Hell Week Days 5 & 6: Nearly there

Day 5 was a slightly easier day. Hyperion (Endurance).

5 sets of:

5 Pikes
25 HH Squats
5 Pikes
25 High Knees
60 sec rest

Completed that in 11:04. Wasn’t too hard. And I also realised half way through that I was doing normal squats, not HH squats.

So, not much to say about Hyperion really. Apart from that because it was Day 5, my thighs were beginning to hurt.

Day 6 was a real achievement though. Not only was I a little bit hungover (oops), I was dreading it because the app told me that the last time I did Dione it took me 55:05. That was a year ago.

Reading back in this blog though, I see that I quite enjoyed doing that workout. It exercises pretty much your whole body.

3 sets of:

75 Jumping Jacks
25 Burpees
50 Leg Raises
75 Jumping Jacks
50 Situps
25 Burpees

It also feels like a good cardio workout, what with all those jumping jacks.

As soon as I started I realised I was definitely going to beat my PB. I always have half an eye on those little blue bars during the workout – the ones that tell you whether you’re ahead or behind of your PB. And I get competitive with myself.

I was faster on every single thing. Some significantly. It was a real boost to know how far I’ve come in a year. Sometimes I don’t think I’m making progress at all, that I’m just flatlining, but then there are days like today when I can see how much fitter I am.

Even leg-raises, which I hate, weren’t so bad. Although I often think they’re doing damage to the small of my back.

I completed the workout a full TWELVE MINUTES better than my PB. TWELVE MINUTES. I was absolutely dripping with sweat and felt quite light headed, but my god it felt good.

I have one day left to do in Hell Week. I’m not doing it today because I went swimming instead. I’ll do it tomorrow morning. It’s a quick one – Nyx – which shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.

And then Hell Week is done.

I can’t quite believe I’ve been doing Freeletics for nearly two years. And it still hasn’t lost its appeal. Bring on the next two years.

 

Hell Week Day 4: Kentauros

Kentaurous, my old friend. How I have missed you.

Today it was a beautiful autumnal morning. Cold, crisp and sunny. I could see my breath. I headed out to the basketball court next to my house and trained there. There’s usually no one else there, so I can sweat and pant without fear of embarrassment.

I have a funny relationship with Kentauros. Today it was Endurance, so slightly easier. I kind of hate doing it, and I always think it’s going to take ages. But today I did it in 18mins, and I wasn’t cutting corners.

If you don’t know it, Kentauros is one of the tougher of the Freeletics workouts. It’s particularly hard on the thighs.

Six sets of:

2x20m HH Lunge Walks
10 High Knees
2x20m Sprawl Frogs
10 High Knees

But I did it. And it felt so good to finish. I genuinely think that my stamina and ability to finish things in all aspects of my life has improved because of Freeletics. Once you’ve pressed go on the app, you know that the feeling of giving up will be much worse than the temporary pain of pushing through. And you know that your workout is only going to be about half an hour, so you might as well finish.

And so when I’m at work, or at home, I find it much easier to start a task and not stop until its done. I’m much less likely to part-finish something, or get bored and go and do something else. I set myself a goal and I work until its done. Whether that’s clearing my inbox, writing a paper, cleaning etc etc.

Anyway, training outside today was lovely. I’m hoping I can fit another outdoor session in this week. Tomorrow is a lot easier: Hyperion. But then… Saturday’s workout is Dione. A year ago it took me 55 mins. So I’m hoping I can beat that, but I’m not looking forward to it.

 

 

Entering the final week of #CoachChallenge

Tomorrow I start the final week of #CoachChallenge.

I have to say, I’ve found the promise of a voucher and the Week 3 40% discount has encouraged me to not break my routine. So often with Freeletics, I’ve had breaks or a week where I haven’t exercised once. Hence why, even though I’ve been doing Freeletics for nearly 2 years, I’m still only on Week 47. But now I’m in more of a regular routine, exercising in the mornings rather than evenings, I find it much easier to stick to the plan.

I used the Week 3 40% discount to buy a new pull-up bar, which I can adjust to do the exercises that require a lower bar (incline rows, negative bar dips etc), and an a resistance band which I’m going to use to try and finally crack pull-ups. Annoyingly they arrived yesterday when I was out, and tomorrow is Monday, so I hope I’m not going to carry on missing the delivery every day this week.

Last night I went to my friends house for a cheese and wine party. Four of us. Twelve cheeses. Bread. Meats. Lots of wine. Not good for that six-pack. So today I ate loads of vegetables and healthy carbs, went swimming and did about half an hour cycling around town. And I’m going to try and have a good week sticking to all my habits.

Now it’s September, I’m a bit annoyed with myself that I didn’t push myself harder to exercise outdoors more this summer. I only did it a handful of times, mainly because it’s so easy to do it in my living room and I still feel a little self-conscious doing it. But when I do, it feels so good.

Just in case you’re interested, here’s my final #CoachChallenge week:

Day 1
10 Straight Bar Dips
Conditioning (Legs, Core): 3 x rounds 30 Squats, 15 Arm & Leg Lifts (L&R), 15 Standups
Krios

Day 2
8 Crunches
Conditioning (Upper Body, Abs): 3x rounds 15 Pushups, 20 Bicycle Crunches, 15 Plank Switches, 10 Leg Raises
4/5 Hyperion

Day 3
10 Split Lunges
12 Pushups
4/5 Aphrodite
400m Sprint
400m Sprint

Day 4
6 Jumps
10 Strict Pullups
Conditioning (Legs, Abs): Split lunges, Calf Raises, Leg Raises, High Knees). 3 rounds x 20 each

I still don’t really have anywhere to do sprints. I need to find a big flat place. All the parks near me are on hills and all the quiet roads are hills too. Hmm.

I’ll let you know how I get on. Have a great week.