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)
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:
- 100 reps per round is a lot for a demanding exercise
- There is basically no opportunity to rest between each round of climbers
- 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.
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ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing...
ReplyDeleteNow i think i'll follow your workout model
because i don't have EUR40 yet, i'm still a high school student anyway, and if i have that money i don't know how to pay it because i live in indonesia and still 17 years old
You are welcome. And thank you for your interest.
ReplyDeleteSupposedly, this workout schedule is custom-made for me, based on my results week after week. It might not fit exactly your personal needs. In any case, it's probably better to follow a training plan not exactly tailored for you, than no training plan at all. If you follow a program, there is no grey zone: either you complete the workouts or you don't (and you know you've failed).
If you train freely without a schedule set in stone, there is more risk to slack-off. For example by doing less workouts per week when motivation is low or by choosing easier workouts. Lately, I have been given a lot of outdoor trainings. I hate when I get those, because it's freezing cold. But after each of these workouts, I'm glad that I was forced out of my comfort zone.
Anyway. If you are looking for a training program, you can also check out "Mads Gregersen" on youtube. He posted videos of the first 10-11 weeks of the original Freeletics program. He stopped posting for a couple months, but he just left a message saying that he would release in January the last weeks of the training routine.
Thank you for the respond, i have seen some of his videos too. what i've followed from you are the pre-program weeks. After i pass these pre-program, i'll follow the instruction in an e-book which i've found from a torrent site (it's named 'freeletics cardio & strength'). i did a random workout before i found your blog. And i want ask your opinion, i'm 17 years old, height: 171 cm, weight: 60 kg. I'm still confused, must i choose the STRENGTH program or the CARDIO & STRENGTH program. Which one do you recommend? And do you know any reference about the nutrition guide? thank you...
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that I need to update my pre-program posts. Some of the weeks, I could choose between Zeus and Dione. At first I focused on Cardio, so I always chose Dione. But I need to flag it, so that readers like you, can choose to do Zeus is they prefer.
ReplyDeleteThe program depends on your personal objectives. In my opinion, pure Cardio is mostly for people looking for weight loss or women who don't want to build too much muscles.
Most men will, like you, choose either Cardio&Strength or Strength. C&S is clearly the best choice for me, because my goal is to lose a few kilos and improve my overall physical condition for boxing. In my sport pure strength is useless is you are out of breath after 5 minutes.
I am biased, I'm not a huge fan of bodybuilding-like training. So to me C&S seems to be the most balanced workout. But I cannot guarantee that it's the best for you. Take a moment to reflect on what are you personal goals. If you need to slim down a bit and/or train to improve your shape go for C&S. If you are lean & skinny and want to gain volume, then Strength is the best. Or may be even both. On the Internet I have seen a few guys who actually did both programs (first C&S and later another 15 weeks of Strength training).
I have not purchased the nutrition guide. I'm just eating as usual. I think that my diet is alright, it just needed to do more exercise. From what I have seen on the Freeletics website it seems to be dynamic like the new training program: personal goals & weekly objectives. I don't think they had a nutrition guide at the beginning, so I don't think you'll find torrent for this one. But if you think that you diet need adjustments, I'm sure there are tons of sites that could guide you. Google is your friend! :-)
okay, glad you've updated it. By the way, i took your pre-program post as the reference in my post on one of the largest online forum here. I'm sorry i didn't ask your permission before, haha. And i'll take the C&S program, because i want to lose this annoying fat in my stomach. My goal is get the six-packs and build the good muscle in my arms.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, thank you for your answers. It helps me so much!
Hello, athlete! my name is Dmitri, I am from Ukraine! You're doing a great job and success! I want do it too! share me please all the freeletics stuff! Thank you!
ReplyDeletedimonmitya@mail.ru
Hello Dimitri,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your praises.
The training programs that Freeletics sell are "dynamic". Every week, each athletes receives a different program, based on their individual results. In theory, if one week I start to have very good results, the following weeks I will be given more difficult exercises to do (or more sessions). If my results are not improving, the program difficulty will not increase.
This means that I can only write about the workouts that have been doing in the past, but as of today have no idea what the program will be in weeks 9 to 15.
If you are interested to do the same thing, my suggestion is that you start with the 5 weeks "pre-program" (you can find it in my older posts). It's a good way to try the method and to see if you like it.
Hello! It's me again(Dmitri). I heard that some time ago there was no "COACH". There were 3 programs written in PDF-files. I think the coach is fake, or it works in a very primitive way. that is my opinion (may be wrong) in summary of all info that I read about freeletics.The COACH is made to make people stop replicate and share that godblessed PDF))))) do you have this pdf? today (after 30 min)is my first Aphrodite (ho-ho-ho). I want you to share all the stuff, because in Ukraine we have sometimes internet problems and I want to have a all program offline. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI also heard rumors that the coach system is just spitting random workouts. Of course Freeletics says that on the contrary it's a very advanced system. I don't what the truth is, and I'm not going to spend money creating fake profile just to test how the coach is reacting to various results. :-)
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I say "in theory", the program is adapting to results.
Regarding the original program, indeed I read that at the beginning there was no "coach". However when I signed-up from the program they didn't sell the PDF anymore, so I haven't received it.
They are not tailored for you, it's nonsense. You select your fitness level then they are auto generated. A strength 'coach' will simply generate 75% Strength routines and 25% Cardio. You can do all this with only the app.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: you seem to have a clear-cut opinion on this question. My view is not so strong. I don't take everything that Freeletics say for granted. After all this entire blog started because I wanted to test if it was true.
DeleteIt's possible that "My Coach" is not tailored at all, and it's just a marketing scheme. But , I haven't seen anyone providing real data supporting this claim. So far it's just about opinions, not facts.
As I said once, I'm not going to spend my money to input fake completion time and just to see how "My coach" reacts...
So at the moment I'm gathering data from different athletes who completed the 15 weeks (Cardio-Strength only). This project is just starting, I haven't gotten to the analysis phase. There are so many parameters to look at, that it might not lead to any tangible results, but at least I'll give it a try.
PS: if I'm curious to see if "My coach"is truly dynamic or just random, I agree with you that it's perfectly possible to train just using the app.
DeleteIn my view, the benefit of the program is mostly to educate (i.e. show what a session should look like) and motivate (i.e. you are more likely to do 5 Aphrodite in the week if told to by someone else, rather than if you told yourself to do it). If you understand how to set your training goals and disciplined enough to follow them, then the program isn't needed.
Hey mate. Good work on the workouts. But I don't think you should tell what the whole workout involves. As they have to make money some how and not all the workouts are available to people that don't pay
ReplyDeleteHey,
DeleteThank you for the praise.
This blog is all about being transparent about how I train day after day and the impacts on my body&mind. Both things are irremediably linked.
The workouts information has been readily available all over the Internet for a while now. Before I started training, I had already found multiple sources without much efforts (in several languages). I decided to buy the app & program nonetheless, as it was only fair that the guys got their money.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure that the guys at Freeletics have long understood that in this day and age they could not prevent information spreading. Hence the evolution from selling a plain PDF to "My Coach" and the new bells&whistles in the Pro App. Which if you ask me, are smart business moves: the added-value of the premium features cannot be shared.