Foreword: for newcomers, let me clarify how I'm counting the weeks in my posts. The typical program that Freeletics sells lasts 15 weeks. However I have already completed a program once, and I have trained on my own for many weeks. Hence below is week #47 since I first started training, but as I have just re-signed up for 15 weeks, it's the first week of this new program. Hence the 1/15.
Week 47: Second Program - week 1 out of 15
Week settings:
- Area of focus: Cardio-Strength
- Number of training days: 4
- Limitations: none
- Last week feedback: n/a - it's the first week remember? ;-)
Training:
- Monday: Metis Endurance 1/3 (00:41* -PB) + Zeus Standard (28:13 -PB)
- Tuesday: Kentauros (25:54* -PB)
- Wednesday: Apollon Standard (22:11* -PB)
- Thursday: boxing training
- Friday: Apollon (22:11*) + Poseidon standard X2 (13:02*)
Statistics:
- 4'150 points
- 112 minutes
A few weeks before starting over with the program, I was wondering what my training plan would look like. Would it be similar to the first one (i.e. beginner ramp-up), or would the algorithm take into account my improved performance over these months of training and force me to hit the ground running.
It turned out that the implementation of the new program (endurance/standard/strength) and the modifications of several workout routines severed the link between old and new program. If many of the old PB have been reset, the Coach simply can't take into account past performance. The only unknown was how/if would the Coach would integrate my results on preliminary test to setup difficulty.
Note: this also means that in the first few weeks I'll be scoring tons of PB. Not only most first completion of a standard workouts, but all the alternate versions (strength/endurance and partial/multiple), will be considered first attempts (hence PBs).
When I saw that my week's training would start with 1 round of Endurance Metis. I was a bit upset. True, it wasn't the only workout on Day 1. But I took the program to challenge myself, and it started by asking me to do 20% of the easy version of a less than 5 minutes workout. 41 seconds: not even enough to warm-up.
This was followed by Zeus, a workout completed without star, since I still can't do handstand pushups. Which as a side note, I have not unlocked as an "advanced skill". I wonder what this advanced skills function is all about. Either the Coach is programmed to avoid giving workouts using these skills (in which case it failed miserably), or on contrary to help you unlock these skills (but if you ask people do things they can't do, what's the point of asking them in the first place?)
Aside from this underwhelming first impression, the rest of the week was fine. Kentauros remains a respected/dreaded workout for many freeathletes, so you can't complain about having it too easy when it's assigned to you.
The real novelty was that I tried for the first time one of these multiple workouts. Well I can tell you that it significantly increases difficulty.
My Poseidon personal best is at 04:20*, on a bad day it's around 05:00*. Even when doing 2 separate Poseidon in a row in week 12/15 of my first program, the aggregated time was 10:12*. Yet it took me 13:02* to complete the Poseidon X2.
Taking no break makes a huge difference for the muscles. The second iteration becomes much harder. And it's also more challenging mentally. My brain was fully aware that I was doubling-up on difficulty, and telling me to pace myself. Not a bad advice, but I really had to stay focused to keep the pace as intense as I could.
Overall the first week was fine. With 1 Kentauros & 2 Apollon, it was definitely a legs-focused week, but nothing insane. Far from being my most challenging week but it was well-balanced for someone coming back from a break.
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