Academy Prep - Run or Insanity Program?

[Stockman9727]

Hello everyone, I'm having a dilemma over which form of exercise I should continue in preparation for the academy. I currently have been running 3.6 miles / 1.8 miles of walking to cool down after my run every day. Now I have received the Insanity workout and I'm tempted to do that instead. The academy begins on August 16th.

Which would you recommend I continue doing?

[Samuel]

Hello everyone, I'm having a dilemma over which form of exercise I should continue in preparation for the academy. I currently have been running 3.6 miles / 1.8 miles of walking to cool down after my run every day. Now I have received the Insanity workout and I'm tempted to do that instead. The academy begins on August 16th.

Which would you recommend I continue doing?

What does your academy require and what kind of training will help you prepare for it? (partially rhetorical)

[jason96r]

I would do both.

I know this is only my 1st post on this forum but I have done the Insanity program for awhile now.

It seems that you are in a completely different physical fitness level than I was when I started Insanity.

According to the scale that I use and only use for my weigh in's I have lost about 73lbs by doing Insanity and I won't lie I have started sprinting, some weight training, and a few of the P90X DVD's also but primarily Insanity.

On the Insanity program you need to listen to your body as it can kill your knees and shoulders.

When I started I was a little over 320lbs and I am now down to 246lbs. My height is 6'2" and I have a naturally large frame in which I will actually have ribs sticking out at around 227lbs. Though as you can see I still have a ton of work to do.

My fitness level to start was obviously pretty low. I could do about 7 pushups and I could just barely pass the average min. 1.5 mile run time, so I would probably actually fail that time as I wouldn't have the treadmil telling me how much harder I would have to push.

Now you already run close to 4 miles so you are doing well there.

I have started a sprinting and running routine every night and why I tell you to do both is that while I can sprint all day when I run anything over a mile and I start to struggle a bit. Now I don't know if you have reviewed the Insanity program but during some excersises he says this will help you sprint which is very true and I really push myself but it seems I have no lung capacity for the longer running. On the program other than the pure cardio days it is 3 minutes of hardcore work and then 30 seconds of rest which helps when sprinting with me personally I have just started running a bit and have a lot a work to do in that regard.

Also, I would think Insanity would be a good program to really improve your pushups and definitely any short area burst type of work you would do at the Academy. Like I said you may not have a problem already running close to 4 miles a day whereas I can gurantee I couldn't run 4 miles and not because of muscle fatigue but I just don't have my lungs trained for that right now. Also on the program you work abs quite a bit but do no actual crunches or situps so I would do those every so often just for a muscle memory type of thing.

[Switchback]

Crossfit.

[Robb]

I'm not familiar with the Insanity program, however I am a big fan of P90X, I think it really helped me prepare for the academy. It contains a lot of the exercises that you will do in the academy during Physical Training. If you do that along with a regular running program I think you will be just fine.

[RoadDog1905]

Do both. Most academies will have running and a harsh cardio program outside running. You'll need to be prepared for both.

[Safety Steve]

Hello everyone, I'm having a dilemma over which form of exercise I should continue in preparation for the academy. I currently have been running 3.6 miles / 1.8 miles of walking to cool down after my run every day. Now I have received the Insanity workout and I'm tempted to do that instead. The academy begins on August 16th.

Which would you recommend I continue doing?

Do both. One in the morning and one in the evening.


Be Safe.

[TCHOP561]

I am doing insanity!

I started the program in shape, but not up to my standard. I started at 5'10'' 159 lbs. Last time I checked I was down to 152 lbs. Not a huge weight loss, but I did not have much to lose really.

If you decide on Insanity, like jason said, listen to your body. I can feel it in my knees, from all the jumping. I have 2.5 weeks left. The last 4 weeks are intense. After you do the warmup which are a workout in and of itself, you go straight into the stretching for 3 minutes. After than, its pure, non-stop cardio for a good solid 30 minutes with some 30 second rest in between.

I am going to incorporate some running and pushups/situps beginning the last two weeks and continue it until the academy starts.

Best of luck!