Second Program: Week #6

Week 52: Second Program - week 6 out of 15

Week settings:

• Area of focus: Cardio-Strength
• Number of training days: 4
• Limitations: none
• Last week feedback: "Hard, but ok"

Training:

• Monday: Gaia strength 8/10 (41:01* -First time)
• Tuesday: Venus standard (17:26*)
• Wednesday: Artemis standard (24:42*)
• Thursday: boxing training
• Friday:[bonus: 100 jumping jacks (01:09*)] +Ares standard x2 (17:06* -First time) +[bonus: 25 pushups standards (00:35*) +25 pushups diamonds (00:50*) +25 pushups wide (00:46*)]

Statistics:

• 3'184 points
• 100 minutes

Last couple weeks felt a bit soft, but I still decided to keep intensity at the same level as before. That was a wise move, as my regular training plan proved to be more challenging this time.


Week #6 begun with a running start. When you get Gaia strength on day #1, no matter what comes afterward you can't call it an easy week!
In my case, I wasn't the full workout but only 8 rounds out of 10. My last encounter with Gaia strength on Week #4 (only 6/10), had left me breathless.
I didn't want to be burnt out before starting rounds 7 & 8, so this time I decided to take a slower start and focus on breathing. Also, while I prefer to remain barefoot when training indoor, I wore running shoes to help cushion the landing on high jumps (and limit the risk of my tendinitis returning).
Despite the slow start this workout was tough. My completion time was 41:01* for 8 rounds, to the 6 rounds in 24:08*,  (1 minute more per round; it's a 25% increase).

I can't hide behind the slower start to explain such an important drop in pace. The main reason is that this is a difficult workout. A single round is intensive, but can be done in a burst. However the repetition of rounds grinds down stamina exponentially. While I didn't think much of Gaia in the past, it has become one of my top bogeymen.

The rest of the week was mostly strength focused. Artemis has been improving (25:16* last attempt), but remains tough. For short sets of pushups/pullups (i.e. 15-25), I have almost gotten back to my pre-summer level, but longer sets remain challenging. It will take time and effort before I can do all 50 pullups without being forced to take breaks.

The last point I wanted to highlight, was that during my boxing training I start to feel the impact of doing the Freeletics program in parallel. When I was setting-up my own schedule, the day before my weekly boxing practice was usually a rest day, or at least a light session. Now that I'm following the program, I have less flexibility and there are times when I show-up at practice with sore muscles.
It's not something unbearable, but I want to bring it up as I know that many people use (or plan to use) Freeletics in complement to another sport. Finding the right balance between both is a fine art, and I'm already starting to think on how I should be organizing workouts during the week once I'm done with my current 15 weeks program.