P90X Day 5

Back at it again today. Completed the "Legs and Back" workout, burning 842 calories. The workout has an interesting title. Perhaps I just thought "back" meant back exercises, but it's really just upper back, specifically PULL-UPS. Having lived through some absolutely crazy workouts with Insanity, and clearly remembering those "power jumps" that put you in your place, I can safely say pull-ups are the hardest thing I've ever done. I probably hadn't done a pull-up since I was in high school. Put simply, they suck. They're painful and awkward, and I'm just weak at them. They probably did 3-4 different kinds, for about 40-50 seconds at a time, spread evenly throughout the 1-hour workout. I could do 2-4 each time. The models were doing 10-20. Yikes! Some were easier than others. The close-arm forward pull-ups were the hardest for me. The wide-arm was easier. And the reverse pull-ups (i.e. chin-ups) were the easiest. But they were still all hard, and I will be one sore puppy tomorrow!

I suppose the elephant in the room is, "Where they heck have I been since last Thursday?", and you'd be right. I haven't worked out for a week. I have accepted the fact that because of changes in my job at work, I don't have as much time as I had back when I did Insanity. I will not get up early to workout. Sorry, but sleep is more important to me. Others may choose differently, but that's my choice. I do, however, continue to diet, and I've reduced my calories on days I'm unable to workout. I'm not going to set a goal for a number of days per week. I'm just going to do it every day I can, and continue through the P90X Lean schedule. If things quiet down and I can get on more of a schedule, I will do so.

Ok so perhaps there's one more elephant: "Why didn't I do the Yoga workout for Day 4?" The answer is simple: It's TOO long. I don't have 90 straight minutes of free time. I know it's a great, but hard, workout. I will do it when I can.

On a much more positive note, my weight has come down 9 pounds in the past 2 weeks, so I'm doing something right. Eating unlimited fruit and veggies, minimizing carbs, avoiding saturated fat, minimizing sodium (or at least trying to not eat more than you should), and trying to eat 4-5 meals a day....It's all working. I feel great, but I'm already sore. Tomorrow morning is going to be rough!

Til tomorrow!

Cardio Burn

Today's workout was supposed to be P90X Yoga, which is a 90 minute torture-fest (or so I hear). I simply did not have time for that, so I'll continue with Day 4 tomorrow. However, there was no way I was skipping a workout, so I pulled up the free workouts on Comcast On Demand, and found Cardio Burn, a 28 minute workout that started out very easy, but got to be almost Insanity level for a few minutes. I'll admit I was impressed. If you have Comcast, just go to the Fitness section, then find the Advanced Cardio workouts.

I burned 474 calories in only 28 minutes, with my heart rate peaking at 179 and averaging 149. With Insanity Month 2 workouts averaging about 60 minutes, the calorie burn rate is on par.

No picture today because it wasn't P90X.

See ya!

P90X Day 3

Tonight was Shoulders and Arms. I was also supposed to do Ab Ripper X but my abs were still sore from the past two days so I skipped it. My wife Meghan joined me again tonight, but the kids were nowhere to be seen. I guess once was enough for them!

I burned 713 calories. There no cardio whatsoever. It was pure weightlifting, but it was actually really fun! Tony Horton is a complete cheeseball. He reminds me of Steve Carell on The Office, especially (in previous workout) when he kept calling Pam "Blam". He even smirks at the camera. He's the fittest geek I've ever seen, but I'm enjoying his workouts.

It could not be more different from Insanity, in just about every way. The moves in P90X are trickier, and he doesn't give much instruction, so you really have to watch the people in the videos. I like how each of them do the exercise a bit differently.

That's it for now!

P90X Day 2

Day 2 of P90X lean and I just completed the Cardio X program. While I burned 587 calories, and my heart rate peaked at 179 and averaged 141, I wouldn't consider this to be a pure cardio workout. It was not only certainly easier than the Core Synergistics I did yesterday, but also much easier than any of the Insanity cardio workouts which have almost no rest whatsoever. Still, today was a good mix of yoga, kempo (punching and kicking), and plyo. We did some more "Superman Banana" (see yesterday's post) as well.

While it's far too early to judge P90X, there are some things that are already apparent. It will have less cardio than Insanity, as I already said above. I think this is pretty consistent with the "non-coach" reviews (if you can actually fine any online). But I think it will tone muscle, especially the core, much better. I definitely prefer the core moves in P90X over Insanity so far, but I haven't done Ab Ripper X yet (which comes later this week).

As for my diet today, I started with oatmeal as usual. I had a business lunch and did a salad with some shrimp on top, balsamic vinaigrette on the side. Lots of water today, but I did have a couple diet Cokes which I generally avoid. Dinner will be some turkey tacos once I cool down. I'll be in a more normal rhythm the rest of the week, with morning workouts and most meals at home.

I also restarted my favorite P90X recovery drink, which tastes as good as I remember!

Take care!

P90X Day 1

Just completed my first P90X workout, titled Core Synergistics. It was about an hour long, and was pretty much a full body workout with an emphasis on core. It had some cardio and some weight work, but the most memorable section was "Superman Banana". Yes, you read that right. It's basically two moves that alternate back and forth. Superman is you laying on your stomach, then lifting your arms, head, feet and knees off the floor. Then he says Banana, so you role over onto your back and do the same thing, keeping your feet, legs, head and arms up. It's a brutal core workout but it's kind of fun.

I'd say compared to Insanity, this was definitely easier, but that's probably because it wasn't so hard cardio-wise. Still, I burned 878 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 191 and averaging 149. That's a bit too high from a peak perspective, but that will improve over the next 2 weeks as I get back into some cardio shape. It's amazing (and disappointing) how quickly that fades! Good thing is, it comes back just as fast (or so I'm told!).

The bonus for tonight was we all did the workout, including the kids. Everyone finished it, too!

As for this blog, yes I will be doing it every day, and yes I will be including a picture. I just don't trust myself without it. And one more yes...yes, I'm wearing the yellow shirt again! (for those who read my last Insanity blog!)

Finally, I'll be dieting again. Back to about 4-5 meals a day. Low sodium. Low fat. Only good carbs. Lots of fruit and veggies. And I need it, having put about 10 pounds back on since I limped across the finish line of my second round of Insanity. It's great to be back!

A new beginning!

I'm back! After pretty much taking the summer off, the kids are back at school and I'm heading back to the basement. 

But no Insanity this time around! I swapped programs with my brother-in-law. He'll be doing Insanity, and I will be doing P90X! 

I put about 10 pounds back on over the summer, in large part due to the 7-day cruise my wife and I took. 

So I'll be doing the "lean" P90X which has more cardio then the "regular" P90X. 

I decided I need to blog to keep myself accountable, so I'll be posting 6 days a week with photos once again!

Wish me luck!

Insanity Round 2 Day 58: 1002 Reasons to Continue!

Did you miss me? Sorry for not posting a blog in a week or so. I'll admit I've been slacking off on that a bit, but don't worry, I'm still on my endless journey to be fit. The kids are out of school. My schedule has been crazy at work, and something just has to give sometimes. Regardless, I'm still working out and my Insanity continues. This is the last week, but I will say I on continuing ad-hoc Insanity workouts until I can get the P90X workout program from my brother-in-law. He will be doing Insanity, so it's a good switch. To be honest, I'm really looking forward to a new program. I've been at this for almost 6 months on and off, and as much as I enjoy the workouts, too much of a good thing is just that. Some variety will be very welcomed!

As for today, I completed my favorite Month 2 workout: Max Interval Circuit. I burned 1002 calories (hence the name of my post today) and felt great. The only move I didn't do was the "plank punches", which is the last move of the last circuit. They really tweak my rotator cuffs, so instead I did some dumbbell bicep work again.

Have a great rest of the week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 50: Back At It Again!

After a few days off of Insanity due to business travel and the weekend, I was back at it again today with Max Interval Circuit. I burned 831 calories, with my heart rate maxing at 165 and averaging 137.

As for the past weekend, I put down 32 bags of mulch as my primary workout, and given the 85 degree temperatures with high humidity, I sweat through about 4 T-shirts that day. I always find it funny when I catch myself keeping my core tight while lifting something, like a big bag of mulch. Shaun T has definitely retrained me!

Have a great week!

Taking 2 days off due to business travel...

I'm in Pittsburgh today and tomorrow, so no Insanity workout or blog until Friday. Have a good week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 44: New Workout Today!

Today I completed an Insanity workout that I've NEVER done before. Long story short, there is a Deluxe version of Insanity (that I didn't order) that includes a few extra workouts. I found out about that after I ordered Insanity so I ended up ordering the bonus DVDs separately. One of the bonus workouts is called Max Interval Sports Training. I did that today. All I can say is WOW!

It was very hard. The structure of the workout was very different from all other Insanity workouts. No warm-up stretch. A lot more breaks. No circuits. Every move was new and different, with most lasting 30 seconds to 2 minutes. But the workouts were far more strenuous and intense. The low plank walks were simply not possible for me. Try it yourself if you don't believe me! Get down on the floor into a plank position as if you were doing a push-up, then lower yourself down and hold, with your elbows back (not out) to really stress your triceps. The only things touching the floor are your hands and toes. No knees. Then try walking your body with your hands and feet to the left or right (right hand and right foot together, then left hand and left foot together). Make sure you try this on a carpeted floor or you may fall flat on your face like I did. I couldn't do it at all! My triceps are simply not strong enough yet, even after almost 2 months of Insanity. Crazy stuff.

Anyway, I still loved it, because it was great doing a bunch of new moves I hadn't seen before. It was like finding a long, lost Insanity workout, and after all these months.

I burned 747 calories in 54 minutes, with my heart rate peaking at 185 (during the sprint "ladders") and averaging 139. The average is low because there are a lot of breaks. It's not non-stop cardio, which I'll admit was a nice change of pace.

I emptied my water bottle and completely soaked through my shirt again!

Insanity Round 2 Day 43: Weekend Rehab!

After taking a couple days off for my band's gig and Father's Day, it was back to reality today. I opted not to follow the schedule exactly this week, and did Max Interval Circuit instead of Max Cardio today. I always burn the most calories with Max Interval Circuit, and after eating at Buffalo Wild Wings (where I ate wings and a bacon cheeseburger) I needed it! But no regrets. Letting loose a bit every weekend is what keeps me going all week. Some people need to go cold turkey. Others need the occasional turkey with gravy. You'll need to determine what works best for you.

I burned 958 calories today, with me heart rate peaking at 175 and averaging 150. I also added some bicep weight training as I did last week. That seems to be working well, as I already can see a bit more definition. It will be helpful going into P90X next month!

And if you're wondering why my shirt looks all one color, it's not because I didn't sweat. It's because I sweat all the way through it!

Have a great week...

Insanity Round 2 Day 39: Sanity Check!

One of the nice things about this not being Round 1 is that I'm free to mix things up a bit. Today, instead of doing the Recovery workout, I tried something I've never done before. I purchased the new "Sanity Check" DVD that is meant for people who are going to start Insanity but may not be quite ready to jump right in. It's a single workout, only 26 minutes long, and it's a bit easier than a typical Month 1 workout. The moves are a bit simplified and less stressful, and there are only two repetitions through each set, instead of three. But still, it was a nice way to do something different and still got my heart rate up. I bought this as a gift for my brother-in-law, Mike, who will be starting Insanity once I complete it in a few weeks.

So today I burned 393 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 172 and averaging 143. Pretty good numbers considering the short duration of the workout (keeping in mind that all workouts include a 10-12 minute warm-up/stretch and 3 minute cool-down stretch.)

I've got a band gig tomorrow, so this will be my last workout this week. The Month 2 workouts are just too hard to do, then having to go off and play drums that evening. My arms are too exhausted, as I learned earlier this week during rehearsal. So I'll get back into this on Sunday or Monday (in case you didn't notice, I started this week's workouts on Tuesday so I'm kind of off the schedule a day or so, but no biggie).

Have a great weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day 38: Max Cardio!

I completed Max Cardio today, burning 704 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 171 and averaging 145. I did not have time to eat breakfast before my workout today so I definitely had less energy. I also had some soreness for the first time, this time in my upper back, probably from pushing so hard the past 2 days. But hey, this is Month 2 and it's not supposed to be easy!

Regarding breakfast, you may be saying, "There's always time for breakfast", but for me, there isn't. I need to eat 45-60 minutes before I workout or I get a cramp, and to do that I would've had to get up an hour earlier than I did. There are 3 things important to me fitness-wise. They are sleep, working out, and eating right. And it's in that order. Sleep is #1, by far. It's also the one that usually gets the short end of the stick with most people, but without a good night's sleep I'll never have the energy to get through the day, yet alone an Insanity workout. Everyone is different, but I've learned a lot about what I need to do to maintain my energy over the past several months, and sleep is the key for me!

Anyway, have a great rest of the week, and that's for reading my blog today.

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 37: Catching up Since Feb 11, 2013!

Wow! I forgot how crazy this workout is. Max Interval Plyo is a real butt kicker! I continue to incorporate some bicep weight training, and my arms now feel like wet noodles. And of course, I have band practice again tonight, and as a drummer, arms come in handy.

I felt beat up at the end. My body was done, just done, by the end. I burned 903 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 180 and averaging 151. Compared to yesterday, as you can see, the calorie counts are a bit down. This is to be expected because the focus of Plyometrics is less cardio and more explosive strength. Believe me, you still get up there, particularly with the Power Jumps (which are still a beast to do over and over).  But still, I enjoyed the workout. Compared to Round 1, I was able to complete many more moves and at a faster pace. I was hating life after these two workouts last time around, but not so this time. They've been tough, but far more doable than before. That's a good feeling!

Ok, so what's so special about Feb 11, 2013? It's the first date I wore my heart monitor. While I didn't bring it to Asia, and sometimes I opt not to wear it, or forget to wear it, I still found some interesting statistics that I hadn't noticed before. It's been logging the duration, number of sessions, and total calories I've burned since that date almost exactly 4 months ago. So here you go...

Since Feb 11, 2013, for the sessions that I did wear my heart rate monitor I've completed the following:

- 70 hours, 21 minutes and 1 second of workouts
- 75 individual sessions
- 48,571 total calories burned

One of the interesting things I can calculate is, based on the 48,571 calories burned, I can calculate that since 1 pound equals approximately 3000 calories for me, if I divide 48,751 by 3000, I get 16. That means that I've worked off 16 pounds since February, regardless of my diet. In other words, if I ate 48,751 additional calories than I did, I would weigh the same that I weighed then, but I don't. I'm actually down around 30 pounds. This tells my I've lost about 16 pounds from working out, and another 14 pounds from eating right. That may not all be perfect since there are certainly other factors, but it's interesting to think about. So many people say getting fit is a balance between working out and eat right. Turns out they were right!

And yes, I just divulged my weight loss after all this time. I'm down 30 pounds since I started. Sometimes it's 33 pounds, sometimes 27. It fluctuates A LOT throughout the day and on any given day. In general I continue to lose about a pound a week, which is fine by me. Weight loss was never my primary driver (but I'll take it! Ha!)

Til tomorrow!

Insanity Round 2 Day 36: Welcome to Month 2!

After a couple of days off with the extended family in town, I'm back in the Insanity saddle once again. Today marked the beginning of Month 2 of Insanity, and it was as hard as I remember from Round 1. It absolutely kicked my butt today, but I loved it.

I completed the Max Interval Circuit workout today, which was an hour long (50% longer than any workout from Month 1). I burned 1027 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 178 and averaging a whopping 160! From the beginning of the warm-up to the very last move, this workout is HARD! I sweat through my shirt almost completely and drained my water bottle. Still, I think I did better than I ever did in Round 1, and I loved every minute of it. All the moves are a bit different than in Month 1, mostly to make them more difficult, but it's also nice to mix things up a bit. It's great to be in the home stretch. Four more weeks and I'll be done with Insanity and onto P90X!

Have a great week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 33: TGIF!

Today is Friday! I completed Core Cardio & Balance today, but didn't wear my heart rate monitor, so no stats today. If you're wondering what happened to Day 32, I didn't workout yesterday. Instead I mulched some of the landscaping before the rain got too heavy, then had band practice for 2 hours last night. What can I say? That's real life!

Anyway, still feeling great. Down another pound. And the weekend is officially ON!

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 31: Mixing Things Up a Bit!

So today I decided to mix things up a bit. Yes, I completed the Core Cardio & Balance program, but I paused just as the "hip flexor burn" segment started and decided to lift some weights. This is the first time I've incorporated weights since I started getting into shape. I dusted off a pair of 15 pound dumbbells and a 50 pound barbell buried deep in my basement, and did about 10 minutes of bicep, shoulder and upper back work. I've been thinking about this for a while, because there really aren't any bicep exercises in Insanity. I worked up quite a sweat doing 2 sets of about 10 reps of several different lifts. I think I'd like to add this 3 times a week going forward to see if I can tone my biceps a bit over the next 4 weeks. We'll see how it goes!

I didn't pause my heart rate monitor, so my total calories burned was higher than yesterday, given the additional time and energy expelled during my short weight lifting session. I burned a total of 549 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 166 and averaging 129.

I was down another pound from last week when I weighed in this morning, so feeling good. No soreness. Knees and back holding up very well, so onward I go!

Obviously one of my favorite workout shirts!

Insanity Round 2 Day 30: Day 30?!? And This is Recovery??

If you haven't been reading my blog, you may wonder how I went from Day 27 to Day 30 in 1 day. But if you have been reading my blog, you already know, so I won't repeat it yet again.

Regardless, here I am on Day 30 and it's MY first day of Core Cardio & Balance. I remembered this being a much easier workout than it was! It's not really heavy cardio, but the muscle work at the end is really tough. I'm going to be sore tomorrow I suspect, especially my shoulders!

Anyway, I burned 469 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 168 and averaging 132. As you can see, much lower numbers, but they don't reflect the muscle work that the heart rate monitor doesn't pick up. Four more days of this, then a day off, then it's onto Month 2!

Insanity Round 2 Day "27": I Should Be Recovering, But No...

Today is Monday. It should be my first Recovery workout between Month 1 and Month 2, but I didn't complete my Saturday "Day 27" workout. Instead, my wife and I did 4 hours of yard work on Saturday, and another 2 on Sunday. Re-edging landscaping beds in preparation for new mulch, trimming bushes, weeding...all that kind of really fun stuff. We both were sweating like crazy doing all that back-breaking work, so I was in no shape or mood for an Insanity workout after that. I remember back from Round 1 how repetitive the Recovery week was, so I figured a good option would be to complete my last "real" workout today then do the Recovery the rest of the week. So that's what I did!

Anyway, I completed Plyometric Cardio Circuit today. I burned 612 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 173 and averaging 145. I felt really good today. My cardio continues to improve, and it's getting harder and harder to get my hear rate up to 180. My recovery time also continues to improve. It was really gratifying to know I've completed Month 1 yet again, but I'm not looking forward to Month 2. If you've never done Month 2, you may not understand, but if you have, you certainly do. The workouts are 50% longer (60 minutes instead of 40), and the moves themselves are much more intense. But that's still a week away, so I won't worry too much about it today.

Have a great week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 26: Quick Cardio Today!

Had a short 25-minute workout window today due to work commitments, but I squeezed in a good chunk of Pure Cardio. I burned 378 calories, peaked at 162 and averaged 137. I felt great and pushed hard, but couldn't get my heart rate to get up too high. As I've said before, the human body is a mystery, and looking for consistency on a micro scale is pointless. I had a gig with my band last night, burning a lot of additional calories playing the drums for 3 hours, so overall I'm feeling good about all the cardio I'm getting each week.

Have a great weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day "24": Last Makeup Day!

As I've been saying the past couple of days, I'm making up for skipping my Memorial Day workout, but as of today I'm back on track. I'm skipping the Recovery day instead, which I suppose you could argue is not a good idea, but I feel great and am not concerned about doing 5 days in a row. Fitness instructors do that every week, so no big deal.

I must say I felt really, really good today. I completed Plyometric Cardio Circuit, which was one of my favorite workouts from Round 1. I had really nice, round numbers for today, burning exactly 700 calories (a personal best for Round 2 of Insanity), with my heart rate peaking at 180 and averaging 150. As good as that is, I continue to be a little frustrated at how much harder I have to work to burn calories now that I'm thinner. I just looked back at one of Round 1 blogs from Day 10 Plyo, and I burned 740 calories. Of course, I weighed almost 30 pounds more than I do now, but still...frustrating!

Regardless, I've lost the weight I gained over Memorial Day weekend, so I'm feeling great about Round 2 so far. Only two more days of Month 1, then it's a whole week of recovery workouts before Month 2 begins.

Please note there won't be a Day 25 post, because today technically is Day 25. See you tomorrow for Day 26!

Insanity Round 2 Day "23": Another Makeup Day!

As I mentioned yesterday, I skipped my Memorial Day Monday workout due to my schedule, and have been playing catch-up ever since. So today (Wednesday), I did yesterday's Cardio Power & Resistance workout. My plan is to skip the Recovery day tomorrow and continue with the 40-minutes beatings....I mean workouts...until I'm back on track.

Today I burned 642 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 180 beats per minute, averaging 152. I felt really strong today, and the boost in calories burned matches that. I think it's primarily because I got a good night's sleep, was up early today, and have been eating well more consistently the past couple of days.

I was somewhat surprised that I gained several pounds over the 3-day weekend, which surprised me, because I did my Saturday Insanity workout as scheduled. I did eat out one night, and had a few drinks, but nothing crazy. It seems my tolerance for poor eating habits is decreasing as I lose weight. Bummer! I love cheating when I'm on vacation. Guess I'll have to rethink that, or at least consider how much I'm willing to gain only to have to re-lose it the following week. Not sure what the best answer is for that one yet. I'm not on Biggest Loser after all. In the real world, it's perfectly okay to enjoy "bad" foods on occasion and in moderation. More to come on that I suppose...

Anyway, feeling good overall. I'm just about halfway through Round 2!

Insanity Round 2 Day "22": Making Up for Lost Time

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I took Monday (Memorial Day) off. I decided to make it up by doing my Monday workout today (Tuesday) instead. I'll skip the Recovery Day on Thursday, instead doing my Wednesday workout, so by then I'll be back on track.

So I did yesterday's Core Cardio workout today, burning 566 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 173 and averaging 144. I felt a little off today, in part due to the long weekend, and in part due to drinking too much black tea before my workout. I will remember to keep it to one cup only!

Feeling really good overall and look forward to completing this week, which will be the end of Month 1!

Have a great week!

Taking Memorial Day Off!

I took Memorial Day off from Insanity, although that was not my plan initially. Unfortunately there was just no way to do it. We stayed an extra day down at Long Beach Island, then left early Monday morning to get our kids' friends home by noon. Then my wife and I went straight to the grocery store to pickup supplies for a Memorial Day barbecue at a friend's house. It took almost 2 hours to prepare and cook the baked bean casserole, and we were late to the barbecue by about 20 minutes. After a few games of "washers" and Bocce, followed by a swim, some fun on his ATV, then finally burgers and beers, we pretty much came home and went to sleep! Anyway, I'll continue on Tuesday. Hope you had a great weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day 20: Down the Shore!

It was surprisingly not that hard to get motivated this morning to do my workout, despite being on Long Beach Island. I completed Plyometric Cardio Circuit today, but forgot to bring my heart rate monitor. I think I pushed myself pretty hard since I occasionally had an audience (that always helps!)

Finally a real day off tomorrow, then back to it on Monday, Memorial Day!

New view today. It's nice not being in the downstairs bathroom for a picture. I don't have my Post-Its or blue magic marker either, so you'll just have to trust me that I really did the workout today.

Insanity Round 2 Day 19: Back in The Game!

If you read yesterday's blog, you know that I took a day off (which was a recovery day anyway) because I strained my back taking my new barbecue grill out of its box. Well, the day off worked. I felt great this morning, with only a minor touch of soreness in my back, which didn't impact my workout at all.

I completed Cardio Power & Resistance today, burning 570 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 175 and averaging 144. I did all the moves, but for whatever reason my heart rate didn't get as high as usual. The human body is one confusing thing after another. Anyway, I'm glad to be back in the game. Even the Globe Jumps, which I did not care for in Round 1, weren't bad at all.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Insanity Round 2 Day 18: A Real Recovery Day!

No workout today. None. I was supposed to do the Cardio Recovery workout, but I strained my back yesterday. I got a new Weber grill, and the instructions clearly showed that removing it from the box was a 2-person job, but "Insanity boy" thought he was tough enough to do it himself. Well, he was right, but not without straining his back. So since today didn't involve any cardio anyway, I did some stretches throughout the day, but the plank work in the Recovery workout would probably be too tough on my back, so I skipped it. As I've said many times before, especially during Round 1, Insanity is a "cardio core workout", and I had lots of issues with a sore back last time, and I don't want to repeat that. So it appears I was able to use yesterday's lesson again today. No excuses, just a choice! :)

Here's the new grill. Yes, it was worth the sore back!

Insanity Round 2 Day 17: Excuses or Choices?

When is something an excuse? And when is it simply a choice? At the risk of sounding like "It's my party and I can cry if I want to", today's workout was supposed to be Pure Cardio AND Cardio Abs, what I've referred to in the past as a "double workout". However, as I did this past Saturday, I skipped the Cardio Abs portion. If I tell you why, you'll probably consider it an excuse. But from my perspective, it was just a choice, a choice I'll continue to make throughout Round 2.

But before I get to that, the workout I did complete today was called Pure Cardio, and I burned 601 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 187 and averaging 150. I had to workout earlier than usual today, so I ate a small breakfast since I didn't have much time between eating and working out. If I eat too close to a workout I get cramps, and I don't get the energy boost from the food. I didn't feel super energetic today, but at least I got the dog to the groomer on time, then got home in time to make my next conference call. That's real life. With that said, clearly I haven't made any excuses to continue with Insanity, as hard as it sometimes is to find the time.

But as for Cardio Abs, here's the deal. I'm getting PLENTY of exercise with the 40 minute workouts in Month 1. I'm burning between 500-700 calories 6 days a week. I have no aspirations of looking younger than my age, and as I indicated yesterday, what I look like is not a primary driver for doing this anyway (getting healthy is). So as is the case with the Fit Tests (which I'm done with), I'm not going to do the Cardio Ab workouts. They're 16 minutes long, and it's just overkill. If you've ever tried Insanity, you'll know that Shaun T is relentless in his coaching to "keep the core tight" throughout the entire workout. Insanity is a non-stop core workout! I did all of the Cardio Abs the first time I completed Insanity, and this time I have nothing to prove that I haven't already proven. I'm not training for an event. I continue to lose weight, gain muscle, and improve my cardio. So what else is there? For me, nothing of interest.

So go ahead and call it an excuse. It's my program and I can skip Cardio Abs if I want to! ;-)

Yes. Back to yellow again!

Insanity Round 2 Day 16: Great Plyo Workout Today!

For whatever unknown reason, I felt great today, unusually good in fact. I had a ton of energy when I woke up this morning, and it carried right into the workout. I did Plyometric Cardio Circuit today, burning 671 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 183 and averaging 152. While my muscles certainly got exhausted during some of the plank moves, I felt like my cardio could go forever. It was pretty cool!

Not much else to discuss today, so I'll keep it brief! 16 days down!

P.S. This is actually a bright orange shirt, even if it looks yellow in the picture. No, it really is! :-)

Insanity Round 2 Day 15: No Fit Test for Me!

I did my workout early this morning, then had lots of meetings with work, so I'm just getting a chance to post my blog now. As I said previously, I've opted to not do the Fit Test for Round 2 since it's a pretty short workout, and frankly I don't see any value in it for me. I don't really care how much I improve in these movements, because that is certainly not why I'm doing Insanity. I'm doing Insanity again to continue with my goal of getting fit and losing weight. I can tell every time I do a workout that I'm improving, so I don't need a test to tell me that. However, if you're doing Insanity for the first time, I would recommend sticking with the program, including the Fit Tests, to the end. It's only because I'm on Round 2 that I've tweaked it a bit due to my own personal preferences. 

Anyway, so today was supposed to be a Fit Test, but I did Cardio Power & Resistance instead. I chose that workout because I won't do it again until Thursday. Due to early morning meetings, I had to skip the second repetition (of 3) of the two sets of exercises after the warm-up, which shaved about 5 minutes off the 40 minute routine. Still, I burned 560 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 182 and averaging 152, so I definitely got a great workout in today. The Fit Test takes less than 30 minutes so I burned more calories with my workout today than I would've had I done the Fit Test instead. 

My diet continues to be a big focus for me, eating 4-5 meals each day that are low in sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol. I'm also taking a multi-vitamin, a fish oil pill, and a Chondroitin-Glucosamine pill. In addition to getting in shape, I'm trying to bring my blood pressure and cholesterol levels down, while maintaining healthy cartilage in my joints (my knees in particular). These were a few of my "trouble spots" back before I started Insanity. Unlike Shaun T, who in one of the workout videos asks himself out loud: "Why is it I do the things I do?", which he answers with: "Because I want to look good", my answer could not be any further from that. "Looking good" is a bonus at best, but certainly not a primary goal for my new lifestyle. As someone 42-years old, my health (particularly long-term) is far more important to me than what my body looks like. I have kids, and I want to be around to meet their kids. If you have kids, you already understand. If you don't, well, your reasons for doing Insanity (or any other exercise program) will be different, and that's fine. What we share is a desire to live longer, feel healthier, and have more energy. If looking better is important to you, then that's just one more reason to do this craziness. Whatever it takes to get you motivated to MOVE is a good thing!

Day 15 complete! Have a great week!

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 13: Pure Cardio!

Short post today. I have a busy day ahead with our band playing a gig tonight. About the only thing harder than an Insanity workout is packing up the drums and PA, putting them into the car, unpacking them and setting it all up for the gig, taking it all apart and putting it back in the car, then unpacking the car, moving it back down into the basement and setting it all back up again. What a pain, but it's still worth it for the few hours of pretending I'm a rock star!

Today was supposed to be a double workout with Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs, but I skipped the abs workout. For the Pure Cardio, I burned 575 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 176 and averaging 146. I didn't feel 100% today, probably because I ate a big dinner and had some beers last night, but I pushed through and completed the workout without stopping.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day 12: Friday Cardio Power!

Good workout today with Cardio Power & Resistance. Plus it's Friday, which is always a good thing! Today I burned 620 calories, peaking at 183 beats per minute and averaging 148. This was the same workout I did on Monday, except I burned ~80 calories less today. As I've discussed before, the calories burned is based on a formula that includes my weight, age and heart rate, as calculated by my heart rate monitor watch. Monday was my first day back on Insanity, so I'm not surprised my heart rate was a bit lower today. My cardio conditioning is coming backg quickly, so my heart rate is lower and recovers faster during the short breaks than it did even a few days ago, so my calories burned is less. Still, I'm not in this just to lose weight. My goal from the beginning was simply to be "fit", and clearly I'm in much better shape that I ever have been in my life.

I've already started thinking about what I will do after Insanity is over. The only thing I'm sure of is I won't be doing it a third time in a row. Most likely I'll be doing P90X, but we'll see. Plenty of time to figure that out.

Have a great weekend, and yes, this makes 2 yellow shirts in a row!

Insanity Round 2 Day 11: Small Milestones and Rewards!

Today was my first Cardio Recovery day since my Round 2 "reboot" started on Monday. It was harder than I remembered. Lots of squats and lunges that you do slowly, then hold, then "pulse". Yes I could "feel the burn!" There's also lots of plank work. Oh what fun...

Anyway, there's no "cardio" in Cardio Recovery, but I still burned 313 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 153 and averaging 115.

Two more workouts until I get a real break on Sunday.

One of the things I've learned through doing Insanity for the past several months is to break up my days and weeks into as many small milestones and rewards as possible. It's like painting a house. If the only milestone is to finish the house, progress will seem very slow, like watching a pot of water heat up to boiling. It feels like it takes forever. But if I breakup the days and weeks into milestones and rewards, it goes by quicker and feels like I'm making constant progress. So I focus on each of the 5 meals I eat every day (rewards), and I focus on writing this blog, taking my picture, and putting the blue "x" on the Insanity calendar hanging in my door to the garage (milestones). Even during the workout itself, they have timers showing how many minutes and seconds are left in the current set. It all helps me get through this crazy program, while not losing sight of the big picture, and the big results I've seen. I'm almost at a big weight loss milestone, but not quite yet!

Back to the yellow shirts. You knew it would happen eventually!

Insanity Round 2 Day 10: Plyo and the Shoulders!

Day 10 and I'm in uncharted territory, since I took my Round 2 "pause" after Day 9 a few weeks ago. Today was Plyometric Cardio Circuit and I recall this was one of my favorites before. Apparently the "pause" took its toll on my shoulders because I felt really weak doing the push-ups, planks, plank sprints, plank ski abs, and plank "in and outs" (are you sensing a theme?) I could not keep up on many of the moves. I don't think I was ever able to do every rep of every set of this stuff, but I've definitely backpedaled a bit. Looking at the positive, I know I can do better, and will do better, as the program continues. Now don't get me wrong, my shoulders aren't sore or in any pain like they were in Round 1. They just felt weak. I was a bit sore overall this morning, mostly in my legs, after pushing hard the past 2 days, preceded by a 2 week trip to Asia where I only worked out once. So I have nobody to blame but myself!

Today I burned 665 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 181 and averaging 150. I remember this workout always being a bit less calories because it's more about strength than cardio.

I weighed myself this morning, and I'm approaching a pretty significant milestone. More on that once it happens in the next few days or next week (depending on how "good" I am this weekend!)

Til tomorrow!

Insanity Round 2 Day 9: Last Repeat Day!

Yesterday I talked about how and why I restarted Round 2 of Insanity. Today will be the last "repeat day" before I pick up from where I left off. Today was Pure Cardio, one of my favorites (no, really!) I burned 647 calories, with a peak heart rate of 188 and an average of 155. My cardio fitness is recovering quickly from my time off, which is good because doing Insanity in poor shape is something I remember well, and it wasn't much fun.

Aside from that it's business as usual. The workouts still feel fresh, and I only have 3 weeks before the recovery week, then comes the dreaded Month 2.

My diet has been good for the first couple of days back as well. I'm trying to eat at least 4 meals, but 5 would be ideal. All of them are smaller than a regular meal, except for perhaps dinner. As I've said before, the idea behind this is to keep your metabolism up and consistent all day long. Apparently you burn more calories naturally that way. Eating more to lose more may seem like a contradiction, but it really does work, and eating more is something that I think I can be really good at! I was never a breakfast eater, but I definitely have more energy all day if I eat small meals all day long.

Anyway, have a great Tuesday. More fun coming tomorrow...

Insanity Round 2 Day 8: Week 2 Reboot!

Bet you thought I quit! Absolutely not. But I did take a pause. I went back to Asia for 2 weeks, this time Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Unlike in Round 1, I didn't have anything to prove. Doing Insanity while traveling for 2 weeks on business, with a 12-hour time change, is not fun, and not necessary. I brought some exercise clothes and ran on a treadmill one day, but I'll admit that was it. I decided the best thing was to restart Week 2 of Round 2 once I returned to the U.S., so that's what I did today. I make no apologies or excuses. I'm committed to Insanity and will continue this round until completion. No more Asia trips are planned or likely in the upcoming 2 months, so I'm good to go from this point forward.

Anyway, back to business...

I restarted Week 2, completing Cardio Power & Resistance today. I felt great all things considered. Those "things" are primarily still recovering from some severe jet lag and also recovering from a pretty good stomach bug from this past weekend. In the end, I burned 704 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 187 and averaging 160.

In Asia I ate everything in sight, but they don't eat cheeseburgers in Asia (well, some people do I suppose), so I kept the cuisine locally focused, and ate mostly seafood, so my diet has been pretty good overall. But now I'm back to vitamins, lean meat, egg white omelets, lots of fruit and vegetables, and of course Insanity "crack", also known as the P90X recovery formula. I'd like to lose a few pounds before my beach and pool debut Memorial Day weekend, but I'm actually down a bit since I began the "pause", so I'm confident I'll be able to do that.

It's good to be back, and I look forward to the next few weeks of Month 1, and the Recovery week that follows. As for looking forward to Month 2, uhh.... not so much. Round 1 Month 2 memories are still fresh in my mind, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Have a great week!

Ran today instead of Insanity

Did a 2.3 mile run with my friend John today instead of Insanity. The weather was just too nice. Still I burned 425 calories and averaged just over 9 minutes a mile, which is a personal best!

Need to head to the west coast for a short notice meeting tomorrow so not sure what my Insanity schedule will be. May have to do some makeup days!

Insanity Round 2 Day 9: Late Workout Today!

Keeping today's post very short. It's late (after 7pm!) and I just finished my Pure Cardio workout. Had a long day of meetings including an early customer meeting, so had to push the workout to the end of the day.

I burned 545 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 171 and averaging 143. Not great numbers. I went through all the motions and felt good during the workout but noticed my heart rate just didn't go that high. Perhaps it's just the time of day, or my eating schedule being "off" today due to the meetings. Either way, it is what it is. I'm glad I got the workout in. I fear that I skip one workout, I'd quickly become a slacker, and I'm not going to let that happen!

Til tomorrow...

P.S. If you're playing the "Will he wear a yellow shirt?" drinking game, then DRINK!

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 8: Cardio Power & Resistance

Starting week 2 of Insanity with some Cardio Power & Resistance. I burned 631 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 177 and averaging 154.

I've noticed my calorie counts are lower this time around and it just occurred to me why: The calories burned is calculated in part based on my weight. I weighed over 20 pounds more last time I did Insanity. I updated my weight in my heart monitor watch when I started Round 2. This must be one of the reasons why it gets harder to lose weight the lighter you get: You have to work harder to burn the same number of calories.

Anyway, I felt strong today, even with the moving push-ups and globe jumps. Power jumps are still hard as hell, but I'm getting better and better at them as time goes by. Still, I can't imagine ever enjoying them!

I may go running on Wednesday. Not sure what (if anything) I'll do regarding my scheduled Insanity workout. Perhaps I'll do both. Not sure yet. I'll figure that out tomorrow...

Have a great week everyone!

Insanity Round 2 Day 6: Some Plyo Today!

Saturdays are tough. I've been at work all week, and I've done Insanity every single day. Working out on the weekend always takes a little more motivation than other days, and today was no different. The in-laws are visiting, so we had a nice steak dinner and some wine last night, which only adds to the lack of motivation to "push play". But in the end, after a cup of caffeine and lots of water, I did the Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout. As always, I felt much better at the end than I did at the beginning. I burned 743 calories, peaking at 182 bpm and averaging 161.

The biggest difference I've noticed between my first round of Insanity and this second round is that the lessons I learned the first time are really paying off. As you may recall, I had lots of issues with a sore back and sore shoulders. This time around, I've had neither. Aside from being a little stronger, I think the primary reason for this is form. My sore back was most likely caused by not keeping my core tight when I did all the "bending down" moves the first time. Of course, that was in part because I didn't have much of a core to keep tight! As for the shoulders, I looked up some articles and videos on YouTube for the proper form for push-ups, and I was doing them wrong. I tended to lift my shoulders up (like you do when you shrug your shoulders), when you're actually supposed to do the opposite. I also had my elbows going straight back instead of straight out, so I was inadvertently doing tricep push-ups. So with the proper form, and a core that I can actually keep tight, I have no pain at all. That's made this craziness much more enjoyable overall. I just didn't know any better last time.

Anyway, I made it through the first week of Round 2. Just eight weeks to go. Just! ;-)

Have a great weekend! (And yes, another yellow shirt!)

Insanity Round 2 Day 5: Tough Cardio Today

Short post on a busy day today...

Today was Pure Cardio, which I normally really enjoy. But my legs were sore and weak from yesterday's "recovery" workout (which I ironically found to be pretty easy compared to Round 1). The first half of Pure Cardio has tons of squats, running, and lunges and my muscles were just beat. I wasn't out of breath. I just had no strength. Never happened before. It could also be that I didn't eat breakfast before the workout today. I had to workout much earlier than usual due to my work schedule. Still, I burned 602 calories and felt great at the end.

I did hit one major milestone today, however. I'm now 1 pound lighter than I was at the end of Insanity Round 1. Woo hoo!

Have a nice weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day 4: First Recovery Day!

Today was my first Cardio Recovery workout of Round 2 of Insanity. Unlike how I felt last time around, I thought today really was a recovery. Good muscle work and yoga but no cardio. Still, I burned 320 calories in 33 minutes, with a maximum heart rate of 168 and an average of 115. You may be asking, "How did your heart rate get that high with no cardio?" Well, the answer is, there's is some tough plank work about halfway through that involves lifting each of your legs and doing pulses up and down while in a plank. Being Insanity after all, even the recoveries are challenging.

I continue to eat well, averaging 5 meals and 2 snacks a day. Each meal is about 200 calories (one of them is the P90X Results and Recovery formula), and each snack is about 100 calories. With that said, my dinner (the one I eat with my family each evening; I eat another one a bit later as well) is probably closer to 300-400 calories, so I'm consuming anywhere between 1200-1400 calories per day this time around. That's down from 2200 calories per day at the beginning of my first round of Insanity, although I think I was down to about 1800 per day towards the end. I had to reduce my calories further this time around for a few reasons, but the primary two are (1) I weigh 22 pounds less than I did last time on Day 4 and (2) I'm still trying to lose weight, and it gets harder to do so as you get lighter. The bottom line is I haven't been hungry. I feel energetic before, during and after the workouts. I'm sleeping great. And I think I'm just learning more and more about what I need to eat each day.

So I'm 1.5 pounds away from getting back to my finishing weight from Round 1. And I realized I never had Meghan take those "after" pictures of me so I can send them in for my free Insanity T-Shirt. As soon as I lose the next 1.5 pounds, I'll be able to do that. No I won't be posting any shirtless pictures here. Plenty of others have done that online. But you may catch me in the Insanity T-Shirt in an upcoming post. Definitely a badge of honor for anyone who's completed the program.

Til tomorrow...

P.S. While I never gave it much thought, yellow T-Shirts are apparently my favorite color.

Insanity Round 2 Day 3: So Far, So Good!

Day 3 of Round 2 of Insanity and I'm feeling great. No soreness of any kind. Cardio has come back quicker than I expected. My weight has already started dropping. Couldn't be happier.

Today's workout was a return to Cardio Power & Resistance. I must admit I'm enjoying all these Month 1 workouts much more than I did in Round 1. I burned 704 calories in 39 minutes, peaking at 186 beats per minute and averaging 162. I felt fast and strong, never having to pause the DVD or skip a move (not even Globe Jumps and Power Jumps, which were my nemesis last time around).

The bottom line is I'm finding I can push myself harder than I did in Round 1, and that's certainly because I'm entering Round 2 in much better shape.

The diet is going well so far. I'm drinking water non-stop, and eating lots of fruit and vegetables.

So far, so good!

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 2: Feeling Much Stronger Today!

Great workout today. Much better than yesterday. Probably because of getting a good night's sleep, eating better yesterday, and being very well hydrated. Regardless, the Plyometric Cardio Circuit was actually fun! I had energy throughout, never had to pause the DVD or take more than a couple second break. I burned 708 calories, with a peak heart rate of 185 and an average of 156 over the 42 minute beat down.

My diet is getting back on track: Lots of fruit and veggies. Five meals a day (200 calories each), plus two 100 calorie snacks. And tons of water.

It's good to be back at this, and I'm feeling stronger already. Have a great rest of the week...

P.S. Did you notice I switched from a red to blue marker? I wouldn't want anyone to think I was reusing my pictures from the previous round of Insanity!

Insanity Round 2 Day 1: Why I'm Doing It Again!

So here I am again at the beginning of Insanity, having completed my first round almost a month ago on March 10, 2013. So why would I put myself (and my body) through this all over again? If it wasn't clear to me before today, it sure is now: If I don't continue, I won't stay in shape, and certainly won't get into better shape. After just a couple weeks off, and despite skiing for a week in Colorado, I gained back 5 pounds and my cardio is nowhere near as good as it was last month. I also wasn't eating right, and I just didn't feel as good or strong as I did just a few weeks ago. I want that back, and even more of it. So here I am back with my virtual buddy Shaun T, resuming my routine to "push play every day" (except Sundays!)

I decided I'm not doing the Fit Tests again until the very last day. I never enjoyed them and I don't need a test to know I feel and look better. So I will substitute a different workout on the days the Fit Test is in the program.

Today I did the Pure Cardio workout. I burned 723 calories, with a maximum heart rate of 182 and an average of 153. That's all good, but I felt like crap. My heart was once again feeling like it would burst out of my chest. It's that tight, breathless feeling that is reminding me of the progress I lost by not working for out for a few weeks. I had to take a bunch of breaks and even paused the DVD a few times. It was not the Insanity I remembered. It was REALLY hard again! My cardio should come back pretty quickly I'm told. Probably just a week or two. But I literally felt like I did back on Day 1 the first time around.

One thing I learned the first time is to keep the core tight when doing anything that involves bending down. This will protect the back, and as you may recall I had a lot of issues with back soreness last time around. I'm sure I'll have some again, but I think I'll be better at avoiding it, and I always have the trusty electric heat pad if needed. My shoulders were the other problem, and I purchased some resistance bands to do some rotator cuff exercises. I haven't started those yet, but I'll get to them once I get back into a routine.

I'm still down 16 pounds from my starting weight the first time around, and I'm guessing the first few pounds will shed quickly, but I'm sure it will be hard work to lose weight after that. I'll be really happy once I'm below my finishing weight from last month, because then I'll be making real progress again.

I also just enjoyed my first P90X Recovery drink in several weeks. Just as delicious as I remember (seriously, it is!).

Anyway, it's good to be back. I will continue to blog every day to keep myself accountable. It really works, so why mess with a good thing?

And so my journey continues...

 

Insanity: Unfinished Business begins tomorrow!

After a great ski trip and a week of gluttony I'm restarting Insanity tomorrow. Back to a healthy diet and 6 days of exercise each week. Can't wait to "hit play every day"!

On hiatus until after the ski trip!

Sorry for no posts recently. I decided to just relax the last few days before the trip to avoid any soreness. I'm feeling great and am at an airport hotel, leaving tomorrow with family and friends for Colorado. I'll try to post some pictures. The next round of Insanity, which I'm calling "Unfinished Business" starts the Monday after I get back!

Journey Day 68: My First Run

Instead of doing an Insanity workout I took advantage of the nice day and decided to run. It felt great. I ran 3.37 miles in 34:40 and burned 640 calories. The significance of this is that I have never run that far before and this was my first time running in over a year and a half. I've done a 5K but this was 3/10 of a mile further. I was really happy with the fact that I was able to maintain a 10 minute and 17 second pace throughout the run. I know that's not fast, but to me that was great because I had not run anywhere or anytime since the summer of 2011.

There's no question that doing the Insanity workouts has brought my cardio to a new level. Woo hoo!

Journey Day 67: Some More Cardio Today!

Short post today. Busy work day plus band practice tonight. I did Pure Cardio but had to skip about 5 minutes so squeeze it in before a conference call. Burned 570 calories, maxing the heart rate at 178 and averaging 148.

Tomorrow I will likely do a recovery workout. I feel great with no back or shoulder pain, and I continue to avoid those moves.

Started a new container of P90X Recovery drink. Packaging is exactly the same as the previous 2 containers but the taste isn't quite as good. Strange...

Anyway, til tomorrow!

Journey Day 66: Mixing it Up with Power & Resistance!

I went old school again today, pulling out month one's Cardio Power & Resistance workout. A bit more strength training than I wanted but I followed along to see how I had improved. Those "V push-ups" I couldn't do the first week of Insanity came much easier today, so I did those. Same with the "tricep dips", which I couldn't do at all 60 days ago. That was cool. But then came "hit the floor" and "globe jumps", which I completely skipped and did "cross jacks" and "side to side jump ropes" instead. My back feels almost 100% so I'll continue modifying until after I get back from my ski trip.

I burned 596 calories today, peaking at 178 and averaging 144. As always, peaks and averages are lower with the strength routines because there's less cardio.

Looking at the weather, I'm thinking Friday may be a good day to try running again. More on that later in the week...

On an unrelated note, I saw a good movie last night: Life of Pi. Incredible story, acting, and special effects. I suppose it's a "family movie" since it's PG, but it will mean something very different to a child than it does an adult. To a kid, it will be a movie about a boy and a tiger on a raft. To adults, well, you'll have to see it yourself. Cool story that gets you thinking about all sorts of stuff...

Anyway, I wore a T-shirt I bought in China last month, and it was not good to workout in. It didn't absorb anything, or wick anything for that matter. So the sweat just pooled in strange places. Almost looks like I just poured water on myself, but trust me that was not the case! .

Journey Day 65: Back to Pure Cardio from Month 1!

I was back in the basement for the first time in 2 days after completing Insanity on Sunday. But first, I need to admit that I was bad yesterday. I didn't workout because I was sore, and that's legit, but I wrote in my blog yesterday I was still on my diet, then I proceeded to eat Wendy's for lunch. I hadn't eaten any fast food since starting Insanity and I decided "What the heck", but I felt kind of sick afterwards, and pretty guilty, too. Then I watched "Biggest Loser" on TV and felt even more guilty, but also more motivated. Finally, I watched the Insanity infomercial (which is preserved on my DVR) before bed, and woke up this morning ready to rock and roll.

Instead of doing a short subset of an Insanity workout, I decided to do the entire Pure Cardio workout from Month 1, and it was awesome. I did it so much better than a month ago, and burned 640 calories, pushing myself much harder than I could back then. My heart rate peaked at 182 and averaged 152 for the 37 minutes. I modified the "push-up/plank" and "bending down" moves as I said I would, so as not to aggravate my back or shoulders prior to our ski trip in less than 2 weeks. I just ran in place or did "cross jacks".

I'm going to be very strict with diet, with the hope of losing a few more pounds before the trip.

It was great to back doing Insanity again, and even better to do a workout I hadn't seen for 5+ weeks. I'll just take these next couple weeks day-by-day, deciding which workout I want to do from Month 1 each morning. The freedom to pick is kind of fun.

So my journey continues, and I'll continue to "count up" as I had before. Til tomorrow...

Journey Day 64: Paying the Price for Pushing Hard!

I woke up this morning and I was really sore! That's what I get for burning almost 1200 calories Saturday and pushing so hard on the Insanity Fit Test yesterday. My intent was to workout today, but my body has made it clear I need to take a small break to heal now that Round 1 of Insanity is complete. I haven't had a break since last Sunday, and I suppose I've earned one. So I'm taking today off completely, except for diet of course. And I'll resume some cardio tomorrow, whether I'm sore or not. ;-)

Have a great week!

Insanity Day 63: Insanity is Complete with a Family Fit Test Finale!

This is it. I felt a burst of emotion once I completed the last move and will admit that if I had been alone downstairs, I probably would've shed a few tears of joy at the accomplishment. All 63 days have been leading up to today, and I'm really proud to say I've passed the "Insanity Challenge!"

I was joined by my wife and daughter for the final day. We completed the Fit Test and I was exhausted at the end, left speechless with rubber noodle arms and legs after every move. I improved overall in every movement. You'll see all my Fit Test scores below.

Beyond the scores, what's really important is how I feel. There is no question that I'm in the best shape of my life. I still have weight to lose and muscle to gain, but my cardio is at an all-time best and I just feel fit. The diet, along with all that sweating, has even improved my skin. I've been told I look younger. I certainly feel younger. My core is rock solid, even if it's still covered up a bit (hey, it's a work in progress!). In short, the program has been an absolute success!

Here are my results:

Total weight loss: 22 pounds
Body fat percentage reduction: 5% point reduction
Waist size reduction: 8" reduction

Fit Test results on Day 1 and Day 63:
Switch Kicks: 57 to 79
Power Jacks: 56 to 67
Power Knees: 85 to 160
Power Jumps: 35 to 64
Globe Jumps: 9 to 12
Suicide Jumps: 10 to 19
Push-Up Jacks: 21 to 44
Low Plank Oblique: 43 to 94

You may be staring at the waist size reduction and thinking "How is that possible?", but it is. I'm measuring my waist the "right way". Prior to looking up how to do it, I always assumed my waist was where my pants sit. But it isn't. Your waist is 1 inch below the belly button. I had what some may refer to as a "beer belly", and I measured all improvements with my stomach relaxed. I didn't tighten my core when measuring anything. I was relaxed and loose. So yeah, I really did reduce the size of stomach/waist by 8 inches, and I'm damn proud of it.

I'm deliberately not going to post my actual measurements or weight. That's for 2 reasons. One, I'm still self conscious, particularly about where I started. And two, they're not important. What's important is the improvement, not the result. It's just like Insanity itself. It doesn't matter how many push-ups I can do now (but I will say it's over 100). What matters is how many more I can do now than I could when I started. It's all about doing better every time. When I look in the mirror, I'm very happy with the improvement, but my journey isn't over. So here's my plan for the next 2 weeks:

I'm going to pick and choose workouts, mostly from Month 1, and do them 6 days a week for the next 2 weeks. I will avoid all "bending over" movements and most (if not all) push-up moves. The reason is, as I stated yesterday, I'm going skiing with my family and some friends in Colorado, and while I want to maintain the cardio improvement I've achieved, I don't want to be sore. I've had some lower back pain pretty consistently with Insanity, and my rotator cuffs have also been sore, which is why I'll be avoiding those exercises. I will, however, be doing some rotator cuff stretches and exercises, using a resistance band. A few weeks of strengthening the rotator cuff should help me down the road. I will be skiing 5 full days and will get plenty of exercise doing that.

Once I return from skiing, I will restart Insanity and do the entire program again, except I'll follow the diet even more carefully. It will be hard to lose the next 20 pounds, which would bring me close to my overall goal weight. I've also purchased P90X, which I will do in its entirety after my second round of Insanity. By the end of the summer, I should be in pretty good shape!

I will continue to blog each day the next 2 weeks, letting you know which workout I completed, calories burned, and how I'm feeling. I may even do some from Snowmass, time permitting! This has kept my accountable and was probably the second best decision I made, the first being to start Insanity in the first place.

Thanks to everyone and anyone who has read some or all of this blog. The support I felt knowing people are reading this has been amazing. To those who I've seen or spoken to recently, sorry about all the exercise and Insanity talk. No I don't work for Beach Body. But I am a believer. This has been such a big part of my life these past two months that I don't think of much else, outside of work and family of course. Anyway, thanks for putting up with my new healthy obsession!

So here I am at the end of the beginning of my journey. I've conquered this program and can't wait to see where my journey leads from here. I just need to remember to keep my core tight, keep breathing, never quit, dig deeper, and "push play every day."

Oh yeah, and I need to send the form in for my free Insanity T-Shirt. ;-)

Sweaty and in desparate need of a comb!

Great job Ali!