This past week of workouts was during the worst of my nausea, but fortunately this time it wasn’t quite as bad as it has been the past year or so. I still had some really bad days, but they weren’t during my workouts. I still wasn’t feeling great, but it was nice to have a slightly less worse week than I was expecting because it allowed me to do some good work.
Monday’s workout was an endurance day and I thought the class would be 2 groups since that’s what my Monday class normally is. But it ended up being a 3 group class so I was at each section of the room for about 15 minutes. That worked for me because I was dealing with a bad nausea day so I appreciated changing things up often because that seemed to be tricking my nausea a little bit.
On the cardio side, we had all 30 second push paces with base paces after them. The base paces started at 30 seconds and increased each time. The goal on endurance days is to be able to maintain base pace after a push, and that’s exactly what this workout was designed to do. I used my normal resistance levels on the bike and I know that I need to step it up a bit because it was a bit too easy for me to get back to my base pace even with how off I was feeling.
On the rower, we had decreasing rows with different types of squats between each row. We started with a 250 meter row and then we had squat calf raises, regular squats, and pulsing half squats. We also were supposed to do jumping jacks, but I can’t do those when I’m nauseous so I just skipped that part of the workout. All the rows were essentially sprint rows, but they weren’t very fast for me. But I was still able to do the rows under the time we are supposed to be under which is a victory for me when I’m feeling off.
The floor work was a good mix of lower body work with mini-band work. The first block was all mini-band work with weighted front squats, bicep curls, and squat walks. I still struggle a bit with the mini-bands because they roll up my legs and get very tight, but I’m getting better and keeping them smooth or fixing them when they twist up. And the second block had regular lunges, lateral lunges, and upper cuts. None of those moves had the mini-bands so they went a bit easier for me.
Wednesday’s workout was a benchmark workout day. We had the 200 meter row benchmark and my goal wasn’t to beat my previous PR but to get close to it. We had a 3 group class and we were switching about every 4 minutes around the room.
For cardio, we had the same block every time we were there. We had a 45 second push pace, 30 second base pace, 45 second all out, walking recovery, and another 45 second all out. Because we went to the rower right after cardio, we were told to not overdo things so we would be ready for the row. The focus was on rowing so we had an easier cardio block. I was using my normal resistance levels even though I think I need to increase them because of that, and my cardio went well even with feeling off.
The row blocks were all similar with starting with a 200 meter row. Then we had squat work with a medicine ball and then back to the rower. The first block, I thought that would be my block to do my best 200 meter row. I wanted to be between 40 and 41 seconds, and I was able to do exactly that! I was exhausted after it, but it felt great to hit my goal. The second time I was on the rower I didn’t do quite and well and expected to do the same for the third block. But someone my third block ended up being my best 200 meter row at 40.2 seconds! The squat work we had after each 200 meter row were squat to press, squat to front press, and static squat front raises. I really didn’t get much rowing done after the squat work because I took a bit of time to recover after the first row, but I usually got at least 50 meters in before the block ended.
And on the floor, we had 2 exercises each block. The first block was low rows on the straps and neutral thrusters with weights. The second block was single arm squats to shoulder presses and pullovers using weights. And the last block was plank low rows with weights and crunches. The only one I really had issues with were the plank low rows, but I used the bench so I wasn’t totally face down to the ground and took my time getting into and out of my plank.
Friday’s workout was endurance based and for the cardio portion we had 3 different runs (or bikes) for distance. The first 2 were 3.5 minutes and the last one was 4 minutes. The goal was to do at least a push pace the entire time and I was able to do that for the first 2. But by the last one my nausea was affecting me much more so I set the resistance level to be between my base and push levels. But even though I had to go down a bit in my resistance, I was able to pedal the entire time without needing a break.
On the rower, we started with a 90 second row and we had to remember what distance we did. Then we had sumo squats and frogger squats before we went back onto the rower. We were supposed to do 50 meters less than what we rowed in 90 seconds and then do more squats. Every time we were on the rowers we were supposed to go down 50 meters. I didn’t want to worry too much about the distances or doing the math, so I made things easy on myself. I know that we are supposed to do at least 100 meters every 30 seconds. So in 90 seconds, that would be 300 meters. I know I went further than that in that 90 second row for distance, but using even numbers just made things easier for me and I didn’t have to waste time thinking about what I had to do next.
The floor work was split into 2 blocks. The first block had lateral raises, front raises, and upright rows using weights. After the first round we had crunches on the Bosu. Then we did the weight work again and had back extensions on the Bosu. And the last round was the weight work again and both crunches and back extensions. The second block was plank leg lifts and knee tucks which were supposed to be done on the Bosu, but I did the leg lifts with my hands on the floor.
Saturday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was the opportunity I was looking for to work on increasing my resistance levels on the bike. We had 3 mini blocks for cardio that all had a 90 second push pace, a base pace, a 30 second push pace, and a 30 second all out. The difference we had was in that base pace and it got shorter every time. The first time I did my bike work at my normal resistance level and remembered what I was thinking on Wednesday about increasing the levels. So for the next 2 times, I increased the push and the all out levels by 1 resistance level (I kept the base the same). It wasn’t easy when I tried it because it was hard plus I was dealing with my nausea. But the fact that I was able to do it proved that it was exactly what I needed!
On the rower, we started with a 100 meter row and medicine ball squats. Each round went up 50 meters with the row and down 5 reps on the squats. Then we switched and started with a 250 meter row and medicine ball squat presses. Each round went down 50 meters with the row and we increased the squat reps. I don’t know if my nausea just decided on that time to kick in or it was a result of the harder resistance levels, but I was hurting during the row. I know I was going very slow for myself and I tried to not think about it.
And on the floor, we had one long block that was an add-on block. We started with dumbbell ground to presses and then each round we kept adding on more exercises. We added tricep work on the straps, push up to knee tucks using the ab dolly, rollouts using the ab dolly, and hip bridges. After getting to all the exercises, we started to take them away, but I only started my first round taking things away when the class ended.
My expectations for this week of workouts isn’t too high. I have my little surgery with my dermatologist this afternoon and I have no idea if it will affect my workouts. I have already cleared with my doctor that I will be able to work out as long as it’s not the next day, which fits in perfectly with my workout schedule. But if I’m feeling sore or off, I know that I can’t push myself too much because I will have stitches in my face. But if anyone is used to working out with random modifications, it’s me. And I’m curious to see how it all goes.
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