P90X vs. Insanity

                 

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Having done P90X and Insanity, a question a lot of my friends bug me with is “hey, I want to get in shape. Which ones better?”. The best answer to this question is another question, what are your goals? P90X and Insanity are two very different beasts, comparing them is like comparing Mitt Romney to Obama- they’ll both get the job done if elected, but in completely different ways. But people still like to compare them anyway, just like they will continue to compare P90X and Insanity, so I will do my best to compare them accurately.

 

Time- How long each workout will generally take

                       One of the most common excuses people come up with as to why they do not work out is “I don’t have enough time in the day!”… I could go on for a while about how untrue this statement is, but that’s another article. Time wise, Each P90X workout is about a little over an hour long, and Yoga X is a whopping hour and a half. Doing this program takes up about a total of 7-8 hours a week if you follow it to a t, which is a substantial time commitment for anyone.

Insanity workouts are generally between 30 and 60 minutes, with no workout going over an hour. The first month has shorter workouts while the second has the long 60 minute ones. From a time commitment stand, insanity is better. It is much easier to squeeze a half hour workout in your schedule then an hour or longer one.

 

Equipment-What you need to bring to each workout

                  Once again, P90X loses on convenience big time in this category, let me tell you. In order to do P90X correctly, you absolutely need a pull up bar that attaches to one of your doorframes, and a wide variety of free weights. Weight bands and a yoga mat are optional, but imo, very important. Go ahead and see how your body feels after doing yoga on a concrete, or even wooden floor! Overall, the equipment adds about a hundred dollars to the cost of P90X, or more, unless you already have it.

Insanity, on the other hand, is all body weight exercises. This means you do not need a single free weight or band- The only equipment you need to bring to each workout is your own body. ‘nuff said.

 

Motivation-How Tony/Shaun T keep you going

                     This is another area where I would crown insanity as the clear winner- Tony Horton, the P90X trainer, while obviously very well built and educated in the art of body building, is just well, kind of goofy. He makes dumb jokes every couple minutes, and although some of them are actually pretty damn funny, they are far from motivational. If you want to see what I’m talking about, just go to youtube.com and type in Tony Horton P90X. His commentary also tends to get boring fairly fast. After I learned all the cds, I generally just blasted my own music through every P90X workout rather than listening to Tony’s commentary. The background music in P90X also leaves much to be desired.

Shaun T from Insanity is the opposite. He motivates you by screaming at you every couple seconds. The style in Insanity is more like a bootcamp, which is great for motivation. The music in Insanity is also very compelling- I would describe it as rock. It gets more intense/motivational as the workout gets harder, and dips out as the intensity starts to fade. In short, the music is designed perfectly to keep you going when you feel like stopping, and it does. I have never felt the need to put In my own music when doing an insanity workout.

 

Toughness

                 Although a lot of people seem to be under the impression that Insanity is the “next step up” of P90X, that is not really the case. They are both equally difficult, in different ways. Insanity is entirely cardio based, while P90X has more of a focus on weight training. When it comes down to it, you can put as much or as little into every workout you go through in each of these programs. How hard you push yourself is entirely up to you.

 

Results

                          Although both of these programs are meant more to trim your body down than bulk up, you get different results out of them for sure. While you will never get huge doing P90X, you will gain some muscle mass, as well as tone up any muscle you previously had. You will also lose a considerable amount of weight, if that is your goal. With Insanity, You most likely will not gain that much muscle at all, but you will lose a crap load of weight as well as completely toning up your entire body. Once again, rather than comparing these two routines, it is better to ask yourself what you want out of working out and then choose accordingly. In my honest opinion, neither program is better, just different. Although I am pretty obviously biased towards one of the options… I firmly believe that they are both excellent programs, and if followed correctly, both will get you in the best shape of your life. And with roughly 2-3 months to go before summer… you better pick one fast!

Gaining weight, when you can't gain weight

 Growing up, I was always the skinny kid. My friend’s parents would always force me to eat whenever I showed up at their houses, apparently convinced that my parents did not feed me enough. In middle school many people were envious of my ability to down large portions of food with little to no weight gain… I would actually lose weight a good amount of the time. People considered me lucky, while I thought the opposite. I wanted more than anything to gain weight, and more importantly, muscle, but it seemed impossible! Yet here I am today, 21 years old, 6 foot weighing in at over 200 pounds. I am going to outline how it is possible for someone with an ultra fast metabolism to gain muscle.

Eat More

I am going to start with the most obvious, and by far the most important thing to remember when trying to gain weight. Its really a very simple concept- You need to take in more calories than you are burning off. To do this, you need to eat. A LOT.  When I first started working out, I would eat 3000 calories a day, and would still end up losing weight, so what did I do? Upped my consumption to 3500 calories daily. And when that was not enough, I started eating 4000. You need to get rid of the notion in your mind that says you cannot gain weight, and replace it with I need to make more food. You can gain weight, and if you eat enough, you will, without a doubt. If you want to stop reading this post now, go ahead. You have all the basic knowledge you need to gain weight. One more note, although ideally you should be eating high quality, expensive food, most people do not have the money to afford to buy all organic. Instead, just use your best judgment and try to eat as healthy as possible within your budget, the important thing with gaining weight is to eat a massive amount of food, so inadvertently you may be getting some of your calories from fast food or other less than desirable options. If that is what you have to do, do it.

Shakes

Eating 4000+ calories a day would be a daunting task for someone who watched tv all day, let alone a college student with a part time job. Or a single mom. Or essentially anyone who has a life, aka things they have to get done every day. A great way to get a lot of quality calories, in a quick, convenient, and portable manner, is to drink protein or carbohydrate shakes. Meal replacement shakes, like ensure, are also a viable option. Not only can you down a shake in a matter of seconds, you can also bring them with you to work, to school, or anywhere else. I drink about 800 of my calories every day in the form of protein shakes- its a lot easier than cooking a meal, and although I would not recommend shakes over regular food, they are a great supplement to a normal diet that does not give you enough calories.  

Weight train

Weight training is another important aspect in the weight gain process. You should be doing low reps with as much weight as you can handle, so that you are not weight training for too long, which would burn calories and fat that you want to convert to muscle.

Minimize cardio

This is another obvious point- stay away from cardio as much as you can until you reach or exceed your ideal weight. Cardio burns a tremendous amount of calories, and you will have to eat all the calories you burn later just to break even. If you are trying to gain weight and do cardio, I question your mental health. But one thing people do not always take into account is amount of calories you burn in your daily activities. For example, if you have a part or full time job that requires you to be on your feet for hours at a time, you are getting a moderate cardio workout for long stretches of time-this burns calories, and you need to eat them back. So make sure your accounting for your daily activities as well as actual cardio workouts when you decide how many calories you need daily.

Conclusion

Despite what you might think, it is not impossible to gain weight, even with an extremely fast metabolism. Everyone must overcome obstacles in order to achieve their fitness goals. A fast metabolism is just another obstacle, that can be overcome with a little determination.

Weight training, cardio, or both?

Its hard to choose

Today I am going to address a question that a lot of people ask themselves after making the decision to begin working out- should they do weight training, cardio, a combination of the two, or what? Before you can answer that question, you need to decide what your goals are. If you focus on cardio, you are never going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and if you focus on weight training, you will not win any marathons. I am going to outline general advantages and disadvantages to each.

 Cardio

                     I personally love cardio! There is nothing like feeling endorphins running through your veins, and the sweat pouring off of your back after an intense cardio workout. Everyone who has ran on a treadmill, in the park, or anywhere knows how amazing you feel after doing cardio. Also, everyone who has stuck to a cardio regimen long term knows of the many positive effects consistent cardio has on your body. The most obvious benefit, at least to me, is a stronger heart and stronger lungs. After doing cardio for a while, you will certainly notice that it takes a lot longer for you to run out of breath when doing just about anything. That long walk from the car to your office? No problem. Walking up four flights of stairs? Cake walk. Cardio trains your lungs to more efficiently send oxygen throughout your body, which means your heart rate and breathing will return to normal a lot faster than if you did not do cardio. This means you can do all the physical things you love to do for a longer period of time, and you will enjoy them more because you will not have to worry about catching your breath or tiring. Doing cardio is also easily the best way to burn calories and fat. Although you do burn calories while weight training, your heart rate is higher for a longer period of time when doing cardio, which leads to more calories being burned. Although cardio will not usually make your muscles bigger, it will burn all the fat off of the muscles you have, which gives them a toned look. A lot of people prefer this toned look over bulging muscles anyway, and for most people it is much more practical to have decent sized muscles than huge ones. Some cardio, like swimming, can even build muscle, although not nearly as much as a weight training regimen.

Cardio is also very convenient. You do not need any weights or equipment to start a cardio routine. All running requires is a good pair of running shoes and a little determination. It does not even have to be time consuming. Running for half an hour a day is enough for some people- and if you decide to do intense cardio, like the Insanity program or high intensity interval training (HIIT), then some of your workouts will be as short as twenty minutes, and you will still be getting in great shape. In short, cardio makes you feel great, and is very simple to start up.

The only real disadvantage to cardio is the possibility of injury. Always make sure to warm up and stretch before doing cardio, and cool down after. Too much cardio and not enough food can also make you look emaciated, which is not good, not good at all. Just know when enough is enough.

 

Weight Training

                        Having gone through periods where I focused solely on weight training, and solely on cardio, I can say that there both great in their own respects. The obvious advantage of weight training, the reason that almost everyone starts a weight training regimen, is simple- it builds muscle. There is absolutely no better way, in my opinion, to put on muscle mass than lifting heavy objects up and putting them down in a systematic manner. As long as you are doing it correctly, you can see huge gains in as little as a couple months, regardless of your body composition. But huge muscles are not the only big advantage to weight training! A side effect of having bulging biceps and terrific triceps is improved self esteem. After putting on some muscle, you are going to feel good about yourself whenever you look in the mirror, guaranteed. You cannot put a price on self esteem; this is by far the best part about weight training to me. But physical activities that require lifting will become easier as well. For instance, I work at a hospital cleaning operating rooms, and we are required to move heavy equipment daily. If I had never taken the time to build up my muscles, I would tire very quickly at my job, but I am able to keep working hard for my entire shift. My productivity would go vastly down if I had to stop and rest multiple times. Things like lifting furniture and doing yard work also become easier, life is just easier when you have muscles. Weight training also improves your circulation, which has many, many benefits. But one of the best things about building muscle is that muscles burn calories even when you are not working out. It takes energy for your body to maintain your muscle mass, so you can kind of think of muscles as little fat burning factories that are working around the clock to keep you looking fiiiiine. It is also not very time consuming, as you should only be weight training for 30-45 minutes at most at a time unless you are a professional athlete.

There are a few disadvantages I have found for weight training. One, injury is very common among beginners, and even among seasoned weight trainers. The reason is because people will either use too much weight or overwork their muscles when beginning a weight training routine. People try to do too much. Once, when I was starting my first cycle of P90X, I went to my chiropractor. He told me he loves P90X- it gives him more business than any other workout program. Point is, do not bite off more than you can chew. Another disadvantage is decreased flexibility, really all you need to do to fix this is stretch out a lot. Yoga really helps when it comes to flexibility.

 

Can you do both?

              Yes! It is fairly easy to incorporate cardio into a weight training regimen, or vice versa. Or even make an even mix of both. For example, I used to use a weight training regimen where I would work out a different muscle group four days a week, and do cardio twice a week. If you are into beach body products, you can do a P90X/Insanity hybrid. P90X focuses much more on weight training than cardio, while insanity is pretty much all cardio, so you can just mix in a few Insanity DVDs with the P90X weight training days. There is really no good reason not to get the best of both worlds.  

Working out at home vs. the gym

For my first post I have decided to take on a debate I have overheard many times at work- should you workout at a gym or in the comfort of your own home? I will compare the two on four dimensions, cost, motivation, convenience, and equipment, so that you can make your own informed decision. At no point will I state that one option is undeniably greater than the other, so if you’re looking for a yes or no answer, gym or house, your knocking on the wrong door.

 

Cost

                     I’ll start with working out at home. Obviously, if you’re just doing pushups and sit ups, the only cost you will incur at your house is time. Basically the cost can be very low, or astronomically high, depending on what kind of exercising you want to do. I would recommend buying a variety of free weights, a pull up bar that can attach to your door frame, and a weight bench. Although all of these items do cost a fair amount of money, you only buy them once, and you really don’t need any really fancy bands or workout machines to get going. You can also purchase workout DVDs, like the famous (infamous) Beachbody products like P90X or Insanity. Once again, it all depends on what you want to do. If you just want to go for a run in the park, the expenses are nonexistent.

The main expense you will incur at a gym is the monthly membership cost, which can be anywhere from $10 at planet fitness to $70 or more at a fancy fitness club with basketball courts and pools. Personal trainers, while incredibly useful if you are just getting into fitness, do cost a lot of money per session. Gas is another issue… as gas prices are rising to almost $4 a gallon, even a twenty minute round trip to and from a gym every day will start to put a dent in your wallet. Another expense that is also overlooked is time, as you need to drive to and from the gym whenever you go, and during peak periods you might need to wait for machines to open up.

 

Gym

Or home?

Motivation

                           This is one area where the gym seems to have a definitive advantage. Nothing motivates better than seeing a guy walking around with biceps on his biceps, or a toned woman sporting a six pack. Just the obvious fact that people are watching you at the gym is enough to motivate most people. Nobody wants to look weak. Basically the sense of community you get from being part of a gym gives you motivation to keep working out. Personal trainers are also another great way to get motivated. When you’re at your house, by yourself, it is fairly easy to let yourself just coast through a workout, rather than push yourself. This is not an option if you vie for a personal trainer- they will push you beyond any limits you have placed on your own abilities, and you will learn to love them for it.

When working out at your house, motivation has to come from within. You need to be able to remember at all times why you started working out, and what you want out of the workout, or you will tend to just coast through. Getting a friend to workout with you at your house is an excellent way to stay motivated. If you are short on friends that want to work out, then workout videos are a sure way to stay motivated. The upbeat music combined with the encouragement of the trainers in them make you feel as if you’re in a class at a gym, and keeps you going.

 

Convenience

                          This is an area where working at a home has a clear advantage. Everybody is at their house for at least a couple hours a day, so there is no real excuse not to work out. All you have to do is go to your basement, garage, shed, or wherever your gym is set up and get to it. Your house does not have hours of operation that you must adhere to, and your house will never shut down in inclement weather. You can also wear whatever you want at your house, hell you can work out naked as long as you don’t do it near any windows. Its less of a hassle than going to the gym, plain and simple.

Gyms, on the other hand, actually are pretty convenient. Most gyms are open seven days a week, from early in the morning until fairly late at night. Unless you like to work out at 3 in the morning, getting there within the hours of operation is normally not a problem, except maybe on the weekends where the hours tend to be shorter. But in order to go to the gym, you do have to make yourself look half decent, as very attractive members of both sexes are likely to be there, and you do have to get in your car and drive through traffic to get there, two problems that are nonexistent at your house. Also if it is snowing or raining, the gym may close, or you might not feel like driving in those conditions. Walking to your garage will probably be much more desirable than driving to a gym if there is a foot of snow outside.

 

Equipment

                        Unless you are rich and can afford to buy a lavish in house gym complete with machines, free weights, mirrors, etc, gyms have a clear advantage in this department. Most gyms have all the standard machines that people tend to use, along with many free weights, benches, exercise balls, bands, you name it they will probably have it. You are paying a monthly rate essentially for use of their equipment, so they better have exactly what you want.

Although gyms have all the equipment you could ever wish for, like I said before, you do not need a lot of equipment to exercise. At your house you can buy what you need to do what you want, and be done spending money on it. You do not have to pay a never ending monthly rate for equipment that you own, just a onetime cost.

 

Conclusion

                      Both working out at home and at the gym have their own advantages and disadvantages, it is up to you to decide which option better fits your needs. There is no right or wrong answer, the important thing is to just keep working out!