Workout Review: Insanity Asylum
Shaun T's enthusiasm for ALL types of sports definitely comes through in this program. If you listen to his podcast or follow him on social media, you know he's a fan of many different types of. sports and gets into the strategy of the game as well as the technique of how they train for it.
When starting this program, I wasn't really sure what to expect, other than that it would be similar to other programs from the Insanity family that I'd done before (Insanity Max:30 and the original Insanity). This program draws from a variety of sports, and because of that, there actually is a lot more variety to the moves, which in the other Insanity programs are usually variations on jumping jacks, tuck jumps, and push-ups.
Insanity Asylum draws from many different sports: football, baseball, basketball, track and field, wrestling, power lifting, soccer, tennis, rock climbing, speed skating, swimming, and even surfing. Not every move is super intense... but a lot of them are, and it's a lot of fun to get a sense of how to move your body and what muscles to use for all those different sports.
The picture of me tangled up in the agility ladder is a joke, but this is one of the pieces of equipment that definitely gets a lot of use with this program, and also may cause some frustration as you practice and work to become more coordinated! Lots and lots of agility drills... but I definitely made progress from the initial to the final fit test so it was worth it!
Program length: 30 days (Volume 1) and 4 weeks (Volume 2)
Workout length: 40 to 60 minutes
What equipment is needed? Agility ladder; dumbbells for weighted moves (resistance bands with handles can be substituted); resistance bands (the circular ones that can go around both wrists or ankles) are recommended; pull-up bar is optional.
How is it structured? Asylum Vol. 1 has 6 "blocks" of 5 workouts each. Essentially, you either rest or stretch one day out of every five. There are five "active" workouts so those are rotated among the four slots in each block, so that you end up doing each of them 4 or 5 times during the session. Asylum Vol. 2 is arranged in a simple week-by-week format, with five "active" sessions and two stretch days per week. Of the active sessions, one focuses on legs, one on chest, one on the back and core, and the others are full-body workouts. Vol. 2 also adds a separate core workout to be done once a week in weeks 3 and 4.
What kinds of moves are involved? All different types of sports, as listed above, but with a focus on drill-style moves (jumping jacks, squats, lunges, push-ups, Burpees) as well as agility moves, plus lots of strength moves both with and without weights. Focuses on whole-body toning, with special focus on chest, back, and core.
Low-impact? No
Are modifications shown? No
Interested in trying this program? Learn more in my video review or email me at LivingVibrantlyEG@gmail.com to find out when my next challenge group starts! I can also guide you to my recommended sources for the equipment mentioned here, or get you set up with a different workout program if this one isn't up your alley. I'm only an email away... Let's chat!
