This past week of workouts was interesting for me. I had some odd struggles that I wasn’t expecting and I had some really great things too. I didn’t love having as much of an off week as I did, but I think I made the most of it.
Monday’s workout was a strength day and it was a prep day for the Everest workout happening later this month. I was also having a bit of an off morning. I think having the clocks change affected me more than I thought it would because I struggled to sleep the night before. And while I was tossing and turning, I made my hip hurt a lot. It wasn’t ideal going into a strength workout, but I was prepared to try my best.
The cardio work was similar to what the regular Everest workout is like, but we had a break in the middle. For the treadmills, they increased the incline by 1% every minute. For me on the bike, I increased the resistance level by 1 every other minute (I have done every minute before, but it gets really difficult and I didn’t want to risk it with my hip). We did that for about 11 minutes and then we had about 2 minutes to have some recovery. Then we did the same 11 minutes as we did before but we started at the top and decreased the incline/resistance level until we had a flat road all-out at the end. Because I was only doing the increases every other minute, I never had the resistance level too high. It was still higher than I normally use, but not as bad as it has been for hill work.
On the floor, we had 2 blocks. We started with 2 rounds of high rows on the straps, alternating chest presses, side plank rotations, and sit-ups. Then we had a 200-meter row before going back to the exercises again. And the second block had a similar format. We had 2 rounds of chest presses on the straps, bird dog single-arm low rows, and palms to elbows (which I did as shoulder taps) before another 200-meter row. My row wasn’t fast, but it was better than it was last week. And I tried to go heavy with the weights, but I wasn’t able to go as heavy as I would have liked to.
Wednesday’s workout was a mix of strength and power. It wasn’t as bad with inclines as Monday was, but it still had some hill work.
We had 4 blocks for cardio. Blocks 1 and 3 were similar and blocks 2 and 4 were similar. For blocks 1 and 3 we started with a 90-second push pace followed by a 30-second base pace. Then we had 3 rounds of 1-minute hills with 30-second base paces between each one with a 30-second all-out at the end. For the first block, the inclines/resistance levels got higher each time and for the third block, they got lower. And for blocks 2 and 4, we had 2 rounds of a 30-second all-out with a 1-minute recovery after. So between all 4 blocks, we had 6 minutes of hill work and 6 all-outs.
On the floor, we also had 4 blocks. And blocks 2 and 4 were done on the rowers and timed out with the treadmills. So for each of those blocks, we had 2 rounds of a 30-second all-out row followed by a 1-minute recovery row. For the regular floor work, we had sumo goblet squats, squat jacks (which I did as side step squats), lunges, and plank rotations for the first block. And for the third block we had good mornings with weighs, lunge to hops, and plank alternating leg lifts. My hips and legs were definitely feeling it after this workout, but this was a much better type of pain and soreness than what I was dealing with on Monday.
Friday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. But it was a really bad day for me. I had gotten my booster shot on Thursday and didn’t have that many side effects when I got it. But the next day, I was really feeling it. I usually have reactions to any vaccines I get, so don’t let this dissuade you from getting the booster or vaccine. But I guess I was too hopeful I wouldn’t have side effects this time and I was wrong. So I spent a lot of my workout dealing with a lot of body aches and a bad headache.
This was a run/row workout for cardio. We had 2 blocks that were very similar. We started with a 3-minute push pace and then had a 1-minute base base. Then we had rounds of a .1 mile (.4 for the bike) run and then a 30-second all out row. In the first block, the incline/resistance level increased each round and in the second block, we started at the top and decreased the incline/resistance level each round. Because I was so slow on both the bike and rower, I didn’t make it through that many rounds.
On the floor, we had 4 blocks. Every exercise we had was for 10 reps, so it was easy to remember how much I had to do of each exercise. Block 1 had chest presses and hip hinge low rows. Block 2 had push-ups, back extensions, and mountain climbers. Block 3 had close grip chest presses and squat to Y raises on the straps. And block 4 had tricep extensions, plank pull throughs, and lateral crunches. Just like on cardio, I was pretty slow so I didn’t make it through a lot of rounds. I also had to go a bit lighter with the weights because of how I feel.
Saturday’s workout was a special one. First, it was a signature workout called The Chipper. But also, this was my traditional Thanksgiving workout with my family. I know that it’s not Thanksgiving yet, but my family decided to do it earlier this year because it’s less expensive to travel if we celebrated a bit early. We were spending it in Santa Barbara (more about that day in tomorrow’s post) and there was a brand new Orangetheory studio that was only minutes away from where we were staying! So it was perfect for us to work out that morning. This year, it was just me with my dad and brother, but we still had a great time.
The idea of The Chipper is to chip away at the workout each round. So for cardio, you started with a 3-minute push pace and that decreased each round after a 1-minute base pace. The bike at this studio was different from the bike at my studio, plus I was still having some side effects from my booster shot, so I know I didn’t do as well as I could for the workout. But I tried my best and it was fun to experience class at a different studio.
On the floor, we had intervals of an exercise and then rowing. We did just 1 exercise before the row and the number of reps started at 40 and went down by 5 for each exercise. And the row started at 400-meter and went down by 50 each round. The exercises we had were bench tap squats, leg raises, sumo squats to upright rows with weights, low rows on the straps, palms to elbows, chest flies, and bicep curls. This studio also had the new rowers with the screens, and I loved seeing all my data while rowing easily displayed. I didn’t make it through all of The Chipper, but I did better than I expected.
And of course, we had to take our traditional picture with our coach after class.
I’m still having some side effects from my vaccine, but they get better and better each day. So hopefully this week will bring more wins and less struggles in my workouts.
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