Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 4

Day 4 was Tabata Power (for the second time this week) in Max 30 and Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90.

Tabata Power was still tough, even modifying the moves, but it was a little easier than on Tuesday. I was able to make it a little bit farther into the workout before maxing out, but I still could not get through the entire triceps dip sequence without taking a break. I maxed out at a little over 24 minutes, about a minute before the modifier, who is in phenomenal shape, maxes out in that workout.

For the Sweat 1-2 workout, I decided to take a different approach, which I plan to use all through Power 90. Basically, I am going to use the same weight for all the exercises and do 15 reps of each exercise. When I can easily do 15 reps for everything, then I will bump the weight up. That should make it easier to get through all the exercises since the transitions in the workout are very quick, and you do not have much time to grab different weights before you have to start performing the next exercise. For this workout, I used 12 lb weights which were very light for the back exercises, but a little heavier for the shoulder flys and the back scratchers (which I think I am going to swap for Lift-4's one arm triceps extension). I will probably use the same weight for Saturday's workout and then bump it up to 15 lbs next week. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 3

Day 3 was the Cardio Intervals workout in Max 30 and Sweat 1-2 in Power 90.

The intervals workout was definitely challenging. It has several blocks where you do three exercises back-to-back three times, and then you get a 30-second break every five minutes. Each block has an exercise that requires you to be in a plank (e.g., push-up punches, ski-abs, wide-pike ups, burpee lunges, etc.). I barely made it all 30 minutes without taking an unscheduled break (I wanted to take a break a couple of times during the burpee lunges in the final block). If I were not modifying, I would have likely maxed out around the six-minute mark. 

The evening workout was Sweat 1-2 again, and it was easier than on Monday. My flexibility in the initial stretch and yoga portion was a bit better and I did not get as winded in the cardio portion. And, ab-ripper 100 was easier than on Monday. So, overall, both workouts went well.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 2

Day 2 consisted of two full-body workouts, one using all body weight (Tabata Power in Max 30) and one using mostly dumbbell weight (Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90). In the Max 30 workout, I made it just under 24 minutes (during the triceps dips sequence) before maxing out. Basically, in the Max 30 workout, you work chest, legs, core, and triceps, doing each exercise twice. You do each exercise for 20 seconds, actively rest for 10 seconds, then do the exercise again for 20 seconds, actively rest for 10 seconds, then go to the next exercise. Every five minutes, you get a 30 second break. 

In the sweat 1-2 workout, you do three blocks consisting of six exercises that you do 8 to 15 reps. If you have done P90x, you will recognize every exercise; the difference is that there is almost no rest between the exercises. Tony and the two cast members each use mostly the same weight for each exercise, so they are doing light weight for 15 reps. Tony and the female cast member use adjustable weights, which they may adjust between the exercises when the cut scene showing the form of the exercise plays. The male cast member uses a band, and it does not appear that he switches bands. Each workout went well, but the Max 30 workout was definitely harder.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 1

This was the start of a new workout round and I went back to the original Power 90 workout, which was the precursor to P90x as my evening workout and Insanity Max 30 (following the modifier) as my morning workout. Day 1 was Cardio Challenge in Max 30, and Sweat 1-2 followed by Ab-Ripper 100 in Power 90. 

The idea behind the Max 30 workout is to write down the time you must take an unscheduled break the first time, and each week, have a later "max out" time in that workout. Today, I made it a little under 22-minutes into the workout (while following the low-impact modifier) before I had to break. The evening Power 90 workout was tougher than I expected. It has been ages since I have done yoga, so the few minutes of yoga at the beginning of the workout were tough. The cardio portion of the workout was not too bad because Tony and the two cast members were going slow, but there were a couple of spots where I had to pause for a second and get water. The ab-ripper workout has ten exercises and you do ten reps for each exercise. The exercises get progressively harder as you go through the workout, so the last few were very tough for me to get through all ten reps. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 54

Day 54 was the last full workout of Lift 4. So, in the morning, it was the cardio circuit workout from Shaun 20 and full-body HIIT in the evening. Both workouts went okay but were challenging. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 53

On day 53, I did the Pure Cardio routine from Shaun 20 and the Shoulders (circuit) routine from Lift 4. Shoulders was very hard, and, like last week, I started out with the higher weight for all the exercises but had to drop the amount of weight I used for some exercises by the third set. Also, by the time I got to the burnout round, I could not do full curls with 15lbs and had to drop that to 10 in order to do the curls for the full 30 seconds with proper form. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 52

Day 54 was the rest day for Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine in the evening. Again, I slacked off and did not do either of the recovery workouts. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 50

Day 50 was the start of week 8 (the final week) in Lift 4. I did Shaun 20's Pure Cardio workout in the morning and then Lift 4's chest and back (circuit) workout in the evening.  I was able to maintain the same weight that I used in the chest and back workout last week. It is basically the same workout, but the exercise order is switched around. It was still a challenge because of having little to no rest between the exercises and only a few seconds of rest between the sets. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 49

On day 49, I again did a higher-impact cardio routine using the 645 cardio workout for timing. I think for the next workout(s), I am going to do Insanity Max 30 in the morning and then Power 90 in the evening. I intend to get myself to a point where I can do the full version of Insanity (probably modified) and P90x (unmodified) as a doubles routine. So, I will modify Max 30 and do Power 90 unmodified. Then, in 90 days, see where I am at. Since Max 30 is only a sixty-day program, I may switch to the full version of Insanity at the end of the 60 days and then pick up with P90x once I finish Power 90, but I will make that decision after I finish Max 30.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 48

Day 48 was the 645 cardio routine. However, I did not do either of the recovery workouts from Lift 4. I just did higher-impact cardio moves using the 645 workout for timing. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 47

Day 47 was Cardio Circuit from Shaun 20 in the morning and Full-Body HIIT from Lift 4 in the evening. Both workouts went well, as I can tell that my stamina and range of motion are improving. Full-body HIIT was very tough. Even the cast members in the video had trouble with this one so even if you are in great shape it is very hard to get through without resting or modifying.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 46

Day 46 was Pure Cardio from Shaun 20 in the morning and Lift 4's shoulders workout in the evening. During Weeks 7 and 8, the shoulder workout is another circuit workout, doing all of the shoulder exercises from the program basically without breaks.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 45

Day 45 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did the 645 cardio routine in the evening. I did not do either of the Lift 4 recovery routines. The one I have still been slacking during this round is doing the stretching and foam rolling. Once I figure out what workouts I am going to do next, I am going to try to incorporate more flexibility-based routines in.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 44

On Day 44, I did the Cardio Circuit workout from Shaun 20 and the Legs (50/50) workout from Lift 4 in the evening. The big switch for this legs workout is that you do triple sets of lifting and then the HIIT portion is shorter, doing the three exercises for 30 seconds each, and not the 60, 45, 30 second split that you did in the 50/50 workouts for the first six weeks of the program. Again, it was a tough workout and it definitely shocks the body a bit, but I was able to keep using the increased weight throughout each block and set. 

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 43

Day 43 was the start of Week 7 in Lift 4, which is the first of the two shred weeks in which you switch up what body parts are being worked in the various workouts. In the morning, I did Pure Cardio, and in the evening, it was Chest and Back (circuit) in Lift 4. The circuit workout was very tough (since there was little to no rest until the end), although I was able to use the same amount of weight for all the exercises in each set of the workout.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 42

Day 43 was kind of hectic for me, so I again just did the 645 cardio routine in the late afternoon/early evening without doing either of the Lift 4 recovery routines.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 41

Day 41 was just the 645 cardio routine. I did the workout in the evening and did not do either of the recovery routines from Lift 4.  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 40

On day 40, I did the "Ass and Abs" workout from Shaun 20 (which is the last workout in that program I had not yet done) and Legs (HIIT) from Lift 4 in the evening. The Shaun 20 workout is another circuit workout with two blocks that you repeat twice. You do need a moderate sized weight for some exercises. Each circuit has four exercises consisting of two leg exercises and two ab exercises. You do each exercise for one minute and get a break after you have done all three exercises and then between the two circuits. The Lift 4 workout was challenging even though, aside from triple bear, it did not have the most challenging HIIT moves in the programs.

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 39

Day 39 was the Pure Cardio workout from Shaun 20 in the morning and Shoulders (Intervals) from Lift 4 in the evening. I found the shoulder workout was a lot more challenging than last week. So, although I started with the same amount of weight for each exercises as I used last week, I had to reduce the amount of weight I used for most of the exercises by the third set in each block (aside from shoulder presses and upright rows).  

Workout Update: Lift 4/Shaun 20/645 Cardio hybrid: Day 38

Day 38 was the rest day in Lift 4, so I did 645 cardio in the evening followed by the Lift 4 stretch routine. Both went fine, and because I just did one workout today, I did higher-impact and more difficult versions of the exercises in the cardio routine.