Day: 26, Calories: 0, Insanity Pure Cardio

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed GRUMBLE!!!!!! Grumble grumble grumble grumble! Alright, that was dramatic, but I am so freakin' sleepy today! Allergies kept me up again, and 5:45 crept around way too quick. I hit play and felt like an absolute zombie for the warmup. And this wasn't a very good warmup....I zoned out a lot and took more breaks than I wanted. The week has caught up with me. My body is really sore today and Pure Cardio was probably the last thing I wanted to do today. I worked, I sweat and I'm happy it's over, but it's definitely not the same as Sunday's workout. Like I said, my body is feeling the end of week 4, and I am really looking forward to the recovery week next week. I'm just hoping Core Cardio and Balance feels like some sort of relief.

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed Cardio Abs went a little better than Pure Cardio. I can definitely hold the c-sit position a lot better than I can do level 2 drills. The beginning cardio stuff was lackluster, but the isometric stuff felt pretty good. I can feel my abs in a good kind of pain, so I'm glad I got a good workout. Overall I'd give this workout a B-, so not terrible but not what I wanted either. One more day in Week 4. Dig deep!

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed Just want to document that after work last night I did shoulders and arms. I wanted to get it out of the way. I upped my weight on the bicep curls, and did all of the shoulder stuff a lot more isometrically. Overall, good workout. Because it was after work, I was hungry, tired and wanted to play video games, I opted not to do the Supreme 90 shoulders and arms too. I like that workout, but back to back would have been too much last night. K, it's documented. Time to get the day started. Bring it!

Day: 25, Insanity Cardio Recovery

Workout

Insanity Cardio Recovery Status: Completed The final cardio recovery is complete. I couldn't sleep last night at all, and 5:45 came WAY too quick. I stumbled my way out of bed and hit play around 6:20. Today was mostly me doing each exercise for half of the time length, followed by walking around staring aimlessly until the next exercise. That would have happened no matter what, but it seems to happen more often with this workout. If it's going to happen anywhere, I'm glad it's on recovery day. This isn't a very engaging workout, but since it's deep muscle exercise, stretch, repeat, I figure it's not really meant to be that engaging. I do feel like I got a good stretch, but between you (the world) and me, I miss yoga. The day has begun. I'm going to go get some homework done, followed by heading into the office. I'm debating doing the resistance workout for tomorrow morning tonight instead, but that's still up in the air. We'll see. Dig Deep!

Day: 24, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Grumble grumble grumble. I'm tired this morning, and I really felt that exhaustion in my workout. The warmup kicked my ass, and I had to take a few more breaks than I wanted. I still got pretty drenched just from the warmup, but not my strongest. The workout itself was pretty solid. I felt slower than usual, but I pushed as hard as I could. The third set I really brought it too, and that got my absolutely destroyed. The second half I was exhausted, and my basketball drills were barely hops. I still despise level one drills, but I dig the ski abs and in and outs at the end. I pushed on those, and even though I needed a lot of breaks I kept going until the end. The punches at the very end were flat out difficult, and my arms felt exhausted. Hard workout, but very good workout. I'm not 100% positive, but I think this is the last time I do this disc. Max Plyo is coming.......sigh. Week 4 continues. Dig Deep!

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed Just to document it, when I got home last night I threw in the Fight Conditioning Workout from Rushfit. I was still feeling sluggish from Sunday's food binge, so I wanted the extra cardio. I really love this workout; it's like Kenpo X on crack. A lot of fun. I'm really excited to do Rushfit after Insanity. It looks like such a cool program for 8 weeks. I just need to figure out a weight schedule to go with it. It has weights, but it's more conditioning than it is building. I'll keep you posted.

Day: 22, Insanity Pure Cardio

Ah! For some reason the blog didn't work again yesterday, and I just now saw that. Here's yesterday's post.

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed Week 4 has begun! And today was by far my best Pure Cardio ever. I was a little worried how I'd do since I pushed through a really great chest and back workout this morning. I took a few hours off, and hit the gym around 4. The warmup was incredible! I took two or three breaks, but this was noticeably my strongest warmup yet. After the stretch I pushed really hard and ended up getting through three fourths of the whole thing with only two of three breaks. Somewhere near the end it caught up to me, and I didn't finish as well as I'd started, but overall this was the best pure cardio yet! I think I only do this one one more time, and that's in a few days. After that is recovery week, followed by Max Cardio. I think I'll be ready!

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed Great cardio abs session too. My abs were on fire the whole time, and for some reason I think I figured out how to properly do the c sit position because today it ripped my abs up! This is definitely not ab ripper, but I'm finally starting to really dig it. I wonder what Insane Abs will be like in the second month. Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed The final chest and back session for my Insanity doubles workout is done. Since it was my last one, I really pushed hard today and it turned out great. I woke up around 9 and got started early since tonight I knew I had pure cardio too and would need a break. I had a slow start since it is Sunday and I like to sleep in a little later, but I pushed through the workout. I wore the weight vest for the entire first half, and even though some of my numbers went down because of it I really feel like I get a stronger workout. The second half I took the vest off, which helped me get my numbers back up. Overall this is a still one of my favorite workouts and I'm glad I brought it with me for the first month of Insanity.

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I also threw in a round of Supreme 90 Day and once again it was a good workout. I love the flys and the back exercise where you lie down and move the weights from behind you to above you are awesome. No weight work next week since it's recovery week, and when it comes back it'll be completely different workouts. I wonder what the Supreme 90 Day chest shoulders & arms workout is like, because depending how the max workouts go this will be joining me in month 2. Today is off to a great start. Lots of sitting is planned for the rest of the day, and pure cardio tonight. You'll of course read these out of order, but that's how it goes. Bring it!

Day: 23, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed Well, after my blog post it all went downhill. I ate multiple tacos, burritos and chips. We decided to do a lazy Sunday so I made a taco bar, and I sort of pigged out. I topped it off with ice cream and cookies too! Nutrition just went out the window last night, and I woke up feeling horrible. I'm lactose intolerant and I still ate ice cream! Terrible! I pushed through because I knew I'd have to burn off the stomach ache, and by the second half my stomach felt a lot better. I did not have an amazing workout today, partly from my stomach and partly from my legs feeling like jello from yesterday, but I did try hard and was covered in sweat by the end. I do find it cool that when I over eat I know I can just burn it off and feel better with an insanity workout, even if that Insanity workout isn't very good. It's amazing to me how hard the nutrition part of this is. I can do Pure Cardio much easier than I can say no to ice cream. You wouldn't think that saying no would be that hard, yet here we are. I'm spending the week making up yesterday's nutritional mistakes. Wish me luck. Week 4 continues. Dig Deep!

Blog Problems - Days 18 to 20

Wow, I don't know what happened but for some reason my blog started to post to one of my other blogs, which I never actually use, instead of the fatfreejew.blogspot.com account. I just noticed this today, but it looks like I haven't posted (officially) since Tuesday! I've copied those missing blog posts, and have pasted them below. Hopefully from this point out I'll be good to go to post to this account instead. It looks like the iPhone app messed up a bit.

Day: 20, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Week 3 is completed, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I had just about 12 hours between workouts today. That always makes me tired for the second one. Add on that my legs felt like garbage after standing all day, plus it was the end of the week and long story short I was brutally tired this morning. Truth be told, I was mostly going through the motions today. My legs were on fire so I took more breaks than I wanted, and nothing had good form. The level 2 drills basically didn't happen. I tried my best, but at this point in the week my body has given all it has. Fortunately, this is Insanity. Just going through the motions and pushing as hard as I could still got me pretty soaked. I figure either good or great or terrible speeds, if I am still pushing myself I am getting a workout, and today definitely proved that theory right. Week 3 is done. I wish today had been stronger, but it is what it is. I am concerned that if the regular workouts in week 3 are still kicking my ass that I'm not going to be ready for the Max workouts. Only one more week plus a recovery week and it's time to step everything up. Well, we'll see what happens. Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow, and hitting the gym hard on Sunday with the last chest & back workout plus pure cardio and cardio abs. Dig deep!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Day: 19, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Log Entry

Daily Note: Just a quick note, I did P90X Shoulders & Arms last night because I didn't have time this morning. I didn't have the energy to do that and Supreme 90, but I knew that going in. I upped my weight on everything and really beat my arms up. It was great. I was falling asleep after, so I decided to just skip that part of yesterday's blog, hence the note is here. Bring it!

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed I really dig this workout. It's a lot of resistance stuff, but at a cardio pace. It's awesome. I was pretty beat by the time I got started. Today was a long day at work, and I was on my feet all day. I didn't get to work out this morning because work started really early too. I pushed through the warmup, which was crazy hard today, and by the time the real workout started I had to push as hard as I could. It wasn't pretty, but it turned into a great workout. Covered in sweat by the end! The third set of each of the two rounds was tricky, but aside from that I kept good form and good pace. My shoulders pretty beat from yesterday too, but they worked hard and feel amazing right now. One more day in Week 3. Dig Deep!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Day: 18, Insanity Cardio Recovery

Workout

Insanity Cardio Recovery Status: Completed Not the best recovery. I did cardio abs before this (to make up for yesterday) and I was just exhausted in general. I pushed, but decided about halfway through that it just wasn't gonna happen. No worries. I'm going to get an extra workout in tonight (you'll read these seriously out of order) because I won't have time to do my doubles workout tomorrow.

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed I threw in the makeup cardio abs this morning. I actually thought it went pretty well, but it killed my energy for cardio recovery. Wish me luck on tonight's workout!

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed

Day: 17, Insanity Pure Cardio

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed Today started out a little slow. The warmup felt really hard, but I feel like I did a little better than normal. Just really tired. By the time the actual workout started I was pretty exhausted. I ended up pushing through, but had to take a break by the time I got to the switch kicks. Those things are surprisingly hard! Most of the workout actually went pretty well, but a few things still destroyed me. Those damn level two drills are brutal, and I was beat by the time the pushup jack's kicked in. Overall a good workout. I still have a long way to go on this one, but I'm seeing noticeable progress. I was supposed to do cardio abs today too. I made it about five minutes into it, and mark came in because his car wouldn't start. I had to take him to work, so I said screw it and I'll do cardio abs with the recovery workout tomorrow. Dig Deep!

Day: 16, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Not the best workout, but plyo cardio circuit is completed. It rained all night and it was completely dark when I woke up. I had to convince myself that my clock wasn't lying to me. After grumbling out of bed and being pleasantly surprised that the garage was not freezing cold, I hit play. Today's warmup was really hard, but I pushed through. The first series of intervals I pushed as hard as I could and really kept up with the insanity folks. I think I only took one or two breaks in that set too. The second half, though, I was completely wiped and had trouble doing just a few of each of the exercises. The basketball hops were ok, but the pushups were non existent. Part of that is my chest being sore from yesterday, but more so I was just too tired. The in and out abs went pretty well though. By the time the punches came in at the end my body was pretty exhausted and I could barely keep up. I definitely pushed on this workout, but overall I think I was just a little too tired. Still, week 3 is off to a solid start. For some reason tomorrow is pure cardio with cardio abs....by my look it should have been cardio power, but oh well. Looks like there will be cardio tomorrow. Wish me luck! Dig Deep!

Day: 15, Insanity Fit Test

Workout

Insanity Fit Test Status: Completed Solid fit test. All of my numbers went up, most by around 10! The last three exercises were all the same number of reps, but that's still good because nothing went down. I also did this one with Heather. She wanted to try Insanity, and I figured the fit test was a good place to start. She did a great job, and trying to show off for her definitely made me try a little bit harder. I think she may give Insanity a go at some point. I wish her luck if she does....these workouts are bananas!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I threw in another round of chest and back, and it went pretty well. I used the 12 lbs weight vest, which I read really added something to this workout. It definitely did. I was pretty wasted from the first workout, but pushed it and got some good reps in. I could only wear the vest for the first 8 sets on both rounds, but it went well.

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Chest and Back Status: Completed I threw in the Supreme 90 Day chest and back again. I've gotta say, I'm impressed by this workout. It's definitely different than P90X, but not bad at all. The three sets of the same two workouts concept feels a lot more like what I'm used to from the gym, and the speed of them actually reminds me a lot like Insanity. The only problem I have is the generic warmup and cooldown, but as an addition to P90X workouts it's awesome. Good speed, I break a sweat, original exercises (very different than P90X exercises) and in the end I end up doing double the reps than if I'd just done P90X. Week 3 has begun. Dig Deep!

Day: 13, Insanity Pure Cardio

Log Entry

Daily Note: Just a quick note, yesterday was St Patrick's Day, and tonight we're going to see Flogging Molly. Plus it was my buddy Richard's birthday yesterday, so we're also going to go out and celebrate that. Nutrition may not be the best this weekend, but mostly I'm posting this because I want to shout out Happy Birthday to Richard and to shout to the world that tonight's going to be freakin' awesome! Flogging Molly is going to be great!

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed Week 2 is in the books! It wasn't pretty, but it is completed. This fat free Jew is slowly getting fat free! The dreaded pure cardio was on the agenda for today, and I definitely was feeling yesterday's workouts. My legs were pretty beat which screwed with my endurance. I felt like I started all of the moves, warmup included, really well, but by the end of each I felt wrecked. Changing moves really helped me get boosts of energy. I still worked really hard and will definitely say that today was a success. I also think I took it a little easier today subconsciously because I knew cardio abs was after this workout. It wasn't my strongest pure cardio, but it was solid and I got a workout. Good stuff.

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed I finally got to do cardio abs. Why this is on the same day as Pure Cardio I don't know, but I accepted the challenge today. I've gotta say it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It was still very difficult, and incredibly different from ab ripper x, but I can definitely get through it so awesome. This was the first ab work I've done in a few weeks. I haven't done ab ripper x since week 12 of p90x, and here we are wrapping up week 2 of insanity. Time flies. I feel like my abs held onto some of their strength in that time, which really helped me get through today. I can't wait to try Insane Abs in Month 2. Time to get the day started. I get a looong break from Insanity and that's awesome. I have all of today free (obviously), tomorrow is a rest day, Sunday is just the fit test and my p90x resistance stuff, so the next real workout isn't until Monday! Sweet. Dig Deep!

Day: 12, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed Ya! I just destroyed cardio power and resistance! That was a great workout and this is definitely my favorite Insanity workout so far. I started with a really solid warmup. I took a few less breaks than normal, but the big improvement was today was that the breaks were noticeably shorter. Usually I'd skip a rep, maybe 1 second, and hopped right back into it. The warmup is getting more and more realistic, which is great. The actual workout I brought the same intensity. The first set I only took one or two breaks each, and those were always towards the end. The second half I was starting to get drained, and those globe jumps destroy me. I'm determined to someday get better at those. My triceps were pretty dead from my workout this morning. That made the tricep dip stuff in the middle really hard. That aside, the pike presses (v pushups) in the beginning were really strong. Combined with my workout this morning on shoulders and my absolute love of pike presses (they're awesome....it's a pushup for your shoulders!) my shoulders feel amazing right now. And even though I was tired, I really rocked out the 8 pushup 8 jump things at the very end. One more day in Week 2, and I'm finally going to try cardio abs. Cardio abs after pure cardio.....yup. Tomorrow morning will be interesting. Dig deep!

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed It's a doubles day, so I woke up early and did shoulders and arms. For some reason I was exhausted (again) and my weight numbers dropped a little bit. I pushed the 30 lbs for the shoulders, but by the end my arms felt destroyed. Despite being tired, this was a good workout. Not too much to say about it, but I'm glad I did it. Bring it!

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed Like last week I threw in the Supreme 90 Day shoulders and arms workout. For some reason though, I ran out of time to finish it. I checked the clock after the third circuit, and I was already 5 minutes later than I prefer to be done with the workout. Usually I come in under time. I hit stop at that point, gave myself a cooldown and stretch and called it good. I'm glad this happened though; even though it wasn't a bad workout at all, after P90X and just being tired in general I was ready to call it quits today. Good workout, but I need to double check I'll have time for both of these next week. Waking up at 5:30 cannot become my normal routine....it destroys me! 6am is hard enough. Again you'll read these out of order, but Insanity Resistance tonight! Wish me luck!

Day: 11, Insanity Cardio Recovery

Workout

Insanity Cardio Recovery Status: Completed Wow, today was REALLY hard to get moving. I was completely walking through a dream. I slept til 6:30, but couldn't sleep anymore, but I couldn't wake up either. That's the worst, when you're perpetually tired. I finally hit play around 7, and the first 15 minutes I really struggled....from the recovery workout! I realize it's not meant to be that easy, but this felt harder than yesterday's workout. By the time the stretch at the end came I finally got into it, but overall my body just wasn't in the game today. I'm glad this happened on the recovery workout instead of a normal Insanity workout. I really hope I'm not so drained tomorrow. Thursdays are my other doubles day, so I really need to have energy. Wish me luck! Time to finish homework and head to the office. See you tomorrow gym. Dig Deep!

Day: 10, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Today I feel incredible! That was the best plyo cardio circuit, and I finally feel like I'm starting to get a grasp on this. I woke up at the horribly evil time of 5:30 today because I have a doctor's appointment early today. Grumbled my way to the kitchen for some no-xplode, and hit play at 6. The warmup was rough and my legs were feeling it from yesterday's workout. Then when the workout started, my no-xplode kicked in and my energy shot up. I pushes so hard and even though there were some breaks, overall all of my movements were quality! The mountain climbers I really noticed it on because my knees were shooting high into the air on all three rounds. The power squats hurt so bad, but I was able to pump out really great sets all three times. The level one drills are still tough but I did a ton more than last week, and when the punches at the end came I put everything I had into it. I am completely soaked right now, and as my goal for the day I definitely left it all in the gym. Tomorrow I get to sleep in until 7am! And tomorrow is my recovery day! It's going to feel like a freakin' spa tomorrow. I'm very excited to take it easy, because I'm already starting today at my max....I see myself feeling very tired very soon. Time to get the day started. Dig Deep!

Day: 9, Insanity Pure Cardio

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed It is done. Pure Cardio. The dreaded workout. Today was rough and I definitely felt like the world was against me this morning. I woke up feeling completely exhausted. Yesterday was daylight savings time, the bad one in the spring, so this morning felt even earlier, and the lack of sun didn't help. Then I couldn't find the disc, and tore the room apart looking for it. I found an old old copy of pure cardio that I borrowed from someone years ago, and it was a little scratched but it played....until the warmup was over. Then it froze and I felt like I would never get my workout done. Then I remembered I had left the disc in the old DVD player, and we'd moved players around for Halo on Saturday. I found the disc, put it in, and finally after a loooong break between stretch and start, I got started. Today wasn't actually as bad as I remembered from the other day. Still ridiculously hard, and I was drenched in sweat by the end, but overall I felt a lot stronger. That said, I definitely felt like I could have brought it a little harder....that may have meant more breaks and less of a workout overall, but I have some energy left over now that I'm writing this and I really feel like after insanity I should have nothing left. A part of that was how early this morning felt, and the frustrations, but overall if I can give more I need to. That's going to be my goal for tomorrow, to leave it all in the gym. Wish me luck. Week 2 continues. It's time to get stronger. Dig Deep!

Day: 8, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed You'll be reading these out of order, but the app I use to write this blog uses the first workout listed as the title, and the Insanity workout deserves the title for the next few weeks. My final workout of the day was Cardio Power & Resistance. This is the second time I've done this workout, and so far I've decided it's my favorite. The cardio isn't terrible to keep up with, but definitely works me like crazy. I like the body weight exercises in here too. I had a little trouble keeping up with the warmup, partly because I was still recovering from my chest and back workout. I had drank a lot of water in between workouts too, and I felt that sloshing around in my stomach. But once I got past the stretch and got into the workout I felt like I kept up with the group pretty well. I definitely took breaks, but overall I was hanging in there. Maybe there will be a day that I can do this whole workout with stopping. We'll see. Week 2 has begun! I'm getting stronger and feeling amazing right now. Tomorrow I get up early for the dreaded return of Pure Cardio. Wish me luck, but I think I'm ready. Dig deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed It's Sunday, one of my two doubles days. Last night we pulled an all nighter playing Halo, and there was a time change. Long story short, I'm coming off of a night of little sleep and a lot of junk food. Getting started was really hard, and I felt pretty drained through this workout. Even so, I pushed through and had a pretty solid chest & back workout. I definitely feel worked right now. Bring it!

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Chest and Back Status: Completed I added in the Supreme 90 Day Chest & Back workout today too. For some reason, even though I was exhausted during the P90X workout I actually got through this one really well. It's another circuit set of one chest and one back, repeat 3 times, and there's four sets of those types of circuits. There was some really different stuff from my other workouts in here and I really think I hit some new muscle areas. I also like the all the chest stuff isn't just pushups. There's some fly stuff in there too, which is great! I'm done with the muscle stuff, but I still have Insanity to do. I'm on break now, and working out in 2 or 3 hours. You'll read these out of order, but that's how it goes. Bring it!

Day: 6, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Week 1 is in the books, and it couldn't have ended soon enough....I am destroyed! This is one of the hardest things I've ever done and that's awesome. I woke up this morning and did not feel that horrible pain in my legs like I have most of the week. That surprised me since yesterday's workout was the hardest so far. I went downstairs and hit play, and brought it as best I could. Turns out my legs were a lot more beat up than I thought, and they just refused to respond. My cardio felt stronger (not strong....stronger) but my legs just refused to keep up. I figured it's the last day of the week, which is why they're so weak, and pushed through as hard as possible. The warmup beat me up, but I actually feel like I made progress on the real workout. Slower than Monday, but definitely stronger. I also didn't screw up the gym floor this time on the second half. I saw on the Insanity infomercial a guy using the same floor as me, and for the up and down stuff he had his feet off of the mats. It was more painful (barefoot + concrete) but the floor's ok, so that's a great fix. Adios Week 1, and man oh man Hello Day Off (tomorrow). 8 more weeks to go. Dig Deep!

Day: 5, Insanity Pure Cardio

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed This is after work, just for the record. Read the whole blog....you'll get that comment. Wow. That was the hardest home workout I have ever done. That was one of the hardest workouts I have ever done, and back when I was 20 in drum corps, we did some hard workouts. It was like a really hard Insanity workout, and Shaun T just decided not to do any breaks. None! And everything was a minute instead of 30 seconds. I had an amazing workout today! The normal warmup and stretch starts this one, and I was actually feeling a little gassed in the second set. I was dizzy all day in fact; I think I need to eat more on my heavy lifting morning days, which was today. But my energy started to rise during the stretch, and the first half of the actual workout I really brought it. I was soaked, and it was hard but I got through most of it. Lots of breaks, and around the third move my legs started to feel like jello, but it was good. The second half was not so good. I know Shaun T says to not sacrifice form, but it was either that or stop, and I really didn't want to stop. I definitely slowed down though, which made form a lot better. Basically though the second half I was just a lifeless dummy going through the motions trying to survive. Very difficult workout, and I laughed when everyone after the workout is completely silent. Not a word. That's exactly how I felt. I'm pretty sure I do this with cardio abs next week....THAT will be bananas! One more day in Week 1, and I get to revisit plyo cardio circuit. Let's see if I've improved this week. Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed I got up at 5:30 today, had a no-xplode and went to work on shoulders & arms. Thursdays are my second doubles day of the week, and this is where I'm going to keep my strength and maybe build on my size too. I haven't seen this workout since Round 1 of P90X, since I did mc2 last time, and I forgot how good of a workout this is. The shoulders get rocked and my biceps were on fire! For some reason I feel like the triceps almost get a break in this routine though, but I still managed to bring it. I focused on upping the weight and doing fewer reps today, and my arms feel great right now! Bring it!

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Shoulders & Arms Status: Completed I picked up Supreme 90 Day a few weeks ago at Walgreens. It's a knockoff of P90X, but at $20 I figured I'd check it out. It's definitely not P90X, but it has slightly shorter versions of all of the resistance workouts, and since I'm trying to build strength I threw in their shoulders and arms workout after P90X today. It's a lot faster paced, slightly easier workouts, but it focuses on circuit training. It's shoulders, bi's, tri's, repeat 3 times, then rest. No breaks in between. 4 total sets of those circuits, and that's the workout. It was actually a great thing to follow up my heavy duty shoulders and arms workout, and at half an hour it's real easy to keep doing. I think I'll stick to adding in these resistance workouts in the future. You'll read these out of order, but it's time for work, then I come home for Insanity! Can't wait!

Day: 4, Insanity Cardio Recovery

Workout

Insanity Cardio Recovery Status: Completed Well it wasn't easy, but it was definitely a break from the rest of the insanity that is Insanity. It's a lot of endurance stuff mixed in with stretching. I didn't like that 90% of the moves worked the legs though since my legs are the thing I've used the most in this program. I could barely walk when I woke up this morning, and I don't know if the recovery workout helped them or hurt them. We'll see tomorrow I guess. I'm really looking forward to a day when I can do Insanity and not destroy my calves. It's coming....I'm still in week 1, and expecting huge changes over the next 9 weeks. Honestly though, I miss yoga and would have enjoyed that more today. If I ever do a hybrid program, yoga will definitely be on Wednesdays. Also I didn't care for the 32 minute workout today. Even for recovery, that just feels really short. A few months ago Wednesdays were my 90 minute plus workout, and now they're short. Oh well. Day 4 is in the books. Week 1 is moving along nicely and I'm definitely getting a workout. Dig Deep!

Day: 3, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed Oi, I feel so sore today! I don't remember being this sore after plyo the first time, and I definitely remember being really sore back then. My legs hurt all day yesterday, and they hurt just as bad when I woke up this morning. I did a few stretches, had a pre workout drink and hit play. The warmup started out really painfully, but by the second set I actually felt really good. By the end of the warmup I was soaked. I also was able to push through a little harder when I saw that this whole workout was under 40 minutes. I was even more surprised when after the warmup and stretch there were only 25 minutes left. The routine itself was a lot like yesterday's. More resistance stuff, and I love that there's pike presses (v pushups) in here. Basic 4 sets of exercises, 30-45 seconds each, with 30 second breaks after you do all 4. 3 sets of that and then move on to more stuff. For some reason I felt like this was easier than yesterday. Not easy, just easier. I had a little more energy at the end than I thought, so I'm crediting that to my fitness level on resistance stuff. My cardio still needs work, but after P90X my muscles can hold their own. Speaking of P90X, I don't understand how anyone could do Insanity without doing P90X or something before. This is brutal. Really brutal. I think I've come a long way in fitness in the last six months, and I struggle like crazy through these workouts. If I started with Insanity I'd have either given up or ended up in a coma. So I definitely recommend the way I've been doing it. Insanity is nuts, so don't kill yourselves folks! Day 3 is in the books! Looking forward to the recovery day tomorrow (which from what I hear is just as hard as any other day). Wish me luck! Dig Deep!

Day: 2, Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Workout

Insanity Plyometric Cardio Circuit Status: Completed Oh man! I have finally started Insanity, with a real workout (not the fit test) and my first reaction is that I have not been lied to. Insanity is very appropriately named, and that was the hardest workout DVD I've ever done. Plyometric cardio circuit starts out with a warm up. At first it felt just like a slightly harder P90X workout. Then when we reached the finish point, when I stopped and went to grab water and thought "This isn't so bad. I can do this fine" Shaun T says again. I didn't even know what he wanted again....turns out the entire warm up! This time it was faster too! So I did it and felt drained after, and then we did it again WAY fast! That's just the warm up; P90X, 3 times, on crack. Yup. The workout itself is the exact same way. The first four workouts are pretty similar to Plyo X, except the breaks between moves is gone and the emphasis was on being fast. And again, we did the set 3 times. I did my best, but I have a long ways to go. Also, the second half uses a lot of jump down into pushups, and aside from my chest hurting from yesterday my floor kept falling apart! I have those puzzle foam mats in the garage, so I may need to find an alternative. My cardio has a ways to go, as does my endurance. That said, I still came out of this workout completely soaked, and there's not a doubt in my mind that I got a good workout. The saving grace is that it's a lot shorter. This workout was about 45 minutes, and since I'm so used to one hour or more, I didn't feel that intimidated throughout the whole thing. Insanity has begun. The next 60 days will be very interesting. Dig Deep!

Day: 1, Insanity Fit Test

Log Entry

Daily Note: The last six months flew by, and I have done P90X twice now! I remember years ago wondering if I would ever even try it, and I failed twice before. Then boom, six months and I beat it twice! I challenged myself and I did it. That's the thing I like about the home workout things. The body is nice, but it's not the promise of the body that drags me into the gym every day. It's the challenge! That 90 right there in the middle of P90X is just sitting there, asking if I can do this for 90 days. It's a challenge, and I brought it. And then I did it again! Now it's time for Shaun T's challenge. 60 days huh? I've done 3 sets of 60 days already. Bring it on Shaun T! I'm ready. Then I'll take GSP's challenge, and then I have a few more challenges of my own ready to go. I'm on my way. I wonder where I'll be in another six months!

Workout

Insanity Fit Test Status: Completed Insanity has officially begun. Today was the fit test, so nothing crazy....or so I thought going into it. This is the benchmark workout. Where in P90X they gave you time to write everything down, there isn't enough time in Insanity. Instead, every 2 weeks there's a fit test, and you measure your growth on that. My numbers were ok...nothing spectacular but all a few short of the test group folks' original starting numbers. I'm hoping I'll have major gains in the next two months. We'll see. One thing about this workout is the glimpse I got of what the Insanity workouts will be like. There were a lot of complex body movements, like bringing the knees to the side while in plank. Crazy. And fast! Even in plyo x, nothing was every incredibly fast. This whole thing was push push push, go go go! The next few weeks will be interesting. Week 1 has begun. It's time to Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed As scheduled, I did my first mass workout style workout for Insanity, Chest & Back from P90X. Just the usual stuff for this workout, but I threw in the resistance pushup thing I bought a few weeks ago. It's two resistance bands with a piece of fabric in between. Basically it adds resistance to pushups, which it did. I didn't do it for all of the pushups, mostly because I didn't have time to put it on between sets. But it really did add something, and my pushups destroyed me. I will say my numbers went down a little, mostly from the resistance thing, but also because I did Insanity first. The fit test I'll always do before P90X workouts because I want to be fresh for those. When I have to do an actual Insanity workout though, I'll do P90X first, then probably take a break and do Insanity later or after work. That's partly because I heard you should do weights first, because you get the same benefits from cardio whether you're fresh or wrecked, and partly because I know I'll flake on the P90X workouts if I do them after. They're optional, and I don't want to treat them like that. The Insanity workouts are not optional, so they'll get done no matter what. Big changes are coming for the body! The next two months will be Insane! Bring it!

Day 1, 90 and 180 pictures

From left to right we have Days 0, 90 and 180 (Day 90 of Round 2). I didn't lose as much weight this round, and honestly didn't weigh myself for about two months. That's partially because I feel weight is a poor indicator of success since I'm building muscle too. I notice somewhat of a difference in my stomach between 90 and 180, but not as much as I'd hoped for. I wasn't the best nutrition person this round, though, and attribute a lot of that to that. That said, I notice a great difference in my neck and chest areas, the latter feeling a lot stronger. Also my arms (which are hard to see in these pics) are the biggest and strongest they've ever been in my whole life, which is why I really look forward to continuing the resistance workouts throughout Insanity.

Nutrition is a huge part of all of these programs, especially as I move forward. I've lost as much fat as I can with my diet, and will be getting back onto the nutrition program starting Sunday. That, plus the additional cardio should put me a lot closer to my goal of being a rock hard sex magnet. But there's still some great changes being made between all three of these photos, and I am stoked about my success.

Expect a recap of P90X Round 2 sometime soon, but I'm glad I got these pictures up.

Way to Bring It Fat Free Jew! Way to Bring It!

Day: 90, P90X Yoga: MC2

Log Entry

Daily Note: Today is the final day of Round 2! I'm going to take pictures in a few minutes, and I'll put together a recap sometime today or tomorrow. Insanity starts on Sunday! It's time to Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed The final Yoga: MC2 is completed. I'll be honest, it wasn't my best, but I'm exhausted this morning for some reason and I'm ok with the work I put in. I'm really glad I used this DVD for this round of P90X. It's an awesome routine and much more engaging than Yoga X. I don't know when I'll next do yoga, but when I get a program that has it in I hope the routine is as fun as this one. Maybe I'll do it again. See you in the future yoga! Round 2 is complete!! Namaste.

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed Just to document it, last night I actually did GSP Rushfit's all around fight conditioning workout again. This thing is like kenpo x on crack. Really really strong crack! It's a good workout and I broke a good sweat. Just wanted some extra work in the final two days. Can't wait to try this whole program in a few months.