And along with all that stuff comes a real struggle to fit Insanity into my life. I think I've done alright, but the 60 day programme has now taken me nearly twice that long!
Day 71: Max Cardio Conditioning - starting to enjoy this session now. It still hurts, but after about 20 minutes I seem to hit some sort of stride and though I'm a sweaty mess by the end, I don't feel completely ruined, and even feel like I could do a little more.
Day 72: Max Recovery. The recovery session in the first month did nothing to prepare me for this. Some serious stretching. Some serious pain the next day. But I loved it.
Day 73: Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs. I got through this and had a little left in me for the abs session. But I don't think finishing one session and then getting straight into another will ever get easier!
Day 74: Rest day. Yay!
Day 75: I failed to workout - as I was going home the next morning, I lost this evening to packing and other housekeeping bits.
Day 76-78: I went home. I went wedding dress shopping. I ate too much. Oops.
Day 79-81: Having had a few days off, I really didn't feel up to going straight into the max sessions, and didn't want to ruin myself right before my next Fit Test, so I opted for a few days of the Core Cardio & Balance session instead as a bit of a warm up.
Day 80: Fit test time!! I really wasn't expecting great things from this, but embarking on each exercise with my targets in mind, I managed to equal or better every result again. See below for the results of my initial, 2nd, 3rd and 4th tests:
Switch kicks 90/45 -110/55 - 112/56 - 122 / 61
Power jacks 50 - 56 - 60 - 60
Power knees 85 - 104 - 118 - 120
Power jumps 0 (ankle) - 26 - 30 - 36
Globe jumps 5 - 8 - 10 - 11
Suicide jumps 8 - 12 - 14 - 15
Push up jacks 0 - 12 - 16 - 22
Low plank oblique 33 - 42 - 50 - 56
Day 81: Max Interval Circuit - this one will always hurt. Esp when I first put it on and see the timer way up at 59 minutes.
Day 82: Max Interval Plyo - it does get easier. Slightly.
Day 83: Max Cardio Conditioning - this one's my new favourite. It's definitely not easy, but I feel like I'm making a good go of it!
Days 84-91: I got sent up to spend a week in the Lake District with work. I'd love to say I was out running in the hills every day, but in reality I was eating way too much white bread (festival food = burgers, pizzas etc) and working really long days with no chance of fitting in a workout - esp not Insanity given i was in the tiniest little box room with a low sloped ceiling. At least I walked a lot on site!
Day 92: Back in London, but truly exhausted after a week of 15 hour days and only sleeping 4 hours a night. I needed to ease myself back into the programme, so started with a nice 5k run. It felt good. REALLY good. Until the next day - my quads were killing me! I obviously don't use them so much doing Insanity. But it felt good to really succeed at a workout.
Day 93: Core Cardio & Balance - again, I needed to warm up to doing the crazy max sessions!
Day 94: I got home from work about 10pm. Insanity just wasn't happening.
Days 95-96: Core Cardio & Balance, though I did feel up to going for a run after doing the session one day and the abs session the next. Energy levels are back on the rise!
Day 97: Day off - I was probably just about due one, but I was staying away the night before so it was a no brainer to take one.
Day 98: So with a slightly less hectic fortnight ahead, I made the decision to really beast it and do the last week of the programme in as close to one week as possible. There will be one night I can't do it as I have plans, but with that exception I'll be done in a week. So with a new energy for the programme I started the countdown to "the end". Max Interval Plyo. It wasn't easier, but I think my form improved, particularly on the upper body work as my shoulders and biceps REALLY hurt the next day.
Day 99: Max Cardio Conditioning. My favourite. Again, it was no easier, but I felt like I was doing it all better and getting more out of it.
Day 100: Max Interval Circuit. Still hate it. No change there.
Day 101: Core Cardio & Balance. A very welcome rest day.
Day 102 (tomorrow): Will be a day off as I'm out in the evening and just won't be able to fit it in, but then it's the home stretch with just a few more sessions and a final Fit Test to go.
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| A little trimmer?! |
But will it be the end? The problem with programmes like this is, as soon as you stop you lose your strength and stamina and start to undo all the good work. Six times a week isn't sustainable long term (hell I've struggled doing it just for a few weeks) but I'm thinking I'll devise my own programme that combines maybe 2-3 workouts a week with a couple of runs to maintain the progress I've made, but knowing I can always do the programme again (and perhaps manage it in 60(ish) days next time) if I ever feel my fitness needs a boost!
Ax
