Insanity

How to measure your recovery heart rate and what it means:

1. Accelerate your heart rate through running, biking, or other method to an anerobic level (INSANITY or Turbo Kick) (a pace you can do for only 20-30 seconds... such as a full sprint)
2. Measure the heart rate with a monitor at the end of the sprint.
3. Recover for 60 seconds by walking or biking slowly (do not stop moving!)
4. Measure the heart rate after 60 seconds and subtract that number from the peak.

POOR less than 12 Beats Per Minute (BPM) recovery
FAIR 12-20
Good 20-30
Excellent 30-40
Over 40 is outstanding.

The recovery rate is important because this is a measure of the soundness of our cardiovascular system and not just our heart health.

A recovery rate of greater than 35 BPM indicates almost no risk of sudden death from heart disease!

12 or less increases the risk dramatically

People with this issue need to consult with their Doctor before exercising!

While this can be used to monitor changes in a person's aerobic fitness, it is an unreliable indicator for comparing the aerobic fitness of different people because individual factors other than fitness can influence the heart rate recovery period.

We have completed 4 weeks of Insanity and one full week of recovery workouts. Monday started day 36 and Week 6 on the program. We have 4 more weeks of brand new workouts. The schedule for today was to do the Fit test followed by 1 hour of Max Interval Circuit. That's a lot of work! Both Rob and I had great strides this time

From day one to day 15 I added 49 reps.
Day 15-day 26 I added 95 reps
Total reps added since day one is 144!

From day one to day 15,Rob added 86 reps.
Day 15-day 26 I adde Rob added 65 reps
Total reps added since day one is 151!

We wil have video for you shortly!!

We are still in the recovery week and tomorrow is our off day. We've had the same workout, Core Cardio and Balance all week. I still really like this week's workout and I'm bummed we won't see it again. The balance section is amazing so I know I'll be adding that into my workout arsenal.

This week I think Rob and I both have been a little less energetic. I'm pretty sure that's common because Shuan T mentions it in the CC&B workout. I started back on Shakeology this week for one meal a day. I can't believe how much better I feel on it. I went with Chocolate this month.

If you are not drinking Shakeology, you have to give it a try! I think with any program you need good nutrition but this one is especially. You need fuel!

Here's more info on Shakeology. :)

This week is our recovery week. We are doing the DVD Core Cardio and Balance. I did not preview this DVD until the night before we started recovery week. In my mind I was thinking that this week would be easy and restful. It is not.
Core Cardio and Balance is a difficult workout! It starts out with cardio but it's a bit slower. You ramp up your speed with jumps and drills and end the workout with balance drills. The shoulder burners are just the beginning of deep muscle work. You'll feel it! My heart rate skyrocketed during the ISO movements!

NEW MONITORS

Rob and I found the Garmin Forerunner 50 at Target. It was on clearance for $51.00. It had a retail of $113 so we grabbed them up.
This one has the sensors that go around your ribcage and transmit to your watch. I like this one so much better because I don't have to push buttons with my fingers to register a pulse. This device does lots of things but the heart rate portion is so helpful for INSANITY.

I noticed that my heart rate stayed in my official 'target' heart rate zone*** for much of the workout as opposed to my maximum heart rate.+++ I find I workout in the 165 bpm area through most of INSANITY's cardio. During Core Cardio and Balance your movements are slow and controlled to focus in on core. However, just because you are controlled, doesn't mean you don't workout hard. Some of the slower ISO movements were pushing my heart rate into (MHR) range!

Using a heart rate monitor like this one is so helpful because you can really see the peaks and valleys of the intervals as well as know if you are where you need to be working for max results.

If you don't have a sensor monitor like this one, be sure to check them out. Polar also makes one in the 60 dollar range.

***Target heart rate zone is 70-85 percent of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You can figure this out by taking 220-your age and multiplying that number by 70 and by 85 to give you your range.

+++Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) (roughly calculated as 220 minus your age) is the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity.

Day 25-28

I've been going through some trainings and Rob has had meetings so we've split our workouts. Day 29 starts our Recovery week and frankly, I'm ready. The full week of Core Cardio and Balance will be welcome because the last few days I haven't had the loads of energy.

I CAN HAS ROCK HARD ABS


Cardio Abs is a 20 minute workout that starts with jogging core work. Who would have though that was necessary. :)

You move into core jump sets. The wide Oblique jumps are killer. I feel so much weaker in the jogging/jumping portion. It's something that is really new to me since starting this series. I fight for height in my jump and as long as you are jumping from the bottom it's a lot easier. There's a guy on the video who looks like he has springs on his feet. He's a machine.
Matwork

We move into matwork which is done in the c-curve position.
I think this portion feels like it is taken from Pilates. Not exactly what you'd see in Pilates but uses the principals. I always remove my shoes for this part of the workout. I do not need the extra bulk of my shoes messing with my balance. I actually toss in a little Pilates matwork with this portion. I'm not showboating, just found a spot here and there that moves like "The Saw" or Leg circles fit nicely.
Shaun T does not show many modification on the C-curve mat work but you can move your arms back a bit to take the stress off your back. I follow the Pilates rule with these abs-

ALWAYS FOCUS ON FORM .

You'll hear that throughout INSANITY and it rings true.

DO THE PLANK!!

We finish with Plank work. Most people don't do Plank because they hate it. But they hate it because they don't do it.

DON'T SKIP PLANK.

Drop right now and hold plank for 1 minute. Make this a priority.
When I'm teaching I hear so many moans from students who don't want to do it. Plank is an incredibly important move for core strength and rock hard abs. I will keep this disc as part of my rotation after I finish INSANITY. It's a winner!



Working on Teaser

Day 24: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Longest 45 minutes of my life. My heart rate got to 162 for most of the workout. I had to take more breaks than usual this time. I actually did a recovery drink and followed INSANITY with an hour of TurboKick.
Today is Cardio Recovery with the Deep muscle work. I like it!

Days 22 and 23.

Both yesterday and today were a little crazy so Rob and I worked out separately. Yesterday was
Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs. I rocked it. I finished that and did an hour of Turbo Kick. It felt great.
My kicks are so much better. I used to feel out of breathe during the Turbo(high intensity)
section but now I breeze through it. I keep thinking.. "work harder"!

Rob also rocked his workout.
He was in the other room and I could see him tearing it up!
He's so much more flexible than he used to be.
New striations are showing up every day.

Day 23

Today we had Cardio Power and Resistance, which is becoming my favorite workout. This is the one with weird inversion pushups. I was truly exhausted after that, no Turbo Kick today. I was gone most of the day and just felt tired from staying up all night working on the blog. I need to get more sleep. I'm a geek, my job excites me.

Today I was out and someone asked my how I stay so fit. I thought that was pretty awesome.