Shaun T: Cara, how do you feel? Cara: I feel like shit.

Day 9. Haven't shaved in weeks. [thanks Stella] Soreness has subsided, and I've actually begun to not hate the workouts. (This may be a reflection of some emerging mental issue... perhaps insanity.) The exercises are not pleasant, but they make me push much harder than I would if just going for my typical 3-mile run.

I have also begun collecting notes (below) for a new documentary. Working title is "Behind the Insanity: Gauging Shaun T's personal life through the Lens of Insanity Workouts"

>Each Insanity session is filmed in a gym, where Shaun T and a racially diverse group of actors demonstrate each of the moves. Tanya, an actress of an indeterminate race with a killer six pack, is clearly Shaun T's favorite. He regularly finds excuses to touch her while explaining different maneuvers, and she definitely has more than her fair share of screen time. I think there may be some off-camera romance here-- I will continue to track progress of their relationship as we move on to new DVDs.

> Throughout each episode Shaun T is yelling "Faster, More, Push, Push, Push" etc. At the same time, there are words flashing at the bottom of the screen saying "Only do what you can." or "Take rest if needed." Wow, Shaun... talk about Mixed signals. I bet the mixed signals bother Tanya also. I will look for blatant signs tension between the two in future DVDs.

Insanity. This is b-spec out.

P.S. You only have to take your knee up as high as you can go. I can only go up to here because I have big quads. Remember to breathe through the stretch.

Let's review

I was really busy when the blog started so I feel like I didn't give the Fit Test enough attention.  We gave our "scores" without giving full descriptions of the exercises.  Allow me to elaborate.

Switch Kicks:  Hold your arms in towards your torso in front of you.  (Think boxer protecting his body.)  Kick one leg out in front of you at a roughly 90 degree angle.  Jump and switch, kicking the other leg out.  I counted each switch as a rep, B-Spec counted every other one.  That's why there's such a discrepancy between our scores.

Power Jacks: Hold your arms straight up above your head, legs at shoulder width.  Jump, putting your legs out so you're in a squat position, bringing your arms down towards your knee.  Make sure your knees are still above your ankles--this will make you really sit back into the squat.  Jump back up to the starting position.

Power Knees:  This one is kind of hard to describe.  Stand so most of the balance is in one leg--let's say your right leg.  Putting hand over hand, raise your arms out at a 45 degree angle above your head to your right.  As you bring your hands down towards your belly button, bring your opposite knee up so your hands will tap it, right in the center of your body.

Globe Jumps:  Start in a squatting position with your hands touching the floor.  Jump to the left (you should be traveling a few feet to the left), bringing your hands all the way over your head.  As you land, get back into the squat position, touching the floor.  Continue the same motions, but jumping back, then right, then forward, completing a "rotation."  Each rotation counts as 1 rep.

Suicide Jacks: Stand with feet shoulder length, arms straight above your head.  Jump down to the a crouching position, your hands palms down on the floor.  Jump your legs straight back out to the push-up position.  Pull your legs back under you.  Jump back straight up to the starting position.  That equals one repetition.

Push-Up Jacks: Do a push-up.  As you go down, jump your legs out to a "jumping jack position."  That is, your legs should be out wide of your body.  As you go back up, bring your legs back into normal push-up position.

Low Plank Obliques: Get into a plank position.  If you're not familiar, it's the push-up position with your forearms on the floor.  Bring one knee up towards your elbow.  Bring it back to your original plank position.  Bring the other knee up towards the elbow.  Each knee raise is considered one rep.

Now you can all go do your own fit tests!  See how many reps you can do in a minute of each of these!

Insane Christmas to you all!
B-Mil

Officially Out of Sanity

So today is Day 5 and I've thought long and hard about the journey to Insanity's completion.  Please entertain the following:

Please note that the first delta in one's sanity level occurs on Day 5.  That is because we did the Pure Cardio workout.  It was insane.

Most of the workouts thus far have followed this pattern:

Do a series of about 6 exercises back to back, 30 seconds each.  Get a 30 second rest.  Repeat that series 3 times, each time increasing intensity of the workout.  Get a minute rest, start a new series.  On average (based on my experience of 4 huge days) do about 3 series.  Pass out.

Today, we just did 15 minute long exercise back to back.  In no way is that sane.  It is, in fact, unreasonable.  It was pure cardio in every sense.  My muscles actually aren't as dead today as most days, despite the difficulty of some of the exercise.  I had to rest so much during some of them that my muscles didn't work out to max like normal.  It's good to know the program works all aspects of "getting in shape" and depressing to think I have so far to go on them.  But I have 55 days to do it!

Stay Classy,
B-Mil

This is the first picture that pops up when you Google
"Tired after Insanity workout," and it pretty much sums up
what I felt like after Pure Cardio.  A tired woman.

And by the way, this is the ninth picture that comes up when you Google "Tired after Insanity Workout," and it pretty much sums up what I feel like while doing the workouts.

B-Mil is too weak and inflexible to do Insanity...for now

I second B-Spec's sentiments that the recovery day was still difficult.  It especially lured me into a false sense of security when it started out with a few easy exercises and then blitzed into some ridiculous things.  Yikes.

When I read reviews and watched infomercials about Insanity, everyone mentions what a good core workout it is.  I either:

 A) have a disproportionately strong core (I'd like to think so from 10 years of competitive running, but I think my tightly fitting pants would dispute)

B) am doing the exercises wrong (Again possible, but my wife says I look like the people on the video and my 22 month old daughter told me "Good job, Daddy!" today.)

or C) I'm so weak in other parts of my body I can't work my core correctly yet.

A bunch of exercises today were out of plank position or required some squats.  My legs and in particular my shoulders were so freaking dead from yesterday(s) that I couldn't even hold the position long enough to start doing the oblique and ab work that is supposed to give me an insane core.  Hopefully I'll improve over time...

Also, during the more yoga-y parts of the workout, my flexibility held me back.  I felt like the exercies were explained like this:

Spread your legs and reach down towards your right knee.  Now rest your forhead on your shin bone.  Now bring up your left foot and rest it on the small of your back.  Now reach your left arm all the way around your body and place your ring finger in your belly button.  Remember to breath through the stretch.

Needless to say...it didn't happen.

I promise I'll give more detailed breakdowns of the workouts once I'm on Christmas vacation, but The Man's got me down right now.  Consider it incentive to keep following!

Stay Classy,
B-Mil

Don't be fooled by a workout named "Cardio Recovery"

Day 4: If that is what "recovery" means, I think I've been misusing the word for my entire life.

Best part of Insanity thus far: The moment during each workout when Shaun T says "You're done. Insanity. This is Shaun T. Out"

Worst part of Insanity thus far: Globe Jumps.

You're done. B&B-go-I. This is B-Spec. Out.

B-Mil's first 2 days of being insane

When B Spec proposed doing INSANITY, I was initially skeptical.  I had never really done workouts like this much less "the most difficult workout program ever put on DVD." 

I decided to do it for 3 reasons:

1. It gave me an excuse to buy something off an infomercial.  It served doubly as also being my first craigslist purchase.
2. It might be the only thing that will get me back into an exercise routine between kids, work, and the gray Cincinnati winters.
3. It was called INSANITY.  How could it not be awesome?

We decided to do the blog for 3 reasons:

1. To satiate others' burning interest and questions about the workouts and programs and how impressive our bodies will become.
2. To keep us motivated and held accountable to actually do the workout.
3. To set the Internet world record for the number of times "Insanity" is said in a 60 day period.

I'll give more in depth details of each workout as we go on so you get an idea of what exercises are actually done, but in the interest of brevity for my first post, I'll leave it at this: I've survived so far.

Here are my Fit Test results:

Switch Kicks: 116
Power Jacks: 48
Power Knees: 77
Globe Jumps: 9
Suicide Jacks: 14
Push-up Jacks: 21
Low Plank Obliques: 46

I'm off to decrease my sanity level.

Stay classy,
B-Mil

Looking back, B-Spec was probably too sane in 2010

Hello friends, acquaintances, and nosy Internet creeps,

Thank you for checking out Ben and Ben Go Insane. Though this the first entry, I can already tell that this is going to be one of the best and most popular blogs ever created. You might be wondering, "Who are Ben and Ben, and why are they going insane?".

Two Bens (Mil and Spec) will be contributing to this blog over the next 60 days. Both Bens are passionate about infomercials, fitness, and claiming that they are going to create a blog. These passions all collide into a proverbial food loaf of excitement on this very page.

If you are not the type of person who watches infomercials, you might be wondering 'What is insanity?". You are in luck-- the commercials are below.





As part of the program, we will take a Fit Test on day 1, and again at every 2 week interval. The fit test involves performing stupid exercises with made up names in order to gauge progress.

Over the next 60 days, this page will chronical the Bens' fit test results, mental state, and all thoughts marginally relevant to sanity/insanity. Yesterday I took my first fit test. Today (day 2), I did the Plyometric cardio circuit. Both day 1 and day 2 have been absolutely miserable experiences, each complete with multiple near-barf moments.

More to come. Insanity. This is B-Spec out.


B-Spec Fit Test 1 Results
Switch Kicks: 45
Power Jacks: 42
Power Knees: 70
Power Jumps: 30
Globe Jumps: 6
Suicide Jumps: 7
Push-up Jacks: 22
Low Plan Oblique: 14

Welcome to Our INSANE experience.

Two Bens.
60 Days.
One INSANITY program.
Huge results.