Hell Week Day 2: Artemis

Aaah, I’d forgotten about Artemis. Definitely one of my least favourite Freeletics workouts. Each exercise is done all at once. And there are lots of repetitions.

50 Burpees

50 Pullups

100 Sit-ups

150 Squats

50 Burpees

Horrible. I almost gave up twice. There’s something horrible about having to do so many reps back to back. Somehow splitting them up like most workouts do feels more manageable.

I didn’t do the pullups properly, obvs. I did jumping pullups. But everything else I did with correct form. No star, but I beat my PB.

I was pretty sweaty at the end. Also – and I think this happened on Hell Week once before – I have a cold. Came on yesterday. I had to summon up the energy to workout, but it made me feel better. Going to see how I feel tomorrow, but hoping I can push through. It’s GAIA tomorrow, which is a bit easier.

Onwards!

Hell Week conundrum

There I was, Monday morning, feelings smug that I’d got out of bed and done 2x Metis (strength), which incidentally, is pretty tough on the old thighs (and the downstairs neighbours – all those jumps).

I completed the ‘week’ that I’ve been doing for about the last three weeks (sorry Coach), and was looking forward to what was in store, when blam, HELL WEEK. Jeez.

So this is tricky. If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know that I’ve been struggling with motivation these last few weeks. And last time I did Hell Week, it was after a similar period of inaction (maybe Coach knows). I found it really gave me the boost I needed to get back into regular training.

But here’s the thing, this time, the timing isn’t great. I have a major deadline this week at work, and next week I’m away for the whole week in another country, so not even sure where/when I’ll be able to train.

So, do I just crack on with Hell Week on my usual schedule and take a few days out if needs be, with the knowledge that it will take longer than seven days, or do I postpone until I return from being away?

If I postpone, I’ll have to select my own workouts in the meantime. And I’m not sure I’ll get the most out of training. It might not do my motivation any good. I’ll feel like I’ve got some time off. If I just get on with it, I might feel frustrated that it’s not ‘pure’ Hell Week.

Here’s what Coach has in store:

Day 1: Uranos, Krios
Day 2: Venus, 200 burpees
Day 3: Hermes, 2x Morpheus
Day 4: Kronos, 2x Krios
Day 5: Venus, Artemis
Day 6: Kentauros (Strength), 200 burpees
Day 7: 2x Ares, 100 pullups

Ugh. The first three days aren’t too bad (apart from all those burpees). It gets tough mid-week, and I don’t know if I’ll have running space and pull-up bar when I’m away.

Hmmm… I’m of a mind to just get on with it and adapt as needs be. What do you think?

Cancelling my gym membership and other January activities

So. 2017. Here we are.

Have to admit, I did stop training over Christmas. And only started again the other day.

My final pre-Christmas workout was Uranos, where I beat my PB, and then on Christmas Eve (when I was sick of my family already and itching to do something physical) I knocked out a quick Athena.

I’d kind of forgotten that I can break with Coach every now and then and do those super-quick, no equipment workouts wherever and whenever. It felt quite nice to do a quick 7 minute workout, just to get the blood flowing.

And then post Christmas I was straight back to it with KENTAUROS. Jeez. I did it on a beautiful, sunny, freezing cold day in the park. Even though it was cold I was sweating buckets by the end. Blimey that workout tires me out. And my legs were aching for days.

On Monday evening, just before going to back to work after the break, I did Artemis. I quite like this workout – 50 burpees, 50 pull-ups, 100 pushups, 150 squats, 50 burpees. I beat my PB, but no star (still not mastered the pull-up).

The other thing I did this week was cancel my gym membership. Probably the opposite of what everyone else is doing at this time of year. £17 per month, and I wasn’t really using it. I’ve decided that wherever possible I will exercise at home or outdoors. And that there shouldn’t really be any excuses about that. I don’t need the gym.

So I’d better crack on with tackling that 2017 bucket list…

 

Exercising with a cold…

My first week setting Coach at five workouts ground to a halt on Day 2. 

I’ve come down with a stinking cold and have been in bed for the last 24 hours. Lots of fluids, sleep and warm blankets and I think I’m on the mend, but I am not exercising.

There are plenty of websites that recommend working out even when you’ve got a cold (here’s one), but I just can’t see it as being sensible. I really believe in cancelling everything and laying as low as possible in order to shift it in as short a time as possible.

The good news though is that the muscle pain I was feeling after correct form pull-ups didn’t appear after doing Artemis the other day. Must be building strength 🙂

Hermes: a quick workout for a chilly Monday

Image: Freeletics.com

I had to do the old trick of changing into my workout gear as soon as I got home from work before I accidentally sat on the sofa. The temperature has dropped and it’s dark early. Hard to muster the motivation.

I swapped my days around because my biceps are hurting a little from doing correct-form jumping pull-ups. I was scheduled to do Artemis, but it has 50 pull-ups and I really don’t want to do some serious damage, so I decided to do Day 2 – Hermes.

Aaaaah, Hermes. How lovely it is to see it as the only thing you have to do for the day. It takes me about 12 minutes, and 8 of those are resting! The rest is pushups and sprints. It gets the heart pumping and you don’t have to think too much.

10 pushups; 30 sec rest; 2x20m run; 10 pushups; 30 sec rest, 2×20 run; 60 second rest. Repeat four times.

I worked out in my local park. First time I’ve worked out there after dark – it’s pretty much pitch black – but I quite like that, as you can just crack on without worrying about people watching.

And finally, my foam roller arrived. Already feeling the benefit of it – it’s been great using it while watching TV.