Tag: The Asylum

Wow, Day 17 of The Asylum, “Strength”.

I am still on sub-50g carbs, focusing on 50% Protein, 40% Fat, 10% Carbs. Still feeling really good. I did not at all feel lacking in energy during “Strength” today.

And, just as I did yesterday, I managed to write down my reps, so I can compare later. Yeah!

I also wrote down the weights used:

• Warmup: 12.5-pound dumbbell
• Progressive Dumbbell Rotations: 15-pound dumbells
• Back Exercises: 12.5-pound dumbbells for Hip Flys, 15-pound dumbbells for Row-Pushups
• Chest Exercises: 20-pound dumbbells

Here are my reps:

CARDIO DUMBBELL ROTATIONS

• Progressive Dumbbell Rotations
• Level 1: 8
• Level 2: 8
• Level 3: 7 (that’s one more than last time)
• Shoulder Presses – 24 for each level
• Rotating Jump Squats
• Simple Jump Squat: 19
• Curl Jump Squat: 11
• Curl-and-Press Jump Squat: 7

BACK EXERCISES

• Hip Fly: 12 for each level
• Jumping Pullup: 32
• Fly-to-Pushup: 10+10 (starting at 2+2, then 4+4, then 6+6, and so on)
• Alternating Low-Plank-to-Plank-Fly: 6

CHEST EXERCISES

• Chest Press with Head Up and Legs In-Out: 27
• Alternating Chest Press with Head Up and Alternating Leg In-Out: 14/14
• Chest Press with Head Up and Legs Up: 31

FINISHING EXERCISE

• Frog Jump with Single-Leg Plank Kickback: 6

Now I have some numbers to compare. I’ll be putting this info into spreadsheets to print out for easy access and recording.

In case you are not sold on tracking your progress, I’ll let you know why I do it. I mean, sure, there is the pre-test and the post-test, but I like to go beyond that. (In fact, don’t tell Shaun T, but I didn’t even bother with the pre-test for The Asylum. I would rather track progress through the individual workouts.) I want to see how I am doing in each move. When my reps in those Cardio Dumbbell Rotations go up, that gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I cannot wait until next time through this routine to see if I can get to 8 reps in level 3!

Tomorrow is another day of “Relief”. I’m all about that, especially because the day after that is “Game Day + Overtime” — I am shuddering at the thought of that….

Ah, halfway through The Asylum and I don’t expect it will be getting any easier. Well, maybe a little, because as I do the workouts, they have to become easier, right?

Nah, not really. These routines are so difficult, that while they do get easier, the fact is I am still working harder, because I am able to do only more of the workout. That is, if I could do the routine all the way through, then maybe each iteration would seem easier, but because these workouts are impossible for me to complete, all I end up doing is working harder and harder each time.

And that’s a good thing.

This is my third day of sub-50g of carbs, and I feel great! In the past, not so much. Not sure what is different this time, but we’ll see if it lasts. I’m going to try to go a couple weeks like this.

Why ultra-low-carb? I am trying — dammit! — to lose this last bit of gutfat, and it is stubborn. I just have to see if it’s even possible to lose it, and I have not given low-carbs a fair chance at it.

So this time through “Vertical Plyo” I took time to — quickly! — write down each move and, if I remembered to count, which I did about half the time, a number of reps I did.

Now, if only I could read what I wrote.

1. Long Jump – 7 and 7
2. Split Squat Back Fly – ?
3. Back Fly Tuck Jump – 28
4. Low Stance Jacks – ?
5. Single-Leg Jumprope – 100% (forgot to count, but kept going the full time)
6. Resistance Tuck Jump – 28
7. Plyo Resistance Pushups – ?
8. Resistance X Jumps – 18
9. Mountain Climber Switch Kick – 38
10. Low Squat Jumprope – 90
11. Rotational Agility Jump Squat – ?
12. Decoy Split Jumps – 12 and 12
13. Agility Scissor Jump with Pushups – 40 and 20 (100%)
14. Double Jump – 90
15. Single-Leg Power Jump – 18 and 18
16. Lateral Jump – 15

Those are my numbers for today. I’ll be curious to see if they improve next time through.

I was definitely wiped out after this workout. In fact, I find myself taking a nap every afternoon I do an The Asylum that is not “Recovery”.

(BTW, I also did “Recovery” today. I figured I needed it after “Vertical Plyo” — my back was feeling a little weak. Hope it’s okay.)

Only 14 days left!

Today was supposed to be a rest day for The Asylum, and after having completed that “Vertical Plyo” routine yesterday for the first time, I can see why. That is one tough workout!

But I didn’t feel too worn out (I must have been dogging it), so I thought I’d give “Relief” a try. Shaun T, after all, does say to do “Relief” as often as necessary.

“Relief” is a nice little stretching routine, with lots of breathing and some innovative stretches I had not done before. I definitely feel better having done it, and will probably add it in more often after the more strenuous workouts, to ensure my muscles and connectives are being well-tended.

This routine is only 28 minutes long, so it’s not excessive, as, for example, the stretching DVD in P90X, which was just too long for me to do. Too much stretching is not only not good for my body, but it’s boring as hell!

If you’ve been through Insanity, though, you know Shaun T is a great motivator, so he tends to make even the more boring routines tolerable for me.

Tomorrow will be the first time a workout repeats. Back to “Speed & Agility”. I’m interested to see if it’s gotten any easier, after just this short while. The Asylum is very intense, so I’m guessing “yes”.

After yesterday’s “Back to Core”, I really didn’t think The Asylum could get any better … but it did.

Today’s “Vertical Plyo” routine was the hardest workout I have ever done. It was intense, difficult, unrelenting, impossible — you know … everything I love in a workout.

Yeah, I made it all the way through Insanity, but this workout still rocked me. Hard. Good thing it only goes 40 minutes, including warmup and cooldown. I don’t know how much more I could have done. And that was even with taking some breaks to run the DVD back to try to figure out some of the moves.

The equipment used was both bands and the agility ladder, all of which came with the program. The also-included jump rope was used, too, but I don’t have space for that, so I just simulate.

If you’ve done the Plyo routine in P90X or the Plyo Legs routine in Tony Horton’s One-On-One series (that one is the very first DVD in that series), then you have a good idea how tough a plyo workout can be.

I am extremely familiar with both those workouts, but I was not prepared for this one.

Not only is there a lot of jumping, but the jumping is intensified with the bands.

Sometimes there is a band  around your hands as you work your back and shoulders while working the legs.

Sometimes the band is around your ankles to work even more leg muscles than you otherwise would.

And sometimes there is a band around your ankles and around your hands. And I might mention that this is while you are doing  plyo pushup jacks and then while doing X jumps.

Yeah.

Tomorrow is a rest day (I think it’s the only rest day for the entire 30 days, although there are days when “Relief” is the workout, and I assume that is some kind of low-level stretching routine). I’m going to need that rest. Will probably just do a little yoga, or maybe I will check out “Relief”.

Wow. The Asylum. Shaun T is really bringing it with this program.

Okay, so I should have guessed, and, in fact, figured out last night, that “Back to Core”, the third day of The Asylum was not a reference to getting “back to working the core” but that we would be working our backs. As I’ve said before … sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake.

When I did this workout today, I was very impressed with the focus on my back. Any criticism I had about Insanity‘s lack of back work is corrected here, because this is one great back workout! It is also the least aerobic of the non-recovery Shaun T workouts I’ve done to date.

The only equipment needed is one of the bands supplied with the program, and, if you choose to use it, a pullup bar. The band is used to add resistance to several of the moves and also as a prop during another. During the one exercise the pullup bar was used, I did use it the first set, but then switched to the band for the next two, just so I could make the transition easier.

Based on the first three days, The Asylum seems to be an excellent way to get into all-around good shape. This is kinda how it’s marketed, but, of course, I only had Shaun T’s Insanity to go by, and this program invokes the name of that program in its title, so I expected The Asylum to be closer to the original. While I love Insanity, I am pleasantly surprised by the direction The Asylum is headed.

Be prepared for quite a bit of floor work during this 45-minute routine, both on your stomach and on your back and shoulders.

I know my back appreciated the attention we paid it today, but tomorrow’s workout — “Vertical Plyo” — should be more aerobically challenging.