You may have seen “Insanity fitness” all over the news lately, with claims of amazing transformations. It’s easy to doubt what could be yet another exercise fad, but Jon Dean has just proven those doubters wrong.

This training mix of high intensity aerobics and plyometrics is strenuous and tough - but as you can see, it works.

And all it took was one purchase of an Insanity DVD and cupboards, fridges and freezers stacked full of Muscle Food… Turns out our hampers for anyone living the Insanity lifestyle!

So we had to talk to him about his massive success.

Weekly training plan

Just what is on the Insanity DVD!

Interview with Jon Dean

Hi Jon! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Let's begin with an overview - can you tell us the full story of your transformation up until this point?

It's actually pretty straightforward. I ordered Insanity online and committed to the regime (I made it through the 9 weeks without a single missed workout). I knew that a huge part of getting the results I wanted would revolve around diet.

I was training so hard and so often that I didn't want my dietary choices to undermine all the hard work. I followed the formula provided by Insanity to calculate my calorific needs, tried to eat the recommended proportions of macronutrients and was well pleased with the results!

What happened in your life to make you decide “enough is enough” and transform yourself?

I guess like a lot of people I'd gotten heavier by stealth. I saw a photo of my daughter and I on holiday and realised how out of shape I'd become. I didn't want to be a guy who let it all go when he started a family so I thought I needed to do something about it.

Now, we’ve seen many different transformations using many different exercise styles like Zumba. But your training plan seems to take a step further as you bought an Insanity DVD! To those uninitiated, could you tell us what Insanity fitness is and what it involves?

It's essentially high intensity aerobics and plyometrics. You train 6 days a week for 9 weeks, the workouts range between 45 and 75 minutes and you don't need any equipment.

It's based on the principle of high intensity interval training i.e. 3 minutes’ max effort with 30 seconds rest.

Tell us about the experience of your first run through the DVD – bet you felt dead after it!

Day 1 is a fitness test! I think my results over the whole process indicate I didn't go hard out on day 1 (I saw really significant gains when I repeated the fit test after 2 weeks).

There was definitely an element of feeling my way into things but once I was more familiar with the workouts it became much easier to push myself as hard as possible.

With something like a fitness DVD, you see a lot of people drop out after a while. But what inspired you to keep going and complete your transformation?

I've always been pretty good at focusing on short-term goals. The nine-week timeframe suited my personality well as I felt confident I could maintain my motivation for that period of time.

Plus, the further into the process I got the desire not to let myself down and compromise the hard work that had gone before definitely helped.

What is your favourite Insanity exercise?

It's been great as a tool to expand my knowledge of high-intensity, equipment free exercises. My favourite was probably the "push up jack.”

And which one do you really not look forward to doing?

I learnt to dread most of them depending on how I felt day-to-day! Power jumps were always hard work!

If there was a person looking into Insanity training, asking you for an honest review, what would you say?

It's physically hard work and needs a lot of planning to fit into your day to day life (there were mornings I'd get up to train at 05:30 to fit it in if I had other plans in the day).

Due to the plyometrics component it can be pretty hard on the knees but there's enough variety and recovery that this didn't present me with a problem. Otherwise the process is made pretty simple. Follow the program, eat properly and the results seem to take care of themselves.

How important was Muscle Food nutrition to maintaining the lean gains from your Insanity training?

Essential. The Insanity nutritional advice recommends you obtain 40% of your calories from protein. Without Muscle Food products I would have really struggled to achieve this.

Liquid egg whites became a staple of my diet together with Muscle Food chicken breasts, turkey and canned tuna. I also had the odd rump steak for variety and as a treat. These helped me achieve protein targets while keeping my fat intake to a minimum.

Looking further into your diet throughout this Insanity action – if we were to raid your kitchen right now, what would we see?

Lots of salad! I basically stopped eating bread, cheese and sugary treats. Instead I ate lots of salad and fruit (as well as the protein-rich foods discussed above). This enabled me to arguably eat more than under my previous “normal” diet whilst sustaining my weight-loss goals

Any Muscle Food favourites?

Canned tuna became a massive favourite because it’s so convenient!

What Muscle Food products would you say are 100% required when doing Insanity training, and why?

It’s my opinion that my results were a direct result of the changes I made to my diet whilst completing insanity. I’ve trained hard before but never achieved results like this before.

Logic indicates that my diet must have played a huge role in helping me achieve my gains and Muscle Food products were integral to that.

How simple did you find Muscle Food in finding all of your essentials for an Insanity lifestyle?

Really simple. No problems at all.

What did your diet look like before kick starting your transformation?

Lots of toast, sandwiches, cheese and “snack bars” to supplement my daily lunches. There are always lots of sweet treats kicking around at work too so cutting those out and substituting them with fruit really helped.

I didn’t go teetotal but I certainly reduced my alcohol intake over the period too.

Throughout your transformation, did you receive any words of wisdom that have really stuck with you?

Not really! My wife was encouraging moderation in both my diet and commitment to the exercise regime but personally I found it easier to jump in with both feet and not to compromise. That first biscuit or missed workout would have felt like the beginning of a slippery slope! I guess you need to know yourself well enough to know if you can reward yourself with treats and then get back on the straight and narrow.

Have you got any big fitness/challenges planned for the future?

Nothing currently. I’ve done several half marathons but after a previous knee surgery i’m looking to reduce the amount of running I do. I’m considering trying duathlon (skipping the running bit) or getting into calisthenics.

And finally, do you have any advice for people who are looking to transform just like you have?

Don’t underestimate the importance of diet! I think my dietary changes, underpinned by Muscle Food products, were of equal importance in my transformation as all the physical graft. If you eat rubbish you’re really undermining all your hard work.

Every transformation story featured on Muscle Food outlines that a good diet and a good workout plan are essential to achieving the results you desire. All transformation stories, exercise routines and diet plans are provided by the customer and have not been checked by a nutritionist or doctor. Results may vary for different individuals.