If you watch any late night television, you may have seen an infomercial or two about the INSANITY training program. Produced by Beach Body, it’s tag line is “Transform your body in 60 days”. When I decided to take on the challenge, this wasn’t necessarily my goal. I was looking for a fun diversion from swim/bike/run during the off season. I was also a little curious whether the intense cardio and plyometric workouts would help my running with getting rid of a few extra pounds as a positive side effect.
This program is not for sedentary people looking to get active, nor is it for the faint of heart. Led by personal trainer Shaun T, the workouts consist of “plyometric drills on top of nonstop intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab and core training moves”. No equipment or weights are needed. It is very much like a “boot camp” style program but on steroids!
It is two months in duration, with workouts six days a week. In the first month, workouts are about 45 minutes long and increase to an hour in the second month. Although I was keen to do the program as prescribed, I tried to continue swimming 2.5 hours a week and running 10-12 km per week. Finding the time to do everything was a little difficult and unfortunately I was not able to cycle as much as I would have liked.
There is some variation in the workouts, ranging from Pure Cardio, Cardio Power and Resistance, Cardio Recovery, Cardio Abs and so on. See a theme there? Insanity does an excellent job at not only improving core strength and power but the non-stop intense nature of the intervals makes them tough cardio workouts. The intervals are time based, so the workouts are as tough as you make them. At the beginning you may only be able to do 10 squat jumps in a minute (before collapsing in exhaustion) but after 6 to 8 weeks you can now do 20 squat jumps (before collapsing in exhaustion).
I really enjoyed the push to your limits “dig deeper” style of this regimen. I saw significant improvements in my core strength and despite only running once or twice a week, felt strong during an 8 km trail race in the middle of the program. I had a little knee and ankle discomfort after the first week or so but it did not persist. Nonetheless, I would not recommend Insanity for anyone with knee problems. There are many jumping moves which put a great deal of strain on your joints.
I did indeed lose a few pounds but gained them back at the finish, which happened to coincide with Halloween. Insanity also comes with a diet plan, which emphasizes lean proteins, fresh fruit and vegetables. I didn’t really follow it but if I did I probably would have lost a few more pounds.
Was it an appropriate use of my time during the off season? Well, relative to triathlon, probably not. My running endurance may have suffered slightly and my bike fitness certainly did as my bike sat gathering dust through it all. However, it was a great kick start to upping my core strength, something that having babies seriously weakens. Plus it was fun and refreshingly different. Also, I have now incorporated one or two Insanity workouts a week to reap the benefits of plyometrics and core work. Insanity is not for everyone, but it is worth checking out.
Great review Kathryn!
I found the same with the P90X – good, but I think I’ll stick with my specific training program.
Jenn uses the insanity alot. She also has P90X. Great during the winter. She now just picks and chooses her favorite workouts. I know a number of people who have done both of these with good results. I keep meaning to give the full P90x a shot just to see how it affects me. Unfortunately the time commitment is too much.
Thanks for the info! I did P90x in the off season and found it amazing! I made each week cycle last two weeks instead of 1, and alternated with tri workouts. For example I would run, ploy, swim, legs and back, ride, yoga etc. I found the biggest difference was made in strength and lean muscle mass. I did follow the eating plan exactly, it was gard in phase 1, but worked well. I still use a lot of the eating plan ideas and recipes. Just my 2 cents!