Going Insane Part 8 - All Over and I kicked Insanity's *kitten*
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BigDougie1211
Posts: 3,530 Member
Insanity eh?
The early morning ads, the relentless saturation of 6 packs and before and afters at 6am on seemingly every music channel on Cable TV.
Shaun T and his cohorts telling me how this is the toughest work out around.
So many testimonials where people who were already in better shape than me now have ridiculously shiny definition and claim to be in the best shape of their lives.
Some of them apparently gained a tan and the ability to smile in a photo - purely from completing the program.
Even the tiny subtitles saying things like weight loss achieved over 36 weeks don't dampen the enthusiastic tone of the ads. These people are sweating, they're in agony and they love it.
Fair enough, I'll bite.
.
I've blogged intermittently about my Insanity experience and anyone interested can easily link to it through my profile. I've variously compared Shaun T to Apollo Creed, questioned Tania's motivation and obviously supernatural abilities and speculated about a late night Ninja attack that left me struggling to move one morning.
I've talked about how the work outs made me feel, not just physically but mentally and addressed the sense of achievement I've felt in dragging myself over the line on the bad days.
From the moment I finished the first fitness test I knew this was going to push me like very little else. The only thing that stopped me puking was the fact that I couldn't get off the ground and make it to the bathroom. So I lay there and I closed my eyes and I thought " OK - let's have it! " .
From that moment on, I was fighting on 2 fronts. I was taking on the people on screen, trying to catch them, to over take them, to beat them. I was also up against myself and years of bad habits and mismangement. The kind of attitude that has taken me from being an athlete at a decent level to someone who thought 15 minute miles were " about average ".
I don't mean to denigrate anyone's achievements here, I realise that's a good time for some peple and even doing the mile should be applauded, but for me, coming from my background, I'd let things slide badly.
The 2 months that followed were some of the most painful, most akward and most enjoyable I've had in a long time.
Painful because my body just wasn't used to that kind of sustained effort level anymore.
Akward because I work long hours, coach an amateur football / soccer team and genuinely enjoy spending time with my fiance. Finding the time was tough. The Beloved had no interest in participating so it wasn't a joint effort in terms of time spent. The ads say 45 minutes, but that's the average workout time for the 1st month. You need at least half an hour prep and recovery time, and the second month work out's are closer to an hour long. Then there are the days when you do 2 videos. It took a lot of creative time management.
But by God did I enjoy them. When you're " in it " as Shaun likes to say, when you're just focussed on the work out, when you KNOW you're going to finish strong on this one, there are no stresses or issues. Your mind clears and you just go for it. It's a wonderful feeling.
The last 2 weeks were very tough. My body was shattered and towards the end, at times, it was as much a mental battle as a pysical one to finish - or even start the workouts. I won't lie, there were times when I thought " I could skip today and go for a jog " - but why would I do that? Boredom, repetition or because I knew a jog would be that bit easier, I could do 2 miles then saunter home as if I'd worked out. So I didn't, I knuckled down, I forced those reps out, I stayed in there and I MADE myself work.
I had a special T Shirt printed with the initials JFDI ( JUST F*****G DO IT ) in reverse so that when I caught myself in the mirror mid work out, I got the message.
The final work out was brilliant. My adrenaline was high and I flew through it. When that final video ended I walked away a different person. I'm in better shape than I've been in years. I'm smaller than I've been in 8 years and even then, I wasn't this fit.
My diet isn't great - that's got nothing to do with the program, just personal taste, But I have started to make a few amendments. Extra veg in sauces/stews, brown bread instead of white, porridge for breakfast instead of a sausage sandwich - small things, yes, but the truth is even those changes would have been very unlikely if I didn't start the program.
I started Insanity early in Jan 2013,
I weighed 243lb
I wore a 42 inch waist, 18 inch collar and a 50 inch jacket.
I finished Insanity at the weekend.
I currently weigh 231 lb
I wear a 38 inch waist, 17 inch collar and 47 inch Jacket.
My fit test results first to last are as follows
Switch Kicks 54 -100
Power Jacks 40 - 62
Power Knees 88 - 130
Power Jumps 21 - 45
Globe Jumps 7 - 11
Suicide Jumps 15 - 20
Push Up Jacks 25 - 34
Plank Obliques 25 - 37
and when I went for a run yesterday on my lunch hour ( yes that's right ) I clocked up 3.5 miles in 30 mins and I was very comfortable the whole time.
I didn't get the 6 pack, I didn't get a tan and my teeth weren't remarkably whitened by the experience. Hell, I didn't even get he T Shirt, but I can see from my pictures ( which I don't know how to embed ) that there is a marked and substantial difference in my physical make up
That's a result as far as I'm concerned.
The early morning ads, the relentless saturation of 6 packs and before and afters at 6am on seemingly every music channel on Cable TV.
Shaun T and his cohorts telling me how this is the toughest work out around.
So many testimonials where people who were already in better shape than me now have ridiculously shiny definition and claim to be in the best shape of their lives.
Some of them apparently gained a tan and the ability to smile in a photo - purely from completing the program.
Even the tiny subtitles saying things like weight loss achieved over 36 weeks don't dampen the enthusiastic tone of the ads. These people are sweating, they're in agony and they love it.
Fair enough, I'll bite.
.
I've blogged intermittently about my Insanity experience and anyone interested can easily link to it through my profile. I've variously compared Shaun T to Apollo Creed, questioned Tania's motivation and obviously supernatural abilities and speculated about a late night Ninja attack that left me struggling to move one morning.
I've talked about how the work outs made me feel, not just physically but mentally and addressed the sense of achievement I've felt in dragging myself over the line on the bad days.
From the moment I finished the first fitness test I knew this was going to push me like very little else. The only thing that stopped me puking was the fact that I couldn't get off the ground and make it to the bathroom. So I lay there and I closed my eyes and I thought " OK - let's have it! " .
From that moment on, I was fighting on 2 fronts. I was taking on the people on screen, trying to catch them, to over take them, to beat them. I was also up against myself and years of bad habits and mismangement. The kind of attitude that has taken me from being an athlete at a decent level to someone who thought 15 minute miles were " about average ".
I don't mean to denigrate anyone's achievements here, I realise that's a good time for some peple and even doing the mile should be applauded, but for me, coming from my background, I'd let things slide badly.
The 2 months that followed were some of the most painful, most akward and most enjoyable I've had in a long time.
Painful because my body just wasn't used to that kind of sustained effort level anymore.
Akward because I work long hours, coach an amateur football / soccer team and genuinely enjoy spending time with my fiance. Finding the time was tough. The Beloved had no interest in participating so it wasn't a joint effort in terms of time spent. The ads say 45 minutes, but that's the average workout time for the 1st month. You need at least half an hour prep and recovery time, and the second month work out's are closer to an hour long. Then there are the days when you do 2 videos. It took a lot of creative time management.
But by God did I enjoy them. When you're " in it " as Shaun likes to say, when you're just focussed on the work out, when you KNOW you're going to finish strong on this one, there are no stresses or issues. Your mind clears and you just go for it. It's a wonderful feeling.
The last 2 weeks were very tough. My body was shattered and towards the end, at times, it was as much a mental battle as a pysical one to finish - or even start the workouts. I won't lie, there were times when I thought " I could skip today and go for a jog " - but why would I do that? Boredom, repetition or because I knew a jog would be that bit easier, I could do 2 miles then saunter home as if I'd worked out. So I didn't, I knuckled down, I forced those reps out, I stayed in there and I MADE myself work.
I had a special T Shirt printed with the initials JFDI ( JUST F*****G DO IT ) in reverse so that when I caught myself in the mirror mid work out, I got the message.
The final work out was brilliant. My adrenaline was high and I flew through it. When that final video ended I walked away a different person. I'm in better shape than I've been in years. I'm smaller than I've been in 8 years and even then, I wasn't this fit.
My diet isn't great - that's got nothing to do with the program, just personal taste, But I have started to make a few amendments. Extra veg in sauces/stews, brown bread instead of white, porridge for breakfast instead of a sausage sandwich - small things, yes, but the truth is even those changes would have been very unlikely if I didn't start the program.
I started Insanity early in Jan 2013,
I weighed 243lb
I wore a 42 inch waist, 18 inch collar and a 50 inch jacket.
I finished Insanity at the weekend.
I currently weigh 231 lb
I wear a 38 inch waist, 17 inch collar and 47 inch Jacket.
My fit test results first to last are as follows
Switch Kicks 54 -100
Power Jacks 40 - 62
Power Knees 88 - 130
Power Jumps 21 - 45
Globe Jumps 7 - 11
Suicide Jumps 15 - 20
Push Up Jacks 25 - 34
Plank Obliques 25 - 37
and when I went for a run yesterday on my lunch hour ( yes that's right ) I clocked up 3.5 miles in 30 mins and I was very comfortable the whole time.
I didn't get the 6 pack, I didn't get a tan and my teeth weren't remarkably whitened by the experience. Hell, I didn't even get he T Shirt, but I can see from my pictures ( which I don't know how to embed ) that there is a marked and substantial difference in my physical make up
That's a result as far as I'm concerned.
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