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."

Source

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!

Source

Insanity Challenge Week 4

So, week 4 is over. That means, Month 1 done! I am incredibly happy and proud of myself.

Source

This past week was good, I pushed harder and felt myself getting fitter and stronger with every workout. I take fewer breaks now and can do more reps of each exercise. I am kind of sad that month 1 is over.

The next step is Recovery Week. The coming week will be 6 days of Core Cardio and Balance. I think I will switch it up a little, because as you might know, I am someone that gets bored of things fast, especially when they are not crazy high intensity... I might add in some other workouts this week.

And then we go into Month 2... It is the "Max Month", where the workouts get longer, tougher, more intense - What? - yeah... I watched the DVDs and I was just thinking "how am I going to do this? Seems impossible!" But truth be told, I had the same thought when I started Insanity Month 1.

I am already looking into what to do post Insanity. I was thinking of Insanity: Asylum, but I think I will first do another round of Insanity- because I am loving it so much!

Weight loss was 2,5 kg this month. Not great (or, well, you all will probably think that is a lot - but you know me, hard to please), but hey, who is complaining? ;)

Non-weight loss goals

I used to be like: "Do a proper push up? Me? Chea, alright!!"

When I first started out, my main goals were to live healthier (being able to make healthier choices) and lose weight. But as time progressed and I started seeing results in every way possible, my focus shifted. I started getting stronger, fitter, my stamina has increased tremendously. Instead of focusing on weight loss, I set other amazing goals for myself:

1. When I started, I couldn't do a single push-up on my toes. Sure I could do tons of reps on my knees, but holding a plank was already shit for me. As weeks progressed and I lifted more and more, I (obviously) got stronger. I loved noticing how not only my endurace increased, my strength did too. Before I knew it, I could do 3 push-ups on my toes, then 6. My goal now is to be able to do 15 push-ups full on. I don't have a deadline set, because I simply don't know how long it is going to take.
2. Just being able to wear whatever I want! I love shopping for clothes, but I can tell you it is terrible when the first thought on your mind is: is that going to fit me? How is that going to look on me? I am tired of that. Even though I can shop at normal stores and don't have to look in the plus-size department 90% of the time, I am not always happy what clothes look like on me, simply because I imagine them looking different.
3. Long-term goal: being able to run 5k. I know this is a goal that is nowhere in the near future. I can hardly do intervals for 3km. I have pretty good stamina, but somehow, running has never been my thing. I want to start off slowly and see how far I get. 5k would be great. The only problem I have: I just can't be bothered running when it is cold. My nose gets runny 3 minutes in.
4. To prove people wrong. I am sure that there are people that are doubting me. Yes, I have tried losing weight many different ways. Some with success, some without, but I have always gained the weight right back. I am going to be honest and say that anything I have ever tried was terrible. Unhealthy, for my body and for my mind. Therefore, I am now doing it the healthy way. The way you're supposed to do it, if you want long-term results. It is a lifestyle change, for real. I will show people that this is the best way. Not the only way, but the best way.
5. Hiking up Runyon Canyon is probably the biggest goal I could accomplish. Every time I go to LA, I want to hike up here. It is the most amazing spot in LA (or so I have been told). It is quite a tough hike but at the top, the view is absolutely priceless. I think when I get to the top I will feel like I have reached the ultimate dream :)

Source

Insanity Challenge Week 3

Week 3 of Insanity is done... It was good, again :)

The week started off with another fit test. I was very nervous, but curious to see how I progress and boy did I progress!! I did really well on the fit test and could totally tell my stamina has gone up like crazy. Here are my results (including the results from the first fit test, so you can see how much I improved):

Switch Kicks: 87 - 110
Power Jacks: 39 - 74 (this is crazy!!)
Power Knees: 87 - 97
Power Jumps: 20 - 27 (these are killer, but I am getting better!)
Globe Jumps: 7 - 8 (hate these...)
Suicide Jumps: 14 - 15 (another one of my - ahem - favorites)
Push-Up Jacks: 15 - 21
Low Plank Oblique: 39 - 51

Some crazy improvements there!

The rest of the week went very well also. I loved noticing that my stamina went up so much. But it certainly doesn't get easier. That is the beauty of this program: you get better but because you have to push your limits with every single workout, it simply doesn't get easier.

The only downside of this program is the Cardio Recovery workout. It is meant to give you a little break from the high intensity of the program, but I find it quite boring. The reason why I am in love with Insanity, is that it is so intense and fast-paced. But I guess they put in this workout for a reason, right? To give my muscles and lungs a little break.

The past 2 weeks were a little rocky when it comes to my weight because I had a few "off-days" where I had a lot of starchy foods, I also had my monthly problems, but I am still down 2,2 kg since the start of this program, so I am not complaining!

Anyways, I am looking forward to week 4 - the last week of the lower intensity (what now???) part of the program. After that is a week of recovery and then we go into 4 weeks of Max workouts... Ouch.

Insanity Challenge Week 2

Week 2 of Insanity went by really fast, and I wanted to give you guys an update on how it has been going. Also because I have been getting more questions about this workout.

First of all: I do not think this workout is for everyone, I absolutely don't. I do however believe that anyone who is in moderate shape and likes to challenge themselves to a new leven of fitness could try it. When your stamina is low, you get out of breath easily, you don't usually workout, you haven't worked out on a consistent basis for the last 3 months, your muscles aren't trained to a certain level or you don't like bootcamp style workouts, Insanity might not be for you.

That being said, I do think that if you've been working out for a while and your stamina and willpower are strong enough, you could absolutely give it a shot. I am not in perfect shape, I am overweight, but my stamina is quite good and my willpower is through the roof, so I love this workout. Insanity is designed in a way that you can push your limits and take breaks whenever you need to. You don't need to keep up with the people in the video. In fact, you will see them taking water breaks in the background as well.

Back to week 2. This week was great. Even though I was sick the majority of the week, I pushed through and didn't miss a day. I feel like working out does not affect my physical health negatively, whatsoever. Even if after the workouts I'd feel dizzy and/or nauseous, I felt better afterwards and I would have regretted skipping a workout. I also don't think me being sick affected my workouts. If anything, I feel like it gave me more energy.

I noticed my stamina increased a lot already. I could push myself more than in week 1 and I wasn't as exhausted as the week before. Power jumps are becoming easier, Level 1 Drills are becoming easier (burpees with pushups and floor sprints), globe jumps are still incredibly hard, I get really exhausted doing them, but I can do more of them! The only problem I came across is that my arch sometimes hurts after a crazy high energy workout. But if I do some foot exercises right after, the pain disappears.

I also definitely notice that I need to workout after breakfast instead of right after I wake up, like I did with previous workouts, because I really need the energy to get through the Insanity workouts! But that has not been a problem so far. If I have school, I will just workout when I get home, and make sure that I had a snack about an hour before.

This week consisted of the same workouts as week 1, but no fit test. The next fit test will be tomorrow (Monday). I am really curious to see my results because I feel I got better. One new workout is Cardio Abs, which is (duh) an ab workout without crunches or situps. This workout is the worst one, for me, because when I do situps or anything on the floor, I get lower back pains, so I couldn't really do more than half of the exercises. But I think burning 550 calories with Pure Cardio is enough for a day. I will enjoy my well-deserved rest day!

Insanity Challenge Week 1

Day 1 - Fit Test

Monday, March 4th 2013. Today is fit test day. The fit test is taken on day 1 of the program and then every 2 weeks to track progress. First there is a warm up to warm up those muscles and get your heart rate up, then a stretch and then you do 8 different moves. For each move you get 1 minute to do as many reps as you can. Overtime you should see an improvement in the reps. I am pretty happy with my results. I dug deep and when I was tired, I kept moving and went back in. I notice that taking breaks will only exhaust you more. Or, shall I say, it gives you time to think about exhaustion ;) My results:

Switch Kicks: 87

Power Jacks: 39

Power Knees: 87

Power Jumps: 20

Globe Jumps: 7

Suicide Jumps: 14

Push-Up Jacks: 15

Low Plank Oblique: 39

I really like how some of the moves LOOK easier than they are and others look harder than they are (to me...). For example, the power jumps, sure they look tough, but easy - but I had such a hard time with them. You basically jump up, pulling your knees in towards your chest. I only got 20 in 1 minute.

Power Jumps

Then there's push-up jacks. Now, I am not great at regular push-ups. I worked my way up from being able to do 0 on my toes, to do like 6 on my toes now. So push-up jacks looked like a humanly impossible move to me. But there I was, doing 15.

Push-Up Jacks

Day 2 - Plyometrics Cardio Circuit

Tuesday, March 5th 2013. While my heart is still working hard, and the sweat is still dripping from my ears and fingertips, I am going to say: wow... It is insane (oh yeah, I will be using this word a lot!) to see what the body is capable of. Today's workout was simply nuts. After the warm-up and stretch you are already dripping in sweat, your heart rate is already through the roof. Then it goes into athletic cardio circuit - lots of jumps and drills. Football training, basketball training, push ups, mountain climbers, it's all in there. I absolutely notice that my body can do more than I think. As soon as I stop to take a break, I notice that my heart rate is HIGH and I tell myself "I am DEAD", but once I get myself together, I tell myself "no, you can do 5 more" or "no, just do 10 more", and I do. Your mind gives up faster than your body does, so you have to push your brain into thinking differently.

During the 30 second breaks I had to check my pulse, because I can't go over 200bpm. My heart rate was between 160 and 180bpm. This is my anaerobic zone, which increases lung capacity and your lactate tolerance (which basically means increasing your endurance). I do think I need a heart rate monitor for these workous, to make it a little easier on myself.

Either way, day 2 was a success :) Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to fuel my body with some fruit and protein.

Day 3 - Cardio Power & Resistance
Wednesday, March 6th 2013. Muscles are shaking, sweating more than I ever have. I felt like I was going to faint, and I had to work hard to get the air out of my lungs, but I got through it, somehow. With a lot of breaks! This was the hardest one so far. I don't know why, but I had to take more breaks than yesterday. Maybe because I worked out a bit too soon after breakfast? Maybe because I didn't have a great night. There is a warm up which is sort of the same as the last 2 days. The circuits only had 4 different moves, which is less than yesterday, but they involve more muscle than cardio compared to the Plyo Cardio Circuit.

Pule was still around 80 - 90% of my max heart rate, which is good.

Day 4 - Cardio Recovery
Thursday, March 7th 2013. Today was a "day off" from the heavy cardio exercises. This workout is a mix between yoga and stretching. I am a person that gets bored of things really fast. I love Insanity because it is high intensity, high tempo. With Cardio Recovery you do a lot of stretches and you hold the stretches for 30 seconds or longer... Honestly, I got really bored. I do have to say, it is great for your muscles and also helps with your balance. I felt it in my thighs and abs. Got a good workout in but I am excited for another high intensity workout!

I actually got my heart rate monitor in the mail and was surprised to see that I still burned 260 calories with this workout!

Day 5 - Pure Cardio
Friday, March 8th 2013. "This shit is bananas, yo!" Is what Shaun T at the end of the this workout and dang he is right! Pure Cardio is well, pure cardio. As every workout, you start with a warmup and a stretch. You then just go into several exercises, 15 I believe, each for 1 minute. Without. Breaks!! Needless to say, I took my breaks. But it is nice to see the people in the video taking breaks and breaking down as well, so you don't feel like such a loser :P This is a really tough workout, but fun because there are so many different exercises! Right now, my whole body is sore, from my feet to my calves, thighs and I even feel my abs - and I haven't done a single crunch this past week!

I loved seeing my heart rate during this workout. I try to stay between 155 and 173 bmp to maintain the anaerobic zone. I burned 410 calories today!


Day 6 - Plyometrics Cardio Circuit

Saturday, March 9th 2013. Last workout of the week, and wow, I am dead!! I loved wearing my heart rate monitor. I burned 488 calories. My heart rate kept climbing really fast, even though I was not even out of breath, so that was not fun, but I tried to go a little past the 90% every time. I now need a big bowl of fruit or something full of protein to wake me up.

Tomorrow is Rest Day - well needed and well deserved, if I may say so. Kilograms lost this week: 1,6. Nice, steady pace. I am very happy with the way I got through week 1 of Insanity! :)

11 Workout Tips

Here's 11 workout tips that will make your workout more effective, easier and more fun. I have gathered these from experience.

1. Find something you love. There is no way you are going to keep it up when you have to constantly push yourself to go to the gym. Actually, I will tell you, I will never set foot in a gym. Ever again. Why? Because it bores me. I don't like people leaving sweat on machines for me to clean. I don't like to be in a room with a lot of people anyways. So why did I even try in the past? I had to make myself get up and go. It simply doesn't work for me. I now do something I love doing, and everytime a workout ends, I can't wait for the next one. That is what is going to keep me going. Don't do anything you don't love doing. You like Zumba? Join a Zumba class or do it at home! You like team sports? Join a basketball or soccer club! You don't like workout DVDs? Don't buy them, get a gym membership! You don't feel comfortable going to the gym? Do it at home! Simple as that.
2. Stop the lame excuses. "I don't have time". No, you don't MAKE time. Big difference. Every day has 24 hours. So what you have a busy schedule? So what you have children? You think everybody that works out sits on their asses the rest of the day? You think nobody that works out every day has children? You just don't want it. Everybody can squeeze in 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week! get up 30 minutes earlier and get your ass moving. Need your 30 minutes of sleep? Stop watching Gossip Girl marathons on Friday evenings with your bucket of B&Js. Another great excuse: "oh, my back hurts." Guess what, your back hurts because you sit on your ass all day. How about some stretching, some moving around, that'll loosen it up ;)
3. Create a schedule and stick to it. Everything becomes 10 times easier when you create a plan for yourself. Don't just get up and ask yourself "alright, what am I going to do today?" This might work for some people, but if you are reading this, chances are, you need some extra motivation. I love workouts programs because they tell you exactly which workouts to do, when. So easy. You can of course also make the schedule yourself. Write it down, type it up, print it out and hang it somewhere in the house (not in your basement).
4. Respect your rest days. As much as you might love working out, your muscles and brain need some rest every now and then. I workout 6 days a week, my rest days currently are Sundays. It gives your muscles some time to recharge and recover. Use your rest days!
5. Create a fun playlist. If you are like me, and get bored of routines, do whatever you can to spice it up a little. I love listening to music. When I do some miles on the stationary bike, I put on some music or I watch a show, whatever I can do to take my mind off of how many more minutes...
6. Mix it up. Again, I am the type of person that gets bored of things fast. I can't do the same routine more than once or twice a week. I need to do different things all the time, try different workouts all the time. This way I keep challenging myself and I don't get bored of what I am doing :)
7. Get someone to join you. Find a friend or relative to join you in your fitness endeavours. If you like working out alone, that is great, but I find that it's extra support knowing that there is someone that you can share experiences with. My boyfriend started the fitness journey with me, we did the same workouts for 2,5 months, but we found that we have different fitness goals so we are doing different things now. But I love being able to talk to him about fitness and health. I also love talking to people who are doing the same workout program as me.
8. Share your fun and progress with the world. A thought that crossed my mind the other day was: why didn't I start this blog earlier? Maybe because I was scared of failure? I love sharing my journey, knowledge and thoughts on fitness and health with everyone that wants to read/hear about it. Share it on social media, on your blog or wherever. I've noticed that people come to me with questions about what I am doing because of my enthusiasm! And that is just amazing to me :)
9. You're done when you're done, not when you're tired. Your body is stronger than you think. Your mind gives up faster than your body. Put a time limit, with every workout you do. Or a rep limit. Whenever I get really tired but I know I have to push, I tell myself "ok 5 more" and I do them. I don't stop before time is over or before I did those reps. Fatigue is not a sign to stop working, it is a sign that it is working!
10. Don't compromise form. Try not to focus on the time or on how many reps, focus on your form. Because 1, time will go by much faster! And 2, 5 reps with good form are more effective than 10 reps with poor form. When I do crunches for example, I can do hundreds, easy. But when I start focusing on my form (and I mean, really thinking about it), all of a sudden, my muscles start aching much sooner into the workout!
11. Check your heart rate. If you want to get great results and increase endurance, you need to find out what your maximum heart rate is and calculate how many bmp it needs to be in order for you to get the best results. If you're between 80% and 90% of your max heart rate, it's perfect. And logically, you never want to go over the 100%.

Exercise: how to get started

I get a lot of questions from people that want to start working out. Either they haven't worked out in years or they have never worked out in their lives. They ask me, how I got started or what is the best way to jump back in there?

I have danced for 18 years of my life. I started when I was about 5, doing ballet. I progressed to all different styles, jazz, street, hiphop, ballroom, krumping, dancehall... But at one point I quit (not going to go into this too much). I focused on other things and not caring too much about what I felt like. I tried going to the gym a few times. Didn't work, I got so bored.

Last year, I tried working out at home. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't stick to it because I had no routine, no schedule. I tried it again, I told my boyfriend that we'd work out x many times a week. Didn't work, we had a bag full of excuses.

So what has changed?

Source

I knew I needed to start working out, I knew I wanted to, but I had no idea how. I watched a lot (a lot!!!) of videos on YouTube of people that have reached their weight loss and fitness goals and I listened carefully to how they did it. A big part of them did it with fitness programs, and a part of them did it at home. Nice!

I had a 90 day fitness program laying around the house so why not commit to it 100%? I read up on it, watched the videos, watched people that have had success with it and I decided to just do it. I printed out the schedule and stuck it to the whiteboard in our hallway, so I would be reminded of my goals every time I passed it. I think that is a great way to start out: watch the videos, see if it is something for you. If you can't see yourself doing it, don't do it. If you can, commit. Make a hardcopy of a schedule so you can cross off the days.

Also really important for me was tracking my progress. I weighed myself (too often!), took pictures and seeing the progress on the scale and on the pictures made me more committed. I also loved the feeling of crossing off days on the workout calendar every day.

Don't set goals too high. Start easy. Even if you have experience with working out or sports. If you took a break that lasted a year or longer, you're a beginner, and you better accept that. If you are going to start with a program that is too hard, you will most likely quit before you even get through the first week.

Do something you love doing. Don't sign up at a gym if you don't like going to the gym. Find something else to do. Don't started doing Zumba just because your friend and her mother are doing it. Do it because you like it and want to do it. Even though I used to be a dancer, you will not ever see me doing Zumba or any type of dancy workout programs. I love the hardcore, hard-to-breathe, lay-on-the-floor-in-a-puddle-of-sweat, military bootcamp type stuff. I can totally imagine that that is not for you. And that is fine, try a few things and see what will work for you in the long run.

Insanity Challenge Start

I must be crazy... But isn't that why they call it "Insanity"?

After completing almost 30 days of BeachBody's P90 and Les Mills Combat hybrid, I decided to step it up. I had hit a plateau. I lost about 12kg/27lbs and hadn't been losing for 2 weeks straight. I was still eating the same, working out every single day but it wasn't doing a lot for my weight. Even if I did take pictures before and after those 2 weeks and saw that my body changed, I - a slave to the scale - wanted to get that scale moving, and read up on things (as I always do before I change my habits).

I found out that a plateau is mainly caused by routine and too few calories. You have to "shock" your body in order for it to start changing again. I knew I had to switch things up. I decided to get Insanity... You know, the workout that everybody is afraid of?

Yeah. I thought I was ready for it, even though I knew it was going to kill me, it looked like something for me - it is a very (very!) tough workout that focuses on plyometrics and athletics. It is not recommended for beginners, and even though I still consider myself a beginner, I knew I was stronger and fitter than I'd give myself credit for. After all, I love pushing myself beyond me limits.

I started Insanity on Thursday. It starts off with a fit test, you have a warm up, stretch and then 8 different moves and a minute for every move. You basically count how many reps you can do within that one minute, and as time goes on, you repeat the fit test every 2 weeks or so to see how you are progressing.

The next day I had dropped 1kg/2lbs overnight, just because I switched up my workout routine and upped my calories (I will blog about this later).

Friday was day 2 and it went well, even though I had to take a lot of breaks, I was happy that I got through it.

Then, Friday night, I was doing some ankle stretches and I overstretched. Yes, as stupid as that sounds... I had to give my ankle some rest.

On Saturday I found out that Shaun T, the creator of Insanity was going to start the program on Monday (which is yesterday). He had never done the program before (60 days straight) but he wanted to, and so he jumped in and asked people to join him.

I decided to join in, because I had lost 2 days of the program already and being the perfectionist that I am, would want to start over anyways. Also, I loved the idea of doing it at the same time as Shaun T, his team and thousands of Insaniacs all over the world.

So, yesterday I started over. 60 days of Insanity. 60 days of clean eating. 60 days to push myself. 60 days to dig deeper :) I am excited. Today is day 2. I will blog about my progress and my week on Saturdays or Sundays, so stay tuned :)

Welcome to my health and fitness blog

On December 14th 2012 I decided to live the rest of my life differently...

I woke up and decided I need to start working out and eating healthy. I was overweight and out of shape. And even though according to doctors I was considered "healthy", truth of the matter was, I wasn't feeling good and I knew only one thing would fix that: getting off my ass and working hard. So I did. I picked up some workout programs from BeachBody and committed to stick to it for 90 days. And I did. I also started eating healthy. This didn't mean eating lettuce and carrots all day, this meant making healthier choices. First of all: educate myself on what is truly healthy and what isn't and from there on out, make better choices. I created a structure that meant: 3 meals a day and 2 snacks (this has shifted throughout the past months). Over the past month or so I have gotten over 20 people that want to get healthier and moving, asking me questions about what I do, how I do it and if I have some advice for them. This absolutely flatters the shit out of me. People have been calling me inspiring (what?) and this makes me blush, because when I started, I could have never dreamed that I would come this far.

3 months in and I am more motivated than ever. I decided to blog about it, for myself, and for the people that want to know what I do, what keeps me motivated, what I eat, how I do it. I will blog about my goals, my progress, healthy meals and recipes (healthy eating can be oh-so good!), what my exercise routine looks like, etc.

I would love you if you guys would leave me feedback, questions and suggestions as to what to blog about :)