Insanitiquing

As I’ve said previously, one of the reasons I enjoy Insanity so much is that the short sets and breaks help me push myself through mentally. Well, this one has no breaks! On the plus side, though, you don’t repeat any exercises except for the warm up circuit.

 

Today, I pushed myself harder than I have previously and reached a record heart rate- approximately 188 BPM. As an aside, according to most maximum heart rate (MHR) formulas out there, that is pretty much at or above 100% MHR for me, which is definitely inaccurate. But, based on my perceived effort and my heart rate, my guess is that I’m hitting that HiiT goal of 90% MHR or more, which is fabulous! I’ve been doing a lot of reading about the benefits of HiiT training and I’m excited to see the results in my cardiovascular fitness and my body composition.

 

Anyway, as a result of my efforts, I was also so worn out by the Level 2 drills that I ended up having to do some of the pushups on my knees again- grrr. I keep thinking that I need to just push myself harder and use my mental discipline, because as in my previous Insanity workout, my arms weren’t even the slightest bit tired. In fact, I’ve decided to add on a few upper body drills after my Insanity workouts, since I want to be sure to send my body the message that it should not be digesting the muscles I’ve worked so hard to build. Today, I decided to do pushups until failure and managed 35 off my toes, despite the fact that it was coming directly off my Insanity workout- not bad. I also did three different types of pullups- yeesh, gotta work on those. Using proper form (no momentum), I managed 3 regular pullups, 4 chinups and 3 bicep pullups.

 

Some other observations about Insanity:

 

I absolutely adore being able to choose a “no music” option and put my own music on. I realize that this is impossible for some aerobics videos because you have to keep the BPM, but it is totally appropriate for a workout like this (and many others that unfortunately force you to work out to their obnoxious soundtracks). It helps me push harder when I’m enjoying the music, and when I have the power the change the music every time I do the workout. I turn on some hard dance music and voila! My suicides speed up.

 

I also really enjoy (masochistically?) seeing the background exercisers suffering, moaning, grunting and collapsing along with me. Man, that’s another reason that Insanity may, in fact, have been made specifically for me. If the workout is tough- and usually, if I’m doing it, it is- I do not want the background exercisers smiling at me benevolently with perfectly coiffed hair and magically dry sports bras. I want to see them gritting their teeth, sweating and cursing out the instructor along with me. I cannot get enough of the Insanity atmosphere from that perspective. I love feeling like I’m working out with a group of people who are really, really bringing it.

 

My final remark for today is that I’ve never, ever felt as pliable and flexible after a workout as I do after Insanity. I always add on my own stretch after working out to maintain flexibility and protect my joints, but all the Insanity workouts leave my muscles feeling like… David Bowie’s spandex in Labyrinth, perfectly elastic. I can get deeper into my stretches than I have ever been able to, including after barre conditioning classes whose entire purpose is lengthening muscles, and including after weight workouts that fry my legs.