INSANITY!!!!! SUPPORT THREAD FOR NEWBIES OF INSANITY!

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  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    I am doing pretty good, today's cardio recovery felt really good (except on my thighs!!! LOL!) but I feel more prepared to get back to the jumping and stuff tomorrow morning! I think you are right, I am going to name each workout. I will have to go back and update the last couple of days though. For today I didn't have very much calorie burn because it was the recovery day so my heart rate didn't get too high, so I want to be able to see how/why it was lower when I look back at my progress somewhere down the road.

    Regarding HRM and the website, yes, they do average lower calories burnt on the website than you will find when you start using a heart rate monitor. Sometimes by quite a bit!!

    I have my caloric intake set to 1350 a day right now, though I may have to adjust up soon. I can tell if I may not be getting enough calories by my lethargy. I was told by a good friend of mine once that you set your calories at your goal weight x10, so I am trying that right now because 1200 (what mfp set me at) was too low and then another formula I tried was too high for me.

    Good luck!!!

    How was Cardio Recovery? Thats my disc today..yesterday was Power Resistance...im starting to really get into this Insanity thing!! i was so scared to start...!! i must say the calories burned from what i hear seems unbelievabley high!! i dont have a hrm but for people that do...geezz!!! 500 cal plus is what i hear!!! i think if you are working out with insanity you will eventually have to eat more than 1350 calories...Our bodies will let us know.
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    I am 6'1 and 212lbs. I have a fairly large frame and am about 25.9% bodyfat according to the Omron scale I have. I set my goal weight at 197 (I forget how I came up with it, but there was a formula). I am more concerned with the bodyfat %, but I want to improve my running and I think the weight loss will help.

    Anyway, I am about 10 days into doing the Insanity workout and I feel great. However, not being able to figure out the calories burned is making me crazy. I have a HRM, which tells me today's 40 min Cardio Resistance and Power workout was 707 calories. That's the equivalent of me running 5 miles at my normal pace. Is that right? It was a hard workout, but with almost 8 min devoted to stretching and interval breaks, I'm questioning the number.

    The reason it makes me crazy is because I am trying to figure out whether I am starving myself or over-eating. The Elite Nutrition Guide that comes with the program says to aim for approx 2700 cal/day to lose weight. MFP says to aim for approx 1940 net cal/day to lose weight (both using a 500 cal/day deficit). If the HRM monitor is accurate, everything is fine bc for either plan I'm eating 2000 net calories. However, if the workout burn is lower (high impact aerobics on MFP is 450 cal for me), then I'm eating 250-300 cal/day more than I should if I eat 2700 calories, which is the formula to gain weight. Or if I only eat back the 450 calories, and the HRM is correct, then I have a calorie deficit.

    As I said, I'm quite confused. Any help would be appreciated. Today, I ate 1400 calories, exercised for "707 calories" and have 1200 remaining (it's end of day). I'm a bit hungry, but that's a heck of a midnight snack to eat back!! Which reminds me, I need to get some sleep too!

    Its hard to believe that you burn so much, but from what i hear this is accurate. Maybe if you eat some of the 700 cals back to be safe? maybe eat 300 cals back.
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    This is a post from another MFP memeber regarding calories burned in insanity. This is how i decided to eat 1500 calories. Also looked at another mfp members numbers with similar weight/height as me. Her is the post:

    "

    find it difficult to micromanage my consumed to burned calories while doing insanity. So I manually override most of the calculations of myfitnesspal. This is what has worked pretty well for me:

    Figure out your own caloric needs using the Harris Benedict:

    Men: 66 + (6.23 x weight lbs) + (12.7 x height inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

    Women: 655 + (4.35 x weight lbs) + (4.7 x height inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

    That will account for your sedentary calorie needs (everything before activity)

    Then take that number and figure out your activity level. If you're doing Insanity 6 times a week your activity level is probably 1.7 If you're doing it 3-5 times a week then your activity level is probably 1.55. If you are doing insanity 3-5 times a week and then you work as a server, than 1.6 may be more appropriate, etc.

    So take that sedentary calorie need amount you found in the equation above and multiply it by your activity level.

    If you are looking to lose weight. then subtract the necessary calories from that amount. 1lb = 3500 calories so if you want to lose 1 pound a week you would take 3500 x (pounds) / 7 and that's the number you want to lower per day. So if you want to lose 1 pound a week it's 3500 x 1 / 7 which is 500 calories to lower. If you want to lose 2lbs a week it's 3500 x 2 / 7 = 1000 calories to lower. Same with half pounds (.5) etc.

    Once you have calculated this final number of calories per day. Manually override the myfitnesspal to that number, I also have it stated that I want to "maintain" my current weight etc. But if you do this, it's important that you DO NOT ADD THE INSANITY EXERCISE TO YOUR DIARY as it was already accounted for in 'fitness level'.

    If you "record your new weight" often, you can still use the fun little scale to get closer to your goal, etc.

    I know it's longer and more complicated, but it's a bit more accurate, and then you don't have to worry so much about the calorie difference between recovery weeks, versus month one, versus month two.

    I know there are still some out there that insist on keeping the HRM store in business and want to nail every single calorie, etc. And that's cool, to each his own. I just found that this is a pretty easy way for those who are not into the "technical" side of fitness training to have a good base to go from, especially with making myfitnesspal compatible with Insanity, as the myfitnesspal is a great way to keep track of calories, and carb/fat/protein ratios.

    Hope that helps. "
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
    I am doing pretty good, today's cardio recovery felt really good (except on my thighs!!! LOL!) but I feel more prepared to get back to the jumping and stuff tomorrow morning! I think you are right, I am going to name each workout. I will have to go back and update the last couple of days though. For today I didn't have very much calorie burn because it was the recovery day so my heart rate didn't get too high, so I want to be able to see how/why it was lower when I look back at my progress somewhere down the road.

    Regarding HRM and the website, yes, they do average lower calories burnt on the website than you will find when you start using a heart rate monitor. Sometimes by quite a bit!!

    I have my caloric intake set to 1350 a day right now, though I may have to adjust up soon. I can tell if I may not be getting enough calories by my lethargy. I was told by a good friend of mine once that you set your calories at your goal weight x10, so I am trying that right now because 1200 (what mfp set me at) was too low and then another formula I tried was too high for me.

    Good luck!!!

    How was Cardio Recovery? Thats my disc today..yesterday was Power Resistance...im starting to really get into this Insanity thing!! i was so scared to start...!! i must say the calories burned from what i hear seems unbelievabley high!! i dont have a hrm but for people that do...geezz!!! 500 cal plus is what i hear!!! i think if you are working out with insanity you will eventually have to eat more than 1350 calories...Our bodies will let us know.

    When I did this last message was after I did Cardio Recovery. My HR didn't get very high, it was mostly all yoga type stretches, but with some squat pulses and lunge pulses put in. It felt really good, but there was a lot of burn in the thighs!

    Today we (DH and I) did Pure Cardio... prepare yourself with knowledge, that is all you can really do! So, we figured out that the stretch and warm up are spliced in from another DVD because we were looking at each other saying, I think we have done this before! But then when the workout starts, we realize we have not done it, and we were not going to make it! Well, we survived, but we took a lot of breaks. To sum it all up, the workout portion is straight through, no grey bars of 30 second water break goodness. It is constant movement, some moves done earlier in the week, some new, but none are repeated during the workout, just one move after another! The folks on the screen were dropping like flies, so I didn't feel so bad!! My heart rate stayed up in high 160 - low 170 range on average the entire workout. My calorie burn was 564 and I rested quite a few times.

    Hope all this info helps!! Good luck today! :)
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    I am doing pretty good, today's cardio recovery felt really good (except on my thighs!!! LOL!) but I feel more prepared to get back to the jumping and stuff tomorrow morning! I think you are right, I am going to name each workout. I will have to go back and update the last couple of days though. For today I didn't have very much calorie burn because it was the recovery day so my heart rate didn't get too high, so I want to be able to see how/why it was lower when I look back at my progress somewhere down the road.

    Regarding HRM and the website, yes, they do average lower calories burnt on the website than you will find when you start using a heart rate monitor. Sometimes by quite a bit!!

    I have my caloric intake set to 1350 a day right now, though I may have to adjust up soon. I can tell if I may not be getting enough calories by my lethargy. I was told by a good friend of mine once that you set your calories at your goal weight x10, so I am trying that right now because 1200 (what mfp set me at) was too low and then another formula I tried was too high for me.

    Good luck!!!

    How was Cardio Recovery? Thats my disc today..yesterday was Power Resistance...im starting to really get into this Insanity thing!! i was so scared to start...!! i must say the calories burned from what i hear seems unbelievabley high!! i dont have a hrm but for people that do...geezz!!! 500 cal plus is what i hear!!! i think if you are working out with insanity you will eventually have to eat more than 1350 calories...Our bodies will let us know.

    When I did this last message was after I did Cardio Recovery. My HR didn't get very high, it was mostly all yoga type stretches, but with some squat pulses and lunge pulses put in. It felt really good, but there was a lot of burn in the thighs!

    Today we (DH and I) did Pure Cardio... prepare yourself with knowledge, that is all you can really do! So, we figured out that the stretch and warm up are spliced in from another DVD because we were looking at each other saying, I think we have done this before! But then when the workout starts, we realize we have not done it, and we were not going to make it! Well, we survived, but we took a lot of breaks. To sum it all up, the workout portion is straight through, no grey bars of 30 second water break goodness. It is constant movement, some moves done earlier in the week, some new, but none are repeated during the workout, just one move after another! The folks on the screen were dropping like flies, so I didn't feel so bad!! My heart rate stayed up in high 160 - low 170 range on average the entire workout. My calorie burn was 564 and I rested quite a few times.

    Hope all this info helps!! Good luck today! :)

    awesome awesome...soooo basically, yoga today, and back to hardcore tommorow, lol!
  • cdl8
    cdl8 Posts: 164 Member
    Just started Insanity 3 days ago and OMG!!! I wanted to quit as well but I will make it through. My goal is 20 more pounds by the end of summer!!
  • rkcrawf
    rkcrawf Posts: 6 Member
    Just did the 2wk fit test. Did better than I did the first time around and my gf has noticed the difference in appearance. It hasn't translated to the scale, but I'm okay with that.
  • alexis0689
    alexis0689 Posts: 3 Member
    Hi all. I just completed the first fit test and would love to hop on this thread for support! It was challenging, but I made it through. Looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow!
  • Nomi3
    Nomi3 Posts: 13 Member
    I just did the first fit test today. Glad I found this, I'll keep checking back...I'm sure I'm going to need the motivation.
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    To all the newbies! welcome and good luck! we are all only really 2 weeks in so this is a perfect thread! im starting week 2 today..a day behind though so im acutually doing plyo circiut today!
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
    Welcome all! Starting week 2 today after a day off yesterday! I did better this morning, but tomorrow is going to be hard because I have pure cardio again! I am hoping I can do more this week than last, for sure!

    Question: How are you guys planning on doing the double discs (i.e. pure cardi & /cardio abs, or later on fit test & cardio circuit, etc)? I know soon we will have to do two workouts at once, but time is pretty rare in the morning for my husband and I. We have talked about doing one in the am and one in the afternoon, but the more I think on it, I realize that we don't have to do all of warm-up and stretch for each disc so that will shave a lot of time off of it. Anyone out there that has done it before have some advice on this?
  • teri92656
    teri92656 Posts: 4
    I fell on Saturday while trying to carry a heavy stone pedestal for my small fountain…landed on my left knee…major ouch…had to drive myself to the emergency room for x-rays. Thank God no Fx just a severe contusion…painful. Today is day 2 post injury and I'm determined to attend my Pilates Class...might be able to just do stretching with the straps but I'm going no matter what, just keep moving with help of Advil. :happy:
  • rkcrawf
    rkcrawf Posts: 6 Member
    I did find it a bit silly to do a cool down for pure cardio and a warm up for cardio abs right after...but the stretches seem to address the muscles for the specific workout and the cardio abs warm-up isn't that tough. I would guess you could compress it, but i honestly wanted the extra rest to recover before jumping into the next one.
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    Welcome all! Starting week 2 today after a day off yesterday! I did better this morning, but tomorrow is going to be hard because I have pure cardio again! I am hoping I can do more this week than last, for sure!

    Question: How are you guys planning on doing the double discs (i.e. pure cardi & /cardio abs, or later on fit test & cardio circuit, etc)? I know soon we will have to do two workouts at once, but time is pretty rare in the morning for my husband and I. We have talked about doing one in the am and one in the afternoon, but the more I think on it, I realize that we don't have to do all of warm-up and stretch for each disc so that will shave a lot of time off of it. Anyone out there that has done it before have some advice on this?

    hadnt thought about it; when it comes to longer workouts i would move it to one workout in the evening.
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    Week 2 start for me! I am a day behind so today i do Cardio Resitance- question- the basketball drills in the plyo circuit..omg!!! has anyone gotten these down completely? i am so horrible at them!
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
    Yeah, I have trouble with those, but part of it is also because he doesn't switch sides, so it's one sided. I will probably have to switch next time I do those, because my left leg always gets really sore from it and I get to the point where I can't get my feet off the ground any longer!

    We did pure cardio again today! Tough stuff for sure, but we survived!!
  • Looks like a great approach for zeroing in on your calorie intake. (see below)
  • This is a post from another MFP memeber regarding calories burned in insanity. This is how i decided to eat 1500 calories. Also looked at another mfp members numbers with similar weight/height as me. Her is the post:

    "

    find it difficult to micromanage my consumed to burned calories while doing insanity. So I manually override most of the calculations of myfitnesspal. This is what has worked pretty well for me:

    Figure out your own caloric needs using the Harris Benedict:

    Men: 66 + (6.23 x weight lbs) + (12.7 x height inches) - (6.8 x age in years)

    Women: 655 + (4.35 x weight lbs) + (4.7 x height inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

    That will account for your sedentary calorie needs (everything before activity)

    Then take that number and figure out your activity level. If you're doing Insanity 6 times a week your activity level is probably 1.7 If you're doing it 3-5 times a week then your activity level is probably 1.55. If you are doing insanity 3-5 times a week and then you work as a server, than 1.6 may be more appropriate, etc.

    So take that sedentary calorie need amount you found in the equation above and multiply it by your activity level.

    If you are looking to lose weight. then subtract the necessary calories from that amount. 1lb = 3500 calories so if you want to lose 1 pound a week you would take 3500 x (pounds) / 7 and that's the number you want to lower per day. So if you want to lose 1 pound a week it's 3500 x 1 / 7 which is 500 calories to lower. If you want to lose 2lbs a week it's 3500 x 2 / 7 = 1000 calories to lower. Same with half pounds (.5) etc.

    Once you have calculated this final number of calories per day. Manually override the myfitnesspal to that number, I also have it stated that I want to "maintain" my current weight etc. But if you do this, it's important that you DO NOT ADD THE INSANITY EXERCISE TO YOUR DIARY as it was already accounted for in 'fitness level'.

    If you "record your new weight" often, you can still use the fun little scale to get closer to your goal, etc.

    I know it's longer and more complicated, but it's a bit more accurate, and then you don't have to worry so much about the calorie difference between recovery weeks, versus month one, versus month two.

    I know there are still some out there that insist on keeping the HRM store in business and want to nail every single calorie, etc. And that's cool, to each his own. I just found that this is a pretty easy way for those who are not into the "technical" side of fitness training to have a good base to go from, especially with making myfitnesspal compatible with Insanity, as the myfitnesspal is a great way to keep track of calories, and carb/fat/protein ratios.

    Hope that helps. "
  • dietfree2012
    dietfree2012 Posts: 868 Member
    pure cardio last night was tough...thats all i have to say about it, lol! We are really insane for doing this 6 nights a week. We are going to have hot bodies in 60 days!
  • ZoeLifts
    ZoeLifts Posts: 10,347 Member
    Sorry no posts, friends! I got sick Tuesday afternoon in through yesterday so no DVD workout yesterday. Decided to consider yesterday my off day and continue on with Cardio and Resistance today and then we will push Cardio recovery to Sunday which is usually when I am off. I guess that works.

    It sure was hard to push through today, though, having been sick.