Coach W11D1 - 8/10 Gaia (Strength) // The REAL Hell Week

 8/10 Gaia (X), 00:58:39 

I had planned to do week 10 the last week of February, when I still had soccer, so I only asked for two WODs that week. I ended up postponing W10 to the following week (when soccer was over) so I trained on Monday and Wednesday and was ready for more right away. I thought I'd ask for four training days on week 11, to "compensate".

Remember how the coach asks how hard was your week of training? Well, since on W10 I did one of the best times I've ever done in Aphrodite, broke my PB in Venus and wasn't sore or even tired, I had the brilliant idea to tell the coach W10 had been "Way too easy". V-E-R-Y bad idea. When I saw the programming, I knew right away this was going to be a real Hell Week. I think this is one thing the Coach could be improved on. There are three options to "the level of difficulty for this week was...": WAY too easy, Hard but OK or WAY to hard. Its either all or nothing. Sometimes its just "somewhat easy/hard" but there's no way to tell the Coach that. Sometimes you just want to step it up a bit, but you get Hell Weeks...

I was up to the challenge, feeling confident I could survive this week. Along came Friday and I had to do Apollon (Standard), a nice WOD I have done twice I think, a looong time ago, which includes 400 m runs. Since I've moved to the apartment "in the city" I no longer can do runs as easy as I did at my parents', so I decided to go to a nearby park I had set my eye on and do it there. Here's a confession: I hate having to go out to workout. One of the things I like the most about Freeletics is the fact that I can train at 11 PM in the comfort of my living room. That being said, I know I have to go out for the runs (and also to find a Pull Up bar, which I still haven't!). I used the free run feature on the app to jog my way to the park as a warm-up. Now I know the park entry is located exactly 1 km away from the apartment; it took me 6 minutes 5 seconds to get there. I got in and started to look around to find a spot were I could settle up, do my burpees and squats and measure off the 400 m I needed to run. As it was Friday afternoon-nightish youngsters were messing around, drinking beer, smoking weed, doing slackline between the trees etc. Adults were letting their dogs run around and kids were playing on the games and sand boxes. Me, I couldn't find a decent spot were I could train at ease. Everywhere I looked I would have had to avoid dogs running over me while on the ground or inhale weed smoke. Nobody was exercising in that park! I felt really uncomfortable and out of place, so I went back to the apartment and I didn't do Apollon that day. I actually didn't do anything because my plan hadn't worked out and I was feeling really frustrated...

Along came Sunday and I went to my parents'. I brought along my sport shoes and everything, but I couldn't find the time to train. When I got back to the apartment at night I was feeling pissed, starting to consider to abort W11 altogether. In an impulse I said "f**ck it, I'm training right here, right now", so I looked at the app, skipped Apollon and went straight to the last training session the Coach had planned for me: 8/10 of Gaia, Strength version. Gaia is one of the Greek Primordial Deities, and is the personification of the Earth, the "great mother of all". According to Wikipedia (great source, right?), she was the creator of the Earth and all the Universe, and gave birth to all the Heavenly Gods, the Titans and the Giants. So, why did I jump to the almighty mother of everything and not the second or third training sessions? Well, because second and third are WOD + 4 heavy loose exercises (eg. 2 x 100 burpees + 2 x 100 squats) and I thought that would be too much to start. 

This was my very first time doing Gaia, and the strength version has Jumping Jacks, High Jumps, Froggers and Standup Jumps on it. I had never even done standups before (the escalated version of standup jumps) and I quickly learned I couldn't do them. I just physically couldn't break gravity if I did not use my hands a bit... just a tiny little push, but meaningful enough to make me feel extremely disappointed. As a good strength WOD, Gaia is highly metabolic work, very intense. I was pouring buckets of sweat and breathing heavy almost right away. I had a super tough time, mentally. Every rep was a struggle. I was already coming in discouraged and low on motivation with all the hustle to begin W11, and finding out I couldn't do standups, which seem fairly easy on the videos I must say, was too much. After the 4th round, when I was halfway done, I took a bathroom break; something I had never ever done before. The clock continued to tick, and I just sat on the toilet, arguing with myself, not wanting to go back. I was training in the living room while my GF was cooking. She was cheering me on, and clicking in the app when I was done with each set. I got back after 3 or 4 minutes and I told her "that's it, this is too much, I'm done for today". She wouldn't let me. We argued for about 40 seconds and for some mysterious reason, I just started moving, doing jumping jacks again. She pulled out the strength I had inside me to finish, and I love her even more for that <3.

At that point I thought that a long, slow WOD, using the help of my hands to stand up, was better than no WOD at all, so I kept pushing. Slow but steady, I didn't care about my time anymore (with the bathroom break it was all messed up anyways), I just cared about getting to the end. And eventually I did finished it, and it was a great victory. Maybe it was not the best physical workout I'd ever done, but it sure was one of the hardest mental workouts I've ever done.

There is no success without hard work.

~WE NEVER QUIT~

Coach W8D2 - Metis (Strength) + loose exercises

 Metis (X), *00:18:48 (PB) 

Loose Exercises (PBs)

The second and last day of training of week #8 was a special feature. Good old Metis –but the strength version, which I’m doing for the first time- plus some loose exercises: 10 pushups, 25 squats, 50 situps and 10 Froggers (also the first time I have to do loose exercises to complement a WOD… if I recall correctly).

I could “hear” the Coach saying: “You’ve got Burpees under control? That’s cute; let’s try Burpee Squat Jumps (BSJs) then!” The strength version of Metis has BSJs instead of regular Burpees, Froggers instead of Climbers and High Jumps instead of Jumps; all nice little changes to push you a bit further –and you can feel those little things add up and matter a ton!  BSJs start like regular burpees but when you go from the ground forward and up you have to first get in a squatting position with the hips below the knees and from there perform a high jump (knees above hip line) instead of the usual small jump forward and up. It was a bit challenging to modify the movement pattern I’m already used to, but once I did a few reps and got the hang of it was good.  I got tired a lot faster than with regular burpees though because, let’s face it, during regular burpees I jump just high enough to make both feet lift the ground but not any higher to save as much energy as possible.  I liked the strength version of Metis. Doing Froggers is easier for me than Climbers. I always struggle with the Climbers, keeping the hips below the knees and the shoulders, hips and knees aligned while moving one feet forzard, then the other…  I think the problem there is that I’m still short on strength in my upper body and core so I can’t keep everything tight. Jumping forward with both feet made things simpler. Also I was already doing pretty high jumps during standard Metis, so nothing much changed there. The only thing I can point out is that I think I performed particularly slowly. The adjustment to the BSJs was very noticeable and I stopped to catch my breath probably more often and for longer periods of time than I really needed to. Lately I’ve been feeling this a lot, like I’m giving in to what my mind says more than what my body says. I felt it during Aphrodite (the previous WOD) too, like physically I could have gone faster but for some (mental) reason I just didn’t. I’m going to pay more attention to that in the next WODs, to make sure I’m pushing myself into giving my all at every rep.

I did this WOD at 8 AM on a Monday, during my holidays, while my GF went to her CrossFit class because we were leaving –just the two of us- for 7 days to the beach afterwards. A lot of people train early in the morning on empty stomachs and I think that’s a terrible idea. I’m in the process of writing a post about nutrition on morning  training sessions, so there will be more explanations on why I think it’s a bad idea there. I’ve been wanting to try one of the recipes of the Nutrition Guide to make high protein snacks for these type of situations, because if you eat a whole breakfast you’d have to wait a couple of hours to digest before dropping to the floor.  In the meaning time, we bought commercial protein bars that provide 15 g of protein a piece. We ate those (they tasted a bit funny so we do not think on eating these regularly) with a small cup of coffee and then trained about a half an hour later. The coffee decided to pay me a little visit during the first round of burpees, but other than that it was all good. I didn’t feel hungry or fatigued, so it was a good call to eat that prior to the workout. After training my GF came back to the apartment and we ate a proper breakfast with fruits, a bit of bread with turkey breast and tea with milk.  Then OFF TO THE BEACH we were!

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 

Coach W5D1 - Aphrodite

 Aphrodite: *00:44:09 

So, as I anticipated on a previous post, we played on Monday the quarter finals of this summer's soccer league (I said before it was semi finals but I was wrong, we could have played another two matches). Sadly we lost our game... but it was a hell of a match! I ended up exhausted and I'm upset that putting in that much effort was not enough and that that was the the way our last game of the season went down. But hey, that's soccer, and I can't expect to always be on the winning side, right?! Now we go on break because it's summer vacation time here in Chile. The leagues will restart most likely mid March or in the beginning of April. 

This means I no longer have soccer on week days, so I have more time to dedicate to getting in shape with #Freeletics. Hopefully I'll come back stronger than I left. This also means I won't have to "arrange" and cut back my training so I'm not sore or tired on match days. For the next couple of months I'm a 100% Free Athlete and nothing more (sports-wise). I'm ready to give my all to the Coach, once again.

The Coach restarted on week #5, taking in consideration the four weeks I did before. I don't know why, but I was expecting a fresh start, beginning from week #1. It doesn't really matter though, but I'm just a little OCD :-P. I've set up two training session this week and of course, what else would the Coach give me to start off than a classic (and always a "favorite"): APHRODITE.

I usually train after work, very late at night. It's not always great because I end all pumped up and hyperactive, and sometimes it's hard to fall asleep afterwards. I therefore tried something new today I got up earlier than usual and  trained before going to work. 

Aphrodite was HARD. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about trying to do Aphrodite out of the blue and having to stop after the round of 40 reps because I was not feeling well at all. Today was not that different. The series of 30 reps had me feeling light headed, dizzy, wanting to throw up, pouring buckets of sweat... you now, all the not-so-fun-deal. I had to stop to catch my breath at least five times, for around 20 seconds each time -even a whole minute once-. I  wanted to quit. Really really bad. As I'm going up and down on the burpees, and see the clock ticking away, I started to question why on earth would I do this so early in the morning, no why on earth would I do this AT ALL. I've been down that road before so I know I have to power through and ignore my mind. I obviously was late to work because I was hoping to be around 35 minutes, not 45!

I think this is one of the most important victories one gets out of Freeletics; winning over one's mind. Being better than yourself. Developing willpower. It's hard to start training. and it's easy to quit mid-way through. With Freeletics it's just you against yourself, and I feel that every finished training is a victory on it's own. Even if you're far from your PB, like me today,you and only you have the willpower to start the workout, to go through it, to push harder when you are tired, to ignore your mind which will always want to take the easy road. 

About the whole "training early the morning" thing, I think I'll have to give it a couple more chances before I make up my mind completely. I'll write about this on another post, but nutrition in this situation plays a particularly important role. I ate a little something about half an hour before I trained and went through Aphrodite OK (energy wise), with maybe just one moment when I felt my three sips of coffee were coming back up... Then I intended to have a proper breakfast but I wasn't that hungry just finishing the workout so I ate less than I usually do... so of course on my way to work I felt dizzy on the subway and had to eat a banana I brought along to pump up my sugar and not faint right there! Then I started feeling really hungry and had a peach when I got to work... Man was I looking forward to lunch today!!!

#ClapClap

Cardio&Strength - W5D4 // I'm back!!! + New Year Sale

 Kentauros: *01:15:08 

Happy New Year everybody!

I hope 2014 will bring only good things to all of you and that it'll be the year that you change your lifestyle for good with Freeletics :-). If you didn't already know, there's a 30% off deal on the website for the Freeletics Coach and the Nutrition Guide with the coupon code getitfor2014. The deal will last until January 15th so you still have a few days to decide!

To explain my absence would be long story... but to sum up: I got discouraged by my last performances, I got super tired and even a bit ankle/knee injured with all the soccer and the training and I got a new job so I needed some time to settle in and figure out how to make time to train. On top of everything, the main reason I had to take this little break is because my training was causing trouble to someone very close to me who has body-image issues and a past eating disorder. I found it very hard mentally to keep going and getting better, stronger and faster when, while doing so, I was hurting someone I love. 

Now we're starting to work things out. We've talked a lot about this, they are going to therapy, and we agreed that my being better should be an inspiration and not a negative trigger... So, to make that change happen, we took action and trained together! I can't even begin to tell you how happy that made me. After having to hide my training these past months, silencing my excitement about my progress and how well the blog is doing so that I wouldn't hurt them, now I can finally be open about it (well, still cautiously but at least I'm not in the dark). The best part is that it was their idea (I dreamed about it but I never thought that mentally they could take it)... So now I'm trying to make Freeletics a positive change in lifestyle not only for myself but for the both of us.

Along that line, I don't know if you remember that one of my last sessions was Kentauros, and I couldn't finish it. It took me over 40 minutes to get halfway, and I was in so much knee pain that I just had to quit. That day my decline began, and I ended up taking the break just when I had to do Kentauros again. So this, my first comeback training session was, of course KENTAUROS. I gave it my all, and was prepared with knee protectors this time. It took me an eternal hour and a quarter to finish, but I fricken did it, and with a star!!!!. It made me very very proud to finish up something a few weeks ago I just couldn't do. Now I hope I (we) will only keep going up, as I was doing before.

Cardio&Strength - W4D3

 Metis: *00:09:58 

 Metis: *00:10:25 

Today is a double feature of Metis, all cardio, all sweat. I had a soccer match (baby soccer actually, a little different from what I'm used to) so I trained afterwards. As usual, not the best idea because I come into the workout already feeling a bit tired but hey, that's life when you are NOT sedentary, right?!

I was confident I could top my PB on the first run, and I was quite shocked to see it took me a minute longer to finish up! I would like to blame the soccer but I don't really know. I was expecting to perform worse on the second run, but to my surprise it wasn't much of a difference, just under 30 seconds. I think that's good, not taking that much longer, but I worry for not  topping my PB... I guess there are many factors to take into consideration and I shouldn't worry too much while I'm giving my best at each rep.

Cardio&Strength - W3D1

 Aphrodite: *00:29:27 

New week, old workout! 

It's been a while since I haven't done Aphrodite, so I was excited to do it again. I know the idea is to top your PBs every time, but I am realistic and I'd rather set myself a goal that I know it's possible for me to achieve (i.e. to finish the workout in less than 30 minutes, which I did) than one I know I'll probably not be able to accomplish (i.e. top my PB, which I didn't). I'm a minute and a half away from that PB though, but with all honesty, I think that today I could not have sped up more than I did (maybe 30 seconds, tops).

As I was writing the previous paragraph, I remembered this picture

I still have a hard time believing and incorporating into my system some of these messages, which I believe to be so true... Maybe I'm too rational and realistic, as I said before, to be able to really erase the "IM" in IMpossible. But we're getting there, right?

In spite of my "low goal", I gave my best trying to lower my time. I was sweating like crazy (ah, the good old days!), had shortness of breath and all those pretty things Aphrodite brings to your life. Even if the overall time does not reflect it, I made what I believe is an important progress: this time around felt like fainting during the 20 repetition series instead than during the 30 repetition series... I think that's a reflection of me gaining endurance; I could stand more repetitions before feeling dizzy! Also I did more squats in a row before needing to take a mini break. Again, I think that's the endurance kicking in.

All and all, I wish I had to do Aphrodite again this week to try and top my PB. I feel I always need one session to adjust to the workout change before I can really make it count, and with this new guide, every day has a different workout so it's not evident to do!

PS: playing soccer on Saturday was the best remedy for my sore muscles from last week's workouts. I scored 7 goals (yes, you heard me, 7 goals in one single match :-D) and we qualified to the final which will take place this Saturday, so I'll keep you posted on that! This week I'll train like crazy, hopefully from Monday (today) to Thursday straight, rest on Friday and then play on Saturday at the top of my game.

PS2: yesterday was elections day in Chile. We have to have a second round to define who will be the next president, even though everybody knows that answer already!

Cardio&Strength - W2D4

 Metis: *00:10:45 

 Metis: *00:09:57 

FINALLY, my last session of week #2: Metis, two times in a row.

Today is day 1 after Artemis -and my Dad's birthday-. I have some soreness in my pecs, shoulders and triceps from the push ups and pull ups. I also feel my quads tight (and getting tighter by the hour) from the sit ups. However, since it's only day 1, I'm still very functional; last week it was on day 3 were I couldn't take off my sports bra by myself... Hopefully, today's exercise will help me to feel less pain tomorrow, and specially on Saturday (the dreaded day 3) because I have a soccer semi-final, so I have to be at my best to get to the final, specially after loosing the other two semi-finals we've played these past two weeks... 

I did Metis without any modified repetitions (yay!), but I couldn't top my last PB. I was slown down because of the pain and stiffness in my muscles, but I still managed to get through the thing quite decently. I took a couple of minutes break in between the two Metises, and as I was warmer, the second time my muscles hurted a less so I managed to improve my time in almost a full minute. By the end of the whole thing I was pouring sweat like crazy; always a good sign. I feel like I could have pushed myself a bit harder tough... Next time I'll really strive to top my PB.

Tomorrow I'll rest, on Saturday I'll play soccer and on Sunday (election day here in Chile), I'll get started with week #3!. See you then!

Cardio&Strength - W2D3

 Artemis: 00:52:30 

Artemis is the f**king hardest workout ever (for me). It has, amongst other things, a series of 50 pull ups followed by a series of 100 push ups. My two favourite exercises, together and in a high number of repetitions. Wohow!

I was super sore for about four days after my fist pull ups during Ares, and even today I could feel my triceps tight when I lifted my arms (and it's been 6 days!). I had soccer matches on Saturday (we moved on to semi finals!), Sunday (I scored 6 goals!!!!) and on Monday (we lost the semi final at the penalty kicks... the goal keeper catched mine :-(... Yesterday I rested because I was absolutely beaten after those three days of soccer -and you know that recovering properly is as important as exercising properly-, so only today I could move on to day 3. At this rate, week #2 is almost turning into "month #2"!. The "good" news is all my leagues are getting to an end so I'll soon have a lot less soccer an a lot more time to do my Freeletics workouts. I intend to catch up with all this lost time, but we'll see how things go.

I think today I spent over 15 minutes doing the pull ups. Even with the modified version, (a.k.a jumping up to the bar and lowering myself in a "controlled" motion...) I struggled with each and every single one of them. Around the 35th repetition I felt something cracking in my left forearm, and from then on whenever I pulled, my arm tingled with a shooting sensation of pins and needles. It was weird and uncomfortable, but not painful. I don't really know what that was. I think it might just have been fatigue, even if the pain was not cramp-like... 

After that, I think I spent at least another 10 to 15 minutes to do the push ups, girly style (knees on the floor). At some point I wanted to give the finger to Artemis, lie down and just go to sleep. I don't like failing, and even if I did all the repetitions -which took me an eternity to do- I know I didn't do the exercises all that well because I didn't always lock my arms completely during the pull ups (I can't even lower my body all the way in a controlled manner!) and I didn't always lifted my arms from the floor when I got down at the push ups. 

As the picture says; I struggle very hard with these strength exercises today. In the near (hopefully) future my triumph over the pull ups will be glorious.To get there, I just have to keep on working hard-

Cardio&Strength - W2D1

 Ares: 00:15:50 
 Split Lunge Max: *101 

It's been almost a week since I've been back from my trip and I'm just starting to get back to normal (for good). I had very important soccer matches on Monday (quarter finals) and Tuesday (semi finals). Against all odds, we won on Monday - I scored the qualification goal :-) yaaaay! - but we lost on Tuesday at the very F***ING last minute... They scored the second goal (the final result was 2 to 1), we got to the center of the field, the ball started to roll and the referee ended the match. We were absolutely devastated because we wanted so much to be on that final, and to come so close just to loose like that... 

Anyways, the idea for me to write this journal is to let people know my experience with Freeletics, how I combine it with soccer and my life in general, but also as a way of committing myself "publicly" to completing the program. This way I feel morally obligated with you to keep on going, so I also feel I owe you total honesty. 

It's been almost two weeks since my last HIWOD, and I was seriously -like never before- considering quitting today. I've been struggling with starting week #2 since I got back, mainly because the workouts got harder and more complicated to do. I got used to training very late (past 11 PM) alone and relaxed in my bedroom when people in the house were asleep or doing their things -so I didn't get interrupted-. Then I stretched, got to the shower and slept with a big smile. I think that's one of the main things that made me love Freeletics; I could do it wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But this week, my training program starts with Ares, a workout that includes pull ups and 40 meter sprints. Pull ups the hardest exercise for me to do + they require a pull up bar. For the sprints, well, it's obvious I can't do that in my bedroom at 11 PM. It took me a while finding the mental strength to overcome these technical difficulties -I know, it shouldn't be a big deal, but they were for me- but finally I got to it and did the workout today in my parent's yard. We live in a large piece of land and we have a swing, so I used that as a pull up bar and I sort of calculated 20 meters for sprinting. I know it's not the same sprinting 40 meters at straight than 2 x 40 meters but hey, at least I did it!.

As expected, no star on Ares because I have never been able to do a single pull up starting from a hanging position. It's on my MUST ACHIEVE list of life. The day I can complete a full pull up series (I don't know... 10 - 15 in a row?) starting from a hanging position I will be really really pleased and I'll consider myself truly fit. Today I even had a super hard time at the last repetitions with the modified version (jumping, chin over the bar and dropping in a "controlled" motion). My hands are super sore now and the controlled part was... not so controlled as I'd like it to be...

Luckily, besides Ares, I also had to do a new MAX; the Split Lunge Max, so that lifted my spirits. Before I started I set 100 repetitions as a decent cut off point for me for time and I got there barely with my 101 reps (not dalmatians). I was sweating a lot by the end and I could feel the back of my legs working like crazy!!! The two weeks off weren't free; I felt slower and more tired both during soccer and the workout. It takes much effort to get in shape, but you can loose that state in no time and with no effort at all!!! We'll see how I keep going this week... Hopefully I get back up fast!

Cardio&Strength - W1D2

 Aphrodite: *00:28:57 

As I thought, my performance has decreased a little bit after my brilliant idea to donate blood last week. I've felt more tired during soccer, and more out-of-breath during the #Freeletics workouts. However I'm feeling much better compared to last week, and I'm hoping to get back up to my improvement curve soon.

I think I'm beginning to feel a bit bored by Aphrodite, but I know I still got 14 more weeks in front of me and I'm sure I will get new and more exciting workouts. In the meaning time I'm still trying to get below the 27 minute mark (hopefully below the 25 minute mark). I will keep giving it all my best during this week in spite of the boredom.

Week 3, Day 2 / Dione

 Dione: 00:42:28 

So, today was my second day of Dione. I feel that the workout itself is harder than Aphrodite, specially because it involves a suite of burpees -round (n-1)-, jumping jacks and burpees again -round (n)- that get your heart pumping quite a bit! By the end of those three I really don't feel like doing leg ups, and that is for me the hardest exercise of this HIWOD... The reason I don't have a star are the leg ups. I have no problem with doing them with my legs extended, but I must have my hands under my butt, otherwise I bend my lower back and I can't do all the reps. I think I deserve a half star because it's the only modified exercise but well...

I really feel the cardio on this workout, and I'm sweating accordingly! Since I've been doing Freeletics I've been sweating more than ever and it's the first time in my life that I've had salty sweat drops getting into my eyes and making them burn a little!!!

Today I finished the workout in 42 minutes and 28 seconds. I improved my previous time by 4 minutes. Considering that a) the other day I mixed up squats and sit ups + I was tired because I had done Aphrodite (new PB) the day before, and b) today I am well rested and I did the workout properly, I think the 4 minutes improvement is just "OK". I'm ambitious, I know, but I really would've loved getting it done in under 40 minutes. I guess I'll just have to keep doing Dione until I'm satisfied with my time.

On a general note, I'm having a hard time speeding up. The easiest part of the workout for me are the sit ups, but I just can't do them faster! Also I think I could speed up a bit in the jumping jacks but at the speed I am currently going I start feeling sore by rep. 60-65 so I can manage to get to 75 straight away. I'm afraid that if I speed it up too much I'll be sore earlier and in the end it'll be counter productive. Trying to beat yourself is quite hard!