Insanity Asylum Workout DVD review

What's up athletes? Today I'm going to be doing a review on the workout DVD named Insanity: The Asylum. This workout DVD is the sequel to the original Insanity DVD program from Beachbody.com. In this review I'll talk about the individual workouts, the equipment, effectiveness, overall rating and more.

First of all let me give you a rundown on what Insanity: The Asylum is. This is a sports specific workout DVD for elite athletes that want to get into top shape. This is definitely not a workout program for a beginner or someone who is not in already good shape; you will suffer tremendously if you try this without any base strength/cardio health. That being said it is a 30 day program that you can do at home with very few equipment. The program comes with the DVDs, an agility ladder, a speed rope, workout calendar, nutrition plan and a "playbook" to plan your 30 day body transformation.

The program comes with 8 DVDs all with a different specific workout:

Athletic Performance Assessment: This is a short workout you do at the beginning of the 30 days to see where you stand physically and then again at the end to see how you've improved.

Overtime: This bonus short workout is some exercise you can add after finishing one of the 6 main workout DVDs. It is a quick bonus to really make your muscles be tested to their limits.

Speed and Agility: In this workout, you'll be using the agility ladder, the speed rope and any resistance bands you might have. For this workout you focus on exactly what it says, speed and your agility while keeping your body under control and precise. This workout will really work your legs and core. 

Vertical Plyo: This one is one of the hardest workouts in my opinion. You'll again need a speed rope, ladder and resistance band(s). In this workout you're working on explosiveness with tons of power jumps, jump roping and ladder exercises. This will definitely have you breathing heavy and will tire you out but it's worth it.

Relief: This DVD is basically a rest workout where you work on stretching, flexibility and deep breathing; kind of like yoga. You'll love this one once you're into the training program as it helps you recover.

Strength: As for this one you'll need dumbbells and optionally a chin up bar. In this workout you'll focus on strength movements like presses, curls and loads of push-ups. This one is challenging but nothing a good athlete can't handle.

Game day: This one is the longest and one of the toughest workouts. In this DVD you'll do sport specific movements in a variety of sports to simulate what a game would bring physically. If you've done the other workouts right and are in good shape you'll be ready for Game day when it's time to do it halfway through the program. Finish this with ease to know you'll be ready for the real game day.

Back to Core: This is a workout dedicated specifically to your core and back muscles. You'll need resistance bands for this one. There's no crazy cardio or explosive movements in this one; just controlled, strong body weight movements to strengthen you.

Overall rating: First of all, this program is hard and will push you to your limits. If you're more interested in a light program, then this is definitely not for you. You're going to have to dig deeper and push yourself to get the maximum results. As for the workout itself, it for sure does work and will bring you to great cardiovascular shape and physically too. I've been doing these workouts on and off whenever I need a boost in athleticism and it never fails to produce the results I need. I definitely recommend it to the serious athlete that wants to get to that next level! 

9.5/10

Until next week!

Sources:
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity-next-level-asylum-workout.do

Exercises for a stronger core

Hey everyone, welcome to another week of athlete's planet! In this article, I'm going to cover how to strengthen your core and abdominal muscles. Nice abs aren't only to show off at the beach, having a strong core will help with almost every sport as well as everyday tasks. Here are some quick ab exercises using only your body weight that will give you the core strength you need to excel.

Start with a light dynamic warm up.

Next do these exercises:

Plank: Get in a plank position (body straight with elbows on the ground) and hold it for a set time. If you're a beginner start with 30 seconds, and add 15 seconds progressively as you get better. Advanced can do 1-2 minutes or more. Do 3 sets of your set time then move on to your next exercise.

For the next exercise, you're going to want to lay on the floor on your back, put your legs together and lift them just enough so that they are off the ground and you can feel your core working. Next, lift your legs all the way so your body forms a 90 degree angle, and then lower your legs again as low as you can without letting them touch the ground. Squeeze your core and hold for a few seconds, then go back up to a 90 and repeat. Do 2 sets of 8-15 reps.

Spider Crawl: This next one is another great side ab exercise for your obliques. I'll let this link explain how it's done. Do 2 sets of 15-25 reps. Spider Crawl

3/4 Sit up: I'm usually against sit ups and crunches, but this variation is one to add to the list. Again watch this video for explanation. Do 2 sets of  15-25 reps. 3/4 sit up

By now if you did it right your abs should be pretty burned out and tired. So finish off the workout with this.

Cocoons:  Lay on your back and extend your arms up and your legs down while keeping both your arms and legs off the ground. Next bring your arms and legs to your stomach simultaneously and squeeze, then return to the starting position. Finish with 10-20 reps.  Watch this video for a visual. Cocoons

Repeat this killer workout a few times a week and watch the abs appear in no time. Remember though, having visible abs starts in the kitchen, you'll need to keep your body fat low to make sure they are really visible.

I myself don't usually do ab specific exercises as I use my abs while working on many other exercises, but doing ab specific exercises are always a plus. My favorites are the plank and spider crawl, but they are all effective exercises.

That's it for this week, see you all next time!

Sources:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/spider-crawl
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/34-sit-up
http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/cocoons

Top 5 tips for a higher vertical

Hello, and welcome to the second installment of the athlete's planet blog. This week we will be discussing an other big aspect of many sports: jumping. From being able to throw down ferocious dunks in basketball to delivering big spikes in volleyball, how high you jump can put you way above the competition and also helps with many other aspects in sports.

This week there will be no set workout, just 5 major things you need to remember to maximize your vertical and get the best gains.

1. Muscle Strength

Plain and simple, if overall your muscles are weak there's a good chance you're not going to get much air. There are several muscles involved when it comes to jumping and you must strengthen all of them to get the most out of your jump. But it's not just about training them, it's about training them right. Most people blindly train at the gym and do a million isolation exercises like bicep curls and leg extensions expecting to get stronger, but those exercises only shape the muscles not make YOU stronger as a unit. Jumping is a whole body movement, so you need exercises that train many muscle groups at once.This is where compound lifts come in. Exercises like the Barbell Squat, Dead lift, Bench Press and Power Clean are what's really going to have you flying like Mike (Jordan). Learn form and proper technique of these exercises (start the first few workouts with very light weight) and then do a workout with high weight and low reps (4-6). Add 5 lbs each workout and you'll see the results in no time. Throw in some chin ups and pull ups for extra upper body strength as well.

2. Plyometric training

The next most important thing to having the muscle to jump high, is to be able to apply that force quickly, very quickly. If you can't get the muscle to explode and react fast, all of your weight training would be a waste. Jumping is an explosive movement, so you need to train your muscles to fire rapidly. Doing a workout like the one featured in my Speed Blog (go to my "Introduction Blog" to find it) regularly will really help your muscle speed and movement. There are many jump exercises to help this like Box Jumps, Jump rope, Sprints, Power Jumps etc. The point is you need to train your fast twitch muscle fibers to be exactly that, fast. Again go for fewer quality reps, instead of several bad or lazy reps.

3. Shed the extra weight

If you're going to jump high, you'll have to lose any unwanted fat and keep your body fat percentage low, ideally under 10% and anything under 7% being great. There's a reason why you don't see many overweight great jumpers, it's a lot harder to jump as it really weighs you down. It's like trying to jump with a 20 lb backpack on you, you're not going to get very high. To do this you are going to have to clean up your diet, do some cardio and stay active until you lose the the excess fat. Once you do you'll not only jump higher but be in overall better health.

4. Work on your flexibility/mobility

Another part of jumping which is rarely talked about is your flexibility,mobility and stability. If you have tight muscles that aren't bendable you'll have a harder time getting your muscles to fire quickly. Daily stretching and foam rolling can easily help this, but things like yoga can surprise you at how much it helps you athletically. Guys, you may feel less manly doing it but i'm sure the toughness will come back when you dunk in somebody's face. Trust me, it helps.

5. Be consistent and be realistic

This last tip is more mental than it is physical. Really improving your vertical jump takes time. Unless you are a complete beginner you won't get major gains right away. All those advertisements/products that claim to get you 10 inches on your jump in 2 months are liars, unless you completely can't jump at all to begin with. Gaining real results will take a good amount of time and will be very tiring but you have to stay consistent, the results will come. Don't quit just because it didn't happen overnight, your future self will thank you. You must really have a "Rome wasn't built in a day" attitude to get the most of your potential vertical jump.

Don't give up, I've followed these tips myself and have went from not being able to touch a 10 foot rim, to touching it, to grabbing it and even dunking a small dodge ball. All while being only 5'6" tall. Of course it took lots of time and work, but it was without a doubt worth it.

Good Luck

Be back next week, go be the best you can be.

Sources: All me