Beachbody Insanity vs. P90X which one is better

We have seen the Beachbody Insanity and P90X work out infomercials on late night TV. Insanity is considered by many to be an alternative or follow up to the popular P90X workout program by Beachbody. There is a significant difference between P90X and Insanity. Insanity is a cardio intense workout plan that utilizes interval training to get you the "best workout of your life" where P90X is a program that incorporates cardio but focuses more on strength training.

The Insanity workouts are typically 45 minutes. The workouts start with a warm up that is a cardio session for the first 10 minutes or so. That is followed by a stretch/yoga session for about 10 minutes. Then the main workout follows the stretching session and lasts about 20 minutes. Twenty minutes may not sound like much, but trainer Shaun T will have you sweating before it is finished. These workouts are six days a week with one day off to recover.

I tried the Insanity workout program for 3 weeks then I stopped. I decided to move back to P90X. The reason why I stopped using Insanity is because the Insanity workouts are very hard on my knees. In P90X Tony Horton says that it is about getting results not about getting hurt. I took his advice when my knees started getting sore from all of the jumping involved in the Insanity workouts. I can handle the little bit of jumping that P90X requires during the plyometrics work out, but the daily jumping in Insanity was too much for me.

I looked around on the internet and I am not alone with this opinion. A lot of people have complained about knee pain while doing the Insanity workout. I did break my knee cap when I was a kid, so that might have something to do with it. But, In my opinion, the knee pain is not caused by my past injury. It is caused by the serious jarring exercises that Insanity incorporates into its workouts. Toward the end of my three weeks, Jumping Jacks were getting painful on my knees. Since I moved onto P90X, I’ve done Jumping Jacks with no pain at all. It isn’t the move that causes the pain. It is the constant jumping that creates a condition where any small amount of jumping was causing me knee discomfort.

Another reason that I quit doing Insanity was the lack of results. My weight fluctuates from day to day, so it is hard for me to nail down my exact results after 3 weeks. It could be a pound or two lost or it could be no loss at all. As with any workout plan, I know that results are not immediate. I use the philosophy that working out is good for me, and if I do what I have to do the results will come with time. I know that sitting on my butt isn’t going to change anything, so working out is only going to improve my current conditioning.

With that in mind, I needed to see something to encourage me to work through the knee pain. I wasn’t seeing anything. I looked on the internet and a lot of people go through 3 or 4 weeks on Insanity with no weight loss. The common claim by the trainers is that people are not eating enough to keep their bodies from going into starvation mode. I used the same eating habits through Insanity that worked for me in P90X, and the results were not the same. The Insanity workouts are intense, but my results were insignificant.

Just because Insanity was not right for me, does not mean that it isn't right for you. I am not a Beachbody coach. I am just a guy looking to pass along some honest information on this product. If you are a basketball player, tennis player, football player, soccer player, etc with good young knees, then Insanity could improve your performance more than P90X. It incorporates a lot of moves that work on your lateral movement, jumping ability, cardiovascular endurance, quick twitch muscle development and sprinting. It even mixes in a small amount of strength training. If your main goal is to get quicker, and jump higher, then Insanity is going to do a better job for you than P90X.

If you are someone that is looking to lose a few pounds and doesn’t really care about your 40 time or how high you can jump, then I wouldn’t recommend Insanity to you. P90X is a much better workout in my opinion when it comes to maintaining or losing weight while building muscle. P90X is not only easier on your joints, but it also incorporates more of a full body workout. Even though I didn’t complete the Insanity work out, I think that I gave it enough of a trial to give an honest critique. I may try to incorporate a few Insanity work outs into my P90X workouts as many people like to do. They call it a hybrid work out where you do the P90X strength training days with Insanity replacing P90X on cardio days. Three days a week of jumping might be more tolerable on my knees than the 5-6 days of jumping required while doing the Insanity program.

A quick description of the P90X workout consists of the following: 6 days a week of workouts;three of those days are strength training; two days are cardio training, and one day of yoga. There is plenty of variation throughout the 90 days of workouts to keep it interesting and effective. Each workout is about 1 hour, but the strength workouts are followed by a 15 minute abdominal workout. Yoga day is the longest workout and it lasts about an hour and a half. Insanity is a much shorter workout than P90X. It could be a better option for someone that wants a high intensity workout, but doesn't have a lot of free time.

Another disclosure is that I do not use any of the recommended supplements while I'm working out. The use of supplements and meal replacement shakes could give you significantly better results than I was able to achieve without supplementing my routine. I was able to drop anywhere from 5 to 10 pounds a month during the P90X program.while building up both my muscle mass and overall body strength. It is recommended that you consult a physician before starting any workout program.

If you are doing either one of these programs and you want to save some money on groceries, read this article: Maintaining a healthy diet without breaking your Budget

Copyright Michiganman567 2012