My quads just seem DONE (doing Insanity)....help?

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therobinator
therobinator Posts: 832 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I posted this over on the BeachBody forums, but haven't gotten any responses yet, so I thought I'd try here, too. I am also going to cross-post it in the Food and Nutrition forum here, because I don't know if it belongs there or here. Here goes:

I am on Week 6 of Insanity, and I seem to have hit a complete wall with regard to my quads. Every move that I make/every exercise that I do while doing the DVD's seems to hit on them, to the point that I can't seem to complete anything or move fast/hard enough to feel like I am getting a real workout or getting my heart rate up to where it needs to be. They aren't sore, but rather just sooooo tired and weak and they peter out way too fast. I feel worse (by far) than I did halfway through Week 1. What's going on? Is my diet to blame or is this just how Week 6 is and it will pass as I get into the next week (like Week 1-2)?

For background, I am a 33 year old female, former college Division 1 athlete. I currently weighing in at about 168 pounds and my food diary is open for viewing. On any days where I "earned xxx extra calories from exercise today," that means I did a workout (such as my Muay Thai class) in addition to the Insanity workout that day. I am doing my best (except for occasional "free days" which are obvious on the diary) to follow the Insanity Elite Nutrition Plan: approximately 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fats.

(Edited to Add: today's diary is obviously not complete yet, it's only 8:30 a.m. where I live, so you would need to scroll to earlier days to see what I am actually eating in total each day.)

Many thanks in advance.

Replies

  • INSANITY43
    INSANITY43 Posts: 142
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    Hi...I'm 43 years old and just completed the INSANITY 60 day challenge last Saturday...(started round 2 ....it does make you INSANE:-) I started the program at 160....currently 155. Didn't see the results in weight that I would have hoped for...but lost inches and the toning is wonderful. I did not follow the food plan...seemed to bothersome with a family so I just did my own thing...adding MFP at about 2/3 of the way through the Insanity Challenge. It is a killer on the quads...my knees began to feel sore about the middle of the second month (Max). When I first started INSANITY, my 17 year old daughter who is quite fit and athletic joined me for the first 45 days....(then her track season started). She and I both stuggled with muscle esp quad fatigue some days. We decided that we really needed to up our water intake...tried drinking 10-16 ounces about 1/2 hour before the workout and that seemed to help alot.....Good Luck!
  • mjf0461
    mjf0461 Posts: 470 Member
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    Are you allowing your body to recover from the prior workout. when muscles are pushed they increase in lactic acid, which can cause major swelling and such. If you are not letting them heal and recovery after your workout you could be causing major damage.. Check on line and see if you can pull anything up on this..Good Luck
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
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    Well here is the good news. Being on of your bigger muscle groups you are buring and toning at a high rate. I know the feeling you're talking about where the muscle just seems to not want to work with you. Just keep pushing cuz this is where the real results come from. You can do it.
    I would suggest not going as deep in some of the quad exercises for this week and maybe next. Week six is also the start of month 2 so even though each exercise is like only 15 sec more it's a lot to fatigued muscles. Stay strong and you will adapt. Week 2 of Month 2 will be better.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    Are you allowing your body to recover from the prior workout. when muscles are pushed they increase in lactic acid, which can cause major swelling and such. If you are not letting them heal and recovery after your workout you could be causing major damage.. Check on line and see if you can pull anything up on this..Good Luck
    Insanity workouts are every day for 6 days a week -- that's the program. I only have been adding the Muay Thai (which does *not* involve must quad work at all if any) about once a week. So, I can't take more time to revocer if I am to stick to the program.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    Well here is the good news. Being on of your bigger muscle groups you are buring and toning at a high rate. I know the feeling you're talking about where the muscle just seems to not want to work with you. Just keep pushing cuz this is where the real results come from. You can do it.
    I would suggest not going as deep in some of the quad exercises for this week and maybe next. Week six is also the start of month 2 so even though each exercise is like only 15 sec more it's a lot to fatigued muscles. Stay strong and you will adapt. Week 2 of Month 2 will be better.

    This is what I am hoping for.....that it's just like Week 1 and will pass as I get into the next week. But I wonder if my food is to blame for the oh so quick burning out.
  • TamDTam
    TamDTam Posts: 115
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    increase protein post workout to help your muscles heal before the next workout
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    increase protein post workout to help your muscles heal before the next workout

    I am not trying to disagree with you just to disagree, but while this does make sense to me, it also confuses me because the "Results and Recovery" formula that they are always talking about and saying to take immediately following the workout is high sugar/low protein....and they say that *that* formulation (sugar/protein ratio) is supposed to aid in recovery, not high protein.
  • rollerbladinbob
    rollerbladinbob Posts: 5
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    The sugar helps bring the protein into the muscle.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    Sounds like classic muscle fatigue IMO. Simply overdoing it. You can fuel all you want eat correctly and when your muscle simply think they are tired, they are taking the rest they want. Overtraining would me my guess. I was told in Month 2 of Insanity - ONLY do Insanity, that I should run more than one day per week and I needed to focus on Insanity. It sounds like you are doing other thinks that are intense as well. I'd say back off the other things, move back to recovery week and start Month 2 again IMO.

    After my first race I had severe muscle fatigue and didn't realize it until I fell running, my muscles (quads) simply wanted a break. I took a week off, and started back slow and headed straight into my marathon training. Insanity is Intense and meant to be, but It's also meant as an individual program.

    Even the best athletes over do it. Slow down :) and enjoy being "Insane"
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    increase protein post workout to help your muscles heal before the next workout
    I don't know. Results and Recovery formula (which is supposedly no better than a glass of chocolate milk) only has 10 grams of protein per serving. That's barely the same as a half to full small chicken breast.
    Sounds like classic muscle fatigue IMO. Simply overdoing it. You can fuel all you want eat correctly and when your muscle simply think they are tired, they are taking the rest they want. Overtraining would me my guess.
    It's definitely muscle fatigue, but I really don't think from overtraining. I know my body and what I was, am, and should be capable of. I really think this is diet related. I need to closely examine my food intake, and make sure I am eating not only enough calories, but also the right proportions of carb/protein/fat. Truly, I have not been eating *all* of my calories, and I didn't think it was an issue until now....I wonder if even that little deficit (averaging 200-300 calories per day) could be making this much of a difference in the amount of carb and protein that it's causing me to miss out on, and thus the muscle fatigue. Do you think so?

    (Edited for spelling, as usual - lol)
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
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    I hear potassium is good for muscle repair - do you eat bananna's? Potassium rich :bigsmile:
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    I do usually eat bananas, but now that I think about it, I haven't been all that much lately. (This week we didn't have time to go food shopping until last night, and have been scraping by on what we had left in the house/fridge). But I have one ready for my afternoon snack! :)
  • Midfield04
    Midfield04 Posts: 1
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    I'm stumbling across this a couple years later, but did you ever find a solution? I've been a soccer player all my life and I'm finding that with insanity, my quads are always the issue. (at the end of week 4) They just don't seem to recover fast enough to keep up with the schedule. I know the motto is "push through" but I find that the more I push, the worse my workouts will be until I take a few days off...and it just doesn't seem to be improving.
  • robbaldwin92
    robbaldwin92 Posts: 1
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    Stumbled across this as well... one thing that im finding is the warm ups for insanity to me seem too short...at least the first part of the warm ups of slow and steady... i find that a 15 -20 min slow paced jog around the neighborhood , dont have a tread mill , warms up the quads, and i am able to do much more in the insanity workout... granted i am a 42 year old male... who hasnt worked out since leaving the military nearly 20 years ago, and smoked for the last 31 years... i have given up smoking but the effects of that will take a while... my biggest problem is the jumps which completely tear my quads apart... to work up i find that just a hop is helping not burn them out as quick... everytime i try to go a little higher but not shauns 3 foot off the ground power jumps ect... to simulate them i simply hop and bring my arms down at the top of the hop. i have restarted insanity and with the new modifications i feel my workouts are getting better results than the first time through the first month

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