Another week done and over! That’s right, Monday marked the start of week 4 for me. It’s crazy how time flies when you’re having *cough* fun… This also means it is time for my Insanity week 3 check in, even if it is coming in five days late.
If you have been following along, you probably remember that I completed the second fit test with great results and lumped it into the end of my week 2 review. At the time, I commented that although I had seen some great improvements in the fit test, there wasn’t much of a change in weight or appearance. But I also decided it wasn’t worth worrying about so early on, and it turns out I was right. I woke up this morning, stepped on the scale, and felt pretty good. I’ll share a little more on this below, but you are still going to have to wait until fit test 3 for the pictures and full measurements :).
What are you waiting for? Take the Insanity Challenge today!
In addition I feel like the further along I get in the program, the harder I have been pushing myself. The structure of Insanity has really been growing on me: I love that even while the workouts are getting easier with time, the program remains a challenge physically (does that even make sense? I will try to expand further below).
Lastly, my diet is getting progressively better. In fact, after last weekend’s caloric overdose (which you can read about here) I managed to have a week of diet that was perfectly aligned with the goals I set. To top it all off, I found a great resource for tracking diet and exercise online which I will share with you below. But first, the obligatory Insanity week 3 overview.
Insanity Week 3: Week In Review #
Week 3 looks like this:
- Day 15: Fit test
- Day 16: Plyometric cardio circuit
- Day 17: Pure cardio and cardio abs
- Day 18: Cardio recovery
- Day 19: Cardio power and resistance
- Day 20: Plyometric cardio circuit
- Day 21: Rest
At this point in the program, I am really starting to become familiar with each of the routines. This is great because it means I can rely more on auditory cues than visual cues and in turn really focus on improving my form. Unfortunately month one is just about over for me, which means I will be moving on to the Max workouts and having to start from scratch…
Monday: Fit Test #
I already covered the fit test at the end of my week 2 check-in. To quickly recap, I felt significantly more capable of performing these moves than I did on the first day, and I saw improvements across the board to back up this feeling. In fact, I may have set the bar too high for fit test 3! Like I said at the beginning of this post, I seem to be pushing myself harder and harder as I progress along the program, and the fit test was no exception.
Tuesday: Plyometric Cardio Circuit #
Ugh… The level 1 drills just do not seem to get any easier. And having me do those damn ski abs right after pushes me to the verge of collapse. But oddly, the in-out abs that follow are something of a nice rest for me. I find these to be easy and a bit soothing. I am not sure if this is by design – is anyone else feeling the same way here?
Wednesday: Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs #
The combo from hell… Ok, I’m obviously exaggerating, but the fact is there are no scheduled rests in pure cardio, so I feel compelled to just keep going. In truth, it is really only 15 minutes of cardio when you subtract the warm-up and cool down. But it is an exhausting 15 minutes. And then to schedule cardio abs immediately after is just cruel. Shaun mentions a couple of times how we should be glad that we aren’t doing any sit-ups or crunches… What he neglects to tell you is that by the time you get to the dual leg raises you will be curled up in a ball on the floor crying. Again, I exaggerate, but if I hadn’t watched this video I would swear that those dual leg raises are impossible. My core just does not have the strength for more than 1 or 2.
Thursday: Cardio Recovery #
Ah the day of rest. Nevermind that some of the moves here are the hardest to date (for me at least). I said it before and I will say it again: having to hold myself deep in a lunge or squat and then trying to do pulses of the same moves immediately after leaves me practically incapable of walking. I did feel a lot better this time around than the previous two weeks, however.
Friday: Cardio Power and Resistance #
This routine is quickly becoming my favorite. Granted my reasons are a bit vain… When I started this, I felt that my triceps were one of the areas on my body that could use the most work. And this workout puts emphasis on your triceps directly which the other neglect to do. Unfortunately, today being day 23 I just performed this workout for the very last time. Hopefully one of the Max workouts proves to be a good replacement.
And for those of you that missed it earlier in the week, check out this video of Shaun T demonstrating proper form on three of the exercises you are performing for cardio power and resistance. If you are anything like me, you have probably been doing at least one of these wrong.
Saturday: Plyometric Cardio Circuit #
There is no point in lying… I took this day off. I have no good excuse, though I made plenty at the time. The reason I didn’t do this workout is that my roommates were home all day (they are rarely home during the week). There are three of us sharing a pretty small apartment, and when I am doing Insanity I need 90% of our shared space. So I told myself it would be rude to workout while they were here and just skipped it. Looking back, I think it is more likely that I was just a little embarrassed at the prospect of them staring at me over the course of a 40 minute workout. At the time I was ok with missing it, because I told myself I would do the workout on Sunday. Didn’t happen… But what’s done is done, and there is no use crying about it. I just have to make sure stupid things like this don’t hold me back in the future.
Sunday: Rest #
Need I say more?
Promising Results #
As I mentioned in the beginning, I hadn’t seen much in the way of improvement in my last set of body measurements. I decided it was too early to worry and pushed it out of my mind. I haven’t taken any body measurements (and I refuse to until the next fit test) but this morning I did step on the scale. What shone back at me was a big fat 182! I am down seven pounds in three weeks and have certainly gained muscle mass in the process. My body definitely feels more solid overall, and looking in the mirror I can see those abs getting ready to peer out at me (there is still a bit of fat left there, but we’re close). In the end this just serves as motivation to continue. Knowing that what I am doing is producing positive results is motivation enough to not stray from the plan. I can’t wait to see what the next fit test and set of measurements bring!
With every day, the Insanity workout seems to get a little bit easier. But it is strange, because as I have mentioned so many times already today, with every day I am pushing myself just a little bit harder as well. These two actions cancel each other out in a way, and Insanity remains as challenging today as it was on day one. The only difference is that today, I am feeling a helluva lot better after each workout. The way this workout is structured is great. I love that there is a constantly evolving dynamic between it and me and that despite repeating the same workouts over and over again, it continues to feel new.
Some Notes On Diet #
After my dietary nightmare the previous weekend, I have done a good job of getting back on track with what I am eating. I think I have managed to make my diet as simple as possible and it still remains delicious! Just last night I posted a sample day of meals. For those curious, my goals are about 2400 calories per day over two meals, 65% from fat, 30% from protein and 5% from carbs. The past few day especially I have nearly been hitting these targets spot on. Which brings us to the final point I want to touch on today…
My Fitness Pal #
I found Myfitnesspal.com on Monday (day 22) and am already addicted. I wish somebody had told me about it sooner. For those of you that don’t already know, it is a diet and exercise tracker sitting on top of a social networking platform. It’s amazing, it’s free and I highly recommend checking it out. To give a quick overview of the features:
- A food diary to keep track of your macro nutrient goals, along with an extensive database of nutrition values to make it simple for you.
- An exercise diary where you can enter calories burned for use in other calculations (and just to make yourself feel good about what you’ve accomplished).
- A check-in page where you can add any measurements you would like to keep track of and graph them over time.
- A simple blog so you can get some thoughts down at the end of the day.
- A social network for meeting other people and finding groups with similar goals to you.
- And to top it all off, a mobile app that makes it even easier to keep track of everything.
And on that note, I think we should call it a day. I am done with week 3 of Insanity, and if you couldn’t tell, am more optimistic than ever about my path to peak fitness. I can already see and feel the results coming on and I still have more than half of the program to go. If you have been following along with me, I would encourage you to leave a comment below and let me know how you are doing. And if you still haven’t started yet, what’s holding you back? Take the Insanity Challenge today! If you still aren’t ready, let me know what’s worrying you below and maybe I can help ease your fears. And if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to contact me and I will try my best to help you out.
Until next time!
