Insanity Max Interval and Fit Tests

While I am still dripping in sweat and trying to catch my breath (5 minutes ago I was laying on the floor gasping for air), I wanted to update this blog (and all of you) about my Insanity challenge this past week.

It was the second week of max interval training. The max workouts are twice (or three times) as tough as the first month's workouts. I had no idea what I got myself into. They are usually about an hour long and have more circuits. Incredibly challenging for my heart and lungs but I definitely now understand what they mean when they say "the real changes happen in the 2nd month."

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I made the decision to start working out without a heart rate monitor and with a piece of paper covering the time on-screen. I get distracted really easily and distractions really mess with my mental state while working out. I am in pretty good shape for my size/weight, so I don't get out of breath very easily anymore. My (recommended) max heart rate is 199 and to get the maximum results I need to stay within 80% and 90% of this, which is roughly 159 to 179. Because I am technically overweight, I used to get over that pretty fast, but my endurace (lung capacity) is good enough that I could go on, even though my heart rate monitor tells me to take a break or slow down. So everytime my heart rate monitor would start beeping, I would get distracted and very annoyed and I would just completely stop. Or if I would look at the time and see that I am not even halfway, I would feel demotivated and no longer enjoy the workout.

So the decision to work out without a HRM came easily. I did it for a week and absolutely loved it. Could push myself, focus on my fitness, focus on form and not worry about my heart rate. Now I know not caring about your heart rate is not good and I do not recommend this. I think you have to be able to be honest to yourself if you can afford to go without one. After a week though, I decided to wear it again and just do my workout the way I had been doing that week and it turns out I really found my rhythm. I stick around 173 bpm, which is absolutely perfect. So I think I will work out without a HRM and then once a week or so I will put it on just to check if I am still doing good.

Today I had my fourth fit test. My third one was very disappointing, but I think I can attribute that to the fact that it was right after recovery week. My fourth fit test results do absolutely prove what max interval does to my body!

These were my results (1st week - 4th week)

Switch Kicks: 87 - 129
Power Jacks: 39 - 52
Power Knees: 87 - 107
Power Jumps: 20 - 38
Globe Jumps: 7 - 9
Suicide Jumps: 14 - 18
Push-Up Jacks: 15 - 40
Low Plank Oblique: 39 - 63

Every single one of them I have improved on immensely! I am especially happy with the Power Jumps and Push-Up Jacks. Those have to be my favorite moves.

I have 2 more weeks to go of Insanity. I have no idea what I am going to do after that. Maybe another round? Or maybe do Asylum next?

One thing I know for sure: I cannot wait to get my Insanity t-shirt in the mail!! Because you better believe that I earned it!

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My road to eating above BMR (and what TDEE means)

This blog is going to be somewhat all over the place, but bare with me.

A while ago I wrote a post on how I upped my calories from 1,200 to 1,500 to break a plateau. I am happy I did this, because eating at 1,200 is something you should really never do (but desperate times call for desperate measures, right?). I had been eating at 1,500 calories for a while and started asking myself why not take it another step further and find out what my BMR and TDEE are (how much I need to eat to maintain my weight)?

In the Insanity Nutrition Guide, they use the Harris-Benedict equation, which calculates how many calories your body burns every day. If I remember correctly, this number was somewhere close to 2,500. Meaning I should be eating that, at the LEAST. I kind of waived the idea of eating that much.

But lately I have been hanging out at some message boards and learning more about nutrition, as you all know I love learning. I decided to set aside my fear and really see what my BMR and TDEE were.

For those of you who don't know:

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate. Which is the amount of calories your body needs to survive, if you would be in a coma or lay in bed all day, sleeping. That means, that this is the least amount of calories you SHOULD be consuming. Anything below that will mess up your metabolism, because it will slow down.

TDEE: Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This calculation is a rough guesstimate of how many calories you burn considering the level of activity. So it takes into consideration your daily chores (showering, brushing your teeth, cooking, eating, sitting at the computer, walking) but also your exercise level.

To calculate your TDEE, you need to know your BMR and then based on your activitiy level you get a number that is your TDEE - what you should be consuming to maintain your current weight. To lose weight, recommended is that you eat TDEE - 20%. My number here is 2,285. I need to eat this many calories to lose 1 lbs body fat per week. This is based on the simple calories in/out theory.

So, I have been experimenting with this for about a week now and I wanted to log my experience with it. Now, I started eating at 2,200 for a bit, not caring about what my calories consisted of. Because my metabolism is basically screwed up from eating way below my BMR, I gained (water) weight, 1.4 kg in a week. This is my body adjusting, from years of eating at an unhealthy low calorie level.

Yesterday I decided to drop to 1,800 calories. Why? Honestly? I don't know how much more weight gain I can take, even though this is all water weight and will come right off, I think shocking my metabolism won't work for me (mentally and emotionally). So I will stay at 1,800 calories (which is real close to my BMR of 1,843) for a while. Maybe for a month (I lost 0,8 of the 1,4 kg within a day), maybe when I reach goal weight.

As for now, 1,800 calories seems to work just fine for me. It is not too difficult to consume 1,800 calories in a day, and still eat healthy and a nice step up from 1,500. And if I can continue to lose body fat successfully this way, why not, right?

I hope that at the end of the year I will have my metabolism back to where it should be. I hope that by then I will be able to eat close to 2,500 calories and maintain my weight.

If you are interested in knowing what your BMR and TDEE is, you can calculate it here. If you have any questions on this topic, feel free to message me!

Insanity Challenge Week 5

Insanity week 5 is done!

This was "Recovery Week." Don't let the name fool you though. I also thought it was going to be a nice break from sweating and busting my butt...

Boy, I was wrong. The Core Cardio & Balance workout will still get your heart rate up nice and high and you will be sweating at the end of the workout.

It is a workout focused on cardio and balance (duh) and throughout the entire workout Shaun T will remind you to keep your core engaged, and you will feel this in your abs!

The warmup is quite easy and calm, then there is a stretch and there are more breaks than usual, so you won't exhaust yourself too fast. It is a lot less intense than the previous weeks but still a good workout!

If you have the Deluxe program, you can do the Max Interval Sports Training instead of the Core Cardio & Balance workout. Since I missed one workout on Thursday due to having the flu, I decided to switch it up and replace CC&B workout with Max Interval Sports Training on Friday and Saturday...

Max Interval Sports Training is one INSANE workout!! It is very intense, incorporates different sports: boxing, football, basketball, gymnastics and track. It does have a lot of breaks, which I needed, but it is my absolute favorite workout so far! I easily burned 550+ calories during this one.

Insanity weight loss so far: 2,9 kg. Overall weight loss: 15 kg! Very happy with my results. Also measured my resting heart rate and that was 72 - which is above average. It used to be over 80, so that is another great improvement :)

Monday starts Month 2 of Insanity - I am pumped!!