As I wrote about this past week, I was dealing with a lot more pain and nausea than I typically do on my bad weeks. I was pretty shocked about how bad things were for me, especially before I was able to get more anti-nausea meds. Just my day-to-day stuff was difficult enough for me. Doing my workouts felt almost impossible during this past week. But I tried to make it work the best that I could.
Monday’s workout wasn’t a good one for me. I knew it probably wouldn’t be good, but I think it was a bit worse than I expected. And I think this might have been because of the type of workout. If I was feeling good, it would have been a nice challenge. But because I was feeling so off, I really struggled.
The cardio wasn’t too bad for me because I knew how to manage things. We started with a 4-minute progressive block starting at a base pace and increasing each minute and ending at an all-out. Then we had a minute to recover and then we had a 90-second progressive block with an increase every 30-seconds. The second block was the same as the first except we did the 90-second progressive block first and the 4-minute progressive block second.
On the rower, the main part of the rowing was a crew row. A crew row is when everyone on the rower is rowing together, and that’s what made this workout so difficult for me. I knew I would struggle to keep up and I would need a lot of breaks. But I just tried to stay in sync with the others on the rower when I was able to row. The rower pattern was similar to cardio with a 4-minute progressive block and a 90-second progressive block. The strokes per minute went up every minute or every 30-seconds. And the second block on the rower was the same as the first but in reverse.
The floor was probably my best section in this workout even though I did a lot of modifications. I had to modify every exercise we were supposed to do. We had kneeling shoulder presses to stands which I did as lunges and then as shoulder presses separately. We had single-leg deadlifts which I did as regular deadlifts. We had balance bicep curls which I did as regular biceps curls. And we had bear planks with arm raises which I did as bird dogs. I tried to keep each exercise as close to what we were supposed to do, so I think that made it not as bad as some of the rest of my workout.
Wednesday’s workout was another tough one for me. As I wrote in my posts last week, I was really hurting and very nauseous. And because I didn’t have my anti-nausea medication in time for this workout, I just had to work through it and do what I could. I know I must have looked horrible because some of my friends in that class asked if I was ok. But just like the other workouts when I feel horrible, I just do what I can and try not to be too down on myself.
The cardio blocks were powered focused, and the first block had something I don’t think we’ve done before. The first block started with a 1-minute push pace and then we had a 15-second all-out. Normally, all-outs are at least 30-seconds, so to have a 15-second one was different. We then had 90-seconds at a base pace, but it could be a base pace lower than normal since we typically have walking recoveries after an all-out. We repeated this pattern for the rest of the block. The second block was a similar idea but we had 30-second all-outs and 2-minutes of a base pace after the all-outs. For both blocks, I did use my regular resistance levels, but I was pedaling a lot slower than normal.
On the rower, for both blocks we only had 200-meter rows. Between the rows in the first block, we were supposed to do lunges with a medicine ball but I did regular lunges without it. And in the second block, we had squats to front presses and then bicep curls with the medicine ball. For that block, I was able to do the exercises normally.
And we had 2 blocks as well on the floor. The first block had goblet squats, hip bridges, and sit-ups with rotation. I didn’t go too heavy with the weights, but I did try to get close to the normal weight I use for the hip bridges since I have been working on increasing my weight for that exercise. The second block had low rows with weights, pullovers, and mountain climbers. I used the bench for my hands for the mountain climbers, but that was the only real modification I had to use for the floor.
On Thursday, I finally had my anti-nausea medication, so that helped a lot with how I felt in class. I was still doing a lot worse than I normally do on my bad weeks. And I was feeling so out of it that I almost forgot that I had a workout that morning and was thinking I should sleep in. Fortunately, I realized what day of the week it was when I was turning off my alarm, so I wasn’t running late.
For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block had 45-second push paces and 1-minute walking recoveries. And for the push paces, we were at a pretty high incline. The second block had 1-minute push paces and 45-second walking recoveries and the incline was still high but slightly lower than from the first block. For both blocks, my resistance level on the bike was higher than what I normally do for my all-outs.
For the rower, we were timed along with cardio. So the first block had 45-second all-out rows and the second block had 1-minute all-out rows. And when cardio had their walking recovery, we could fully rest and recover. Normally, we have recovery rows where you row slowly. But I really appreciated the time to sit still and rest. And somehow, I was always able to row the entire time we had all-out and I was able to keep my distance almost the same each time. I really thought I would struggle more with the rower, but maybe my medications were kicking in by then.
And on the floor, each block focused on one specific exercise. The first block focused on lunges and the second block focused on single-arm chest presses. We first had a rep range to do on one side, then we could rest. Then we did as many reps as we could on the same side. Then switch sides. So you really got to fatigue on each side. I didn’t use a weight for the lunges since I hold onto the wall, but I did use my regular weight for the chest presses which made it extra hard with how many reps we had on one side. And we ended the floor with 30-seconds where we could pick a core exercise, and I just did regular crunches.
Friday’s workout was repeating a workout that we had done on the 1st, so I had done this one before. Of course, when I did the workout that time, I was feeling ok. This time, I wasn’t as bad as I had been earlier in the week (thankfully, my medications were finally working and helping), but I wasn’t doing as well as I had been before. But I was glad that I was finally feeling like I might be over the hump of feeling horrible so I could do a bit more.
We had 3 blocks for each section of the room. For cardio, the first block was a 4-minute progressive challenge. We started between a base and push pace and increased each minute, ending with a 1-minute all-out. For the second block, we had a 4-minute distance challenge where we kept things the same for the entire block. And the goal was to get to the same distance from the first block, which I was able to do. And the last block was a bit shorter with a 1-minute base pace, 1-minute push pace, and 1-minute all-out.
On the rower, each block had a specific row distance and one medicine ball exercise. I did have to make modifications for each medicine ball exercise, but at least it wasn’t because I was nauseous. The first block had 200-meter rows, the second block had 150-meter rows, and the last block had 100-meter rows. The exercise for the first block was supposed to be single-leg halos, but I did the halos just standing. The second block had lunges with twists, but I just did the twists while standing (my hips were a little sore, but I think that was due to sleeping funny). And the last block had tricep extensions that were also supposed to be single-leg, but I did them standing.
And on the floor, we had one weighted exercise and one body weight exercise. And for the weighted exercises, we had a range of reps we could do so we could try to experiment a bit with how heavy we could go. The weighted exercises were single-arm shoulder presses, suitcase deadlifts, and double crunches. I was hoping to try to go heavier with my deadlifts, but the weights that were one set heavier than what I use weren’t available and I knew I couldn’t go even heavier. So I just focused on trying to go slow. And the body weight exercises were dead bugs, bird dogs, and back extensions. And we ended the workout with a 1-minute plank hold.
I’m glad I am past this past week of workouts. They were pretty bad for me, and I hate that I ended up being so unprepared for how difficult they would be. But I did them the best I could, which is all I can ask for. And while this week might be a bit of a struggle toward the beginning of the week, I should be feeling normal again very soon!
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