INSANITY: CALORIE BURN

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katieuk
katieuk Posts: 304 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi All,

I recently bought the Insanity DVD set from BeachBody.co.uk and I am currently on day 12... I LOVE it!!

However, before buying it I read that you can burn up to 1000kcal per workout... according to my HRM I burn a max of 300kcal per workout (I don't think this can be right because I used to burn nearly 400kcal for Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism and I definitely sweat more and work at a higher intensity level with Insanity).

I have set my HRM to my own personal stats - I have worked out my max heart rate (which is 189bpm) and during the pure cardio, cardio power and resistance and plyometric cardio circuit (the interval DVD's for month 1) I work to 85% of my max heart rate (avg bpm is 160) so I am working at a high level of intensity and still it only reads at under 300kcal !! It was slightly de-motivating!!

Anyone have any thoughts ??

Thanks
x

Replies

  • jabrock9
    jabrock9 Posts: 65
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    Not sure what your stats are but I can tell you what I usually get. I'm 5'6, female and weigh 142 ish and I'm doing day 60 of Insanity tomorrow. In month 1, I typically burned anywhere between 400 and 500, but it really does depend on your physical stats, effort, heart rate, etc... The only time I personally burn over 1000 calories is on fit test days in month 2, but it takes almost 90 minutes. My husband always burns more than me because of gender, weight, etc... I have a female friend I do the workouts with sometimes and she burns way less than I do mainly because she weights about 15 pounds less. I hope this helps you out a little.
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
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    Not sure what your stats are but I can tell you what I usually get. I'm 5'6, female and weigh 142 ish and I'm doing day 60 of Insanity tomorrow. In month 1, I typically burned anywhere between 400 and 500, but it really does depend on your physical stats, effort, heart rate, etc... The only time I personally burn over 1000 calories is on fit test days in month 2, but it takes almost 90 minutes. My husband always burns more than me because of gender, weight, etc... I have a female friend I do the workouts with sometimes and she burns way less than I do mainly because she weights about 15 pounds less. I hope this helps you out a little.

    I'm with Jab. I only every hit over 1000 in Month 2 doing Max Cardio and Insane Abs. And it only happened once. I think that tag line they use can be a little misleading. I'm 5'4" and started Insanity at 186 (CW174.)
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
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    For me on month 1 I never went over 400.. month two so far close to 500 but I do want to mention that I can't complete the DVDs 100%.. I am taking more breaks and I over 40, 193lbs..
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
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    5'2, 148lbs here and my average burn was about 350 for month 1. Month 2 is over 500.

    ETA: I was told my burn was too low too. I changed batteries in both the transmitter and watch. Same results. Don't compare yourself to others.
  • mariacolumbus
    mariacolumbus Posts: 227 Member
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    I agree with other posters...lower weight will not burn as many calories....I also wonder if you should check the battery in your HRM...those numbers do seem a bit low...might be worth checking into????
  • patrickblo13
    patrickblo13 Posts: 831 Member
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    Even in month 2 I only burn between 300-400cals...less that I would have thought
  • cmurphy252
    cmurphy252 Posts: 279 Member
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    When I WAS doing (note the past tense . . . . couldnt hang with that workout), I was only burning around 300+ calories (for month 1 - never got further than that).
  • cmurphy252
    cmurphy252 Posts: 279 Member
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    I agree with other posters...lower weight will not burn as many calories....I also wonder if you should check the battery in your HRM...those numbers do seem a bit low...might be worth checking into????

    I'm heavier (much heavier) and still burned around 300-400 per my HRM.
  • laineybz
    laineybz Posts: 704 Member
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    My heart rate monitor also says i burn around 250 per workout during Month 1. I'm 5"2, 117lbs so i'm assuming mine's correct.
  • bkibbs
    bkibbs Posts: 106 Member
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    5'10" (178 cm), just under 200 lbs, and typically I'm between 600-700 in the month 1 workouts and 700-800 in the month 2 workouts. Their claims that you can burn up to 1000 is pretty much by going absolute maximum effort for the entirety of the workout, which you probably know is almost impossible even for the crew in the DVDs.

    You sound like your in the correct range, so I wouldn't really worry too much about it.
  • katieuk
    katieuk Posts: 304 Member
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    Thanks everyone for all your comments!! :-)

    I am 5ft 2in and weigh 139lbs - so it is probably down to being small suppose!! I work to at least 80 - 85 % of my max heart rate so working out at a pretty high intensity.

    I am only in week 2 of month one, as some of you have pointed out it will probably increase in month 2 !!

    Also another quick question if anyone has any advice... how many calories are you aiming to eat per day?

    I don't want to eat too little because this can be counter productive and ruin all the hard work I am putting in with Insanity... I have worked out that my maintenance kcal intake (inactive / sedentary) is 1940kcal per day - so I am using that as my base line (don't always hit it though generally hit about 1700kcal per day) but then obviously I am burning the 300kcal per day so I am still getting a deficit at the end of the week!!

    THANKS AGAIN ALL
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
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    Also another quick question if anyone has any advice... how many calories are you aiming to eat per day?

    I don't want to eat too little because this can be counter productive and ruin all the hard work I am putting in with Insanity... I have worked out that my maintenance kcal intake (inactive / sedentary) is 1940kcal per day - so I am using that as my base line (don't always hit it though generally hit about 1700kcal per day) but then obviously I am burning the 300kcal per day so I am still getting a deficit at the end of the week!!

    THANKS AGAIN ALL

    I ate 1600-1700 during month 1 and now eat 1800-1900 during month 2.
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
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    I'm 5'2 and currently 129lbs and when I started Insanity I was 147. Mine never went anywhere near 1000kcal and I was working my butt off (anywhere between 87 - 93%). At most during the Max workouts including cardio abs, I'd burn just under 600kcal.

    Now doing Round 2 and since I've lost the weight, I'm barely hitting over 300kcal per session. Still working hard but definitely burning a lot less.

    Was eating between 1550 - 1750kcal a day in round 1.
  • tRiNaBeAnZz
    tRiNaBeAnZz Posts: 114 Member
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    I am 4'11, 113lbs and I am on week 1 of Insanity. I burn around 300 calories per workout...but I also take a few breaks and I can't keep up with the others on the DVD yet. I used to burn close to 400 calories during TurboFire and almost 300 calories during Hip Hop Abs. I feel like I am working out with much more intensity and effort than I did with Turbo and HHA, yet my HRM says 300 calories per 45 minutes with Insanity.

    All I can say is, don't compare yourself to others, or the what the box says, because I have never come close to 600-1000 calories per workout with any Beachbody program. A lot of people say if you build more muscle, you will burn more calories. I don't know if that is true or not.

    I am sure it is based on stats as others have already mentioned, but I understand the disappointing number on the HRM after a hard workout. I just keep tracking my measurements and results and try not to pay attention to the numbers. :)
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
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    I eat between 1500-1900...just depends on how hungry I am.. I did up my cals after starting Insanity because unlike other workouts...I was hungry after this.. shakeology has helped my meal plans too.
  • katieuk
    katieuk Posts: 304 Member
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    Again thank you to everyone for helping out ...

    I shall just focus on completing the 60 day programme, I shall eat well and keep a track of my fitness level with the fit test and the measurements!! I can feel how hard I am working out and I know it is harder than I have ever worked out before...so I am not going to dwell too much on the HRM kcal burn!!

    THANKS :-)
  • jorge_007
    jorge_007 Posts: 70 Member
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    I burn around 768 calories doing insanity. I ran 3 1/2 miles in 23:40 minutes though before doing the insanity workout as a warm up.
  • alyssa92982
    alyssa92982 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    I'm 5'8 131lbs and highest burn for me was 450 calories which was for month 2 workouts. Others were ave 300
  • softball_04
    softball_04 Posts: 1
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    I'm on week 3 round 2 for insanity. I'm 5'7" female and weigh 176 pounds. For month one I burned about 400 calories for all workouts except the recovery day and Pure cardio, those are like 250-300. I can say that when I did month 2 my calorie burn was about 600 a workout. I am currently struggling with the concept of not losing any weight! I will confess that when doing my first round I did not pay attention to my diet and therefore didn't get the results I wanted.

    This time around I'm using MFP to log everything. I also purchased a heart rate monitor and use it every time I do a workout. I also use it to see how many calories I burn doing other activities such as yard work, washing my truck and playing softball. You'd be amazed at how much you burn. Two back to back softball games gave me a 1000 calorie burn, washing my truck for 1 1/2 hours gave me a calorie burn of 550, and doing yard work was 450 calories! I also have a thyroid problem (had half of it removed last year) and I take thyroid replacement medication.

    I am hopeful that this time around I'll get better results since I'm tracking my meals and eating healthy. I think starting next week I'm gonna switch it up and mix the month 2 and 1 DVD's for variety. I'll let everyone know how it goes...keep pressing play!

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