A Veterans Guide to INSANITY

To stay accountable with you (and for myself), I wanted to let you know that I finished Day 31 of INSANITY: Core, Cardio & Balance (the third day doing this workout during Recovery Week)!

My chalk board this week reads:

RECOVERY WEEK! (NOT WEAK!) It also has smiley faces on the right side - one for each day completed (3). :)

I went for a run afterward. We had a huge thunderstorm last night so it was wet outside and around 40 degrees - my favorite weather for running.

This is evident by my record-setting (for myself) pace per mile! It really did smell like fish water outside (eww), the worms were coming out of the ground and onto the sidewalks (so I was playing dodge the worms), my legs felt great, and THEN(!) it started raining halfway through my run.

Sooooo, I pointed myself towards home and finished 2.12 miles and burnt 300 calories. I was pretty happy with my time but sad that I had to cut it short (I did not want to get caught in a downpour).

For the record: I used RunKeeper this time (since my Zombies! Run app quit in the middle of my last run and I did not feel like having radio chatter/zombie growls during this run) and FIT Radio.

Obviously, it had been a very very long time since I used RunKeeper since I got this email:

Most of my recent posts have been about INSANITY since I started the 63 day program 4 weeks ago, therefore I am making this one a themed Sevens. Be excited! :) Stick with me. Rather, it is the INs and outs of INSANITY to keep you sane. See what I did there?

gest clean foods and drink water. I always tell people - diets are temporary and do not last. You need to make a lifestyle of your eating habits or you will never reach your goals and stay there. Therefore, remember these important things:

Your body is a machine and it requires nutrients. You would not put dirt in your car’s gas tank and expect it to run correctly. Therefore, do not put crap in your body and expect it to either.
Eat to fuel your body. This means fruits, veggies, lean proteins, whole wheat carbohydrates, sweet potatoes, etc. Fruits are a natural sugar and my body has come to associate ‘sweets’ with eating fruit. Therefore, a treat. Make good choices and take the time to cook meals (ahead of time if you have to).

Drink water like it is going out of style. Do you know how much you sweat (I sweat like a fool) while doing INSANITY? You need to replenish your body. Do not drink caloric drinks like juice, alcohol, sugar crap, iced coffee drinks, etc. Water will help you get through the workouts, lose weight, stay healthy, stay focused, I could go on forever…

Do not starve yourself thinking you are going to lose weight. INSANITY is a very demanding cardio workout that requires food for energy. I am eating all the time - but I make good choices.
I keep a food journal using MyFitnessPal.
For the record - I feel like crap if I eat like crap and try to do a workout. Why waste your time?

tick with it. Do not quit. It is going to be hard, you are not going to be perfect, you will take breaks, you will lay on ground, you may dry-heave, and you will cuss out Shaun T (I did), you will have puddles of sweat on your floor, you will spit sweat (I do), and it isn’t gonna be pretty.

When I am doing a workout program like this one, I do not look at the schedule like it is a choice. It is like going to work - it is not an option. If something comes up (which is very rare - because nothing THAT major can come up to make you not be able to spare an hour of your day) you can make it up.
You will notice changes. They will not be in a few days or weeks, but they will be slowly and fantastic. At the end, if you have been taking your before/30/after photos, you will gasp and see the change.

The program is designed to be finished - not started and ended after a month. There is a 'recovery’ week for your muscles to recover and then there is a 'max’ month which sends your muscles soaring out of any kind of plateau they could have been sitting in and into change.

im higher than you initially would have given yourself credit for. INSANITY is an at-home workout program that YOU have to press play for everyday. YOU have to show up. YOU have to challenge yourself to beat your scores on the last Fit Tests. YOU have to want to do better at each workout every time.

Do not settle. Try harder each day and push for more on each Fit Test.

Make goals like not stopping/taking extra breaks or doing more push-ups/not on your knees this time.
Give yourself some credit. This beast is not easy and you are working at it everyday. Who else that you know can say the same?

otes, motivational sayings, posters, calendars, and blogs will help you through the program. As will accountability partner(s) - or someone to be doing it along with you (if you have this available). INSANITY requires motivation and sometimes, you will have days that you cannot find it in yourself. Therefore, try some of the things I do:

Write inspirational sayings on the wall (chalk board I hung) daily.
Check mark the days you complete on a calendar (I have at least…four - one on here, one at work, one at home and one on TeamBeachBody).

Write about it - blog, for instance! :)
'Like’ pages on Facebook and follow Twitter organizations that motivate you. For instance, I follow Shaun T in about 8 different places (including Twitter, FB, and YouTube), am part of 6 different INSANITY groups on FB, 'like’ around 4 inspirational/fitness pages and have my own page.

mportance of form is key as is getting the zzz’s. Shaun T focuses on form and continues to tell you 'form over speed’. INSANITY is a highly thought-out form-filled workout regime and if you are just throwing your body around randomly (while you will probably still get some calories burnt) you will void your body of the muscle strengthening it provides. The program uses your own body weight to build strength. Squats are not little baby bends, they are SQUATS. Get your butt down. Power jumps are not little gallops into the air, they are POWER JUMPS into the air. Touch the freakin’ ceiling.

You will also find that you are more tired than usual and will be going to bed earlier. INSANITY will wear you out and it will require sleep to get up and do the next workout on the schedule the next day. Just like you are fueling the machine, you need to give it rest.
Muscles are torn in the gym (wherever you are doing INSANITY), fed in the kitchen, and built in bed. If you want to see result, you are going to have to get some sleep.

reat yourself. I do not mean eat a cookie a day because you finished your INSANITY workout. I mean - set some goals - and treat yourself to something like new fitness gear when you reach them. For instance:

If you lose a pound (or 5 or 10), buy a pair of new tennis shoes. Also: do not step on the scale daily or weekly. Try to do it at the beginning, maybe on the Fit Test days, and the end. The scale is your worst enemy. It is the measurements that matter. Trust me - it’ll drive you insane.
Buy new jeans because your current one are falling off your waist.
Buy a new water bottle.
Buy new workout clothes (less bulk - because you are losing weight).
Decorate/paint your workout room. Make it YOUR place.

Okay, so these may be things I do….

es, you will be sore. Yes, you will sweat. Yes, it will be evil and brutal. Yes, you will have days where you have to crawl up stairs. You will want to kill some of the fitness models in the video that do not sweat.

Yes, you will see results. Yes, you will feel better emotionally, physically, and mentally. People will compliment you, envy your dedication and wonder how you ever did it.

Yes, you will look in the mirror and smile. You will be proud of yourself, will probably want to do it all over again, and will appreciate the blood/sweat/tears/throwing up/half-dying you put yourself through.

YES. INSANITY is worth it and I am addicted. What are you addicted to that is better than this? If you are not having fun, you need to find another workout.

There you have it. SEVEN letters/categories: IN, S, A, N, I, T, Y (in case you missed it). I hope these help those of you doing INSANITY and those of you about to do so.

Welcome to the best and 'hardest workout program put on DVD’. It is one of my favorites and I am on my fourth round and have always used random INSANITY workouts for cardio. Use my INSANITY Journey page for reference and keep me posted on your journey!