Monthly Archives: February 2020

I’ve been wanting to have a week of workouts where I wasn’t dealing with any issues like horrible pain or nausea. I will always have hip issues because that is just a part of my life, but I really missed having a week where hip issues were the only thing I was dealing with. But I never seemed to get that. For one reason or another, I was either having an all bad week or a split week. But I finally got the week I had been craving for so long!

Monday’s workout was a 3 group class because it was a holiday (since I always have Mondays off, I didn’t realize it was a holiday until I got to class). Since that class is usually my only 2 group class of the week, I was a bit sad that it was 3 groups, but it ended up being a really great workout that had a lot of things that made me push myself on my own.

For cardio, we had a run/recovery workout that was done on our own. We had 3 different sections that had different distances and recovery times. The first section was 4 rounds of a .1 run (.4 bike) with 30 seconds of recovery after each. The second section was 2 rounds of a .2 run (.8 bike) with 45 seconds after each. And the last round was a .4 run (.8 bike) with a minute of recovery after. We had a run/bike for distance if we completed that, but I was still working on the .8 bike distance when the block was done. I was feeling really good in class so I could go fast and I was loving that!

The rowing block was similar to cardio with different sections that we were on our own with. But instead of recovery, we had ground to press with a medicine ball. I modified those to be squats with overhead raises, but those are pretty similar. The first section was 4 rounds of a 100-meter row with 5 medicine ball exercises after each row. The next section had 2 rounds of a 200-meter row with 10 medicine ball exercises after each row. And the last section was 1 round of a 400-meter row with 20 medicine ball exercises after it. And when those were done, we rowed until the block ended. I made it to rowing until the block ended which was awesome. I usually don’t make it to the end of the workout assignments.

And on the floor, we had all timed work. We had 2 different blocks and each block had 3 exercises. We had 30 seconds of doing an exercise and 15 seconds to recover and get ready for the next one. And we did 3 rounds of those 3 exercises before moving to the next block. The first block had push-ups on the straps, upright rows with weights, and pop jacks. And the second block had full thrusters with weights, squats, and v-ups (which I modified to sit-ups). It’s very different doing timed exercises because you aren’t counting reps and know how much longer you have to go. I tried to not go too quickly, but I was getting very tired at the end of each 30 seconds of work.

Wednesday was a strength-based class and it was one where I wanted to work hard on focusing on the thing that made it a strength class. We had 2 blocks at each part of the room and we switched after each block. However, I was using the bike for cardio and for rowing, so I had a lot of time on the bike.

The first cardio block started with a 2-minute base pace, but it was at an incline. I used 1 resistance level higher than what I used to use for my all out. After that, we had 1-minute at base pace without incline. Then it was a 1-minute push pace without incline and a 30-second all out without incline. After a quick recovery, we had another 30-second all out, but this time it was at the same incline as the push pace we had at the beginning. The second block started with a 2-minute declining hill. I started at the same resistance level that I used before and it decreased 1 level every 30 seconds. We then had a 2-minute base pace, which felt like a nice long recovery. Then we had the same pattern from the end of the first block with a 30-second all out, quick recovery, and another 30-second all out but at an incline.

For the rowing, it was all about doing stroke drills. Since I was on the bike, I put the resistance level to be double what my base level is (which is what I did last week as well). The first block was slow rowing/stroke drills for 100-meters. We were supposed to count the strokes and then use that number for how many reps we had to do squats to overhead press with a medicine ball. I biked for 30-seconds and then did 8 reps since that is probably close to how many strokes it would have taken me. The second block switch the rowing to be 200-meter so I biked at the heavy resistance level for 1-minute. And the exercise was a squat hold while doing front presses with the medicine ball. This time, I did 12 reps since that seemed like a good number.

And on the floor, the exercises were the same for both blocks. We just picked up where we left off when we returned for the second block. We had chest presses, squats with weights, pullovers, half get-ups, and plank pull-throughs. I usually would use 25 pounds for chest presses, but I pushed myself and used 30 pounds instead (it’s a 30-pound weight in each hand, so a total of 60 pounds). It was so much harder for me, and I couldn’t do all the reps without a break in the middle, but that’s almost the point with a strength day. We need to test ourselves to see if we can lift heavier. I used the 30-pound weights for my squats as well and then used one of the weights for the pullovers. For my half get-ups and plank pull-throughs, I used one 20 pound weight. Even though I went down with the weight, it wasn’t easy since that was heavier than I’m used to.

Friday was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. I was having a bit of a bad hip day, but it wasn’t too horrible and I was able to work around a few things to manage it.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first and third blocks were both 3-minute distance challenges with inclines. And the middle block had 5 rounds of 30-second all outs. I was able to use a bit of resistance on the bike to do the incline work. And I used my base pace level for the middle block with all the all outs.

Rowing was one long block. We started with a 3-minute row. Then we were supposed to do lunges with medicine ball twists but I modified them to be squats with the medicine ball. Then we were back on the rower and we took the distance we did for the 3 minutes and decreased it by 200-meters. We kept doing that and the medicine ball work until we couldn’t take 200 meters off again. Then we just rowed until the block was done. I guess I didn’t get a lot of rowing done in that first 3-minute challenge because I had almost 4 minutes left in the block when I finished the assignment. I wasn’t able to row for the entire 4 minutes that we had left, so I took breaks to stretch out when I needed to. But I still got a lot of rowing done.

And on the floor, we had 3 blocks just like we did for cardio. The first block had bench sit to stands and bench hop overs. The second block had sit-ups to squats on the bench, mountain climbers, lunges, and full sit-ups. And the last block had alligators on the straps and push-ups (I did these on my knees but I didn’t use the bench to make it easier).

Saturday was another day that my hip was bothering me before I got to class, but it was manageable and something that I was so used to since I have been dealing with it for over a decade. The workout was endurance-based, and it wasn’t done in the order that I’m used to. I normally start with cardio and then do rowing and the floor. But this class, I had to start on the floor and then I did the cardio and ended with rowing.

It’s never easy for me to start on the floor, but I was determined to do my best. It was one long block and everything was 12 reps. We had squats to bicep curls to uppercuts with weights, plank pull-throughs, single-leg v-ups (which I modified to full sit-ups), plank leg raises, high rows on the straps, and sumo squats to upright rows with weights. The first and last exercises were really tough for me, and after the first round, I did have to split up the exercises into the individual parts. And I did go a bit easy because I usually don’t have anything after the floor and this time I had the rest of the workout to go. But I still tried to push myself where I could.

The cardio was 2 blocks and they were both very similar. They had a long push pace to start, then a longish base pace, a 1-minute push pace, and a 1-minute all out. I kept the resistance level on the bike at the same level the entire time but I was very focused on how fast I was pedaling for each segment. I overdid it a bit on the long push paces at the beginning of each block, but nothing that I wasn’t able to recover from.

And the rower was also 2 blocks that were similar. The first block started with a 3-minute row. Then we had squats to front presses with the medicine ball. We continued that pattern and decreased the row by 200 meters each round. I was just finishing that up when the block ended. The second block started with a 90-second row and then we were supposed to do squat jacks with the medicine ball (I modified these to be regular squats with a medicine ball). And each round the row decreased by 100 meters. It was weird to end on the rower and I almost felt like the workout was unfinished, but I was also tired enough to know I did a full class.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this week. It should hopefully be another good week for me and I believe we have a benchmark this week. I’m so competitive when it comes to benchmarks, so I hate when I have a bad day when we have them. I can only hope for the best and know that whatever happens will be. But I still will be hoping it goes exactly how I want it to!

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I had another workout week where I was dealing with a lot of pain and nausea for part of it and felt better for the other part of it. I guess that’s better than a full week of feeling awful. And I did try my best each workout day to see what I could do and to make sure that I was pushing myself but not pushing myself too much.

Monday’s workout was an endurance day. It was also a day that I felt really horrible. I wasn’t as nauseous as I usually am, but I was in a lot more pain than normal. Even after taking 3 different medications that usually help me, I was still feeling awful. The pain was really taking it out of me, but I was determined to do the best that I could. And that’s not always easy with an endurance day.

The cardio was a 23-minute block without a break. It was split up into lots of runs for distance with base pace recoveries after each one. The runs for distance were twice as long as the base paces (for example, 5-minute run for distance with a 2.5-minute base pace). But for me, I wasn’t focused on the different distance challenges. My goal was just to keep going as much as I could and take breaks when I needed them. I didn’t pedal that hard or fast and the breaks were frequent, but I did what I could and tried not to stress out too much about what I was doing and what I felt like I should be doing. I still was comparing my effort to my normal effort, but at least I was constantly reminding myself that I wasn’t slacking off but was managing with the situation I was in.

The floor had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a row. The first block had a 2-minute row and the second block had a 1-minute row. Then, both blocks were mainly Bosu work. The first block had goblet lunges (these I modified to not use the Bosu), scaptions with weights, sit-ups, hip raises with weights, pullovers with weights, and side plank hip dips. And the second block had lateral raises with weights and back extensions (which I modified to bird dogs which still made me very nauseous). It was a battle with pain during both floor blocks and a lot of nausea hit me at the end, but I got through it and once the workout was done I was able to recover and relax at home.

Unfortunately, I was feeling just as horrible (or worse) on Wednesday. It was a power day and I knew I didn’t really have much in me to push myself. I went to the workout knowing that and tried to remember that doing even a little bit is better than if I stayed home and did nothing.

There were 2 cardio blocks, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what we were doing. I had a similar plan to what I did on Monday. I was going to pedal when I could and rest when I needed it. I didn’t focus much on how fast I was pedaling and I kept the resistance level at my base level the entire time. And I didn’t get that much distance done between those 2 blocks because of how often I had to take a break.

When we switched to the rowers, even though the rower at my station was still being fixed I was able to use a rower at another station so I didn’t have to stay on the bike. For the first block, the rowing was always 150-meters and we were supposed to do lunges between each row. The lunges were supposed to start at 12 and go down 2 reps each round. I did squats instead of lunges and got pretty far with the rounds. And the second block, we matched the cardio with all outs and recoveries. I wasn’t too worried about timing things since all of my rowing was close to what recovery would be. So I just rowed when I could and rested when I needed to. After both blocks, I will say I was surprised by the distance I managed to get done on the rower because I thought it would have been a fraction of that.

And the floor was one long block that was split into 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block was all mini-band work. We had side steps and we were supposed to do plank toe touches. I did the side steps, but I switched the plank work to be stand side leg lifts since that was working the same muscles and wouldn’t make me nauseous. But I did have a small win during that mini-block. I usually have to wear the mini-bands around my ankles instead of calves because they were too tight around my calves. But this time, they fit fine! So maybe I’ve lost some weight in my calves or something. The second mini-block had lunges, lunges with hops (which I did holding on to the straps), and plank with arm in and outs. I did front raises using a mini-band instead of the plank work for that block.

Friday I was doing much better, but still not completely better. And instead of having a Valentine’s Day-themed workout (which I would assume would be a partner workout), we had a Singles Awareness Day workout with a lot of single arm or single leg work.

We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and we switched after each block. The first block for cardio was a 3-minute distance challenge and we were supposed to remember our distance. Then for the second block, we started with that same distance that we did in the first block. We had a minute of recovery after that and then we cut the distance in half. We repeated that pattern until the block ended.

I was using the bike again for the rower (the rower will hopefully be fixed soon, but I don’t mind doubling up on the bike) and it was a similar plan to what we did for cardio. The first block was a 3-minute challenge. And the second block started with that distance again and then we had lunges after we completed that. Then we cut the distance in half and repeated the pattern. I was able to do lunges instead of having to modify them to be squats since I was next to the bike and could hold on to it for support.

On the floor, the first block had single-arm thrusters, lunges, and step-ups (which I modified to be weighted lunges). The second block had single-arm split stance high rows, single-arm chest presses, single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to be using both straps), and single-leg v-ups (I modified these to be regular full sit-ups). I had a little bit of nausea during the floor work, but nothing unbearable. I just had to take a break to let it pass and I was able to get back to the work quickly. It was so much nicer than how I had been feeling the rest of the week and it was a good boost for me mentally.

Saturday’s workout was a strength day and it was when I finally felt like myself. I was able to work on the resistance levels on the bike and I really needed to do that this time. We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and the cardio and rowing blocks stayed the same.

For cardio, we started with a 4-minute progressive hill. We increased the incline/resistance level each minute before going back to a flat base pace. I was able to increase the resistance level for each minute and it felt really good. And each block ended with a 30-second all out.

And I was on the bike for the rower again. The rower at the station I use should hopefully be fixed this week, but I guess it was a good thing to have extra practice on the bike. And this was really good practice because it required me to use a resistance level that I never use on the bike. The rower was supposed to be stroke drills, and there isn’t a great equivalent on the bike. So what I did was use double my base resistance level and my coach helped me figure out how long to bike each time. I don’t think I have ever used that resistance level before and it was hard. But every interval was 30 seconds or under, so that was good. And between each one, we had front raises and presses with the medicine ball.

And on the floor, each block was a bit different. The first block had tricep extensions, squats, and toe reaches. And the second block had uppercuts, front weighted squats, and toe reaches. I did need to take a few breaks on the floor, but nothing like I had been doing the rest of the week.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this week will be a good workout week for me. And we have a benchmark coming up soon so I want to get some practice in for that. But I also know that I can have an unexpected thing happen that will make the week harder for me. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen because I really want a good workout week this time!

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