Insanity - The End! My Review

Hey there folks!  Sorry for the late review post.  Life has once again gotten a bit hectic.  Work for me, in my freelance job, is always feast or famine.  Right now, we've got a huge feast going on.  :)  Now, on to the Insanity review.

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First things first - We did not complete the Insanity program as it was meant to be done.  We skipped most of the second to last week and then decided to go back to the Month 1 workouts for our last week. So these opinions and results are based on that fact.

My husband and I both really enjoyed all of the Month 1 workouts.  They were challenging (especially that first week) and fresh.  With each repetition of a workout you can feel yourself getting farther and farther along with less trouble - which is very motivating.  It was great to see our progress from Week 1 to Week 3.  After that though, we pretty much stayed the same as far as fit test results go, which is totally fine with me. 

Unfortunately, our love for the program came to a screeching halt at Month 2.  After the first week we both mentioned that the workouts seemed too frantic, too long and too repetitive.  There were also several complex moves that I felt could cause injury if not done perfectly (and I most likely don't do ANY of the moves perfectly).  We made it two very long feeling weeks before calling it quits and going back to the Month 1 workouts for the remainder.

The problem with Month 2, in my opinion and for my personal taste, is that it gets boring.  In Month 1 several of the workouts contain interval training consisting of three or four exercises done for 30 to 60 seconds each in two to three minute intervals, each interval then being performed three times.  Now for me three times is a bit much (for reference, intervals in P90X are only repeated twice).  I get bored and start craving variety, but for three minutes at a time, I can handle it.  Enter Month 2 and the intervals jump to eight minutes or more.  So after repeating three times, that is 24+ minutes of repeating the same movements.  It was just too repetitive for me.  I lost interest and ended up really dreading getting up in the morning for our workouts.  The only Month 2 workout I really enjoyed was Max Cardio because there were NO intervals, just pure sweat and hard work.

Also, I felt extremely tired all day after starting it with a 60 minute sweat fest.  To keep my body fueled for that type of activity just didn't seem possible.  There are only so many calories one can consume in a day.

Results - my husband visibly slimmed down from his face to his feet.  Both of us experienced great jumps in our stamina and an overall feeling of "tightness".  I, on the other hand, did not start out with any actual weight to lose but wanted to tighten up the butt and loose some of that extra belly fat.  What I got was a firmer and lifted butt and some very strong and toned legs - very happy about that.  The belly?  Well, that's still there, but I hear that good abs are made in the kitchen and to be honest, my kitchen doesn't usually produce the dishes necessary for good abs.  Living on salads and carefully counted carb, protein, veggie ratios is just not something I'm good at, nor do I desire to be.

So, in closing, we did enjoy Insanity.  If we did the Month 1 program for both months I'd have been happy.  And I think that is an option that will bring great results for most people.  What I missed was weight training.  I feel I lost a lot of muscle and strength in my upper body and abs since completing P90X and trying Insanity.  If you aren't as easily bored as me, you will probably enjoy both months of Insanity.  For people with extra weight to lose or who wish to increase their cardio activity, I highly recommend it.  For people with any type of leg, knee or back problems, this is probably not for you.  All of the workouts are very high impact.  The new sneaks (Mizunos in fact) I purchased at the start were completely out of cushioning and support by week 5!

What's next?  We are now in our first week of a P90X/Insanity combo.  I am following the P90X workout calendar and just subbing out most of the X cardio days with Insanity workouts from Month 1.  I also plan to incorporate a few other DVDs into the plan as I have several new ones that I want to test out and review, including Jillian Micheal's Shred it With Weights and Six Week Six Pack which should arrive by month's end.

I'll try to post progress pics later in the week although I don't really have visible results.

Have a great day all!!