I was finally back to my normal workout schedule this past week. While I love holiday workouts and it can be fun to switch things up, it’s also really nice to be back to what I’m used to. I think having the regularity of my workout schedule has a positive impact on my mental health and I really needed it this past week with everything else feeling a bit tough. I knew that at some point I’d probably have to deal with nausea, but I wasn’t going to let that get me down.
Monday’s workout was a strength day, but it wasn’t as bad as it could be because it was also a day that we switched between blocks. We had 3 blocks at each section of the room so there were a total of 6 blocks of work.
For cardio, all the blocks had the same pattern. We had a 1-minute base with incline, a 1-minute base without incline, 90-seconds with inclines that decreased after 45-seconds, a 1-minute base with no incline, and 2 minutes with inclines that decreased every 30-seconds. Each block the inclines were supposed to get a bit lower, but I kept mine the same since I don’t have a lot of different resistance levels I can use. But I did follow the pattern with the decreasing inclines for the 90-second and 2-minute segments. Since I don’t use inclines every workout, I really feel it when I do use them. But this wasn’t as bad as some workouts because they were quick segments. But they still made me work hard!
On the floor, we had 3 exercises each block. And the first and second exercises used the same muscles so it was extra hard. The first exercise used weights and the second one used the TRX straps. The first block had chest presses with weights, chest presses on the straps, and upright rows with weights. The second block had hip hinge reverse rows with weights, bridge rows on the straps, and plank work. And the last block had triceps with weights, triceps on the straps, and double crunches using a weight. There was also rowing if you completed all the exercises, but I never made it to that point.
Wednesday’s workout had a mix of endurance, strength, and power and everything we did was timed for 1-minute intervals and they were 4-minute blocks. And every 4-minute block at each section was the same. It was a lot of switching too. For cardio, we were there for the entire time. But the rower and floor switched after every 4 minutes of work.
For cardio, the 4-minute block had a 1-minute push, 1-minute base, 1-minute walking at a high incline (or just pedaling slowly at a high resistance level), and a 1-minute all out. Technically, the high incline was supposed to increase each time we did it, but I used the same high resistance level on the bike. Since we didn’t switch between each block for cardio, we also had a bit of recovery time while the floor and rowers switched. But the recovery felt short considering how hard we worked in those 4 minutes.
On the rower we started with a 1-minute all out row then we had 1 minute to complete 15 pulsing half squats. Then it was another 1-minute all out row and we finished with 1-minute of either pulsing half squats or holding a low squat. That repeated every time we were on the rower and I know my rowing got slower each time I did a 1-minute row.
And on the floor the first minute was a hip hinge swing with weights, the second minute was triceps with weights, the third minute was chest presses with weights, and the last minute was bench sit-ups to squats. I wasn’t feeling nauseous when I got to class, but the hip hinge swings were starting to make me feel a bit sick so I changed those to sumo squats with weights to not have as much back and forth motion. The swings are supposed to work your hamstrings and I made sure that I could feel my hamstrings working with the sumo squats.
Friday was a strength day and it was the start of my nausea being an issue from the beginning of the workout. I decided to go a bit easier on myself instead of pushing through to see if it would make my nausea not as bad throughout the workout or later in the day (I’m still testing this idea and I’m not sure if it will make a difference). It was also a switch class and each block was about 6 minutes long.
For cardio, the first block had 1-minute intervals between incline and flat base paces. I did use the resistance levels for the bike and decreased them as the inclines for the treadmills were going down. And we ended with a 30-second all out without incline. The second block was a similar pattern but we had a 1-minute push pace to replace one of the incline intervals. Again, I did work with the intervals on the bike even though it was making my pedaling speed extremely slow. But even with the slow speed, I was still feeling my leg muscles working so that’s the most important thing.
On the rower, the first block started with a 400-meter row and then we were supposed to do lunges. I did squats instead of lunges because getting on and off the rower is tough for me sometimes and I can do squats over the rowing instead of on the side. Then we had a 300-meter row and more lunges/squats. I was working on the 200-meter row when that block ended. The second block was the same work but in reverse order. So we started with the lunges/squats, then the 200-meter row, and so on. My rowing wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t as bad as it sometimes gets when I’m nauseous.
And on the floor, the first block had single-leg squats to stands (I did one round as single-leg and then switched to regular ones), step-ups (I modified these to be lunges), and weighted hip bridges. The second block was all mini-band work. We had squat walks, static crunch in and outs, and heel taps. Even though I had to modify several floor exercises, these blocks were pretty good for me and not too bad with my nausea.
Saturday’s workout was a power day and it was also a switch day. That really worked for me because I was really feeling nauseous going into the workout. But knowing that every block was 4 minutes or under and that I’d be constantly switching helped me feel better. But the switching was different.
We had a 4-minute block, a 3-minute block, a 2-minute block, and a 90-second block. Normally, we would do the 4-minute block at all sections of the room before moving on to the 3-minute block. Not this time. As an example, this is how things worked for me when I started on the bike: a 4-minute block on the bike, a 3-minute block on the rower, a 2-minute block on the floor, and a 90-second block on the bike. Then we went back to the rower to start on the 4-minute block there. That pattern continued until we did all 4 blocks at all 3 seconds of the room.
For cardio, 3 of the blocks were a push pace, a base pace, and a 30-second all out. Each block the push pace got shorter and for the 2-minute block, the base pace was shorter too. The 90-second block was 30-second intervals with 2 all outs and a recovery in the middle. I didn’t really have a lot of difference between my base, push, and all outs. I was just feeling horrible and just like on Friday was trying to not push through it too much. I went a little less than I probably could because I didn’t want to be completely sick on the rower or the floor.
On the rower, every block had 100-meter rows. The 4-minute block had 4 of them, the 3-minute block had 3, the 2-minute block had 2, and the 90-second block had 1. There were exercises that were different between each row in each block, but I actually don’t remember what those were because every block I just did regular squats between each row. We were also supposed to get through all the rows and exercises and hold a squat to end each block, but my rowing was a lot slower than normal. I only made it to the static squat in the 90-second block.
On the floor, all of the exercises for each block were Bosu exercises. But I didn’t use the Bosu at all. I modified everything that would have used it, but I think I had some good modifications that weren’t that different from what we were supposed to do. The 4-minute block had crunches (I just did them on the bench) and plank jacks (again, I used the bench for my hands). The 3-minute block had burpees and plank Spiderman (just used the bench for my hands for both). The 2-minute block had side hip dips (I was on the floor). And the 90-second block had lateral crunches (I did bicycle crunches instead).
This week, I’m going to keep playing around with the idea of not going as hard as I can when I’m nauseous to see if that helps me get through the workouts. I’m still not sure if it’s helping or not and I need to test it out more before I decide if it’s worth it. I know there are so few things I can do to manage my pain and nausea in my workouts (and in my everyday life), but if this idea helps it would be amazing! But at least I know I can continue doing my normal workout schedule no matter how I feel and I’m so happy to be back to the routine that I’m used to.
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