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.