watching my friend Joe attempt the moguls run the only time I went downhill skiing. A lot of crazy leg action was necessary…that…well…he didn’t have at the time. It was more of a “hey Dave! You fell down a bazillion times today. Watch me do the moguls to attempt to even things up”. Still, this is what the ski downs remind me of and I certainly do not have the crazy leg action necessary at the moment.
The rest of the workout was better than before. Still a lot of breaks, but I definitely felt improvement this time around. Yes, instead of only doing half of the actual workout, I think I probably did about 60%, so I’m kind of passing.
Tomorrow I am throwing in a Pure Cardio and Cardio Ab workout at Vin-a’s instead of recovery for two reasons. Initially it was just so that we could cross-motivate and get a workout in together this weekend, but I am also using it to adjust my weekly schedule so that recovery will now fall on Mondays.
Side nutrition note. While gung-ho about this new meal plan strategy, I already have several major cheat days in mind. One will be a day or set of days in early March (or whenever…it changes yearly) at Sarz’s annual b-day party. As part of his b-day I will demand a massive Meijer run and it will probably be the first time I have pop this year (caffeine is essential at his parties…so are 148 Swiss cake rolls). Another will be mid-October for my annual four day Halloween movie marathon. Again, a source of caffeine will be necessary along with a few extra thousand calories of delicious goodness. I am not bound by Shaun T’s nutritional laws. I will just be pretty good…most of the time.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Insanity Workout Day 25: Absolute Power and Resistance Corrupts Absolutely
1-29-10: Nothing like a good day of Power and Resistance to inform me that I will not be able to proceed to the month two DVDs as scheduled for next week. It really would not make sense. There has been improvement, but I’m thinking it is going to take an additional two weeks to be where I want to be before moving on to the next level of madness.
I hate power jacks. Especially in the warm-up. They ruin me for the rest of the warm-up. That being said, I completed most of the first two iterations of the warm-up before having serious difficulties in certain exercises (power jacks) in the third iteration. By getting creamed by the power jacks, I then had less energy for the log jumps, and subsequently less energy for the 1-2-3 Heisman in a most disastrous trickle-down effect. (I also am not a fan of the evil shoulder push-ups Shaun T requires of us…that gets a big honorable mention).
The workout itself was nothing to write home about either. Perhaps it was bizarre ordering, but some exercises were messing with me. In Pure Cardio, I am decent at the suicide drills. In Power and Resistance I have little effort to offer the mini-suicide drills. (The whole Power and Resistance workout seems like one long suicide drill.) Mini-suicide drills (he does not call it this, but this name makes more sense to me) has you doing 180s. Jump and spin in the air so that your front foot is now your back foot and your back foot is now the front foot. When landing be sure the front knee forms a 90 degree angle to the ground. Back leg is slightly bent, but more stretched out in a lunge. When in the air raise those arms as if to say “Here I am God! Take me now!”.
Tomorrow is Plyometrics. Goal is to get past sprinting in the third iteration. This will almost be TOO easy.
I hate power jacks. Especially in the warm-up. They ruin me for the rest of the warm-up. That being said, I completed most of the first two iterations of the warm-up before having serious difficulties in certain exercises (power jacks) in the third iteration. By getting creamed by the power jacks, I then had less energy for the log jumps, and subsequently less energy for the 1-2-3 Heisman in a most disastrous trickle-down effect. (I also am not a fan of the evil shoulder push-ups Shaun T requires of us…that gets a big honorable mention).
The workout itself was nothing to write home about either. Perhaps it was bizarre ordering, but some exercises were messing with me. In Pure Cardio, I am decent at the suicide drills. In Power and Resistance I have little effort to offer the mini-suicide drills. (The whole Power and Resistance workout seems like one long suicide drill.) Mini-suicide drills (he does not call it this, but this name makes more sense to me) has you doing 180s. Jump and spin in the air so that your front foot is now your back foot and your back foot is now the front foot. When landing be sure the front knee forms a 90 degree angle to the ground. Back leg is slightly bent, but more stretched out in a lunge. When in the air raise those arms as if to say “Here I am God! Take me now!”.
Tomorrow is Plyometrics. Goal is to get past sprinting in the third iteration. This will almost be TOO easy.
Insanity Workout Day 24: Pure Cardio Makes My Head Hurt, But At Least Ski Downs Following Mountain Climbers Makes Sense
1-28-10: I may have to make another small modification to the schedule. The day off is supposed to prepare me for the next week of hell. Only, I have been playing basketball the night before the start of the next day’s workout. Meaning that I typically have 24 hours in between workouts, except for after my “day off” in which I only get 10. I think my day off needs to be on Thursday, which would maintain a 12 hour spacing in between my last workout of the Insanity week and my basketball game, but would allow a day of rest to come after that hellish day. I think I could really use that day off to recover. This would also move Recovery day to Monday, which is also better as it is a shorter workout, meaning I should be able to start the work week off right.
I made it through the second iteration of the warm-up today. And the second time was at an increased speed. Excellent. I also made it through most of the initial sprinting of the third iteration of the warm-up before breaking. Still not where I need to be, but definitely some good personal improvement.
Rethinking most of the stretches, really there is only one that I hate. Sure, my form is suspect for the deep lunge, the one that kills me is the stretch that Shaun T tries to trick us with. He wants us to think it is a stretch, but it really isn’t. He thinks he can just throw a cardio exercise in the middle of the stretching and I’m not going to notice? Oh! I noticed Shaun T! The exercise comes right after the hip flexor stretch (my actual stretching nemesis). The idea is to balance on one leg, with your other leg parallel to the ground and your arms providing additional balance on the floor. The “stretch”, or so he calls it, requires moving the back leg in and out. This isn’t stretching. This is another “he hate me” drill.
The actual workout for Pure Cardio is terrifying. Still, I at least can make an imaginary story for part of it. This being where the mountain climber exercise starts. This is essentially high knees while alternating grasps at the ceiling with your arms. To the casual observer, it appears that you are climbing…well…nothing…you actually would look quite insane. Since this is the Insanity workout, you are clearly in the right state of mind then to imagine climbing up a mountain. I am good at climbing the mountain. Depending on the prior exercise, high knees are not the worst thing in the world. Then in a completely backwards twist, the ski downs start and so does the pain. In my mind I think this shouldn’t hurt. I’m skiing down the mountain I just climbed. Really I just have to let gravity do the work. But no, Shaun T has taken the fun out of skiing, making you feel like you are attempting to ski uphill, or down a hill with a disastrous coefficient of friction (that’s for my boy Sarz as he is most likely to actually read this.)
Cardio Abs again is like a distant memory even though it really didn’t happen all that long ago. I believe there is a severe lack of oxygen after Pure Cardio that prevents me from remembering Cardio Abs. Maybe I am blocking them from memory. Either way, what I can remember is an opening warm-up that isn’t awful by itself, just awful if it is following another workout. The floor exercises range from “not so bad” to “well, I did one, time for a break” to “Okay! I think I get what you are doing…oh…the drill is over?” Cardio Abs will make more sense when I perform Pure Cardio better. Pure Cardio will make more sense when that blasted warm-up is mastered.
I made it through the second iteration of the warm-up today. And the second time was at an increased speed. Excellent. I also made it through most of the initial sprinting of the third iteration of the warm-up before breaking. Still not where I need to be, but definitely some good personal improvement.
Rethinking most of the stretches, really there is only one that I hate. Sure, my form is suspect for the deep lunge, the one that kills me is the stretch that Shaun T tries to trick us with. He wants us to think it is a stretch, but it really isn’t. He thinks he can just throw a cardio exercise in the middle of the stretching and I’m not going to notice? Oh! I noticed Shaun T! The exercise comes right after the hip flexor stretch (my actual stretching nemesis). The idea is to balance on one leg, with your other leg parallel to the ground and your arms providing additional balance on the floor. The “stretch”, or so he calls it, requires moving the back leg in and out. This isn’t stretching. This is another “he hate me” drill.
The actual workout for Pure Cardio is terrifying. Still, I at least can make an imaginary story for part of it. This being where the mountain climber exercise starts. This is essentially high knees while alternating grasps at the ceiling with your arms. To the casual observer, it appears that you are climbing…well…nothing…you actually would look quite insane. Since this is the Insanity workout, you are clearly in the right state of mind then to imagine climbing up a mountain. I am good at climbing the mountain. Depending on the prior exercise, high knees are not the worst thing in the world. Then in a completely backwards twist, the ski downs start and so does the pain. In my mind I think this shouldn’t hurt. I’m skiing down the mountain I just climbed. Really I just have to let gravity do the work. But no, Shaun T has taken the fun out of skiing, making you feel like you are attempting to ski uphill, or down a hill with a disastrous coefficient of friction (that’s for my boy Sarz as he is most likely to actually read this.)
Cardio Abs again is like a distant memory even though it really didn’t happen all that long ago. I believe there is a severe lack of oxygen after Pure Cardio that prevents me from remembering Cardio Abs. Maybe I am blocking them from memory. Either way, what I can remember is an opening warm-up that isn’t awful by itself, just awful if it is following another workout. The floor exercises range from “not so bad” to “well, I did one, time for a break” to “Okay! I think I get what you are doing…oh…the drill is over?” Cardio Abs will make more sense when I perform Pure Cardio better. Pure Cardio will make more sense when that blasted warm-up is mastered.
Insanity Workout Day 23: Basketball Just Isn’t Feeling Like a Day Off
1-27-10: Difficult to get up today was. Quite fascinating. No workout so I should have been able to get to work at a crazy early time. I was exhausted the night before, so I fell asleep at about 7:30. Yet, despite all this, I made it to work at about 9:00 (an hour later than usual since I started Insanity).
Still, once at work and throughout the day, my energy started to build so that I had plenty of juice for the night’s basketball game. This was a good thing because Rich had a rare spot of foul trouble. Weird. I almost never see him in foul trouble. This left me covering the big man for much of the night. After an early dunk over me (yikes), I was able to make things sufficiently difficult for him for just long enough for his teammates to stop looking to make an entry pass (which was a HUGE mistake…top priority should have been to get the ball in the post to this guy every single time down, especially when I was covering him). There was some random double-teaming that helped deny him the ball as well. Definitely a good night of ball. And definitely a good workout. Insanity workout week starts in 10 hours…yikes.
Still, once at work and throughout the day, my energy started to build so that I had plenty of juice for the night’s basketball game. This was a good thing because Rich had a rare spot of foul trouble. Weird. I almost never see him in foul trouble. This left me covering the big man for much of the night. After an early dunk over me (yikes), I was able to make things sufficiently difficult for him for just long enough for his teammates to stop looking to make an entry pass (which was a HUGE mistake…top priority should have been to get the ball in the post to this guy every single time down, especially when I was covering him). There was some random double-teaming that helped deny him the ball as well. Definitely a good night of ball. And definitely a good workout. Insanity workout week starts in 10 hours…yikes.
Insanity Workout Day 22: Plyometrics Magic Tricks Revealed
1-26-10: So, you want to know the real secret behind Plyometrics? You’ve heard me whine and complain, with the possibility of this workout being impossible looming. The trick to successfully completing this workout is simple. Audit it. Don’t participate. Don’t take the test. Just watch the video. Do this, and, while doing nothing for you health wise, you will have beaten the dark and evil sorcerer, Shaun T.
This represents the last workout of the week. The last workout is always the most painful. And…and the first one. Actually, the second, third, and fifth as well. Except for Recovery. Recovery is the worst! But seriously, by this point it is almost easier to push a little harder as there is some sort of proverbial light at the end of the tunnel in the form of this magical day off.
Again, I felt there were some things I did better than usual, and others that I was hoping for more improvement on. The beginning warm-up is definitely getting a little better. However, another interesting observation is that the farther I get in the warm-up and the harder I push, the less energy I have for later in the workout. I must beat this warm-up. I MUST!
This represents the last workout of the week. The last workout is always the most painful. And…and the first one. Actually, the second, third, and fifth as well. Except for Recovery. Recovery is the worst! But seriously, by this point it is almost easier to push a little harder as there is some sort of proverbial light at the end of the tunnel in the form of this magical day off.
Again, I felt there were some things I did better than usual, and others that I was hoping for more improvement on. The beginning warm-up is definitely getting a little better. However, another interesting observation is that the farther I get in the warm-up and the harder I push, the less energy I have for later in the workout. I must beat this warm-up. I MUST!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Insanity Workout Day 21: Not Much Power, Plenty of Mental Resistance
1-25-10: Yikes! This was a rather dismal effort. I think it all started with the warm-up. It always starts with the warm-up doesn’t it? In this case, I was getting myself mentally psyched to make it somewhere within the third iteration before breaking. Shaun T and his Power and Resistance Insanity routine had other ideas in mind. I had forgotten that there is a slight alteration in the warm-up for Power and Resistance. Really, only one exercise got in the way: Power Jacks. Similar to regular jumping jacks, this beast requires dropping into a squat position. While okay by itself, since the next four exercises require some effort from similar muscle sets, the hellish warm-up manages to become worse than hellish. I’m not even sure I know what that means. Oh yeah…and then the warm-up closes with jumping. Still bending the knees, it is essentially a nightmare to close out the warm-up.
(Insert paragraph describing my hate for stretching…see any previous day’s entry that talks about stretching)
The workout was brutal. I am going to hope that by pushing myself harder in the warm-up I had less energy for the actual workout and thus the seemingly “back to square one” type effort I had. Well, that’s not entirely true. Again, I pushed myself hard at every exercise. When it was time to go faster, I pushed myself to go faster. I just took a lot of breaks. Yes…I believe the breaks are my favorite part of every workout. Well, tomorrow is Plyometrics again, so another shot at the warm-up before week 4 starts. Yeeha!
(Insert paragraph describing my hate for stretching…see any previous day’s entry that talks about stretching)
The workout was brutal. I am going to hope that by pushing myself harder in the warm-up I had less energy for the actual workout and thus the seemingly “back to square one” type effort I had. Well, that’s not entirely true. Again, I pushed myself hard at every exercise. When it was time to go faster, I pushed myself to go faster. I just took a lot of breaks. Yes…I believe the breaks are my favorite part of every workout. Well, tomorrow is Plyometrics again, so another shot at the warm-up before week 4 starts. Yeeha!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Insanity Workout Day 20: When I Think Recovery, I Think Searing Pain
1-24-10: Funny how this little Insanity workout has changed my perception of the word “recovery”. Now it is more closely defined as pain and suffering. At some point Shaun T clearly loses his mind and starts to create exercises designed by a madman. He has us do slow motion squats. Not disastrously painful, but can definitely be felt. Then he has this wonderful idea for us to hold the squat position, but since that isn’t painful enough, he also has us try to push our thighs closer together. While in searing burning pain, we are then to start doing pulses, mini-squats I suppose. My capacity to come up with fitting expletives escapes me as all I can think is “Wow! My pain receptors sure are working well today! They are certainly on top of their game…ow.”
On a bright note, while this is still a painful day, I can definitely see improvement in this workout, particularly with my balance. There are a lot of crazy “balance on one leg” type drills in this workout, which were difficult the first few times. In fact, it might have taken half the allotted time just to get into proper position before. Now, the “balance on one leg” exercises were not much of a problem. It feels good when improvement is noticed. Yeeha!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Insanity Workout Day 19: Pure Hell...err...Cardio and Cardio Hell...err...Abs
1-23-10: When doing Cardio Abs I find myself in a bit of a Catch-22. Since it follows a hellacious Pure Cardio workout, one in which I found myself swallowing some of my own sweat (I know...delicious right?), the energy and effort for this one becomes somewhat suspect. I did fairly well in the opening exercises, but then came the floor exercises. I gave it a good go, but I felt myself slipping out of form and releasing the core far too often. Unfortunate, since it is probably most important to keep the core tight during Cardio Abs. Ah well. Another thing I noticed was the impact floor exercises had on me this time. An exercise would conclude and Shaun T would offer us a thirty second water break. I usually guzzle large quantities of water when doing any kind of standing exercise. Now, in a seated position, I felt the energy it would take to get up and walk the seven feet to get water became too much. I wanted water. Water would have tasted good, but the need for water seemed to keep losing out to the need to not move for as long as possible.
Another funny thing about these DVDs is that Shaun T keeps reminding us to breathe. Now, of course he is trying to get the timing of the breathing down for us, when to inhale/exhale and whatnot. Still, thank God he tells us to breathe. I make sure to get one extra breath in between my panting, wheezing and gasps.
I still averaged about half of each exercise for Pure Cardio. I need to improve on this, but I don't want to die. A conundrum this is. Oddly, if nothing else, the scissor kicks seemed easier to me this time. This exercise starts with your right arm forward, left arm back, left leg forward, and right leg back. It consists of jumping from this position to the opposite position and back and back and back and back and back. My problem before was I was splitting the legs to much when I was switching them. Not only does this expend more energy, it also got frustrating because it was difficult to land with both feet completely planted on the ground. With the slight adjustment, oddly, this exercise is almost a "break". Very painful still, but Shaun T puts you through much worse in the Insanity program.
Another funny thing about these DVDs is that Shaun T keeps reminding us to breathe. Now, of course he is trying to get the timing of the breathing down for us, when to inhale/exhale and whatnot. Still, thank God he tells us to breathe. I make sure to get one extra breath in between my panting, wheezing and gasps.
I still averaged about half of each exercise for Pure Cardio. I need to improve on this, but I don't want to die. A conundrum this is. Oddly, if nothing else, the scissor kicks seemed easier to me this time. This exercise starts with your right arm forward, left arm back, left leg forward, and right leg back. It consists of jumping from this position to the opposite position and back and back and back and back and back. My problem before was I was splitting the legs to much when I was switching them. Not only does this expend more energy, it also got frustrating because it was difficult to land with both feet completely planted on the ground. With the slight adjustment, oddly, this exercise is almost a "break". Very painful still, but Shaun T puts you through much worse in the Insanity program.
Insanity Workout Day 18: Plyometrics Ain't So Bad! Wait...No...Yes, It Still Is Quite Bad
1-22-10: Today I was able to get up at a good time, get ready for work quickly after the workout and made it there before 8:00. Fantastic. I was somewhat worried because I went to bed at 12:30 the night before because I wanted to watch the second to last episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'brien. Disappointing how that all turned out. Anyway, getting up on time and getting to work at a good time made this a successful workout without even considering how the actual workout even went.
The actual workout was...there. I feel that I will notice the most substantial progress on that day I am able to make it through the entire warmup without a break. There is definitely improvement. I am consistently making it through or mostly through the second iteration of the warmup before breaking. I am still taking a decent amount of breaks for the third warmup, but on the flip side I am pushing myself to go a helluva lot faster with the exercises as well.
I still dread stretching. It is my least favorite part of any day's workout. Specifically I hate the hip flexors and every variation for it therein. The balance just isn't there and too much leg energy has to be spent to get in and hold the position. The legs are burning a little too much for an exercise that is supposed to be stretching the hip flexors. Annoying. (Side note: For the final stretch, Shaun T seems to skip the Quad stretch. I feel that this was simply an error in his routine as there is no logical reason for him to skip this one, so be sure to add this to your routine.)
And the workout. Well...some things were done well. Some things weren't. I am still in a hopeless state of exhaustion by the time the basketball drills start. Still, pushing myself through while being as safe as possible. Baby steps. Conquer warmup. Conquer stretching. Conquer workout. The plan is threefold and has successive building blocks. Three won't happen without one and two. Two won't happen without one. One...well...let's just hope that one happens soon. I am starting to think that I may have to repeat the last week of the month one workout before moving on to month two. Actually, have to stay in month one until it is mastered. We shall see how long it takes for that to happen.
The actual workout was...there. I feel that I will notice the most substantial progress on that day I am able to make it through the entire warmup without a break. There is definitely improvement. I am consistently making it through or mostly through the second iteration of the warmup before breaking. I am still taking a decent amount of breaks for the third warmup, but on the flip side I am pushing myself to go a helluva lot faster with the exercises as well.
I still dread stretching. It is my least favorite part of any day's workout. Specifically I hate the hip flexors and every variation for it therein. The balance just isn't there and too much leg energy has to be spent to get in and hold the position. The legs are burning a little too much for an exercise that is supposed to be stretching the hip flexors. Annoying. (Side note: For the final stretch, Shaun T seems to skip the Quad stretch. I feel that this was simply an error in his routine as there is no logical reason for him to skip this one, so be sure to add this to your routine.)
And the workout. Well...some things were done well. Some things weren't. I am still in a hopeless state of exhaustion by the time the basketball drills start. Still, pushing myself through while being as safe as possible. Baby steps. Conquer warmup. Conquer stretching. Conquer workout. The plan is threefold and has successive building blocks. Three won't happen without one and two. Two won't happen without one. One...well...let's just hope that one happens soon. I am starting to think that I may have to repeat the last week of the month one workout before moving on to month two. Actually, have to stay in month one until it is mastered. We shall see how long it takes for that to happen.
Insanity Workout Day 17: The Un-Fitness Test
1-21-10: Oh goodie! The second fitness test. The fitness test starts with a brief warmup followed by a brief stretch. Then eight exercises are performed, one minute each, with the end goal to see how many of each exercise was performed. Ideally I would beat my scores from a couple weeks ago. I did make fair improvement on most of them (only one result was the same as last time). However, I am less interested in my results from the first test to the second test. And here's why: Form. The first time doing these exercises, they were done with a secondary effort towards form. "Hold the core tight?" Well...sometimes, but not really. Proper form happily makes all of the exercises more difficult.
Another oddity is the pacing. Should I do all of the exercises as fast as I can? This might seem like an obvious "yes", but I have a slight problem with it. Many of the exercises become quite difficult, a tribute to the power necessary, when doing them slower. Plus, form is lost with an increase in speed. I still recognize the need for speed, but I want to keep my mind on the power as well as the Insanity Workout, and its unholy ruler, Shaun T, demand an increase in power. All of the cardio madness depends on it.
Fitness test day is a good reminder to go over goals, and why I'm doing this. There are many reasons actually, one of which Vince sort of mentions in his post. He mentions that I'm trying to return to my high school b-ball rec league form. This is not entirely true though. I am trying to greatly EXCEED my high school condition. The effort in high school was random at best and potential was never reached. Now, in some odd way, my biological clock is ticking...no...I don't want to get pregnant, but I do feel the pressures to see what kind of shape I can achieve with this body. At 31, going on 32, it is already a little too late to see what max potential could have been. Still, I contend that by the end of this, I will be in much better condition than I ever was in high school, in all areas (faster, stronger, more agile).
Other reasons may include a pestering need to better myself. This could be in many different areas. However, I've never seriously attempted this for my physical being. In the end, it means being a healthier person. Very early, but so far, not as difficult as I thought it would be so long as I am serious about it. And the idea is for this to be a permanent change. Not some temporary program, and not some temporary diet/meal plan. The idea is to become this person permanently.
Finally, and most importantly, I want to be able to slam dunk...okay...maybe that really isn't one of the goals, but definitely something I am mildly intrigued by. By the end of the year, I plan to drop 40 pounds. This puts me at a weight lower than I was in high school, but still a few pounds over what is recommended for my height. At first this might seem like an extreme goal, but in the end it seems reasonable to me. Consistent workout, increased metabolism, and more restraint on gorging, the plan is 20 pounds the first three months, 10 pounds the next three, 6 pounds the next three, and 4 pounds the last three. This falls into the theory that the later weight will be harder to get off. Side footnote, with the Halloween movie marathon in quarter 4, things will become difficult. Massive quantities of junk food. Craziness. Anyway, my point being that I am a couple inches short of touching the rim now. If I drop 20% of my body weight, while drastically increasing my leg muscles...well...sons of a beotch, the ability to slam could actually become a side benefit, which would amuse the hell out of me. The speed increase also intrigues me. I am very much intrigued.
There are other reasons too for sure, but that's good enough for now.
Another oddity is the pacing. Should I do all of the exercises as fast as I can? This might seem like an obvious "yes", but I have a slight problem with it. Many of the exercises become quite difficult, a tribute to the power necessary, when doing them slower. Plus, form is lost with an increase in speed. I still recognize the need for speed, but I want to keep my mind on the power as well as the Insanity Workout, and its unholy ruler, Shaun T, demand an increase in power. All of the cardio madness depends on it.
Fitness test day is a good reminder to go over goals, and why I'm doing this. There are many reasons actually, one of which Vince sort of mentions in his post. He mentions that I'm trying to return to my high school b-ball rec league form. This is not entirely true though. I am trying to greatly EXCEED my high school condition. The effort in high school was random at best and potential was never reached. Now, in some odd way, my biological clock is ticking...no...I don't want to get pregnant, but I do feel the pressures to see what kind of shape I can achieve with this body. At 31, going on 32, it is already a little too late to see what max potential could have been. Still, I contend that by the end of this, I will be in much better condition than I ever was in high school, in all areas (faster, stronger, more agile).
Other reasons may include a pestering need to better myself. This could be in many different areas. However, I've never seriously attempted this for my physical being. In the end, it means being a healthier person. Very early, but so far, not as difficult as I thought it would be so long as I am serious about it. And the idea is for this to be a permanent change. Not some temporary program, and not some temporary diet/meal plan. The idea is to become this person permanently.
Finally, and most importantly, I want to be able to slam dunk...okay...maybe that really isn't one of the goals, but definitely something I am mildly intrigued by. By the end of the year, I plan to drop 40 pounds. This puts me at a weight lower than I was in high school, but still a few pounds over what is recommended for my height. At first this might seem like an extreme goal, but in the end it seems reasonable to me. Consistent workout, increased metabolism, and more restraint on gorging, the plan is 20 pounds the first three months, 10 pounds the next three, 6 pounds the next three, and 4 pounds the last three. This falls into the theory that the later weight will be harder to get off. Side footnote, with the Halloween movie marathon in quarter 4, things will become difficult. Massive quantities of junk food. Craziness. Anyway, my point being that I am a couple inches short of touching the rim now. If I drop 20% of my body weight, while drastically increasing my leg muscles...well...sons of a beotch, the ability to slam could actually become a side benefit, which would amuse the hell out of me. The speed increase also intrigues me. I am very much intrigued.
There are other reasons too for sure, but that's good enough for now.
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