Finding My Strength (or Continuing To Find New Ways To Push Myself)

After having a tough week of workouts with weird injuries, I was so grateful to be back to normal (or at least my normal) this past week. I still had struggles with the usual things in my workout, but I had some amazing moments as well. I was able to find some ways to focus on what I could do on the floor instead of what I did on the bike and I feel like that really made me feel amazing.

Monday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and while it felt like a typical workout is was also a tough one. I was feeling a little off for a few different reasons when I got to class, but when I saw the workout I was pretty excited about it. There have been so many unique workouts lately but it’s always nice to have a classic class.

For cardio, the first block was 3 rounds of a 90 second push pace and a 45 second base pace ending with a 30 second all out. The second block switched things so it was 45 second push paces and 90 second base paces ending with an all out. I struggled a bit with my normal resistance levels on the bike, but I did use them. And the last block was with inclines so we had 4 different all out paces with different hill/resistance levels. I was getting a bit higher than my typical all out level, but it wasn’t quite as high as some of the other hill work I have done in the past.

On the floor, we had Bosu work and rowing. The first block was tricep extensions with weights while kneeling on the Bosu and push-ups with one hand on the Bosu and one hand on the ground. And after 3 rounds of those we had a 100 meter row. The second block was chest fly with weights while laying on the Bosu and low rows using the straps for 2 rounds and then a 200 meter row. And the last block was pullovers with weights and back extensions which were both done while laying on the Bosu and then a 400 meter row after 1 round. I had a little bit of a struggle with the back extensions while laying on my stomach so I had to take those slow. But I also know that going slow also can mean that I’m working harder and have better form so I think it worked to my advantage.

Wednesday’s workout was the Orange X workout, where we try to go as heavy as possible with weights. It was a 3 group class so I had a block on the bike and rower before I got to do the Orange X challenge. We were advised to go a bit easy to save our strength for the floor work, but I was already going easy on myself because I was nauseous.

The first block on the bike was rounds of push paces to base paces with the time going down each time. The second block on the bike was the same except every segment was half of the time we had in the first block. The first block on the rower was rounds of 400 meter rows with chest presses and shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each round. And the second block on the rower was rounds of 200 meter rows and we were supposed to do lunges between each round. But I was not feeling so great so I just stayed on the rower for that entire block.

The Orange X challenge is all about doing single arm low rows, goblet squats, and chest presses with the heaviest weight you can use. I’ve always surprised myself with the weights I could use during these challenges and I was determined to try to improve again. The only one that I knew it couldn’t really improve on just yet is the chest press because I already struggle a lot with the heavy weight I use for that and I don’t want to hurt myself. I actually probably should have gone down to a lower weight because it was harder than I was ok with. I don’t like having the weights above my body when I am scared that I might drop them.

But I knew that I could improve with the low rows and goblet squats. In the past, I’ve used 35lbs for that (I may have used 40lb weight once but I don’t believe so). This time, I decided to go big and go for 45lbs. It was much heavier than I’m used to and I couldn’t do 10 reps in a row without a break, but I did get them done. And with the goblet squats I know we are always pushed to do so much more than we already do. I’ve used 45lbs before and it seemed amazing but I know I can do more. I did one round with 60lbs but when I was on the floor for the second block all the 60lb weights were gone so I went up one higher and managed to do the squats with 65lbs! The most difficult part is holding the weight in my hands and not the squat, but I still felt it in my legs and butt. It was hard and I was exhausted when I was done, but I did it!

After the heavy weightlifting on Wednesday, I was just on such a workout high. I knew I could push myself more on the floor and I needed to find moments to do that. I didn’t have as many opportunities to do that as I would have liked, but it also gave me an extra boost of motivation to work on tracking my floor work more because I need to find a way to know if I’m making progress or stuck using the same weights for months.

Friday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and we spend 15 minutes on each section of the room without switching. For the cardio portion, we started with endurance work with a 6 minute distance challenge. I don’t reset the bike too often because it’s not as quick as resetting the treadmill, so I didn’t focus too much on the distance. Instead, I worked on increasing how fast I pedaled while keeping the bike resistance at my push pace level. The second block was power based and we had 2 rounds of 45 second all out paces. And the last block was a 3 minute distance challenge with extra resistance. The goal was to do half the distance we did in the 6 minute challenge, but I focused more on not slowing down the bike.

The rower focus followed the same pattern as the cardio. For the endurance part, we started with a 400 meter row and we went down 100 meters each round. And between each row, we had 12 frogger squats. The power row was the same as the treadmill with 2 rounds of 45 second all out paces. And the last block was do to half the row distance and half the frogger squats each round (starting with a 200 meter row and going down 50 meters each time with 6 squats).

The floor was one long block. We had deadlifts, dumbbell swings, weighted lunges, regular lunges, and sit-ups. I usually use 25lb weights for my deadlifts and 20lb or 25lb for my swings. But I couldn’t get a 25lb weight since other people were using them. I didn’t want to go to a lower weight since I just proved to myself I could do better, so I went with a set of 30lb weights. The deadlifts and swings weren’t easy with the heavier weight and my hands need to get use to holding them, but I did it. I used lighter weights for my weighted lunges since I have balance issues doing those, but that didn’t feel like a letdown after doing the heavier ones. I was just so happy to prove to myself again that I can do more than I had been trying.

Saturday’s workout was a power day, and it was a very intense power day! We had 3 groups, but the treadmills (or me on the bike) and the rowers worked together in a run/row type format. The plan was the same for 3 rounds each time, it just changed which part of it you started with.

They were all 4 minute blocks. The first 2 minutes had the cardio side doing a 30 second push pace, 30 second base pace, and 1 minute all out. The first 2 minutes on the rowers was a 200 meter row, 20 squats, and the rowing for distance if there was time. Then the cardio side went to the rowers and the rowers went to the cardio side and both had a 1 minute all out. I did that 4 minute block 6 different times (3 when I started on the bike and 3 when I started on the rower), and it was hard! Because of how the class rotated, I did all 6 blocks back to back instead of having 3 and then the floor block before the next 3. But I was glad to get it all done and I tried to catch my breath as much as possible when switching from the bike to the rower or the other way around.

On the floor, we had 1 long block. We had single arm snatches, low rows on the straps, squats, sit-up rotations with weights, and running men. I used my normal weights for the weighted work because I was so tired from all the cardio work. I knew my form was probably going to be sloppy and I didn’t want to risk hurting myself with trying a new and heavier weight. I stuck with focusing on my form and taking the breaks where I needed them. And I really did need them a lot on the floor!

One of my workout goals this year was to track my floor work better. We are already through 1/12 of the year and I’ll be honest that I haven’t been good at trying to figure this out. I’m still struggling with how to do it, but I’m just trying to write it down somewhere for now. I don’t want this year to fly by and I realize I am using the same weights that I’ve been using all year. I have shown myself that I need to work harder because I can do it. And I can only work harder if I know what I have done before.

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