Insanity Workout - Tip #2 - Jumping

Ugh...  Day 17 of the workout.  My muscles were pretty stiff from yesterday's workout.  The Plyometric Circuit was pretty tough.  The nice thing about Insanity workout is that the more fit you get, the more you end up doing in each workout, so every workout should be a challenge.  I've briefly wrote about each workout for the first half of the program, but now that I've done that, I wasn't sure what to write about anymore. So I thought about it and decided to write the second set of tips for those of you that wants to try the Insanity workout.

Tips on jumping:

• When jumping, make sure to start the jump from the lowest point.  Basically what I mean by this is, don't make it a 2 part action.  Once I start getting tired, I noticed that I have the tendency to stand, then jump, instead of just jumping from the beginning.  It might not look like it would make a lot of difference, but it does, and your legs will feel it.
• When landing, try to land softly.  This is pretty much common sense, but I think that people may put it low on their list of priorities when in middle of the workout.  Landing stiff and hard is harsh on the joints.  Try to cushion as much of the shock by keeping your joints flexible and bend/crouch into the landing.

Workout Nutrition Tips #1: Pre/Post-Workout Meal

I've read several different articles online as to which is the "most important meal of the day," and I've run across some conflicting articles.  Each stance seems to have some convincing points in nutritional theory.  I find find it to be a bit of a pain trying to follow the current trend so I just follow all of it.


For my pre-workout meal, I usually use one of my "main" meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner).  I feel that this works out well as it supplies all the necessary nutrition that the pre-workout camp advocates.  It has carbs so that you have the energy to workout, it has proteins (one study seems to show better absorption of protein taken before a workout), and some fats.  Then depending on how heavy the meal was, I usually wait anywhere between 1 to 2 hours to digest.  


For my post-workout meal, I usually use whey protein in 2% milk with a fruit (usually a banana) or cereal.  Supposedly, after a workout, a lot of your blood is in your muscles and not in your digestive tract which slows down digestion.  So whey protein is good because the body is able to easily digest it quickly.  The milk is a nice plus because the protein from milk is mainly caesin (a slower digesting protein) so it gives me a nice mix.  I know some thinks that the milk should be skim milk, but honestly, I would rather have water...  Plus, I don't think that the fat from 2% milk would slow down my digestion of whey protein significantly.  I then take in the carbs to switch myself from a catabolic state to an anabolic one.

Insanity Workout - Tip #1

Well... here's that post about I said I was going to write on the previous post.

I went into today's workout very fatigued, which resulted in me cramping partway through the workout and just not having the level of energy that I expected.  The cause of this is no doubt due to spending all night out. The lack of proper rest translated into an inadequate recovery.   I knew that there would be some consequences, but I didn't quite expect it to be such a pain in the ass (literally).  Seriously... a cramp to the gluteus maximus?

I also suspect that I may not have been properly hydrated for the workout.  I only tend to drink water during workouts and meals.  I'm probably on the low side of hydration, and drinking the night prior probably did not help that condition any.

So in short:

• Make sure to get proper amount of sleep in order to recover properly.  A proper recovery is essential in particular for workouts like Insanity which uses a lot of the same muscles groups everyday.
• Make sure to stay hydrated throughout the day.