Today is a rest day from the grimed of 5-3-1 Insanity. I am thankful for the chance to rest. After yesterday's quad-focused workout my legs are toast.

After waking up early this morning for a hockey game in Oxnard, California, I immediately felt the DOMS in my quads. The soreness is both a blessing and a curse. I can tell that my legs got a great workout, but I am completely drained. This is because I am leaving it all on the gym floor. At the same time, my cardio is at an all-time high because of Insanity.

At times I wonder if my body will be able to recover. I am watching recovery very carefully. I have a Plan B if I am not recovering and I'm reasonably certain it will work.

This time through Insanity I am very focused on keeping my core tight at all times. Insaw a big increase in core strength the first cycle of Insanity, so further focus on this area should just bring better results.

Remember to follow my 5-3-1 Insanity progress on a regular basis. Use #531insanity on Twitter to see my Tweets about it. Follow me on Twitter: @mikemahony

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I am about to finish up a week of the 5-3-1 Insanity plan that I put together to get me into the best shape of my life by my 46th birthday on January 16, 2011.  It has been an amazing, but grueling experience so far.

The idea that focusing on one major exercise is going to increase my strength really had me wondering when I first started.  Now, after executing several workouts in this fashion, I can safely say that I can see why it should work.  The assistance exercises that go along with the main focus really stress the muscles.  For instance, after doing deadlifts, good mornings and hanging ab raises, my lower back was on fire for 2 days!  However, I came back for my next deadlift day and was stronger on both the deadlifts and the good mornings.

Adding in Insanity to the mix has been intense!  My body is sore from the 5-3-1 workouts and the Insanity workouts are not making that any better.  However, I find that having a goal of being in the best shape of my life by the end of the plan has motivated me even more this time around.  I am very focused on the workouts.  However, as always, my biggest downfall is how I eat.  I can be consistent in short periods of time, but then I tend to fall off the wagon.  That is why I am taking some advice I gave out in the past–I will tackle this one day at a time.  Small victories will be piled up to create the larger victory–the accomplishment of my major goal.

To describe how I feel is difficult, but I will give it my best shot.  My muscles are now constantly sore in some area of my body.  At the same time, I do not feel run down.  I am pumped and ready to accomplish anything each day.  My body is recovering with the help of Scivation's Xtend, simply the best BCAA supplement I've ever tried.  As long as I recover I can push myself harder and harder on each workout.  Mentally I am having a tough time with the Insanity workouts.  The addition of the weight training, something I really love, has given me a mental block as far as my cardio goes.  So far it hasn't been a problem for me.

I am going to continue with this program full force and I am hoping you will continue to support me in my progress.

Be sure to continue reading this blog.  Follow me on Twitter:  @MikeMahony.  Be my friend on Facebook. Be sure to follow my personal blog as well:  The Muscle Building Fat Burning Machine.

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5-3-1 Insanity:  The Facts

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When I wanted to increase my fat loss I knew that Insanity by Shawn T was the way to go. Insanity is built around maximum intensity interval training. The program changes up a lot over the 9 weeks to keep the body guessing. I managed to lose 19 lbs. In 9 weeks on this plan.

The 5-3-1 program is designed to increase strength in a short amount of time. The program focuses on 4 major lifts – overhead press, squat, dead lift and bench press – along with a small amount of assistance exercises. All of the lifts require you to find your one rep maximum. You then take 90% of your max to calculate your starting weight. The program is built around 4 week training cycles. When you complete one week successfully you raise your wets – 5 lbs. for the upper body and 10 lbs. for the lower body.

With my 46th birthday approaching in January 2011, I wanted to be in the best shape of my life. In order to achieve that goal, I came up with the 5-3-1 Insanity hybrid. I will use both programs – 5-3-1 for strength and Insanity for cardio. Here are the 4 benefits I can see.

1. Extreme intensity cardio

It is hard to get maximum cardio effort out of someone. Insanity forces you to push hare and harder. The result is that your cardio intensity increases immensely.

2. More strength = bigger muscles

My good friend, Carlos DeJesus, always says that in order for a muscle to get stronger it must also get bigger. I know all the arguments about this and allmi can say is that my evidence supports this conclusion. For instance, my triceps are much stronger and they got much bigger as a result of the increased strength.

3. Larger engine burns more fat

A bigger engine requires more food. By increasing the size of your muscles you increase the size of the engine. This means your body will burn more fat as a result of the increase in muscle mass.

4. Cardio and weight training – a balanced approach

Cardio alone will burn up lean mass. Weight training alone won't burn enough calories for maximum fat loss. A combination of intense cardio and intense weight training will bring about the results you are after.

I encourage you to follow my progress on this program. I am writing an accountability blog at The Fat Burning Muscle Building Machine. Please read and then leave me comments of encouragement.

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5-3-1 Insanity:  The Experience

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Yesterday we had a discussion about consistency in training. That is obviously a key element in successful training, but there will come a time when it isn't enough.

What To Do When You're Not Motivated

Motivation and inspiration are often thought of as being the same. The fact is that inspiration most often comes from an external source while motivation always comes from within yourself (see articles by Anthony Robbins for more). This is where persistence comes into play.

There will come a time when you will be too tired to hit the gym. It is that very moment that you need to pull out your persistence behavior. Don't let yourself give in to the urge to skip your training session. Being persistent will build mental strength. Being persistent will take you to the next level.

Coupling this persistence with consistency will simply explode your results.  The persistent behaviors you establish will take your training to places you never dreamed possible.  People have achieved incredible things just by being persistent.  You have to be persistent like the squeaky wheel.

What To Do When You Hit a Plateau

It is here where your persistence pays off te most. Do not give up. Do not be afraid to try some new approaches. Drop your weight lower and start the progression again. With persistence you will see that breaking through your plateau is not impossible.

Too many people simply give up and still too many others just bash their head into the plateau.  This is not the right approach.  A persistent effort to overcome the plateau is required to see progress.  With persistence you will get to the other side of the plateau.

I have a saying that I got from my good friend, Carlos Dejesus.  My saying is “Go beyond!”  This means push past the pain you feel in your muscles.  As long as you can move the weight you should move the weight.  Persistent behavior requires that you endure some pain.  Don't back down!

If you do both of these things you are going to see improvements purely because of persistence.

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This past Sunday I started a heavy training cycle. It has been 24 weeks since my last heavy cycle.

As I train more and more Iearn better ways to challenge my body. I consistently conduct the Experiment of One and apply what I learn. One thing I have learned is that my body can't take a heavy cycle for more than 6 weeks at a time.

Changing things up is an important principle to learn. Do not overdo it. Don't be the person who changes exercises constantly. Be the person who sticks with a plan and changes it up every 4 to 6 weeks. You will find that your results will improve if you do.

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