Insanity: Tips & Adivice

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maledoux
maledoux Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I plan to start Insanity program on Monday. For all of the Insanity veterans, can you give me your best tips and words of advice regarding the program?

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  • CrisAlex
    CrisAlex Posts: 236 Member
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    As Shaun T. says, dig deeper! Don't give up and don't worry about keeping up with the cast. Form is more important than speed. Trust me, you will get stronger if you keep at it. The FitTests will help you gauge this every so often. Best of luck!
  • eskimite
    eskimite Posts: 56
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    Ha! I just bought Insanity today and also plan to start on Monday! I've been going back and forth about it given how physically high-intensity it is (I have a bad back and a bad knee) and also how much I enjoy doing my own rotation of videos/trainers. That being said, Shaun T. really comes across as a fun and supportive trainer, and the folks in the class seem like "real people", albeit über-fit ones. Anyhow, I am going to give it a go, focus on going at my own pace, while still pushing it to my edge. I plan to focus even more on giving myself 15-20 minute each evening to stretch, which I hope will stave off any back issues. We shall see...
  • gmichaelguy
    gmichaelguy Posts: 123 Member
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    Keep Pressing Play (KPP)
  • BetterCrazyThanLazy
    BetterCrazyThanLazy Posts: 336
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    As Shaun T. says, dig deeper! Don't give up and don't worry about keeping up with the cast. Form is more important than speed. Trust me, you will get stronger if you keep at it. The FitTests will help you gauge this every so often. Best of luck!

    ^^^^100% this!^^^^
  • AggieLu
    AggieLu Posts: 873 Member
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    Stick with it, don't give up, don't miss a day! If you can't do all exercises, modify a bit. Take longer breaks if you need to. Track your progress with the fitness test. Don't skip the warm-up - as they say, insanity's warm-up alone is others' total exercise :)

    Dig deeper! Keep pressing play! Believe in yourself.

    I lost incredible inches on insanity! YOU CAN DO IT, TOO! :smile:
  • thump418
    thump418 Posts: 251 Member
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    my advise is the same as the rest of the threads. Keep pushing play, don't worry about keeping up with the people that are doing it. you will see in the videos that they can't even keep up sometimes. Don't get discouraged and have fun with it.
  • AnnKneeNorth
    AnnKneeNorth Posts: 34
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    Keep Pressing Play (KPP)

    This is very true....There were days when I would be complaining and whining about doing it, but I still hit play. I swore that I would not do the moves,lol, but I always did. Shawn T. is a great motivator.

    Also in your first week, you will be super dooper sore.Don't be afraid of this, it happens to a lot of people, once you are done with the warm-up, you will feel better.

    One other thing, for example, there is one move that shows up on almost all of the videos. The first time I did it, I knew my back would not be able to handle it, so I modified it. 3 months from starting I can now do that move and it doesn't hurt me. So try not to injure yourself!
  • dy617
    dy617 Posts: 76 Member
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    Ditto on all of the above. I am entering week 4 and can't believe what a machine I have turned into--and I still have half the program to go. Feel free to add me if you want additional support. Good luck!
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    First off, well done for doing Insanity, it's a great program because it has a bit of everything and really improves cardiovascular fitness and lean muscle if you really commit to the program and lifestyle. Month 2 is a lot harder (and more satisfying after a complete workout!) than Month 1. The workouts are longer, the warm up is harder and the moves are different so you don't keep doing the same thing over and over.

    Second, what you eat is absolutely critical to your success. Follow the nutrition guide as best as you can. You don't have to eat the exact meals. Just make sure your diet is 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% healthy fats. That's the main rule of the nutrition guide. Eat every 2-3 hours and eat enough! How many calories are you eating and how old are you? I would say eat at about 1800-2300 calories (use myfitnesspal.com and enter your details to get a good number).

    Your nutrition needs to be good too. You need to eat something about every 3 hours to keep your metabolism going all day. Make sure you eat something in between breakfast, lunch and dinner such as a snack of fruits, nuts or low fat cheese. Ideally you should be eating something every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism going constantly. Eat fruits, vegetables, wholemeal/wheat/grain/pulses, lean protein, and healthy fats. Healthy fats are key to weight loss and fitness: soya, seeds and nuts, oily fish, avocados, flaxseeds, extra virgin olive oil etc. You need these in your body. Don't start crying when you are in the middle of the program and wonder "Why am I not seeing good results?"

    Also, take pictures so you can track your progress, it's the best way to judge how hard you trained and how good your diet was. The only downside to Insanity, for me, is the lack of upper body weight training (using actual weights) - unless you have the Deluxe version with the weights video. Yes, you're doing a ton of push ups and using your own weight, but getting fully toned around the entire body (especially the abs!) is also about lifting weights (or using bands). You need to combine cardio and weight training to help build lean muscle and lose fat. Weight training isn’t just for people who want to gain muscle mass, it needs to be incorporated into a training program for the best results. Running 5-7 days a week just isn't enough. Doing weights burns a TON of calories, and by lifting weights, you'll become stronger and be able to push harder in Insanity. So if you have the deluxe version with the weights video, give it a try. Or move to P90X or a P90X and Insanity hybrid after you finished. This is what I am doing after doing Insanity and am noticing better results with P90X and my diet is 100x better now because I use myfitnesspal.com to track my progress.

    Also, remember that it's not really a 60 or 63 day program. It's the rest of your life. You can't go back to eating crap and not exercising once you finished. What's the point of doing Insanity? Only choose foods from the top 3 tiers of this guide (http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder) and workout 5-7 days a week doing a variety of workouts: cardio and upper body training.

    Stay away from coke, pepsi, diet coke/pepsi, chocolate, crisps, doughnuts and takeways eg fish and chips, pizza, Chinese, McDonalds, Burger King etc because this is all poison to your body. The same for alcohol and cigarettes.

    Good luck.
  • ifyoustillbelieve
    ifyoustillbelieve Posts: 6
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    Hi! I'm starting Insanity Monday as well, good luck to us both!
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    I'm going to start on Monday as well. I'm so nervous. Eke!


    I should also mention that I can't even do a proper push-up. Yeah.... I'm screwed. :ohwell:
  • gmichaelguy
    gmichaelguy Posts: 123 Member
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    If you are starting out and new to these excercises, then focus on form and not being fast.

    If your knees or joints hurt or feel strained and you don't have any prior issues, then you are doing the exercise wrong. Land softly. Practice just jumping up and landing softly if you need to. And squats.... Watch your knees. You may want to skip the jump and do the squat properly until you can combine it with jumps.

    Form before fast.

    KPP buy feel free to also press pause!
  • loveYOUmore319
    loveYOUmore319 Posts: 79 Member
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    I'm on day 14 and I love it. I've seen in a difference in weight loss and inches lost. Don't get discouraged and just keep doing it. I'll be taking my two weeks progress pics today. MFP really helps me stay on track with Insanity.
  • Kalee34
    Kalee34 Posts: 674 Member
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    I did 3 weeks and then had to quit due to the sheer craziness of my life right now, but I loved it while I was doing it. However, after the first 2 weeks my knees started hurting me really bad and it took about 4 weeks for them to stop hurting after I stopped. Listen to your body, don't over do it. This workout is not for everyone, so if you don't feel like you can do it, don't feel bad, just pick out a different workout and move on.
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    Since it looks like there are a few of us starting the program tomorrow, shall we form a group tp keep track, post progress reports, and motivate others? If you like this idea let me know and I will set us up.
  • 1972mom
    1972mom Posts: 10
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    Keep an ice bag handy. I too would have sore knees and calves. I iced any sore part and within days I would be back to normal. Just go at your own pace and you'll do fine.
  • haley98110
    haley98110 Posts: 65 Member
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    I started insanity today (Sunday) because I want my rest days to be Saturday instead of Sunday. Anyway I did the fit test last night and was cussing out Shaun T lol.
    It was more like me saying " you gotta be kidding me! I can't do a minute of push up jacks after I did a minute of suicide jumps lol.
    Like everyone else said take it at your own pace, don't be disappointed if you can't keep up, eventually you will be able to keep up if you keep trying and pushing your limits everyday.
    Good luck. See you at the 60 days mark :)
  • eskimite
    eskimite Posts: 56
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    I like the idea of a small group for those who started today and would like to keep each other posted over the next weeks.
  • ThisCanadian
    ThisCanadian Posts: 1,086 Member
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    Under Message Boards » Fitness and Exercise >> TOPIC: Insanity Challenge there is a thread where new Insanity users are posting their progress. I think this is a good location for us "newbies" to keep each other motivated and updated.
  • JuliePleasant
    JuliePleasant Posts: 72 Member
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    Bump. :-)

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