This past week at Orangetheory was Mayhem Week. Mayhem is similar to Hell Week where there are harder workouts and you can earn swag for completing a specific number of workouts. As much as I love earning shirts and hats (and this time it was a hat), I knew I wouldn’t be able to hit the number of workouts I needed to do to earn it this time. So I just focused on doing the workouts and didn’t go crazy with trying to fit in extra days (plus, I’m still getting used to being back).
Besides having the extra hard workouts from Mayhem, I also spent this past week dealing with lots of pain and nausea. I’m still working on figuring out if there is a way to make things easier, but this is how things have been for the past few years and I know there isn’t much more that I can do. So I just have to try my best and manage things the most that I can. And I know that if I have to go easier on a workout, that doesn’t reflect on where I’m at right now. This is just always a tough time for me.
Monday’s workout was called “Clock Won’t Stop” and was all about longer efforts and building endurance. And this was my first Mayhem workout in 2 years (since we didn’t have Mayhem in 2020), so I think it was even harder on me than they normally are.
For cardio, we had decreasing runs/bikes for distance with recovery between each effort. We started with a 3-minute distance and it decreased by 30-seconds each round. And at the end, we had a 1-minute push followed by a 30 second all-out. I tried to keep pedaling the entire effort each time, but there were times I needed a break to breathe through a cramp or let the nausea pass. But I still did a lot of time on the bike and got a lot of distance in during the entire block.
On the rower, we were working toward 2000-meters, but it wasn’t being done at one time. We were on the clock with cardio and we rowed whenever they were in an effort. And when they had their recovery, we had 20 squats before returning to the rower. I tried to take little breaks after the squats before rowing again because it wasn’t easy. There were things to do after completing the 2000 meters, but since we had so many times we stopped to do squats, I never got to that point. I was close to 2000-meters by the end, but I missed it by a bit.
And on the floor, it was all about burpees and core work. I wasn’t too happy about this since burpees are so hard on me when I’m nauseous. I did modify them by using the bench for my hands and we only had to do 5 at a time, but they were still really hard. And after each set of 5 burpees, we had 1 core exercise. The exercises were toe reaches, bicycles, in and out static crunches, and sit-ups. At least for the core work, I wasn’t in too much pain and the nausea was a little better.
Wednesday’s workout was called “The Wicked 90” and the theme was all about 90-second efforts. And our coach also made a special playlist that was all 90s music, so that improved my mood when I was having a really bad nausea day.
For cardio, we started with a 1-minute push on a hill and then a 30-second all-out without an incline. After a recovery, we switched it so it was a 30-second push on a hill and then a 1-minute all-out without an incline. After that, we had a 90-second distance challenge at the same incline. We repeated that again but the incline/resistance level was increased by 1.
The rower went along with the cardio a bit. We did the same push and all-out rows along with the treadmills. But when they were doing their distance challenge, we had agility exercises with side to sides and in and outs. Both of the agility challenges involved jumping, so I just stepped out to do them. And just like the cardio, we repeated this all again. I tried to row for all of the 90-second efforts, but there were a few times my nausea was overwhelming and I had to stop to let it pass.
And on the floor, we had 3 different blocks with 2 exercises each. We first had 1 minute of burpees and then 30-seconds of squats. Then we had 30-seconds of neutral full thrusters with 1 minute of clean to squats. And then it was 10 plank jacks with 5 pop jacks for the full 90-seconds. And just like with everything else, we did all of these twice. For all the face-down exercises, I used the bench to help. But I think between everything else I had done plus my nausea seeming to be at its worst, I took so many breaks on the floor. I was so exhausted at the end of the class, but it was a good exhaustion.
Friday was the last day of Mayhem and the workout that day was called “Hard Core Floor”. I was feeling a bit better than I had earlier in the week, but still struggling. But I was glad that it was going to be a slightly better day for me and I needed it in this workout!
For cardio, we had a mix of 1-minute all-outs and 3.5-minute distance challenges. I did try to pedal faster for the 1-minute all-outs since those should be able to be done that way, but I wasn’t always able to maintain that. But I made the effort and that’s important to me when I’m not feeling my best. And for the distance challenges, I feel like I did a good job staying consistent with my speed and not pushing myself too much at the beginning (which is something I often do).
On the rower, we rowed the entire block without a break. We did have recovery time, but technically no breaks. We had some 1-minute all-out rows and some 30-second push rows followed by 30-second all-out rows. When we had recovery time, it usually was only 15 or 30 seconds each. But we were supposed to keep rowing during that time so I tried my best to do a very slow row and not stop completely. I did occasionally have to stop to let the nausea pass or to drink some water. But I did fewer breaks than I was worried I’d have to do.
And the floor block was where the name “Hard Core Floor” came from. It was a lot and intense. But it did have a few moments of 15 seconds of rest, which was needed for sure. We started with a 1-minute plank. Then we had 3 rounds of overhead triceps and tricep push-ups. Each exercise was done for 30-seconds. Then it was another 1-minute plank followed by pop jacks for 30-seconds and another 1-minute plank. Then it was 3 rounds of uppercuts and shoulder presses with each exercise for 30-seconds. And we ended with another 1-minute plank. It was so much on the floor and I was exhausted. Even with using much lighter weights than I normally do, the 30-seconds of work felt like they took a long time. And while I did have to modify all the planks to be using the bench, I’m glad that for most of the exercises I didn’t have to change much about them.
Saturday’s workout was not a Mayhem workout, but it was still a tough one. And I continued to be feeling a bit better so I could push myself a little more. The nausea is tricky because it can feel like I’m fine one moment and then extreme nausea hits the next, but the intensity of each episode was a little easier to push through than the rest of the week. This workout was a strength-based class and even without it feeling like Mayhem it wasn’t easy.
For cardio, we had 2 very similar blocks. The first block was rounds of 1-minute pushes at an incline and 1-minute bases. And the incline/resistance level went up each round. And we ended at an all-out at the highest incline of the day. The second block was a similar pattern, but we started at the highest incline and went down each round. I was increasing the resistance on the bike and did a bit more than I have been doing since starting back. It was a good challenge for me to test the resistance levels a bit more as I try to get my base level a bit higher as I am more used to the workouts again.
The rower was also 2 similar. Each block had a focus on a 300-meter row. The first row was supposed to be around 24-26 strokes per minute and each row after that was supposed to be at a lower stroke per minute (so focusing more on the power of each stroke and not the overall speed). In the first block, between each row we had bicep curls with a medicine ball. And in the second block we had tricep extensions between each row. While I did have to take a lot of breaks during both blocks, I never had to take a break during the rowing. I always was able to complete the full 300-meters without stopping. Before the shutdown, this wouldn’t necessarily be something I would be celebrating this much. But considering how hard it’s been for me to get back my endurance on the rower, this was a huge accomplishment!
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks of exercises with low reps so we could focus on the weights more. The first block had single-arm low rows, single-arm lateral step-ups (which I modified to be single-arm and regular lunges), and plank twists (which I modified to use the bench for my hands). And the second block had shoulder presses, single-arm deadlifts, and supermans (which I was surprised to be able to do since it’s face-down on the floor). After the floor block and we were done with the workout, I was able to stay for stretching since I didn’t have to rush home to get to work. That’s something I really like about my Saturday workouts right now.
Considering that I haven’t been back at Orangetheory for that long and I was dealing with some of the worst pain and nausea I’ve had, I’m really proud of what I did during Mayhem. I didn’t complete enough to earn the hat, but I did complete the classes I went to. And that’s something that I should be happy about. I had a lot of reasons I could make excuses, and I didn’t. I might have had to change up some things to make them work for me, but I tried my best and worked hard. And to me, that makes me feel like I took on Mayhem and won.
You Might Also Like
It’s Mayhem Time (or Working My Way Through Some Tough Workouts)
Modifying Mayhem (or A Good But Challenge Week Of Workouts)
A Week Of Tough Workouts (or Frustration As Motivation)
Dri-Tri Prep Workouts (or The Beginning Of My Workout Week)
Thank Goodness For Feeling Great! (or I Finally Had An All Amazing Week Of Workouts)
My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts)
