This past week of workouts was another week where I didn’t do my workout on Saturday but added a Thursday class instead. I did this because of something that was supposed to be a scheduling conflict for Saturday that ended up being canceled. But by the time my Saturday opened up again, I had already completed all my workouts for the week. So even though I didn’t have to get all my workouts in before work, I’m still glad I did them all. But I had an added challenge for most of my workouts this week with some extra pain.
Monday’s workout was a strength day. It was also a bit of prep work for a benchmark row that I knew I wouldn’t be doing, but it was still a lot of incline work for cardio.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks that were similar. We started with a base pace hill climb (or decreasing incline for the second block) before having a base pace without incline. Then we had 3 rounds of all-outs at inclines with walking recoveries between each all-out. The inclines weren’t the highest we do, but because we had a lot of time at incline and not much time without, I think they felt higher than they actually were.
For the rower, we also had 2 blocks that were similar. The first block had rounds of a 200-meter row. Between each row, we had overhead presses with the medicine ball. For the second block, instead of a distance to do on the rower, we had stroke drills with 15 strokes each round. And the medicine ball exercise was bicep curls to overhead presses to tricep extensions. Doing a distance goal and doing a stroke drill on the rower are very different types of rowing, and we were supposed to make sure they each were focused on that particular type of rowing. Even though the rower is still a challenge for me, I think focusing on the different types of rowing is something I’m good at.
On the floor, we also had 2 blocks but we had not as much weight work as we normally do for a strength day. For the first block, we had deadlifts, pop jacks, and bird dogs. For the deadlifts, we had 2 sets of them each round. We had heavy deadlifts for 4 reps and regular deadlifts for 12 reps. I did increase the weight I used for the 4 rep set since I knew we were supposed to challenge ourselves. And the second block had pike sit-ups (which I did as regular sit-ups) and mountain climbers.
For the rest of the week, my workouts had the extra challenge with my foot hurting after my dermatologist appointment. I’ve done this several times since my appointments are always on Tuesdays, but I know the pain was worse this time compared to before. I really struggled every day for the rest of my workouts in each section of the room, but my rowing was the hardest.
Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. And for cardio and rowing we had one long block for each.
For cardio, we had 30-seconds of an all-out at an incline, 30-seconds of walking recovery, an all-out at that incline as long as we can go, another 30-seconds of recovery, and another all-out at the incline as long as we can go. Then after that, we had 1-minute of recovery before doing the entire thing again but with the incline one level lower. I’m glad this was the cardio workout because I needed a lot of breaks on the bike. Even though it was only my heel that was hurting, the way my foot moves while on the bike was putting pressure on my heel a bit and making it very painful. I didn’t get that far into this workout because of the breaks I took, but I was ok with that.
For the rower, we started with 3 rounds of a 10 stroke drill with 5 strokes of recovery rowing in-between. After 3 rounds, we had overhead presses with a medicine ball. Then we repeated the same 3 rounds of rowing with a front press with a medicine ball. Because of my foot, I’m glad we had stroke drills and not a distance to get done because it would have taken me so long to get any sort of distance on the rower. The medicine ball exercises were supposed to be single-leg ones, and I didn’t do that since I knew I couldn’t stand on just my left leg.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. Each block had 1 cluster set and then 1 regular exercise. A cluster set is similar to what we did with cardio. We had 3 rounds of the exercise. For the first round we had 5 reps and then for the next 2 rounds we did as many reps as we could do. The first floor block had a cluster set of seated low rows and also scaptions. And the second floor block had a cluster set of chest presses and also hip hinge reverse flys. Fortunately, these exercises weren’t too horrible with my foot being in pain.
Thursday was an endurance day, and while I was still in a lot of pain it was a little better than how I felt on Wednesday. I think Thursday felt more like how Wednesdays feel when I’ve had the freezing treatment done in the past. So while I could put my heel down a bit more, it was still difficult for me to do that and I had to make accommodations to not be in too much pain.
For cardio, we started with a 3-minute push pace and then a 1-minute base pace. We then decreased the push pace by 30-seconds each time and ended with a 1-minute all-out. Just like with Wednesday, I had to take a lot of breaks on the bike because of my heel. It wasn’t as frequent as Wednesday, but still a lot. And while I did want to keep them to when we had a base pace, that wasn’t possible with the longer push paces. But I tried my best and I was ok with that.
On the rower, we also had 1 long block. We started with an 800-meter row and then we had squats to bicep curls and tricep extensions with a medicine ball. Then the row decreased by 200-meters and we repeated the same medicine ball exercises. I was just starting on the 400-meter row when the block was done, which really showed me how slow I was on the rower.
And on the floor, another long block but it was split into 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had single-arm high rows, Y raises on the straps, and bicep curls on the straps. We had 2 rounds of that and then moved to the next mini-block with shoulder presses, chest flys, and good mornings to tricep kickbacks. A lot of these exercises needed me to stay balanced on both feet, which was tough. I tried to see if I could put more pressure on my toes than my heel, but I was losing my balance. So I just had to go slowly and take my time.
Friday was another strength day. I was still hurting, but I was glad that each day I was slowly feeling better. I knew this past week of workouts would be tough with the pain I’d be in, but I really wasn’t prepared for how bad it would be.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Each block had a push pace, base pace, base pace at incline, regular base pace, and an all-out. With only one incline section for each block, I put my focus more on just trying to keep pedaling as long as I could. I was able to decrease how many breaks I needed in the cardio blocks, but I knew I wouldn’t be back to normal just yet.
On the rower, we had 2 blocks. The first block had rounds of 300-meter rows with medicine ball overhead presses between each round. And the second block had stroke drills for 15 strokes with the overhead presses between each round. For the medicine ball work, it increased by 2 reps each round. Just like most days this past week, I struggled with rowing since I couldn’t press down with my heel. That’s especially tough for stroke drills when you are supposed to explode back on the rower each time. But I did better than I expected even if I wasn’t doing great.
The floor had 2 blocks. In the first block, we had goblet squats, lateral lunges, and crunches on the Bosu. And in the second block we had push-ups, deadlifts, and hip dips. The hip dips were supposed to be on the Bosu, but I knew I couldn’t do that. But for the other exercises, I was able to keep the modifications to a minimum which was an improvement!
I’m hoping that this week I will be in less pain, but I think my heel is going to be hurting through at least the beginning of the week. It’s not fun to hurt this much, but I also know that this is a treatment that could be more painful if I put it off so I just have to be ok with it. But just like always, even in pain I fully expect to get my 4 workouts in this week again!
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