Insanity, part of the Beachbody organization that created P90X and other weight loss and exercise programs, promises to give participants “a year’s worth of results in just 60 days.” There is an asterisk after that tag line, however, which reads, “results may vary.” One of the determiners for the varied results is how often people actually do the workout.
The Insanity Schedule
Insanity is a regimented workout program designed for people to execute six days a week over a 60-day period. A particular workout schedule lists specific exercises to do each day. For example, on the first week of the program, participants will do a fit test on Monday, a plyometric cardio circuit on Tuesday, cardio power and resistance on Wednesday, cardio recovery on Thursday, pure cardio on Friday, a plyometric cardio circuit on Saturday, and Sunday is a rest day.
Schedule Varies Each Week
A different schedule is posted each week. There is a pure cardio and cardio abs day during week two instead of a fit test day. Week five is a recovery week where participants do core cardio and balance every day but the Sunday rest day. The second month also has a particular schedule to follow with even more intense workouts than people experience in the first month.
Missing One Day a Week
You can do the Insanity workout only five days a week, but you probably won’t get the same results as you would if you followed the program the way creator Shaun T. designed it. Team Beachbody runs a message board where certified Insanity coaches can answer your questions. Coach Christina Bove said on the Insanity website that if you miss one day to just follow the rest of the schedule. If you miss more than one day, you should do the week over when you can ideally get all six workouts in.
Make It Work for You
Even if you don’t do the Insanity workout exactly as it was designed, which is for six days a week, you can still receive exercise benefits. Carey Goldberg, host of CommonHealth, tried Insanity but ultimately failed at it. She, however, said that she uses some of the exercises she learned from the Insanity program in her own exercise regimen. She sometimes uses an Insanity warm-up before weight training. She also sometimes does high-intensity interval training for three to four minutes with a short rest period, which is part of the Insanity program. That differs from traditional interval training, which is high-intensity for up to one minute with a longer rest period.
