Recovery Week of Insanity

On Saturday I finished my first 30 days of Insanity.  Yeah!!!!!  Today I started the recovery week, which on day one was not so much a recovery.  If you've been following my blog, you will know that I've really been missing my weight lifting.  Today I actually did Cathe's Muscle Endurance.  It felt awesome to lift weights after 30 days.  Tomorrow I will do the recovery workout.  I haven't previewed it at all so I'm not sure how long it is or what we do. Chances are if the workout is only 30-40 minutes long, I'll be doing some type of cardio as well. 

Today I had twice the workout.  I spent 6 1/2 hrs planting my vegetable garden in 80+ degree weather.  I was pooped by the time I was done plus my skin was cooked... Yep, I'm a little red.. okay more then a little red.  That garden was going in today one way or another.  Rain is in the forecast tomorrow and it needed to get into the ground. 

Who's been working out and what have you been doing?  Spring is here, summer is around the corner and come on, I know you want to look good in those shorts, tank tops, swim suit.  Come one... get up and move and start the sweat rolling.

I have a busy week going on so I won't be posting blogs daily.  Probably more towards the end of the week and I will update you on what I all did.

Keep moving & keep sweating!!

Week 4 of Insanity

I'm in my 4th week of Insanity and then next week I have a recovery week.  Not sure how I'm going to do with that.  Not having a real good workout during the week... not so sure about that. I know the recovery is important but it's a mental thing for me.  I was never good at taking time off.  I do my one rest day during the week and that's about it. 

I'm looking forward to the next 30 days of Insanity.  I haven't previewed the DVD's yet to somewhat prepare myself but I have a week to scan through them. 

So far my experience with Insanity has been positive. I haven't noticed anything on the weight loss side of things but I have noticed an improvement in stamina and endurance, especially in the upper body.  I like Shaun T, I think he's good instructor and motivator. Do I think he's better then Cathe... nope. It's nice to try something different and see how and if my body changes. 

I doubt that I'll be blogging every day with Insanity being repetitive. That is the one thing I don't like about Insanity is doing the same workouts over and over for 30 days.  I've almost made it the first 30 days so I'm going to try to make it for the final 30 days. 

If you're interested in continue to hear about my Insanity journey....... stay tuned.

How have your workouts been... what workouts have you been doing?  I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time.. keep moving and keep sweating.

Week 3 of Insanity

Hi my dear followers!

My 2nd week of Insanity ended on Saturday with Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. I actually like this workout the best out of all them that we do in the first 30 days. The one exercise I have a love-hate relationship with are switch kicks.  For some reason this kick my butt and I have a hard time with them.  I do the best that I and give it my all. I think I have such a hard time with these because of the lack of strength in my hip flexors and lower ab. 

Monday was the start of week 3.  The week started with the Fit Test to see how I improved. I had a hard time getting myself going Monday morning which made things harder then what I had hoped.   First test was switch kicks.... you can imagine how thrilled I was. I disappointed myself right out of the gate and I did 3 less then last time. On everything else though I improved whether it was 2 reps or 10.  I don't know that I improved any by 10 though.  :-)  Then I finished my workout putting 5 miles on the elliptical.

Today was Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  The second group of exercises in this workout kill my shoulders. They burn so bad.  As always I do the best that I can, quickly rest, and go back at it.  After doing Cardio Circuit I put in Cathe's High Step Training Advanced and did the 5 cardio blasts and repeated the 1st blast and then I did the stretch from HSTA. I always enjoy tossing a little Cathe in there. I do miss her workouts. I really want to stick to this for the 60 days though.

Tomorrow I have Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.  I hope that I have a good workout tomorrow morning. I really do like Cardio Abs.  It is a tough ab workout without doing one single crunch or sit-up. 

Hey....who's out there sweating their butt off with me?  I'd love to hear from you.

Keep moving and sweating!!

One more day ends week 2

As I have mentioned in my last blog, Insanity is repeating over the next couple of weeks.  I haven't been blogging every day because you've heard it all already.  :-)  A quick recap of the last few days.  Weds I had did Cathe's Body Max 2 Step portion only followed by Cardio Recovery, Thurs was Plyometric Cardio Circuit and 2.6 miles on the elliptical, and today was Cardio Power & Resistance and Cathe's 4DS Kickbox.   Tomorrow I have Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs again.

I feel like I've gotten a little better but it's still tough.  The coming Monday I re-take the fit test and I'll be really curious how I do compared to the first time.

How have your workouts been?  I haven't heard from anyone in a while. I hope you've been having great workouts.  I'd love to hear from you!

Keep moving and keep the sweat rolling!!

Day 2 of Week Two of Insanity

Well, now we are just repeating the workouts for the first 30 days. Even though Sunday was my rest day, it wasn't all rest.  I rototilled my vegetable garden which took me approx 2 1/2 hrs. Then I did the mother's day thing with my family and had a great time.  After that I worked on cleaning up my flower bed for 1 1/2 hrs. 

Monday I had Cardio Power and Resistance and I followed that with Cathe's 4DS Kickbox portion and stretch.

Today was Pure Cardio and then I followed that with Cardio Abs.  He does an ab workout in there that is really hard (at least I think it is).  It really works the lower abs.  I've noticed I had to be careful because when I do those I can feel it after a while in my lower back. I can't do that many but I try to do what I can.

Tomorrow I believe I have Plyometric Cardio Circuit. We'll see how that goes this time. The 2nd round of exercises where we are in plank position and doing push-ups, and mountain climbers burns my shoulders so bad.  I often wonder if some day I'll be able to make it through it without giving my shoulders a rest. 

How have your workouts been?  Have you been pushing yourself?  I hope so.  Do it... I know you can!!

Keep moving and keep the sweat rolling!!

Week One of Insanity is Complete

I have completed week one of Insanity.   

Friday was Pure Cardio.... OMG!!!  This has the same intense warm-up as all the others followed by a good stretch and then we go into non-stop high intensity cardio, no breaks.  Well, you take a break if you need to but not timed breaks. I was dripping with sweat.  The workout lasted approx 40 minutes and that 40 minutes went very fast.  After I was done with that I decided to push myself a little further and I put in Cardio Abs which lasted about 20 min. I liked this one.  The cardio portion had really good exercises that worked the abs plus some floor exercises that really worked them.    I was definitely feeling my abs after that workout.  

Today was Plyometric Cardio Circuit again.  I followed that with doing 2.6 miles on the elliptical to get my hour workout in.  This one killed me the second time just like it did the first time I did it.   Those planks, push-ups, and other the other exercises we did in the plank position really burns my arms and shoulders.  I wonder if I'll ever be able to make it all the way through without resting.  

Tomorrow is my rest day. Rest day from working out that is.  I'll be doing yard work tomorrow so not sure how much of a rest day it'll be. 

How have your workouts been the last couple of days?  I hope you pushed yourself and had a great workout!! 

For all you mothers out there.. Have a Wonderful Mother's Day!!

Keep moving!!

Day 4 of Insanity

Well, just a couple more days and I made it through 1 week of Insanity.  Today was Cardio Recovery.  I didn't preview the DVD so I didn't know what to expect.  I started it and about 5 min into it realized it was more stretching and toning.  Since I'm a cardio junkie, I quickly changed gears and put in Cathe's Intensity and did the warm-up and step portion only which was about 36 min. and then I put Cardio Recovery in and finished that. In cardio recovery, Shaun T did some interesting toning exercises that I've never done before.  It was neat learning and doing something new and different.

I always enjoy doing new workouts. It's a good way to shock the body by doing something different.  I do have to say though. I'm 4 days into this and even though there has been toning in these workouts, I do miss not lifting weights.   I don't know... we'll see how long I last without lifting weights.  I would like to do the 60 days of Insanity to see what (if any) results or improvements I see from doing this. I will say there are parts of my body that I'm not used to being sore like they are.   Hip flexors is a big one and shoulders and today I could feel it in the upper back.  We'll see.

Tomorrow I have Pure Cardio... I was warned about this one... that the people are lying on the floor. Yeah, can't wait.  Like always, I'll push myself as hard as I can and do the best that I can and rest when I can't go anymore.   What have I gotten myself into.

You know I was thinking the other morning wondering how someone like Cathe Friedrich, Jillian Michaels, and Bob Harper would do at Shaun T's Insanity.  Wouldn't that be interesting to see. :-) 

Yeah, tomorrow is Friday.  I know I had off on Monday but darn did it feel like a long week. 

How was your workout today? What did you do? I love to hear from you. 

Keep on moving!!

Day 3 of Insanity and yes it is insane!

I have made it through day 3 of Insanity.  Today was Cardio Power and Resistance. This workout lasted just under 40 min.  My hip flexors were pretty sore today, which made some of the exercises a tougher then normal.  Today we had moving push-ups, V push-ups, tricep push-ups and I can't forget mountain climbers. Shoulders and arms still sore from Monday's yard work and then yesterdays' workout made it a harder today.  Again, I did the best that I could and rested when I couldn't anymore.  Once I was done with Insanity, I put in Cathe's 4 Day Split and did the cardio only from Kickboxing and then the stretch.

I was a complete sweaty mess by the time I was done.  Despite how hard Insanity was it felt good to push myself to a level I wasn't sure was possible.  I'm liking Shaun T. He's pretty motivating.

We're 1/2 way through the week.  How have your workouts been?  Have you been pushing yourself to a level you didn't think was possible?   Don't be afraid to.. just try it and see, if it's too much you can always take a rest or slow down.

Keep moving and keep sweating!!

Day 2 of Insanity

Well, I made it through Day 2 of Insanity.  Today I had Plyometric Cardio Circuit.  I was warned that the warm up is not a typical warm... hello, you got that one right.  I never had my heart rate up that high during a warm up. In Insanity we do longer blasts (3 min) and have a 30 sec rest in between.  The workout lasts about 40 minutes.  What didn't help me any was yesterday my husband and I did 8 hours of yard work for a friend and my body was so sore Monday night.  My upper body was very sore from all the raking and shoveling, so I wasn't sure how today was going to go. I did the best I could.   I think it would have totally kicked my butt if I wasn't pooped and sore from the day before.  The first few rounds I did better but when he went into the plank position and we had to use our upper body strength,  then it became very challenging.  Between the plank positions and push-ups.... I had to take breaks, I started sacrificing my form so it was time to take a quick rest.  For those of you that know me well, you know I like to get my hour in so, of course, I jumped on the elliptical and did 2.6 miles and then I finished with the stretch from Insanity.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow. My hip flexors were getting sore already but I'm not sure if it was still from yesterday or from the workout this morning.

How did you do today?  What did you do for a workout?  Did your workout kick your butt?   I hope so. :-)
Tell me all about it.

Keep on moving!!

How my week ended and how it started

For those of you who are following me, sorry I haven't been on since Thursday.  Things have been a little hectic.  

So on Friday I hard Cathe's Cardio Fusion.  For those of you unfamiliar with this workout, Cathe to cardio sections from three different DVD's and combined them into one awesome workout.  We do the warm-up from Body Max 2, Combined step portion from Body Max 2, step portion from Low Impact Circuit, the blasts from BM2, and the blasts from Drill Max.  I was running short on time so I ended up cutting the 2nd last drill short and skipped the last one completely.  The workout runs 65-70 min.  I was at 60 min so it was still a great workout. 

Saturday was STS Total Body.  I had a great workout.  Good strength.  This workout ended the rotation I was doing.  Sunday was my rest day.  Not that I had much rest and I did yard work in the morning with that strong wind, which makes you feel like you're working twice as hard.

So.... today was the day I started Insanity.  I was so concerned about starting Insanity I dreamt about doing the Fit Test today.  I was afraid I was going to do horrible.  Well, I surprised myself.  If you're not familiar with Insanity by Shawn T the fit test consists of 8 or10 exercises that you do for a minute (I think it was a minute) and your count how many you did so you have something to compare the next time you do the fit test to see how you improved.   I was shocked when my numbers weren't far from the two people that were in the DVD and that wasn't the first time they done the fit test either.  That made me happy.  The fit test only lasted 20-25 min with warm up and cool down.  I wanted to get my hour in so I jumped on the elliptical and did 5 miles in 28 min.  Then I stretched again so I could loosen up my legs.  I feel like doing Cathe's high intensity workouts has helped prepare me for Insanity.  At  least I hope so anyway. :-)

If you're interested in following me on my Insanity journey... stay tuned and I will let you know how it is going. 

What were your workouts over the weekend. 

Jane - keep up the great work.  I'm glad I was able to help you get back into working out.  Keep it going!!

Have a great night and keep on sweating!!