Are you insane? Insanity Review

This post isn't really about running, but instead about the new workout craze by Beachbody: Insanity  A 60 day programme (well 63) that promises to turn you into a beach goddess.  Or the more official product description:

"Shaun T's Insanity workout is the best of its kind. No other workout can get you these types of results in just 60 days? Guaranteed! Shaun T's Max Interval Training techniques are a step ahead of every other fitness program ever designed. You get you a lean, muscular body in a short amount of time. The Insanity Workout is a difficult workout, but the results are phenomenal.

Brand New, Factory Sealed Box Set. Complete set includes a nutrition guide, calender to track your progress, and 10 intense DVDs that all contain a GREAT workout. You don't need exercise equipment. All you need is just a little space and a big heart!"

I was memorised by the adverts when I was at home in December, and through my studying have been learning why its so important to incorporate more strength and resistance work into my marathon training, to help me be a better runner, but the truth is, I can't think of any thing more boring than standing around in a gym and moving a weight through whatever range I'm supposed to.  I know it works, I know its good for me, but its just not my favourite thing to do.  I like more dynamic stuff, like kettlebells, so I have some of these at home to work with, however, I thought for a bit of research, I would see what this Insanity thing was all about, and I would start it in the new year, alongside my marathon training.

Nutrition Guide

As you can see from above, it comes with a nutrition guide - If I wasn't happy with this, I would send it back.  The nutrition guide modifies the macronutrient balance somewhat compared to what I would recommend to someone in marathon training.  They recommend a 40/40/20% ratio of carbs/protein/fat.  I would recommend something more like 60/15/25, or more accurately, make sure the carbs and protein were at a particular level according to my client's body weight.

If you follow the rules in the Nutrition guide, you get to eat 5 small meals a day, and to be honest, I haven't felt at any time like I was underfed - by doing the calcs I was still recommended over 2000 calories a day even for weightloss!  The only problem has come when alongside the long runs at the weekend.  The first month of the nutrition plan almost completely cuts out the complex carbs that are the mainstay of a marathon runner's diet - there are some meals that include brown pasta and brown rice, but the quantities were not sufficient for me when it came to running 14 miles + at the weekends, so I have been less stringent with the diet plan since the second week.

What is brilliant is in the plan, it has a table that categorises a wide range of foods into tables and recommends that if your diet consists solely of food from tables 1 and 2, you're doing really well.  Butter is in table 2, and with a caveat that if its unsalted and from grass-fed cows, it could be table 1! 

What appears in table 5?  Alcohol- spirits, cakes, cream cheese, pastries, frenchfries, coffees that are milky and come from those chain stores, bacon, and baked beans surprisingly - I guess because of the added sugar and salt, especially in the American brands (this is very clearly an american product).  

I have to admit, I've not been 100% pious, and have sneaked in a glass of wine or a creme egg from time to time, but what has significantly changed is that my consumption of fruit and vegetables is even higher, as is my consumption of eggs, and we now always have low fat cottage cheese, yoghurt and feta cheese in the fridge.  I'm not missing the cheeses I'm used to eating like camembert, brie, cheddar etc.

The workouts

The programme comes with a calendar which tells you which workouts to do on which day, as well as the DVDs which are the videos to take you through the workouts.  You do 6 days a week.  Sunday is your rest day.  So, to fit this in with running 5 days a week is pretty tough.  Its only the end of January, so I have done 4 weeks, and am in the sandwich rest and recovery week at the moment.  I will review month 2 workouts at a later date.

The fit test

The first disc you do is the fit test.  There are a number of moves that you see how many you can do in 1 minute, and record the number.  Shaun T emphasises form over number of reps, but you can't help getting competitive and wanting to beat the students on the DVD.  I did this for the first time shortly after Christmas and my sister's wedding festivities, so I wasn't in my most energetic of states.  To say I was dripping was an understatement, but even from this relatively short (25 mins) workout, I got a great big endorphine hit after.  

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

I love and I hate this workout.  The first time I did it, I couldn't keep up when it moves to Level 1 drills, which I think is a basketball thing, involving multiple pushups, then floor sprints, then jumping in stretching up then coming back down to pushups.  My spaghetti arms gave way, and I just couldn't keep up.  However, the first part has many variations of squat jumps.  I believe this particular workout has been to thank for my ability to complete 150 miles of running this January without injury, as well as increased speed when it comes to the quality run sessions.  What's more, it engages the abs and upper body, and so my form doesn't suffer as much in the later part of long runs, as I am overall stronger.

Cardio Power and Resistance

I would rank this #2 in the helpfulness to my key sport.  This one almost seems as if its more about sculpting, but again, its variation of moves across key body segments has lead to overall stength gains for me.  The toughie in this is a V-push-up, where you are basically doing a yoga downward dog, and then you do push-ups in that position, so its all shoulders, barely any chest.  There are a lot of tricep moves in here too, which I've always been quite weak on, so its good to have those in there.

Pure Cardio 

This is tough, and gets you sweaty if you're doing it indoors, but in terms of the goals of the workout, and its effect on my heartrate, I decided to scrap it from my personal programme after the first time.  The reason being, I get a far better cardio workout from my interval or tempo training I do in running, so for me, the risk/recovery balance of keeping this in my program didn't weigh up (for now).

Cardio Abs

An abs workout that promises no sit ups or crunches.  You spend a large portion of this workout in a position called a C-sit - you are bascially halfway up if you were doing a sit-up, and from here, you do various movements with your arms and legs to work various portions of your abdominals, all the while working the deep abdominals as you hold that position.  What's great is the focus on obliques, which is often missed.  I can see results in my physical appearance from the work on the obliques.

Cardio Recovery

I LOVE that this programme incorporates a recovery day.  Active recovery is so important and often people miss this out.  And not every PT is around telling people to do it too!  By doing some exercise that gets the blood flowing but doesn't tax you, you are sending the agents of repair in your blood around the body to do the work quicker, plus its really important in helping you get stronger.  This recovery day involves a few yoga and pilates type moves, which when I first did it, I would really struggle with balance, but again, I've stuck with it, and find it an incredibly uplifting workout, and I do it on my rest day from running.  Before I do it, I feel quite groggy, but after I'm restored.

Review

All of the above workouts are less than 40 minutes total, and that includes the warm-up, stretch and cool-down, so in terms of WORK, its not actually that much.  The cardio abs one is only about 15 minutes, although you usually do that after another workout.

Despite my modifications to the programme to encorporate marathon training, I have seen great results already.  I have lost 3kg in weight since the start of the year, and at my last weigh in, I was 200g off my target weight.  Whilst weightloss wasn't my #1 goal as I'm marathon training, I am pleased to see this has happened in the right way.  My body fat percentage has gone down from 30% to 25% according to my Omron fat analyser 

For me this is great, because being lighter because I'm not carrying excess fat means faster running times.  When I checked this calculator with my previous half marathon personal best, and the weight I was at the time, it told me that at my current weight, I could expect a time that's 6 minutes faster!  Not surprising as carrying an extra 3kg for 13.1 miles is sure to slow you down.

Based on my results whilst not following the plan 100% and only half way through, I am quite confident that if you do follow it 100% it will have impressive results.  

However, there is a big risk with doing a programme like this at home, in that there is noone to give you feedback and correct your form if you could cause yourself an injury.  This is lower risk, because it is bodyweight, but make sure you LISTEN to Shaun T's cues so you don't hurt yourself.

Recommendations

If following whist marathon training, like me, I would recommend the following modifications.

- Cut Insanity workouts from 6x/week to 4x/week

- Do plyo and resistance workouts on easy run days

- No insanity on long run days

- Do recovery workout on running rest day

- Do cardio abs after interval/tempo runs

- Modify eating plan to include more carbs, although follow the recommendation of sticking to wholegrain varieties with this.