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.