Posted onAugust 16, 2023|Comments Off on Back To Back Doctor Appointments (or Still Having Easy Check-Ups)
Even though it seems like I always have doctor appointments on my calendar, I’ve been very lucky that they usually are very routine and easy. I have several ongoing conditions that I’m trying to manage, and they seem to be a lot more stable now than they have been in the past. This is what I’ve been trying to achieve, so it’s nice to manage things tolerably instead of figuring out what to do next. But even with things being stable and manageable, I still have regular check-ups with my doctors to make sure nothing has changed.
And I had 2 of these check-up appointments recently just to make sure everything is fine. Fortunately, both appointments went as easily as I assumed they would.
First, I had an appointment with my dermatologist. These appointments have been pretty easy for a while now. My autoimmune condition has been more stable than ever and I really don’t have to think about it that often anymore. Occasionally, I do have a bad flare-up, but they are less frequent and usually not as many at one time. When I had my appointment, I did have a bad flare-up, but it was only a single location and a single flare-up. In the past, it could be multiple flare-ups at one time and in different locations on my body. When that was happening, the pain took a lot of my focus each day. With how my flare-ups have been lately, I only think about them if I position my body in a way to trigger the pain. It’s such a nice change compared to what I had been dealing with for so many years.
One of the medications I’ve been on to manage it for the past few months may or may not be working because typically it takes about 6 months to see if it’s helping. So hopefully, by my next appointment, I’ll have a better idea if it’s working and if I want to stay on it. It doesn’t really have any side effects so it’s not hurting me to stay on it to test it out. If at my next appointment, I don’t think it’s helping, I might go off of it just so I don’t take an extra medication that I have to pay for each month. But I’m trying to stay optimistic and thinking that I’ll see some positive results when I go back again. And because things are so stable, I don’t have to go back to my dermatologist for 6 months this time. Of course, if something comes up I can make an appointment sooner, but this is a longer time between appointments than I have had in the past.
And a few days after my dermatologist, I had my check-in with my therapist. Again, these appointments have been very simple and easy for a while. They are even easier than most appointments since I can continue to do them as video appointments. That makes it so much easier to fit into my schedule and they take significantly less time now that I don’t have to drive to the medical office and wait in the waiting room. I’m glad this is still an option for me and it should continue to be that way since my therapist used to see me in person and we haven’t always had virtual appointments.
This appointment was very similar to the last several therapist check-ins. She wanted to make sure that I’m still doing ok with my medication and that nothing much has changed with my mental health. The only thing we had to discuss was how I had to stop taking my medication for a bit because there was a shortage and I couldn’t get a refill. That’s not something that can be predicted, so it could happen again. But I’m hoping it won’t because I noticed a significant difference in how I was feeling when I had to stop taking it.
Other than discussing that, there wasn’t much talked about with my therapist which was what I expected. And just like with my dermatologist, my next check-in will be in 6 months so I have a bit of time before my next appointment.
It took time to get to a place where these appointments could be so easy and everything under control. I’m so grateful that I have gotten to this place because it wasn’t straightforward and it took trial and error. And I know that this isn’t necessarily what it will always be like and things can change and I could struggle to get to this stability again. But I’m just going to enjoy that things are like this for now and remain hopeful that when I have both of these appointments again in about 6 months that I will still be in the same place.
Posted onAugust 14, 2023|Comments Off on Birthday Week Workouts (or Celebrating Each Class)
This past week of workouts was another good one for me. Not only was it my birthday week, but I was feeling really great. I’ve said several times that I really think it’s awesome that I turned 40, but I think seeing how strong I am in my workouts really has helped with that feeling. I can see how different my body and my strength are compared to when I turned 30. And I got to experience that feeling several times in this past week of workouts.
Monday’s workout was a lot of strength and endurance. I tried to push myself where I could, but I’m still balancing out how much I can push myself without making my hips hurt too much from also going out to walk and picket. But I’m getting pretty good and sensing when I’m pushing just a bit too much.
For cardio, each block focused on push paces and base paces. The push paces started longer without incline and as they got shorter, we added incline and resistance levels. And the all-outs for each block also used incline/resistance. None of the resistance levels got too high, but I was still using higher levels than I normally do for my push paces, so I tried to keep pedaling as fast as I do without the extra resistance level.
For rowing, we had 2 blocks that both started with a 400-meter row that decreased by 100 meters each round. And between each round, we had a medicine ball exercise. In the first block, we had lunges with rotations. And in the second block, we had halos. Because of my balance issues, I really can’t do rotations with lunges. So I alternated doing lunges between one set of rows and then rotations with the medicine ball between the next rows. I figured that was the best solution for me.
And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block had single-leg deadlifts, single-arm reach to rotations on the straps, and tricep extensions. The second block had rows on the straps, squat to presses, and plank low rows. I was happy that I was able to do these exercises with very few modifications so I could maximize my time on the floor. As hard as it is for me to see progress on the floor because I don’t change the weights I use too often, I do like to see how much easier some exercises become for me to do over time.
Tuesday’s workout was the last workout of my 30s and I felt like that was something to celebrate. I don’t usually get really sentimental around birthdays, but this time I did. And I really was reflecting on how much I accomplished with my workouts in my 30s and what that really did to make me the person I am today. It sounds a bit cheesy, but that’s how I was feeling during the workout.
For cardio, we had long push paces and shorter base paces. This was a lot of endurance work to fit in with this month being marathon month so those participating in it could get as much distance as they could in the workout. I was using my usual push pace and base pace resistance levels and was just enjoying how normal and chill that felt. It was still a challenge for me, but it was also nice to realize that my body could do that and I wasn’t struggling all the time.
On the rower, we had one long rowing block. We started with a 600-meter row followed by 20 high knees. I had to do the high knees as marching in place, but I did them. Then we did a 400-meter and 200-meter row with high knees before going back up the pattern and switching the exercise to butt kicks. I did all the rows with high knees and the 200-meter row with butt kicks. I was working on the 400-meter row when the block ended, but that was further in the block than I thought I would get.
And on the floor, we had back-to-back sets. We had 2 exercises we were supposed to do without resting between each one. And we did each set twice before moving on to the next one. We had chest presses and split squats (which are more like lunges for me), hammer curls and single-arm hip hinge swings, and chest flys and speed skaters. Besides modifying the split squats, I was able to do the rest of the exercises without modifications. Because of the weights that were available after others picked what they used, I did go a bit lighter with the hammer curls, but I added a few extra reps to make up for that.
Wednesday’s workout was my birthday class, and my coach said happy birthday to me as soon as I walked inside the lobby. They also wrote happy birthday on the brag board, and I took a photo with my coach before class started so I could get a non-sweaty photo to remember spending a milestone birthday at Orangetheory.
I’m also excited to see when we have rowing benchmarks how I do because I am in a new age group. For cardio benchmarks, this won’t really be a factor since my benchmarks are listed in the bike section and that’s not split by age group. But it would be cool if I could make the leaderboard a few times for rowing now that I’m in the 40-49 group instead of the 30-39 group!
For cardio, we had 3 blocks that each had 4 different 1-minute push paces and all the push paces used inclines. In the first block, the inclines increased by 2% each minute. In the second block, the inclines increased by 1% every minute. And in the last block, the inclines increased by 0.5% each minute. For the first 2 blocks, I did change the resistance level to the correct amount each minute. But the resistance levels are in whole numbers, so I can’t increase by 0.5%. So for that block, I repeated the second block and increased them by 1 every minute.
On the rower, we also had 3 blocks. Each block started with a distance row. Then we had lunges off the rower before rowing for distance until the block ended. The goal was to get at least the same distance for each block. The first block started with a 200-meter row, the second block started with a 150-meter row, and the last block started with a 150-meter row. I was pretty close to the same distance for each block, so I was pretty happy with that.
And on the floor, we also had 3 blocks but they were different from what we normally do. Each block focused on a single exercise. We had a minute to do a specific number of reps and any time at the end of that minute could be used to rest. We repeated that 4 times in each block to make the blocks 4 minutes long. The first block was 12 reps of a goblet squat each time, the second block was 12 reps of a reverse grip low row each time, and the last block was 8 reps of a deadlift each time. We also had the option to do more reps if we felt like it wasn’t enough or to do a plank hold at the end of the last minute. I did the plank hold for the extra time in the last minute for each block which was tough enough for me. It was a challenge, but I felt like it was a great way to start things as a 40-year-old.
Thursday’s class had a bit more of a focus on power, which felt different from the other workouts we’ve had so far this month. It still had a lot of opportunities for people to get mileage for the marathon challenge, but it was all about all-outs for cardio.
For cardio, we had one long block. We started with 2 rounds of a 1-minute all-out followed by a 1-minute recovery. Then we continued the pattern of an all-out with a 1-minute recovery after, but the all-outs got shorter every other time. So we had 2 rounds of 50-second all-outs, 2 rounds of 40-second all-outs, 2 rounds of 30-second all-outs, and we ended with just one 20-second all-out. I used my normal resistance level for all-outs on the bike, but I tried to pedal faster for the second time we had a certain all-out time. I didn’t get that much faster, but it was a little extra which I think counts a lot.
We also had 1 block for rowing. It was similar to what we had on Tuesday, but there were a few differences. This time, the rows were 400 meters, 300 meters, 200 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters, and 400 meters. After the first 3 rows, we were supposed to do a squat hold bicep curl with a medicine ball, but I was having a tough morning with my hips so I just did the bicep curl with the medicine ball. And for the last 3 rows, we were supposed to do a squat hold tricep extension, and again I just did the exercise without the squat. I was working on the last 400-meter row went the block ended, so again I got pretty far in the exercises which I was happy about.
And on the floor, again it was a single block. We had drop sets this time, which is always a good challenge. But we also had single-side exercises this time which added to the drop set challenge. So we did a heavy weight on the right side, light weight on the right side, heavy weight on the left side, and light weight for the left side for each exercise. The exercises we had were goblet lunges, single-arm low rows, and single-arm shoulder presses. I can’t do goblet lunges, so I did regular lunges with no weight and goblet squats separately. It was like the lunges counted as one weight and the squats as another. It’s not exactly what we were supposed to do, but it was the best thing I could do with modifying things the way I needed them to be. And I did make an effort to try to use heavier weights than normal for the heavy weights to make sure I pushed myself. It was hard and I was pretty low with the rep count, but that’s how things should be for drop sets since I got a lot more reps done with the lighter weight.
I don’t think I could have asked for a better week of workouts for my birthday week. I was feeling good and strong, which is always a sign of a good week for me. I had the chance to challenge myself but I wasn’t struggling or getting frustrated. And I felt like a badass as always, which is the best way to turn 40!
I’m 40 today! I’ve said it before, but I’m not that worried about being 40. I know it’s something everyone says, but age really is just a number. Nothing has changed about me because yesterday I was 39 and today I’m 40. I also think that where past generations were at 40 is very different from where my generation is at 40. And a lot of my friends are older than me, so I have a lot of examples of what a 40-year-old could be like. Some of them at 40 were married with kids and others had similar lifestyles to what I have right now. And I’m lucky that none of my friends or family pressured me to feel like I had to be at a certain phase of life at any age.
I also have said before that my 30s were so much better than my 20s, and I think that things will just continue to get better. A lot of this feeling is not caring as much to fit certain stereotypes or what others may think about me. If I want to enjoy my life a certain way and it’s not hurting anyone else, I should be able to do that without shame. If I want to spend a day reading, that’s fine and I shouldn’t feel embarrassed that others might see that as a wasted day. And the sense of freedom I’ve had as I have gotten more confident about not caring has been amazing.
I’m not really doing much to celebrate my birthday today. I have my workout, going to the picket line, and working my day job. I might end up doing something after work, but I have a feeling I won’t be up for much since I tend to be tired after work. But that’s ok because I had a small birthday party thing this past weekend!
I haven’t celebrated my birthday with friends for a while, but I figured I should do it this year for a milestone birthday. I didn’t want anything too crazy, so I organized a hangout at a lounge attached to a bar near my place. I invited a lot of friends because there are so many people I hadn’t seen in a while and about 15 people were able to come.
I didn’t take any photos because I was busy talking with everyone, so I’m grateful for a friend who was there that took these candid ones. And it was such a great birthday hangout!
I had friends that were there from different friend groups, and it’s always crazy to see how people know each other when I had no idea. For example, one friend I have known since I was in college knew another friend I know through union service from an acting class they were in 20 years ago! And another friend from one friend group knew another friend from a different group but they hadn’t seen each other in about 15 years. There were several moments when I just sat back and watched my friends talking to each other. It was so awesome just seeing new friendships being created and old friendships catching up. I didn’t need or want to be the center of attention, I just wanted everyone to have a good time. And I think everyone who was there did.
I didn’t think to tell people to not bring presents because I honestly wasn’t expecting them. And I was surprised how many people brought me a card or a gift. I felt so loved, and a little embarrassed that I didn’t think I deserved so much fuss. But I also know how much I love to give my friends gifts, so I appreciated the time and money others spent on me and finding the right gift to get me.
I don’t really have any other big plans for my birthday. There are some birthday traditions that I need to schedule still, so I will still be celebrating turning 40 for at least a few more weeks. And I think being 40 is something I will be celebrating for a while because I really am excited about this next decade and I really can’t wait to see what will be coming my way and what my future has in store. I know that I have built a life that I really enjoy and have surrounded myself with people I love. And whatever happens for me in my 40s will just be adding upon that. I know it won’t all be amazing and positive, but I have a feeling there are some incredible things ahead for me!
Posted onAugust 7, 2023|Comments Off on Last Full Workout Week Of My 30s (or Continuing The Good Workout Weeks)
This past week of workouts was another good one for me. I feel like I’ve been spoiled lately with the good workout weeks. They aren’t all perfect workouts and I still have struggles, but they haven’t been as bad as they could have been. Of course, in the back of my mind, I wonder if my next cycle will be extra brutal since this one wasn’t bad, but I’m trying to focus on the positives, not the negatives. And this past week of workouts was the last full workout week of my 30s, so that was something to be excited about. Even if I’m not the thinnest or lightest I’ve been as an adult, I know that my 30s were my fittest decade. Health is more than a number on a scale, and I have gotten so much healthier over this past decade.
Monday’s workout had a lot of endurance focus to it. It was a good and tough class and I tried to push myself where I could. But I was also mindful of how my body might feel after pushing myself since I knew I would be going to the picket lines after my workout.
For cardio, we had one long block. We alternated a push pace with an incline and a base pace without an incline. I did try to increase my resistance levels a bit more for the push paces with inclines since I already use extra resistance for a push pace. I wasn’t exactly able to do the increases we were supposed to, but all of my push paces with incline were at a higher resistance level than my normal push pace level. So that was good for me.
On the rower, we also had one long block. We started with a 15-stroke drill, 12-stroke drill, and 10-stroke drill with a shoulder press with a medicine ball between each row. Then we repeated the same stroke drills with a bicep curl with a medicine ball between each row. And we ended with the same stroke drills with a tricep extension with a medicine ball between each row. I didn’t get through all the rowing, but I did get to the middle row of the last section where we were doing the tricep extensions so I was close to getting all of them done.
And on the floor, we had reverse drop sets. So for the exercises, we did 6 reps with a heavy weight and then as many reps as possible with a heavier weight after that. Normally, for a drop set, you drop down in weight instead of increasing. So this made this extra tough. The reverse drop sets were with squats and chest presses. After doing the squats we had knee drives to leg lifts, which I had to do as separate exercises. And after the chest presses we had knee tucks. Knee tucks are always hard on my hips, but I was able to do them this time by going slowly and allowing myself extra breaks during the reps.
Tuesday’s workout was another one that felt very endurance-focused. August is Marathon Month at Orangetheory, so I think there will be a lot of endurance work with cardio throughout the month. I’m not doing Marathon Month this time, but it’s mainly because I don’t want to stress about how far I’m getting on the bike if I’m not feeling well. But I’m still trying to get a lot of distance in each workout. I was able to push myself a bit more since I knew I wouldn’t be going to the picket lines after my workout (right now, I’m going on Mondays and Wednesdays instead of trying every day). So I was able to push a bit more and allow myself to prove what I could do.
For cardio, we had another long block. We had 2 long runs/bikes for distance and 2 surges in the middle of them when we were supposed to go a bit faster. I knew that I couldn’t do my push pace resistance level for the entire block, so I used a resistance level between my base and push to be a bit harder. And for the surges, I didn’t increase my resistance level but instead focused more on pedaling faster since that’s something I know I could do a lot better with. And at the end, we had an all-out where I did use my normal all-out resistance level.
On the rower, we had 4 blocks. Blocks 1 and 3 were the same and blocks 2 and 4 were the same. In blocks 1 and 3, we started with a 30-second row and then did 10 lateral hops. I did side-to-side steps instead of the hops. We then did another 30-second row and then had 20 hops. We continued the pattern of a 30-second row and increased the hops by 10 every time. These weren’t my best blocks since the steps and getting on and off the rower took some time. And for blocks 2 and 4, we had a 90-second row for distance and we were supposed to try to make it an all-out row for the last 30 seconds. These blocks were better for me and I was able to get further in block 4 than I did in block 2.
And on the floor, we had one block. It was a mix of upper and lower body work and we were supposed to try to challenge ourselves by increasing the weight if possible after each round. We had sumo deadlifts, kneeling wood choppers, single-arm high row to low row, and tricep kickbacks. I did have to modify the high row to low rows to be separate exercises because I was struggling to switch my hand position that frequently. But I was able to go a bit heavier with the weights after the first round for a few of the exercises. And the floor block ended with a 30-second plank hold, which was a bit harder than normal because I think I worked that much harder during the workout.
Wednesday was another day where I wanted to push myself but not too hard since I would be picketing. But I’m finding the balance between those things the more I go on the picket lines so I’m hoping it will be less of an issue as time goes on (or the strike ends before I have a chance to do that).
For cardio, we had a few blocks but they all had similar formats. We had rounds of a 30-second push pace and 45-second base pace and a 30-second all-out at the end. Even though the base paces were longer than the push paces, it still seemed like we never really got a chance to catch our breath or recover. But I did make sure I was using the normal resistance levels I use on the bike for all the blocks.
On the rower, we had 2 blocks. In the first block, we focused on doing a 200-meter row with a halo using a medicine ball between each row. And in the second block, we focused on doing a 10-stroke drill with front presses with a medicine ball between each row. I really like these rowing blocks. Even though it will probably always be hard for me to get on and off the rower, this went a lot smoother than other similar row blocks have gone for me.
On the floor, we had one long block. We had 6 exercises to do the first round and then after completing them, we could pick any of the exercises to take off so we did 5 exercises for the second round and so on. The exercises we had were lunges, shoulder presses, good mornings, hammer curls, squats, and plank low rows. After the first round, I took the lunges off. After the second round, I took the squats off. I was working on my third round when the block ended and I was going to take the plank off but I hadn’t gotten that far.
I was a bit sore on Thursday, likely a combination of my few days on the picket line and how I was pushing myself in my workouts at the beginning of the week. But I still was feeling pretty good, even with some extra soreness, so I was ready for another challenging workout.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. Each block had 1-minute intervals followed by 30-second intervals. In the first block, the 1-minute intervals were push paces and the 30-second intervals were base paces with a 1-minute all-out at the end. In the second block, it was similar to the first block but the push paces had increasing inclines. And in the last block, the 1-minute intervals were all-outs and the 30-second intervals were walking recoveries. These were tough since the harder intervals were twice as long as the easier ones, but they were all short blocks so that helped a bit.
On the rower, we had one long block. We started with an 800-meter row. After that row, we had tricep extensions, halos, and squat jumps (which I did as squats to calf raise) with a medicine ball. Then we had a 600-meter row with the same exercises after the row. I was working on the 400-meter row when the block ended, but I was happy with how far I got.
And on the floor, we had 3 blocks and they had a lot of focus on balance. I tried to do each exercise the best I could, but I knew that balance things would be tough for me. The first block had push-ups and kneeling lateral raises and both exercises were with the Bosu. I did manage to do both exercises using the Bosu by doing the push-ups on my knees and taking some breaks during the reps for the lateral raises. The second block had split squats and kneeling tricep extensions, and again they were both supposed to be on the Bosu. I did the split squats as lunges and didn’t use the Bosu, but I did do the tricep extensions on it so that was an extra challenge. And the last block had jack presses without the Bosu and kneeling bicep curls using the Bosu. I did the jack presses as shoulder presses, but I did use the Bosu again for the bicep curls.
I think that this past week really was another great week for me and an awesome way to start closing out my 30s. I love how positive I’ve been feeling with my workouts recently, and I’m so happy that it looks like I’ll be starting my 40s feeling great about myself and ready to see what I can accomplish with my fitness in a new decade.
Posted onAugust 2, 2023|Comments Off on A Few Months Of Celebrating (or Enjoying Each Age)
I set my monthly challenge for July to be to celebrate the last full month of my 30s. I know that’s not really a challenge like some of the ones I’ve done in the past, but I did want to make an effort to celebrate my age because I think it’s important to do so. Age is such a weird thing and I hate the stigma that seems to come with certain ages.
I didn’t stress as much as I thought I would 10 years ago about turning 30. I think turning 29 was almost a harder birthdate. For some reason, there was a block in my mind about what I was supposed to accomplish before 30 and I saw my 29th birthday as the cutoff to get those things accomplished. I don’t know why 29 was as tough for me as it was, but I was grateful that turning 30 wasn’t as bad as I feared.
I haven’t had a big issue in my mind about turning 40. I find it a bit tough to believe because I don’t feel like I’m 40. I think the pandemic made a few years feel like they didn’t happen, but also there was an idea in my mind when I was a kid about what 40 meant. I remember seeing all those over-the-hill gag gift things for someone turning 40, and I don’t feel like I’m headed toward the end of my life. I actually think that my life has been so much better in my 30s than in my 20s had been. I think I really stopped caring about some things that don’t really matter, and that made things a lot better for me. I also had some really great steps with improving both my mental and physical health and that helped this past decade a lot too.
I think every age is important, and it was extra important to acknowledge all the things that happened to me in my 30s. I had so much growth and celebrating that felt like the right thing to do. I didn’t do anything in particular, but I did make sure that I got out and spent time doing fun things with my friends to enjoy the last full month of my 30s.
And my challenge this month is kind of the same as what I did last month. Turning 40 is a milestone birthday, even if it doesn’t have the same feeling now as I thought it might when I was younger. I think it’s awesome that I’m turning 40 and I think that this coming decade will be even better than my 30s. I never knew how amazing my 30s could be, and I am so excited to see how my 40s surprise me. I don’t fear growing older or a specific age, so I want to celebrate how cool it is that I will be 40!
I am planning a casual birthday gathering since I haven’t really celebrated my birthday in the past few years. And I have the usual birthday traditions that I’m planning on doing again this year. I want to start off this decade by trying to spend time doing things I want to do, which I don’t do often enough. I’ve been doing better about getting out of my house and seeing friends, and I want to keep doing that. I want to make sure I take advantage of this month and enjoy as much time as I can. I know that I won’t be able to do that all the time, but making the effort to celebrate my birthday and my new decade is important to me.
I know this is another easy challenge to do, but I think it’s the perfect one for me this month. I haven’t had other life milestones yet that a lot of other people have that they celebrate (like a wedding), so celebrating a big birthday is an important one for me and I want to make sure I start off this decade in the best way possible!
Posted onJuly 31, 2023|Comments Off on Not What I Planned For (or Another Unexpected Workout Week)
This past week of workouts was not what I planned for or expected. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did make things different than what I thought I was in for this past week. I was expecting to be dealing with a lot of pain and nausea, and I was so grateful that I didn’t have that. I did have a little bit to deal with, but it was so minor compared to what I was prepared for. But that also meant the moments that I did have to deal with it, I was thrown off a bit because I was getting comfortable with being ok.
I also had an unexpected start to my workout week because I didn’t have a Monday workout. I’m pretty good about going to work out Monday through Thursday. And I woke up on Monday and was ready to go. But due to something at the studio, they had to cancel the class I go to. I know that it wasn’t anyone’s fault and they weren’t happy about having to message us. And I thought about trying to go to a different class time, but there wasn’t another class that would work for me. It’s ok because it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get 4 workouts in for the week. So I used my morning to get some other work stuff done instead of working out.
But I was back to my normal schedule on Tuesday. I know I’ve said this before, but I’m so used to my routine and my workouts are something I have craved when I missed them, so I was glad that only my Monday workout was affected by what happened at the studio.
For cardio, we had one long block. We had rounds of a 30-second push pace with increasing base paces. We started with a 30-second base pace and it went up to a 3-minute base pace before we ended the block with a 30-second all-out. Because the push paces were short and the base paces were long, we were encouraged to push ourselves a bit more in our push paces. And as long as we could get back to our base pace without having to walk, we were doing the right thing. I did try to pedal faster since I wasn’t going to use a higher resistance level than my normal one and I think that helped to make the cardio block a good challenge.
On the rower, we had 2 blocks that were similar. Both blocks started with a 250-meter row and we decreased the rows by 50 meters each round. In the first block, we had lunges between each row. And in the second block, we had frogger squats between each row. Both blocks were equally challenging since it’s hard to get off of the rower quickly and both exercises weren’t the easiest on my hips. But I’m glad the rows were short.
And on the floor, we had one long block. We had 5 exercises and we started with 4 reps for each exercise. Each time, we increased the reps by 2. We had low rows on the straps, neutral grip thrusters, bicep curls, lateral lunges, and hollow hold single-arm chest presses. I did try to go heavy with the weights for the weighted exercises, but as the reps increased I did have to use some lighter ones.
Wednesday’s workout was a signature workout. This was Inferno, which I’ve done a few times in the past. It’s a rowing-focused challenge, so the other sections of the room were a little easier so we could put as much effort as possible into our rowing.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block had 1-minute push paces and increasing base paces. The base paces started at 30 seconds and went up to 1 minute with a 45-second all-out at the end. The second block was similar but the push paces were 30 seconds long and the base paces went up to 75 seconds and a 1-minute all-out at the end. I didn’t push myself too hard because I was getting ready to row, but I also tried to not go too easy on myself either.
The Inferno challenge is all about increasing rows with an exercise between each row. We started with a 100-meter row and 20 lateral hops. I do side-to-side steps instead of lateral hops, but they are essentially the same thing. The row increases by 100 meters each time and the challenge is to get as many meters as you can in 14 minutes. It starts off not too bad, but as the rows get longer and you get tired, it’s harder. I know that from past attempts and I was trying to pace myself a bit more in the beginning with the hopes that I wouldn’t get too tired by the end. I didn’t check my past attempts before this workout because I didn’t want to stress myself to try to get a PR. And I didn’t know if I got a PR or close to my past attempts until after class, so I was very happy to see that I did PR!
It was 16 meters further than my previous PR, but that’s still a good improvement for me! And I felt a lot better about this attempt than I did for past ones, so I consider that a bigger victory than my PR.
On the floor, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks were more focused on upper body work since rowing is a lot of lower body work. The first block had alligators on the straps, chest flys, and shoulder presses. And the second block had high rows to bicep curls on the straps, reverse flys, and plank pull-throughs. I did end up modifying the high rows to bicep curls to be separate exercises because I was struggling to switch my arm positions that frequently. But that isn’t that bad of a modification for me. And I was trying to push myself on the floor more than it was designed since I was already done with my rowing, but I was also tired from the rowing so I couldn’t do as much as I would have liked.
On Thursday, I was having the most trouble with pain and nausea, but it was still minor compared to what I was thinking I would have during this past week. But it did make me a bit anxious because I was worried it would kick in during the workout and be pretty bad. But I was glad that it didn’t happen that way and I was able to focus more on my workout than any pain that might have happened.
For cardio, we had a newer type of challenge. We had 3 blocks that were the same, but I’m glad they were the same so I would work on this challenge. We started each block with a base pace. Then we increased the incline. After that, we increased the speed without bringing the incline down. We alternated increasing incline and speed without going back to where we started in the block. So in the end, we had a higher incline and speed than normal and that counted as our all-out. I did work on increasing my pedaling for the speed work since I didn’t want to just use increases in the resistance levels. I struggled a bit in the first block to figure out a good plan, but I was able to do a lot better in the second and third blocks.
On the rower, we also had 3 blocks. For the first block, we started off the rower with medicine ball exercises. We had squats with front presses, tricep extensions, and low rows. After doing 2 rounds of the exercises, we got on the rower and rowed until the block was done. For the second block, we looked at how far we rowed in the first block and rowed that distance first. Once we got to that distance, we got off the rower and did 2 rounds of the medicine ball exercises again. And the challenge was to get back on to the rower to get further in rowing distance than you did in the first block. And for the last block, we got to choose if we wanted to start with the exercises or the rowing. I picked to start with the exercises so I could challenge myself more with getting the furthest distance on the rower and I was able to do that.
And on the floor, we had one longer block and one shorter block. For the longer block, we started with lunges and split squats with rotations. The split squats with rotations are really tough on my hips, but I just tried to do whatever I could. my split squats looked more like I was just standing, but it was better than doing nothing. Then we had single-arm clean to presses and sumo goblet squats. I didn’t go too heavy with the weights for those exercises but that ok with me. I did try to go slower with the sumo goblet squats than I normally do because I know that made it extra challenging. And the short block was a core blast with two exercises. We were supposed to do bicycle crunches and crab toe reaches. We didn’t have a set number of reps, it was just as many as possible before we had to switch to the other exercise. I can’t do crab toe reaches, so I did side-to-side crunch reaches since that has some of the same movements. The short block was about 4 minutes long, and my core was dead by the time the workout was done!
Overall, this past week felt so successful for me. I might not have gotten 4 workouts in, but I did so much better with each workout than I expected and I felt like I really challenged myself where I could and I saw a lot of great results from that. I only hope this week is just as great for me!
Posted onJuly 26, 2023|Comments Off on The End To Another Awesome Season (or A Preview Of Things To Come)
I just had the last show of my most recent season set of tickets at the Pantages. I believe this was my 7th season of having tickets there, but things are split up a little funny because the 2019-2020 season wasn’t really a single season the way things had to be split up. But I think calling it my 7th season makes sense in my head, and I am so happy I have continued to see shows.
This past season was the first time I was the ticket holder because my friend Dani used to be that for our group. But now that she moved away and I’m seeing the shows with my friend Jodi, it made sense for me to run things since I am a bit more familiar with the process. And Jodi and I have been having so much fun so it was a pretty easy decision for us to get ourselves signed up for the next season.
The next season doesn’t start until the new year, so there’s a chance we will go 6 months without a show. It’s not the first time this has happened, so I know it will be fine. And when this happened in the past, the time seemed to go by quickly. So I feel like our first show of the next season will be here before we know it. There are also some musicals happening before the new season starts that I’m considering getting tickets to, so I might be back sooner than the new year.
But I wasn’t focused on the possibility of several months without a show when we went to our final show of the season. I was excited to see the show because I had seen a few clips of it and it looked amazing! The final show for us in this season was “Beetlejuice”.
I’ve seen the movie before, but it’s been a really long time and I wouldn’t say I’m too familiar with it. Jodi has seen it a lot and loves the movie. But we were both equally excited for this show and how fun it should be.
And it was an amazing show! I loved the songs and the sets and I didn’t feel lost even though I didn’t know the movie that well. It’s hard to say if a show is the best show I’ve seen because there have been quite a few of those. But it was one of the better show I’ve seen and I would say it’s totally in my top favorite shows. Yes, it’s a bit morbid because it’s about death, but it’s such a funny show. I was laughing throughout it and it was such a fun show to experience.
And this show gave us a bit of a preview for what next season will be like. This past season, we moved our tickets around for almost every show. I never really did that before, but it was easy for me to do it and it’s nice when you can get really close seats randomly for a show. And the seats we moved to for “Beetlejuice” were basically the seats we have for our season seats next season. The only difference will be that we will be seated on the other side of the theater. But it’s the same row and still next to the aisle. So it was a great way for us to test out what the new season seats will be like. I might still move our tickets around if I can get us closer to the stage, but it was great to see that we got great tickets for next season with a good view and not obstructed like some of the cheap seats can be.
It was a great way to end this past season for us. We had a fun show and we are looking forward even more to the next season now that we know we have great seats for all of the shows even if we don’t switch them around. Now I just need the next 6 months to go by so we can kick off the new season!
Posted onJuly 24, 2023|Comments Off on Happy With A Good Workout Week (or My Workouts Plus Extra Mileage)
I was really prepared to have a bad workout week this past week. I was expecting my pain and nausea to kick in, which always makes it a bad week. And I knew I’d be going out to the picket lines every day and I wasn’t sure how that would affect my hips. But I was pleasantly surprised with how the week went. I was shocked that my pain and nausea really didn’t happen throughout the week. I had little moments of nausea, but that could have been anything and it wasn’t that extreme. And I did have some sore hips from the extra walking (I did over 11 miles on the picket lines), but it was manageable and didn’t affect me too much. I did have to take some moments to rest and stretch out my hips, but I was prepared for so much worse. So it ended up being an unexpectedly good week for me!
I was a bit worried going into Monday’s workout about how I would feel, but I also knew that there was a chance that would be the best day I would have that week. I’m glad I was wrong, but I didn’t know that at the time so the nerves were hitting me.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks did 90 seconds of work and 45 seconds of a base pace to recover. In the first block, we did a push pace for the 90 seconds and in the second block, we did a push to all-out for the 90 seconds. I used my normal resistance levels for all of the work and it went pretty well for me. Both blocks ended with an all-out, and that went well for me too.
On the rower, we started with a 100-meter row and then we had foot switches off of the rower. I did back-and-forth steps instead of foot switches as my modification. Then we increased the row by 100 meters each time until we got to 500 meters. After 500 meters, we then worked our way back down but did butt kicks after the rowing instead. I only got to the first round of doing butt kicks before the rowing was done, so I guess my rowing was a bit slow but I didn’t notice that in the moment.
On the floor, we had cluster sets for all of our exercises. This time, the cluster sets had 2 rounds of the exercise with a heavy weight and then 1 round with a lighter weight before moving on to the next exercise. The goal was to do 6-10 reps with the heavy weight and then as many as possible with the lighter weight. The exercises we had were chest presses, tap squats, and hip bridges. I didn’t use weights for my tap squats because I knew that could make my hips hurt and I wanted to be cautious. But I was using a really heavy weight for my hip bridges and I was proud of that.
Tuesday’s workout was focused a lot on doing surges, which are short bursts of higher effort for cardio or the rower. We’ve been doing these more often and they are good challenges, but they aren’t easy.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. 2 of the blocks were focused more on speed with us going faster when we had our surges. And the other block was focused more on strength with incline and the surges were increasing the incline/resistance level. Because I knew we’d be doing incline work, I did make sure that the speed surges for cardio were just pedaling faster and not adding any extra resistance level on the bike.
On the rower, we had 2 rowing blocks that match 2 of the cardio blocks. For the surges, we were supposed to increase our stroke rate. I still struggle a bit with getting my stroke rate up high, so my surges weren’t quite as big of a difference as they should have been. And between the 2 rowing blocks, we had a block off of the rower doing medicine ball work.
And on the floor, we had some mini-band work and some weight work. For the mini-bands, we were supposed to do lunges with torso rotations and walkouts. I did the lunges on their own add the torso rotations while standing so I didn’t have balance issues. And for the weighted work, we had step-ups (which I did as more lunges), Arnold presses, and deadlifts.
I was feeling a bit of hip soreness on Wednesday, but it was still manageable and I just had to be a bit careful with the work I was doing. But I still felt like the modifications I did were nothing compared to what I was afraid I would need to do.
For cardio, we had 4 blocks and in each block, we had a specific distance we were supposed to get to. Once we got to that distance, we could recover or go to a base pace before the next block started. I was just finishing up the distance each time, so I didn’t get a lot of recovery time. But I did take advantage of any time I had to make sure my hips didn’t get too sore.
On the rower, we had a similar format as we did for cardio. We started each block with lunges and then got on our rowers to get to a specific distance. I was a bit slower with this block since I’m never that fast getting on and off the rower. But again, I was happy with what I was able to do because I was prepared for much worse.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. In each block, we had 2 exercises that we did twice and then 2 other exercises that we did for the rest of the block. In the first block, we started with single-leg deadlifts to knee raises and y-raises on the straps. I did the deadlifts to knee raises by holding on to the wall for balance, that’s a normal modification for me. For the rest of the first block, we had deadlifts and single-arm chest flys. In the second block, we started with low rows and rollouts on the straps. And for the rest of the block, we had plank low rows and plank pull-throughs. I was a bit lighter with the weights than I know I can sometimes do, but I was starting to get tired at the end of the floor work and I didn’t want to risk getting sloppy with my form by using a heavier weight.Â
I was so happy on Thursday that I was still feeling ok. I was starting to have a little bit of nausea, but it was minimal and I didn’t have any moments that felt like I might need to leave class. And my hips were hurting a little more, but I was still happy that it wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks that were similar. In the first block, we had a 90-second base pace, 75-second base to push pace, 1-minute push pace, 45-second push to all-out, and 30-second all-out. The second block had the same timing but we started at a push to all-out pace and worked our way down and still ended with a 30-second all-out. And in the last block, we did the same thing that we did in the first block. I did need to take a few breaks during cardio to stretch my hips, but it was only a few times so it didn’t cut into my workout too much.
On the rower, we had one long block. We started with a 150-meter row followed by speed squats, knee raises, and good mornings. We did that pattern a total of 4 times. Then we had a 300-meter row with speed squats and knee raises after the row. We were supposed to do that twice before doing a 600-meter row with just speed squats. I knew I wasn’t going to get through to the 600-meter row, so I didn’t get off the rower between the 2 300-meter rows and just kept rowing until the block was done to maximize the rowing I could get done.
And on the floor, we also had one block. We had 4 exercises and started at 4 reps and added 2 reps each round. We had step-ups, single-arm snatches, chest flys, and single-arm hip hinge swings. I did the step-ups as lunges as I normally do. But the rest of the exercises were done without modifications. Because I knew the reps would be increasing as I did the work, I didn’t go too heavy with my weights so I could make sure I was staying safe with my form. And even though we didn’t have that many exercises and we repeated them quickly, the block went by really quickly for me.
I’m so happy the past week went as well for me as it did. I want to hope that this week will be the same, but I also know that there is a good chance that I won’t be lucky 2 weeks in a row with my pain and nausea and it could kick in at any time. But I am trying to stay hopeful that the picketing won’t affect my workout or my hips too much, so I’m a little less worried about this week than I was about the past week. But I’ll just have to wait and see.
While there are some things about the entertainment industry that I feel most people don’t know about, I think the current strikes happening are mainstream news. The strike with the WGA and the AMPTP has been going on for over 2 months now. And as of last week, SAG-AFTRA is now on strike as well. Going on strike is not something that was taken lightly, but it was something that needed to happen. Our negotiating committee has been working hard to get us a good contract, but we are just too far apart in what we want. A document went out this week showing what we are asking for and what the AMPTP has countered with, and it’s clear that there wasn’t going to be an agreement and a strike was necessary.
I have been wanting to go out to a picket line to support the writers when they were striking, but it just never happened. But now that we are on strike as well, I feel like I need to be out there. And I’ve been able to go for the 3 days so far that we’ve had picket lines. I had to work out things with my day job, since I can’t just take time off of work. But what I arranged is to take a very early lunch break so I can go to the picket line before it’s too late (and too hot). I’m only able to be out there for just under an hour, but I know that time is better than not going at all.
I’m only going to Amazon Studios because that’s very close to my place. I do drive over there because that saves me time and I have such a limited amount of time I can be away from my work. But it works out well for me to be there since it’s not one of the really popular picket locations so they need people there. Also, it’s been really hot out, but I know it would be even hotter in the valley where the popular studios to picket are.
I haven’t been going to the picket with anyone else, but I’ve met some friends randomly while walking around and I’m starting to recognize people there. It seems like most people go to the same locations each day. Even if I’m there on my own and don’t talk to anyone else there, at least I’m getting in my steps.
There is a bit of novelty with being on a picket line right now. This is my first time picketing and I do like feeling like I’m a part of something big. But I also know how important it is for us to be making this statement. The future of the entertainment industry is at risk, and it’s important that we make sure that there is a career path without being a celebrity in this industry.
I’ve had a lot of friends ask me how they can help, and there are a few things you can do.
First, unless you have a contract that obligates you to do so, please don’t cross a picket line. That means not crossing one physically, but also not doing something that would be virtually crossing a picket. Do not promote or provide free publicity for any films or tv shows from major studios. We aren’t asking for a boycott at this time, so you can still go to movies and keep your streaming services. But don’t post online about what you are watching.
If you want to join a picket line, you are welcome to do so. The picket locations are posted on a strike website along with a lot of FAQs for both members and non-members. You can also bring supplies to the picket lines such as water or snacks. I know those would be appreciated.
And if you are in a financial place to do so, you can donate money that will go toward those who are out of work because of the strike. The Entertainment Community Fund is a great place to donate and they have been helping people across the industry.
While many of us hope this strike will end soon, it seems like we might be in this for the long haul. But I know it will be worth it because we cannot give in and give up what is fair. Some people are talking about the strike lasting until the new year, and that is possible. But it will also be interesting if this strike affects a lot of the fall tv season because fans will be upset at the studios and that could swing things our way. We will just have to wait and see what happens and I’m going to keep showing up to picket every day that I can to support what is happening.
Posted onJuly 17, 2023|Comments Off on Another Good Workout Week (or It’s So Nice When Things Work Out Well For Me)
I was able to enjoy another good workout week this past week. I was feeling pretty good throughout the week, I was getting a bit more sleep most days, and I really was able to push myself. I couldn’t have asked for a better week with my workouts and I know I will need this as a reminder when I’m feeling awful because I know I will be down on myself. But I am just celebrating having a good week this time.
On Monday, we had an interesting challenge with cardio. It wasn’t the usual hills we have from time to time, but like rounds of different hills. For each block, we started with a flat base pace. Then we had a base pace with some added incline/resistance. Then we kept that same incline/resistance but increased the speed. And we alternated between increasing incline and increasing speed. I don’t usually do speed increases on the bike, but I did this time since that was half of the challenge.
On the rower, we started with medicine ball exercises. We had 2 rounds of squats with front presses, tricep extensions, and low rows. After completing those exercises, we rowed until the block was done. For the second block, we started with the row distance we got in the first block and then did the exercises. And in the last block, we got to pick if we wanted to start with the exercises or the row. I decided to start with the exercises and end with the row because I knew we would have an all-out row at the very end.
And on the floor, we had one longer block and one shorter block. For the longer block, we started with lunges and squats and then moved on to single-arm clean to press and sumo goblet squats. I was having a weird twinge in my elbow (I think I slept on it funny), so I wasn’t able to go too heavy with the weights. But I still did a good job with what I could. And the short block was a core blast with a bicycle crunch and a toe reach. The core blast was about 4 minutes long, and my core was dead by the time we were done!
Tuesday was a bit more of a power day, so it was a pretty high-energy class. I was grateful that I had gotten a good night’s sleep so I could maximize my time in class.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks and the first 2 blocks were the same. We had rounds of a 30-second interval followed by a 75-second interval. For the 30-second intervals, we were supposed to be between our push and all-out paces. And for the 75-second intervals, we had a regular base pace. For the last block, the intervals changed to 20 seconds and 90 seconds. For the shorter intervals, I used the resistance level between my push and all-out, so it was exactly what it was supposed to be.
We also had 3 blocks on the rower. The first block had rounds of a 200-meter row and lunges between each row. The second block had rounds of a 150-meter row with side-to-side hops. And the last block had rounds of a 100-meter row with squats between each row. It was a pretty straightforward row plan and I loved that none of the rows were that long.
On the floor, we had some Bosu work. On the Bosu, we had crunches, back extensions, and hip bridges. We also had squats, low rows on the straps, and alternating shoulder presses. It wasn’t a lot of work with weights, so I didn’t have to worry about going heavy or not and just focused on form.
Wednesday’s workout was a good mix of endurance, strength, and power. And each section of the floor had one block that focused on each one. The first block was endurance, the second block was strength, and the last block was power.
For cardio, the first block was rounds of a 45-second push pace with a 45-second or 1-minute base pace. The second block had 30-second inclines with 1-minute flat bases. And we got to choose if we wanted to go up the hill or down the hill. I picked going up since that’s more of a challenge and I wanted to challenge myself. And the last block was rounds of a 30-second all-out and a 30-second recovery.
On the rower, the first block had 250-meter rows with good mornings and low rows with a medicine ball. The second block had 250-meter rows, but we were supposed to keep the stroke rate lower to be more strength focused. And we had rainbows with a medicine ball between each row. And the last block was rounds of a 100-meter row so it was more like an all-out.
On the floor, each block kind of built upon each other. The first block had cross-back lunges and bicep curls using the straps. The second block cross-back lunges without the steps and weighted bicep curls. And the last block had lateral hops and clean to press using weights.
Thursday’s class was a benchmark day. This time it was the 12-minute cardio challenge. I do this on the bike, and I think it’s one of the hardest benchmarks because it takes the longest to get done. No matter how fast or slow you are, you are doing it for 12 minutes.
The benchmark was the main focus of the cardio block. We did have a 1-minute push to get a pace figured out before we reset the treadmills and bike to officially start the benchmark. And all we do is go for 12 minutes and see how far we can go. I knew what my last PR was for this benchmark and while I wanted to try to beat it, I also just wanted to try to match it. I hadn’t slept as much the night before so I knew I didn’t have as much energy as I could have. I set the resistance on the bike to be just above my base pace level and tried to pedal as fast as I could. And I just matched my last PR when the 12 minutes were done, so I was happy enough with that.
On the rower, we had a pretty simple row since the focus was on cardio. We started with a 400-meter row and then we had high knees. We repeated this pattern but decreased the row by 50 meters each time. I didn’t get all the way down to 50 meters, but I was able to do my rows without having to take breaks so that was a win for me.
And on the floor, we had one long block with 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had alligators on the straps and good mornings using weights. And the second mini-block had reciprocating rows with weights, hip bridges, and sit-ups. I did go really heavy with my weight for the hip bridges because I have noticed I’m a lot stronger than I thought for those. The hardest part is trying to get the weight onto my hips because my arms aren’t as strong.
It was a great way to end a great week, and I was really happy with each of my workouts. This week might be a tougher week for me, but I won’t know until each day. I might be starting to have some pain and nausea, and I’m going out on the picket lines so I’m walking a lot more and that can make my hips hurt. But as always, I plan on trying my best and maybe this week will surprise me!
An Easy Therapist Check-In (or Virtual Appointments Make Things Easier)
