Blog Post #5 (last one)

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this bittersweet moment.  Unfortunately, this is the last blog post I will be doing and that means my wild, crazy, exciting, tiring, and, obviously, insane journey has come to a close.  I am not necessarily upset- you won’t find me crying in the corner because this project is over- but I am a little bit disappointed that there will be no more insanity to update you guys on.  And it’s not just that, I am a bit sad that I won’t be able to share tips with you guys and be able to really share my experiences.  I am also a bit melancholy about the fact that I won’t be able to read all of your blogs and learn about the interesting and amazing things you are all doing.  Even though this was a school project, I really had fun and enjoyed writing and readings blogs.  I feel as though we have become a closer-knit gifted class because we can all share the same ups and downs, goods and bads, successes and failures, and moments of pure emotion.  I definitely got to see a more personal side of you all, something beyond school life and something that truly inspires me.  I never cease to be amazed at all the fantastic and incredible things we accomplished as a gifted community and I give us a round of applause for that.  So thank you, for giving me support that I greatly appreciate, and also for providing me with an intimate look into your passions and dreams.

So yeah, it’s a sad moment in my life, but it’s also a good one.  The experiences I gained from this project mean a lot to me.  I learned so much about myself and my classmates, and it’s something I truly treasure.  I also am very hopeful for the future and what it holds.  Like I said in my TED talk, hopefully you had the chance to see it, I plan on continuing to do Insanity after this project is over. My potential plan is to stop for now and wait until the end of track season to start it back up.  The future looks bright for my fitness, and Insanity will be a big part of my bigger goal.  I want to be extremely healthy and confident in my body and this project has been the first step towards achieving that goal.  I am excited to see how my fitness progresses and how I can constantly improve myself.  I also and glad to have gotten the TED talk out of the way because even though I cherished the opportunity to speak with all of you and share my ideas, it was a stressor so yeah that’s nice to not have hanging over my head.

Let me reflect for a moment on my TED talk.  I think it went very well.  I’ll try not to be cocky or arrogant or anything, but I do believe it was a very good talk and I’m proud of it.  For those who did not see it, the big message behind it was that importance of staying active.  I think that what I really liked about mine was that the application was extremely useful and specific.  Rather than something super vague like “work hard and persevere”, I made mine as applicable to student life as I can, and hopefully it is something that people can embrace easily.  And another thing that I think made my TED talk a success is that it originally was not supposed to be a TED talk.  I gave basically the same speech to my mom a few days before my talk and it was something really genuine and something that I truly believe in.  It was the any BS thing that I made up to sound smart, it was something that I think can really change the way other people view exercise.

I can confidently say I thought my TED talk was a success and overall I thought that this project was a success.  I am completely happy with my decision to do Insanity and I am psyched about what is to come for me and for all of you.  Even though I am a bit sad that these blogs will stop, I am confident each and every one of you will continue to aspire to greatness and give Gifted a good name. 

Thanks for all of the support throughout this blog and stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

Blog Post #4

Hi, everyone. 

Welcome to my 4th written weekly update, the last one before my big presentation.  It's been a while since my last post, because the vlog took up all of my time last week.  I have a lot to report on and some things to update you guys on.  Let's take a look.

Since the last time I posted, a lot has happened.  We are a few weeks into the track season, so I've been balancing track and Insanity for quite a while now.  I have had my fair share of roadblocks, to say the least, but overall it has gone alright.  The first few days into the track season, I did my Insanity workouts with a fantastic enthusiasm.  I was a little bit naïve, I must admit, to think that I would have this kind of energy for the entire track season.  Anyway, the first few days I completed Insanity and track, both to the fullest of my ability.  I was tired, but I was very optimistic and excited about it.  After about the third day or so, I started to lose a lot of that enthusiasm I had.  All my activities had started to catch up with me.  I was insanely tired after the workouts and had a tough time completing all of my homework well.  It was impossible to wake up, and I could feel my performance in track and in Insanity starting to get worse.

During the next few days, I lost all motivation during Insanity.  During the workouts, instead of going as hard as I could, I would just go through the motions and not really get anything out of the workout.  Instead of doing as many pushups in the allotted time, I did as few as I could.  I realized that this was not going to work and I got discouraged.  Then I started to think about it more and applied some of the potential solutions I laid out last update.  I turned my off day from Sunday to Monday since Monday is the hardest workout. I also gave myself another off day.  SO instead of a 6 workout week, it turned into a 5 workout week.  I am okay with this decision, and hopefully you guys are too, because I am getting more out of it.  Overall, it becomes more beneficial.  Rather than 6 half-hearted workouts, I got 5 intense workouts.  My off days were Monday and Wednesday because they are the hardest workouts during track.

After I adjusted my schedule to fit the needs of the track season, I felt better and everything improved.  I completed my homework to a high standard and feel more energized.  I think the change in schedule and getting accustomed to this higher workload both contributed to the better feeling of my workouts.

This week I decided to look into how working out improves other areas of one's life, because I certainly felt like working out helped other areas of my personal life. 

According to livestrong.com, exercising releases endorphins within the brain.  Endorphins are chemicals released in the brain that "reduce the perception of pain, improve immunity and help you relax."  So, in essence, endorphins boost your mood and are all natural.  Not only does working out create these good chemicals, but it also reduces bad hormones like adrenalin and cortisol, which cause tension and anxiety.  This article also explains how exercising can help you emotional health.  It can provide a distraction from outside worries, and also widen social circles.

Another good source was an article by Leo Widrich published on fastcompany.com.  When you start exercising, your brain determines that it is a "moment of stress."  In order to protect yourself, your brain will release the BDNF protein which "has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch."  Brain activity actually increases a lot during exercise(picture below) and this protein and endorphins helps the brain work during these times.

Through this research I figured out how exercising truly does influence other aspects of your life in a positive manner.  I noticed this for myself through my Insanity program, and I love doing these exercises. 

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

VLOG

Hey, everyone!

I have some exciting news for you today.  I created my first vlog and am now here to share it with you.  If you didn't know, a vlog is a video blog so it's basically what I would be writing about during a blog but in video form! Hopefully you guys find this enjoyable and it sort of gives you a glimpse into what I'm doing.
https://vimeo.com/121811589

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

Fit Test #2 Scores !!

Greetings everyone!

Today (3/3) I am happy to report that I have updated the fit test spread sheet.  As you probably know, I completed my second fit test (which occurs every 2 weeks) yesterday and I achieved MAJOR MAJOR improvement!  In every single category my scores were higher and I generally just felt stronger while doing these exercises.  I'll post the link to the spreadsheet now: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QLdBq3KrApzbNgdy74IQKiB6X0CAGsdBKRsFB5UyA70/edit?usp=sharing

Take a minute and look at my scores and then the graph I provided.

As you can tell, I made major improvements in every single activity, meaning the all the muscles throughout my body got a lot stronger.  Now you may look at one like globe jumps and think "What? he only improved by 5 jumps! That's not that good" but in reality, I improved plenty.  One rep of a globe jump is really 4 jumps.  You jump right, back, left, up and that counts as one rotation.  I won't give a complete overview of what each exercise is right now, but just know that I did improve by a TON.

I knew that I would improve in the second go around, but I didn't think I would improve this much! I am really excited about my results and truly proud of myself for accomplishing this.  Hopefully the next fit test will see another improvement!

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

Blog Post #3

Hello everyone! How goes it?

As you have hopefully gathered from the title, this is the third weekly update of this project.  We are about half way done.  I had another very successful week of Insanity and am pleased to report that progress has been made.  I have continued to follow this schedule:

I completed all of the workouts on the second week and am going to do the second fit test tonight (3/2).  I can truly say I am excited to see all the progress that I have made in my fitness.

I can most definitely tell that my level of fitness, endurance, and strength has increased since the first workout.  On the first day, I couldn't even finish the warm up without stopping to take a quick break.  Now, I can easily finish the warm up and get nearly the entire workout in without taking a break to rest.  Exercises that were once impossible are now very attainable for me.  There is no doubt in my mind that my fit test scores are going to increase dramatically and I am very, very excited to see the results.  Another area where there is certain improvement is in my flexibility.  You see, after the warm up, there is about 6 minutes of stretching that Shaun T. leads us through.  There is also a 4 minute stretching session at the very end of the video.  When I first started Insanity, I would do the stretches but not be able to go down very far.  Now, I can stretch A LOT farther and I guarantee I am more flexible.  One particular stretch comes to mind for me.  There is something called a deep lunge that is part of the stretching routine in Insanity.  I had never heard of it before Insanity and it looks like this:
 

When I did this for the first time, I came nowhere close to being able to get into that deep of a lunge.  Instead, I just did a standard lunge.  However, through two weeks of intense stretching, I can now get into a deep lunge on both sides!  This seems to stick with me more than any other stretch because the deep lunge is a stretch that you either can do or you can't do.  Therefore, it is much easier to track than say a butterfly stretch.  My progress in stretching and flexibility is very apparent and will hopefully help in my overall fitness and especially my running.

Now I am going to be completely honest with you guys and as transparent as I can be.  The spring track season is starting today, and I am going to be doing a track workout every day after school from now until the end of the season.  Obviously, this could be an interference with my Insanity schedule.  However, I made a pledge to complete this workout program and I will honor it.  My plan moving forward is fairly simple.  I will continue to do the Insanity workout once I get home from track, but I will change up the schedule a little bit.  In Insanity, the off-day is on Sunday.  I shall change that off-day to Monday, because Monday usually consists of the hardest track workout of the week.  My adjusted schedule would have an Insanity workout on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then a track workout on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  I will also add that I do not think that the trouble with a double workout would be my body's health (track workouts are not too hard on my body- I think I can handle a track workout then Insanity workout in one day), but rather the trouble would be time.  If I do not get home until 5:00-5:30ish, then have to do possibly an hour long workout, I could be stressed for time to do homework and get to sleep at a reasonable hour.  I will try my hardest to do an Insanity workout every day after track, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee that time will permit this.  I will however promise to be truthful to all of you and report if I end up skipping one workout.

Another little side note with all of this track stuff is that during track, we often do something called "Ford's Core".  My coach, Mr. Ford, has us do strength and core exercises after practices on occasional days.  These exercises are similar in some ways to the things I am doing in Insanity, so I will sit out Ford's Core.  I will talk to Mr. Ford and I am sure he will be understanding of the predicament I am in and allow this behavior.  Hopefully, track will not interfere too much with my Insanity workouts and I can continue to progress my overall fitness.  And by the way, if you have better suggestions to how I could deal with the issue of track + Insanity, feel free to leave it in the comments.  I would gladly take your ideas.

On a completely different note, this week I decided to study up on how muscles actually become more flexible.  I was very interested to learn about this because of my epiphany about deep lunges (see beginning of blog post).  What I discovered about flexibility was much different than what I was lead to believe growing up.

For* some odd reason, we have this idea that flexibility is something you are born with.  It is either something you have or you do not have, but this assumption is false (Read).  Another misconception is that flexibility applies throughout your entire body, while in reality, a loose upper body does not mean you have a loose lower body (MIT).  That is, flexibility is one joint or area does not correlate with flexibility in another joint or area.  Flexibility is in fact like any other exercise.  It takes long hours of work to truly see an improvement.  Simply stretching for 2 minutes at the end of a workout 3 days each week will not help your flexibility significantly (Read).

Overstretching is also a big concern when trying to maximize flexibility.  When you stretch in order to increase flexibility, often times you get this tightness.  I'm sure you get it; I surely do.  This is your body's "emergency brake" (Thomas).  This happens because your muscle senses a lengenthing that the nervous system deems could be harmful (Read).  Your body is trying to protect itself from any harm that could come from stretching it too far.  A stretch that is too far can create an "inflammatory response" that can be very harmful (Tancock).  An analogy that Thomas used that I think is very effective is one of a car on the edge of a cliff.  When you stretch too far, it is pushing this car off the cliff.  Your nervous system, the thing causing the tightness, is the car's emergency brake.  Under no circumstances would the person driving the car release the emergency brake and the nervous system works the same way.  Finally, overstretching a muscle can be harmful because there is a "tradeoff between flexibility and stability" (MIT).  Once you become too flexible, you lose a lot of stability that is just as important.

One thing that is very influential in flexibility are these biological units called sarcomeres.  They are the "basic contractile units of our muscles" (Thomas).  These are the things that generate force and make our muscles move.  When you are in one position for a long time, for instance sitting, the sarcomeres change so that it makes said position much easier to attain.  After sitting in a chair for a long time, the sarcomeres make it so that sitting is the new normal, and therefore make it harder to be flexible in the hamstrings (hamstrings are contracted while sitting).

Well that raps up this blog post.  I had a fantastic week of Insanity and hope to continue this great trend.  I will be posting again in the near future to update my fit test scores. 

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

*All information I use is from one of these sources: http://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_3.html (we will title this MIT), http://www.besthealthmag.ca/best-you/stretching/what-really-happens-when-you-stretch-your-muscles#QPQetf0siVEaf6vk.97 (we will title this Tancock), http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/flexibility-is-like-any-other-discipline-it-takes-discipline (we will title this Read), or http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/stretching-doesnt-work-the-way-you-think-it-does (we will title this Thomas)

Quick Note

Hey everyone!

This is not my weekly update or anything like that, I just have something to share with y'all.  So with this fit test (hopefully you remember what that is) I have to record my results.  My plan is to put them all in a spread sheet and then graph my progress and all that good stuff.  I've been super busy with different things and I finally got the first week's data into a spreadsheet so I'll share that with you now:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QLdBq3KrApzbNgdy74IQKiB6X0CAGsdBKRsFB5UyA70/edit?usp=sharing

Right now, I'm sure that spreadsheet does not look like much, but hopefully over time and with more fit tests it will become something of substance.  Eventually there will be graphs and trends so I guess that's something to look forward to.

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

Check this out

Hey guys!

So I know I posted my weekly update earlier today, but I have something cool that you guys might like to see.  Continuing the theme of the importance of the warm up, I made this pretty neat little video.  I recorded myself with my phone while I did most of the 9 minute warm up and then imported it to my computer.  Using iMovie, I turned that 9 minute video into a 1 minute time lapse and it's actually pretty cool.  Check it out!

Hopefully you guys found some enjoyment from my suffering and please excuse the sexiness of the video.

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

Blog Post #2

Hey everyone and welcome to the SECOND blog post on this blog about becoming insane. 

So my training regimen started on Monday (2/16) and I have just completed the first week of exercises.  The week went like this: fit test (Monday), plyometric cardio circuit (Tuesday), cardio power and resistance (Wednesday), cardio recovery (Thursday), pure cardio (Friday), plyometric cardio circuit (Saturday), and off day (Sunday).  It was a one heck of a week.  Every part of my body, and I mean EVERY part of my body, is sore and hurts every time I move.  Coming into Insanity, I thought it would be a challenge, but I would manage just fine since I am an athletically fit person and play many other sports.  I was sadly mistaken. 

Even the first day, which is supposed to be simply a fit test was, quite frankly, impossible.  I was expecting that it would be a nice and easy day that would give me a baseline for my athletic ability.  Instead, I was given one of the hardest workouts of my life.  The fit test is eight exercises that must be completed, and you mark down the number of reps of each one you do in the allotted time (one minute).  It does not seem that bad, right? There is really only 8 minutes of actual exercise.  Well, I accounted for neither the warm up, nor the difficulty of the drills.  The warm up was a challenge in and of itself.  By the time I got to the exercises that I tracked, I was exhausted!  After I finally finished the workout, I wanted to lie down on the floor and die.  Honestly.  I was beat.  These 8 exercises worked all of my muscles from my calf's to my thighs to my core to my chest to my shoulders.  I felt like I was doing the steroid version of "head shoulders knees and toes".  The next day after completing the fit test I struggled to get out of bed.  Everything was sore.

The following day's workout was no easier.  It was the plyometric cardio circuit which really was not easy at all.  I struggled through it just as much as I struggled through the fit test, however mentally I was better prepared for it.  I knew coming in that I would have to work as hard as I can to even finish the workout so there was no unfortunate surprise like on Monday.  I worked through the rest of the week with difficulty, but it was manageable.  Every morning I woke up sore but feeling good because I knew how hard I had worked the night before.  The feeling of being sore in the morning validates all the pain that is suffered the night before.  Even though it hurts to stand up from my couch, it hurts in a good way.  The pain of being sore is truly the joy of working out.

^^^this is me after every workout ("just gonna stand there and watch me burn but that's alright because I like the way it hurts")

One thing that I have noticed directly after starting Insanity is the changes in my eating habits.  I usually workout directly after school, which is around 3:15.  Before I started Insanity I would come home and do my homework while eating a TON of snacks.  I mean, I went through big bags of chips in merely two or three days.  It was pretty bad, to be honest.  I snacked way way way more than I should have and it was a terrible habit to have.  After starting Insanity, I don’t have time to snack right after school.  I come home and go straight to the workout.  Once the workout is over, I am miraculously not hungry!  I can't say I'm surprised, though.  I am a runner (cross country and track) and I noticed during those sports that I don't get hungry for a while after running.  This theory applies to Insanity and I don’t feel any hunger after finishing the workout.  Then, once dinner rolls along, I eat a larger serving of a meal and far fewer snacks.  This tradeoff is most definitely good for my health.  I am receiving more proteins, fruits, and vegetables while receiving less fats, carbs, and sugars. 

Another big thing I noticed throughout the first week of Insanity was the length of time spent of the warm up, stretching, and cool down.  Typically, Insanity take 40 minutes.  The first 15 are spent warming up and stretching, the next 20 are spend with the actual workout, and the last 5 are cooling down.  There is an astounding amount of time warming up* and I wanted to figure out why.

This is a demo of what the warm up looks like.

I knew that Insanity does everything for a reason and there is certainly a important reason why so much time is spent on the warm up and stretching.  I decided to look into the value of the warm up and stretching in biological terms.

From all the information I have found, one things stays constant: warming up and stretching is a MUST.  Warming up but not stretching is bad, as is stretching but not warming up.  Both need to be done in order for safe and effective physical activity.  According to FitDay (http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/exercises/the-importance-of-doing-warm-up-exercises-before-working-out.html#b), many people lump warming up and stretching together, but this is not true.  Yes, both are done before a workout, but they serve different purposes.  I may venture to say that warming up is helpful in more ways that stretching, but stretching is still vital to a healthy workout.  Stretching's purpose is to, well, stretch out the muscles of your body.  While stretching out, you decrease you risk of pulling that muscle during the workout.  You also increase flexibility and range of motion in those muscles (also according to FitDay http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/stretching/5-benefits-of-stretching.html#b).  Warming up has different benefits. 

When warming up, many things happen within your muscles and the overall effect is that the muscles becoming warmer.  Once this muscle is warmed, it can constrict more forcefully and relax quicker.  Range of motion is also increased through a warm up.  These also help in decreasing the risk of pulling a muscle.  Your blood vessels will dialate during the warm up and this is healthy because it lowers stress on the heart by lowering resistance in the blood flow.  By sweating during the warm up, your body allows itself to cool down faster and reduce the risk of overheating during the workout itself.  Finally, the warm up create hormonal changes within your body.  More carbohydrates and fatty acids are produced during the warm up which will provide the energy to complete the workout.  All of these benefits are according to Sports Medicine Expert Elizabeth Quinn (http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/injuryprevention/a/aa071001a.htm).

According to a study found at NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12762825), there is no conclusive proof about which stretches and warm ups work the best.  Instead, the best way to figure out which warm up is best is through trial and error and discovering which work for your body.  Everyone's body is different, and the warm up and stretching should reflect that.

Overall, this was a fantastic first week of Insanity and I feel as though I am already starting to take away benefits from the program.

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo

*I should note that the warm up for Insanity is not some light little jog.  This is a high-intensity warm up that focuses on both aerobic and strength training.  Doing the warm up alone would qualify as a good workout for the day.

Humble Beginnings

Hey, guys.  What's up?  This is the beginning of a super cool blog that I will be running and it is going to be awesome, trust me.  So.  What is this blog about, you ask?  Well, this is chronicling my adventure through the Genius Project, a project in which I was given about seven weeks to do basically anything and hone my skills in what I choose.  As you may have guessed, I choose the workout program Insanity.  Yeah, I'll be ripped at the end of these seven weeks.  Maybe I'll even do a before and after picture.  Hmm.  That's something to consider.

Okay so why Insanity?  Well I have a few motivations for choosing this.  When I first heard about this project I immediately knew that I wanted to do something active or physical.  Obviously, Insanity fits this bill. This program is really going to help me in my everyday life because I play many different sports.  Insanity focuses on both the aerobic side of fitness and also the strength side.  Because of that, it will help me in cross country and track through the aerobic training.  It will also help me in soccer and basketball because being a better all-around athlete will make me a better player.  I also want to overall be a healthier person.  While I am not a fitness nut, per say, I enjoy being healthy and feeling good about myself.  Another inspiration of mine is that my uncle is very into fitness and being healthy.  He did Insanity a few months ago and raves about it all the time.  So much so that he even got my Dad to start doing it.  When I see my Dad doing it, I think to myself "Come on, Evan.  If your Dad is doing it then you need to be able to do it yourself."

One thing that is nice about the Insanity program is that it comes with a timeline of when each workout should happen.  I simply need to follow this workout program.  There are workouts six days each week with minimal breaks.  During these seven weeks, I will be working out after school every day while concurrently doing research on the biology of the human body.  I will be exploring how working out affects my body and how muscles are formed.  

Another plus with Insanity is that there is not very much equipment required.  You simply need the discs and an open space to exercise, which of course I have.  Insanity uses exercises that use your own body weight as resistance so no weights are needed.  

The overall goals of this project for me is to become a healthier person overall.  When I work so hard, and suffer so much through the workouts, then I will not want to ruin what I just accomplished by eating a pizza two hours later.  I think it is kind of this natural progression that comes with working out.  If I work out consistently, then my diet and eating habits and sleep cycles will all improve.  Also, from what I have read and heard, Insanity is one of the toughest and most demanding workout regimens out there.  So when I complete it from start to finish, I will learn determination, perseverance, and dedication.  I can then apply those traits to other aspects of my life such as school.

I will be able to measure my progress from Insanity in a logical and organized way.  Insanity provides a fitness test every two weeks and at the very start of the regimen.  In those tests, you are supposed to do different exercises and see how many you can do in one minute.  I will mark these stats down in an organized fashion and then I can see how I progress throughout the weeks.  I expect to see a definitive change in my fitness.

After listening to me ramble about how Insanity is going to profoundly change my life, I hope you will join me for the rest of my journey, the ups and downs, and help me get through the workout regimen.  Keep checking the blog for more information.

Stay with me.

-Evan Kuo