Sunday 27 April 2014

Freeletics week 6

I do believe I have turned a corner this week and started to enjoy the exercises.  I was running a bath earlier today and rather than sit and watch it fill, check messages on the phone etc. I actually reached for the freeletics app, picked out push ups and did a push up max to kill some time.  That's not the usual me at all.  Plus I smashed the last one and got 40 as opposed to 30 last time.
Still not hell week,  this week I only have for sessions again.  Although if today is anything to judge by then I will probably do some extra.

Session 1
Aphrodite 31:42*PB
Another PB surprisingly, I didn't feel as if I did it faster apart from at the start. Really enjoyed it tonight and am very very sweaty!

Session 2
Aphrodite 30:47 *PB
Getting stronger and faster every time! That's another minute off yesterdays time. I could feel myself pushing harder as the clock reached 30 minutes but just couldn't quite get the burpees done quick enough. They are a real killer in this one. All in all very sweaty, tired and ready for a brew.

It's right what they say on some of the videos, after a while you do start to enjoy it!! Especially when you can see the changes. It's week 6 now and I can already see a change to my upper body.

Session 3
Kentauros 42:44*PB
Good god this one kills your legs! I felt pretty awkward as I always to when I started this one. The frogger jumps were either too short or a bit wonky and as for the walking lunges.... talk about burning thighs!

I did smile half way through it thinking to myself, I'm going to spend 3 hours stood up in the back of a landrover later going down bumpy roads, if i'd of known it was as killer on the legs I would of left it to another day..... Excuses excuses.

Session 4
Posideon 13:39
Last day and kinda regretting the last thing which was to move 100 rather large and heavy fence posts from one place to another just before doing the session, shall see how this one goes! Also made a better pullup bar to use which I'll post a photo of when i'm done.

First thought's are that I wish I had not done such modified pull-ups in previous sessions. I had read up
on all the different suggestions on doing a pull-up without a pull-up bar. One of them was to put a broom handle between two chairs, lay on your back underneath it and pull-up from there.Little did I think that the weight would be a lot less than a normal standing pull up and I definitely felt it today.

As you can see from the photo I put a metal ladder between the roof of the Landrover and one of the outbuildings which worked perfectly well. I nearly got three normal pull-ups before my arms gave way and I had to revert to the suggested simpler one whereby you spring up on your feet first.

Push ups were not an issue but pull ups... killer.


Sunday 20 April 2014

Freeletics Week 5

I can't tell you how relieved I am to see that this isn't hell week! As you will know from week 4 I was pretty weak willed and am starting week 5 on a Wednesday, so the thought of a 5 or more session week was haunting me. So I'm happy to say I have 4 sessions this week.

Session 1
Aphrodite 39:02* PB
Absolutely over the moon today. This is the First Aphrodite that I have done all on the hardest form, previously I have been doing modified burpees. Which in the video shows that you don't go all the way to the floor on your chest. This time however I did and I can feel my shoulders burning.

I forgot to make a mental note of my previous PB so I thought it best just to push as hard as I could because I doubted that I could get one by doing the hardest forms of each exercise but I've just finished and I've not only got a PB but proudly got a star against it finally! Actually, looking back I am ten mins slower, but I guess the PB is because it's the best time whilst doing the hardest version. Either way round I can certainly tell!

Now to walk the dogs, grab some soup and have a soak in the bath :-)

Session 2
Metis 8:52*PB
Metis 10:50*
Not surprisingly the second set was no where near as quick as the first! I feel quite proud I have managed to get a PB on the first set because I have been chopping logs since 1pm this afternoon (now just after 7pm) so I was pretty tired to start with and was trying to justify to myself as I tidied up the remaining wood that I didn't really need to do a session today.

Glad I did now and off inside for a nice hot bath and a brew!

Session 3
Uranos
I did session 3 after session 4, for the simple reason that the day I planned doing session 3 on which was a Saturday, I had spent all day walking and my ankle was giving me quite a bit of pain. That and it was late at night before I got chance to start so I thought I would set myself up for failure trying to run in pain in the dark.

So Uranos 44:06PB ... my Achilles heel, literally. Hate running with a passion, after having my ankle reconstructed years ago I get nothing but pain in it daily and running is pretty damn painful so it's on with the pain killers and I'm ready to go....

That was pre-workout and this is after.... shattered haha.

Really happy with how that went, I am not sure on the length of my run at the moment. I am using Google tracks on the phone to keep a record of how far the run (more like a jog) is. This time I was at the 500m mark on the first run and the phone only showed 36m. Either way I ran more than I walked this time. The distraction of having two spaniels with me helped too, especially after Wilfred decided that he would roll onto his back for a rub every 100m or so!

The burpees I now have down to a tee, all 50 in good form one after the other. Pull ups I am still doing using some ladders hanging out the back of the land rover so i'm pretty sure they aren't as hard as doing it with a pull-up bar, must make a note to see if I can put one somewhere outside.

Climbers I still find have me out of breath every ten or so but again, all in good form. Pushups, I managed to do 30 straight off and had to stop to catch breath every ten after that.

Finally High Jumps. I can tell there is a huge improvement in the way I do these. I seem to remember in the first few weeks I was not getting my knees very high and I was landing on my left foot first which ended up looking more like on the spot skipping than a high jump. Now I can feel my knees coming all the way up and I am landing both feet together. However after about 70 I was starting to feel some serious pain in my right ankle so I adjusted the way that I landed to make it a little easier.

All in all a great session!

Session 4
Aphrodite 31:44 * PB
That was a huge uptake on the the last PB of 39 minutes. I'm surprised again that I managed to get a PB  today as I have been at Harewood Estate on an advanced Gundog day, so I have walked pretty far and my legs were tired. That and I had to take some pain killers before I started as my foot was really hurting.

I did alter a few things along the way and noticed a difference. Firstly breathing correctly in the sit ups, yes it's breathe out when sitting up and in when going back to the laid down position but I did breathe deeper and put my arms right back, therefore filling my lungs more. I was able to do more reps straight up then.

The other thing was the "rests". Now I know that you shouldn't be resting as such between each exercise but I have been finishing the situps and standing for half a minute to catch my breath. However this time I took all of them steadier and rather than resting I took two deep breaths after the situps and went straight into the burpees. My core felt tighter and I did more reps as a result. All in all a great session.

Sunday 13 April 2014

Freeletics Week 4 - Epic FAIL

It's quite true about not giving up and I am determined not to but I seem to be awesome at thinking up excuses for not doing the sessions leading to me being two sessions behind this week. Needless to say I will be two days late starting next weeks so even if it isn't hell week it sure is going to feel like it!

I even started this session (Day 4) with the thought, "I'll skip the run because my foot hurts after spending 11 hours chopping wood on Saturday still" but managed to muster the willpower to start the session and have just finished!

It is so easy to find an excuse not to do something, this week was easier than most, with the OpenSSL (Heartbleed) Vulnerability in the news I spent quite a while patching servers and talking to clients about security. In fact I spent the entire week dealing with that subject and getting no scheduled work done so have had to work today in an attempt to catch up. All those long days led to more excuses as to how tired I was, "I'll do it tomorrow" seemed to be my favorite.

Day 1
Hades 32:55PB
Another PB and glad to have finished this time. The sprints really do take the wind out of your sails so to speak. I am feeling much better about the burpees too, shame I still struggle to do the pullups but they are getting there slowly.

Day 2
Squat MAX 162*PB
Split Lunge MAX 80*PB
The results speak for themselves, I feel much stronger than I did at the start, probably because my technique is better and therefore I am able to do more reps and so they feel easier. Either way I feel great but shattered after this session!

Day 3
Uranos 52:41 PB
Absolutely shattered! The run was an absolute killer as I've not ran for a long time, ten years or more! I spent the first 50 yards at a sprint, slowed to a jog and did the last leg in a cross between a one legged drunken sloth attempting to speedwalk whilst wheezing for breath. I just couldn't seem to get enough oxygen in my lungs, I seem to remember from school that it was in for two paces and out for two paces but that just didn't seem to cut it.

Then came another bout of internal justification as I attempted to talk myself out of any pullups
Too late to be getting the steps out
Landrover needs moving
Table is too heavy to move
I'll do them tomorrow instead
However, I managed to muster up the willpower to push through and finished off 50 burpees in good form, 50 pullups of sorts, 50 climbers in good form, 50 pushups 80% in good form and the other 20% from the knee. Finally 100 jumps.


I'll not be making any excuse over the next two days! I'll be posting the results of these on Tuesday night, you can count on it!

Day 4
Split Lunge MAX 82*PB
Ares 13:52
The split lunges really do work your thighs! A slightly disappointing day, shame I didn't get another PB on the Ares but one of the dogs decided to take itself out of the gates so there was a bit of a chase in the middle of that one.

Day 5
Hades 29:57 PB
Warmest day of the year, not a cloud in the sky and don't I know it. Feeling great today, can't wait to see what is on the following week. I've managed to get a PB this time and it feels even better because all my burpees are not the modified version any more. I am managing to do the harder versions and I feel better for it and more drained which is always a good feeling.

Glad this week is over and I feel back on track!!

Sunday 6 April 2014

Freeletics Week 3 - pullup central!!

It's Monday evening, late finishing last weeks sessions so the first day of this week starts tomorrow. Pretty harsh week considering how bad I was at pull-ups last week as there are a lot this week, centered around strength mainly.

Session 1
Leg Lever MAX 53*
Ares 15:25

Firstly the leg levers didn't seem an issue but I could see how I you would get into a tangle if you didn't pace yourself correctly as 300 seconds is a pretty long time when you have never done the exercise before. I managed to do them all in the same form that is stated on the site.

As for Ares, that certainly gets your heart pumping! Like most starting out, I am not very good at pull up's. However, I have had some tips on email and they do work well! I used a plant pot to get to the top of the pullup by standing on it and then stepped off and slowly lowered myself down. This gets your arms used to pulling your own body weight. It felt like one of the training scenes from rocky where he is in the wilderness as I have no pullup bar so I use the branch of a cherry blossom tree whilst wearing my chainsaw gloves! At least it works though.

The jackknifes were attempted in good form and I don't know if it's my belly that's stopping it. Bearing in mind I am only two stone overweight. Or it is just that my body decided it preferred to make like a dying seal on the floor. Either way I struggled to look anywhere near as clean as the ones in the tutorial video where the chaps body and legs are both vertical.

As for the 40m sprint, fortunately that measures out to about half the garden, but not taking into account my two dogs, Frank and Wilf it was quite interesting. I set off like a lame whippet from the garage (where I do my exercises) followed by two over-excited spaniels.

Session one over and feeling tired but good.

session 2
posideon 11.09
50 pullups?! 'Not on your nelly' I thought. So I've been looking on some of the military fitness sites for tips to build the strength up as mine are all over the place.  I've been using a tree branch and standing on two plant pots to get high enough.  Not an easy thing to do when the branch settings and one side is higher than the other.  

The way I have done these is to get right to the top of the pull-up and lower myself down whilst trying to maintain form.  Not easy! 

Although the push ups are getting much easier and I felt in control and that I had great form. 
All in all an absolute killer in the top half. 

Session 3
Ares 12.02
posideon 09.07
Personal bests on both these bit still not doing the hardest of the pull up styles. 
Jackknifes felt a bit more controlled and I could tell my sprinting was better.  

The 60 seconds rest was more than needed in ares!

I felt that using the tree was leading to too much swinging around so I found an awesome tip about putting a Broom on the seat of two chairs and laying underneath to do pull ups. So using the back of the landrover,  a ladder and a garden table I finally made a pull-up bar I could use for the moment. It was high enough to have my arms fully extended and although I am not using my full weight it is getting me stronger.  

I think maybe trying a proper pull-up three times a day plus doing the session ones using the ladder,  I should be able to master them a bit quicker. 

Session 4
Aphrodite 29:36
OOOfffttt that was a hard one, towards the end I could see the freeletics timer counting down and was determined to get another Personal Best and get it under 30 minutes this time. 28:00 dead and I had the last set to do, fortunately squats are pretty quick and just powering through the sit-ups got me to my goal!

Not a bad week considering the amount of wood I have had to chop and haul around the yard after work and this weekend. Now to see what the next week has in store.