Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 54 - Friday Fight: Round 2 (The Final Workout)

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 54: Friday Fight: Round 2 (The Final Workout)

My two months has come and gone (that was fast). All that was standing in the way from me and wrapping up my (initial) journey was Insanity: Max 30 Friday Fight: Round 2 -- only the toughest workout in the whole program (Yes, I'm now changing my stance from Max Out Sweat to this, only because my Max Out Time has improved drastically in one, and not in the other).

If you've been keeping track, my first three weeks of this workout haven't been anything to write home about. I maxed out in the first week of Round 2 at 6 minutes, 17 seconds; aiming for a big improvement, I got anything but, maxing out at 6:23 a week later; and last week, I got out of that seventh-minute move, but managed only to make it to 8:23 before maxing out.

My short-term goal here was to make it to -- and beyond -- the 10-minute mark. It wasn't asking for much, just a minute and 37 seconds. The only thing: I woke up first thing this morning to bang out this final workout, a mere eight and a half hours since I wrapped up Max Out Strength, which my arms were still tight from.

No problem! I went strong through the warmup and first move, and the ski hops, which got me the first couple of times, I paced myself and concentrated on my form and got through those. After the first two moves, the third move -- a four-lunge runner with two X-hops -- seemed like a breeze.

The next several moves -- plank jacks, hook lunges and hit the floor-tuck jumps -- were more challenging, but I managed to get through them and into the 12th minute of the routine. The free runner move is what got me! It's such a simple concept, but to keep everything in tight as you jump, kick your legs front and back, and return to the floor the way you started just wore me down.

I hit my Max Out Time at 11:29, which was a whopping three minutes and six seconds better than my previous week; a whole five minutes, 12 seconds better than the initial go with this workout.

At this point, I'm thinking pretty flowers in a meadow and running through a garden with my wife in one hand; daughter in the other; and dog alongside. I'm there. I just need to finish the last 18-plus minutes and Max 30 is done!

I wrapped up this week meeting my short-term goal of besting my previous Max Out Time on every workout; and if not for a late night on Wednesday, I would have hit my second short-term goal of working out in the morning (to avoid the immense heat we are enduring this week). I'll take the Max Out Time success.

After maxing out, I still went full boar until the clock hit 30. I had to take many one- to two-second breaks, but kept jumping right back in. I wasn't about to cheat myself, not now. That last minute, where we are doing high knee punches, I was beat, but I wasn't going to stop a second. I was running to the finish line -- as hard as possible. 

The countdown -- "Five! Four! Three! Two! One!" -- was the best sound I heard in the past two months. What an accomplishment. I'm floored and ready to embark on the next part of my journey. Next up: Recovery and onto the next phase of the journey.

Recap

Workout:               Friday Fight: Round 2 (The Final Workout)

Max Out Time:     11:29
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for the Max 30 Journey recap

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for the Max 30 Journey recap

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 53 - Max Out Strength

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 53: Max Out Strength

It's been hot all week, so the short-term goal I had remained to workout in the early morning hours because it's too unbearable with the heat to workout in the late afternoon.

That didn't happen today.

No fret, I just shifted my day a little bit; got everything done I was scheduled to do; and scheduled the workout for around 8:30 p.m. when all my to-do list items were wrapped up. Nearing the end of the day can get a little dicey, so I took some Energy and Endurance formula about 30 to 45 minutes beforehand to get me going.

If you don't remember, my secondary short-term goal this final week of Insanity: Max 30 was to get a Max Out Time that exceeded my best time from the prior weeks. For Max Out Strength, that time was 14:25, completed in Day 46.

As always, the warmup and first sequence for the Power and Strength routines have become no sweat. (I don't want you to think they are easy to me; they are not. But my ticker isn't shooting all the way into the red zone; it's more in the yellow-orange area.)

Things got extra challenging in the second sequence, which was all upper body. Much like my challenges that I had to overcome to best my previous Max Out Time in Max Out Power, the same could be said for this workout. I was having the toughest time getting through the pushup round.

Today, with heat still emanating from the sun into the house, I was dripping with sweat pretty bad. All I had in my head was, "Get past that 14:25!"

And, what has come to work for me for many years that I recommend if you don't do it already, is pacing, breathing and form. I concentrate on all three, tightening up my core; breathe in when my muscles are not in use; exhale when they are being used; and slow down. It works. It's not easier, it's just my mind-over-body technique.

I got past the pushups and into the third sequence, which is where I hit a wall. My Max Out Time surpassed last week's by more than seven minutes though. I dropped to a knee at 21 minutes, 50 seconds. And, as I continue to get stronger, my Weep Time has gone away.

The final eight minutes or so were a relative breeze after the fact. I pushed it to the limit and took mini breaks to maximize the efficiency of each move. It was another successful, goal-achieving day. Next up: Friday Fight: Round 2 (The Final Workout)

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Strength

Max Out Time:     21:50
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 52 - Max Out Sweat

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 52: Max Out Sweat

My last go with Max Out Sweat was a bit shaky at the get-go, but I was able to right the ship and improve from my previous best.

If you take a look at the upward trend in Month 2, there's a drastic improvement from when I embarked on the Max Out Sweat routine on Day 31, with a Max Out Time of 7:52; a week later, I added nearly seven minutes before maxing out; and last week, I was up to 18 minutes, 27 seconds before crashing.

Heading into the final go with Max Out Sweat, I was struggling to get up at 5:30 a.m. and do the workout. I wasn't there physically, but my mind was telling me all the things I need to do after work, and ultimately I got up. So, the warmup was the ultimate struggle. And the first power move (plank ups immediately following the four and a half minute warmup), I truly thought I was going to max out.

I was still not quite there yet as I went through the first sequence of cardio moves. It wasn't until the second power move at the 10:30 mark where I felt ready to go. The previous 10-plus minutes were me sleep-working out at top speed. I wasn't doing the modifier moves; just everything in my body was sore and burning and I didn't want to keep moving -- but I did.

Once I got past the hurtle, I was refocused on beating the 18:27 from a week ago to keep my short-term, last-week goals in tact. I was fortunate to get my energy for the second sequence of moves which, after the power move, brought me to 17:30, plus the 30 second water break. I only needed to get through the first move to best my time.

I was able to get though the three cardio moves once and then on the second round of the moves, I crashed at 19:47. I stayed strong for the final 10-plus minutes before maxing out at the 30-minute mark.

The last 10 minutes were brutal after taking myself to the limit and not having anything left in the tank. That 10 minutes was a bonus for me. But after the morning workout, I'm lined up to have a great, productive day! Only two more days left in my Insanity: Max 30 program.  Next up: Max Out Strength

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Sweat

Max Out Time:     19:47
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 51 - Max Out Power

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 51: Max Out Power

It was too hot out yesterday to even think about working out in the late afternoon again. With the temperature likely to hit the high 70s or low 80s again today, I made sure to get my workout in first thing in the morning.

Ain't it funny how a little cooler temperature gives you boundless energy? That was the case for me this morning when I battled Shaun T in Max Out Power.

At this point, I can complete that whole first sequence of squat jumps with relative ease. I am not bragging, it's just something apparently my body has figured out and it almost serves as an extension of the warmup. That takes me to 10 minutes and the first break, and then we get into the pushups, which is where I have continually hit my downfall.

Not today!

I looked at my previous two go-rounds with Max Out Power. On Day 37, I managed to max out at 13:25; a week later, on Day 44, I lost ground (the only time I have done so), and maxed out at 13:10. Today, my short-term goal was to get through the pushup sequence and see where that left me.

Practicing my pace, I was able to plow through that 14th minute move. After that pushup move, the final three were all with knees on the ground, which helped as the only thing burning was my shoulders and I fought through that.

I made it through the entire pushup sequence and got to the break and almost felt like I cheated, even though I got through each move fair and square. The next sequence were core moves with some pushups, which were a lot easier than the pushup moves a few minutes ago. I got through those quite simply.

It wasn't until the final sequence when I had to do a number of burpee moves that I was in danger. I couldn't make it the full 30 minutes. In my head, I had thoughts I would complete the whole workout without maxing out. Maybe that's what stopped me; it was weighing on my mind.

I hit my Max Out Time at 25:15, more than 12 minutes better than my previous time. I didn't have a Weep Time as I was in full-on focus mode. Another workout success as I aim to sprint to the finish line of the Max 30 program in my beginning phase of the journey. Next up: Max Out Sweat

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Power

Max Out Time:     25:15
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 50 - 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 50: Max Out Cardio

After resting and recovering over the weekend, it was finally time to get back to the intensity as the final week of my (initial) Max 30 Journey commenced with Max Out Cardio.

I want to proclaim now that my short-term goal this week is to surpass all my times from a week ago and end this phase of my journey on the highest of all notes. Going off that, I'd have to best a pretty solid time of 18:30.

One thing that was challenging me today that I hadn't dealt with in the previous 49 days was the immense heat. For so long it has been cold, or temperate, but never hot. Today, out of nowhere, the temperature spiked to nearly 80 degrees -- and I decided to workout after I got off work.

With the horrible humidity weighing me down, it felt like I wasn't even going to get past the warmup without crashing. I managed to get past that, however, and squeak by the first sequence before the break, and into the 10-minute zone.

The power moves proved extra challenging for me today as the jumping wasn't coming easy. But I paced myself and pushed through to get over the minute-long move.

As the workout evolved, I was able to get to, and surpass my previous Max Out Time. Ultimately, between the burning sensation throughout my body and coping with the heat, I hit a Max Out Time of 19 minutes, 11 seconds. (I wish I got to 20 minutes.) It wasn't knocking down the door, but I eked through and made decent improvements. Goal achieved!

Last week, I also opted to not weigh myself as I had taken several meals off throughout the previous week while we had a house guest. Two weeks ago, I weighed in at 215.4 and I didn't want to discourage myself so I refocused on the clean eating and felt better about my weigh-in today.

When I stepped on the scale, I was a little reluctant to look down. Even though my clothes are fitting much better and my appearance is clearly different, my scale takes some time to catch up to the rest of me.

With one eye closed, I peaked down to see the scale out of the corner of my open eye. I did a double take and needed to use my other eye to see right. It read: 210.8. In two weeks I dropped another 4.6 pounds. That's a huge surprise to me. As long as I stay focused for this week, I intend to drop below 210 (crossing my fingers) and then hope to get less than 200 by the first week of June.

For me, if I continue to set small, short-term goals, I'm setting myself up to succeed. When I set lofty goals, it's easier to get discouraged and fail. I'm not failing. Next up: Max Out Power

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Cardio

Max Out Time:     19:11
Weep Time:           20:08 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   210.8 (4.6 less than weigh-in on Day 36)

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 49 - Rest

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 49: Rest

Today was the eye of the storm. I had a 100 percent rest day as I aimed toward crushing my final week of Max 30.

I did a number of things in and around the house, but opted to stay away from any workouts to allow my body to heal. I got some good sleep in, which I tend to miss out on with the hectic work weeks I am presented with.

No complaints of the day that was. Got some quality family time, errands run, relaxed and had a good meal for dinner. All-in-all a great rest day. Next up: Max Out Cardio

Recap

Workout:               Rest

Max Out Time:     N/A
Weep Time:           N/A

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 48 - Pulse

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 48: Pulse

After buckling down and putting my body to the test this week, recovery was very much in order. I took this opportunity to get my 20 minute Pulse workout in and give my legs a good stretch (and slight burn) to get me through the final week of my initial Max 30 Journey.

It was ho hum of a workout. In addition to the Pulse routine, I also went for a walk around the block a couple times since it was a beautiful day and had an overall relaxing day. The focus now switches to the final week as I look to sprint through the finish line. Next up: Rest

Recap

Workout:              Pulse

Max Out Time:     20:00
Weep Time:           N/A

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 47 - Friday Fight: Round 2

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 47: Friday Fight: Round 2

I've made myself pretty clear when I say I dislike this workout. Don't get me wrong, it is an incredible workout that most certainly get the job done. However, the pain and suffering that goes into this workout is beyond words.

With that in mind, I'll give you a scope of how I feel before and after this workout.

What a happy mood I am to kick off the workout!

 Now, fast forward 30 minutes and I'm covered in sweat.

What just happened?!?!

That's what 30 minutes of one-minute moves with no break in between does to a body. You go four and a half minute warmup to 10-straight gut-wrenching minutes with a 30-second break, then another 10 minutes with a minor break and go strong for another five and a half or so minutes.

It's brutal! But I know it's just 30 minutes and I'm going to get results so I dig deep and do it.

My goal for today was to get past that seventh minute (I had previously only managed to do 6:17 and 6:23 Max Out Times respectively). Today, with the power of pacing and mental wherewithal, I bested my previous Max Out Time by two minutes on the nose, to 8 minutes, 23 seconds. Goal achieved!

My Weep Time remained low, though, which is fine. It took a lot of energy and focus to get through that previous Max Out Time. Still, I upped the time by nearly 50 seconds.

So, truth be told, it's a success all around. Now with one week remaining in this part of the journey, my final goal for Friday Fight: Round 2 is to get past the 10-minute mark for a Max Out Time, and end on a high note. Next up: Pulse

Recap

Workout:               Friday Fight: Round 2

Max Out Time:     8:23
Weep Time:           11:52 (Have I mentioned I can't stand this workout?)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 46 - Max Out Strength

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 46: Max Out Strength

After a day of late-night fury and anger in the form of Max Out Sweat, I decided, "Why not do my strength workout first thing in the morning?"

I love to challenge myself in whichever way possible, and, even though it wasn't a sound decision, I went with it. Frankly, every time the alarm goes off is its own experience in itself. Will I get up? Will I hit snooze? All I know is when my body says, "Do it!" I jump up and do it. Today, my body was all for it.

If Max 30 is all about just making the slightest of improvements, this was the one time where I literally made the most minimal of improvements. Well, I did spare myself a second, but it was the worst improvement in my second month. My Max Out Time today was at 13:25, two seconds better than a week ago.

If Shaun T says he is just looking for at least a one-second improvement from workout to workout, I'll take it. Being so early in the morning, I'm stiff, it takes a little longer to warm up, so I don't know how it would have been had I waited to workout later in the day. All I know is I got through the workout and I don't look back.

My biggest issue with this workout has always been the pushups. It's literally five pushup moves in a row. I'm going to max out no matter how you look at it -- whether I crash to the floor or I just take a nano-second break. Forty-five seconds of pushups is not easy to do just on its on accord. Compound that with 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off and times that by five. How do you do?

I'm not making excuses. I'm frustrated with my inability to get through that second sequence and I want -- nay, need -- to get past it to make me feel like I achieved something with this routine. I have one more shot at it. If I don't succeed, hopefully I improve. Then I'll keep doing the workout until I do get through. At that point, I'll check in with you all and let you know how I did it and how many times it took me to succeed. (That should be a fun challenge.)

Meanwhile, I got through the workout without hitting a Weep Time, unless you consider my Max Out Time and Weep Time simultaneous, which today, it felt like. I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt on this one. I got one more HUGE challenge left in the week before transitioning to the fourth and final week of Month 2 -- and the last week of the Max 30 journey. Next up: Friday Fight: Round 2

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Strength

Max Out Time:     13:26
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 45 - Max Out Sweat

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 45: Max Out Sweat

I still really hate this workout.

Yes, I'm getting better and deeper into the workout, but there is just something about it that I absolutely despise and can not wait for it to go away. (In a week, I won't have to worry about it for a while, thankfully.)

My journey on Wednesday took me back to the dreaded Max Out Sweat routine where the Shaun T-proclaimed "hardest workout I ever taught" routine. Despite knowing exactly what's coming, it still seems to catch you off guard.

For me, it's all about the sequence of moves (I'm sure you have realized this by now) and when you jumble together three hard moves -- most going plyo/squat/lunge type move to a plank jump move and another leg burner move -- and cycle through those moves three times, it's a challenge to say the least.

Then when you think you have the workout beat, because you survived the first four-and-a-half-minute sequence, he throws a ton of plank moves so your shoulders are on fire. Where does it end?!?!

All I know, for me, and maybe you are different, but this is the longest 30 minutes of my life (Friday Fight: Round 2 is pretty close). My Max Out Time, however, is improving quite a bit on this one. I am up to 18 minutes and 27 seconds before falling to bits. My Weep Time, however, only hit 21:20. Not that great.

I think I blacked out for the last 10 or so minutes and don't remember much of what happened. I do know I finished and felt like I had an outer-body experience during the cool down. I'm so glad it is over with and I just have one more of those. Before then, I have to focus on the task at hand. Next up: Max Out Strength.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Sweat.

Max Out Time:     18:27
Weep Time:           21:20

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 44 - Max Out Power

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 44: Max Out Power

Today was hard. (I feel like this is something that keeps being brought up by me lately, and I'd love to share with you why that is, but, I just don't know.) Perhaps it was the extra-early wake up call to make a 45-minute drive into the airport, followed by the drive back up to go to work; or maybe it is just the intensity of the Max 30 Month 2 workouts kicking my butt.

I can tell you this, to start my Max Out Power workout on Tuesday (which I hit play at 8:30 p.m.), I was focused. I was making a concerted effort to have precise form and do each move to the fullest, and feel the source of the muscle I'm working on. Typically, what happens is I'll go frenetically throughout the entire workout and I don't feel a thing until I'm at Max Out Time.

I was feeling that burning sensation in the warmup and for the first portion of the workout. And I got through those with relative ease. What got me -- er, again -- was the pushup sequence. My arms were on fire and I just couldn't push up another time, as I got a mere 10 seconds into the third move of the sequence. My Max Out Time was 13:10.

That Max Out Time is actually worse than last week's time by 15 seconds, but as I said, I was slowing down a bit to maximize on form, which brought a different burn to my body. So, really, the Max Out Time today was quite an accomplishment, in my opinion.

I carried that stellar form throughout the remainder of the workout, and yeah, I took more breaks with my body feeling like jello, but I continued to dig deeper. I'm not trying to make any excuses. It's tough. It's tough for you, me and everyone. If it were easy, no one would be maxing out. That's why we do this -- to challenge ourselves and push us to new levels. Without that, we'd just be spinning our wheels and going nowhere. I want to move forward to bigger and better things. I know you do too. Let's do this together.

Ultimately, today, I was stopped in my tracks by the darn pushups. And, with one more shot at this workout in this particular journey, I hope to get past that. More motivation as I continue forward in my journey, one day at a time. Next up: Max Out Sweat.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Power

Max Out Time:     13:10
Weep Time:           23:17

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 50 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 43 - 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 43: Max Out Cardio

The weekend was spectacular. One day in Salem; another in Cambridge. You really can't ask for more in a weekend. Well, I got more in the great weather. It was a perfect reboot to my body that has been working rigorously to get through this journey.

Today, after deciding to sleep in (all the way to 6:30 a.m.) and go to work prior to banging out my workout, I was mentally ready to crush Max Out Cardio like never before. A week ago, in Day 36, I improved to the point where I got over the 10-minute hump -- by a lot. This week, I was determined to get past the halfway point.

I got there, and then some. My Max Out Time for the day was 18 minutes, 30 seconds. I put last week's time in the dust. Today, I had a couple workout buddies walking around me -- my big ol' husky and his little cousin, the terrier-chihuahua mix.

It was only once where the little dog decided to jump on my shoulders, while I was doing some plank jacks, no less. Nevertheless, I fought through and eventually my additional resistance went to lay down.

With the week that passed, I opted to stay away from the scale. While I worked out hard and was strict to my eating regimen for the week -- less a meal each day -- I didn't want to have the possibility of discouragement since my weight tends to fluctuate quite a bit whenever I'm not strict to myself. It's almost like the guilt adds a few pounds to my frame.

Instead, now that we are house guest free, I'm going to refocus and get back on the scale next weekend. It's the least I can do in my journey. Regardless, with two weeks to go, my journey is going to continue long past the 60 days of Max 30. I'm in this for the long haul. But being in the early stages, I don't need any room for doubt to trickle into my brain.

I plastered through today's Max Out Cardio -- without a Weep Time -- and I intend to duplicate the feat tomorrow, as I continue to take things one day at a time. Next up: Max Out Power.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Cardio

Max Out Time:     18:30 (A whopping 7:16 improvement from Day 36)
Weep Time:           30:00 (Can't get any better than that)

Weekly Weigh-in:   N/A (After a week off, I opted away from discouragement; clothes fit good still)

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 42 - Rest

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 35: Rest

More family fun over the weekend. I did take another break from working out on Sundays. Today, I went out with the gang to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and did extensive walking around. It was perfect -- the walk and the weather.

My body, again, took advantage of the day off and healed up. I did feel a little weighed down this weekend because of the week that I described in yesterday's blog of taking a meal off from my strict eating regimen. Hopefully that won't affect my workout come Week 3 of Month 2.


With our family guest heading out, hopefully, I can turn my focus to Week 7 of my Max 30 Journey and get back on track.. Next up: Max Out Cardio.

Recap

Workout:               Rest

Max Out Time:     N/A
Weep Time:           N/A

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 36 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 41 - Pulse

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 34: Pulse

Exhausted from the week that was, I decided to opt out of Pulse and take an additional rest day this weekend. In addition to the exhausting week, which included several more early-morning workouts plus late nights up, me and the family had a house guest for the week.

Being with the guest, we took the opportunity to go site seeing. Today we headed to Salem, Massachusetts to check out the historic witch-haven city. It was a beautiful day and we were lucky enough to walk throughout the city for several hours.

One downfall to the house guest was the unfortunate scenario where I took several meals off -- and had the occasional beer. Now, in my everyday lifestyle, I'm strict Monday through Saturday and indulge on a Sunday. This week, I opted to stay strict throughout the day and take off a meal at dinner time.

I still had my Shakeology and did my workouts, which was good. I just went off kilter for the evening. For that, I'm thinking of opting out on weighing myself this week to avoid discouragement. However, the fresh air and the walk, along with rest from the intensity of the workout, was fantastic. Next up: Rest.

Recap

Workout:               Pulse (I opted out to do hours of walking through historic Salem, Massachusetts)

Max Out Time:     N/A
Weep Time:          N/A

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 43 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 40 - Friday Fight Round 2

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 40: Friday Fight: Round 2

I struggled mightily again with this one. By far -- and when I say by far, I mean Earth to the moon far -- the toughest Insanity Max 30 workout. Max Out Sweat is extremely tough, but Friday Fight: Round 2 takes the cake.

My goal was to get all the workouts I was sub-10 minute Max Out Time to over that mark. I was successful with my other workouts this week, but this wasn't quite where I wanted to be.

A week ago, I clocked in at 6:17. This week, I improved, which is a great accomplishment. However, it wasn't by much. Today's Max Out Time came in at 6:23. Six seconds of improvement. But as Shaun T says, one second is an improvement. So I'll take it.

Again, with Friday Fight: Round 2, the one-minute-long moves followed up by no breather to another one-minute-long move and so on makes it hard. It doesn't make any sense (to my mind or my legs) why we do an intense plyo-style squat-lunge move followed by ski-hops. My quads are burning and I just can't make it through -- yet. Next week, my goal is to get through that seventh minute. If I get through that, I know I can make it to the 10-minmute mark.

But for now, I sweated big time. I took breaks. I had to. In fact, I turned to my wife part way through and pointed out to her that most of the people on the set were so winded (early in the workout) that they weren't doing anything. So I wasn't the only one.

Shaun T, I think you may have outdone yourself on this one. Nonetheless, they all pushed through; I pushed through; and I hope you pushed through too. The journey is two weeks from complete. Next up: Pulse

Recap

Workout:              Friday Fight: Round 2

Max Out Time:    6:23
Weep Time:           11:05

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 43 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 39 - Max Out Strength

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 39: Max Out Strength

I know I say it all the time, but why? Why in god's name do you, Shaun T, have to sequence so many pushup moves in a row? For that matter, why are all the sequences (of high-intensity moves, no less) focusing on the same muscle regions?

This was my dilemma during my early-morning Max Out Strength workout.

I definitely had more energy than I have had in the past few days,  but that doesn't mean my ability to avoid maxing out was any easier. Warm up for four and a half minutes then go right into the first sequence of nothing but squat and lunge hop moves. Shaun T was courteous enough to provide a water break (which we had to run to our water) around the 11-minute mark.

Then, the dreaded pushup sequence. OK. Thanks. I'm decent at pushups if I go pushups-pullup-pushup or even pushup-squat-pushup. However, to do pushup-pushup-pushup-pushup-pushup water break ... my body just doesn't care too much for that. Please, tell me how your body reacts to that.

Of course, in the midst of all those pushups, my body hit the floor with a Max Out Time of 13:23 -- a slight improvement from last week's Max Out Strength.

To compound my shoulders and triceps burning from all the pushups, after the break, we focused on the core, which the first three 45-second moves were in a crab position (as if we were ready to do tricep dips). First were switch-kicks, then leg raise toe taps, then knee up knee taps. My arms had about enough of that!

We wrapped up with a combination of moves and thankfully it came to an end.

Wow. This stuff really works. The only way you can say you mastered this workout is if you go through the whole thing, at 100 percent, and never max out. I can't imagine being able to do that. So there's always room to push a little harder, for that extra second, extra minute. What a beautiful thing -- that I hate so much. Speaking of hating so much, next up: Friday Fight: Round 2

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Strength

Max Out Time:    13:23
Weep Time:           30:00 (I actually made it through in utter silence)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 43 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 38 - Max Out Sweat

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 38: Max Out Sweat

Max Out Sweat, we meet again!

It's been a whole week since the last time I got chewed up and spit out by Shaun T's Max Out Sweat and, despite doing this in the early morning hours, I was prepared to conquer the Max Out Time I had set last week. Just a reminder to you and me, that was a measly 7 minutes, 52 seconds.

Now, sure, my body felt like my legs were anchored to the ground for the first portion of the workout; and I felt like pudding by the end of the workout, but I just trucked along. The only thing I would say that maybe I felt I cheated myself was I took nano breaks between each move as I set up. Ultimately, I would take a second, two tops, as I got into the next move.

Did that help me get a better Max Out Time? I can't be 100 percent sure. But the sweat dripping off my face and that accumulated on my shirt would beg to differ.

My whole goal for this week is to get any workout that my Max Out Time was less than 10 minutes and bump it over the 10-minute mark. (Friday Fight: Round 2, where I have to boost my MOT by nearly four minutes, is going to be very tough.) Fortunately I was able to do this in Max Out Sweat.

My Max Out Time today was 14:40. It was still a killer workout, even if I improved by nearly seven minutes. I still hated every second of it, just like last week. Maybe the difference this week was the cool air of the morning compared to the warmness of the sun in the early evening.

Either way, I felt like I could go a little more, which got me to a break, which propelled me to the big uptick in the Max Out Time. I will hope to maintain the morning workout to give me that advantage going forward (only two and a half weeks to go!). Next up: Max Out Strength.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Sweat

Max Out Time:    14:40
Weep Time:           24:42 (I took a five-second cat nap after I hit the floor)

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 43 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 37 - Max Out Power

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 37: Max Out Power

It's tough to follow up a late-night workout with an early-morning one. For some sick, twisted reason, that's what I did to myself today as I tried to gut out Max Out Power.

In my head, as I'm breezing through the warmup, I'm thinking, "This is easy. All I gotta do is kill it for 45 seconds and I get a whole 15 seconds off. No sweat."

Actually, fool, there was lots of sweat. And no, it wasn't easy. I actually did breeze through the warmup -- four and a half minutes of cardio warmup followed by a one-minute power move -- before taking a water break and bracing for the actual workout. 

Max Out Power is one of those workouts that is designed to get progressively harder as you approach the end -- at least that's how I take it. The first sequence of moves are mainly squat jumps -- front and back; side to side -- which I typically dominate. I'm still working on the mastery of the second sequence, however.

I don't know who in their right mind sets up a sequence of five or six pushup moves, even if the last couple you get to put your knees down, in a row. My arms are like jello by the second or third move in the sequence.

A week ago, I crashed out with a Max Out Time of 12:40 and I was lucky to get that far. Today, I was fortunate to get a little bit stronger from last week. Not by much, but at least I'm trending in the right direction. My Max Out Time for today's workout was 45 seconds better, at 13 minutes, 25 seconds. 

I did my ultimate crash at 28:25 when I hit my Weep Time (quietly, again, it was first thing in the morning; couldn't wake anyone). I'll take it. Last week was a tough ride and I'm just getting back into a groove and need any motivation I can get. Next up: Max Out Sweat.

Recap

Workout:               Max Out Power

Max Out Time:     13:25
Weep Time:           28:25

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 43 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey

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

Insanity: Max 30 Journey Day 35 - Rest

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 35: Rest

Without question, I took this opportunity to let my body heal. I needed the rest and I surely took it. I needed to give my mind and body a break from the grind.

I know it has only been five weeks, which isn't long, but the devotion to changing a lifestyle from no workouts and no real nutritional guidance to extreme fitness and strict portion-controlled eating of whole foods is exhausting. The break was needed without question.

I spent the day with my family; watched a little playoff basketball and ate some home-cooked food. I'll take it. Now, hopefully, I can turn my focus to Week 6 of my Max 30 Journey. Next up: Max Out Cardio.

Recap

Workout:               Rest

Max Out Time:     N/A
Weep Time:           N/A

Weekly Weigh-in:   Stay tuned for Day 36 of the journey

Monthly Photo:       Stay tuned for Day 60 of the journey