I had a chance to try out the INSANITY workouts from Team Beach Body. They were some crazy cardio intervals, but not that different from the types of workouts I’ve been doing. (See TT Metabolic Training, TT Kettlebells, or my own Tabatas and Kettlebell workouts.) I liked the challenge and I liked the intensity, but that’s just me. I tend to like some INSANITY. The problem is that my back didn’t.
INSANITY is killing my back
Yes, I am a cube dweller. I spend a ton of time in front of a computer and most of that is spent sitting. And I could write more posts about my experiences with INSANITY I’m going to keep this brief and to the point. I think the culprit is a combination of the extensive plyometrics and the workout on Cardio Abs.
Doing a long series of C-Sit exercises is not what I would consider good for the lower back. But I wanted to stick with the program. Or at least that was the thought.
Last week I pulled back. I took the week off. My lower back was not feeling good and it was not improving. I rested and it felt good.
So Now What?
I’m going to go back to high intensity intervals using body weight and kettlebells. These workouts are inspired by Craig Ballantyne. He has been a long and strong advocate of interval training as well as body weights and kettlebells.
So I’m going to keep the intensity high, but revert back to what I know. Revert back to some Turbulence Training.
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The secret is out. The secret is that you don’t need INSANITY to burn layers of body fat from your body. Craig Ballantyne has joined forces with Joel Marion to assemble a product that combines two key ingredients for massive fat loss success:
- Nutrition
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The program is set to launch next week, November 8. But the secret is out. You can join me in avoiding the INSANITY. Don’t let it kill your lower back.
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Let me know what you think. These two are awesome and going to be bringing a great program together to help you drop the fat 24 hours 7 days a week.
No More INSANITY
I’m quitting INSANITY, because it is killing my back. Let me know if you want to hear more about my adventures in INSANITY. If you want to read it, I’ll type it up, but I need to know if anyone is interested. I love the workouts and do think it is a good product, I just would have to reshape and tweak Shaun T’s Cardio Abs. The choice is yours and your mileage may vary.
Instead of letting INSANITY kill my back I will be going back to workouts that I’ve learned to know and trust. Hello kettlebells, interval training, and body weights.
I ran into similar circumstances with P90X and the yoga. I was fine 45 minutes in. Then some of the poses were causing me lower back pain. I just wasn’t ready for that.
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Todd, Yoga has been great for my back. I still think c-sit’s are to blame. I’m trying to find force ratings for it, but haven’t had time to do a focused search. More planks for me. I did 9 minutes of low and side planks last night.
Troy, tell me more about Insanity. I would like to hear more about it. I’ve been wanting to try it, the first one and the Asylum as well. It looks like my kind of fun.
Did you do a good warmup before doing that workout? Cause I remember when I wouldn’t warm up too well, my back would hurt as well. You also have to do stability ball exercises to prevent back injury.
But yes, please write as much as you can about Insanity.
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Tatianna,
Thanks for commenting. I will write more. Overall I like several aspects of INSANITY. In many ways it reminds me of Crossfit – great potential for goodness and maybe even more potential for crappy form. pros and cons. They have a good warmup built into every workout (one of the pros).
After a week off I returned and did their Cardio Power and Resistance workout this morning. I will not be doing the Cardio Abs, instead doing Rusty Moore’s Abs Blue print workout. ( http://cubedwellerfitness.com/promo/absblueprint ) At least his is based on current research on safe lower-back exercises.
Stay tuned I’ll work on some follow up posts.
I just ruptured a disc doing insanity. My wife and I were doing it together – both work out a lot – she commented that her lower back was hurting on the third day. I gave her some lessons on jumping properly and bang as fate would have it I blew out l5s1
Thanks Shaun T…
Mark,
So sorry to hear that. While I never like to hear about others getting injured I am glad to hear I’m not alone.
How’s your recovery going?
I had issues between L4 and L5 (I think). The rest of the program was a blast, just avoid that hideous Cardio ABS. There are better ways to build core strength. I’m writing a training program around the bulgarian training bag that had been great on my core. Stay tuned!
Hello Mark,
Can I ask you how old (young) are you..?? I’m 48 and all my friends consider me as a very fit sportsman and the same thing happened to me..!!!
Yes, it also happened to me. I was with friends doing insanity for 3-4 days, then my back suddenly worked against me. I was having a hard time standing up in the morning whenever I wake up. Partly I blamed it for me being overweight, but now I see it more as me having a weak back. It was a sharp pain, not a muscle pain. I stop doing Insanity for now, but hope I can come back. But it just shows that preparation is needed for this kind of workout. I switched to some easy workout for now.
So to Mr. Troy, you are not alone.
Alvin,
How’s your back doing now?
Mine has returned to feeling great – doing bulgarian bag, kettlebell, hanging leg raises, and lots of plank variations. I’ll do INSANITY workouts, just avoid their exercises for ABS. Stuart McGill was right – flexion=bad.
-Troy
I definitely agree with you Troy, yoga is greatly good treatment for back pains. I’ve been doing work out to stay fit and healthy. Thank you the post! Absolutely informative.
I’ve enjoyed trying out Yoga. Have you read any of the emerging research that suggests increased mobility (like produced by yoga) is actually detrimental to your back health? The idea is that our core benefits from stability, and excessive mobility actually opens us up to get injured.
Not sure what to think. Any thoughts?
Yoga, done properly, is about a balance of tension and relaxation. Many people only think of flexibility when hearing about yoga. Properly done, a participant should think of stretching muscles while contracting the opposing muscles. Most people neglect the contraction (stability) aspect and just focus on relaxing. This promotes passive flexibility, which often leads to injury. We should focus on active flexibility. For example, if you want to stretch your quads, focus on contracting your hamstrings and glute muscles.
I found that single leg standing yoga postures done with minimal tension in the supporting leg are very difficult to maintain. As soon as I increased tension in all but the extended muscles, my body stabilized and the posture was much easier.
In summary, to fully realize the benefits of yoga, you must create tension to realize the opposing muscle groups’ relaxation. One will not exist fully without the other.
Eric, Thanks I’ve found that same thing. Yoga isn’t just about stretching and flexibility. When done well it is an incredible workout for stability muscles; those same muscles that help prevent many common injuries for “us desk jockeys”.
I purchased the Insanity workout and since I play ice hockey 2-3 times a week and do regular cardio workouts and I been through the P90x program, I figured the Insanity Workout would the logical follow-up. After 6 days of Insanity, I started to have lower back pains also. I could bearely move for two days. I finally consulted a Chiro to find out that I almost ruptured L1s1.
I will nnow need 12-15 weeks of Chiro treatment to get back into shape.
Voilà
Alain, That is good and bad — Very good that you caught it before rupturing L1S1. Bad that it happened period.
What I continue to find is that many of us “cube dwellers” spend a fair amount of time sitting. That tends to set up our lower back for issues – add some crunch, or c-sit based exercises on top of that and BAM not good.
Let me know if you’d be interested in sharing how your recovery goes. I’d love to hear your own experiences and share with others. Again “empirical” but still great to hear what is helping others.
-Troy
I think the biggest lure of the Insanity workout is that appeals to the all-or-nothing crowd. I know a few who aren’t fit but decided to do this workout because they feel that since they sit on their butts all day that in order to get the opposite results they need to go to the other extreme. While this is effective short-term, the problem is that many will get great results and then revert back to their old habits. I’ve heard of and seen some great results, but in the end, I don’t really think Insanity is the answer either … I prefer a more sane approach <- VERY lame joke, I know!
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I’ll admit that’s part of what drew me in to give it a shot …. like a bug to light. Ooooo INSANITY (it even has to be written in all caps).
You nailed it though in that many who are drawn to it think it will be the key to getting them back in shape. It might happen, but the chance for injury is so high. There are much more sane – (I love the joke) approaches that will get you started in a sustainable fashion and produce incredible results.
Hello Troy, Alain, and Mark, I am a journalist, doing a story on how extreme work-out plans (P90x & INSANITY) can be very dangerous. I am looking for people to interview for my piece. Please let me know if you are interested in telling your story.
Thank you.
Insanity is tough that is for sure. For most folks to jump right into this program would be bad news. Lots of jumping, plyometrics, long duration intervals, etc. When I started Insanity it was after being a road cyclist for 7+ years. I thought I was in shape and the intensity of it hurt me. I completed Insanity, but it took a number of tweaks to how I approached the program to get the results I got. Since then I have had lots of folks asking what they should do before starting, especially if they have been sitting on the butts in front of a computer.
Hope you don’t mind Troy, but I’d like to plug the Intro to Insanity webinar I did. You can check it out here. http://www.fitmarriage.com/exercise/blueprint-to-success
My intention with this is to give folks a 30 day blueprint to get them starting in the right direction so that they don’t hurt themselves and thus give up on another fitness program and themselves.
Jasmine, I’d be interested in talking with you about the article you are writing on extreme workouts.
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Tony, plug it! I sent you an email too. Let’s do a follow-up post/interview about it. A Blueprint is perfect. With the proper guidance fitness is within anyone’s reach; yes even INSANITY, P90X, Crossfit, Tough Mudder, etc.
How many people that start Insanity can jump rope for 5 minutes continuously?
I bet very few. Jumping rope is a good intro to the crazy and continuous plyo that a participant will be enduring in INSANITY.
I think the volume of the plyo in the workout and the frequency in the number of times per week that it is performed is too much for most people. It is also unnecessary to perform all of that plyo if you just want to be lean and fit.
People need to consider their fitness as a long term lifestyle, not a sprint and then quit. INSANITY may be OK for some as a temporary (periodized) form of high intensity workout, but I doubt the long term health benefits of such a high risk program on a continuing basis.
Eric, Programs like INSANITY have a great place to fit for those that are ready for it. I wouldn’t jump into INSANITY without a foundational-level of fitness. Just like you suggest INSANITY requires a base level. Start smaller, simpler, with less intensity then jump into INSANITY. But even then it isn’t something that you can maintain for a long period – jump in and work through it then move on. I’ve heard of people hitting INSANITY for one round per year with great results.
I love your reminder that fitness is for a lifetime. Find ways to fit fitness in so that you can sustain it.
Thanks!
I’m on my third day of insanity… I’m having low back pain. I’m certainly not overweight and happen to be fairly athletic, but I do work in a cubicle. I was hoping my pain was just muscle soreness due to the intense workout. I’m so disappointed
but thank you for sharing.
Leda, Sounds like we were in the same boat. In shape and looking for a challenge only to have our back’s complain.
Take a look at my more recent posts on the Super HERO Fat Loss program from John Romaniello. I’m on week #1, but I’ve read through and studied the whole thing – and am much more impressed with it than I was with INSANITY.
I could use some accountability
to keep going through all 12 weeks!
Hope your back starts to feel better that’s no fun at all.
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I’m in the last 2 weeks of INSANITY and will do it again. It’s the closest thing to getting me the core strength I get from skiing. I am HOOKED. With that said, I have had lower back issues that SUCK, but I kept pushing it — changing my shoes, changing the surfaces on which I do the workout, from carpet to grass to dirt. I keep going. I’m learning how to do it correctly through trial and error and lots of ice, bodywork/massage and yoga. I even took two non-consecutive weeks off to let my back heal and learned the hard way that when you stop, all the core strength that protects your back is also lost. INSANITY is a double-edged sword but I’m not going to quit. I have an athletic friend who messed up her back doing only a few days of INSANITY. An MRI confirmed disk slippage between her lower Lumbar and upper Sacral vertebrae. But instead of stopping me it motivates me to get stronger and stick with INSANITY.
Maria,
While I can’t agree, I can wish you the best. While the research and our biomechanics argue against doing crunch-based abs work, there are many that defy the odds. Herschel Walker is the most cited exception – he’s done high rep crunches for a lifetime.
I’m no Herschel. I do have lower-back issues stemming from a number of things, including being a cube dweller. What I’ve found is that I do fit the mold identified by research – especially that from Stuart McGill. My core continues to get stronger without back pain, in fact the issues I used to have with my back are becoming few and far between. I don’t do crunch-based exercises like those in INSANITY Cardio-ABS.
http://www.ahs.uwaterloo.ca/kin/people/StuMcGill.html
The plyometrics in INSANITY can be good, but ensure that you have solid biomechanics in your knee and tibia. Otherwise your ACL could be just a rip-tear away. Too many times poor form squats and jumps are praised on the video; making things worse in my opinion. If you have good form the workouts are good.
There are effective and safe ways to train the core. Pushing through pain may be working for you in the short-run. For others … well, there are options.
-Troy
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This guy is trying to sell a product, I doubt he even has back problems. I think the whole point of INSANITY is a workout without weights, so you can do it at home. He’s missing the point.
Josh,
Two thoughts for you ..
First, I do have back problems. Specifically, I have spondylolisthesis. For those of us that spend much of our days sitting, taking care of our back matters. How we workout has a direct impact on our spinal health. The crunch-based movements put tremendous strain on the lower back. In this case the Cardio-Abs workout knocked me out of commission for a few weeks. Others have suffered more.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002240/ – more information on spondylolisthesis
Second, I do recommend fitness programs. I’ve used Craig Ballantyne’s Turbulence Training workouts myself. The whole goal of this site is to help myself and others change the
facewaistline of the workplace by finding safe and effective ways to get and stay in shape.I love working out at home: bodyweight workouts, kettlebell workouts, plyometrics, and the Bulgarian training bag are all great ways to workout at home. There are several aspects of INSANITY that I enjoy and appreciate; the approach taken in cardio-abs may cause injury.
My recommendation for anyone still doing crunch-based workouts is to review the research from Dr Stuart McGill.
https://uwaterloo.ca/kinesiology/people-profiles/stuart-mcgill
Train smart, train hard, and train for a lifetime.
Wish I had read this blog before starting Insanity. I’ve done P90X 4 times and consider myself to be in excellent shape, I’m 51 years old. After 2 days off Insanity I could barely get out of bed this morning and have a doctor’s appointment this afternoon. I have never had back issues before so was driven to the net to see if this is a common problem, now I have found out that it is. With the pain that I’ve felt, not sure I will restart this program, any suggestions for post-P90X workout that is good for cardio and ABS? Thanks for any suggestions.
Roy, I hope your doctor can help identify and address the pain you are experiencing.
Personally, there are aspects of INSANITY that I like. I do like the plyometrics and the cardio emphasis. But I would just skip the abs sessions.
If you are looking for options consider giving kettlebells a shot, or build yourself a Bulgarian training bag. Both forms of training mix strength training with cardio.