Insanity Workout - Complete Review

Whew... it's been a while since my last post.  I thought about posting everyday, but decided against it since it's more or less the same workout and anything new that I post would be about whether my condition was good or not, and frankly speaking, that's pretty boring.

ATTENTION: I've completed the entire 63 days of workout of Insanity and now I feel is the time to put up a complete review.  Before I go into it though, I feel compelled to point out that I will try to be as impartial as possible.  Unfortunately, most of the blogs and sites with Insanity reviews are written by Team Beachbody Coaches.  I feel that by being a Beachbody Coach, any review written by them is inherently biased as they have a vested interest in selling the products.  That isn't to say that all of their reviews are bad, just that it should be taken with a grain of salt.  It would be like asking a Toyota salesman what he thought about a Toyota car...

Now, onto the review!

BEACHBODY INSANITY COMPLETE REVIEW

Rating System: I rated each section on a 1-10 basis.  1 being the worst and 10 being the best.  It would be easier thinking of it as a school grading system.  <6 = F, 6 = D, 7 = C. 8 = B, 9 = A, 10 = A+

Physical Fitness: 8/10
Insanity is touted as a total body conditioning program which is a pretty accurate statement.  Note that it doesn't regard itself as a weight loss program or even a bulking/muscle gaining program.  The Insanity program will get you in great cardio shape.  As it was stated in the Insanity webinar video that I posted, this workout was meant for people who finds that they want to jump into some of the more endurance based scene.

I would HIGHLY recommend this workout program for those in ANY type of sports be it basketball or soccer or even cross-country.  The exercises concentrates on both increasing explosive strength and stamina.

The only downside to this workout is the lack of upper body workout, which is a non-issue if you bought the deluxe package which comes with an upper body weight training DVD.

Difficulty: 9.5/10 - 4/10
I had to give this one a double rating.  For certain people, the level of difficulty will definitely be a bonus, but for others a severe handicap.

When they tell you that it's the hardest program from Beachbody, it probably means that it's pretty tough.  The sheer amount of cardio and plyo makes this workout, for the lack of a better word, insanely tough.  This has its pros and cons.  The intensity of the workout is great for those that thrive on challenge.  Even the most fit person will be left gasping for air on the floor if they did the workout properly.  I don't sweat easily, but each workout had me raining sweat and I loved it.  It makes it feel like I really got a proper workout at the end and gives a great feeling of accomplishment.

But... I DO NOT recommend Insanity for those severely out of shape, morbidly obese (you know who you are), or those with joint and hip problems.  Here's why...

For those severely out of shape: Insanity does not cater to a wide range of fitness level.  What this means is that Insanity (unlike P90X or Turbo Fire, the 2 other "extreme" workouts in the Beachbody lineup) does not have move modifiers to make the exercises easier for those that can't do the regular moves.  You either keep up and do what everyone else is doing or you don't do it at all. Well... to be perfectly honest, there are some modifiers, but they are few and far in between.

For those that are very overweight and/or those with bad joints: Insanity involves a lot of jumps and squats which are very hard on the knees, ankles, and hips.  Very careful attention needs to be paid when doing these exercises.  Even with good shoes and a mat, the workout is harsh on the joints.  Also, there are a lot of reports of people getting hurt during Insanity which probably occurred due to a lack of focus which naturally happens when you get exhausted.

Fat Loss: 8.5/10
I would have to rate Insanity above average in terms of fat loss.  There are better programs out there if your main goal is to lose weight and I would suggest that you try those before attempting Insanity.  My body weight stayed about the same throughout the entire workout program.  But my body fat dropped from about 16% to around 12% which is an overall 25% reduction.  That's not bad.  Also remember that I ate at around my maintenance level.

However, I DO NOT recommend Insanity for those mainly concerned with fat loss.  This is NOT a weight loss program and those that picks this up thinking that it will give them some miracle loss will be sorely disappointed.  The reason I say this is because while you do see a moderate fat loss throughout the program, I feel that a large portion of that comes from controlling your diet and not from the workout itself.  While the workout burns a lot of calories, the high intensity of the workout forces you to consume a fair amount of calories and in particular, carbs, to be able to properly do the workout the next day and not burn out.

Nutrition Plan: 9/10
The nutrition plan that comes with the workout is pretty solid.  For those of you used to working out, it doesn't really offer any new information, but for those new to the workout scene, it gives all the basics.  Some people are pretty nazi about the whole meal plan and only eating off the recommended recipes, but I think that they're limiting themselves and not really 'getting' what the meal plan is about.

I followed the meal plan in that I ate 5 times a day, I tried to keep most of my meals at a 40-40-20 diet, and I noticed that most of what I ate fell under the first two tiers of Michi's Ladder.  I ate pretty healthily before so it wasn't really an issue for me.  I also tried to consume enough calories to be at or slightly below my maintenance level.  Other than these, I really didn't follow the nutrition plan and if you know how to manage your calories and protein to carbs to fat ratio, it isn't a problem to deviate like I did.

Cost: 9.5/10
The only thing that prevented me from giving this workout a perfect 10 in this category is that the cost of the DVD's are quite high.  This can be said for most of the 'big' Beachbody workout programs though.  Insanity does not require you to buy any extra gear for working out which is a big plus since the DVD's are pretty expensive as is.  This makes it less intimidating than if you knew there were additional costs involved.

With that said, if you bought the deluxe package and got the upper body weight training, you would need weights to do the workout.

Trainer: 9.5/10
Shaun T is very motivating as a trainer which is probably the most important element of video workouts.  Also, the one thing that's great that he does that other trainers (Tony and Chalene) doesn't do is that when he tells you to raise your right arm, face right, etc... he means your right arm.  The people in the video will raise their left hand so that all you have to do is to mirror what they do on the screen.  I feel that it's a natural reflex to mirror what is shown on the screen.  It's a small touch, but really impresses.

Videography: 10/10
The videography is great in this due to its simplicity.  It doesn't move around all over the place in an attempt to be dynamic or fancy.  It usually stays centered and only switches to a different view or zooms in to show the form better.  It gives a no nonsense approach and you always know how the move looks.

Length: 7/10
The length of the whole program has its good points and its bad points.  For the good points...  60 days is relatively short compared to P90X and Turbo Fire.  Those 30 days makes a huge difference.  For some, 60 days seems doable while 90 days seems to last forever.  On the other hand, the down side is that there's a huge system shock between the first month and the second month.  The increase in difficulty is so great it actually feels a bit like there should be a month of workout in between the first and the second month.

Other Notes:
One thing that I feel I should mention is that Insanity is very hard on your legs, specifically the quads and triceps.  There's push ups and squats in almost every workout.  This really makes it hard to recover those muscle groups.  There were times when I was completely physically exhausted despite having a full rest day.

In Short:
Here is what I liked about Insanity:

1. Increases total body fitness.
2. Increases explosive strength and stamina.
3. Challenging.
4. Short (60 days) compared to other workouts in its class.

Here's what I didn't like:

1. Very harsh on the joints.
2. Insufficient time for recovery.
3. Lack of upper body workout.