Insanity: This time less noobish

I've finished the first month of another round of Insanity. I've already done vanilla Insanity once, and I've done a P90X/Insanity hybrid...so I know the moves fairly well. Going back and then doing Insanity in the normal way, but knowing the moves well, really makes a difference. Also being at a higher fitness level helps me get more out of the workouts. That part has been really surprising and encouraging.

I'm into the month 2 workouts now, and I'll be doing the deluxe version. That means swapping in Insane Abs and Max Sports Conditioning. After month two, I'm going to go directly into Asylum, which by all accounts sounds as advertised. Really interested to see how much more difficult it is than Insanity...but until then, I've got a month of workouts left.

P90X Insanity Hybrid Workout Review

So I finished both my P90X/Insanity hybrid, and the recommended recovery week in-between programs. I'm going to do a P90X One on One Volume 3-based (aka preview of P90X:MC2) workout program for a little bit, at least a month, next.

The big takeaway for me is that subbing in Insanity for P90X cardio is really awesome. You definitely feel the cardio difference, and I think the results were great. P90X PlyoX is great at building leg strength, and is tiring in it's own right, but the more intense intervals with less breaks in Insanity just takes it to another level. I think a P90X hybrid is the way to go if you either want to add strength training after finishing Insanity, or feel like you need slightly more cardio after a run through of classic P90X. I do think you should do either P90X or Insanity fully first before doing a hybrid. You need that familiarity level and also it gives your body a great base to build from.

So, just to make the example clear, I did something like this:

Day 1: Chest & Back
Day 2: Pure Cardio
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms
Day 4: Max Cardio Conditioning
Day 5: Legs and Back
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Rest or Max Interval Plyo (I usually didn't rest)

Month two is the usually resistance days for Month 2 from P90X, and the same for month three. I rotated out other Insanity workouts for the cardio days to keep things fresh and stick with the whole muscle confusion philosophy.

P90X/Insanity Hybrid Update

I'm almost done with my P90X/Insanity hybrid that's been carrying me through the holiday season via the spiked metabolism of Phase 3. I haven't been following the diet guide that well, you might say, due to all the family events and parties with tasty, yet calorie-dense, food options. Thankfully my metabolism is at a decently high level right now because the workouts have been going real well.

Mixing P90X and Insanity (by subbing out the P90X cardio days with Insanity, then moving the Yoga to the off day to get 3 cardio days with 3 lifting days) has put me in really good shape. My next plan is to do a month or so  of the workouts from the new P90X One on One, a preview of P90X:MC2 coming out later this year. I have about a week and a half left of this cycle, and then I will post my final thoughts on it...but I can tell you now that they will be positive.

Latest Workout Stuff

So I finished off the summer getting married and going on an awesome honeymoon :)

My new fitness plan is to mix together P90X and Insanity. I've been doing it for about two weeks now, and it's great. The P90X resistance and Yoga days are the same, but on the days of cardio I'm doing 2 Insanity workouts (alternating depending on the month in P90X to keep things similar in philosophy).

It's definitely a good workout. Any Insanity workout will knock the socks off of Kenpo X, and though Plyo X is tough, I think Insanity workouts edge that out as well! I know a lot of people who do a plan like this throw away the Yoga day for another Insanity workout, but I think keeping that stretching/flexibility building day in there is key. Especially for someone like me who other than exercise is pretty much chair-bound all day.

I'll post again with improvements/results in a week or so.

Insanity Final Fit Test Results

Here's my final results from Insanity:

• Switch Kicks: 98 (up from 79, 72, 66, 57)
• Power Jacks: 75 (up from 70, 57, 56, 47)
• Power Knees: 114 (up from 107, 102, 94, 87)
• Power Jumps: 75 (up from 55, 42, 35, 30)
• Globe Jumps: 15 (up from 14, 13, 12, 8)
• Suicide Jumps: 22 (up from 19, 19, 18, 15)
• Push-Up Jacks: 44 (45, 35, 36, 30)
• Low Plank Obliques: 90 (up from 70, 60, 54, 28)

So I went up in all but Push-Up Jacks, and in some by a lot more than the last one. Overall I would say Insanity put me in much better shape cardio-wise. I don't feel as strong as I did during P90X, but I'm in better shape.

Day 53 Fit Test - Insanity

Here's my Day 53 Fit Test results:

• Switch Kicks: 79 (up from 72, 66, 57)
• Power Jacks: 70 (up from 57, 56, 47)
• Power Knees: 107 (up from 102, 94, 87)
• Power Jumps: 55 (up from 42, 35, 30)
• Globe Jumps: 14 (up from 13, 12, 8)
• Suicide Jumps: 19 (up from 19, 18, 15)
• Push-Up Jacks: 45 (up from 35, 36, 30)
• Low Plank Oblique: 70 (up from 60, 54, 28)

So I improved in most areas and stayed the same in a couple. Those suicide jumps give me trouble! Globe jumps are a very complex move so doing 1 rep better is really 4 whole jumps better, so nothing to sneeze at. Overall I'm pleased with the progress and look forward to the next (which is the last) Insanity fit test.

Shakeology Cleanse - Day Three & Review

I finished the Shakeology Cleanse last night.

To be honest, by the end of the cleanse I was happy to know I'd be eating "for real" again today. I was starving. I'm pretty sure, though, it's because I have a high metabolism going these days and I went against one of their fiercest warnings by doing it during Insanity. I was close to bonking during the workout yesterday, and never really recovered afterwards. There's just not enough calories to go around.

Results-wise, I did go down about 5 pounds total during the 3 days, which is nice (though I don't really care about weight numbers, it's interesting to track). I'd definitely do this again, but only if I was in a recovery week or doing very light workouts. Let me be the one to verify their claims: you do NOT want to be doing this during one of the Beachbody extreme programs.