Yesterday was Fit Test #2....I was really encouraged to see that I had improvement on every move. Some more than others, but there was definite improvement in performance.
Today's workout was Plyometric Cardio Circuit...I felt like it went well. When there was the 30 second break in between circuits, I hit pause to catch my breath a little better before I started the next circuit. I think that worked out really well for me because I hardly had to wuss out, and I was pretty proud of myself. I did have to wuss out towards the end of the workout a little bit, but I was able to jump back in and keep pushing. I really like that Shaun T shouts out when you have like 10 seconds, because I can tell myself to keep pushing for 10 more seconds. I was absolutely drenched by the time I got done today, and I just felt so good to know that I did worked as hard as I could.
I don't know that I really have anything deep or meaningful to share today...plus I'm watching Biggest Loser while I type this, so my brain isn't working super good right now :) But all in all, I'm happy with my workout today.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Pools of Sweat
The thing that always cracks me up about doing Insanity workouts is that you do a warm up that lasts 10 minutes or so and then you stretch, but the warm up makes you sweat so much that the whole time you're doing your stretching, you're creating a pool of sweat on the floor. Mercifully, we don't have carpet in the living room, or else I would probably be pretty grossed out by the amount of sweat stuck in the carpet.
Today's workout was Plyometric Cardio Circuit. I feel as though I'm getting a little better at it...it seems like the times I wuss out are coming fewer and further between, so that's great.
I'm going to use my blog to spew some thoughts I've had lately, if that's okay with you. My wife and I like to watch The Biggest Loser. I had never actually watched the show prior to this year, but since Rulon Gardner is on it this year, I wanted to watch it. It's an interesting show...thankfully, the "reality tv" parts aren't horrible (you know, the parts where people scream at eachother, or someone has some emotional meltdown or whatever). I just find it interesting/inspiring/motivating to watch these people who are moribidly obese doing something to improve their health and save their lives. The only real problem I have with the show is the intense focus on the number. You know the number I'm talking about...that number on the scale. On the one hand, I get it...it's essentially a game show where people win or lose based on the number on the scale. On the other hand, to a certain extent, people shouldn't worry/focus on the number on the scale. Yes, it's good to know where you're at...yes, it can provide good motivation to keep you going if you see the number going down. But that number can also be so discouraging to a lot of people. I hear people all the time who start a fitness program, or start going to the gym or start running or start whatever, and after a week they're so disappointed that the number hasn't gone down (worse still, what if it goes up???). I'll confess to being a scale junkie...I find great motivation in seeing the number move around...up or down...if it goes up, I think about why that may be and if it goes down, I do a little jig :) But shouldn't it be more important to guage how you're doing based on how you feel? A boss of mine once told me "perception is reality", and nowhere is that more true than in one's own self-image. When I had to take time off from exercise due to my hernia, not only did the number on the scale go up, but my self-image went down...I felt frumpy, I felt blah. But now that I'm back to exercise, I might still feel kinda frumpy, but I don't really feel blah anymore. You know what made me workout tonight when I really didn't want to, and bed was singing the sweet siren song? I was looking at my hands, and I could see the veins in my arms and hands again. That simple, little thing...a small change in my body...gave me the motivation to work my bootie off at 10:00 at night instead of going to bed. I've decided that I'm not going to stand on the scale again until day 30, because I don't want to focus on the number. I want to focus on performance, I want to focus on my perception of myself....after all, perception is reality...
Today's workout was Plyometric Cardio Circuit. I feel as though I'm getting a little better at it...it seems like the times I wuss out are coming fewer and further between, so that's great.
I'm going to use my blog to spew some thoughts I've had lately, if that's okay with you. My wife and I like to watch The Biggest Loser. I had never actually watched the show prior to this year, but since Rulon Gardner is on it this year, I wanted to watch it. It's an interesting show...thankfully, the "reality tv" parts aren't horrible (you know, the parts where people scream at eachother, or someone has some emotional meltdown or whatever). I just find it interesting/inspiring/motivating to watch these people who are moribidly obese doing something to improve their health and save their lives. The only real problem I have with the show is the intense focus on the number. You know the number I'm talking about...that number on the scale. On the one hand, I get it...it's essentially a game show where people win or lose based on the number on the scale. On the other hand, to a certain extent, people shouldn't worry/focus on the number on the scale. Yes, it's good to know where you're at...yes, it can provide good motivation to keep you going if you see the number going down. But that number can also be so discouraging to a lot of people. I hear people all the time who start a fitness program, or start going to the gym or start running or start whatever, and after a week they're so disappointed that the number hasn't gone down (worse still, what if it goes up???). I'll confess to being a scale junkie...I find great motivation in seeing the number move around...up or down...if it goes up, I think about why that may be and if it goes down, I do a little jig :) But shouldn't it be more important to guage how you're doing based on how you feel? A boss of mine once told me "perception is reality", and nowhere is that more true than in one's own self-image. When I had to take time off from exercise due to my hernia, not only did the number on the scale go up, but my self-image went down...I felt frumpy, I felt blah. But now that I'm back to exercise, I might still feel kinda frumpy, but I don't really feel blah anymore. You know what made me workout tonight when I really didn't want to, and bed was singing the sweet siren song? I was looking at my hands, and I could see the veins in my arms and hands again. That simple, little thing...a small change in my body...gave me the motivation to work my bootie off at 10:00 at night instead of going to bed. I've decided that I'm not going to stand on the scale again until day 30, because I don't want to focus on the number. I want to focus on performance, I want to focus on my perception of myself....after all, perception is reality...
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Liar!
Today's workout was called "Cardio Recovery". I was really looking forward to it since it contained the word 'recovery'. It was a mere 33 minutes long...parts were quite nice, parts were quite mean. There was a decent amount of stretching, which felt glorious on my poor legs...mainly the hamstrings. He did a lot of stretches for the groin area, which also felt quite nice. But then, inexpicably, we did a series where we did slow squats, and then held a squat, and then did squat pulses, and then did faster squats and more squat pulses...and THEN we did slow lunges and lunge pulses on both sides, and then this stretch that sounded nice at first, but wasn't where you're in a plie' and you lean over and put your hand on the ground and stretch your other hand up...the stretch itself felt lovely, but being in plie' for that long hurt like the dickens.
But it's all part of the process...clearly Shaun T knows what he's doing and the Cardio Recovery will help the overall workout...much like doing the Yoga or Stretch workouts in P90X....improving strength and flexibility will help performance improve.
Workouts like Insanity or P90X really teach you about yourself...I find that when it starts to become uncomfortable, I have a hard time pushing through....I find it really easy to stop and take a break....I need to keep pushing. Obviously there's a point where one really needs to stop because you'll hurt yourself...but I'm just being a wuss....when my legs are screaming at me, I need to keep going...that's how I'm going to get better.
But it's all part of the process...clearly Shaun T knows what he's doing and the Cardio Recovery will help the overall workout...much like doing the Yoga or Stretch workouts in P90X....improving strength and flexibility will help performance improve.
Workouts like Insanity or P90X really teach you about yourself...I find that when it starts to become uncomfortable, I have a hard time pushing through....I find it really easy to stop and take a break....I need to keep pushing. Obviously there's a point where one really needs to stop because you'll hurt yourself...but I'm just being a wuss....when my legs are screaming at me, I need to keep going...that's how I'm going to get better.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
I made it!
My legs were kinda sore when I got up this morning, but they loosened up as the day went on...though when I got home, going up and down the stairs still made them cry a little...today's workout was Cardio Power & Resistance. The warm up was different than yesterday, and I liked it better...though it was still tough. Same as yesterday, it was going 3 times through the warm up, with each time going a little harder. I wasn't sure what to expect in the workout with the words Power & Resistance being in the title, since you don't use any equipment...I was planning on lots of weird push-ups. It started out doing a series of power jumps, including a neat one where you sprint in place and then do "hurdles". There were a couple unique push-ups. One I had done before in P90X...you essentially go down into a pike position and do push-ups like that...it really works your shoulders. We also did moving push-ups where you move left and right as you do push-ups.
All in all, I really liked this workout. It was hard, and I couldn't quite keep up with the TV people, but I felt like I could keep up better than on yesterday's workout. Plus it was only 39 minutes, so that was cool.
I find myself constantly comparing Insanity to P90X, since that is my other main experience with Beachbody workouts. Both are really high quality, both in the production of the video and (more importantly) with the workouts themselves. P90X seems like it's more of a "traditional" workout, albeit extreme...it's doing push-ups, pull-ups, lifting weights, doing cardio...like Tony Horton says, you can't reinvent the fundimentals. Insanity seems to take a different road to get to the same destination. You can get in crazy good shape with either...I think Insanity will probably get you into better shape as far as cardio is concerned...P90X will probably get you more ripped. Of couse, to achieve maximum results with either you have to follow the nutrition guide...which is excellent in either workout.
Ok, enough rambling for today :)
All in all, I really liked this workout. It was hard, and I couldn't quite keep up with the TV people, but I felt like I could keep up better than on yesterday's workout. Plus it was only 39 minutes, so that was cool.
I find myself constantly comparing Insanity to P90X, since that is my other main experience with Beachbody workouts. Both are really high quality, both in the production of the video and (more importantly) with the workouts themselves. P90X seems like it's more of a "traditional" workout, albeit extreme...it's doing push-ups, pull-ups, lifting weights, doing cardio...like Tony Horton says, you can't reinvent the fundimentals. Insanity seems to take a different road to get to the same destination. You can get in crazy good shape with either...I think Insanity will probably get you into better shape as far as cardio is concerned...P90X will probably get you more ripped. Of couse, to achieve maximum results with either you have to follow the nutrition guide...which is excellent in either workout.
Ok, enough rambling for today :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Oh Wow...
Today's Insanity workout was Plyometric Cardio Circuit...that workout is not joking around...as it was my first experience with an Insanity workout, I didn't know what to expect other than it would be hard...and sure enough it was! The warm up about wore me out...I was truly worried about doing the actual workout if the warm up about killed me. If you don't know much about Insanity, it's really tough cardio for a few minutes and then a 30 second break and then really tough for a few minutes, and on and on and on....Lots of jumping...there was a neat section of ab stuff where you were in plank and jumping your feet around...it was hard, of course, but in a fun way.
I wasn't able to keep up with the people on the TV the whole time...but that's the fun thing about really tough workouts like this...I'll be able to see my progress as I keep going and I'm able to keep up better.
Since improving my running speed is one of my main goals for doing Insanity...now that I've done my first workout, I really think it will indeed do that for me. It seems to me that it will really improve explosive power and really make my legs crazy strong.
One other thing I really like about the workout is its length...this one was like 42 minutes long. So it works out great for me to get home from work, do my workout, write my blog, take a shower and go pick up my son. I think the longest workout is right at an hour long. That was really the only downside I had when I was doing P90X...the workout was about an hour, plus you generally did Ab Ripper X...then there's Yoga which is 90 minutes...don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking P90X...I love that workout, and I lost 30 pounds and got really fit doing it...but there is a definite time commitment.
I wasn't able to keep up with the people on the TV the whole time...but that's the fun thing about really tough workouts like this...I'll be able to see my progress as I keep going and I'm able to keep up better.
Since improving my running speed is one of my main goals for doing Insanity...now that I've done my first workout, I really think it will indeed do that for me. It seems to me that it will really improve explosive power and really make my legs crazy strong.
One other thing I really like about the workout is its length...this one was like 42 minutes long. So it works out great for me to get home from work, do my workout, write my blog, take a shower and go pick up my son. I think the longest workout is right at an hour long. That was really the only downside I had when I was doing P90X...the workout was about an hour, plus you generally did Ab Ripper X...then there's Yoga which is 90 minutes...don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking P90X...I love that workout, and I lost 30 pounds and got really fit doing it...but there is a definite time commitment.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Gettin' My Sweat On
So that's what it's like to exercise? It's been so long, I nearly forgot! Man, that's some good stuff. So I just got done doing the Fit Test for Insanity...awesome. The neat thing about it versus the fit test for P90X, is that the Fit Test is its own DVD...whereas on P90X, it was a piece of paper with instructions, which is fine and all...it was so much nicer following along with the tv...the fit test was basically a warm up, and then do an exercise for one minute and see how many you can do, then rest for a minute and do another exercise for a minute and so on...some I could do better than others, but none of it was easy...one of the moves I had to stop sooner than I wanted to because I thought if I kept going I might just pass out. It'll be fun in a couple weeks to see my progress....you do fit tests every 2 weeks...which seems like a really good way to keep motivated as you see your progress.
Since this is Day One and all, here's a couple sweet-o before pictures for your amusement...
Aren't my shorts shiny?
Day One
And off we go! I got the all clear from my doctor to go back to normal, and so now I'm going to start Insanity! I'm pretty stoked...I'm super excited to get back to working out! I haven't been able to really work out since the end of October. I'm fairly proud of myself that I didn't pack on like 20 pounds or anything...not to say I didn't pack on some weight...I did, but only like 8 pounds. Not too bad for not really being able to exercise and having little to no will power when it comes to eating crap.
Today is Fit Test day...I'm excited/scared to do it...I watched the DVD to see what I was getting myself into and all I can say is...yikes. There's some crazy stuff in there...but I guess the workout is called Insanity :)
My main goals are these: I would like to get myself down to about 175 pounds...I'm currently at 191...when I stopped P90X due to the hernia I was down to 183. Really, my main goal is this: I'm doing the Lincoln Marathon on May 1st, and I want to break 4 hours...really, I'd like to destroy 4 hours. I'm shooting for 3:45. I have this goal to be able to qualify for Boston when I'm 35, which means I have to be able to do a marathon in 3:15...so getting this one in 3:45 would be a great step in the right direction. It seems to me that Insanity will be a great tool to improve my running speed since it's a ton of cardio and plyometrics...it'll really help my leg strength.
Let the fun begin!
Today is Fit Test day...I'm excited/scared to do it...I watched the DVD to see what I was getting myself into and all I can say is...yikes. There's some crazy stuff in there...but I guess the workout is called Insanity :)
My main goals are these: I would like to get myself down to about 175 pounds...I'm currently at 191...when I stopped P90X due to the hernia I was down to 183. Really, my main goal is this: I'm doing the Lincoln Marathon on May 1st, and I want to break 4 hours...really, I'd like to destroy 4 hours. I'm shooting for 3:45. I have this goal to be able to qualify for Boston when I'm 35, which means I have to be able to do a marathon in 3:15...so getting this one in 3:45 would be a great step in the right direction. It seems to me that Insanity will be a great tool to improve my running speed since it's a ton of cardio and plyometrics...it'll really help my leg strength.
Let the fun begin!
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