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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