Why Insanity?

melissaka7

I did, I loved it, and I'm still doing it. I started when I was probably between 160-170lbs. Not the worse shape of my life, but not great. The first volume does not show modifications. The reason I love it and keep going back is because of the trainer. For me it's ALL ABOUT SHAUN T. He is an amazing instructor. Very encouraging. Explains things well. Makes sure you know exactly what to do & what not to do. He's the reason I also did T25 and then an Insanity/T25 Hybrid. Yes it's hard. Yes, it's long. But it works if you work for it.

I'm now down from 189 to 130 and if anyone asks me I will tell them I LOVE Insanity. It may not be for everyone, but it works for me.

Sorry to single you out but just as someone who has done it what do you mean by "do" it. Do you mean you actually do those moves and do the entire 50+ minutes or do you take breaks or do half the moves, or maybe don't hold the same form.

I'm not trying to call you out of shape but you mentioned yourself you were in "not great" shape so thought I'd ask. Honestly from what I've seen you would have to be in great shape to be able to do those workouts.

Yes, I did the moves, and I did the entire vidoes from start to finish from the 17 minute Cardio Abs vidoe all the way to the 60+ Month 2 Max Circuits. In the beginning I did have to take breaks and yes, I did modify some of the moves, but I still pushed play and did not stop moving. And as I stated, Insanity is not for everyone, ie. people who have injuries, joint issues, can't get their heart rates up to high. But it also states all of that in the disclaimers.

Unknown

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albayin

I have often wondered this myself. Why people would go from being unfit to trying a very physically challenging workout with little to no prior athletic conditioning.

Sounds like a recipe for some major injuries and major let downs if you ask me.

Agreed. I was very active in high school, and college, tried insanity and failed miserably.

I faied it very badly when I first attempted 2 years ago. Then after taking on running, barre, weight lifting, p90x, chalean extreme, I was ok with it and I know there's still a lot of room for improvement.

The funny thing is after insanity, running seems so much easier.

KylaDenay

Hahaha that is a great question and one I had when I first tried it. Insanity is truly an *kitten* kicker! I think it is all mental. Most people love the rush and the feeling they get when have completed it. I actually think it is fun and a challenge. I don't do it all the time, but once in a while I may pop in the dvd.

When I do it, I can get through the workouts, however with many water breaks. I also have to stop to catch my breath or let my heart rate go down, cause it gets too high. Honestly for me after the warm up, its not as hard. Once I get past the warm up I'm good.

It does make you HUNGRY though. I was starving when doing it and ate myself to gain weight. After doing a TON of research I realized I can do the cardio and body weight exercises without all the "insanity".

nilbogger

I get that people are saying everyone has to start somewhere... and that's exactly why there are tons and tons of videos for beginners. Much cheaper videos, too... even free ones! I don't think you need to be an athlete to start Insanity, but it doesn't seem wise to start it with no fitness base, either.

If you love Shaun T you can probably get Hip Hop Abs for, like, $7 now.

And congrats to all of you who have completed Insanity.

I am sure there are cheaper videos...however, I went from paying a gym membership, to working out at home, I like the variety I get w/ the TurboFire, and the other workouts I have done and I enjoy them. If I didn't like the workouts, then I would probably quit doing them. But I guess to me...my health is worth spending $100 on a program that I like and keeps me moving. Not any different than paying $40/month to a gym to run on a treadmill and lift ....to each his own.

My point is not purely about the cost, but also the fact that there are many other options for people starting out. If li8terally the only way to get in shape would be using Insanity and modifying the hell out of it until you could do more I'd say, yes, suck it up at start with that. But beginners don't need to start there.

InsanityForMe

A friend recommended it to me a few years back. I bought it because I wanted a challenge and I loved it! I thought I was fairly fit but I was certainly fitter after the 60 days. I have since purchased and completed The Asylum and the Asylum 2. Love them all and rotate them in with running and biking in the summer and straight DVDs in the winter.

Adaniel65

Totally fair question. I do insanity once a week and MAYBE twice if I don't make the bodypump class on Tuesday mornings. I have a long way to go before I'm fit. I have been doing bootcamp for many months and in the past several weeks have amped up my workouts to include the body pump classes and Insanity and the weight is finally starting to drop.

I have 50lbs to go in my weight loss.
I have arthritis in my knees

If I let either of these keep me from the gym I'll never lose weight and get fit. Insanity is harder to me than bootcamp (which is very challenging) and bodypump b/c of all the jumping.

So I do 2 things - I wear knee braces on both my knees regardless of what I'm doing AND... this is important... Insanity has modifications. I have to modify many of the jumps b/c the knees can't take the constant impact - the workout is still incredibly difficult but I do it.

It may be different b/c I go to the Insanity workout classes at the gym w/an instructor and the group setting really does motivate you to push yourself. I'm pretty disgusting when I walk out - drenched, beat red and fatigued but so worth it. I'm not sure I would do it just by watching the DVD. If it doesn't challenge you it won't change you.

Sorry this got so wordy!

Aaron_K123

Why do people gravitate towards the hardest looking workout they can find? Is the idea to get something that you can just keep working on and working on until you CAN do it at which point you know you are crazy-fit? Are we all masochists? Is this a good thing? I get that people want to push themselves, heck I want to push myself when I work out, it just seems that many would probably be pushing themselves just with a jump rope or going for a run that was longer than 20 minutes. Is there a benefit to just throwing yourself into the deep end like that?

I keep saying this but I really want to be clear that I am not trying to pass judgement, I am not saying it is wrong for people to do Insanity, I just personally think it looks to be at a level that is currently beyond me. Am I just being defeatist or am I being a realist here?

I totally get your post. I have one answer for the first part of the quote; I assume newbies try it because it sounds intense and "serious" and in the end I think deep down they know they will not finish it. I have first hand experience with a co-worker who did it for three days and quit and she smokes, she hates exercising and she's naturally skinny. And she only tried it because another co-worker does it with his wife and they are both used to it already. So that was a case of monkey see, monkey tries to do but can't in order keep up with the other monkeys.

Secondly, I guess programs like that are for the more experienced user to keep challenging themselves. But the commercials show folks who are already in shape. If it shows undershaped people, then I guess they have modified versions of the exercise.

But, my final answer is ..... people like to keep up with the Jonses and people like to spend money and people like to quit things. It's a common defeatist attitude; set yourself up to fail becaause watching what you eat is too simple a solution.

I like hi intensity interval training, but I know my limits for now. I may be able to push the limits later but I won't pay for Insanity if I know it's way advanced.

I stil have Tony Hortons older one that was the original 90 day beach body. That was pretty good 12 years ago and I think I may dig it out. It's only one DVD.

Tony Horton's original P90 is my go-to for getting back into shape. Its simple, its effective, its doable but not easy.

but you can take this much of Tony or he gets annoying...LOL

My go-to program is running.

Oh yeah don't disagree there. I actually know the routines well enough now to just do them with an interval timer and no video.

likitisplit

I have often wondered this myself. Why people would go from being unfit to trying a very physically challenging workout with little to no prior athletic conditioning.

Sounds like a recipe for some major injuries and major let downs if you ask me.

Agreed. I was very active in high school, and college, tried insanity and failed miserably.

I faied it very badly when I first attempted 2 years ago. Then after taking on running, barre, weight lifting, p90x, chalean extreme, I was ok with it and I know there's still a lot of room for improvement.

The funny thing is after insanity, running seems so much easier.

I like Pilates as a counter-point to running. Core work is like magic for making you more efficient.

albayin

I get that people are saying everyone has to start somewhere... and that's exactly why there are tons and tons of videos for beginners. Much cheaper videos, too... even free ones! I don't think you need to be an athlete to start Insanity, but it doesn't seem wise to start it with no fitness base, either.

If you love Shaun T you can probably get Hip Hop Abs for, like, $7 now.

And congrats to all of you who have completed Insanity.

I am sure there are cheaper videos...however, I went from paying a gym membership, to working out at home, I like the variety I get w/ the TurboFire, and the other workouts I have done and I enjoy them. If I didn't like the workouts, then I would probably quit doing them. But I guess to me...my health is worth spending $100 on a program that I like and keeps me moving. Not any different than paying $40/month to a gym to run on a treadmill and lift ....to each his own.

My point is not purely about the cost, but also the fact that there are many other options for people starting out. If li8terally the only way to get in shape would be using Insanity and modifying the hell out of it until you could do more I'd say, yes, suck it up at start with that. But beginners don't need to start there.

I will say it again: people do what they do; we can't always know why.

This is like asking a runner why running not lifting weight or the other way around...

mayfrayy

people half *kitten* it to say they done it.
like moving a benchpress an inch.

albayin

people half *kitten* it to say they done it.
like moving a benchpress an inch.

What? if they say it on the internet, it must be true!

nilbogger

people half *kitten* it to say they done it.
like moving a benchpress an inch.

What? if they say it on the internet, it must be true!

You say that as if there's no way anyone could be doing this

ionatay

I do love those commercials. I have a very active job but hadn't completed a program for a few years when I first seen it. I'm not stupid enough to even contemplate finishing one of those dvds right now. So like the sensible person I am I bought hip hop abs instead.
I really like the moves and it's actually fun, if you're totally unfit it's perfect. Problem is, I just don't think they're hard enough for me personally so I'm going to buy insanity.

Pray for me!

albayin

people half *kitten* it to say they done it.
like moving a benchpress an inch.

What? if they say it on the internet, it must be true!

You say that as if there's no way anyone could be doing this

I say it because I am being sarcastic.

nilbogger

people half *kitten* it to say they done it.
like moving a benchpress an inch.

What? if they say it on the internet, it must be true!

You say that as if there's no way anyone could be doing this

I say it because I am being sarcastic.

Not on the internet!

H_Factor

In 2011, I lost 80 pounds doing it the right way....taking my time with better eating and some exercise. I maintained through September 2012. Then some nasty life events took their toll on me .... things that would have caused some folks to resort to extra boozing or drug use ... but thankfully for me, the nasty life events *only* caused me to revert to my former bad eating habits and stop exercising. (I'm actually being serious....I really could have lost it). Anyway, by the end of May 2013, I had gained back about 60 pounds. I was mad at myself for not being mentally strong enough to get back at it sooner so I decided to try to lose weight as fast as possible by doing Insanity (something I never did in 2011/2012). I ignored the warnings and cautionary tales of people effing up their knees. Instead, I focused on the amazing before and after pictures and stories....and thought "man, I could do a few rounds of Insanity and lose all of this weight again". So, for 9 weeks, I woke up each morning, convinced myself to do the Insanity workout even though I never looked forward to it....and kept working through the program even though knee tendonitis began around week 6 or 7. I mean I'm stubborn and by George, I was going to finish all 9 weeks....and then begin Focus T25 after that because "what the heck, they are only knees and they will get better". Um, no...they got worse and ultimately I had to stop exercising completely. I got discouraged, lost focus on my eating and gained back the 22 pounds I had lost during the Insanity phase PLUS 8 more before the end of 2013.

Anyway...that's why I stupidly did Insanity. I was MAD at myself for my lack of mental toughness.

Before the end of 2013, I finally was at peace with the reason for the weight gain and I was no longer mad at myself...so I decided to try again beginning Jan. 8 this year. I did P90X3 and then Rushfit, and loved both programs. Both programs I actually looked forward to doing most days (some days I was just plain dogged and wouldn't have wanted to do anything). I like the Plyo workout in Rushfit because it emphasizes quality over quantity...and you only do any real jumping once per week (instead of a ridiculous 4-5x per week that Insanity requires). Currently I'm doing a recovery week and will get going with another round of P90X3 starting on Monday.

Also, earlier this year, I found this comparison of the original P90X, Rushfit and Insanity. For anyone who cares to look over this report, you will find that Insanity got a far lower score ... mostly because it had low scores for not being scientifically sound (and stuff like that). http://www.acefitness.org/certifiednewsarticle/1443/

Even when I get to my target weight and feel great (I already feel pretty dang good), I don't plan to ever try the full Insanity program again. Sure, I may do one of the workouts once in a while ... but I'm not going to attempt that craziness with any regularity.

Aaron_K123

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

likitisplit

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

Throw in a 1200 calorie diet guaranteed to lose weight while eating all of your favorite foods, and you have a winner.

MammaMouse

I'm overweight and have the athletic ability of a slug, but I love throwing on an Insanity video and giving it my all. Why? Because I enjoy it. No, I can't actually maintain that degree of athleticism for nearly as long as the people in the video can, and I modify a lot of moves, but it's fun.

Aaron_K123

I'm overweight and have the athletic ability of a slug, but I love throwing on an Insanity video and giving it my all. Why? Because I enjoy it. No, I can't actually maintain that degree of athleticism for nearly as long as the people in the video can, and I modify a lot of moves, but it's fun.

Yeah fair enough, I mean if you have fun with it and it gets you moving can't really knock that right.

I'm guessing people are right and the reason why it is the workout of choice is just because of the marketing and the fact that right now it is the workout of choice, so its what people just end up getting.

I just think there are a lot of fun home workout programs out there that people can actually, you know, do and are collecting dust because everyone must have Insanity.

nilbogger

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

Throw in a 1200 calorie diet guaranteed to lose weight while eating all of your favorite foods, and you have a winner.

Incidentally your favorite foods are now cauliflower, tofu shirataki noodles, protein shakes, PB2 and acai berries.

likitisplit

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

Throw in a 1200 calorie diet guaranteed to lose weight while eating all of your favorite foods, and you have a winner.

Incidentally your favorite foods are now cauliflower, tofu shirataki noodles, protein shakes, PB2 and acai berries.

And Raspberry Keytones.

Good news, we're going on Dr. Oz in an hour.

nilbogger

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

Throw in a 1200 calorie diet guaranteed to lose weight while eating all of your favorite foods, and you have a winner.

Incidentally your favorite foods are now cauliflower, tofu shirataki noodles, protein shakes, PB2 and acai berries.

And Raspberry Keytones.

Good news, we're going on Dr. Oz in an hour.

I hope he tells me I only have to eat 1000 calories. I am just SO FULL eating all these awesome, clean foods that I just can't make it to 1200.

Unknown

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likitisplit

Isn't it the description of the COST of the program why it's called Insanity?:laugh:

Beach Body has good workout programs. And great marketing programs.

But smart people know that it's not the program that's creating the bodies. It's the calorie deficit. Without the calorie deficit, one would get more fit, but no calorie deficit and the body would still look the same. That goes with ANY exercise program (unless one is trying to bulk up).

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

The bolded part is not true. I know lots and lots of smart people that don't know very much regarding nutrition and calorie deficits. I didn't know much about that until a few years ago. I'm 49. The idea of creating a calorie deficit is really not well understood by general people that try to diet. I think you underestimate how it is not very well known at all by most people.

Let me restate. "Smart" people who understand nutrition. People who believe it's exercise programs that will make them slim and trim will be sorely disappointed if they don't fix their nutritional values first.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

It's the "smart" part that bothers me. It's not about being smart. It's about being educated. Just because I don't know something doesn't mean I'm not smart. I don't know how quantum computing works, that doesn't mean I'm not smart. I'm sure I could learn if I wanted to apply myself in that area. I don't know how to do surgery, but I'm pretty sure I could if I studied and learned how to do it. It's not that people that someone has to be smart AND know about nutrition. They just simply have to learn and understand the concept of how a calorie deficit works. It has nothing to do with being smart.

I'll go one further. How "smart" does calorie counting really make a person considering all guessing that's going on. You plug your stats in to a calorie calculator and you get a guess of how much you should eat. You exercise and your fancy HRM gives you a guess of how much you burn. You log your calories based off the educated guesses of the company providing the figures. What about that is "smart?" The "smart" people are probably doing a ton of exercise to make up for all the guessing.

Nah. You just record weight lost/gained and adjust from there. It doesn't matter if you *actually* eat 2000 calories in the real world if you adjust "500" calories downward and lose a pound a week and "500" calories upward and gain a pound a week.

likitisplit

To give an idea of how I perceive this:


"Hey everyone, here is a great new fitness program that a beginner can launch into and get a great workout, improve their fitness and get a good sweat going."

Hmm....I don't know, looks kind of simple to me.

"He everyone, here is a new fitness program designed to torture the ever living *kitten* out of you and if you ever tried to do it to full intensity you would probably be on the floor vomiting after 15 minutes unless you are at the pinnacle of fitness already."

Take my money!

Throw in a 1200 calorie diet guaranteed to lose weight while eating all of your favorite foods, and you have a winner.

Incidentally your favorite foods are now cauliflower, tofu shirataki noodles, protein shakes, PB2 and acai berries.

And Raspberry Keytones.

Good news, we're going on Dr. Oz in an hour.

I hope he tells me I only have to eat 1000 calories. I am just SO FULL eating all these awesome, clean foods that I just can't make it to 1200.

I think you need to post a thread on MFP as well.

mandypizzle

I didn't enjoy the workouts at all. I wasn't in the best shape when I started and hardly modified at all but by the time I was done, I was in amazing shape and went from a size 12 to a 6. I want to do it again eventually. It's definitely not for everybody! I started it over about 8 times before fully committing to finishing it. It is HARD and not fun.

Francl27

Excellent question OP I've always wondered too. Especially how the people who post 'I've been doing Insanity for 4 weeks and eating 1200 calories and not seeing any result', because I have absolutely no clue how they can 'do' insanity for 4 weeks while starving themselves.

Francl27

I didn't enjoy the workouts at all. I wasn't in the best shape when I started and hardly modified at all but by the time I was done, I was in amazing shape and went from a size 12 to a 6. I want to do it again eventually. It's definitely not for everybody! I started it over about 8 times before fully committing to finishing it. It is HARD and not fun.

You are amazing. I wish I had that kind of commitment. If I don't enjoy it, I just give up... couldn't care less if I would get results, lol.