Day 59 Kick it,Baby!

Max Interval Circuit! Day 59

We are on the end of INSANITY. Lots of changes! This is the last time we had MAX INTERVAL CIRCUIT for this go round and I actually thought I would be able to finish it very easily. Not true at all. I still feel like it's day one! I think that's most likely the way it's supposed to be. Even if I started the program over again at day one, I feel like despite my all my gains, I'd still feel like it was incredibly difficult. I see benefit to this because your body is never really used to what you are doing. It doesn't have time to adapt to a specfic workout and hit plateaus. This past weekend was pretty busy. I ended up eating more carbs this weekend than I have for the last 6 weeks and I felt it today. I haven't cheated once on this program but I did have buckwheat pancakes late one night. I know.. but it's a journey AND they were buckwheat!

Is Kim and Khloe's diet healthy???

Is Kim and Khloe Kardashian's diet healthy? The Kardashian girls are never ones to shy away from publicity and in this week's Life & Style they dish on their weight loss secrets. Khloe says she's lost 25 pounds and gone from a size 10 to a size 6. Kim has lost a solid 10 pounds and gone from a size 6 to a size 2. Way to go!!! My questions are "How did they do it?" and "Is it healthy?" According to the sisters, they ate a variety of protein packed meals with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to the sample menus shown, the program looks very balanced and processed foods are missing from the meals. Both girls say they removed cookies and candy from their purses and their diet while on this program. Kim starts her day with a protein shake made with bananas and peanut butter- and excellent sourse of protein. Khloe starts her day off with a protein packed breakfast of oatmeal or eggs, turkey bacon and fruit. Overall, I think this eating plan is solid and very healthy. It doesn't require ordering special food and the menus look easy to prepare. How can you do it at home? What I like about this eating plan is that it is very close to Michi's ladder. It involves eating quality foods to fuel the body. A few changes I might make, based on the pictures/menus shown: Khloe's breakfast shows white toast. I would swap that for Ezekial whole grain bread. White bread raises insulin while whole grains give you the fiber you need and keep you from being hungry. For the lunch menu, I would swap the spanish rice for whole grain brown rice, Quinoa, or even legumes like lentils. Again.. kick that white rice to the curb!! Kim starts her day with a great shake from Body Factory LA. If you don't live near one..try Shakeology. It comes in Greenberry and Chocolate and actually contains more nutrition than the shake listed on the Body Factory website.   The sisters also added suplements to their program to give them energy, detox benefits and flush the body. I love this as well. Check out Beachbody's supplements here! Both Kim and Khloe added workouts to their program and it shows! They both look healthy and toned. Overall, I give this program 5 stars. I think it hits the mark based on healthy meals, sound nutrition, exercise and realistic results! I won't deduct for the white bread and white rice since that could have been added by the magazine in the recreation of the meals. Kim and Khloe, I'll give you an extra High Five if you elminate the bacon/meat products :) click here to see the large image with menus

MAX Interval Circuit Day 50

Max Interval Circuit!

Yep.. this is a snippet of Max Interval Circuit. I'm starting to dream about this one because it feels like we do this one a lot! The thing about Phase two of Insanity is it is crazy grueling! In Phase 1, I felt like I was making progress but Phase two, I'm resting so much more. I am teaching classes also so that might have something to do with it. The good news is.. I went out for a run with Emma Flunderson and she tired out before me. We usually run the hill at the park but she laid down on the last trip up. I'm thinking that she needs some INSANITY for her cardio! I outlasted my herding dog!! BTW.. This is day 50! WOOOOT! It was Max Interval Circuit...

INSANITY Fit test video

Fit Test 2 Video Day 15

Here it is.. ..woot

Starting this fit test was no nearly as hard as Day one. I feel much stronger and I've lost 7 pounds so I'm pretty happy. I wonder how the results of our next test will be. At the end of the video you can see that we didn't give up and we tried to make it through to the bitter end. My normal mode of operation is to fudge when things get rough, but I promised myself this is my job for the full 60 days. No cheating. :) One thing about filming these workouts is I can really see where my form needs improvement. I'm super tired at the end when we are in Low Plank obliques so my back doesn't stay down. I've made notes on what to work on. Hopefully, my next video will see improvements in form too Rob is a machine, by the way. His results at 2 weeks rival some of participants on the INSANITY video! Tell us in the comments below how your program is going!

INSANITY & Turbo Kick benefit the heart!

Cardio workouts are good for you!

INSANITY has proven to be one of the hardest cardio workouts I've ever done in my entire life. I'm in better physical shape now than when I was teaching 15 classes a week. In part,what I'm basing this statement on, is my Recovery Heart Rate. Recovery heart rate is the rate at which your heart rate returns to normal after doing cardiovascular exercise. During the high intensity portion of INSANITY, my heart rate is about 168 and around 146 during the 'recovery' drills. When I'm taking a rest period, my heart rate drops down to 104 in about 1 minute. This is between a 64 and 42 point drop. These results are much better than with my previous workouts of running, step or eliptical. I attribute this to working above my target heart rate and pushing myself to do more. In both INSANITY and Turbo Kick you have more maximum intensity cardio with less ability to 'fudge'.. if you will. This is a SLACK FREE ZONE! Why this is important: Your heart is a muscle and will respond just like any skeletal muscle in that it will become stronger through conditioning. If your heart muscles are stronger, then your heart rate will decrease. In other words, your heart will be putting out less effort to pump the same amount of blood. The recovery heart rate of an out of shape person will drop slower while the heart works harder to return to normal beats per minute. Pushing the heart makes it better. It makes you better! How to measure your recovery heart rate and what it means: 1. Accelerate your heart rate through running, biking, or other method to an anerobic level (INSANITY or Turbo Kick) (a pace you can do for only 20-30 seconds... such as a full sprint) 2. Measure the heart rate with a monitor at the end of the sprint. 3. Recover for 60 seconds by walking or biking slowly (do not stop moving!) 4. Measure the heart rate after 60 seconds and subtract that number from the peak.   POOR less than 12 Beats Per Minute (BPM) recovery FAIR 12-20 Good 20-30 Excellent 30-40 Over 40 is outstanding. The recovery rate is important because this is a measure of the soundness of our cardiovascular system and not just our heart health. A recovery rate of greater than 35 BPM indicates almost no risk of sudden death from heart disease! 12 or less increases the risk dramatically People with this issue need to consult with their Doctor before exercising! While this can be used to monitor changes in a person's aerobic fitness, it is an unreliable indicator for comparing the aerobic fitness of different people because individual factors other than fitness can influence the heart rate recovery period.

RockStar Abs: Plank

Max Interval Circuit

Max Interval Circuit

Max Interval Circuit is the beginning workout on INSANITY phase two. This workout feels like starting INSANITY all over again. New warm up moves, new circuit moves and things are much harder. MIC is almost a full hour! If I had thought this through, I might have done our Fit Test on the day before we started Phase Two. Doing 30 minutes of Fit Testing then attempting MIC was too much. We both fell out with 20 minutes to go. I'm taking successes because this workout is so new and we do not have the muscle memory to rely on. It feels like swimming in the deep end while strapped to an elephant!

Plyometrics - Speed and Power

I never was a sports minded person, as a teen I was more apt to be found wearing headphones than cleets, more likely to found riding around with friends than running with the team.  It's odd that now, in my forties I suddenly have the desire to increase my speed, dexterity and power.

Doing the INSANITY work out, has affected the way I am looking at fitness overall.  Prior to this workout, my goals were asthetic, weightloss and appearence.  Now, having reached (and passed) my target weight, my motivations have become more atheletic.  I want to increase my speed, power and endurance, while at the same time working on my flexibility.

I was discussing these goals with some gym rats, and the HBO show Hard Knocks was mentioned.  Hard Knocks follows the Cinncinatti Bengals football team through their training camp.  Watching that show, it is amazing the speed and footwork some the bigger guys have.  Many of the drills that they go through are mirrored in INSANITY moves, such as Football Sprints, Hurdles, Power Jumps, and the various jacks.

All of these types of drills and exercise fall in the category of Plyometrics, this definition is from WIkipedia: 

Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, often with the goal of increasing the height of a jump.

As I have been researching this method of exercise, I've found most programs are specifically designed for a your target sport, whether it be volleyball, martial arts, soccer, etc.  Insanity does not focus specifically on any one of these sports, combining Football Sprints, Basketball Jumps, Jabs and Uppercuts along with maximum intensity cardio.

A word of caution, many trainers and sports medicine physicians are hesitant to recommend plyometric because they beleive there is an increased risk of injury.  So do some research, talk with your doctor, and decide for yourself. Here are some links to begin your research:

•  http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometrics.html

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Week 6: Day 36 Fit Test Results

Power Jumps!

Day 36

We have completed 4 weeks of Insanity and one full week of recovery workouts. Monday started day 36 and Week 6 on the program. We have 4 more weeks of brand new workouts. The schedule for today was to do the Fit test followed by 1 hour of Max Interval Circuit. That's a lot of work! Both Rob and I had great strides this time Tracy Results: Fit test Drill reps/ 60 seconds day 1 day 15 day 36 1. Switch Kicks 56 82 110 2. Power Jacks 50 62 71 3. Power Knees 78 85 93 4. Power Jumps 21 25 41 5. Globe Jumps 6 8 10 6. Suicide Jumps 7 9 14 7.Push Up Jacks 8 13 23 8. Low Plank Oblique 27 28 45 From day one to day 15 I added 49 reps. Day 15-day 26 I added 95 reps Total reps added since day one is 144! Rob Results: Fit test Drill reps/ 60 seconds day 1 day 15 day 36 1. Switch Kicks 96 131 133 2. Power Jacks 63 65 67 3. Power Knees 87 109 144 4. Power Jumps 44 60 63 5. Globe Jumps 9 11 14 6. Suicide Jumps 9 19 16 7.Push Up Jacks 21 21 27 8. Low Plank Oblique 25 24 41 From day one to day 15,Rob added 86 reps. Day 15-day 26 I adde Rob added 65 reps Total reps added since day one is 151! We wil have video for you shortly!!

Day 34 INSANITY recovery week

Update: Day 34

We are still in the recovery week and tomorrow is our off day. We've had the same workout, Core Cardio and Balance all week. I still really like this week's workout and I'm bummed we won't see it again. The balance section is amazing so I know I'll be adding that into my workout arsenal. This week I think Rob and I both have been a little less energetic. I'm pretty sure that's common because Shuan T mentions it in the CC&B workout. I started back on Shakeology this week for one meal a day. I can't believe how much better I feel on it. I went with Chocolate this month. If you are not drinking Shakeology, you have to give it a try! I think with any program you need good nutrition but this one is especially. You need fuel! Here's more info on Shakeology. :)

INSANITY and heart rate monitors

Our new Garmin Heart Rate monitor

This week is our recovery week. We are doing the DVD Core Cardio and Balance. I did not preview this DVD until the night before we started recovery week. In my mind I was thinking that this week would be easy and restful. It is not. Core Cardio and Balance is a difficult workout! It starts out with cardio but it's a bit slower. You ramp up your speed with jumps and drills and end the workout with balance drills. The shoulder burners are just the beginning of deep muscle work. You'll feel it! My heart rate skyrocketed during the ISO movements! NEW MONITORS Rob and I found the Garmin Forerunner 50 at Target. It was on clearance for $51.00. It had a retail of $113 so we grabbed them up. This one has the sensors that go around your ribcage and transmit to your watch. I like this one so much better because I don't have to push buttons with my fingers to register a pulse. This device does lots of things but the heart rate portion is so helpful for INSANITY. I noticed that my heart rate stayed in my official 'target' heart rate zone*** for much of the workout as opposed to my maximum heart rate.+++ I find I workout in the 165 bpm area through most of INSANITY's cardio. During Core Cardio and Balance your movements are slow and controlled to focus in on core. However, just because you are controlled, doesn't mean you don't workout hard. Some of the slower ISO movements were pushing my heart rate into (MHR) range! Using a heart rate monitor like this one is so helpful because you can really see the peaks and valleys of the intervals as well as know if you are where you need to be working for max results. If you don't have a sensor monitor like this one, be sure to check them out. Polar also makes one in the 60 dollar range. ***Target heart rate zone is 70-85 percent of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You can figure this out by taking 220-your age and multiplying that number by 70 and by 85 to give you your range. +++Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) (roughly calculated as 220 minus your age) is the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity.