Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 36 - Max Out Cardio

During the course of two months, I'd like to take you into my journey as I strive to retain a healthy lifestyle through a healthy balanced nutrition program and Beachbody trainer extraordinaire -- and Men's Health cover man -- Shaun T's brand new workout regimen Insanity Max 30.

Day 36: Max Out Cardio

After taking a much-needed break from the action over the weekend due to the rigorous first week of Month 2 in my Max 30 Journey, I was a little groggy and lazy as I tried to get back into the swing of things. On the docket today, Max Out Cardio.

I'm human. I'm no Shaun T; I'm no Tony Horton. I don't wake up every day and look to conquer the fitness world with so much energy that I need to share some of it with others. Sometimes, I'm just tired and I don't want to do anything. Today was one of those days.

Ideally, I would have woken up at 5:30 a.m. and ran to the living room where I would bang out a quick 30-minute workout and go about my day. In reality, I hit snooze, woke up with just enough time to get ready to go to work and told my brain I'd get to my workout later ... much later.

I didn't want to lift my legs; I didn't want to squat or jump; I didn't want to do any pike-ups. No. No. No! I worked until 5 and came home and played with the little one, had dinner and played with the little one a bit more before putting her to bed. It was then 8:30 p.m., a mere 15 hours after I wanted to do my workout. I was finally ready.

And still, even being ready, I really wasn't mentally there. My legs were burning in the warmup and I had visions of my worst Max Out Time of all time. That wasn't about to happen. My goal for today was to crush last week's 7:52 Max Out Time and at least get past the 10-minute mark. So, whatever I had to do to get there, that was happening.

I set my mind to it, and that's what I did. My Max Out Time was nearly three and a half minutes better than Day 29, clocking in at 11 minutes and 14 seconds. Of course then, after hitting my max, I was scratching and clawing for energy. It was an ugly representation of fitness, but I kept going and stopping until I reached the 30-minute mark. My Weep Time was more than double my Max Out Time, at 23:52.

After that, I just wanted it to be over. I wrapped up the final six-plus minutes and the cool down and I was home free. What a feeling to get through that, especially without having the energy to even want to start. I'm sure you have all had these days and have fought through. And if you experience it again, you will do the same. Just find that window where you can do it and don't hesitate. Go!

Also, today was my weigh-in day. I'm slowly going in the right direction. I'm definitely trimming in inches and fitting into shirts I haven't worn since before I was a father (nearly two years now). My weigh-in was 215.4, another pound and a half (roughly) less than last week. Baby steps. It's all one day at a time and part of the journey. Next up: Max Out Power.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Cardio

Max Out Time:     11:14
Weep Time:           23:52

Weekly Weigh-in:   215.4 (1.4 pounds less than Day 29)

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey