Foundation and Insanity program

[Jesse Kim]

Hi. I was wondering is it was possible to combine foundation with the Insanity program by Shaun T of beachbody. If not would there be a better alternative for cardio? Or if possible, what be the best way to implement both? I did Insanity a few years back in high school (about 5 years ago) and I loved it. I was wondering if I had to give up on it though since people are saying to focus on foundation first

[Giovanni Garcea]

Too much in my opinion. Insanity has too much of a pushing strength component to marry well with foundation. Having said that, I think that if you avoid all the insanity videos that have too much upper body focus, than it would probably be ok, but maybe too long (especially the workouts of the second month of insanity are super long). I think picking and choosing from T25 would be a little better.

But... I hear you, there are times in which getting cardio from a follow along video is way more appealing than going out and sprint. Some variety is good.

[Jesse Kim]

2 hours ago, Giovanni Garcea said:

Too much in my opinion. Insanity has too much of a pushing strength component to marry well with foundation. Having said that, I think that if you avoid all the insanity videos that have too much upper body focus, than it would probably be ok, but maybe too long (especially the workouts of the second month of insanity are super long). I think picking and choosing from T25 would be a little better.

But... I hear you, there are times in which getting cardio from a follow along video is way more appealing than going out and sprint. Some variety is good.

Yeah I was going to add that it has a lot of push ups and burpees incorporated into their workouts. I remember completing the program for the first time and I dreaded all the push variations after. T25 does sound better as well. I think I might restrain on all the push ups in Insanity if I decide to do both, but for now, I'll just continue finding other alternatives.

[Michael Miskelly]

I would think it highly depends on your training schedule and overall recovery from workouts.

I am not overly familiar with insanity but I guess it is like bodyweight conditioning circuits. I do my HIIT / conditioning on Tuesdays and Thursdays after handstand and press handstand work along with Sundays before stretching. My conditioning takes the form of circuits or intervals from Ross Enamait's books and is always varied. Sometimes I'm boxing, doing circuits of burpees, pull ups, squats and push ups. Other times it is hill sprints. The workouts are tough at the time but never impact on my gymnastic bodies training as they are only 30mins max.

If you enjoy insanity I would suggest trying to find a place to put a workout in during the week to break up the monotony of your training and give you something to look forward to.