I really don't like this combo workout. I never seem to get a very good core workout from it and Pure Cardio is rough. However, I do feel myself getting stronger mentally and physically in Pure Cardio, and I am doing extra workouts on the side to improve my core and upper body as I don't feel I'm getting much improvement there from Insanity.
The problem reason why I get so little upper body work from these workouts is that my cardio and lower body are still not up to snuff, so by the time I get to the upper body portions, I am typically way too gassed to do much of it. So I have added push ups and barbell curls every other day and regular old situps—which I don't mind and don't understand why everyone complains about them—every other day.
On the improvement front, I completed the entire warmup without resting for the first time today. I was close yesterday, but I didn't want to mention it and jinx my chances for today. That is a big milestone for me mentally and I am very excited about it.
A question I have found myself having is about the deep lunges: How exactly should I be doing these? The muscles stretched by that stretch are flexible enough in me for me to go into a deep lunge, but there are two problems. The first problem is that I can't find a balance point where I am flat-footed—only pertaining to my bent leg of course—and my knee is behind my toe. How important—I fear the answers coming in screams and yells—is it that my knee is behind my toe and that my toes and heel are on the floor? The second problem may be due to my form—see the first problem—but I feel an interesting, though not painful, tightness in the calf and sometimes shin muscles in my bent leg in the deep lunge...any ideas why?
Anyway, enough of that, on to my workout 'equipment' suggestions. Today's suggestion is a series of calisthenic workout apps for Android (maybe for iPhone, I didn't check). In truth, they are simply algorithms, but very helpful ones. You tell the app how many reps of a given workout you can currently perform in a row to exhaustion, and then tell it how many you would like to be able to do in a row. It then does some figuring and creates workouts for you in multiple sets along with timed rest periods between sets. You can even tell it if the workout was too easy, too hard or just right after you have completed it and then it tells you your progress towards your goal. I'm not sure what happens when it thinks you should be able to complete your goal, maybe it gives you a workout that is simply an attempt at your goal and you tell it if you completed it or not. I'll report back about that when I get there.
Either way, the apps are nice too look at, simple to use, and really make the task of improving muscular strength through calisthenics a much less arduous task. And since these are simply algorithmic workout generators, you don't even have to use them for the workout they were "made" for. I use the squats app for my barbell curls, for instance.
Well, that's all for now. Hope you all are still reading and enjoying these, I still enjoy writing them. Fifteen down—thirty-nine more to go!
Links:
Push Ups App (See the "More from developer" section for others)
Nice work Robert! WOW 39 more to go seems like so little when you compare it to the big scary 60 when you began. A couple of things:
ReplyDelete1: I also have no idea what the big complaint about crunches are. And I feel like the "replacement exercises" are equally as as challenging and tidius.
2: CONGRATS on making it through the warm up break free. The Insanity warm up is harder than most workouts. Period. That is a huge milestone and you should be very proud of yourself!
3: If I am understanding and visualizing your stretch the right way... to my understanding your toe and heel SHOULD be both on the floor and if you are trying to raise your toes that would cause strain on your shin. Why are you under the assumption that your foot should NOT be flat?
4: Thanks for the app reviews. Whenever you come across good ones like these I would really appreciate you posting them on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/inspiredtosweat)
Well actually, the 39 is based off of 6 workouts a week and 9 weeks equaling 54 actual workouts. But getting under 40 without skipping one workout does feel like a big accomplishment.
DeleteThe disappointment I feel about the ab workouts is that since I don't have the ab strength to hold those positions all the time, I wake up the next day and I don't feel sore. I know that my protein intake helps keep some of the soreness at bay, but I want to feel it, especially in that area to know it is improving.
I'm not under the impression that it shouldn't be flat, I just don't really know (when stretching my right leg) how to find a balance point with my left foot flat on the floor. I'm not trying to raise my toes, when I am doing that stretch on that side, my right leg is straight, right heel on the ground, right toes facing up and my left leg is bent and "compressed" completely and I am effectively standing on my left toes. Think about how a catcher's leg looks in baseball. The shame is that if I come up to a regular lunge...I don't feel any stretch at all. :(
Thanks for the feedback! I'll post those on your page.