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.

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.

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!!

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.

Freeletics Week 2

Motivation city this week!

Firstly when I clicked on the coach to move into week two it covered the fact that I had only done a couple of pullups in each session last week and said it was quite normal to do only one or two. Plus I have seen some others on you tube that struggle with a couple so I don't feel as de-motivated as I ended on last week.

I've just started writing this after the first workout which was Aphrodite again and I smashed my last time which was 47mins and got a PB of 34 minutes. Last week was much harder so I am guessing it has kick started my metabolism  that and the banana I had about an hour before I started the workout helped! Day 1 done and feeling great.

Day 2
Situp MAX *83
Metis 09:09

Pretty amazed I could do that many situps considering I was still a little sore from Aphrodite. As for Metis, on paper, as do most, Metis looks pretty easy but it is far from it. Really made me sweat and work for it even though there is less to do than Aphrodite it's just as exhausting and an absolute killer on your legs!

Day 3
Aphrodite again and once again managed to get a PB with 31:15 which was over 3 minutes faster than last time. I can see the next one i'll be watching the clock to get sub 30minutes, can only imagine how good that is going to feel.

Day 4
Situp MAX *94
Metis 09:06

Week 2 over...
I've noticed that I have started to sweat more now that my body has got used to exercise once more. Don't be alarmed if you are like me and sit at a desk all day and the first time you do some strenuous exercise you are absolutely shattered, gasping for breath and not sweating at all. Your body needs to learn to sweat again, there is a scientific explanation for it but I can't for the life of me remember what it is called.

Anyhow, that's me just finished the Metis, sweating profusely and looking forward to chopping some wood up for the fire and messing around with the dogs. Admittedly I feel like I am enjoying the workouts and the additional bonus of seeing the time on screen gives you that extra little push to beat your last time for that exercise.

See you all next week!

Teaching your dog to sit, drop to shot etc.

I decided to put this onto my blog as I am writing it to submit to the club where we train as they asked if anyone would like to write down how they train their dogs to sit. As you can see above, this is my eldest dog Frank while out on a walk being recalled (three pips) and then being sat at distance (one pip).

Training a dog to sit sounds like the most simplest of tasks and probably is, but will become a powerful tool later on in the dogs working life. You may of heard the term “drop to shot” where upon a gun being fired your dog should stop, sit and then mark the bird (watch where it drops). Or you may have seen dogs working out in the field many hundreds of yards from the owner and with one pip of the whistle or on a noisy / windy day just a raised hand, the dog stops, sits and pays attention for it’s next command. These actions and more have a strong link back to the simple act of getting your dog to sit.

Two things to remember throughout all training. Consistency is the key, just because you are late for work doesn’t mean that you can skip the lesson at feeding time in a morning, just because you really need the loo still doesn’t mean you can put the bowl down and leave the dogs to eat. That’s plain lazy. Also commands to carry out a task are always nice command, never feel stressed out because your dog isn’t sitting and start to raise your voice or say sit in a nasty way. If you need to tell them off you should be using something to let them know it’s wrong, I use a short “ah” in a gruff voice.

The basic sit

So first of all let’s look at how to get your dog to sit in the most basic of ways and then move on to each step, evolving the sit so that you can confidently sit your dog at distance.

There are many types of commands to use and first we train the verbal and slightly introduce a visual one. Most dogs don’t have a GCSE in english so you can use whatever word you like, personally I use “sit” however some use “hup”. I find the easiest way to get them to sit is from a young age using feeding time and play time, then it feels natural to them.

Let’s take feeding time as a pup. With the bowl of food in one hand stand up straight and with the palm of your other hand facing them, fingers closed give the command to sit. For an untrained dog this will mean nothing so repeat a couple of times and if your dog is still over excited at the thought of food then put the food on the floor, keeping the dog at arms length, with one hand on it’s chest and one hand on it’s bum push it’s bum to the floor and hold it in the sit position and repeat in a calm voice your command to sit about three or four times. It will take a few weeks to train this into your dog, at which point you should soon be able to get the dog to sit by holding the food in one hand and commanding it to sit.

You could do the same with a toy, hold it in your hand or put it on the ground and repeat until they are sitting correctly. Don’t forget that when they do, praise them. I don’t teach with a clicker or food, just a “good boy” and a pat.

The sit and stay

Now we have a dog that will sit to a verbal command after a few weeks, with and without a temptation in your hand. What you need next it for them to stay on the spot while the bowl or toy is being lowered to the ground and stay that way until the command is given to eat.

This is a simple case of as you are lowering yourself to the ground keep repeating the command word and if needs be a gentle bit of pressure on their chest to hold them back. If they force forward just stand back up. This takes a lot of patience! The first week of doing this with mine resulted in me having to hold them back with a lot of “ah’s”. The length of time they are sat should be different too. This is important so they do not second guess you! The moment you give the command to eat give them praise.

DO NOT say “sit, siiiitttt, stayyy, wait waiiiittt, waiiiiit”. How many commands do you need?! Just a simple single word will do. Sit means sit until you give it another command. Also never get it to sit and then praise it by calling it in, i.e. "come here, good boy", this is teaching it to be unsteady.

Now we should have a dog that when you command it to sit, it sits and should stay there until you tell it to do something albeit in a quiet environment but most importantly if it is a pup it will make the transition into attending gundog class a lot easier as there are more distractions out there.

Finally let’s cover sitting to visual signals and whistles.

The basic structure is the same. Practise it in stages, gradually building up distance and being consistent.

Sit and stay at distance

Firstly we need them to be able to see / hear the command at distance so firstly try walking the dog to heel, as your leading foot hits the ground give the lead a little tug and say sit. Once this has been mastered use the whistle AND the verbal command, give it one short beep on the whistle and by the time your second foot hits the floor as you are standing the dog should be sat.

Along with this while out on a walk also sit your dog, turn to face it, still on the lead, raise your arm high in the air, palm facing away from you, fingers closed and issue the sit command or whistle, even if it is already sat. Reaffirm this and take a step back, if the dog starts to shuffle, put it back on the spot, even if it only a few inches, pip the whistle and step back. Keep repeating this until they are steady and you are at the length of the lead. Now is the time to slip the lead off and get further and further back.

IMPORTANT…. Consistency warning… Always put your dog back on the spot if it moves off, shuffles, crawls and start again.

Praise comes when you get back to the dogs side.

When you are at a distance away, try walking around, don’t just go straight back. Walk behind a tree and out again, bushes are great too but only for short moments. The dog will soon learn that you are coming back. It is also important at this stage that the dog is looking at you. Yes it’s great the dog sit’s 300 yards out and looks like it’s half asleep watching the squirrels in the wood nearby but you really need the dog to pay attention verbally and visually.

To truly get your dog to sit while it is away from you simply let it play around your feet and issue the sit command. If it labours before the sit, tell it off, run over, push its bum to the ground and make it sit. Eventually it will get the message that when you say sit, no matter where you are, you mean it. Increase the distance until you are confident that it will sit at a good distance away. This is where the visual raised hand is powerful as they may not be able to make out what you have said or what the whistle was.

Dropping to shot is then just a matter of introcuding the dog, at a correct age to a starting pistol while carrying out the commands. For mine I train to sit at distance first, then crack a shot off and beep the whistle while holding my hand up. Eventually they realise that a gunshot, raised hand, sit command all mean sit.

Now you can take great pride in your dog that has manners and have a quiet giggle at the 9 year old untrained dogs in the park running around while the owners are screaming commands at them in an attempt at control.

Consistency, consistency, consistency.

Freeletics Week 1

I ache!!!

That about sums up the week.

Day 1. (Wed)

Pushup MAX (27*)

Pullup MAX (2)

Pushup MAX (28*)

As these are all MAX ones it is simply a case of doing as many as possible in 100 seconds of each one. Simple... or so I thought. Pushup's I managed to get to where I thought, Pullups though; absolutely no chance unless I literally jumped up at the bar. So I did two correctly and the rest were me just putting as much strain on my arms as possible. The final pushup's I reached the wall and just couldn't do any more.

After only a few minutes of exercise in total I felt like it wasn't really doing much, although the following day I can feel a little soreness in my chest and while I was doing it I did feel my muscles burning.

Day 2. (Thur)

Burpees MAX (36)

Squats MAX (101*)

The first set had it's own complications, mainly to do with two over excited spaniels which combined with my terrible fitness made it hard to do even 36. Squats not so much of a problem as I managed to maintain good form but slow. Now a few mins after and i'm sweating like a good un and my legs are aching!!! I'm pretty thankful for having the forethought to cut all the logs for tonight and tomorrow morning as the prospect of weilding a 6 pound axe isn't appealing any more. Bath time!.....

Day 3. (Sat)
Basically the same as day one but changed around, two lots of pullups and one set of pushups. Needless to say I did 2 pullups, 30 pushups and 3 pullups. At the end of this one I felt pretty de-motivated as I thought that surely I should be doing more than 2 pullups.

Day 4 (Sun)
Aphrodite Click to view
Now this was bloody hard work and admittedly I got to the middle of the third round and felt like packing it in but I got through it all in 50 minutes! Burpees seem to be a real killer for me which took the longest of all the exercises.

End of week 1....
So I finished week one. I pretty much ache in many places, especially my legs after that last session. Once I had entered my times into the coach section I clicked on "Next Week" and was presented with a few Max's, two Aphrodite's and two Metis's (see here) All in all I have four sessions this week, the first one being Aphrodite!

Considering that the weather for today is clear skies and tomorrow it is raining I've chosen to start tomorrow as I really need to install a new wood burner in the office and spend a few hours chopping wood. The likeliness of be being able to get the most out of a freeletics session when I've been doing that all day is slim.

To sum up, I feel like I have more energy in myself so it was all worth it!