And the start of 2019 brings… HELL WEEK

After slacking off at the end of 2018, I was determined to get back into Freeletics again…

My hell week looked like this:

Hermes
2x Agon
Charon
Perseus
Ares
2x Morpheus
Hestia

I have to say, I quite enjoyed the fact that each day was just one relatively short workout and that I could get it done quickly. It was a stretch doing it every day with a combination of jet-lag, a lingering cold and two mild hangovers (oops), but I did each one in the morning and genuinely they all made me feel better. I even got a couple of PBs. It was also a week mercifully free of burpees (some sprawls in Hestia which were hard enough after four weeks away). I also got a swim in too.

So I feel back in the game again. I’ve had today and yesterday as rest days, but will be back on it tomorrow.

And so now I’m doing the 12-week challenge as part of the new Freeletics coach. I’m doing the Weights-Free Gain programme. I love how I have a focus. I don’t think I realised it, but the previous coach was a little aimless. I wasn’t really focussing on any milestones and hell week often came as a surprise. Now I know what I’m aiming for and can see what my progress is. I’m really going to try and follow it closely and not have breaks. It feels like exactly the right time of year to do this programme – by the time I finish it’ll be the end of April and we’ll be heading into warmer weather.

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For those of you who read the last post about habit tracking and goals: I’ve now set my 2019 goals and have been using the ‘Done’ app since 1 January. It’s got a lovely interface – the colours on the progress bars genuinely make you want to complete your habit/task so you can tap that bar.

Lying to yourself doesn’t work…

My final two days of Hell Week are done. Thank god. These were:

Perseus

2x Poseidon

I quite liked Perseus. A nice mix of exercises: Strict Pullups, Mountain Climbers, Sphinx Push-ups and High Knees. It was over quite quickly – in my case 10mins – and even though it wasn’t too taxing I was still exhausted at the end.

And then today I did 2x Poseidon. Now, the last time I did this was two years ago. Apparently I did it in 12 minutes and I gave myself a star. There’s just simply no way I should have given myself a star. I couldn’t do the pullups. And I still can’t. I can do a few, but nowhere near the 100 that 2x Poseidon wants you to do. So I did assisted pullups today and didn’t give myself a star. I also added 8 minutes to my time.

It’s always tempting to give yourself a star, or skip a set, or lots of other little cheats. But it’s not really worth it, because it gives you a false sense of achievement, and when you do actually achieve it, it doesn’t feel so good.

Anyway, I got through the workout. Afterwards I had zero power in my arms.

And now I can have a break for a couple of days. I’ve asked coach for two workouts this week – he’s given me Upper Body Conditioning with a 100m sprint and 2x Agon.

Another Hell Week done. Onwards!

Hell Week progress

I’m almost at the end of Hell Week. Worked out every day apart from Thursday when I was dealing with a crisis at work and had to have a meeting over the time I would have worked out.

Here are some things I’ve noticed:

1. I’ve slept more than I usually do; at least an hour more every night
2. I’ve drunk more water than I usually do
3. Getting training done in the morning is the right thing to do
4. I’ve lost weight. About 2kg
5. I haven’t really eaten enough. For two reasons: it’s been stressful at work and I lose my appetite when I’m stressed and because it’s still hot in the UK and I eat less in hot weather
6. My thighs really hurt
7. I still have a long way to go to properly master the pull-up
8. Jeez those 100x plank leg lifts in Amazona are tough
9. Achilles is really fucking tough. Almost gave up.
10. 2 x Krios — I dunno why I have myself a star the first time I did this. I absolutely can’t do it with correct form. And I added time onto my PB

Just got Perseus and Poseidon to go and then I’m done.