For a majority of the people I know, Monday February 6, 2012 started off with people still in euphoria over the New York Giants winning the Super Bowl. It was a typical game; nothing that you really saw that you’ll say “Where were you when that happened?” or anything like that five or ten years from now. However, it was much different for me and it started much earlier that morning. That Monday morning was the beginning of a journey that would come to make a mark in my life for the following two months. That morning was the beginning of Insanity.
Insanity is a workout that’s just like its namesake: insane. It was unlike anything I had ever done before, and from the outside looking in, it seemed like it would be a challenge. However, there was no way of truly knowing how daunting a challenge it would be until I started doing it.
The first day was simple enough; in a sense, it was almost like “a first interview,” and if anyone has ever gone through a process of pledging an undergraduate fraternity, then you know what I’m talking about. Sure, you think it’ll be challenging, but you don’t think it’ll be THAT BAD…
…and then, Day Two happened.
Day Two was basically designed to see who would stick it with it and who would run with their tail between their legs, and judging from what I knew from people who claimed to start Insanity, only to quit soon after, Day Two was basically designed to make the wanna-bes run with their tail between their legs.
Shaun T. was intense from the get-go, which was evident during warm-ups. You know when you warm-up in just about any activity, you’re prone to go at your own pace, right? Besides, it’s a warm-up, so there’s no need to kill yourself before you actually workout. Well, someone didn’t tell him that, because by the time the warm-up was over, which lasted about 8-10 minutes, I was sweating my balls off and wanting it to be over. Literally, I was drenched in sweat and all that the video consisted of on Day Two, early on, were warm-up exercises.
For the next 26 days, Insanity put a whooping on my body the likes of which I had never experienced in my previous escapades as an athlete on any level. Six days a week, five of which started pretty much the same: waking up around 4-4:30 each morning, making the hour-long drive to the gym and be ready to go by 6 A.M. In a sense, it was eerie similar as driving to “set.”
Each morning, Monday through Friday, it was still pitch-dark outside, Jeezy blasting through the speakers to get me crunk, but as I got closer and closer to the gym, the reality of what awaited would set in. There was no quitting, though; that wasn’t even an option. I’d walk in the gym, turn on my laptop, press PLAY on whatever workout was on tap for the day, and Shaun T. and the crew would do the rest.
On Saturdays, I had a little more flexibility since I didn’t have to work, but in the event that I had to go to class, I’d workout wherever I could. Sometimes, it was in a hotel room, and others, it was in a gym, or even one time in B-Lew’s living room.
After the first month, I had what’s called a Recovery Week, which basically consisted of working out more throughout the week, but the circuit was less intense and designed to give my body time to recuperate from the beating it took for the previous four weeks. 30 days into the workout, I was feeling good, while others who had completed Insanity already were quietly snickering in the bushes.
They knew what awaited me in Month Two, but they didn’t really say much about it. They knew my spirits had picked up from the initial onslaught from Insanity and figured they were better off letting me find out for myself what was ahead as opposed to them warning me. The only heads-up I got was from my boy Eric, who said “Make sure you keep your meals up.” That was basically it.
If Month One was the “second interview,” then Month Two was when “The Wood” came out. See, Month Two is, by far, the most outrageous series of workouts I’ve ever done in my life and looking back, I can see why the people who went through it previously didn’t say much to me, in regards to a warning. Hell, it wouldn’t have done a damn bit of good anyway.
The first day of the second month consisted of a Fit Test (which I already did twice before, so that didn’t really faze me) and what’s called Hell Max Interval Circuit. See, something should have shot my antennas up in the air, because Shaun T. basically said, at the beginning of the workout, that this was going to kick my butt. However, I figured it was more bravado than actual truth, and he and his team proceeded to kick my ass into the dirt for damn near an hour, which was much longer than any workout I did in the first month.
The next day wasn’t much better, as the Insanity Team whooped my ass again with Max Interval Plyometrics and beat my ass yet again the following day with Max Cardio Conditioning. By 7:15 A.M. on Wednesday morning, after being made a vegetable by the Insanity Team, I peeled myself off the gym floor, cursed loudly (much to the surprise of some of my kiddos who were getting treatment in the training room) and wondered why the hell I was doing this to myself again. Well, the answer was obvious: I wanted to look good with my clothes off and roam the beaches of Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and wherever else my travels would take me in the immediate future. With that in mind, there was no choice but to (somehow) embrace the insane.
The ass whooping continued for about another week-and-a-half until a combination of workouts called Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs were on deck. At this point, I was pretty damn tired from having to wake up even earlier than Month One to get in the gym on time, give myself enough time to do the extended workouts, take a shower, eat some breakfast and start saving kiddos all by 8 A.M. I figured Max Cardio Conditioning would kick the crap out of me (which it did), but I was totally unprepared for what Cardio Abs was going to do.
If you’ve ever seen Shaun T., then you know the man has a 17-pack. He doesn’t have a six-pack, as that would be beneath him. Also, he doesn’t do sit-ups or crunches, which he made clear as he led the workouts that Insane Abs consisted of. Well, for 32 minutes, he had me doing stuff that seemed easy at first, but was actually hard as can be. After winching, shaking, and calling for God, the workout came to a merciful end. There was also Max Interval Sports Training, which was tough, but not as rough as the other workouts that made Month Two such a nightmare.
On Friday April 6, my journey with Insanity came to a pleasant end. What began in Wagstaff Gym in the Apache weight room ended at 24 Hour Fitness in a workout area similar to where you see classes for yoga, Zumba, kickboxing and all that other good stuff you’ll find up there.
Also, I failed to mention that once Insanity started, I vowed not to shave or get a haircut until I was done. Up until Easter Sunday morning, I was a cross between Rick Ross, James Harden, and Tom Hanks from Cast Away (yes, I got my haircut on Easter Sunday; my barber is the man).
With all this said, the journey has come to an end and I honestly have never felt more accomplished, more satisfied and more fulfilled doing physical and mental activity like I did with Insanity. Before and after pics are here.