Day 7 – Rest day and week 1 round up

I have had a great first week doing the Insanity workout. Six consecutive days of full-on high intensity exercise – just great!

This morning when the alarm went off it felt strange not getting myself sorted for another 40 minutes of tough exercising but I must admit I am quite grateful for the rest today. I think my body is getting used to the new movements and I certainly don’t ache as much now as I did after days 1 and 2….but I think it will do me good to rest today to recharge my batteries and if nothing else having a day off will probably inspire me to push myself even harder when I am back at it tomorrow morning!

The only strange thing is that I seem to have put weight on (I know…I wasn’t going to get on the scales until day 15 and my second fit test but I just couldn’t resist seeing if there had been any change) – well to my surprise I am now 3lbs heavier than I was when I started! I am not panicking just yet as I don’t feel heavier, if anything I am starting to feel more toned and lean, so maybe this is something to expect whilst my body settles into the workout properly?? muscle weighing heavier than fat and all that?? Anyway, it has spurred me on in terms of being even stricter with my diet from now on!

Tomorrow I am doing the Cardio Power & Resistance workout - so I am looking forward to that. This was tough when I did it last Saturday so this is definitely a good one to start off my second week! 

The following shows my schedule for the whole of the first month.

Day 6 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Today I did my final workout for week 1 and it was the Plyometric Cardio Circuit routine. This was the same routine that I did last Friday (Day 2) and although it was still an extremely hard session I felt that I managed to complete more than I did when I did it on Day 2. I still had to take some rest breaks but not as many and I think that my form is definitely getting better and my core is getting stronger. I am still having trouble with the press-up based drills but today I did at least manage a few more than last time. So progress is evident and this is all that matters to me. Generally I feel that this week has given me the foundation I need to carry on with the full programme. I am really enjoying it and already feel that my body is starting to tone up. I am excited thinking about what I will be like when the programme is finished given how much better I feel after just week 1!

I am also pleased to report that the ache/pain in my left inner thigh seems to have gone and wasn't an issue at all in my workout this morning. I am getting better at the stretches although I am still a long way off being as flexible as I need to be, so more work is needed here!

In addition to this, next week I also need to focus more on my nutrition. I have a fairly healthy diet but there is definitely still room for improvement!

...think I will invest in some cross trainers too in preparation for week 2 as my old running shoes are OK but I really think I could do with something more supportive...

P.S. I have worked out that my 60 days (well its actually 63!) finishes on Wednesday 18th December, so this is great as it means that I will have my new healthy, fit and lean body in time for Christmas :-)

Week 1's schedule so far (my tick list!):
Thursday (17/10/13): Fit Test 1 - COMPLETE
Friday (18/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit - COMPLETE
Saturday (19/10/13): Cardio Power & Resistance -COMPLETE
Sunday (20/10/13): Cardio Recovery - COMPLETE
Monday (21/10/13): Pure Cardio - COMPLETE
Tuesday (22/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit - COMPLETE
Wednesday (23/10/13): Rest day 

Day 5 - Pure Cardio

Wow, what a great start to the week - an early morning 'Insanity - Pure Cardio' session!

I am also starting to find getting up earlier is easier than it was when I started this programme last week. Getting a fantastic exercise session completed whilst others are still asleep does feel good. It makes me feel that I have really achieved something before the true day has started and I am therefore ahead of the game! 

Today's session was hard, I had to take quite a few breaks and the pace seemed to be amazingly fast at points but I stuck at it and finished it feeling like I had done an OK job. I did have a concern that whilst stretching I had perhaps pulled the muscle in my left inner thigh as it was aching and a little painful, however as I continued with the drills the pain subsided and I am now just left with a minor ache, so not too concerned as I have aches all over! - this I knew would be the case this week and probably next week whilst my body adapts to the new moves that it is being asked to do. I will however be keeping an eye on this 'twinge' as I don't want anything to stop me from completing this 60 day programme. 

Tomorrow is my final day of the first week and it will be another 'Plyometric Cardio Circuit' session. 

Week 1's schedule so far (my tick list!):
Thursday (17/10/13): Fit Test 1 - COMPLETE
Friday (18/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit - COMPLETE
Saturday (19/10/13): Cardio Power & Resistance -COMPLETE
Sunday (20/10/13): Cardio Recovery - COMPLETE
Monday (21/10/13): Pure Cardio - COMPLETE
Tuesday (22/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Wednesday (23/10/13): Rest day 

Day 3 - Cardio Power and Resistance

Day three completed by 7:45am this morning and it most certain is the hardest day yet...possibly a combination of aches and my lack of sleep! However having said that I still really enjoyed it and managed to keep up most of the time and certainly raised my heart beat sufficiently to have gained some fitness benefits! I am finding that my lack of coordination does mean I get behind from the start as I am constantly trying to understand the movements. However, in general this element is getting better and I managed more than one press up in one of the exercises today so that really is progress! Still enjoying it and really looking forward to tomorrow's session. I am still determined to get the most out of this 60 day challenge!

Week 1's schedule so far (my tick list!):
Thursday (17/10/13): Fit Test 1 - COMPLETE
Friday (18/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit - COMPLETE
Saturday (19/10/13): Cardio Power & Resistance - COMPLETE
Sunday (20/10/13): Cardio Recovery
Monday (21/10/13): Pure Cardio
Tuesday (22/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Wednesday (23/10/13): Rest day 

Day 2 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Another day completed! and today it was the Plyometric Cardio Circuit...

I completed this session early this morning again (6:15am)- I am trying to get into a early morning routine for these sessions as I think on most days this will be the best time for me to be able to complete them. I am just hoping that the more I start to get up early the easier it will be

Smiley Green Alien Sleepy clipart

from Clker.com

...doing exercise at this time in the morning certainly sets me up better for the day ahead.

When I got out of bed I could feel some aches, which shows that I did work hard during the fit test yesterday. The aches were not painful but just enough to be encouraging that what I did yesterday has done something (in a positive way!), and thankfully it wasn't bad enough to impede today's session. I am just hoping that I can keep on top of the 'aches' as the week progresses as I am sure that they will get worse this week whilst my body and muscles adapt to new exercises and movements.

Today's session was again hard (really hard at times) but I assumed as much, I have a feeling that all the sessions will be the same and for me that's good as I like to be challenged and this is certainly doing that. Even the warm up had me sweating buckets and I had to open the windows half way through to get some air into the room!

The session itself was very fast paced (40 minutes in total, including a 5 minute warm up and a 5 minute warm down and some great stretching). It took me a few minutes to get used to the exercises and especially to get coordinated but after a few minutes I had got the hang of it and I was fully in the swing of the programme. The exercises that I have the most trouble with are those that require me to do press ups, I literally cannot do a press up, well I can manage one but that's it!, so I know that this is a weak area for me and something for me to work on. 

Anyway, still feeling very motivated and really enjoying it...looking forward to tomorrow's Cardio Power & Resistance session!

Week 1's schedule so far (my tick list!):

Thursday (17/10/13): Fit Test 1 - COMPLETE

Friday (18/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit - COMPLETE

Saturday (19/10/13): Cardio Power & Resistance

Sunday (20/10/13): Cardio Recovery

Monday (21/10/13): Pure Cardio

Tuesday (22/10/13): Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Wednesday (23/10/13): Rest day