Insanity program

[AnneMA]

I was turning tv channels and came across the Insanity infomercial. This is the first time I actually watched it for a few minutes. Looks way too high impact for me. They say these folks have gotten as cut and defined as they are in 60 days with no weight and just cardio and body strength. Has anyone tried this? Just curious about results.

 

[Fit_mommy]

I did the program but I added one f/b weight work out of choice to it each week as well as a little running just coz I refused to give it up. I got great results! Lost some weight, some inches, body fat, etc! It's tough as nails. I won't lie but it delivered!

 

[AnneMA]

I did the program but I added one f/b weight work out of choice to it each week as well as a little running just coz I refused to give it up. I got great results! Lost some weight, some inches, body fat, etc! It's tough as nails. I won't lie but it delivered!

What percentage of program would you say is high impact? And, is any of the high impact modifiable or would that defeat the purpose? Have you been able to keep your results after moving on? Thanks!

 

[melagras]

This workout was too high impact for me. I was worn out after the warm up. I couldn't do it. I'll stick to Cathe's cardio.

 

[deineira]

I did an Insanity rotation and it was extremely high impact. I did not lose any weight, but I did increase my cardio stamina like crazy. I was bummed that I did not lose, but losing weight is pretty hard for me at this point. I did not add anything to the program and did it as written.

Eva

 

[Zenara25]

DH did P90X for 90 days then after a recovery week did Insanity for 60 days. He lost about 10lbs on P90X and about 15lbs on Insanity. At the end of Insanity he was toned/muscular but IMO was too skinny. Soon after finishing he injured his back badly on the job (took a few months to recover) and stopped exercising for over a year. Probably a coincidence, but makes me suspicious that all that high impact almost everyday made him more susceptible to injury.

In my workouts I do add in Insanity on occasion but no rotation (and probably never will, I like a wide variety). If I were ever going to attempt an Insanity rotation I'd replace at least 2 workouts with 2 total body weight days a week, (and probably substitute another for kickboxing or step) to be more balanced.

 

[Stebby]

I did Insanity a couple of years ago and had great results. Between that and eating clean, I lost 20 lbs in the 2 months. I cannot do a lot of high impact so I modified - I marched in place rather than running and did low-impact heel jacks rather than jumping jacks. When there was jumping, I jumped low rather than high. Since I did a lot of modifications to the cardio, I was careful to be very precise with form for the body weight exercises (all the variations on push-ups, burpees, etc.) - I pushed as hard as I could, didn't let myself take unscheduled breaks during those exercises, and even if I had to slow down, I kept on with the best form I could, and did more each time. At the end I was incredibly strong in the upper body and had the best abs I'd had in years. And, in spite of the cardio modifications I did, my cardio capacity went through the roof! (I kept the intensity up even though I took out most of the impact.)

I have not done it again since then, mostly because I have been too busy at work to work out 6 days a week - it is more like 4 days a week these days. But if things ever settle down I probably will do it again.

Stebby

 

[cab0899]

DH and I did a rotation of Insanity but it was a few years ago now. Never had any desire to do it again. The workouts get tedious, not a lot of variety. I enjoyed the 60 days but that was enough.

I don't think I lost any weight but I did notice increased cardio stamina. I am a runner (one full marathon and 4 half marathons), I like to do interval training. long runs, and tempo runs with my marathon training. So I think Insanity is similar to the type of workouts I've done before so it wasn't something new for my body. Anytime I do so much high impact cardio, I find my appetite increases and I end up eating more than I burn. I love my high impact/endurance cardio (long runs, cardio coach, love MIC, and Cathe's other old step workouts) but I'm starting to admit to myself that my body actually does better with shorter type workouts like some of Cathe's newer workouts.

DH felt he gained some upper body strength from all the burpee/plank type moves but he felt he lost all he gained fairly quickly after he stopped the Insanity rotation.

Nice for a change though. I've worked out usually 6 days a week for years and I've done many different things marathon training, P90X, Insanity, CLX, STS twice, Cathe monthly rotations, etc. It's good to shock the body and try something new, also keeps boredom to a minimum.

 

[jcm]

Never done any of these but thought this was funny - I'm in PT for a torn disc and inquirer about these. Her response: "we've seen lots of people in here who have been doing p90x/insanity/asylum" - as in back injury especially. Part of it is not really fit people jumping into the fire and getting burned!

 

[UNLVCrjChick]

I did this last April and got decent but not excellent results, and I didn't cheat or modify the moves at all. I haven't touched the workouts since. In fact, I think I want to sell them because the dread factor is just way too high for me to ever want to do them again. I also have Insanity Asylum Volume 1 but have yet to do it: doubt I will and want to sell it, too. lol

 

[Viola1625]

Insanity is good solid cardio, but for me, there was little difference in the discs and doing the same thing each day got old. Too much of the same thing brought on dread factor. There are some holes as well - for example, the back and bis don't get much. If I do it again, I will fill in the gaps and balance it out with some other workouts from XTrain and low impact series. This isn't final, but I'd do month one sort of like this: day 1: LIS Turbo-barre. Day 2. Plyometric Cardio Circuit & BurnSets: Back & PullUps. Day 3. Pure Cardio & Insane Abs . Day4. Power Yoga . Day 5. Card. Pwer+Resistance & CXT: BurnSets: Bis+Tris . Day 6. SuperCuts Extreme & Rear Delts. Day7.Rest. I use the month two workouts for my Plyo cardio day (just once per week in a well rounded program with balanced strength, cardio, and yoga).

 

[Viola1625]

I did this last April and got decent but not excellent results, and I didn't cheat or modify the moves at all. I haven't touched the workouts since. In fact, I think I want to sell them because the dread factor is just way too high for me to ever want to do them again. I also have Insanity Asylum Volume 1 but have yet to do it: doubt I will and want to sell it, too. lol

I am going to give asylum1 a try too, but I know if I do the program as written, it will be too heavy on the Plyo and ill end up hating it. I know it seems like an unholy workout alliance, but I am mixing it with the low impact series. I actually think they compliment each other, and balance things out. Basically, I'll do it in 8 or 9 weeks. Day 4 is always power yoga for me, and day 7 is always rest. I'm coming off of a heavy bodybuilding type split, so that is why there's no split strength in here. I'll be focusing on more metabolic work. This is still a work in progress, but I will just cycle these 9 workouts in this order, always keeping my Sunday power yoga and Wednesday rest day the same. It's just under 2 weeks before something is repeated.

1. Speed+Agility & BonusStep 2. AfterBurn (Extreme) 3. Strength & Abs 4. Vertical Plyo & ???? 5. AthleticTraining & Abs. 6. GameDay & Overtime
7.CardioSupersets/BackToCore & Abs. 8. IntervalRun 9. HardStrikes & HeavyBag