Insanity - Week 1, Day 3 & 4 - CPR & CR

Hello my wonderful readers!

As you may have noticed, I'm doing this round of Insanity on a two workouts to one blog post ratio.  This is because you've already heard me rant and rave about them, and really...who wants to hear me repeat myself nine hundred times over the next 60 days on Insanity?

I'm doing it for you!  LOL!

Anyways, here's what been happening:  Cardio Power & Resistance (CPR - Wednesday) and Cardio Recovery (CR - Thursday).  As you may have also noticed, I'm getting somewhat lazy and am shortening all the names of long things so I don't have to type them out, realize I spelled them wrong, and have to fix it.  Yes, I'm that lazy. Or that bad at typing.  Either way, I may shorten names.  I'm sure you're all smart enough to figure out what they are by now.

Cardio Power & Resistance was ... different.  I really don't remember half of what I did in that video.  I mean, I've done it before, but maybe it was because I was so drained and "blah" the last time I did them that they just didn't register.  Or I didn't have enough oxygen in my brain to retain the exercises.  It could happen. 

Anyways, it felt completely new, but I was still struggling to get through it.  The warm-ups are really kicking my ass more than I thought they would.  I don't know if this is because I took such a long break, or if I'm just working harder than the first time I did Insanity.  Either way, I'm totally feeling it.

Then we come up with Thursday's Cardio Recovery.  I wept with delight, then I remembered the pulses, the slow squats and oblique plank things that I can't remember the name of right now...and I wanted to cry.  My legs feel rubbery, in a good way.  My core feels sore, which in the last round of Insanity, I didn't start feeling that until Month 2.  So, that is awesome! 

I just love Cardio Recovery because of and in spite of those damn pulses, because it just stretches and makes you feel all loose.  Drinking a Chocolate Shakeology afterwards is like heaven.

I'm kinda of looking forward to Pure Cardio tomorrow - probably with the same enthusiasm a dog feels when you tell him you're taking him to the park, but you're really taking him to the vet.  Yeah, it's kinda like that.  :)

Also, I'm doing a research poll for Shakeology drinkers, and will be working an article series for a very in depth review of Shakeology from the perspective of others besides myself.  If you would like to participate, please contact me and I'll send you the questions.

Have a great day!

Insanity - Week 1, Days 1 & 2 - Fit Test & PCC

Hello my friends!  Yes, you read that title correctly.  I missed so many days last week, and I didn't even do the Fit Test, that I decided to start Insanity all over completely.  I chose to start on Sunday, so that my rest days fall on Saturdays - which is normally when we're at the campground.  :)

Yesterday I did the Fit Test.  I was mildly surprised that my numbers hadn't dropped terribly considering I haven't really worked out since I finished Insanity.  You can see for yourself below.  The first number represents my Day 63 results from my last round of Insanity.  The second number is Sunday's numbers.  The third number represents my Day 1 numbers from the first round of Insanity back in April.

Switch Kicks: 84 - 54 - 43
Power Jacks: 33 - 20 - 16
Power Knees: 73 - 72 - 53
Globe Jumps: 8 - 4 - 4
Suicide Jumps: 7 - 6 - 5
Push-Up Jacks: 15 - 12 - 3
Low Plank Oblique: 52 - 45 - 23

I seriously thought they would be way lower than they are, so I'm quite pleased with myself.  It's nice to know I didn't lose as much stamina as I thought I did.  :)  I'll be completely honest and say that I pushed myself incredibly hard to get those numbers, otherwise they'd be a crapload lower.  At one point I had to actually pause the Fit Test for a minute because I felt light-headed.  But, that's what I get for not turning the air on before I started the video up. 

As for today, Plyometric Cardio Circuit (PCC) welcomed me with open arms.  I didn't want a hug.  In fact, by the end, I was pretty much out of everything - breathe, stamina, and the will to make my muscles hold me up.  As much as I missed Insanity, I was laying on the floor wondering what kind of crazy I must be to want to put myself through this again.

Then I thought of the 10 pounds and close to 20" I lost with the first round of Insanity, and I know it will be totally worth every single minute of aching muscles, gallons of sweat, and swearing I'll be doing for the next 60 days.  About the actual workout - I love all the jabs and punches at the end of the video, and I think that the Cross Jacks are my second favorite exercise move.  The first one would be the Over The River thing.  :)

I feel drained, but happy to know that for the next 60 days, I have a definite workout that I know won't annoy me or make me frustrated because of my inability to execute it enough to feel like I'm actually working out. 

I'm also happy that I got today's workout out of the way early since we're going to my dad and stepmom's later this evening to make my dad a Father's Day dinner since TH had to work last night.  I won't have to worry about coming home to do my workout, because it's already done.  Yay me!  :)

Hello Insanity, I missed you!  See you tomorrow!  :)

Turbo Insanity Jam

So, I know I told you I'd write on Monday.  It's quite obvious that I didn't.  :)

I apologize, but I've been sucked into reading the "Shades of Grey" trilogy.  I finished it it - all three books - about 10 minutes ago.  I've decided to write my thoughts on each book, because after all the hype they've gotten, I feel it's something I just have to write about.  So, look for those in the upcoming days.

I've also decided to add Insanity back to my life.  I missed it too much.  If you recall back to my last post about Turbo Jam, I'm just not feeling the whole dancing and kicking thing.  Chalene's great, the music is great, the workouts are great, but they just aren't my cup of tea.  I will continue to do them during Month 1 of Insanity, just to make sure that I'm not jumping the gun on it, but the more I try to get motivated to do Turbo jam, the less I want to work out.

Today, which is still my Tuesday, I will be doing Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  I'm going to skip the Fit Test because technically I should have done it on Monday, though I didn't officially decide to go back to it earlier today.

Why, you might ask?

I've noticed loss of muscle definition in both my arms and legs, I've lost that drive to workout, and I just generally feel like crap.  Doing Turbo Jam left me feeling frustrated and annoyed, not like I actually accomplished something.  For those of you out there who like to dance, you'll love Turbo Jam.  I just can't do it.  I like the whole "do this as fast as you can" type workouts.  Maybe once I've gotten the muscle tone and coordination, I'll revisit Turbo Jam and Chalene, but for now, I'm going back to Shaun T.

So, that's all for tonight.  I've got to get sweaty now.  Expect a full report tomorrow!  :)

Insanity - Day 30 Results

So I have some pretty exciting news for you readers.  Yep, numbers!  I wasn't going to post these until the end, but I decided against it.  In fact, I wasn't going to post them at all, because they are kinda personal.  But, I wanted to show that hard work and eating right (okay, maybe not right, but smaller portions) DOES work.

I probably would have better results if I hadn't fallen off the wagon a few times ("Eat The Brownie!" Extravaganza ring a bell?), and if I had followed the Insanity meal planner.  However, I wanted to do this with the food that I'm used to eating and that we had in the house already.  Each grocery shopping excursion had more healthy food than non-healthy food, but I'll go into more detail after the numbers.

Insanity - Month 1 Review - Core Cardio & Balance

So, today was my first day of "Recovery Week".

Oh.  My.  God.

I Love You.

This workout feels amazing - even sick.  It stretches, lengthens, works, and even relaxes your muscles.  It's like a Workout Spa, or a really good massage.  You know the the ones where it hurts, but afterwards you feel amazing?

Yeah, that's Core Cardio & Balance.

I thought it also might be a good idea to do a monthly overview of my Insanity.  So far, the people in my head have stopped yelling at me, but I know they're still there.  Just kidding.  :)  On a serious note, this has been one awesome, hurty month.  Some one should copyright the word "hurty" because it's so apt.

Insanity - Week 4, Day 6 - Completed!

Month 1 is OFFICIALLY OVER!!!!

/happy dance

If you haven't been reading this blog very long, it's quite possible that you have no idea how much I hate Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  You can read all about this love/hate relationship by clicking here.  In fact, I didn't think it was possible to hate it anymore than I did.

I was wrong.

Here's why.