Posts Tagged ‘Insanity versus P90X’

First phase of Insanity is done!

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

So a mild sense of accomplishment accompanies the finishing of the first phase of Insanity. What can I say? The program lives up to Beachbody’s hype. At no point was I able to completely keep pace with a workout without either taking a mid-set breather of a couple seconds or a between-set break at some point during the intervals, but the cool thing is I got better with each and every workout. I fully expect better results in my next fit test due in 9 days.

Lessons learned? P90X was a great foundation for this program, but it, in and of itself, didn’t fully prepare me for Insanity. As I mentioned before, P90X isn’t very cardio-intensive, so you’re certainly going to be playing catch up if you’re not used to intense cardio. And I’m not talking about 5 mile jogs, either. As great as long distance running is for aerobic conditioning, it does next to nothing for anaerobic conditioning, which is what Insanity and most high intensity sports play upon.

On a related note, I knew almost nothing about the pros and cons of different training systems back when I was heavily involved in sports during high school. I ran cross country (aerobic), played basketball (anaerobic), and baseball (low intensity), but had no idea how much more I could have improved myself with some targeted conditioning programs. I remember going from Cross Country — where I could run a 5k in around 19 minutes (not amazing but not bad) — to Basketball thinking all of my aerobic conditioning would carry over, but then quickly getting humbled when my muscles rapidly fatigued and I gassed out after only a couple of court sprints. It took me about halfway through the basketball season before my leg and cardio endurance finally stabilized and I could maintain my intensity through most of a game.

What I realize now is that athletes need to think about a lot of their fitness systems at once if they’re going to maximize their performance on the field. This is what we need to carry into our fitness regimens if we’re to avoid the infamous plateaus that plague most casual gym-goers.

When I undertake a training regimen, what are my goals? Am I trying to bulk up, slim down, increase muscle endurance and recovery time, jump higher, run faster, etc. etc. It’s not enough to go to the gym three times a week without a plan and expect drastic improvement. Programs like P90X and Insanity work because they *force* you through a targeted program proven to deliver specific types of improvements. It is possible, however, to go through these programs and still learn nothing about why they work. However, I’m curious by nature, so I always question why things do or don’t work.

On a lot of forums, you’ll see newbies ask about what they can expect to gain from programs like P90X and Insanity, and usually there isn’t a lot of good info for them to compare and contrast the programs. For instance, can I expect my vertical leap to drastically increase because of Insanity? The answer is, I’m not sure. It improved a lot in P90X because I was so out of shape and could get back to my baseline after 3 months of plyometrics once a week, but I don’t expect 2 months of Insanity to NECESSARILY KEEP increasing it in a similar manner. I do, however, expect my jumping endurance to improve drastically, meaning I could maintain jumping intensity for much longer durations playing, say, basketball. If anyone knows the best way to target fast-twitch muscles (whether it’s high-intensity interval training, or Insanity’s so-called Max Interval Training, or it’s some other routine), feel free to comment. I did come across an intriguing looking program called The Jump Manual that targets increasing fast-twitch muscle fibers to drastically improve vertical leaping ability. I have no idea if it works, but I do like the idea that it is a targeted program rather than a One Size Fits All How to Get Fit in 3 Weeks sort of deal.  What is fitness, really, if you have no idea what you’re improving and what you can expect from doing your workouts?

Anyway, I have a Recovery Week of Insanity coming up, then it’s on to Round 2. I hadn’t given much thought to what creatures lurk within the second phase, but Larry of the Do Something Initiative, has begun the round and has warned all that it is like starting over.  That is really and truly a frightening prospect.

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Thinner

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

There is a pivotal point early on in the Stephen King book and movie, Thinner, when a man and woman nearly run over a gypsy crossing the street and the gypsy, in turn, whispers ominously “Thinner” into the rotund man’s ear. Over the course of several weeks the man begins withering away to nothing, becoming a horrifically emaciated version of his former corpulent self.

The first week of Insanity has started off a little like that.

To give some perspective — When I did P90X, I started off at 205 pounds with a nice little pot gut just in case I got stranded in an ice storm and needed to dip into some reserve fat stores. After a month of a high protein, low fat and low carb diet and the workouts, I bottomed out at 196.5 pounds. From the second month on I gained some of the weight back and ended up around 200 pounds. Nothing too shocking there. Fat burning off, muscle being added back on. The net result was something close to the original weight with much better tone in general.

However. Insanity has been different. I started off the program at 200 pounds (see above). After 8, I repeat, 8, days, I’ve hit 194 pounds. And I can’t stop eating.

You see, I didn’t read the nutrition guide closely enough. The meal plans it recommends are something like this: 5 meals a day around 300 calories apiece; adjust depending on current weight, age, and activity levels. Well, you see, I read the guide, did the calculations, and because I am slightly ADD missed an important step. I wanted to actually gain a little weight while doing this program and came up with 3000 calories a day, which I’ve mostly adhered to.

After losing 7 pounds in nearly as many days I became mildly alarmed, seeing as how I hadn’t figured I had 7 pounds to lose very easily. I revisited the nutrition guide, redid the calculation, and realized I missed an important step. As it turns out, I’d need 3500 calories just to maintain a weight of 195 or so, and 4000 if I want to gain weight.

Holy FREAKING CRAP. That is a buttload of food. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to cram 4000 calories of food into your diet, but it is VERY hard to do with real food. If it’s synthetic pizza, or other sundry junk food, then sure, just throw down a triple baconater from Wendy’s (yes, I custom ordered one of those once) or a Monster Thickburger from Hardee’s and you’re 1/3 of the way there. But with fruits, veggies, and lean meats….forget it.

In my defense, the Insanity Nutrition Guide was a little misleading with its examples. Not only are the example meal plan portions WAY low, but the example calorie calculations are a little unrealistic. The example given was an active 40 year old woman with a very small frame. Now I realize this is a possible scenario, but it isn’t one that gives us a clue as to how the program would work for a larger athletic fellow at all. As it turns out, my caloric needs are almost twice that of the dainty older woman’s.

Anyway, I’m readjusting my strategy. My wife is already freaking out that my nutritional needs in a day are that of most third worlder’s in a week. Still, my goal with Insanity is to get in kick ass cardio shape and at least maintain my basic gains from P90X. I don’t want to look like a skeleton, so I will eat as much as I can.

Also, I realize some of you reading this may think that the rapid weight loss is a great and desirable thing, particularly those of you struggling to lose weight. Take it from me, though, that I don’t think rapid weight loss is a balanced and sustainable strategy. Sure, losing 20 pounds in 3 months if you’re 30 pounds overweight shouldn’t necessarily be frowned upon, but losing 7 pounds in a week when you’re NOT overweight is a whole different ballgame. So, I’m going to revamp the meal plan and figure out how to get more calories into the schedule. Incidentally, the wonderfully smart and fit Chalene Johnson writes about crash diets and weight loss… not entirely the same subject, but there is some overlapping material here, and she knows way more about this than I do.

Trust me, because I’m slightly ADD (see above) I’m allergic to calorie counting and have always felt it’s a crutch for the anal retentive amongst us who don’t want to analyze the quality of food but instead want to grab trendy fad diet boxes they’ve seen advertised between reality television shows. Why work harder when you can spend more! However, Insanity is making me rethink the whole calorie tracking thing as it has boosted my metabolism into something akin to the golden, confusing days of puberty, minus the zits. One thing I’m looking into is weight gaining shakes.  Another thing I’ve always resisted, but GOOD GOD, 4000 CALORIES A DAY!!! It’s either that or eat so many wraps, bowls of spaghetti, eggs, apples, bananas, salads, and chicken that I empty out the local grocery store single-handedly. I’ll keep you posted.

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Insanity versus P90X

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

So, my first week of Insanity went well. For the most part, I ate 5 small-to-medium-sized  meals a day per the nutrition guide’s recommendations, and I ate clean, mostly whole foods. You know, stuff not found in boxes covered with mascots and graphics, listing 4,000 chemicals that obfuscate what it is, exactly, that you’re eating, found in the middle of the grocery store . I didn’t eat perfect, mind you, but it was better than normal.

As for the workouts themselves –  on the web you may see what seems like sheer hyperbole when folks talk about these workouts being the hardest ever, but for the most part I think the fear and awe surrounding the workouts is pretty well deserved. I’ve yet to be able to keep up with a workout entirely, and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to to be honest. These are workouts you grow into. I can’t imagine many people being able to complete them the first go around except for maybe college and olympic track stars or something.

But in keeping with the site’s theme, how does Insanity compare to P90X? Likes Apples compare to Oranges. Honestly, folks, which program you decide to do should depend on your personal fitness goals. P90X is an excellent all around strength conditioning program that can help you become stronger, more flexible, coordinated, and achieve better balance and athleticism.

Insanity, in contrast, seems to be an excellent all around cardio conditioning program that can ALSO help  you become stronger, more flexible, coordinated and achieve better balance and athleticism, but with this program you will see much more pronounced cardio and anaerobic conditioning improvements, whereas with P90X you’re going to see much more pronounced strength conditioning. The cool thing is both programs can help you become a better athlete.

So, if you’re already happy with your level of strength and don’t mind simply maintaining a couple of months and need a huge cardio boost, then Insanity might be your program. If you’re already pretty satisfied with your cardio conditioning but need a big boost in strength, then P90X might be your program.

I have a sneaking suspicion that an intrepid person could combine both programs and get some stellar results.

Here’s a combination I think has potential to be pretty killer for the veteran fitness types:

Monday — P90X Resistance (ex. Chest and Back)

Tuesday — Insanity Cardio (ex. Plyometric Cardio Circuit)

Wednesday — P90X Resistance (ex. Shoulders, Triceps, Biceps)

Thursday — Insanity Cardio (ex. Pure Cardio)

Friday — Insanity Cardio Recovery (this one has lots of Yoga-esque moves so you would get some of the benefits of P90X Yoga X in 1/3 the time)

Saturday — P90X Resistance (ex. Legs and Back)

Sunday — Rest

You could do such a program for 3 weeks and then on the 4th recovery week you could do pure Insanity workouts for 6 days.

My guess is you’d get 90% of the benefits of each program in the same span of time it would take you to do just P90X.

That’s one idea, but there are others. If you’re a beginner, I’d recommend a round of P90X before attempting Insanity, but 3 months of P90X and 2 months of Insanity has also got to be a killer fitness combo.

I’ll present more thoughts and ideas surrounding Insanity versus P90X in the future. In reality it’s not an either/or approach, though — it’s a both/and possibility.

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