MWGemini Member

I've run upwards of 150 marathons, a number of ultramarathons, and lots of long-distance triathlons. I've seen many methods of tying shoes, but never this one. Thanks for sharing! Personally, when I'm doing triathlons, I use elastic quick-zip laces, but I'll definitely try this method at some point.

Completely unrelated to Insanity, but I recently started using the Athlean-X ab workout app in addition to my P90X workouts, and I'm really liking it so far. The workouts are 6 minutes each, so they are easy to fit in at any point of the day (I do mine in the evenings so I can rest from my morning workouts). That's not to…

@ValkyrieLula consistency is key, I think. Even if you have to skip a workout for some reason, try to make it up somewhere if you can. Depends on what your goals are too.

Stick with it! I slacked off my last two weeks because of an injury, but still saw results. What were your goals when you started Insanity?

I don't think anyone really gets the results that they try to advertise. I'm curious why that is- is it false advertising, or are those people doing something special that everyone else is not?

I recently completed Insanity and I'm in my second week of P90X. Both seem like good programs. Planning to do P90X2 and Athlean-X (not a BeachBody program) in the future.

Hey @christinaa21, don't get discouraged! Everybody is out of shape to some degree, and those programs (if we're still talking just about Insanity and/or P90X) are *hard* programs! They aren't meant to be easy. There's a quote I like: "if it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you". There are tons of days where I didn't…

If you're doing P90X next, I'd definitely recommend some bands of some sort (there are lots of options) for assisting with the pullups/chinups. I did the chest/back workout today and there are 6 different sets of pullups or chinups (out of 24). On my first set, I did 7 without bands and then 8 more with the green band I…

I'm only one week into my P90X program, but I did Insanity just before that. With both programs, I'm adding in steady-state cardio (long-distance running), but that's mostly because I enjoy it, not for weight control. I would say how you modify the program and your diet depends on what your goals are and what kinds of…

Congrats on your first chinup, @cardertaxidermy! Since Insanity doesn't work upper body much at all, what have you been doing to work on that? Something that has helped me with my pullups and chinups has been resistance bands when I don't have the strength to do more reps. I use one of these (the green one). I hitch it…

Did Yoga X for the first time today. Was surprised how difficult and strenuous that workout was. It hurt like heck and felt really good at the same time, and also showed me just how NOT flexible I am. I was really not liking it at first, and it was boring and just seemed to be going on forever, but after the first 20…

I never saw Tanya drop a rep. I must've been too busy gasping for breath to notice. I'm convinced that both she and Ariel are not human.

I'd like to hear anyone's thoughts on this book as well. I recently bought it and am considering doing the "Year one challenge" program associated with this book starting this fall.

P90X definitely has more strength and upper body work than Insanity does. Three days a week looks like strength training stuff (chest/back/abs, shoulders/arms/abs, legs/back/abs), while the other three days are plyometrics ("Insanity light"), yoga (90 min workout, I'm doing it tomorrow for the first time), and kenpo, which…

I'm only 2 days into P90X, so it's too soon to tell. I'll keep you posted as I get further into it though.

@hashTag_Wade I'm doing the original P90X, in "classic" mode, currently. I believe the OP, @jamiesmith58511276 is doing the original P90X in "lean" mode. I may do P90X2 after this, but I doubt I'll do P90X3, since it seems to be a shorter/easier version of P90X from the reviews I've read, so I don't think it will challenge…

@laura935 did you already finish the entire program? What did you think of it? What were your results like?

I did P90X plyometrics today. It felt like "Insanity light", since I just completed that program. I might swap out one of the Insanity workouts for this one in the future, since it seems like this workout is done once a week for the entire program, and I didn't really have fun with it today.

Congrats on getting through a tough workout! I'm definitely not a morning person, so I know how hard it can be to drag yourself out of bed that early. Nice work :). But yeah, the plyometric pushups are one of my favorite exercises, although I felt like the first month didn't really prepare for that very well. It seemed…

@Heartlight441 if/when you try out Body Beast, I'd love to hear what you think of it. I've heard mixed things, and still on the fence as to whether I'll try it.

@cardertaxidermy I think that max interval plyo was my favorite workout, actually. Some of the plyometric exercises were things I'd never seen or done before, and they were a good challenge, so it made it fun. Definitely not an easy workout, though (but then again, none of them really were, at least for me...) Stick with…

Started today (chest/back/abs). Definitely feeling a little sore, but looking forward to the next three months of this. My left shoulder is bit weaker than my right (several dislocations years ago), so it's making the pullups a little harder. Does anyone have thoughts/suggestions for dealing with this? I'm currently doing…

I've heard mixed things about Body Beast. What was your opinion of the instructor in those videos?

I'd definitely recommend taking another 20-30 minutes to do the fitness tests along the way so you have a marker for your progress, if you can. Also, I made a before/after comparison photo if anyone cares. I lost a noticeable amount of fat and gained slightly better definition. I was hoping for slightly better results, but…

I ordered the Starting Strength book (and Practical Programming for Strength Training as well), and I also came across these books:* Bigger Leaner Stronger: The Simple Science of Building the Ultimate Male Body * The Year One Challenge for Men: Bigger, Leaner, and Stronger Than Ever in 12 Months * Beyond Bigger Leaner…

It's definitely a step up when you hit the 2nd month. Workouts become about an hour long instead of about 40-45 minutes long, and there's more plyometric upper body stuff. There's actually some pretty fun new exercises in the 2nd month, but there's also stuff that goes away. I think the butt kicks are removed during the…

@LazSommer thanks for the suggestions and info, I will look into those programs. When you say "train with a high intensity", how do you define that? For me, that generally means longer runs at a faster pace, sprints, etc. When it comes to lifting, that could mean something else. It seems the generally accepted method is 3…

@LazSommer, thanks for the more detailed response. I'm fit/athletic, yes, but I'm not "strong" in the traditional sense of the word. All my life, my exercise goals have been about endurance- how can I improve my marathon times, how can I do an Ironman and not feel dead at the end, how can I improve my performance for…

It's not a question of wanting to go to a gym or not. It's a question of: what are the exercises in P90X geared more towards? So comments like "if you want to bulk, go to a *real* weight room" aren't helpful. Let's say I have all the weights/machines/etc. at home. Now it becomes a question of pros/cons of different tools…

Granted, I was a lot younger when I was at that level, and I was running an average of 100 to 150 miles per week in addition to doing strength training. Maybe I can get back there, maybe I can't. But the whole point of a goal is having something to reach for, right? The questions in my original post remain unanswered.