Going into this past week, I knew it was going to be a tough week with how I was feeling. But I was planning on pushing through like normal and going to all my workouts. But it ended up being a week where I only made it to Orangetheory 3 times (I still can’t believe I refer to going 3 times in a week as “only”). But I tried my best for each day I was there.
Monday’s workout was a power day, and I’m glad that’s what it was. I tried taking my medications before going to bed, but it didn’t seem to make that much of a difference. I don’t know if I was feeling that much worse than normal or if the timing didn’t change how they helped. All I know is that I was fighting a lot of pain and nausea the entire time. But at least with cardio, the work was all in short sprints.
We had 2 blocks for cardio. The first block was 4 rounds of a push pace to an all-out with a recovery after. The all-out was always 30-seconds and the recovery was always 1-minute. But the push pace changed. We had a 75-second, 60-second, 45-second, and 30-second push pace. In the second block, we had the same 4 rounds but we did them in the opposite order (starting with 30-seconds and ending with 75-seconds). But the recovery was a bit different because we had about 45-seconds to recover and then 30-seconds of jump squats. I did these as regular squats, but still needed to take breaks during that 30-seconds as I was feeling very nauseous.
On the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block had burpees and pull-ups on the straps. I did the burpees with the bench for my hands and I did high rows on the straps instead of pull-ups. We also had rowing starting with a 250-meter row and going down 50 meters each time. Because of how many breaks I needed, I only made it to the 200-meter row. The second block on the floor was timed out with the treadmills. When the treadmills were in their push pace, we had bicep curls (so starting with 75-seconds and going down to 30-seconds). When they were in their all-out, we had shoulder presses. When they were recovering and transitioning to the floor for squats, we had squats. And when they were doing squats we had running man plank work. I did the running man planks with the bench for my hands and rested when I needed to. It was a lot of work back to back and if I was feeling great I would loved this type of power workout. But because I was feeling so off, it just felt like a lot of work. But I did it.
Wednesday’s workout was an endurance day and it was also a run/row day. I was not feeling that much worse than Monday, so that was a bit of a relief. I was really worried I would be feeling really horrible that day. But I still was dealing with pain and nausea, so I didn’t make it that far in the run/row.
Because it was an endurance day, the run segments were a bit longer than a lot of run/row days. The first round was a .25 mile run (or 1 mile for the bike) and then a 200-meter row. Then it was a .5 mile run and a 300-meter row. I was working on the .75 mile (or 3 miles for the bike) segment when the run/row was done. I did take a lot of breaks on both the bike and rower, but I knew that was likely to happen for me.
On the floor, each block had 2 mini-blocks in it and the second mini-block of each was core work. We were supposed to do 3 rounds of the first mini-block before moving on to core work and I only just made it each block. In the first block, the exercises were goblet sumo squats, lateral lunges, and squats before we were supposed to do mountain climbers and static scissor crunches. And the second block had sumo deadlifts, squat sit to stands, and squats before we were supposed to do side plank hip rotations and bicycle crunches. Because I didn’t really make it to the core work, I didn’t have to worry that much about modifications.
Friday’s workout was a regular 2 group class, but we did it as a 3 group class and had 14 minutes at each section of the room. I was still feeling off, but it was less nausea and more pain, so in some ways that it was easier for working out.
For cardio, we had 3 rounds of a 3-minute block. We had a 30-second push pace, 1-minute base pace, and a 90-second distance challenge. Between each of the blocks, we had 1-minute to recover. And then we ended with one more 90-second distance challenge. I did use the resistance level for the 30-second push, but for the 90-second distance challenge I used the resistance level between my base and push pace. I didn’t struggle as much as I feared, but it wasn’t easy.
On the rower, we had a very similar pattern to cardio. We had the 30-second push row and the 90-second distance challenge. But instead of the 1-minute base pace we had 20 side hops which I did more as side steps. I was doing ok for the 30-second push row, but for the 90-second challenge I usually was taking a break in the middle to get over a really bad cramp. I don’t know if the bike or rower is harder when I feel bad, but at least for this day I was doing a lot worse on the rower.
And on the floor, we had 4 blocks to match the cardio and row sections. So we had 3 different 3-minute blocks and 1 90-second block. The first block had neutral thrusters with weights, bicep curls, and full burpees. For the burpees, I used the bench for my hands. And each round, you added one more burpee. So you started with 1 burpee, then 2, and so on. And you continued that through the next 2 blocks. The second block had squats using the straps, high rows on the straps, and more burpees. The third block had sit-ups, palms to elbows (I did them as shoulder taps), and more burpees. And the last block was a burnout block where you started in a push-up hold in the bottom of a push-up and when you needed to rest you moved to a plank. And you went back and forth for those 90-seconds.
And I didn’t work out on Saturday. There were a few factors that affected my ability to work out. I had some scheduling things that were going to make it tough for me to get to class (and on Saturdays there is only 1 time that I can go to without taking time off work). Also, the street where the studio is located was closed so we were told we would need to park a few blocks away and walk. Normally, this would be fine but because of my schedule I wouldn’t make it to class on time because you can’t be that late. So instead of worrying about if I could make it to class or not, I canceled my Saturday workout. And I’m sure that was the right choice.
But this week, I might also need to cancel my Saturday workout, but because I know about this in advance I’m hoping I can find a time to add in another workout. I’m not exactly sure when I can do that, but I’ll see what I can do. And if this week ended up being another 3 workout week, it will be ok. Because I know I’ll be making it up when we have Hell Week later this month!