Review: Insanity Workout Program
Introduction
I recently completed Insanity, the extreme, interval-based, home workout program from Beachbody, the same company behind p90x. Finishing the program was a big accomplishment for 2 reasons: 1) the program is genuinely insane and 2) I actually stuck to the program schedule.
Unlike p90x, Insanity is not about packing on muscle. It’s designed to completely overhaul your cardiovascular system. While powering through Insanity will make you stronger, those looking to get big should try something else. However, if you eat enough, you can acquire a noticeable amount of lean muscle.
The basic package is usually around $120, which is outside of my price range. Thankfully, I acquired the program on the secondary market for well below retail price. For what I paid, it was worth the cost. If you have the disposable income available AND you know you can stick to the program, Insanity is definitely worth your while. Particularly because no equipment is needed other than your body, a towel, and a water bottle.
So what about the shock to your body? What muscle groups are going to get battered? Above all, your cardiovascular system is going to be humbled like never before. Your legs and core will be slaughtered. Every squat and jump imaginable is on the docket, with your core engaged in every move. A notable percentage of the moves are high impact, so those with a history of injury should be very careful.
Your chest and shoulders won’t escape the carnage. Pushups and stabilization moves are omnipresent, particularly in Phase 2. Unfortunately, your back and biceps will be relatively neglected. Specifically the back. By the end of the program, there was a noticeable drop in the number of pull-ups I could do. Some people supplement with weight lifting. Only do this if your body can handle the additional strain.
In the following sections, I will cover the nutrition, timing, workout experience as a whole, video experience, and comparisons to p90x.
For the sake of brevity, I partitioned my impressions of the individual workouts here.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the most important facet of Insanity. For amplified performance as well as weight loss. All serious work-out programs, extreme or otherwise, are diet plans with an exercise component.
Eating in tune with the program is a manageable challenge. Some adaption will inevitably be required though. For example, I stuck to eating about 3 times a day instead of the 5 or so Shaun T recommends. The best diet and exercise program is the one you can stick to, and that meal frequency contoured to my life most effectively.
It’s critical to determine the number of calories you should consume for your goals. Weight loss will mandate a lower amount than weight maintenance, muscle growth a greater amount.
My goal was to keep my weight constant while trimming some fat. I’m male, short (5'7), and relatively light, 135.4 lbs when the program started and 132 when it ended. Therefore I require significantly fewer calories than someone who’s 6’ and 200 pounds. Furthermore, women generally need fewer calories than men. I was taking in around 2000 calories a day, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Even if you’re trying to lose weight, you might have to increase your calorie intake to keep up with the energy requirements. If you’re too tired to get through the workouts, you won’t get your intended results.
I’ve been counting calories and macros for awhile so carrying that habit over to Insanity was effortless. Luckily, if keeping a rigorous food log or tracking every single calorie is unappealing, you can avoid it with Insanity. The Elite Nutrition Guide provides a slew of recipes that contour to the program, a strategy for selecting them each day, and advice for determining your caloric needs. It recommends a 40%–40%–20% split for protein, carbs, and fats.
Insanity is doable on some “non-mainstream diets” as long as you consume a healthy and balanced food portfolio. This will frequently require you to go outside the nutrition guide, as well as some ingenuity. I consume a strictly whole plant-based diet (vegan without the ethical concerns,) forcing me to strike out on my own path quite often.
For the love of any deity you hold dear, do not skip the carbs. Carbs are not inherently bad for you, overindulging in them is what causes problems. Some days I took in 60% of my calories from carbs. My worst workouts were usually on the days I caved and had several helpings of peanut butter instead of oatmeal or some other whole grain.
Getting dehydrated is asking for cramps, and by the end of each workout I was drenched in sweat. So drink lots of water. At least a gallon a day.
Also, sleep. Much of the commentary I’ve seen recommends 8 hours; the nutrition guide suggests 7–8. I was able to get 7 hours on nights where I was exhausted, but usually, it was 5–6. If you can get 7–8, try to do so.
Timing
There are 2 month-long phases split up by a recovery week. Phase 2 is manifestly more demanding than Phase 1. Do not skip the recovery week.
Workouts are about 40 minutes during the first phase and 60 in the second. I blocked out an additional 20 minutes in my schedule for an extended recovery period after each workout. Which is code for collapsing on the floor, gathering the willpower to move.
The best time to workout is whenever you are most likely to push play. I did most of them later in the day, but I found I had best results when I knocked them out in the morning. Plus you only have to shower once.
You can break up the workouts themselves into four parts. The warmup, the stretch, the main workout, and the cool down. In Phase 1 the warmup is about 10 minutes, the stretch is about 4–5, and the workouts vary from 15–20, while the cool down is about 3–4. It sounds disproportional. It’s not. Once you get into phase 2, which has a workout period of 30–35 minutes, you’ll be begging to go back.
Following the schedule is key to minimizing the risk of overtraining. For both phases you’ll train 2 days on, 1 off, 2 days on, 1 off and so on. There are 3 main workouts in each phase, and you cycle through them continuously. Each week you’ll do 2 workouts twice and 1 once. The weekly frequency of each workout changes accordingly.
Every 2 weeks or so you’ll complete a fit test. It’s a lighter workout designed help you track your progress.
Insanity is very repetitive. If you require variety to keep your interest, this program isn’t for you. This applies to the recurrence of workouts, the warmups, and the moves within the individual workouts.
The Workouts
There are 10 DVDs in the standard package. 6 interval workouts, 3 recovery workouts, and the fit test.
In order to maximize the Insanity experience and minimize injury, I found the following six rules apply:
1) Do not skip the warmup. It may be tempting to save time, but it’s tremendously important to warm up your muscles properly to avoid injury. Furthermore, it’s preferable to ease your body into what’s about to happen instead of bombarding it immediately. The warm up is no joke, by the end you should be sweating and breathing hard.
2) Do not skip the stretch. Honestly, this is the biggest piece of advice I can give in this review: if you do not stretch, you will get injured. I know it’s weird to have static stretching in between the warm up and the workout, but it helps. Before starting the program, I tested out an Insanity workout, skipping the stretch. My lower back had issues for about a week. This advice applies to the stretch before and after the workout.
3) Form > Speed. I can’t chalk up my lower back injury entirely to the lack of stretching. My form was also terrible. If you have bad form, you will get injured. If you get injured, you won’t be able to finish the program. You also will have worse results. Remember: the form is part of the program. The program gets you results.
4) Do not pause the video. Even though these workouts are agonizing and your muscles and cardiovascular system will inevitably fail, do not pause the video. It’s extremely tempting to press pause, catch your breath, then keep going; but the workouts are not designed for that. Insanity’s take on interval training requires you to keep your heart rate up for as long as possible, taking short breaks only when you need it. Do not be afraid to break if your heart rate shoots above a safe level.
It’s better to do what you can, break briefly, let the video play, then jump back in. It will keep you in the groove, help your body adjust to the program, and allow you to measure your progress beyond the fit tests. All while lessening your chance of injury.
5) Keep your core tight. I was skeptical at first. However, when I kept my core tight, proper form was easier to achieve and my performance increased.
6) Land softly. This sh** is bananas and high impact. Your knees will thank you later. If you have a mat, I would highly recommend using it.
The Video Experience
I was surprised by how much of a positive factor Shaun T was in my Insanity experience. Usually, I tune out fitness personalities sans cues; but Shaun is helpful and motivating. He doesn’t badger or bombard you incessantly and routinely shuts up in the latter stages of workouts, which helps a lot. Plus, when I’m trying to focus the most, I don’t have Tony Horton telling a stupid joke.
T does lose track of time a fair amount. You’ll learn very quickly that calling out “10 seconds!” is code for “get ready for 10 seconds to be left.”
There’s also a weird moment in the Plyometric Circuit video where they leave out two stretches for the left side of your body that they did for the right.
The music is good. I never notice it unless I have the audio going through my big speakers. Quality exercise music, like video game music, gets you into the zone. It doesn’t steal your attention.
Flanking Shaun T throughout the whole process is the Insanity team. They’re a mixed bag. In p90x, you have 2 or 3 cast members, allowing you to easily pick the one you like and stick with them. Each person will frequently showcase a different way to do the exercise, while their form is consistently good.
This is not the case for Insanity. Because there are so many participants, and the camera angles change so frequently, it’s difficult to pick one person to follow. Tania is the most visible. She is a tank. I am not worthy, and neither are you. Watching her workout is probably the most compelling refutation of sexism I have ever seen.
In terms of form, some of the crew are bad throughout, others are fantastic, but everyone has an exercise where they fail to adhere to Shaun T’s instructions.
A major impediment to someone in sub-optimal condition doing Insanity is the lack of modifications explicitly stated or demonstrated.
Comparison to p90x
Understandably, this argument has raged over the last decade. Both programs are the most notorious extreme home workout programs, and I’ve used various aspects of p90x as a comparison point throughout this review.
I’ve loosely followed p90x in the past, completing all of the workouts at one point or another, but never the full program on schedule. In terms of muscle building, there is no argument. P90x is superior. However, when it comes to cardiovascular strength and intensity, Insanity is an entirely different animal. It’s not even fair to compare them in this regard.
Plyo X, the jumping-based cardio routine in the original p90x, is the “mother of all x workouts” according to Tony Horton, and it’s not even on par with a Phase 1 Insanity workout. Even the “bring your bucket workout” in p90x2, Base and Back, isn’t Insanity-worthy.
P90x (1,2, or 3) is still a fantastic program(s), and if you want to pack on size and muscle, I highly recommend it. However, if your goal is to raise your cardio performance to levels never before seen while pushing your body to the absolute limit, Insanity is the superior choice.
Conclusion
Insanity lives up to its namesake on sheer brutality alone. If you prioritize your nutrition and drive your body to the edge in every workout, you’ll get fantastic results. Cliché but true. Nevertheless, Insanity is not for everyone. You should be in sound cardiovascular shape before starting the program; and if you have knee issues, look elsewhere.
Repetition will be the biggest obstacle to someone who has no problem taking on the physical challenge. It can get somewhat annoying at times, but Phase 2 happens at just the right moment.
Also, make sure to take a recovery week when you’re finished. I was overtrained by the end of the program, my body riddled with minor aches and pains.
Every day you push play Insanity makes you question why you’re punishing your body in such a manner. After the first few weeks, you get an answer. Pushing your corporeal form beyond the frontiers of capability is not only rewarding, but inexplicably exhilarating.
Insanity: 9/10
