Insanity verses P90X? Which one?

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mncardiojunkie
mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My baby brother (age 43) swears by P90X. He's a self proclaimed fitness and nutritional expert. He's the one the helped me go from 219 to 145 by introducing me to a new nutritional lifestyle in 1998. My baby brother has less than 6% body fat.

I'm an avid health club member. I work out hard with the weights doing circuit training AND I've been doing HIIT on the tread mill the last 10 days or so. The HIIT has really helped. I see people at the gym reading on the bike and I'm thinking "what the heck?" "Can you really lose weight and get super toned by such a mild workout?" :huh:

I'm getting clear, just from my recent experience with HIIT that if I want to dip down past 145-140 pounds, I need to do something intense. If I want to look great in a bikini this summer I need to train harder and smarter. More time at the gym isn't going to do it.

Personal trainers are about $75-120 an hour depending on their experience level. P90X is $219 (has equipment) and Insanity is $119 (has no equipment). That's a lot cheaper than the personal trainer. Although I do have one session with a personal trainer on March 4.

I've looked into Cool Sculpting, which at the cosmetic surgeon's office. With $3000, I thought maybe there's something else I can do. The reason I'm leaning towards Insanity is that it needs a mat and a HR Monitor. He recommends protein powder and good supplements. The P90X has some sort of equipment. I have a very OLD house with very little storage. Any fitness equipment I've ever had (good tread mill and elliptical, and weights) I've ended up selling or trading in at used fitness stores. I.E. I hate cluttering up the extra bedrooms. :angry:

Also the Insanity program is roughly 45 minutes whereas the P90X is 75. I haven't any intentions to give up my health club membership. I thought I'd reduce my time at the gym to 3 days a week instead of 6 days a week at the gym and incorporate one of these programs for 60 or 90 days to see how it goes.

I'm committed. I don't mess around at the gym. I'm there to work out. But I've noticed that the more I get fit, the more I have guys following me around and interrupting my work out and maybe a bit of home workout would help too. I want to hang a sign around my neck "No solicitation of any kind" , like is on my door at home. This is really aggravating. I'm there to work hard not mess about. I thought maybe an in home extreme workout would counter act the interruptions I get at the gym. Maybe I won't feel so frustrated.

I HATE working out at home. I find it really difficult. I get on the floor to do sit ups or push ups and I see a bit of dust or fluff on the hard wood and I want to clean and not work out. :ohwell: I need something seriously distracting to work out too. Bollywood Bootie isn't doing it. :laugh:

My question is this, has anyone experience with either one of these programs or both of them?

With all of these dlliehams going on...is there anyone else out there that has similiar experiences when it comes to working out at home, getting over that threshold of being "weight appropriate" to extreme fitness? Has anyone tried both? What's been your experience? Can you get past the home workout issues? Can you keep up the 60 or 90 days? Are you seeing results with those days of either program as promised?

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  • mchall03
    mchall03 Posts: 8 Member
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    If you search the message boards on here, there are several good comparisons of Insanity to P90X.

    Here's my personal experience:
    My husband and I chose to do Insanity (2 weeks left!) for a few reasons: we wanted the extreme cardio more than a weight-lifting program; it requires no equipment; it is a shorter workout (60 mins a day or less vs. 90 mins for some of P90X). I have also done some of the P90X workouts although I personally have not done the whole P90X program (yet!). Insanity will greatly improve your cardiovascular endurance. P90X incorporates very little cardio but will help you build muscle (which of course burns fat as well). Because I am primarily concerned with burning fat to get a very lean, fit physique (have always been slender but not necessarily successful in taking that next step to a GREAT body) I chose Insanity. I may decide to try a P90X/Insanity hybrid in the future to sculpt my muscles more, but right now am not ready to spend the money on the program and equipment!

    So far, Insanity has astronomically improved my cardiovascular endurance and also given great results in making my core look much better! I have not really lost inches on it, but that may be because I don't really have many inches to lose. I am hoping to do another round of it when I finish this first one and hopefully continue to see improvements.

    I can't comment on getting past the work-out-at-home roadblock, because I've always enjoyed working out at home. Shaun T in Insanity is really motivating and not at all annoying to me-- another advantage over P90X in my opinion!
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
    Options
    If you search the message boards on here, there are several good comparisons of Insanity to P90X.

    Here's my personal experience:
    My husband and I chose to do Insanity (2 weeks left!) for a few reasons: we wanted the extreme cardio more than a weight-lifting program; it requires no equipment; it is a shorter workout (60 mins a day or less vs. 90 mins for some of P90X). I have also done some of the P90X workouts although I personally have not done the whole P90X program (yet!). Insanity will greatly improve your cardiovascular endurance. P90X incorporates very little cardio but will help you build muscle (which of course burns fat as well). Because I am primarily concerned with burning fat to get a very lean, fit physique (have always been slender but not necessarily successful in taking that next step to a GREAT body) I chose Insanity. I may decide to try a P90X/Insanity hybrid in the future to sculpt my muscles more, but right now am not ready to spend the money on the program and equipment!

    So far, Insanity has astronomically improved my cardiovascular endurance and also given great results in making my core look much better! I have not really lost inches on it, but that may be because I don't really have many inches to lose. I am hoping to do another round of it when I finish this first one and hopefully continue to see improvements.

    I can't comment on getting past the work-out-at-home roadblock, because I've always enjoyed working out at home. Shaun T in Insanity is really motivating and not at all annoying to me-- another advantage over P90X in my opinion!

    Thank you! I sincerely appreciate it. You're comments were very helpful!

    I must be honest....

    This statement:

    "Shaun T in Insanity is really motivating and not at all annoying to me-- another advantage over P90X in my opinion!" is exactly why I am dragging my feet. That P90X guys seems to be annoying to me.

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