both can be done even if you're an out of shape 300lb beginner. Insanity is a better workout that you won't grow out of as fast so its a better investment. That's all I'm trying to say.
I understand what you mean, but I don't think that most people will "grow out of" T25. The difficulty increases progressively as you move through. Even in the Alpha phase, there are relatively easy and relatively difficult workouts -- Alpha: Cardio and Speed 1.0 are fairly "easy", while Lower Focus and (especially) Total Body Circuit are harder. And as you progress through Alpha, you're doing the harder exercises more frequently, until in Week 5 of Alpha you're doing Total Body Circuit 3 times. The Beta schedule is similar (although I haven't started Beta yet).
In addition, Insanity does have a couple flaws. For one, it does not talk at all about modifications, or what to do if your form starts slipping as you get fatigued, and that can lead to injury. A lot of people get injuries their first time through Insanity. Second, the stretch period after the warm-up is kind of old-school thinking -- trainers and fitness experts are now thinking that shorter, dynamic and active stretches are better for you than static stretches. Beachbody acknowledges this, too -- the newer live Insanity classes are structured with dynamic & active stretches instead of the static stretches in the video program and the first round of live classes.
This doesn't make Insanity any less effective, and shouldn't turn people off from doing it, whether as a beginner or if they're already in good shape! But T25 does incorporate the newer thinking about stretching, and shows you how to modify when you need it, and I think it as a whole is better designed than Insanity.
Plus, Shaun T is absolutely at the top of his game in it.
Finished P90X about a week ago. Wanted to see whether I could do without my gym membership and ended up enjoying it a lot. I actually gained an inch of biceps (which I realise sounds ridiculous but I had been stuck at the same measurements for almost a year, so please don't laugh).
So... not sure where to go next. As much as I love cardio, I actually would like to put on a couple of pounds of (hopefully lean) mass, so Insanity is out of the question. Looks like way too many people were disappointed with P90X2 and just by reading descriptions it does seem like it focuses a lot more on cardio than weightlifting. Thinking of ordering Body Beast and combining it with P90x, but I have no intention of buying a bench, barbell, etc. Anyone tried it with a Pilates ball (or whatever it's called), dumbbells and a chin-up bar? I'm mostly concerned about the safety of lifting weights while lying on a ball.
Also, any word on P90X3?
You can absolutely do Body Beast using a stability ball and dumbbells. In every video they have someone doing just that. Note that you *MUST* have a heavy duty stability ball. I recommend buying
Beachbody's Premium Stability Ball, because then you know for certain that it'll stand up to the work you'll put it through.
As to P90X3, I haven't even heard any hints. That said, this year it's all been about Focus T25 and so I'm sure Beachbody doesn't want to dilute attention from it.
I think that Body Beast + Focus T25 is pretty much a perfect combination. I'm not doing both right now, because it's my first time through Focus T25 and I like to do the workouts "pure" at first, but I AM doing Body Beast's Lucky 7 workout once a week plus I just started an MMA class and am in my first week of doing heavy bag practice several times a week.
But for you I'd definitely say Body Beast, and maybe add in a couple cardio workouts from P90X per week.
