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. ;-)
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!
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