Whatever happened to Freeletics Running?

I might be slow on the uptake here, but I only noticed today that it doesn’t seem like Freeletics are supporting the old Running and Gym apps anymore. They’re not on Apple’s App Store, and there haven’t been updates for ages.

It’s a bit frustrating because I want to be able to do a running programme alongside Freeletics, and I was wondering why that app felt so basic.

A few weeks ago I downloaded Strava, which seems great. A few of my friends are on it, and I like their route planner functionality. But I wasn’t ready to abandon Freeletics Running yet because I liked the coach. I wanted “someone” to tell me how far I should be running every day, otherwise I run the risk of slacking.

So yesterday I signed up to Nike Run Club. So far so good. You can set a goal and their coach will get you to that point by a certain date. I want to run 10k by Christmas which, seeing as my maximum is already 6k, doesn’t feel that wild.

It’s assigned me a speed, endurance and a long run every week. And it also wants me to do a Nike Training Club workout every week. But I could never abandon Freeletics training so I won’t be doing those.

Looking at the whole plan, I’ll actually run 11k a few weeks before Christmas and then finish the plan with a 10k in the final week before the eating and the drinking commences.

So combining that with my new Freeletics journey and I have my work cut out between now and the festivities. All the better seeing as we’re not allowed to do much else at the moment.

The Journey Is On

Photo by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

I finished my latest Freeletics journey last week. And as I write this I noticed that there’s no way on the app to see which journeys you’ve done already. That would be useful, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, I’m now in week 1 of Weights-Free Gain. Lowest cardio impact, but highest muscle impact. I’m getting my cardio through using the Freeletics Running app.

I’m excited about this new journey. Will finish it just before Christmas. I did the first workout yesterday, which was fairly straightforward – and I tried to be honest with my feedback so that the assessment week can properly set intensity for the next few weeks. I was pleased that yesterdays was a long-ish workout though as I’ve felt that some of the workouts recently have been very brief.

It’s the same old story for me though. I can stick to the programme and do the running, but I need to work really hard at my diet – less alcohol and fewer carbs/fat (or more protein).

So yeah. I’m going to keep blogging through this journey. Next time I’ll share before pictures and stats to keep me accountable.

Mastering the pullup and Hell Week

Photo by James Lee on Unsplash

Freeletics were offering their Master the Pullup e-book for free the other week, and if you’ve read this blog before you’ll know that I am far from mastering it. So I downloaded the book and am working the programme into my coach routines. I’m only on Day 2 of Week 1, which is

30 seconds passive hang
3 x 10 shoulder pullups
5 x 5 jumping pullups

So far so good. It’s nice to be working those muscles properly and I’m hopeful that if I properly follow the plan I’ll be much better at pullups by the end.

In other news, it’s Hell Week. I’m at the end of my current coach journey, so it’s seven days of God workouts.

Maybe it’s the algorithm and my feedback, but it doesn’t feel much like hell. Today’s workout was 1/3 Mania, which is

6 x Clapping Pushups
6 x Squat Jumps
12 x Spiderman Pushups
12 x Lunges
18 x Pushups
18 x Squats

And while Spiderman Pushups are pretty difficult, it was all over in 02:09.

I remember *looks whistfully into the middle distance*, when Hell Week was exactly that. Hell. Full on workouts every day for at least 30 minutes.

It feels good to be doing Freeletics every day, but I’m not sure I’d say I was feeling particularly knackered.

Anyway, I’m pleased that this journey is finishing. It means I can fit one more 12-week journey in before Christmas and hopefully a last push to stay in shape before all the gluttony begins.

I’m slightly wondering what journey to choose. I’m still using the Freeletics Running app, which feels like they’ve lost interest in – hasn’t been updated for ages and it feels really basic compared to the Freeletics app. I’m quite enjoying mixing bodyweight and running, but I did the hybrid journey before the journey I’m currently in. So maybe I’ll choose another bodyweight course and stick with the running app for the time being.

Reaching a plateau?

Earlier in the summer I tripped over about two minutes into a run. I was trying to get out of the way of someone and tripped over a bollard. Landed funnily and alongside gashing my knee, I did something weird to my arm. Thought I might have fractured my elbow, but my doctor said it was probably muscular. Ever since then I’ve had weird painful twinges in my arm around the bicep/elbow.

It makes doing Freeletics a bit difficult sometimes. Especially when I have to do upper body stuff like pullups and pushups. But I’ve been just kind of carrying on, and also the yoga has helped build back a bit of strength I think.

Anyway, did a couple of coach sessions this week. I have to say that I’m still finding some exercises as difficult as I did when I first started Freeletics five years ago – pullups, clapping pushups, for example. I feel like I’m missing something somewhere. It might be lack of consistency, but I feel like I’m reaching a plateau, that maybe you can only get over by doing gym workouts with weights. And I really hate gyms.

In other news, did a 5k run this week and really enjoyed it. Those new running shoes are a revelation. Going to do a 6k today. Will report back.

PS. None of the images I use are me. This one is by Isaac Wendland on Unsplash