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!