Now that I have completed the program, I would say that is an accurate statement….or at least close too. So, is Insanity for everyone….NO, it’s not. You don’t have to be in great shape to participate in Insanity but you do have to prepare yourself mentally before even thinking of it. It’s pretty much crazy cardio 5 days a week with the sixth day being a muscle burning routine. I can’t imagine another workout program being more effective at burning calories than the Insanity program.  If you are looking to shed fat and/or lose weight in a short period of time, there’s no other program I would recommend for you to do.

Like I said, you don’t have to be in fantastic shape to do Insanity. Yes, it would help and make it easier for you to finish but it’s not mandatory. I have a few friends that came out of exercise retirement to start the Insanity program. They all lost between 20 – 35 pounds and quite often admitted that they had to hit pause on the video throughout just so they could catch their breath before starting the workout again. This method is totally fine. If anything, they took a 40-60 minute workout and made it a 60-70 minute workout….probably burned more calories this way too.

As much as I think Insanity is the best program on the market for burning calories, I would still say P90X is still my program of choice. Unlike Insanity, P90X does focus on building muscle…and at the end of the day, muscle burns fat. In an ideal situation, one would do Insanity first to burn as much fat as possible. Then follow it up with P90X to not only continue to burn fat but also build muscle. If you have the luxury of owning both programs, you could swap out the P90X cardio routines with the intense Insanity routines. This is a common practice within the Beachbody community, it’s referred to as a P90X / Insanity hybrid program….aka best of both worlds

I can tell you this, if you are able to complete the Insanity program….all other workout programs will seem easy to you. I actually did the P90X Shoulders & Arms routine this morning. I just have to laugh how slow the pace of the program is compared to Insanity. I can’t say I thought that before I completed Insanity.

I will leave you with this…

Insanity (as well as P90X) has been proven time in and time out to give you the most accelerated results one can get in such a short amount of time. All you need to do is eat healthy, show up 6 days a week and press play.  It’s normal to have days where you dog your workout and eat terrible but that is all good as long as you jump right back into the fray the following day.

Bring It!

WOW, lost 7.5lbs this week…I guess that is what you get when you combine a metabolism on fire with a very strict nutrition plan and MAX workouts

I am 5lbs lighter than my day 90 P90X weight and about 10-12lbs lighter than I was when I participated in both triathlons last year. I can’t even remember the last time I was at this weight. What makes it more impressive (in my opinion) is I cheated on my nutrition plan about 40% of the time. During P90X, I would say I only cheated about 6%. Again, this is a clear indicator that my metabolism is in high-gear right now….but also how effective the insanity program can be at burning calories

On a side note, my wife is also very happy that I am finished with insanity. She told me this at the end of P90X too but she thinks I look too skinny when I am at the weight I am currently at…..she claims my face looks too thin and I am starting to look unhealthy. I just don’t think she is used to me at this weight but I do somewhat agree as I feel like my ideal weight is a few pounds heavier. Anyways, I told her not to worry  because the minute we get to Newport, I am hitting Busker’s Irish Pub to consume a fair share of empty calories (wink wink)…

Off to Newport (no kids)….time to really bring it!

-check back next week for a complete insanity review

I am actually heading to Newport, RI this weekend on a mini-vacation so my plan is to end the Insanity program a day earlier so I don’t have to worry about it when I am away. The easy decision would be just to skip the last routine but I have done every single workout so far and I am on a mission to keep it that way. I did bail on two of the Fit Test but I don’t technically consider those “workouts”…I guess it’s debatable but in my eyes they are not.  In order to complete this program a day earlier, I will need to double up tomorrow on Day 60….one in the morning and the other at night.

My nutrition has been excellent this week, although it’s only been 4 days. I am curious to see this week’s weight results now that I am following a strict nutrition plan again. I have to think I will see some weight-loss. After all, I lost 2lbs the week prior and my nutrition was poor. The body can act strange at times so we’ll see on Day 61 where I am at when Insanity officially ends.

As much as these Insanity workouts kick*ss, I am looking forward to incorporating weight training (via P90X) back into my schedule. I still see myself doing these MAX workouts but only once or twice a week….not five! So, my new workout schedule will consist of P90X and Insanity…as well as cycling, running, and swimming. We all (see pic above) signed up for two more triathlons this summer. Signing up for these triathlons serve two purposes to us. The first being the actual event, it’s such a great experience to participate in…and your time is irrelevant. The other is just having it on your radar,  it definitely keeps you motivated to exercise on a regular basis. We were able to recruit five more of our friends so we have a crew of 11 people now. I thought it was impressive that 6 of us did it last year but 11 is ridiculous in my opinion. We were all retired high-school athletes that got married, gained weight, and had kids….sound familiar?? Up until last year, we were all in that boat…but now we can void out the “gained weight” part and call ourselves “triathletes”. Some of the new guys that signed up for the upcoming triathlons are still looking to shed another 20 or so pounds. Two of them started Insanity when I did and one has already lost 30lbs and the other 20lbs…so needless to say, they are jacked up over the results and both can’t wait to hit P90X once Insanity is over.

These programs are not for everyone but if you are looking to see some serious results in such a short amount of time, P90X and/or Insanity is your answer!

I give all of the credit to the insanity program for getting me to this point. Although I want this to change, I pretty much been eating what I want and I still continue to lose weight…I am now only 1lb shy of my goal weight. I would like to end the insanity program (next week) on a great note with zero cheating but I have failed every time I claim that….so not saying a word about it this time around

5 more MAX workouts to go…BRING IT!

I continue to kick as* with these max workouts. I completed max interval plyo yesterday and max cardio conditioning w/ cardio abs this morning…and brought a lot of intensity to each of them. I am at the point now that if I am not doing a MAX workout, I consider it a day off even though I am exercising.

Nutrition – First one to admit, I am struggling with this. My goal this week was to be very strict and I can’t say I have been. I am not eating terrible but I am far from where I was during the first 30 days of insanity. I am all for allowing myself a few cheat meals a week but I have been exceeding that. I think I know what’s happening…

I have been exercising extremely hard there last few weeks and lately when I have a moment (usually at night) when I contemplate about cheating…I just do it and think to myself “I deserve it, I worked out hard today”. I am actually fine having this mentality, eating whatever I want is a huge motivator with me getting up to exercise hard every morning. But a part of me thinks I should take full advantage of this extreme workout program by being as strict as I can with nutrition. I did lose 1.5 lbs last week (16 lbs total) and I pretty much cheated every day. I am not sure where I stand this week weight-wise…maybe I need to see a weight gain and just use that as motiviation to get back on track

Max Interval Circuit (this morning) –If I haven’t been on such a mission lately with these max workouts, I would have called today a great day….but I have been so I am just going to call it a pretty good day. I found myself dogging it during 2-3 exercises but this routine is so long (59 minutes) you do have time to rebound. I finished strong but somewhere in the middle I found myself not focused enough. If you have done these workouts before, you know you have to be focused throughout to complete them at a high level. With P90X, you can just go through the motions and step up your game during the actual set. With insanity, pretty much every second is part of the set so there is no time to zone out. In my opinion, insanity can be just as mentally exhausting as it is physically…

In regards to exercising, it’s the complete opposite…I am tearing it up. I have had some incredible workouts these past two weeks and I feel like my cardiovascular endurance might be at an all-time high. I know I was in great cardio shape during the triathlons but I just don’t remember pushing myself this hard day after day after day…and I have two more weeks to go.  I did complete max recovery yesterday and I banged out max cardio conditioning again this morning. The schedule also called for cardio abs this morning so I not only completed it, I did it without taking breaks. I always had to take 2-3 breaks during this routine since starting it….not today, and it felt great accomplishing that.

Again, my nutrition was pretty bad this past week so I  did expect to see a weight gain of a couple of pounds. To my surprise, I lost another 1.5lbs…so I am 3.5lbs shy of my goal weight. I definitely have to credit these ridiculous max insanity workouts for the weight-loss, I can’t give any credit to the nutrition plan I was on.

It’s the weekend so I might as well keep the cheating going another day or so but my goal next week is to not to cheat during the week. I am curious to see what my weight-loss would be following a strict nutrition plan 4-5 days leading up to my weigh-in….this is also assuming I continue to bring a high-intensity level to my workouts.

Nutrition - I can’t say I have been just as successful with nutrition as I have been with these max workouts. I haven’t been terrible either but I don’t expect to lose any additional weight this week.

I have 14 more max workout sessions remaining until I am officially finished with Insanity. I feel like each day it’s going to be a challenge to complete one of these MAX workouts at a high intensity level. I hate to even admit this but I am sure I will be dogging a few before it’s over. I am just going to take it one day at a time with a goal of bringing it each day…