To Insanity and Beyond

As much as I have had it in my mind that I was going to complete all three main programs in the entry weeks of Insanity, I have to be honest and say I will be falling short of that goal. This morning was a rough morning for me. I’m not sure why, but I was struggling through Cardio Power and Resistance today and since it is the last time I will be doing it I will not have the chance to complete it straight through again.

My main point of struggle came in the second circuit. I am pretty sure that I am not going to be challenged by the warm ups in the early week programs anymore. That said, I was able to blow through them as I have been doing. And while I still work up quite the sweat, I am not gasping for air like before. I’m so accustomed to these warm ups, in fact, that I can carry on a conversation through them now.

I managed to get through the first circuit without stopping for rest, but I know for a fact it was harder today than the last time I did this program. The V Push Ups were particularly challenging this morning, though I can’t say why. And the Triceps Dips were also challenging again, though I was able to get more of them done this time than last time.

The second circuit though… that one had my number this morning. The Moving Push Ups were extremely hard this morning, and in the last interval I actually rested during them for a short second. And once again the floor sprints were insanely hard for me and I had to rest during them as well.

The challenge exercises was likewise a challenge – no pun intended. I’m not sure why but I was having a hard time taking control of my shoulders and arms today and it showed in the Hop Squat to Push Up combination. As you can imagine, stopping during the Moving Push Ups was an obvious sign that push ups were going to be hard to do. That carried over into the challenge exercise in the second circuit and I had to rest a couple of times.

So there I have it. I wanted so bad to be able to complete all three of the early exercises of Insanity. Sadly, I cannot say that I was able to do that. I am still going to push through as hard as I can for the remaining exercises, but I did fall short of my goal.

Oh. My. Goodness. Today was so challenging.

This morning I completed a string of Insanity workouts in a way that I will probably not do again. Because I couldn’t workout Wednesday night I decided to wake up Thursday morning and do Wednesday’s workout on Thursday morning as a make up. That was Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. Then I did Cardio Recovery last night to stay on schedule. Then, to get back on my morning schedule, I decided to wake up and do Cardio Power & Resistance this morning. That is a total of four Insanity programs in 24 hours. And I am pooped.

Even though I feel very tired I am still very much refreshed and feeling very strong. I think it takes a lot to be able to workout like I have over the last 24 hours. It isn’t easy to do a single Insanity program, let alone four inside of 24 hours. But it can be done. It might hurt a little… no, it WILL hurt a lot, but it can be done if you push through and dig deep.

I had to dig really deep today. I was totally feeling the effects of the last 24 hours as I did my workout today. I didn’t have nearly the strength or stamina that I have had the last few times I’ve done Cardio Power & Resistance. But I was still able to do an enormous amount of the exercises today. And while I wasn’t able to complete all of them, I worked out hard and was able to do very well on theme still.

Like I said, I will probably not ever try to workout like this again. But at least I know for a fact that it can be done. And I know that I have completely destroyed another boundary that I had thought I had. If there is one thing that Insanity will teach you it’s that whatever limits you think you have, you don’t. There is nothing you can’t do if you just decide to do it. And that is all I did today.

I woke up this morning struggling with the idea of working out. That is never a good sign.

I’ve been saying for the last couple of days that I need to get more sleep. I know for a fact that I have not been doing that and today it became painfully evident that if I ever expect to be able to start my day right I am going to need to get my sleep. Either that or I am going to have to move my workouts to the afternoons again. As much as I love starting my day out with a nice physical trashing like Insanity, I can say emphatically that I love the energy and strength I feel toward the end of the day when working out in the afternoons. So we’ll just have to see what happens next week.

Getting back to today… once I started working out I quickly found my motivation. So even though I’ve struggled in the last few days to get myself moving once I get myself moving I kick some serious butt. Today was no exception. I was able to rip through the warm ups as I have been doing since I started this round. And I was able to do very well through the first circuit again. I did it without stopping for rest completely with the exception of the Triceps Dips, which have been an ongoing struggle for me. Still, I did more of these today than ever before which is really my goal in any Insanity workout.

The second circuit was a little more interesting. I was able to do all of the workouts completely except for the Floor Sprints. Those did me in something awful, but I think it was because of the exhaustion I felt from the Moving Push Ups just before them. Needless to say, I stopped in each set of Floor Sprints today. And the challenge exercise you ask? Yes, that did me in as well, but not as I bad I thought it would. I only had to skip one set of Squat Pulses and half a set of Push Ups.

Overall today was quite an accomplishment for me. I did more than I have ever been able to do in any Insanity program yet. And I got closer to completing a program without stopping for rest than I have yet. Since I have two more weeks left of the beginning level routines, I think I am going to set a goal for myself to actually complete all three entry level programs – Plyometric Cardio Circuit, Cardio Power & Resistance and Pure Cardio – completely without stopping for rest by the end of week four. What do you think? Think I can do it?

Today I changed my routine back to working out in the mornings instead of the evenings. I was having a hard time finding the space and quiet I like to work out in. I was also feeling really fat and tired by the end of the day when it was time to work out, so I decided that I was going to go back to waking up early and working out first thing in the morning. That was hard on me this morning.

It took a little while to get myself awake to the point of being able to get my body up and moving. And even after I did I was still struggling with finding my motivation. Ultimately I kicked some pretty serious butt as I was able to complete most of the workouts with needing rest. Of course, that may be a little misleading since I didn’t feel as though I was pushing myself nearly as hard as I did the other day.

I’m hoping that tonight I can get a better grip of how tired I feel so I can get to bed at a reasonable time. I think getting good sleep, and drinking plenty of water the night before, makes for a much better workout in the morning. I know for a fact that last night I didn’t drink nearly enough water in the evening. I also know that I didn’t sleep as well or as long as I should have to ensure I had a good workout this morning.

Which may be a tip for some of you. Make sure you are always drinking plenty of water and getting your rest. You need energy to exercise, so your diet is very important. But equally as important is how much you rest your body. When it is time to sleep, sleep. I know there are plenty of things that you could be doing with your time. Just consider using some of that time to get your rest. And always, always, always drink your water. Even if you are drinking health drinks – and no, Gatorade is not a health drink – you still need lots of plain old water.

So stay hydrated, eat the right, energy producing foods and get your rest. And I will see you tomorrow when I take on Pure Cardio for the second time this round.

Before I get into my workout for tonight I have to say that working out at night is definitely a different experience for me. I actually feel more tired than I do when waking up at 5:00 AM to work out. I don’t know if it is the effect of the day on me or my diet or the fact that I am tired from waking up almost as early every day now even though I am not working out first thing in the morning. Whatever it is, I am flat bushed by the time my work out rolls around.

Cardio Power & Resistance has been a bit of a struggle for me, even in the fourth week of my first round of Insanity. The leg exercises are absolutely devastating to me and there are so many that it makes completing the workout pretty hard for anyone who doesn’t have already strong legs. Of course, the warm up in this program is different from the others and definitely takes its toll out on your legs even before the workout starts. Fortunately I was able to complete the warm ups without needing to rest, but it was without a doubt a significant push for me in order to accomplish that.

The first circuit is very leg intensive with a splash of arms and shoulders thrown in for good measure. The routines are power jumps – my arch nemesis – followed by belt kicks, hit the floors and V push ups. Each exercise is about 30 seconds and you do three sets of these. Immediately following the final set you are given a challenge exercise which in our case today were triceps dips followed by one legged triceps dips. Except for the dips I was able to complete all of the first circuit without stopping for a rest.

The second circuit is similar to the first in that it is an extreme collection of muscle burning exercises that target your legs primarily, with a little bit of a focus on arms and shoulders. It opens with hurdles followed by globe jumps, moving push ups and floor sprints. Oddly, in this circuit I struggled with the moving push ups and floor sprints but not so much with the jumps. I think the floor exercises work my core, arms and legs, and since my legs are mush from pushing through all the jumping, by the time I’m on the floor I am wiped. Regardless, after three reps of these I was totally ready for the cool down. That is, of course, if Shaun T was. Which he wasn’t.

Like the first, the second circuit is immediately followed by a challenge exercise. The challenge for the second circuit is 8 hops squats to 8 wide push ups. This, like the other challenges, is a one minute challenge and it burns like a savage. I was able to complete it without stopping, but it took everything I had to be able to do that.

The program then wraps up with the usual stretching and cool down, which I couldn’t wait for. I was dripping in sweat, my legs felt like jell-o and I was ready to be done. But I was also glad because I was able to do triceps dips for the first time on Insanity. I was able to complete entire rounds of power jumps for the first time in Insanity. I was able to do so much more in Cardio Power & Resistance this time around than I have ever done before. And I love that more than anything, even more than I hate working my legs into oblivion.