This past week of workouts was tough for me because I was dealing with pain and nausea for several workouts plus I was dealing with extra pain because of all the work I’m doing with moving. Since it’s been over 12 years since I moved last, I think I forgot how exhausting it can be and how physically draining it is. But I also know I’m in better shape now than I was 12 years ago, so at least that’s an advantage I have. But it still added to the difficulty of my workouts during the week.
Monday’s workout was not too crazy, but after moving super heavy boxes over the weekend (and still having some bruises from doing that), it was a bit harder for me than it needed to be. But I was also worried I was also going to be nauseous and wasn’t, so that was something positive for me to focus on.
For cardio, we had rounds of a push pace to a base pace. But the base pace was supposed to be at an incline. And the incline it was supposed to be at would be the equivalent of my push pace resistance level on the bike. So for the entire block, I kept the bike at my push pace resistance level but tried to go faster during the push pace segments. We started at 30-seconds for the push and base pace and it went up by 15 seconds each round until we got to 75-seconds and then we went down by 15 seconds each round. And we ended with a 30-second all-out and I really tried to go a lot faster for that but I was pretty tired at the end of the block.
On the rower, we worked on 200-meter rows and 100-meter rows, but the bigger focus was on what we could do with 100-meter rows. We had 3 rounds of the 200-meter row with squats in-between each row. Then we had 3 rounds of a 100-meter row with rest between each one. And the goal was to rest enough to do a real all-out row for each of the 100-meter rows. We repeated that pattern for the entire block. I did pretty well for my 100-meter rows. They weren’t PRs, but they were a lot faster than I normally would be able to go.
And on the floor, we had 1 long block but it was split into 2 mini-blocks. And within each mini-block, we were not supposed to rest between exercises since they were designed to do back to back. We did each mini-block 3 times before moving to the other one. The first mini-block had chest presses with weights and push-ups and the second mini-block had squats and lunges. I did go pretty heavy for my chest presses and squats, especially since my Monday coach was the one who helped me move the heavy boxes and he had joked that he knew that I could do heavier in my workouts after seeing what I could do when moving boxes. And the last 30-seconds of the floor was a finisher move of an isolated push-up hold, which really tired out my arms!
Wednesday’s workout was a signature workout: Inferno. However, this signature workout isn’t exactly the same when you are in a 3 group class so it might have been a little easier than the 2 group class. But I didn’t mind it being easier because I was starting to feel nauseous. I wasn’t feeling that horrible, but it definitely affected my workouts.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block had push paces that ranged from 30-seconds to 1-minute and we always had a 30-second base pace after each push. And it ended with a 30-second all-out. And the second block had push paces that were always 1-minute and the base paces ranged from 30-seconds to 75-seconds and it ended with a 1-minute all-out.
On the rower, I really ended up modifying the workout to work for me and how I was feeling. We were supposed to start with a 100-meter row and then do 20 side-to-side hops before going back on the rower. And each time we got onto the rower, we were supposed to increase the row by 100-meters. But I knew I couldn’t do the hops and getting on and off the rower was going to take up a lot of my time. So I just tried to row for the entire block as much as I could. I did have to take breaks to rest and let the nausea pass, but I tried to keep rowing even if I had to go really slowly.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block focused on push movements and the second block focused on pull movements. The first block had chest presses on the straps, chest flies with weights, and overhead tricep extensions. And the second block had low rows on the straps, hip hinge reverse flies, and hammer curls. And the last minute of the workout was supposed to be a minute of full burpees. I used the bench for my hands, but I wasn’t able to do the push-ups for the full burpees and did regular ones instead.
On Thursday, I was feeling a bit worse than Wednesday, but I also was dealing with some other body aches. I tried to take some painkillers before class, but because my workouts are so early they don’t usually get to kick in until toward the end of class. This workout seemed to have a bit more strength-based elements in it, but it was still a mix of endurance, strength, and power.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks that had the same pattern. We had 3 rounds of 1-minute intervals of a base pace at an incline and a base pace without an incline with a 30-second all-out at the end. The first block had higher inclines and the resistance level on the bike was always above what I use for my all-outs. In the second block, they were a bit lower so I was around my all-out level for all the intervals plus during my all-out.
On the rower, we had one long block. We started with a 400-meter row and the goal was to do it as a base or push row so you wouldn’t be totally exhausted when it was done. Then we were supposed to do lateral hops and high knees before doing an 800-meter row. Because of how I was feeling, I knew I couldn’t do the lateral hops so I just doubled up on marching in place instead of high knees. We also had 2-minutes during the workout that we were supposed to do just the exercises and not row. During that, I alternated doing squats and marching in place. And we ended with a 30-second all-out row.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block had push-ups, squats to bicep curls, and pull-ups on the straps. I did high and low rows on the straps instead of the pull-ups, but I was able to do the push-ups on the ground instead of using the bench. And the second block had chest presses and squat jumps. And I did the squat jumps as squats to calf raises. And when cardio and rowing had their all-out, we had a finisher exercise. We were supposed to do isolated squat jacks which I modified to still have the isolated squat but did steps to the sides instead.
Friday was the hardest day of the week for me. I was in a lot of pain and had a lot of nausea, but I also did a lot of crazy stuff for the move on Thursday night that I was still feeling. So I was trying my best and just did what I could.
For cardio, it was a power focus. We had 2 blocks that were very similar. We started with a 1-minute push pace and then had rounds of all-outs and walking recoveries. In the first block, all the all-outs were 1-minute, and in the second block, they were all 30-seconds. And the walking recoveries started at 30-seconds and then went to 45-seconds and 1-minute so we had more recovery time as we worked through the block. I was able to do pretty decently with the all-outs, but I know I wasn’t pedaling as fast as I would have liked. But I was happy that I didn’t have to take as many breaks as I was worried I would need to.
For the rower, we focused on strength rows which means that you want to row slowly and not race through each distance. The goal was to not go higher than 24 strokes per minute, which for me isn’t too slow. But it’s still a challenge to make sure you don’t start rowing faster. In the first block, we had 300-meter rows and then did rainbows with a medicine ball between each row. And in the second block, we had 200-meter rows with front presses with a medicine ball between each row. Since these were strength rows, I didn’t have to worry about pushing through too much during the rows. I was supposed to go slowly, so I did. I did need a few breaks to let the nausea pass, but it wasn’t as bad as I know it can get.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. All the exercises on the floor were with weights. The first block had halos, scaptions, and good mornings. And the second block had uppercuts, tricep kickbacks, and goblet squats. I know I didn’t go that heavy with the weights, but I tried to go heavier for almost all the exercises and my body just couldn’t do it. But at least I tried.
With all the things working against me, I’m happy with the work that I was able to do. And this week, it’s going to be interesting. As I write this post, I’m not sure when I will start sleeping (and showering) at my new place. But I will likely be switching to living at the condo more than my current place at some point this week. So that will change my routine a little bit with the workouts. It won’t change too much since I’m not moving that far away, but it will be a little different because I will either have to drive on a road that has more traffic or deal with waiting at an intersection for a bit longer because I will be crossing the light rail path. It’s not a huge difference, but when the drive is currently only 5-10 minutes, adding 3-4 minutes does make a difference. But I’m still excited to move and get into my new routine for my commute to my workouts!
And hopefully, this week won’t be too stressful or too bad with pain and nausea. But I know that there’s a good chance it will be tougher than this past week.
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