Insanity: The Asylum Review (Shaun T) (Volume 1: Sports Performance)

Insanity: The Asylum Volume 1: Sports Performance is a 30 day workout program created by fitness mastermind Shaun T with the goal of getting you into eliteathletic shape. The Asylum is meant to be done in 30 days of hardcore workouts that combine strength, agility, core, and cardio. The reason that it will get you into elite athletic shape is because these workouts are the hardest home DVD workout series ever created. If you don’t think that you are in good enough shape to try something like this, you probably aren’t.

Me finished with The Asylum

Only when you have finished the full 60 days of Insanity (read my “Insanity Review“) should you consider yourself ready for The Asylum. There are a lot of really cocky people out there that always want to try the latest, greatest, and toughest, but to be completely honest, unless you know you are in relatively good shape, there is no way you will be able to handle the intensity of these workouts. Although you probably can survive them by taking a lot of breaks, it would be a lot more beneficial if you did a workout series that you could handle before trying the most badass stuff out there.

The Asylum is not for people that are just starting out – it is for the people who already believe that they are in good shape. If you are only in mediocre shape, you probably can make it through The Asylum, but you will be taking so many breaks, that it really wouldn’t be a smart workout for you. If you are only in mediocre shape, I recommend doing the full 90 days of P90X (read my “P90X Review“) before even moving on to the regular Insanity. I am not trying to discourage people from trying The Asylum, but I just want to make it super clear that it is NOT for the new kids on the block.

The Asylum: You Think You Know… But You Have No Idea (Video)

Below I’m going to write up an Insanity The Asylum Review for you to check out if you are interested in the program. I will highlight some of my personal experiences, show you my before and after pictures, discuss my results, and will write about the workouts that Shaun T had me do. I will also write about the equipment that comes standard with The Asylum, any additional equipment that you may need, and what you need to know before starting this program.

Insanity: The Asylum Review (Volume 1: Sports Performance)

What is the Purpose of Insanity: The Asylum?

The reason that The Asylum was created by Shaun T is to help people reach an elite level of fitness in just 30 days. He also wanted to give people something to do after they already finished the original Insanity series. Shaun has continued creating awesome workouts for Beachbody like his Insanity: Fast & Furious (20 Minute Workout), but he wanted to give the people something really insane, so he decided to throw us into The Asylum after our original bout of Insanity.

Elite Fitness – There is no question that The Asylum is designed for people who want to get into peak physical shape. If you consider yourself elite in terms of fitness, you are going to be challenged in The Asylum. There are a lot of people out there that are just looking for a new challenge to conquer or new goal to set, and this is perfect – especially if you have already done P90X and Insanity. Although I used to play soccer, tennis, hockey, and baseball back in the day, I don’t think that there was a single practice as tough as these workouts. Well maybe the times that we went without pucks and had to skate sprints for 50 minutes straight were just as tough, but these workouts are literally fucking crazy. So if you want to consider yourself elite, Shaun T challenges you, and I challenge you, to give The Asylum a shot.

Sports Performance – Since this is titled “Sports Performance” it does have a heavy emphasis on getting athletes into elite shape for their designated sports. If you play a sport and do The Asylum, you will probably be in the best shape out of anyone on your team if you are able to handle it – that’s real talk. I would recommend The Asylum to any athlete looking for some great off-season training to help them get into good shape. No matter if you play football, soccer, hockey, baseball, basketball, rugby, swimming, tennis, etc. – this will have your physical fitness level higher than 99% of competitors (unless they too have done The Asylum).

Who is an ideal candidate for Insanity: The Asylum?

Athletes – If you play a sport and really want to be among the best conditioned on your team, The Asylum will get you there. I have personally worked one-on-one with a trainer who has worked with gold medal Olympians and NFL players. He had our group of athletes use an agility ladder every day before our workout to improve our agility. Although he really knew his stuff, I honestly got a significantly more hardcore workout with The Asylum than I did with him. The Asylum really has everything you need to be the best possible conditioned athlete.

Brief Segment of Game Day (Video)

Graduates of Insanity – If you have already graduated from the 60 day Insanity series, I highly recommend moving on to The Asylum. Not only will you be surprised at how difficult it is, you will be impressed at the fact that Shaun T incorporates the pull up bar, agility bands, dumbbells, a jump rope, and a ladder. Although I am a HUGE fan of the original Insanity, the 30 days of The Asylum is more intense and is really the most hardcore workout on DVD. I personally think that I may have had a little bit more fun with the original Insanity, but I needed to mix things up.

People in great shape – If you are already in pretty good shape and want to put your body to the ultimate test in just 30 days, this is the program for you. Although I would encourage you to check out Insanity before moving onto The Asylum, you could hop right into The Asylum if you are already in great shape. Be honest with yourself though; don’t try to hype yourself up like you’re in good shape if you’re really out of it. Go do Insanity first, then consider The Asylum if you are able to survive.

What are some examples of Insanity: The Asylum workouts?

Brief Segment of Vertical Plyo (Video)

There are a total of 6 unique workouts in The Asylum workout program and they are all great. In my experience with The Asylum, I kept a personal journal of my daily experiences with the workouts. If you want to know what exercises are included in each workout and/or how much of a challenge the workouts were for me, be sure to check out my experiences. Below I linked to each time that I first experienced a particular workout in the program. You will see “Game Day” listed twice because the second time, there is an extra workout tacked onto the end called “Overtime.”

Speed & Agility (Day 1) – Speed and Agility is what the program starts with on your very first day. It is an intense cardio routine that will be a challenge from the very beginning.
Strength (Day 2) – This is probably one of the most intense Strength workouts I have ever done. You use dumbbells, your arms burn, your shoulders burn, and it is really a challenge from the warm up to finish.
Back To Core (Day 3) – I loved this workout because your back and core will feel engaged well after you are done with this routine. If you want a challenging core workout, this is what you need.
Vertical Plyo (Day 4) – This is the hardest plyometrics workout I have ever done and yes I have done P90X and Insanity. You really have absolutely no clue how hard this routine is until you actually do it. I guarantee you that no matter how “in shape” you are, you will have to take breaks your first time doing this – it is very fucking ridiculous.
Rest Day (Day 5) – There are 2 rest days in the 30 days and you don’t have to do anything.
Relief (Day 10) – This is a very relaxing set of stretches that Shaun T has you do in order to help you get “relief” from all of the intense exercises.
Game Day (Day 11) – Game Day combines strength, speed, agility, cardio, core, etc. all into one long intense workout. Not only that, but Shaun makes it fun by grouping the activities into sports.
Game Day + Overtime (Day 19) – Eventually you get to do Game Day and you go into Overtime which is an extra workout that you do right when Game Day ends. Trust me, you will feel like you already died well before you even get to OT… Pushing through OT feels like you are literally committing suicide by working out.
Athletic Performance Assessment (Day 30) – You take the athletic performance assessment test (or Fit Test) before starting The Asylum, on Day 15, and on Day 30 to see how you’ve progressed.

Insanity The Asylum Review: My Personal Experience

The reason that I decided to try The Asylum is because I needed a new fitness challenge in my life. I had been working out this past summer every day doing various strength routines, core routines, and I rollerbladed in addition to these workouts for roughly 4 miles prior and 4 miles after. Although I really love rollerblading to the gym to lift weights, do incline sit ups, push ups, dips, pull ups, etc. – I needed something new. When I saw Shaun T poppin off on YouTube saying, “You think you know, but you have no idea” in the commercial, I got excited.

Literally immediately after seeing the commercial, I went to Amazon and ordered The Asylum (impulse shopping at its finest). When it arrived in the mail, I was excited and actually a little bit scared to try it after reading about other people’s experiences with it. Should I have been scared? Yes. It is scary because it will not only push you physically, but it will challenge you to push yourself mentally. At the end of the day, fitness is more mental than physical: motivating yourself to do the workouts each day, always doing your best, and coming back for more after getting your ass kicked.

When I did my first Athletic Performance Assessment to check my level of fitness, I thought that I was in pretty darn good shape from working out this past summer. I didn’t think that the fit test was too difficult, but when the first week of actual workouts hit me, I was really 5-finger Rick James smacked out of my comfort zone. I felt like the first 5 days of the program were the absolute toughest because those 5 days felt like I was getting ready to train for the Olympics or international Crossfit qualifiers…haha When I made it through the first 5 days, it felt like it was going to be a long 30 days because I was so exhausted after each workout.

It wasn’t until AFTER Day 20 of The Asylum: Vertical Plyo when I felt like each day was flowing by without as much effort as the beginning. The first 20 days were a huge commitment and I was extremely tired after every single workout. I even felt tired and muscle fatigue on the days off, but that was part of getting stronger. The workouts remained difficult all the way up until Day 30 because you can always improve, but things got easier after Day 20 in regards to the fact that I felt like I was in better shape and more equipped to really kick ass in the final 10 days. In other words, I directly observed myself improve in both strength and cardio as the 30 day series progressed.

When I took the final fitness test on Day 30, I knew I was ready to improve upon my previous results. In comparison to before the program started, I was in peak physical shape. When Day 30 ended, I had stronger shoulders and arms, a stronger core and back (especially lower back), stronger legs, and my cardio was literally off the Richter thanks to these bossy workouts that Shaun T was able to create.

Below are my before and after pictures from the 30 days of The Asylum. You may not notice a huge difference because I was in pretty damn good shape before, but I can tell you that the results exceeded my expectations – they were probably the best results I have gotten from any workout routine. I think that my abs are pretty damn ripped and my arms are stronger than when I started. Once again though, my speed, agility, control, and mental focus also improved as was measurable with my fit test results.

Insanity: The Asylum (Before and After Pictures)

Before The Asylum

After The Asylum

Athletic Performance Assessment a.k.a. The Asylum Fit Test Results

Buying Insanity: The Asylum – How Much Does it Cost?

1. Insanity: The Asylum $140.80 (Regular Edition) (Free Shipping) (ships within a few days)

2. Insanity: The Asylum $209.60 (Deluxe Edition) (Free Shipping) (Includes Pull Up Bar, Bands, Jump Rope, Ladder)

***NOTE:*** I HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting the more expensive DELUXE EDITION because the pull up bar that they give you is perfect AND you will be really pissed off if you don’t have the proper arm bands and ankle bands for Vertical Plyo. I would have bought this version without hesitation if I would have known. Fortunately I already had a pull up bar and bands from P90X, but my bands had a little bit too much resistance compared to these. I would buy this version without thinking twice for the ankle bands alone. Plus the pull up bar that it comes with is really badass and looks to be one of the best.

What you get when you order Insanity: The Asylum…

The Asylum workout DVD’s – As I already mentioned, you will get all 6 action packed The Asylum DVD’s that come in the form of a cool booklet that you can easily flip through. These workouts are going to be a nightmare. Fortunately they are packaged in a small booklet that’s not too intimidating for most people.

Some stuff with The Asylum

The Asylum wall calendar – I personally think that the wall calendar for The Asylum is my favorite compared to P90X and the regular Insanity calendar because this one has some nice colors. Plus you see Shaun T and he’s doing some crazy plyo exercise (possibly floor up decoy split jumps, single leg power jumps, or layups from Game Day)…haha Anyways, the calendar is designed perfectly for The Asylum.

P90X / Insanity / Asylum hybrid calendars – If you are feeling really badass after you finish the 30 days of The Asylum, you can move on and make it a 90 day program. Beachbody used their brains and came up with two dope mash ups on the back. One is a hybrid between P90X and The Asylum and the other hybrid is between Insanity and The Asylum. Both actually look pretty tough because some of them include 2 workouts on the same day (e.g. Vertical Plyo and Back To Core).

Get Shredded (Shaun T’s 14 Day Plan for Getting Ripped) – Although I didn’t follow Shaun T’s plan included, it is really damn good. It tells you when to eat, what foods to eat, and provides some awesome recipes for healthy foods that Shaun recommends. Basically all you need to know is that if you eat carbs, have them in the morning. During this program, my diet was literally 70% eggs because I am a firm believer that protein is of high importance. Anyways, although this “Get Shredded” plan is in a booklet format, it really is top-notch advice. It does recommend eating 5x per day, but for me, less is always more (I eat about 2 meals per day with one snack in the afternoon).

Jump Rope (Speed Rope) – In my opinion, the jump rope that comes with The Asylum is pretty shitty. The good thing about it is that it does do the job and is adjustable. I used the one that came with the program for my 30 days, but I think it is really low quality. I would actually recommend buying your own jump rope if you are like me and think that the one packaged with the program really bends out of shape a lot.

Agility Ladder – The ladder that comes with The Asylum is awesome and probably my favorite tool / piece of equipment that came with it. Not only does it look cool (being bright yellow), it is pretty damn durable and works out perfectly for the agility exercises that you do.

Training Guide – This pretty much lets you know what to expect during each of the workouts and helps you track your progress. It includes spaces to write down your results from your fit tests as well as provides information about each workout. It also briefly discusses the jump rope, ladder, pull up bar, and why all of these tools are going to be very helpful as you embark on your 30 day journey.

Deluxe Edition Only

Resistance Bands – This is the main reason that I would highly encourage you to get the deluxe edition. I think it is kind of stupid that Beachbody didn’t include these bands with the standard version because you will want them for the Vertical Plyo workout. Shaun T uses them for the jumps and arms and I had to tie up a low strength band from P90X as a makeshift. Having done The Asylum, I would only buy the deluxe edition if I was able to go back in time. These bands are used for push ups, jumps, and you need them if you want the full experience.

Pull Up Bar – The pull up bar that you will get with the deluxe edition is one of the best door-mount pull up bars I have ever seen. You use these for pull ups, shoulder burners, and rock climbing exercises. Trust me, you will want a good pull up bar or you are going to fall off of Mt. Everest when you climb it on Game Day.

Highly Recommended (Additional Equipment)

Bowflex Selecttech Dumbbells – You do have the option of using strength bands instead of dumbbells, but that’s not something I would EVER do. The bands that I am referring to above are used for jumps and push ups – they are not for the curls. I would recommend making sure that you buy a set of dumbbells or get some before you even think about starting The Asylum. If you don’t use dumbbells, you are NOT going to get as good of a workout – that’s just real talk. My first round of P90X I used the “bands” and they fucking suck compared to weights… Just order a set of weights and don’t think twice. If you travel, find a weight room and use the dumbbells there because using real weight is way better than using bands.

Insanity: The Asylum Extras (Optional)

Cross training shoes – If you have shitty shoes, doing The Asylum is going to really mess up your feet and your toes are going to have problems. I used Adidas AdiZero shoes and they worked out perfectly because they let my feet breathe, they fit my feet well, and worked perfectly. For my original Insanity series I used a pair of New Balance shoes, but I think that the Adidas shoes are better. Either way, you will want to make sure that you have cross trainer shoes so that your feet don’t get injured during the workout.

Sweatbands – If you look at all of my pictures in this series (except Relief and Rest Day) I am wearing sweat bands. I recommend one for your forehead and one for each wrist because you will be sweating tons during The Asylum. Your body will literally be like a leaky faucet spewing sweat all over your floor. You will want to minimize any slip and you won’t want sweat dripping in your eyes. I personally like the new Nike bands that they have at their outlet stores because they are way wider and thicker than traditional sweatbands. Just make sure that you use something or you are going to have salty sweat dripping in your eyes.

Towels for sweat – Sweatbands can only do so much, so you will want to have a towel around to wipe yourself down. I used a towel after the warm ups as well as every single water break that we got during the workouts. If you don’t use a towel you will probably need to replace your carpets from sweat damage. If you aren’t working out on carpet, the hardwood floor is going to turn into a slip-n-slide. Just make sure you have a fresh towel on hand for each workout in The Asylum.

Recovery Formula – Although I don’t think you really need any special recovery formula if you eat the right foods, buying a good recovery formula can definitely help after workouts. I bought some generic whey protein and mixed it into a shake when I finished. I have had the P90X recovery formula and can say that I think it’s great, but definitely not really a good value for your money. You can really come up with a good recovery formula on your own if you do a little research and do a little thinking. I would recommend getting some sort of formula to drink right when you are done with these workouts because your body needs to be replenished immediately when you are done working out.

Benefits from The Asylum workout

Mental – The biggest benefit of making it through the 30 days in The Asylum is mental. Although you will get into peak physical shape by making it through this routine, the real benefit is mental. No matter how “out of shape” you ever get in the future, you can look back and know that you have what it takes within you to get yourself into elite shape. Even if I became a total fatass and my ass-cheeks grew into my couch, I’d know that I could eventually work back up to making it through The Asylum. It may take awhile, but I would know that I have the inner ability to do reach this elite level of fitness because I have already done it. Shaun T also preaches, “You can do anything that you put your mind to” and this optimistic attitude really rubs off on the people doing The Asylum.
Cardio – Your cardio will reach a level that you never thought was possible. The Vertical Plyo workout in this routine is the hardest I have ever done.
Core – The “back to core” routine is really incredible because you don’t use weights, but feel the burn in your core and entire back. My abs felt and looked pretty ripped following The Asylum routine.
Strength – I know for a fact that I was significantly stronger by the time I ended The Asylum compared to before I started. My final fit test results showed that I was able to do more pull ups and push ups in my final fit test compared to my initial fit test; the results speak for themselves.
Relaxation – I felt way more relaxed throughout the day after doing The Asylum workouts. If you are prone to stress or get anxious, these workouts are so fucking tough that they will take the edge off of any stress you’re experiencing when you are done.
Better sleep – I noticed that I slept better at night and was actually able to fall asleep on time. Before starting The Asylum, my sleep cycle was pretty messed up and this got it back on track. You will want to get a good night’s sleep or you will be scared to do the next workout.

Drawbacks of The Asylum workout

Exhaustion – If you are pushing yourself hard during these workouts, you will inevitably feel tired after doing something as wicked as Game Day + Overtime. The thing is, you usually have another workout scheduled, and if that workout happens to be Vertical Plyo, you will need to fight through the exhaustion.
NOT for everyone – I don’t really consider this a drawback, but it is NOT for everyone. Don’t think that you will be able to handle it if you are overweight, out of shape, or are just looking for some new fad. This is for people that have already finished the regular Insanity (with success) and want a new challenge. So make sure you can at least graduate from Insanity before your brain gets any ideas about trying The Asylum.

Insanity: The Asylum – Is it worth the money?

In one word, “YES.” Without a shadow of a fucking doubt, this is probably the best investment that I made this past summer. Without this workout, I probably would have been bored and when I get bored with my workouts I get depressed and it’s way harder to motivate myself to even workout. I did a lot of rollerblading, dips, bench press, curls, running, pull ups, incline sit ups, and reverse curls this past summer, but needed something different. Before starting The Asylum I was usually rollerblading, running, and sometimes biking to get cardio and I was doing a lot of strength exercises.

I don’t have a lot of people (workout buddies) that I know who could workout with me or handle this, so I was glad that I bought The Asylum. The best part about The Asylum is that Shaun T gets me to work as hard as possible in a relatively short period of time. Doing this routine was probably the best thing that I did this past summer and was literally the most challenging and rewarding routine that I have done in a long ass time. It had been almost a year since I did the original Insanity, then I went on to run my first marathon, then I was doing my own workout routines, and thank God that Shaun T put this out.

I would have paid $500 for this routine just because I think Shaun T did such a damn good job with it. Not only did he come up with great workouts, he is there motivating the heck out of you to know your limits and always push them. This may sound lame as fuck, but without this workout in my life, I would have been bored and a lot more depressed with my workout routine – I needed something new.

If I don’t have somebody else challenging me like Shaun did here, I don’t usually push myself this hard. I absolutely loved everything about this 30 day series including the fact that it was only 30 days. Committing to something for one month is a huge milestone for most people, and when you survive something this tough for 30 days, you will remember your achievement and the inner strength that you summoned to make it through this badassery.

Conclusion: Want to literally get your ass kicked? Do this workout…

Already in great shape? The Asylum will make you feel like you have never worked out before…

Shaun T talks about The Asylum and challenges you (Video)

The Asylum will make you feel like you are out of shape. I can honestly see a pro athlete getting challenged by these workouts because they really all boil down to one factor: how hard you are willing to push yourself. If you are willing to push yourself and want to prove to yourself that you can do anything, I challenge you to try The Asylum. If you have only made it through P90X, I would NOT move onto The Asylum because you still haven’t done Insanity and those 60 days are what you need right now.

Insanity vs. The Asylum – Which is harder?

They are both tough, and are both designed for people that are already in relatively good shape. The original 60 days of Insanity are ridiculously hard at times, especially during Month #2. The workout Insanity more than lives up to its name. Make 100% sure you can handle what you have already been given before advancing to The Asylum. When you are ready to really “go in” an dig deeper than you ever thought possible, order The Asylum and get ready to kill yourself by working out.

The Asylum is the most elite, challenging, hardcore at-home DVD workout I have personally done, and yes I have done both P90X and Insanity. This workout is really a gang fight from start to finish and you are going to get your ass whooped, but you are going to win the war if you keep pressing play every single day. So lace up your kicks, get yourself a towel, sweatbands, some water, and be prepared to R.I.P. when you are done with each of these workouts…haha Shaun T designed The Asylum for people that made it through Insanity, so he did try to make it more challenging. And yes, he incorporated training moves for professional athletes.

What’s next for Shaun T after The Asylum?

Although I cannot speak for Shaun because I don’t have his contact information, I will say that using my own knowledge, I think there is going to be a follow up. Honestly, I think that there are going to be multiple follow-ups each designed in a 30 day sequence. Eventually I think that The Asylum is going to evolve into a 90 day program. This is “Volume 1” and I don’t know why they would even bother tacking “Volume 1” on the end of the name if there wasn’t going to be a follow up.

I think that Shaun T put out The Asylum because he wanted to give people an opportunity to know what it’s like to push themselves to their physical and mental limits in just 30 days. Although it is the hardest workout ever put on DVD, it’s also organized extremely well. Anyone can do a hardcore workout, but not every workout program is going to have a well-organized and scheduled routine. Additionally, the timings of the exercises and deciding where to put water breaks take a lot of thought and engineering.

Possible workouts: The Asylum Vol. 2 & The Asylum Vol. 3?

I think that there will eventually be The Asylum Vol. 2 and eventually Vol. 3. I’m pretty sure that Shaun T is always working on new routines and has found his niche in coming up with elite home fitness routines to really challenge people. Shaun is in pristine physical shape himself and he wants to deliver something that challenges all of the fitness freaks like myself that think they are already in good shape – that’s why he came up with Insanity and went on to develop The Asylum.

I really like the direction that he took this program and I honestly wouldn’t have changed a single thing about it. For me, 30 days was the perfect amount of time – not too short of a commitment, yet not too long. If he comes up with another routine in the future, I wish that he would focus on creating something that really builds and sculpts muscle.

I think he gave us a little taste of how we can really work our muscles with the Strength workout in The Asylum, but that was really the only hardcore workout with weights. If he came up with a 30 day, 45 day, 60 day, or even 80 day system that was either a total body workout like P90X or focused more on building muscle than cardio, it would really make me happy.

Thank You Shaun T: I Loved The Asylum…

No matter what Shaun T decides to come up with in the future for a workout program, I guarantee that I will buy it without thinking because I know it will be good. Cardio routines are my personal favorite, but I do always like a good strength workout with less cardio as well. I think that Shaun T is developing another workout series right now, but the development takes time and a lot of engineering. I honestly would be more excited for another workout series from Shaun T than I would be if someone let me do P90X2: MC2.

What I really like is that he showed you with Insanity that you really don’t need any fancy equipment to get a good workout – all you need is your own body. Then with The Asylum, he demonstrated that if you do add equipment, you can make the exercises more interesting, more challenging, and incorporate a more diverse lineup of exercises into these workouts. The Asylum is clearly on another level and I would highly encourage you to give it a shot if you want an extremely badass fitness challenge… This is not for the kiddies people.

CLICK HERE TO TRY THE ASYLUM WORKOUT

I’ll leave the final words of this review to Shaun T in regards to The Asylum: “You think you know, but you have no idea…”