Is Insanity the way?

[Marathonman]

Does anyone do Insanity? I'm pretty scrawny but have bits of belly fat that I want to tone up.

My movements look a bit awkward but is Insanity alone good for toning?

[Chanzlyn]

It is more of a HIIT so it is good for burning fat and getting more defined. But if you don't have muscle then there won't be much to show!

I do Insanity because I feel like time flies by and I can do it at home. It really is a good workout. My friend and I had a before and after picture, oh we were so gross afterward, it was awesome. And I'm sure all of our movements are awkward, Shaun T is just not human, along with the two behind him.

[Rooks]

Much like P90X and P90X2, Insanity is a great workout for anyone that can do it. My main problems with them was simply too long of workouts and too many days I week (speaking from P90X experience). 6 days a week and 70-100 minutes workouts is a ton of time to commit. I just couldn't do it between things popping up in life.

The main thing to remember though is you won't get any of the results you want with just the videos. The yprovide those diets plans for a reason, because that's how people see the true results (hard work and good healthy eating). I went through roughly 75 days of P90X without changing my diet and while I got stronger, I didn't hardly lose any weight (or get more toned).

[rtalencar]

All you need to do to 'tone up' is lose body fat (and hopefully retain as much muscle as possible in the process). That has everything to do with your diet. Insanity is a good HIIT cardio workout with a decent amount of resistance training thrown in too.

[Frozen Gator]

I agree with Rooks. By far, diet is the most important aspect of any plan. As a 49-year old, the six days per week is tough. I do Insanity for three days and then take the fourth day off and do a 20 minute yoga routine instead. My knees need a recovery break from all of the high impact jumping that is involved. I am in week three of the plan. I like the high intensity. I recommend you do this in a place where you can sweat heavily without too much of a problem, have a large towel handy, drink water, and use a heart rate monitor. But it is an extremely difficult workout. I admit to enjoying the minions in the video drop out from exhaustion during the workout (watch the end of the pure cardio video and most of the max workouts)--and they are young and fit. There are a sneaky large number of pushups as well. So far, I have lost 1.5 inches around my waist and body fat from 25% to 22%, but not lost any pounds (I haven't been on a strict diet at all). In sum, it is one of many good programs. My wife is starting to hate it because when I finish each workout I imitate Shaun T and say, Yo, that s*** was bananas yo." They bleep the key word on the video.

[jedi304]

I did Insanity earlier in the year as a kickoff to my weight loss goal. First 2 weeks were definitely Insane, and when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the 2nd month came, and it was a whole other story. I didn't follow the exact diet included but I did watch what I ate, minimized carbs, took just enough to get me through the day. In the end, I came up short, finished only 3/4 of the program. But results did show, I lost 32 lbs., 3-4 inches on the waist, I felt pumped and energized, and my body definitely toned up a bit, muscles appeared where I didn't think I would ever show.

[Laney]

I gained a pants size about 7 weeks in to P90X and I stopped. IMO it's not the proper program for women, I was consuming too much protein for the workouts

[Marathonman]

I did Insanity earlier in the year as a kickoff to my weight loss goal. First 2 weeks were definitely Insane, and when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the 2nd month came, and it was a whole other story. I didn't follow the exact diet included but I did watch what I ate, minimized carbs, took just enough to get me through the day. In the end, I came up short, finished only 3/4 of the program. But results did show, I lost 32 lbs., 3-4 inches on the waist, I felt pumped and energized, and my body definitely toned up a bit, muscles appeared where I didn't think I would ever show.

Wow 32 lbs is great progress. I'm not actually looking to lose weight so much as tone down and look fit. I saw a lot of posts focusing on diet rather than the exercises. So far, the exercises are going a bit hard and I am definitely not keeping up in the amount of reps that they do.