I just tried out a new workout schedule of doing 4 days in a row (and then having 3 days off). I’m still debating if I like this new schedule or if I want to try something like Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday so I can make sure I still see all my favorite coaches. But I decided to keep up the new schedule until I have a better idea if I like it or not, so I did that this past week. But this past week was also the week that I still had back issues along with the side effects from the vaccine, so it was definitely a tough workout week for me.
Monday’s workout was really tough since that was the worst day in the past week for my side effects. I was still dealing with body aches and I knew I was exhausted. I’m glad some of the worst side effects like having a fever were gone, but because I went through those over the weekend I knew my week would be fighting back from getting over those.
Fortunately, the cardio part of the workout went well with me dealing with the fatigue and feeling weak because it was very easy to modify to make it super easy for me. We started with a 3-minute push pace into a 30-second all-out. Then we had 3 minutes to recover and get back to a base pace and we continued with doing a 30-second all-out and 3-minutes to recover. I know that if I was feeling ok, I would have biked at my base pace a lot more in those 3-minutes. But I really went slow and easy and that helped a lot with making this doable.
On the rower, we started with a 3-minute row, and I just did as much rowing as I could each time and then rested when I needed to. I took a lot of breaks because the fatigue was hitting me really hard on the rower. We followed the pattern with cardio with the 3-minutes of recovery and when cardio when in an all-out, we had a crew row where we all tried to row together.
And on the floor, we had one long block with 2 mini-blocks in it. The first mini-block was only done once before we moved on. We had low rows and triceps on the straps and then single-leg deadlifts with no weights. Then we kept doing the second mini-block for the rest of the workout. That block had low rows with weights, tricep extensions with weights, and deadlifts with weights. I did have to use much lighter weights than I’m used to and I also needed to sit down during the floor block to catch my breath because the fatigue was really making me feel weak. But I did my best and I felt really happy I did something to help me feel better after the booster shot.
I was doing a bit better on Tuesday, but the fatigue and feeling weak were still affecting me a lot. So I just tried my best with the workout and accepted it wouldn’t be what I normally could do.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks that were the same. We had 1-minute intervals with a base pace at an incline followed by a base pace without an incline. The incline or resistance level went up by 1% each time. I did try to work on doing better with my resistance levels, but I realized my body wasn’t ready for that. So I was mainly using the levels between my push and all-out, but I did do one of the intervals higher than my all-out level.
On the rower, we started with a 400-meter row. I did much better with this row than I expected. I still needed breaks, but not nearly as many as I would have thought I would have needed. Then we had lateral hops (which I did as lateral steps) and high knees. Next was an 800-meter row, which went much worse than my 400-meter row. Again, I took breaks when I needed them. But this time it felt like I needed a break every 100 meters or so. Because I took so many breaks, I didn’t get that far through the block before the time was done.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had squats, pull-ups on the straps, and push-ups. And the second block had bicep curls and lunges. Both floor blocks were a bit of a struggle for me, but again, I could tell I was doing a bit better than the day before.
Wednesday’s workout was a prep workout for the Dri-Tri. This was mainly to be ready for the cardio portion. I already knew by Wednesday that I wouldn’t be doing the Dri-Tri, but I still liked the prep workout because it was a good workout to help me get back to more of my normal.
For cardio, we had decreasing push paces with 1-minute base paces between each one. We started with a 4-minute push pace and it decreased by 1-minute each round. And we ended with a 1-minute all-out. I know I did better in this workout than I had earlier in the week, but I was still taking more breaks than I would have liked to. But I kept reminding myself that it’s still an improvement!
For the rower, the first block was rounds of 500-meter rows and lateral hops/steps. And the second block was rounds of 300-meter rows with front and back hops/steps. And on the floor, we had lunges, single-arm shoulder presses, deadlifts, and step-ups. I again had to use lighter weights than I would have liked to, but I at least tried with normal weights first before realizing I wasn’t ready for them.
Thursday was definitely my best workout of the week. I was pretty much over all my side effects from the booster and my back was feeling significantly better than it had all week. So I was able to push myself a bit more even if I wasn’t quite fully back to normal.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a 1-minute push pace to an all-out. But in the first block, all the all-outs were 1-minute and the recovery time ranged from 30-seconds to 1-minute. And in the second block, the all-outs were all 30-seconds instead of 1-minute. I did try to go hard with the all-outs at the end of each block since those had the longest recovery time leading into them, but I had to be careful since after the first block I was really feeling weak from pushing myself so much.
On the rower, both blocks were focused on making sure we weren’t rowing too fast. In the first block, we had 300-meter rows and rainbows with the medicine ball between each row. And in the second block, we had 200-meter rows with front presses with the medicine ball. I was able to keep my strokes in the goal range in each block. And I was very happy to see that each time I tried the rows, I got faster so I did have improvement.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks that were focused on back-to-back work. So the goal was to not take breaks between each exercise. In the first block we had halos with weights, scaption raises, and good mornings. And the second block had uppercuts, tricep kickbacks, and goblet squats. I continued to play with the weights that I used to see if I could get closer to my normal ones, and I was able to do a few reps with my regular weight before I had to go down to a lighter one. Again, it’s an improvement and I’m happy that it’s better than nothing.
This really wasn’t one of my best workout weeks, but it also wasn’t one of my worst. I still got 4 workouts in and I tried my best, which is all I can hope for sometimes. And with this week coming up, it may be a bad week and I’m prepared for it. But I’m really ready for a normal week to finally happen again because I miss that!
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