Posted onFebruary 6, 2023|Comments Off on Not My Normal Workout Recap (or At Least I Was Feeling Ok During The Week)
This workout recap will be a bit different from what my normal ones look like. And that’s because I am currently sick. I’ve taken some Covid tests and they have been negative, so I think I just caught a really bad cold. This is something I used to deal with somewhat frequently, but the last few years have been better since people have been wearing masks and not really doing things around others. But I guess things are back to normal enough that I’m back to getting colds the way I used to.
Fortunately for me, I wasn’t really feeling sick this past week when I went to my workouts. I was worried I was going to be dealing with pain and nausea, and I also managed to mostly escape that as well. I did have some really bad cramps toward the end of the week, but that was a lot less than what I expected. And when I went to my Thursday workout, I had a bit of a sore throat but it wasn’t bad and I thought it might be allergies since it felt different from the sore throat I get before I get sick. But I guess I was wrong and now I know that was the first sign of me having this cold. Hopefully, I didn’t get anyone else sick in class. But there’s also a good chance that I got this from someone in class.
I’m glad that my workouts this past week weren’t affected by this cold or by anything else. Overall, it was a really good workout week. And I needed it to be a good week just for my self-esteem. I don’t know what will happen this week with my workouts. As I’m writing this post, I don’t know if I’ll need to take time off. If I don’t feel better than I do right now, I won’t be able to work out. I’m hoping I’m over this cold quickly, but I also know that if I am not fully better and I go to work out, I might extend this cold even longer. And I really don’t want that.
Plus, this week is likely to be one of the weeks where my pain and nausea will be really bad, so I don’t want that combined with this cold. I’m hoping I won’t need to take time off, but I’m also realistic and willing to do what my body needs. So if I miss a bunch of workouts this week, at least this past week was a good one for me.
I don’t have much else to write about my workouts since right now my brain is a bit foggy from this cold, but I’m glad that this cold didn’t affect how I was able to do. And hopefully, whatever workouts I can do this week will go well and won’t be too bad with everything I’m dealing with regarding my physical health.
I know that I do the best I can in my workouts each week. Sometimes that means I’m working harder and sometimes that means I’m going a bit easier. But I always make my best effort and try because I do want to see results. Seeing results hasn’t been the easiest thing for me and that can be very frustrating. I feel like for the work that I do, I should be seeing more changes in my body. And I know that there are probably some changes that are happening that I can’t see, but I wish that there were some visible results from time to time to encourage me to keep going.
I’ve had a few moments since starting at Orangetheory that I have seen my strength and it’s surprised me. I know that I’m strong, but when 20-pound weights seem heavy in a workout it’s crazy to think that I can lift several times that if I’m doing something in my regular life. And maybe the real-world experiences have to do with being stubborn and not just my strength. And I had an example of that this week.
I have been looking for a new tv stand pretty much since I moved into my condo. When I saw how tiny my current one looked, I knew I needed to upgrade. But I didn’t want to just spend my money on anything so I took my time looking for the right one. It was nice to not need to rush to buy something, but I also realized after looking at them for a while that I needed to make a choice because any of the ones I was looking at could work. So I picked one that felt the most unique and visually interesting and had it shipped to my house.
At my old place, deliveries were always right in front of my front door. At my current place, sometimes they bring things right to my door and sometimes they are left by the mailboxes. Our mailboxes aren’t that far from my door, I just have to go across the courtyard. And it’s never really been an issue since I haven’t ordered anything that was too heavy before. But that was until my new tv stand arrived.
I knew that I ordered something big because I was very specific in my search for the right one and I knew I needed something much bigger than what I had. But I guess I didn’t think about it too much until the box was sitting by the mailboxes and it was taller than me. And not only was it a huge box, but it also weighed over 120 pounds (at least according to the side of the box). I went to my neighbor’s door to see if maybe they could help me, but they weren’t available. And I didn’t want to leave it by the mailboxes since it could possibly be in someone’s way. So I had to figure out how to get it across the courtyard to my place.
It took a few minutes for me to safely lay the box down so it was on the side and then I worked on pushing it in small bursts. It was like how people in workouts push those weighted sleds, but it was a very awkward thing to move since it was a skinny box and I had to navigate multiple turns. Nobody was in the courtyard while I was doing this, so I didn’t have a chance to ask anyone for help. But also nobody saw how long this took me to accomplish. It felt like a second workout for the day since I had already worked out that morning. But after some time, I finally got the huge box inside my house and I could relax.
I’ll work on building the tv stand soon, but since I can open the box and take out what I need I don’t need to worry about pushing the heavy box again. But knowing that I was able to do that on my own when I thought I would need help just proved to me how strong I really am. I don’t think this means I should lift heavier weights all the time since this was a very different thing from what I do in my workouts. But it was nice to see how strong I’ve gotten and how there are results in my body even if I can’t see them when I look in the mirror.
Posted onJanuary 30, 2023|Comments Off on Another Good Workout Week (or Another Week With A PR)
I had a pretty great workout week this past week. I was feeling good, which really helps everything in life. But it especially helps my workouts. I’ve also been doing better with getting more sleep, so I’m not dealing with the same tiredness I had before. The only time I didn’t get enough sleep was when we had an earthquake and I struggled to get back to sleep. But only 1 night of bad sleep is so much better than every night with bad sleep.
Monday’s workout had a good mix of endurance, strength, and power. And I was ready to push myself in each type of workout.
We had 3 blocks for cardio and each one had a different focus. The first block was about endurance and we had rounds of a 45-second push pace and a 90-second base pace. The second block was all 30-second intervals and the incline changed every 30 seconds. I used all resistance levels higher than my normal all-out so that made it more of a challenge. And the last block was all 30-second all-outs with recovery between each one.
On the rower, we also had 3 blocks. For the first block, we rowed for 5 minutes and then checked our distance. For the second block, we did 15 stroke drills with lunges between each row. And the goal was to get to half of the distance from the first block. And in the last block, we had rounds of 100-meter rows with 10 seconds to rest between each row.
And on the floor, we had one long block. We had 3 mini-blocks and we did each one twice before moving to the next one. We had lunges and bicep curls, lateral lunges and hammer curls, and squats and clean to presses with weights. It was a good variety of exercises and really liked how the floor work was organized so I didn’t feel like any part of my body was getting overtired.
Tuesday’s workout was a tough one, but it was a good and tough one. Each section of the room was a single block, so we didn’t have a lot of time to rest. But it was a challenge and I’m glad I got to do it on a day I was feeling good.
For cardio, we had rounds of a push pace and a base pace. The time matched for the push and base paces each round starting at 30 seconds and then increasing by 15 seconds each time. Even though it got harder as the push paces got longer since the base paces were also longer it helped me get ready for each one.
On the rower, we started with a 200-meter row followed by a front press with a medicine ball. Then we had a 400-meter row, the front press, and a lunge. Next was a 600-meter row with those exercises plus overhead presses with a medicine ball. I was working on the 800-meter row when the block ended.
And on the floor, we started with reverse rows with weights. In the second round, we added sumo squats to upright rows. In the third round, we added squats. And in the last round, we added rows on the straps so we did all 4 exercises. We were supposed to go slowly and use heavy weights, so even though this doesn’t sound like a lot of work it did take up the entire time for me.
Wednesday was the day that I was tired, so my workout wasn’t as great as it had been earlier in the week. But it was still better than a lot of workouts have been for me recently.
For cardio, both blocks focused on incline/resistance work. We alternated between a push pace without an incline and a push pace with one. In the first block, the push paces were 45 seconds each and in the second block, they were 30 seconds each.
On the rower, the first block started with a 12 stroke drill. We looked at the distance we got and then tried to get to that same distance again but in fewer strokes. After that second row, we had squats before repeating the pattern again. The second block was the same pattern, but we did 15 stroke drills instead.
And on the floor, we did cluster sets. So we did an exercise, rested for about 10 seconds, and then did the same exercise again for as many reps as possible. We did each exercise as a cluster set 3 times before moving on to the next one. We had chest presses, tap squats, and overhead triceps. I didn’t go too heavy with the weights and I was feeling a bit weak, but I think that was because I was tired.
And Thursday’s workout was a signature workout. This one was Inferno, which is a rowing challenge. It’s a bit different when you do it as a 3-group class compared to a 2-group class, but it’s still a challenge where you try to get the best rowing distance possible.
I started on cardio, which wasn’t too hard since we were supposed to save our energy for the row. The first block had 1-minute push paces with increasing base paces. And the second block had 30-second push paces with increasing base paces. Both blocks ended with a 30-second all-out, but I didn’t go as hard as I normally would since I wanted to do my best with the Inferno challenge.
Then I was on the rower. For the 3-group class, the row starts with a 100-meter row, and then you do 20 lateral hops. Each time you sit back on the rower, you increase your row by 100 meters. I had a few ideas of the distance I wanted to get to in 14 minutes, and I knew I wanted to do better than 2000 meters. For some reason, 2100 meters was sticking in my mind so I went with that as my goal. I really tried to row as hard as I could and not rest. I knew I’d be close to my goal, and when the time was up I was at 2098 meters. That was so frustrating because 2 meters is nothing. It’s a fraction of a second. It would be me sitting down a millisecond faster. I did get a PR with the row, but it was tough knowing I was so close. I tried to focus on the PR more and I did celebrate how well I did when I know my past attempts weren’t this good.
I had the floor after the row, but I went pretty slow on the floor since I was tired from rowing. But I still tried my best. We had 2 floor blocks and they were focused on upper body work. In the first block, we had chest flys, lateral raises, and lunges. And in the second block, we had torso reaches on the straps, standing chest flys, and push-ups. I didn’t get that many rounds done, but I did them.
I’m so glad I had another good week. They have been rare lately and I always need that confidence boost to know that I’ve continued to make progress. Even with the minor disappointments and issues I had this past week, it was still a really great week for me and I know it will help me with any nausea and pain issues that may come for me this week.
Posted onJanuary 23, 2023|Comments Off on An Almost Normal Workout Week (or Happy To Be Able To Push Myself)
I was so grateful to be feeling better this past week. I wasn’t feeling the best I can feel, but it was so much better than the week before. I had only a little bit of nausea left toward the beginning of the week, but it felt like a huge relief compared to the week before. I’m always so happy when I’m at this point in my monthly nausea because I know it normally means I’m about to have a good week soon.
Monday’s workout was a bit different from my usual because I had the day off work. I was able to go to a slightly later workout than normal, but I still went in the morning because I like to get my workout done before enjoying the rest of my day. And because I went to a different class time, I had a 2 group class instead of a 3 group one.
For cardio, we had 4 blocks. The first block was a push pace, base pace, and all-out. The second block was the same as the first plus a recovery after the all-out and then another all-out after. The third block added on another recovery and another all-out. And the last block again added on another recovery and all-out. But the push pace got shorter each block so that helped to make the all-outs a little easier to get through.
On the floor, we also had 4 blocks and it was a similar pattern to what we did on cardio. When cardio had its push pace, the floor had a row. And then we had timed exercises on the floor and we added on exercises each block. The first block had only front squats. The second block added on lateral lunges and plank knee drives. The third block added on low rows with weights. And the last block added on lateral hops. It was a lot on the floor with very little rest, but it was a good challenge and I was happy with having a little less rowing than normal.
I was back to my normal workout time on Tuesday and I was feeling even better than I had on Monday.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. In the first block, we started at a base and increased the speed/resistance level every 30 seconds, ending at an all-out. I just added one level to the resistance level each time and it perfectly ended at my normal all-out level. After those intervals, we had a minute to recover, and then we had a 3-minute distance challenge. For the second block, we started with the distance challenge and then did the progressive one after.
On the rower, we started with a 250-meter row. Then we rested as much as needed and did another 250-meter row, with the goal to beat the time from the first time. After the second row, we had overhead presses with the medicine ball. We repeated that pattern, but the row was decreased by 50 meters every time we did it. I wasn’t always able to do better on my second row for a certain distance, but I was always very close.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had lunges, reverse flys, and leg raises. And the second block had step-ups, rows on the straps, and plank dips. I was able to do the step-ups since I lowered the bench, but even with the lower bench, they are still a challenge for me to do, especially with my balance issues. But I’ve been really trying to keep trying them even if they take me longer than a modification because I know it will help me in the long run.
Wednesday’s workout was a tornado workout and it was hard! I think it might have been one of the harder tornado classes we’ve had and I knew I had to pace myself. But I also wanted to push myself and finding that happy medium was tough.
On cardio, each block started with a 1-minute push pace. After that, in the first block, we had a 1-minute base and in the second block, we had a 30-second base. After that, we had a .1 mile (or .4 mile on the bike) all-out with recovery until a 30-second all-out at the end of the block. It was a lot each time and I didn’t have a lot of recovery time in any block.
On the rower, whenever cardio was in a push or base pace, we had a timed row. So they ranged between 2 minutes and 1 minute. Then we had front presses and overhead presses with a medicine ball before getting back on the rower and rowing until a 30-second all-out row at the end.
And on the floor, we started with timed exercises to go along with cardio and the rower. we had lunges and plank pops. And then for the rest of the block, we had squats, bicep curls, and upper cuts. And for the last 30 seconds of the block, we had crunch holds. I didn’t go too heavy with my weights because there wasn’t any rest in the block and I wanted to try to keep going until the block ended each time.
Thursday was tough too, and it felt like a lot after how tough Wednesday was. But I was up for seeing what I could do and I was so glad that I was doing these while feeling good.
We had 2 cardio blocks that had the same pattern. We had a 2-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, 1-minute push pace at an incline, 1-minute base pace, and 90-second push pace at an incline. The inclines/resistance levels were higher for the first block than the second block, but they weren’t too high for either block and I didn’t feel too much of a difference compared to when I’m normally pushing myself. I think that was the idea of these low inclines to prove what we can really accomplish.
On the rower, we also had 2 blocks with the same pattern. We started with a 2-minute push row before having a series of 1-minute intervals. In each interval, we had to do 10 reps of an exercise, and then whatever time was left over was spent rowing. In the first block, we had front and back steps and in the second block, we had side-to-side crunches. Getting on and off the rower so frequently was tough for me and I usually only had about 10 seconds left to row each time, so I didn’t get a ton of rowing in outside of the first part of each block. But I was glad I did the exercises and didn’t just row because I wanted to see if I could do it.
And on the floor, we had one long block. We had 3 different anchor exercises and 3 normal exercises. We started with doing the first anchor before each of the normal exercises. The next round had the second anchor before each of the normal exercises. And so on. The anchor exercises were shoulder presses, reverse grip low rows, and chest presses. And the regular exercises were plank shoulder taps, back extensions, and crunches. I did have to do some modifications to the exercises, but they were minor compared to what I’ve done in the past.
Overall, I think this past week was one of my better workout weeks. I needed a good week to boost my confidence and this was exactly what I needed. And hopefully, this week will be another good week for me so I can continue to feel amazing about how I’m doing with my workouts!
Posted onJanuary 16, 2023|Comments Off on Getting Through A Tough Week (or Rain And Pain)
I knew this past week of workouts would be tough on me since it would likely be a week of bad pain and nausea. I didn’t expect the extra pain because of all the rain, so that just added to the difficulty of the week. And as much as I wanted to challenge myself in my workouts, I knew I just had to do what I could and hope for the best.
On Monday, I wasn’t feeling too nauseous but I was having quite a bit of hip pain. So I had to work around that and make sure that I didn’t do anything that was too painful for me.
For cardio, we had a long block that had pretty short intervals. We did a push pace to base pace and the each push/base interval was the same amount of time. So it was a 30-second push pace and 30-second base pace for the first interval. And they went up by 15 seconds each time. At the end of the block, we had a 30-second all-out.
On the rower, we also had a long block. We started with squats to front presses with a medicine ball and then we had a 200-meter row. Then we had the medicine ball exercise plus lunges before a 400-meter row. Then those exercises plus shoulder presses and then a 600-meter row. I actually didn’t get beyond that because my rowing was so slow, but it was a decent amount of work for what I could do.
And on the floor, we had neutral grip rows, sumo squats to upright rows, squats, and high rows on the straps. None of the floor exercises were too hard for me with the hip pain, but I did have to take some time with the squats because those were starting to bother me a bit. I wasn’t in pain, but I can tell when an exercise just isn’t feeling right and I need to make sure I’m not having sloppy form or something else that could cause pain later.
Tuesday I was definitely feeling nauseous plus still had some hip pain, so again I had to go easy and listen to my body. I knew that both of these feelings were temporary and that soon I would feel better, but it doesn’t always make it easier.
We had 2 blocks for cardio and both blocks had some incline work in them. We alternated between a regular push pace and a push pace with an incline with a base pace in between. I did go higher on my resistance levels to do the incline work, but I know I wasn’t pedaling that fast for either of the cardio blocks.
On the rower, we did stroke drills for both blocks. In the first block, we did a 12 stroke drill, rested, and then repeated the drill with the goal to beat our distance from the first one. And after that second row we had squats before repeating the pattern again. In the second block, we did 15 stroke drills and had lunges instead of squats.
And on the floor, we had one long block that had cluster sets. We had 3 exercises to do as cluster sets and we did each one 3 times. We had chest presses, tap squats, and overhead tricep extensions. For the sets, the first time was supposed to be 6-10 reps and then the second time was just to do as many as possible.
Wednesday’s workout was a benchmark and I knew it wasn’t going to be a great one for me. My nausea was pretty bad and I just wasn’t in a good mood because of how I had been feeling all week. This time, the benchmark was the 1 mile challenge, and I knew I had done really well on it the last time. This time, I just wanted to get through it and see what happened.
Our entire cardio block was focused on the benchmark. I knew I would finish in under 10 minutes, but I wanted to see if I could maybe do it in under 9. I didn’t put the resistance level that high since this benchmark is all about speed. I also knew that it would make things a bit easier on me since it wouldn’t take as much effort to pedal. And somehow, I made it just under 9 minutes so I was very happy. It was far from my PR, but I hit the goal I had set for myself.
On the rower, we had different row distances and we were supposed to do jumping jacks between them, but I knew I couldn’t do that. So for the entire row block, I just rowed as long as I could and then rested when I needed to. I wasn’t worried about distances or anything like that, I just kept going to maximize my time on the rower.
And on the floor, we had circuit work. We had 2 rounds of each circuit and then we did them as one long block after that. We had single arm rows and chest flys for the first circuit and step-ups and deadlifts for the second circuit. I was able to lower the bench so I could do the step-ups, but they did take me a while since I had to make sure I stayed balanced.
My hip pain was finally starting to be done by Thursday, but my nausea really kicked in hard. Plus I was dealing with very intense cramps so I don’t think my lack of hip pain helped me too much. But I knew this would be my last workout of the week so I wanted to just try the best I could.
Every section of the room had 3 blocks for this workout. For cardio, the blocks were always a push pace, an all-out, a 1-minute recovery, a push pace, and an all-out. In the first block, the push and all-outs were 1-minute, in the second block they were 45-seconds, and in the last block they were 30-seconds.
On the rower, we were timed the same way as cardio so we had the push and all-out rows. But instead of a recovery, we had the minute to do 10 overhead presses with a medicine ball and then we could rest for any time that was left over. I usually didn’t have much time to rest, so I just got my feet back into the rower and had a few seconds to breathe before doing the next set of push and all-out rows.
And on the floor, we had 2 exercises for each block. In the first block we had goblet squats and then we were supposed to do jumps to shuffles. I did squats to calf raises instead of the jumps. The second block had lateral lunges and skater lunges. And the last block was all core work and I really struggled with it with all my pain so I just did crunches for that last block to make sure I did something close to what we were supposed to do.
Considering how bad this past week could have been, it wasn’t too bad. I’m hoping that this week isn’t bad either and at least the end of the week should hopefully be ok for me. And even though I won’t have another benchmark to do this week, I can still try to keep pushing myself and making sure that I work extra hard when I feel ok to make up for weeks like this past one.
Posted onJanuary 9, 2023|Comments Off on An Unexpected Workout Week (or Starting Off The New Year With Workouts)
I knew this past week of workouts would be a bit different because of my schedule, but it ended up being even more unique than that. I still got in my workouts, but it was also a bit of an adventure.
On Sunday, I went to a late morning workout since I wasn’t sure how tired I’d be after New Year’s Eve. I probably could have done an earlier class, but I’m glad I didn’t have to rush around that morning.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. In the first block, we started at a base and increased the speed/resistance level every 30 seconds, ending at an all-out. And then we had a 3-minute distance challenge. For the second block, we started with the distance challenge and then did the progressive one after
On the rower, we started with a 250-meter row. Then we rested as much as needed and did another 250-meter row, with the goal to beat the time from the first time. Then we had chest presses with a medicine ball. We repeated that pattern, but the row was decreased by 50 meters every time we did it.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had lunges, reverse flys, and leg raises. And the second block had squats, rows on the straps, and plank dips. It wasn’t as intense of a workout as a lot of the past ones, but I was glad to have something easy for once since I knew I’d be working hard in a lot of other workouts.
Monday’s workout was a tornado class, so we switched between sections about every 4 minutes. And this workout was definitely a new one for me.
I started on cardio where we had a 1-minute push pace, a 1-minute base pace, and then we had rounds of a short distance challenge with recoveries between each one. Then we switched to the rower. We had just started with a 2-minute row when I noticed that someone two rowers away was on the ground. I thought at first that they fell off the rower, which is something I’ve done before, but everyone in the class realized it was something more serious. They had fainted on the rower and we were lucky that there was an ER nurse in the class who was able to help them out. But because it seemed like they had hit their head, the paramedics were called.
Everyone else in the class went into the lobby to wait and see what would happen, and because the paramedics were called, the class was canceled. Almost everyone left because the workout ended, but I decided to put myself on the waitlist for the next class to try to take that one. And while I was waiting for the next class, the person who fainted came out to the lobby. They were ok, and I’m glad nothing more serious happened. I think they might have just been embarrassed at that point, but I know everyone who was in that class was just happy to know they were ok.
When the next class started, technically there wasn’t enough room for the 2 of us on the waitlist, but since we both came from the last class we agreed to share a station so we could at least do some of the workout. So I didn’t do more rowing because I used the bike for both cardio and rowing. But I was just grateful I got to finish my workout. And we shared the floor space which was ok since the exercises didn’t take up that much room. We had the same exercises every time we were on the floor which were lunges, plank pops, squats, bicep curls, and uppercuts. Since I had done some of the first workout as well, I figured it was like I had done 1.25 workouts that day.
Tuesday was a bit harder since I was back to my early workout and it was my 4th day in a row (although not my 4th workout for the week). But fortunately, I wasn’t feeling super nauseous, which I was worried about. I still had some nausea, but it was much more manageable.
We had 2 cardio blocks that had the same pattern. We had a 2-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, 1-minute push pace at an incline, 1-minute base pace, and 90-second push pace at an incline. The inclines/resistance levels were higher for the first block than the second block, but they weren’t too high for either block.
On the rower, we also had 2 blocks with the same pattern. We started with a 2-minute push row before having a series of 1-minute intervals. In each interval, we had to do 10 reps of an exercise, and then whatever time was left over was spent rowing. In the first block, we had front and back steps and in the second block, we had butt kicks. Getting on and off the rower so frequently was tough for me and I usually only had about 10 seconds left to row each time, so I didn’t get a ton of rowing in outside of the first part of each block.
And on the floor, we had one long block. It was a bit complicated. We had 3 different anchor exercises and 3 normal exercises. We started with doing the first anchor before each of the normal exercises. The next round had the second anchor before each of the normal exercises. And so on. The anchor exercises were shoulder presses, reverse grip low rows, and chest presses. And the regular exercises were walkouts to plank shoulder taps, back extensions, and bicycle crunches. I only got through some of the exercises with the third anchor exercise, but it was still a lot of work.
Thursday’s workout was my last workout of the week, and it was a benchmark class. This time, we had the 200-meter benchmark. I knew I had made a lot of improvements with my rowing recently, but my PR was from before the pandemic when I know I was really strong. So I went into this workout just wanting to do really well on the benchmark but with no expectations.
I started with cardio and for the first two blocks, we had a 4-minute distance challenge. And in the third block, we had rounds of a push pace and base pace with an all-out at the end. But because the benchmark would be after cardio, we were told to go a little easier than normal.
On the rower, the first block was to get us warmed up. So we had rounds of a 200-meter row at a push pace with squats to calf raises after. But those 200-meter rows weren’t supposed to be too crazy because the second block was the benchmark. We had the full 4 minutes to do the benchmark, and it usually is between 30-60 seconds. So I took a few extra breaths before starting just to get calm and ready. I tried to use all the new techniques I’ve been picking up recently and also had to make sure I wouldn’t gas out halfway through. I didn’t look at the time on the screen, only at how many meters I had left. And when I was done, I was shocked.
I took about .4 seconds off of my last PR. I really didn’t think I would PR, but I guess this is proof of all my hard work! For the last block, we had the chance to redo the benchmark if we wanted to, but if we didn’t want to (and I didn’t), we had squats to calf raises and lunges before rowing until the end of the block.
And on the floor, we also had 3 blocks. In the first block, we had high to low rows on the straps and hip hinge swings. In the second block, we had pike to planks and superman planks. I did the pike to planks modified to be like blastoff push-ups. And in the last block, we had single-leg deadlifts, plank pull-throughs, and lateral lunges. I tried to go hard on the floor since I was already done with the benchmark, but I also was a bit tired from pushing myself so much.
For the first week of the year, I had a lot happening in my workouts. I don’t know if this is a sign of things to come, but I have also learned that I can never expect what will happen over the year in my workouts and I guess this really represented that well.
Posted onJanuary 3, 2023|Comments Off on My 2023 Goals (or Some New Goals and Some Repeats)
As I have done each year for the last several years, I have set some goals for myself for 2023. I look at goals and resolutions as different things. Goals seem to have more of a concrete idea of what you want to get to versus resolutions that feel more abstract. I still have some goals that don’t have an exact thing to get to, but I still feel like there are better ways to track my results with goals than I do with resolutions. This might just be wording and the idea that resolutions typically are broken, but for me, I think whatever works is good. And for 2023, I have set 4 goals for myself.
The first goal is something I’ve done quite a bit. I want to make sure I do 200 Orangetheory workouts this year. This goal is the one that I feel is almost a guarantee I will be successful unless something crazy happens in my life. And if something does happen in my life that will prevent me from working out for a few weeks, then I’ll probably reevaluate this goal and make sure it’s still something I can get to. 200 workouts means I go 4 times a week for almost all the weeks of the year. I don’t have to go 4 times every week and I could have a few weeks of just going 3 times. But my plan is to go 4 times a week unless something comes up that make that impossible. But that’s why I have a bit of flexibility with having some weeks where I could go 3 times and still make it to my goal. Even though I look at this goal as something that should be accomplished with very little extra effort, I do like to have accountability.
My second goal for the year is to work on getting more sleep every night. I have been getting very little sleep for a while and I know it’s affecting me. I get up pretty early to be able to work out before work, but I haven’t really adjusted what time I go to bed with the earlier wake-up. There have been far too many nights where I get only about 4 hours of sleep, and that’s not something to be proud of. Since I can’t really adjust what time I get up, I need to work on going to bed earlier. That involves a few different things such as actually getting into bed earlier, not reading as late as I have, and not staying up late to catch up on a tv show or something. Nothing that I do late at night couldn’t wait until the next day, so I have to be better about not feeling a need to complete something at night.
My third goal is something similar to what I set for 2022. I want to keep setting up my condo. There aren’t too many things I have to do to get things set up the way I want to, but all of those things involve money. I want to get the furniture I want for my office since that will help move almost everything still in a box out of a box. I also am looking into redoing my closet since it’s not the best use of space for me. For my closet, I’m hoping this could possibly be something I do on my own to save money, but there are a few things that need to be considered first. But my parents and I are going to look into some options soon so hopefully I can have an idea of what that cost will be and when it can be done. I would love to say that by the end of this year, I won’t have anything left in a box, but I’m not sure if that will happen. But it’s something I’m going to work toward and see how close I can get.
And my last goal for the year is something I have talked about several times and just haven’t done it. I want to rebuild my acting life. I still have been pursuing acting and have been submitting myself for projects. And if I get an audition, I do everything I need to do to have the best audition possible. But I know that things aren’t going as great as they could be. Things still aren’t exactly where they were before the pandemic, but they are much closer so I should be at least closer to what they were like before. But I’m just not there. This will involve a few different things such as trying to get back into class or finding a group to work on scripts together, getting new headshots, and maybe looking into if a different agent could be a better fit for me. None of these things will guarantee that I will get more auditions or book work, but I want to do whatever I can that is in my control to feel like I’m not just playing around at being an actor but an active participant in that career. I know for the last few years I have had my focus on other things, but I’m ready to get back to what I love and hopefully see some results from my work.
I debated about doing some other goals this year and there are other things I might set as monthly challenges or just a smaller monthly goal so I can accomplish more this year, but I think for my big year-long goals, these 4 are really things I need and want to focus on and will help me to have a successful year.
And I hope in 12 months when I’m recapping how 2023 went, I will have a lot of success to share with you all!
Posted onJanuary 2, 2023|Comments Off on Finishing Up My 2022 Workouts (or I Think I Really Ended The Year On A Great Note!)
I think I finished my 2022 workouts pretty well! I had my usual 4 workouts this past week even if they were on a slightly different schedule. But I was able to finish the year making sure I hit my goal number of workouts! I also was testing out doing my injection in a different location which is supposed to help with nausea. I’m not sure if that worked or I just didn’t have really bad side effects this week, but I didn’t have to worry about nausea in any of my workouts!
Monday’s workout happened to be my 200th workout of the year, so that was pretty special. Since Monday was a holiday, I did go to a later class than I normally go to but it was also nice to sleep in. This workout was a 2 group class so we had more time for cardio and the floor than I normally have in a workout.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 2-minute base pace with an incline followed by a 1-minute base pace without an incline. Then we had a 2-minute push and a 1-minute push without inclines with a 1-minute base between them. And the block ended with rounds of an all-out at an incline with recovery between each one. The second block was a bit more incline work. We started with a push pace at an incline and then had rounds of push paces to all-out with inclines. I never had to go too crazy with the resistance level on the bike, but it was still a challenge using them and trying to pedal faster.
On the floor, the first block started with a 1-minute all-out row. Then we were on the floor with sumo deadlifts, upright rows, good mornings, and single-arm presses. And the block ended with another 1-minute all-out row. The second block started with a 30-second all-out row before moving onto the floor. We had front raises, lateral lunges, around-the-world raises, and regular lunges before ending the workout with another 30-second all-out row.
Tuesday’s workout was a small group, but we still kept the workout as a 3 group class so we had equal time for cardio, rowing, and the floor.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first block had a 45-second push pace, a 90-second base pace, a 45-second all-out, a recovery, a 45-second push pace, and a 45-second all-out. The second block was the same except the intervals were 30 seconds and not 45 seconds. And the last block was just 3 rounds of a 30-second all-out.
On the rower, we started with a 3-minute row followed by squats to knee drives. Then we had 2 rounds of a 90-second row with lunges between each row. And the last part of the rowing was 3 rounds of a 1-minute row with squats to calf raises between each row. I didn’t get through all of the 1-minute rows, but I at least got to that second.
For the floor, the first block was supposed to be lunges, jump lunges, and a bridge row. Since I can’t do jump lunges, I just doubled the number of regular lunges we were supposed to do. And I did low rows on the straps instead of bridge rows. And the second block had bicycle presses, push-ups, and hip bridges. It wasn’t a ton of floor work, but it was hard.
I didn’t work out on Wednesday since I was going to work out for New Year’s Eve, so my next workout this past week was on Thursday. Again, this was a small class but we still had the class as a 3 group class so we worked in all 3 sections of the room.
Cardio started with a 3-minute push pace followed by a 30-second base pace. We continued a pattern of a push pace followed by a base pace and the push paces were between 1 minute and 3 minutes. But the base paces were always only 30 seconds long which isn’t a lot of time. In the end, we had a 1-minute base pace followed by a 30-second all-out, but I was really exhausted by that point so I know my all-out wasn’t that great.
On the rower, we started with a 200-meter row. Then we had lunges, single-arm clean to presses, and marching in place with a weight. Then we did the 200-meter row and the exercises again. Then we repeated the pattern with a 150-meter row. The exercises were harder than what I feel we normally have when we do exercises with the rower, so I didn’t get that far into the rows.
And on the floor, we had one long block. We had step-down toe taps (which I was able to do by lowering the bench), lunges with wood choppers, plank single-arm rows, and hollow hold single-arm chest presses. I don’t know if it was from all the work in the other sections of the room or if the floor block was harder than it seemed, but this was a tough day for me and others in the class agreed!
And I had to finish out my workouts by going on New Year’s Eve. It’s been a while since I’ve had a Saturday workout, but I knew that I would be there for the holiday no matter what. This workout was an interesting one because everything was timed together so all sections of the room had 3 blocks that were the same time. The first block was 3 minutes long, the second block was 6 minutes long, and the last block was just under 3 minutes long.
For cardio, in the first block we had 1-minute intervals with a base, push, and all-out. The second block was 3 rounds of a 30-second push, 30-second base, 45-second push, and 30-second base. But in the end, we had an all-out instead of the last push. And the last block had 3 rounds of a 30-second all-out and a 30-second recovery.
On the rower, the 3-minute block was just a 3-minute row for distance. The second block was split into 75-second segments with a 30-second recovery after. For each of the 3 75-second segments, we started with doing 10 squats before getting onto the rower and rowing until the 30-second recovery. The goal was to try to match the distance you got in the first block, and I was able to exceed that. And in the last block, we had the same thing as cardio with the 30-second all-out.
And on the floor, the first block was 1 minute of squats, 1 minute of walkout push-ups, and 1 minute of scissor kicks to crunches. In the second block, we had the same timing as cardio. We had 30 seconds of a single-arm low row on one side, 30 seconds of a single-arm low row on the other side, and 45 seconds of a hammer curl to a bicep curl. Then we had 30 seconds to have a quick break before repeating that again. And in the last block, we had 30-second intervals of doing burpees, which I did using the bench. And for whatever reason, I think my burpees went smoother this time than any other workout that I could remember.
And when Saturday’s workout was done, I was so proud of my total workouts for the year.
I know I say that this is an easy goal for me to accomplish each year, but I still have to work for it. And this year, I had more struggles than normal to deal with in my workouts. But I didn’t let that stop me and I just continued going and trying to do my best. I might not have all the results I was hoping to get in my workouts in 2022, but I still put in work and I know that will pay off in the long run! And now, I’m already working toward my workout goal for 2023 and making sure I hit that goal too!
Posted onDecember 26, 2022|Comments Off on Last Regular Workout Week Of The Year (or I’m Almost To My Workout Goal)
This past week of workouts was the last week before I have 2 weeks of weird workout schedules. It was also the second to last week of the year and I’m so grateful that I’m almost to my workout goal for 2022. I was worried I might miss it since I had to take a week off at the beginning of the year, but I guess I made up for that time throughout the year!
I was feeling a bit off on Monday due to some pain issues, but it was much better than the week before. And I didn’t have to worry about how my injection would make me feel since I do that after my workout. So I tried to maximize this workout the best I could since I wasn’t sure how I’d feel the rest of the week.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks and they each had a different focus. The first block was all about endurance and had a 2-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, 2-minute push pace, and 30-second all-out. The second block was about strength and we had 30-second intervals of a base pace at different inclines/resistance levels. And the last block was for power and we had rounds of 30-second all-outs and 30-second recoveries.
On the rower, we had one long block. We had a 400-meter, 200-meter, and 100-meter row with a medicine ball exercise between each row. And each time we went through those rows, we had a different exercise. The first time we had tricep extensions, the second time we had overhead presses, and the third time we had halos. I didn’t make it to the round with halos because I had to take some breaks during my row.
And on the floor, we had 3 blocks. The first block was all about doing work with the TRX straps. We had bicep curls, curtsy lunges, and rollouts. The second block was with weights and we had single-arm low rows and goblet squats. And the last block was also with weights and we only had single-arm snatches which was hard to do for the 2 minutes we had to do them.
Tuesday was a small class so our coach decided to make it a 2 group class instead of a 3 group one. So we had a lot less rowing than we normally would have, which was ok with me since I was really nauseous from my shot. But I did what I always do and just tried my best.
We had two blocks for cardio and they were very similar. The first block started with a 75-second push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. Then we had a 1-minute push pace and 1-minute base pace before doing a 45-second all-out. We had a 90-second recovery and then did rounds of 45-second all-outs and 45-second recoveries. The second block was almost the same except instead of 45-second all-outs and recoveries we had 30-second ones. The first part of each block was harder for me than the second part of each block, but it was manageable.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. Each block started with a 400-meter row, which was the only rowing we had. Then each block had 2 exercises focused on strength and 2 exercises focused on stability. The first block had front squats and chest presses for strength and lunges and bridge hold chest presses for stability. And the second block had scaptions and bicep curls for strength and kneeling scaptions and kneeling single-arm bicep curls for stability. I think I did better with the stability work since I wasn’t feeling ok using my regular heavy weights, but overall I was much happier with the floor work than I expected it to be.
Wednesday was a bit better of a day for me, so I was hoping I would be able to push myself a bit more in the workout than I have for other Wednesdays when I’ve been dealing with medication side effects.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks and they were both distance challenges that we did on our own. For the first block, we had decreasing distances we were supposed to do and between each distance, we had a minute to recover. And the second block had the same distances but in reverse order so we started with the shortest distance. The goal was to try to beat the distance in the second block, which I was able to do.
On the rower, we also had 2 blocks and it was similar to what we had for cardio. In the first block, we started with a 250-meter row and decreased the row by 50 meters each time. Between each row, we had back-and-forth hops. And in the second block, we did the same thing but started with a 100-meter row and went up by 50 meters each time. And again, I was able to beat my distance in the second block. I think I’m usually able to beat my distance when doing these sorts of challenges because I’m stubborn and need to prove to myself that I can do it. But whatever it takes to make myself work hard!
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks and they were all timed for us. Everything was at a 30-second interval and there was not really any rest during the blocks. The first block had tricep extensions, chest flys, and shoulder presses. Then we had 30 seconds to do 4 reverse grip low rows and we could rest for any extra time in those 30 seconds. We repeated that pattern another time before doing the first 3 exercises again and ending the block with 30 seconds of high knees to mountain climbers. The second block was the same idea with lunges, deadlifts, and squats as the main exercises. Then we had 30 seconds to do 4 plank taps. And the last 30 seconds was doing high knees to mountain climbers again.
I was feeling almost completely normal by Thursday, which made me very happy. And I was extra happy because this was my 199th workout of 2022 and it made me really think about how I was able to reach my workout goals this year even with the issues I encountered. And this was a really tough workout to end this week with, but I also enjoyed the challenge.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks with similar patterns. The first block started with a 90-second push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. Then we had a 1-minute push pace at a slightly higher incline followed by another 1-minute base pace. Then it was a 30-second push pace at an incline with another 1-minute base pace. And the block ended with a 45-second all-out at an incline. The second block was the same idea but we started with a 1-minute push pace instead of a 90-second one and the all-out was 30 seconds instead of 45 seconds.
The rower was also 2 blocks. The first block started with a 300-meter row followed by high knees. Then the row went down by 50 meters and we continued that pattern for the rest of the block. The second block started with a 100-meter all-out row then we could rest. I was able to get one of the highest wattages I’ve gotten on the rower during that row and that was a nice surprise. Then we had a 100-meter row at a base followed by a 150-meter push row. We continued the pattern of a base to a push row and increased the push row by 50 meters each time. I didn’t get that far in the second block because I was a bit gassed out from my crazy 100-meter row at the beginning of the block, but I still did pretty well with everything.
And the floor was also 2 blocks. The first block had single-arm squats to upright rows, speed skater lunges, and wide step knee drives which I had to do as wide step mountain climbers. And the second block had single-arm cleans, jumps to shuffle steps, and knee tucks which I did as regular mountain climbers. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot of work, but I really pushed myself through the entire workout and I think that’s what lead to it feeling like one of the harder workouts I’ve had lately.
For the next two weeks, I’m changing up my workout schedule a bit since I want to get in my traditional New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day workouts, but I also don’t want to have 6 workout days in a row. Right now, my plan is to still do 4 workouts each week and I don’t think that will change. But maybe I’ll feel extra motivated and will get in an extra workout either next week or the week after so I can either end a year or start a year with a little bonus.
Posted onDecember 19, 2022|Comments Off on I’m So Glad I Pushed Hard This Past Week (or Having A Good Day In A Bad Week)
I knew this past week of workouts was going to be a struggle for me with pain and nausea. But as I had written last week, I just had a lot of different issues that made my week extra difficult. I was getting really frustrated with how I was feeling and what that meant for my workouts. But as always, I pushed through and I was able to end this past week on a really good note.
Monday’s workout was the last workout for the 12 Days Of Fitness, and it was the day that I earned my swag. I was feeling pretty bad that day, but I was hoping that I could do some good work because I knew there was a good chance this would be my best day of the week. But it was a tough day as each section of the room felt like one long block.
For cardio, everything was 90-second intervals. Every 90 seconds, we were supposed to increase either the speed or incline/resistance level. I really tried my best to pedal faster when we were supposed to increase our speed, but that’s something that is hard for me normally and extra hard for me when I was having a bad hip day. But I did my best with it.
On the rower, we did have challenge distance goals but I didn’t focus on those since I knew I’d be struggling on the rower. We also had 90-second intervals just like we did for cardio. But this time we started every 90 seconds off of the rower and did either overhead or front presses with a medicine ball for 15 reps. And then whatever time was left we had for rowing. I usually had about 30 seconds on the rower each time after I was done with the exercise and getting strapped back in, so I didn’t get a lot of rowing done toward the distance.
And on the floor, again everything was in 90-second intervals. We alternated between two groups of exercises. The first group was lateral lunges, single-arm high rows with weights, and then jumping jacks. And the second group was regular lunges, single-arm shoulder presses with weights, and butt kicks. It felt like there was no time to catch your breath and it was a really tough workout. But I wouldn’t expect anything different for the last day of a challenge.
Tuesday was a particularly rough day for me. When things are this bad, sometimes I just have to do my own thing a bit for the workout because that’s all I can manage. And that’s how some of Tuesday went.
For cardio, we focused on a lot of incline work, but I was just doing my regular base, push, and all-out resistance levels and trying to follow along with the intervals with everyone else. I know I wasn’t doing exactly what the workout was supposed to be, but it was better than doing nothing. And I knew that the combination of all the issues I was going through made things a lot harder than I’m used to overcoming.
On the rower, both blocks were focused on 150-meter rows. We rowed that distance and then had an exercise and went back and forth for the entire block. In the first block, we had squats as our exercise and I did do those between each row. In the second block, we were supposed to do front and back steps between each row, but I was more focused on just breathing through my nausea so I just did my rows without the exercise. I didn’t always do the full row without a break, so it was more like I did short bursts of rowing with rest when necessary for that entire block.
I feel like I did a bit better on the floor for this workout, but that’s probably only because the rest was so bad. In the first block, we had deadlifts, upright rows, good mornings, and single-arm shoulder presses. And in the second block, we had front raises, lateral lunges, and regular lunges. I felt so defeated after this workout because of what I couldn’t do, and I know that didn’t help how I was feeling overall and probably made my physical pain worse with mental stress. As much as I tried to remind myself that at least I tried, it’s hard to believe that at times.
Wednesday was still bad, but I felt like I had a bit less nausea that day and my hip pain was significantly better so that helped to make my mood better too. So I knew I could do a bit more and pushed myself to do just that.
For cardio, the first two blocks had the same pattern. We had a push pace, a 90-second base, an all-out, a 1-minute recovery, a push pace, and an all-out. In the first block, the pushes and all-outs were 45 seconds long. And in the second block, the pushes and all-outs were 30 seconds long. And for the last block, we had rounds of 30-second all-outs and 30-second recoveries. This went so much better than earlier in the week went. I think the short intervals and all the recovery time helped me so much.
On the rower, we started with a 3-minute row followed by squats. Then we had 2 rounds of a 90-second row with lunges between each row. The goal for each 90-second row was to do at least half of what we did in the 3-minute row. And the rowing work ended with 3 rounds of a 1-minute row with squats to calf raises between each row. I only made it to one of the 1-minute rows, but I’m glad that I did pretty well with each row and was able to beat the goal distance each time.
On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block was a bit tough for me because it was supposed to be regular lunges and then jump lunges, but I can’t do jump lunges. So I just combined the number of reps and did regular lunges for both. And we were supposed to do bridge rows on the straps, but I had to do just regular low rows on the straps. In the second block, we had bicycle presses, push-ups, and hip bridges. I didn’t go quite as heavy as I would have liked for the hip bridges, but that’s something that I know I need to work back up to because I’ve lost a bit of my strength.
Thursday was a day I was nervous about. It was the 2000-meter row benchmark, which is one of the hardest benchmarks for me. Not only is it one of the hardest ones for me, but I was also dealing with the pain and nausea so I knew that would be an additional challenge. I knew I would just try and see what would happen.
Because we had a small class, we all started on the rower to do the benchmark first. I knew that I wouldn’t get a PR since my PR was from when I was a lot better at rowing. So I set other goals for myself. I wanted to see if I could get a faster time than my last benchmark, which was very slow. And I wanted to try to take as few breaks in the row as possible. In the past, I’ve tried to only take a break after every 500 meters, which was a good goal, and I decided to try to do it again this time.
We are always told to start the benchmark with about 10 hard pulls on the rower before settling into a pace and intensity that we could ideally continue at for the entire time. I did that and then watched the 500-meter split time to see if I could keep that consistent. I was able to keep it within about 10 seconds for the entire row and I knew that split time would get me to my goal. And by some miracle, I didn’t really have to take any breaks. I did have to stop a few times to tighten my foot straps, but that is different from a break. And at the end for the last 200 meters, I just went as hard as I could knowing I was almost done. I knew it wasn’t a PR, but it was a huge improvement over last time and closer to my PR than I’ve been in a while!
I was shocked that I was under 11 minutes and that I didn’t really take breaks. Neither of those were things I thought would be possible. Maybe I found the perfect pace to row so I didn’t need breaks like I normally do. Or maybe I was just being stubborn and that pushed me through the row. Whatever it was, I was so proud of myself. But I know I overdid it quite a bit on the rower and that affected the rest of my workout.
On the floor, I was exhausted from the row and was a little lightheaded, so I had to go slowly and rest a lot more than I thought I would. The floor had hip hinge swings, woodchoppers, chest presses with straps, plank taps, and superheroes on the floor. I was going a bit lighter with the weights because of how I was feeling, but I still think even with the breaks I had to take and the lighter weights, it was worth it because I knew how well I did on the row.
And we ended with cardio where we did things at our own pace. We had distance challenges and then 1 minute to recover after each distance. For the distance, it was .25-miles for the treadmills which was 1 mile for me. And just like on the floor, I had to take more breaks than I would have liked because I was still recovering from the row. But again like on the floor, I was ok with that because I was still proud of my row time.
I wasn’t expecting to end last week with a workout highlight between how I was feeling and knowing how little I was looking forward to the benchmark. But I’m so happy that I surprised myself so much with how my last workout of the week went. It was nice to end a bad week with a good workout so I could go into my weekend feeling strong. And hopefully, the pain and nausea continue to get better through the beginning of this week so I can have a better workout week and end my year of workouts on some more positive notes!
I Hate Having A Hard Workout Week (or Not My Usual Workout Recap)
