my fitness routine pt. 3 // insanity + running

I have a very hard time with motivating myself, especially if I have to come up with a workout on my own everyday and I don't have an end goal in mind.  Insanity is great for me because it has a variety of workouts to do throughout the week, it's structured, and there's an end goal.  I started doing Insanity back in November of 2012, and made it through the first month, but then I got sick and we moved and then we went to Alaska and my computer died, so I restarted in January.  But then I couldn't keep up with it while we were re-siding our house for two weeks (though I tried!), so I restarted again at the end of February and finished the entire program last month!  At the beginning of June I restarted Insanity from the beginning in order to keep in shape for Warrior Dash next month.  Since working out is all about moving your body, I thought making a video would be a fun way to talk about it, showing movement rather than my regular old still images!


After doing Insanity all the way through, I definitely feel more fit and toned.  My body doesn't really make huge changes in size/shape, but I can see differences from some of my outfit photos last summer to now.  Like I said in my first fitness routine post, working out for me isn't a weight loss thing, it's really just about being strong and healthy.  I love feeling strong and now I actually have a reason to be strong, which is rock climbing!  I can definitely tell that the strength I'm gaining from doing Insanity helps me do better at rock climbing.  While rock climbing uses some odd muscles (like crazy forearm muscles for gripping the holds), it also uses lots of legs, arms and core muscles, all of which I workout when doing Insanity.  Plus, I'm way better at cardio than I was when I started, which is helping a ton since I've started running.  One thing I like about Insanity is that you do Fit Tests every 2 weeks, so you can actually see yourself getting better, even if you feel like you're still dying during every workout.  When you get better at the fit test, it's proof that your body is actually getting stronger!


As you heard me say in the video, I'm doing Warrior Dash next month, which is going to be awesome. It's also a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which is even more awesome.  If you'd like to support St. Jude, you can donate through my fundraiser page here.  They are one of the world's premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.  If you read my father's day post, you know that my own brother's survival has depended on cutting edge medical research and numerous experimental surgeries, and the work St. Jude does helps families like mine keep their precious children alive and kicking.