Insanity Day 5: Pure Cardio

Pure Cardio would actually be another great name for the workout series. So I was a little nervous when I put in the DVD that says pure cardio on an already cardio intensive exercise program. During our warm-up stretches Shaun T actually stated how he was nervous for the work out. WHAT??? NO! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE IT LOOK EASY AND LET ME KNOW IT CAN BE DONE!

Yeah, I was terrified going into it. But hey, I made it through and all of my limbs are still attached. Yes I took my own break periods. He actually sent people out of the workout because they were sacrificing their form so he told them to get water and come back after. Man, you know this is a hard workout when some of the most incredibly sculpted guys and girls are being told to stop because they are getting too tired.

What did I really learn from this? Even the experts get nervous about their upcoming tasks, and you know what, it's ok! You don't have to be perfect at everything to try it. You have to do your best and then keep going. That is what it's really about. If you're a surgeon, a salesman, or a janitor, you have to be willing to push your comfort zone to truly achieve something, and it's ok to be scared of that.

We can only reach our potential when we push our limits. This is me, a spear in the coals, hoping to be sharpened soon.

Insanity Day 4: Recovery

Don't let the title of the post fool you, recovery simply means long drawn out squats, stretches, and core exercises. You will hurt from this workout, and it is hard. The biggest difference? My legs aren't quite as sore through the day as they would've otherwise been.

So what did I learn from this one? Recovery is still going to hurt. This one fact has been the tale of my wife and I for the last 6+ months. Last year she had paralyzing abdominal pain. This sucked for both of us (her more than I). It wasn't just the hospital trips, the babysitting schedule, or the grocery list of medications we had to pick up, but the fact that they never truly diagnosed it.

Finally, out of desperation, they decided to remove her gallbladder. After the surgery, the pain was gone. No, they don't know what it was, and no, we really don't care. But since that surgery, we've been in recovery mode. It took a toll financially, emotionally, physically, and even on our relationship. Things are getting better, but they are still moving slowly.

Recovery is a slow process, but it means you're getting stronger. Recovery is the cooling after the trails of fire. They hurt, they are hard, but in the end, they make us stronger. Once the trial is over, it doesn't mean the pain is gone, it means the healing has begun.

From the furnace to the water bath, this spear is getting sharper.

Insanity day 3: Power and Resistance

So last night before going to bed, my wife gave me an incredible leg rub. I owe her big on that one because it was wake up and repeat. As I put in day 3's DVD, I felt my feet ache under every jump. They hurt worse than my legs, my but, or my back. I didn't realize how much strain would go on them. I'm trying to find out the best way to help my feet heal.

Through the workout I realized that as I kept going, my excitement was dropping in the middle of the set. This is likely do to two factors:

1. The idea of something is usually glorified, but in the trenches it's vilified.
2. I was too dang tired to feel like I was giving 100%.

For the second point, I want to let everyone know that I really was giving 100%, but I couldn't do the dang push-ups like I know I could have if I started cold and not in the middle of a set. I hated that and I felt weak again. I pushed through and did what I could, but I wasn't meeting my own standard. The thing is, I don't do the squats and jumps that are stressed in these videos, so in that sense, I've exceeded my expectations. I've got to see the up side if I'm going to see my downside.

For the first point though, this is something that I'm learning more and more. I often get psyched up about something, super excited, energetic, and hit the ground running only to trip, fall, and hobble the rest of the race. When we start something, we know we want to finish it, but we don't always know how bad it will be until we get there.

It's not the physical strain that is the hardest to overcome, it's the mental strain. It's doing what you know you're going to hate, not because you want to love it, but because you want to love having done it. It's the 20-20 hindsight that comes after completing the challenge that will make it all worth it in the end.

This is me, scraping myself against the wetstone, hoping to get sharper.

Insanity Day 2- Pushing Through

Today was day two of Insanity. I woke up achy as an 80 yr old and slowly let my legs drop out of bed. I put in the DVD and began the work out. My legs screamed, my lungs protested, and my feet cried out with each jump, squat and lunge. I did my best to keep up with Shaun, but it really hurt. The worst was what he called Level 1's. By the time we finally got to them, I didn't feel like I could move, but after was just agony. 

It hurts feeling like you can't keep up with the training program you've begun, but I was occasionally comforted by the other assistants in the video who looked to be in much better shape and were still struggling. I know it's not an easy thing going day after day, working out even though your muscles are sore. But at the end of the day though, I got through it. I did it and I think it was worth it. 

I went to school and still walk funny. I have a hard time getting up or sitting down. My appetite has grown 3 fold (which for me is a good thing since I'm still trying to gain the weight). My life is being filled with so many different actions now all from simply giving it my all in the morning. I know life knocks you down better than most. A lot of my life I didn't feel like I could fight back. But now they power is in my hands, I've got the goals, the support, and the means to really accomplish something out there, and so I will.

This is me feeling dull, but getting sharper
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Insanity, Day 1

You know that kid at the gym who had a hard time doing any exercises because of his size? No, I'm not saying the big guys, I'm saying the pencil-arms, the string bean. You remember that guy? That's me. My senior year in high school I was 6'2" and a whopping 140 lbs. I hated the fact that I got called names, many of them hurtful. I also hating being the weak kid, the one that was never asked to help you move.

I took a weights class my senior year hoping to "BULK UP" and gain some weight. In the 9 months I gained 20 lbs and raised my bench press from 65 lbs (yes, the bar and two 10's) to 155. It was great, but still not where I wanted to be. I left for college and almost instantly dropped 15 lbs. My school schedule got in the way of my fitness and I was making the excuses like "well, I'm walking everywhere on campus, it's not like I'm being a lazy slug." But still, I just couldn't keep the weight on.

So here I am now, a Senior at my university, a nutritional science major, and finally I'm back to 160 lbs. Fitness for me hasn't just been a good idea, it's been something that changes every day. Exercise and good eating make me happy because I feel like I'm making progress.

I signed up this last month to be a beach body coach and am super excited, not only to do the workouts, but to dive into the meal ideas, the eating plans, get supported and support my friends. One thing they told me is that I should be proof of the product, so I got my hands on an Insanity DVD set. I did the fit test today, and yes, it killed me.

During the breaks they give you, I had to pause the video just to catch my breath. I had a headache for a while afterwards and my legs hurt the rest of the day (but my awesome wife rubbed them down when I got home from school). I'm realizing that I'm going to have to go to bed earlier just so I can get the rest I truly need, not the minimum I can survive on.

So this is my work-in-progress story of a skinny kid on his way to fitness, this is my sharp start.