Category Archives: Fitness

This past week of workouts was just odd. Everything is just odd right now. There’s no denying that. But I tried to do everything I could to make it seem like a normal week. I struggled with pain and nausea for the first part of the week and was hoping that was going to be the worst of it. And physically, that was the worst. But the second half of the week was mentally a struggle. I tried my best and I think that I did pretty ok.

Monday’s workout was an endurance day, and I was definitely struggling with nausea. I didn’t have too much pain like I sometimes do, but it was there. But my nausea was really bad and I knew it would be another workout where I just had to try to do my best.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. But like I have started to do on my bad pain/nausea days, I didn’t really worry too much about doing the push paces or all outs. I pedaled when I could and took a break when I needed to. I don’t like not following the workouts because one of the things I love the most about Orangetheory is having a coach to push me. But when things are this difficult for me with my body, I really can’t do much else. I could try to do things a bit more as planned, but I’d rather not have to rest when I don’t necessarily need to because everyone else is in a recovery minute. Especially if I just took a break to let some nausea pass. I feel like it’s better to just keep going and that’s why I have started to focus a bit less on the specifics on those days. And it’s not all the time that I feel like this, so I know I’m getting the coaching in on other days.

On the floor, we also had 3 blocks. I knew ahead of time that there were a lot of things I would need to modify and my coach and I were able to go over those things before the workout started. That helped a lot because I wasn’t feeling confused about what I should do and felt more confident about what I was going to do each block. Everything that was done with an ab dolly was something that I had to modify. But I think I got some good things to replace them with. The first block had single-arm low rows using the bench (I did them as hip hinge low rows so I wasn’t facing down too much) and ab dolly rollouts (which I did as rollouts on the straps). The second block had seated low rows, pikes on the ab dolly (I did plank leg lift using the bench), alligators on the straps, and push-ups to knee tucks on the ab dolly (I did these as push-ups and mountain climbers separately using the bench). And the last block had plank Spiderman (again, using the bench for my hands), sit-ups, and a 300-meter row. It wasn’t easy to get through all the floor blocks, but I did it.

Wednesday’s workout was a power day. I wasn’t doing a lot better than I was feeling on Monday, but at least it was a little less pain and nausea. But I still had so many modifications I had to make to every part of the workout.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks that had different intervals of a push pace, base pace, and an all out. All of the all outs were 30-seconds long, but the push and base paces changed. I wanted to do the intervals the way we were supposed to and I was able to do a little faster pedaling for the push paces and all outs. But I still was doing a lot of pedaling when I could and resting when I needed to. It wasn’t exactly the same as what I did on Monday and it wasn’t doing what I can do when I feel good. It was somewhat in the middle.

The rowing was one long block. We started with 3 rounds of a 100-meter row with squats with a medicine ball. Then it was 3 rounds of a 150-meter row with squats to shoulder presses with a medicine ball. And the last section was 3 rounds of a 200-meter row with ground to presses with a medicine ball. I did ok for the first section with the regular squats. But the squats started to make me feel a bit nauseous so I didn’t do any squats in the second section. I just did shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each round. I was working on my first 200-meter row when the block ended so I didn’t have to worry about what I would do to modify the ground to presses.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks and I did a lot of modifications by using the bench for my hands. The first block had deadlifts with weights, burpees (I used the bench), and plank jacks (using the bench again). And the second block had lunges and planks with in and out with our hands using a mini-band (again, with the bench for my hands). Anything that had a plank element in it made me very nauseous and I took a lot of breaks in the middle of doing all the reps. But I knew this could happen so I was prepared for needing those breaks.

Friday’s workout was themed for Friday the 13th and I knew it would mean we also would also mean we had a lot of burpees since those tend to happen on Friday the 13th. I was finally feeling normal, but the mood in class was not normal. We usually have a full class, this time we didn’t. I think everyone knew that people were going to possibly avoid coming to class because of coronavirus. But it was still weird to see it not as full as we are used to. I know there are reasons to not come to class, but I feel like it’s one of the better places I could go to work out. The classes are small, everyone has to use an anti-bacterial wipe to clean up everything they touch. And I think most of us are feeling so anxious and we need something to keep us calm. And for many of us, that thing is our workouts.

The cardio was all about 1s and 3s. We had 3-minute distance challenges and 1-minute recoveries and all outs. I was able to do my biking work a bit more normal and that really helped me feel better. I wasn’t able to do the biking as hard as I know I could, but it was so much more than I had been able to do for the past week. And I did take the recovery time to be able to go really hard for the all outs.

On the rower, we had one long block. We did 100-meter rows and 13 squats between each row. I was really trying to do my rowing as fast as I could since 100-meters is a sprint, but my endurance wasn’t quite there. I know that whenever I am getting over when I’m nauseous that I usually need to do a workout or two before I’m back to my best ability. But I think I might have forgotten that a bit in the workout.

And on the floor, we had 3 blocks. In the first 2 blocks, we had 2 exercises and both exercises had 13 reps. The first block had burpees and bicep curls. And the second block had burpees and triceps with weights. The last block was timed and we had 1 minute of burpees, 1 minute of bicep curls, and 1 minute of triceps.

Saturday’s workout was something I really needed. My work shift on Saturday morning was just insane, and I needed my workout to recover from the mental stress I was under at work. I still laugh when I think about how I look at workouts as a way to get over stress or to feel better, but I guess that’s what happens when you get into a regular workout routine.

The workout was strength-based so we had incline work for cardio. We had 2 blocks and both the blocks were similar with all the work being at a base pace but alternating between no incline and incline work. The intervals on the first block were a bit longer than the ones on the second block, but they were both tough. And I was feeling good enough to do all the inclines the way I was supposed to. I also think it was helping me get some of my frustration out over how I was treated by some customers during my shift.

On the rower, we had different types of rowing for stroke drills. We started by doing 15 stroke tests to see how far we could get for 3 rounds. Then it was a 45-second row for 3 rounds. And we finished with 150-meter rows for 3 rounds. Every time, we were supposed to focus on rowing slowly to get as much power into our rows as possible. And between each row, we were supposed to lunge jumps. But I really can’t do those and it’s always tough for me to get on and off the rower, so I did regular squats instead.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had squats with weights, plank pull-throughs, and double crunches; all of those exercises were using weights. And the second block had sumo squats with weight, plank shoulder taps, and side plank pendulums. There was so much plank work and I’m so glad that I was finally feeling ok enough to be doing that. I know I could have modified things if I needed to, but I’m glad I didn’t have to because it’s tough when almost everything had to be modified.

This week, I have no clue what will happen. As of right now, I plan on going to my workouts. I know the studios are doing everything they can to keep things clean and safe for us. But as I’ve learned this past week, things can change so quickly. I really hope that I’m still able to make it to my workouts because it really does do amazing things for my mental health. It puts me in a better headspace and helps to keep me feeling like I have a bit of control in what feels like an out of control world. But if things change, they change. And I’ll just have to be ok with whatever does happen.

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I went into this past week of workouts knowing it was a high probability that it would be a bad week for me. I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be, but I’m also realistic and have dealt with this enough. And I was right, it wasn’t a good week for me. But I still did what I could and I have to be ok with that.

Monday’s workout was a strength-based class and it also had a bit of a run/row to it. I was excited about this class, but I was having one of the worst hip pain days that I’ve had in a long time. Usually, my hip pain is either an on-going dull pain or occasional sharp pain. This time, it was an on-going sharp pain that spiked with every step I took. The pain was a bit scary because that can mean that I need to see an orthopedic surgeon, but I wasn’t going to freak out too much. But it did affect my workout a bit.

The cardio was split into 3 blocks and the middle block was the one that had the run/row. The first and last blocks were similar. The first block had a 90-second push, 45-second base, 90-second push at incline, 45-second base without incline, and a 90-second push at incline. The last block was the same work, but done in reverse (so starting with the 90-second push at the incline). After the first block, we had to remember what distance we got to so we could use it for the run/row. The run/row was rounds of half the distance from the first block and a 200-meter row. For all the cardio work, I had to go a bit slow on the bike and be cautious with the resistance levels I used. And it took my time getting on and off the rower so that took up some time that I wish I had been able to be working. But I did my best and I was pretty happy with what I was able to do.

The floor also had 3 blocks. The first block was mini-band work with squats to side kicks, hip raises, and lateral walks. The second block had goblet squats, plank side rotations, and bicycle crunches. And the last block had sumo squats to upright rows, step-ups (which I modified to be lunges), and more plank side rotations and bicycle crunches. There were a few exercises that were extra hard on my hip, but I was just patient with myself and made sure that I felt ready before starting each rep.

Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. It was also a day that I had a lot of nausea. Fortunately, my hip pain was almost completely gone (so I don’t need to worry about seeing an orthopedic surgeon) and even though I was nauseous I wasn’t dealing with cramps at the same time. It’s not the best situation to work out in, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was also a switch day so we were switching a lot and I didn’t have to worry about being in one section of the room for too long. We had 2 blocks at each section (6 blocks total).

For cardio, the first block started with a 2-minute push pace. Then we had a 1-minute base pace before a 2-minute base at incline. And we finished with a 30-second base without incline and a 30-second all out. The second block started with a 2-minute push just like the first block did. Then we had a 30-second walk before a 1-minute all out. Then it was 2 rounds of 30-seconds of walking and 30-second all outs.

The first block on the rower was all about stroke drills. We had 15 pulls on the rower to get as far as we could. After 15 pulls, we had squat jacks (which I modified to be regular squats) and we continued doing rounds of those until the block ended. We had to remember what distance we got in that first block to use when we got back to the rower for the second block. The second block started with 25 squat jacks (which I did as regular squats) and then we were supposed to row the distance that we got in the first block. The second block wasn’t about doing stroke drills, we just rowed normally. I just got to that distance when the block ended.

And on the floor, we were supposed to use heavy weights but my nausea wasn’t really allowing me to. I hated that I had to go a bit lighter on the weights, but I knew it was what I needed to do. The first block had bicep curls, front squats, neutral half thrusters, and squats. And the second block had deadlifts, low rows with weights, burpees (modified using the bench), and double-tap crunches. The floor work in both blocks was a bit of a struggle with my nausea and I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to.

I also had a workout on Thursday. I couldn’t do my workout on Saturday so I had to fit in an extra class somewhere else. Every time I do a workout in the afternoon I seem so thrown off by them. And it’s weird because for years my workouts were in the afternoon so I should be used to them. But it is a good way to mix up things since I usually am pretty set in when I work out. And I don’t know if this was due to the workout being in the afternoon or it was just that day, but it was a bad nausea and pain day for me. I took all the medications that I could to manage it, but it wasn’t helping.

The workout was an endurance day and it was a 2 group class. The cardio had 3 blocks and the floor had 1 long block. For cardio, I know there were different push pace lengths, but I wasn’t really focused on that. I was pedaling when I could and resting when I needed. I didn’t think too much beyond that. I hate when I can’t really follow the workout, but for cardio sometimes I have to do that. And I know that when I do that on cardio that it’s not a horrible distraction or anything to the others in the class so I don’t feel as guilty.

On the floor, we started with a 500-meter row and then we had the exercises. We had a hip hinge swing with weights, lunges with lateral raises and front raises (I split them up and did the lunges on their own and the arm movements on their own), hip hinge reverse fly, hamstrings on the ab dolly (which I did as hip bridges), and roll-outs on the ab dolly (which I did on the straps). After completing the exercises, we went back to the rower and decreased the row by 100 meters each round. Between some of the modifications taking longer than the assigned exercises and needed to take breaks, I only made it through 2 rounds on the floor even though it was all one long block.

I was feeling a little better on Friday, but I still wasn’t doing great. It was a strength day, and I was able to do more than I could on Thursday which was nice. But there were still lots of breaks that I needed to take and I wasn’t doing as much as I could do if I was feeling ok.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks had a mix of push paces and base paces with and without incline. I was using the resistance levels for the incline work but I was going much slower than I normally would go on the bike. But it did feel good to push myself a bit more than I had on Thursday even if it wasn’t quite what I wanted to do.

On the rower, the first block was rounds of 200-meter rows with squats to shoulder presses with a medicine ball between each row. I was doing ok with doing 200-meters and only needed to take a break once in the middle of a row. And the second block was another stroke drill block. We had 20 strokes each time and the same exercise between each row. The 20 stroke drills took longer than 200-meters so I had to take breaks in the middle a lot more. The nausea was getting really intense on the rower, but it wasn’t as bad as it has gotten at times.

And on the floor we had one long block split into 2 mini-blocks. Each mini-block was supposed to be done 3 times before moving on. The first mini-block had push-ups (I used the bench to modify them) and single-arm hip hinge rows with a weight. The second mini-block had chest presses, plank pull-throughs (I modified these to be plank shoulder taps using the bench), and single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to be using both hands instead of just one). Even though I modified so many things on the floor, it didn’t feel that way to me and I was happy that I was using close to my normal weights for the weight work.

Just like how I was going into this past week, I am aware that this week might be a tough one for me. But I also know that hopefully after this week I’ll be back to feeling normal for about 2 weeks. And even if I feel awful and I am barely doing anything in the workout, whatever effort I can do is better than what I would be doing if I wasn’t in class. And sometimes that’s all I can tell myself when I’m really down on myself and my ability.

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This past week of workouts was a pretty good week for me. I wasn’t dealing with nausea at all. And I wasn’t dealing with hormonal pain. That’s always a win for me. But I did have a week where I was dealing with hip pain for most of the week. It wasn’t the worst hip pain I’ve had, but it was affecting things for me. But I’m used to that type of pain so it wasn’t too bad to have to push through it.

Monday’s workout was a power day, and it was the first time I was almost late for class! There was an accident blocking the freeway exit I use to get to my Monday class, and I made it 2 minutes after class started (we have to be in the room within the first 5 minutes of class). Since I was late, I had to start on the floor. I really don’t like starting on the floor, but it’s better than missing class completely.

We had 2 blocks on the floor. The first block was split into 2 different sections. The first section had lateral lunges, skater lunges, and plank punches. We did 2 rounds of those exercises and then had a 200-meter row. Then we had reverse lunges, hip bridges, and crunches. We were supposed to do 2 rounds of those and then have another 200-meter row, but I didn’t make it through 2 rounds of that second section. The second block had toe taps and step-ups on the benches. I modified those to do smaller movements and holding on to the straps for balance while I was on the bench (I don’t always do this, but my hip was doing ok so I felt like I should push myself). We also had double crunches and sit-ups for that second block.

For cardio, we technically had 2 blocks but it felt like one long block. The first block had all 2-minute distance challenges. After each distance challenge, we had a walking recovery that was between 1-2 minutes long. We had 4 of those and then 1-minute distance challenges with walking recoveries between 1-2 minutes long. Again, we had 4 of those challenges. I kept the resistance level on the bike at my base level for the entire thing and I really did try to increase the wattage and pedaling speed each of the distance challenges. It was not easy, even when we had the 1-minute challenges, because I was getting tired. But it was a good cardio workout and it felt different from so many other cardio workouts we have had.

Wednesday’s workout was the 12-minute distance benchmark. I was really looking forward to this workout because I wanted to see what I could do this time. I’ve had too many benchmarks that happened when I was experiencing a lot of pain and nausea. But this time, the benchmark fell right in the middle of when I was feeling my best!

I didn’t have a lot of strategy for how I was going to do the 12-minute challenge on the bike. It’s hard for me to plan as I did on the treadmill because my pedaling speed or resistance doesn’t set how far I can go the same way the treadmill speed does. I know what my previous PR was and I wanted to beat that. And I figured out what distance I needed to get on the bike at different checkpoints so I could get there. It’s still very different planning on the bike, but I at least had a bit of a plan going into it. And I was doing really well right from the start. I was on pace to just beat my previous PR from the first checkpoint I had in my head. I did have to take 2 quick breaks for water, and I panicked that those screwed things up for me and I would miss beating my old distance. But I guess that panic made me pedal faster because I beat my old PR! I was hoping to do .1 better, but I ended up doing .2 better!

I was using the bike for the rower again and I knew I wouldn’t be biking too hard after completing the 12-minute challenge. I did set the bike at my normal base resistance level (it was a bit below that for the challenge because I knew my base might be a bit too much). The rowing started at 400-meters and went down 100 meters each time before going back up by 100 meters. I just did it by time on the bike with the plan of 30-seconds for every 100-meters (so 2-minutes for 400-meters, 90-seconds for 300-meters, and so on). When we were decreasing the rowing distance, we had frogger squats between each row. And when we were increasing the rowing, we had lunges between each row. I usually don’t do lunges when rowing, but since I was using the bike, I was able to get on and off easily so I did do lunges but holding onto the bike for a bit of support.

And the floor was one long block. We started with single-leg bicep curls which are always a struggle for me with my balance. But I took my time and went slowly so I could do them. Then we had seated torso rotations with weights, knee tucks on the ab dolly, rollouts on the ab dolly, low rows on the straps, and triceps on the straps. It wasn’t the hardest floor workout, but it felt much harder than it was because of how tired I was after the benchmark.

Friday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power but it really felt like an endurance day to me. I was feeling awesome after doing so well on the benchmark on Wednesday and wanted to continue having awesome workouts for the week. And I think I did just that, but I may have overdone things a bit.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks had a push pace to a base pace before having a few rounds of all outs. The first block had a 90-second push pace, 90-second base pace, and 2 rounds of 1-minute all outs. And the second block had a 3-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, and 3 rounds of 30-second all outs. I was able to get some good speed on the bike for those all outs, especially the 30-second ones. It did feel like the resistance was heavy because on Wednesday I was lower than my normal level. But I needed to be back to my normal one because I want to still work on increasing it.

I was on the bike for the rower again for this workout. The rowers started with a 400-meter row which I did as a 2-minute bike. Then it was supposed to be squat jacks to overhead presses with a medicine ball. I did them as regular squats with overhead presses. The rowing went down by 100-meters each round (so I decreased the bike by 30-seconds) with the same exercise after. Once we did 4 rounds of that, then it was just rowing (or biking) for distance until the block ended.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had clean to press with weights, low rows on the straps, single-leg v-ups (which I modified to be full sit-ups), and plank hip dips. And the second block had lateral lunges to single-arm upright rows, y-raises on the straps, and plank shoulder taps. I had been dealing with a bit of a bad hip day that morning, but nothing I was doing should have bothered my hips too much. But by the end of this workout, I was in a lot of pain and I felt it a lot the next day as well. Since there was nothing that should have bothered me too much, it might have been just bad luck causing the pain. But it was odd to feel that much pain when I couldn’t pinpoint what exercise might have been the reason.

Saturday’s workout was another endurance, strength, and power day. I was dealing with the hip pain that I had on Friday plus some muscle soreness, so I knew I would need to be a bit easy on myself. I didn’t want to do anything that could actually hurt me, but I also had to push through the pain a bit. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I’m so used to figuring out this balance so it’s not hard for me to do that.

We had 3 cardio blocks. Every block had a 90-second push pace, a base pace, and an all out. In the first block, the base pace was 90-seconds and the all out was 30-seconds. Each block, 15 seconds were taken off of the base pace and 15 seconds were added to the all out. It was a good cardio workout for me, especially for dealing with hip pain. The blocks were all short so there was time for me to rest, and I didn’t have to feel like I needed to do anything harder than I could do.

The rower also had 3 blocks. And 2 of those blocks were crew rows, which is when we are supposed to sync up with one person on the rower and all row together. The first block was supposed to be about 24 strokes per minute and the second block was supposed to be 26 strokes per minute. Getting my strokes to be at the right cadence wasn’t too hard, but it is very hard to sync up with everyone else. Even if we are all rowing at 24 strokes per minute, you aren’t necessarily doing every part of the row the same. So I had to focus on matching everyone else and not as much on my rowing. The last rowing block was just a row for distance and we didn’t have to sync up with anyone else or be at a specific stroke per minute.

And on the floor, we had one long block but it was split into 3 mini-blocks. Each mini-block had 2 exercises and we did 3 rounds of those before moving on to the next one. The first mini-block had ground to press with weights and seated knee tucks. The second mini-block had froggers and double crunches. And the last mini-block had push-ups and sit-ups with torso rotations. I did minor modifications for a few of the exercises to make it easier on my hips, but nothing too big like the modifications I have to do when I’m nauseous.

This week, I know it might be a tough workout week. I’m hoping that my hips don’t continue to hurt me. But I know that I will likely start having pain and nausea at some point during the week. The only thing that might work in my favor is that I had to adjust my workout schedule to be slightly different so there is a chance I might actually be done with my workouts for the week before the pain and nausea hits me. I’ll just have to wait and see.

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I’ve been wanting to have a week of workouts where I wasn’t dealing with any issues like horrible pain or nausea. I will always have hip issues because that is just a part of my life, but I really missed having a week where hip issues were the only thing I was dealing with. But I never seemed to get that. For one reason or another, I was either having an all bad week or a split week. But I finally got the week I had been craving for so long!

Monday’s workout was a 3 group class because it was a holiday (since I always have Mondays off, I didn’t realize it was a holiday until I got to class). Since that class is usually my only 2 group class of the week, I was a bit sad that it was 3 groups, but it ended up being a really great workout that had a lot of things that made me push myself on my own.

For cardio, we had a run/recovery workout that was done on our own. We had 3 different sections that had different distances and recovery times. The first section was 4 rounds of a .1 run (.4 bike) with 30 seconds of recovery after each. The second section was 2 rounds of a .2 run (.8 bike) with 45 seconds after each. And the last round was a .4 run (.8 bike) with a minute of recovery after. We had a run/bike for distance if we completed that, but I was still working on the .8 bike distance when the block was done. I was feeling really good in class so I could go fast and I was loving that!

The rowing block was similar to cardio with different sections that we were on our own with. But instead of recovery, we had ground to press with a medicine ball. I modified those to be squats with overhead raises, but those are pretty similar. The first section was 4 rounds of a 100-meter row with 5 medicine ball exercises after each row. The next section had 2 rounds of a 200-meter row with 10 medicine ball exercises after each row. And the last section was 1 round of a 400-meter row with 20 medicine ball exercises after it. And when those were done, we rowed until the block ended. I made it to rowing until the block ended which was awesome. I usually don’t make it to the end of the workout assignments.

And on the floor, we had all timed work. We had 2 different blocks and each block had 3 exercises. We had 30 seconds of doing an exercise and 15 seconds to recover and get ready for the next one. And we did 3 rounds of those 3 exercises before moving to the next block. The first block had push-ups on the straps, upright rows with weights, and pop jacks. And the second block had full thrusters with weights, squats, and v-ups (which I modified to sit-ups). It’s very different doing timed exercises because you aren’t counting reps and know how much longer you have to go. I tried to not go too quickly, but I was getting very tired at the end of each 30 seconds of work.

Wednesday was a strength-based class and it was one where I wanted to work hard on focusing on the thing that made it a strength class. We had 2 blocks at each part of the room and we switched after each block. However, I was using the bike for cardio and for rowing, so I had a lot of time on the bike.

The first cardio block started with a 2-minute base pace, but it was at an incline. I used 1 resistance level higher than what I used to use for my all out. After that, we had 1-minute at base pace without incline. Then it was a 1-minute push pace without incline and a 30-second all out without incline. After a quick recovery, we had another 30-second all out, but this time it was at the same incline as the push pace we had at the beginning. The second block started with a 2-minute declining hill. I started at the same resistance level that I used before and it decreased 1 level every 30 seconds. We then had a 2-minute base pace, which felt like a nice long recovery. Then we had the same pattern from the end of the first block with a 30-second all out, quick recovery, and another 30-second all out but at an incline.

For the rowing, it was all about doing stroke drills. Since I was on the bike, I put the resistance level to be double what my base level is (which is what I did last week as well). The first block was slow rowing/stroke drills for 100-meters. We were supposed to count the strokes and then use that number for how many reps we had to do squats to overhead press with a medicine ball. I biked for 30-seconds and then did 8 reps since that is probably close to how many strokes it would have taken me. The second block switch the rowing to be 200-meter so I biked at the heavy resistance level for 1-minute. And the exercise was a squat hold while doing front presses with the medicine ball. This time, I did 12 reps since that seemed like a good number.

And on the floor, the exercises were the same for both blocks. We just picked up where we left off when we returned for the second block. We had chest presses, squats with weights, pullovers, half get-ups, and plank pull-throughs. I usually would use 25 pounds for chest presses, but I pushed myself and used 30 pounds instead (it’s a 30-pound weight in each hand, so a total of 60 pounds). It was so much harder for me, and I couldn’t do all the reps without a break in the middle, but that’s almost the point with a strength day. We need to test ourselves to see if we can lift heavier. I used the 30-pound weights for my squats as well and then used one of the weights for the pullovers. For my half get-ups and plank pull-throughs, I used one 20 pound weight. Even though I went down with the weight, it wasn’t easy since that was heavier than I’m used to.

Friday was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. I was having a bit of a bad hip day, but it wasn’t too horrible and I was able to work around a few things to manage it.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first and third blocks were both 3-minute distance challenges with inclines. And the middle block had 5 rounds of 30-second all outs. I was able to use a bit of resistance on the bike to do the incline work. And I used my base pace level for the middle block with all the all outs.

Rowing was one long block. We started with a 3-minute row. Then we were supposed to do lunges with medicine ball twists but I modified them to be squats with the medicine ball. Then we were back on the rower and we took the distance we did for the 3 minutes and decreased it by 200-meters. We kept doing that and the medicine ball work until we couldn’t take 200 meters off again. Then we just rowed until the block was done. I guess I didn’t get a lot of rowing done in that first 3-minute challenge because I had almost 4 minutes left in the block when I finished the assignment. I wasn’t able to row for the entire 4 minutes that we had left, so I took breaks to stretch out when I needed to. But I still got a lot of rowing done.

And on the floor, we had 3 blocks just like we did for cardio. The first block had bench sit to stands and bench hop overs. The second block had sit-ups to squats on the bench, mountain climbers, lunges, and full sit-ups. And the last block had alligators on the straps and push-ups (I did these on my knees but I didn’t use the bench to make it easier).

Saturday was another day that my hip was bothering me before I got to class, but it was manageable and something that I was so used to since I have been dealing with it for over a decade. The workout was endurance-based, and it wasn’t done in the order that I’m used to. I normally start with cardio and then do rowing and the floor. But this class, I had to start on the floor and then I did the cardio and ended with rowing.

It’s never easy for me to start on the floor, but I was determined to do my best. It was one long block and everything was 12 reps. We had squats to bicep curls to uppercuts with weights, plank pull-throughs, single-leg v-ups (which I modified to full sit-ups), plank leg raises, high rows on the straps, and sumo squats to upright rows with weights. The first and last exercises were really tough for me, and after the first round, I did have to split up the exercises into the individual parts. And I did go a bit easy because I usually don’t have anything after the floor and this time I had the rest of the workout to go. But I still tried to push myself where I could.

The cardio was 2 blocks and they were both very similar. They had a long push pace to start, then a longish base pace, a 1-minute push pace, and a 1-minute all out. I kept the resistance level on the bike at the same level the entire time but I was very focused on how fast I was pedaling for each segment. I overdid it a bit on the long push paces at the beginning of each block, but nothing that I wasn’t able to recover from.

And the rower was also 2 blocks that were similar. The first block started with a 3-minute row. Then we had squats to front presses with the medicine ball. We continued that pattern and decreased the row by 200 meters each round. I was just finishing that up when the block ended. The second block started with a 90-second row and then we were supposed to do squat jacks with the medicine ball (I modified these to be regular squats with a medicine ball). And each round the row decreased by 100 meters. It was weird to end on the rower and I almost felt like the workout was unfinished, but I was also tired enough to know I did a full class.

I’m cautiously optimistic about this week. It should hopefully be another good week for me and I believe we have a benchmark this week. I’m so competitive when it comes to benchmarks, so I hate when I have a bad day when we have them. I can only hope for the best and know that whatever happens will be. But I still will be hoping it goes exactly how I want it to!

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I had another workout week where I was dealing with a lot of pain and nausea for part of it and felt better for the other part of it. I guess that’s better than a full week of feeling awful. And I did try my best each workout day to see what I could do and to make sure that I was pushing myself but not pushing myself too much.

Monday’s workout was an endurance day. It was also a day that I felt really horrible. I wasn’t as nauseous as I usually am, but I was in a lot more pain than normal. Even after taking 3 different medications that usually help me, I was still feeling awful. The pain was really taking it out of me, but I was determined to do the best that I could. And that’s not always easy with an endurance day.

The cardio was a 23-minute block without a break. It was split up into lots of runs for distance with base pace recoveries after each one. The runs for distance were twice as long as the base paces (for example, 5-minute run for distance with a 2.5-minute base pace). But for me, I wasn’t focused on the different distance challenges. My goal was just to keep going as much as I could and take breaks when I needed them. I didn’t pedal that hard or fast and the breaks were frequent, but I did what I could and tried not to stress out too much about what I was doing and what I felt like I should be doing. I still was comparing my effort to my normal effort, but at least I was constantly reminding myself that I wasn’t slacking off but was managing with the situation I was in.

The floor had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a row. The first block had a 2-minute row and the second block had a 1-minute row. Then, both blocks were mainly Bosu work. The first block had goblet lunges (these I modified to not use the Bosu), scaptions with weights, sit-ups, hip raises with weights, pullovers with weights, and side plank hip dips. And the second block had lateral raises with weights and back extensions (which I modified to bird dogs which still made me very nauseous). It was a battle with pain during both floor blocks and a lot of nausea hit me at the end, but I got through it and once the workout was done I was able to recover and relax at home.

Unfortunately, I was feeling just as horrible (or worse) on Wednesday. It was a power day and I knew I didn’t really have much in me to push myself. I went to the workout knowing that and tried to remember that doing even a little bit is better than if I stayed home and did nothing.

There were 2 cardio blocks, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what we were doing. I had a similar plan to what I did on Monday. I was going to pedal when I could and rest when I needed it. I didn’t focus much on how fast I was pedaling and I kept the resistance level at my base level the entire time. And I didn’t get that much distance done between those 2 blocks because of how often I had to take a break.

When we switched to the rowers, even though the rower at my station was still being fixed I was able to use a rower at another station so I didn’t have to stay on the bike. For the first block, the rowing was always 150-meters and we were supposed to do lunges between each row. The lunges were supposed to start at 12 and go down 2 reps each round. I did squats instead of lunges and got pretty far with the rounds. And the second block, we matched the cardio with all outs and recoveries. I wasn’t too worried about timing things since all of my rowing was close to what recovery would be. So I just rowed when I could and rested when I needed to. After both blocks, I will say I was surprised by the distance I managed to get done on the rower because I thought it would have been a fraction of that.

And the floor was one long block that was split into 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block was all mini-band work. We had side steps and we were supposed to do plank toe touches. I did the side steps, but I switched the plank work to be stand side leg lifts since that was working the same muscles and wouldn’t make me nauseous. But I did have a small win during that mini-block. I usually have to wear the mini-bands around my ankles instead of calves because they were too tight around my calves. But this time, they fit fine! So maybe I’ve lost some weight in my calves or something. The second mini-block had lunges, lunges with hops (which I did holding on to the straps), and plank with arm in and outs. I did front raises using a mini-band instead of the plank work for that block.

Friday I was doing much better, but still not completely better. And instead of having a Valentine’s Day-themed workout (which I would assume would be a partner workout), we had a Singles Awareness Day workout with a lot of single arm or single leg work.

We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and we switched after each block. The first block for cardio was a 3-minute distance challenge and we were supposed to remember our distance. Then for the second block, we started with that same distance that we did in the first block. We had a minute of recovery after that and then we cut the distance in half. We repeated that pattern until the block ended.

I was using the bike again for the rower (the rower will hopefully be fixed soon, but I don’t mind doubling up on the bike) and it was a similar plan to what we did for cardio. The first block was a 3-minute challenge. And the second block started with that distance again and then we had lunges after we completed that. Then we cut the distance in half and repeated the pattern. I was able to do lunges instead of having to modify them to be squats since I was next to the bike and could hold on to it for support.

On the floor, the first block had single-arm thrusters, lunges, and step-ups (which I modified to be weighted lunges). The second block had single-arm split stance high rows, single-arm chest presses, single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to be using both straps), and single-leg v-ups (I modified these to be regular full sit-ups). I had a little bit of nausea during the floor work, but nothing unbearable. I just had to take a break to let it pass and I was able to get back to the work quickly. It was so much nicer than how I had been feeling the rest of the week and it was a good boost for me mentally.

Saturday’s workout was a strength day and it was when I finally felt like myself. I was able to work on the resistance levels on the bike and I really needed to do that this time. We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and the cardio and rowing blocks stayed the same.

For cardio, we started with a 4-minute progressive hill. We increased the incline/resistance level each minute before going back to a flat base pace. I was able to increase the resistance level for each minute and it felt really good. And each block ended with a 30-second all out.

And I was on the bike for the rower again. The rower at the station I use should hopefully be fixed this week, but I guess it was a good thing to have extra practice on the bike. And this was really good practice because it required me to use a resistance level that I never use on the bike. The rower was supposed to be stroke drills, and there isn’t a great equivalent on the bike. So what I did was use double my base resistance level and my coach helped me figure out how long to bike each time. I don’t think I have ever used that resistance level before and it was hard. But every interval was 30 seconds or under, so that was good. And between each one, we had front raises and presses with the medicine ball.

And on the floor, each block was a bit different. The first block had tricep extensions, squats, and toe reaches. And the second block had uppercuts, front weighted squats, and toe reaches. I did need to take a few breaks on the floor, but nothing like I had been doing the rest of the week.

I’m cautiously optimistic that this week will be a good workout week for me. And we have a benchmark coming up soon so I want to get some practice in for that. But I also know that I can have an unexpected thing happen that will make the week harder for me. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen because I really want a good workout week this time!

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I knew this past week of workouts would be a mix of good days and not so good days. I was prepared for that this time and went into my workouts expecting that. Even though I’ve had a few tough weeks recently, I always do so much better when I am prepared for them. And this past week was one of those weeks that I did better because I went into the workout expecting it.

Monday’s workout was a strength-based class and we were supposed to be challenging ourselves by using a new base pace. I wasn’t quite ready to add to my base resistance level on the bike (and this entire month is going to be about adding to base so I have plenty of opportunities), but I did want to make sure I did the hill work the way we were supposed to.

We had 3 cardio blocks with the same pattern. We had 2 rounds of 90-second hills with base paces after them and we ended with an all out. The base paces got shorter and the all out got longer each block. And we also had higher hills each block for the hill work. Doing the hills was definitely challenging because I don’t use the resistance levels as often as I used to and this was a lot of hill work. But it was a good challenge and I’m glad I went for it.

We also had 3 floor blocks and each floor block started with a rowing challenge. The rowing challenge was to see how far we could get in just 15 strokes. Stroke challenges are tough because you have to go slowly and take your time, which seems to be the opposite of what you feel like you should do on the rower. After each stroke challenge, we had regular floor work for the rest of each block. The first block had squats with calf raises and plank leg raises. The second block had goblet squats and Y raises on the straps. And the last block had sumo squats, hip raises, and plank punches. For the squats to calf raises, goblet squats, sumo squats, and hip raises; I tried to go heavy with the weights I used. I didn’t go as heavy as I could for the hip raises, but for everything else, I feel like I was using heavier weights than I normally would grab.

Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was also supposed to help us get ready for the 12-minute run benchmark later this month. I was feeling fine when I got to class, but unfortunately, my nausea kicked in during the warmup. I wasn’t feeling too horrible, but it still affected things and forced me to take it a bit easier than I was hoping to.

For cardio, the entire focus was preparing for the benchmark. We had 2 rounds of 5.5-minute runs/bikes for distance with a 90-second recovery between them. This is a bit longer than the benchmark will be, but it also had the recovery time which the benchmark won’t. There were no intervals or specific paces to do during those 5.5 minutes, but the goal was to push ourselves. I tried my best to push myself and take a break when nausea kicked in. I know I didn’t do nearly as well as I could, but I did my best and I’m hoping that when we have the benchmark that I will feel better and can really go for it.

The rowing started with a 90-second row for distance. Then we had rotation presses with a medicine ball. We continued the rowing and medicine ball work for the rest of the block, doing 50 meters less each time on the rower. I did that for the first few rounds, but then the rotation presses were making me more nauseous so I just rowed until the block was done. I had to take a lot of breaks, so even though I didn’t stop rowing to do the other work, I didn’t get a lot of rowing done.

On the floor, we had a lot of core focus. We started with 3 rounds of lateral crunches and toe touches. Then we moved on to the other exercises which all had weights. We had suitcase squats, plank pull-throughs, hollow hold chest presses, and single-leg bicep curls. I didn’t go too heavy with the weights and actually went a bit lighter than normal for the bicep curls. But I was able to do the plank work normally instead of using the bench, which surprised me considering how I was feeling. But plank pull-throughs are tough to do on the bench so I’m glad I could do them on the floor.

Friday’s workout was a strength day. And even though I wasn’t feeling nauseous when I went to class, I knew that there was a good chance I would feel that way during the workout so I took some anti-nausea medications that morning. It did help, but I still struggled with feeling off.

We had 2 cardio blocks. Both blocks had a mix of push paces and base paces at inclines. I was using the resistance levels on the bike for the incline work, but I kept them a bit lower than I would have if I was feeling ok. I didn’t have a lot of nausea on the bike, but it was still affecting me from time to time and I had to take some breaks to let it pass.

And unfortunately, the rower at my station broke so I wasn’t able to row. Thinking about it later, it might have been better for me to use the bike instead of the rower. So I did the rowing work on the bike. It was all distance rows so I used the time it would take me to row that distance if I was averaging 200 meters every minute. The first block had a 400, 200, and 100-meter row (so 2-minute, 1-minute, and 30-second bike). And the second block had a 300, 200, and 100-meter row (90-second, 1-minute, and 30-second row). Between each row, we had front raises with the mini-band. And one bonus I found on the bike was that I could do the front raises without having to get off the bike.

And on the floor, every round started with a cluster set. This cluster set was 15 shoulder presses split into 3 rounds of 5 with 10 seconds between each round. After the cluster set, the rest of the exercises were done normally. We had bicep curls, front squats with dumbells, bird dogs, and low rows on the straps. I struggled a bit with the bird dogs because I did them normally even though I felt nauseous, but besides those, I did pretty decently on the floor.

Saturday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. I was feeling a bit worse than I was on Friday, but still not as bad as I know I could feel. Everything was done in 4-minute blocks and the floor and the rower switched every 4 minutes.

For cardio, every 4-minute block had a push pace, a base pace, a push pace, a base pace, and an all out. The first push pace got shorter each block and the second push pace and the second base pace got longer each block. The blocks were short but some of the intervals felt long. I’m glad they were only 4 minutes long because I don’t know how I would have done if it was longer.

Because we switched back and forth between the floor and the rower, we had a total of 3 blocks on each. Every block on the rower was the same every time and every block on the floor was the same every time. We just picked up where we left off.

I was using the bike for the rower since the rower was still down. Every row was supposed to be a 200-meter row, so I biked for 1-minute. Then we were supposed to do lunges with overhead triceps using the medicine ball after each row. We started with 12 reps and every time we went down 2 reps. And on the floor, we had hip hinge low rows with weights, plank work, pull-ups on the straps (I modified these to be rows on the straps), hip hinge triceps, hip hinge fly, and plank punches. I was able to get through one round on the floor every time I was there so it was easy to pick up each time I was back there.

Overall, considering how I thought I might feel this week I did pretty great. I was worried I’d feel a lot worse, but it wasn’t as bad as expected. Of course, I’m aware that this week might be miserable, but at least I’m ready for that. And hopefully, I can still push myself when I can even if I feel like I am struggling a lot.

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I had 2 weeks in a row that were pretty tough workout weeks for me. First, was a week dealing with pain and nausea. Then it was a week dealing with the same issues that were caused by antibiotics. I usually don’t have 2 bad workout weeks in a row like that, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from my workouts last week. I knew I was going to be a bit weaker than normal, but I honestly didn’t realize it was going to be as bad as it was.

Monday’s workout was a power day. While I was finally feeling better after taking antibiotics, I also was still feeling a bit weak. I know that having so many days where I couldn’t push myself caused that, but having a power day was helpful with working back to my normal self.

For cardio, the first part was all about 2-minute blocks. These 2 minutes were split between push pace and all out. We started with a 90-second push and 30-second all out. Then it was a 75-second push and 45-second all out. Then it was a 1-minute push and 1-minute all out. Then we repeated that again but worked in reverse. We did have recovery time after every all out, but I did have to take a few little breaks during some of the push paces. Then we finished the cardio workout with a 1-minute, 45-second, and 30-second all out. We had 9 all outs during the entire cardio time, which is a lot.

On the floor, we had 3 blocks that mainly focused on upper body. The first block had pull-ups on the straps (I modified these to be high rows on the straps), single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to not be single-arm), and side plank rotations. The second block had pullovers with a dumbbell, bench plank reverse flys, and plank pull-throughs (which I modified to be bench plank pull-throughs).

And the final block was a core blast. This workout was the day after Kobe Bryant passed away, and most of the people in class were affected by his death. So the core blast was themed around 8 and 24 (Kobe’s jersey numbers). We had 3 exercises that had 8 reps each (so a total of 24 reps). We had hip bridge toe touches (I modified these to be regular toe touches), sit-ups with rotations, and atomic plank work. While I wasn’t a basketball fan, I know how much Kobe meant to the city of LA. And I could feel the mood in the room being different from a normal workout day. I think dedicating the core blast block was a good choice and the mood of the room was much closer to normal when the workout was done.

Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance and power. I was continuing to feel a bit more like myself, but I still could tell I wasn’t 100% back. But I was almost there so I was able to push myself more and worked a lot closer to what I normally do.

Cardio had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 2-minute push pace, then a 90-second base pace, a 90-second push pace, a 30-second base pace, and a 30-second all out. The 2-minute push pace was a bit long but everything else felt like it went by really quickly, especially with having such a short base pace at the end to recover. The second block was a similar pattern but in reverse. So we started with a 30-second push pace and ended with a 2-minute distance challenge.

On the rower, we started with a 600-meter row. Then we had 12 ground to presses with a medicine ball. Each round the row went down by 100 meters and we did 2 fewer squats. I didn’t get that far in the rowing, but I was also using a different rower than I normally do and there was a difference with how that rower felt. It’s weird how I’ve gotten so used to the rower I usually use, but I guess it was an added challenge for me to try a different rower and see how I could do on that one.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had a lower body focus and the second block had an upper body focus. And for both blocks, we were supposed to do all the exercises on one side first and then switch to the other. But for the lower body side, I did each exercise on both sides first since my hips would hurt too much otherwise. The first block had single-leg squats (which I did as regular squats), toe taps on the bench, power step-ups on the bench, and plank kicks. For the benchwork, I did use the bench but held on to the straps to keep my balance. And the second block had hip hinge low rows, low rows with a split stance, low rows on the bench, and plank punches. For all the low rows, we used the same weights and I did use my normal weight even though my arms were so fatigued by the time I switched arms.

Friday’s workout was a power day and it was also a switch day. Both of those things helped me get much closer to my normal workout ability and I was finally feeling like I might not be as weak as I was earlier in the week. It was crazy how quickly I felt weak, but I’m glad that it was almost as quick for me feeling back to my normal strength again.

The first cardio block started with push pace to base pace intervals. The push and base paces were the same amounts of time. We had a 1-minute, 45-second, and 30-second round. Then we did similar intervals but with all outs and recoveries. Again, we had a 1-minute, 45-second, and 30-second round. The second cardio block was just all outs with 30-seconds of recovery between them. We had a 1-minute, 45-second, and 30-second all out.

On the rower, the first block started with a 300-meter row. After the row, we were supposed to do lunges, but I did squats instead. Then it was a 200-meter and 100-meter row, both that were supposed to have lunges. Then we repeated all 3 rows but did squats between each row instead of the lunges. And the second block was the same pattern as cardio with all outs and recoveries.

On the floor, the first block had burpees to reverse lunges (I did the burpees on the bench and did the lunges separately), neutral full thrusters with weights, and sit-ups. And the second block had hip hinge swings with weights and skater lunges. I thought that we should have had another exercise in that second block because I felt like I did a million rounds of those 2 exercises, but at least I was able to get them done!

Saturday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was also a switch day. And just like with Friday’s workout, the combination of workout type and it being a switch day worked for me and I felt the best I had felt in a long time in class.

The first cardio block was a 2-minute push, 1-minute base, 1-minute push, 1-minute base, and 30-second all out. Nothing fancy, but it gave me a lot of time to work on getting back to my normal push pace pedaling speed. I know I haven’t been doing that for a little bit and it felt good to get back to what I usually do. The second cardio block was all all outs, but no matter how long the all out was we only had 30 seconds to recover. We had 1 round of a 1-minute all out, 2 rounds of a 45-second all out, and 3 rounds of a 30-second all out. This second block was much harder because of the limited recovery time, but I loved having so many all outs to work on my pedaling speed.

The rower had the same workout for both blocks, we just picked up where we left off when we went back to the rower the second time. The rowing started with 1 round of a 300-meter row with frogger squats. Then it was 2 rounds of a 250-meter row with frogger squats. 3 rounds of a 200-meter row with frogger squats. And I only did the first round of the 150-meter row when the second block ended.

On the floor, it was a lot of upper body and core work. The first block had pullovers with weights, side plank rotations, and single-arm snatches with weights. And the second block had pull-ups on the straps (I modified this to be high and low rows on the straps), plank pull-throughs, and squats. I thought I’d feel a bit more tired at the end of the workout, but I was feeling good. So I think that was a sign that I was finally better and I might have gone a bit easy on myself.

I want to say that I’m back to my normal self and normal strength now, but I also know that this week is the week that my nausea may be coming back. I’m hoping that doesn’t affect too many of my workouts. And I’m really hoping that I won’t lose as much momentum as I did this last time. I really want to be moving things forward, and it’s hard to do that when I take 1 step forward and 2 steps back.

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I feel like I must have cursed myself when I posted last week that I was hoping this past week of workouts would be a good week for me. I really thought I was going to have no health issues and it would help me do some of my better workouts. I wasn’t expecting to have to deal with a bladder infection and the side effects of antibiotics. But that’s what happened and it affected my workouts quite a bit.

Monday’s workout was before I was able to get antibiotics so I was feeling really awful. I was in a lot of pain and was very uncomfortable during the entire workout. I didn’t think about not showing up because I knew I would still be able to do something, but I knew I also had to take it very gentle on myself. Unfortunately, it also was partially a partner workout so I had to work with someone else and I did feel a bit guilty that they were partnered with me.

The first half of the class wasn’t partnered. The cardio block was rounds of push paces to base paces and ending with an all out. I felt very similar to how I feel when I’m dealing with pain and nausea so I adjusting what I did on the bike to be what I had done the week prior. And the floor block had bicep curls on the straps, squats, plank work, and sit-ups. These all were able to be done normally, but I took a lot of breaks. I don’t think there was one exercise that I could do without taking a break in the middle of the reps.

Then it was time for the Capture The Flag partner workout. The goal of Capture The Flag was to hit certain targets on the rower. You and your partner switch off who is rowing and you don’t reset the rower for the entire 23-minute block. The person on the rower is rowing until they are tagged. And the other person does floor and cardio work before going to the rower.

The floor work was all medicine ball work. We had squats to overhead presses, push-ups with one hand on the medicine ball, and double crunches. There was also a sprint run/bike after those exercises and all those sprints took 2 minutes or under. I really tried to not take breaks when I was on the floor or bike since I knew my partner was waiting on me, but I also know that I took a lot longer than my partner did. I warned my partner that I was not doing well and that I was sorry about things, and they seemed to understand. But I was partnered with someone I didn’t know so I have no idea if they were upset with me or not. But I did my best and that’s all I could do.

By Wednesday, I was taking antibiotics but I was dealing with the side effects from them. And those side effects were very similar to the pain and nausea that I’m used to each month. It wasn’t exactly the same and the pain affected me a different way, but I guess I should be grateful that I’m used to working through it and having modifications so I wasn’t too thrown off.

Even though it was a 3 group workout, it was a run/row format. Cardio and rowing were 4-minute blocks and we switched where we were each block. So when I started on cardio I did cardio, rowing, cardio. And when I started on the rower I did rowing, cardio, rowing. Every time I was on cardio it was a sprint run/bike, then 10 squats, and then running/biking for distance with an incline. I always made it to the incline work and I did adjust the resistance level on the bike a bit. But I didn’t go as high as I would have if I was feeling ok. And every time on the rower we started with a 100-meter row and then we had 10 squats. Then it was a 150-meter row and 15 squats and 200-meter row. I didn’t get to the 20 squats after the 200-meter row for any of the 3 times I was rowing, but I was very close to finishing that last row.

And the floor was one long block. We started with ground to press with weights. When it was supposed to be hamstring curls which I modified to be weighted hip bridges. Next was supposed to be bench sit-ups to sumo squats, but I had to split those exercises up and do them separately. Then it was ab dolly work. And finally, it was suitcase squats and we were supposed to do step-ups. But I did suitcase squats as its own exercise and then did lateral lunges with weights instead of the step-ups. I was glad when the workout was done because I really wasn’t feeling ok. And the usual things I do to help with pain and nausea like waiting for it to go away since it comes in waves didn’t help me this time. I guess pain and nausea from medications are different from when it’s from hormonal fluctuations so I can’t manage it the same way. But I tried.

Friday had similar issues as Wednesday. I was on my last day of antibiotics, but I was having the same side effects that I had every day on them. I was trying to do better than I had earlier in the week, but I also knew not to push too hard because the symptoms I was experiencing wouldn’t go away the way that I was used to. But it was also a strength day so I knew I wanted to try at least a bit to see what I could do.

For cardio, we started with a push pace without incline before starting with incline work. We had a few different push paces with incline and I did work on increasing my resistance levels on the bike. We finished that section with an all out at a flat incline before moving on to the next part. We then had rounds of all outs, and some of them had inclines and some of them didn’t. I really did try my best to do the resistance levels the way I knew I should, but it was tough. I ended up taking a lot of breaks to recover a bit, even in the middle of the short all outs.

On the rower, we started with a 400-meter row and then we had squats with a medicine ball. Each round, we went down 50 meters and had the same squats. It was a bit repetitive, but that’s what I liked about it. Even though I struggled a lot with the rowing, it allowed me to focus a lot on my power and speed. I could see what I was able to do for different amounts of time and it really did help me with figuring out what some good strategies could be for future rowing challenges.

And on the floor, we had a really unique workout. We had 3 main exercises that each had 2 parts to it. The first part we always did once and the second part started with 1 rep and went up to 6. For example, the first exercise was a lunge to a neutral half thruster. First, it was 1 lunge with 1 neutral half thruster. Then it was 1 lunge and 2 neutral half thrusters, and so on until we did 6 neutral half thrusters. After completing all of those, we had burpees to a bicep curl. But I had to split up the burpees and bicep curls. Then we had push-ups (always 1 rep) to plank jacks (1-6 reps) and then more burpees and bicep curls. And the last exercise was bench sit-ups (always 1 rep) to squats (1-6 reps). And then more burpees to bicep curls. It was a lot of work but it felt like it went really quickly because we were always switching what we were doing.

And on Saturday I was finally starting to feel a bit more like myself. I was done with antibiotics, but I noticed I was feeling a bit weak. I think that was due to having to take it easy for such a long time so pushing myself was harder than normal. But I tried and it was a good workout to be able to push myself on.

Cardio and rowing had the same pattern for both blocks. For the first block, we were coached with 1-minute intervals for push pace and base pace and ended with a 1-minute all out. Then we were supposed to look at our distance for cardio or rowing and the second block was a 6-minute distance challenge. The goal was to go further in the distance challenge. For both the bike and the rower, I tried to do my actual base and push pace during the coached block. And for the distance challenge, I tried to find a pace in the middle to stay at the entire time. I did have to take breaks during all the blocks, but I feel like the distance challenges went a bit better because I didn’t have any time where I was pushing myself super hard.

And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had to be modified a lot for me because it was a lot of lunges with exercises and I have a lot of issues with balance. We had swing lunges which I did holding on to the straps or the wall for balance. Then we were supposed to do lunges with hammer curls or with shoulder presses. I did the lunges and the exercises separately. And the last exercise for that block was side plank raises, which I modified to do on my knees. The last block was all work using the dumbells. We had tricep presses, reverse flys, hip raises, and bridge flys. For that block, I was able to do all the exercises normally.

I don’t want to say again that I’m hoping this week will go better than the past few weeks. But hopefully, I will get a bit of a break now from the pain and nausea. I know it will be kicking back in again soon, and I want to have some good workouts before that happens. But at least I know that I can get through those bad workouts weeks, no matter what the cause of the bad workout is.

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