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

On Day 30, I did Max Out Power in the morning and Sculpt 1-2 in the evening. I barely managed to make it through Max Out Power without taking a break. If the push-up section about halfway through the workout had been ten seconds longer, I would have maxed out there. But I made it through. The Sculpt 1-2 workout in the evening went fine. I think I am going to bump the weight I am using for the back exercises up to 20 lbs soon and shift back to 12 lbs for the shoulder exercises so I can maintain good form.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 29

Day 29 started Week 4 in Max 30 and Power 90. In Max 30, that meant transitioning to Phase 2 of the workout and doing Max Out Cardio. It is similar to the cardio circuit workout, but it does not have as many breaks, and there is a one-minute power move at the end of each block before you get to the break. I got through the entire 30 minutes without taking any unscheduled breaks. This week is another transition week in Power 90, doing the 1-2 workouts with the 3-4 workouts sandwiched between them. So, I did Sweat 1-2 and Ab-Ripper 100. Both went well without much difference from last week. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 28

On day 28, I did the Sculpt 1-2 routine from Power 90 in the evening. I am still dealing with family stuff, so my workout schedule was still messed up, but I finished all the workouts for the week (aside from the Lift 4 recovery routines).  

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 27

On Day 27, I did the Sweat 1-2 and Ab-Ripper 100 routines in Power 90. Those were supposed to be yesterday evening's workout, but because my schedule got thrown off this week, I did it today, and tomorrow will be Sculpt 1-2.  

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 26

On Day 26 I did Friday Fight Round 1 in Max 30, and Sculpt 3-4 (which was supposed to be yesterday evening's workout). I made it all the way through the Max 30 workout, so I was able to get through all the round 1 Max 30 workouts (following the modifier) without stopping. The big proviso, however, is that the modified version of the Max 30 workouts are much easier than the unmodified versions.  In Sculpt 3-4 you do four rounds instead of three. In the first three rounds you do the same exercises as in 1-2 (save for decline push-ups) but you do more reps of the lunges and squats. In the final round, you do upright rows, calf raises, supermans, and forearm curls. Then, you finish the workout doing max push-ups and max squats. So, the workout is not impossible, but it is challenging.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 25

Day 25 got shaken up a bit because of a family emergency. I did do the Max 30 workout in the morning, and got through it without taking any breaks, but I was not able to do the Power 90 Sculpt 3-4 workout. My plan is to do that one tonight and then double up on the Power 90 workouts tomorrow (sweat 1-2 and sculpt 1-2).  

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 24

Day 24 was Sweat Intervals in Max 30 (in the morning) and Sweat 3-4 and Ab-Ripper 200 from Power 90 in the evening. In the Max 30 workout, I managed to make it through the entire 30 minutes without taking an unscheduled break. The Sweat 3-4 workout is almost the same as the 1-2 workout. All the exercises are the same, and you do the same four minutes of yoga at the beginning. The difference is that during the cardio portion, the pace is quicker, and you do an additional round of exercises for each block (except the kicking portion of the kickboxing block). Similarly, when you get to Ab-ripper, you are doing the same ten exercises, just adding an additional ten reps to each one. Those things definitely made the workout more challenging. I had to pause a few times during the workout, but thankfully, my stamina has been getting much better.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 23

Day 23 was Tabata Strength in Max 30 and Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90. I again flipped the order of the workouts and did the Power 90 workout in the morning and the Max 30 workout in the evening. I again barely managed to make it through the Max 30 workout without taking an unscheduled break, but I was feeling it around the 25-minute mark. In the Power 90 workout, I increased the amount of weight I was using for the back exercises up to 17.5 and still did 15 reps.  

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 22

Day 22 started off week 4 in Max 30 and Power 90. In Max 30, it was the Cardio Challenge workout again. I was able to get through the entire workout without taking an unscheduled break, and this is the best I have felt during any of the Max 30 workouts. So much so that I did a few of the exercises unmodified for part of the time. In Power 90, this is the first transition week in which you do the 1-2 workouts Monday and Tuesday, the 3-4 workouts Wednesday and Thursday, and go back to the 1-2 workouts Friday and Saturday. So, I did Sweat 1-2 and Ab-ripper 100 today. Both went fine, but since Max 30 tends to gas me in the morning, I do have to throttle it back a bit during this workout. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 21

Day 21 was a rest day in both Max 30 and Power 90, so I did the Lift 4 recovery routines in the evening. Again, I can tell my range of motion and flexibility are improving little by little, but I have a ways to go.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 20

Day 20 was Sculpt 1-2 in Power 90, which I did in the late afternoon. I did not do doubles today, taking the rest day from Max 30. I continued to use 15 lbs for all the weighted exercises in this workout, but will bump everything except the shoulder and biceps exercises up to 17.5 lbs next week.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 19

Day 19 was Friday Fight in Max 30 and Sweat 1-2 and ab-ripper 100 in Power 90. In the Max 30 workout, I made it to 23:47 before I maxed out, so there is an outside chance I will be able to do all 30 minutes next week. The Power 90 workout went fine. My flexibility and range of motion continue to improve, but I still have to modify more of the exercises than I want to.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 18

On Day 18, I switched things up a little. I did the Sculpt 1-2 workout from Power 90 in the morning and the Tabata Strength workout from Max 30 in the evening. I was able to get through the Max 30 workout without taking any unscheduled breaks (barely). The 20 on 10 off format definitely helps, but unlike Tabata Power, in which you have breaks every five minutes, in this workout, there are no breaks. After each block of moves you do a power move that is lower impact (like Mummy Kicks). So, you are constantly moving until the end of the workout. There are actually a few of the cast members who made it through the entire workout without taking breaks, which is damn impressive.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 17

Day 17 was Sweat Intervals from Max 30 in the morning and Sweat 1-2 and Ab-ripper 100 from Power 90 in the evening. I made it through the Max 30 workout without any breaks, but barely this week. The Power 90 workout went okay, but I was still a bit worn out by the time I got to it in the later evening. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 16

Day 16 was Tabata Strength from Max 30 in the morning and Sculpt 1-2 from Power 90 in the evening. Tabata Strength is the other workout from month one in Max 30 that you do, starting with week 3, replacing Tabata Power. The format of the workout is similar to Tabata Power, with different exercises. I maxed out at just over the 25-minute mark in this one, so hopefully, by the end of round 1, I can get through all 30 minutes (doing the modified version) without any unscheduled breaks. The sculpt workout in Power 90 went fine. I again used 15lbs for all the exercises. I decided that next week, I will bump the weight up for the back, biceps, and triceps exercises but keep using 15 lbs for the shoulder exercises.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 15

On day 15, I did Cardio Challenge from Max 30 in the morning, and Sweat 1-2 and ab-ripper 100 from Power 90 in the evening. I again made it through the full 30 minutes of the modified version of Cardio Challenge. The most challenging thing about getting through that workout is watching Shermita (the most useless cast member in the original Insanity program and continues to be so here) alternate between being lazy and being a drama queen the entire workout. Thankfully, she is in the back corner, and the camera is not on her as much as on the people working out hard. In the Power 90 workout, my flexibility during the yoga portion is getting better, and my stamina is improving. Plus, the ab-ripper routine is getting easier. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 14

Day 14 was the rest day in both Max 30 and Power 90, so I did the two recovery routines from Lift 4. I found that my flexibility in the stretch routine is getting better, and the foam rolling is getting a lot of knots out of my hamstrings and calves. Since I slacked on doing these the last couple of rounds of Lift 4, I wanted to do them on the off days from Max 30 and Power 90 since my flexibility has regressed lately. 

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 13

On Day 13, I did the sweat 1-2 routine (and ab-ripper 100) in the morning and sculpt 1-2 in the evening. Both workouts went well. The yoga in the sweat workout continues to get a bit easier as does the ab-ripper routine. In the sculpt workout, I used 15 lbs for each exercise again. I think next week I will bump everything but the shoulder exercises up to 17.5 lbs and keep doing the shoulder exercises with the 15 lb weight.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 12

On day 12, I just did the Friday Fight workout in the evening. I was busy during the morning and could not do it then, and I did not feel like doing both workouts back-to-back in the evening. I made it a few more minutes into the workout before I maxed out than I did last week. I made it to the 14:50 mark, but could not quite make it to the 15-minute mark where the first scheduled break comes up. Tomorrow, I am going to do both Power-90 workouts since I did not do the Sweat 1-2 routine today.

Workout Update: Insanity Max 30/Power 90 Hybrid: Day 11

Day 11 was the last time doing Tabata Power in this round and then in the evening, the sculpt 1-2 workout from Power 90. I was able to make it just over 25 minutes into the Max 30 workout before I had to take an unscheduled break. I wanted to get through the entire thing, but I was too worn out by that point. The sculpt workout from Power 90 went well. I again used 15 lbs weights for every exercise, and did 15 reps for each exercise.