Coach W15 // HELL WEEK D1 - Helios (S) + Metis (S)

 Helios (S), *01:07:42 (PB) 

 Metis (S), *00:08:02 (PB!) 

This week, you will gain a major Freeletics experience: Hell Week. Every now and then we choose to go through hell to come out even stronger. Freeletics Hell Weeks are all about reaching true exhaustion, reaching our performance limits several times within a short period of time and with little rest and exceeding our own expectations. Hell Weeks made many of our athletes much stronger – both physically and mentally. Hell Week means a lot of training. Seven days, seven times Freeletics. All out: Seven days in a row, high volume and high intensity. As always, try to break your PBs. This week, however, it is even more important to successfully complete every single session. You know the game. Make sure to stay hydrated and to maintain good form, especially as you get weaker. And remember: This is Freeletics. Quitting is not an option. Once more give it your all!

Technically I didn't choose to get Hell Week, but I don't really have a choice and I'm think I'm more up for the challenge than I actually think I am!!! When I finished last week, I thought "I'll tell the coach this week was a bit easy and I'll ask for three training days, I can squeeze three workouts + two soccer matches". Instead of that, the Coach says I get Hell Week. I thought "well, it will probably be like last time, with 4 training days.." but no, it's seven days of training ! I have a relatively tough week at work and soccer matches on Tuesday and Saturday so I'm not really sure how I'll survive, playing and training the same day AND having trained all other days... but we'll see!

The first Workout of Day 1 is Helios, a workout I have never done before. If I had the choice, I wouldn't start with an unknown workout, and I think that's precisely why the Coach did it; to put me to the test mentally. I hate the unknown, and I have to start being more comfortable in uncomfortable scenarios. 

#CoachKnows

Helios is a one "A-B-C-D-C-B-A" series workout of Burpees (A), Lunges (B), Climbers (C) and Sit Ups (D); (and then again Climbers, Lunges and Burpees). The number of reps varies from 100 to 150. I think its very hard on the mind to have to do 100 or 150 times the same thing, repeating the same movements over and over. Workouts with several series of 20 - 50 or even 75 reps are "easier" on the mind. Even if in the end you did the same total number of reps, It's not the same to do them all at once or in several series. It took me absolutely forever to finish, but I did finish, which is a small victory in itself. I started thinking about the week of training ahead of me and I think that pushed me to take it slower than I ought to, "saving energy" for the impending future.

Of course, it wouldn't be Hell Week if I didn't have to do another workout after over 1 h of Helios. Luckily it was good old Metis: I knew it would take me less than 15 minutes to finish it, and then it would all be over. I took a 3 - 5 minute break and I jumped right into it. The tought of finishing Day One fast gave me unexpected energies, and I went all crazy on the first round of 10 Burpees and Climbers. I knew right away I was on track to beat my PB, and that gave me even more energy! I had to slow down during the series of 25 reps, and for a moment I feared I had lost my impulse, but then I pushed and pushed and managed to improve my time by 48 seconds!!! It was really a huge surprise. I didn't think I could go so fast after training for 1 hour. I'm sure being all warmed up and having done all those Burpees before hand played in my favour. Day One of Hell Week ended up the best way possible; with two PBs on my bag (ok... the first one doesn't actually count since it was the first time doing the workout, but still =)

Coach W12D3 - Atlas (Standard)

 Atlas (S), 00:31:52 

Last training session of Week 12, and it's a workout I've never done before: ATLAS. In Greek mythology, Atlas was one of the Titans that rebelled and fought against the Olympians. After loosing the battle, Zeus punished Atlas by having him stand on the western edge of the Earth (Gaia) and hold up the heavens over his shoulders for eternity. That way he was kept apart from his brother Menoetius who was condemned to the tartarus. Atlas has been long time misrepresented as holding Gaia over his shoulders, when the myth clearly states that he is holding the heavens... The thing is, how do you represent the heavens? It's certainly easier to make a painting or a statue of Atlas holding the Earth!

Did Atlas, the workout, feel like I had to carry the weight of the heavens over my shoulders? Not really, but it is certainly was a complex workout, involving 6 different exercises which pretty much had me doing a bit of everything.

The workout starts off with a 2 km run. On Sundays the large avenue in front of my apartment is closed from 9 AM to 2 PM and everybody goes out to run, ride their bikes, roller skate, walk their dogs etc. I measured the distance online and I managed to run up 1 km and down 1 km the closed street, and finish in around 12 minutes.  I hate running so I think it's a decent time, but it can most certainly be improved. After that, I got back into the apartment and went on with Squats, Burpees, Climbers, Leg Levers (which are supposed to be straight but I had to do Hand Helped so, no star) and finally Jumps. Overall it went smoothly, up until the Leg Levers which put me a bit in a bad mood because I see and feel the limitation of still not being able to do them straight. I'm working on it though, that's what's most important I guess... My psoas suffers tremendously during the Leg Levers  so,  having to jump afterward is a BIG challenge.

Coach W12D2 - 3x Metis (Standard)

     3x  Metis (S), *:00:32:15 PB!!! 

Second training day of the week, second day of training in a row. Wednesday is Metis day, again! Except this time it's the standard version, three times. After doing the strength version yesterday, standard Metis seems much more friendly. It's just Burpees, Climbers (although Froggers seem more easy to me for some reason), and Jumps - knees at least at hip level, I'm not confused anymore -. I find it amazing to see how mental perception changes completely the way I approach and engage the workout. I was excited and sure I'd perform great. Quite different from what I was feeling the prior week!

I went at it full power. As I always say, when you know well what you're up against, everything seems easier. I guess in a way it's like the saying "practice makes perfect". Having done roughly the same movements the day before helped tremendously. I knew exactly how to tackle Metis. I took short breaks when I absolutely needed them. I pushed hard, both physically and mentally. Again I had some trouble breathing although it seemed a bit less than the day before. I think that's because strength workouts in general are way more metabolic than the standard workouts, so It's only natural I'd have to breathe heavier on a strength workout than on a standard one. My having EIB (Exercise-Induced Bronchospasm) theory is gaining evidence rapidly, so a few more times and I guess I'll have to check with a MD. EIB or no EIB, I had done this exact workout about a month ago, and I improved my time by almost 12,5 minutes! I'm really pleased to have made such a big time jump. Maybe I don't have a sixpack yet, but I'm definitely fitter -numbers don't lie-. I also feel there's plenty of room to improve even more, so my next goal with this one is going to be dropping the time below the 30 min mark. Totally doable, don't you think?

Coach W8D1 - Aphrodite (Standard)

 Aphrodite (S), *00:36:23 

As I’ve told you on previous posts, I’m on summer holidays these weeks, so besides training and painting the apartment (which finally looks awesome), I’m also taking two short trips to the beach. Knowing I’d be away, I only programmed two training sessions for week #8 of my Cardio&Strength Coach. I did my last session of week #7 on Monday, had a soccer match on Tuesday night, went away from Wednesday morning until Friday night and trained on Saturday and Monday morning (I rested on Sunday, although I swam a bit in my parent’s pool that day…)

Along with my older sister and my girlfriend we accompanied my father for three days to Pichilemu and surroundings (about 210 kms South from Santiago).  By “surroundings” I mean the country side around 50 km inland, where the family of my father is originally from and where he likes going a few times a year, to visit some of the relatives he still has in the area and to buy locally harvested beans, lentils, honey and organic olive oil for the year. The thing is, given the reasonable distance to the beach we (or I) took the chance stay at Pichilemu, which is one of the best beaches in Chile to surf. If you’ve read some of my older posts, I took my first surfing lesson in October 2013 while on a trip to Ecuador with my sister, right around when I was starting Freeletics (click here). I had been wanting to surf again, but never did something about it. Thanks to my sister who pushed me on taking this little trip, I took my second lesson on Thursday (with a thicker wetsuit, ad hoc for these latitudes). I was expecting to be cold and/or to have forgotten what I had learned, but everything went smoothly, like riding a bike. It felt amazing to take this opportunity and surf again. It turns out I’m quite good at it and it makes me very happy to be able to catch a wave and stand on that board. I’m really thinking to maybe get into it a bit more seriously… we’ll see what the future holds.

When I got back to the city I quickly left the water behind and traded it for my dear friend Aphrodite.  I feel like I’ve been doing Aphrodite every week... well, #CoachKnows. We all came back quite tired from the trip, but I was expecting to improve my time. I felt right during the first 50 burpees that it was not going to be that easy. Maybe it was all the driving, or the sun and heat, or the surf lesson, but my arms felt heavy and lacking strength to push me up during the burpees. It actually took me 1 min 5 sec more to finish Aphrodite than during Hell Week… I know it’s not that much of a difference, but still it bothers me a bit. This made me think again about my PB of 27+ minutes. I accomplished that time when the Coach was not around and I had to keep track of what series I was doing and how many reps were there etc. Considering I feel similarly fit (if not fitter) than last year, I find it hard to believe that now it takes me more than 8 minutes more to finish Aphrodite compared to that PB. I think it’s very probable that I miscounted the reps or skipped a whole series that day… There’s no way to knowing for sure, so we’ll have to see if I can go down to 27 minutes any time soon to figure this mystery out. Other than the heavy arms, Aphrodite went smoothly. I feel my technique on the burpees is much better; I can jump back and forward with both feet much more lightly than before. I also have a good knowledge on where to break my series of squats to maximize my time. I think one of the weaknesses I should probably work on are situps because no matter how hard I try to speed up, they keep taking way longer than they should…

Coach W7D1 - Dione (Standard) - HELL DAY 1

 Dione, 00:47:29 

It's the beginning of a new week of training and I was thinking I'd ask the Coach for only two workouts this week (after I'd told him last week's intensity was a bit high). I have been invited to play a mini soccer league during the summer holidays (February) and I have matches on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so 2 days of soccer + 2 days of Freeletics seems about right. Well, SURPRISE! The Coach informs me I get HELL DAYS this week. That means I don't get to choose anything; I have to do 5 workouts in 3 training days, and with a smile. AWESOME!

The instructions say:

Hell Days! That means three training sessions in one week – with maximum volume! You don’t have to do all trainings of one session in a row. You can do them throughout your whole day. Everything is fine as long as you do all of them at one day. Take at least one day off after every Hell Day. 

Don’t be frightened and don’t accept the excuse that you have no time. For most of you, even the hardest and longest Freeletics workouts do not take as long as a regular gym visit. Of course, you will get weaker from training to training. Push through it. But make sure to maintain good form and to stay hydrated. Hell Days are mainly a mental challenge. Stay strong, even as your body gets tired. Accept the challenge and give it your all!

So here I am, looking at this red screen that reminds me it's going to be HELL, still wondering how on earth am I going to pull this off. Luckily I'm on vacation so at least I don't have to go to work on top of all this exercise, and I actually can train on a morning and evening session. On the down side, we're fixing the walls and painting the apartment we moved in, so I still got very busy days and I'm end-of-work-year + "extreme makeover: the home edition" tired. 

I planed I'd train on Monday, Friday & Sunday + go to soccer on Tuesday & Thursday, and "rest" on Wednesday & Saturday... Considering I had trained on Sunday that means I'll be exercising 3 days in a row, then 2, then 1. What a week! I do accept the challenge, which I agree, is mainly mental, and I'll certainly give it my all. Wish me luck!

Hell Day #1 is only Dione. I did it in +12 minutes of my PB which is a big time difference. I felt my legs really tired from Sunday's 3x Metis debacle so that slowed me down quite a bit. I'm still incapable of doing the Straight Leg Levers (with the hands on the sides of the body) so I had to give up on the star and do them Hand Helped, putting my hands below my butt. I still have a long way to go, but I'll get there, hopefully sooner than later... Next session is Dione + 1/5 Hyperion. I doubt Dione will be any easier!

Coach W6D3 - 3x Metis (Standard)

 3x Metis (S): *00:44:38 

February is here! Sunday = last training session of this week! I had done a fraction of Aphrodite on Thursday and now it was time for Metis... the standard version, three times! Yep, the "nice feature" of the coach that allows you to do partial workouts, also can make you do three times the same workout!!! Not liking the nice feature so much now, are we? 

I remembered Metis as a friendly and fast workout. My previous PB was around 9 minutes so I multiplied that by 3 + a couple of extra minutes because of the added reps, and I thought I should finish up in around 30 minutes. Well, I'm certainly still not in good shape considering how far I was from that estimate. I finished the first Metis in 12 minutes, which was decent, but from then on, I suffered big time. I think I'm not breathing properly because with all that jumping up and down during the burpees and high jumps I started feeling really dizzy, like there was not enough oxygen going to my brain, and a couple of times I really felt like fainting. I had to stop, put my head between  my legs and take deep breaths to recover. I started noticing I was holing my breath a lot during the heavier "strength parts" of the movements, so I guess I was functioning anaerobically, which totally explains my dizziness... From now on I'm making more of a conscious effort to breathe a lot better throughout the workout so that this does not happen again.



My girlfriend did some exercises next to me and then decided to coach me a little. All this time I've trained alone and I never really get to see with perspective if I'm doing the exercises right, nor do I get somebody else's input on how my form is. She corrected my climbers saying my hips were not below my shoulder line at all times. She even put her hands at shoulder height to prevent me from raising the hips. I felt the climbers become harder immediately with that pointer! And I could have sworn I was doing them right... She also had some comments on my burpees, particularly on the landing of the jump forward. With all that, plus the hell I went through during the final series, she sort of forced me to tell the coach that this week's intensity was "far too high". I guess I think it was a little high (not "far too high") but the argument that  finally sold me into accepting that it was too high is that by the end I was so exhausted that I was loosing the form of the exercises... and we all know that form is more important than time so there's that. I'll be starting a new week with adjusted intensity!

PS: Before training my girlfriend and I did her CrossFit warm up, which included some crunches that looked easy but actually really hurt! After training we stretched out real good and then we went to my parent's house were swam a bit in the pool, which was at the lovely temperature of 28°C. OK, to be honest I didn't swam as much as I floated around, and it was awesome #SUMMER IS HERE!

Coach W6D2 - 4/5 Aphrodite (Standard)

 4/5 Aphrodite (S): *00:30:01 

Second training session of this week, and it is Aphrodite (standard version), but only 4/5, meaning I don't have to do the last series of 10 reps. Well, when you've done the series of 50, 40, 30 and 20 reps, doing the last series of 10 feels like a walk in the park, and I don't really see the point of skipping that... but hey, I'm not about to begin questioning what the #COACH tells me to do, right?! He's probably just saving my strength for the third workout of this week...

I wanted to finish in under 30 minutes and I missed by just 1 second (which is basically the time that it took me to press the "finish workout" button after actually finishing), so I'm pleased I sort-of-met the goal I had set for myself. I had to rush through the last series of 20 reps because I had rested a bit much during the previous series and lost quite a few seconds. At some points I was really gasping for air and sweat was pouring heavily. I don't remember ever sweating as much as I do when I do Aphrodite. I guess we can blame it on having a more active metabolism and on the high intensity training?

Overall I felt good, faster and stronger than the last time I did Aphrodite. The only thing I can point out is that I had a rougher time than expected on the squats. I felt it right away; this time squats were not going to be part of the "active rest"... I really don't know what it was because I wasn't sore at all to begin and I had rested well, but my quads just felt tired and lazy. Usually I can do the 50 reps in two series of 25 but this time I had to break the series into 15 - 15 -10. I can only think that it is because I've been exercising my legs a lot this past couple of weeks and it has accumulated. 

After finishing the workout I stretched long and hard. I must confess I do not always elongate well after training, and I know it is not smart. It's that kind of thing that you know perfectly well that you MUST do, but you still don't do it well (like eating clean all the time or training dirty). The difference that it makes to elongate all your body while still being warm from the exercise is evident. I felt immediately relieved and I woke up the next day in great shape. I wasn't sore at all (and I'm still not sore!). I'm only feeling my hamstrings -surprisingly not my quads- quite tight, and I can only imagine what they would feel like if I hadn't stretched!

Afterwards I fixed myself a quick "dinner"; I ate a slice of turkey breast ham and a hard boiled egg to provide the protein, and then I made this yummy greek yoghurt with chia seeds, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a little bit of granola. It was super fast and delicious, it also looks great don't you think? It's one of the perks of the #summer!

#ClapClap   Eat clean