Category Archives: Fitness

Missing My Normal Workouts More Than Ever (or I Needed Someone To Push Me This Week)

Posted on June 8, 2020 | Comments Off on Missing My Normal Workouts More Than Ever (or I Needed Someone To Push Me This Week)

I knew going into this past week of workouts that it would be a tough week. I was expecting it to be a week of pain and nausea, and that’s exactly what it was. My body was reacting to stress so things were a bit delayed, so I’m still dealing with pain and nausea this week as well (I was hoping last week would be the end of it). And as it has been during the time I’m dealing with this, my workouts were just so much more difficult than normal.

I am getting a bit better at finding how I can modify things at home, but a lot of those modifications are also not as good as they could be. For example, some things I modify by sitting instead of standing or bending over, and I know sitting down isn’t that great in the workouts. But I don’t have much else I can use to help.

I’m also used to having my coaches and friends in class encouraging me and pushing me. Funny enough, it’s my male coaches that I think support me the most. They both know me well enough to know when I’m having one of my bad weeks and I think they pick up on it so quickly. And they are very open to finding new solutions for me so I can try to modify things without making them easier. Having that support means the world to me and I never knew how much I needed it until I didn’t have it. And my friends in class also know me pretty well so they are always there to cheer me on and try to make me feel better. I can do that over text with them, but it’s really not the same.

I did have a few good moments in my workouts this week when I had a few minutes where I felt totally fine. And I tried to maximize my efforts in those moments to try to get something closer to a normal workout. Sometimes that backfired and made the nausea worse, but it was worth the try. I went into each workout knowing that I was just going to try my best and that’s what I did, even if my best was a fraction of what I know I can do when I feel normal.

As motivated as I am to try to do the at-home workouts the best that I can, I will say that the motivation is starting to slip. If it was good enough for me to do workouts at home, I wouldn’t be a part of Orangetheory. I crave the coaching and community around the workouts. And fortunately, it seems like we are getting closer to being back to that.

The governor has said that gyms can start to reopen as long as they have certain guidelines. I don’t know what exactly those guidelines are, but there are Orangetheory locations that have opened in other states and I’m guessing the ones here will be following similar plans. For example, having smaller class sizes and 2 stations empty between each person. My locations commented saying that they are reviewing the guidelines and will be updating all of us when they expect to reopen and what we can expect when we go back to class. I’m a little hesitant to go back since people are still getting sick, but I think once I see how things go I will feel better about it.

And I really do want to get back to class for all the reasons I said above. I miss what I have there and I really need it back in my life. I need a sense of normalcy and I know going to my workouts will give me that. Knowing that I can be back in class hopefully soon was the motivation I used last week to push myself. And I’ll be using that again this week.

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Finally A Good Workout Week (or Continuing To Build My Home Gym)

Posted on May 25, 2020 | Comments Off on Finally A Good Workout Week (or Continuing To Build My Home Gym)

When I wrote my last workout recap, I had dealt with multiple bad workout weeks in a row. I was dealing with different issues and it felt like when I got over one thing I had another to deal with. And some of the things I dealt with were expected (like nausea) and some were random and unexpected (like cutting my finger or getting cellulitis). Having so many bad workout weeks in a row really were taking a toll on my mood. I knew I was in a worse mood than I had been. I was fighting that feeling, but I couldn’t help feel really down on myself.

And when I writing my last recap, I said that this past week would be the week my nausea likely would kick in again and I was frustrated that I was going to have to have yet another bad workout week. But I don’t know if I mixed up what day it was or what else got me confused, but I had the wrong week for when my nausea would most likely start. That’s actually going to be this week, so last week’s workouts actually were much better than expected.

I did have to still deal with a few issues like my finger still healing (so it’s not really too flexible) and the tail end of taking antibiotics and those making me a bit sick. But overall my workout week was a good one and I really did need that. I still was making modifications to things, but there were few modifications needed and I really was able to get into the workouts.

I think some of the motivation to do more was from knowing that there are some studios in other states starting to open up. I know we aren’t ready for that (and I do wonder if the other states might have done it too early), but it gives me hope that gyms and fitness studios in California will be opening up sooner rather than later. I have no clue if it will be this summer or this fall, but I feel like it is coming and that is making me really excited. And adding to the fact that some states have been able to open their studios, they have been starting to say that if things continue the way they have been going that maybe we will start reopening more by the 4th of July! I would love it if that could happen. I know it’s not really soon, but it’s a date to keep in mind that might be when things start turning around. And if that is approximately the right date, then we are past the halfway mark of quarantine (I know I’ve said that before, but every time there is a new date I think of if I’m past halfway).

There is no real substitution for working out in the studios, but I’ve really tried to make my home workouts the best I can be. I have gotten a lot of different equipment for my house. If I had more space and money, I’d probably buy a lot more. There are a lot of things that I wish I had (like a rower, weight bench, and more weights), but I have a pretty good setup for my house. I know that when I get back to the studios that I might not be able to lift as heavy, row as hard, or bike as fast; but I will not be losing all the progress I’ve met. And as I’ve been doing the home workouts, I have found that there are some things I wish I had at my house more than others.

One thing that I wished I had was a BOSU ball. While the home workouts aren’t using them, I use them a lot for modifications and it would be nice to have them for that. Plus, I do like some of the balance work that we do on them and I know that balance work is something that can help my hips. BOSU balls aren’t difficult to buy, but they aren’t cheap and they take up a lot of room. But when I was looking online at them, I saw something called BOSU Pods that looked like mini-BOSU balls. And that’s pretty much exactly what they are.

You can’t do everything on BOSU Pods that you can do on the full-sized ones, but for what I was hoping to do I could get a lot done. The only thing I wouldn’t be able to do would be to use them to help me with incline plank work or as a replacement for a workout bench (they just aren’t high enough for that). But they would help with plank work by adding some difficulty. I also could use them for balance work like squats and lunges, plus they could be used for step-ups since they do add a bit of height and they are not going to slide on my floor as my step ladder does. So I ordered them and they arrived at my house just in time for my Saturday workout.

They are pretty cute, just like miniature BOSU balls. And they are much easier to store in my home gym collection than the full-sized one would be. In Saturday’s workout, there was only one exercise that really could use them (we had hip bridges so I put my feet on them for an added challenge), but after I did the home workout I did a little extra just so I could use them. I only did squats on them, but I could tell right away that it was making squats so much harder and my body was working a lot more to do them. That’s exactly what I was hoping they would do and it proved to me that I can work on regaining some of the strength and muscle that I have lost.

I’m excited to keep using the BOSU Pods in my workouts and finding ways to continue to challenge myself. This week I’ll also be able to test them with if they do help enough with plank work when I’m nauseous. I’m not expecting them to be enough, but you never know. I’m in a much better mood and have a much more positive mindset after this past week so I’m hopeful that I can make things work for me.

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Why Can’t I Just Have A Normal Week? (or Another Bad Week Of Workouts)

Posted on May 18, 2020 | Comments Off on Why Can’t I Just Have A Normal Week? (or Another Bad Week Of Workouts)

I was really looking forward to being able to say I had a good week of workouts. I knew that it should be one of my good weeks. My finger was finally healed to the point where I could finally start bending it. I was excited to do my workouts because I finally had some motivation and was really to work hard. And then I got cellulitis.

Monday was the day I went to urgent care, but I tried to work out that morning. It was a pretty pathetic workout attempt. I had to sit down for almost everything. I did a lot of core work and stuff with my arms. I had to modify all the exercises because the swelling in my leg was so bad that I couldn’t do a lot of things. And I broke down crying because the pain was so intense. I think that workout was the push for me to go to the hospital because I realized how bad things had gotten.

Wednesday was similar to Monday because the swelling hadn’t really gone down much. I had the same amount of pain, but I had a bit more flexibility in my leg and was able to do a few exercises standing up. But still, nothing like what I normally could do. And what was so frustrating was that my mind wanted to do more. But my body just couldn’t.

Friday and Saturday were better because my leg was almost normal. Still, I had to do a lot of modifications because there were things that caused me pain that normally wouldn’t. But it was nice to be able to do a bit more and to feel like I had some proof that my leg was getting better. I was worried that it wasn’t getting better because I was still dealing with so many issues, but my workouts did prove that I wasn’t struggling as much as I had earlier in the week.

Even though by the end of the week I was doing ok, it was still such a frustrating workout week. I am tired of having a bad week after a bad week. I really need a good week, and I don’t know if that will happen soon. This week, there is a chance my nausea will kick in. And my leg still isn’t totally better. So I might be struggling again. And the struggle physically combined with dealing with quarantine/isolation is really taking a toll on me. I know that there are some OTF studios starting to open up, but the ones here might not be open for a few months. It’s been over 2 months since my last in-studio workout. That’s such a long time. And even though before I was trying to stay positive and thinking how I just have to do the same amount of time again, the longer I’m away from my workouts the harder it is. But at the same time, if the studios in LA opened, I don’t know if I’d go right away. There are still so many things unknown about reopening and I want to see what happens before I take the risk.

Even though this past week of workouts was pretty bad, I do just keep reminding myself that I at least tried the workouts the best that I could. It’s better than doing nothing. And there were times when I was wondering if I should just skip it. I’m glad I did something because I probably would have felt worse if I didn’t do it. But I just want to have a good workout week again. I feel like I’m owed one by now.

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My Workouts Are Never Simple (or I Need To Keep Working On Modifications)

Posted on May 11, 2020 | Comments Off on My Workouts Are Never Simple (or I Need To Keep Working On Modifications)

I knew going into this past week that my workouts weren’t going to be my best. I was going to be dealing with nausea and I was still struggling with losing some motivation. I’m not going to lie and say working out when feeling like this is easy. It’s not even as easy as it is when I’m in the studio (when it’s really not that easy). Pushing myself when I’d rather be lying in bed is tough when there’s nobody expecting to see me at a workout. I could easily lie and say I worked out when I did, but I know that would just make me feel worse.

What I wasn’t expecting going into this past week of workouts was dealing with the injury to my finger. That caused an entirely new set of issues for me. Of course, I knew I didn’t want to stress my finger as it was starting to heal because I didn’t want to delay the healing process. I always bandaged up my finger when working out because I wanted to protect it. And part of that protection involved not allowing myself to bend it that much. Bending my finger stresses the injury and can damage any scars or scabs on it. So I had to be as careful as possible.

Even though I knew I was bandaging my finger to prevent it from bending, I guess I didn’t think through how much that would affect my workouts in terms of being able to hold or lift anything. Monday’s workout was the worst for that. I tried to lift even the lightest things, and I couldn’t get a grip on it. Even though I was using the rest of my fingers, it was like I lost my grip strength because I was not able to use my middle finger. It might have been how I wrapped my finger or it might have been how new the injury was. Lifting things was a struggle through the rest of the week, but it did get easier as the week went on. I think it’s still going to take a few weeks before I’m completely healed and able to use it. The healing process is going much faster than I expected, but the lack of movement in my finger is almost the same as it was when it happened. I have no clue how long it will take to get that back.

And the pain and nausea were also worse toward the beginning of the week, so at least all the tough things were easing up through the week. I continued to struggle with figuring out modifications for the plank work, which was made harder by the limits I could do with my finger injury. I’ve tried so many types of chairs and ladders to be similar to a weight bench, but they don’t work. And the things I have found online that could be good are either out of stock or cost too much. I know that people are hoping the studios can open up again in about 2 months, but that’s still 2 months of home workouts that I want to have as much success as possible. So I need to figure this out.

Even though I would say that this past week of workouts was probably the hardest one I’ve had since starting the home workouts (possibly the hardest workouts I’ve had in years), I still got my 4 workouts in for the week and I still tried my best. I took a lot of breaks and rests for various reasons, but I did remember to pause the workout video sometimes so I didn’t use workout time as break time. And I just keep telling myself the same thing over and over again. I am doing something. I am trying. I am not giving up and saying I’ll just get back into my workouts when the studios open up again. I have prioritized my workouts and that is a win to me. I just look forward to when things are a bit easier for me so I can feel like I’m making progress or getting some wins in my workouts each week.

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I Hate Not Having As Much Motivation (or A Week Of Workout Struggles)

Posted on May 4, 2020 | Comments Off on I Hate Not Having As Much Motivation (or A Week Of Workout Struggles)

I’ve written before about how I’m really doing my best with the Orangetheory at-home workouts. I am so appreciative of Orangetheory for doing these for everyone every day. There are other workout studios that either took much longer to pull something together or still have not found a way to do virtual workouts. I’m so lucky that the place that I consider my workout home was one of the leaders when it comes to creating home workouts to do right now.

And I have maintained my workout schedule by doing the workouts 4 days a week. I’m not necessarily doing the workouts at the same time as I usually do, but I do get them done. And I do try my best in the workouts with every exercise that is given in each workout.

But just because I am trying my best, it doesn’t mean I am doing my best. And I know that this past week was not my best at all. I had 2 things working against me that just made things harder than normal.

The first thing was that this past week was the start of another cycle of nausea. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be that bad this time, but it really did kick in a lot this time. And the workouts weren’t ones that were easy for me to do while nauseous. I’m used to having the ability to make modifications for a lot of things that are hard for me to do when I’m nauseous. But because I don’t have all the equipment that I normally use to help me. I really tried to find ways to do things like making burpees easier, but I really don’t have the right setup. I thought maybe I could use a step stool as a replacement for the bench, but it didn’t really work the way I needed it to. It wasn’t wide enough for the plank work and it was slipping on my floor.

I have looked at what other alternatives I could use for a bench. There are a few ideas like different types of workout boxes (like a wooden box). Some of them are really expensive or really huge, and I don’t want to make it something that isn’t easy to store in my house. I’m looking at the brands that make them seeing if they have some other types that would work better for me. And I have been looking at workout benches to see if there are better portable ones that I wasn’t aware of.

But even without the issues of not having the right equipment to modify my workouts, working out when I’m nauseous is always a tough thing for me. And it was just so much harder when I wasn’t surrounded by my workout friends or have my coach helping me out. There is no question that a big part of what makes my workouts so amazing is being around people that are so incredible. And lack of motivation was another big issue this past week that made things harder.

I never knew I would connect to a workout the way that I have. And so much of that workout is about what happens when you take a class in the studio. I’ve never been a huge fan of working out at home. I’ve tried it so many times and it just has never clicked with me. I’m forcing myself to do them this time, even if I don’t feel like doing it. But when I’m not feeling like it, I know that I’m not doing the workouts as hard as I can and I’m not necessarily getting as much out of it as I should.

I’ve been doing this for a while now, but there’s a chance that I haven’t even gotten through half the time that we might need to do this. There is so much unknown still about when things will be reopening. Even states that have reopened aren’t really fully open. The studios in the states that have opened gyms back up have released statements saying that they will not be opening until they can make it safer. California isn’t close to being open again. I’ve seen some things that people think that gyms (of any type) won’t be open again until maybe July. Obviously I don’t want things to open up until they are safe, but July seems so far away. And I’m trying to not focus on how much longer I will have to work out at home, but I also can’t forget that. I’ve been looking at options to still be working out at home but not feeling as alone, but they haven’t happened just yet. But I need to figure out something to make these home workouts better for me because there is a chance that I’ll be doing these for a while.

I really hope that this week of workouts goes a bit better for me. I’m expecting another week of nausea (fortunately, I haven’t been experiencing as much pain as normal). I don’t know what it will take to feel more motivated, but maybe something will kick in as well. I wish I had a better post to write about how my workouts went last week, but I feel like being honest is the most important thing. And honestly, this past week just wasn’t that great for me.

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Continuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory)

Posted on April 27, 2020 | Comments Off on Continuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory)

I’ve gotten used to my routine of working out at home. I’m still not loving it, but I’m glad that the transition from working out in the studio to working out at home was as easy as it was. As soon as the studios are open again (and it’s safe to go), I will be there immediately. There is something about working out in person that I cannot replicate working out at home. But I don’t think that will be happening for at least another month, if not longer, so I just have to stick it out with the home workouts.

There have been some people who haven’t been enjoying the home workouts as much as I have. And I do understand some of the frustration. It’s not easy to find the motivation to do the workouts at home. We are limited in what we get in our workouts because they are trying to make it work for everyone, no matter what equipment you might have. And it isn’t just the same.

But at the same time, I am so appreciative of what Orangetheory has done. I doubt any fitness studio had a plan in place for a situation like we are in now. Nobody expected a worldwide pandemic that would shut down all the studios for an indefinite length of time. I wonder if they will have a plan for that now that it’s happened. But compared to so many other workout studios, Orangetheory has been on top of their game. My studios were some of the first ones to shut down for the entire country. Within a few days of my studios closing, the Orangetheory at Home workouts started to be posted every day on YouTube. And they are unique workouts for every day. Yes, there are things that repeat from time to time, but it’s always a different combination.

And not only are they posting home workouts for us, but they are also using household items in the workouts in case someone doesn’t have weights. I’ve been lucky with being able to get some weights, but there are still things I don’t have. But the examples I get when watching the workouts have helped me to figure out what I can use in my house (I’m still trying to find a good substitution for the bench when I do plank work and am open to suggestions).

Since they have been doing the home workouts online for over a month, they have also modified them based on feedback from members. When they first put them up, there wasn’t any music during the workout blocks. That was quickly fixed. Then they added a clock for each block so you knew how much time was left. And just this past week, they added an audio clue to switch exercises if they were times (for example, doing 1 minute of squats). All of these things have been added to make our workouts better and I seriously appreciate it.

Considering how quickly they had to pull this together and how little time they had to get ready, it’s incredible what they have been able to do. And adding the workouts a few times a week where they have featured coaches from around the world has made it even better. They add variety to the workouts and it’s always fun to see if there is a coach I recognize in that segment.

So even though I would do Hell Week a million times over if that meant I could get back into the studio, I still am so grateful and glad I have the home workouts to do right now. They are helping me keep a routine, feel sane, and just not feel as lost as I do sometimes. And it is special to think that everyone around the world who does Orangetheory is doing the same home workout as I am. And we all are staying home so that we can get back into the studios as soon as possible.

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Trying To Maintain My Strength (or Noticing I Need To Work Harder)

Posted on April 20, 2020 | Comments Off on Trying To Maintain My Strength (or Noticing I Need To Work Harder)

Despite all of my efforts with doing my Orangetheory at Home workouts, they are not as good as going to a regular class. I’ve heard some people say how now they realize they can do their workouts at home, they wonder if they will go back to the studio. I am the complete opposite. Now that I’m working out at home, I realize that this is not the same as being in the studio and I am craving being able to go back. I know that this closure is necessary for everyone, but I can’t help but miss my workouts in the studio and having my coaches push me.

I’m pushing myself as much as I can, but there are several things I can’t do or can’t do as hard at home. I’m limited to what I have in my house or what I can find online to get. I’ve written about how I have tried to build my home gym the best that I can. But I am restricted by what is available to buy, what I have room for, and what I have money for. If I didn’t have those restrictions, I probably would have an incredible home gym. But I don’t want to have things in my house that I don’t know if I’d use them once I’m back at Orangetheory. I have debated about getting a rower for my house and have started to look more seriously at them. My dad has been helping me look at them online and I think I know what I would get, but I don’t know if I want to get it right now.

And even though I have been limited in the weights I have in my house, I was thinking I was doing ok with things. I wanted to get some better weights for my house that were closer to the weights I usually use. Almost everything I was able to get was lighter than what I’m used to for many things. And I figured I would be fine with that because I do believe that doing something is better than doing nothing.

But at the end of this past week, I was able to get one set of weights that I was looking for. I’ll go into the details about how I got these from my parents in a post later this week, but my dad had an extra set of weight plates that he didn’t need. They are 10 pounds, which is on the lighter side of what I use but heavier than the water bottles I have been using as hand weights. And I was able to use them for the first time when I did my home workout on Saturday.

And holy moly I noticed a huge difference! Before, 10 pounds would have felt like nothing to me when doing the exercises I was doing. But this time, I needed breaks and my body was hurting. I couldn’t believe how much harder it was to use the 10 pounds weights when I was thinking they still might be too easy. It’s been over a month since I’ve lifted heavier weights, and I knew that I would lose some strength and muscle. I guess I just was surprised how quickly it happened and how weak I felt. I didn’t get upset by this because I was expecting at least a little. But it did make me realize that I need to have some realistic expectations for when I do get back into my workout classes.

I’ve been tracking my workouts for a while now, and when I get back I will continue to track them. But I will need to look at it as a fresh start and not as a comparison to where I was. Maybe I’ll eventually do some comparisons to see if I’m back to where I was, but I’m not going to use it as something negative. I will have setbacks with cardio, rowing, and weight lifting when I get back. It would be crazy for me to think that I wouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t improve upon wherever I am when I do get back. I want to have the same motivation that I always have had. I want to see my workouts as a challenge and opportunity to go harder/faster/heavier.

While the setbacks could be considered negative, my reaction to them is obviously positive. If still motivated no matter what. I am still doing 4 workouts a week. I am not using this time as an excuse. Before Orangetheory, I doubt I would have found a way to work out at home if I couldn’t go to a class. I certainly wouldn’t be doing it this much or this hard. And I probably would have used not being able to find weights and equipment as a sign that I shouldn’t be trying. But I’m not letting anything stop me. I might not be as strong as I was before, but I’m going to get back there one day and I’m going to keep working to make this setback as minimal as possible.

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Another Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best)

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best)

I’ve been doing workouts at home for a while now. I’ve been making adjustments to try to make it seem as close to my regular Orangetheory workouts as possible. I’ve been missing my workouts so much that I even went online to see if there was any way I could get a rower at my house. Turns out, there are companies that rent home workout equipment, but they were all sold out of rentals. And the rowers that I could buy were either cheap versions that I don’t think I would like or huge ones that I wouldn’t have room for once things were normal again.

Fortunately, the at-home workouts have been changing as time goes on and they are getting harder and longer. They started out being closer to 45 minutes and now they are an hour long. And they are adding a lot more work to them so they are getting difficult. I know that I am working hard and I’m noticing that I’m sweating more and needing breaks as I do in a normal workout class. So I have been feeling better about what I’ve been able to do at home.

I still really miss having a coach with me and pushing me. I miss having friends with me in class and feeling that support. And I miss all the different equipment and options I have when I’m in class. But I’m doing what I can and I know that I will need to do this for a little longer.

The Safer At Home order for Los Angeles has been extended through the middle of May. We’ve been doing this for about a month and as of right now we have another month to go. I feel like the order will be extended at least once more to be the end of May. But even if that doesn’t happen, I’m only about halfway through the length of time that I will need to be doing these workouts at home. I know I have made improvements over the last month of what I have been able to get done and I know I can do more improvements over the next month.

This past week, things were also a bit better because I was feeling better. I had only a little more nausea left so that didn’t affect too many of my workouts. And even though I’m still getting over being sick, I’m doing significantly better than I was before. I’m so grateful that I was doing better so I could do more and do a better job with the harder workouts. And I hope that this week is just going to continue getting better.

I wish I had more to say about the workouts, but I really don’t right now. As positive as I am trying to be about everything, there is no denying that this is a struggle for me right now. I have said so many times about how my workouts do so much good for me, and that isn’t happening for me. I know I would be doing so much worse if I wasn’t doing the at-home workouts, but I also know I could be doing so much better. I’m working on being grateful and appreciative of what I’m able to do and knowing that I’m not using this time as an excuse to do nothing.

Right now, what I’ve been doing is the best that I can do, but I want to see if this coming week if I can somehow do more. And if that happens, that will be awesome. And if that doesn’t, I’m going to continue to be happy that I’m just doing something.

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Working Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home)

Posted on April 6, 2020 | Comments Off on Working Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home)

I’ve been getting used to doing my workouts at home, and that’s a good thing. I finally feel like I have some good workout equipment (although there are a lot of things I wish I had). I’m able to feel like I’m doing a workout and not just goofing around while doing it. I can get my heart rate up and I’m sweating a lot. And I’ve had some moments of muscle soreness which made me really happy. I know that I’m working my muscles if I’m getting sore.

But this past week, I struggled a lot too. It was a combination of things that affected my workouts. First, I’m dealing with being sick. I feel pretty certain that it’s bronchitis because of how I’ve been feeling. But that also means that I’m out of breath from just doing the workouts. I’m coughing constantly, and even more when I’m breathing hard. It makes the workouts even harder than normal and requires me to take more breaks than I normally would need. I’ve dealt with this before and I know it will take a long time to recover, but I will get better. And because of how my symptoms are, I still feel pretty certain that it’s not COVID-19, which is good.

But I also was dealing with my monthly pain and nausea. I’ve been dealing with that for long enough that I am very used to it. But I’m only used to doing workouts with pain and nausea when I’m at the Orangetheory studio. When I’m in class at the studio, there are so many ways I can modify things. There are different pieces of equipment that I can use to make the exercise easier on me or to do a completely different exercise. I don’t really have that option when working out at home.

For example, any plank work that I had to do was so hard on me. Normally, I would use the bench for my hands so I wasn’t really face down. I looked around my house for what I could use to replicate that, and I wasn’t able to come up with a good option. The closest I had was using a step stool, but it wasn’t stable enough when I was using my hands on it. I thought about just standing and leaning on my walls, but that made it not make me nauseous but I didn’t feel like I was working out. I’m going to keep looking around my house for things I could use since I know I will still be nauseous this week, but I’m open to any suggestions if anyone knows of anything I could try using.

There were a few other things that I would have loved to have modified if I had more options with my weights. I am very limited in my house with what I can use as weights. Even the weights I bought only are a fraction of what I’m used to using. So I know there are some exercises that I’m doing with weights that don’t feel like they are doing much. It’s better than doing nothing, but it’s a bit annoying when I know I could do more if I had what I needed.

I know I’ll have the same struggles this week because neither issue will be better. The pain and nausea might not be an issue at the end of the week, but it might still be. But the issues from being sick will be something I probably will be dealing with throughout this month. I do need to figure out how I can modify things without having all the stuff I’m used to using. I’m planning on reaching out to some of my coaches to get their advice, but I know that a lot of things that others have suggested to me are not things I have in my house. Maybe I’ll need to do some more online shopping to get more equipment just to be able to do it. But I’m hoping my coaches will be able to suggest different exercises I can try in place of the ones I can’t do.

There are so many things I miss from my normal life right now, and my workouts are a big one that I miss. I miss my friends, my coaches, what I can accomplish, and feeling so strong. I never knew I could miss workouts this much. I know that everyone around the world is going through this same thing, so everyone is missing stuff. And at least I have the at-home workouts to make it as close to normal as possible. And I just have to keep pushing myself however I can so when we are able to be back in class that I’m ready to get back into it full force!

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A Full Week Of OTF At Home (or Getting A Little Bit Of My Normal Routine In)

Posted on March 30, 2020 | Comments Off on A Full Week Of OTF At Home (or Getting A Little Bit Of My Normal Routine In)

Even though I’m isolating at home, I’m not slacking off with my workouts. I know I’m not doing as much or as tough of workouts at home, but I am still maintaining my normal schedule with doing Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday workouts. And I am so grateful that Orangetheory is posting workouts every day on their YouTube channel so I can follow a workout plan. I know it’s not everything that I do when I am in the studio for the workout, but it’s still motivating me.

While I’m doing these OTF At Home workouts, I probably won’t be doing my usual recap posts on here. There’s not as much to share about what I am doing in my workouts because things are a bit more repetitive. I’m not able to do as much with challenging myself in my workouts. I am limited in what weights I can lift or what exercises I can do. I am finding ways to get cardio in with the cardio blocks they have in the videos online (I usually do those blocks twice since it’s the main cardio that I’m doing). But there are no rowing or biking challenges that I am able to do or have big breakthroughs with.

But I have been improving my home gym setup. It’s still limited because I don’t have unlimited money to spend on things and so many pieces of workout equipment are sold out everywhere. I would have loved to have gotten a set of dumbbells, but I couldn’t find any. But I think I did get a good variety now in my house so I can do some more weighted exercises.

I still have the water bottles I used before as light weights (but they are still a little too light). I have added a 12-pound medicine ball, which is heavier than I usually use at OTF, but I wanted a heavy one since I was going to use it for things I usually use dumbbells with. I also got a 20-pound weight bar (the tall thing next to my fan). That was the closest thing I could get to dumbbells, and this will be able to be used for a lot of arm exercises. It’s not easy to see in the photo, but next to the medicine ball I have some mini-bands. I figured that even if we didn’t have mini-band work in the workout videos, I could do some on my own. Plus, I could use them for upper body work. And in front of my new exercise equipment, I have some foam floor tiles because doing this work on a hard floor is uncomfortable. On top of those tiles is some shelf liner that helps the foam not slide on my floor when I’m using them.

Considering that I only had to figure out what to get about a week ago, I’m pretty happy with the things I got. They are good weights for me and will allow me to do quite a bit of variety in the workouts. It’s not a perfect home gym, but it’s significantly better than what I could do without them.

Things arrived throughout this past week so I haven’t used everything for all the workouts. The weight bar arrived late on Saturday, so that hasn’t been used at all. I used the medicine ball all week. And I was surprised to see that in the Friday video they did have mini-bands being used! Mine had arrived the day before, so I was able to use them for that workout and that made me really happy. It took me a few tries to figure out what mini-bands I should use for each exercise since these were a bit different from the ones at OTF. But I was able to do it and I definitely felt it in my workout.

Having the mini-bands when they used them in the Friday workout was fun, but I think my favorite workout of the week was on Saturday. I had 2 fun things happen with that workout. First, that workout was my 50th workout of 2020! I know that this isn’t how I expected to add to my workout count for the year, but they do count. And I’m on track to get to my goal as long as I continue doing this.

But the best part of my Saturday workout was the workout video featured one of my coaches! The videos have been done by the corporate team and its staff. That makes the videos look very similar to how they look when we are looking at the screens in class to see the exercises after the coach does the demo. And I don’t mind not knowing who the coaches are in the videos, but when they featured some of the coaches from around the country in the Saturday video, it was so awesome! Getting to see my usual Monday coach, Brendon, was such a nice surprise!

I’ve been taking Brendon’s class since I started at OTF, and it’s weird not to be in his class on Mondays. But I did get to be virtually coached by him a bit and that really made my day. I don’t know how often they will be featuring coaches around the country, but I’m excited to see if there will be another video in the future with another one of my coaches!

I’ve got another week of workouts at home coming up. Originally, the plan for isolation was only through this month. But last week, it got extended to mid-April. I expect it to be extended at least another time or two. I don’t think we will be back to normal for a while. And I have to keep up my workouts at home for so many reasons. It gives me a sense of routine, it helps my mental health, and I need it for my fitness. I’ll be doing these at-home workouts as long as I need to. And hopefully, I’ll figure out new tricks and tips to maximize what I can do and I can still have some workout wins.

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