Cardio-Strength Program: week #5

Week #5 out of 15


As year-end is getting near, my schedule is getting a bit chaotic. I have less days available for training, yet this week I received 5 sessions to complete, instead of the usual 4. Three of which required running and had to take place outdoor.
As skipping training is not an option, whenever possible I have been doing a couple sessions within the same day.


Monday:

• Session 1: HERA (21:35*)
• Session 2: HERA (21:30* -personal best)

The week started with a double dose of a new training routine: Hera.
This workout is focused on legs:

• 40 jumps
• 60 seconds rest
• 400 meters run
• 60 seconds rest
• 5 rounds (no rest at the end of the 5th round, the training is over after the run)

Last week, it felt strange to get 60s breaks during Ares. I was just standing there, waiting fo the workout to restart. This time, I was glad to have them!
Jumps are less difficult than high jumps (knees only need to go up to waist level), but they are executed faster and with more repetitions. Performed at high-intensity, this exercise gets your heart racing. The rest time is really useful to breath deeply before & after the 400m run.

I performed the 2 workouts back to back. I took a 10-15 minute break in-between, but that wasn't planned. Since the last update the Freeletics app on y phone has been bugging a lot. When saving my first completion time the app froze. I had to kill the app, and record the time later on the website. Even that part was painful. Those of you following me, may have noticed that I posted/deleted 10 times my results before getting things recorded properly.
Anyway, after these technical problems I completed the second workout scoring a new personal best. I got had give everything in the 100m meters to gain these few seconds.

To summarize, this workout is designed for intervals training. However don't underestimate the muscles building factor. The jumps are not just there for the cardio, it's a full legs drill.


Tuesday: IRIS (35:01*)

Another running workout, and I still have sore legs for the double Hera the day before.My calves hurt. Usually after a long run, pain is located in my thighs. So my guess is that the jumps did more damage than the 400m runs.

Iris is a new workout for me, and its structure is a bit unusual:

• 1km run
• 5 rounds of:
• 100 jumping jacks
• 100 climbers
•  1km run

Unless you have an injury or hate running, the 2km shouldn't be a huge issue. The jumping jacks neither. However, climbers are hell. There are several difficulties here:

1. 100 reps per round is a lot for a demanding exercise
2. There is basically no opportunity to rest between each round of climbers
3. 500 reps in total. The last 2 rounds were exhausting.

Don't be fooled by the 35mn completion time. It's not very long, but the repetitions will grind you down. Iris is amongst the most difficult trainings that I have encountered so far.


Saturday:

• Session 4: HADES 21:40*
• Session 5: BURPEES MAX (60*) + SQUAT MAX (181* -personal best)

As mentioned this week's training plan was irregular. I had 3 days of rest before tackling the last 2 sessions. I felt good, and started Hades at full speed. My pace was high, it took me about 12m to complete the first two rounds. I thought that I would explode my personal best.
However my pace was too high. After the first burpees of the third round, I had a stitch in my side. I kept going, but it slowed me down considerably. Strangely, pushups were by far the most painful. When the clock stopped, I had missed the PB by 5 seconds. There is always a thin line between high-intensity and over-pacing, but it's the first time that I get a stitch doing Freeletics. I could imagine that happening during Iris, but never during Hades which is more strength oriented. I guess it was just a bad day.

A few minutes later, I completed my 2 Max workouts. I had not fully recovered from Hades, but tried focused on keeping a decent pace during the burpees to avoid a shameful performance. The Squat Max personal best was unexpected, and partially saved the day.


I have suffered this week. I guess that after going through 10 weeks of Freeletics training, I need to me reminded: no pain, no gain.

Cardio-Strength Program: week #4

Week #4 out of 15


As promised, here is the summary of week #4. Again, there were some novelties in my training schedule (Burpees Max, Hyperion & Ares). Except for the good old Aphrodite in the last session, the week was mostly dominated by strength-related exercises.

Monday: HADES 21:33* (personal best)

For my first training of the week,there is only one Hades to do. I scored a new personal best, which honestly, was expected.
On week #1, I performed this training for the first time. 2 out of the 4 training were completed under 22 minutes. Last week I was happy to finally get a star, but with a completion time of 23:45, I clearly had room to improve the time. My execution speed of the star-version of Hades is now back in line-with week #1. The next challenge will be to get down to 20 minutes.

Tuesday: HYPERION 24:40 + Bonus: LEG LEVERS MAX (178* repetitions -personal best) 

On week #2, when I first encountered the Artemis workout, I thought that I had found the ultimate arm-muscles killing machine. I was young and naive back then...

Let me introduce you to Hyperion: 

• 6 HS pushups: because upside-down is much more fun!
• 12 strict pullups: you think that pullups are tough? Think again...
• 6 OH pushups: who needs 2 arms anyway?
• 12 pistols: to shoot your legs & your ego.
• 60 seconds rest
• 5 rounds

For the first time, I looked at a workout schedule and told myself: "Damn! I can't even complete any of these exercises in its regular difficult version!"

• HS pushups: while standing vertically upside-down on your arms, you slowly bring your head to the ground and push yourself back up. Last week's tentative was a disaster. This time I asked my wife to help me with the handstand to avoid hitting the wall to hard. It didn't really make things easier. I had to revert to the simple version.

• Strict pullups: let yourself hang completely from the bar by the arms. Pull yourself up, until you chin goes above the bar. Go back to the original position. Congratulations, you have now lost all momentum. This makes strict pullups much harder than regular ones. I completed a few, but quickly fell back to regulars.

• OH pushups: from the usual pushup position use only one arm to push yourself upward. In boxing I tried several pushups versions: regulars; on-fists; thumbs-touching each others; lifting palms while in the air; pushing with 2 arms, then standing on one while extending the other horizontally. Each variation was intended to make the exercise more painful. Strangely I had never been asked to do one-hand pushups before. To my great surprise, I was able to perform all 5 rounds. It was hard, but that made my day!

• Pistols: pictures are worth a thousand words: look at the video below for an explanation of pistols. There are 2 difficulties in this exercise. First it's an insanely low squat, with only one leg carrying your entire body weight. Second, it requires flawless balance (your heel or arms should never touch the ground). For the easier version. If you can't complete the regular version, Freeletics suggest to have a chair or bench behind you, to sit mid-position. The chair trick didn't work for me: it's too high. I couldn't find anything that was at the right height for me. Then I tried to go all the way down, but using my arms to maintain stability. I was hoping it would help me progress faster, but I quickly realize that it's actually counterproductive. If hands touch the ground, the body weight is dispersed instead of being concentrated on one leg. So muscles work less and you don't improve balance. In the end, what worked the best for me was to do a regular pistol (no bench, no arms) but only going down as far as I could. I don't think that I'm going low enough to get a star, but at least I can feel that my muscles are getting a good workout.

In conclusion, OH pushups are ok. Pistols, should be the next exercise worthy of a star. Strict pullups & HS pushups will require some serious improvements. May be one day I'll get a star for Hyperion, but it's going to take many weeks of training.


Hyperion was a difficult training relatively short but with no abs exercise. So I added a Leg Lever Max. My results had plateaued for a while, so I was determined to break my record. Mission accomplished, with a new PB at 178 repetitions. I now have the 200 reps in sight, and have good hopes to get there soon.

Wednesday: BURPEES MAX (65* repetitions) + ARES 08:45*

The third session started with Burpees Max. This exercise is the base of Freeletics: many workouts include a good share of burpees. Yet I had never tested it in a MAX session. Based on the scores in my networks, 65 burpees is a decent result, and in the range that I expected (60-70). However, I confess that my motivation was a bit low that evening. I'm sure that with full dedication, I should get well over 70.

The MAX was followed by a new workout: Ares. Don't be fooled by it's deadly patronym, it's a pretty easygoing workout:

• 7 pullups
• 7 jackknives
• 2x40m run
• 60 seconds rest
• 5 rounds (no rest at the end of the 5th round, the training is over after the run)

Of course this exercise will be problematic if you just started and can't do pullups yet, but as you can see these are very short repetitions. So this shoudln't be a problem for long.
Jackknives is a simple abs exercise, with few reps. Run requirement is short as well.
The weirdest part in this work out are the 60 seconds rest. This is new for me. Normally I have to keep going, even when out of breath. All of a sudden, I have a workout that requires me to just stand and catch my breath... :-)
Don't get me wrong Ares will get your cardio racing, but you probably won't have sore muscles the following day.


Thursday: Boxing training 

Friday: APHRODITE 22:45* (personal best)

It's been a month since I have trained with Aphrodite. I was really looking forward to meet again. With Dione, it's the workout that I repeated the most during my pre-program. I scored many personal bests, usually in small increments. I was curious to see if I had lost the pace for that specific workout or if on contrary I would blow away my PB.

22:45*. That's 5 minutes better than my previous personal best! (27:51*)

The clock watch doesn't lie: to get to these results, day after day my overall physical condition has been improving.

I find it very rewarding to see that sweat & dedication are paying off!

Body stats: after 8 weeks

I have now completed 8 weeks of training. This is when results should start to appear (the key word is "appear", don't expect to see a six-pack yet!)

My stats after 8 weeks: 

Height: 178 cm (5.84ft) 

Weight: 78.2 kg (172.6 lbs)

Waist size: 88 cm (34.6 in)


In my last post discussing weight, I mentioned that breaking the 79kg barrier would be a strong indication that I was losing weight. This milestone has now been officially passed.
To be very transparent, one morning a week or two ago I even weighted myself at 76.5kg! But this was more an anomaly than a real weight loss. Lately my weight has been constantly oscillating between 78kg-79kg.

Based on the evolution over the past 8 weeks, I don't expect to lose a lot of weight. I think that will trade some fat for some muscles, so my guess is that I will end-up around 75kg-76kg.


The waist size is a more stable measure, and by dropping by another centimeter it confirms that there is some effect from the training. I have also started to notice that the abs are a bit more carved-out. Nothing incredible, but so it's motivating to see some progress.


Here is a picture:

Results appear slowly, it's even harder on picture than in than in real life. Since week #1, I have been losing a bit of belly fat: the lower ribs and the abs are getting more visible (I'm not contracting muscles on any picture). Pectoral muscles also appear to be slightly more developed.

Cardio-Strength Program: week #3

Week #3 out of 15


Sorry for not posting over the past couple weeks. Due to a busy schedule, I couldn't find the time to sit and blog about my progress. The good news is that I completed all my required training, so I'm completely on track. I will post week#3 right away, and week#4 will follow shortly.


Monday: METIS 06:11* + SQUAT MAX (156* repetitions) + METIS 08:34* + SQUAT MAX (166* repetitions)

This week was full of "combos": several smaller workouts aggregated in one session. As you see, the first session included 2 Metis. Not surprisingly the performance on the second attempt deteriorates perceptibly.

These combo-sessions, are actually not that difficult. The overall effort is comparable to longer workouts, but you get the added-benefits of a few minutes of rest in-between each workout.
Personally I like to limit the rest period, to avoid muscles from cooling down too much. If I had to do 2 Metis in a row, I would take 2-3 minutes to catch my breath and relax my muscles. But when the workouts are completely different (e.g. Metis + Squat Max), I don't really take a break. Just a minute, wile I fiddle with the app on my phone to get the next training started.

This session confirmed to that I hate Squats! I guess that my body remembers that this exercise generated the most sore muscles when I started Freeletics. I am never thrilled by squats-related workouts. Even scoring a PB in Squat-max is only a half-satisfaction.


Tuesday: HADES 23:45* (personal best)

I reached a personal goal by completing for the first time Hades with complete pullups. It was expected, as I had worked toward this objective all of last week, but it stills feel good to officially earn that star!
Pullups are extremely difficult when the body is not used to it, but the good news is that if you repeat it regularly, muscles adapt quick rapidly. I still have plenty of room for improvement, so I will continue doing extra repetitions on the side to build the necessary muscle power.


Wednesday: APOLLON 26:10* + PULLUP MAX (26* repetitions -personal best) + HS PUSHUP MAX (48 repetitions) 

Today was another combo-session, however I had to split the workouts due to logistical constraints. I trained Apollon outside due to the running requirements. The problem is that the place where I go running during lunch has no equipment or structure that I can use to perform pullups. So that last part of the training was done at home in the evening.

The session started with an exercise called Apollon. It's the first time that I attempted this workout. It is made of 3 rounds of:

• 25 burpees
• 400m run
• 50 deep squats
• 400m run

It's a decent workout, with some challenges but nothing notably more difficult than in other workouts. If like me you don't like Squats, then you are not going to enjoy Deep Squats. They are more difficult, but with less repetitions. The only good news is that right after the Deep Squats, we have to run 400m, which is more than enough to move and stretch our tights.

No big surprise with Apollon. I will just highlight that with this workout (as often with Freeletics), it's key to breath properly. You finish round 1 running (with legs a bit stiff from the Deep Squats), followed-up by the burpees of the round #2. At this stage if you haven't carefully paced your breath, the next 400m run is going to be challenging. The same thing can happen in round #3. So don't lose your breath before or during the burpees.



As a side note, it's worth mentioning that this was the first time that I trained outdoor. It may sound stupid, but because it's winter it required a bit more planning than usual.
First of all, in cold weather (negative Celsius temperatures), you need to get the appropriate clothing (note to self: buy sport gloves urgently!). But also because of humidity (I train by the lake), I couldn't just start running, stop after 400m and lay down in the mud to do burpees. I had to plan my training route beforehand. My solution was to measure 200m (thanks to the free Nike running app), so that I could return to the same location to complete the ground exercises on concrete.


In the evening I completed 2 MAX workouts, scoring a new personal best in Pullups Max. I also got the try for the first time the HS Pushups. I decided to try the complete version first. It was a disaster. The last time I did handstand I must have been over 20 years ago. And I wasn't too good at it. To add a layer of complexity, I was training indoor and had to be careful not to kick the wall too hard (somehow, my wife wouldn't appreciate holes or marks on the wall).
As a result I spent most of the time trying to do the handstand. When I succeeded I barely managed to do 2 HS Pushups. And they were so bad, that it would have been dishonest to record them in my training log. Instead I decided to relaunch a HS Pushup Max workout, but this time performing the lesser-form. Which is why I have no star for this workout.


Thursday: Boxing training


Friday: METIS 05:31* (personal best) + SQUAT MAX (141* repetitions) + METIS 07:18* + SQUAT MAX (143* repetitions)

Same session as on Monday. For the anecdote, I wasn't very motivated for this session. Not only was I tired after a long day, but more annoyingly I had to train only minutes after eating dinner. I had a heavy stomach and had abandoned any hope to score a personal best. My objective was simple: try not be sick because of bad digestion. 
I don't know what happened, but from the start my body found just the right pace. When I stopped the clock, I had improved my personal best by 30 seconds. Versus a baseline of 06:00, that's a lot.

That's just another example of how sometimes we try to convince ourselves to give-up, and how we're just wrong. I'm glad that I didn't listen to myself that evening.

Cardio-Strength Program: week #2

Week #2 out of 15


This week, the Cardio vs. Strength workload was more balanced. I was also assigned new workouts to complete.


Monday: METIS 06:00* (personal best) ) + Bonus: LEG LEVERS MAX (143* repetitions) + Bonus: PULLUPS MAX (21* repetitions)

The week started very lightly with only one Metis required for session 1. I was happy to finally get a new personal best, as I had not improved my completion time in this specific workout over the past month.

Afterward, I had some energy left to burn, so I added a couple extra workouts: a Leg Levers MAX to train the abs and a much needed Pullups max. Last week clearly demonstrated that I have to improve pullups to be able to complete the most difficult version of Hades. Regular training is the only way to achieve this objective.


Tuesday: DIONE 32:13*

Dione is a familiar exercise by now. However, it didn't manage to get a personal best. I am just realizing that as my training becomes more diverse, I'm less focused on specific exercises and therefore improve more slowly.
It was easier to get new personal bests during my first 5 weeks of pre-program, when I was heavily focused on Cardio and performing the same workout several time in the week.


Wednesday: ARTEMIS 29:57*

For my third session this week, I was assigned a brand new workout: Artemis. The structure is a bit different from the other workouts that I have done so far. There is only 1 round but with many repetitions:

• 50 Burpees
• 50 Pullups
• 100 Pushups
• 150 Squats
• 50 Burpees

As you can see, the goal of this exercise is to kill every single muscle in your shoulders & arms... To be honest this workout is scarier on paper than it really is. It's challenging but perfectly doable. It's just a matter of how long it takes to complete.

My main achievement with this training, is that I managed to complete 50 "correct" pullups. This exercise had been my focus for improvement lately.

The pushups took me the longest to complete. The first 20-30 were fine, but with strained arms from the pullups, it quickly went downhill. To tackle the last 70, I broke them down in series of 10. I would do 10 pushups, get back into kneeling position, waive my arms for a while to relax the muscles, and then do another 10 pushups.
I find that in pushup position, even while laying on the ground, the arms muscles stay contracted and take more time to recover from the effort. Relaxing the arms worked for me. If you ever have issues completing Artemis, you can try it out.


Thursday: Boxing training

Just a quick note to highlight that Murphy's law never fails. The day after my biggest arms workout ever, the coach decided that it was a good time to focus on... arms, of course!  :-)
I had not done so many pushups at training in a very long time. Thanks coach!


Friday: POSEIDON 05:50* + METIS 06:33*


My last session was made-up of 2 workouts. First a new one, called Poseidon, and the good old Metis. Poseidon is a short workout, 100% focused on arms strength:

• 20 Pullups
• 20 Pushups
• 15 Pullups
• 15 Pushups
• 10 Pullups
• 10 Pushups
• 5 Pullups
• 5 Pushups

Once your muscles have gotten used to pullups this shouldn't be a very challenging exercise. Repetitions have been structured in small groups, which make it much easier than Artemis' 50 or 100 reps.

The unknown for me was Metis. I was hoping to score a new Personal best, but didn't know how tired I would be from completing Poseidon. After a 2mn break, I started my second workout. In the end it wasn't too bad, but clearly I had left too much juice during the first session. It took me 33s more than my Personal best from Monday.


That's it for week#2. I'll update you very soon on week#3.