INSANITY: THE ASYLUM is the first in-home sports-specific training program based on drills used by pro athletes. During this intense 30-day program, you’ll practice moving like a football running back, serve aces like a tennis pro, score points like an all-star guard, and more. Your instructor, Shaun T, creator of successful programs like INSANITY® and Hip Hop Abs®, will help you spike your speed, coordination, agility, strength, and power to an elite athlete level.

Why is it effective?

Shaun T built INSANITY: THE ASYLUM on three cross-training cycles. During Cycle 1, he’ll push you to master a series of core sports exercises. Once you’ve gotten those under control, the real fun begins. As you step up to Cycle 2 and Cycle 3, Shaun T challenges you to dig even deeper with more complicated sports moves and progressively tougher drills. This combination pushes you to use more muscles and develop skills that give you a measurable competitive edge.

What makes INSANITY: THE ASYLUM unique?

Elite athletes use proven sports training drills to sharpen their game-day skills and get into astonishing shape. Now with INSANITY: THE ASYLUM, you can too.
With its included Agility Ladder and Speed Rope, you’ll train with more focus, concentration, and skill—just like an elite pro athlete. After 30 days, you’ll get faster, stronger, and more agile than you ever imagined—enabling you to perform any sport or activity with eye-popping speed and skill.

How does it work?

INSANITY: THE ASYLUM combines MAX Interval Training with progressive sports drills to push you to Dig Deeper® than ever. Shaun T will lead you through sports-based exercises that get progressively harder. So you’ll burn calories, build muscle, and unleash your inner world-class athlete. In just 30 days, you’ll be ready to compete, with dramatic, measurable improvements in your athletic ability.

Shaun T is your fitness expert.

Former collegiate track-and-field star Shaun T collaborated with Beachbody® to create INSANITY®, one of the most intense workouts ever put on DVD. Now he’s helped create INSANITY: THE ASYLUM, the first in-home sports-specific training program based on drills used by pro athletes. Commit to working out with Shaun T and you’ll be working to achieve elite athlete status just like him—in just 30 days.

Who is Insanity: The Asylum for?

Insanity: The Asylum is meant for people in top physical shape who want to take their results to the next level, graduates of INSANITY, P90X®, and other advanced fitness programs, athletes and former athletes who want to improve or recapture their performance, no matter their sport or game, people who are tired of traditional cardio and aren’t seeing results anymore, cardio lovers like runners, spinners, or cyclists,  and people who want to achieve rapid, dramatic improvement in their fitness.

Who is Insanity: The Asylum NOT for?

Beginners; pregnant women; children; people who aren’t willing to work hard; people with back, neck, joint, or other injuries; or people who don’t consistently do  high-impact exercise.  I had mentioned in a previous post that Insanity might not be the best program for obese people to start with and that hold true for Insanity: The Asylum as well.  If you are obese and looking to start a fitness program you might want to read my previous post here. Some people have commented that they started with Insanity and modified the routines.  Just be sure to explore all of your options with Beachbody programs before making your decision and as always feel free to contact me with any questions and I’ll do my best to help.

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Insanity: The Asylum

Tuesday (3/29/11) Plyometric Cardio Circuit – Almost – Yesterday morning I though my allergies were acting up but it kept getting worse all day and definitely wasn’t allergies. I was feeling really bad when I got up but gave it a shot anyway. Made it through the warm-up, almost, called in to work and climbed back into bed for the rest of the day.

Wednesday (3/30/11) Pure Cardio & Cardio Abs – Slept late in the morning but tried to get through the workout at night. It was a struggle but I made it through with some longer than usual mini breaks. We followed it up with Cardio Abs even though I seem to be getting a good ab workout with the other routines. I wish I was getting cramps in my side during EVERY workout, thought that should be getting better by week three…

At least I’m starting to feel better.

Thursday (3/31/11) Cardio Recovery – We are continuing to do the workouts after work this week and this one went smoothly as usual.

Friday (4/1/11) Cardio Power & Resistance – I was a little beat after work today but got in the workout. My butt was dragging through most of it but at least I finished.

Saturday (4/2/11) Plyo Cardio Circuit – Slept late, got up and ate breakfast before working out. Waited a while before starting but I still prefer working out before a meal instead of after. The workout went OK but for the rest of the day I started feeling really bad, just like earlier in the week. I hope I didn’t push things too soon instead of taking more time off for rest.

Sunday (4/3/11) Day Off – spent most of the day in bed or on the coach but feeling better than I did Saturday night.

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Workout Review 3/28/11 – 4/3/11 Insanity, Week 3…

Monday (3/14/11) Fit Test – There were several tests I had to stop before the test was up. At least it was a short test.

Tuesday (3/15/11) Plyometric Cardio Circuit – Wow, it feels like the fist time I did a Power 90 workout and couldn’t make it through a minute of jumping jacks… This is going to be a different experience than P90X.
The warm-up was a killer workout by itself. My heart rate got up to 177 which is a little higher than I’d like so I need to pace myself a little better. We pushed really hard and were totally drenched after the workout.

Wednesday (3/16/11) Cardio Power and Resistance – Took things a little slower today with some breaks during the workout. We both really felt our calves today, guess this workout is hitting things a little differently than Power 90 Master Series did.

Thursday (3/17/11) Cardio Recovery – This was a nice break, especially since both of us were still complaining about our calves. I noticed that Shaun doesn’t really have a calf stretch in the workout so we started working in the downward dog calf stretch that Tony uses in P90X.

Friday (3/18/11) Pure Cardo – This one was a little longer and less of an ramped interval workout. Legs felt better and I kept close tabs on my heart rate, keeping max in the high 160s.

Saturday (3/19/11) Plyometric Cardio Circuit – Repeat of Monday’s workout. Slept in and did the workout late morning instead of our usual time of 4:30am during the week. Not quite as intense with more mini breaks throughout than the first time through, still drenched by the end of the workout.

Sunday (3/20/11) Day Off

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Workout Review 3/14/11 – 3/20/11 The Insanity Begins…

Paul Ryan, Wisconsin’s 1st District Republican representative and former trainer, along with Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan’s 1st congressional district have been leading some other members of congress in daily P90X workouts. Tony Horton has been known to stop by an occasion to work in with them.

“It’s a fantastic workout,” Ryan says of P90X, which stresses the importance of muscle confusion and cross-training. “Bart Stupak and I lead it every morning. There’s about a dozen of us who do it.”

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Members of congress reveal their own health care plan. P90X!

I’ve completed one round of Power 90 and one round of Power 90 Master Series and am on my second week of P90X (but I started the first week about a month ago).

Saturday (1/16/10) Chest and Back – After a little break it was harder getting through the entire routine with the same weights and reps I had been up to, got about 3/4 of the way through before hitting a wall. Hope next week I can push through and be back on track.

Sunday (1/17/10) Plyometrics (Plyo X) – I had recorded the new P90X infomercial and sat down to watch it with my wife who blew off the gym today. A little more than half way through she said “Let’s go work out”. The workout room has the baseboard radiators closed off so it’s usually cold with the sub 30 degree (F) New England temps and she thought it was freezing and too cold to work out. Once the warm-up was done I asked if I should open the window as it felt pretty hot and we were starting to sweat… She made it about half way through before getting nauseous and calling it a night. I wasn’t far behind her.

Monday (1/18/10) Shoulders and Arms – I made it a little more than half way through (to the first round of Two-Angle Shoulder Flyes) when my elbow started to hurt. I’ve had surgery for persistent Lateral Epicondylitis, or tennis elbow and still get pain when I push it. I don’t want to go through another surgery and months of recovery so I tend to be more cautions now.

Tuesday (1/19/10) Yoga X – This goes way beyond the Power 90 yoga that was mixed in with the workout routines! This is the first time I’ve made it through the whole hour and a half yoga workout. More or less. I didn’t do the Crane or Wheel pose and had some trouble with some of the others but definitely saw an improvement.

Wednesday (1/20/10) Well, what was supposed to be Legs and Back day turned into a day off. What started out as a mild headache in the morning turned into a full on migraine by the end of the work day. Took a Treximet (sumatriptan and naproxen sodium) when I got home and was asleep by 6:00pm.

Thursday (1/21/10) Legs and Back – My legs were still a little sore from doing Yoga X two days ago but nothing too bad. I didn’t finish the whole thing but made it further than last time. I track everything with an OpenOffice.org spreadsheet (I’m a big fan of open source software) and made it up to the Sneaky Lunges.

Friday (1/22/10) Kenpo X – Glutes are really sore from the previous few days. Pushed through it anyway and finished Kenpo X without a problem.  This is one of the easier workouts for me.

Saturday (1/23/10)  Day off – Well if you consider a day off to be tearing a dishwasher apart, re-assembling, re-installing to find it still doesn’t work, remove, disassemble, trouble shoot (found the broken magnet in  the motor time) search for (discontinued) parts on line……..

Sunday (1/24/10) Day off – Target shooting (airgun field target) in 35 degree weather.

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Workout Routines for 1-16-10 to 1-24-10

Insanity uses interval training to beat the “stress adaptation response” which normally causes your body to get used to exercise and stop improving.  Interval workouts use sets where you perform at maximum effort then one of lower intensity, then repeat the cycle to achieve a cumulative effect.  Adding high intensity exercise with your heart rate at 80% of maximum forces your body to use fast-twich muscle fibers that are not normaly used in cardio workouts.  These muscle fibers will continue burning fuel even during lower intensity exercise.  With Insanity you will likely be working out at 85% of maximum and as a result you could be burning as much as 1,000 calories per hour!

While Shaun T’s earlier DVD programs Hip Hop Abs and Rockin’ Body were dance based, Insanity uses sports science and high level conditioning techniques to create its body composition changes.

While programs such as P90X and ChaLEAN Extreme focus on weight training to build muscle and burn fat, Insanity uses only the resistance of your own body to crank up your cardio, lower you body fat percentage and sculpt your muscles.  The only gear you need are water, a towel, and you own commitment.

Insanity is geared towards people in top physical shape, extreme athletes, graduates of other Beachbody programs, cardio workout lovers and former scholastic athletes.  It is not recomended for beginners, pregnant woman, obese people, people who aren’t willing to work hard or people who don’t consistently do high-impact exercise.  There are other Beachbody programs that can help to get us ready for Insanity.

Insanity by Shaun T, Beachbody's newest, most extreme DVD workout!

Insanity includes:

10 Insane workouts!

1: Dig Deeper
& Fit Test

To start, Shaun will put your body to the test and see what you’re made of.

2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Burn fat with intervals of intense lower-body plyo and sweat-inducing cardio.

3: Cardio Power & Resistance

Build lean muscle and upper-body definition with strength-training and power moves.

4: Cardio Recovery

Shaun goes easier on you once a week so you’re ready for the next round.

5: Pure Cardio
& Abs

Skip the intervals—this nonstop cardio workout is all extreme.

6: Cardio Abs

Do explosive intervals of cardio and core moves for rock-hard abs.

7: Core Cardio
& Balance

Take a break after month 1 and gear up for month 2 with this workout.

8: Max Interval Circuit

The interval circuit that’s more intense than anything you’ve ever done before.

9: Max Interval Plyo

Push your legs ’til they beg for mercy with power and plyo, all at your MAX.

10: Max Cardio Conditioning & Abs

Get pushed to your limit with this extreme cardio workout.

Insanity can be purchased here for $119.85 the Deluxe package can be purchased here for $164.70 and the Deluxe Results and Recovery package can be purchased here for $239.70

If you join the Team Beachbody Club you can save 10% on all Beachbody products.

Or sign up to be a Team Beachbody Coach and save 25% on Insanity as well as all Beaqchbody purchases and 50% on all shipping, all while potentially earning money just for getting fit!

You can see a longer video with behind the scenes filming action on my Videos page.

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Beachbody releases Insanity!

The program is broken down into two alternating routines, the ‘Sculpt’ which is a resistance based circuit training workout and the ‘Sweat’, which is a cardio/aerobic/abs workout.  All the exercises are designed to be done at home with a minimum of equipment such as the included resistance bands.  Through the entire program you are reminded to go at your own pace and hit pause when necessary.  You will be better off going slow and completing each workout than pushing yourself too hard and burning out half way through and not finishing all the exercises.

Level 1-2 Sculpt is about 29 minutes.  You start with a stretch based warm up followed by three sets of various resistance based exercises.  These range from several different types of push-ups, upper body resistance band sets of overhead presses, curls, triceps extensions, etc. and lower body workouts such as lunges and squats.

Level 1-2 Sweat lasts around 36 minutes.  After your warm up stretching it’s right into power yoga moves such as upward and downward dog, plank, warrior, etc.  Then you start with 2 rounds of low impact aerobics followed by 2 rounds of higher intensity aerobics then some lateral X, boxing type foot work..  Now that your really starting to sweat its into a few rounds of Kenpo style kicking then a few rounds of punches.  After a few minutes to cool down get comfortable on your back for 10 sets of 10 different crunches.

Halfway through the program or when your comfortable with the workouts you switch to the level 3-4 which ramps things up.  Even though your still told to go at your own pace your subtly reminded that it’s level 3-4 and you should try to “Bring It”. The workouts are a little longer and you are either adding sets, doing harder variations of the exercises or just adding new exercises to target different muscle groups.

Also included are:

• Program Guide
• 90-day calendar
• New Fat Burning Express DVD
• Fat Burner Meal Plan
• 6-Day Fat Burning Express Plan
• Success measurement card and tape measure
• And a Power Sculpting Band FREE!

The program does not use any sort of fad diet or magic pill, just tried and true methods that work such as calorie deficit and resistance training.  If you read the Beachbody web site you will notice it says “Fat Burning” and not “Weight loss”.  There is an important difference, while you want to lose fat you don’t want to lose lean muscle along with it.  That is just what will happen if you only diet without resistance training at least 3 times a week.  It’s not just a DVD exercise program, it’s a way to start a new, healthier lifestyle.

If you have any questions about this or any other Beachbody workout PLEASE use the contact page on the top menu bar to email me, I really do want to help you on your journey.  Beachbody has other DVD workout programs that might be a better fit for you depending on your goals, the style of workout you enjoy  and how fit you are now.  As a Beachbody coach I’m here to help you get the most out of your workout time.  You can pay it forward when its time, there is nothing quite like the feeling you will get when you help someone reach their fitness goals.

You can read more on the Beachbody forums where people post their stories and before & after photos.  Sign up for a free account here.

The cost is $59.85 and it can be purchased here.

If you want to save %10 you can join the Beachbody Club.

If you would rather buy Beachbody products such as Power 90 for 25% off, help others get fit, and even possibly make money while getting fit you can sign up to be a Team Beachbody Coach like I did.

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Review of Power 90 In-Home Boot Camp DVD Workout Program

Monday morning I got up at 4:30am and did a full workout of the sculpt 3 – 4 DVD.  It was decent, I pushed most things up a notch. 58 total push-ups, a new personal record, 6 of those being triceps push-ups which I have a hard time with. 118 squats, another personal best.  Monday night was a late night out being the final classroom night and written test of the MSF rider class my wife and I were taking that I talked about in my last workout review.

Tuesday morning it was not easy to get out of bed after 5 hours sleep. The Sweat 3 – 4 workout was slower than usual with more pauses…  It was an even later night being the final riding range and evaluation for the MSF class.

Wednesday I over slept.I was only able to complete a little over half the workout before running out of steam and figured I’d get the rest of the workout in after work.  Wrong.  We had company coming over to join us for an outdoor concert as part of our towns 4th of July celebration.  Another late night…

I was beat Tursday and give it a pass, felt like I had let myself down on this one.

Friday was the same, we left for a weekend of sailing so that was the end of the week as far as Power 90 went.

This weekend I’m on vacation so I will be getting back on track!

A full review of the Beachbody Power 90 In Home Bootcamp DVD workout set can be found Here.

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Power 90 Workout Review for 6-29-09 To 7-5-09

What made me think of this conversation was a recent article on over training over at T-Nation. I’m not going to repeat everyting in the article but they talk about seeing muscle gain by doing a set to failure (while keeping good form), possiblly two or three sets max, then moving on.

It’s always nice to have another source back up the theory of what your doing.

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You do HOW many sets?

I got in a full 8 hours of sleep last night but was still a little behind I guess, since I got up a half hour late today.  I made it through Sweat 4 – 5 without any problems but was running really late so skipped the Ab Ripper 200 routine and will have to do that one after work.  I also left for work without bringing in any healthy snacks so it’s looking like cafateria food today.

A full review of the Beachbody Power 90 In Home Bootcamp DVD workout set can be found Here.

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Power 90 Workout Review (update) 6-25-09