Fit Test!

Here are my first fit test results: 

Switch kicks---------------101

Power jacks----------------47

Power knees---------------48

Power jumps---------------29

Globe jumps---------------11

Suicide jumps--------------12

Push-up jacks--------------10

Lowplank Obliques-------40 

And these are my results from today: 

Switch kicks---------------107

Power jacks----------------49

Power knees---------------84

Power jumps---------------36

Globe jumps---------------10

Suicide jumps--------------13

Push-up jacks--------------13

Lowplank Obliques-------54

I'm pretty happy with my results. The only one I dropped in was Globe jumps. Otherwise I'm already seeing some vast improvements! 

I did Cardio Recovery today. That shit is no joke. Uggggh.

 - Kathi

Insanity- Day 10

I'm on my 10th day of the workout and going into Cardio Recovery today. This is actually my first time doing Cardio Recovery- I skipped it last week because I skipped a day and decided to go right into Pure Cardio to punish myself. Haha! But from what I hear, Cardio Recovery is no picnic. Eek!

One thing for sure so far with this workout is that you need proper sneakers!! I don't actually own any jocky sneakers, so I was doing the workout in these old Puma Tigers, and my ankles and shins were just about ready to give out. In fact, during my last Plyometric, I had to stop 10 minutes before it was all over, only because my sneakers were just killing me. The pain was distracting me from the entire workout. It hurt to even do the cool down at the end. So! Here's a tip to those about to get into this- make sure you start with the right sneakers! I'm getting a pair of cross trainers today, and I'm pretty stoked to do this workout with proper footwear.

So far this workout has been such a good experience for me. I've always been one of those people who hated "working out", meaning any intentional workout outside of transportation needs (biking), or fun stuff (snowboarding, skating, swimming). I've always felt freakishly strong, but Insanity is showing me that my threshold is not where I thought it was- I can definitely go further than I ever thought I could.

Also Insanity is really fun to do with buddies! I've had a lot of fun starting it off with Krista. My roommate is joining in tonight. YEAH!

More to come! I keep meaning to do before and after pics- I'm just so lazy. Maybe tonight.
-Kathi

Brooklyn: Day 20. Insanity with Benefits.

When I started the Insanity Workout, my ultimate goal was to get in better shape, but I've noticed some benefits of the workout that I hadn't expected.

The first exercise of every workout is a jog, and I quickly noticed that my left shoulder hurt each time I moved that arm, which alarmed me because it wasn't as if it was sore. On the second day, when my shoulder continued to hurt, I finally realized that in the past year I've fallen on that shoulder about four times due to bicycle crashes. It felt better to have a reason behind this feeling, and from then on I made sure I held my shoulders in correct form. After a few days, my shoulder pain was gone!

Similarly, when I did any exercise in push-up position, my right big toe hurt so much that I couldn't do them at first. This wasn't surprising because I had sprained my toe over the summer in one of those bike crashes and it had never healed properly. It remained swollen and wouldn't bend like it used to. But there are a lot of exercises in the Insanity Workout that are in the push-up position, and I pushed myself through the pain in the same way that I did with my shoulder, and after about a week I noticed that not only did my toe not hurt anymore, but I could bend it again like I used to!

It's natural to stay away from the things that cause pain, but this workout has made me rethink the way the body takes to healing. I think personally, with smaller injuries, working the muscles so that they regain their strength is a better way to heal than avoiding the muscles so that they heal on their own. Who knew the Insanity Workout would teach me something new about healing my body??

It's day 20, and here are the results of my second fit test:

Switch Kicks: 110 to 119

Power Jacks: 40 to 50

Power Knees: 70 to 84

Power Jumps: 40 to 35 (the only area I decreased in, I think because I focused more on form)

Globe Jumps: 9 to 12

Suicide Jumps: 11 to 21

Push Up Jacks: 18 to 28

Low Plank Obliques: 50 to 72

I'm glad to see so much progress! Looking forward to the next test.

Crazy But Not Insane...

Ok Insanity Punx.....here's what's up.....

I kind of got a little bit sane last week....

So I had completed my first week of max work outs, keeping to the schedule and I was....well, I got through it. And it even started to feel normal. Then last sunday one of my friends from boston was around and we went to the Ergs reunion in asbury park...and there was the mosh (this was on a rest day...) and then while she was around philly the following two days....I just couldn't get to it...We were too busy drawing comics, and I really didn't want to break from that to jump around my tiny room for an hour. So...that wednesday I was like "ok, I'll get back to it, i'll do my monday workout today and follow through a staggered schedule..." only by that friday...I had a killer day at work and just could NOT muster the willpower to get insane. I took the weekend off resolved to get back into it Monday....

Only last night...after completing the fit test....I didn't have any more oomph in me. and it was almost 9pm and I really didn't want to finish insanity at 10pm and crash out in a pile of sweat and rubbery muscles...so. there.

I feel bad. I can feel Shaun T shaking his head in disappointment. I'm sorry Shaun.

Today I did Max interval circuit, and tomorrow i'm planning on doing the max plyo. But being that this is the last 2 weeks of the program and that, if things HAD stayed on schedule my very last day would have been christmas (and lets face it, I was never going to be doing switch kicks in front of my moms x-mas tree....) I am just going to do the best I can and get as many work outs in as I can manage before the new year....

The GOOD news is...I went up (a little bit) in every exercise in the fit test...except globe jumps where I dropped one rotation from last time....

Here's the results...

Switch Kicks:127

Power Jacks: 48

Power Knees: 84

Power Jumps: 33

Globe Jumps: 10

Suicide Jumps: 20

Push Up Jacks: 32

Low Plank Obliques: 66

And now for the obligitory corny fit pix

These are my comics...this is my 6 pack...

And here is a Warzone video in honor of the insanity program...

Just imagine doing Max Cardio in a fucking ski mask....

Welcome to Brooklyn

Hello! I'm excited to present the new Brooklyn chapter of Insanity Punx! Right now, it's just me with a little sideline action from Rachel Rubino, but hopefully more people will join in the future.

As for my decision to start the workout, it comes from a unique place, as I'm sure it does for most of the people posting on this blog. In my early twenties I was diagnosed with an incurable and life-threatening physical illness, and it has changed the way I view my body and health. Because my illness is untreatable, one of the only things I can do is to keep my body in good shape. This is part of the reason I came to this workout, and I'm glad to be able share the experience with others!

For starters, I believe I did a lot of the fit test exercises incorrectly, because after having done the workout for almost two weeks now, I've been trained to understand their correct form. Oops! Oh well, I'm sure the results of the second fit test will decide that theory.

Here are my results for the first fit test:

Switch Kicks: 110

Power Jacks: 40

Power Knees: 70

Power Jumps: 40

Globe Jumps: 9

Suicide Jumps: 11

Push Up Jacks: 18

Low Plank Obliques: 50

After the first three days of the workout, I woke up feeling like a rusty robot, but I haven't felt too sore since. I'm trying to carefully balance the workout with one of my jobs- as a bike messenger of sorts- because I don't want to push myself too hard and be unable to work well. Part of me thinks this is holding me back because, as an ex-cross country runner, track athlete, and current cycling freak, I'm pretty experienced on how to hold back and sustain my energy throughout workouts, which is kind of the opposite of what the Insanity Workout strives to do. I guess I'll need to dig deeper to find out!

And I am really not a fan of these kinds of pictures, but here's me on day 4 (I'm currently on day 13):

I'll be back after my second fit test!

- Krista

Oh My Fucking God I'm Going To Die....

OMFGIGTD.....well...not REALLY....but after completing day 36 of insanity last night....I sure felt that way...

Overall I think My experience with insanity has been great....but jumping back into full steam workouts yesterday was fucking brutal. I had gotten used to the relaxing pace of the core cardio and ballance routine. While this is still certainly a challenging workout in some respects(shoulder burners, Fuuuuuuuucck) I got really into the slow pace of the exercises and also the repetition...the same routine every day (except for thanksgiving, which i skipped) ...I had just enough time to start to feel really mellow. The holiday weekend didn't help any either, as I got quite into sitting on my ass and watching cable tv at my moms house....

So, cut to last night...i was even really nervous about my fit test, because...honestly I just wasn't feeling as strong as I did around week 3 or 4, but despite this, I was pleasantly surprised with my 3rd fit test results...

Switch Kicks : 126 i made a big jump here! from 91 last time. I feel like I finally got my form right and I just went for it..

Power Jacks 45 ...exactly the same as my last test...

Power Knees 78 up from 70 last time...in previous fit tests I've had to shake it out and readjust my position for ballance which I didn't have to this time..

Power Jumps 28 .....exactly the same as last time...this exercise fucking KILLS me...

Globe Jumps 11 I got 12 last time, but I don't feel too bad about the drop off...

Suicide Jumps 18 Last time I got 20....It was this part of the workout where I was really feeling the lack in intensity of the past week.

Push Up Jacks 29 I got 4 more than last time, maybe those shoulder burners paid off..

Obliques 60 up 10 from 50 last time...this is also the area of my body where I see the biggest difference since starting insanity...

So, at the end of this I just laid down on my floor and watched 3 quarters of the max workout that was ahead of me....When he started doing those hops I was like "fuck no" and when I saw the full body drill I was seriously doubting my ability to do it....But I remembered the first week and how tough it all seemed. So i watched the moves to get an idea of the forms for 45 minutes and then dove back in...

and holy crap. It wasn't so bad starting off, the new warm up routine was actually kind of cool and I didn't have any trouble, so I thought , ok, my body remembers all this stuff....but after the stretch when things got going...yipes. I was finding that I really needed to take extra rest time by the 3rd sets, and it felt sort of discouraging because by week 4 I was feeling strong going through the moves, but this week I was feeling weak and wobbly. like plank punches? what? my arms were like rubber.

For the first time since the first couple days I weakly dragged myself to the bath and kind of just sat in the tub with the shower on...and didn't move....for...i don't know how long...until i started to feel like I could stand up again.

So today, I am trying to tell myself

"ok, at least I don't have to do a fit test...just 59 minutes and it will all be over..." And try to remember that it was the first 3 days that really killed me and how awesome the first recovery workout felt. Or how exercises that were initially really challenging started to become second nature by the end of the first month. It's kind of hard to imagine that I'll get to the point where I can breeze through some of these moves....but I guess i'll just have to focus...and power through...

here are some corny pics of me with my shirt off...

these are actually from week 3/4 , the laptop cam broke but I'll try and figure a way to show off my rippling hulktacular muscles for future fit test pics...

Day 36: The Reckoning

Today, day 36 is by far the worst day of the insanity workout. Not only do you have to do your third fit test, you also start the first day of four weeks of hour long MAX INSANITY workouts, annd on top of that, you are coming off a recovery week which which lacks a significant cardio workout. Today is the day you have to BRING IT, and if you make it through, like Cait (in Philly via Ohio), Allie, Stefan (via Puerto Rico!) and myself did today, you'll know that you have made it through the absolute worst day of your INSANE life. Don't be scared though. You can do it too. If you have the luxury of time, try to take a long break in between the Fit Test and the Max Interval Training. If you don't have this luxury, do as much of the Max Interval Training as you can and make sure you take your time learning the proper form for the new exercises that come up. Remember that you are essentially starting a brand new workout today and if you are exhausted, think about how you felt on day 1 and how much better you felt on day 28! Only 24 workouts left after you get over the hump, and while they are way more intense than the first month, your results will match that intensity.

Here are our week 6 fit test results:

Cait
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Switch Kicks	100	80	95
Squat Jacks	40	50	50
Power Knees	82	100	99
Power Jumps	26	33	25
Globe Jumps	6	11	13
Suicide Jumps	13	19	15
Push Up Jacks	20	34	31
Low Plank Obliques	47	60	67
Jordan
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Switch Kicks	98	136	117
Squat Jacks	52	56	55
Power Knees	64	97	79
Power Jumps	34	39	32
Globe Jumps	10	12	13.5
Suicide Jumps	15	16	14
Push Up Jacks	21	22	27
Low Plank Obliques	43	44	41
Allie
	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Switch Kicks	100	115	110
Squat Jacks	47	60	52
Power Knees	44	108	106
Power Jumps	32	45	30
Globe Jumps	10	12	3
Suicide Jumps	11	11	5
Push Up Jacks	25	30	30
Low Plank Obliques	43	44	75

Joe also joined us today for the fit test. It was the only one he has done so far as he has just joined us sporadically. Here are his one time numbers:

Joe Fox
	Week 1
Switch Kicks	95
Squat Jacks	51
Power Knees	90
Power Jumps	41
Globe Jumps	10
Suicide Jumps	12
Push Up Jacks	16
Low Plank Obliques	43

As you can see, my numbers didn't move to much and in a lot of cases went do in rep counts. That is fine with me though because I know I am doing all these exercises (minus the dreaded switch kicks, which my brain cannot comprehend) with the best form my body is capable of.

Today is also the day when I turn on Shaun T. With no Tanya to blame, I revert to blaming ST and that other nameless woman who won't stop smiling. Why do they have to be so mean?! Needless to say, only a few hours after the workout today, my body is DRAINED and after a month of hardly any soreness, a soreness is setting in unlike anything I have felt before. OUCH!


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