Lately a number of commentators on this blogs eagerly asked me to post my before/after pictures. There are 2 possible explanations:
- People just love watching photos of me in my underwear (in which case I should seriously consider a career change)
- or, many readers want to see if Freeletics really works.
While I'm sure that becoming a swimsuit model doing photo shoots all over the world's most beautiful beaches would be fun, my guess is that you guys are not here for me!
Let's face it, all of us at some point watched one of the Freeletics sponsored transformation videos on Youtube wondering if it wasn't too good to be true. I have been asking myself the same question. After all this entire blog is an attempt at answering this question.
Let's face it, all of us at some point watched one of the Freeletics sponsored transformation videos on Youtube wondering if it wasn't too good to be true. I have been asking myself the same question. After all this entire blog is an attempt at answering this question.
Evolution of my body my stats after 20 weeks of training (5 weeks of pre-program + 15 weeks of the Cardio-Strength program):
Height: 178 cm (5.84ft)
Weight: 75.7 kg (166.9 lbs) - starting point: 82.5 kg (181.8 lbs)
Waist size: 84 cm (33.1 in) - starting point: 90 cm (35.4 in)
Since starting the training my weight dropped by nearly 7 kg (~8% of my starting weight). This is a huge variation of my regular weight.
Recently I was searching in my papers for the results of a VO2 max endurance test that I did many years ago (to prepare an upcoming post on calories burning). When I found it I saw that back in early 2007 I was already weighting 81 kg. Basically, I'm currently weighting about the same that when I was 18 years old.
Before/After pictures:
Note that I took for the first time a picture from the side in week #14. That's why I couldn't do a week 1-20 comparison, like for front and back pictures.
As you can see, the body changes were not as dramatic as in some of the videos, but they are clearly visible. I didn't take enough muscle volume to pretend (yet) to a role in the next 300 movie or to become Mister Universe. However, I have been burning a lot of fat tissue (visible on hips, abs, back and arms).
Conclusion:
The results are not as spectacular as on some videos (Levent or Arne), but I am pleased with the change. Aside for the appearance, when boxing I can feel that my physical condition has improved. That was one of my key objectives when starting the program.
If you intend to do Freeletics mainly to improve your physical appearance, I believe that the younger you are, the faster you will get results. Remember that most of guys on the videos are 10 years younger than me. It takes longer for my metabolism to burn fat and build muscle. Unless you have some weight to lose first, for more volume you may want to take the Strength program.
Regarding weight-loss, you can see that in my case the Cardio-Strength program was already quite effective. I imagine that the results will be even more drastic if focusing on Cardio only.
Additionally, from the start one of my rules was that I would not change my diet. My goal was to measure the impact of the training alone. By combining exercise with improved eating habits, you should get an even greater impact.
As far as I'm concerned, the program worked for me, but my journey is not over. Thinking of the program as a one-time fix is a mistake. I needs to become a routine. Over the next few weeks I will try to find the right training balance, so that it becomes an integral part of my life. If further changes appear, I will post a new body stats update (probably not before a month or so).
I been Following you... Waooo the first 5 weeks were not to much but first week thru 20 weeks was great change... How about your cardio is better or still the same in 5k running?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your interest. Freeletics say that athletes should not expect any visible change for the first 8 weeks. My experience confirms this statement. The second half of the program is when the efforts start to pay off. Which is why I think beginners are more likely to quit before they see it work.
DeleteI pretty sure that my cardio is better (I now recover from an Aphrodite in only a few minutes). Unfortunately, I can't use running to make meaningful comparison. Over the years, I was getting repetitive tendinitis from rope jumping and running. So I never did much running, and eventually completely stopped (that's one of the reason that I was looking for an alternative training method).
Anyway, my last recorded run (Nike app) must date from last summer. I could try to run on the same itinerary and see if there is any progress. But given the time gap between the two tests, I'm not sure if I'd see any progress. But I like your idea. Once my tendon is back to normal, I may give it a shot.
great man!!!
ReplyDeletenow i can train freeletics without any doubt it will work.. fuhhh~~
I'm glad to to hear that this is motivating you!
DeleteBut it only works if you train hard. No excuse.
I think that you can be proud if yourself. Great results and of course one of the most important things that you didn't quit. Regarding body changes it is real result. If somebody want to achieve same result like Levent....DIET!
ReplyDeleteAlso I think that your cardio defenitelly should be much better like before.
So take a rest and keep working :)
Thanks, Yury.
DeleteRegarding Levent & Arne, the other thing is that they took the strength only program, hence the heavy focus on muscle building. Arne was quit lean to start with, but I agree with you that Levent must have changed his diet as well. That being said they both achieved pretty impressive results.
Keep me posted on your resuts. Where are you at now? Aren't you starting week 15 on Monday?
I'm starting week 13 today. I had to take one week pause. And this week is crazy, I have two sessions of: 3 Lunges maxes and 2 Jump maxes :)
DeleteThis is very similar to what I was assigned in Week #13. Except that I "only" had two lunge max instead of thee (lucky me).
DeleteEnjoy your week! ;-)
It's interesting to see that we are not getting completely different things.
Looking at 2 programs is not statistically significant, but at least there is some similarity. This may indicate that "My coach" is not purely a random training generator, but there may be a baseline training schedule underneath.
I will definitely enjoy it as much as possible, especially my legs :)
DeleteI think coach is really working. And it seems to be really dependent on your results.
Our results are within the same range, so it make sense that the training is similar. I'd be curious to see what training program is assigned to someone who has much longer completion time than the average. For example a person 40kg overweight, no sport in 15 years. Of course the program would be brutal, but if that person keeps going an complete the workouts no matter the time, I wonder how "my coach" would react.
DeleteGood luck with your legs. Don't worry, once we know how to do handstand, we won't need legs to walk anyway... ;-)
Tillykke. Har du tænkt to try dieting as well now? I've been doing the cardio+strength for little over 3 weeks now and I see massive improvement in muscle size and definition. But I've also been eating paleo and green juicing every morning.
ReplyDeleteHi Jonatan,
DeleteFor the moment, I'm still not planning to change my diet. I still have a bit of fat to burn, but I think that this should be achievable by relying on training only. May be if it turns out to be hard to remove the last belly fat, I'll adjust my food a bit but not in a significant way (like going paleo).
Keep in mind that I already started to reach the 75kg range. My guess is that a few months down the road I could stabilize at 72kg-73kg, but I don't really want to go much lower than that.
Results in 3 weeks is much faster than what people seem to typically experience. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you? When starting the program would you describe yourself as more of a skinny guy or a bit overweight?
Hi Juvenal,
ReplyDeleteAmazing results. I am now in my hell week and quite motivated to continue. Thanks to you :)
I guess you mentioned somewhere in your blog about breathing. How do you breath when doing burpee?
Regards,
Evgeny
Thank you, Evgeny.
DeleteI'm glad that I motivated you. But at the end the results will be all yours, you're the one sweating! :-)
Keep going. Hell week will be over soon.
Since I just answered a similar question recently, I'll be lazy and just recycle my previous comment:
What worked best for me was to force myself to inhale/exhale twice within each burpee. My breathing pattern looked like this:
1. inhale when putting the hands to the ground
2. exhale while dropping my body to the ground
3. inhale while pushing my arms upward and bringing my feet under myself
4. exhale while getting back in standing position and during the jump
5. repeat the cycle
Stay focused on breathing to do as many reps as possible before starting to get out of breath (which is likely to happen at the end of the 50 & 40 reps).
Hi. This is the first time I've seen anybody post and I was wondering what happens after completion. Does freeletics still provide training programs? Thanks
ReplyDeleteSame anonymous as above... I meant this is the first time I've seen anybody post after the initial 15 weeks.
DeleteThe program is 15 weeks long, after you complete the last week, you will not receive workout assignment. At this stage, you have 3 options:
Delete1. stop training (bad idea, you'll get back to where you started)
2. train without guidance (my choice so far). After 15 weeks you'll know most workouts and should have a good idea on how to organize your training shedule.
3. purchase the program again. I know a few people who chose to do this (Yury, that has left comments above, isone of them). Often those who do this decide to try another program (e.g. srength-only once cardio-strength is over)