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Asylum-Strength Preview

April 21 , 2011 –


I am doing a dry run of all the Insanity Asylum workouts before our May 1 ASYLUM CHALLENGE start. I will do a full Insanity Asylum Review after my 30 days, but I want to provide my initial impressions.

I think I can speak for most Insanity graduates by saying that the biggest thing we missed in Insanity was some weight training. Insanity Upper Body Weight Training was a bonus disc when I bought the program and I really enjoyed it. It was very different from P90x resistance routines in that it was cardio in nature and my heart rate was much higher.

STRENGTH continues this trend. You need to have excellent cardio stamina to lift weights with Shaun T. There a few precious breaks, but for the most part you are cranking form one exercise to the next.

Just as you should do with any resistance routine, use moderate weights the first time through. There are some tricky movements (like “Halo Dead Lift”) and you dont want to injure yourself. Form is always king! Weight and speed come later.

The workout starts with a “warm-up” that is comprised of 5 exercises done twice. You do a fairly quick stretch and then you move into what I will call Sequence 2. This is 3 rounds of 3 exercises per round. Each round gets progressively more difficult as Shaun T adds on another movement. For example, the first round he does “Dumbbell Rotation Jumps” and in Round 2 he adds “Curls” and in Round 3 he adds a “Press” on top of that.

Sequence 3 brings in the pull-up bar. However, Shaun T does provide alternate moves for those who either dont have a pull-up bar or dont wish to use it. This is a TOUGH series. From “Pyraminds” to “Rock Climber Switch”, it is very clear Shaun T is not messin’ around

For Sequence 4, this will look familiar to those who have done Insanity Upper Body Weight Training as Shaun T plays with your leg positions during chest presses. Although they use the floor in the video,  I used my bench

31 exercises later, you are done with STRENGTH dripping in sweat.

Since Shaun T moves so quickly form exercise to exercise, you may wonder if he gives enough time to change weights. I used 25lbs for the entire workout with the exception of “Hip Flys” in which I used 15 lbs. The point is, you really dont need to change weights very often. So I did not find the weight change an issue. As I do this workout multiple times, I may try to improve certain areas and maybe I will increase my chest press at the end. Regardless, he  does give you a little time between sequences where you could fit it in. And there is always the Pause button as well.

Shaun T stated that his favorite Asylum workout was a tie between this one and SPEED & AGILITY. This is a killer total body resistance workout that also burns serious calories. I am really looking forward to the gains I make as I do this one a few more times.

You can download the STRENGTH workout sheet HERE. (I have shown a preview below.) Once I have completed all the Asylum workouts, I will compile into one file like I have done with my other workouts.




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