Mixing Things Up A Bit In My Workouts (or Mentally Getting Prepared For A Tough Week)

I had a slightly different workout week this past week, but it was a good thing. Because I had Monday off of work, I could sleep in a little bit and take an earlier class. And that allowed me to take a 2 group class instead of the usual 3 group class I take each week.

When I got to Monday’s workout, I forgot at first that it would be a 2 group class since I’m so used to only taking 3 group classes. Usually, when you have a 2 group class, there isn’t much rowing in the workout and you focus on cardio and the floor. Sometimes you have a bit more rowing if you have a run/row day in those classes, but those are too often. And this workout wasn’t a run/row, but I think it had just as much rowing or more as my normal 3 group workout. For the entire workout, we had 3 cardio blocks, 2 floor blocks, and 5 rowing blocks. And every block was just over 3 minutes.

For cardio, we did the same thing in each block. We had a 1-minute push pace followed by a 15-second surge twice and a 45-second all-out at the end. For the surges, I did the same thing I have been doing and just pedaled faster with my push pace resistance level instead of increasing the resistance on the bike.

On the floor, both blocks had 2 exercises. In one block we had neutral grip thrusters and pull-ups on the straps. And in the other block, we had single-arm snatches and lateral squats. I did have to do some modifications on the floor, but since the blocks were short and we didn’t have much time on the floor, I tried to keep moving and not rest.

And on the rower, 3 of the blocks had one format and 2 of the blocks had another format. For 3 of the blocks, we followed the same pattern as cardio with push rows and surges and all-out rows at the end. And for the other 2 blocks, we had rounds of a 150-meter row and medicine ball presses. The goal for those blocks was to try to beat the distance you got the second time you did it.

It was fun to take a 2 group class (and to sleep in), but it was funny how this class felt so much like a 3 group one instead.

I was back to my normal workout schedule for Tuesday and it was a good and challenging class, especially for cardio.

For the cardio blocks, we started with a push pace for both blocks. Then, we had rounds of an all-out followed by a recovery. In the first block, the all-outs were 1 minute. And in the second block, they were 45 seconds. But the challenging part was that the recovery started at 30 seconds long and increased each time. Having such a short recovery doesn’t really allow you to get back to being ready for another all-out. Toward the end of each block, it was a bit easier since we had more time. But because of how tired I got at the beginning of each block, it didn’t feel that much easier. I was able to keep my all-out at the normal resistance level I use, which I felt was a good accomplishment.

On the rower, the first block was about strength and getting the furthest distance we could with 15 strokes each time. Between each attempt, we had tricep extensions with a medicine ball. And in the second block, it was more about speed and doing a 200-meter row as quickly as possible. And between each row, we had good mornings (which are similar to deadlifts) with a medicine ball.

And on the floor, the first block was focused more on lower body, and the second block was focused more on upper body. In the first block, we were supposed to do step-ups with knee raises, step-ups with knee raises with a weight, and step-ups with power. I am able to do simple step-ups by lowering the bench, but I am still limited in what I can do. So I modified things by doing my version of step-ups for the first two exercises and didn’t use weights and then I did lunges instead of the step-ups with power. It’s not a perfect alternative, but it was a good option for me. In the second block, we had bicep curls using the straps, hammer curls, and cleans with weights. And for that block, I was able to do all the exercises so I was happy with that.

On Wednesday, I was starting to deal with some pain and nausea. I knew it might kick in during this past week, but I never know exactly when it will happen. It wasn’t too unbearable so I was able to do most things, I just had to take a bit of extra time to rest when the pain was really sharp.

For cardio, we were on our own for the block with push paces and base paces. We started with the longest push pace and base pace and they went down a bit each time. I felt like the distances were a bit long for what we were told to do in the amount of time we had, so I didn’t get that far down the workout when it was time to switch. But it seemed like a lot of people in the workout had the same issue so I didn’t feel too bad.

On the rower, we were also on our own but I thought the workout was pretty interesting. We started by setting the rower for 1000 meters and we rowed for 250 meters. Then we got off the rower and did speed squats before rowing again for another 250 meters. We broke the long distance down into those 4 segments and when we completed it, we had halos using a medicine ball. Next was doing an 800-meter row and it was broken into 4 segments of 200-meters each with the same exercises. The entire block had those longer rows broken up, so they never felt too long and I enjoyed the challenge of seeing how I could do with each segment.

And on the floor, we were timed by our coach with 30 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest. In the first block, we had rounds of a single-arm shoulder press and a split squat. And at the end of that block, we had 45 seconds to do plank shoulder taps. I used the bench for those to make sure I didn’t get too nauseous. And in the second block, we had high rows to low rows and lateral lunges. The only modification I did to those was not to use a weight for the lateral lunges. And again, we ended the block with plank shoulder taps.

On Thursday, I was still feeling a bit of pain and nausea, but it wasn’t that much worse than Wednesday so I felt grateful for that. And we had a workout that wasn’t too bad for how I was feeling so that was something else I was grateful for.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks with the same pattern. We had some incline work mixed with base paces without an incline. The first block had higher inclines than the second block. I wasn’t doing anything too crazy in the cardio blocks, but I did use the right resistance levels to represent the hills that those on the treadmills were using.

We had a mix of crew rows and medicine ball work on the rower. Crew rows are when everyone in your section of the rowers rows together and is synchronized. Each crew row was only a minute long, so it wasn’t too bad. I struggled a little getting in sync with everyone, but I felt like it was easier than it’s been in the past to sync up because the leaders were told to keep the stroke rate a bit lower. Between each of the crew rows that we had, we did exercises with a medicine ball. It was a mix of doing presses or bicep curls, and I tried to not take breaks to add a little extra challenge for myself.

And on the floor, we had cluster sets. Each block focused on one exercise. In the first block, it was chest presses. And in the second block, it was hip bridges. For the cluster sets, we did 3 rounds of the exercise with only 10 seconds to rest between sets. I used my normal weight for chest presses since I know that doing cluster sets can make the weights feel heavier than normal. And that was the case this time and the last round of each cluster set was a struggle to do more than 2 or 3 reps. In the second block, I did one of the heavier weights I sometimes use for hip bridges. It surprised me that this wasn’t as much of a struggle as the chest presses were, but I think that I probably underestimate my strength with hip bridges. I was still tired and did fewer reps toward the end of each set, but I could do a bit more in that second block.

This week, I’m expecting it to be a tough one for me. Of course, as always I am hoping that things won’t be as bad as they could be. But I also have to be prepared for it to be pretty bad. I know I’ll do the same thing as I always do with my bad weeks and just try my best. But I’m hoping that I’ll be able to end the first half of this year with a pretty decent workout week.

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