Insanity: Day 63 – The End

The end of Insanity is a fantastic feeling.  Not because it marks the end of a series of difficult interval training, but because it marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  I finished just in time to now focus all of my time and energy on our new baby boy.  The anticipation of being a father was the main motivator since the beginning and I’m happy to say that Noah comes into this world to a father absolutely ready to give his all.

I disciplined myself and pushed hard , and by doing so I feel really great physically and mentally.  Completing the Insanity challenge gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment that I wasn’t striving for or expecting, and it’s a great feeling in addition to a leaner and stronger body.  I know that when I feel like quitting, there’s still more left in me and if I just dig deeper (I am being 100% serious here) then I’ll get to where I need to be.  That’s a huge confidence booster when it comes to being a father.

Insanity turned out to be an awesome decision for me and I have no regrets.  Thank you  for following me on this journey.  Let me know when you decide to take the plunge.  I’d love to be a listening ear or helping hand.

Let’s move on to the very last day – Fit Test 5:

I was super pumped for this.  It was my last one, I was feeling great from the previous days’ workouts, and I didn’t want to leave any energy left in my body.  The results are simple: I improved in every single category except one (which matched my high).  My goal was to improve from Fit Test 4 across the board.  It was a challenge, but I knew I would be kicking myself if I wasn’t able to do that.  This was my best Fit Test and I felt great about it.  Yeah, sure, I was sore for the next few days, but soreness goes away.  These Fit Test results are set in stone!

And speaking of rock hard 🙂 – I should’ve flexed to be more dramatic!

Insanity: Day 61 & 62 – Finish Line

Although the Max Interval Plyo and Max Cardio Conditioning – Insane Abs combo workouts are two of the hardest in all of Insanity, I felt the most relief while doing them because it marks the end of Insanity. Officially, it doesn’t end until the last Fit Test, but that’s a cake walk after going through these last few weeks.

I honestly did not know if I would be able to finish Insanity. I don’t only feel good physically, but I feel like I gained a lot of confidence.  It’s a great workout to be a part of and I’ve even tossed around the idea of continuing it so I can maintain or become more fit.  We’ll see though.  For now, I’m going to embrace the fact that I’m done.

If you’re familiar with plyometric training, then you’ll realize that Max Interval Plyo deals a lot with using your body weight and gravity as resistance.  One of the hardest circuits is doing Power Jumps after working on quads and abs for two straight minutes.  There is a ton of cardio involved as well.  I pushed myself hard and I felt a vomit sensation that had eluded me since the first week of Insanity.

Also, I must’ve mentioned this during every Max Interval Plyo, but the Level 3 Drills is just ridiculous.  After 60 days of Insanity, I still can’t keep up.  It was one of my lofty goals I wasn’t able to accomplish.  Oh well, can’t win ’em all.

Max Cardio Conditioning leaves you no time to rest or take breaks.  Shaun T. takes you through a fast-paced routine.  There are a couple worth mentioning:

One of these is Football Runs which is a sprint to a low plank and back up.  This one increased my level of respect for football players.

A second one is something he calls Over the River Hops.  It’s more of a cool down routine.  Let’s just say this one makes me feel like a fairy and does not increase my level of respect of River Dance.  I’m not being mean, just honest.

The conclusion to this is tough on the shoulders and quads: Push Up Abs, Plank Punches, 8 Jump Ropes – 8 Hop Squats combo (ridiculous), and then Squat Speed Bag.

Don’t forget about a fun 30 minutes of Insane Abs right away!

Insanity: Day 60 – Do it for the Exercise

This is my last Max Interval Sports Training.  For some of you, you may have never had a chance to do this because it is marketed as the Insanity Deluxe version .  Shaun T. comes up with this workout with inspiration from the sport of boxing, football, basketball, gymnastics, and track & field.  You may be thinking this could be great if you want to lose weight and improve in any of these sports, but you’d be completely wrong.  The exercises may resemble a couple of drills you may see professional athletes do, but those are far and few between.  The lesson here is try not to focus on improving your game.  As with all of the Insanity workouts, do it for the exercise.

Boxing has one difficult routine – 8 jabs to 8 Power Jumps.  We all know the Power Jumps are where it really gets you, not the jabs.  But when you’ve been jumping like that, trust me, those jabs get painful and you probably wouldn’t knock a baby out if you connected.

Football has two difficult routines.  The first is a sprint, low plank, push up walk, up, sprint, and back down.  It’s followed by a 30-second low plank, triceps pulse.  Killer arm work here.

Basketball is just wacky.  I need to find or make a clip of this.  Stay tuned.

Gymnastics is tough.  A lot of core work.  Half of it seems like I’m doing Insane Abs.

I’ve already talked about Track & Field here.

Max Interval Sports Training may not make you a professional athlete, but it definitely works you hard.  It manages to work every part of your body while distracting you with strange “sports” techniques.  In the end, there’s a lot of sweat on the floor, which is what we’re all about doing Insanity.

Quote of the Day: “It’s not a game, it is the game.  Get into that.”

 

Insanity: Day 59 – Butt Kick

“Are you ready to get Insane?  This is Max Interval Circuit and it’s gonna kick your butt.”

How’s that for an introduction?  And Shaun T. does not mess around.  This is a difficult workout with some insane circuits.  Here are a few of the routines (part of the larger circuit, which is then repeated three times):

Ski Abs to Push Up Jacks to In and Out Abs to Oblique Push Ups … what??

Hook Jumps – 4 high hooks, 4 low hooks, and 4 tuck jumps – for 2 minutes … huh??

Floor Switch Kicks  for 45 seconds … how??

Side Suicide Jumps for a minute … why??

The dreaded Full Body Drills – down, 8 running planks, 4 moving push ups, 8 oblique running planks, up and back down – for 1 minute … double why??

Oh yeah, because Shaun T. is … “here to train you and kick yo butt today, and I’m not playin’.”

If you can keep up with Shaun T. on this one, you’re an Insanity beast.  On a good day, I can get through most of this workout (not all), but by the time it’s over, I still get my butt kicked.

Insanity: Day 58 – Mental Game

At this point, Insanity becomes a huge mental hurdle.  I would look at the schedule, count how many days are left, and then cringe every time I see Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs.

The thing I like about Max Cardio Conditioning is that each exercise throughout the entire workout is different.  With circuits, my brain starts to recognize the pattern of the routine.  I need a “what’s next” factor to keep myself engaged.  There has to be about 20 different exercises in Max Cardio Conditioning and each one is challenging and there is a clean rotation throughout the different muscle groups.

The hardest thing about this is that Shaun T. doesn’t give many breaks in this one,  including water breaks.  This is an intense workout and by the time it’s over I’ve still got 75% of my water left.  Compared to other workouts, I drink about 90% by the time I get to the cool down.

The Insane Abs warm up is not easy.  It consists of High Knees, Tuck Jumps, Power Jumps, and T-Jumps, which is some sort of adaptation of the Crane Kick from Karate Kid.  And that’s just the “normal” ab workout.  The “insane” version is when Shaun T. takes you through the ab circuit.  Then you start to feel the sharp pains in your core.  And you still feel them when you sneeze 12 hours later!

Broken Air Conditioners Can Be Cold

Cold hard cash, that is.

Usually when you think of broken air conditioners, you think of heat and sweat.  There was certainly that when the air conditioner in my house started to leak 410A refrigerant.  Four service visits, six technicians, two account representatives, and one month later, my evaporator coil was replaced and I got paid $303.

Old Republic Home Protection, Adams Air Care, and Big Tex Air really pulled through.

My air conditioner is now running like a champ and I’ve got to admit, this has all been one very cool experience.  Read the full story here.

I xoxo OXO

My wife and I are fans of OXO products.  We started accumulating OXO kitchen and bath products when we got married to fill our home with quality products that feel nice, look nice, and perform well.  We thought the quality and utility was worth the extra money and we also thought it would last longer than the competition.

About six months ago, we started to notice one of their products under-performing.  It’s a very simple suction hook and toothbrush holder set.  The suctions would fall off our mirror or glass every few days.  Not only did we have to re-position it each time, but whatever it was holding would fall off, too.  It got to be a real pain.  We decided it would be best to stop using it because it was becoming more trouble than it was worth.  Before throwing it in the trash (I had gotten rid of the receipt and packaging long ago) I started to examine why it was performing so poorly.  The seal of the suction portion of the product was coming apart thus losing any ability to stick.  It did not remind me of OXO quality.  That product really sucked because it didn’t suck at all.

We were satisfied with all of our other OXO products, including the trigger ice cream scoop.  We’re not ice cream junkies or anything, but I’ve used it enough to learn how to make nice, round ice cream scoops that could get Baskin Robbins employees fired.  Last week we decided to get famous Texas Blue Bell ice cream.  As I was attempting the first scoop of the delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream, the scoop snapped from the handle and went flying off the counter.  Mint ice cream and chocolate chip went everywhere including melted bits on my white shirt!  To make things worse, the redirection of my scoop motion caused me to punch myself in the stomach.  It probably would’ve been a hilarious sequence of events if I witnessed that happening to someone else.  But it happened to me and instead of hilarious, I’ll use the word “furious.”

It was just my wife and myself and now that the moment has passed we can laugh about it.  However, I was definitely not going to let this one go without contacting OXO’s customer service.  So I emailed them on August 9 briefly describing my experience with the two products above and this is the response I got on August 10:

Thank you for contacting OXO Consumer Care Center.  We are very sorry to hear of the problems you are having with our product , and would like to waive the return requirement and will gladly send out a replacement, which you will receive via Fed Ex in about 10-12 business days.  Please let me know if you have any further questions.

I absolutely love and admire companies that put their customers first and stand behind their products.  It’s an added assurance to continue buying their products for our home even if every single product may not be the best quality out there.  I do know that their quality is generally very good, they look and feel great, my wife loves their stuff, and they have amazing customer service!

Thank you, OXO!

xoxo

Insanity: Day 55, 56, 57 – Home Stretch

I’m entering the very last week of Insanity.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I feel a surge to push through each workout.  I’m really quite surprised at myself that I was able to come this far.  It definitely helps to have support, a flexible schedule, self-forgiveness for when you skip a day, motivation (for me, the self-taken portraits were highly motivating), and results.  I’ll probably talk more on these things when I’m actually finished.

Day 55 is Max Interval Sports Training.  Last time I mentioned that Shaun T. led us through aerobic routines and I should have said gymnastic routines.  There isn’t a whole lot of difference to me, but I’m sure there are a ton of gymnasts that felt a little insulted – kind of like calling Taiwanese people Chinese.  Don’t believe me?  Go try it.

The boxing routine isn’t very difficult at all.  And to me that’s a shame because I think boxers train super hard to get into fight shape.  They’ve got very toned and strong bodies when they get in that ring and the air punches just don’t do them justice.

The track and field portion only has two exercises – The Ladder and Long Jump.  The Ladder is tough.  It consists of high knee sprinting for 15, 30, 45, 60, 45, 30, and 15 seconds with about 15 seconds of rest in between each of those.  That’s probably the most grueling exercise in this entire workout.

Day 56 is a rest day and 57 is Max Interval Plyo.  This is probably one of the most underrated routines in all of Insanity.  It is a tough little booger of a workout from Side Push Ups, to Level 3 Drills, Power Jumps, and Power Push Ups.  At one point, I was doing one of these push up drills and had snot falling from my nose.  At another, I actually drooled.  Clearly, I had no control over certain body functions!  This one is tough and it feels good to have one less of these to do on the home stretch.

FSBO Fail

Check out this article about the founder of ForSaleByOwner.com using a real estate agent to sell his home in Manhattan.  It’s like Dieter Zetsche (CEO of Mercedes-Benz) buying one of these for his daughter:

In other words, he got a much better product and paid less. Yeah, I went there.

Adorama Knows Customer Service

Last year, Adorama had a nice sale on a Canon D480 printer. It was clearly a price mistake due to false advertisement of overlapping rebates. I wasn’t in the market for a printer and I had no intention of keeping it even if I had actually gotten it, but I decided to jump on it anyway. It turns out that my order went through, except it got cancelled a few days later due to the mix up.

Here’s an excerpt from the email I received on July 1, 2010:

Our recent cancellation of Canon printer and fax orders has generated a lot of chatter, some of it negative. It’s a rare day when one can buy a $250 Canon printer or fax for $25 using two different rebates – it’s so rare in fact that it wasn’t actually valid.

We take full responsibility for this confusion and offer our profound apologies. We want to be very clear that this incident was simply a regrettable misunderstanding and an honest human failure. In no way was it due to dishonesty or any attempt to deceive our customers.

If Adorama had communicated this better-than-ever, Canon double rebate offer, you can be sure that we would honor it. We would have been fully stocked and ready to accept the incredible number of orders. In this case, the offer was unauthorized and thus we had only a tiny fraction of the inventory needed.

Rebates are common, in both instant and mail-in forms, but use of both rebates on one item is extremely unusual. It was certainly our fault for not making this policy loud and clear in the first place. As it was, it was not Adorama, but a third party that pieced together this erroneous deal and alerted the public.

Adorama has indeed in the past offered great, amazing and even ridiculous deals – so we applaud your zeal in jumping on it – in this case, it simply wasn’t valid.

To all who have been affected by this confusion, we sincerely apologize with both words and a complimentary $25 Adorama gift card.

Here are a few things Adorama accomplished through this email and gesture:

1. They owned up to their mistake. Not a lot of companies would do that. Instead, they could have quoted some legal jargon that allows them to weasel out of price mistakes or that the mistake was a 3rd party and not theirs. But they didn’t. Not only did they admit fault, they took responsibility right away.
2. They put their words into action by offering each cancelled order a $25 credit to their store. That’s going above and beyond. It’s also genius because it increases the probability of that person going to the store to buy something. Yeah, they got a $25 discount, but most likely they’re going to spend a little over that and end up moving inventory. Nice move.
3. They created buzz and customer loyalty. At the time these emails went out, everyone who received them told someone they knew or posted it on a forum or blog. The word spread and increased awareness of Adorama. It also showed good will on behalf of the company that is highly likely to generate business it might not have gotten otherwise.

Needless to say, I was quite pleased with getting a $25 gift card for basically submitting an online order that I knew would get cancelled anyway. However, I never had a chance to use it until recently. Now that the baby is coming soon, I needed to power all the devices, gadgets, and toys that will be introduced into the home. So I finally found a use for the gift card and I decided to purchase 16 Rayovac rechargeable AA batteries.

Sure, I get it. In and of itself, it’s not that exciting. But after applying my free gift card, it came out to $2.96! That’s 18.5 cents each and definitely something that gets me excited!  And you know what?  My baby is going to appreciate it more than you or I will ever know.