Q: “What do you think of Insanity?”
A: “I’ve actually never tried it. It sounds miserable.”
This has been a reoccurring conversation I have had with my friends, readers and viewers over the past 3 years. I have been courted to become a Beach body coach many times. Once I sat in on a phone call and realized how much I hated their pyramid type sales approach. If I liked something, like the Tone It Up Diet Plan and JCore DVD’s, I want to be able to recommend it and share it. I don’t want to have to convince my readers to want to sell it too. For that reason, I had not tried an Insanity workout (which is part of beach body) until Saturday.
I was invited by Powerade Zero, to an Insanity work out led by Shaun T himself. Despite my reluctance to get up at 8 AM on a Saturday for a workout I was prepared to hate, I went. I felt I owed it to my readers to try it.
I set up shop in the front row because that is my style when it comes to group exercise. I find I’m less likely do wimp out if I’m in the front, plus the teachers remember you more if you’re always front and center. Even thought we didn’t use them, spots were marked off with light blue mats and bottles of Powerade Zero. I like the taste the calorie free sports beverage but don’t typically drink them. I’d rather have a Vitamin Water Zero or other stevia sweetened drink.
After a challenging warm up from a local Bootcamp instructor, out came Shaun like it was a rap concert. The other people in the gym were hootin’ and hollerin’. It was funny to me since I had to Google what he looked like the night before.
We started with a cardio sequence that to stretch out. It was tough for a warm up but not exceedingly hard. The room had little circulation and it was steamy. I was sweating right away and wished I was outside running along my beloved Charles River.
So here is how the rest of workout went down:
We did 3 cardio sequences. Each consisted of 4 moves that were performed for 30 seconds. We rested for 30 seconds in between sets. We did each sequence 3 times through. After Cardio #1, we did some ab work. The moves were hard but not impossible. To be honest, I would have rather done planks than the V-sit sequence we did. We did another 3 sets of a different cardio sequence and then moved on to a push-up challenge that consisted of 60 push-ups. Yeah… I totally dropped down to my knees half way through, and then just held my plank. We finished with another cardio sequence and then cooled down.
Afterwards, we were all able to ask Shaun whatever questions we wanted. He shared that he used to be a professional dancer, gained 50 lbs in college and enjoys plyometric moves the best. I asked him if he worked out to DVD’s, and he kind of dodged the question saying he does the same things in his videos as he does in the gym. He did say he brings his laptop sometimes to the gyms and sets it up in the group exercise studio and does his DVD’s although really it sounded like he does the moves in the gym sans videos. I wanted to ask him if he was a Beach Body coach but kept back my snide rhetorical question since there seemed to be a of hands raised. He also admitted he lifts weight to keep the size of his arms up despite never using them in most videos.
It was a good workout. I was bored by the third set of each cardio sequence and had to use my own modifications for a few of the moves. I was very sweaty but it was a combination of the room and activity. I did not LOVE or HATE the workout but I will not be buying or trying Insanity again anytime soon. I like being outside and I like being around people when I workout. I know I create videos to help all of you, but I rarely do follow along with me routines because I believe sharing what works for me is important. This is why I randomly show you my favorite moves that I do in the gym hoping you do them too when you go!
Bottom line is that no matter what activity it is, intense calorie scorching intervals or low impact yoga, if you don’t love it, you won’t do it regularly. I love to run and I love group exercises classes. Some people love Insanity, and that’s great. It’s a good workout. I just personally didn’t find it enjoyable. I DID enjoy the class atmosphere. It was like being at a concert but working out. Since it was not recorded, the music was awesome. On YouTube, my biggest challenge when I make videos is attaching good music. Shaun played whatever he wanted (I think).
In conclusion, regardless of my feelings towards Insanity or Powerade Zero, this was a cool event and I hope companies and fitness enthusiasts realize how cool and inspiring this really was so that there are more of them with various fitness personalities. Instead of book tour, it’s like DVD tour! Good
