Saturday, July 20, 2013

Beachbody Challenge- Insanity

I have now completed my next Beachbody Challenge, Insanity!  My goal upon starting was to improve my cardiovascular fitness, and Insanity certainly fit the bill.  However, during the first week of workouts I thought (multiple times) "WHAT have I gotten myself into!?!"  But, thankfully, about a week and a half into it, something clicked.  My body adjusted and I was (as Shaun T says) "in it!"  I am so glad I didn't give up during that first week, which I've unofficially named "shock week."  Believe me, at times I really wanted to.  But by sticking with it two things happened... 1. I got the results I was after and 2. I started LOVING it...at least the first month's workouts.
Then month two rolled around with Max workouts (because Insanity is not insane enough!)  Once again I had a shock week. Once again I questioned if I could do it.  I thought, "Maybe I'll just repeat the first month...that's 60 days of Insanity, right?"  But I knew that wouldn't be right.  I wanted to complete the program, not just a number of days.  So once again I had to dig deep and stick with it.  Thankfully, I didn't give up (do you see a reoccurring theme here) because once again my body adjusted and I was able to finish the entire Insanity program!
To measure progress every two weeks I did a fit test.  I would sometimes get discouraged and wondered if I was getting anywhere with all this sweat and hard work.  But then my fit test would come around and the numbers astounded me!  And that was all the motivation I needed to keep going.  I knew it was working!
So here are the results of my first and last Fit Tests.  For each test I did my maximum number of reps for each exercise in one minute...

Exercise                                    First Day                          Last Day
Switch Kicks                             55                                      126
Power Jacks                              47                                       64
Power Knees                            64                                      100
Power Jumps                             25                                       45
Globe Jumps                              8                                         13
Suicide Jumps                            17                                        21
Push-up Jacks                           16                                        32
Low Plank Oblique                    26                                        52

So, as you can see, it worked and I achieved my goal!  And now, especially now, I'm so glad I didn't give up.  DON'T EVER GIVE UP!