Insanity starter

On Day 27 and has been said, the advice is:

1. Press play. You wont want to (I never ever do), but press play and ignore the "I can't do this" voice in your head and just get through that first warm up cycle. Second time through the warm up I'm usually "in it".

2. Make sure you have water and you drink it.

3. Get a cheap *kitten* HRM for the early days. I was getting chest pain in the early days and that turned out to be because my HR was at 100%. Now, if I hear the beeps I slack off a bit and equally if I don't I put on the pressure a bit. He says "check your heart rate for a reason".

4. Eat. Before, during (I have fruit like grapes and satsumas by my water ready) and after (but not within an hour of it or you will feel a bit sick).

5. Take a hot bath once a week (salts is a good idea).

6. Make sure you do the warm up and stretches as properly as possible. I am VERY inflexible and I do my best and "so far" I've not hurt myself.

7. Have a towel in reach... the sweat is dripping into my eyes by the end of the warm up.

8. Keep the correct form and go at your own pace. I'm older than the people in that video and have a sedentary job. No way could I keep up with them in the early days. My goal was to keep going as much as I could and do it properly. Now I "own" quite a few of them.

9. Get to know the names of your fellow sufferers and when you see them wimp out, call them on it. "Akil!! You taking ANOTHER break???", "Chris right with you... I'm dying too!", "Rachel that's slow!" (no matter how fast she is doing something! ", "Shanita, why the hell are you there?" all help me get through.

10. Take a protein bar (get them in the supermarkets) afterwards. Much cheaper than his shake and more edible (for me) than those powdered protein shakes.

11. Open the windows... I feel like I am dying part way through (I AM!) and that little breeze at just the right moment is a god send.

12. Take "before" pictures, weight and measurements. You WILL change a lot... I didn't know what an oblique was before this, now I have two very well defined ones.

13. Look in the mirror after a couple of weeks... it will make the hard work worth it... trust me. 27 days in and I have abs, obliques, muscles in my shoulders and arms I've never seen before.... my whole body is toned. Also if you go for a run or anything, you will find you're able to do it now as this is a full body workout.

14. That said, do NOT be tempted to do any other exercise alongside this. Your body will be taking a pounding with Insanity and I know that even going for a couple of mile walk makes the workouts that little bit harder.

15. Don't drink alcohol. I would hate to think what it would be like doing this stuff with a hangover.

16. I think good supportive shoes is a must.. however, I'm doing it bare foot myself as I am finding it more comfortable (and its less weight!!!)

17. Wear as little as possible.. you WILL sweat! I need to wash my shorts after every workout as they are soaked.

18. Just press play...

I am SO excited...I start the boot camp for Insanity tomorrow night at my gym....it's a love/hate thing for me! PUMPED!

Just finished pygmetric cardio circuit, I forgot how hard it was! I felt like a slow dying turtle compared to people in the video, but I wanted to keep my form, because I don't want to risk getting hurt.

Love the advice I'm getting from this thread btw.

i got to think if you just approach it with the attitude that you'll just do what you can (and even stop early if necessary ) it wont be long before your doing the whole workout and then motivated to go hard.

i injured myself once and rehabed by just doing the warm up for a few weeks.

Thanks so much for all the advice people!!

Can I ask about calories people, I want to lose weight with this and according to insanity I should be eating 1900 calories a day. Am I going to lose enough weight, I want to have enough energy to do the workouts and be able to live! I always thought to lose weight I needed to be at 1200 calories and only occasionally eat back my workout calories.

Thanks

With Insanity you need to eat back your calories... its not like a normal workout... I would not worry about putting on weight if you are doing it and eating sensibly. I burn between 400 and 600 calories doing Insanity according to my HRM.

I was wondering about calories. definitely gonna get some protein bars, as I find it hard reaching my protein macro. I've been eating at tdee-20%, so not eating back my exercising calories. Does that remain the same now, or should I be eating them back with insanity.

Today was a good day! Just finished day 3, it was tough, but I feel pretty energized afterward. May be the vitamin water helped abit during the workout, but who knows.

Anyway can't wait for tomorrow

Just did the fitness test and can barely walk! Haha

Hi. I'm hoping to receive Insanity in the post next week and can't wait to start after reading all your posts, just got a couple of questions though:

1. Am I expected to wear a HRM, or do you just advise that I get one?

2. Does the guide say which dvd to use and when to change, or do you choose which one you want to do and do that until you fancy a change?

3. What protein foods do you recommend to take if can't get shakes or bars?

4. When you have done the fit test, do you start the workout the next day or leave it a couple of days - oh and could you class the fit test as day one if you're keeping track on the calender?

Thanks in advance for your advice.