Do You Have to Be Insane to Do Beachbody INSANITY?

The Beachbody INSANITY program is not for the faint of heart. Invented by Shaun T, this 60-day workout program is designed to "push you past your limits" with cardio, plyometric drills, and intervals of strength, power, resistance, and core training. The marketing emphasizes that no equipment or weights are needed, and you "don't have to be in extreme shape to do it."

Yes, that's what it says: “extreme shape.”

Now, I am not going to lie. Having tried it myself, I can attest that the INSANITY program is definitely not for everyone. In fact, the warm-up alone is harder than many of my entire workouts. In my opinion as a coach who has worked with hundreds of clients, this is a serious workout for people who are already very fit. With a focus on “max interval training” that may intimidate even some seasoned fitness pros, this workout is not for someone who is new to formal fitness training nor is it for someone who is just building or rebuilding their fitness.

The warm-up alone is harder than many of my entire workouts.

Isn't a hard workout a good thing?

So, it's a tough workout. What's wrong with that? Well, the problem is that this type of maximum intensity comes at a greater risk of injury. Along with a solid base level of fitness, you also need to have good form and technique. Even though the videos do a decent job of demonstrating each movement, unless you have a mirror handy or a friend who can keep an eye on your form, as fatigue sets in, your form will suffer and pain will ensue. 

But I am getting ahead of myself. More on that later. 

How it works

Throughout the Beachbody INSANITY workouts, you alternate between explosive cardio drills, power and resistance moves, and plyometrics, with some core and balance moves sprinkled in for good measure. And in theory, that's a good thing! The diversity of moves means that Beachbody INSANITY checks the majority of the boxes for what I would consider a well-rounded workout program. 

The problem is that in most traditional interval training workouts of this length (most of the INSANITY workouts are nearly an hour long) the focus is on longer periods of moderate exercise with short periods of high-intensity exercise peppered in. For instance, a traditional interval training workout might have you soft-pedaling on a bike for one minute followed by sprinting as hard as possible for 20 seconds. This is the way we get the closest results to the lab experiments that show us how effective HIIT can be.

When you perform at 80% of your maximum...

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