Nice. My Kindle has downloaded a software update. The new features? 1) Native PDF support and 2)Manual screen rotation. More on this when I see how well these features work.

In case, like me, your viewing of the Lions-Browns game yesterday consisted mainly of surprise at the cumulative score flashing by during other games and sort of feeling bad for the Browns because of  the last second TD by the Lions, check this out.

I recently finished my 60 days of the Insanity workout.  The first month alternates between  3-4 intermediate workouts.  Then, there’s a month of “recovery” which is 7 repeated days of a quasi-vigorous muscle burning workout that really does feel like a recovery once you get into nausea-inducing month two.  The second month alternates between the next set of DVDs of hour-long advanced workouts.

Every two weeks, you’re supposed to take a 25 minute fitness test to measure your progress (which is always exhausting because you are trying to do as many of a series of exercises as possible for a minute each).  It turns out that the fitness test is totally unnecessary. You can easily judge your progress by how destroyed you are after each workout.  You end up repeating each DVD in the workout series maybe 8-10 times.  The first time, you wonder how you will get off the floor and stand up again.  You dread the second workout because you so vividly remember the first but you have no problem getting off the floor.  The third time, you’re never on the floor in the first place and by the end, you feel completely transformed, though still knowing there is room for improvement.

My final verdict is that this workout series is just AWESOME.  It forces you to try and in some cases master, exercises you never thought your body could handle.  The fitness improvement is undeniable.  The other night, I tried a Tae-bo workout for the first time in months after completing the Insanity program and it seemed easy.  When a  series of Tae-bo exercises ended, I couldn’t help but think that if it were insanity, I’d only have to do that same exercise a few hundred more times (an exaggeration but you get the point).  I actually love Tae-bo for dispensing with the fluff exercises found on so many other “workout’ DVDs, but definitely think Insanity is more intense.  I find myself doing the Tae-bo exercises with extra effort to get a good workout and Insanity with less than maximal effort to just survive it.

Overall, I highly recommend it if you have been working out regularly prior to beginning the program.  And one last tip: buy a headband or bandana so you’re not swearing at the TV when loose hairs on your head plaster your face and the copious sweat pouring into your eyes threatens to blind you.

The NFL matchups were horrible last week. There were virtually no games I was interested in watching (outside of CIN/PIT). This week is a different story. If you were going to watch just one at a time, there’s IND@BAL in the morning and SD@DEN in the afternoon. There are some more games that could also be good: SEA@MIN, ATL@NYG, NYJ@NE, and of course the epic battle of mediocre and desperate teams, PHI@CHI.

Hey Everyone,
I’m back. It’s been a while but keep an eye out for more posts coming soon.