I'm almost never able to update this over the weekends, which is fine because I seldom do an Insanity or P90X workout then (although I think I'll try and start doing that again at some point if I have time), and was too busy at work yesterday to throw one up - so this is a real quick recap from Friday-Monday.
Friday I didn't do Insanity at lunch but instead played a really fun game of pick-up soccer over in Tyson's, even though it was super cold out (about 40 degrees). Was still a good workout. Went out for dinner to some Dim Sum restaurant in Chinatown but wasn't hungry after eating a late lunch (turkey sandwich, chips and drink) so just had some beers there then more later at Fado's Irish Pub across the street.
Saturday I rested until heading over to Wawa for lunch (sandwich, soft pretzel & iced tea) then out for the night for a Bar Golf Crawl in Arlington, VA then a Christmas Party in NW DC. Good times but the drinks add up so I did well to keep my food portions low.
Sunday morning I had some homemade hash browns for breakfast from fresh potatoes, so I'm going to guess that those are way healthier than the ones you get at restaurants. Played pick-up basketball for about an hour and a half in the late morning then had Subway for lunch (tuna sandwich). Picked up Katie from BWI that evening and she made a really great tilapia dinner with wild rice and fresh broccoli. VERY healthy.
Monday was back to the grind. Very healthy breakfast and then Insanity Pure Cardio in the middle of the day and salad for lunch. I decided to have Shakeology for dinner (smoothie style with the blender, 1 cup of milk and some OJ). Was at least edible this time, although still not great. Also polished off the remainder of the cheese and crackers (not much). All-in-all would say I was well under 2,000 calories for the day and probably burned an extra 600+ with Insanity. Good stuff.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
Day 9 Results
No morning workout after a late night, but had a very healthy breakfast and morning snack (Kashi GoLean cereal with sliced up fresh banana, then an 8oz V8 and Activia Lite yogurt for morning snack). Had a great Insanity workout at lunch (Cardio Power & Resistance). After work I had a Big Brothers Big Sisters event at Tyson's Corner and then took my little brother Marcus and Kyle to Alexandria, VA for their 8:45pm basketball game. I kept the book at the game (harder than you'd think because basketball moves so fast) and then went to DC to meet up with my girlfriend and her mom. I finally got Shakeology (Greenberry flavor) in the mail on Wednesday and had it for an afternoon snack just mixed with water yesterday (no blender in the office yet). It tasted TERRIBLE. Not sure if I can get myself to do that again until I can mix it with milk, ice and fruit. I could hardly keep myself from gagging on it. Had a piece of leftover steak and mac & cheese for dinner. Not terrible and small portion.
RECAP:
workout - Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance at lunch (hardest part - moving pushups for 30 sec then transition straight to floor sprints for 30 sec with no break)
diet - I'll give myself a 8.5/10 for today.... lot's of healthy food but had a small bag of chips with lunch
RECAP:
workout - Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance at lunch (hardest part - moving pushups for 30 sec then transition straight to floor sprints for 30 sec with no break)
diet - I'll give myself a 8.5/10 for today.... lot's of healthy food but had a small bag of chips with lunch
Day 8 Results
I had a client lunch on Wednesday this week so I knew I wouldn't have time to workout during the day. I brought Insanity to the gym before work and did a great Pure Cardio workout. I even had my friend Adam do the warm up and stretch with me. Not a great diet day for me though. The client lunch was at Big Bowl in Reston, VA and we had a lot of Asian/Indian food there. I didn't eat much but it made me feel like crap for the rest of the afternoon. After work I went to DC for the Bill Simmon's book signing (awesome) and then back to Fairfax, VA for the GMU/Loyola basketball game (Mason won by 14) and then Brion's Grill for post-game dinner (chicken wrap and fries - tastes great but not good for you).
RECAP:
workout - Insanity Pure Cardio in the morning (hardest part: suicide jumps aka burpies)
diet - not good, ate out for lunch and dinner and had soda
RECAP:
workout - Insanity Pure Cardio in the morning (hardest part: suicide jumps aka burpies)
diet - not good, ate out for lunch and dinner and had soda
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Day 7 Results
When I start eating really healthy for dinner, that's when I will really see results. Just hasn't happened yet. We had our company holiday dinner/happy hour at Clyde's in Ashburn, VA (really nice place) and the food was just too good, too much and too free to resist! The apps were fantastic. The dinner was buffet-style with Salmon, Filet Mignon and Chicken/Pasta as the main courses. How do I choose between my 3 favorite entree's??? I couldn't. Had 1 of each :)
With that and the beers, I was filled to the brim! I could not eat 1 more ounce of food last night. No way. The good thing is I had an apple and PowerBar for lunch because I knew we'd have a big, early dinner. I still managed to get in a good Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit at lunch to make up for (some of) it.
RECAP:
workouts - Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (hardest part: Level I Drills (4 pushups, 4 mountain climbers, jump up, repeat), Ski Abs (from plank position, jump feet in to right hand, back to plank, jump to left hand, etc), and In-And-Out Abs (from plank jump feet in, back to plank, in, back, etc) back-to-back-to-back with no rest. This is an impossible task that I have never been able to complete without taking a short rest at some point. Super hard.
diet - very healthy breakfast and small lunch then dinner was terrible. I must have had 2k calories at dinner. Terrible.
FAITH FOCUS FINISH - GET BETTER TOMORROW
With that and the beers, I was filled to the brim! I could not eat 1 more ounce of food last night. No way. The good thing is I had an apple and PowerBar for lunch because I knew we'd have a big, early dinner. I still managed to get in a good Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit at lunch to make up for (some of) it.
RECAP:
workouts - Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (hardest part: Level I Drills (4 pushups, 4 mountain climbers, jump up, repeat), Ski Abs (from plank position, jump feet in to right hand, back to plank, jump to left hand, etc), and In-And-Out Abs (from plank jump feet in, back to plank, in, back, etc) back-to-back-to-back with no rest. This is an impossible task that I have never been able to complete without taking a short rest at some point. Super hard.
diet - very healthy breakfast and small lunch then dinner was terrible. I must have had 2k calories at dinner. Terrible.
FAITH FOCUS FINISH - GET BETTER TOMORROW
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Day 6 Results
Interesting day for the Fitness Challenge. Again, no morning workout because I had to drive home from DC before work to get work clothes and shower. Healthy breakfast but then the owner of my company walked by my desk and asked if I wanted to get lunch with him. How do you say "No" to that??? We ended up going to Masala Wok, an Asian/Indian Fusion Restaurant in Herndon. I got Chicken and Broccoli with noodles, which I thought was one of the "healthier" options there, but for the next few hours I felt like complete crap. I don't know what was in there but I could NOT digest it!
Anyways, I knew I had Yoga class last night and didn't want that to be my only exercise for the day, so I snuck downstairs to the gym around 3:30 while the office was having birthday cake and got in a good 40 minutes of Insanity Pure Cardio. I felt like poo during the workout but got a really good sweat and I was really glad I did it. Had a PowerBar and an apple after the workout and after work headed over to the last Yoga class of the fall semester (I take them at Mason, so they schedule them by Semester). Had a fairly healthy dinner (although the portion size was a bit much) and caught up on some DVR when the Monday Night Football game was no longer competitive.
RECAP:
Workout - Insanity Pure Cardio in Afternoon (hardest part: Suicide Jumps (aka "burpies") and Level II Drills (8 push-ups, 8 mountain climbers, jump up - repeat for 1 min), and then Yoga class for 1 hour from 6:30-7:30pm. Good Yoga class. I really think working out in the afternoon, although I thought I might throw up then, prevented me from indigestion during Yoga.
Diet - pretty good besides eating out at an Asian/Indian Fusion place. ugh
*oh yeah - I weighed in after Yoga and before I ate dinner... results: 206.2 (3.2 lbs lost in 1st week) - good start!
Anyways, I knew I had Yoga class last night and didn't want that to be my only exercise for the day, so I snuck downstairs to the gym around 3:30 while the office was having birthday cake and got in a good 40 minutes of Insanity Pure Cardio. I felt like poo during the workout but got a really good sweat and I was really glad I did it. Had a PowerBar and an apple after the workout and after work headed over to the last Yoga class of the fall semester (I take them at Mason, so they schedule them by Semester). Had a fairly healthy dinner (although the portion size was a bit much) and caught up on some DVR when the Monday Night Football game was no longer competitive.
RECAP:
Workout - Insanity Pure Cardio in Afternoon (hardest part: Suicide Jumps (aka "burpies") and Level II Drills (8 push-ups, 8 mountain climbers, jump up - repeat for 1 min), and then Yoga class for 1 hour from 6:30-7:30pm. Good Yoga class. I really think working out in the afternoon, although I thought I might throw up then, prevented me from indigestion during Yoga.
Diet - pretty good besides eating out at an Asian/Indian Fusion place. ugh
*oh yeah - I weighed in after Yoga and before I ate dinner... results: 206.2 (3.2 lbs lost in 1st week) - good start!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Day 3,4 & 5 Results
Day 3 - Friday, December 3rd
No morning workout here, decided I need to sleep an extra 40 minutes instead :). Planned on doing Insanity Pure Cardio at lunch but I ended up playing soccer for an hour instead. Soccer is a very good workout but Insanity is tougher. I knew I was going to play in a floor hockey game in the evening, so I figured 2 high energy and lots of running sports games would be good enough to make up for no Insanity. Healthy breakfast and lunch as usual (Kashi cereal, fruit and power bar for lunch). Dinner was not so good. Didn't get to Katie's until late after hockey and after 9pm there aren't many options. We ended up settling for Chipotle :(. Not to mention we had plenty of beers during and after. Such is life on a Friday night.
Day 4 - Saturday, December 4th
This weekend was filled with just travel and pretty much no exercise. Katie and I went up to PA at 9am and got there in time for lunch (tuna fish sandwich). We did take a nice walk around Washington's Crossing, which unfortunately served as the most exercise I would get all weekend. We got a slice of the World's Best Pizza (AKA Dominick's) for an afternoon snack and my mom cooked an incredibly healthy dinner consisting of Salmon, Wild Rice and Broccoli. Very healthy and VERY tasty.
Day 5 - Sunday, December 5th
I drove about 12 hours or so on Sunday. Insane driving day. Drove from Philly to Worcester, MA for a Hannukah Party at my cousin's then back to DC that night. Obviously no time to exercise, and I sure had my fair share of "Hannukah-party-food". It was a great time and I have no regrets, but I'll have to chalk this up as a lost weekend for this Fitness Challenge. A new week starts MONDAY!
RECAP
Workouts: Friday played soccer and floor hockey for 1 hour each. That's it for the weekend :(
Diet: Plenty of "cheating" the past 3 days! Chipotle and beers Friday night, Wawa pretzel and iced tea, pizza and 2 cookies Saturday and then Pepsi, party food and a cheeseburger at the rest stop on the way home capped off the weekend.
Every new day is a new chance for improvement! FAITH FOCUS FINISH!
No morning workout here, decided I need to sleep an extra 40 minutes instead :). Planned on doing Insanity Pure Cardio at lunch but I ended up playing soccer for an hour instead. Soccer is a very good workout but Insanity is tougher. I knew I was going to play in a floor hockey game in the evening, so I figured 2 high energy and lots of running sports games would be good enough to make up for no Insanity. Healthy breakfast and lunch as usual (Kashi cereal, fruit and power bar for lunch). Dinner was not so good. Didn't get to Katie's until late after hockey and after 9pm there aren't many options. We ended up settling for Chipotle :(. Not to mention we had plenty of beers during and after. Such is life on a Friday night.
Day 4 - Saturday, December 4th
This weekend was filled with just travel and pretty much no exercise. Katie and I went up to PA at 9am and got there in time for lunch (tuna fish sandwich). We did take a nice walk around Washington's Crossing, which unfortunately served as the most exercise I would get all weekend. We got a slice of the World's Best Pizza (AKA Dominick's) for an afternoon snack and my mom cooked an incredibly healthy dinner consisting of Salmon, Wild Rice and Broccoli. Very healthy and VERY tasty.
Day 5 - Sunday, December 5th
I drove about 12 hours or so on Sunday. Insane driving day. Drove from Philly to Worcester, MA for a Hannukah Party at my cousin's then back to DC that night. Obviously no time to exercise, and I sure had my fair share of "Hannukah-party-food". It was a great time and I have no regrets, but I'll have to chalk this up as a lost weekend for this Fitness Challenge. A new week starts MONDAY!
RECAP
Workouts: Friday played soccer and floor hockey for 1 hour each. That's it for the weekend :(
Diet: Plenty of "cheating" the past 3 days! Chipotle and beers Friday night, Wawa pretzel and iced tea, pizza and 2 cookies Saturday and then Pepsi, party food and a cheeseburger at the rest stop on the way home capped off the weekend.
Every new day is a new chance for improvement! FAITH FOCUS FINISH!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Day 2 Results
When I did P90X almost a year ago from Jan-March 2010, I didn't have a girlfriend at the time and didn't have many responsibilities outside of work and firefighting. I was able to go home pretty much every day after work and cook a healthy dinner, stretch while watching TV and then go to sleep around 10-11pm every night pretty much. Staying focused was MUCH easier. I also worked in an office with a pretty good-sized kitchen with a blender so making the Shakeology shakes for lunch or afternoon snack was easy.
This time around, I'm finding it much more difficult. I now have a serious girlfriend and my social life is way more active. The past two nights I've gone out and had some drinks with her (Wednesday after the GMU basketball game and last night we went to a bar to watch the Eagles and Cav's/Heat game). So I've eaten out, drank some beers and stayed up past Midnight the 1st two nights of my personal fitness challenge! These are all good ways to fail in weight loss. I did chose "healthier" food options again - a chicken salad sandwich and side salad - but the 3 PBR's did well enough to even that out. I can see this being a challenge for the remainder of the 2 months, I just need to find a way to beat this!
RECAP:
morning workout - missed due to traffic :(
lunch workout - Insanity: Cardio Recovery (hardest part - concentration squats and lunges!)
diet - beers with dinner (again), chicken salad sandwich at a restaurant probably is not great
This time around, I'm finding it much more difficult. I now have a serious girlfriend and my social life is way more active. The past two nights I've gone out and had some drinks with her (Wednesday after the GMU basketball game and last night we went to a bar to watch the Eagles and Cav's/Heat game). So I've eaten out, drank some beers and stayed up past Midnight the 1st two nights of my personal fitness challenge! These are all good ways to fail in weight loss. I did chose "healthier" food options again - a chicken salad sandwich and side salad - but the 3 PBR's did well enough to even that out. I can see this being a challenge for the remainder of the 2 months, I just need to find a way to beat this!
RECAP:
morning workout - missed due to traffic :(
lunch workout - Insanity: Cardio Recovery (hardest part - concentration squats and lunges!)
diet - beers with dinner (again), chicken salad sandwich at a restaurant probably is not great
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Day 1 Results
OK so Day 1 went not as great as I had hoped but not bad by any means. I ate great during the day, had 2 very good workouts and even ordered Shakeology (like a combination protien/general nutrition shake mix) - but then dinner rolls around after going to the GMU/GW basketball game and I slacked a bit. I'm glad I didn't completely fall off the wagon on DAY 1 and order a cheeseburger from Brion's Grill (where we went after the game) but instead got a grilled chicken wrap with fries and a beer. Grilled chicken wrap is pretty healthy. Fries are terrible. Beers are going to be drank, so I'm not going to kill myself for that. I really should have subbed veggies for the fries. NEED TO STAY FOCUSED 100%!!!
Recap:
morning workout - pull-ups, push-ups, core, row
lunch workout - Insanity-Cardio Power & Resistance
diet - fries and beer with dinner BAD
Recap:
morning workout - pull-ups, push-ups, core, row
lunch workout - Insanity-Cardio Power & Resistance
diet - fries and beer with dinner BAD
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE
Fitness is a journey. Anyone who is into fitness knows this. It's very easy to go off track. Even if you don't think you really are. For the past 2-3 months I've been eating what I would have considered "fairly healthy" and continued to work out almost every day and sometimes twice a day. Even with all that, I weighed in tonight at 209.4 lbs. Now, I did not even try to eat at all healthy over Thanksgiving, but that's a lot of pounds to gain. I'm going to give myself 2 months to lose 20 lbs. I think I can do it. The target weight is UNDER 189.4 lbs by February 1st!
STAY FOCUSED! (me talking to myself)
Oh - and what's my plan?
I'm going to start with 2-a-day workouts again. Focus on cardio and light weights for the 1st week in the mornings and Insanity DVD's at lunch. No mistakes in the diet. Now - that doesn't mean I can't cheat. I just have to recognize that if I'm eating something that's not fuel or a productive food then it is CHEATING. It's not going to be part of my normal diet. As long as I'm focused and recognize that, then I'll be just fine :)
Diet focus - lots of fiber and healthy carbs early. heavy protien all day. lots of veggies. that's it!
STAY FOCUSED! (me talking to myself)
Oh - and what's my plan?
I'm going to start with 2-a-day workouts again. Focus on cardio and light weights for the 1st week in the mornings and Insanity DVD's at lunch. No mistakes in the diet. Now - that doesn't mean I can't cheat. I just have to recognize that if I'm eating something that's not fuel or a productive food then it is CHEATING. It's not going to be part of my normal diet. As long as I'm focused and recognize that, then I'll be just fine :)
Diet focus - lots of fiber and healthy carbs early. heavy protien all day. lots of veggies. that's it!
STARTING OVER.... AGAIN
So after a break of the Beachbody workouts, I've decided to start another round to get back (and in better) shape. I'm going to try and keep my blog updated and also track my progress/thoughts/workouts on Twitter (@dvdub).
2010 has been a very good year for me in terms of fitness, nutrition and general weight loss. Even though I've been working out for over 10 years, I never really knew that much about what working out can really do besides that curls works your biceps and bench press is for your chest. The little I knew about weight training/fitness would seem like expert-level knowledge in comparison to my knowledge of nutrition. Basically all I knew was salads were good and candy and soda were bad. I had literally no idea what was good to eat or even that food could be used as a fuel for exercise.
Towards the end of 2009 I developed some terrible habits/cravings for Chipotle and Wawa especially. I had gained probably over 15 lbs and most of it after October. It was really negatively affecting my self-esteem and I often felt depressed. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt "over weight". After graduating college in 2006 at around 180 lbs, I made my way up to the 230- range around New Years 2010. Fortunately for me, some of the folks in my office at the time decided to start a "Biggest Loser" contest beginning January 4th, 2010 and lasting 3 months - with a $25 buy-in and the winner getting about $200. Literally could not have come at a better time for me. I made what ended up being an incredibly wise decision and ordered P90X to give me a guide for the 3 months (it's a 90-day workout program). My starting weight on 01/04/2010 was officially 233 lbs, and my lofty target was to get under 200 lbs in 90 days.
It took me a few days to figure out when to fit in the 1+ hour DVD's, but I ended up bringing my laptop to the gym in the morning and doing it every day before work. I had been working out at lunch for the past 2+ years, so I continued that and just switched to only cardio at lunch. So for the majority of the 3 months, I was working out 6 days a week, and about 4 of those days I'd work out at least twice a day. I was also eating very healthy. Lots of grilled chicken and broccoli and I bought the Beachbody protein/nutrient shake Shakeology to add to the diet. I had lofty goals (I would have to average almost 3 lbs/week for 12 weeks) so it wasn't easy! Even with all that, I plateaued at around 210 lbs for a few weeks right before the end of the contest. I rallied in the last week and turned up my diet and workouts even though I was over 9 lbs away from 200. I don't know how I did it, but I lost 9.4 lbs that last week and came in at exactly 199.8 lbs after 12 weeks. I lost over 33 lbs in 3 months! Pretty exciting stuff.
After that, I took April and May off from crazy workout programs (still working out, just not twice a day). I got back up to about 205 lbs and then in June I started another Beachbody program, Insanity - which is a 60-day DVD program. Due to travel and an injury, I wasn't able to get it completed in exactly 60 days, but I still finished it in about 2.5 months and dropped down to 195 lbs by the end of August.
I started a new job further away from my house at the end of August and although I've been able to continue to exercise, it hasn't been as much and it's been difficult to find the time and energy to keep it up. Since then I've gained a few of those pounds back and I'm ready again to get focused to get more fit. So, I'm going to weigh-in tonight and see where I'm at, set a goal and starting tomorrow - December 1st, 2010 - I'm going to get it done! This time I'm going to do a combination of Insanity and P90X and see what happens.
This time I'm going to get under 190, I promise!!!!
2010 has been a very good year for me in terms of fitness, nutrition and general weight loss. Even though I've been working out for over 10 years, I never really knew that much about what working out can really do besides that curls works your biceps and bench press is for your chest. The little I knew about weight training/fitness would seem like expert-level knowledge in comparison to my knowledge of nutrition. Basically all I knew was salads were good and candy and soda were bad. I had literally no idea what was good to eat or even that food could be used as a fuel for exercise.
Towards the end of 2009 I developed some terrible habits/cravings for Chipotle and Wawa especially. I had gained probably over 15 lbs and most of it after October. It was really negatively affecting my self-esteem and I often felt depressed. It was the first time in my life that I actually felt "over weight". After graduating college in 2006 at around 180 lbs, I made my way up to the 230- range around New Years 2010. Fortunately for me, some of the folks in my office at the time decided to start a "Biggest Loser" contest beginning January 4th, 2010 and lasting 3 months - with a $25 buy-in and the winner getting about $200. Literally could not have come at a better time for me. I made what ended up being an incredibly wise decision and ordered P90X to give me a guide for the 3 months (it's a 90-day workout program). My starting weight on 01/04/2010 was officially 233 lbs, and my lofty target was to get under 200 lbs in 90 days.
It took me a few days to figure out when to fit in the 1+ hour DVD's, but I ended up bringing my laptop to the gym in the morning and doing it every day before work. I had been working out at lunch for the past 2+ years, so I continued that and just switched to only cardio at lunch. So for the majority of the 3 months, I was working out 6 days a week, and about 4 of those days I'd work out at least twice a day. I was also eating very healthy. Lots of grilled chicken and broccoli and I bought the Beachbody protein/nutrient shake Shakeology to add to the diet. I had lofty goals (I would have to average almost 3 lbs/week for 12 weeks) so it wasn't easy! Even with all that, I plateaued at around 210 lbs for a few weeks right before the end of the contest. I rallied in the last week and turned up my diet and workouts even though I was over 9 lbs away from 200. I don't know how I did it, but I lost 9.4 lbs that last week and came in at exactly 199.8 lbs after 12 weeks. I lost over 33 lbs in 3 months! Pretty exciting stuff.
After that, I took April and May off from crazy workout programs (still working out, just not twice a day). I got back up to about 205 lbs and then in June I started another Beachbody program, Insanity - which is a 60-day DVD program. Due to travel and an injury, I wasn't able to get it completed in exactly 60 days, but I still finished it in about 2.5 months and dropped down to 195 lbs by the end of August.
I started a new job further away from my house at the end of August and although I've been able to continue to exercise, it hasn't been as much and it's been difficult to find the time and energy to keep it up. Since then I've gained a few of those pounds back and I'm ready again to get focused to get more fit. So, I'm going to weigh-in tonight and see where I'm at, set a goal and starting tomorrow - December 1st, 2010 - I'm going to get it done! This time I'm going to do a combination of Insanity and P90X and see what happens.
This time I'm going to get under 190, I promise!!!!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Insanity Day 38 - Max Cardio Conditioning
Ooops. I guess life got a bit in the way of updating this blog the past 2 and a half weeks. Well a quick synopsis of what I've been up to: went down to Charlotte, NC to visit some fam for a weekend, then went up to NJ for a family wedding the following weekend. All-in-all I've been real proud of myself for keeping up with Insanity for the most part while on my travels. I did the DVDs with my little 2 and 4 year old cousins down in NC, which was freaking hilarious. I was only able to get 1 workout in when I was up in NJ which was also funny because my parents house is about 100 years old and all the jumping in the Insanity workout was shaking the whole house so my dad made me take my laptop outside and do it in the back yard. It was a nice day so I actually got the most out of it and enjoyed being out there.
Today was typical Wednesday... wake up with the best intensions of getting to the gym at 6am but still hung over from post-kickball beers so snooze the alarm a few times and pledge to do Insanity after work. I got a good weight lifting workout today at lunch with Ian and made it down after work at around 7pm for Insanity. These "Max" workouts so far have been freaking INSANE. 1st of all they are just about an hour as opposed to the 40 minute month one workouts. Not only that, but they are way harder to boot! Holy crap they are killer. Today's was actually a bit easier than yesterday's Max Plyo workout, but still harder than any of the 1st month ones. Should be interesting to see what the "Max Recovery" workout brings tomorrow.
As far as diet - it was a really good day. I started drinking the Shakeology beach body shake for lunch and I'm hoping that starts to pay dividends as I look to shed these last 10-15 lbs.
Maybe I'll have time at work tomorrow to add the workout and diet schedule. But for now it's late and I've got a date with my boy Shaun T in 6 hours.
Today was typical Wednesday... wake up with the best intensions of getting to the gym at 6am but still hung over from post-kickball beers so snooze the alarm a few times and pledge to do Insanity after work. I got a good weight lifting workout today at lunch with Ian and made it down after work at around 7pm for Insanity. These "Max" workouts so far have been freaking INSANE. 1st of all they are just about an hour as opposed to the 40 minute month one workouts. Not only that, but they are way harder to boot! Holy crap they are killer. Today's was actually a bit easier than yesterday's Max Plyo workout, but still harder than any of the 1st month ones. Should be interesting to see what the "Max Recovery" workout brings tomorrow.
As far as diet - it was a really good day. I started drinking the Shakeology beach body shake for lunch and I'm hoping that starts to pay dividends as I look to shed these last 10-15 lbs.
Maybe I'll have time at work tomorrow to add the workout and diet schedule. But for now it's late and I've got a date with my boy Shaun T in 6 hours.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Insanity Day 15 - Fit Test
Fit Test again today. I'll try to put the actual #s down at some point but they are at home and I'm at my office. Just know they were greatly improved. I will say that I was probably going at 90-95% for the 1st one just so I could have improvement and today I went 100% on pretty much all of them. It will be interesting to see if I can improve them again in 2 weeks, because I felt pretty maxed out. Also, I paused the DVD a few times just for an extra 30 seconds rest between Fit Test exercises.
For the diet today I don't remember everything I ate but I know I did have 2 beers after the VFD meeting.
For the diet today I don't remember everything I ate but I know I did have 2 beers after the VFD meeting.
Insanity Day 14 - Off
Another "Off" day. I'm very glad to have Sundays off right now. I have football on Sunday morning so I'll still be getting a decent workout in. Other than that nothing big to report here and I definitely don't remember what I ate.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Insanity Day 13 - Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs
Just finished the first double workout of this Insanity workout program, with the addition of the 16 min long Cardio Abs. Pure Cardio is a hard workout... no rest. Putting an extra 16 min workout after that is challenging. Cardio Abs is unique because there are litterally ZERO crunches or sit-ups in this Ab workout. Very unusual. I took some week 2 pics after the workout which I will post soon. Off to football practice.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Insanity Day 12 - Cardio Power and Resistance
Still fighting this damn cold. Not to mention I bruised my shin sliding in softball last night. When I woke up at 6am this morning, I thought I might be able to make it though the workout, so I hopped in the car and headed out to Tysons. The whole way there my leg was throbbing and I could barely walk on my way out to the car. I decided to skip the morning workout and just took a nap in my car. Definitely a good idea. I worked out with Ian at lunch (real tough one) and my leg was feeling much better by then. By the time I left the office at 6pm to go back to the gym for Insanity I was probably at 80-90% with my shin, and probably 70% with the cold. I'll take it!
My lunch workout with Ian was really hard today. Probably partly because I wasn't 100% but also it was just freakin intense. Shaun T would have been proud. We did was we call the "56" workout... basically pick one exercise for each muscle group (chest, shoulders, back, bi's, tri's) and then do 10 sets with reps decreasing each set from 10 to 1 (totalling 56 reps... hence the "56" workout). Started with bench press at 135 lbs (hard). Then military press at 85 lbs (also hard). Then lat-pulldown at 100 lbs (I think... it wasn't too hard so after the 5th set we pushed it up to 120 lbs). Then shrugs (rack). Finished with manual resistance curls and tricep press. Well, we didn't finish there... of course we had to do some killer ab work. All in all a really good and tough workout.
Insanity after work was nice. Didn't have to worry about finishing on a schedule like my morning workouts, so I was able to pause it towards the end, give myself a short 2 minute break then get back on it. I've done this Cardio Power and Resistance workout a few times so I'm not going to go into great detail about it, but it is a tough one. Well the first set of exercises is hard but not killer. The second set with Globe Jumps and Moving Pushups and Mountain Climber was freaking insane. I paused it after the 3rd set of these exercises before the bonus workouts (8 squat hops and 8 pushups times 4).
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout - none
Kashi GoLean with Bananas and Skim Milk
Activia Lite Yogurt
8 oz V8
Lunch Workout - weightlifting with Ian (45 min)
Chicken Cheesesteak
20 oz Pepsi
Fritos
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Evening Workout - Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance (45 min)
half a Protien bar
Chicken French with Risotto and mixed veggies from Wegmans
Ice cream sandwich
Thoughts on the Day
Still sick. Bad cough mostly. That plus the fact I could barely walk on my left leg this morning and I'm really happy I was able to get 2 workouts in today. I also ordered Shakeology today which I'm planning on having for lunch from now on. Should really help with the diet.
My lunch workout with Ian was really hard today. Probably partly because I wasn't 100% but also it was just freakin intense. Shaun T would have been proud. We did was we call the "56" workout... basically pick one exercise for each muscle group (chest, shoulders, back, bi's, tri's) and then do 10 sets with reps decreasing each set from 10 to 1 (totalling 56 reps... hence the "56" workout). Started with bench press at 135 lbs (hard). Then military press at 85 lbs (also hard). Then lat-pulldown at 100 lbs (I think... it wasn't too hard so after the 5th set we pushed it up to 120 lbs). Then shrugs (rack). Finished with manual resistance curls and tricep press. Well, we didn't finish there... of course we had to do some killer ab work. All in all a really good and tough workout.
Insanity after work was nice. Didn't have to worry about finishing on a schedule like my morning workouts, so I was able to pause it towards the end, give myself a short 2 minute break then get back on it. I've done this Cardio Power and Resistance workout a few times so I'm not going to go into great detail about it, but it is a tough one. Well the first set of exercises is hard but not killer. The second set with Globe Jumps and Moving Pushups and Mountain Climber was freaking insane. I paused it after the 3rd set of these exercises before the bonus workouts (8 squat hops and 8 pushups times 4).
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout - none
Kashi GoLean with Bananas and Skim Milk
Activia Lite Yogurt
8 oz V8
Lunch Workout - weightlifting with Ian (45 min)
Chicken Cheesesteak
20 oz Pepsi
Fritos
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Evening Workout - Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance (45 min)
half a Protien bar
Chicken French with Risotto and mixed veggies from Wegmans
Ice cream sandwich
Thoughts on the Day
Still sick. Bad cough mostly. That plus the fact I could barely walk on my left leg this morning and I'm really happy I was able to get 2 workouts in today. I also ordered Shakeology today which I'm planning on having for lunch from now on. Should really help with the diet.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Insanity Day 11 - Cardio Recovery
I have to say I was REALLY glad today was Cardio Recovery. I'm on the back end of my cold and my lungs really could use a break... and obviously I wasn't going to miss a day of Insanity for a stinkin cold. After gutting through a full day of work and 2 workouts yesterday, I decided to give myself a few extra hours of Nyquil induced sleep and did Insanity after waking up around 10am.
This workout still gets me pretty damn sweaty for not having any cardio, and reminds me a lot of the first 45 minutes of the P90X Yoga-X workout. Cardio Recovery mixes a bunch of difficult Yoga poses with concentrated squats and lunges to get you sweaty but allowing you to control your breathing. All-in-all I like this workout a lot (P90X Yoga-X was probably my favorite P90X workout).
This workout still gets me pretty damn sweaty for not having any cardio, and reminds me a lot of the first 45 minutes of the P90X Yoga-X workout. Cardio Recovery mixes a bunch of difficult Yoga poses with concentrated squats and lunges to get you sweaty but allowing you to control your breathing. All-in-all I like this workout a lot (P90X Yoga-X was probably my favorite P90X workout).
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Insanity Day 10 - Cardio Circuit (Plyometric Cardio Circuit)
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
On the Insanity Workout Calendar this day is listed as "Cardio Circuit", which got me excited for a new workout... only to find out there was no "Cardio Circuit" DVD and after a quick Google search finding out this is just a typo and should be Plyo Cardio Circuit. So not even half way into Week 2 and I'm already doing the Plyo Cardio Circuit for the 3rd time. Kinda annoying.
Going into the workout this morning I knew I was going to struggle. Plyo Cardo Circuit (PCC) has the hardest 5 minute stretch of any DVD I've done so far (the Basketball Drills section), I'm still sick, and I don't think I got more than 3-4 hours of sleep last night. Bad bad combo. Honestly I'm just glad I had the motivation to get my ass up and to the gym this morning to do it. I had to take a few more breaks than usual, including an extra 2 minute pause before the 3rd set of Basketball Drills.
On an side note, I had free tickets to the National's game tonight but changed my mind about going because all I can think about right now is sleeping. I still feel like crap. Hoping tomorrow will be better.
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout: Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (45 min)
Kashi GoLean cereal with cut up banana and skim milk
Lunch Workout: Weight Training with Ian (50 min)
Subway Chicken Teriyaki sub on wheat toast with lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers
apple
16 oz diet snapple iced tea
some reduced fat wheat thins
On the Insanity Workout Calendar this day is listed as "Cardio Circuit", which got me excited for a new workout... only to find out there was no "Cardio Circuit" DVD and after a quick Google search finding out this is just a typo and should be Plyo Cardio Circuit. So not even half way into Week 2 and I'm already doing the Plyo Cardio Circuit for the 3rd time. Kinda annoying.
Going into the workout this morning I knew I was going to struggle. Plyo Cardo Circuit (PCC) has the hardest 5 minute stretch of any DVD I've done so far (the Basketball Drills section), I'm still sick, and I don't think I got more than 3-4 hours of sleep last night. Bad bad combo. Honestly I'm just glad I had the motivation to get my ass up and to the gym this morning to do it. I had to take a few more breaks than usual, including an extra 2 minute pause before the 3rd set of Basketball Drills.
On an side note, I had free tickets to the National's game tonight but changed my mind about going because all I can think about right now is sleeping. I still feel like crap. Hoping tomorrow will be better.
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout: Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (45 min)
Kashi GoLean cereal with cut up banana and skim milk
Lunch Workout: Weight Training with Ian (50 min)
Subway Chicken Teriyaki sub on wheat toast with lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers
apple
16 oz diet snapple iced tea
some reduced fat wheat thins
Insanity Day 9 - Pure Cardio
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
I feel like I should be adding the date of the workouts on here, so there you go. Today was a sick day from work and I slept in until 11am. Really needed it... this cold is kicking my ass. I considered not working out at all today then I realized that I'm not good at that, so off I went. I drove out to Tysons anyways and played soccer with the guys from noon-1pm then when I got home I relaxed, at some lunch, laid in bed then turned on Insanity at around 5:30pm. Then I showered, got dressed and drove out to DC for 7:15pm kickball on the Mall. I really suck at resting.
Here's a short blurb that I wrote immediately following the Pure Cardio workout (while dripping sweat on the keyboard.)
just finished. still sick, but proud of what i could do with less lungs. warm up wore me down more than usual. only had to take 3 breaks during the 15 min cardio section, which i was happy about. during frog jumps and after doing 20 jack pushups at the end (20 was my goal so that was ok). sweating like crazy. about to go to dc for kickball.
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout: soccer (45 min)
Cosi Chicken TBM with chips and a coke
Lunch/Afternoon Workout: Insanity Pure Cardio (40 min)
Evening "Workout": kickball (45 min).... hilarious I call this a workout. mostly just standing around outside
Grilled Chicken sandwich with American Cheese and some fries (only ate about 60% of the sandwhich and about 50% of the fries)
few cups of Miller Lite and one shot of something
Ice Cream Sandwich
Thoughts on the Day
Way more active than I should have been given I felt like crap all day. In hindsight I'm glad I did Insanity but I probably should have skipped soccer and kickball and just rested. Oh well.
I feel like I should be adding the date of the workouts on here, so there you go. Today was a sick day from work and I slept in until 11am. Really needed it... this cold is kicking my ass. I considered not working out at all today then I realized that I'm not good at that, so off I went. I drove out to Tysons anyways and played soccer with the guys from noon-1pm then when I got home I relaxed, at some lunch, laid in bed then turned on Insanity at around 5:30pm. Then I showered, got dressed and drove out to DC for 7:15pm kickball on the Mall. I really suck at resting.
Here's a short blurb that I wrote immediately following the Pure Cardio workout (while dripping sweat on the keyboard.)
just finished. still sick, but proud of what i could do with less lungs. warm up wore me down more than usual. only had to take 3 breaks during the 15 min cardio section, which i was happy about. during frog jumps and after doing 20 jack pushups at the end (20 was my goal so that was ok). sweating like crazy. about to go to dc for kickball.
Diet/Workout
Morning Workout: soccer (45 min)
Cosi Chicken TBM with chips and a coke
Lunch/Afternoon Workout: Insanity Pure Cardio (40 min)
Evening "Workout": kickball (45 min).... hilarious I call this a workout. mostly just standing around outside
Grilled Chicken sandwich with American Cheese and some fries (only ate about 60% of the sandwhich and about 50% of the fries)
few cups of Miller Lite and one shot of something
Ice Cream Sandwich
Thoughts on the Day
Way more active than I should have been given I felt like crap all day. In hindsight I'm glad I did Insanity but I probably should have skipped soccer and kickball and just rested. Oh well.
Insanity Day 8 - Cardio Power and Resistance
Same workout as Day 3, so I won't go into too much detail here about the workout itself (it's a tough one though). I did it in the morning before work, and felt a bit of a cold coming on which definitely affected my lung capacity. I noticed I was gasping for air much more. Unlike last week, I was able to do this workout without pausing it before the final set. The Moving Pushups to Floor Sprints section of this workout is freaking insane.
Workout/Diet
Morning Workout: Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance (45 min)
Kashi GoLean with Skim Milk and a Banana
8 oz V8
Activia Lite Yogurt
Lunch Workout: none
Cosi Chicken TBM flatbread sandwich, chips and a coke
Subway chicken teriyaki on wheat with lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers
Evening Workout: basketball (45 min)
Thoughts on the Day
Good workout but starting to feel a cold coming on. Felt like crap most of the day. Probably shouldn't have pushed it and played basketball at night, I was severly gassed. Ok with the diet though... maybe too many carbs.
Workout/Diet
Morning Workout: Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance (45 min)
Kashi GoLean with Skim Milk and a Banana
8 oz V8
Activia Lite Yogurt
Lunch Workout: none
Cosi Chicken TBM flatbread sandwich, chips and a coke
Subway chicken teriyaki on wheat with lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers
Evening Workout: basketball (45 min)
Thoughts on the Day
Good workout but starting to feel a cold coming on. Felt like crap most of the day. Probably shouldn't have pushed it and played basketball at night, I was severly gassed. Ok with the diet though... maybe too many carbs.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Insanity Day 7 - Rest
Well "Rest" isn't really something I take well, so although I didn't have an Insanity DVD to use today, I was sure active. I had my 1st co-ed rec football game at 11am and then played 18 holes of golf later on in the afternoon. I had a beer and burger with the team after the game at Baileys in Ballston, VA and a hot dog and coke while golfing. After golf I went to Wegmans and picked up dinner and food for the week. Dinner was some rotisserie chicken, fresh steamed broccoli and some risotto. I think I'm going to stop eating that Wegmans risotto because that stuff has got to be filled with sodium. Anyways, I took some pics after my workout Saturday (after week 1).
Insanity Day 6 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Only 6 days in... still in the 1st week, and already doing a workout that I've already done (on Day 2). Not so happy about that, even though I really liked this workout. Insanity, like P90X, costs over $130 through the BeachBody website. I wish both programs had far more DVDs. P90X has 12 workouts. Same with Insanity.
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the workout itself, check out the Day 2 blog for that. I will say that the "Basketball" section of the workout is incredibly hard. Start with Level 1 Drills - 4 pushups, 4 mountain-climbers, stand up hands in the air then back again for 30 secs; Ski Drills - from plank position jump your feet up to your left side, back to plank, jump feet to right side, back to plank, etc; In-and-Outs - from plank position, jump your feet to your chest, back to plank, back to your chest, etc. Really tough stuff.
It's a 45 minute workout. Like the others, about 20 minutes of it are the intense interval training. Really hard stuff.
This was my 1st non-work day doing Insanity as well, which is always scary. Monday to Friday, working out is just part of the daily routine. Get up, go to the gym, workout, go to work, workout at lunch, back to work, go home. Weekends are harder. Just need to stay focused.
Daily Diet/Workout:
Tuna Melt on Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with American Cheese
16 oz Pepsi
Morning Workout: mowed 3 lawns (2 hours)
Afternoon Workout: Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (45 min)
Cosi Chicken TBM with Carrots and 20 oz Coke
Wawa Iced Tea, soft pretzle, turkey hoagie
Thoughts on the Day:
I wish I hadn't stopped by Wawa after dropping off my little brother in Centreville. I was probably at like 1,500 to 2,000 cals at that point, already had more soda that I should have and worked out a TON. I liked the workout, I liked the fact I was able to get an extra workout outside by mowing some lawns (for free). It was nice.
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the workout itself, check out the Day 2 blog for that. I will say that the "Basketball" section of the workout is incredibly hard. Start with Level 1 Drills - 4 pushups, 4 mountain-climbers, stand up hands in the air then back again for 30 secs; Ski Drills - from plank position jump your feet up to your left side, back to plank, jump feet to right side, back to plank, etc; In-and-Outs - from plank position, jump your feet to your chest, back to plank, back to your chest, etc. Really tough stuff.
It's a 45 minute workout. Like the others, about 20 minutes of it are the intense interval training. Really hard stuff.
This was my 1st non-work day doing Insanity as well, which is always scary. Monday to Friday, working out is just part of the daily routine. Get up, go to the gym, workout, go to work, workout at lunch, back to work, go home. Weekends are harder. Just need to stay focused.
Daily Diet/Workout:
Tuna Melt on Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with American Cheese
16 oz Pepsi
Morning Workout: mowed 3 lawns (2 hours)
Afternoon Workout: Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit (45 min)
Cosi Chicken TBM with Carrots and 20 oz Coke
Wawa Iced Tea, soft pretzle, turkey hoagie
Thoughts on the Day:
I wish I hadn't stopped by Wawa after dropping off my little brother in Centreville. I was probably at like 1,500 to 2,000 cals at that point, already had more soda that I should have and worked out a TON. I liked the workout, I liked the fact I was able to get an extra workout outside by mowing some lawns (for free). It was nice.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Insanity Day 5 - Pure Cardio
Holy crap. I mean this is a serious effing workout. During the other workouts that I've done so far, I often think that the 20 or 30 seconds of rest they give you is not nearly enough and should be 1 minute or more. During Pure Cardio, you have ZERO water breaks during the actual workout part of the DVD. ZERO.
The workout starts out like the others - a pretty intense "warm up". This is easily one of the toughest warm ups, if not THE toughest. File this under "Obvious Foreshadowing".
After the warm up I was already gasping for air and dripping sweat - only to get a 20 second water "break" before some intense stretching. The basic moves in the stretching are pretty similar to the ones in P90X, but these are way more intense. Hard to explain how without going into crazy detail, but basically you have to either keep your arms straight out in front of you or straight above your head for the entire 7 min stretch routine.
Another 20 second break and then it's 15 minutes (15 exercies, 1 min each) of hell. Probably the reason why I enjoy doing Insanity in particular is because these workouts remind me the most of the workouts of a professional athelete. Well this workout really pushes it. I can't even imagine what kind of shape someone would have to be in to compelete this workout without stopping and keeping their pace the entire time. I consider myself in pretty good shape. I've been working out a few days a week for like 3 years and I did successfully complete P90X - but this workout crushed me.
Here's a list of the 15 exercises you do back to back:
Suicide (side to side touching the floor)
Switch kicks (exhausting)
Wide football sprints
Stance Jacks
Pedal (two lunges, then sprint, followed by 2 more lunges, etc)
Hooks and Jump rope (8 hook punches, several high jumps, 8 punches etc)
Power jacks (like jumping jacks, but you go deep in a wide lunge)
Level 2 drills (8 push ups followed by 8 run lunges, repeat - probably the hardest of all the Insanity exercises that I've done so far)
Frog Jumps Power Knees (switch every 30 seconds)
Mountain Climbers Ski Down (jump side to side as if skiing)
Scissor Runs Suicide Jumps (squat down, jump back to a push up, stand up again)
Push up jacks (push ups with wide feet)
During this Insane marathon of a 15 minute workout, you see the people in the video dropping out constantly to break on their own. Also, at the very end pretty much everyone is laying on the ground looking like they just lost a fight.
Hopefully before the 60 days are up I'm able to finish at least 95% of this workout without breaking. Now that would be a feat.
Diet/Workout:
Morning Workout: Insanity Pure Cardio (40 min)
Kashi GoLean with skim milk and bananas
Activia Lite yogurt
8 oz V8
Lunch Workout: Soccer (1 hour)
chicken sandwich
20 oz pepsi
apple
Evening Workout: none
Outback Steakhouse for dinner - 6 oz Filet, mashed potatos, coke
2 Corona's
Thoughts on the Day:
Good day for exercise, bad for diet.
The workout starts out like the others - a pretty intense "warm up". This is easily one of the toughest warm ups, if not THE toughest. File this under "Obvious Foreshadowing".
After the warm up I was already gasping for air and dripping sweat - only to get a 20 second water "break" before some intense stretching. The basic moves in the stretching are pretty similar to the ones in P90X, but these are way more intense. Hard to explain how without going into crazy detail, but basically you have to either keep your arms straight out in front of you or straight above your head for the entire 7 min stretch routine.
Another 20 second break and then it's 15 minutes (15 exercies, 1 min each) of hell. Probably the reason why I enjoy doing Insanity in particular is because these workouts remind me the most of the workouts of a professional athelete. Well this workout really pushes it. I can't even imagine what kind of shape someone would have to be in to compelete this workout without stopping and keeping their pace the entire time. I consider myself in pretty good shape. I've been working out a few days a week for like 3 years and I did successfully complete P90X - but this workout crushed me.
Here's a list of the 15 exercises you do back to back:
Suicide (side to side touching the floor)
Switch kicks (exhausting)
Wide football sprints
Stance Jacks
Pedal (two lunges, then sprint, followed by 2 more lunges, etc)
Hooks and Jump rope (8 hook punches, several high jumps, 8 punches etc)
Power jacks (like jumping jacks, but you go deep in a wide lunge)
Level 2 drills (8 push ups followed by 8 run lunges, repeat - probably the hardest of all the Insanity exercises that I've done so far)
Frog Jumps Power Knees (switch every 30 seconds)
Mountain Climbers Ski Down (jump side to side as if skiing)
Scissor Runs Suicide Jumps (squat down, jump back to a push up, stand up again)
Push up jacks (push ups with wide feet)
During this Insane marathon of a 15 minute workout, you see the people in the video dropping out constantly to break on their own. Also, at the very end pretty much everyone is laying on the ground looking like they just lost a fight.
Hopefully before the 60 days are up I'm able to finish at least 95% of this workout without breaking. Now that would be a feat.
Diet/Workout:
Morning Workout: Insanity Pure Cardio (40 min)
Kashi GoLean with skim milk and bananas
Activia Lite yogurt
8 oz V8
Lunch Workout: Soccer (1 hour)
chicken sandwich
20 oz pepsi
apple
Evening Workout: none
Outback Steakhouse for dinner - 6 oz Filet, mashed potatos, coke
2 Corona's
Thoughts on the Day:
Good day for exercise, bad for diet.
Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery
Long time since an update - it's now Monday, May 3rd and I need to go back and do quick updates from Thursday, April 29th. I'll try to keep these quick and do it as best I remember.
Cardio Recovery - Thursday, April 29th
As usual - I didn't know what to expect from this DVD. I did think it odd that I was already supposed to have a "recovery" day after really just 2 days of working out (not counting the "Fit Test" on Day 1). I've been working out pretty consistently and I didn't really think that more than 1 day of "rest" per week was needed (P90X has 6 days on, 1 day off), but I would soon find out that this was not really a "rest" day.
The workout was a short 33 minutes, with mostly controlled moves, including some Yoga poses that I recognized from P90X. Lots of stretching, lots of squats to lunge to squat to lunge etc, lots of plank work and a good amount of the aforementioned Yoga. All-in-all a good mid-week workout. I got a good sweat but not like the rest of the workouts. I knew I was going to be playing soccer at lunch so wasn't too concerned about the cardio aspect.
Diet/Workout:
Morning Workout: Insanity Cardio Recovery - 30 min
Kashi GoLean with blueberries and skim milk
8 oz V8
Activia Lite Yogurt
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Lunch Workout: soccer - 1 hour
don't remember what I ate the rest of the day
Evening Workout: softball - 1 hour
Mood: felt good. good workout.
Cardio Recovery - Thursday, April 29th
As usual - I didn't know what to expect from this DVD. I did think it odd that I was already supposed to have a "recovery" day after really just 2 days of working out (not counting the "Fit Test" on Day 1). I've been working out pretty consistently and I didn't really think that more than 1 day of "rest" per week was needed (P90X has 6 days on, 1 day off), but I would soon find out that this was not really a "rest" day.
The workout was a short 33 minutes, with mostly controlled moves, including some Yoga poses that I recognized from P90X. Lots of stretching, lots of squats to lunge to squat to lunge etc, lots of plank work and a good amount of the aforementioned Yoga. All-in-all a good mid-week workout. I got a good sweat but not like the rest of the workouts. I knew I was going to be playing soccer at lunch so wasn't too concerned about the cardio aspect.
Diet/Workout:
Morning Workout: Insanity Cardio Recovery - 30 min
Kashi GoLean with blueberries and skim milk
8 oz V8
Activia Lite Yogurt
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Lunch Workout: soccer - 1 hour
don't remember what I ate the rest of the day
Evening Workout: softball - 1 hour
Mood: felt good. good workout.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Insanity Day 3 - Cardio Power and Resistance
This is a SUPER intense workout. Like I had to pause it before the last workout circuit to take an extra 2 minute rest. This workout is just over 40 minutes of rediculous cardio/resistance workouts. Like the other Insanity workouts I've done so far, it starts out with a 10 minute warmup that is actually pretty damn intense. The warmup includes lots of jogging in place, squats and lunges. Again during this warmup, the outside of my calves were just BURNING. I think I may have to do some calf stretches before starting Insanity so that I can get through it without this happening - because it really makes the rest of the workout tough. After the warmup, Shawn T and his posse take you through an intense stretch routine that includes a good deal of Yoga. That leaves about 22 minutes left for butt-kicking INSANE training.
He breaks up the Training session into 2 circuits with a short tricep circuit in between. The first circuit is 3 sets of 4 exercises - 30 seconds each. The exercises are Power Jumps, Belt Kicks, Hit the Floor, and V Push-ups. Power Jumps and V Pushups are just like workouts from P90X - but you do way more reps much faster with no rest. Belt kicks are pretty easy, almost a short rest betweek the really tough Power Jumps and Hit-the-Floor. Shawn only gives you a 30 second rest between each intense set - barely enough time to even catch your breath. This is the biggest reason why Insanity is so tough - there's hardly any rest.
The second circuit includes Hurdle Jumps, Globe Jumps, Moving Push-ups, and Floor Sprints. Hurdle Jumps were pretty cool. Globe Jumps are tough. Moving pushups I like but really drain you - and then trying to go right from that to Floor Sprints is almost impossible. If you can do all of this at Shawn's pace, you must be a freakin Olympic athlete.
After finishing the 3 sets of this circuit, I thought the workout was done - and honestly I was 100% spent. Then Shawn T says that they are doing one last 3-set circuit - 8 hop squats followed by 8 pushups. I knew I couldn't do it without taking at least a short breather, so for the 1st time I paused the tape, walked around the gym twice to get my heart-rate down a bit and got to it.
Other than the outer-calf issues, I felt pretty good for this one. I would like the "warm-up" to be less intense (more like P90X) and then spend more time stretching - but I guess I can do this on my own for 10-15 minutes before pressing play.
Diet/Workout:
Kashi GoLean with skim milk and blueberries
Activia Lite yogurt
8 oz V8
Workout: Weight Lifting (45 minutes)
Chicken Cheesesteak
20 oz Pepsi
1 bag Doritos
PowerBar Harvest Energy
Apple
Workout: Insanity (45 minutes)
Spicy Crab Sushi from Wegmans
Rotisserie Chicken (just the dark meat)
Steamed broccoli
Mushroom risotto
20 oz Pepsi
Ice Cream Sandwich
Thoughts on the Day:
I felt like crap when I woke up from eating too late after kickball/drinking Tuesday night so I didn't want to do the Insanity workout and end up throwing up in the morning. I also knew that I'd have the night free after work so I saved the Insanity workout for then. I have a pretty good eating routine in the mornings but sometimes it all goes to shit in the afternoon/evening. I had a good lunch workout with the usual crew downstairs - and I had a ton of energy for it having not worked out in the morning. Fell off the boat with my food decisions for lunch, had a good after-work workout with Insanity then stopped by Wegmans to pick up some dinner. Would have been OK if I could have resisted the pepsi and ice cream, but oh well.
He breaks up the Training session into 2 circuits with a short tricep circuit in between. The first circuit is 3 sets of 4 exercises - 30 seconds each. The exercises are Power Jumps, Belt Kicks, Hit the Floor, and V Push-ups. Power Jumps and V Pushups are just like workouts from P90X - but you do way more reps much faster with no rest. Belt kicks are pretty easy, almost a short rest betweek the really tough Power Jumps and Hit-the-Floor. Shawn only gives you a 30 second rest between each intense set - barely enough time to even catch your breath. This is the biggest reason why Insanity is so tough - there's hardly any rest.
The second circuit includes Hurdle Jumps, Globe Jumps, Moving Push-ups, and Floor Sprints. Hurdle Jumps were pretty cool. Globe Jumps are tough. Moving pushups I like but really drain you - and then trying to go right from that to Floor Sprints is almost impossible. If you can do all of this at Shawn's pace, you must be a freakin Olympic athlete.
After finishing the 3 sets of this circuit, I thought the workout was done - and honestly I was 100% spent. Then Shawn T says that they are doing one last 3-set circuit - 8 hop squats followed by 8 pushups. I knew I couldn't do it without taking at least a short breather, so for the 1st time I paused the tape, walked around the gym twice to get my heart-rate down a bit and got to it.
Other than the outer-calf issues, I felt pretty good for this one. I would like the "warm-up" to be less intense (more like P90X) and then spend more time stretching - but I guess I can do this on my own for 10-15 minutes before pressing play.
Diet/Workout:
Kashi GoLean with skim milk and blueberries
Activia Lite yogurt
8 oz V8
Workout: Weight Lifting (45 minutes)
Chicken Cheesesteak
20 oz Pepsi
1 bag Doritos
PowerBar Harvest Energy
Apple
Workout: Insanity (45 minutes)
Spicy Crab Sushi from Wegmans
Rotisserie Chicken (just the dark meat)
Steamed broccoli
Mushroom risotto
20 oz Pepsi
Ice Cream Sandwich
Thoughts on the Day:
I felt like crap when I woke up from eating too late after kickball/drinking Tuesday night so I didn't want to do the Insanity workout and end up throwing up in the morning. I also knew that I'd have the night free after work so I saved the Insanity workout for then. I have a pretty good eating routine in the mornings but sometimes it all goes to shit in the afternoon/evening. I had a good lunch workout with the usual crew downstairs - and I had a ton of energy for it having not worked out in the morning. Fell off the boat with my food decisions for lunch, had a good after-work workout with Insanity then stopped by Wegmans to pick up some dinner. Would have been OK if I could have resisted the pepsi and ice cream, but oh well.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Insanity Day 2 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Wow. And to think I was already doubting Insanity after just the 1st workout because I didn't think it would challenge me enough. I certainly no longer feel that way. The Plyo Cardio Circuit is rediculous. 45 minutes of tourture with 30 second breaks like every 4-5 minutes. Non-stop work. I started a bit late today (didn't realize it would be 45 min), so I rushed through the warm-up and stretch. The outside of my calves burned pretty bad with all the power squats, and I'm thinking it might not have been so bad if I had done the full stretch routine. Well, now I know for next time.
In my regular workout that I've been doing for over 2 years at lunch, we do something we call burpees - standing to crouch to plank to crouch to stand to jump and repeat x10. That's always been a pretty killer exercise. Well this workout has burpees on crack. Part of the basketball curcuit that you do towards the end has a workout where you go from standing with your hands up to crouch to plank to 4 push-ups to 4 mountain climbers (plank-runners) back to plank to crouch to stand with hands to the sky. And repeat like 10 times. At least. And for the last rep you stay in plank after the plank-runners and do these ski-jumps and then in-and-outs for another minute. For ski-jumps you stay in plank and jump your knees up to your left hand then right hand then left hand then right, etc. In-and-outs you just jump your knees into your chest then back to plank then back to chest, etc.
One of the cool things about Insanity that I like over P90X is that they have like 15 people in the DVD doing the workouts. You know it's a serious workout when these people are dropping like flies during these workouts, not able to finish. I mean, I thought I was a pretty fit guy going into this - especially after doing P90X - but there was NO WAY I was finishing this workout without taking some extra rest. I was whipped. Definitely had a nice steady-stream of sweat going there.
Energy level was good. Probably got about 6+ hours of sleep last night. Ate pretty well yesterday. Feeling good.
Diet (good start, poor finish)/workout:
Workout: Insanity (45 min)
Kashi GoLean with blueberries and skim milk
8 oz V8
Activia Lite yogurt
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Workout: pick-up Soccer (1 hour)
Cosi Chicken TBM flatbread sandwich
Cosi potato chips
1 cup of Coke
Apple
Workout: kickball (hardly a workout but whatever I was outside for an hour+)
unknown amount of Miller Lite
cheeseburger, fries and a coke from MickyD's (poor decision slash no other late-night food options)
In my regular workout that I've been doing for over 2 years at lunch, we do something we call burpees - standing to crouch to plank to crouch to stand to jump and repeat x10. That's always been a pretty killer exercise. Well this workout has burpees on crack. Part of the basketball curcuit that you do towards the end has a workout where you go from standing with your hands up to crouch to plank to 4 push-ups to 4 mountain climbers (plank-runners) back to plank to crouch to stand with hands to the sky. And repeat like 10 times. At least. And for the last rep you stay in plank after the plank-runners and do these ski-jumps and then in-and-outs for another minute. For ski-jumps you stay in plank and jump your knees up to your left hand then right hand then left hand then right, etc. In-and-outs you just jump your knees into your chest then back to plank then back to chest, etc.
One of the cool things about Insanity that I like over P90X is that they have like 15 people in the DVD doing the workouts. You know it's a serious workout when these people are dropping like flies during these workouts, not able to finish. I mean, I thought I was a pretty fit guy going into this - especially after doing P90X - but there was NO WAY I was finishing this workout without taking some extra rest. I was whipped. Definitely had a nice steady-stream of sweat going there.
Energy level was good. Probably got about 6+ hours of sleep last night. Ate pretty well yesterday. Feeling good.
Diet (good start, poor finish)/workout:
Workout: Insanity (45 min)
Kashi GoLean with blueberries and skim milk
8 oz V8
Activia Lite yogurt
Powerbar Harvest Energy
Workout: pick-up Soccer (1 hour)
Cosi Chicken TBM flatbread sandwich
Cosi potato chips
1 cup of Coke
Apple
Workout: kickball (hardly a workout but whatever I was outside for an hour+)
unknown amount of Miller Lite
cheeseburger, fries and a coke from MickyD's (poor decision slash no other late-night food options)
Monday, April 26, 2010
Insanity Day 1
Today was Day 1 of the Insanity workout program for me. Like P90X, I'm going to be doing the workouts before work by bringing my laptop to the gym in my office building and setting it up in the corner. I was pretty excited after doing those marathon P90X workouts (up to 90+ minutes each) that all the Insanity programs were just 30-40 minutes. I knew after taking 3-4 weeks off (not completely off, I was still working out most days - but I was eating like crap), I was ready to get "back on the horse". Also, the timing is good. I want to be RIPPED UP LIKE RAMBO by the time I start going to the beach in June/July.
Today was "Fit Test" day. It looks like I'll be doing this fit test 5 times throughout the 2 months. The test includes testing how many reps of a variety of exercises (switch kicks, power jacks, power knees, globe jumps, push-up jacks, etc) you can do in a minute. I like this idea so you can compare where you are when you start and finish, not just how much you weigh. I couldn't believe it, but I was sweating like crazy after this short, 31 minute workout. I think I could have even pushed harder, but I had a crappy sleep last night and didn't have the energy.
All-in-all, off to a good start. Excited to see where it takes me.
Post-script:
I think I'll try to include my diet for the day as well. For now I'll do it in a workout/eating schedule format.
I think I'll try to include my diet for the day as well. For now I'll do it in a workout/eating schedule format.
morning workout: Insanity
protien shake
kashi fiber cereal with some blueberries and skim milk
activia yogurt
8 oz V8 drink
lunch workout: weight lifting
subway 12 inch chicken teriyaki sub - wheat bread, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers (ate half for lunch, half at like 4pm)
2 subway chocolate chip cookies
light-lemonade
16 oz diet snapple
apple
evening workout: basketball
pan-seared halibut
steamed broccoli
brown rice
16 oz diet snapple
ice cream sandwich
P90X Jan-March 2010
On January 4, 2010 I started P90X - an intense 90-day workout DVD program. Coupled with a drastic diet change (not the P90X diet plan but a really clean-food diet), I went from 233 lbs to 199 lbs in 3 months.
I'm really happy about my commitment to the program, and of course the results. 34 lbs in 12 weeks is pretty rediculous. The one thing I would do different is I wish I would have done a daily journal or blog about my progress. I started another Beachbody DVD program today, Insanity. Insanity is a 60-day program 
and the DVDs are only 30-40 minutes long, as opposed to the P90X program, which is 90 days and the DVDs are mostly at least 75-80 minutes each. Insanity is also more cardio-centric, using zero weights. P90X has some days that are zero weight, such as yoga, kenpo and plyo - but the rest all include lifting, pushups and pull-ups.
and the DVDs are only 30-40 minutes long, as opposed to the P90X program, which is 90 days and the DVDs are mostly at least 75-80 minutes each. Insanity is also more cardio-centric, using zero weights. P90X has some days that are zero weight, such as yoga, kenpo and plyo - but the rest all include lifting, pushups and pull-ups. My starting weight for Insanity today is now 205 lbs. My goal weight is to be under 190 lbs. I will also do my best to update my progress daily with posts about what I thought about the workout, how I felt and I guess I'll weigh myself like every week or so.
By the way, the 1st picture is my "Day 90" pic from P90X. The second is my "Day 1" pic from this morning for Insanity.
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