Posting has been quiet on my side over the summer. But aside from a short vacation, I kept training. The piece of news is that since the beginning of September I have started following a 15 weeks program again! Since Freeletics underwent some important changes, there is much to say about the new program. I will discuss these novelties in my next posts. In the meantime, here is the summary of the workouts I have been performing while training on my own.
Week 43:
Monday: boxing training
Tuesday:Aphrodite (18:57* -PB)
Wednesday:Hades (17:55*) + Pushup MAX(44*)
Friday:Poseidon(04:51*) + Metis (05:29*) + boxing training
Friday used 2 short workouts as warm-up before sparring session. I was definitely, but Poseidon is a bit too intensive to be done before, probably best to do it afterward next time.
Week 44:
Monday: Hera (20:11* -PB)
Tuesday:Venus (19:00* -PB) +Pullup MAX(30*)
Friday:Venus(18:44* -PB)
Normal sessions. 3 PB within the same week. It had not happened in ages!
Week 45:
Vacations!
Intentionally giving my body a full rest. No particular physical exercise (aside from a 40mn scuba dive)
Week 46:
Wednesday: Hades (20:10*) + Squat MAX (189*) + Jumping Jacks x10 ('0:07* - First time)
Returning to training. Goal was to prepare body a bit before increasing the training load in the coming weeks and to test some of the new features of the just released Freeltics app.
This concludes the series of "self-scheduled training" posts. In week 47, I'll cover my first week of the new "Coach" (disclosure as I write these words I have already finished week 1 of my second program and I'm well into week 2).
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.
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!
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!
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!
