Insanity Workout with Shaun T
Everyone wants to lose weight! For the last 6 months, I have been losing weight thanks to Shaun T! My friends and I have been engaged in an Insanity Workout called Insanity Max 30. A 30 minute high intensity workout that promises to burn 500 calories within that half an hour. With such results, it is no wonder that the Insanity Workout is featured in Men’s Health and in other fitness magazines.
Previously, I have never heard of Shaun T. I have heard of Jane Fonda and other home workouts, but the Insanity Workout Series seems to be bringing home fitness back. Forget about going to the gym, as Shaun T claims to know a better way, and you can do this anytime anywhere. It is catching on, as the insanity series can point to a rabid fan base—over $350 million in DVD sales—to prove it.
Initially I was a bit apprehensive to try out the program. My church friends are at least 10-15 years younger than me, and therefore able to maintain a good workout program. But after trying Insanity Max 30 for 2 weeks, I was hooked! 🙂 Not because of Shaun T’s charisma, but because I could see and feel results. I was losing weight, and my muscles were being toned in half an hour.
Needless to say, that there is lots of sweat involved. During the first 7 days, the floor was drenched in sweat, as I jumped and hopped into a pool of perspiration. But the results are so encouraging, that I kept at it.
Shaun’s workout is based on Tabata training. Tabata is a high intensity workout that produces results very quickly. Tabata workouts consists of a high intensity 20 Second workout, followed by 10 Seconds of rest. All this is repeated 8 times for a period of 4 minutes.
A study conducted at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports (Japan) found that subjects who performed tabata 5 days a week, for 6 weeks improved their maximum aerobic capacities by 14% and anaerobic capacities (a measure of maximum output over a short period) by 28%. In a nutshell, the extremely short rest periods of Tabata force your body to move between energy systems, producing vast amounts of lactic acid and growth hormone that push your body into accelerated fat-burning mode for hours postworkout. Most importantly, you are able to burn 500 calories in 26 minutes. (Going for a 30 min run, will only burn 250 calories or less)
Can you imagine! You can improve your cardiovascular fitness without having to endure long-winded weight-training and treadmill sessions…and all in 30 minutes!
I was only able to punish myself continuously for 2 weeks, but presently I am able to do the workout for about 3 times a week. Naturally, I am not losing as much weight, as I have not kept up the intensity. Previously, I was able to see rapid results, as I also controlled my diet. No fried food and a reduction on carbohydrates. Today, I only eat fried foods on weekends (which is definitely not good enough if you want to lose weight), as old habits die hard! 🙂 We are, what we eat! If you want to lose weight, 70% of successful weight loss is dependent on your diet. Just watch what happens when you cut down on Coke and Fried food. You will see results! 🙂
I just did my Insanity Max 30 Workout this morning, and keeping at it, as it is only half an hour of training. The good thing is that you can stop anytime you find the exercises too tiring, and after a breather, you can get right back at it. As it is stored in my pc, I was able to do the workout, even while I was away in London, in the comfort of my hotel room.
It is recommended, that after 60 days [of Insanity], people should do some low-impact stuff or take some time completely off. Listen to your own body. If you ever feel like you need to take a day off, then do it. Don’t just push through to keep to some schedule. It also helps when you see the results, and you have friends doing the workout together with you! 🙂
If you want to find out more how you can Max Out, check out Insanity Workout.