Insanity with Shaun T

walkingsun89

Does anyone know how many calories are burned in these dvd's. I know it would be an average because everyone works at different intensity levels. I exercise daily and feel the calories burned should be way more than what is listed. I am dripping with sweat during the warm up. It is the most intense exercise I have ever done. What do you think?

JamesBurkes

I've just done my first one (Plyometric Cardio Circuit) and at 6ft and 210 lbs I burned 420 calories according to my HRM.

Kind of disappointed actually as I can burn that much by doing 25 minutes of RPM or 50 minutes just gentle pedalling on the exercise bike. That said, I think I'd built it up in my head so much, what with people saying "It's ten times harder than P90X Plyo (which nearly killed me the first time that I did it) that when I actually got round to doing it it wasn't the Hell I was expecting. It was also surprisingly short - if you take out the warm up, the cool down and the stretching in the middle, you're only actually working for 20 minutes or something.

I'm keeping it in my rotation, as my thighs and calves were on fire all the way through and I like variety, but in terms of calories and cardio I far prefer RPM/spinning. I was pretty disappointed, though, especially as the only other Shawn T workout I've done was the Asylum "Strength" workout (with weights) and I can barely breathe during that and it takes me twice as long as the DVDs running time to get through it as I'm pausing so much! That burns up almost 900 calories for me, too, which is what I basically burn in an hour of RPM, an hour of P90X Plyo or an hour of running.

walkingsun89

Do you like P90X better? I like Insanity because you don't have to have all the gadgets (pull up bar ect.) I can't do a pull up to save my life. lol I can do insanity and I really see a lot of results. Tell me more about Assylum with Shaun T.

RPM? ? Per min??I feel silly not knowing what that is. It is probably simple. Also is the spinning you talk about from a health club. Rotating equipment and such........

Lyadeia

When I did Insanity, I averaged around 400 calories per workout. I lost weight, but I think some of it was muscle because I wasn't nearly as strong at the finish as I was to start. I think it is great cardio, don't get me wrong, but a balanced program would add in weight training.

On the other hand, the cardio from P90X is lame. I burned like 200 calories max doing Cardio X, and the Plyo X burn was about the same as Insanity only the durn video is 20 minutes longer! Kenpo X is boring, too...burned like 300 there. IMHO, I would do the weight training from P90X with the cardio from Insanity to get the best bang for your buck if you have both programs.

JamesBurkes

Do you like P90X better? I like Insanity because you don't have to have all the gadgets (pull up bar ect.) I can't do a pull up to save my life. lol I can do insanity and I really see a lot of results. Tell me more about Assylum with Shaun T.

RPM? ? Per min??I feel silly not knowing what that is. It is probably simple. Also is the spinning you talk about from a health club. Rotating equipment and such........

Sorry - RPM is the brand name for Les Mills' spinning class (the people behind Body Pump and Body Combat etc). It's basically spinning but a lot less talky and you tend to use the resistance knob a lot more. I'm really getting into it!

I do like P90X - I love Ab Ripper X and Chest and Back (yep, I do love my pull ups) and I love P90X Plyo, too. I think part of my disappointment (and this is only after doing one DVD, I hasten to add!) was that P90X Plyo almost killed me the first time I did it, and now I've done it 16 times or so I can get through it without pausing and without needing to take the rest of the day to lie down. Then you hear all this stuff on the Web about Insanity making Plyo look like a walk in the park, so I'd built it up in my mind to be some kind of near kamikaze-style workout that would reduce me to a lump of jelly. As it was, it was certainly hard (and yes, bits of it WERE harder than P90X Plyo) but as p90X Plyo is almost 50 minutes of working out as opposed to 20something minutes for Insanity, I actually found P90X Plyo to be harder, even if it never actually gets as intense. The relatively small calorie burn was also disappointing. That said, I did it two days ago and my calves are still really sore (which is an achievement as I've also recently started running and went through all that soreness a few weeks ago). Overall, I'm definitely going to continue as it looks like a good overall conditioning program, and my schedule has a gap for something like that. But when it comes to calorie burn, I'll be sticking with other things and only doing an Insanity DVD once a week (plus my knees are a bit wonky and can only take high impact a couple of times a week).

I can't tell you about "Asylum" as again, I was somewhat scared to try it! I've only done the one workout - "Strength", and I have to say it's one of my favourite DVD workouts EVER! It absolutely humbles me! Basically it's just weight circuits, but it's done at such a pace and with so little rest that it's absolutely brutal. Now in that I burned 900 calories last time I did it (for a weight training DVD!) and my heart rate was through the roof from beginning to end.

However, I don't want to sound like I'm on a downer about Insanity... especially only after doing the Plyo Cardio Circuit (the next one (Power and Resistance?) looks good!). But I was just disappointed that the calorie burn was so small and that even my heart rate was lower than it is when I go on a run, despite the amount I was working and the amount of sweat that was coming off me.

JamesBurkes

Can't really comment on the P90X cardio, as when I started it in June Cardio X was about the level I was at. I could JUST about get through it without pausing. But within a few weeks I was finding it pretty easy. I never did Kenpo as that sort of workout just isn't my thing. I disliked the Kenpo section in Cardio X and I figured that if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do anything, so I generally did RPM on Kenpo day. Plyo was another matter! The first time I did it I gave up after Round 4. Then I decided I'd do the whole thing, even if I had to pause after every move (and I did! It took me two hours that second time!). But within a month I was getting through it without pausing (even though I was gasping like a fish out of water), and I still find it tough. Interval X+ is also good, from the P90X+ series, but while that is a great workout it's not worth buying P90X+ just for that one DVD, in my opinion (the others aren't too great...).

Admittedly, after 4 months of RPM twice a week, Plyo once a week, a weekly 4 mile run, plus yoga and weights, my cardio fitness is much better than it was in June. But I still expected Insanity to be nightmarish, rather than just "tough.".

walkingsun89

JamesBurkes: So you have never tried the month 2 dvd of insanity. It is much more intense. I am gonna google the RPM stuff because I am not sure if it is a machine or a dvd collection. lol I guess I am a little behind in the latest and greatest fitness craze. Insanity is the last I have heard of. Please don't waste your money on hip hop abs. It was so lame! I am also going to probably brake it up with different things.

What is your workout weekly workout like?

Lyadeia: I do have both. How do you combine yours in a weekly routine?

Both of you don't laugh. I spent the first year of my life style change walking the dog. Worked up to five miles. I miss it because I did it rain or shine and my dog enjoyed it too.I looked forward to it everyday. I don't looked forward the more intense workouts but know I have to do it. I also divied in the ski walking on pavement lol Wasn't known in our area but is popular in other parts of the world. I hit a plateau and got on a Jillian Michaels Craze. I thought is was kick butt. I bought most of her dvds. I joined netflix for a variety. I canceled that because they were lame. Biggest loser dvd's wasn't my cup of tea either. I started a little p90x then someone suggested insanity. I decided to go back to Jillian one day for variety and had to turn it off. It was way to easy. I also built up my run to 20 minutes. I will do that one my energetic days after a dvd. I have an eliptical also.

I only have so much time in the day so I like to keep my workout time to 1 to 1.5 hours. Any suggestions for a weekly workout routine that would burn an insane amount of calories. I want to eat. lol

JamesBurkes

walkingsun89: No, not tried the Max workouts yet. Again, I've heard they're very hard so have been a bit wary of trying them.

RPM is an exercise class - no DVDS unfortunately, although I've seen the DVDs of the classes that they use to train the instructors on various torrent sites. More info on RPM here:

http://www.lesmills.com/global/rpm/about-rpm.aspx

My weekly workout is fairly standard, and even though I change up the routines, I rarely change the type of workout as it fits in with my (two full time jobs) schedule.



MON: Upper Body Weights (heavy). If not near work's gym, then I do P90X Chest and Back with a weight vest at home, and throw in some shoulder work.

TUES: Rest - loooong day at work

WED: RPM

THURS: Yoga (or rest) (Thursdays are usually 16 hour work days, too)

FRI: Circuits - usually Asylum - Strength or Insanity - Upper Body Weights (the only other Insanity workout I've done, but I never count it as an Insanity workout as it's so different to the others).

SAT: 4 mile run or P90X Plyo (depending on weather).

SUN: 60 min RPM or 1.5 hour bike ride (depending on weather).



Wish I could spend 1.5 hours a day working out, but some days I work 16 hour days, so it's tough trying to fit anything in, even a 45 minute workout.....

Works for me, though - I'm losing 2lbs a week, am far fitter than I was in June (I couldn't even think of running, back then), and am more flexible, too.

walkingsun89

I don't always exercise that length of time. It is just what I shoot for. I do 60 minutes insanity 5 days of week. I slacked a few days this week and did 40 on a few. It really depends on my energy level and schedule. Lately, my energy has been low but seems to be getting better.

For some reason bike riding really kicks my butt. My thighs get huge. I would love to get stronger at it. I just feel frumpy when doing it.

I admire your dedication with your work schedule. Must be tough. I bet you feel worse when you don't do your weekly routine. I know I don't sleep or deal with stress well if I miss to many days.

Lyadeia

Lyadeia: I do have both. How do you combine yours in a weekly routine?

When I combined both into a hybrid, I left the P90X weights and abs routines the same. (I did "classic" so was doing weights on Mon, Wed, Fri) I took out Plyo X and replaced with Plyo Cardio Circuit. I left Yoga X the same. I took out Kenpo X and replaced with Pure Cardio. After a few weeks of improvement, I started using the Max workouts from Insanity instead of the other 2 listed. I really dislike the yoga...a lot...but I left it in there most of the time. I did take it out on occasion and replaced with Cardio Recovery.

Lyadeia

I am currently not doing either one as I have joined a local gym and seeing strength gains galore. I am currently still doing 3 days of weights, but I am also doing 5 days of cardio. I personally got tired of videos all the time.