Insanity's Friday News and Views

Over the past 60 days, I've gone insane. No, not just from the offseason or patrolling the comments section...my husband and I decided to go where only crazy people have gone before and do the Insanity workout program. For those of you who haven't done it before, or haven't seen their endless informercials, Insanity is a 60 63-day extreme home workout based on max interval training designed to totally transform your body. We took the plunge after Erik Korem and Rock Oliver told us they wouldn't drive to Nashville every morning, and for the past 60 days, have gotten up at 6 a.m. six mornings out of the week to let Shaun T. whip us into shape. With only two workouts and a fit test left, the end is finally in sight, like a giant frosted cupcake at the end of a tunnel. To commemorate my two-month, crazy sweaty experience, I am dedicating News and Views to Shaun T. and his workout buddies, and will give those of you considering it some tips: You will do better with a partner I'd love to see the stats on how many people quit Insanity, and even more, the percentage of those people who attempted to do the program on their own. I knew the only way I'd stick with it is if I had a workout buddy to keep me motivated, and who better than my husband? Mr. TT and I have suffered through Shaun T's grueling sessions together, and when one of us wants to quit, we push each other to keep going, or try to make the other laugh by pointing out how stupid some of the people on the tape look at times. You will pick your least favorites When you consider that I've spent more time with the Insanity cast than any of my friends in the past two months, it makes sense that some of them really got on my nerves. Jeff the "B-Boy," Ariel (both of them), Jimmy, Tonya, girl-whose-name-I-can't-remember-but-never-wears-her-hair-up...I hope we never meet in person. The only ones I actually like are Frankie and Shanita, and that's just because Frankie's terrible at the workout and Shanita makes mean faces at Shaun T. behind his back. You will also pick your least favorite workouts. Mine is Max Interval Circuit (a whopping 59 minutes long), my husband's Max Plyo. Favorite? Anything with the word "recovery" in it. You will sweat more than you thought physically possible I thought I sweated a lot during hot yoga. This is a whole other level. Bring sweat bands, towels, and go immediately to the shower afterwards. Even your dog will tell you you stink. At some point, you will want to quit It happens...it's early, you are tired, you may have had a few too many the night before. The last thing you want to do is run, jump, and do pushups for an hour. Trust me, I've had those moments. Just ask yourself: WWMKGD? You will see results My results from Insanity have been a little tricky. I haven't lost much weight, but I've definitely gained muscle and toned down. While not seeing the number on the scale plummet is a little disheartening, there's no denying that I'm in much better shape than I was 60 days ago. During one workout in month two (the dreaded "Max Plyo"), you have to do almost 100 push-ups, a feat that seemed impossible to me at one time, especially since Shaun T doesn't believe in girl/knee push-ups. Now, I can do all 96 pushups in that workout like a man, and I have the arm muscles to show for it. Madonna ain't got nothing on me. Okay, Insanity promo over, I promise. For those of you who have done it, I hope you enjoyed my recap. For those of you considering it, I hope this encourages you to take the plunge. For those of you who are wondering what in the heck you just read, be grateful there's a scroll button on this free blog. News and Views now. Za'Darius will play against Western Throughout fall camp, we've all been a little worried by Za'Darius Smith's ankle injury. With each day, it looked less and less likely the big guy would play, but now, thanks to avid KSR listener Lisa, we can breathe a little easier. Lisa asked Za'Darius on Twitter if he was going to play against Western, to which he replied "trust me I will be out there going hard" and that he's "good to go." That's not big, it's Za'huge. Photo by @BFLouAndrew What happens when KSR and the Louisville mayor meet in a Subway? KSR helped christen the new Subway in downtown Louisville Thursday morning, and in turn, got an interview with Louisville mayor Greg Fischer. Matt talked to Mayor Fischer about a number of things, including the future of the Yum Center. Fischer admitted that the Yum Center needs more open dates and that an NBA team would be good for the city, but also said that in order for UofL to change the lease agreement to allow that, the university would have to see "the win in this" for them. Instead of challenging UofL to be more open about the matter, Fischer said that because there's no deal on the table right now, "there's no reason for a bunch of drama around a hypothetical situation." ...Yet, until that lease agreement changes, there may never be a deal on the table. But, many thanks to Fischer for being a good sport and coming on the show. Stoops gives the team iPads The media wasn't allowed to talk to Stoops on Thursday, but we did find out that he gave the entire team iPads, which will be loaded with game and practice film, a messaging app for meeting alerts and team news, a high-performance training app, and an app for players to keep in touch with their tutors (a digital playbook still to come). UK spokesman Susan Lax told the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker that it was Stoops' idea:

“This was Coach Stoops’ idea. He wanted the players to have the best of what’s out there. And (athletic director) Mitch Barnhart made it happen. The rules now allow that to happen, so Mitch got it done.”

This is becoming standard practice at all of the major programs, and is the latest example of how Stoops is bringing the program to the next level. From the moment he stepped on campus, Stoops has been giving UK football some "big name program" touches, like a flashy new marketing campaign including a hefty advertising budget, new uniform combos, and a one-of-a-kind high performance training program. Even moving the Louisville game to the end of the season seems more "big-time." Most encouraging? So far, Barnhart seems to be behind Stoops 100% on everything. Keep it up, boys. Etc. -- Four-star wide receiver Blake Bone will announce his decision on Tuesday. He'll choose between the Cats, Louisville, South Carolina, Auburn, Ole Miss, and others, but Kentucky is considered the favorite, especially if you talk to Drew Barker. Who else is ready for a Yahtzee? -- UK's game against Belmont on December 21st has been picked up by ESPNU and will tip-off at noon. Get ready to wear your Big Blue Santa hat and shimmy to the sounds of the Alumni Pep Band. -- If you're planning to come to Nashville for the Western game and want to party with the KSR gang (minus Matt and Drew), come to the Tin Roof Nashville (1516 Demonbreun Street) on Friday night for the “Bluegrass Takeover” bash. The band 64 West will be playing and it will be the place to hang out if you're a Cat fan the night before the game. More details here. -- Didn't catch Fox Sports' "Attack Every Day" Kentucky Football preview? It will replay over the next week, but here's all you really needed to see: a super cut of Bradley Dale Peveto's "If Mark Stoops Tells You" jokes: If Mark Stoops tells you we're going to beat Western in eight days, you better get excited.