Week #15 out of 15
Week #14 was relatively quiet, so I took it as a sign that the last week of the program would be harder than usual. Probably Hell.
At the end of week #7, I wrote that wasn't fully convinced about the Hell Days. I was feeling a bit nostalgic of the Hell Week. I preferred training every day rather than having a few long sessions. Well you know the saying: be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.
That's exactly what happened to me, I got what I wished for: Hell Week. 7 days, 7 sessions.
The work load was heavier than usual. Not only because of the more numerous sessions, but also several sessions were made of several workouts. Add to the mix some sport that I have been doing aside from Freeletics, and that gives you a pretty exhausting week!
Monday: DIONE (26:45*)
The beginning of the week was as ordinary as it gets. Dione is one the workout that I repeated the most (15 times over the past 20 weeks).
I had a hard time finding my pace, and was rapidly out of breath. So in the end no PB, and a subpar performance.
Tuesday: APOLLON (24:37*) +ARES (08:09*)
My fear this week was to see a tendinitis at the leg come back to haunt me. The pain was gone for only a few days, and yet I have 3 Apollon scheduled this week. Running is not as bad as jumps, but it still generates enough stress on the legs to wake-up an inflammation.
While running, I did feel that my tendons didn't like it very much, but the overall distance was short so the impact was limited. After the workout, I decided to take advantage of being outdoor to practice hand-stands without any risk to destroy my living room walls. I didn't try to do pushups while hand-standing, this was just to get used to the position and train to land on the wall softly. I did 12-15 attempts, and stopped as the shock from landing back on the ground hurt more than the run had. Thankfully the (small) pain didn't last and I wasn't bothered again for the rest of the week.
The workouts were not performed back to back. I performed Apollon during my lunch break, but had to wait to be back home in the evening to be able to do the Ares' pull-ups.
Wednesday: HYPERION (18:48 -personal best) +APHRODITE (21:38* -personal best)
A fairly big day today, with 2 workouts that are usually scheduled as stand-alone.
Hyperion went well, still no star due to HS Pushups & Pistols, but at least I got a new PB. For Aphrodite, my last PB being 2 months old, I was sure that I could improve my time, despite being tired from the previous workout. It improved by only a minute, not bad but I expect to do even better if I attempt it with fresh arms.
Thursday: boxing training +VENUS (23:11* -personal best)
This was the day that I apprehended the most. Venus is heavily focused on arms. But so is my boxing training. Doing Venus first and its 200 puhups early morning would strain my arms and lead too poor performance in the evening. I did several time Metis after boxing, but I honestly didn't knew if I would be able to complete the entire Venus routine.
Skipped Freeletics training on Thursday (for example to do both session 4 & 5 on Friday), didn't feel right. After all, the goal of Hell Week is not just to train a lot but to train every day.
I remembered one of the rules that I set: boxing comes first. So I decided to train at full capacity & intensity and do Venus right after.
My arms were exhausted, my abs were strained from situps, leg levers and jacknives, so the only "comfortable" exercise was Deep Squat. It was very tough, I stopped thinking, my brain went completely on autopilot. Completion time didn't matter. Before starting I had already accepted that it could take up-to an hour, as long as I could complete the workout.
To my great astonishment, I got a PB, improving my completion time by over 2 minutes!
This was only my second attempt at this workout so of course I had a margin for improvement, but given the context this was completely unexpected.
That night my arms were absolutely destroyed, but I was quite happy that the worse day of the week turned out to be a highlight of the week.
Friday: APOLLON (23:08* -personal best)
Another Apollon. My biggest room for improvement is on the running (that applies to all the workouts that include 400m run or more). The first round was fast, but I started losing my breath and slowed down for the second round. For the last round I was in "damage control" mode. Basically, I pushed to increase my pace. Not as fast as in round 1, but as fast as I could.
It paid off with a new PB, my time having improved by a few seconds.
Again, I practice a bit doing hand stands. I'm getting more comfortable at landing on the wall, hopefully with a bit more work I'll be able to do these damn HS pushups!
Saturday: APOLLON (22:35* -personal best) +PUSHUP MAX (38*) +VENUS (24:43*)
For the first time since starting the program, I changed the order of my training sessions. Session 7, originally scheduled on Sunday was very long and incompatible with my calendar. I would be gone all day skiing, and there is nowhere were way I can do Apollon by night. So I swapped days 6 & 7, in order to do the big session on Saturday.
Apollon went very well. This time I maintained a constant pace during all 3 rounds, and improved again my PB by a few seconds.
The real challenge came from the last 2 workouts. My shoulders & arms were still dead from Thursday's training load. While I didn't have sore muscles or felt any pain while at rest, when attempting the Pushup Max, it was clear that I had no juice left. I went through the motions to finish both the MAX and Venus, but a PB was clearly out of reach today.
Sunday: Skiing +HS PUSHUP MAX (69) +PUSHUP MAX (45*) +SITUP MAX (148* -personal best )
The numerous Squats & Deep Squats this week (800 reps if I counted well), took a toll on my tights. This time the skiing session was physically a bit more challenging than last time, but overall it was a very good experience.
After a full day spent driving & skiing (~5 hours of effective ski time), I was extremely glad to only have a few MAX to complete. Frankly, swapping sessions now really seemed like the wisest decision. Given my level of tiredness I probably would have risked injury by doing a big session tonight.
My arms had started recovering a bit, but HS pushups and Pushups were still more difficult than usual. No PB.
For the Situp Max, my abs were OK and mentally I was fired-up. This was the last workout of the program! Surely not the time to be holding back! I used whatever energy I had left to keep the pace as fast as possible.
I literally got rug burns from these situps (and I still do as I write these lines 3 days later!), but I made it:148 reps. 6 more than my previous PB.
The program is over.
Free at last, Free at last, Thank Freeletics Gods almighty I am free at last!
Or am I?
Yes, I have completed every single workout in the program. I even tossed in a few extra. But now, the real challenge begins. I the next few weeks I won't be following any specific program. May be I will in the future, but in the meantime I will decide freely how frequently to train, what workouts to do and how to arbitrage between Strength vs. Cardio.
This is a welcomed break, as I will be able to tailor my workouts perfectly around my regular sport training and take into account any possible injury. For example, focus on arms & abs until my tendinitis is fully healed.
By now, I'm familiar with most Gods, so mixing the workouts to come-up with a good schedule will not be too difficult. The real challenge will be maintaining a high level of physical activity. This will require a lot of discipline and engagement. I like the results that I have obtained, and I want to get even more. So hopefully my motivation will remain as high as it is now!
Many of you have asked to see pictures after the program. I can tell you that the stats & photos have been taken, I just need to sit-down and summarize them in a post. It will come soon, so stay tuned!
Showing posts with label HS Pushups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HS Pushups. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Cardio-Strength Program: week #14
Week #14 out of 15
The training schedule this week was as plain as it gets. No new workout. Only fairly short sessions. A week mostly focused on strength, but with a balanced training load.
What's going on? Have the guys at Freeletics turned soft? May be it's just a pause before all Hell breaks loose in week 15. Anyway, my main concern this week was not the end of the program, but rather to try to get rid of the pain in my left leg that appeared last week.
Monday: HADES (18:57*)
Not a great performance today.
I was cautious to avoid any unnecessary stress to my leg, so I performed my workout relying mostly on my right foot. I could stand and walk normally, but to help the tendinitis disappear I absorbed the shocks (landing the burpee jumps) and leaned my weight (pushup position) only on my right side.
This peculiar stand certainly hindered me a bit. But honestly it's only half an excuse. My cardio wasn't at its best either. It was just a not-so-great day.
Tuesday: HYPERION (22:57 -personal best)
Hyperion was completed without star just like the first & last time. This means that I did the Strict Pullups & One-hand Pushups using the regular form. For Hand-stand pushups I used the alternate (easier) version. For Pistols, I'm not using a chair as recommended for the alternate form, but I'm not going low enough yet to qualify them as "regular". I expect to train for a few more months before I get a star on this workout.
My overall completion time improved by less than 2 minutes. Not a stellar gain, but I'll take whatever PB I can get!
Wednesday: POSEIDON (04:47* -personal best) +SITUP MAX (142* -personal best)
Both workouts today improved versus the PB scored last week. Poseidon improved by 9 seconds, but this time should keep on going down as pullups become more and more natural. For situps, 11 additional repetitions is a pretty big gain week over week. My abs have been spared so far this week, so they were at 100% capacity. I kept going as fast as possible but my pace slowed during the last minute.
Thursday: Skiing (alpine)
No boxing this week, but it was replaced by another good physical drill. Excluding the lunch break, I have been skiing in total for about 4h30 to 5h00.
It was my first session of the year, and it was made much easier by all the physical training that I went through. I like to complain about Squats & Split Lunges, but I reaped the benefits today. My tights never hurt for a single second, during skiing or the day after.
Friday: HADES (17:02* -personal best)
The week started with a mediocre Hades performance, on a not-so-great day and with a painful leg. It ended on another Hades, but this time the pain was almost gone and I improved my PB by 35 seconds. I felt like I was flying during the first half of the exercise: round 1 was completed in less than 5 minutes and round 2 in less than 6.
Improving my pullups will be the key to keep pushing the time down. Performance for the rest of the workout is more regular.
Here we are: Week #14 is now over. Next week will be the last stretch before I complete my program. I don't know if it will feel like a sprint or a marathon, but I can already tell you that Week #15 is going to be Hell Week again!
The training schedule this week was as plain as it gets. No new workout. Only fairly short sessions. A week mostly focused on strength, but with a balanced training load.
What's going on? Have the guys at Freeletics turned soft? May be it's just a pause before all Hell breaks loose in week 15. Anyway, my main concern this week was not the end of the program, but rather to try to get rid of the pain in my left leg that appeared last week.
Monday: HADES (18:57*)
Not a great performance today.
I was cautious to avoid any unnecessary stress to my leg, so I performed my workout relying mostly on my right foot. I could stand and walk normally, but to help the tendinitis disappear I absorbed the shocks (landing the burpee jumps) and leaned my weight (pushup position) only on my right side.
This peculiar stand certainly hindered me a bit. But honestly it's only half an excuse. My cardio wasn't at its best either. It was just a not-so-great day.
Tuesday: HYPERION (22:57 -personal best)
Hyperion was completed without star just like the first & last time. This means that I did the Strict Pullups & One-hand Pushups using the regular form. For Hand-stand pushups I used the alternate (easier) version. For Pistols, I'm not using a chair as recommended for the alternate form, but I'm not going low enough yet to qualify them as "regular". I expect to train for a few more months before I get a star on this workout.
My overall completion time improved by less than 2 minutes. Not a stellar gain, but I'll take whatever PB I can get!
Wednesday: POSEIDON (04:47* -personal best) +SITUP MAX (142* -personal best)
Both workouts today improved versus the PB scored last week. Poseidon improved by 9 seconds, but this time should keep on going down as pullups become more and more natural. For situps, 11 additional repetitions is a pretty big gain week over week. My abs have been spared so far this week, so they were at 100% capacity. I kept going as fast as possible but my pace slowed during the last minute.
Thursday: Skiing (alpine)
No boxing this week, but it was replaced by another good physical drill. Excluding the lunch break, I have been skiing in total for about 4h30 to 5h00.
It was my first session of the year, and it was made much easier by all the physical training that I went through. I like to complain about Squats & Split Lunges, but I reaped the benefits today. My tights never hurt for a single second, during skiing or the day after.
Friday: HADES (17:02* -personal best)
The week started with a mediocre Hades performance, on a not-so-great day and with a painful leg. It ended on another Hades, but this time the pain was almost gone and I improved my PB by 35 seconds. I felt like I was flying during the first half of the exercise: round 1 was completed in less than 5 minutes and round 2 in less than 6.
Improving my pullups will be the key to keep pushing the time down. Performance for the rest of the workout is more regular.
Here we are: Week #14 is now over. Next week will be the last stretch before I complete my program. I don't know if it will feel like a sprint or a marathon, but I can already tell you that Week #15 is going to be Hell Week again!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Cardio-Strength Program: week #13
Week #13 out of 15
Welcome to "Max Week".
I usually find that doing several MAX in a row tends to be easier than 1 long workout, but I have to confess that it's a bit unsettling to look at your weekly schedule to see 14 workouts. For a split second, I was wondering what happened.
Upon closer examination, it turned out that the training load was comparable to a regular week. Only session 3 looked challenging on paper: 6 MAX in total, with the added difficulty that instead of 6 different workouts it's made of 3 workouts each to be repeated twice.
Monday: HS PUSHUP MAX (67 -personal best) +PUSHUP MAX (48*) +JUMP MAX (220* -personal best)
The week started with HS Pushup MAX. And I am now able to confirm that I *really* suck at handstand pushups.
I expected to do the MAX in the easy form, but just to see if I had made any progress I decided to first try the normal version. This MAX only lasts 100 seconds, yet after 60s I still had not managed to get into the handstand position against the wall...
But I still wanted to know if I was able to do a HS pushup. So after the first failed attempt, I tried again but this time I had recruited my wife to help me get into the right position. It took a while, but eventually I ended-up in the right position. In the little time that was left I managed to complete ~1.5 repetition. I still have a bit of training before I can pretend competing in the Olympic Games' gymnastics competition... Of course, I didn't record this "performance" (I had to use external help), this was just a test.
I like to understand what are the barriers preventing me from completing certain exercises. HS pushups have been puzzling me for a while. Back in junior school, I wasn't too bad at hand stands. Of course it's a long time ago, but I had expected that after a few trials it would come back. For the past few weeks I had assumed that the main reason for failure was because I wasn't throwing my legs at full strength by fear of damaging the wall (remember I trained inside my house). However, during the last test my wife was there to catch my legs. She could have prevented any damage to the wall. Yet, that didn't solve the problem.
So my guess is that it's linked to some kind of unconscious barrier. To succeed in this exercise, I have to train my brain that it's ok to be upside down. From time to time I'll try to do specific HS training aside from the regular Freeletics exercises. No clock. No pushups. Just me in front of a concrete wall getting used to get these feet up. I'll let you guys know if that works.
After the 2 failed attempts, I still had all my training remaining to be done. So I reverted back to easy HS puhups, to complete the first workout. No star of course, but at least a PB. Followed by a Pushup MAX. Star, no PB.
My last workout was Jump MAX. I only completed it once in the past. It was in the middle of a Hell Day so not surprisingly I didn't deliver a peak performance (approx. 180 reps). This time I wanted to score more than 200 reps.
I did 50 reps before taking a short break to catch my breath. Then 40 reps. Then rounds of 20, reaching a total of 220 reps. A pretty good performance and a new PB. Breathing will be the key to get more reps.
Tuesday: HADES (20:32*)
I had sore calves from the Monday jumps and my motivation wasn't at its top. I haven't re-read all my previous posts, but I have the feeling that on Tuesdays I'm often less in the mood for training. I'll keep an eye open to see if that's really a pattern.
Anyway, as often when the mind isn't inspired, the performance isn't great: Hades over 20mn.
Wednesday: SPLIT LUNGE MAX (166* -personal best) +SITUP MAX (129* -personal best) +JACKNIFE MAX (37*) +SPLIT LUNGE MAX (149*) +SITUP MAX (131* -personal best) +JACKNIFE MAX (31*)
The training started well with 2 PB in a row, the first real difficulty appeared with the Jacknives (much harder than usual due to the previous situps).
What can be worse than a Split Max? Two Split Max of course!
Repeating these workouts twice was my main concern today, but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I expected. No PB on the second Lunge MAX, but I wasn't very far from the first attempt. I even managed to get a second PB in Situp MAX! I didn't have to wait long to pay the price for this effort. My abs were burning during the last Jacknives.
Overall I was pleased by the results, but this was a fairly demanding day due to the heavy load spread over very few muscles.
Thursday: Boxing training
Training as usual. Just want to confirm that sore butt is definitely a consequence from Lunges...
Friday: nothing
I intended to do the session 4 on Friday, however I woke-up with a pain just above left ankle, on the outer side of the leg. Probably the tendon, rather than muscles.
Curiously this is not a spot where I'm used to have tendinitis. Usually after too much running or rope jumping I get tendinitis on the inner side of the leg (also just above the ankle). Because of this new location, I assume that it must be caused by an exercise that I'm not used to do. My guess is that the Jumps on Monday did the bulk of the damage, but that I didn't feel it yet. The Thursday training probably finished the job (the boxing stance and movements rely heavily on the ball of the foot, just like when landing those jumps), leading to the inflammation of the tendon.
The pain didn't fade during the day, so I decided no to train to give a full day of rest to my leg.
Saturday:
I could still feel a pain. It didn't seem bad enough to lead to a more serious injury, so I decided that I could finish my training. To support the foot and avoid torning my foot, I wore an ankle brace.
I didn't notice any discomfort during the first workout. It went very well, I finished well under 26:00 improving again my Dione PB and finally beating that time from Mads that I had used as a training goal for weeks. This really felt like a big achievement (I now have to find myself a new target to keep going!).
I followed-up by completing the fifth & last session of the week. I didn't even try to do normal HS pushups this time, and went straight to the easy version. No PB. For pushups, that was painful but I did manage to improve my personal best, finishing with 53 repetitions.
Last but not least Jumps MAX. The exercise went relatively well, breathing was a bit better than Monday so I think that under normal conditions I could have gone a bit above 220. But at the very end of the workout, I felt that the repeated landings were worsening my leg condition. So I stopped before the end of the timer.
That's all for the week. From a training stands point it was very good, with an unusual training routine, many PBs, and a milestone achieved in Dione. The only downer is this stupid tendinitis. I hope that it will not jeopardize week #14 training. The good news as I look at the week #14 training is that it's mostly strength focused, so I won't have to complete jumps or run 1 km.
Welcome to "Max Week".
I usually find that doing several MAX in a row tends to be easier than 1 long workout, but I have to confess that it's a bit unsettling to look at your weekly schedule to see 14 workouts. For a split second, I was wondering what happened.
Upon closer examination, it turned out that the training load was comparable to a regular week. Only session 3 looked challenging on paper: 6 MAX in total, with the added difficulty that instead of 6 different workouts it's made of 3 workouts each to be repeated twice.
Monday: HS PUSHUP MAX (67 -personal best) +PUSHUP MAX (48*) +JUMP MAX (220* -personal best)
The week started with HS Pushup MAX. And I am now able to confirm that I *really* suck at handstand pushups.
I expected to do the MAX in the easy form, but just to see if I had made any progress I decided to first try the normal version. This MAX only lasts 100 seconds, yet after 60s I still had not managed to get into the handstand position against the wall...
But I still wanted to know if I was able to do a HS pushup. So after the first failed attempt, I tried again but this time I had recruited my wife to help me get into the right position. It took a while, but eventually I ended-up in the right position. In the little time that was left I managed to complete ~1.5 repetition. I still have a bit of training before I can pretend competing in the Olympic Games' gymnastics competition... Of course, I didn't record this "performance" (I had to use external help), this was just a test.
I like to understand what are the barriers preventing me from completing certain exercises. HS pushups have been puzzling me for a while. Back in junior school, I wasn't too bad at hand stands. Of course it's a long time ago, but I had expected that after a few trials it would come back. For the past few weeks I had assumed that the main reason for failure was because I wasn't throwing my legs at full strength by fear of damaging the wall (remember I trained inside my house). However, during the last test my wife was there to catch my legs. She could have prevented any damage to the wall. Yet, that didn't solve the problem.
So my guess is that it's linked to some kind of unconscious barrier. To succeed in this exercise, I have to train my brain that it's ok to be upside down. From time to time I'll try to do specific HS training aside from the regular Freeletics exercises. No clock. No pushups. Just me in front of a concrete wall getting used to get these feet up. I'll let you guys know if that works.
After the 2 failed attempts, I still had all my training remaining to be done. So I reverted back to easy HS puhups, to complete the first workout. No star of course, but at least a PB. Followed by a Pushup MAX. Star, no PB.
My last workout was Jump MAX. I only completed it once in the past. It was in the middle of a Hell Day so not surprisingly I didn't deliver a peak performance (approx. 180 reps). This time I wanted to score more than 200 reps.
I did 50 reps before taking a short break to catch my breath. Then 40 reps. Then rounds of 20, reaching a total of 220 reps. A pretty good performance and a new PB. Breathing will be the key to get more reps.
Tuesday: HADES (20:32*)
I had sore calves from the Monday jumps and my motivation wasn't at its top. I haven't re-read all my previous posts, but I have the feeling that on Tuesdays I'm often less in the mood for training. I'll keep an eye open to see if that's really a pattern.
Anyway, as often when the mind isn't inspired, the performance isn't great: Hades over 20mn.
Wednesday: SPLIT LUNGE MAX (166* -personal best) +SITUP MAX (129* -personal best) +JACKNIFE MAX (37*) +SPLIT LUNGE MAX (149*) +SITUP MAX (131* -personal best) +JACKNIFE MAX (31*)
The training started well with 2 PB in a row, the first real difficulty appeared with the Jacknives (much harder than usual due to the previous situps).
What can be worse than a Split Max? Two Split Max of course!
Repeating these workouts twice was my main concern today, but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I expected. No PB on the second Lunge MAX, but I wasn't very far from the first attempt. I even managed to get a second PB in Situp MAX! I didn't have to wait long to pay the price for this effort. My abs were burning during the last Jacknives.
Overall I was pleased by the results, but this was a fairly demanding day due to the heavy load spread over very few muscles.
Thursday: Boxing training
Training as usual. Just want to confirm that sore butt is definitely a consequence from Lunges...
Friday: nothing
I intended to do the session 4 on Friday, however I woke-up with a pain just above left ankle, on the outer side of the leg. Probably the tendon, rather than muscles.
Curiously this is not a spot where I'm used to have tendinitis. Usually after too much running or rope jumping I get tendinitis on the inner side of the leg (also just above the ankle). Because of this new location, I assume that it must be caused by an exercise that I'm not used to do. My guess is that the Jumps on Monday did the bulk of the damage, but that I didn't feel it yet. The Thursday training probably finished the job (the boxing stance and movements rely heavily on the ball of the foot, just like when landing those jumps), leading to the inflammation of the tendon.
The pain didn't fade during the day, so I decided no to train to give a full day of rest to my leg.
Saturday:
- Session 4: DIONE (25:43* -personal best)
- Session 5: HS PUSHUP MAX (58) +PUSHUP MAX (53* - personal best) +JUMP MAX (217*)
I could still feel a pain. It didn't seem bad enough to lead to a more serious injury, so I decided that I could finish my training. To support the foot and avoid torning my foot, I wore an ankle brace.
I didn't notice any discomfort during the first workout. It went very well, I finished well under 26:00 improving again my Dione PB and finally beating that time from Mads that I had used as a training goal for weeks. This really felt like a big achievement (I now have to find myself a new target to keep going!).
I followed-up by completing the fifth & last session of the week. I didn't even try to do normal HS pushups this time, and went straight to the easy version. No PB. For pushups, that was painful but I did manage to improve my personal best, finishing with 53 repetitions.
Last but not least Jumps MAX. The exercise went relatively well, breathing was a bit better than Monday so I think that under normal conditions I could have gone a bit above 220. But at the very end of the workout, I felt that the repeated landings were worsening my leg condition. So I stopped before the end of the timer.
That's all for the week. From a training stands point it was very good, with an unusual training routine, many PBs, and a milestone achieved in Dione. The only downer is this stupid tendinitis. I hope that it will not jeopardize week #14 training. The good news as I look at the week #14 training is that it's mostly strength focused, so I won't have to complete jumps or run 1 km.
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Cardio-Strength Program: week #10
Week #10 out of 15
This week I was introduced to a new workout: Zeus. And just to make sure that we get to know each other properly, My Coach asked me to do it three times. We'll get to a review of this workout later, but to summarize it's completely strength oriented. With Artemis as my last session, this week was all about muscle building.
There an aspect of the training that I have not discussed so far: "instructions".
When you purchase the program and log on the Freeletics website you can see what sessions have been assigned to you for the week and there is a short paragraph titled "instructions". Each time you click on the "next week" button, you get your sessions for the following weeks and the instructions change as well.
In the first weeks, the instructions are mostly motivational and basic health advises. I don't have the exact quotes, but it's stuff like "Training will be harder than anything you've experience before. Take as long as you need but always try to complete each workout". Sometimes instructions include a special challenge for the week. To be honest, these challenges were so far from my training experience, that up to know I didn't think that they were worth mentioning. May be because of the 5 weeks of pre-training, I was a bit ahead of the game (compared to someone who starts Freeletics on week 1), but they seemed to easy.
For example, a challenge may say: "This week try to complete 2 workouts in their star version". I haven't compiled detailed stats of my results, but my guess is that 80%-90% of my completed workouts have stars. So there was no real "challenge".
So why this long discussion all of a sudden about instructions?
This week, I actually got a challenge that I wasn't 100% sure to complete: "This week’s workouts are well suited to train your capacity to withstand fatigue. Therefore, the goal of the week is to break your PB in two different workouts.".
With 3 Zeus sessions, it was sure that I'd get at least 1 PB (when starting a new workout time improves simply from getting used to the routine and not always looking for what should be done next). However, if I didn't score a good time on my Artemis session, the challenge couldn't be achieved.
So finally I paid more attention to these instructions, and I realized that even the early challenges that I had disregarded so far could be worthwhile for beginners. If you have been out of shape for a few years and follow the program, being asked to get a star, may give you that extra motivation to from "easy" burpees to "normal" burpees.
Monday: ZEUS (25:46)
Tuesday: ZEUS (25:21 -personal best)
Wednesday: ZEUS (24:31 -personal best)
So here is what Zeus looks like:
I don't get the star because of the Hand-stand pushups. Let's face it, I *really* suck at it. I'm so annoyed at wasting time on the normal version, that I prefer doing the easy version to at keep the cardio intensity high. At some point I'll have to take time aside from regular training to learn how to do this exercise properly...
Aside from HS pushups, there is no major difficulty. Of course if you are assigned this training in your first weeks, pullups will be an issue but you'll get over it rapidly.
Here what makes me say that it's a no sweat workout:
Not surprisingly after my first attempt, I score 2 personal best as I was learning how to perform the routine more efficiently. I was surprised at how easy the squats seemed to me. I usually hate them, but I didn't have any difficulty in any of the three sessions. I guess that it's partly due to the fact that no other exercise in the routine strains the legs.
I also hope that it means that the heavy leg work that I completed in the past weeks is starting to pay off and that my tights muscles are getting stronger.
Thursday: Boxing training
Sunday: ARTEMIS (26:31* -personal best)
History repeated itself all however again. My kids came back from school sick, and after managing a few days to dodge viruses and germs, I finally got sick as well. The last session had to be postpone to Sunday. There will be no break between Week #10 and #11.
I still wasn't in my best shape, but I was lucky to have only a strength workout to complete. I'm not sure that I would have attempted it if it had been an outdoor cardio workout.
From my personal experience, I think that Cardio is the worse when not feeling well. No matter what condition(s) you have. It's not recommended to get hot & sweat when feverish; you can't breath properly with a running nose or sore throat; and you don't want to be jumping/running all over the place with stomach ache or when nauseous.
Anyway, in the end I decreased my personal best by about 3 minutes. This may seems like a big improvement but keep in mind that my last Artemis was 8 weeks ago. Given all the pushups & pullups that I have completed over this period, it's normal that my body is now better prepared to handle the long repetitions (50 pullups and 100 pushups).
That's all folks. Let's hope that week #11 will be virus free!
This week I was introduced to a new workout: Zeus. And just to make sure that we get to know each other properly, My Coach asked me to do it three times. We'll get to a review of this workout later, but to summarize it's completely strength oriented. With Artemis as my last session, this week was all about muscle building.
There an aspect of the training that I have not discussed so far: "instructions".
When you purchase the program and log on the Freeletics website you can see what sessions have been assigned to you for the week and there is a short paragraph titled "instructions". Each time you click on the "next week" button, you get your sessions for the following weeks and the instructions change as well.
In the first weeks, the instructions are mostly motivational and basic health advises. I don't have the exact quotes, but it's stuff like "Training will be harder than anything you've experience before. Take as long as you need but always try to complete each workout". Sometimes instructions include a special challenge for the week. To be honest, these challenges were so far from my training experience, that up to know I didn't think that they were worth mentioning. May be because of the 5 weeks of pre-training, I was a bit ahead of the game (compared to someone who starts Freeletics on week 1), but they seemed to easy.
For example, a challenge may say: "This week try to complete 2 workouts in their star version". I haven't compiled detailed stats of my results, but my guess is that 80%-90% of my completed workouts have stars. So there was no real "challenge".
So why this long discussion all of a sudden about instructions?
This week, I actually got a challenge that I wasn't 100% sure to complete: "This week’s workouts are well suited to train your capacity to withstand fatigue. Therefore, the goal of the week is to break your PB in two different workouts.".
With 3 Zeus sessions, it was sure that I'd get at least 1 PB (when starting a new workout time improves simply from getting used to the routine and not always looking for what should be done next). However, if I didn't score a good time on my Artemis session, the challenge couldn't be achieved.
So finally I paid more attention to these instructions, and I realized that even the early challenges that I had disregarded so far could be worthwhile for beginners. If you have been out of shape for a few years and follow the program, being asked to get a star, may give you that extra motivation to from "easy" burpees to "normal" burpees.
Monday: ZEUS (25:46)
Tuesday: ZEUS (25:21 -personal best)
Wednesday: ZEUS (24:31 -personal best)
So here is what Zeus looks like:
- 5 HS pushups
- 15 pullups
- 25 pushups
- 35 situps
- 45 squats
- 120 seconds rest
- 4 rounds (no rest at the end of the 4th round, the training is over after the run)
I don't get the star because of the Hand-stand pushups. Let's face it, I *really* suck at it. I'm so annoyed at wasting time on the normal version, that I prefer doing the easy version to at keep the cardio intensity high. At some point I'll have to take time aside from regular training to learn how to do this exercise properly...
Aside from HS pushups, there is no major difficulty. Of course if you are assigned this training in your first weeks, pullups will be an issue but you'll get over it rapidly.
Here what makes me say that it's a no sweat workout:
- Pure strength exercises only have a few reps (5 to 25 max)
- The routine starts by focusing on arms, but after that the rest of the round is a complete recovery time for your arm muscles.
- There is not a single cardio exercise that will drive you out of breath. The only exercise that made my heart race a bit was when doing squats quickly...
- 120 seconds rest! Three times! Seriously people, how often have you seen Freeletics workouts that allow you to go check your emails during training? Even if your cardio is a bit high after squats, it will be long gone by the time you start the next round.
Not surprisingly after my first attempt, I score 2 personal best as I was learning how to perform the routine more efficiently. I was surprised at how easy the squats seemed to me. I usually hate them, but I didn't have any difficulty in any of the three sessions. I guess that it's partly due to the fact that no other exercise in the routine strains the legs.
I also hope that it means that the heavy leg work that I completed in the past weeks is starting to pay off and that my tights muscles are getting stronger.
Thursday: Boxing training
Sunday: ARTEMIS (26:31* -personal best)
History repeated itself all however again. My kids came back from school sick, and after managing a few days to dodge viruses and germs, I finally got sick as well. The last session had to be postpone to Sunday. There will be no break between Week #10 and #11.
I still wasn't in my best shape, but I was lucky to have only a strength workout to complete. I'm not sure that I would have attempted it if it had been an outdoor cardio workout.
From my personal experience, I think that Cardio is the worse when not feeling well. No matter what condition(s) you have. It's not recommended to get hot & sweat when feverish; you can't breath properly with a running nose or sore throat; and you don't want to be jumping/running all over the place with stomach ache or when nauseous.
Anyway, in the end I decreased my personal best by about 3 minutes. This may seems like a big improvement but keep in mind that my last Artemis was 8 weeks ago. Given all the pushups & pullups that I have completed over this period, it's normal that my body is now better prepared to handle the long repetitions (50 pullups and 100 pushups).
That's all folks. Let's hope that week #11 will be virus free!
Thursday, December 19, 2013
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.
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.
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.
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:
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
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.
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:
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!"
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!
Monday, December 16, 2013
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:
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.
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.
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