Upping the ante by adding variety and quantity

Today was a blast for sure. Did 5 miles uphill mountain bike ride, including some steep terrain, and then later on did a workout from the Asylum Vol.2. It was the X trainer video, and Shaun kicked my butt. But somehow, as hard as it was, I felt the need for more, and went to do the warm up from the Asylum Vol. 1 strength video.

I upped the protein intake for today, and am now going over the decision of whether or not to eat a piece of cake. These workouts plus the ride have really worn me down. The feeling of being fatigue is becoming increasingly apparent.

Anyway... What I wanted to share today was that plyo workouts are becoming increasingly addictive, and what was notoriously hard before is now becoming easier by the day. They add explosiveness which is hard to match, and this added to my overall addiction to the leg workouts. Did power legs from the Asylum Vol. 2 two days before, and it was fun.

Vertical Plyo workout

Probably the hardest one if you ask me. It combines a lot of power leg movements, a lot of jumping, a lot of core engagement. Abs all the way.
Here is a tip on how to utilize the most out of this workout

Maintain form- it will help you target the right muscles and engage the core more. Also keep in mind range of motion- it will help you travel that extra distance when jumping, hence adding a lot more resistance to you jump, a lot more power required so you can balance into the air. And mind these two together. Form and range of motion. It will do wonders, especially with this workout video. Try to pay attention as much as you can, and you will notice that the workout becomes something entirely different.

Asylum ab workouts

Where do you think the shredded abs come from when doing the Asylum program? There is no single one ab specific move in neither of the videos.

However, when the time is over, your abs feel like they are about to explode. So where does all the ab work come from?

First of all, Shaun T was cleaver enough as to pay attention to compound athletic moves. Namely, every move targets the core in one way or another. Here is what I think is responsible for the results you will see in your ab section.

• Power jumps- there require a lot of energy and a lot of power to be called upon from the abdominal area. Not only your abs are engaged by jumping, but the more you try t bring the knees up, the better the results.
• Leg work- naive as it may sound, leg work is responsible for the lower abs having a blast. Especially when stepping into the agility ladder.
• Compound moves- every compound move, whether we are talking moving push-ups, or switch kick mountain climbers, or even sport specific moves as in game day (think about the skating moves), they all target the core. and what is better from every possible angle as opposed to only one movement as in traditional ab exercises.
• All kind of jumps- the X jumps are my favorite  but every other form of jumping included is going to target your abs one way or another. And jumps are everywhere.
• Jumping rope- this is also a great way to target the whole abdominal area and tighten your core. Plus the more you tighten your core, the better the results. Lower abs, upper abs... everything is having a blast.

The importance of maintaining form

In the Asylum perfect form counts more than speed and power ever will. In fact, if done right, it affects both speed and power, agility and strength.

Shaun T is great example of this. He does every exercise with the right and proper form, and during all of the Asylum workouts you can see him really working. And that's the thing- the more you try to fall into this rigid structure of movements the harder each of the moves, the better your results.

Many Asylum reviews point out that the exercises are getting dramatically easier every other week. That of course is not the case if you try to do them right. Even Shaun T struggles. You see, the videos are designed so that the plateau is never reached. As long as you do the moves right and with the proper form, there is no limit to your progress both in muscle building as well as in weight loss.

Other fitness programs and videos grant the same thing, but in Insanity: The Asylum, because of the nature of the exercises and complexity of them, form and proper movement is more prominent.

Form over speed guys, form over speed.

How important is range of motion

When doing the Asylum you will hear Shaun T constantly yelling about range of motion.
What this refers to is the movement your limbs, your whole body takes when performing one particular move. The goal is to extend the travel distance in each exercise and hence improve your flexibility, reach, activate more muscles from various angles, while gaining more strength, power, explosiveness...

This also affects form, and in fact goes hand in hand with it.

Increasing range of motion you will be able to gain more stability, flexibility, improvement in movement, performance of various exercises. It also advocates more of a calorie burn, increased weight loss.

The asylum videos can get really hard if you pay attention to this one. For one, the core and balance video can change level entirely based upon whether or not you are caring about range of motion.

So the next time you hear Shaun T saying to pay attention, just try to go slowly but increase the travel distance in every workout. Form over speed guys, for over speed.

Why Asylum is so effective

The Asylum workout program is something so revolutionary that it is no surprise that it is working. If you take the Insanity workout and attribute its success to the max interval training, here I guess you would have to applaud complexity first and foremost. The asylum workout program is Shaun T implementing everything he knows about how to boost both performance and create your desired body along the way.

Every Asylum workout review out there will tell you that what strikes as the most noticeable perk is the complexity of the workouts. Complex workouts targeting various muscle groups all at once, aiming for superior weight loss and muscle definition.

Here is why it works:

• Complex athletic moves- you target more muscle groups at once, hence achieving more of a calorie burn and more muscle growth.
• Strength training incorporated- the cross fit nature of one of the videos is apparent. One of the DVD's is titled strength and it is all about weight training from a cross fit point of view.
• A lot of stretching- this ensures flexibility, muscle toning and increased range of motion. That in turn, promotes even more of a muscle growth
• A lot of agility moves- these improve power, speed, explosiveness, coordination. Athlete, athlete, athlete!
• Fun before anything else- that's right, you will have fun all along.
• Cardio off the roof- superior cardio workout
• Using your own body as to supply the resistance- as Shaun T says, you don't need equipment. Your body does all the job. You will lose weight and build muscle just by using gravity alone. Insanity aimed for the same thing. This workout is hence never about to stop bringing results. The more you improve the better it works.

It is truly a revolutionary way to train. Read couple of reviews about the Insanity Asylum workout and see for yourself what people have been talking about it. This is probably one of the best products that Beachbody has released up to date.

Sources: http://www.lifestyleupdated.com/the-insanity-asylum-review/ (probably the best review on the net; most detailed, that's for sure) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaun_T_(fitness_trainer) (learn more about the creator of Insanity the Asylum, Shaun T)

Fitness has evolved

Taking a retrospective look, the picture of fitness was rather unilateral. The average fitness junkie would direct you towards counting reps and sets in the gym, or hitting the road for a running session.
However, things have gradually changed. For the better, that is.

Guys like Tony Horton and Shaun T have definitely started an evolution. Evolution which encompassed the whole of fitness and brought everything together. Flexibility, balance, range of motion, strength, cardio, speed, power, agility... You name it.

The P90X series changed the perception on fitness, and Shaun T went even that much further and introduced athletic training in all its glory with The Asylum series.
This blog will try to help the revolution that just started. Making people know about these exercises is the start...