It's Day 61..... What now?

So if P90X gets me the results I want in 90 days and Insanity does it in just 60, why would I waste my time with those other 30 days? It seems pretty logical. I have no doubt that people get results from these workouts. I mean, the people getting those results are all over the paid advertisements. Something brand new will always yield results in the short term, especially if you weren’t doing anything before. More importantly though, I think we should ask, what comes next? You’ve allegedly now got the body you've always wanted. What happens on day 61 or 72? Is it just the same old? Start with disc 1 and do more push ups and jumping around for sets done on the clock?

These two programs are gaining popularity as shows like The Biggest Loser keep spinning off. I’m just wondering what happens after? Are the "Losers" expected to train that hard at home and for the "insane" people, is the goal always to do just more reps of push ups in that minute or whatever might be the time frame? That is not a good way to actually build strength, especially because the majority of people can’t actually perform push ups for anywhere near a minute nor can they properly absorb all the force of high repetition jumping and landing. Early on those significantly lacking strength will actually get stronger because they were already doing such a low number of reps. But, in the end the body adapts to this high intensity aerobics class. By simply looking around at your local big box gym one could pretty easily come to the conclusion that the body will quickly adapt to aerobics/calisthenics. How many people do aerobics/step class/Zumba/cardio abs/bodyworks/(I want to kill myself) and actually keep making long-term progress? Answer: Who knows exactly, but lets be logical, it’s difficult to take it to the next level.

The key is progression. There has to be a next step. More weight is commonly my choice although bodyweight progressions are certainly a great tool to get the body to adapt to a new stimulus. More reps to failure is not a good choice, which is exactly what Insanity encourages. Renowned coach Dan John has been in the strength game for 40 years. Shaun T (why doesn’t he have a last name?) of Insanity fame is clearly younger than 40. When Dan John says things like, “We don’t let our young athletes miss many reps. Practice missing reps (training to failure) and you will get good at missing reps”, those are words coming in stark contrast to what these other workout programs encourage. Pavel Tsatsouline, also a leader in the industry says in his book Power to the People “Muscle failure is more than unnecessary – It is counterproductive! Neuroscientists have known for half a century that if you stimulate a neural pathway with (fill in the blank) exercise, and the outcome is positive, future (fill in the blank) will be easier…… This is training to success“. He later quotes powerlifter Dr. Todd Terry in saying “If you are training to failure, you are training to fail.” Who are you going to take your advice from?

It is impossible to perform at the alleged 100% intensity, effort, speed that is asked in some of these programs. You can’t perform every rep, set and interval at an all out effort. You can try, but it isn’t going to happen. The performance is going to fall off within the workout and in subsequent workouts. No one can actually keep that up, especially not after 60 days or maybe 120 or 180. This especially applies to the average person who sits too long at work or while driving the kids around, or both. Sorry, but most of us are insane to believe that we are anything other than average when it comes to fitness.

Coach Bob of The Biggest Loser was quoted as saying in week 1 of this season saying about one contestant, “If he isn’t on the ground crying he’s on the ground shaking with his hands crumbling and because he has no more grip, I mean he’s pushed himself to the edge. It’s like, that’s what it’s gotta be like.” I don’t know Bob or exactly what his plan is for his clients but this should not be common practice. Any idiot can run another into the ground by telling him to do silly things repeatedly, but should exhaustion, pain, and/or vomiting be the goal? I don’t believe so. There are better ways to achieve the goal. And guess what, it just might take more than 60-90 days. I am a big fan of train hard, train smart. Be weary of those who only train hard.

- Mike Baltren