How many calories does insanity workout burn? This is the question on the lips of many who have heard about the effectiveness of this workout.
They have become extremely popular over the years. Many people do these workouts for their health, but research shows that working out (muscle building in particular) is vital if you’re a guy and want to get dates and relationships.
Fitness is a lifelong chase which requires a lot of hard work and dedication. In today’s time, people are leading busy lives and while it is easy to gain weight—it can be difficult to find time to exercise on a regular basis. Which is why perhaps a new trend called “insanity workout” has been gaining popularity over the last few years.
It is a well-known fact that regular exercising helps one keep fit via different low or high-intensity activities.
You might have heard about the home workout called insanity that promises great body in just 60 days. Is this possible? How many calories do you think this workout burns every session?
Methodology
First, I calculated the total minutes of actual exertion during each workout. I excluded the time related to stretches, times when Shaun T is talking, and water breaks. Then, I divided those active minutes into moderate versus intense activity. I did this based on each exercise (for example, moving push-ups are intense, while some of the warm-ups are moderate). I assigned 11 calories per minute to the moderate exercises and 15 per minute to the intense ones. These numbers are congruent with a heart rate monitor I own that I used.
The numbers below are my estimates based on the above formula for a 150 pound person (average and also close to my weight) confirmed by a heart rate monitor. The actual Insanity products estimate up to 1000 calories for a workout (they have to mean the long ones).
Each person has a different metabolism, and the higher your body weight, the more you will burn. However, these numbers should give you a rough idea of the number of Insanity calories burned.
Also, studies show that cardiovascular exercise, especially interval training, continues to burn calories many hours after a workout by giving you a temporary metabolic boost. That is not reflected in these numbers, but it’s still good to know that your overall calorie burn numbers throughout the entire day may be much higher than what is listed below.
Below are the calories burned for Insanity, as well as Insanity the Asylum Volume 1 and 2. Remember, “workout time” reflects my calculation of actual exertion.
What Is Insanity?
Insanity workout is a high-intensity workout created by a celebrity trainer Shaun T. Created under Beachbody fitness company, they managed to create a 60-day weight loss program that will help people lose weight fast.
The 60-day program will include high-intensity exercises that you need to follow plus its own diet plan and recovery drinks. This program promises that you’ll look better and achieve your desired body in just 60 days.
Insanity workout doesn’t need any type of equipment or gym subscription. It’s in the form of a DVD that you can follow in the comfort of your home.
The workout will rely only on your body weight for resistance. It’s also based on a fitness method called “max interval training” that will give you exercises at an intense pace for a short period of time with short breaks.
Types of Exercises to Perform
Just like any other workout program, insane workout offers various types of exercises. These different exercise patterns are divided into two sets that span 60 days(30 days for each set).
It is designed to help you get the desired physical result in the space of two months. It consists of 10 intense workouts.
Each of these workouts falls within the time range of 30 to 60 minutes. During this 2-month program, you will have to work out for six days weekly with just one day set aside for rest. Sounds tasking, right?
Here are the five full-body oriented exercises you will be performing in the first 30 days(1 month) program:
- Pure Cardio – Intervals for Cardio(40 minutes)
- Cardio Recovery – For recovery and stretching(30 minutes)
- Cardio Power and Resistance – Focused on Cardio circuit and upper body strength(40 minutes)
- Fit Test – Fitness Level Determinant(30 minutes)
- Plyometrics Cardio Circuit – Aimed at the lower body and Cardio polymetric circuit(40 minutes)
Here are the four full-body oriented exercises you will be performing in the second 30 days(1 month) program:
- Max Recovery – Stretches and Recovery workout(50 minutes)
- Max Cardio Conditioning – Concentrated on the cardio circuit(50 minutes)
- Max Interval Plyo – For power movements and leg plyometric workout(55 minutes)
- Max Interval Circuit – For intensified interval circuit(60 minutes)
Note that these are not all the exercise patterns and details you will need to perform this workout.
To get the complete information, you need to buy the whole training.
After purchasing it, you will see how the exercise patterns are scheduled, the order, and the duration for execution.
Every week, you will get a new exercise pattern to follow, which will differ from the previous ones in implementation and duration. The insanity workout comprises of:
- An Insanity Workout Schedule
- An Insanity Diet Plan
- An Insanity Quick Start Guide
- An Insanity Fit Test Workout
Once you are done with the insanity workout scheduled for the first 30 days, you might be want to go straight to the next.
However, there’s a week between the first and second phases of insanity workout called the Recovery week.
At first glance, it looks like a week assigned for relaxation after the first phase of the insanity workout, but it is the opposite.
You still have to sweat it out in this recovery week. That’s strange, right? During the recovery week, you will have to perform a balanced routine and core cardio.
The recovery week’s idea is to get you ready for what lies ahead in the coming days. It gets even more demanding during the second phase of 30 days insane workout.
The Benefits of Insanity Workouts
Builds Your Endurance
There’s no denying, insanity is excellent for helping you develop your cardiovascular fitness level. The idea behind these workouts is to increase your aerobic fitness level while burning fat. You can expect to strengthen your cardiovascular system and increase your muscle endurance if you work out regularly.
Offers Tremendous Fat And Calorie Burn
Many promoters have claimed that one can burn as many as 400 to 1000 calories in a workout, however your burn will vary according to your body size and fitness level. Insanity consists of fast-paced high-intensity workouts which allows you to burn more calories and shred more kilos.
It Helps With Strength Building
Insanity workouts consist of a lot of body exercises like push-ups and squats along with a lot of core work targeting your chest, triceps, legs and abs. If you work out regularly you will definitely witness some muscle growth. The primary focus of insanity workouts is strength and endurance.
It’s Great For Your Respiratory Health
Since the exercises are super fast in pace, you tend to breathe very heavily during the workout thereby allowing your lungs to efficiently take in oxygen and deliver it to the muscles that are working continuously. Insanity workouts help to enhance your respiratory function.
Apart from this, insanity workouts also help to improve your sleeping patterns and posture while increasing your testosterone levels and good cholesterol levels. It also decreases your blood pressure levels.
How Many Calories Does Insanity Workout Burn?
Insanity workout claims to burn 1000 calories per workout. Is that what you really are burning?
According to the Insanity web site, exercising at this extreme intensity level will help you burn up to 1,000 calories an hour. There are 10 workouts in the Insanity program. Each routine takes between 30 and 60 minutes to complete, and you do them a grueling 6 days a week.
However, this is not the case for all those who did the program. There are other people who follow insanity for 60 days and recorded 200 to 600 calories burned per workout.
Everyone is different when it comes to burning calories. There are factors you need to consider like your weight, sex, age, how hard you work, how long the workout is and what are the workout you did. To get an accurate measurement of the calories that you are burning per workout you can invest in a Heart Rate monitor.
However, if you don’t have a heart rate monitor the Insanity calorie calculator estimates the calories burned based on average metabolic rates per intensity.
How to Calculate Burn Calories
You can calculate burn calories or total energy expended using the Calorie burned formula.
This formula depends on your overall activity level, thermic effect of food, and basal metabolic rate. They are measured in MET(Metabolic Equivalent For Task).
For instance, activities like aerobic dancing may have higher METs or lower METs depending on the amount of impact Here’s how the formula works:
Total Calories Burned = Duration (measured in minutes) × MET value × 3.5 × weight(measured in kg) ÷ 200
You can do this calculation on your calculators. In recent times, most calculators have inbuilt MET functions. There are also other factors that influence the rate of burning calories. This includes:
- Intake of Oxygen
- Sleep
- Diet
- Fitness Level
- Temperature
- Body composition
- Age
