Last night, I did one of the original Insanity DVDs for the first time in about a year and a half. Since then, I’ve focused on Crossfit, with occasional running and a random FitnessBlender video here and there.
Lately, though, I’ve been switching up my workouts. I briefly hinted at this in my last post, when I mentioned that I’m incorporating more strength training into my routine.
I’m still absolutely in love with Crossfit. I get sad when I can’t make it to class. I love the WODs, and I’ve learned so much about strength training and weightlifting. I can’t even fathom giving it up completely because I love it so much. And yes, I’m fully aware of how much I sound like one of those obsessed Crossfit crazies.
But I’ve also missed some of the old workouts I used to do. Before Crossfit, I dabbled in strength training a little bit, but I mostly stuck to cardio workouts like Insanity. I wasn’t really all that scared of “getting bulky;” I just genuinely enjoyed doing cardio.
I know people love to hate it. I know cardio alone isn’t always enough to get the physique that you want. But for me, it had always been the best way to relieve stress and clear my mind. And sometimes, as much as I love lifting weights now, I also just want to jump around. (Now you have the House of Pain song stuck in your head.) While I still love Crossfit, sometimes I also just want to do a workout in the comfort of my own home that doesn’t involve a barbell.
I very rarely workout at night anymore, but yesterday, I felt restless all day at work. I had done my StrongLifts routine in the morning, but I felt like I needed to do something else. It was raining when I got home from work, so I couldn’t walk the dog. I browsed Pinterest, trying to find some workout inspiration, but nothing really piqued my interest. Then I remembered the Insanity DVDs that have sat on my bookshelf for a year and a half. So I dusted them off, closed my eyes, and flipped open the set to a random DVD. I landed on Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs.
I enjoyed doing something that I haven’t done in a long time. Sometimes at the gym, it’s hard for me to see my progress when I’m still the last one in class to finish a WOD. Or someone who started after me perfects a skill that I still can’t get (cough, double unders, cough).
But then there are times outside of the gym where I catch myself saying, there’s no way I could have done that without Crossfit! I remember how out of breath I would be in just a couple of minutes when I first did the Insanity program. Now, however, the Insanity workout felt so much easier. Don’t get me wrong, I still felt challenged and I still took a few breaks. But I could tell that my fitness had improved.
Doing a different workout was exactly what I needed last night. I felt so refreshed and somehow calmer afterward. Everyone always says to listen to your body. Usually they say that when you have some kind of nagging pain or you’re injured and need to rest. But listening to your body can also mean fitting in some activity when you otherwise would have just laid around on your couch all night. I was stressed out when I got home from work last night, but that Insanity workout helped me feel so much better.
So, for anyone reading this, I encourage you to try something different with your workout routine. Do something again that you used to love but haven’t done in a long time. Maybe you’re stuck in a rut or you’ve plateaued in some way. Or maybe, like me, you just have a little extra energy to burn off and want to do something different to challenge yourself. Not only can it help you see how far you’ve come in your fitness journey, but it can have a positive impact on both your body and your mind.
