Insanity

Back in 2009 at the age of 29 I finished and wrote this review about my first round of the Insanity workout. Its 2018 and everything written below is still true.

Before starting my first round of Insanity I was in very good shape from finishing three consecutive rounds of P90X.

I haven’t done another full round of Insanity since then. Mostly because I don’t particularly like month two. But I have used Insanity frequently over the years when I need a little more cardio or just want to get my butt kicked.

You probably know by now that Insanity is a 60 day workout created by Shaun T with 10 workouts designed with plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab/core training moves. All while using your body as the only resistance.

I did not know what to expect as P90X challenged me in every aspect of fitness. My only guess from watching the previews was a sweaty mess.

I prefer to post my before and after photos at the top with my thoughts about Insanity below.

The changes are subtle. I look leaner with more definition in my arms and back.

Probably the best photo I took of my results was one I took from the side where it shows more muscle definition in my arms, chest, shoulders, and abs.

My girlfriend and I have been following the Insanity Elite Nutrition Plan to a T. Eating better, laying off the beer, and following the Insanity workout plan has helped me drop almost 2% body fat from 10% to 8%.

I was in pretty good shape before starting Insanity as I did three rounds of P90X. Two weeks prior to starting Insanity I was able to do 15 chin ups and 12 wide grip pull ups.

It took me 70 days to finish Insanity. It was summer when I started Insanity and I play double-header softball games twice a week along with other outside activities like golfing. You only get so many nice days in Michigan so I’d take a day off to rest for softball or ride my bike.

I used the P90X Recovery Drink after every workout and typically had a P90X Protein Bar everyday too. Both were sent to my house on auto-ship every month and I’m guessing they helped out.

You burn so many calories doing Insanity. Sweat is flying everywhere and your heart rate stays elevated for a good 30 minutes after each workout. It almost didn’t matter what I ate as I burnt through the calories so fast.

I was surprised how much muscle I put on even though Insanity is 100% body weight training. Speed, agility, and flexibility noticeably improved which says something as I was in very good shape from P90X.

My biggest takeaway from doing Insanity after P90X is it filled in the gaps that P90X could not hit. Theres not much more to say about the Insanity workout besides it being awesome.

Like Most About The Insanity Workout?

Insanity is actually a very simple workout. It’s all about giving everything you’ve got with what you’ve got. Try and keep up with Shaun T and everything else will take care of itself.

I also like how there wasn’t that much to track. Outside of the Fit Tests there wasn’t that much to write down because you’re not keeping track of how much weight and how many reps you do.

Like Least About The Insanity Workout?

Month two of Insanity is very tough. Rarely did I make it through an entire workout in month one without taking a break. All of month two’s workouts are 10 to 15 minutes longer than month one. Every workout in month two starts with the word “Max” so you know what Shaun T is asking for.

Who Should Do Insanity?

If you play sports then you should do Insanity. Every sport demands endurance and strength and that is what Insanity targets. I noticed a bit more pep in my step playing softball and so did my teammates.

Even though you are only using your body weight for resistance does not mean you will not get stronger. I felt stronger everywhere. Push ups and squats are your new best friend.

Who Should Not Do Insanity?

People who are really overweight, those who have knee issues, or both might want to look somewhere else (like T25). There is a lot of jumping which may put stress on the knees. Overweight people can have success with Insanity but it may take longer. A common thing I heard was it was too much too soon and its best to start elsewhere unless you have an athletic background.

Summary

The Insanity workout is no joke. Its the sort of workout you do when you need to work on your overall cardio, strength, and in some cases when you need an attitude adjustment. Insanity challenged me in ways that I can only compare to when I was playing sports in my teens and would have 90 minute practices where all we did was run and play.

We were playing so it was fun but we were getting in shape. Thats how I feel about Insanity. Insanity brings it all together and doesn’t let you favor a particular body part. Everything gets challenged.

Since 2009 I have not done another round of Insanity. Mostly because I do not like month two. But from time to time I will do the first 30 days or pick specific Insanity workouts to mix in with a hybrid workout.

I could go on and on about the Insanity workout but I’ll end here with letting you know that I liked it…a lot. Its still in my top three workout programs of all time.

If you have questions about Insanity feel free to leave one below.

I started Insanity the other day and the first step was to take the Insanity Workout Fit Test. This was my first time taking a fit test with a Beachbody program.

I did not take the P90X Fit Test when I bought it and instead went right into the workouts. After reading through the Insanity workout program and the calendar I noticed how you keep track of your results.

It’s different than P90X as you are not using weights or a pull up bar with Insanity. With it being a intense cardio workout you track your progress by taking the fit test 5 times during the 60 days. Seems simple enough. How the Fit Test works is you do 8 different exercises for a minute each doing as many reps as you can.

Here is the video I took of myself doing the Insanity Workout Fit Test along with my results below. I was jumping so hard at one time that a pan fell in the kitchen. You can probably hear it along with how squeaky my wood floors are.

Switch Kicks                125

Power Jacks                  45

Power Knees                 84

Globe Jumps                   8

Suicide Jumps              13

Push Up Jacks              25

Low Plank Oblique       50

This was a lot tougher than what I expected. I was dripping sweat after doing the warm ups. I had to stop a couple times with each workout. After taking a look at my results I have decided that I want to increase each number by 20%. This is what I am pushing for.

My Insanity Workout Fit Test Goals Are:

Switch Kicks                    150

Power Jacks                      54

Power Knees                  100

Power Jumps                  37

Globe Jumps                   10

Suicide Jumps                16

Push Up Jacks                30

Low Plank Oblique          60

The Insanity workout is looking like it is going to be a very challenging workout for the next 60 days. Hopefully all the P90X I have been doing over the past year will help me power through it.

Somebody contacted me yesterday and in the message was something that I did not expect to see.

Usually its a comment saying something like “Hi” or “Can you tell me more about _____.”

It was neither. This is what the person decided to send me.

iM SORRY BUT INSANITY IS NOT WORTH 119 BUCKS, 100 BUCKS OR EVEN 50.ALL THE EXERCISES IN THE DVDS ARE ONES YOU COULD PUT TOGETHER YOURSELF JUST BY DOING AEROBICS AND THE OTHER EXERCISES ON A DAILY BASIS. THIS IS JUST N EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE TAKING A BUNCH OF WELL KNOWN EXERCISES…PUTTING THEM IN A STRING OR ROUTNIE, CALLING IT A WORKOUT, AND TRYING TO SELL IT FOR AS MUCH AS THEY CAN. PEOPLE ARE JUST STUPID ENOUGH TO PAY THE ASSHOE THE MONEY.

Its funny when people use all caps. I like to yell their response out loud when I read it back. But let’s go through the comment and see if they are onto something.

The good news is Beachbody On Demand is now a thing where you can view Insanity and every other Beachbody workout online for $99 a year.

But If people could “put together” moves on their own then why don’t they? If it was “well known” that you need to workout on a daily basis to stay in shape then when don’t people do it? The price issue is debatable as most of the cost involved with the dvds has to deal with IP rights.

Something I’m guessing which would bring the price down to $50 if Beachbody chose not to protect their intellectual property. But why are people “just stupid enough” to fork out the $120 to buy it?

I’m not sure if this person has ever done the Insanity workout but while some of the moves are things I’ve done before (pushups, jumping) Id say over 90% was new to me before starting. And I’m somebody who did workout five days a week. I had never done a HIIT program before.

So if I never heard of the HIIT routine before than how am I ever going to know what to do. Yes, I could have done hours of research into HIIT moves, written them down, and then researched how to make a workout program successful over a 60 day period.

But for $120 I could have all of that packaged and sent to me in which all I would have to do is follow the plan. Otherwise I probably would (not) have spent at least 20 hours making up some crap routine. Why do all of that when I could pull out the credit card and buy something that has worked for tens of thousands of people along with getting a 60 day money back guarantee? The biggest problem with this persons comment is they assume too much.

NOT A Ripoff

You get so much for just $120. The biggest things that come to mind are an education in those new moves along with what a HIIT program is. The cast members and Shaun T are all at different levels of fitness so there is somebody you can pick and try to keep up with. This really helps with the motivation.

But the biggest reason why the Insanity workout is not a rip off is it’s a challenge. I don’t care how in shape you are. The Insanity workout is tough. Even Shaun T has to take breaks. There are very few people who can get through an entire workout with good form and with not throwing up. For $120 you can have a challenging workout ready to go everyday with your only goal being to finish it.

It might take you a year (6 rounds) or 6 months (3 rounds) to be able to do it all with no breaks. And when you can’t get anymore out of it you take a break. Put it on the shelf for 6 months and get at it again. You get a lifetime of challenging and instructed workouts to do for $120. That type of training would probably cost around $1000 a year at a gym with membership fees and class costs.

I’m sure I could think of a couple more reasons to explain to this person why the Insanity workout is not a ripoff but I think these do enough justice. Insanity is no joke. There is a reason why professional athletes and thousands of other people don’t mind forking out the $120. It’s because it works.

One of the things I like about Insanity is that the workouts are not too long. Most of the workouts are under an hour long. Shaun T developed the workouts so you are doing different dynamic moves that incorporate multiple muscle groups.

This way you’re not working on just one or two muscle groups at one time but instead three or more. It’s a contrast to what is done in the P90X workout where you have an hour long workout followed by a 15 minute ab workout.

First Month

You do Plyometric Cardio Circuit, Cardio Power & Resistance, Cardio Recovery, and Cardio Abs. Each one of these workouts is 30 to 40 minutes long. The Cardio Abs workout is 17 minutes long and is only done after Pure Cardio three different times. Even with the additional ab workout you will still finish all of your month one workouts in under an hour and more often around 40 minutes.

Recovery Week

You only do the Core Cardio & Balance workout six days that week. It’s about 38 minutes long.

Month Two

You do Max Interval Plyo, Max Cardio Conditioning, Max Recovery, Max Interval Circuit, Cardio Abs, and Core Cardio and Balance. The “Max” workouts are about 50 minutes long.

The first time you attempt them you’ll probably be saying “10 more minutes of this stuff. You’ve got to be kidding me.” Those max workouts do a lot of the same moves as in the first month but you are going for a longer time. It really is a challenge.

What really makes the Insanity workout a great program is it puts everything together in a short time period. Those times also include a warm up and cool down period.

Are you borrowing or lost your calendar from the Insanity workout and need to know what order you do the workouts in? Here are pictures of my Insanity workout calendar to show you what day to do the workouts in. Hope this helps.

Make sure you create a free Beachbody account too. Click on the “Get Fit” tab after you create the account and you’ll see where you can print off other Insanity workout sheets.

Please take a couple seconds to create a free Beachbody account before you print off or write down the workouts you’re supposed to do. You’ll see free tools to help you through the Insanity workout.

A friend of mine came up to me recently and said his feet were killing him while doing the Insanity workout. He was excited to have lost about 20 pounds by day 45 but he was having to skip days because of the pain. He isn’t the first one to have told me this.

His brother who deals with Plantar Fasciitis actually told me the same thing when he was going through it. If there is one thing that Insanity will do is challenge your feet and knees. He was dealing with a couple of the issues I have to deal with when working out at home.

The only space he has available to do it in is a area with hardwood floors. The constant jumping and lateral movements during the workout put a lot of pressure on the bones in the lower body. His brother told me he loved the concept behind the workout but wished there wasn’t so much jumping or one less day a week of leaving the ground. This way the lower body has a chance to recover and doesn’t lead to future injuries. I agree.

What Can You Do To Stop Your Feet From Hurting?

• Buy New Shoes – You would be surprised how quickly shoes get worn out. Especially when they look like they still have 6 months of life to them. I have made this mistake a number of times. I guess Im still looking for the perfect shoe.
• Walk More – Do you get enough steps in every day? Its important to stand up and get the body moving.
• Don’t Go From Sitting To Insanity – Its admirable you want to get your workout in after sitting at your computer for 4 hours but you’re probably stiff. Get loose first.
• Go Barefoot – Walking around barefoot will strengthen the bottom of the feet. Do this around the house. Don’t do this when doing Insanity unless on carpet.
• Workout On Carpet – If you have to move some stuff than do it.
• Workout Outside – Weather permitting of course. I did almost all of the Insanity Asylum workout on the grass. I have to because my house is small and there just isn’t the space.
• Beachbody Jump Mat – This thing has been a savior for me. I use it in almost every workout I do now. Its easy to roll up and put away along with providing just enough padding to protect my knees from being hurt. For $60 its the least you could do for your knees. Sometimes I’ll put my yoga mat under the jump mat for a little bit extra cushion.