P90X or Insanity?!

I'm looking to start one of these programs wednesday but was wondering which will beneifit me the most!

AGE: 18
Female
SW: 145
CW: 138
GW: 115

I'm not heavily overweight, yet am looking to lose that spare tire and tone up for prom! Any reccomandations or advice? Also I'm willing to put In the effort so difficulty isnt an issue :) just want to try something worthwhile!

Thanks so much guys, love you all!

Replies

  • mmk137
    mmk137 Posts: 833 Member
    they are both very different.

    p90x is primarly strength training with cardio on the side.

    insanity is hiit cardio but using body weight training.

    They are both very different.

    If you are looking to done, then go p90x.

    If you want endurance, insanity.

    btw why can't you do a hybrid of both?
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I lost muscle mass and ample strength doing Insanity and refuse to ever do it again as a stand alone program.

    Since you want to "tone" (I hate that word, lol) you will want resistance training with little cardio as opposed to Insanity which is cardio, cardio, and more cardio with a few push-ups here and there...
  • eyvindur
    eyvindur Posts: 19 Member
    As already mentioned, P90X focuses more on resistance training and Insanity focuses on endurance.

    I've tried both, and quit for different reasons. They both work, but differently. I'm a big believer in building muscle to lose weight, rather than relying too much on cardio (although I try to do as much cardio as I can, for health reasons rather than weight loss). For that reason I like P90X better. The problem I found with P90X is that the exercises are very long (the Yoga routine is 90 minutes), and I started to get very bored, which is why I ended up switching over to Insanity.

    Insanity is not boring for a second. The exercises are much shorter, and the intensity is amazing (I don't like working out unless I really push myself). However, the results I saw on my body were minimal, although my endurance shot through the roof. I wasn't following the Insanity nutrition guide to the letter, which is probably the reason. Then, a little over a week into the second half of Insanity, my back and my knees just gave up.

    I'm sure you can see great results from Insanity if you follow the nutrition guide to the letter, but that seems a bit difficult to me (at least I found the recipes in it a bit unappetizing, for the most part). Also, and this is the big one, if you have even the slightest doubt that your joints can stand up to it, avoid it like the plague. It's extremely high impact, and the risk of injury is much greater than with P90X.

    Now, I just started a new home fitness program called Rushfit, that seems to combine the best of both worlds (at least so far - I'm less than a week into it). It's an MMA workout routine, presented by MMA champion George St. Pierre, and it focuses on functional fitness. There's some resistance training (you'll need some dumbells - not too heavy), but it's incorporated into functional movement, as opposed to isolating muscles and doing reps, as in P90X. So far it's been very low impact (my knees are still a big problem for me), but it's way more intense than P90X. It's not as cardio heavy as Insanity, but I still find myself on the floor in a puddle of sweat after each workout. The best part, for me, is that it allows you to pick your own cardio workouts. So if you like Insanity and that sort of plyo focus, you could do that as well. Personally, I like to get out of the house, so I go swimming on my cardio days (and hope to go running as soon as my knee is better).

    I don't know if I'm allowed to post links on this forum, so I won't, but you should just Google Rushfit and check out some reviews and things. Maybe that'll fit the bill.