DAY 38: MAX CARDIO CONDITIONING

First time doing 'conditioning' ..excited much!

This workout lasts approx 50 minutes, maybe slightly less, i was concerned trying to get the window open for the beginning, all i could hear was the sound of ' 3...2....1....INSANITY'.

And i jogged my way back from the window to start the warm-up.

I thought maybe there'd be a bit of difference by now, but no...same warm-up, can't really complain as all of Month 1's workout warm-ups were the same. 

Then we got our Stretch for 5 minutes, little did i know, the calm before the storm. This workout is a harder version of Pure Cardio...i think so anyway. And i did not know i would not get another water break for 29 minutes. JEEEZ.

Each exercise lasted a minute for yep...29 minutes. 

High Low Jab with Squat - killer, my legs ache already somehow

Football Runs - i actually despise these, after doing like 10 my legs again are on fire

8 Ball shots with Squat - remember 'BUTT DOWN' shoot the ball four times, squat..again!

Right and Left Kicks - gotta do it on each leg, balance is the key

Diamond Jumps - slightly less tiring Power Jumps in my opinion

In and Out Push Up Jacks - 4 in and outs and 4 push up jacks

Suicide Jumps - by now you must know what these are...KILLERS

High Knee Low Floor Sprints -  sweat in my eyes, ouch

Ski Abs - tiny bit of recovery, but gotta keep going

Kick Step Back - 1st actual recovery exercise, 

Squat Twists - 2nd recovery exercise, 

Over the river Hops - final recovery exercise,

Attack - basically jabs...jab jab jab with a flat hand. 

Power Knees -  each side, a minute each

Ski Down Hooks - whilst jumping side to side, we do a hook at the end, 

Belt Kicks - OUCH

Forward Back Suicides - by this point i want to curl up and rest, but no....WORK.

Push Up Abs - working the obliques

Plank Punches - stomach really starts to work now, paiiiiin.

8 Jump Ropes/Hop squats - you know, and we're still going

Squat Speed Bag - just a squat with some crazy arm rolling, but your legs will be shaking like mad by now.

COOOOOOOOOL DOWN!

Main downer about this one, is i neeeeded water but you get no water breaks. So i must have downed about a litre after we'd finished. 

Yay, Recovery Day tomorrrow!

A.

DAY 37: MAX INTERVAL PLYO

Now this one ain't as cray as yesterday's Circuits. You still sweat your butt off, but you have to watch more demonstrations and explanations, so you get a little time to breath. 

Last approx 55 minutes or so, that includes a 10 minute warmup and about 4.5 minute stretch in the beginning. 

The warmup is the same as yesterday, i'm just so glad Mummy Kicks have gone, those literally made me want to lie down and not get back up. The first two times you do the warm-up in Month 2 workout's however is slightly different. You do two rounds at 4 minutes each, going at your own pace,  but the last time you do your warmup it only lasts 2 minutes and your supposed to really push yourself and speed it up!!

STRETCH.

Then we got into our first circuit. I was a bit apprehensive at first, wondering what on earth could this be like compared to Plyometric Month 1. 

I soon found out...Switch Jumps, which are basically a squat, jump and turn 180 degrees and squat again. Repeat for a minute. Squat Push ups, almost fell on my face a few times not going to lie. Wide In and Out Abs...think back to normal In and Out Abs, then cry. Power Jumps..self explanatory, and also painful. These really don't help with how fatigued you get. 

After the third round we have a minute of One Legged V Push Ups...again self explained. V Push Ups...but with one leg raised off the ground. Not fun!

Second circuit, Pogo's. Quite a bit of focus on balance and power with these. Reaching down to touch the floor balancing on one leg, then straighten up to hop. Repeat on both sides. Power Push Ups..actually like these. Globe Twists, pretty much the same as Globe Jumps but we're only going side to side and squatting. Level 3 drills! 16 PUSH UPS...16! THEN ANOTHER 16!

After third round we're doing Power Lunges/Hop Squats with 8 sets. 

Final and third circuit guys! Side Push Ups, Kickstand Touch the Floor, 8 Power Knees and 4 Diamond Jumps. I'm not saying much about these because unfortunatley with it being my first time doing the workout i was so concentrated on getting through it i forgot to jot a note down. Next time! 

We end with a Balance Push Up..which is nice and relaxing. (ish) It at least doesn't require as much energy, just more balance..which i have luckily. 

Tomorrow is MAX CARDIO CONDITIONING.

A.

DAY 36: MAX INTERVAL CIRCUIT

'DEATH WORKOUT'

Is what i was thinking after completing this, compared to Month 1...holy crap!

The difference with this Month 2 workout to the previous is the time: (59minutes) and the amount of energy i needed, oh and the amount i sweat during. Wondering if somehow there's a way to not sweat so much...with Insanity, doubt it.

The warmup with this workout is similar to Month 1's.

Jog: As usual

Jumping Jacks with arm's up: Slightly different, no more angel arms, get them up and straight

123's: Guaranteed to trip up at least once

Jump Rope side to side: Different, and i feel a bit like a pansy

High Knees with arms out: Much harder than normal  high knees, ouch

Switch Kicks: In the warmup...REALLY?

Hit the floor: Again, in the warmup....are you mad?

Side to side floor hops: These are fun and i like hopping.

And guess what, do all of this 3 times!

Then we have our lovely stretch which lasts about 5 minutes, i'm getting seriously flexible lately too. My hamstrings no longer ache at all! Which is odd, considering there's usually always a twinge of an ache when stretching. I think with warming my muscles up throughly every day then stretching is really doing em good!

The workout begins...

The whole lot of circuits last approx 39 minutes which is how long a full workout including warmup and stretches lasted in Month 1..so you can already see it's gunna be tough!

Basically we have three circuits compling about 3 or 4 exercises into each, with three rounds each ciruit. 

The first circuit consists of Pedal/Power lunges, these really target your quads, and burn. Especially by the third round. Ski Abs/Jacks/In&Outs/Obliques, kinda like a dance routine haha. You gotta try and learn the sequence and then complete it, will get easier once you've done it a few times. Aaand, Power Strike closely followed by Frog Jumps!

After the third round we did some Football Runs and Cross Jacks for a minute. Everything burns and we still had two more circuits to go!

Second circuit we have Hook Jumps, really make you puff after. High Knees with twists, can occasionally get cramp with this one from the twists, High-Low Jab with squat, Floor Switch Kicks - these almost have me crying, arms shaking, sweat dripping..not fun. 

After the third round we got to do a fun filled minute of 123 Jab Across. Helped me to recover slightly as my heart was almost pounding outta my chest. 

Finally, third circuit, WOOOO. We haaave, Side Suicide Jumps, these are just ridiculous..seriously. Squat Hooks, i like punching air. Full body drill comes next, Plank Punches and then finally we're done!

Shaun T and the posse collapse to floor after this one, normally i don't join then..opting to stand up and shake it off, but i had to...i collapsed and i enjoyed it. 

This MAX business may just kill me off.

A. 

DAY 30: CORE CARDIO & BALANCE WITH PHOTO'S AND MEASUREMENTS

Progress!

That's the thing we all want isn't it?

When you start a new workout plan, meal plan, diet guide...anything to do with fitness, we all want to see progress right?!

Of course we do, i've been so excited for this point. I've been seeing little changes in my body, but stayed away from the scales and tape measure literally until this morning! You always notice little changes, like how when i workout, i can see my abs through my skin..woohoo! If only they stayed like that when i'm not working out, and my legs are looking trimmer and not wobbling as much! SCORE!

So, here goes the big reveal! Oooo i feel like it's Extreme Makeover or something...just not extreme and not a make-over. Ha! 

Before i started Insanity above, and today Day 30!

As you can see with both pictures there are some subtle differences. But that's what i wanted! I didn't expect to all of a sudden be a size 4, with a tiny waste, thin legs and no fat at all. That would be something wouldn't it!

I expected what i got.

My stomach in the top photo you can see is much flatter, i have more muscle there than prior and my overall shape has gotten a little thinner. I feel so much thinner if that makes sense, i no longer have the feeling of being bloated on a daily basis and that's due to the foods i'm eating along with the regular exercise. On the front facing picture you can see the fat around my hips has dropped off and i'm now more narrow around the waist. You can't see too well in the pictures, but i'll post my measurements below. My legs are also looking slightly less hench! I've always had rather muscular legs, larger than your average super model, mile long length legs. I'm 5'1 and have little legs, but they're looking more lean now rather than bulky...comes from the cardio i think. Here goes the measurements:

INSANITY	DAY 1 22/07/13	DAY 30 20/08/13	Difference
Weight	61.4kg / 9st 6 / 132lbs	57.6kg / 9st 1 / 127lbs	-3.8kg / -5lbs
Size	8-10	8-10
Body Fat %	28.4	22.1	-6.3
Chest (inches)	36	34	-2
Waist (inches)	30	28	-2
Hip (inches)	34	33	-1
Leg (top of thigh - inches)	23	22.3	-0.5
Arm (bicep - inches)	12	11	-1

I'm so overjoyed with the changes, i can't wait until i've finished Month 2...especially with my new eating plan, cutting out sugar etc. Explained more about this on Day 27. Hopefully i'll reach my goals and have even more impressive results! The best change for me has been on Body Fat %...my ideal goal is to be down to 16%..i may not reach that before the end of Insanity, which is why i'm going to do Month 2 again straight after the 63days. I'll add in some other elements of exercise then, like going back to the gym and doing 5k runs like i used to. But i wanted to soley do Insanity this round to see what difference it made on it's own.

I'm over the moon with my halfway point results!

It proves hard work really does go far!

DIG DEEPER ...i know i am!

A.

DAY 29: CORE CARDIO AND BALANCE & MEAL PLAN!

Today was the first day of a completely new workout! I had no idea what was coming and that absolutely thrilled me, after a whole month of the same workout, and often dreading what was to come, i was so hyped for this workout!

This is like a halfway point, as we now have a whole week of 'RECOVERY'...yeah right, as if this is going to be any easier....and it wasn't! It seperates the '40 minute workouts' from the Month 2 '60 minute MAX workouts'. 

Really, this isn't a recovery. I still sweat like hell, but it is slightly easier than the likes of Plyo and Pure cardio, and we don't have no repetitiveness either, yay. The warm-up isn't a 3 set killer, it just consists of Switch Heel Kicks, Mummy Kicks, Football Shuffle and Over the Log. They're all quite nice exercises to do, the only difference is we're being asked to do it slower, and that's the harder bit, how do you jump slow?! Please..someone inform me!

After a quick break we have 8 High Knees into 8 Power Jacks followed by 8 Fast Feet into 8 Alternating Hooks. I like these as i feel bad ass punching the air infront of me.....weird huh?

As usual we have to stretch, always my favourite part. It lasts about 4 minutes, and the stretches are pretty much the same as Month 1 just a little bit deeper than previous. A lot more focus is put into the hip flexors and the hamstrings...which i love by the way!

For the workout, i can't lie..it was exhilarating, but i'm not it's number 1 fan that's for sure.
I was sweating the same and pretty out of breath, more fatigue than actual exhaustion. My muscles were crying especially at the end where we had Hip Flexor Burners.
Lemme explain a little:
You lift your knee to hip height, bent knee and keeping your elbows and arms in a defensive kind of position. We then tap our leg to the floor bringing it back up to the same position for approx. 30 seconds. Then, without lowering your leg, hold your knee up and pulse up and own for 30 seconds.
PAINNN.
Then, again without lowering the leg, YES IT'S STILL UP...stretch your leg out and bend, out and bend. For another 30 damn seconds.
......
AND SWITCH LEGS AND DO IT AAAAALLLL AGAIN.

Other exercises in this workout, i'll go through a little day by day. Because i've got to do this for 6 days, i may as well explain a few exercises each day rather than block up a post with a 2500 word essay on my likes an dislikes of Core Cardio and Balance!

MEAL PLAN

I had a bowl of muesli to start my day today, i wasn't feeling anything hot for some reason, woke up craving some cold milk!
For lunch i made some brown rice and chicken breast, tossed together with some onions, garlic and chillis. This is my go to meal, and i love how many different flavours you can add to make it slightly varied each time, i'm a spicy person so 9 times outta 10 i'll have chilli in mine.
Noodles became my dinner and i'm rather annoyed, i had to leave the house pretty quickly and genuinley couldn't grab anything. The cafe at work was closed, there are NO shops on the way to grab some fruit or something, so i sulked and ate noodles feeling them go to my hips instantly. Hence why i refused to let myself rest during my workout and put double effort in. Won't be doing this again, felt crappy as soon as the noodles hit my stomach i swear!

A. 

MONTH 1 IS COMPLETE!

So today is Monday 19th August, it's Day 29 and later today i'll be completing the first day of the Recovery Week: Core Cardio & Balance. 

I thought i'd do a bit of a round up on the past month, i've wanted to cry and quit. But i haven't. I may have cried a little but quit i did not. From the first day of doing the first workout which was Plyometric, i knew i was in for some serious exercise. Saying previously, i'm a dancer and my job is to keep myself fairly fit and flexible, but nothing could have prepared me for this. The amount of research i did on Insanity still always had me thinking 'it'll be a breeze, this is for people who need to lose a lot of weight quickly'..I was so wrong. Hell yeah it'll help you lost weight, and quite quickly as your doing some sort of cardio 6 days a week for 63 days, if you didn't lose some weight at the end of that, your doing something wrong! But it gives you something else, which is better than losing weight...it makes you feel amazing. During the workouts you might want to stop or just sit and watch, DON'T. I can guarantee afterwards you will feel like a new person, waking up on a morning i no longer feel lethargic and like i don't want to get up. I want to eat healthy, unhealthy food just doesn't appeal. Most of all i think of how much good it must be doing my insides not just my outer appearance.

I'm going to upload some progress pictures and measurements this evening. I initially was going to do that after 2 weeks, but i think now i'm at the month goal, i can see the difference and feel it, so i'll share it! And it'll help me see on paper what i've achieved. 

So check back for the progress pictures and i'll post on the new workout's later tonight!

A. 

DAY 27: PLYOMETRIC CARDIO CIRCUIT & MEAL PLAN

LAST PLYO! AND OFFICIALLY THE LAST WORKOUT OF MONTH 1.

I'm again a flurry of mixed emotions, happy as it's my last one, but then scared of the harder version that is to come and reduce me to a former shadow of myself once more. 

As with some of the other workouts, although i really despise this, i find myself being able to get through it so well, to the point i'm only taking a rest on the last few seconds of a drill if i need to. The third set of the drill more so, it's just so much and because now i know exactly what's next, i'm either thinking 'okay, the next one isn't bad' or 'please no, pleeeeeease NOO'. Majority of the time it's the latter!

So my next scheduled workout is on Monday, this is Saturday's workout (done on Sunday..which should be a rest daay). I have a full recovery week next week! It's not really recovery, as i don't get to just not do Insanity for a weeek, can you imagine?! No..it's like part of my life now haha. 

We have a full 6 days of Core Cardio & Balance, for the first few days it'll be good and new and i'll be raring to go, but i think have six whole days of the same thing could get a bit samey..we'll see though as i might have a new favourite on the way. 

Stay tuned!

MEAL PLAN 

BACON! I haven't had bacon in so long, but i had it .... today i broke a little rule and had some bacon, on whole meal bread though..so it's kinda all good. It tasted amazing, but i can assure you i'll be leaving it off my diet plan for the next month at least. With Month 2 i've decided i'm going to be eating super super clean, i mean no sugar (at all, even in my coffee) .. minimal carbs (only on an evening meal) ... max protein (more chicken and fish with lunch and dinner)...and i'm going to actually cut out bread. It's not that i think bread gains weight etc, i NEVER eat white bread as it is...but it just makes me feel so bloated, i think cutting it out for a month and seeing the change, if there is any will give me an idea on what i need. 

So on Day 36 which is the start of Month 2, i'm going to post a list of my groceries, which will have every item i'll be using for the next month when it comes to food. If it ain't on the list, i won't be eating it! Even eating out, i'll have to be fussy, making sure things are cooked the way i want them, and no condiments etc. Hard life ey, but to get the results i want it's a change i'm willing to make!

Happy Blogging!

A. 

DAY 26: PURE CARDIO AND CARDIO ABS & MEAL PLAN

Last time i do this dreaded workout! Wahoooooo. However, i can stop 'wahooo-ing' realistically because i'm pretty damn sure that 'MAX CARDIO CONDITIONAL & CARDIO ABS' that my calendar has to offer in the next few weeks is going to be double energy, double time and double pain. So i should probably prepare myself for that. 

One thing i do like  about Pure Cardio is we don't have anything repetitive, what i mean is every drill you do, you only do once! Thats still about 15-20 drills for one minute each without any water breaks. So it's still very very tiring. I'm starting to love the fact that i'm not dying by the end of a workout though, yeah i'm knackered but i don't feel like i used to, i feel energized and ready to go (not to do another workout, just good in myself) 

Doing Cardio Abs straight after is beneficial but because you gotta do another warm-up, it's a bit like torture to your legs. Shaun T and his posse are bone dry definitley have had a nice sleep and a day between the two lots of filming! So i kinda feel boss doing it straight after AND getting through it...yeah, WHAT?! Shaun T, don't see you doing this!

The C-Sit position is good to keeep your core solid. Although your sitting in it at one point for a good 3 minutes doing a variety of leg/arm moves and twists, once you sit up and rest, hell can you feel the burn!

MEAL PLAN 

In a bit of a rush again today as i had a hair appointment early this morning, so an apple and a cup of coffee had to suffice for me unfortunatley. I promised to have a good lunch though which i did. 

A jacket potato filled with chilli con carne and a side salad graced my stomach for lunch, i got this while i was out as i was so hungry by the time i'd sat in the hairdressers for 2 and a half hours, making it home just wouldn't do!

Because i don't normally eat a lot of normal potato, i was quite full for the majority of the day, so for my evening meal, i had some broth my gran had made me a while ago, defrost and re-heat..it still tastes amazing. Her broth is pretty much made up of vegetables, chicken stock, lentils and bits of chicken breast. But seriously, it's soooo good.

A. 

DAY 25: CARDIO RECOVERY & MEAL PLAN

 Last time i'm doing Cardio Recovery for this round of Insanity. Sad times, actually it's dawning on me this is the last time i'm doing any of the Month 1 workouts! Jeeebus, time flies when your doing Insanity. It really does, it certainly doesn't feel like i've been doing this for a month now. 

Anyways, Cardio Recovery as you all know is one of my fav..yeah you still work up a little bit of a sweat but it's more about focusing on your core and stretching. With the recovery workout i think the best tip i can give is really focus on your breathing, not so much to get your breath back, but to train your breathing to exhale when your exerting energy and inhale on a recovery move. This gets oxygen to the muscles that need it the most depending on what exercise your doing. 

I think with Month 2's version of this since it's called 'MAX RECOVERY' i think they'll vamp up the cardio side of it, so you will be sweating a lot! And incorporate some harder more taxing stretches, by this point i presume if you've never been into fitness or didn't really workout, the Month prior will have you in good enough shape to cope with Month 2's exercises. Well that's my theory anyway!

MEAL PLAN

 A day off work means my meals are always timed well and i can prepare them as i go, yeah..meal prep saves time if you do it the night before. But there's just something so much nicer about a freshly prepared meal that you can eat right away!

Breakfast was a menagerie of fruit today! Some of my fruit was about to spoil so i took advantage and made a big fruit salad with apples, bananas, kiwi, melon and grapes.  A big bowl of fruit with some natural yogurt spread on the top get's me going for the day i can assure you.

Lunch was a fairly small affair of tuna steak, broccolii and side salad of lettuce with chopped cherry tomatoes. I was in a bit of a hurry with lunch as i wanted to get into town before it closed!

My evening meal had a bit more thought, diced chicken breast with soy noodles, onions, garlic, chilli and peppers all tossed together with some sweet potato fries (home-made...with low-cal spray might i add) finished me off for the day and i slept a happy bunny!

A.

DAY 23: CARDIO POWER AND RESISTANCE & MEAL PLAN

Here we go again! I must say, i'm so excited to start Month 2 now, one because i know it's going to be so much more of a challenge, but two because it'll be more variety. I mean i can still do these workouts without getting bored, however it's just getting quite scary how i almost know everything that Shaun T is going to, along with the names of his 'posse'. I was browsing on some Insanity progress sights and found some hilarious photos i'm going to share. 

Josh, cracks me up..never get's the stretching right does he.

Onto the workout itself. For some unknown reason, i've been having really bad knee aches, so i'm taking it slow (ISH) i'd say on the round 3 of the exercsises i'm just going slightly slower than i normally would. I feel if i don't put as much effort in i won't see results! But i don't want to cause myself injury either so i need to change it up a little bit. I got through it, and without too much knee pain, still sweating like crazy and feeling so good having completed it.

My tricep dips are coming along too i've noticed, i'm able to make it to the one legged tricep dips without collapsing now, my prior attempts had me resting on the normal ones. Afterwards my arms still burn yes, that will never go away i don't think! 

MEAL PLAN

My morning started as it quite regularly does, with porridge. I had some honey mixed into it this morning and chopped banana. 

Lunch was a bit of a thrown together deal, i boiled some wholewheat pasta, opened a tin of tuna and added some broccolli to mix together. Although it wasn't probably the best meal i could have came up with, it happily filled me up for the majority of the day! Didn't manage to get a picture of this one (forgetful me)

For dinner, i ate rather late due to some commitments i had to take care of, meant i had to cook late which i haaate doing. So i boiled some light flat noodles, and flash-fried some chicken and veg to make a stir-fry, which i ate half of and left the other half so i could have it for lunch tomorrow, don't wanna wwwaaaaste!

A. 

DAY 22: PURE CARDIO AND CARDIO ABS & MEAL PLAN

Another brutal workout, another brutal body beating from beachbody and Shaun T. A lot of B's in that sentance. I could add another 4 but that would be rather ruuuude!

I think this workout kills me the most because there isn't any of my favourite 30 second water breaks, once the warmup is done, and the stretching..you go into 22 minutes of PURE CARDIO..hence the name! This is why it's sooo important to keep down with your breathing otherwise you'll either chuck up or pass out..or you might be fine, but i highhhhly doubt it! 

Can't believe i'm almost 30 days in, well almost. I can see so many changes in both my physical qualities and my health in general. 

MEAL PLAN

Photos are back!

Finally cleared up all the useless memory eating apps on my phone and made room for the more important things. Like meal pictures!

For breakfast we have some granola and muesli with freeze-dried strawberries, i didn't even realise that you can get these in packs either! I got mine from this health food shop in town, i'll try and post the name of them on here one time. For lunch i had some more of these gorgeous wholemeal pitta breads lightly toasted stuffed with ham, cucumber, tomato and spring onion. 

My evening meal consisited of a chicken breast rubbed with chinese 5 spice, usually this would go on pork or duck but i thought i'd try it and it worked. Sweet mashed potato is my lifeline at the moment and tastes sooo good with no seasoning at all, and cottage cheese to give my meal a bit of variety. The shake i've pictured is my regular protein smoothie, with two bananas, frozen berries, soya milk and coconut water. YUUUUMMM.

A. 

DAY 7: CARDIO POWER & RESISTANCE

I honestly thought it was a different workout today, slightly sighed when i realised it was Cardio Power and Resistance. There isn't as much cardio in this one, but that doesn't mean you don't sweat like hell. It's all about interval training, so your constantly getting your heart rate to it's maximum and then resting to recover, then get it back up and repeat! It's the most effective way to fat burn, with the amount of sweat that drips off you, there's no way you ain't burning fat.

I think for me, the tricep push ups and one legged tricep pushups are the most challenging. Feet out in front of you, hands behind you in a kind of crab position, balance yourself on your heels and bend the elbows, keep going until Shaun says STOP. Then we're lifting one leg, and doing it again. It really really reallly burns. I had to rest a little on this as my arms were on fire!!

Tips: 

• Always make the most of the stretching, although i'm quite flexible naturally, i've definitley seen improvement
• Don't feel bad for taking a 5 second rest
• Exhale after power moves
• When you think you can't do another - do two more!!

Tomorrow is Pure Cardio again. GOD HELP ME. It's so tiring and so much hard work, but you don't see results without perseverance. 

A. 

DAY 5: PURE CARDIO

I didn't get in till quite late tonight, which meant i had to do my workout late, no way in hell was i skipping a day of this. It's just not worth it..i want to see results, which means i have to work for results.

Most of the Insanity workout's names kinda give you a little inkling of what to expect.

PURE - def: not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material.

CARDIO - def: cardiovascular exercise.

We all know that cardio, whatever type of cardio it is that you do is going to make you sweat and burn a few hundred calories. So PURE CARDIO will make you sweat BUCKETS and burn at least a thousand calories, well maybe a little exaggerating there. 

Once again we begin with the mother crazy warm-up, yep..three times, jog to sprint, power jacks - insane power jacks, bum kicks to take-your-butt-off-with-a-kicks, 123's to 123-i'm-gunna-die's. You get the picture, so three sets of these getting faster and faster. Another stretching 5 minutes, with more 30 second water breaks WOOOO.What kind of scared me at then end of the stretches though was the fact that Shaun T began to say he was getting nervous...uh....what?! Shaun T is getting nervous for what's about to come..HELLLLL NO. At this point i prayed and hoped i'd make it through. And i did, and i'm not lying i feel good! Sore good but good!It's no joke when he said he was nervous, i can now see why. Consant sprints, football sprints, suicide jumps, mountain climbers, level 2 drills...LEVEL 2! Even though it's not quite cardio, Shaun doesn't leave out the power moves, he had us on the floor holding the plank down. I think it ended with about 22 minutes altogether of cardio, with a 7 minute warmup, and 4 minute stretching each side. 
I honestly think i can do this, having done the past 4 days, i did have my doubts after my sprint to the toilet midst fit test. But its getting easier, my body is recovering faster and i'm ready for the next 55 days!

DIG DEEPER!

A. 

DAY 4: MEAL PLAN

I've slacked a little today guys. Not in the eating department, in the uploading photos department. Haha, not too much of a let down...but my phone decided to mess up big time and not want to drop anything into dropbox after my breakfast photo! So i only have one photo for this post, boo..i feel like i've let myself down.

Instead, i'm going to thoroughly describe my other two meals!
But for breakfast, i made myself three medium poached eggs, with wholemeal seed bread and a little low fat butter spread. I enjoyed this hugely as it was a change from my normal porridge routine.

Once at work, i noshed on brown rice again i know, but it's so yummy..a tin of tuna in sunflower oil which i drained off, and a salad made up of crunchy iceburg lettuce, tangy cherry tomatoes and some crisp cucumber. Sounds a little boring, but i promise you i enjoyed it a helluva lot.
Once home, i put myself a chicken breast seasoned with a homemade mixture of spices (secret secret) and a few bunches of steamed broccolli. Eating this after the Cardio Recovery seemed like heaven, i felt so re-juvanated, yet not tired or down on energy.

I honestly think this clean eating and Insanity could be something i go on to do for longer than the 60 days. Definitley the clean eating, it's a lifestyle change. But even Insanity, incorperating that into my normal days once i've done the challenge doesn't half seem like a bad idea. I'll be suuuuuuper fit too!

So i apologise for the lack of photo's, i'll be back on the ball tomorrow with the uploading. Providing my iPhone stops having a mind of it's own and listens to it's Master......ME!

Night!

A.

DAY 3: CARDIO POWER AND RESISTANCE

Just the name of today's workout had me at the brink of anticipation, even at work today, knowing i was coming home to Insanity, i pondered on what i could be. 

Well...now i know. MORE PAIN, but also more gain. I felt so energized after this workout..., my calf muscles are so sore though..but i took a hot/cold shower switching between temperatures, which has always helped my muscles to stop aching so much the next day. 

This workout consisted again of the usual warm-up, i vaguely remember a few different exercises, they won't come to memory at the moment, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Then again with the section of stretching. It's so good to stretch after getting your heart rate up high, your muscles are so warm it reduces the risk of injury hugely, but also helps improve your flexibilty massively. Not to mention, it feels so good to just chill out and stretch for 5 minutes after consant mobility. The downside of stretching straight after intense interval training is you WILL continue to sweat....a lot. This then goes into your eyes which momentarily blinds me and is just plain yuck. Nevermind, no-one should look cute after a workout. Not if your doing it properly anyhow. 

Then came the POWER AND RESISTANCE part, Shaun T combined globe jumps, power squats, kicks, press ups, tricep pushes, one-legged tricep pushes (SERIOUSLY my body screamed at me at this point!) and yep you know, repeat it 3 goddamn times. Speed increasing still. 30 second water break, WAHOO. 

I won't spoil it for you guys that might try Insanity, i think the whole fun of it also is to not know what to expect fully! Having a small idea is good, i researched it quite extensively before purchasing, but don't look up what each DVD exactly does. You wanna be surprised, i sure as hell was.

Tips:

• I've noticed that my breathing is becoming a lot better, i manage to exhale on releases and inhale on contractions almost every time (thanks to the Martha Graham technique in dance class)
• Hot/Cold alternating showers after a workout work wonders, you'll still ache, just not as much!
• Again, rest when need be..if not form will not be there and there's no point

Tomorrow i have Cardio Recovery. Sounds nice doesn't it...recovery, ahhhhhh *SIGH*...Cardio, pretty sure that's gunna involve sweating, can't be too much of a recovery. Well..it's not called INSANITY for nothing is it!

Peace.

A.

DAY 2 MEAL PLAN!

Once again i started my day with porridge, raspberries but added some banana for a bit of protein this morning. I'm seriously loving porridge lately, going to have to switch it up a little bit soon i think. This breakfast gave me lots of energy when i combined it with some green tea and vanilla. Tasted gooood.

After my workout, i had my smoothie, same ingredients as yesterday, i just added some natural greek yogurt which gave it a slightly more tart taste, still delicious.

I was good and did my meal prep for the evening as i had work at 4, so needed to make sure i would still be eating every 3-4 hours in order to keep my metabolism where i want it to be. HIGH please! I made myself some brown rice with onions, garlic and chilli again (soft spot for brown rice, MMMM) and a can of tuna. HOWEVER meeting my friend Anya she announced 'let's go to BarBurrito' my stomach insantly growled...loudly but my mind thought 'NOOOO' however, once i got in there i decided to have some tacos instead of a burrito, leaving out the floury tortilla. Now..it may look awfully unhealthy, however after googling the ingredients, not so much! YES YES, maybe i should have skipped the sour cream and grated cheese, but it still had loads of healthy fats (avocado/kidney beans) protein (chicken) and salad. So not too bad.

I've come home to another smoothie, left over of what i made earlier. So all in all, not a bad day i don't think!

Tomorrow, i will be sticking to my meal plans. Promise :)

Night all.

A.

DAY 2: PLYOMETRIC CARDIO CIRCUIT

Not going to lie, this workout is a killer. We started with the usual warm-up of jogging, jumping jacks, power squats, 123's, bum kicks, and high knees for about 30 seconds each exercise...then repeated that 3 times the pace getting faster each time. I'm so loving Shaun T, he really really knows how to keep motivation high.

I'm also LOVING the 30second water breaks, although my body screams for them to be a little longer, but no...i did not pause, i powered through.

SUICIDE DRILLS!

Guy's they are called Suicide Drills for a reason, i almost threw myself out of my balcony in one of the water breaks. Alas, i did not! They consisted of a few exercises involving mainly form and using your core to the maximum. Even when my body fatigued and i found myself going slightly slower, i kept the form exact in order to get the results i want in the end.
The middle part of this workout was definitley my favourite, STRETCHING! Being a dancer, i love to stretch anyway, the feeling of your warm muscles getting that bit more flexible is amazing. The thing that did make the stretching hard which i normally don't have to deal with was the sweat from my face dripping into my eyes (i know, not pretty) it almost blinded me, but a quick towel break soon sorted that out.

I did a bad thing then....i looked at the clock on the countdown bar onscreen. 20 minutes left, HOW CAN THAT BE i cried. But yes, more was to come. Level 1 drills...basically pushing your body past the point of fatigue. The drills were made up of push-ups, leg crawlers, basketball squats, mountain climber and football runs. Then we had some crazy exercise which looked like i was trying to punch someone, which at that point i happily would have.

But yes, after a cold shower and more beautiful breeze from my window i ain't gunna lie...i felt good! Little sore, but good.

Tips: 

• Don't have water in the water break in Level 1 drills, the motion made me iiiilllllll
• BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE
• Look at the people behind Shaun T, some of them rest, you can too!
• Make the most of the stretching period, helps to avoid muscle ache the next day

Tomorrow is Cardio Power and Resistance, now to me that sounds fun. However wait until tomorrow night's post...i'm sure FUN will be my last descriptive word of choice.

Dig deeper guys!

A.

FIT TEST

1 day down, 59 to go.

After completing the fit test, it gave me a tiny insight into what i can expect for the next 59 days. HARD WORK. Once pressing play, and listening to Shaun T's motivating words i thought 'this should be relatively easy, it's day 1'......um NO. Training to be a professional dancer enables me to have slightly higher fitness levels and my stamina isn't too bad either, but even for myself who has a highly active lifestyle i found myself dripping (i mean literally dripping) with sweat.
Somehow, i managed to keep pace with the majority of the exercises, Suicide Jumps, not so much. My legs were crying out.

Picture quality isn't great, the results are:

Switch Kicks 116      Globe Jumps 13

Power Jacks 62         Suicide Jumps 16

Power Knees 110      Push Up Jacks 20

Power Jumps 40        Low Plank 50

The idea is to complete each of the exercises above for one minute, seeing how many you can manage within 60 seconds. I swear without Shaun T's constant 'COME ON, DIG DEEPER' ....'YOU'RE HALFWAY THERE..YOU CAN DO THIS!!' I honestly would have taken 5 minute breaks in between, but that guy knows how to shout and get you going seriously.


Tips:

• Breathing is SO important, without it you can guarantee nauseous feelings and light headedness.
• DON'T drink water immediatley before working out, i did and could feel it swishing about (not good)
• Take tiny sips of water throughout, anymore and you'll chuck it up 30 seconds later
• KEEP GOING!!

Tomorrow i have Plyometric Cardio Circuit, i'm not entirely sure what that's going to involve, but no doubt i'll be once again making my living room into a sweat swimming pool and gasping for air once again.



A

DELIVERY DAY / INSANITY DAY 1

It has finally arrived. WOO! After waking up at a ridiculous hour to go and collect my parcel after missing it yesterday. I've come home with a box of Insanity and a bag full of groceries.

I'm going to make two little changes to my upcoming blogging. I'm going to do two posts per day now, one will be an ongoing progress update on the actual Insanity workout, along with my feelings towards how i think it's going. The second post will be my meal plan for the day, hopefully including calorie/fat/protein content. I've toyed with the idea of putting my measurements on here, but i think i'm going to wait until Day 15 (Second Fit Test) because then i won't feel too bad about the start measurements...providing i've actually seen a little change. I don't expect a huge change but something little will let me know i'm going in the right direction. So up on my next post will be the workout, once i've completed it and recovered. Then later on tonight i'll upload my meal plan!

 LET'S DO THIS

 A.

THE DEEP BREATH BEFORE THE PLUNGE

So, i'm giving this blogging thing another go, but this time i'm doing it about something i'm A. interested in and  B. looking forward to writing about. However it's not just going to be pointless writing and boring updates, it's also going to act as a kind of motivator for myself as well as a 'diary' if you like so i've got something to look back on. Two for the price of one ey?

' What is it?! ' I hear you all yell.

Well, i'm sure most of you...if your reading this will have heard of the infamous INSANITY 60 day workout. Or if you haven't...you have now. It's different to those 'other' workout DVD's that promise fat loss in 30 minutes, or sculpted abs in one quick hour. Really? If i got fat loss and sculpted abs in a mere hour and a half i'd be a ripped machine by now.......and i'm not. It's a combination of 10 workouts from 30mins - 1 hour long sessions but from what i've heard it's one of the hardest workouts ever. We'll see!
Back to Insanity then, i purchased the enticing package online for £33 a month for three months, steep i know for workout DVD's but this is after a lot of research and endless scrolling about success stories. Inside my package i should recieve:

• 10 workout DVDs ranging from cardio exercise to deep stretching sessions
• Elite nutrition plan which includes meal ideas and recipes for the 60 days
• Fitness guide, i presume to help me get fit?
• Insanity Calender which is split into two months with assigned workouts EVERYDAY

 I even attended an Insanity class at my gym, almost throwing up during the class and waking up the next day with muscles sore enough to keep me in bed oddly enough gave me the brilliant idea to go ahead and click purchase.
I'm excited to begin Insanity and i've even decided to apply for the T-Shirt which means i have to measure and weigh myself thoroughly...that's not the worst part, i have to take before and after pictures to prove i've done the workout. Ideally i'm going to update my whole journey including the meals i eat every single day, you know the saying 'abs are made 70% in the kitchen and 30% in the gym' ... My next post should be in a day or so once the lovely postman has graced my door and then it begins! Exciting stuff.



A.