Cardio&Strength - W3D2

 Hades: 00:48:23 

I'm back in the game (yes, again and again and again...). I did well in resting last week and not over doing it; my hand pain is completely gone now and my knee feels much better. So, I picked up where I left off; doing Hades. Next training is supposed to be Hyperion... One step at the time I tell myself.

I'm still far far away from my Hades PB (33+ mins), but I'm doing the exercises better now. I think that PB shouldn't really count because I was doing the modified Pull Ups "wrong" (actually the best I could, with my 0 strength at the time). I'm proud because I'm taking my time to perform the exercise correctly and not rushing to beat my PB, and that's important. I see a clear improvement in my Pull Up technique. Where before I couldn't do a singe repetition lowering my body in a truly controlled manner, now I can do 5 excellent, 5 good and the next 5 so-so... I'm not there yet, but I'm getting closer.

Even if the realization of that progress makes me happy, I had mentally a hard time during Hades. I don't know what's going on with my head, but I'm super weak, much weaker than other times. I've been thinking about quitting, about doing less workouts per week, about just doing some type of workouts and not all the coach says... I tell myself I don't really need to train this hard, that I'll start with soccer again next week and that two matches per week is enough exercise in my life...

Doing Freeletics requires a lot of commitment and dedication. It gets hard with a full time job. It gets really hard when you have to train at 10 or 11 PM, outside, in the cold and dark night, because you need a freakin' Pull Up bar and 40 meters, or 400 meters, or 2 km... It gets impossibly hard when you have to hide your training from a loved one.

I started this for myself. I want to finish it for myself. My original idea was to get fitter, yes, but now I see that, even more important than getting fitter is that finishing the 15 weeks will mean I'll be mentally much stronger. 

I doubt myself these days, but I'll keep fighting my own head. Maybe I'll have to take baby steps... But I'll do my best to get there in time.

Cardio&Strength - Week 3 debacle

Sit-Up Max: *121 (25-03-2014)

Sit-Up Max: *123 (26-03-2014)

My coach this week tells me to do: Hades, a new strength workout: Hyperion and Ares + Poseidon. I've been having a lot of pain in my left hand this week... like tendonitis or something like that. When I wash my face and press down with the towel it hurts a lot. You can imagine then why I decided to avoid the Pull Ups... 

Hades was not going to cut it, so I tried to move on to Hyperion and maybe go back to Hades later on. This workout is all strength, and it involves strict Pull Ups and Head Stand (HS) Push Ups. I tried to do the HS Push Ups and failed miserably -it was expected-. I went for the non star version, and -this was NOT expected at all- I couldn't even do those. This is the first time I've had to do a workout where I couldn't even do a single repetition of the non-star exercise... =(

So my moral was on the floor, I decided not to "loose" the workout session and go for a Sit-Up MAX... two days in a row.

Cardio&Strength - W3D1

 Burpee Max: *50 (in 300 sec) PB!

A new week has started! Luckily it has begun with a rather easy workout: the Burpee Max. Its comforting to have to do a well known workout, and knowing in advance a) I'll be able to finish it AND doing it with a star, b) It will all be over in only 5 minutes, and c) I have a good chance of beating my previous record. Taking advantage of my last few days of rest, I managed to beat my PB ☺. It's not a ginormous difference (only 2 more repetitions than the previous time), but its is a PB, and every repetition counts!!!

50 burpees in 5 minutes still sounds to me like a low number. It means it takes me on average 6 seconds to do each burpee... Well, I think the first 15 ones I do them in around 4 secs each, and from then on I loose some seconds catching my breath every X repetitions, and every time it takes me longer to do each one. My next goal will be dropping that number down to a burpee every 5 seconds, and hopefully achieving a bit more of a consistent rhythm. That means a total of 60 burpees, only 10 more than now; sounds absolutely feasible in the short term! I guess getting to 100 repetitions would be my long term goal...

Cardio&Strength - W2D4

 Sit Up MAX: *119 (in 300 sec) 

 Sit Up MAX: *110 (in 300 sec) 

So, today I had a nice an easy workout to do. I went out for a light run first and then did two Sit Up Maxes in a row. In general I don't like it when I have to do two times the same kind of exercise, only because I know by the second time I'll be tired and I'll perform less well... And who wants to perform poorly?! Today was no exception,  but I think it's quite decent to only have done 9 repetitions less the second time around! 10 minutes of sit ups... sounds like a lot but it really isn't! I did stretch and "rested" for about two minutes in between Maxes. I'm absolutely convinced that the stretching helped me tremendously because I didn't feel particularly tight, sore or tired when I started the second round. For me, the best way to stretch the abs is the cobra position (taken from Yoga). I do that for about 30 seconds a couple of times and it's amazing how you can feel the muscles loosing up right away.

On another subject, today I woke up feeling a lot of pain and tightness in my hip muscles, specially the Psoas major. It hurts when I walk (lift my legs), but also in some positions lying in bed. I think it's all because of the other day's leg levers...  I can't remember exactly when it was, but one of the first times I did Freeletics, back in August 2013, I spent a whole week in excruciating pain with every step in the same muscles. This only means I still got  a long way to go, and I really really need to strengthen those babies a lot more! Looking at the glass half full, the fact that this time around I'm not dying in pain like the first times proves that I've gotten better, even if it's just a little bit....

Cardio&Strength - W2D3

 Aphrodite: *00:34:39 

It's friday night! Last Friday I was at my friend's bachelorette party getting a little too much to eat and drink to endure the strippers. It was quite a tastefully performance must I say; I probably could have endured it without the alcohol, specially considering I'm not much of a drinker. Tonight I'm nice and clean, all showered up and ready to go to bed after doing Aphrodite and eating a good protein ration to help with my recovery process. What a good girl!

I'm very happy because I did Aphrodite last Sunday -that's only 5 days ago- and it took me 42+ minutes to finish, whereas today it only took me 34+ minutes. That means a) I achieved my goal to be under 35 minutes and b) In 5 days I lowered my time by ~8 minutes. I'm still 7 minutes away from my PB, but I'm getting there in no time! Next time I have to do Aphrodite I'll aim to be under 30 minutes.

I've been doing Freeletics (on and off, I know) for 8 months now, and I'm still amazed every time I see these unbelievable progresses happen in no time. Days like this give me strength to endure harder ones like when I have to do Hades or worse... Kentauros.

**** it doesn't get easier... you get stronger! ****

I still have two more training sessions this week, so it will be a Freeletics week-end! Also I have the date of my first soccer match of the season: Tuesday April the 1st. I'm excited and also a bit nervous... though I think that with 3 weeks of training in my body I'll manage well enough to play.

Cardio&Strength - W2D2

 Leg Lever MAX: 114 (in 300 secs) 

 Sit up MAX: *106 (in 300 secs) 

Thank god today I didn't have to do a full-on, long training session. I love it when it happens that you "just" have to do a couple of MAXes. After yesterday's struggle with Hades, training only 10 minutes at high intensity was exactly what I needed to keep me motivated.

This is the very first time I have to do the Leg Lever MAX!!! I still cannot do the levers without putting my hands under my butt. I do them with my legs extended (it's sort of a half-star thing), but if I don't have my hands under my butt, my lumbar area automatically bends and detaches from the floor and I tend to raise my torso. I think it's just that I don't have powerful enough lower abs to keep me in position. I suppose a couple more weeks doing leg levers should get me to the point where my abs can really keep me in place... After struggling with the levers, I was well tired getting into the sit ups so I couldn't beat my PB. Still I think a did a decent job, being over 100 reps, don't you agree?

Cardio&Strength - W2D1

 Hades: 00:42:11 

Today was one of those times where the training is so messed-up that I can't help to wonder "why the f**k am I doing this?!" This is not the first time I do Hades, but it turned out to be harder than the previous ones.

As I was doing burpee after burpee, just to move on to the pull-ups, which I cannot even do properly, I could only think of how much wanted to quit. It was super late, I was tired from work, I was hungry, I didn't want to do another burpee, I didn't want to try and do pull-ups the proper way... But I didn't quit. I kept doing the burpees, I kept trying to do each pull-up a little better than the previous, and I cannot explain why. Something kept me going. Something even more powerful than my own mind...

Cardio&Strength - Week #2 overview

Today I'm resting (also I have to meet some friends during the time I usually save for training). Still I wanted to let you know that, as I expected, the #Coach caught up on my lack of upper body strength. Here's a part of my weekly message:

Whether you already have to do pullups in a workout or not: Don’t let them discourage you. Even with breaks, many star-pullups in a row are a real challenge. At the beginning, it is totally normal if you can do less than five. Many of you will not be able to perform a single one. No worries. No one masters pullups without hard work. On the contrary, pullups take quite some time and effort. Make sure to lock out your arms completely - completely means all the way, not halfway. Also make sure, to move controlled and to maintain proper form. Don’t do any uncontrolled jumping pullups. They will harm you. Yes, we are tough. But no, we are not stupid.

As you can see, the pull ups are a trending topic for me. I look forward to reading these posts on week #15 and (hopefully) realizing how far I have come and laughing at how bad at was at doing pull ups...

Doing Aphrodite actually ended up easing most of my muscle soreness. My quads are still stiff, but much much better than the previous days. I cannot stress enough the importance of stretching right after the workouts to reduce the stiffness to the minimum!!!

Cardio&Strength - W1D4

 Aphrodite: *00:38:18 

Wooohow! Last session of the week: in with the workout and out with the Maxes... The coach will finally finish learning about my performance and will begin busting my training. I dread all the pull-ups I'm sure are coming my way, but I know I will be thankful later on.

Since March the 7th until the 18th we are hosting here in Santiago the 10th South-American (Olympic) Games. This is, as far as I can remember and during my lifetime, the first really big sports event organized in Chile. There's been sports all over, and I've seen a few competitions on TV. This weekend, however, I went to the stadium to see the athletics competition (Saturday and Sunday) and the U-17 women soccer finale (Sunday), where unfortunately Argentina beat Chile 2-1. After seeing all that sport, cheering my a*s off, with everybody running, sweating, falling, rising, beating up scores and winning medals, I got home late and tired but excited to do Aphrodite.

My quads were still extremely sore (even to the slightest touch) and tight from the Squat Max. My upper abs were also hurting; I felt it more during the burpees than during the sit ups. After the first round of 50 repetitions, however, I was well warmed-up and the pain faded to the point I forgot it was there to start. Still I was slower than the previous times and felt tired throughout the workout. I wanted to be below the 35 minute mark. Unfortunately I was only below the 40 minute mark, and 10 minutes slower than my PB!!! Considering the circumstances, I guess it's OK. At least I did better then the previous first time I did Aphrodite(if a "second first time" exists) . That time it took me, if I recall correctly, 47 minutes. I'm glad I finished this week. I think I'm off to a good start. I don't know what the future holds but I'm  confident I'll be able to finish the whole program this time! One down, 14 more to go...

Cardio&Strength Coach - W1D3

 Sit Up Max: *137 (in 300 secs) PB! 

 Pull Up Max: 11 (in 100 secs) 

 Burpee Max: *41 (in 300 secs)

Day 3. I'm definitely back!!! Its a little weird because I feel, at the same time, that I'm starting fresh and like I never left. I guess it's like coming back home. Once you become a Free Athlete, there's no going back. 

In my last post, I said I was fearing yet looking forward to this session. I guess the idea of doing Pull Ups "scares me" because I know I will struggle and that I will do a ridiculously little number of ridiculously shaped Pull Ups. However I'm glad to be already seeing some improvements, maybe not in the number of repetitions (I did one less than the other day), but in the way I do the exercise -with more controlled movements-. That has always fascinated me about Freeletics. Even from one session to the next, you can feel and see subtle differences that add up and add up tho that great big goal of the 15 weeks. 

Today I was a little sore from yesterday's training, but mostly on my legs. The Push Ups helped ease the pain of the Pull Ups from the first training session, so it was great. Its my quads however that hurt quite a bit from all the squats. That, of course, has nothing to do with the abs that allowed me to beat my PB with 137 Sit Ups in 300 seconds...  Yay me! I'm almost getting to my 150 bar, which will mean a sit up every two seconds. Woohoow!!!

When I got to the burpees I was a bit tired, so I was doing them slowly. I'm still not able to jump backwards as fast as I'd like. I think I still have a long way to go to perfect this movement, but I'm making progress and slowly getting there. I guess I'd like to get soon around the 75 burpees in 300 seconds.

Tomorrow night I have a Friend's bachelorette party (I fear for my physical integrity LOL) so I'll be doing Aphrodite, my last session of this first week, probably on saturday. Wish me luck, and remember:

we may take breaks... but we NEVER QUIT!

Cardio&Strength Coach - W1D2

 Squat Max: *104 (in 300 sec) 

 Push-Up Max: 25 (in 100 sec) 

Oh dear muscle pain, believe it or not, I've missed you! You feel so good (OK, that sounded masochistic, which I'm not). You make me really feel -litteraly- that I'm back in the game, that I'm alive and more importantly, even if it's only by a little bit, that I'm making progress... Yes I'm uncomfortable lifting my arms or going down the stairs, but I know it's for the better!!!

As usual, after the other day's Pull-Ups the worst pain is in my pecs and my Latissimus dorsi, that lovely muscle that goes from my back, across my armpit and connecting with my pecs. It doesn't hurt as bad as the last time (no T-Rex), probably because I only did 12 reps, but pulling off my t-shirt is not a walk in the park either!

Today I had to keep busting my pecs with the Push-Up Max. Since I was already in pain I decided it was wiser not try and do it with a star and I just went for the knee-on-the-ground version. I was right because I barely got to 25 repetitions!!! Well, my upper-body weakness is no surprise to me and I'm guessing the coach will catch on that rather soon.

I felt really good during the Squat Max and I managed to go above the 100 repetitions, which was the threshold I had set for myself before I started. I was surprised to notice I only did one repetition less than my PB, so after two training sessions I'm seeing that, at least in some aspects, my two month (or more?) break did not have as bad an impact in my strength as I expected it.

Next session: Sit Up, Pull Up and Burpee Max. I'm fearing it a bit. I'm also looking forward to it.

Cardio&Strength Coach: W1D1

 Burpee MAX: *48 (in 300 sec) PB! 

 Pull-Up MAX: 12 (in 100 sec) 

Well, I got back on the horse! Cheers for the beginning of my new ending!
I'm very glad I did. It was a "soft" training to start. Almost all week I just have to do MAXes, except the last day where I shall meet again my beloved Aphrodite ♥. The coach is supposedly learning about me and my performance through these exercises. I suppose if you can do a certain amount of reps you fall in a certain category and so on. Well, you don't have to be a genius to know Pull-Ups are one of my lowest points so, I expect quite a few of those bad boys in my training for the next 15 weeks... I won't say I'm happy about that, but I know it'll only make me better.

I'm glad we started soft though. Mentally it empowers you to "do well" right away, even if I consider my performance not that great... I beat my PB in the burpees?! I'm not sure how is that possible, but I'm still glad I did. Maybe my 5 extra kilos aren't that much of a setback... My knee still hurts when I jump forward and backwards during the burpees but I decided to power through it because it doesn't seem to get any better with rest anyways. I sucked at the Pull-Ups, as usual but the little 12 I did (girly style of course, jumping up) I did them well.

I'm really looking forward to getting on the training/sweating/improving zone again. I can't wait to feel stronger, as I did before. Soccer starts in three weeks so I hope it will be enough time for me to go back at least 90% to my pre-job/injury/trip self. The rest will come on its own time.

I'll try to upload a new set of pictures ASAP.

Freeletics: RELOADED

I'm back... again!

I guess I haven't been the best role model to you. I know that, and I'm really really sorry. You see, sometimes (quite often actually) life gets in the way of our plans. You think "I can finish the 15 weeks program at once" but then you get a new job, and/or get injured, or sick, or you have to travel, and suddenly your whole plan has to change...

My commitment and determination to complete the Freeletics program has never decayed. I still want to be the best version of myself. I still want to get to the best shape I've ever been in. I still want to become a faster and stronger soccer player. But life got in my way -BIG TIME- and I just couldn't do it when I wanted to do it. I guess that's just part of being alive: things don't always go our way, but we have to be able to roll with the punches and make the best out of every situation.

That being said, I regret not being the best role model to you, but at the same time I don't regret the month spent in Europe, visiting my family in Belgium after 12 years and travelling around a little bit (Brussels, Leuven, Antwerp, Brugge, London, Paris, Strasbourg...).

As you can see, I had a great time, and now that I'm back to my boring old routine, I'm beginning again my 15 weeks Cardio&Strength training to make it more interesting. Last time I got the Freeletics guide. Now I have the #coach, so I guess that's an improvement. Now I will be able to talk to you about the personalized training aspect of Freeletics, which I had not tested for myself.

Also I will post new photos from my progress starting tonight. You'll see that loosing your shape is so much easier than getting it... It only takes a few weeks with your aunts and uncles in a foreign country to gain 4 to 5 kilos. Yep, I'm a LOT worse than where I was when I left, but hey, that only motivates me more to re-begin... right?