I Must Be Insane

I tried Insanity yesterday afternoon.  The Pure Agony Cardio one.  OMG, it was.... INSANE.

So here's the deal: apparently there are 5 titles, and it is put out by beachbody.com, the same people who do P90X.  As I said, I did Pure Agony Cardio.  Trying just one workout obviously doesn't make me an expert, but I'd like to discuss the differences between P90X and my first impression of Insanity.

So the workout went like this: hit the gas pedal, then accelerate, faster, faster, faster, faster, faster for 40 minutes until you're done.  Seriously.  The 10 minute warm-up was 30+ seconds each of running in place, Heismans, Heismans side to side, butt kicks, high knees, football thingys, then repeat 3 times, faster each time.  SERIOUSLY??  The warm-up!  For 10 minutes!  No instruction on form, etc.  By the end of this my calves were already ready to call it a day.

Then there was a quick stretching session during which sweat dripped off of me.

Then more insanity.  Crazy crap like 4 push-ups, jump up, then back down.  Not just once and not slowly enough to actually manage.  Jump lunges.  Again, faster than humanly possible except probably for Olympic-freaking-sprinters.  It just went on and on.  It was like the P90X Plyo workout on speed - nothing matters but speed.

So initial impressions of the comparison P90X vs. Insanity?  I prefer P90X.  I like to do things with proper form at a speed that is humanly possible and yet still provides a good cardio workout.  I believe P90X provides this much more effectively.  I always feel in control during P90X, but still that I'm pushing myself.  Insanity is so INSANE that I actually think it mentally works against you.  There were times when I looked around the room and everyone was just laying facedown on the floor.  What incentive do you have to keep trying when there is no possible way you can a) keep up or b) ever finish?  And if you know you can't finish, what pushes you to keep trying though the whole set?  I think it sets people (at least me) up to tap out early and therefore not get as much out of the workout as they possibly can.  P90X has a countdown timer on each of the moves, and most people can talk themselves into doing anything for a minute.

So, will I do Insanity again?  Probably.  It was a good workout.  Afterwards my muscles were twitching with exhaustion and I'm only 12 hours removed and already sore.  And it is convenient to do once or twice a week at work for a little variety in my routine.  But I won't be buying it.

I did drag myself out of bed for a little run this morning on the theory that I'll be so sore tomorrow I won't want to.  My knee tweaked once or twice but never prevented me from running, so that was good.  I did 3 loops of run 9/walk 2, and so should be ready to run steady on Saturday.