A Review of the Insanity Workout Program, Part 2

The main lesson I took from the Insanity workout program is that you never know what type of shape you are in until you get yourself out of your comfort zone. I started Insanity thinking that I was in okay shape. I did not have any delusions that I was in great shape. Hell, I knew I was still overweight, and that I needed something to jump start my own fitness that running and my other regular at home workouts were not doing. However, I still thought that all of the running and the push-ups and the squats and the lunges that I had done almost all of last year would prepare me for this program. I was wrong.

I cannot say that Insanity was the hardest program I have ever done. I still think my high school cross country and track workouts were harder than Insanity. When running 5 miles is considered a light workout day and running 3 miles was considered a recovery day, then you know that those workouts were pretty intense. Insanity, however, was the toughest workout I had done regularly as an adult.

With the 6 workouts a week schedule looking a bit daunting at the beginning, I started the program with a lot of enthusiasm mixed in with some doubt. I thought I could do this, but I did not know if I was going to be able to finish it, or if I could keep up my motivation to continue with it. I knew my own limitations, both physically and mentally, and I questioned whether I could really push through and tough it out.

I remember my first week vividly. My entire body was sore after the first day. I had to pause the DVD during the first Fit Test to give myself extra recovery time. I remembered my body getting progressively sore the rest of the day. I remembered my back stiffening up that first night. I had to drag myself out of bed the next morning and I had to force myself to do my first real workout. At that moment, I started having doubts about whether I would be able to finish the program if the Fit Test did that much damage to me.

The rest of the first week continued along the same vein. I would move gingerly like an old man throughout the day, I would force myself to do the workouts, and I would lie down on my floor afterwards gasping for breath wondering if this would ever get better. It eventually got better.

As the first month rolled along, I started to acclimate myself to the workout program. As I got used to the routines, I was able to increase my intensity. By the end of the first month, I felt a great sense of accomplishment in being able to get as far as I had. Then the second month hit, and it was like deja vu struck.

The second month, with the longer workouts and higher intensity, made my body feel like it did at the beginning of the program. I felt like I was starting all over again, the big difference was that I had already gone through the first half of the program, so I knew that there was going to be a point where I would eventually adjust. What I did not realize then was that the adjustment period would take longer.

This longer adjust period frustrated me. I just wanted to be able to do the workouts and routines without feeling as if my body was going to break and my lungs were going to burn. When I rolled into the final week of the program, though, it was as if everything came together. I finally felt stronger. I had finally adjusted to the longer pace and higher intensity. I felt like I could do most of the workouts without feeling inadequate. The program came through for me, and I rewarded it by finishing that final week stronger than at any moment during the entire program.

In conclusion, would I recommend Insanity to people? Yes, I actually would recommend the program. There is a lot of repetition, and there is a lot of cardiovascular conditioning. There is also no equipment, so if weight based resistance training is your thing, then this might not be for you. Also, there is a lot of jumping around, so if you have weak knees, I really encourage you to perform the jumps correctly. Trying to take the jumps easy is a good way to land incorrectly which might cause further discomfort down the line. It is okay to do things at your own pace. Do not try to keep up with the DVD. The trainers are in better shape than you. Just do what you can and try to increase the intensity a little at a time.

Now for some results. Aside from how I feel personally about my own conditioning, there are a few measurables that I can show you.

First is the weight. In total, I lost 10 pounds using this program. I did lose 7 in the first month, which means I only lost 3 in the second month. I could make mention of a few reasons diet wise for the slowed weight loss, but it doesn't matter as much. I know how I feel, I know where I could have done better, and I know what I have to do. I feel great about myself. This journey of mine is not over, and I am not going to stress over missing the target. In the process of trying to hit a target weight, I feel like I dramatically increased my overall health. I will take that result any day of the week.

Another measurable is the eye test, and that means pictures.

Here is my before picture taken either one day before starting Insanity:




Here is my after picture taken on my last full workout day:



And on that note, that is the end of my Insanity review and my 60+ days of blogging about it. I had a lot of fun writing about my experience. I only hope that my tens of readers out there were also entertained by my journey.