I’m officially a Hell Week Survivor! I’ve accomplished this every year I’ve been going to Orangetheory, but it always means a lot to me that I can do this. This year, Hell Week was anything but routine for me. Not only was it spread out over the entire month, but I had to do all the workouts at home. Even though I have almost been doing this for 8 months now (I still can’t believe how long I’ve been doing this), it doesn’t feel normal to me yet. And I think Hell Week made me miss my studio even more than normal.
But even though it felt weird, I am glad that I earned my Hell Week shirt! I don’t have it yet, but I did get a message that we should be getting instructions on how to pick them up soon. I can’t wait to have the new shirt to add to my collection!
All the workouts this past week for Orangetheory at Home were Hell Week ones. Technically, my Friday workout wasn’t an official Hell Week one since I did it over Zoom with my coach. But still, all 4 workouts were tough and I worked hard to get through them all. I was sweating like crazy and sore most days. But it did feel good to push myself and I can only hope that I did something close to what I would have done in the studios.
But even with working hard and wanting to complete my Hell Week workouts, it’s becoming more and more of a struggle for me to get my workouts in. I know I’m not as motivated as I normally am. I notice myself doing my workouts a bit later in the day, which I don’t like too much. I want to be able to do them in the morning so they are done. I don’t want to put them off. But the motivation just isn’t there for me like I know it can be. And this is a struggle I’ve been dealing with since we started having to work out at home. It comes in waves with how much or little motivation I have, but I know that overall my motivation is down much lower than it is when I go to the studio.
I’m hoping that if I’m able to do the outdoor workouts in another week or two that it will help fix this problem a bit. I think the isolation, in general, is tough, but the isolation with workouts when it’s always been a social thing for me is even harder. It was hard for me to find a workout that I loved. I tried so many different things. And with the workouts I enjoyed, it’s always been because of the people around me and coaching me. Even the workouts I didn’t stick with that I enjoyed were about the people. And Orangetheory was the first place that combined the social aspect with a workout that I loved. And I crave getting that back.
I’m not going to give up doing my workouts at home, but I need to find new ways to feel better about doing them. Even if I start going to the outdoor classes, I don’t know if I’d be doing that for all my workouts. So I need to be good at doing the workouts at home.
Having challenges like Hell Week do help with the motivation a bit because I am super competitive and I wouldn’t let something get in the way of me accomplishing it. But I can’t rely on just those challenges to keep me going. I don’t know how long it will be before I can go to my workouts in person for all my classes (either outdoors or in the studio). I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for several more months of this. And it’s not easy. But I know I have to do it. My mental health depends on it. I can’t imagine how much worse I would feel if I didn’t have my workouts as a part of my weekly routine.
But while I do want to focus on improving myself and making things better, I need to remember to celebrate any victories that I can. And for now, I need to celebrate being a Hell Week Survivor during the most hellish year I’ve ever experienced!
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