Well this year didn't start as planned. It has been almost a week since my last workout, and I seem to have lost my momentum. Coming back to work after a lovely Christmas break with my family was tough. Combine that with decreasing temperatures, and those early mornings just felt terrible.
I've decided to take the rest of this week off from the workouts. I'm going to finish the book I've started, then try to get back into naturally waking up early. Over Christmas I had far too many late nights, and I know that hasn't helped with how I'm feeling now that I have to get up in the mornings.
I'll restart the new hybrid next week, and this time I'm going to see it through! I have to, as my weight is starting to creep up........
Tuesday 12 January 2016
Thursday 7 January 2016
Day 4 - Max Interval Circuit
Have skipped today's workout. Ran out of time this morning, and wasn't feeling it this evening.
So instead I'm sat watching awesome fit people on youtube, whilst attempting to avoid a fridge full of Christmas chocolate.............
Wednesday 6 January 2016
Day 3 - Off Day Stretch
That felt good! I know it's a bit early in the workout to be having a stretch day, but I needed that!
Doing the Asylum 2 stretch was a nice change from Relief. I might swap some of my future stretches to this one, just to mix things up.
Before this morning's stretch I did today's UK Insanity plank challenge. Today is day 6, so I should have improved by 50 seconds by now;
I'm pretty chuffed with a 79 second improvement :)
It's back to Insanity for a round of Max Interval Circuit tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!
Doing the Asylum 2 stretch was a nice change from Relief. I might swap some of my future stretches to this one, just to mix things up.
Before this morning's stretch I did today's UK Insanity plank challenge. Today is day 6, so I should have improved by 50 seconds by now;
I'm pretty chuffed with a 79 second improvement :)
It's back to Insanity for a round of Max Interval Circuit tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!
Tuesday 5 January 2016
Day 2 - Max Cardio Conditioning
I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. It was cold, and I felt that I needed a few more hours under the duvet.
But as I'm taking my girls to see The Force Awakens tonight, I knew there wouldn't be time to complete today's workout after work, so up I got.
Today was Max Cardio Conditioning, and I did really badly.
I think my form was ok, but I had no energy. Hopefully that will start to improve soon.
I've given myself a bit of a break tomorrow with Asylum 2's Off Day Stretch. But before that I need to complete today's plank challenge - 3:44 to beat.
But as I'm taking my girls to see The Force Awakens tonight, I knew there wouldn't be time to complete today's workout after work, so up I got.
Today was Max Cardio Conditioning, and I did really badly.
I think my form was ok, but I had no energy. Hopefully that will start to improve soon.
I've given myself a bit of a break tomorrow with Asylum 2's Off Day Stretch. But before that I need to complete today's plank challenge - 3:44 to beat.
Monday 4 January 2016
Day 1 - Max Interval Plyo
I'm back! And by that I mean I got up far too early this morning to start a new workout.
As I mentioned on Saturday, this time I'm not doing the official 84 day hybrid, but have instead started designing my own. This week will mostly feature Insanity workouts as I want to start burning off all that Christmas food.
Speaking of Christmas food, I'll be back to doing my weekly weigh-in on Saturdays, and have done a full set of measurements before I started. However, you'll have to wait till this weekend to see how much I let myself go over Christmas.
For now, I just want to concentrate on today's workout, and it was a workout!
I've been doing the odd bit of exercise over the past few weeks, but I really felt it this morning. It wasn't helped by the 3 1/2 minute plank I did right before the workout (I'm doing a Facebook plank challenge this month) which really brought the burn to my core. I was quite knackered by the end of it.
I was also quite happy. I've missed the exercise, and am looking forward to a more relaxed programme compared to last year's hybrid. I don't have any worries about making it through, and will tweak it if I feel it's not tough enough.
It's Max Cardio Conditioning tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!
As I mentioned on Saturday, this time I'm not doing the official 84 day hybrid, but have instead started designing my own. This week will mostly feature Insanity workouts as I want to start burning off all that Christmas food.
Speaking of Christmas food, I'll be back to doing my weekly weigh-in on Saturdays, and have done a full set of measurements before I started. However, you'll have to wait till this weekend to see how much I let myself go over Christmas.
For now, I just want to concentrate on today's workout, and it was a workout!
I've been doing the odd bit of exercise over the past few weeks, but I really felt it this morning. It wasn't helped by the 3 1/2 minute plank I did right before the workout (I'm doing a Facebook plank challenge this month) which really brought the burn to my core. I was quite knackered by the end of it.
I was also quite happy. I've missed the exercise, and am looking forward to a more relaxed programme compared to last year's hybrid. I don't have any worries about making it through, and will tweak it if I feel it's not tough enough.
It's Max Cardio Conditioning tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it!
Saturday 2 January 2016
Happy New Year!
It's 2016! How did that happen?
I've enjoyed having a break over Christmas, but am ready to start the next chapter of my quest for abs.
I've done a little bit of exercise over the past few weeks, but need to wind things up a bit. Not to the level of last year's hybrid, but somewhere between that and a normal round of Insanity. I've used Insanity month 2 as a base, and have started to build my own hybrid;
It probably needs a bit more tweaking, but as I plan to start this on Monday, I'll tweak it as I go. The aim is to do a more Insanity biased hybrid, so that I get the higher calorie burn per minute, whilst still doing some of Asylum's strength routines each week. The amount of ab exercises also ramp up each week from 20 minutes per week at the beginning to 90 minutes towards the end.
As the main aim was to increase the intensity of the workout, I've tried to keep it short. I've tried to keep each week below 6 hours, and have managed that for all but week 7. I could cut out some of the stretching for that week, but I have a feeling I'll need it by then.
So that's the plan for the next 9 weeks. I'll probably video the whole thing again, as that did help to motivate me.
I'm also going to do the Insanity UK plank challenge through January. It's just a bit of fun, and something my whole family is doing. If you're in the UK, are doing any of the Beachbody workouts, come join our Facebook group and join in.
I've enjoyed having a break over Christmas, but am ready to start the next chapter of my quest for abs.
I've done a little bit of exercise over the past few weeks, but need to wind things up a bit. Not to the level of last year's hybrid, but somewhere between that and a normal round of Insanity. I've used Insanity month 2 as a base, and have started to build my own hybrid;
It probably needs a bit more tweaking, but as I plan to start this on Monday, I'll tweak it as I go. The aim is to do a more Insanity biased hybrid, so that I get the higher calorie burn per minute, whilst still doing some of Asylum's strength routines each week. The amount of ab exercises also ramp up each week from 20 minutes per week at the beginning to 90 minutes towards the end.
As the main aim was to increase the intensity of the workout, I've tried to keep it short. I've tried to keep each week below 6 hours, and have managed that for all but week 7. I could cut out some of the stretching for that week, but I have a feeling I'll need it by then.
So that's the plan for the next 9 weeks. I'll probably video the whole thing again, as that did help to motivate me.
I'm also going to do the Insanity UK plank challenge through January. It's just a bit of fun, and something my whole family is doing. If you're in the UK, are doing any of the Beachbody workouts, come join our Facebook group and join in.
I'm looking forward to another year of getting fitter.
Saturday 12 December 2015
Day 85 - Rest Day & Ninja Training.
Had a lovely stretch in Relief this morning, and was joined by my three girls. They really tried hard, and it was just lovely.
I did my measure and weigh-in this morning;
Just a small improvement this week, but progress is progress, and I'm happy with that.
I also took my hybrid workout "after" photos. I'm not quite so happy with those. I'll save them for now, and will hopefully share them with some more impressive looking photos in the future.
Although today was supposed to be a day off, we had a family Taekwondo introductory lesson booked at Family Martial Arts which was fun, but definitely burnt a few calories. I'll have a bit more of a rest tomorrow :)
I did my measure and weigh-in this morning;
Just a small improvement this week, but progress is progress, and I'm happy with that.
I also took my hybrid workout "after" photos. I'm not quite so happy with those. I'll save them for now, and will hopefully share them with some more impressive looking photos in the future.
Although today was supposed to be a day off, we had a family Taekwondo introductory lesson booked at Family Martial Arts which was fun, but definitely burnt a few calories. I'll have a bit more of a rest tomorrow :)
Friday 11 December 2015
Day 84 - Rest Day, Week 12 Analysis & The Hybrid Workout Review.
It feels like I should be writing a final blog entry. After almost three months I have finally completed the Insanity/Asylum/Asylum 2 hybrid workout. That means quite a bit to me, but it does not mean the end of this journey. I am fitter, but sadly, there are no chiselled abs hidden beneath my shirt.
So, my quest shall continue. Tomorrow I'll do my normal weigh-in and measurements, and will start a recovery week. I need a rest, but don't want to waste all that hard work by just stopping. I'll build up the workouts gradually, with the aim to start another crazy routine after Christmas.
Before I share my thoughts on the Hybrid workout, let's take a look at this last week's numbers. As per normal, I pulled the data from my Polar H7 Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Sensor and recorded totals for duration and calories burnt.
Week 12 has been the shortest so far. This is entirely due to me cutting Tuesday's Max Recovery short.
That resulted in another record low - Just 2225 calories burned this week.
It's hardly surprising then, that this last week has been the lowest intensity of the entire programme. I may be lighter and fitter, but I'm also burned out.
I'm glad it has been a lighter week. I probably wouldn't have made it through otherwise.
So what are my thoughts on the Insanity/Asylum/Asylum 2 hybrid workout, and would I recommend doing it?
I am, without any doubt, fitter than I have ever been. I know that's a bold statement, and 17 year old me would probably argue, but I'm pretty sure I could beat him on every fit test. My improvements in all of the tests over these last 12 weeks has been pretty good;
An average 32.7% improvement is to me pretty impressive, and I wasn't far off from beating all of my previous bests. However, compared to Insanity, a 32.7% improvement after 12 weeks is nothing;
I know that I'm physically a different person now and that's not really a fair comparison. However, I also feel completely wiped out by the last 12 weeks, and have a feeling that this week's test results could have been better. If I'm too tired to show what I'm physically capable of, then what was the point? This hybrid is just too long!
I want to talk about the length of the hybrid, but let me give it some context. Here's what an average week looked like in each of the standalone workouts and the hybrid;
For the past 12 weeks, I've been burning an average of ~4000 calories in ~5.7 hours per week. That sounds good, until you compare it to any of the other workouts. The calorie burn per minute (I'll call it Intensity) is significantly lower, meaning that I've been wasting time. It's not that I haven't been pushing myself - You can see on the yellow graph above that on weeks 2 and 11 I was close to the Insanity burn rate. It has just been a long, slower paced programme, and that's disappointing. I could instead have done 5 hours of Insanity per week for the last 12 weeks, and would have achieved a higher calorie burn.
I know that a lot of what I'm perceiving as wasted time was the stretching, and I do appreciate that. I've noticed the difference in my flexibility, and would definitely have popped or torn something without it. I just think that the Max Recovery and Cardio recovery could easily have been swapped for Relief or Off Day Stretch, and not have wasted time that could have been spent either burning calories, or sleeping.
So would I recommend this hybrid workout to anyone? I think you can guess my answer. I can't figure out who this is for. If you're thinking of doing this hybrid, then it means that you've already done the three standalone workouts. You'll get better strength from Asylum/Asylum 2, and you'll get better Cardio from Insanity. If you want a mixture of the two, then just do Insanity month 2, but swap a couple of the workouts for Strength/Upper Elite. There's no real need to put yourself through these 12 weeks, unless you really want to start falling asleep at your desk in the middle of the day.
Of course, if I magically lose a load of weight overnight, and abs appear in the morning, I may change my mind :)
A huge thanks to my family for putting up with me through this, and to the UK Insanity Facebook group for their motivation and support.
So, my quest shall continue. Tomorrow I'll do my normal weigh-in and measurements, and will start a recovery week. I need a rest, but don't want to waste all that hard work by just stopping. I'll build up the workouts gradually, with the aim to start another crazy routine after Christmas.
Before I share my thoughts on the Hybrid workout, let's take a look at this last week's numbers. As per normal, I pulled the data from my Polar H7 Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Sensor and recorded totals for duration and calories burnt.
I'm glad it has been a lighter week. I probably wouldn't have made it through otherwise.
So what are my thoughts on the Insanity/Asylum/Asylum 2 hybrid workout, and would I recommend doing it?
I am, without any doubt, fitter than I have ever been. I know that's a bold statement, and 17 year old me would probably argue, but I'm pretty sure I could beat him on every fit test. My improvements in all of the tests over these last 12 weeks has been pretty good;
An average 32.7% improvement is to me pretty impressive, and I wasn't far off from beating all of my previous bests. However, compared to Insanity, a 32.7% improvement after 12 weeks is nothing;
I know that I'm physically a different person now and that's not really a fair comparison. However, I also feel completely wiped out by the last 12 weeks, and have a feeling that this week's test results could have been better. If I'm too tired to show what I'm physically capable of, then what was the point? This hybrid is just too long!
I want to talk about the length of the hybrid, but let me give it some context. Here's what an average week looked like in each of the standalone workouts and the hybrid;
For the past 12 weeks, I've been burning an average of ~4000 calories in ~5.7 hours per week. That sounds good, until you compare it to any of the other workouts. The calorie burn per minute (I'll call it Intensity) is significantly lower, meaning that I've been wasting time. It's not that I haven't been pushing myself - You can see on the yellow graph above that on weeks 2 and 11 I was close to the Insanity burn rate. It has just been a long, slower paced programme, and that's disappointing. I could instead have done 5 hours of Insanity per week for the last 12 weeks, and would have achieved a higher calorie burn.
I know that a lot of what I'm perceiving as wasted time was the stretching, and I do appreciate that. I've noticed the difference in my flexibility, and would definitely have popped or torn something without it. I just think that the Max Recovery and Cardio recovery could easily have been swapped for Relief or Off Day Stretch, and not have wasted time that could have been spent either burning calories, or sleeping.
So would I recommend this hybrid workout to anyone? I think you can guess my answer. I can't figure out who this is for. If you're thinking of doing this hybrid, then it means that you've already done the three standalone workouts. You'll get better strength from Asylum/Asylum 2, and you'll get better Cardio from Insanity. If you want a mixture of the two, then just do Insanity month 2, but swap a couple of the workouts for Strength/Upper Elite. There's no real need to put yourself through these 12 weeks, unless you really want to start falling asleep at your desk in the middle of the day.
Of course, if I magically lose a load of weight overnight, and abs appear in the morning, I may change my mind :)
A huge thanks to my family for putting up with me through this, and to the UK Insanity Facebook group for their motivation and support.
Thursday 10 December 2015
Day 83 - Championship and Sudden Death Overtime
That's it! The last workout of this Insanity/Asylum/Asylum 2 Hybrid is done!
I'll write a bit more about the entire programme in tomorrow's weekly analysis, but for now will just say that I'm really happy that I've made it through, and even happier that it's over.
Today's workout went better than expected. I took just one small break during the gymnastic jumping section, but otherwise pushed through.
My fit test improved slightly. In week one, I only managed 5 rotations of the agility sequence. Today I managed 6.5. That's still a whole rotation lower than my personal best (7.5 set in July), but it yet again shows a 30% improvement over my week 1 results - at least I'm consistent!
So that's it for this hybrid. I'm going to take tomorrow off completely, and then will do a recovery week next week. I'm going to a taekwondo class with my family on Saturday, but hopefully that won't be too much work.
I'm really happy :)
I'll write a bit more about the entire programme in tomorrow's weekly analysis, but for now will just say that I'm really happy that I've made it through, and even happier that it's over.
Today's workout went better than expected. I took just one small break during the gymnastic jumping section, but otherwise pushed through.
My fit test improved slightly. In week one, I only managed 5 rotations of the agility sequence. Today I managed 6.5. That's still a whole rotation lower than my personal best (7.5 set in July), but it yet again shows a 30% improvement over my week 1 results - at least I'm consistent!
So that's it for this hybrid. I'm going to take tomorrow off completely, and then will do a recovery week next week. I'm going to a taekwondo class with my family on Saturday, but hopefully that won't be too much work.
I'm really happy :)
Wednesday 9 December 2015
Day 82 - Off Day Stretch
It's almost over! I have one workout left to do!
Today was lovely. I turned my alarm off, had an hour's extra sleep, and did the 30 minute Off Day Stretch after work.
It's a really gentle routine - Far more relaxing than either of the Insanity recovery routines. I enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if I'm any more flexible than I was in week 1. I might do some side-by-side comparisons once this has finished.
Just one workout left - It's going to be a big one, as it's the Asylum 2 finale - Championship + Sudden Death Overtime Fit Test. I'm not looking forward to the workout, but am definitely going to enjoy what it represents - The end to this Hybrid workout. It's certainly not going to be the end of my quest, but I need to have a bit of a rest.
Today was lovely. I turned my alarm off, had an hour's extra sleep, and did the 30 minute Off Day Stretch after work.
It's a really gentle routine - Far more relaxing than either of the Insanity recovery routines. I enjoyed it.
I'm not sure if I'm any more flexible than I was in week 1. I might do some side-by-side comparisons once this has finished.
Just one workout left - It's going to be a big one, as it's the Asylum 2 finale - Championship + Sudden Death Overtime Fit Test. I'm not looking forward to the workout, but am definitely going to enjoy what it represents - The end to this Hybrid workout. It's certainly not going to be the end of my quest, but I need to have a bit of a rest.
Tuesday 8 December 2015
Day 81 - Max Recovery
Am feeling pretty rough. Hoping it's just a cold on it's way, but it's possibly an ear infection. I didn't sleep particularly well last night, and my balance was screwy this morning. As a result, I cut this morning's Max Recovery short.
I have two workouts left - I'm not going to be happy if I can't complete this programme!
I have two workouts left - I'm not going to be happy if I can't complete this programme!
Monday 7 December 2015
Day 80 - Athletic Performance Assessment & Relief
It has been a while since I last did this Asylum fit test - It was back on Day 3!
After Day 78's 36% improvement on my Day 1 Insanity scores, I was fairly confident that I'd show some improvement again today. Did I manage it?
Just a 29% improvement over week 1, and two personal bests missed. It'll have to do.
I get another rest tomorrow in Max Recovery.
After Day 78's 36% improvement on my Day 1 Insanity scores, I was fairly confident that I'd show some improvement again today. Did I manage it?
Just a 29% improvement over week 1, and two personal bests missed. It'll have to do.
I get another rest tomorrow in Max Recovery.
Sunday 6 December 2015
Day 79 - Cardio Recovery
Today's Cardio Recovery went as expected. It was a nice, light, short routine, in which I didn't even break a sweat.
It's Asylum's Athletic Performance Assessment tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to seeing the difference since week 1.
Saturday 5 December 2015
Day 78 - Fit Test & Relief
Today was the final Insanity Fit Test of this programme. I underperformed on a couple of tests, but overall did better than last week;
It would have been nice to have finished with better scores in every test, but in the last 8 days I've either matched or in most cases exceeded my personal bests, so I'm happy with that. I have the two Asylum fitness tests to complete later this week, and it will be interesting to see what improvements have been made since week 1.
I did my normal Saturday weigh-in and measure;
After my stomach issues earlier in the week, I was expecting a slight drop in weight, but it's nice to see my hip and waist measurements also drop slightly - That implies that it wasn't just water weight going.
It's another nice relaxing round of Cardio Recovery tomorrow. I'd better not get too used to these lighter workouts, as I need to start thinking about what to do when this programme finishes.
It would have been nice to have finished with better scores in every test, but in the last 8 days I've either matched or in most cases exceeded my personal bests, so I'm happy with that. I have the two Asylum fitness tests to complete later this week, and it will be interesting to see what improvements have been made since week 1.
I did my normal Saturday weigh-in and measure;
After my stomach issues earlier in the week, I was expecting a slight drop in weight, but it's nice to see my hip and waist measurements also drop slightly - That implies that it wasn't just water weight going.
It's another nice relaxing round of Cardio Recovery tomorrow. I'd better not get too used to these lighter workouts, as I need to start thinking about what to do when this programme finishes.
Friday 4 December 2015
Day 77 - Rest Day & Week 11 Analysis
One week left!
This has been a tough week. I've been unwell, and work has been a sod again. I skipped Max Recovery on Wednesday and Overtime on Thursday. But I did some workouts, and that's better than none. I even made it through one last Game Day workout, which I hate s much!
This week's numbers are obviously going to look pretty bad, but let's take a look anyway.
5.4 hours. It's a long way off the 6.9 that I should have done.
Skipping those two smaller workouts, feeling rubbish and starting the week with higher fitness levels meant a 1216 calorie drop compared to week 2. That's not insignificant.
But by skipping a low intensity recovery session, my burn rate for the week was pretty good. In fact the duration and calorie burn were not far off a typical week in Insanity, so it wasn't a wasted week.
Tomorrow it's just the Insanity Fit Test and Relief. I probably don't need to set an alarm for something that short! Woo!
One week left!
This has been a tough week. I've been unwell, and work has been a sod again. I skipped Max Recovery on Wednesday and Overtime on Thursday. But I did some workouts, and that's better than none. I even made it through one last Game Day workout, which I hate s much!
This week's numbers are obviously going to look pretty bad, but let's take a look anyway.
Skipping those two smaller workouts, feeling rubbish and starting the week with higher fitness levels meant a 1216 calorie drop compared to week 2. That's not insignificant.
Tomorrow it's just the Insanity Fit Test and Relief. I probably don't need to set an alarm for something that short! Woo!
One week left!
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