INSANITY Workout – any CP Insanity veterans in here??
 

So my daughter says to me the other day…. “Hey Dad, you said you were going to get back to working again right? Let’s buy Insanity and do it together.” So I said (having no friggin idea what Insanity IS)…. “Sure. Sounds great.”
Well now I’m doing some research on it and I’m actually a little sick to my stomach. She’s a 6 foot solid muscled 18 year old (that somehow thinks she’s out of shape….women!) and I’m a 6 foot 250 lb 46 year old for Gods sake! I mean….I’m not a blob or anything. I’m pretty active....OK fairly active. I can still bust some moves on a basketball court…..I just gotta play the half court game now you know? I hit the treadmill from time to time. But for crying out loud what I’m reading about this workout is scaring the crap outta me! I’m really not sure I’ll be able to do this. Anyone went through this thing? This frigging workout is gonna show up in the mail any day now and……gulp…..I’m a-scairt!

What's there to be scared of?

Never heard of it.

Well at first it was failure. Then after some research heart attack entered my thought process!

Tell me more about this daughter of yours. Tight, little hardbody you say?

And remember, this thread is worthless without pics...

From the commercials, it looks like the latest knockoff of p90x (or whatever that was a knockoff of).... so, do your best and forget the rest.

This place refuses to let me down LMAO

You won't have a heart attack. You'll work out as hard as you can, then your mind will give up. Don't worry about hurting yourself because you won't.

We need to know whether she's in shape enough for this workout.

For her benefit.

I will vouch for the insanity workouts. I had done p90x twice without losing any weight, but I did put on lean muscle. Insanity is cardio for the most part, with pushups being pretty much the only resistance training. I lost a solid 36 lbs and was in as good of shape or better since high school after two months of Insanity.

I was never a lazy, sedentary out of shape guy before starting Insanity, but had a bit of a gut I was looking to lose and this workout did it quickly. I will say, it is going to kick your butt if you put the effort in. The first several weeks of workouts I was routinely at 170-185 BPM for a good portion of the workouts/intervals. Now I have a resting HR in the low 60s.

Do it man, it works.

I shoulda known those daughter comments would be popping up....

http://images2.fanpop.com/image/phot...24-300-419.jpg

I did the insanity workout and I am slim, but insanely out of shape. It will work you well, but as I recall he also gives recommendations of slight modifications to every exercise for those that need the help.

I also didn't feel so bad about taking breaks during the workouts when I saw the other people in the videos taking breaks in the middle as well.

My neighbor loaned me this, but I have been too scared to try it due to how out of shape I am. I suppose I need to overcome my fear and get to work.

Loved insanity. Love that half the people in the video can't get through it either. I finished it but ended up hurting my foot towards the end, there is a ton of hoping and jumping, hard on the joints.

A college age girl at church is doing it and she says it's tough as hell. I've also heard it's harder than p90x.

It will kick your ass but it also works. Make it your goal to finish the warm up within a week. Once you get there keep pushing yourself to do a little more without stopping. Its a lot easier when you put less pressure to finish the entire video on the first week.

Hopefully you did this at home, not the gym. Otherwise, bad form, man.

That's my kind of video.

Jizzed in my pantsing? Did he send pics of the daughter?

Much tougher. P90x is great if you want to get cut. Insanity is great if you want to get lean. I do p90x but sub in 2 insanity workouts

Insanity could be a bit much for a 250+ pounder. I'd say try out the original P90. It can be a little repetitive because you're doing the same 2 exercises over and over again, but I managed to stick with it when I was 255 lbs. It started me on my way to losing 60+ lbs.

now see...I wasn't gonna say anything until they jumped on the "jimping".....but I'll be hoping too! hoping I don't have a frigging heart attack!

I am at about 270 right now. I need to do something, that is for sure. May try the suggestion of just working on the warm-up until I get all the way through it. May be repetitive, but it might help me get into enough shape to do the workouts at least partway, enough to make a difference at least.

wow! 60 lbs! I'll never see the underside of 200 I'm sure. but I'd love to see 215. it's already in the mail so I reckon I'll give it a shot.

yeah this is what concerned me most, the hits to the joints. I play bball with my son and we'll set the rim 8.5 - 9 ft and dunk (yes I can actually still dunk at 9ft...barely) and I'm usually pretty sore the next day. I guess I'll either be able to take the pounding or I won't....

a guy at work told me his friend did this workout and got in trouble from his wife for sweating all over the carpet. too funny. I sweat like a hog and there's carpet all over our house. guess I better throw down a crappy blanket or something....

I must be old since I dont know what the hell jimping is other then notches on a knife.


Oh yeah you will sweat big time with insanity.

I found this to be extremely easy. Never even broke a sweat.

Of course I hired a 23 year old kid to do the workout while I watched TV and drank some beer. That was a tremendous help.

Insanity kicks P90x's ASS. I did P90x for a couple months before I just got burned out on it. tried Insanity earlier this year and said to myself "no ****ing way"

This coming from a guy that averages a 9 minute mile. NOt great but not bad either.

Just go get a stationary bike. I lost over 40 pounds using it and keep it off. Also it sits in front of my TV as well.

I ordered P90X and will cut my teeth on it before I consider Insanity.

I checked out the INSANITY deal, but decided to go with the SANITY version instead which I really liked. Basically, you just sit in a chair with a cigar and a single malt and nod your head slightly to the Machine Head album.

FAX

Insanity is just stupid. Real athletes cannot do that work. P90X is the best workout (that's not boot camp related) you'll get.


I've been doing a lot of spin classes at the gym. Matter fact on my way now. Lose weight feel great.

Means were are talking INSANITY.... INSANITY is weak shit compared to CrossFit :)
Our Baseball and Football coach encourage us to do CrossFit workouts after school with them during offseason if we aren't do any other sports... Pretty much a insane workout that is all about reps, speed, and basics... It is a timed workout.
There are competitions but they are very very insane.
There are CrossFit workouts for beginners out on the interwebs somewhere if you really care to try it out... You need a gym though..

dude, you get a goddamned t-shirt with insanity!!!!!!

and for the record, i've looked into insanity too. looks hardcore. i'm still recovering from knee surgery, i'm afraid that the high impact will make me cry like a girl. it's been well documented around here that i do enough of that (since my surgery).

love to hear how it works for frank-0. and still waiting for daughter pics :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

I am hearing conflicting opinions in this thread so I will ask: I have access to both P90X and Insanity (my neighbor has both and said I can borrow them). I am out of shape, low on energy, and about 270 pounds. Both workouts terrify me with how tough they are. But I need to exercise to lose weight and improve my health (I am a diabetic, so I need to lose the belly). Which workout best accomplishes this without killing me? I know neither one of these are going to be easy, and I will be sucking some serious wind for awhile just to make it through.

My perspective which is completely based off of watching the demos and reading up is that you would better off with Insanity. I'm starting with P90X because I am looking for more than fat burning.

If you wanna burn fat and get your heart in shape then do Insanity. It is insane, but don't let it get to you. The idea is to keep moving. You don't have to keep up with their reps. You won't be able to. Just keep moving at whatever pace you can. That's the whole idea.

The good thing about Insanity, too, is that it's only 45 min. P90X is generally at least an hour to an hour and half.

Just remember to pace yourself. During the warmup he'll be telling you to do as many as you can. Don't get all excited and really try to do as many as you can, because you'll be done after the first few exercises. Just take your time, keep moving, and it really does work. You'll burn fat faster than anything else you do, and you'll be in the best shape of your life.

Once you're in shape and want to start building muscle you could either add P90X to your daily routine or just switch to it and stop doing Insanity.

Thank you gentlemen for the advice. I think I will start off with Insanity and see what happens. Not going to worry about maximum reps, just going to try to keep moving and finish, and see where it lands. I imagine that the longer I keep with it, the better I will be.

This is my biggest concern with P90X....sometimes finding an hour+ a day is tough.

Thanks.

Appreciate it.

Thanks for asking what I was about to haha

Need to just lose some weight right about now. Once I get at/around my desired size, I'll work on physique but am not too worried about it right now... Gunna look into Insanity...

Want to lose weight? Eat less. It's that simple.

Trust me on this. Get Power 90 first then move on to P90x.

Thats my problem with workouts. I feel this need to match what they are doing. I really HATE me when I do that. LMAO

You are exactly right about the time issue too. P90x drives me nuts with the hour or longer workouts. I burn out from boredom after I hit 35-40 minutes. I just don't enjoy workouts. Never have. I do them out of necessity only.

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.

After reading through this and other reviews, this looks interesting. Gonna order this and give it a shot.

Just ask your friends if they have it then borrow it. Both workouts are severely overpriced.

Not what I'm suggesting at all.

I'm saying if you have the resolve to stick to insanity or p90x at the suggested effort level, then there are hundreds of workout programs that will work.

There's nothing about those programs that make them more effective, unless you need a video to tell you to work really hard at it.

Hell, you could probably go to Men's Health website and get a cardiovascular program and lean muscle program that will be just as, if not more effective, assuming you put out comparable effort.

I mean, if you need the gimmick of it all... Message boards, YouTube vids, etc, go for it.

Severely overpriced? I paid $120 for P90X. My brother bought it used for $60. How can anything be "severely" overpriced at that amount?

Don't feel like you've been duped. That's not only true of ANY program, it's a fact of life. You'll derail any exercise program with a bad diet. Many people with less-than-stellar diets think their diets are healthy.

I can tell you that diet alone wont do it. Diet and running alone wont do it. If you do insanity plus diet it absolutely works.

You took the diet one step. Take it one step further. Cutting back portions isn't necessarily effective. Its actually advised to eat a lot of calories as log as they are the right calories. Try out the p90x diet. Essentially you go one month on a protein heavy diey to burn fat, then you begin incorporating complex carbs. More importantly you walk into the grocery store paying really close attention to what you eat.

im calling the feds, thats p2p

I disagree. The videos squeeze a lot of work into a short space. Its a very efficient workout. If you're a pro or have money to shell on a trainee, yeah, you'll get better results. But for people like me... I've tried multiple programs and had a good weightlifting routine prior to this. Not nearly as good as p90x and insanity. Thr problem is a lot of hose programs don't work that great and because p90x really kind of guarantees results at program end its more likely you'll stick with it.

:clap: LMAO

I'm thinking you probably weren't very overwieght to begin with right? dropping only 4 pounds because you really don't need to drop much anyways? just curious. starting out at 250 I will lose lose lose I'm sure. I doubt I'll ever see 207 again...but who knows. I'm a big guy. everone is different. those Air Force charts that say a 6 foot man should weigh about 175 are just stupid. I'll weigh 175 when I'm on my cancerous death bed! I could find 10 different 6 footers all in great shape and the weights would be all over the place. as crazy as this workout is I'm shocked you've only lost 4 lbs...so again....you were probably already in decent shape right?

The odyssey has begun. Did the first workout this morning (which is actually a fitness test) and it damn near killed me. Apparently……I’m not very fit! I made it through with no heart attack. Starting at 254 lbs. May the force be with me…..

I just completed the day two and three the last couple of days. You will be filling it tomorrow.

On day two of P90X and it's pretty freaking intense without it being called that!

I would say the key to a successful workout is to quit it when you don't like it. If you start hating something switch to something else. I have been lifting weights the last few months and now I am sick of it. I am now gonna give this a go around for a while. I will eventually get sick of it too and maybe decide to go back to weights.

You people are getting me motivated to start p90x again. I did about 60 days the first go around, then caught a stomach virus that sapped my strength for about a week. After that week off, I never went back to it.

You can also get results and not change your diet (as long as its not really horrible) as long as you control how much you eat. Portion control would be all a ton of people need but just can't do it. Of course for maximum results and to look like the guys on the DVD's then yes you need to severely change just about any diet.

I assume that by portion control, you mean reducing portions. How is that not changing a person's diet?

Inherently yes it is, but I'm just trying to make the point that you do not have to make dramatic changes in what you eat to see results, just how much.

However you do it:

calories in < calories out = weight loss.

I would say it is worth $60 but way over priced at the current $120.