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Insanity: The Asylum – DAY 11 – “Game Day”

Yesterday, Day 10, was just “Recovery” again, so I didn’t bother posting about that, but I did put up a little comparison of P90X and P90X2.

Today, however, was a huge day in The Asylum, because it was “Game Day”.

This is a 60-minute workout and it is a KILLER! I ain’t kidding.

Shaun T's AsylumThe basic concept behind “Game Day” is that we are involved in a series of athletic competitions and must really bring it to win.

After a short warmup, we go into what Shaun T calls a 1-mile run. There is variety throughout the mile, as Shaun T leads us through high knees for speed, butt kicks while going downhill, single-arm horizontal runs for uphills. This is followed by 100-meter dashes and long jumps.

Basketball jumpshots and layups were next, followed by a series of wrestling maneuvers that will test your whole body.

On to soccer. We do a series of kicks until we are doing 8 in a row, then we juggle an imaginary ball with our feet for a minute.

Tennis, anyone? Side to side through the agility ladder, doing forehands and backhands, then forward and back to volley and slam.

Speed skating was next on tap with sprints and coasting, both very hard on the legs.

The swimming drill killed me. It involved lying on the stomach, holding shoulders and legs up, while moving straight arms behind the back then around over the head, sort of a breast stroke. It doesn’t sound hard, but…. We stayed in the water, because surfing was next, with a paddle out to waves, and quick jumps onto the board for a ride. Paddle, ride, paddle, ride, and so on.

Now for some familiar Shaun T football drills, with a few moves added. Then came rock climbing drills on the chinup bar or the floor. That late in the workout, I only did a couple on the chinup bar before I went to the floor.

We finished up with some baseball drills that were not too difficult, but they didn’t need to be.

Cooldown and out.

This was a very tough routine, even harder than “Vertical Plyo“. It’s a full 57 minutes of workout with a 3-minute cooldown at the end. Not for the feint of heart or body, that’s for sure. And, get this — I looked ahead in the schedule. The next two times we do “Game Day” we also do an extra bit of “Overtime”.

Shaun T is going to kill me!

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The difference between P90X and P90X2

Today is a relief day for The Asylum, so I thought I’d pass along a distilled version of this article I read about the difference between P90X and P90X2.

P90X — as the people who’ve completed it (including myself) will attest — is still a viable exercise program. P90X2 does not take its place, P90X2 is more of an extension of the Muscle Confusionâ„¢ (that’s a Beachbody trademark) we started in the original.

By the same token, P90X2 is not necessarily harder than P90X, but, because of the muscle confusion thing, it will seem that way at first. And, I will bet, when I am done with the new one, and go back to do the original, the original will be tough the first few weeks. That’s the essence of muscle confusion and why it is so good for you — you are continually challenging your body in new ways!

One big change with P90X2 is that it is only a 5 days per week program. The official line is that when you are working out so intensely, you need more rest, but my take on it is that most people want the weekends off, and so, to reach a wider audience, they adapted the program to that. No big deal! If you really want to work out 6 days, you can always add a workout, and if you want a kick ass 5-day program — well, now there is one!

The new program, P90X2, now has 3 phases. I’m not sure how that pans out, like how the phases are separated, but Phase One is Balance, Phase Two is Muscles, and Phase Three is Agility. Sounds to me like Shaun T may have had some input here. I like the idea of it, for sure, and I know, from having done many of the One-On-One routines that turned into P90X2, that there are weighted exercise balls involved, including balancing on them to do pushups, as well as a stability ball, also used for adding balance training to otherwise familiar exercises.

All in all, P90X2 sounds great to me, but, then, I am biased, because Beachbody products have been so great to me. I am in the best shape of my life — and continuing to get even more fit — thanks to Tony Horton and Shaun T. I am really looking forward to continuing my journey with P90X2.

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Insanity: The Asylum – DAY 9 – “Vertical Plyo”

Shaun T's AsylumOkay, so yesterday it was allergies dogging me out, and today, I dunno what I did to my left ankle, but I tweaked it somehow, and when I woke up this morning, it was a bit painful.

Just a bit, but enough to make me consider skipping “Vertical Plyo” today, because this is the hardest workout in The Asylum so far.

The ankle loosened up a bit as the morning wore on. I took the dog for a walk. Felt okay. Going up and down the stairs I could still feel it, but not as much.

And, anyway, I am not here to make excuses. I need to get a workout in. If the ankle isn’t broken, let’s do this!

So I did.

Wow, “Vertical Plyo” really is a difficult routine, even the second time through. I did feel stronger this time, though. I did more of the Single-Leg Power Jumps at the end.

Even so, tomorrow is “Relief” and that is a relief to me — and to my ankle. There is still a bit of pain there, but not nearly as much as when I first woke up, so I’m guessing it just needs a good talking to.

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Insanity: The Asylum – DAY 8 – “Back to Core”

Shaun T's AsylumI was dogged out by allergies today. Just before I started the workout, I felt the beginning of a sinus headache. It went to full force about 10 minutes from the end.

But I’m glad I stuck it out and worked my back!

I probably didn’t get the full effect. I felt myself weakening before I thought I should. That’s normal. When I feel like crap, I often exercise like crap. But The Asylum has no room for quitters!

Seriously, Shaun T is really over-the-top during The Asylum and I like it a lot. He does not allow many stops. Gotta keep going. Only way we’re going to get stronger is after the muscles are totally fatigued.

I can dig it.

At any rate, today was not a total bust, but I was not at 100%. I sure hope I’m feeling better tomorrow, because “Vertical Plyo” is next up, and that is one difficult routine!

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Insanity: The Asylum – DAY 7 – “Strength”

Shaun T's AsylumToday, Day 7 of The Asylum, got me through the second iteration of “Strength” from Day 2.

Still a great workout, and I think I got a bit farther through it this time.

I did not use the pullup bar at all. It is really only useful for the first set of that particular move, where we are doing pullups or flyes. After that, there are additional exercises added to the move, so it’s easier, I think, to just use dumbbells.

I wrote down some numbers this time so I can gauge improvement.

For the crazy Progressive Cardio-Dumbbell Rotation — there are three sets of that, each with more parts than the last — I did 8, then 7, then 6.

Progressive Pyramid Row/Pushups — I got up to 6 (or 7 — damn, I didn’t write it down after all) of each.

Something (I can’t remember, but will when I do it again) — 24 reps.

I like this workout a lot. So much — in fact, all — of the body is worked, and worked hard.

On a side note, today I received the fitness ball and foam roller I ordered to go along with P90X2, which ships in a couple months. I pre-ordered my copy of the program, and you can pre-order P90X2 today, too, to guarantee you’ll get it in time for your — or your loved one’s — New Year resolution!