Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Monday, September 5, 2022

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Chalean Extreme/Body Beast/P90X Hybrid Day 1

Day one of the new workout is in the books. Today's workout was Cardio Challenge from Insanity Max 30 (which will be my base M-F workout). This workout is a pared-down version of Insanity, with all workouts lasting just a half hour, in which you "max out" at whatever time you take your first unscheduled break.  I am just following the modifier in this round (I plan to do two rounds back-to-back, one strictly following the modifier and one unmodified as much as I can), and maxed out at about 14 and a half minutes. For comparison, the first time I did the workout I think I maxed out around the five-minute mark (which is technically still in the warmup) or just after the warmup. There is a five-minute warmup in which you cycle through four exercises, then there are three blocks of five-minute rounds that cycle through three exercises. Between each round, you get a 30-second break. 

On the weekends, which are technically rest days from the Insanity portion, I am going to do one arm-focused workout from CE, Body Beast, and P90x (rotating every couple of weeks), and then will continue to do the Recharge workout from CE on Sunday. As I said, I plan to do two rounds, and then I will evaluate my fitness level. I will either do another round of the Max 30 hybrid, or I will go on to do P90X plus, after which I plan to go back to the OG Insanity (which has the 35-45 minute workouts). That plan may change as time goes by and depending on my fitness level. Ultimately, I want to get to the point where in Max 30 I can keep up with the people in the videos who max out at the lastest time, which in Cardio Challenge is around the 27-minute mark when Darren in the back row maxes out.

One observation from doing the workouts through the Beachbody app vs. the DVDs. On the DVDs, you have the option to watch the modifier track alone (so the modifier and Shaun T. are always shown). On the app, you can only watch the "regular" version, which basically follows Shaun T. around, so you do not always get a good view of the modified moves. Although at the start of every new exercise, they usually do a wide shot so you can see what the modifier is doing (unlike say T25 when there are times the modifier is never shown in full view). Still, it would be nice if they added the modifier track to the app. 

My workout plan for this workout is to get up early and take my pre-workout at about 6AM and then do the workout at about 7AM to get it done and over with, on an empty stomach in the morning. I partly want to do that as a part of transitioning to going back into the office on a part-time basis, so workout out before work. I am still hoping to lose fat during this round. As most know, I try not to be hyper-focused on scale weight, but I know I have enough stored fat on me that I can easily stand to lose another 25-30 lbs of scale weight. I hope to drop about 14-15 lbs of that by the time the two-rounds of this hybrid workout is over.

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