Max Recovery

OK, last night was a struggle.com.  Since this is supposed to be the "light" day I thought it would be a shorter program; at least that's the way it was in month 1 from what I can remember.  But I was wrong.  And the only thing worse than being wrong is being tired and wrong.

Note to Self:  Don't start a 47:15 Insanity workout at 10:45PM when you're already sleepy and don't want to do it.

Pretty much the tape should just be called "Insanity Stretching" because I feel like that's basically all it was.  It was a whole bunch of inhale/exhale arm things and awkward hip flexor stretches.  I was slightly annoyed with how many of those we had to do, not gonna lie.  The warm up is just stretching this time and since the first section of the workout is also stretching...basically we did a lot of stretching.  I know it's important to stretch and all, but I mean DANG!  I should NOT be working up a sweat from just stretching!  The hip flexor pulses were hard on my body AND my spirit.   My "good knee" (which is quickly losing that title) was a little sore about an hour or so afterwards.  It's fine today though; I was getting nervous for a min though.

The other thing we did a lot of were push ups and planks.  If you remember from my other posts this week, you know my lats are R.I.P.'ed from Monday.  They were better yesterday, but still not at 100%.  I was able to do more than I could on Wednesday, even though that obvi wasn't enough for the 1947164 we did.  The workout was broken in 4-5 sections with 2-3 of them being just stretches.  Then we did these for like 4523 min, alternating which arm we started with.  I think if you add up all of the reps from each set you'd get something like 4+8+16+16+8+4, yes in that order..  I don't do math, so ya'll will have to figure that out.  May not seem like a lot, but that was at the end of the routine, and those suckas are deceitfully difficult.  If you disagree, do 50 push ups then do the sets just like I have them written out with 30 sec break in between, see if that doesn't change your mind.  If you add up all of the push ups throughout the entire routine, you probably get about 50 or so.

So yeah, I double dog dare ya...

Tonight I believe we're back to the interval circuit.  I've done every workout in MaxMonth except for Max Cardio Abs, and they're all at least 45 min.  While it sucks that they're so long, it's really nice to feel exhausted at the end of the workout again.  I know that might sound weird, but I don't think you're really doing anything if you're not sore and/or sweating profusely.  But maybe that's the weight lifter in me.

P.S. - Special shout out to my protein powder lasting me 4 months!  That's wassup.  I'm sure those of you who know how expensive protein powder is know my level of joy at the moment.  Ain't nobody got $53.99 to be spending every month!  Shoot, not with student loans.  Anyways, don't sleep on your protein people.  You need it.  Also, if you don't know what I'm talking about, read this and check out www.bodybuilding.com (when the website isn't down for maintenance - great timing guys).  Oh, and always consult a medicine man before taking anything, TRUST ME.

Max Cardio Conditioning

Wrapped up cardio conditioning last night.  47:18 of literally non-stop moving. I guess the thing that sets the conditioning apart from the other workouts is that there are no designated water breaks in the entire routine.

That's right.  The thirst struggle was real.

So it starts off the same as before, only this time the 3rd go 'round we did the original warm up for some odd reason.  I'm not at all sure what the reason for bringing back that ol' thing, but whatevs. As for the stretching is basically 30 min of non-stop movement.  Most of these moves were new.  Aside from the diamond jumps there wasn't a whole lot  jumping.  Actually, this was a lot of kicking and high knee movements.  There were some push up and push up-esque moves, but I really couldn't do much of those because my lats are still R.I.P. from Monday.  Hopefully they'll be better today so I can do more.

There were so many moves in this workout that I don't really remember specifics of any of them, and unlike the other workouts, we didn't have any repeats sections.  It was literally back-to-back new sections.  The first week of conditioning is always done alone, but it will be paired with Max Cardio Abs in subsequent weeks.  I can only imagine... I still remember the original Cardio Abs and how challenging that was.  Now it's going to be harder and I'm going to be even more burnt out than I was last month.  Pray for me...

Also, I feel like I've slimmed down s'more around the middle and in my legs.  This makes me very happy since it's getting increasingly more difficult to motivate myself to do the workout each today.  Yesterday it took me 2.5 hrs and a nap to motivate myself to press play, even though the tape was already in the machine (don't judge).  Hopefully I don't hit a plateau like I did with the fist month.  The thing is, the scale still says the same thing.  That's why I never bothered to buy one before.  They don't really tell an accurate story of health, and I think they're wrong more often than not.  But that could just be the bitterness and fat talking.  Take it with a grain of salt.

I just downed 5/8 slices of pizza a little while ago, so I'm gonna wait another hour or so before I pop in today's tape.  Is pepperoni pizza part of the Insanity diet, you ask?  No.  But is it part of my it's-Thursday-and-my-favorite-tv-show-comes-on-plus-it's-almost-friday diet?  Yesss.  Therefore, it's totally justified.

Max Interval Plyometrics

America, if I thought Monday was bad, Tuesday was not even on the Richter Scale.

I think this one was 48:15, or something like that.  Not quite an hour, but certainly long enough to make you regret every decision you made that day.  I remember looking up at the time and shedding a little tear when I saw I still had 28 min left.

*Side Note*

I keep having revelations about the time at the same point in the workout, no matter which one I'm doing (approx. 30 min in).  Sensing a pattern?  Now imagine how short my attention span was in class.  The focus struggle is SO real.

Anywhos, the warm up is the same as yesterday and equally as difficult.  Shaun T even says we're allowed to go faster than him if we can, since we're supposed to be BOSS at the program by now.  He speaks lies; never trust a man with a shaved chest and an ear piece.


So plyo, as the name implies, is plyometrics.  It's the same concept as last month just with more complex moves done at a faster pace.  I love all the moves because they involve your entire body.  Pretty much your entire body is working the entire time, thus resulting in a ridic amount of sweating.  Apparently it's something like 3 min of high intensity exercise followed by 30 sec of rest.  So in lamen's terms that's 128947 min of high intensity exercise followed 2 sec of rest...or at least that's what it feels like.  It's hard, man.  Like for reals.

New Moves of Honorable Mention

1.  Rotational squat jumps.  I'm pretty sure I heard my left cry out and say, "WHY WHY WHY??!" about half way through, which is concerning since that's actually supposed to be the "good knee"...

2.  Level 3 drills:  16 push ups, followed by 16 mountain climbers, done twice.  Again, not to sound sexist, but the male Insanity minions had an easier time doing these thanthe women, and I'm totally not exaggerating that.  I don't think any of the women did all 16 push ups, at least not the ones I saw.  The men on the other hand, had no problems.  I still think Shaun T's counting on that could be slower, but then again, he didn't consult me on the program before making it - OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM TO INCLUDE UPPER BODY STRETCHES...

I'm just saying.  But I digress.

Back to these Level 3 drills.  They're hard.  I think I did 15/36.  Don't judge.  You also have to do these at the end of the workout, so that was basically all the energy I had left.  I looked up and saw Shaun T's main hoe minion doing 1 push up for every 3 he did.  So, there's that.  Thus, my suspicions were confirmed.  We also did side push ups, which I found rather difficult/pointless.  I'm sure it's supposed to work the obliques, since the body is supposed to be slightly twisted, but I found most of the work was coming from my lats, which are still in pain from yesterday so you can imagine how much fun I wasn't was having.


3.  New push ups:  We did two new kinds of push ups, squat push ups (yes that's the lovely Shaun T) and power push ups (forgive his music for he knows not what he does).   They're much harder than they look.  I'm gonna B.L.O.W.N. if I can't do like 1289047174 push ups after I finish this program.

The Jump Rope That Wasn't

One of the funny new things we started this month are these jump rope moves.  If you think back, you'll notice I've never mentioned purchasing a jump rope for the program...

I LOLed the entire time we were doing them because it's you literally have to play make believe, just like you used to do as a child.  And the funny thing is, it actually works!  If you imagine yourself jumping rope, you start to move like there's an actual rope moving under your feet!  So pretty much what I'm trying to say is STOP SPENDING MONEY ON JUMP ROPES AND MAKE BELIEVE FOR FREE.  That should save you like $5.  You're welcome.



As for the stretches, same ol' same ol'.  They added a new hamstring stretch which pissed me off greatly.  I did my own upper body stretches to try and get these kinks out of my back.  I need a massage. But since ain't nobody got money or time for that, I'll just complain about my pain on here.  Thanks for inadvertently listening to my woes.  Also, I'm really scared for today.  "Conditioning" is an aggressive word in the realm of max interval training...

Fit Test #3 & Day One of MaxMonth

After nearly 2 hours of procrastination, I finally brought myself to press "play" on the dvd player.  And now I see why the Lord gave me those 2 hrs of mental rest.  Talk about precious moments...

Fit Test #3 Results

So as expected, I improved.  They weren't huge improvements like before, but improvements are improvements.  There were a couple of exercises where I got the same as last time, but still.  It's better than going backwards.  The test is STILL a challenge, and I've done it twice before.  I could barely breathe after each section!  I understand the need to have the test every few weeks, but I'm still not sure why it can't be it's own day, especially on the first day of month 2, or what I like to call "MaxMonth".  I actually skipped the cool down for the test and went straight into the warm up for the max interval workout just to save energy.  That still wasn't enough to prepare me for what was to come...

Max Interval Circuit Training

First of all, let me start off by saying how sore my upper back/shoulder blades are.  This is the first time in the program that I'm actually sore.  Although, that could have come from the crucifix push ups I did after the workout.  But for the sake of arguing, I'm going to blame Insanity.

So there's that.

Next, let me say that I was not prepared for a 60 min workout.  No gawd hunny!  MaxMonth is THE BUSINESS!  This month must be the month where people see all these supposed changed in their body.  I'm super excited...and super sore.  Allow me to explain...

So when I finally pressed play on the dvd player, my heart literally sank when I saw the 59:35 on the screen.  For some reason I thought it was only 45 min.  I was not prepared for that.  So imagine little sweaty, already exhausted me thinking, "OK, just breathe, we can do this.  Breathe".  I looked so pitiful trying to wipe the tears sweat from my face.  But anywhos, the warm up starts with a jog as usual, then go into a bunch of different things, most of which are variations of last month's movements.  However, unlike most of last month, we actually do this one 3 freakin' times.  My spirit was R.I.P. after the 2nd go 'round, but I hung in there.  After that, we did the usual stretching...the same 25 different hamstring stretches we did in month 1, like the hams are the only thing being worked in the video.  

*Side Note* 

 I just can't, Shaun.  I seriously can't believe you put out a workout tape sans upper body stretching.  And all that hamstring stretching...you gon' mess around and make people pull muscles with all that BEFORE the actual workout.  All those push ups, punches, and planks, and you have a stretch routine void of any upper body work?!?!  Have several, Shaun.  My shoulder blades are JACKED right now thanks to that crap.  Makes no sense...

But I digress.

The actual workout itself it fantastically challenging, if I do say so myself.  It's the same basic principle as last month, only this time the intervals are hella long so your heart rate stays up for much longer (hence the term "max").  Shaun T and his lil' light-skinned slick self does this thing now where he combines what were considered separate moves in month one into one continuous movement.  Example:  plank/mountain climbers/moving push up jacks/wide leg mountain climbers - like we wouldn't notice all them "/" on the screen.  Now say do that three times.  First of all, that's a lot of stress on the shoulders because if  you haven't noticed, that's in a push up-esque position.  And you know it's hard when you're only required to do 3.  If memory serves me correctly, that's called the "full body drill".  I actually highly recommend doing these since they are indeed a full body workout.  There was another bit he did like that, but I can't remember the name.

There were also a lot of jabs in this one, which I like because it uses the upper body.  And there's a lot of jumping., too.  I didn't keep track of how long the segments were, but I know you only get 30 sec break in between sections.  Keep in mind, an Insanity 30 sec is like 5 sec in the real world, so you're still basically out of breath when you have to start up again.  The all jumping and jabbing really takes it's toll on you, and my mind R.I.P. after I looked and saw only 28 min had passed.  Complete devastation!  After a while I felt like my neck was going to snap from all that jumping since we had to do more than last month.  That, plus the fact that my legs were tired and it got hard to keep the proper form.  Don't judge.

Stupid Side Push Up Oblique Thingy

There was this one move we did...I don't remember the name, but it was stupid.  It's some kind of side push up thing; it supposedly works the obliques, but for some reason I was just super annoyed with it and I didn't feel like it was doing anything..  My sister was watching me do the tape (while chomping on an Angus burger and small fry from McDonald's...I know, iJudged), and even she agreed.  I did it the first two times, but I skipped it the third time around.  Maybe I'll try it again next time.  Aside from that one, all of the moves were pretty do able.  Really, I'm just glad they're different from last month.  I don't know how much more I could take of that repetition.

Overall, yesterday was a success.  I was sweaty, hungry, and exhausted by the time it was all said 'n' done.  I can't remember what today is, but I'm really excited.  I'm going to increase my protein intake this month to take advantage of all this increased muscle building exercises.  Gotta get while the gettin's good.

Core Cardio and Balance

Hey America, sorry this is so late.  I meant to get this out last Tuesday, but as you can see, that didn't happen.  Anywhos, as the title implies, last week was all about working the core and improving balance.  It's dubbed "Recovery Week" but I encourage you to take that with a grain of salt since this is Insanity we're talking about.  The purpose of this "Recovery Week" is to give your muscles a rest from all the straining from the month before while still moving around and getting your heart rate up.  Mission accomplished.

Shaun T says you're not supposed to be completely spent by the end of the workout (oh the lies we tell ourselves), you def still get a good sweat in.  Some of the moves are still the same, but they're done at a slower pace and there's much more time to rest between each set, which is why I was surprised I did so much sweating.  Everything is done for 1 min, except for this crazy hip flexor thing we have to do.  I literally said to myself, "this is insane.  it's not even possible to do this", and I was partially right since even the Insanity minions weren't able to do it.  I guess that makes it OK since we're all failures.

The Workout

There's really not much to report this time around.  The routine itself is simple:  37 min total, 12 min of warm-up & stretching, 20 min of actual workout, 5 min of stretching at the end.  You do a lot of jabs, which are a surprisingly good ab workout if you do them correctly.  Even though this is focusing on the core, there aren't any crunches or designated ab movements, like crunches or anything.  A lot of the workout is working your core through balance movements.  Very crafty...I like.  I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't get bored with doing the same routine for 6 days straight.  Although admittedly, I'm certainly glad I don't have to do it anymore.

The hardest part of the entire workout were hip flexor burners and shoulder burners you do at the end - those were the ones the minions couldn't do.  Matter of fact, Shaun T doesn't do them either...

Shaun, why put moves in your workout if no one (including yourself) can do them?!?!

Anywhos, I put an honest effort into keeping up with minions counting since one, the shoulder exercise will help with the push ups and two, the hip flexors work the lower abs.  Wasn't at all successful at this until maybe 4-5 days into it (don't judge).

Improvements.  Real Ones

One of the things I've found myself improving on are the level 1 and  level 2 drills.  Personally, I think Shaun T does the count for the push ups entirely too fast, although I'd be willing to bet men probably wouldn't have an issue with that (see level 2 link).  Hope that doesn't sound too sexist.  If it does, that's because you probably secretly agree.  I know I could do more push ups if Shaun T didn't count so fast, but whatevs...some push ups are better than no push ups.  I'm just glad I've gotten to the point where I can do the entire push up segment without stopping.  Baby steps.

Today starts the beginning of month 2, aka what I like to call "The Month of Death" since that's when all the "max" things start.  I take the 3rd fit test tomorrow along with the first workout of month 2 so I'll update you guys on that.  I know there will be improvements.  They may not be as big as the ones from test 1 to test 2, but I'm sure they'll be some just the same.  I'm excited for this next month; I want to start sweating really hard again.  And I'm excited for the (hopefully) new moves we'll be doing.  I should probably start writing some of these down in preparation for my much anticipated return to the gym...

30 more days of this, boys 'n' girls.  The end is in sight.  I'm looking forward to getting my free t-shirt at the end of all this.  Love me some free t-shirts...

The Revelation

I've been thinking about my body lately, and I'm really starting to think that perhaps this is just the way God designed my body to look..

A little over 3 weeks into the program, and I'm not really feeling like my physique has changed the way I had hoped.  But again, that could just be me having unrealistic expectations of the program.

Insanity...if I were training to get ready for a sport, I'd be all set.  If I was preparing for a marathon or something, this would be perfect.  If I played a sport in college but got out of shape after graduation, again, a great program.  But if you're already consistently working out and lifting weights...

I'm being honest with you guys here:  I just don't see how people could make these dramatic transformations you see in the "before" and "after" pics, unless they did no exercise before the program.  If you're new to working out, naturally you're going to lose weight if you start moving and eating healthy.  No surprise there.  But I feel like if you're already accustomed to moving and being active, I feel like you're only going to improve your cardio with this program.  Granted, I still have another month to go, but I feel like that aspect isn't really going to change.  I honestly believe, and feel free to call me "old fashioned", that lifting weights is the only way to really see dramatic results in physique.  But I could be wrong...I hoping I'm wrong since I've already spent all this money on this thing.  I've looked at everything I was doing to see if maybe I was making some mistakes somewhere:  I've changed my diet (several times), eliminated Fat Friday, did the program everyday like I'm supposed to, drank plenty of water, get plenty of sleep, and still I feel like my body looks the same.  I told you guys my pants fit a little better, but other than that I don't see any dramatic changes.

As a result, I've reached the conclusion that maybe my body is just supposed to look like this.  Maybe I've maxed out courtesy of genetics, although the verdict is still out on whether or not that's possible.  I certainly don't come from a family of large people.  Both of my parents are runts both in terms of height and weight, and I'm actually weigh more than my father.

Come to think of it, I actually weigh the most in my immediate family.  I was so unprepared for that realization.

Maybe this is just the way God designed me to look.  I mean, I'm not trying to get all religious on you lovelies, but that's how I feel sometimes.  I'm starting to think the only way my body is going to look how I want it to look is to start taking supplements.  I could certainly do that, but supplements are expensive and ain't nobody with student loans got time for that.  It's rough enough dropping $50 for protein every few months.  When I was talking supplements before I saw changes in my body within the first month.  Granted, I had to stop taking one of them via doctor's orders.  But still.  At least they worked.  Aside from them, weights are the only thing I've been able to actually see changes with, hints my obsession with the it.

I think I'm just going to be happy with the way my body is.  After all, I'm not fat and it could certainly be worse.  I think as a brown woman I've been endowed with a certain, shall we say, "trademark characteristics of the physique", aka hips & booty.  I don't think there's anything that can be done naturally to change this.  And to be frank, who would want to?  With the exception of one or two binders groups of women (non of whom I'll name as to not offend), everyone wants hips.  Well, let me rephrase:  most men I have encountered prefer a woman with some shape.  I guess the only thing left to do if you've been endowed with this gift is to keep it right, keep it tight.  Make sure it doesn't get all flabby and whatnot.  There's a clear difference between fat and phat.  The latter is always better than the first, if nothing other than for health reasons.

But maybe I'm just being pessimistic.  I have a history of being quite the Negative Nancy when I want to be.  The next month of Insanity is supposed to be even harder than the first:  "max" everything...no idea what that means, but it sure sounds intense.  Anywhos, I'm going to keep on keepin' on with everything, diet included.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised one of these days.  I doubt it, but eh, I've got nothing to lose.  Insanity def isn't a replacement for the gym if you're into the old-fashioned means of weight loss.  The get-in-the-gym-and-LIFT-LIFT-LIFT-the-weight-off type.  But it'll do in a pinch.

Week 3 Review

Just wrapped up week 3 of Insanity, aka, almost done with Month 1.  Every time I check the box off on the calendar, I feel a real sense of accomplishment.  We're gettin' there folks, slowly but surely...

So, I've actually started to see some results from this thing.  I weighed myself this morning:  down 4 lbs., but I don't know how accurate that is considering it was early in the morning.  My measurements are still the same from my pre-Insanity days, but interestingly enough, I've noticed that my clothes fit better.   Like I said before I started this thing, I've always had fairly muscular legs.  This I did not expect to change, but I'm seeing some minor improvement.  Now granted, it's not a drastic change, but my pants def fit more loosely than before.  I'm excited...probably more than I should be.  Every woman has that pair of pants or that dress that she dreams of being able to wear again...

Yeah...we're not at that point yet, but we're getting there.

In terms of progress in the program, I've noticed I've been able to move a lot faster and I don't tire as easily.  That fact, however, doesn't change the difficulty of the workouts; in fact, it only makes them harder.  So  I've been sweating like 3x as much as I was before.  I mean, sweat be ROLLLLIN' down my face, man; have to stop and wipe it from my eyes because it makes my eyes burn, kinda sweat.  But like they say, "sweating does the body good."

...Actually that might just be me who says that, but I'm sure there's some stats out there somewhere that would support that statement.

New Diet Works Well

Anywhos, I think the new diet is pretty solid.  I wasn't hungry at all last week even though I was eating few calories.  I tried to set my meals up like this:

Meal 1:  7:30am - cereal + 8 oz orange juice
Meal 2: 10:30am - low fat yogurt & 1/4 cup of almonds
Meal 3: 12:30pm - whatever lunch is for the week + fruit melody
Meal 4: 4:00pm - protein bar
Meal 5: 8:00pm - whatever dinner is for the day + protein shake

Naturally these are approximations.  I try to make Meal 4 a little later in the evening because it's the last meal I eat before I do the workout. If I had to guess the calories, I'd guess somewhere around 2000??  Next week I'll try to get specifics.  In theory, you're supposed to be eating between 1,500 - 2,500 calories a day on the Insanity diet, so I guess I'm doing OK.  The largest meal is #5...kinda of a "save the best for last" type thing.  But really I want to make sure my body has enough munchies to recover from that workout. One scoop of the protein powder is like 120 calories by itself plus the 30 calories from the milk...that doesn't really leave me with much wiggle room for that last one.  But we'll reassess at the end of this week.

Weekends

I wish my weekends were as on point as this song is.

My biggest difficulty with the whole diet thing is still the weekends.  That's why all my well-constructed plans start to unravel.  Although I've been working on it recently, I don't usually allow myself to get out of the bed before 10 (((don't judge))), which means that entire schedule I just laid out for you is completely null & void. Not to mention the fact that I'm usually out and about during the day, so it's a little difficult to have structured meal times.  Aaaaand, "quiet as it's kept", I sometimes eat out on the weekends.  Now, this doesn't actually happen that much anymore since I started Insanity (R.I.P. Fat Friday), but I def don't stick to the prescribed dietary regiment on  Saturday and Sunday.  I just try to make sure I don't over do it, aka, not eating out of boredom and whatnot.  I'm working on it though.  It's just hard to have such a restrictive diet that doesn't allow for any wiggle room...you gotta live a little, man.  Even if that means thrownin' down a cheeseburger every now and then.  Since Operation Fatty Throw Down is bound to happen, I've taken to making an honest effort to make healthy choices; no more bacon cheeseburgers, no more side of fries, and no more trying to force myself to eat everything on my plate.  In the words of that Dos Equis dude, "I don't always eat out, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis make healthy choices".

Or at least I try.  Baby steps.  I remember reading a quote from the Honorable Bruce Lee, something along the lines of, "I don't live to eat, I eat to live".  Sounds like the motto of AA for food addicts.  I may have to make a poster of this and put it in my kitchen...

So like I said earlier, next week is the last week of the month. The following week is some kind of "recovery week" where I do the "core balance" routine the entire week.  We.shall.see how I feel about that about half way through the week.  Doing the same routine for 5 days is likely to make me vomit mentally, but I'll try to hold on to give you guys review of that as well.  But yeah, that's basically where I am right now.  Week 3:  finally starting to see results.  Sequel...Week 4:  finally starting to see results (again)?  Eh, maybe.  No one ever said I had to be creative.