Finding My Inner Bombshell

This past week of workouts was a pretty good one for me. I was feeling normal, which is always a good thing. I had one day when I could sleep in a little bit before my workout, which is helpful since I know I need more sleep. And I was able to do some fun challenging workouts. Honestly, it was a great way to start July and feel like I am doing some good things for my body.

Monday’s workout was at my normal time since I only had Tuesday off of work. But I think a lot of people had that day off because the class wasn’t as full as it normally is. But it was still my usual 3 group workout and felt like any other week.

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. None of the distances were too long, so there was always some recovery time for me. I did the distances at my push pace so they weren’t too easy, but it wasn’t horribly hard either.

On the rower, we followed 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. This was a bit more challenging since getting on and off the rower takes time and I wasn’t getting through each row as quickly as I might have been able to do. I still had a little bit of recovery time in each block, so that was good.

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, but I did it. 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. The floor block was challenging, but not impossible which is always a good thing.

On Tuesday, I went to a slightly later morning class since I wanted to sleep in. Of course, sleeping in to me now is what waking up early used to be with my old schedule. But it was still nice to have a little extra sleep before going into the workout because I knew it would be a challenging class. This class was called Strength In Numbers, and it was a global challenge for all Orangetheory studios. It was each studio against all the others for a rowing challenge, and I wanted to contribute the best I could.

I started on cardio, as I normally do. For cardio, we had 3 blocks that were all about the same. We had hill climbs for each block and we increased the inclines/resistance levels at the same distance intervals for all blocks. But you never went back down to a flat incline, so after recovering from the first block you started your hill in the second block where you left off. So things got pretty tough for me on the bike with really high resistance levels and I was taking longer to get to each distance.

On the rower, the goal was just to row for the entire time and get as much distance as you could. We were encouraged to follow a 90-second push row/30-second all-out row plan, but I knew that I just needed to row however I could to get all the meters possible. I tried to do the all-outs when we had them, but I know my all-outs weren’t really as hard as I could do them because of how tired I was. After we were done rowing, we put our distance in the tracker so we could compete against all the other studios around the world. The average of all the challengers was used to rank the studios to see who got the furthest. We didn’t rank too high globally, but we were in the top for all the studios in California which I thought was awesome!

And on the floor, we had one long block for our exercises. We were supposed to do 20-30 reps for each exercise, which is a lot so I had to go a bit lighter with the weights I used. We had squats to calf raises, shoulder presses, lunges, and bicep curls. After the bicep curls, we did a high plank until we couldn’t hold it any more and then we got right back to doing the first exercise again. It was a lot harder than it looked because of how many reps we did and how little rest there was. But I knew I had the rest of the day to rest so I did push myself.

Wednesday felt similar to Monday, with a lot fewer people in the class than normal because a bunch of people probably had the day off. I was a little bit tired because the fireworks in my neighborhood were going off really late, but I was still feeling better than I do when I’m having my bad weeks.

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.

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 was doing the last 300-meter row when the row block was done, so I didn’t get to the last row. I was pretty fast with my rows, but getting on and off the rower and the exercises took me a bit of time.

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 and lunges because my hips were starting to hurt a bit and I didn’t want to push myself too much. But I still felt like I got a good and well-rounded floor block with my limited modifications.

Thursday felt like the most normal day for me since it wasn’t surrounding a random day off. And the class was pretty full, like it normally is so that felt normal too. And this workout had some really tough challenges and I pushed myself knowing it was my last workout for the week.

For cardio, everything we did was incline work. We had 2 blocks and in each block, we had a 2-minute hill and a 90-second hill. For both hills, the inclines/resistance levels increased every 30 seconds. Between the hills, we had a recovery except the recovery was on a hill too. And we ended both blocks with a 30-second all-out that was without an incline. The resistance levels were getting high for me on the bike, and I’m used to having some time to recover without a high resistance level when I usually do higher levels. But having recoveries using high resistance levels didn’t help me recover too much. I did pedal slowly during those recoveries, but it really just felt like 2 blocks full of hills.

On the rower, we had 2 blocks that both focused on doing 100-meter rows. In the first block, between each row, we did low rows with a medicine ball. We started at 2 reps and increased the reps by 2 every round. In the second block, we did shoulder presses between each row and started at 2 reps and increased by 2 every round. I was happy the rows were short because I really did push myself to do sprint rows and not take too much time. And I was surprised that I was able to get the wattage higher than I normally do with repeated sprint rows so that showed I have had some improvement.

On the floor, we again had 2 blocks. Each block had 3 exercises that worked similar muscles. In the first block, I had to do a lot of modifications because it was focused on step-ups and lunges. For my modified exercises, I did step-down toe taps and step-ups with knee raises using the bench at the lower setting. And we were supposed to do split squat holds until we needed to rest but I did a lunge hold instead. In the second block, we had chest presses, push-ups, and a push-up hold until we needed to drop the hold. And to end the workout, we had a plank hold which felt hard after doing the push-up holds.

I was so happy with what I did in this past week of workouts. I feel like I really pushed myself each day and tried to go hard when I could. As always, I still had to do modifications, but I think I still pushed myself with those modifications and I didn’t go easy on myself unless I was dealing with hip issues. That’s a big win for me with my workouts and I love that I had such a great week to start off the second half of the year!

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Going into this past week of workouts, I knew it would likely be a bad one. I already had some pain and nausea the week before and knew that it usually gets worse before it gets better. I was slightly off with the timing, which can happen since my cycle isn’t exactly the same every month. But somehow, having things off from what I expected made things a little better for me.

Monday’s workout was another signature workout: Catch Me If You Can. I like this one, but I typically don’t have a lot of variety with what I can do. The thing about this workout is that there are different checkpoints you have to get to when you are doing cardio. If you are at or past the checkpoint, you keep going. If you aren’t there, you are caught and you can track how far you got.

I am always caught at the same checkpoint. It’s when the timing of the checkpoints changes from every 2 minutes to every minute. I probably could try to pedal faster at a lower resistance level and maybe that would help, but for this attempt, I knew I couldn’t do that with how I felt. I wasn’t expecting to do anything too great, but I do always try my best no matter how I feel. As expected, I was caught at the same checkpoint as my past attempts. However, I did end up getting a PR and I was really close to making it past that checkpoint. I needed to be at 4 miles on the bike and I was at 3.9. I just got to 3.9 when the checkpoint time was called, so it wasn’t like I missed it by a second or two. But it was still my best attempt and I was so happy about that!

The rest of the workout was designed to be a bit easier since the focus is on cardio. For rowing, we started with a 600-meter row and lunges after. Then the row was split up into 2 300-meter rows and the lunges were split up to be between each row. And then we had 4 rounds of. 150-meter row with the lunges again. I had gotten to the rounds of 150-meter rows, but not that far into it.

And on the floor, we had 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block had chest presses, single-arm low rows on the straps, and planks. And the second mini-block had single-arm concentration curls, cross-back lunges, and more plank work. I was using the bench for all my plank work because my nausea was really starting to kick in when I was on the floor. But I was so glad that for the first part of the workout, I wasn’t feeling too horrible because it allowed me to get that PR.

Tuesday was my worst day of the week. I don’t know if there was something else wrong with me or if things were just a lot worse than normal, but I was struggling a lot. My nausea wasn’t too horrible compared to some of my bad days, but the pain was so bad it almost scared me. There were times I had to leave the workout and sit near the lockers because I was almost crying in pain. I’ve had pain so badly that my vision is fuzzy and things were getting that way. I debated about leaving the workout, but I knew the workout wasn’t making things worse and I would feel worse mentally if I left. So I just struggled through it and did what I could when I could. But it was probably one of the worst workouts I’ve had.

For cardio, I tried to follow along with the workout but I also just did whatever I could when things were really bad. We had 3 blocks and some of it focused on incline work. In the first block, I really didn’t do the incline work because of how I felt, but I tried to do it in the second block since that was the main focus. For that second block, we had 2 hills and I did use the resistance levels and just pedaled really slowly during some of it. I didn’t leave the workout during any of the cardio blocks, and I didn’t realize at the time that would be the only section of the room where I would be able to do that.

For rowing, the first and last blocks were timed with cardio so we had push and base rows. I was doing ok for that first block, but I could feel my pain ramping up and getting worse. For the second block, it was a strength row. But I didn’t do most of it because I spent almost all that time outside of the room trying to get over the pain of my cramps. I did come back into the room partway through the last block, but I didn’t worry about doing push rows and just tried to row as much as I could as hard as I could (which wasn’t very hard).

On the floor, we had one long block and I did leave a bit during the block so I only got through the exercises one time instead of getting into a second round like I normally would be able to do. We had front squats, single-arm low rows with weights, step-ups (which I did as lunges), chest presses, and push-ups (which I did on the bench). I didn’t do that great since I wasn’t in the room the entire time, but at least I tried.

I was feeling a little better on Wednesday than I did on Tuesday, but I was still pretty miserable. I was so glad that my cramps were a bit better so I didn’t have to leave the room in pain during the workout, but that’s a pretty low bar for me. But I was hopeful that I had gotten past the worst of things for me so I could get a decent workout done for the second half of the week.

For cardio, the first block was all about 1-minute intervals. We worked with push, push to all-out, and all-out paces. We did the intervals twice with a recovery in the middle. In the second block, we did the same but the intervals changed to 45 seconds and the walking recoveries stayed at 1 minute. I was using my normal resistance levels for all of this, but I was just pedaling a little slower than normal. I did also need a few breaks during the cardio blocks to let some pain and nausea pass, but it was closer to what I’m used to.

On the rower, the first block started with rounds of a front press and a halo using a medicine ball and then we got on the rower to do a base row until cardio had all-outs and we had an all-out row. In the first block, we had 12 reps of the exercises before rowing and in the second block, we had 8 reps. I used a light medicine ball for the exercises, but I knew I needed that based on how I was feeling. I would have loved to have done better, but I also knew that if I pushed too hard I could make things a lot worse for me.

And on the floor, we had one block with 3 sets of supersets. Supersets are back-to-back exercises that are similar but not exactly the same. We did each set of superset exercises twice before moving to the next set. The first set was chest presses and chest flys using a Bosu. I used my normal weights for these exercises. The second set was supposed to be squats to reach and lunges using the straps. I did the squats to reach but for the lunges, I did them holding on to the wall instead of the straps for my balance. The last set was supposed to be plank leg lifts and pop squats. I did bird dogs instead of leg lifts for my balance and knew I couldn’t handle pop squats with my nausea so I did double the reps on bird dogs to make up for that.

On Thursday, I was feeling the closest to normal as I did for the entire week. I wasn’t feeling completely normal, but it was a relief to know I was getting back to my normal. For this workout, we had a focus on trying to improve throughout the workout. For cardio and rowing, we repeated what we did so we could try to see some improvement.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first block had a 1-minute push pace, 30-second all-out, 45-second recovery, and then we repeated that pattern again. The second block and a hill with 30-second intervals increasing the incline resistance level. Again, we repeated that hill after a 45-second recovery. And in the last block, we had a 30-second push pace, a 30-second push to all-out, and a 30-second all-out.  After another 45-second recovery, we repeated that pattern again. I didn’t pay too much attention to see if I got further or had a higher wattage on the bike, but I know I was using the same resistance levels when I compared the first and second attempts.

On the rower, we were timed the same with cardio. The only big difference was the second block had specific stroke rates we were supposed to use since there are no inclines. I was able to get the stroke rates we were supposed to do, but I think that’s mainly because those are designed to be slower than most people row and I am a slow rower. I did have to take some breaks during the rowing blocks, but since we had a lot of recoveries built into the workout, I didn’t have to do as many as I might have had to do if those weren’t there.

On the floor, we had one long block. I did have to make a few modifications to these because of how I was feeling. We started with half-kneeling around the world with weights, which I needed to do as regular kneeling because of my balance issues. Next, we were supposed to do push-ups to dumbbell reaches and I did those as push-ups without the reaches. Then I was able to do the other exercises normally. We had deadlifts, reverse grip low rows with weights, and shoulder presses.

My Thursday workout wasn’t necessarily a great one, but it was a good one with how I was feeling. But even better than that, it was another fun milestone class for me. For the last several years I have had the goal of doing at least 200 workouts a year. This year didn’t start off the best because I had to take a week off when I was sick. But my Thursday workout, which was the last workout of the first half of the year, was also my 100th workout of the year!

So even with the setbacks and issues I’ve experienced, at least I’m on track to hit my goal once again! And hopefully, there will be more good weeks than bad weeks in the second half of the year. But even if I had a lot of bad weeks, I prove to myself every month that I can get through those and do my best.

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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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Because I can fluctuate a lot between having good and bad workouts weeks, it seems like I never have just a boring and normal workout week. It’s usually really good or really bad and I don’t have a lot of the in-between. But this past week seemed really normal to me and I think that’s what I needed after the last few weeks of my workouts and some other craziness going on in my life.

Monday’s workout was a good start for my boring week. It was a typical Orangetheory class and that’s exactly what I needed to kick off my week.

For cardio, the first block was all about 1-minute intervals. We worked with push, push to all-out, and all-out paces. In the second block, we did the same but the active intervals changed to 45 seconds and the walking recoveries stayed at 1 minute.

On the rower, we split each block into 2 segments. The first segment was medicine ball exercises and then the second segment was rowing along with cardio. The medicine ball exercises were front presses and halos, but because we were doing them for several minutes, it was really hard! I was glad I used a lighter medicine ball than I normally do because it was getting very heavy toward the end. Both blocks were the same idea, but the reps for each exercise were lower in the second block so we switched exercises a bit faster.

And on the floor, we had one long block with supersets. Supersets are back-to-back exercises that are similar but not exactly the same. We did each set of superset exercises twice before moving to the next set. We had chest presses and chest flys using a Bosu, squats to reach and lunges using the straps, and plank leg lifts and pop squats. For the leg lifts and pop squats, we were supposed to use the Bosu, but I just used the floor since I knew I didn’t have enough balance to do them with the Bosu.

Tuesday’s workout was all about repeating patterns with the goal of improving what you can do from block to block. The blocks weren’t the same, but they did allow us to challenge and push ourselves to try to find ways to improve because we repeated things within the block.

For cardio, each block was themed to a different focus we have at OTF. The first block was endurance, the second block was strength, and the last block was power. The first block had rounds of a 1-minute push pace to a 30-second all-out. It wasn’t as long as a lot of endurance blocks we have, but it was still more endurance-focused than the other blocks. In the second block, we had 30-second intervals with increasing inclines that we did twice. And in the last block, we had 30-second intervals of push, push to all-out, and all-out paces. I don’t know if I really improved within each block, but I think I did at least the same which feels like an improvement when you are getting tired.

On the rower, we did the same things that cardio did. The only difference was in the second block we focused on stroke rates since there are no inclines. We increased our stroke rate every 30 seconds. For all the blocks, I’m really happy with how I did with my rowing. I felt very stable and consistent in my efforts, which is not something I always feel.

On the floor, we had one long block that was a mix of upper and lower body work. We had kneeling around the worlds with a weight, push-ups, single-arm deadlifts, reverse grip low rows with weights, and neutral thrusters. I did modify the push-ups because we were supposed to also do side-to-side reaches and I didn’t have the balance to do that. I did try to do them, but I could feel my hips tilting too much and knew it would be better for me to skip them. But I felt good about the rest of the exercises that I did.

Wednesday’s workout was a signature workout. This time it was Capture The Flag. This signature workout is focused a lot on the rower, but it’s pretty balanced with what you do all over the room.

Before we started Capture the Flag, we had short blocks at all the stations first. Everything was pretty simple with push paces being more of the focus so we could get warmed up. And on the floor, we had bicep curls, mountain climbers, and squats.

For Capture the Flag, you are partnered with other people. In a 3 group class, you are a group of 3 working together. Because I use the bike for cardio and how things got divided up, I ended up being alone for this challenge. I was ok with this and had volunteered to be the odd man out if necessary. I do like doing the challenge, but I know how hard it can be to be alone and I didn’t want anyone else to have to do that. So my challenge was a bit different from what everyone else did.

Normally, the person who is on the floor sets the pace of when everyone switches. The person on cardio and the rower just go until they are tagged. And on the floor, you have squat to press, lunges, double crunches, and torso rotations with a medicine ball. The goal is to get as far on the rower as possible and you can earn different flags based on how far you go.

Because I was working alone, things were only set at my own pace. I did the same thing on the floor since it was just one round of the exercises. For the bike, my coach told me to go a specific distance. And however long it took me to do that distance, I was on the rower for the same amount of time. I felt like it was very similar to what the normal workout is like, so I know I got a good workout in. Of course, since there was nobody on the rower when I was on the bike or the floor, I didn’t earn any flags for my rowing distance. But I’m ok with that.

Thursday felt like a good bookend with Monday because it was another typical workout. I was a bit tired after Wednesday’s class, but I think it wasn’t as bad as it would have been if I was partnered with other people since I wasn’t as stressed about pushing myself really hard on the rower.

For cardio, the first and last blocks were the same with intervals of a 45-second push pace and a 45-second base pace with a 45-second all-out at the end. The middle block was rounds of a 30-second all-out with a 30-second recovery. I think I did better on the first and last blocks than I did with the middle one. The middle one was so hard with such short recovery intervals when we were doing back-to-back all-outs.

On the rower, the first and last blocks were focused on 200-meter rows. In the first block, we had curtsy lunges between each row. And in the last block, we had regular lunges between each row. And in the middle block, we were timed with cardio with 30-second intervals. Again, the middle block was the hardest because of the short recovery intervals. We were told to try to get the same distance for each row if possible, and I was able to keep all my rows within 10 meters of each other which is really good for me!

And on the floor, we had one long block. We had sumo squats to upright rows, plank to pikes, clean to front squats, wood choppers, hip hinge swings, and bird dogs with toe taps. it was a lot of lower body work and I did need to take a few breaks on the floor because of my hips. The breaks weren’t that unexpected for me with the exercises we had to do, but I tried to get back to the exercises as quickly as I could.

As much as I love having wins during my workout weeks, I don’t mind that this past week was relatively uneventful. I still got in some good workouts and I know I worked hard. And before I know it, I know I’ll be having another tough week and I’ll really appreciate how this past week went.

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After the week before, I was so glad I was doing better during last week’s workouts. I knew that would likely be the case, but I’m always worried that my nausea would last extra long or something else would come up that would make the week harder. I had a few random moments that hit me funny, but overall it was a much better week of workouts and I was able to do a lot more in each of the workouts.

Monday’s workout was probably the day I had the most moments of weakness, but I think that was because I was coming back from the hard week before. I sometimes have a day or two when I need to ramp things back up or regain some energy or strength. And I think that’s what happened this time.

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 didn’t want to overdo things, so I did the first block at my all-out resistance level and the second block between my push and all-out levels. That felt like enough of a challenge and I could do everything I was supposed to.

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. One person was the leader each time, and the crew rows were only 1 minute long so it wasn’t too bad. Usually, for crew rows, I struggle because I row slower than others in the class. But since they were short, I was able to keep up with almost all of them. Between the crew rows, we had either presses or bicep curls with a medicine ball.

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. In the first block, we also had sit-ups and in the second block, we also had lunges. Because cluster sets are harder than just doing one set of an exercise, I didn’t go that heavy with the weights. But when I was doing the third set, it felt like I was using weights much heavier than they actually are.

Tuesday’s workout focused a lot on surges, which is something we’ve been doing often in recent workouts. They are different from challenges we’ve had before and I am starting to like them more. They are great for pushing myself without feeling like I’m burnt out.

For cardio and rowing, we were timed together. We started with rounds of a 45-second push and a 15-second surge. We had a few 30-second recoveries mixed in, but because they were so short they didn’t feel like much of a recovery. Then we had 30-second all-outs and 30-second recoveries. And we ended both cardio and the rower with the 45-second pushes with 15-second surges again. On the bike, I kept my push pace resistance level to what I normally set it to and focused on pedaling faster during the surges. And on the rower, I really tried to get 20 watts higher during the surges, but I wasn’t always able to get to that. But at least I tried.

On the floor, the first and last blocks were timed with the rest of the room with 45-second and 15-second intervals. In the first block, we did froggers for 15 seconds and sumo squats for 45 seconds. In the last block, we did rows on the straps for 45 seconds and rows with weights for 15 seconds. For the second block, we had dead bugs and plank low rows. The second block was a lot of core work and I felt it even though it was a pretty short block.

Wednesday’s workout was a new signature class. This one was called “Tread Trail”, and the idea of the workout was to be like a trail run. When you are running outside, you don’t always know what the incline might be ahead and your speed can vary a lot. So we weren’t told what was coming up for cardio and were just surprised by the incline and how long each interval was.

For cardio, we worked with a base, base to push, push, and push to all-out paces. The length of time we did each one changed up, so we never knew if it would be as short as 15 seconds or as long as a minute. Each block used a different incline, but you mixed up when you had an incline or not. The inclines got higher each block, and I realized that with how the workout would go, it would be really hard for me to do both the incline and the variation of what type of pace we were supposed to do. So I decided to focus on the type of pace and just used my normal resistance levels for each block. But it was still a challenge since I never knew if I should push myself more because it would be a shorter interval or save some strength because it would be a long one. I really liked how this cardio workout went and I hope we will do similar things again soon!

On the rower, we started with a 600-meter row followed by lunges, shoulder presses, and calf raises using a medicine ball. We repeated that pattern but decreased the row by 100 meters each time. I was taking a bit longer than normal to get on and off the rower, so I didn’t get that far down the rows. But I was happy with how I did with my rowing and I was pretty consistent with how fast and powerful I was with each row.

And on the floor, we had one long block. A few of the exercises were two exercises combined, and I split them up into individual parts to make sure I was able to keep my balance. We had shoulder presses to stands, lunges to bicep curls, y-raises on the straps, rollouts, and plank kick-throughs. Besides splitting up some of the exercises into individual parts, I also modified the plank work. I tried doing the kick-throughs, but my hips weren’t really letting me do them. So I did mountain climbers instead and made sure I brought my knees to the opposite elbow instead of just straight forward.

I think my best workout this past week was on Thursday. I was feeling rested, I felt strong, and I was ready to push myself. Sometimes I just have mornings where things are working better than others and this happened to be a pretty good day. It wasn’t an easy class, but it was a good one. And we had 2 blocks for each section of the room.

For cardio, the first block was focused on 2-minute push paces and 45-second base paces. Each time we had a push pace, the incline went up. And I did increase my resistance level for each of them so I was working with a higher resistance than normal for my push pace. The second block was the same pattern and inclines, but the push paces were 1 minute instead of 2. Even though the push paces were shorter, because I was tired from the first block, it seemed just as hard as the first one.

On the rower, we were timed with cardio. We had the same push pace intervals as cardio did. But when cardio had a base pace, we had those 45 seconds to get 12 squats done and then sit back on the rower. I usually had about 10 seconds after completing my squats to be back on the rower before we had our next push row. Both blocks were tough since there wasn’t a lot of time to catch my breath, but I just focused on staying consistent with my rowing and not pushing myself too much.

And on the floor, the first block was a circuit focus so you could take breaks when you needed to. We had lunges, kneeling halos, and incline bench bicep curls. I was shocked at how hard the incline bicep curls were and I struggled to use even lighter weights than I normally use. But I did my best to get each one done. The second block was focused more on using heavy weights. We had single-arm chest presses, hammer curls to stands, and seated low rows. I did have to split up the hammer curls to stands to be separate, but I know that’s usually how things will be for me with my hips. I did need to rest more in the second block, but I know that block was designed for that and it meant I wasn’t going too light with the weights.

I was really happy with what I did this past week and how I felt after each workout. I know I was feeling down after the week before and felt like I really couldn’t do much, but I got my motivation back after this week and I hope that will continue through this week when hopefully, I have another really good workout week ahead!

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