Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

I did the first first insanity video today. It was the Plyometric Cardio Circuit.

I think the routine is very good. It is not as bad as I thought it would be and there are plenty of breaks. It is harder than the plyo in P90X as it is more cardio focused. The P90X is harder in the sense that your legs will burn to no end. I didn't feel as much burn in the insanity, but I did run out of energy with the heart really pounding. It is shorter than the P90X video, but I like that. The P90X videos have a few too many breaks between each exercise. Insanity is bam bam bam bam bam break.

Most of the exercises are simple that you figure out the move real quick. Some are a bit awkward to start, but once you get the step, it is easy to keep them going. The editing is a bit annoying sometimes because they show Shaun T do one move, then jump to someones face before you have the move down and you are just whipping arms and legs around with no clear idea of how to do the exercise until they jump back to Shaun T. But most exercises are repeated 3 or 4 times each, so at least you know it for the next round.

The marketing before the thing starts is so annoying. There must be 5 minutes of advertisements. I kept having to fast forward through it and it seemed like a lot for a bunch of videos in which you paid. I will rip them to my computer and cut out the marketing crap.

Shaun T is a good motivator. I like Tony Horton better for his humor and his focus on form and technique. Shaun T doesn't get as detailed into the form even during stretching. I like the detail because even if you know what the perfect form is, just hearing someone say "back straight" will help remind you when you are tired.

I have never gone through an entire liter of water on such a short workout before. You definitely will sweat like mad.

I do like that there is more stretching than P90X. The stretches are more intense and for a longer period of time. I also found that at the end of the workout, the stretching is easier then after any P90X video which means my body doesn't get quite as warmed up in P90X as in insanity.

Insanity has more side to side than P90X which I think is better for balance and stabilizer muscles.

Overall, I like it very much and I am excited to see the other videos. I will post more impressions as I move through the videos.

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"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

Awesome!!! I am glad to hear favorable things. If I wanted to be 90's small I'd definitely be doing Insanity!

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"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

Gotta love 70sbig.com

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Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect.

not to sidetrack the thread, but I owe as much inspiration and almost as much motivation to that site than this one.

ducati, about how long are the workouts?

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"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

They start at 40 minutes for the first month, then increase to 50-60 minutes in month 2. The abs one is only 20 minutes.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

jesus. no wonder that shit works. although in my head it's just an hour straight through no break. it can't be that intense. can it?

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"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad." - Brian O'Driscoll

The one I have done starts with a warm up of about 5 minutes. Then stretching for 5, then 25 minutes of almost continuous anaerobic activity. Each section is maybe 5 minutes with 30 second brakes. My heart rate didn't see below 155 for almost all of the 5 minute stretches.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

Day Two - Carido Power & Resistance.

This video is a little more intense. All the moves are different than the first video. My heart rate hit 165 on occasion. More intensity, but it seems like the sections were shorter with more breaks.

Shaun T mirrors himself to you so you can listen and know what he is saying without having to look up. It means that when he is stretching to his left and you to your right, when he says put your right hand in the air, he means your right hand, not his.

These videos go by so much quicker than the P90X videos. They are on average 10 minutes shorter, but they feel a lot shorter. Maybe that is because they are more exciting.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

i have yet to find a dvd program that i want to start or continue doing after a week

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Day Three - Cardio Recovery

This DVD is very easy. My heart rate didn't get above 100 today. It was all stretches and balance poses, but there were some static positions that did get my legs shaking a bit.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

Day Four - Pure Cardio

Holy Crap! This is the toughest workout I have ever done in my life. There was around 24 minutes of non-stop intense cardio. Most of the people in the video had to collapse at points during the video. The warm out is similar to the first video and rather intense in itself. It is about 5 minutes of increasingly intense cardio and when you are good and sweaty, you stretch for a few minutes and then it is nonstop until the ending cool down and stretch. My heart rate stayed above 150 for the entire 24 minutes. I did have to take a couple 20 second or so breaks to get my heart rate under 160.

I have to give this routine two thumbs up so far!

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

I did the Fit Test yesterday and was pretty winded.


Fit Test results:

Switch Kicks 63
Power Jacks 54
Power Knees 68
Power Jumps 43
Globe Jumps 8
Suicide Jumps 11
Push-Up Jacks 35
Low Plank Oblique 25


Going to do the Plyometric Cardio Circuit dvd today. So far I like it!

Thanks for sharing this. I just starting looking into the insanity workout. I am still in the middle of p90x, but already planning for the future. It is great to read your experience with the program, especially since you have done p90x. I was thinking about doing either the lean or doubles (depending on the shape I am in) and then trying out insanity, but I might just go into insanity. It does not seem too bad from what you have described.

Those four videos I mentioned repeat themselves for the first month. I will post more during the recovery week and month 2. Today I did the Cardio Power and Resistance. Not one break through the whole workout.

I have noticed my resting heart rate and max heart rate are lower this week. I have been running my heart rate monitor since before I started working out and it is still going. I am trying to see how long it takes to return to rest. Most aerobic workouts gets my heart rate back to rest in a very short period. Insanity keeps it up for a much longer period of time.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

Here is my heart rate profile for the Power & Resistance video. The monitor doesn't record every second but just once every 9 or 10 seconds and some of the spikes are erroneous. You can see that the warm-up itself is pretty intense, and the interval training gets my heart rate in the 140-150 range. About 165 is my max heart rate.

I love how is takes over an hour for my heart rate to get back to resting. P90X never did that and I was back to resting in maybe 15 minutes max.

_________________
"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"