Insanity kicked my asana

Four weeks ago I started the Insanity workouts. During those four weeks I never missed a workout, and followed the six-day-a-week workout calendar exactly. I'll be taking my measurements next week, at the end of "recovery week" (also known as "the week in which the daily workout makes my thighs long for the good old cardio recovery days"), but I am starting to notice the changes in my body.

I have to confess that I haven't kept up my yoga practice during the last month. With a 30-40 minute workout to squeeze in, my mornings are pretty tight. I take a class when I can, but my meditative morning practice has been replaced with lots of jumping around. I was feeling a bit guilty about that, until I made an interesting discovery:

Insanity pushed my asana practice up a notch.

Shaun T is pretty serious about stretching, so I'm not surprised that, after four weeks of daily hamstring stretches, I'm more open than I was. The Insanity workouts are also very core-focused, so, despite the lack of an obvious six-pack, I might be stronger after the first month. It turns out the two ganged up on me.

Navasana is an excellent core-strengthening pose, and I can hold it comfortably as long as I keep my knees bent. My hamstrings are too tight to achieve the straight-legged version, and I never even imagined experiencing the beautiful variation where you draw your legs and upper body closer together. It turns out I might have been a bit hasty in accepting my limitations.

Last Saturday I spent a couple of hours bellydancing with some ladies from the yoga studio. Later that evening I unrolled my mat to stretch a bit. I don't know why I thought to try it, but I ended up here:

This picture was taken today, which means I can still do it, two days later. It wasn't just one of those freak yoga things.

Thank you, Shaun T, for the yoga breakthrough. I'll forgive you for all those mornings when your workouts kicked my asana.