Has anyone done the Insanity workout program? I have a question.

[jc0481]

I have watched a few DVD's on Insanity. Shaun T. talks about engaging your core. I know how to do that now after watching some Youtube videos. My question is do you always have to engage your core? I mean do I do it all the time every time I push play?

I hope someone here can help. Thank you.

 

[callmemike20]

Engaging your core? Hell, I was barely able to engage my body after 5 minutes of the warmup....

 

[TRMC13]

Whatever you do you really have to take it at your pace and understand your body before you do this. I started P90X and over-exerted myself to the point I could barely move for 3 days.

 

[wywern209]

engaging your core is fancy talk for engaging the midsection where most people have the fat they want to get rid of. Doing high intensity cardio on this area causes it to heat up and with extended lengths of time, you start to burn the fat.this is a terrible explanation but the workouts do work but you must be willing to stick with it.

 

[stonyc]

engaging your core is fancy talk for engaging the midsection where most people have the fat they want to get rid of. Doing high intensity cardio on this area causes it to heat up and with extended lengths of time, you start to burn the fat.this is a terrible explanation but the workouts do work but you must be willing to stick with it.

You don't "burn" fat. Losing fat has nothing to do with the temperature in your body.

To keep it simple, you have two main energy stores in your body... carbohydrates and fat. Fat requires more than twice the energy to convert into usable energy by your body as compared to carbohydrates. That's why many athletes would traditionally "carbo load" before a major event... carbohydrates are more easily converted into energy than fat.

You "lose" fat through a combination of diet and exercise that forces your body to tap the fat stored in your body, rather than the available carbohydrates. You do this by using more calories than you consume. That's the basis for many low-carb diets. You can circumvent these low-carb diets by simply eating healthier and adding exercise into your weight-loss regimen.

Fact: Right now, you have roughly the same number of fat cells as you will have through most of the rest of your life. You never "burn" or "lose" fat cells... they just become smaller.

Long story, short... you don't "burn" fat. If:

calories(used) < calories(consumed) === weight loss

 

[wywern209]

You don't "burn" fat. Losing fat has nothing to do with the temperature in your body.

To keep it simple, you have two main energy stores in your body... carbohydrates and fat. Fat requires more than twice the energy to convert into usable energy by your body as compared to carbohydrates. That's why many athletes would traditionally "carbo load" before a major event... carbohydrates are more easily converted into energy than fat.

You "lose" fat through a combination of diet and exercise that forces your body to tap the fat stored in your body, rather than the available carbohydrates. You do this by using more calories than you consume. That's the basis for many low-carb diets. You can circumvent these low-carb diets by simply eating healthier and adding exercise into your weight-loss regimen.

Fact: Right now, you have roughly the same number of fat cells as you will have through most of the rest of your life. You never "burn" or "lose" fat cells... they just become smaller.

Long story, short... you don't "burn" fat. If:

calories(used) < calories(consumed) === weight loss

i'm aware of this fact. that it doesnt actually "burn". it converts energy to make use of it and like you said, the body has many sources of it like fat or carbs.

 

[imaketouchtheme]

Also, there is no way to "lose" fat from a particular section of your body. If you have an overweight midsection, you can't do "core" exercises to lose weight in your stomach. It's your overall body. You can't target losing fat in a certain area.

 

[comictimes]

Back to the question at hand....

When he says "engage your core", just keep that in the back of your mind while you're doing the exercises, to make sure that you aren't letting your back collapse when you bend or squat, you are fully straightening out on things where you bend down and come back up (touch the floor, suicides, etc), and you are lifting from the core when you bring your legs up (high knees, for example. You don't want to artificially bring your body closer to your knees by releasing your core and bending over).

So no, you don't need to be constantly clenching your stomach, but the vast majority (if not every one) of the exercises on those DVDs involves the core, so it's always something to be thinking about.

Congrats on taking the plunge! I'm 2 days into the second month, and have to say the "max" workouts are really brutal...

 

[Poonz]

When I'm doing the insanity DVDs I usually think of it like flexing my core. It's not easy to do through the entire video. It get easier the more you do it.

With the entire program it gets easier the more you do it. You'll be surprised the results and how much easier it all is after a few weeks.