Wow, a full week of MAX intervals done. Each of these workouts has been butt kicking, sweat dripping, and muscle exhausting hard. With a minimum of 55 minutes for each workout, it is amazing what your body can handle. I can do more pushups now than I've ever been able to do in my life (try a minute of power pushups and you'll literally feel the muscle building) and I can clearly see the muscle definition more in my biceps and quads.
But, you ask, what are the real results? Is she losing weight? Does this workout work if I just want to drop the last 10 lbs? Is this my magic fix?
The simple answer is... yes and no. Truth be told, I have no idea if I've even lost an ounce in this process. I made the decision to not step on a scale until after Insanity was over because 1) I knew I'd be building a lot of muscle and because muscle has more mass than fat, I didnt want to look at a scale and freak out thinking I was gaining weight - when in fact I was only gaining muscle that would then burn the fat later; and 2) I saw this picture a few weeks ago and it really made me think... It's not just about what the scale reads. As a petite young woman (I'm not quite 5'3"), you can be almost 140 lbs and still have a stronger, healthier, and more sculpted body than you would at 125. So I am measuring my progress by how strong I'm getting, my endurance level, my energy, the visible muscle definition, and how my clothes fit me.
And I can tell you, there has been progress in each of these areas. You already have heard me spout about how much stronger I've gotten and how my endurance has picked up. My energy is almost always higher now as the endorphins run rampant around my brain and my body is suddenly like... MOOOOOVE YO'SELF! But I am also seeing changes in how different articles of clothing and whole outfits fit differently (better for the most part!).
It's rather exciting when you can just slip on a pair of jeans that you used to have to stretch out for a few days before you could comfortably wear them; or to be able to use the next smaller belt hole; or to not feel like your jersey cotton shirts are suctioned to your body; or even to grab a sleeveless top and shorts for your workout and not feel like you need to cover up because you feel chunky and like you're falling out of everything.
No, I dont have a six pack yet, no my muscles are not rippling every time I move, and no, I'm not suddenly a size 4 (or whatever your idolized dress/pant size is). But I can push through an hour of Shaun T's drills while still breathing, not collapsing on the floor, or giving up, I can comfortably pull my belt in a notch, and when I walk around, and I almost never feel the need to put on another layer to even out lumps and bumps (which coincidentally only makes me look bigger all over... go figure).
We've got about three more weeks of this craziness. I'm going to be sad when it's over. Because Insanity is such a targeted and intense-body pounding routine, it's not suited for a lifestyle of exercise. It is designed to kickstart your body into deeper fat burning and strength training. If you were to try to just keep doing repetitions of Insanity back to back for extended periods of time, you are likely to injure yourself and you won't really get the same results because your body is smart and will hit a plateau.
After this set of Insanity is over, my sibs and I are going to take 60 days to do different workouts. This will give our bodies the chance to rest and fully recover before we jump back in to start Insanity over. Those 60 days are going to be harder than the past few months because we will need to reach down and find a different motivation, push ourselves in different ways, encourage one another to get up out of bed in the morning and do something. Can't say I'm looking forward to that. Initially, we'll be tempted to just stop it all and be lazy for those two months. But, that ain't happenin!
I am going to do Insanity again after this time is finished. But I am going to take a couple months in between to let the muscles fully heal, restore, and rest. I'm excited, though, because I want to do BETTER next time around than I've done so far!
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