Whereas the P90X family of exercise touts “muscle confusion”, Shaun T‘s Insanity promotes “high-intensity interval training” as the selling point. Like P90 and similarly popular, the Insanity workout has roots in infomercial and also comes from the Beachbody LLC.
Insanity is an “Extreme Home Workout DVD” with the following tag line: The Hardest Workout Ever Put on DVD
The marketing scared me from attempting Insanity for 2 years as I didn’t believe I was physically fit enough for it. Finally, after completing Power 90 and P90 Masters, I was ready for Insanity. I am definitely glad I waited!
Insanity is a grueling, no-nonsense, mostly non-stop 30-60 minutes of hard work and sweat with an emphasis on burning fat through extreme cardio, plyometrics, and some strength training (primarily in the form of push-ups) over the course of 60 days. As with the P90 series, you work out 6 days a week (following a set schedule) with 1 much-needed rest day. The basic concept of “high-intensity interval training” is a cyclic phase of hard moves followed by a brief rest. The goal is to maximize your heart rate to enhance athletic performance and fat burning/weight loss. Insanity is said to pack a “year’s worth of gym” into 2 months.
I never sweated or worked as hard for any workout like I did with Insanity. Insanity made my previous P90 workouts (note: does NOT include P90X) seem like a joke. While I still credit P90 for the most of my weight loss, I honestly had reached a plateau with it. Insanity took my fitness to a level I never imagined capable. No, I never could keep up 100% with the entire workout, but that’s not the point. Insanity encourages you to push yourself to the limit (and then some) and do the best you can for that day.
As for results… They were apparent after 1 week, which shocked me. I definitely burned a lot of fat thanks to Insanity and become much leaner. At the end of 60 days, I found that my body became conditioned to doing higher levels of physical activity in my everyday life and I can say that I am the most physically fit I’ve ever been in my whole life.
Insanity is one of the best at-home workouts available for people looking to improve cardiovascular health and burn fat. It’s not for people who are looking to build muscle; Insanity mostly tones. Unlike other workouts, no exercise equipment or weights are needed; you just need to bring your body and lots of water. It is an extremely demanding workout that’s probably not for everyone. However, don’t shy away from it. It is doable as long as you stick with it… but no, it does not ever get “easy”. Try the “Fit Test” first and see how you do. If you stick through the 60 days, you will look and feel “crazy” good!
Consult the Couple 
I’m happy I was able to stick through 60 days of INSANITY; above all, I’m glad that it’s over! I never want to go through it again. It is just exhausting to sweat and work so hard for almost an hour each day. I must say that INSANITY definitely “primed” me for my current and future workouts.
I do regret starting Insanity in the middle of the “holiday” time (my second month fell in December) as I believe this affected my gains. I was not able to do INSANITY continuously for 60 days like I planned (similar to how I never truly got through 90 days straight of P90). I believe this affected my performance/momentum. Truly the second half of INSANITY is extremely hard (it made me miss the first month).
Some people complain that they lose too much weight (including muscle mass) because of INSANITY, so I would probably not recommend this for people who don’t have much “fat” to lose. It is truly a “fat burning” machine.
Anyone else try INSANITY? Or the follow-up, INSANITY: The Asylum?
LikeLike
Do these programs come with maintenance regimens?
LikeLike
I’ve known people who have repeated cycles of the program to maintain their gains. However, I think you can probably just modify the workout schedules based on what your goals are. There really isn’t an “official” maintenance regimen though. The BeachBody company has a forum/community where you can seek advice from “coaches” (I personally haven’t done this myself, but they advertise this as an option :P).
LikeLike