Mentally, I’ve been ready to get back to the treadmill in my workouts for a while. But physically, I’m just not there yet. I feel like I could do it, but then on the bike I realize that I’m still struggling a bit. I know this all comes down to my endurance. Between taking time off for being sick and the fact that I haven’t really done any running since the beginning of the year, my endurance is significantly lower than where it was before this all happened. Fortunately, I think it’s still much better than it was when I started, but I have to work on getting it back and that’s what I focused on this past week.
Even though Monday was a holiday, I still wanted to do my same morning workout. The workout schedule was a bit different so my class was a little earlier than I’m used to, but since I’ve been going to earlier classes on Wednesday and Friday it was fine. The class was pretty full (even for a 3 group class), but it was nice to see a lot of the regular Monday morning people.
The idea for this workout was kind of choosing your own adventure for the treadmill and rower. You had 3 different options to choose from on each side to work on during the 15 minutes that we were there. For the treadmill, it was 3 different distances to choose from with different recovery times. I was on the bike and I just decided to try to bike the entire time with my push resistance. I was doing a bit better as far as how long I could go without needing to take a break, but I could still tell that I was lacking in endurance. But biking for that time did feel good and I wasn’t feeling too tired by the time I was on the rower.
The rower had 3 different distances to choose from with jumping jacks. The longest distance was 2000 meters and you only had jumping jacks when you were done. The other distances were shorter but had jumping jacks before repeating the row. Just like with the bike, I decided to just try to row the entire block to see what I could do. Normally, I could do 2000 meters in under 10 minutes, but this time I couldn’t even get it done in 15 minutes. I was taking breaks every 200-300 meters to catch my breath and to cough. I would have loved to have completed the row (even though I didn’t want to do jumping jacks), but I’m glad this format at least let me work on rowing for the entire block without worrying too much.
On the floor, everything we had were timed exercises. In the first block, we had lateral arm work with weights and high rows on the straps. We had 3 rounds of those before moving to the next block where we had plank rows and triceps on the straps. Again we had 3 rounds of that before the last block which was 1 minute of goblet squats using weight. It was a tough workout but I was glad that I had to opportunity to work on my endurance in class.
Wednesday’s workout was a strength based class. Before I knew it was a strength class, I debated about trying the treadmill but ended up on the bike again since I didn’t want to try working with inclines. There were 3 blocks and the first 2 blocks were a similar pattern. We had 1 minute hills (the first block was increasing hills and the second block was decreasing hills) with 1 minute base pace at no incline in-between.
I stuck with my usual plan of having my resistance on the bike at the same number as the incline would be as a power walker and that was working out really well for me. I managed to do the entire first block on the bike without needing to take a break which was a big accomplishment! The last block was 1 minute intervals between base and push paces and I was using my normal resistance. But where I excelled was during the 30 second all out pace at the end of each block. I went even higher with my resistance than I normally do! It wasn’t easy, but I really wanted to do something that challenged me on the bike and doing something for 30 seconds seemed to be a reasonable amount of time.
The floor was also 3 blocks. The first block was upper cuts, deadlifts, and tricep work using weights. We were encouraged to use a weight for the deadlift that we never have before. Usually for deadlifts I’ll use 20 or 25 pounds depending on how many reps we need to do. But I decided to go for it and I tried using 30 pound weights. The only struggle with that was that my hands were hurting a bit with the heavier weight, but my legs were totally fine with it. And the second block was plank work, squat swings with weight, and alligators on the straps. For both of those blocks, we had 3 rounds of the exercises and then a 300 meter row. Both blocks I just finished the row as time was done. And the last floor block was knee tucks, ab roll outs, and hip bridges. With the hip bridges, again I used a weight I never had before and it was fine. So I really did prove to myself that I really should be using some heavier weights from time to time.
Friday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. And again I was on the bike to see what I could do. For the cardio, we had a lot of push paces with base paces between. I really did try my best to keep pedaling through the entire block, but I did end up having to take a break during some of the base paces. I did try to get back to pedaling as quickly as possible so I wasn’t skipping the entire base pace so that was improvement. But it did remind me of how much further I did need to go before I was back to where I was.
On the floor the first block was skater lunges, high rows on the straps, and push-ups. I did to the push-ups on my toes instead of my knees because they were lower reps and that felt pretty great. The second block was a 2 minute row for distance and then bicep curls, front raises, and more push-ups. I managed to row the entire time without stopping which did make me happy. And the last block was squats, sit-ups, and more push-ups. This time I did have to do the push-ups on my knees because we had more reps, but that didn’t bring down how happy I was that I did some on my toes.
Saturday’s workout was an endurance one and I really was feeling like I was going to do great work on the bike. It also ended up being a run/row, but it was a bit less traditional than most run/rows. The first block we had a 1/2 mile run (which on the bike is a 2 mile ride) and then we rowed until time was called. I managed to do the entire biking without stopping and even though I was only on the rower for about 2 minutes I rowed without stopping. The second block started with a 800 meter row and then back to cardio until time was called. I finished my row in under 4 minutes and did it without stopping. And the last block used the distance we rowed in the first block and the distance we did on the cardio in the second block to create our own run/row format.
I was so happy with how well I did with my endurance during the workout. I know that the blocks were a bit shorter so I didn’t have to bike or row as long as I’ve had in other classes, but it’s still a victory to me! And with how frustrating it’s been lately with things, I’m taking any victory I can get. But even though I did some great work, I could still feel my lack of endurance at times. It took much longer for me to catch my breath and I felt like I was working much harder than I know I was. But it was still improvement and I’m hopeful that it will keep getting better.
On the floor we had 2 blocks. The first block was low row with weights, skier swings with weights, and Y raises on the straps. We also had different plank work to do after each round. We had plank swings, plank side crunches, and plank hip dips. And the second block had flys with weights, front raises with weights, and sumo squats plus the plank work. I didn’t go too heavy on the weights because the reps were higher plus I was still catching my breath from the cardio work. But it was still easier than it had been in other recent workouts so I focused on that.
Overall, I was really happy with how this past week of workouts went. I know that getting my endurance back is still going to take more time, but it’s getting there. I’m guessing I’ll probably still be using the bike for another 3-4 weeks (I could possibly use the treadmill sooner, but that will be when I typically feel nauseous). But this past week really helped me to refocus my mindset on the positive and it felt much less frustrating than it has previously.
You Might Also Like
A New Year Of Workouts (or Finally Starting To Feel Like Myself Again)
More Running! (or Gaining Endurance)
Building Up Endurance (or Shocking Myself)
Building My Endurance (or Lots Of Running)
Continuing To Get Better (or Still Finding Wins In My Workouts)
Finally A Power Walker Again (or The First Steps Toward Running Again)
