Asylum Day 17 - Strength

Wow, this morning I was TIRED! The sun completely knocked me out last night, and I did not sleep well at all despite being totally zonked. I kept waking up and my arm was asleep, which always bugs me, and restless, and my body was starting to hurt from working out so much....ya, 6am came WAY too quick!

But I hit play after grumbling on the couch for 40 minutes, and it was a decent workout. My body was sore and moving slow, so I downed the weight to 10 lbs during the warmup. It let me use a lot more control and I think it was the right decision. The dumbbell series after the stretch was decent but not outstanding...my chest got really worked on the pushups, but I pushed really hard and it made the other exercises a lot weaker.

I got an energy boost around the back section, which turned out alright, and the chest section at the end I got a very decent workout in. My chest doesn't get a whole lot of burn from this part because of the core work going on at the same time, but the core stuff really burned my abs so I'm chalking that up to a win.

Good way to start the day, but man I was TIRED! Friggin' morning workouts.

Oh, quick note. So I'm starting Starting Strength the same time I start Rushfit at the end of June, and that means 3 days a week are doubles days and 3 days are single workout days. I came up with an idea of incorporating three more workouts in the week so I have 6 doubles days. It would use these martial arts strengthening workouts I have along with the Bas Rutten CDs, to add an extra 45 minute workout 3 days per week. I was all gung ho on this yesterday, but as I realize how exhausted I am this morning I realize the need for some slack room to move workouts around, which I have absolutely done in the past. Now I've gotta think about this program, but at least I've documented it.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 16 - Vertical Plyo

Yesterday was Memorial Day, so after I finished my workout I went straight to a BBQ which was followed immediately by bed. Fun day, but I forgot to post a blog.

I got started around 10am and had a pretty good workout overall. My knees were hurting a little, but I pushed through and my jumps were pretty good overall. However, remember a few days ago when I said that Asylum's fun and every workout feels like you're playing? Ya, I take it back for Vertical Plyo. This is a hard plyo workout and nothing more. It's jumping, jumping, jumping, some pushups, then more jumping. Breaks simply do not happen either. Ridiculous workout, and this one is definitely NOT my favorite Asylum workout. Good workout though, but hard. Very hard.

So ya, that was yesterday. Bring it!

Asylum Day 15: Part 2 - Speed & Agility

This was my scheduled Asylum workout today, and it went awesome! My legs were feeling a little weak, mostly in the knees, but I pushed through and kept my pace up really well. This was by far my best attempt at Speed & Agility, and I'm starting to really enjoy this workout.

I really like Asylum overall. This workout is really fun. Like, it noticeably tries to be fun. And more and more I'm seeing that in all of the Asylum workouts. Don't get me wrong, they are hard. Very hard. I don't think I could even get through any of these if I hadn't built up with P90X and Insanity, but once you get past how hard they are everything feels like a game. All of the drills focus on sports training, and when you get in your mind that you're practicing a sport, and essentially playing a sport, it's just fun. You're playing, and getting a great workout at the same time. That's what I really noticed in Speed & Agility today, and in Game Day that's like the entire focus. The hard part comes from the fact that you never stop playing. The breaks are very few and far between, and even though they're 30 seconds, most of them do not last the full 30 seconds. The pace of every workout in this program is similar to Pure Cardio from Insanity, which is the fastest pace I've ever had in a workout. Endurance is absolutely necessary!

Ok, long winded post on my love for Asylum. For anyone just learning about this program, take caution, because you will need a strong fitness base with an emphasis on endurance, but once you get past that you will get through these workouts covered in sweat with a big big smile on your face.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, so I get the day off and I have Vertical Plyo. I'm glad I get to sleep in before doing this workout. We'll see if that makes a difference; I'll let you know.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 15: Part 1 - Chest & Back

I got up this morning, and after a little bit of relaxing and waking up I hit play on Supreme 90 Day Chest & Back. My roommate needed to get a workout in too, so he did this one too. I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this workout. I love the circuit things, but a few dislikes popped into my head today. First off, you can't shut off the music, which bothers me. In fact, the only music option is music only, which is the exact opposite of what I want. But I also don't like that there's the same warmup and cooldown in every workout, which means you're warming up body parts you aren't going to use. And it's only a warmup, no stretch. I like to stretch before the workout. Hmm...

Bitching aside, I got a good workout in. The pace keeps my heart-rate up, and I have heavy enough weights now that I feel pumped at the end. At the end though, Mark pointed out that it just felt really short. It's a good workout, but it ended too quick and he and I both felt like we could have done the whole thing over by the end. It's weird too, because I've counted, and you do just as many sets/reps in this workout as you would on P90X. It's weird.

So basically I want the P90X workout to be a faster pace, but this one I want more sets. Ya, who knows...

Good workout today, and officially I think this is my last Chest & Back workout scheduled for a LONG time. No more are scheduled on this program, and I start Starting Strength which is a completely different weight training routine when I start Rushfit.

One more workout to do, which I just finished, so here comes one more blog post.....

Asylum Day 14 - Relief

I'm writing a quick one for yesterday. My back was killing me after a long week's worth of work, and relief couldn't have come at a better time. This was an awesome stretch workout and I felt great at the end. My girlfriend said she wanted to do this workout with me too, and she did a great job.

So ya, good stretch day yesterday.

Asylum Day 13 - Strength

Once again the Strength workout has left me battered, bruised and ready for more! I will say though, with Game Day two days ago, me doing two workouts yesterday (one and a half at least...the morning was iffy) and now this, my body feels absolutely destroyed. Fortunately, tomorrow's the stretch day.But as for today, I will give this workout a solid B+ and I'll take it.

The warmup was pretty difficult today. It felt like my legs weren't bending quick enough and my arms felt so unbelievably heavy. I felt like I was moving through quick sand, and it was pretty rough. I took one or two breaks, but mostly I kept a steady pace. I never ended with as many reps as the rest of the group, but my form was good.

After the warmups, the cardio dumbbell routine was interesting today. I felt pretty good about the first series, but that took some wind out of me and the second one was only pretty decent instead of great. The third one I'll be honest, I did not do the mountain climbers and stuck to the level 2 motion for the pushup dumbbell things. Those are really tough. Holding two kettlebells and doing pushups really works the chest more than I ever thought it would, and it still hurts right now as I write this!

The back stuff was pretty good and the chest stuff at the end was about the same. At this point I feel like I have this workout down, but my body was pretty battered up today and it showed. Tomorrow is Relief, which I'm very excited is really just another word for a 25 minute stretch! I actually get a day off tomorrow, and I'm stoked about it. Then right back into things on Sunday.

Oh, a quick shout out. There's some amateur fights tonight put on by Tuff N Uff, and they always put on an awesome show. There will also be awesome percussion music played by the Vegas Vanguard, and that just kind of tops tonight off as epic. I'm a pretty big MMA fan, and I used to be really into marching band, so long story short I'm very excited for tonight. And I support local businesses, especially in the entertainment industry. This town rocks!


Alright, that's all I've got. Time for ten more minutes of sitting on my couch, then it's time to get ready for work.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 12: Part 2 - Back to Core

Another round of Back to Core is complete, and I've gotta say this is slowly turning into one of my favorite workouts. And actually, a lot of the Asylum workouts are turning into favorites...this really is an awesome program. But Back to Core specifically is a workout like nothing I've ever done before, and I'm definitely one for variety!

It starts out with a series of funky jumping jacks designed to work the stomach and back. It's weird, but they really do, especially when you change it up into the doubles sections. No weights at all, doing just funky styles of jumping jacks, and five minutes in the sides of my abs and the middle of my upper back was already starting to feel sore. I'm glad I skipped the additional back workout this morning. I was a little tired during this section and had to take a few breaks, but ya it was a good workout in general so I'm ok with that.

There's some stretching and stuff after that, and some stuff I'm forgetting, but there's a 10 minute section from Hell where you hold your body down in a lunge, but with your back knee bent and just barely not touching the ground, and you do some weird back movements with your arms. Ya, it's pretty lame but it's a killer exercise. Today I did better than ever on that section, and at this point I was really getting my energy up.

It finishes with some hip ups, and those are pretty ridiculous too. I was a lot stronger than the other day on this one, and I mean a lot stronger. That said, the one legged hip ups just aren't happening yet. More room to improve I guess.

So ya, that's my story. I also noticed my arms were moving a lot slower than normal. I don't know if that means my shoulders aren't strong enough today or if my arms have actually gotten heavier. Genuinely, my arms look better than any other time in my life. So ya, both answers make sense. Hmm...who knows.

K, I'm done. This was long. I started using my computer to write the blog instead of my phone, and I'm pretty verbos, so this will probably become a habit on days that I have energy. Expect potentially long blogs in the future.

Tomorrow is Strength, the best workout in this series (aside from Game Day, which is pretty outstanding too).

Bring it!

Asylum Day 12: Part 1 - Biceps

Boo! That was a terrible workout! Boo!

Ok, that was dramatic, but I wanted to get that out of my system. Today's one of the doubles days, and I was scheduled to do Back & Biceps this morning. For a few reasons, I did not sleep well last night/this morning and felt absolutely zombie-like. I stumbled into the kitchen, stumbled to poor myself a pre-workout drink and some coffee, stumbled to the couch, and stumbled into a half nap half staring at the TV situation. There was a lot of stumbling. But somewhere in there I decided to hit play around 6:30.....

I popped in Back & Biceps from Supreme 90 Day. The beginning is fuzzy. I was still half asleep. Somewhere around 10 minutes into it, after the warmup had been completed and the ab section was in full go (all of these workouts start with abs before the weight training starts), I realized that I'd done maybe 10 jumping jacks, a few situps and other than that was just wandering around my garage. It was a pretty bad realization. I looked at the schedule for tonight too, and realized I have another back workout tonight. It's Back to Core. With all of that in mind, I said "screw it" and turned the DVD off.

I promised myself I'd do some workout this morning, especially since I'd already taken the pre-workout drink, so I hit the weights myself and worked my biceps. I left back out since I'll be hitting that tonight, and tomorrow with Strength apparently. I did some basic barbell curls, one arm curls, 3 sets of 21's, some curls on the Tower 200 and attempted a few pullups. The pullups at the end were the most difficult, and I struggled through 3 sets of 3 reps.

So ya, pretty crappy workout, but my biceps do feel like they got a workout. I've got another 10 minutes of couch time before I have to get ready for the office, so I'm going to sit and continue to stare blankly at the TV. See you tonight gym!

Bring it!

Aslyum Day 11 - Game Day

It's Game Day! Ha, I love Asylum. The whole focus is on sports training, and today was summing it all up. Game Day simulates a heck of a lot of different sports, acting like you've been training for this game day for the last two weeks. This is even why yesterday was the Relief day...."Coach" (Shaun T) wants us feeling really great going into the big game.

First off, I've gotta make one complaint. I don't work out with my glasses on, so it's hard to see the clock, and for some reason in Asylum the clock is especially hard to read. Long story short, when this thing started I thought it was only 45 minutes like everything else. I did NOT realize it was over an hour, and ya, I was pretty spent by the time the whole thing was over.

Ok, complaining is done. This really is an outstanding workout. After a quick warmup and stretch, it starts with the "mile run". I don't think I really ran a mile, but it reminded me of the treadmill long distance runs. You sprint with high knees for a minute, then you go "up hill" for a minute by simulating slower, bigger strides, then you sprint "downhill" by simulating a lot smaller, faster steps, and it keeps going like that. That part definitely got me going.

Other sports that were hit were basketball, tennis, wrestling (the wrestling section was pretty brutal), rock climbing (hello pullups!), swimming and baseball. I think that's it...might be forgetting some stuff. Football was in there too I think. But anyways, you spend about 5 minutes running drills on these sports, and before you know it an hour has gone by and you're covered in sweat and I think Team Asylum won the game. No one was clear on the score, but ya, I think we kicked the other team's ass.

Excellent workout, and I'm looking forward to getting better at this one. Next time I do this we're going into overtime afterwards (it's a second workout that comes after), so ya, it's time to get stronger in the next week and a half.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 10 - Relief

Today is the first scheduled Relief workout. I didn't realize that just meant stretching, but it totally did. My body feels a lot better now that I've gotten a good stretch in.

I realized today that I haven't done Yoga in almost 3 months. I kept saying I was going to work it in somewhere, and it just never happened. My flexibility has dropped immensely, as I learned today. I absolutely need to figure out how to get yoga back into my life. It might not be until after Asylum, but ya, it needs to be back.

Alright, time for work. Today we have a big event on campus, so it's going to be a long, fun filled day. Slightly skeptical about that last part, but it's definitely a possibility. Tomorrow is Game Day (the workout) so I feel like that's a big deal. You know...."Game Day!" and all that jazz.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 9 - Vertical Plyo

Last night I got home from work, grumbled about not wanting to work out for about 30 minutes, and finally hit play around 6:30. I drink a pre-workout drink before workouts, and yesterday was definitely one of the reasons why. Even when I don't feel like working out, drinking the drink is easy, and once I've drank it I feel like I have to work out since I have all of the creatine and caffeine and crack cocaine and whatever else they put in those pre-workout drinks running through my body. So ya, that helped get me started yesterday.

It was a decent workout....I'd give it a B-. Nothing outstanding, but decent. I definitely could do a lot more than last week. Speaking of which, before my workout yesterday I read through my blog post from last week's Vertical Plyo, and it sounded like I didn't do too hot. As I went through the workout itself yesterday, I didn't remember any of it! I must have been TIRED that day, because it really felt like a brand new workout last night. On that note, that's probably how the workout would have gone if I'd done it that morning too. Working out in the morning may need to be put on hold for a while. I get a lot less accomplished in my personal life when I workout at night, but it just seems like it needs to be the way to go for a little while, at least on the days I go in to work early.

So ya, decent workout yesterday. Good jumps and a heck of a lot more energy than I thought I'd have. I've gotten so much better at plyo in the last few months. My legs still feel like jello after, but I read somewhere that after Insanity (and now Asylum), the P90X Plyo feels like a break. Honestly, I feel like that would be a very easy workout. I may have to try it again now that I'm stronger.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 8: Part 2 - Back to Core

Last night I hit play around 7pm and did Back to Core, my actual scheduled Asylum workout. I still really dig this workout. It focuses on slow, full body movements. You don't use any weights except for a few band exercises. Everything's full body, lots of contracting of the core and back muscles, and it acts just like a normal core workout, except the focus is entirely on the back. It's really interesting.

Anyways, I forgot to post last night when I got side tracked by LA Noire for the XBox. Incidentally, this game is completely different than any other game I've ever played, and if you are like me and obsess over video games, this is definitely worth checking out.

I have Vertical Plyo tonight, so wish me luck. Bring it!

Asylum Day 8: Part 1 - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

It's Sunday, so it's a doubles day. I hit play around noon on Chest Shoulders & Triceps from Supreme 90 Day. I don't know why I'm digging the Supreme 90 workouts lately...it might be that I like the pace more, or it might be that they're shorter, or it might be that Tony and I have been hanging out for a while and I severely need a break....but I get a great workout from and I dig it. Honestly it might be the pace. These workouts move a lot quicker and they act as circuits (Chest, shoulders, triceps, repeat 3x), which is a lot like Insanity. I have to lower my weight on a few things because of I'm going so fast, but overall it's an excellent workout. I sweat way more than in P90X.

This was the first time I did this workout specifically. It felt short....there's only 3 circuits. That's still 9 sets of each body part, and there's 3 body parts, but chest and back has 5 circuits and shoulders & arms has 4, if I remember correctly. Still, it was a good workout, and my triceps especially feel like they were raped! So ya, good workout.

I still have my Asylum workout, Back to Core, tonight. Going to have a late lunch/early dinner with my folks first.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 7 - Strength

Alright, I'm a day late posting this (it's Sunday at the moment), but I wanted to document that I did the Strength workout from Asylum yesterday. Yup, I worked out on a Saturday. Good thing it was this workout, because it's my favorite one so far from this series. I did a heck of a lot better than the last time I did it too. The pushups while holding dumbbells (in my case kettlebells) went a lot better. It's a combination of strength and balance, and both are getting better. The actual running on the ground and doing the spider walks while holding the kettlebells, though, is still trickier. I kept up as best I could, but I was generally doing 6 reps instead of 8 on those series.

I don't know why, but doing an Insanity style workout while using weights is a really intriguing idea. Like Shaun T says, imagine if you can be fast AND strong! It's a dangerous combination.

So ya, that was my Saturday. It was pretty awesome.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 6 - Speed & Agility

Today went a heck of a lot better than Sunday. I just wanted to start off with that. This is a really tough workout, almost on par with Pure Cardio from Insanity. Not quite the same pace, but the exercises themselves are much more intense.

I had a really good workout today. I could have done better, and I definitely took a few breaks, but overall I worked really hard and was rewarded with a pile of sweat. It looked like someone dumped a bucket of water on my by the end. Awesome!

For the first time since I started working out religiously in September, tomorrow (Saturday) I have a workout scheduled. The Asylum calendar is weird. Oh well. It's Strength, which so far is my favorite workout. Wish me luck!

Quick note, my boss Amy is leaving today for a new office out of state. She has been an incredible person to work for for the last 3 years, and I will miss her deeply. Thanks to Facebook at least we never really lose anyone completely right? But ya, work will never be the same, so I just wanted to mark it on the blog that today is significant. Good luck in your future Amy and John! You're both fantastic people!

Bring it!

Asylum Day 5 - Rest Day and Shoulders & Arms

Alright, today is supposed to be a rest day, but I've added in my usual Sunday (sometimes Monday) and Thursday (sometimes Friday) weightlifting workout. Today was shoulders & arms. I'll be honest, I was tired as hell this morning from a week of Asylum, but I hit play around 6am on Supreme 90 Day Shoulders & Arms. This workout is definitely not P90X, but it's a lot faster paced and I wanted to get the workout over quickly!

Overall it was a decent workout. I sweat like crazy on it, that's for sure. My shoulders were sore, which didn't help, but I pushed through. My biceps felt like a complete joke! I couldn't lift a 30 lb. weight at all! Had to go to 20's, and even that was killer. Weird. The triceps were fine, but I have strong triceps so that's to be expected.

Good day, and I'm glad I got the workout out of the way early. Now the rest of the day, after work, some other work and homework, will actually feel like a rest day (ya, I see the irony in that sentence).

By the way, my girlfriend is on her way to New Jersey to see family. She's gone for the weekend. I just wanted to say that I hope she (you) has an amazing trip, and I'll see her (you) in a few days!

Bring it!

Asylum Day 4 - Vertical Plyo

Today was Vertical Plyo, and I've gotta say that jumping as high as you can as fast as you can at a speed even faster and more brutal than Insanity is not a good way to start the morning. At least not for me. My body was sore, my mind wasn't in it and my allergies made any notion of breathing well pretty impossible.

Complaining aside, this is a tough plyo workout that really got me going! Jumping using squares in the agility ladder add a nice new challenge. Jumping far is literally in your face, so it's a lot harder to dog it. I want to get better at this one over the next few weeks, so wish me luck.

Dig Deep!

Aylsum Day 3 - Back to Core

This is an interesting workout. It's just like a normal core workout, but it's all focused on your back. I'm not sure if that makes sense in text, but the workout is over and my back definitely feels worked and so does my core. Interesting....

The only problem I had today is that my back was already pretty banged up from yesterday. Ya, I know I did an extra back workout on my own in the morning, but last night's workout had plenty of back on its own. I figure Shaun T knows that we did so much back yesterday, since he made the schedule and all, so I'm just going to chalk it up to "he's evil" and call it good.

Time for some coffee, a protein shake, and then work. Bring it!

Asylum Day 2: Part 2 - Strength

This is the coolest workout I have ever done! I had to start off with that. I did this one after work yesterday, and yes that means after the other strength workout I'd already done that day. This schedule may not have been the most brilliant plan I've ever had, but we'll go with it for the next four weeks. But anyways, this whole workout felt like a normal Insanity workout from Month 1, except you are holding a weight! Jumps, pushups, weird body movements, all just like normal Insanity, with a fast tempo and an "as many as you can do in a minute" mindset, but everything is geared around a dumbbell or two that's in your hands. It's ridiculous!

This was one of the more fun workouts I've had since starting my Beachbody lifestyle. I dig weights, and this was a really fun twist on what I'm used to. I can't wait to do this one when I have a little more energy (hadn't already done chest and back on the same day).

Bring it!

Aslyum Day 2 - Part 1: Supreme 90 Chest & Back

Well I'm feeling a ton better, but this morning I was still feeling pretty exhausted. I decided to tone down my workout a bit this morning (which is actually the workout I'm making up from last night) so I decided to do the Chest & Back workout from Supreme 90 Day. This workout's a lot more difficult than I remember, and I think a part of that is that I haven't lifted in almost two weeks. I dig how the circuits go in this workout, with chest workout A, back workout A, repeat 3 times, then move onto chest workout B and back workout B, etc.

I did replace one of the chest/back combos. I forget what they actually had us doing, but I decided for one set to go back and forth between bench press and pullups (since there's no pullups in this workout). I only did about 120lbs on the bench so I wouldn't kill myself (no spotter this early in the morning), and honestly my pullups felt pretty weak this morning. I could only do 3 to 4 reps per set, which is at least 1 lower than what I can normally do.

Tonight is the Strength workout from Asylum, so we'll see how screwed I am considering this morning's workout. My chest is already feeling tired.

Bring it!

Asylum Day 1 - Speed and Agility

Alright, I'm making this short because I have the flu. The Asylum started today, and it was difficult. Very difficult. But on that note I have the flu, so that's probably why it was so difficult.

I have a resistance workout scheduled today, but I feel like garbage, so that'll just get pushed to another day.

Bring it!

Recovery Week Days 4 and 5

So I posted something about Day 4, but for some reason it's not showing up. I did the Stretch disc from GSP Rushfit. It was a good stretch and I needed it.

Yesterday, Day 5, I did Core Cardio & Balance from Insanity. That's an outstanding workout that got me feeling incredible at the end. I was having a really rough day, and ya, this workout helped tremendously. I never got a chance to post about it last night, so here we go.

Today is the last day in Recovery Week, and I'll work out after work. Should have a blog post too, but we'll see how that goes.

Bring it!

Recovery Week Day 4: GSP Rushfit - Stretch

Today was either a yoga or stretch day for me. The P90X Recovery Week calls for stretch, but I hadn't done yoga in a while and was tossing it around. I ended up having some work to do this morning and decided on a quick stretch, and since I'd never done the stretch from Rushfit I decided to pop this disc in. It's a very relaxing 45 minute stretch that got my whole body feeling good. I don't like that the warmup and cooldown were both in this workout still, and that there was some crossover with the stretches, but aside from that I felt really relaxed after the workout. My body is starting to feel a lot better now, and I am almost ready for the Asylum starting Sunday.

Bring it!

Recovery Week Day 3: GSP Rushfit - Fight Conditioning Workout

Today was my Martial Arts day of the recovery week. In a normal P90X recovery week it would be Kenpo X, but that workout just doesn't do it for me anymore; My overall fitness level is too high. That's definitely a good problem to have, so I did the Fight Conditioning Workout from Rushfit

This is one of the most fun workout DVDs I own. It incorporates a lot of different techniques and combos and turns them into a workout. It's like Kenpo X on crack! I really dig it. It's by no means going to teach me martial arts, but as far as fun and working out go, this does both really well.

Incidentally, I'm really excited to start Rushfit at the end of June. I've only done 2 of the workouts from it, this one and one of the resistance ones, but both are really fun and really unique. After each I've been completely covered in sweat too. Not like Insanity sweaty, but a thousand times more than P90X. It's a really cool program. And I don't feel like I'm going to die at the end, so ya, I definitely think I'll enjoy this program a lot more than Insanity. Unfortunately, I've got The Asylum up before that. Ya....

The recovery week continues. Tomorrow is either stretch or yoga depending how I feel. I'll let you know. Bring it!

Insanity Wrap Up

As you know, I finished Insanity last Friday. There's supposed to be a Fit Test at the end of it, which I should have done Saturday, but I'm holding that off until this coming Sunday (I'll explain why in a minute).

First off, Insanity is an absolutely incredible program! It is by no means P90X. There is no modifying in it, and it's very much not encouraged. Instead you work hard, and you work as absolutely hard as possible until your body cannot take any more, and every day you push where that limit is. Some days were better than others. Part of that was my own willpower, and a part of that was literally being exhausted from the workouts I'd already done during the week. Genuinely, this was the hardest workout program I've ever done, and the fact that I completed it blows my mind.

Physically, I did not have the best results. That's primarily from my diet. I limited my portions much better than normal of the last 9 weeks, but the food I ate was pretty much garbage, with pizza and burgers happening at least once per week. This wasn't every meal mind you, but it was enough that lowering the belly fat was difficult. I did a modified Insanity program by adding in 2 P90X weighlifting workouts per week. From that I actually packed on a ton of muscle, and my arms look better than ever. My chest is a lot stronger too, but there's still some fat hanging over it to make the gains not as noticeable.

Keep in mind, I did lose weight. I did not weigh myself because appearance is much more important to me than a number on the scale, but I have noticed my stomach looking smaller and clothes fit a lot better. Based on my current plan, I can keep losing weight, but it'll take another year rather than the few months each of these programs has promised. I'm going to keep trucking along, and someday I'll have the six pack abs and ripped upper body I've always wanted.

Outside of physical change, I have noticed that my cardio is outstanding right now. I can push harder than ever before, I can move much quicker in every exercise, and I can keep that energy all the way to the end of any workout. My recovery time is a lot quicker now too, with 5-30 second breaks being all I need to get back into it. I have seen huge changes since starting Insanity, so I know that my body took a major turn in the right direction!

So that's Insanity in a wrap up. If you are thinking about doing it, make sure you have a fitness base. P90X is an excellent way to get ready for this program, but anything like running or playing sports will at least have you somewhat prepared for this. Keep in mind that there is no real way to be prepared for Insanity, but if you only sit on your couch and never workout, do not start Insanity right off the bat!

Right now I'm in my recovery week, which is a modified version of the P90X recovery week. I need to give my body a rest. Despite how good Insanity is for your body, it is not a sustainable fitness program. The body can only handle so much, and my joints, legs and back really feel destroyed. After this week ends, I start The Asylum, a 30 day fitness program that's meant to Insanity graduates. Since it came out during my time with Insanity, it felt like the perfect way to follow up my fitness. The only thing I don't like is the schedule....it doesn't follow a normal 7 day plan, and my recovery days are going to change for the next four weeks. I haven't worked out on a Saturday in a long time, so this will be interesting. I'm also continuing my 2 p90x lifting days per week plan, and I can tell already that that's going to change things. I'm looking at this as the final 4 weeks of Hell, and then my body gets a huge recovery. I'm taking 2 weeks off from traditional working out because I'm going camping for a few days, then going to a 3 day rave (EDC). I'll throw in recovery workouts like core and yoga throughout that time, but mostly I'm going to be letting my body recover from everything it's been through.

Just a preview of the future, after that 2 week break I'm going to start GSP Rushfit. It's another physical fitness program, it lasts 8 weeks and I'm excited to do it. Like Insanity, it doesn't have a whole lot of weightlifting, so I'm also starting a strength training program called Starting Strength. This is a 3 day/week barbell lifting program designed to get me huge. I'm thinking big muscles will help fill in some of the fat, and the bigger muscles will also increase my metabolic rate so I can burn more. I haven't decided if I'm going back to the gym or if I'm going to just buy a few hundred pounds for my barbell at home. I have a few weeks to decide. My buddy Anthony is doing the Starting Strength program with me too, so I'm excited to have a workout buddy.

After Rushfit, I will probably keep Starting Strength going for a lot longer, but as far as programs go I'm either going to do some P90X/Insanity/Rushfit hybrid program following the P90X Schedule, or I may do Insanity one more time. The thing about Insanity is that you really can't do the program over and over again back to back, as the focus is to get your body stronger and stronger over the 9 weeks. If I were to start it again next week for instance, the workouts in month 1 would be too easy for me. I'm hoping that even though Rushfit is hard, it gives my body some time to get back to a normal fitness level, so I can start from the ground again with Insanity.

So that's where I'm at. Rushfit and Starting Strength are pretty much stuck on the calendar, but after that I'm still deciding things. There's also P90X MC2 to look forward to, and I don't yet have a release date for that.

I'll keep the world updated through my blog. Tomorrow is probably the All Around Fighting workout from GSP Rushfit. I'll let you know how it goes. Bring it!

P90X Core Synergistics

Workout

P90X Core Synergistics Status: Completed The recovery week has begun. Today was a core day, so I did core synergistics from p90x. Good workout. I've been feeling really beat from last week, and didn't really get to rest over the weekend. I took it a little easier on this workout, but still definitely broke a sweat. Because of the weird weekend, I skipped yesterday's yoga workout. Also the fit test I decided would make more sense to do this coming Sunday when I start Asylum, so it's like month 2 of Insanity. Ok, that's all I've got. Bring it!

Day: 62, Calories: 0, Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning

Log Entry

Daily Note: Today is it! It's all over after today. Insanity has been a ridiculous journey and I feel incredible after it. I still don't have the body I want, and a big part of that is diet, but I still lost weight and I feel absolutely amazing. My cardio is through the roof compared to any other time in my life, and my endurance is outstanding. I woke up this morning with the intention of doing back and biceps, but honestly I'm destroyed after this week, and I wasn't feeling 100%. I wanted to save my energy for max cardio, and since I added this workout in on my own I'm comfortable skipping it. Well, kind of. I might do it tomorrow. Anyways, just wanted to document that.

Workout

Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning Status: Completed Great max cardio workout. Not my best....this week has really beat me up....but man oh man did I push myself. I knew it was my official last day, so I flew in the warmup and that was awesome! The first half of the workout I had speed, power and hell of a lot of endurance. I may have taken it too easy in the middle recovery moves though, because I had trouble getting back into it in the second half. I had really good form, speed and power, but I had to take a lot longer breaks on every move. Aside from the so so second half it was an excellent workout. I was soaked at the end and just felt incredible. Then cardio abs came in.......

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed .....and it went awesome as well! Again, not my best workout ever, but I kept moving and felt incredible at the end. The cardio beginning had a lot of energy, since it felt a lot like the cardio workout I'd just done. Then the c-sit stuff was decent, as were the plank moves too. Decent works considering being constantly beaten up for the last few weeks! Cardio abs is way more ridiculous that ab ripper x, and I'm impressed how well I've been able to do on it over the last 9 weeks. That about wraps up Insanity. Tomorrow is still a fit test, and I'm debating making up the back and biceps workout I missed, but really today is the last time that my body feels like this. Well, that's until Asylum starts. Tomorrow I'll write up a review or recap or something about Insanity, but next week I'm doing a simple recovery week and then Asylum starts! Dig Deep!!

Day: 61, Calories: 0, Insanity Max Interval Plyo

Workout

Insanity Max Interval Plyo Status: Completed Adios Max Plyo! Today was the last time I'm doing this workout, and that's great because it really is a killer. I actually thought today was max interval, but I checked and was glad to see plyo instead. Plyo is hard, but a little easier than interval. Easier or not, today was a difficult workout. Yesterday wasn't the usual recovery day, and I really felt beat up this morning, especially in my legs. I worked hard, but I've definitely done better on this workout in the past. I'm pushing through the final week, and I have been soaked after each workout. I'm normally doing a doubles workout today with back and biceps, but tonight I'm going to a meeting and I figured this was the more important workout. Tomorrow, the last real day, I'm going to take that energy and rock out back and biceps in the morning, and finish this whole program tomorrow night (and then a short fit test on Saturday). Almost done! Dig deep!

Day: 60, Calories: 0, Insanity Core Cardio & Balance

Workout

Insanity Core Cardio & Balance Status: Completed The final core cardio and balance is complete. This is definitely one of my favorite workouts, mainly because it's a semi-recovery workout so it's a lot easier than the other Insanity stuff. What's funny is this was the first DVD I ever watched (not did) when I was thinking about doing Insanity, and it looked WAY too tough when I first saw it. Like I said, now it's an easy (well, easier) workout for me. The final week is wrapping up. Today is actually Day 60, but Insanity is a liar and there's actually 63 days in this program. Sigh....3 more days! It's time to finish strong. Dig deep!

Day: 59, Calories: 0, Insanity Max Interval Circuit

Workout

Insanity Max Interval Circuit Status: Completed Well, good news and bad news. The bad news is that I'm officially sick. I was up and down all night with a swollen throat and cough. The good news is that I knew I felt better after yesterday's workout, so I tried it out again and I feel a heck of a lot better now. Waking up was the hardest part, but after 30 minutes of staring blankly at msnbc, I hit play. The warmup was bad. Plain and simple, it was. My legs hurt and my breathing was terrible. I got to the stretch and barely had broken a sweat. The first circuit was decent, and the second two were good. Not great, but good. That good though still got me sweaty and pumped and I felt a lot more energy by the end than I had in the beginning. I'm taking airborne and dayquil now, and my throat is still pretty raw. I hate that I'm sick during the final week! No excuses though, I am going to work my ass off this week sick healthy or other! Today was the last time I do max interval, and I wish I'd been able to do more, but at least I did well on it overall. Every workout I do the rest of the week is the last time I do that workout. I've really gotta work hard so I don't leave anything behind this week. Dig deep!

Day: 58, Calories: 0, Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning

Workout

Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning Status: Completed That was an awesome workout. This thing is still a killer, but I felt incredible by the end. I've also had a cough all day, so I really thought going into this that today would be rough. The warmup was tricky, with my lungs having trouble keeping up and my legs pretty beat up from yesterday. By the final set though, I really felt a rush of energy and pumped out some great stuff. I still don't know why the third set is the warmup from month 1, but being a little easier helped me get that energy. The workout itself was still very tough, but I pushed and felt great the whole time. Don't get me wrong, I definitely had my breaks, but I did as much if not more than any of my other times doing max cardio, so that's awesome!

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed The energy pushed through into cardio abs, and despite the cough I had my absolute best cardio abs yet! The c-sit is slowly going from being my nemesis to my bitch! Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but I held it for 90% of the time, which is way better than any time before. The plank stuff felt strong too, and by the end my abs were on fire! Week 9 continues. Dig deep!

Day: 57, Calories: 0, Insanity Max Interval Plyo

Log Entry

Daily Note: Quick note, last night everyone came over to watch GSP fight Jake Shields (UFC) and we had some drinks. I was passed out all night and slept til almost 11. Just wanted to note that I had a rough start to the morning. Good workouts actually, but it was tough getting started.

Workout

Insanity Max Interval Plyo Status: Completed After some sitting and a nap, I hit play around 6pm. This is by far my favorite max workout, and I brought it as hard as I could. My jumps were high, my pushups were really strong and overall this was the best I've done on max plyo! Week 9 has begun. It's almost over and I'm ready to dig deep! Here we go! Dig deep!

Workout

P90X Chest, Shoulders & Tris Status: Completed I started the day a tiny bit hung over, but after some coffee and sitting I finally got the day started with chest shoulders and triceps. This is the last time I have this workout on my insanity/p90x doubles hybrid, and I really tried to bring it today. I pushed really hard and my chest and arms were on fire by the end. It was awesome. I've noticed some great muscle gains since I started this program. Next week I'm doing some sort of recovery week (haven't decided what that's going to look like yet) and then I start the Asylum. It's 4 and a half weeks, and in those four weeks I'm going to do the phase 3 style resistance workouts from p90x. That seems like an appropriate way to add weights to the last 4 weeks. I know asylum actually uses weights, but I want to keep a dedicated lifting program in here too. I'll keep you posted on what that schedule looks like. Bring it!