Meh, you put that kind of effort into any exercise program and its going to work. It's not about the exercises, its about the amount of effort.

And chances are, if you are really out of shape, you don't have the mental stamina stick to it, regardless of your physical stamina.

Yeah, lets ignore all the success stories out there that prove that statement to be completely wrong.

He has a point. I'd be willing to bet for every success story there are 10 or more beginners that quit. Of course that is a guess going off of my facebook friends, but I'm sure it's a pretty safe bet.

That's not to say it doesn't work, but his statement is not completely wrong. The real key is to find a physical activity you enjoy and stick with it. If you enjoy Insanity or P90x, then go for it. I'd rather play basketball, box, and golf on the weekend.

ditto..find something you like. The wife and I have been doing "killer" ping pong. Try running around for an hour whacking a ball. It's a blast!! Better then my rowing machine.

I don't deny that but his statement really didn't allow for the success stories out there which are also many.

Yeah, I got bored of p90x after a couple of months, too... their big thing is "muscle confusion" and workout variety, but it's kind of a joke. One workout is a bunch of different variations of push-ups and pull-ups, the leg workout has a bunch of squat and lunges, yoga is extremely slow and repetitive, and one of the cardio workouts is just a combination of 3 other DVDs.

I've tried getting back into it, but I'm just not passionate about it at all.

If you aren't lifting, you won't get the same results.

man there is some great feedback in here. I'm actually getting kinda excited about starting insanity. I have a bowflex and a treadmill and when I'm in my groove they work very well together. I was down to 235 last year but then got sick and lost my mojo. I've always felt the best thing is to get up early in the morning and get it done before going to work....that way I don't have the opportunity to talk myself out of it at the end of the day.
I should be starting sometime next week. Wednesday more than likely (after houseguests leave - they don't need to be anywhere near this horrific experiment!) we get 300 bucks added to our flex spending accounts if we get a physical before end of march, so of course mine is scheduled for......the end of march. be interesting to see how much tankness is gone by then....

So what would you suggest? Should one just not even try? Just curious.

You guys are inspiring... Several of us teachers are going to start next week before school.

No. Definitely try it, especially if you're excited about it. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Figure out what you enjoy & what your goals are.

P90x is largely based on diet as well. If you do it, get your neighbors nutrition books - basically for the first 30 days you are going to eat protein and vegetables.

You'll also need a chin up bar, really good sneakers, and at a minimum exercise bands.

Use very light resistance, nor none for a lot of the exercises your first time around.

You'll see a change if you stick with it, but you'd probably see a change anyway if you go from eating chips on your couch to eating well and doing any exercise to exhaustion for an hour to an hour and a half a day.

I was talking cardio since that's what Insanity is.

I started Insanity five weeks ago. I'm just about to start the second month. I have mixed feelings.

The good:

I feel my cardio has improved and I do feel stronger. The fit test that they have you do intermittently shows that I am getting in shape. However,

The so- so:

I started out at 207 for a 6', 39-year old and have only dropped about 4 pounds. I don't feel thinner, but I have went down a notch on the old belt. I can't tell the difference in the mirror. Ill wait until the end of the month to compare the before and after pictures.

If you go through the message boards on the BeachBody website, they say things like results are 80% diet and 20% workout. If that's the case, then I feel I've been duped. My diet wasn't (isn't) horrible but I have curtailed portions and eliminated late night eating. I bust it in the workouts and should be seeing better results IMO.

The bad:

It was killing my back. The stretching is WAY too inadequate. For all the core workouts they do, I don't think they are that effective. I've since supplemented it with yoga, extra stretching and the ab ripper X from P90X and it feels better.

All in all, I think maybe I've set myself up to have a big second month by building a little muscle. But we'll see. I'll try to let you all know how it goes.

Real Athletes can't do Insanity? Please. Insanity was tough, but hardly impossible. I did it once through, and came back and did it again last summer. It's a good workout, and great for cardio.

It isn't that hard, once you get your cardio up. I highly recommend it for burning some fat and leaning the mid section.