This past week, I got to celebrate my birthday at Orangetheory. My original plan for last week was to take my birthday off since that is usually the weekday I don’t go to work out. But I found out a coach I hadn’t seen in a while would be there for that class and I knew that I would regret not going to class more than I would regret getting up early on my birthday. So I switched up a bit of my schedule to make it work.
Monday was my normal class and it was the last class I would have as a 38-year-old. I know age is just a number and I don’t feel my age at all, but it’s still cool to see how much stronger I am now than I was in the past. Maybe having the regular workouts in my routine is keeping me young or aging me backward. This workout ended up being a 2 group class instead of a 3 group class, so I didn’t have quite as much rowing as I expected.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. In the first block, we had rounds of a 75-second push pace, 30-second all-out, and 1-minute recovery. We did 3 rounds of that and I really worked on trying to pedal faster for the all-outs since they were short and I wasn’t pushing myself with the resistance levels more than I normally do. In the second block, the intervals changed up a bit. We had a 1-minute push pace, 30-second all-out, and 1-minute recovery. And again, my main focus was on the all-outs and going as fast as I could. And the last block had 30-second push paces, 30-second all-outs, and 1-minute recoveries. By the last block, I was getting a bit tired since I’m usually not on the bike that long, so I was at more of a normal speed and not pushing myself quite as much.
And on the floor, we also had 3 blocks and each block started with a 300-meter row before we moved on to the rest of the floor. In the first block, we had chest presses with weights, push-ups, and hip dips. In the second block, we had lunges, squats, and back extensions. And in the last block, we had sumo deadlifts, hip bridges, and bicycle crunches. I did try to go heavier with the weights since I had time to work a bit slower than I normally do. And I did go very heavy for the sumo deadlifts and hip bridges.
Tuesday’s workout was special for multiple reasons. It was my birthday class, Benzo was back as the coach (who I hadn’t seen in months), and it was a signature workout. This was the Everest workout, which isn’t one of my favorites and if it wasn’t my birthday I wouldn’t have switched my schedule to go to a class on what is normally a day off. But I knew starting off my birthday with a good workout would be the right thing to do.
For cardio, the entire block was doing the Everest workout. For Everest in a 3 group class, you have 14 minutes and every minute for the first half you go up 2% in incline until you get to the top and every minute for the second half you go down 2% in incline. For me on the bike, I changed my resistance level by 1 each time, but I didn’t start much lower than my normal base pace level. If it was a 2 group class, I would have started lower so that I didn’t get too high in the resistance levels. Everest always starts pretty normally since they are the levels I’m used to using. But once I got above what I use as an all-out level things get really tough. Once I was at the top of the hill, my legs felt like they weren’t moving that much. But I wanted to push as hard as I could go because this is also a distance challenge to see how far you can get in the workout. I didn’t pay attention to what I had done before, but when I was done and entered my distance in our tracker, I realized I got a new PR with the furthest distance I’ve done for a 3 group Everest class!
On the rower, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a 500-meter row and then we had lunges once we were done with the row. We continued that pattern and decreased the row by 100 meters each time. And in the second block, we started at 100-meters and increased by 100 meters each time. We had the same lunges between the rows in the second block as well.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. And most of the exercises in both blocks had a rep range we could use so we could try going heavier with the weights than we normally do. We had single-arm low rows, overhead tricep extensions, single-arm reverse flys, and hammer curls that had rep ranges. In the first block, we also had side planks without a rep range. In the second block, we had crunches without a rep range. I did try going heavy with the weights since I could do the lower amount of reps, and I think I did pretty great.
And of course, I had to take a post-workout birthday photo!
Since I worked out on Tuesday, I skipped Wednesday and then continued my workouts for the week on Thursday. I don’t know what happened, but it seemed like everyone on Thursday struggled to sleep. This wasn’t just with people at the workout, all my friends were saying similar things too. So I was dragging just a bit in the workout. Thursday’s workout had 2 blocks for each section of the room, and I just tried my best.
For cardio, both blocks started with push paces and then we focused on all-outs for the rest of the block. The first block started with a 90-second push pace followed by a 1-minute base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of a 1-minute all-out and 30-second recovery. Only having 30 seconds to recover isn’t a lot and it almost felt like endless all-outs. In the second block, we started the same way with the push pace and base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of a 45-second all-out and 45-second recovery. This was a bit easier to do since the all-out was shorter and the recovery was longer. But it was still a lot of all-outs to do in one day.
On the rower, both blocks were all about doing 400-meter rows. In the first block, we had lunges between each row, and in the second block, we had rainbows with the medicine ball between each row. A 400-meter row isn’t a really long row, but it’s also not a sprint so I did have to work on pacing myself so I didn’t burn out too quickly each time.
And on the floor, both blocks had 3 exercises. In the first block, we had reciprocating rows with weights, bicep curls, and lateral step downs with toe taps. I did do the step downs instead of switching to lunges, but I made the bench shorter so I didn’t have to step down quite as much and I did balance by holding onto the wall. But I still think that’s better than not trying to do those at all. And in the second block, we had bicycle presses, tricep extensions, and hip bridges.
And I finished up my workout week on Friday like I normally do. I was a bit less tired on Friday, so I felt like I could push myself a bit more than I did on Thursday.
For cardio, for both blocks we timed ourselves and we had distance challenges. For both blocks, the treadmills had a .25-mile challenge, and I had a 1-mile challenge. In the first block, we started with 2% more incline/resistance than we normally do and after completing the distance we had 30-seconds to recover. Then we went down 1% in incline/resistance and repeated the pattern for a total of 3 rounds. In the second block, we had the same distance and recovery, but we didn’t use extra incline/resistance levels so we could really push with the speed. I noticed a difference between each block and how easily I could complete the distance and how I felt in my recovery.
On the rower, the first block had 200-meter rows. I tried to sprint as best as I could, but I know I need to work more on my rowing form again. Between each row, we had in and out hops. And in the second block, we had 150-meter rows. Again, I tried to sprint them as best as I could, but I know my form is holding me back. And between each row, we had high knees.
On the floor, we had 2 exercises for each block. The first block had split squats (which I did as lunges) and hip bridges using the bench so there is a bigger range of motion. And in the second block, we had chest flys and single-arm high rows. And to finish out the workout, for the last 45-seconds on the floor we were doing push-ups.
Overall, I think I had a pretty great birthday workout week. I was feeling good, which honestly makes the week so much better. I tried to push myself when I could, and I got an unexpected PR. I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to kick off being 39!
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