Insanity Kicks My Ass Every Time

Since I haven't been running much lately I wanted to find a way something to supplement my triathlon training. I turned to the one thing that I knew would give me a great workout no matter what, Insanity. I have used Insanity before and I need to say that every single time it kicks my ass. No other workout pushes my entire to its limit like Insanity does.

My plan for now is to do Insanity three times a week until it is time to taper for my triathlon. I am going to be following the order of the workouts on the Insanity schedule just so I don't have to decide which workouts to do. Insanity will never come before a tri specific workout though. It is only to be a supplement to my training.

So far I have only done two of the Insanity workouts (plyo cardio circuit & pure cardio) because I wasn't feeling too hot last week. There is no way to finish an Insanity workout without every inch of your body begging for rest and covered head to toe in sweat. No matter how much it hurts I push through the pain because I know how good of a workout I am getting.

The one thing I wish was different with Insanity is the amount of strength training. Insanity is an absolutely amazing form of cardio but I think something like P90X is better if you are looking to build strength. Other than that I think Insanity is the best cross training out there.

What I am most excited for, though, is using Insanity for marathon training. I am not sure if I will regularly keep up with Insanity once July rolls around but Insanity is going to prepare me for marathon training like nothing else can. A lot of people have used Insanity as a form of pre-training for running and swear by their results.

Interval Training: Insanity

I mentioned a while back that I bought the Insanity workout DVDs. One of my swim coaches actually had us do the workouts as dryland after practice and I became hooked instantly. I purchased the workout myself but haven't really committed to following the provided plan.

Since I will be starting training for my March half marathon soon I don't want to commit myself to trying to do sixty days of Insanity. I do want to do as much Insanity as I can though.

I have been consistently (meaning every other day) doing Insanity for about a week now and I can already tell that I am getting stronger. I feel more powerful and definitely more toned.

What is so great about doing Insanity is that it is interval training. You push as hard as you can for two to five minutes and then get a thirty second break. I still have to take some extra rest every now & then, but they becoming more infrequent.

Doing interval training allows my body to get a great workout and lets me push myself every single time. No matter how many times I do each workout I can still improve on my reps and form.

And Insanity is just one form of interval training. I only have access to my school's gym, which doesn't offer workout classes like a real gym would. And I really can't justify spending money on a gym membership only for the classes.

I can do Insanity in my apartment whenever I want to. I try not to do it very late at night because I'm sure the people living beneath me aren't loving my constant jumping.

But still, regardless of how you do it, it's really important to fit some kind of interval training into your weekly routine. You will love the results!

Adding a Little Spice to Your Run

Right now I am training for a 5K and it has been quite enjoyable so far. It has been really nice to work on gaining speed and building strength rather than endurance. I am still doing some longer runs but they are not my main focus right now.

I am far more interested in training for the Rock n' Roll USA Half Marathon in March, but I wanted to take the time I had after running the Baltimore Half Marathon to try some new things. I have been going to yoga twice a week, started doing Insanity again, got back in the pool, and started biking as means of cross training. 

But I also have been switching up the style of runs I do. I started doing speed work for the very first time and have been doing more tempo runs. 

Sometimes, though, a little creativity can really improve the quality and enjoyment of a run. One thing that I have been doing lately is incorporating stairs into my runs. Running stairs are a great way to bring in some interval training to a run and also work on increasing strength. 

My favorite stair workout to add to a run is:
2 x
sprinting, hops, and double stairs.

I have been working on adding another repeat each time I do stairs. I struggle the most with the hops. I find them very awkward and rather difficult, but I know that jumping really helps build strength and power in legs.

I find stairs to be the most beneficial and challenging thing to add to a run but I also have incorporated things such as push ups, crunches, planks, and jumping jacks. Adding these things to a run really adds some variety and can make a hard run seem like a totally different workout altogether.

What do you do to add some variety to your runs? Have you ever added stairs to your runs?