I had a pretty amazing end to my 2018 workouts and start to my 2019 workouts. Because of the days that the holidays fell on, it also had me doing 5 workouts in a week which I rarely do. But I didn’t want to change up my regular schedule nor did I want to miss a New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day workout.
Monday’s workout was my last workout of 2018 and I think I ended the year with a pretty good class! It was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was a 3 group class so we switched sections of the room every 15 minutes. And it had a theme of counting down with squats so it was a very fitting class for New Year’s Eve!
On cardio we had hill work. I was on the bike so it was resistance level work. Each block we had decreasing inclines/resistances levels using base pace and all out pace. There were 3 blocks in the cardio work and after each block we had to do squats. We started at 12 and went down 1 squat each block.
Next I was on the rower which had sprint rows with medicine ball squat rotations and continuing the countdown of squats. We started with 1 minute rows and went down 10 seconds each round. I wasn’t pushing myself the way I know I can on the rower, but I was more focused on my form because I could feel it getting sloppy after doing all the squats.
And finally I was on the floor where we had sumo squats, frogger squats, bicep curls, pull ups on the straps, and double crunches. And of course we continued the countdown of squats that we had done for cardio and the rower. I don’t know if I was just going really slow or if it was just really tough to make it down to 1 squat because I only got down to the round of 4.
This workout was my 206th and final workout of the year and I had to do a little bit of reflection when I was done with class. It might not have been the year where I had the biggest accomplishments, but it was the year that I was most consistent with going 4 days a week. That counts for a lot and I love that I got to end on such a high note after having so many classes where I was feeling down on myself.
I usually don’t workout on Tuesdays, but I felt like I had to this time since it was New Year’s Day and I always work out then. It was a power workout and also a 3 group class so all of the blocks were only 4 minutes long. It was a class that before I would have wished I could be on the treadmill, but I consciously made the choice to think about it as an amazing class to work on my bike speed.
All of the blocks for cardio were the same pattern: push pace, base pace, push pace, base pace, and all out pace. The difference was we increased the time on the first push pace and decreased the time on the all out pace each block.
I was using my new base, push, and all out resistance levels on the bike and I really focused on trying to go as fast as I could for the push and all out paces. It was a bit tough with the resistance levels being the new levels, but I’m working on getting used to them and this class really helped. And my work paid off because the distance I got on the bike was very close to what I can usually do in a 2 group class (when we have more time on cardio).
On the rower, each block was the same format with rounds of a timed row and squats between each round. We started with 30 second rows, the second block was 45 second rows, and the last block was 1 minute rows. I tried to push myself harder than I have in a long time for the first 30 second row and was shocked at how well I did! I haven’t tracked 30 second rows before, but it was over half the distance of my 1 minute row PR so I knew it had to be good! I went easy on the rest of the rows that block and during the next block because I really wanted to go all out on my first 1 minute row. This row has been one that I’ve struggled with because I know that I can get 300 meters for a 1 minute row when I really push myself. But it’s been a long time since I could do that and I wanted to see if I could. I really thought it was possible and I was flying with all my power on the rower, but unfortunately I was 8 meters short when the clock stopped. It’s not easy to get over that disappointment, but I also know I will have many more opportunities to try for it. And this was one of the closest rows I’ve gotten to doing 300 meters in a minute so that is something to be proud of.
On the floor, we had one long block but it was split into 3 mini-blocks. The first mini-block was single arm squat swings and upright rows. The second was speed skater lunges and arm raises. And the last was plank pull throughs and sit-ups. Each mini-block was supposed to be done 3 times before moving on to the next one, and if we finished it we were supposed to do all the exercises as one long block. I made it through to the end and was just starting on doing them as one long block when the class was over.
Wednesday was a strength day and I was so glad to be on the bike. First, I’ve learned that I do my best cardio for strength days on the bike since I can do much more with resistance levels than I can with incline. But also it was my third workout in a row and I rarely have 3 days in a row. I knew I’d be tired and want to go easy on myself, but I had no idea how badly I’d need that until I started class.
There were 3 blocks for cardio and to be honest I didn’t exactly do what we were supposed to do. During the warmup I was starting to feel nauseous and light-headed and couldn’t figure out why. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be nauseous yet and was worried I was getting sick or something. But after the warmup, I realized that I had forgotten to eat dinner the night before. I don’t eat before a workout, but I also don’t usually skip dinner the night before the workout. So I had to take it easy and I did close to what we were supposed to do which was alternate between base and push paces. It was not a good day on the bike for me, but I did what I could and that was better than doing nothing.
On the floor we had 3 blocks and they all had a type of lunge, a type of ab exercise, and single leg sit to stands using the bench. For the lunges, I had to modify things because they all included a type of step up which I can’t do. So I did regular lunges and lateral lunges. The ab work was straight leg raises, leg raises to crunches, and plank work. And the single leg sit to stand started at 1 rep and we kept going up every round. I wasn’t sure I could do these because I can’t really do single leg stuff, but I was able to do it with keeping my opposite heel on the ground. I was so happy that I could do them and felt proud of myself, which made up for feeling so gross during cardio.
Friday was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and a 3 group workout. And it was also when my hormonal nausea started so I was grateful that all of our blocks during the workout were under 4 minutes and we switched areas of the room after each block.
On cardio, every time we were supposed to have a .25 mile push pace (1 mile on the bike) and then a walking recovery for 45 seconds before doing a push pace until the block ended. I did the first block that way, but then I realized that I was taking enough random breaks to wait for my nausea to pass so I really didn’t need the 45 second recovery. So I did the remaining blocks as a push pace the entire time and stopped whenever I needed to wait out the wave of nausea.
On the rower we had the same thing every time as well. We started with a 400 meter row and then had squats. Then the row went down to 250 meters and more squats. We were supposed to end with a 100 meter row and squats, but I never made it to even the second round of squats. I always finished out the block in the middle of my 250 meter row. I was slow, I wasn’t able to work that hard, and I had to take a lot of breaks. But I did it.
The floor is where we had a bit more variety, but we had double sets so we worked the same muscles twice in a row. The first block was focused on doing chest presses so we had them first with dumbbells and then on the straps. The second block was tricep focused so we did overhead triceps with weights and then triceps on the straps. The last block we had chest flys and tricep extensions using weights on the bench so it wasn’t exactly a double set. But my arms were feeling it after this class!
Saturday I was still nauseous but feeling a bit better than I had on Friday. So with the power workout we had I really tried to work hard on the bike. We had 6 little blocks for cardio and they were all a push, base, all out pattern. For 3 of the blocks the push was 90 seconds and for 3 of them the push was 60 seconds. And the base and all out varied each block too. They were really good power blocks and I was proud of myself for not even having a glimmer of a thought that I wish I had been able to do the workout on the treadmill. I was happy on the bike and proud of what I did.
On the floor we had 1 long block. There was a row and 6 exercises that added on each round. We started with a 100 meter row and 1 exercise. Then a 150 meter row and 2 exercises. It went up to a 350 meter row and all the exercises. The exercises were single arm hip hinge swings, high rows on the straps, squats using the straps, roll outs on the straps, squats, and plank work. I couldn’t do the plank work because of my nausea so I did side twists instead. We were supposed to get through all the exercises and then there was a plan to work back down, but I just finished the last of the 6 exercises when time was called. But I was glad I was able to get through everything at least once.
Even though I dealt with unexpected and expected nausea, I’m still happy with how I did this past week. Not only did I work hard, but I did a 5 workout week which is always a challenge for me. I know this week will likely be all bad nausea days, but I’m feeling more hopeful about what I can do during those days after this past week.
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