Cardio-Strength Program: week #5

Week #5 out of 15


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)

The week started with a double dose of a new training routine: Hera.
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:

1. 100 reps per round is a lot for a demanding exercise
2. There is basically no opportunity to rest between each round of climbers
3. 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.

Cardio-Strength Program: week #4

Week #4 out of 15


As promised, here is the summary of week #4. Again, there were some novelties in my training schedule (Burpees Max, Hyperion & Ares). Except for the good old Aphrodite in the last session, the week was mostly dominated by strength-related exercises.

Monday: HADES 21:33* (personal best)

For my first training of the week,there is only one Hades to do. I scored a new personal best, which honestly, was expected.
On week #1, I performed this training for the first time. 2 out of the 4 training were completed under 22 minutes. Last week I was happy to finally get a star, but with a completion time of 23:45, I clearly had room to improve the time. My execution speed of the star-version of Hades is now back in line-with week #1. The next challenge will be to get down to 20 minutes.

Tuesday: HYPERION 24:40 + Bonus: LEG LEVERS MAX (178* repetitions -personal best) 

On week #2, when I first encountered the Artemis workout, I thought that I had found the ultimate arm-muscles killing machine. I was young and naive back then...

Let me introduce you to Hyperion: 

• 6 HS pushups: because upside-down is much more fun!
• 12 strict pullups: you think that pullups are tough? Think again...
• 6 OH pushups: who needs 2 arms anyway?
• 12 pistols: to shoot your legs & your ego.
• 60 seconds rest
• 5 rounds

For the first time, I looked at a workout schedule and told myself: "Damn! I can't even complete any of these exercises in its regular difficult version!"

• HS pushups: while standing vertically upside-down on your arms, you slowly bring your head to the ground and push yourself back up. Last week's tentative was a disaster. This time I asked my wife to help me with the handstand to avoid hitting the wall to hard. It didn't really make things easier. I had to revert to the simple version.

• Strict pullups: let yourself hang completely from the bar by the arms. Pull yourself up, until you chin goes above the bar. Go back to the original position. Congratulations, you have now lost all momentum. This makes strict pullups much harder than regular ones. I completed a few, but quickly fell back to regulars.

• OH pushups: from the usual pushup position use only one arm to push yourself upward. In boxing I tried several pushups versions: regulars; on-fists; thumbs-touching each others; lifting palms while in the air; pushing with 2 arms, then standing on one while extending the other horizontally. Each variation was intended to make the exercise more painful. Strangely I had never been asked to do one-hand pushups before. To my great surprise, I was able to perform all 5 rounds. It was hard, but that made my day!

• Pistols: pictures are worth a thousand words: look at the video below for an explanation of pistols. There are 2 difficulties in this exercise. First it's an insanely low squat, with only one leg carrying your entire body weight. Second, it requires flawless balance (your heel or arms should never touch the ground). For the easier version. If you can't complete the regular version, Freeletics suggest to have a chair or bench behind you, to sit mid-position. The chair trick didn't work for me: it's too high. I couldn't find anything that was at the right height for me. Then I tried to go all the way down, but using my arms to maintain stability. I was hoping it would help me progress faster, but I quickly realize that it's actually counterproductive. If hands touch the ground, the body weight is dispersed instead of being concentrated on one leg. So muscles work less and you don't improve balance. In the end, what worked the best for me was to do a regular pistol (no bench, no arms) but only going down as far as I could. I don't think that I'm going low enough to get a star, but at least I can feel that my muscles are getting a good workout.

In conclusion, OH pushups are ok. Pistols, should be the next exercise worthy of a star. Strict pullups & HS pushups will require some serious improvements. May be one day I'll get a star for Hyperion, but it's going to take many weeks of training.


Hyperion was a difficult training relatively short but with no abs exercise. So I added a Leg Lever Max. My results had plateaued for a while, so I was determined to break my record. Mission accomplished, with a new PB at 178 repetitions. I now have the 200 reps in sight, and have good hopes to get there soon.

Wednesday: BURPEES MAX (65* repetitions) + ARES 08:45*

The third session started with Burpees Max. This exercise is the base of Freeletics: many workouts include a good share of burpees. Yet I had never tested it in a MAX session. Based on the scores in my networks, 65 burpees is a decent result, and in the range that I expected (60-70). However, I confess that my motivation was a bit low that evening. I'm sure that with full dedication, I should get well over 70.

The MAX was followed by a new workout: Ares. Don't be fooled by it's deadly patronym, it's a pretty easygoing workout:

• 7 pullups
• 7 jackknives
• 2x40m run
• 60 seconds rest
• 5 rounds (no rest at the end of the 5th round, the training is over after the run)

Of course this exercise will be problematic if you just started and can't do pullups yet, but as you can see these are very short repetitions. So this shoudln't be a problem for long.
Jackknives is a simple abs exercise, with few reps. Run requirement is short as well.
The weirdest part in this work out are the 60 seconds rest. This is new for me. Normally I have to keep going, even when out of breath. All of a sudden, I have a workout that requires me to just stand and catch my breath... :-)
Don't get me wrong Ares will get your cardio racing, but you probably won't have sore muscles the following day.


Thursday: Boxing training 

Friday: APHRODITE 22:45* (personal best)

It's been a month since I have trained with Aphrodite. I was really looking forward to meet again. With Dione, it's the workout that I repeated the most during my pre-program. I scored many personal bests, usually in small increments. I was curious to see if I had lost the pace for that specific workout or if on contrary I would blow away my PB.

22:45*. That's 5 minutes better than my previous personal best! (27:51*)

The clock watch doesn't lie: to get to these results, day after day my overall physical condition has been improving.

I find it very rewarding to see that sweat & dedication are paying off!

Body stats: after 8 weeks

I have now completed 8 weeks of training. This is when results should start to appear (the key word is "appear", don't expect to see a six-pack yet!)

My stats after 8 weeks: 

Height: 178 cm (5.84ft) 

Weight: 78.2 kg (172.6 lbs)

Waist size: 88 cm (34.6 in)


In my last post discussing weight, I mentioned that breaking the 79kg barrier would be a strong indication that I was losing weight. This milestone has now been officially passed.
To be very transparent, one morning a week or two ago I even weighted myself at 76.5kg! But this was more an anomaly than a real weight loss. Lately my weight has been constantly oscillating between 78kg-79kg.

Based on the evolution over the past 8 weeks, I don't expect to lose a lot of weight. I think that will trade some fat for some muscles, so my guess is that I will end-up around 75kg-76kg.


The waist size is a more stable measure, and by dropping by another centimeter it confirms that there is some effect from the training. I have also started to notice that the abs are a bit more carved-out. Nothing incredible, but so it's motivating to see some progress.


Here is a picture:

Results appear slowly, it's even harder on picture than in than in real life. Since week #1, I have been losing a bit of belly fat: the lower ribs and the abs are getting more visible (I'm not contracting muscles on any picture). Pectoral muscles also appear to be slightly more developed.

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.

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.

Cardio-Strength Program: week #1

After completing my 5 weeks of Freeletics free trial, I didn't sign-up for the program right away.

Monday to Wednesday were mandatory rest days, so I decided to only start on the following Monday. This was a really light week, with only one real training day:

Thursday: Boxing training + METIS: 06:20*


Week #1 out of 15

A few weeks back, Freeletics replaced its existing program schedules by a new concept called "Your Coach". Basically, you still choose a training goal (Cardio only, Strength only, or Cardio & Strength) and it will still cost you 40 euros.

The real change is that instead of selling the exact same training routine to everyone, now the company sells a training plan that (supposedly) adapts to your results. Some conspiracy theorists claim that the website just spits out random sessions. Other claim that there is really some kind of algorithm, and that recording dummy results (e.g. 2 minutes completion time for Aphrodite) actually leads to more difficult training workload in the following weeks.

I don't know who is right, and honestly I'm not going to spend 40 bucks and input crazy completion times just to see if the program adapts or not. In any case, it's a smart move by Freeletics. I couldn't see how they could make money on the long term from selling a fixed training routine. In the days & age of the Internet, there are too many people out there who are sharing their workout experience. Now that everyone trains slightly differently it makes it harder to just Google the program instead of buying it.

Anyway, I don't know if it's due to the previous 5 weeks being focused on Cardio, but for week #1 My Coach decided to re-balance my training: 4 Hades sessions!

Let me introduce you to Hades:

• 25 Burpees
• 15 Pullups
• 15 Pushups
• 25 Burpees
• 2x 40m run
• (3 rounds)

Before starting, I expected a challenging workout. Cardio exercises can be exhausting, but you can always keep on going. More slowly, breathing heavily, but the show goes on.

With a Strength workout, once your muscles say "Stop!", the training is over.

My main concern, with Hades was pullups. I knew that I couldn't do 45 repetitions. In a few weeks, I'm sure that it won't be an issue anymore. But for now, it is. So I had to make the following choice:

• either do 3x 15 pullups the proper way, and spend over an hour to complete training
• or, do as many proper pullups as possible and finish with the easier version.

I chose the second option. Freeletics is based on high-intensity training, I didn't want to just stand there, while waiting for my arms recovered from a few pullups. However, the key is that each time I really need to do as many proper pullups as possible. The easier version (using the feet to generate a slight impulse), can only be used as a last resort. This is the only way to get better at this exercise.


Before moving-on the my results, I need to clarify another point. I train indoor, therefore the 2x 40m run is an issue. In my training routine I replaced the run by a high knee run static. The body movement is similar to the original exercise, and the high knew adds a layer of difficulty which makes is a good cardio workout.
I do this for 15 seconds, which is a bit longer than a 80m run would take me.

Monday: HADES 25:17

Tuesday: HADES 25:08 (personal best) + Bonus: LEG LEVERS MAX (146* repetitions -personal best)

Wednesday: HADES 22:52 (personal best)

Thursday: Boxing training

Friday: HADES 21:59 (personal best) + Bonus: SITUPS MAX (102* repetitions)

Reminder: Throughout this blog, I'm following the Freeletics scoring convention. Each time that there is a star (*) next to a completion time it means that I completed all the session using the most difficult version of each exercise. A completion time with a star is always ranked above a completion time without a star (i.e. 30:00* is better than 20:00).
Since I didn't complete any Hades doing only the most difficult pullups, I cannot claim the star yet.

Hades is a challenging session for arms & shoulders (Burpees+pullups+pushups), but actually it doesn't take too long to complete. And because it doesn't require any effort from the rest of the body, it's very easy to combine with other exercises. As you can see, twice this week I added some abs training.

All in all, I actually enjoyed Hades. Of course, I won't be fully satisfied until I get these pullups under control, but it's just a matter of time. The more I train, the easier it will get.

Body stats: after 5 weeks

According to Freeletics, the most visible physical changes take place after 8 weeks.
But I don't take their word for granted. The entire point of this blog is to independently assess if the programs is as efficient as it claims.

Now that I have completed my first 5 weeks of training, let's have another look at my stats: 

Height: 178 cm (5.84ft) 

Weight: 79.5 kg (175.3 lbs)

Waist size: 89 cm (35 in)


If we look at solely at figures, it looks like that I have lost 3 kilos and 1 cm of waist size over the past 5 weeks. Not bad, but before jumping to conclusions, we need to take into account my metabolism.

I'm not obsessed with my weight. It's useless for me to step on the scale every day: from one day to the next I can gain or lose 1 to 2 kilos.
However, over the past decade my weight has always been within 79kg to 83kg. Even when I started boxing twice a week after a period of inactivity, my weight didn't change. I just traded a couple kilos of fat for a couple kilos of muscle.

My point is: take the results above with a grain of salt. The drop in weight is encouraging but I'm still within my normal range. When I weighted myself 5 weeks ago, 82.5 kg was on the high side. Now I'm on the low side. 
If in a few weeks I start to drop below 79kg, this will be a strong signal that the training is impacting my weight.


A last thing. When weighting myself for this experiment, I always wait a day or two after training. I usually lose 0.5kg-1kg of water during workout. I need to let my body to re-hydrate to avoid distorting the weighting results.


And now the pic:

 

Pre-Program (Free trial): week #5 (Hell week)

Week #5 out of 5

I'm glad to report that I came out alive of "Hell Week"! 
The name comes from Freeletics, not me. From time to time in the program, there is a week when the training workload is more intense. Instead of the usual 3 or 4 sessions, week #5 required training every day, for 7 days in a row, some days including several workouts. Afterward there is a 3 days mandatory resting period, so next week will be light.

[UPDATE Jan 2014 - Start]
Please note that this week some of the training content is elective.
In the training schedule below, on Day1, Day5 &  Day7, I chose to do the Dione workout. However, don't be surprised if you see on the Internet that other people have done Zeus instead. They simply chose to focus on Strength instead of Cardio.
[UPDATE Jan 2014 - End]


Monday: DIONE 34:38* (personal best)

I had not train with Dione last week. As my physical shape is improving every day (at least in theory), I was hoping to improve my completion time.
The theory was right this time, I improved my personal best by 36s.
Good omens for the week?


Tuesday: 

• SQUAT MAX: 168* repetitions (personal best)
• PUSHUP MAX: 33* repetitions
• METIS: 07:10*

It started well, Squats had not been part of my training since week #2. I found them much harder than last time. This session was tough, but I scored a new PB in Squat Max. 168 repetitions, versus 165 previously. Not a stellar improvement, but I was pleased that I didn't suffer in vain!

My cheerfulness was short-lived.
The next session, I only completed 33 Push-ups Max, close to my lowest score of 30 reps. Despite fresh arms, I couldn't do better.
And finally, I completed Metis in 7:10. My all-time worse performance. I struggled to finish.

The frustrating thing is that I don't understand why this disappointing performance happened:
I had a good night of sleep.

I felt good. No sore muscle.

I had a nice warm-up.

I was motivated to take-on these 3 sessions.

Yet, I completely ran out of juice.

Let's forget this bad day...

Wednesday: DIONE 33:51* (personal best)

After Tuesday's fiasco, I was a bit pessimistic before training. But no bad surprise today. Training was fine, I even scored a new Dione PB.


Thursday: APHRODITE 27:51* (personal best) + Boxing training

My main concern this week was to integrate the heavy training load with my boxing day. Fortunately, day#4 only included 1 session of Aphrodite. I scheduled an early morning training (this time leaving myself enough time to awake properly before the training!)
Aphrodite was a bit tougher than expected (I had forgotten the "pleasure" of a 50 burpees round), but I got a PB, improving overall time by over a minute.

The boxing training was more difficult than usual. I still had sore tights from Tuesday's Squat Max and lower energy levels after the morning session. 


Friday: DIONE 32:47* (personal best)

I love boxing.
This is the second time since starting Freeletics, that the day after boxing I woke-up feeling regenerated. The long warm-up and stretching completely wiped-out sore muscles. I was halfway through Hell Week, yet I felt like a Monday.
Training went well, I improved Dione by another minute.


Saturday: APHRODITE 25:50* (personal best)

Another good training. Aphrodite improved by 2 minutes since Thursday!
It's very motivating to see progress day after day.


Sunday: 

• DIONE 31:27* (personal best)
• [5 minutes rest]
  
• METIS: 06:33*
• [2 minutes rest]
• SQUAT MAX: 168* repetitions (personal best)

The last day of Hell Week. 3 sessions. I was hoping to score 3 PB. I only got two.

I started Metis on a good pace, completing the first round in 1 minute. However, I lost too much time during the second round. The Dione session & its burpees had taken their toll.

Despite my efforts I couldn't improve my Squats Max, but finished with 168 like my Tuesday PB. According to the app, it still counts as a Personal Best.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this Hell Week. I had expected declining performances over the week as tiredness settled-in. Instead I have gotten a new personal best every day. However such a training-heavy week requires a lot of discipline, and I was lucky not to get any scheduling conflicts. For people who do a lot of business travel or just have a busy life, training every day could be difficult. Thankfully, it's not Hell Week every week!

About the App

A fI would like to share some thoughts on the Freeletics App, and how my vision of the tool evolved. I am using the Apple version, but I imagine the Android one is identical.

2 apps are available in the store, the Free version and the Pro version (5 euros). Whichever version you chose, you sign-in into the app (same login as on the Freeletics website). It offers the following features:

1. Content of each session (e.g. Metis is made of X rounds of exercises A, B & C), including videos tutorials showing how to correctly perform each exercise.
2. A timer to record your performance each session.
3. Results sharing (on social networks or within your Freeletics Network)
4. The app calculates "points" based on activity. The more you train, the higher your level.

The main difference between both versions, is that the Free app only include a few basic exercises (Aphrodite, Metis, etc.). While the Pro includes every available exercises, some of which you may never ever use (e.g. Strength exercises for someone only interested in Cardio). If you are just planning to try Freeletics to see if the program can work for you, then the Free version is more than enough. You won't get any benefits from the Pro app until you add a wider diversity of exercises to your training routine.

I decided to use the app, mainly because of feature #1 & #2. I liked the possibility of checking the correct movements before training (even without internet connection). And I was too lazy to use a regular timer and write down performances after training.
Basically, I just thought the app was just a convenient tool to keep track of things.


After 5th week of training, I realize that I underrated another benefit: MOTIVATION!


After a while you get used to the exercises, so tutorial videos are only useful the first few times that you perform a new workout. This feature gets less important. Timing & recording performances, however remains valuable as tracking your progress is a continuous process.

At the beginning feature #4, motivated me to complete a few extra exercises to get the points I needed to get to the next level. But it didn't last very long. In my opinion, levels don't mean much: someone who completes Aphrodite 10 times in 1 hour will have a higher level than someone who completes it twice in 15 minutes. For me, the really motivating features are:

• The timer: usefulness goes beyond indicating final performance. Keeping an eye on the clock while performing the exercise is the best way to ensure that you beat your personal best. When I notice that my pace is getting too slow, I increase the intensity of my training. Sometimes PB seems too far away, so I'm  just trying to avoid a bad completion time. And very often, this spike in intensity leads to a completely unexpected new PB.

• The network: I first thought that comparing my performance to others was just a gimmick, actually it is very useful.
• It helps understand the difficulty of a given exercise and set realistic personal goals. If you are trying to get back in shape and the fittest person in your network completes Dione in 20mn, you're not going to complete it in 19mn on your first attempt. 
• It motivates to get better performances. On the Wednesday of week #4, I completed Metis in 6'27. I could have ended at 6'37 and still score a PB and feel happy. However I knew that the PB of a guy in my network was 6'30. When I was nearly done with my exercise and saw the timer hitting 6'00, I gave everything that I had left to finish these damn High Jumps. However, that only works if you have people of comparable fitness level in your network. If you only follow people who are top performers, completing exercises three times faster than you, you'll be demotivated. On the contrary, following only people with worse performances might boost your ego, but you risk staying in your comfort zone instead of pushing yourself.

EDIT: By the way, for the readers who are also training using the app, you can find me under the name "decimus iunius iuvenalis"

Pre-Program (Free trial): week #4

Week #4 out of 5

For the newcomers who didn't read my last post, due to scheduling constraints the training of week#3 overlapped on the Monday of week #4. This means that not only did week #5 start on a Tuesday, but  I didn't get any rest day between these two weeks. I do not advise skipping the recovery period in program. Not giving enough rest time to your body is the surest way to injure yourself, and leads to mediocre completion times.

So why didn't I follow my own advice?

• First of all, you have to know that next week (#5) is kindly known as "Hell Week". It will require training everyday, so I will need a few rest days at the end of week #4.
• Secondly, this week is focused on a very short exercise called Metis (my targeted completion time: 5 to 8 minutes). Because it is such a light training, I was able to reduce rest time to catch-up with the overall training schedule. 

The Metis training routine is the following:

• 10 Burpees
• 10 Climbers (each time that you bring one leg up, it counts as a repetition)
• 10 High Jumps (from standing position, jump vertically. Try to touch shoulders with knees)

• 25 Burpees
• 25 Climbers
• 25 High Jumps

• 10 Burpees
• 10 Climbers
• 10 High Jumps

Tuesday: METIS 06:41*

My first completion of Metis reminded me very much of my first encounter with Aphrodite.
Because the training is so short, I went after it headfirst, without any pacing. Within 2 minutes, I was out of breath and it felt like I completed the rest of the exercise under apnea. A good reminder that with Freeletics, just like with boxing, your physical condition doesn't amount to much if you can't get your breathing under control.

Let's have a look at the Metis workload:

Burpees: by now they have become the bread & butter of my training. I'm still not very fond of them, but I know what to expect. In this particular session, the difficulty is low: only a max of 25 reps; for a total of 45 reps.

Climbers: not very difficult physically. Like Jumping Jacks, they are treacherous because fast completion gets your heart racing and it's easy to lose breath if you are not careful.

High Jumps: the real difficulty of Metis lies in this simple exercise. I haven't fully understood why (intensity of the effort?), but from a breathing stands-point, these high jumps are the most demanding exercise that I have encountered so far. The challenge with Burpees was learn when to breath-in/breath-out. With high-jumps this is all very plain & easy: empty your lungs while you bring knees to your shoulders. Despite this simplicity, when I finish the second high jump I'm already short-winded. Completing 25 of them in a row basically required my mind to tell my body to ignore the lack of oxygen. This wasn't a pretty scene...


Wednesday: METIS 06:27* (personal best)

This time, I was careful not too start too fast. It paid-off as I improved my overall time. However high jumps still leave me gasping for air.


Thursday: Boxing training + METIS 06:05* (personal best)

Due to the tight schedule this week  (and because Metis is so short), I decided to do this session just after my boxing training. I took a couple minutes of rest, just enough time to drink some water. With the tired muscles and diminished stamina, going through this session was a tedious process. At the end I was shocked to learn that I had improved my time by 22 seconds, scoring a new personal best. Lesson of the day: don't underestimate training capabilities when your metabolism is already running high.

Saturday: METIS 06:09*

For the last training of the week, I trained early morning, just before breakfast. Usually due to time constraints I have to train after dinner (which is far from optimal). The overall time was close to my personal best. An encouraging performance, but I wasn't fully awake. Next week I'm expecting at least one morning session. I will try to improve my morning routine. I guess I should be awake for at least half-an-hour before training. 

We will see. Anyway, I'm sure that HELL WEEK will be full of lessons!

Pre-Program (Free trial): week #3

Week #3 out of 5


This week has been a complete nightmare to schedule training.

I have been sick in bed from Monday to Wednesday. Thursday I felt better, but as you know by now it's boxing day. Saturday, I was unexpectedly called to work, only getting back home late.

It's difficult to build a proper training schedule with only 2 days available. To make things more complex, week #3 is focused on a new session called Dione. It's a fairly demanding session, so repeating it twice at high-intensity on the same day was not really an option.
Given the circumstances, I extended Week #3 to include the following Monday.

[UPDATE Jan 2014 - Start]
Please note that this week some of the training content is elective.
In the training schedule below I chose to do the Dione workout. However, don't be surprised if you see on the Internet that other people have done Zeus instead. They simply chose to focus on Strength instead of Cardio.
[UPDATE Jan 2014 - End]

Thursday: Boxing training

Surprisingly good training, given that I had barely recovered for my sick days.

Friday: DIONE 37:03*

The Dione training is made of 3 rounds of:

• 75 Jumping Jacks
• 25 Burpees
• 50 Leg Lever
• 75 Jumping Jacks
• 50 Situps
• 25 Burpees

When I first glanced at it I smiled, thinking that it looked like a nice and easy session to be completed under 30 minutes. Jumping Jacks are basically a warm-up exercise, the session is focused on abs which I consider one of my strong points and the burpees repetitions remain reasonable (sets of 25 compared to 50 in Aphrodite).

It's only minutes before starting the training that I realized that the completion time of people that I'm following through the phone app ranged from 26 to 56 minutes.
26 minutes being the time of a guy who is 10 weeks ahead of me in the program, it became clear that completing Dione under 30mn, on the first attempt, would be impossible.

It actually took me 37'03 minutes to complete the exercise. Let's have a look at what makes Dione much harder than what it looks:

• Jumping jacks: as expected they are not physically challenging. It takes me 1 minute to do all 75. The challenge is that they just keep coming back (450 reps in total), so while they don't wear down your muscles they keep your Cardio high all the time. And because they are so quick to complete, they don't offer any opportunity for your body to recover.

• Abs: if you look carefully at the repetition pattern, the 2 exercises which are 100% abs focused (Leg levers & Situps) are only separated by a set of Jumping jacks. To say it differently: you do 50 repetitions of abs, "rest" for 1 minute and do another 50 reps. For a total of 300 abs reps during the 3 rounds. The overall workload is perfectly manageable, the difficulty is to maintain a fast pace all along.

• Burpees: another deceivingly simple exercise. Indeed there are only 25 repetitions, but twice per round. 150 burpees in total just like in Aphrodite. Besides, when you complete a round with 25 burpees, you have to follow-up with another 25 burpees in the next round. Once again, you only have 1 minute of Jumping Jacks to "rest" in-between.

To summarize Dione vs Aphrodite: 

• same number of Burpees
• same number of Situps
• Squats are replaced by Leg Levers (which takes longer to complete and strains the same muscle group as Situps)
• 450 Jumping Jacks in bonus

In conclusion: no matter how much time it takes you to complete Aphrodite, it will always take you longer to complete Dione.


Sunday: DIONE 37:18*

Results very close to my first attempt, but just below. No personal best this time. Every second matters...


Monday: DIONE 35:14* (personal best)

My first two encounters with Dione have taught me to respect this training. I focused on keeping the best pace possible during the abs, and was mentally ready for long, straining, Burpees sessions. It worked, I gained 2 minutes versus the previous day results and setup a new personal best.


 Week #4, here I come!