I’m 1/2 way through Phase 2 of this awesome workout and I am feeling great! I have said this in the past, and I’ll say it again. This is THE best shape I have been in my life. Cardio and strength. This hybrid hits everything and hits it well. I feel like I could jump small buildings in a single bound! Well, OK, maybe I am getting a bit carried away here. But I do feel like I am at peak condition.

I am a few pounds away from my goal weight and ready to set a new goal. It always feels so good to be in shape and not ashamed of how you look. Like the saying goes, “Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.”

My plantar fasciitis is MUCH better. I have been wearing my night splint religiously and taping my foot everyday. I have not been able to run again yet but, for the most part, the daily pain is gone.

I really didn’t have much to say in this update, but I wanted to get a new post up because it has been a while since my last post.

One more week of hitting it hard and then recovery week. And luckily recovery week coincides with my vacation. I have to make sure I don’t let myself go too much while on vacation. That is always hard for me.

Till next time, dig deep and Bring It!!

I just finished Phase one of this fantastic hybrid workout and I am feeling better than I have in a long, long time. This workout combines the best of P90X and the best of Insanity to make one KILLER workout. It has helped me to break through my weight loss plateau and reach another milestone, 170 lbs. I have lost more than 20 lbs since the beginning of the year. And I have probably gained muscle, which means that I have lost more fat than the 20 lbs would indicate.

And I really feel like I am in tip top shape, and that is the best feeling ever. When I was doing only P90X I could tell that my cardio was suffering. And when I was doing only Insanity I could tell that my strength suffered a bit in certain areas. But by combining these two awesome workouts together I am hitting on all cylinders now.

Injury update: My plantar faciitis is getting MUCH better. After suffering from this horrible affliction for a year, I am finally getting some relief. My podiatrist was almost zero help. The orthotics that he prescribed for me didn’t seem to provide any relief. The physical therapist did not cure me either. So what’s a guy to do? Turn to the Internet of course. I searched out and read as many posts as I could find from people who had cured themselves. I took the commonalities between their cures and put together my own course of action.

This is what has been working to almost completely relieve all of my plantar faciitis symptoms.

1. I try to do my workouts in the afternoon now as apposed to in the morning. I think that my tendons were too tight in the morning and this contributed to the issue.
2. I wear an inexpensive night splint. I believe that doing this one thing has helped the most. I wake in the morning with virtually zero heel pain.
3. I tape my foot and leave it taped and remove the tape only to shower and sleep. I started using duct tape after reading an article from someone who found much relief from doing so. I now use athletic tape or duct tape. This has been a HUGE help! I can mow the lawn without tremendous heel pain afterward.
4. I regularly do stretches that my physical therapist recommended.
5. I do toe “curls” or “scrunches” regularly.

So, that’s what I am doing and it is seeming to work for me.

Tomorrow marks the start of Phase 2 of this workout and I am really excited to start working hard again after having a week of recovery.

Till next time… Bring It!

Two days ago I started this crazy P90X/Insanity Hybrid workout. I got it from Mike French and (if I am not mistaken) it was created by his wife Tami French.

I’m really looking forward to this because I missed the P90X pull-ups and weight lifting during the last 63 days of doing Insanity. I’m ready to BRING IT!

The first day of this workout was good ‘ole P90X Chest and Back and WOW was my intensity off the charts. I feel like Insanity really amped up my intensity level. I was able to crank out quite a few more pushups than I could before. Felt great.

The second day was Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit and man-o-man am I sore from yesterday’s P90X workout. It had been awhile since I had done this Plyo Circuit workout because it falls early in the Insanity rotation. And holy cow,I forgot what a killer this workout was and how much I loved it.

Today was back to P90X Shoulders and Arms and I am still feeling the DOMS in my Chest and back big time. I am really surprised by this because Insanity has you doing a TON of push-ups so I thought my Chest would be ready for P90X. Guess I really pushed it hard the other day. This was a tough one to get through because I was so sore. But once again I could tell that I really made some great gains due to Insanity. I was able to increase reps or weights on just about every exercise.

Till next time… bring It!!

I survived Insanity! My rubberized workout floor needs a good mopping now but I survived! What an awesome feeling, I feel fantastic. I have not gotten around to taking my “After” pictures yet. But to tell you the truth, since my “Before” pictures were so grainy, I’m not too sure how much help they would be.

I lost 7 lbs total and look leaner. I’m sure that I put on some muscle too. I feel better than when I started and I like the way I look. Isn’t that all that’s important?

Here’s my (somewhat short) Insanity review.

Overall I give it 5 stars. I would definitely recommend it.

Pluses –

• It will get you in the best cardio shape of your life.
• I am able to bring much more intensity to my other workouts after completing Insanity
• I love to sweat, and you’ll definitely sweat in this workout.
• I am able to do more pushups after completing Insanity than I was after many rounds of P90X.

Minuses -

• I am not a big fan of the stretches. I liked the P90X stretching much better. I didn’t feel like the Insanity stretches did enough for me and there was not enough variety for me.
• Throughout the workouts Shaun T. tells you to look at your heart rate but never tells you what to look for or what to do about it. Was it in the guide and I missed it? I found it annoying.
• I think that Shaun is not great with giving Queues. I would like him to workout less and queue more descriptively and provide more information. I had to look at him too many times during the stretches and during some moves. Tony Horton is great at queuing. Also, I felt that the producers of the DVDs could have done a better job at letting you know what the next move/exercise was going to be. P90X is much better at that.
• There are lots and lots of squats. Be careful, my knees got a little tweaky by the end. You REALLY have to pay attention to your form in order to not get hurt. And when you are doing so many squats it’s easy to get injured by losing concentration and letting your form get sloppy.
• I hated recovery week. It was too easy. I would think about throwing in a day or two of yoga.

Okay, I know I have more pluses than minuses but I really did love this program and would definitely recommend it. As a matter of fact, I like it so much that I am doing a P90X/Insanity hybrid now!

Dig Deep and Bring It!!

I have completed my last Insanity workout! That wraps it up for this (my first) round of Insanity. Tomorrow is day 63 and is the last day but it’s only the Final Fit Test.

I felt fantastic during today’s Max Cardio Conditioning workout. Shawn T was right, at the end of the 63 days you will be in peak cardio and endurance shape.

I will save my final review for when I post my final Fit Test results in the next few days.

More soon.

Dig Deep and Bring It!!

One more week of Insanity and I’m done! That’s right, just 5 more workouts after today and I will be an Insanity grad. I feel pretty good. A tad beat up, if I’m going to be quite honest, but feeling at the top of my game. (Whatever that means)

I know that I am leaner than when I started. My cardio is better than it was 57 days ago. And I don’t feel like I lost any muscle mass. Actually, I feel that I have gained a bit of mass in my chest. Insanity has a lot of push up type exercises and I think it helped me gain a bit of mass. And other than my on going battle with Plantar Faciitis the only other injury/tweak that I have going on is in my right shoulder. But it has bothered me at times during P90X as well.

I’m really looking forward to next week when I begin a P90X/Insanity hybrid. I miss lifting weights and doing pull ups.

I’ll have my final Insanity review in about a week.

Until then, Dig Deep… and Bring It!!!

I was totally not into doing the Insanity workout yesterday. It was a double whammy of the Fit Test followed by Max Interval Circuit and to tell you the truth I was just plain wiped out and not wanting to do it.

Let’s see, I wonder if it had something to do with the fact that…

• I consumed alcohol the night before and didn’t get much sleep?
• Or maybe because I ate pizza and garbage the day before?
• Or was it because I skipped the Saturday workout and did it on Sunday and therefore did not get the proper break before Monday’s workout.
• Or was it the candy I ate 1/2 hour before the workout.

Whatever it was sure left me feeling very lethargic and not into it. But you know what? I went into the basement, pushed Play on the DVD player and forced myself through it. My Fit Test was not stellar but I did increase my reps on a few exercises. I was really spent by the end of it but at least I did it.

Today was Max Interval Plyo and my strength and intensity was back. I really pushed myself and felt great. But I far from “crushed it.” And if someone says that they “crushed Insanity” then they didn’t push hard enough.

This week I am going to start to rotate in some of the Insanity Deluxe workouts and maybe YogaX on Thursday.

I am really enjoying this workout but am looking forward to doing a P90X/Insanity hybrid in about 2 weeks. I miss lifting weights.

Till next time… Dig Deep and Bring It!!