Coach W11D2 - Dione (Standard) // The REAL Hell Week

 Dione (S), 00:48:36 

Since this is, for me, THE REAL HELL WEEK, I figured I'd train as much as I can while I can. Therefore, my general planning of letting one rest day in between training sessions went to the freezer and I decided to attack day 2 on Monday after work. I was hoping to have a nice and "easy" workout to bounce back and regain some confidence after the previous night Gaia's mental debacle. The Coach said on day 2 I had to do standard Dione + 100 burpees + 2 x 25 High Jumps + 50 squats. Just reading that long list made me tired... It sounded like a lot, and I attacked Dione with that in the back of my mind. 

I was surprisingly only mildly sore. I thought after almost 1 h of Gaia, I'd be crushed. However no pain did not mean no tiredness. My muscles were noticeably lazy, I was slower than usual and I had to struggle with some movements. It actually took me  +12 mins than my PB to finish the WOD!!! Dione is basically tons of Jumping Jacks and Burpees + Ab exercises (Sit ups and Leg Levers). I still have a rough time with the Leg Levers because my lower back bends if I don't put my hands below my butt. So, once again, no star for me! I still need to develop more ab strength to be able to really move my legs up and down while keeping by back tight and touching the floor. #WorkForIt. I feel like my legs are super heavy and I just can't hold them in place without bending my spine (which of course, makes my lower back hurt a lot, and that's not smart!).

The other thing I noticed this time around is that I woke up the next day with very tight and sore calves, particularly the left one. About a month and a half ago I received a big kick in my left calf during a soccer match and after that I've felt like that leg is still not back to normal. I took care of it after the blow, but it seems it was not enough. It's like the muscle is much more ready to cramp when the one on my right leg is still OK. And today, after all the Jumping Jacks, I'm still noticing that difference; left calve is very tight, has knots all over and hurts when I stand on the tip of my toes, while the right one is just a bit tight. I'm massaging it and stretching thoroughly to make it go away fast.

I was sweating and feeling very tired after Dione so I didn't do any the loose exercises. I thought to myself I'd leave them for an extra training day with just loose exercises. Looking in retrospective, of course I should have done them, but its easy to say that now. In that moment, I was once again weak. I'm absolutely convinced that if I had rested 3 minute I would have been able to do the loose exercises physically. It all comes down, yet again to a mental thing. Freeletics is testing me both physically and mentally, and this particular week it's definitely more a mental challenge than a physical one. So far, I'm not doing all that well... Guess I have found my biggest weakness!

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!

Week 3, Day 1 / Dione + Zeus

 Dione: 00:46:51 #fail 

The beginning of a new week means I get a new workout! This week there are two workouts, (as usual I leave the link); Dione, which is a cardio workout and Zeus, a strength workout. Depending on your goals, one has to choose to do one or the other during this week. In general terms, the cardio workouts are better to improve cardio fitness (duh!) and to loose weight, whereas the strength workouts are better for gaining muscle mass and strength.

I would like to gain strength, lose a bit of abdominal fat and gain some muscle (specially the core) but I guess my main goal is to be fitter for soccer so I chose Dione. Also Zeus is the first workout that requires equipment because it contains Pull-Ups and I would need a bar for doing that and for now I'm training at home so I can't do them. I intend to give Zeus a try a little further down my Freeletics road ;-). That being said, here's Dione:

Dione: Greek goddess 
(supposedly mother of Aphrodite, Zeus being the father!)
also: natural satellite of Saturn

WORKOUT STRUCTURE :

Dione

3 Rounds	Rounds 1-3
Jumping Jacks	75
Burpees	25
Leg Levers	50
Jumping Jacks	75
Situps	50
Burpees	25

It took me a lot of willpower to get through the workout! Since English is not my first language and as it was my first time doing Dione while reading what exercise I had to do next, I mixed-up sit ups with squats (¬¬'). Only in the first round I did 50 squats instead of 50 sit ups, and it was super hard after the jumping jacks. That took me a lot of time, but luckily I figured I was wrong and by round two I corrected my mistake.. Hence my #FAIL tag today. I ended up finishing (barely!) the whole thing in 46 min. and 51 sec, the highest time I've had so far with any workout.

Dione is a long and very intense workout. There are two new exercises this week: Jumping Jacks and Leg Levers. Jumping Jacks are a bit harder than they seem because you have to coordinate properly and get into a fast paced rhythm to get it done quickly. 




Then, Leg Levers...

For my weak core, these are killers! I thought I would have no problem in doing them without modifications, but I was wrong. I can totally do all the repetitions with my legs extended (like in the picture). The problem is my lower back bends and I can barely lift anything if I don't have my hands under my butt instead of next to my butt (like in the picture...) Hence my lack of star in Dione. I'll just have to keep working on this!