Tag Archives: Orangetheory

6 Months Of Home Workouts (or I Still Miss OTF All The Time)

Posted on September 21, 2020 | Comments Off

It’s been 6 months since I had my last in-studio Orangetheory workout. When I had my last workout at the Culver studio, I had no idea that was going to be my last workout there for a long time. I didn’t know that the studios would be closing after that. And I certainly didn’t know that they would still be closed 6 months later.

As much as I miss my workouts, I know that keeping the studios closed for now is necessary. It’s keeping us safe and healthy. And it’s not just about keeping those of us working out safe, it’s about keeping the staff and coaches safe. I know that some studios around the country have been able to reopen, but the cases there are also usually lower. We are getting things more under control here, so I hope it stays that way so gyms can reopen soon. But I also know that there is a chance that we won’t be back in there until after the end of the year.

I’m still doing my home workouts 4 days a week. And I’m really trying to make them feel just as tough as my regular workouts are. It’s not the same, but I’m trying. And I have made a lot of improvements since my few first weeks of home workouts.

When I started working out at home, I didn’t have equipment. I used my toolbox for weights. I had a yoga mat to try to protect my knees on the floor, but it really didn’t do much. I slowly started to add things to my home gym setup. I got foam floor tiles which have been much better for protecting me from using a hard floor. I used water bottles for a while for weights but have slowly added weighted things like a weight bar and my adjustable weights. I have mini-bands for resistance training. And even though I haven’t used it for a little while, I have a jump rope for cardio.

I have a nice collection of things I can use for my workouts. I still wish I had a rower in my house, but money and space don’t really allow for that. I did sell my exercise bike just before this all happened, but I don’t know how much I’d be using it so I am grateful for the extra floor space. But considering what I had when I started and what I have now, I’m very happy with what I’ve been able to find and get for myself.

I know that I’m not as fit or as strong as I was 6 months ago, but I’m trying to get back there. I know that my strength will build back up, especially now that I have my adjustable weights. I try to not be frustrated when I realize how much weaker I am, but it’s hard. I just try to remind myself that it’s a process and I have to do the same hard work that I was doing when I started at Orangetheory. And I will get back to where I was. I might not get back there until I start in-studio workouts again, but I can take steps to be closer to there.

I know that there is a possibility that I will be doing home workouts for another 6 months. I don’t want to think that, but I also know I need to be prepared for that possibility. At least now, I am much more prepared to do those workouts than I was 6 months ago when I started.

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Tagged fitness, Orangetheory, workout

Workouts Feeling Familiar And Strange (or Still Adjusting To Using Real Weights)

Posted on September 14, 2020 | Comments Off

I’ve been able to use my new weights for my workouts for several workouts now, and it’s really hitting me hard with how different my strength is right now. It was so easy to trick myself when I wasn’t able to use real weights that things weren’t that different. But now, it’s very clear what I’m able to do and not do.

A lot of the workouts have parts of it that I’m very used to doing when I had workouts in the studios. I like those familiar exercises because I know how to have good form when I’m doing them and if they are things I need to modify I know those too. It also does make me happy to have something that feels so familiar and like I’m doing the workouts that I’m so used to.

But at the same time, I’m very familiar with the weights that I could use for those exercises before and it’s shocking when I can’t even come close to that. There were some things I was using 25-pound weights before and now it’s a struggle to use 15-pound weights. And it’s so hard to not feel down when I realize how far down I have slipped. I’m trying to see it from a different perspective and look at it as a challenge to get back to where I was. I also am motivated by knowing I can get there again because I was there before.

Just like all the other weeks since I started doing Zoom workouts, the Zoom workout was the hardest one of the week. It also ended up being the workout where I was the most nauseous, which added another level of it being difficult. I tried to work through the nausea as much as I could, but it got very overwhelming at times. I also think I took my anti-nausea meds a bit too late that morning so they didn’t really kick in until after the workout. That’s a problem I’m used to having when I was doing in-studio workouts because of the limited time between waking up and working out, but I hadn’t had that issue since doing the home workouts. But it was a good reminder to be a bit better about timing medications.

I really wanted to get back to using my jump rope this past week, but I didn’t think about it as the week that I would have issues with being nauseous. So that plan didn’t go how I wanted it to and now it will be another week or so before I can try using it. But I hope that I will be able to get back to it then and that I won’t struggle too much when I use it again.

This week of workouts will likely be a tough one for me. I’m getting myself mentally prepared for the struggle and to know that it’s ok if I have to go easy on myself. I think I will always have a hard time being easy on myself, but I guess it’s good that I’m forced to do that by things that happen in my life.

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Tagged exercise, fitness, Orangetheory, workout

A Double Hard Workout Week (or I Did Want A Challenge)

Posted on September 7, 2020 | Comments Off

So many of my workout recap post on here have been about how I know the workouts I’m doing at home are better than nothing, but that they are not close to what I know I was doing at the studio. I have worried about gaining weight, losing muscle, having setbacks for when I finally do get back into the studio, and losing my motivation to do my workouts the way that I was doing them 6 months ago. And while I still think that there will never be a perfect replacement for the in-studio workouts, this past week of workouts was easily the closest I’ve had since I started working out at home. And this was due to 2 things.

First, I finally got to work out with my new weights!

These took a bit longer to get to me than I expected, but now that I have them I’m so happy! As you can see, the weights go from 5-25 pounds in 5-pound increments. While I do use 12- and 17.5-pound weights when I’m in the studio, I didn’t think I would need those for now. I know for sure that I have lost some strength and need to work on rebuilding that. So for things that I used 12-pound weights, I’m using 10. Instead of 17.5-pound weights, I’m using either 15 or 10 (depending on the exercise).

The first workout that I got to use the weights was my Monday workout and I immediately noticed a difference in how I felt after I was done. The workout was so much harder than any other home workout and I was even feeling a bit sore. The weights are pretty easy to use and switch out how heavy or light I want them to be. It’s not as easy as having a set for each weight that I use, but I also know that having a pile of dumbbells would not fit in my house. These are perfect for what I need and they fit in very nicely with the rest of my home workout equipment.

I used my new weights for every workout this past week and I really felt a huge difference. It was a little upsetting and sad when I realized that I cannot do what I used to do. As much as I told myself that would happen, it was hard to see it come true. I know that I can rebuild my strength and muscles and I’ll be back to where I was soon enough. And now that I have some good weights at home, hopefully I’ll be closer to that whenever I’m able to get back into the studio.

The other reason why this past week of workouts was so hard was that I did 2 days of Zoom workouts! The group that I do Zoom workouts with normally does them on Tuesdays and Fridays. I cannot join in for the Tuesdays ones, so I only get to do the Friday workouts. But this past week, things switched up. Instead of Tuesday and Friday, we had Zoom workouts on Wednesday and Saturday! This was only a switch for this week (I wish they could move the Tuesday one to Wednesday, but that schedule doesn’t work for the rest of the group). But it allowed me to have double the Zoom workouts that I normally get to do.

Between the new weights and the Zoom workouts, this was the most challenging and most rewarding workout week in a long time. I want to say this was the best week I’ve had in the 6 months that I’ve had to work out at home so far. I really felt like things were going so much better for me in the workout and that I was doing a really challenging workout and not just goofing off a bit. I know that having these weights is going to help me feel like this a bit for all the rest of the workouts because I do have something that can make the exercises harder. And I can see the progress as I’m able to lift heavier. That’s something I haven’t been able to see since the studios had to close.

After this past week of workouts, I’m on such a high. I needed this challenge and this boost. I have been feeling so low about my workouts and my weight for too long and this really made me feel more in control of things. I know that having weights in my house isn’t going to be a magical fix for everything, but it is a big thing that I know I’ve been needing to have. And now that I have them, I can’t wait to continue to challenge myself and see if I’m able to have any big workout wins like I used to have in the studio.

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Tagged challenge, fitness, Orangetheory, strength, strength training, workout

More Like My Normal Workouts (or Finally Getting Over Some Things)

Posted on August 31, 2020 | Comments Off

I’ve been having struggles with my workouts for a while now. Some of it is due to the pain and nausea I get each month, but I’ve also had a random collection of other injuries or issues. The biggest one I have been dealing with lately is what I suspect to be tennis elbow. I’ve been doing a lot to try to make it better. I have a brace for my arm, I am taking supplements that are supposed to help, and I use a foam roller ball to massage my arm.

And while I’m not completely better, I am doing so much better. Between my pain and nausea reducing every day this past week and having less pain in my arm, things are looking up for me. I was able to do so much more this past week than I could do for the past few weeks. There were exercises that I haven’t been able to do without pain for a while that didn’t hurt me that much. I know that it will take more time before I’m out of pain, but this was the first week that I really felt the progress in pain reduction.

I also felt a bit more motivated to do my workouts this past week. I’m still not as motivated as I was a few months ago, but I always seem to be more motivated when I’m not feeling as awful. I’m sure that seems to be obvious, but sometimes when I’m feeling my worst I do forget that. When I’m upset about not being motivated, a new week might be just what I need.

Overall, this past week of workouts went the way they seem to go these days. The days I did the video workout were good. I didn’t feel like I was slacking off too much, but I know that being coached that way doesn’t push me as much. I try to push myself as much as I can, but there are limits to that. One of those limits will hopefully end because my new weights just arrived! I didn’t get them in time for my workouts last week, but I’ll be using them this week!

And the highlight of my workout week was my Zoom workout on Friday. Being coached live and seeing my friends on the screen really make this workout significantly better than the other ones. This workout as also the one hardest on me because of pain issues, but I know that’s just because it was the toughest workout. My coach knows about what I’m dealing with, but there’s no way to avoid all upper body stuff. And I know that I do need to work my arms out to make things get better. So I do what I can, I eliminate weights when I need to, and when I really hurt I take a break. It’s something I’ve done a lot and doesn’t seem that weird to me.

There is one thing that I haven’t gotten back to and that’s using my jump rope. I want to do it again and I’m planning on trying this week. But I can’t use it when I’m nauseous and I noticed it was aggravating my arm. So I took a break from it recently. I haven’t been using it for that long, so I haven’t made a lot of progress with it. But I still don’t want to feel like I’m starting over when I get back to it. I’ll just have to see what happens.

I’m just so glad that I’m feeling much better. I know it’s only a matter of time before I feel off again so I’m going to appreciate my good weeks when they are here.

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Tagged fitness, Orangetheory, workout

The Motivation Struggle Is Real (or Nausea Really Kicked My Butt)

Posted on August 24, 2020 | Comments Off

I knew going into this past week of workouts that it was likely to be a tough week. I knew I’d be dealing with pain and nausea, but I never know exactly how it will hit me. Sometimes I have a few really horrendous days and sometimes I spend the entire week with minimal but constant nausea. It’s usually a mystery until the nausea ends and I can reflect back on the week.

As I’ve said every time I’ve dealt with a bad week while working out at home, I really am struggling with my workouts. It’s one thing to go to the studio to work out and to try my best. It’s another to be home when I’m struggling and it’s much easier to slack off. And I’m almost embarrassed how much I slacked off this past week.

Monday and Saturday were the worst days for me. I know I didn’t really do the workouts. I tried and I did little bits and pieces of it, but I wasn’t doing most of it. And I wasn’t being good about figuring out modifications or other exercises I could do. I ended up spending a lot of time laying on my workout mat and waiting to feel better. If I was thinking more about it, I would have paused the workout when I needed to do that and continue when I was feeling better. But I didn’t have that thought at the time.

Wednesday was slightly better and I was able to feel like I at least tried to do the workout. It still was not the full workout or doing what I feel like I should be able to, but it was better. Again, pushing myself to work out when I feel so awful is such a struggle. But I can’t go easy on myself because it would be too easy to just start skipping workouts or not trying when I am feeling ok.

Friday was my Zoom workout. This is always my toughest workout of the week. And this past week was no different. It was the toughest workout and I tried my best. I had to take several breaks during the workout to let the nausea pass. Fortunately, the coach that does our Zoom workouts knows me and understands what I deal with each month, so she wasn’t freaked out when I started to look off. She knows that sometimes I just need to let the nausea pass and she doesn’t make a big deal out of it (because I have told her I am used to it). It was nice to have my workout with my friends as a nice distraction for when I was feeling so sick.

I’m hoping this week will be a bit better. I’m still not completely over the nausea, but it should be ending within a day or two. Then hopefully I will find my motivation a bit so I can feel strong when I write my recap next week.

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Tagged fitness, motivation, Orangetheory, struggle, workout

It’s Not Always Easy To Go Easy (or Doing What I Can)

Posted on August 17, 2020 | Comments Off

This past week of workouts was just a struggle for me. I had so many things working against me and I really couldn’t find a way out of it. I was dealing with a lack of motivation, lack of interest, and the pain and nausea that I was expecting. If I was feeling ok, I still didn’t want to work out. When I felt more like working out, I was feeling sick. I felt like I couldn’t win. And each time I had a bad workout, I felt even worse after it was done because I felt like I failed somehow.

I had video workouts on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this past week. I tried to do what I could, but I wasn’t really doing the videos. I wasn’t feeling encouraged or motivated to do them. I felt like I wasn’t doing each exercise to the fullest and I was just kind of playing around. I know that doing something is better than doing nothing, but I couldn’t convince my brain that was true.

It didn’t help that I’ve been seeing friends in different parts of the country able to go to their gyms again. I’m especially jealous of my friends who can go to Orangetheory where they live. My last class in the studio was 5 months ago. And I miss it more and more every week that I’m not back there. I miss the coaches, everyone in the class, the workouts, the community feeling and encouragement, and feeling like I’m accomplishing something amazing when I finish a workout. I feel like my workouts when I’m dealing with nausea are so much better when I’m in the studio because I can work with so many more modifications. I used to feel more confident about when we would be able to go back, but now I’m less optimistic about it. I’m scared that it won’t be until next year that we can be back. And feeling like I’m missing a huge part of my life isn’t easy. I know that I’m not the only person dealing with this right now, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easier.

So for now, I just have to do what I can on my own. And for right now, that does mean doing the video workouts 3 days a week. I am working on finding alternatives to those because maybe I just need more variety. But it’s also easy to just do those videos since I know how to get everything set up and I don’t have to think too much about it.

What does help is having one workout each week on Zoom. This week, we had to move it to Saturday, so it was my last workout of the week. Having someone coach me feels so good and so familiar. Having my friends on the screen with me makes me feel less alone. Even though I was feeling the worst on Saturday, I know that was my best workout. It also was easily the hardest. If I could do Zoom workouts every time, I think that might be perfect (and I am looking into seeing if that could happen with different coaches).

Our workout on Saturday was a great all-over workout. We worked core, legs, and arms. And some of the exercises were not just strength but cardio too. For most of the workout, we all work together on intervals. For example, we have 6 different exercises that we do for 40 seconds on and 15 seconds off and go through the series 2 or 3 times. We also had one block where we had 3 exercises to do in 1 minute. It didn’t take the full minute, so whatever time we had leftover we got to rest. And we did that 5 times. I still don’t have my weights that I am getting for my birthday, but I was feeling really weak so the weights I use right now (like my water bottles) worked fine for me.

Even though there were a few times where I truly thought I would have to run to my bathroom to throw up, I finished that workout feeling amazing. I know I didn’t work as hard as I could when I feel normal, but I still finished that workout on the high that I am used to. It was the best way I could end my workout week.

I potentially have another week of dealing with pain and nausea this week. And I’m going to try my best to do what I can. My new weights might also be arriving this week, so that could be awesome if it happens. I know that I won’t be able to do the best or hardest workouts if I’m feeling ill, but I know I will try. And for me right now, trying is sometimes all I can ask of myself. If I’m not feeling like I want to work out, I just have to try. I can’t give up and do nothing. Even though there definitely were days this past week where I felt like it.

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Tagged fitness, motivation, Orangetheory, struggle, workout

How I’m Hoping To Push Myself In My Workouts (or I Can’t Wait For My Birthday Gift To Get Here)

Posted on August 10, 2020 | Comments Off

Just like I wrote last week, I’m starting to get into a groove with my new workout plan. I love having a Zoom workout once a week (although I bet I would love it if I had more than that). Even though we are all working hard during those workouts, it still feels more social than what I’m doing on the other days at home alone. We have some time to chat and encourage each other and I didn’t know how much I was craving that until I got it again. And I’m so grateful for it.

There is no question that my Zoom workout is the hardest one of the week. But it’s also the most rewarding and the one that makes me the happiest. So the sweat and pain are totally worth it. I did have some pain issues this past week with all of my workouts, but it was manageable. And I know that I’m doing what I can to make it better. I just have to be patient and allow my body time to heal.

And there’s a chance I might be getting more social workouts into my workout week. There was a class that I couldn’t make it to last week that was a socially distant workout in a park. I would have loved to have been there, but it wasn’t possible with my schedule. But everyone was very far apart and were wearing masks. So I think if I can make it in the future, I will be going to that workout. I know how much any social aspect of a workout pushes me, and I need that as much as I can get it.

And pushing myself has been a recurring goal of mine since I’ve been doing workouts at home. We are coming up on 5 months of this, and finding ways to push myself hasn’t been the easiest. But I’ve slowly figured out things I can do and they have all benefitted me a lot. Adding home workout equipment and having more social workouts have been game-changers for me. I’m doing a lot better than I was when this all started. It’s taken time for me to figure things out, but I didn’t give up and I’m glad.

One of the things that has been hardest for me was figuring out how to get my strength training to be close to what I was doing in the studio. Finding weights has been difficult because so many people are building home gyms right now. I kept looking online for some, but either they were not the weights I was looking for or they were really expensive for what I could afford. But as my birthday got closer, I realized that asking for some of the weights that were a bit out of my budget might work as a gift from my parents. So I asked my dad about it and he agreed that it would be a good gift. I asked him about it several weeks ago and we spent a lot of time doing searching online for what would work for me.

I have limited floor space so originally I was thinking the weights that you can adjust might be a good option. But most of them were very expensive and they had much heavier weights than what I need. I didn’t need something that went up to 50 or 75 pounds. And when we were looking at individual weights so I could make sure I only get the weights I need, those could get really expensive as you get a few sets, and then I run into the issue of storage. So it really was a bit of a challenge for us to figure out what would work best for me.

In the end, my dad and I found a set of adjustable weights that only goes up to 25 pounds. Because the weight range on them is more limited than many other sets (which is perfectly fine with me), they were much more affordable. Still out of my budget for right now, but an acceptable price for a present from my parents. My dad did a bit of research to make sure this was the right option for me before we ordered. And now they should be arriving in the next week or two (there was pretty much nothing that would be able to get to me quicker than a week).

I’m excited and nervous for the weights to arrive. I know I’ve needed to get weights for a while. But I’m scared to see how much strength I really have lost in the past few months. I know that I won’t be able to lift the way that I did the last time I took a class at the studio, but that’s my goal to work up to again. I don’t know if I could get to a point where I am lifting more than I did before, but you never know. That could be a good second goal if I am able to get back to where I was and I’m still working out at home.

I’m so happy that even though I’ve been working out at home for a while now, I’m still finding ways to make it better for me in multiple ways. And as soon as I get my new weights, I can’t wait to see how that will push myself in the video and Zoom workouts!

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Tagged fitness, Orangetheory, strength training, workout

This Does Feel Like A Normal Routine (or Another Full Workout Week)

Posted on August 3, 2020 | Comments Off

I just started doing Zoom workouts with one of my Orangetheory coaches, but having that a part of my workout week is already feeling normal. I did another 3 home workouts and 1 Zoom workout this past week, and that felt pretty amazing. If I could do all Zoom workouts, that might be a great way to work toward the transition of going back to workouts in the studio, but I also don’t want to overdo things and go to hard too fast.

There is a clear difference to me in my video workouts and Zoom workouts. I would love to feel like I’m being pushed to do more in the video workouts, but it’s not the same. It’s just like how going to the gym is not anywhere as good as going to an OTF class for me. I need the coach there to push me. Even if I’m doing the same workout, there is something so different when you have a coach there encouraging you and keeping you on track.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard in my other workouts. I did work hard for sure. I was doing a few jump rope workouts after the video workout too. And I finally got a brace for my arm to help make it hurt less, so that helped me do a bit more. I still have some issues with my arm (and along with that, my grip strength), so I had to work around a few things. When there were some plank exercises, I had to figure out alternatives if I knew my arm couldn’t support me.

I’ve said this a lot, but I never thought we’d still be staying at home and places would still be closed at this point. I was so sure we’d be back in the studio by now. I was thinking about if I would switch up my workout schedule this coming week to have a birthday workout. I was prepared to be back with my workout family and to have that support multiple times a week. Now, I do have a bit of that support one day a week and I have my friends that I check in with on other days. I am finding the support in other ways and I’m still trying to be hopeful that we will be back in the studio soon. I don’t know how realistic it is to think we’ll be back soon, but I have to keep that hope my first thought. Otherwise, I feel really depressed about losing all this time that I couldn’t have much progress with my workouts.

Every step I’ve taken to work on making my workouts better have done a lot of good things for me. Adding things to my home workout gear has made a big difference. Adding some more cardio has been great. Adding the Zoom workout has been a game-changer for me and has brought some normalcy to my life. I just have to find the next thing that will add to my workouts and help even more. I want all of my workouts to feel amazing. They did all feel great this past week, but I know they can feel better and I want to find a way to achieve that.

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Some Of My Best And Worst Workouts (or A New Type Of Home Workouts)

Posted on July 27, 2020 | Comments Off

I knew going into this past week of workouts that it might not be a good week for me. I was expecting to have pain and nausea and I never know how it will hit me each month. And this time, it was one of the really bad months. But I also was lucky because it was concentrated within a few days so it wasn’t the entire week that I was miserable.

The worst day for me last week was Monday. I ended up sleeping away a lot of the day because I was feeling so awful. When I woke up that morning, I figured I’d try to do my workout because sometimes that does help a bit. But this time, it just made things worse. There were multiple times that I was worried I would just pass out. I technically made it through about 30 minutes of the workout, but I wasn’t really doing much of it. I didn’t even count it in my workout tracker as a workout because it didn’t feel like I did one.

Wednesday was a bit better, but I was still feeling sick. I did make it through the workout and felt like I did at least a little something. It was far from a good workout for me, but it was not like the attempt I had on Monday. So that made me feel a bit better because I was really down on myself about not being able to do a workout on Monday.

But thank goodness I was feeling better by Friday. I wasn’t completely better, but I was significantly better than how I was for the first half of the week. And it was so important to me to be better for this workout because I was going to have a virtual reunion with some of my workout friends!

One of my coaches at OTF has been doing virtual workout classes over Zoom. My workout friends found a time that we could have a private group class with her and I was so excited to join in. It was different from the official OTF at home workouts since it was a bit customized for us. And the focus was on strength training (not doing any cardio work even though the strength training totally got my heart rate up).

I have needed this workout. Even though I have been very consistent with my home workouts, it’s not like having a coach there. And having this Zoom workout was the hardest and best workout I’ve had in months. I pushed myself so much (although I did have to rest from time to time to let my nausea pass). I don’t think I have had this hard of a workout since my last studio one. Even though it’s still not as good as the studio classes are, it’s significantly better than the videos and it’s much closer to a studio feel.

When the workout was done, I was beyond exhausted. I knew I’d probably be very sore the next day, but I couldn’t stop smiling either. And of course, we had to take a screenshot of the Zoom session as a post-workout photo.

This may end up being a regular Friday thing for my group, so that would be really awesome. I miss my friends so much, and this was a great way to get to see them and feel like I’m not just doing things alone in my house.

Saturday ended up being another great day. I was a bit sore from my hard Friday workout, but nothing too bad. I was able to do the OTF at home video just fine. I do still want to have some new equipment to make those workouts a bit better, but it’s not bad with what I have. And after I completed the video, I got my new jump rope out to do some interval training. I hadn’t done any jump rope work the entire week, mainly due to being nauseous. But I wanted to get at least one session in this week.

I did similar intervals to what I had done before. 15 seconds of jumping with 30 seconds of rest. I don’t know if I’m ready to increase the interval times just yet, so I increased how many rounds I did. Last time, I did 6 rounds. This time, I did 8. And I was able to jump the entire time without tripping for 5 of those 8 rounds. For the 3 that I tripped, I just got right back to it and kept going. I’m still shocked by how quickly I have been able to pick this up. Now I just have to work on my endurance to work on making the intervals a bit longer.

Even though the beginning of last week started off pretty bad, I’m so glad I ended on a good note. I had 2 amazing workouts (and 2 not-so-amazing workouts) and that is always something to be proud of. I just hope that I can continue to have a few amazing workouts this week.

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Posted in Fitness, Fun Stuff

Tagged fitness, friends, Orangetheory, workout

Figuring Out Some Cardio (or Working With What I Can)

Posted on July 20, 2020 | Comments Off

I knew going into this past week of workouts that it might be a challenging one for me due to the pain and nausea I was expecting to have. What I didn’t expect was that the week would be challenging because of something I decided to do.

Ever since I started working out at home (which was 4 months ago now), I have known that I would need to find ways to do the home workouts with a lot of effort. I have gotten weights and other exercise things in my house now and it has been so helpful that I had things to make my workouts harder. There are still things I wish I had and do searches online to see if I can find, but I’m in a pretty good spot with what I have been able to get and I know that I am working hard.

But the place that I know I’ve been slacking off for the last few months has been my cardio. I have been doing the cardio portions during the at-home workouts to the best of my ability. And I do a lot of running in place when I can to try to get a little more cardio work in each workout. But it’s not the same as my OTF workouts in the studio. I have looked at getting or renting cardio equipment, but that hasn’t worked out for me just yet. And at some point, I probably should give up on that idea. But I didn’t want to fully give up on cardio, so I had to think of a new idea.

And when I was doing some online shopping for supplies, I did a little searching for exercise stuff (because you never know when you can find dumbbells for sale). And one of the things that came up were jump ropes. I’ve never really been someone who jump roped except in elementary school. I do have orthopedic issues that made me hesitate about getting one. But I figured that I already surpassed all expectations for my hips so far, so I might as well go for it. And if it was too painful, I didn’t have to keep doing it.

The jump rope didn’t get to me until the end of the week. And that worked out well because my pain and nausea ended up mainly being toward the beginning of the week. I did still have some struggles for the rest of the week, but it was much easier for me during my Friday and Saturday workouts. So I went for it with the jump rope.

For Friday, I didn’t really have a plan for what I wanted to do. I knew I needed to shorten the rope and I had to find a place in my house where I had the space to do it (I didn’t feel like being in front of my house). And then it was time to just try to do it. I started with jumping rope with double jumps (so I had a little jump between each time I jumped over the jump rope). But I had seen some articles online that said not to do it that way because it can make things harder. So I tried to find a rhythm to do it without the extra bounce. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to do it. And I set a goal to be able to do 20 jumps without tripping on the rope. I did it after about 8 attempts. And by that point, I was exhausted and ready to be done.

On Saturday, I again did some jump rope work after my OTF at home workout. I originally thought I would try to do another jump count challenge, but that didn’t seem to be the right thing to do after I surpassed my challenge goal on the first try (which I never expected). So I found an app to do some interval counting for me and I did 6 rounds of 15 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but it felt like it! And I need to ease myself into this since it’s not easy. But I’m proud of what I was able to do.

I’m hoping I can still do some jump rope work this week. But if my nausea is really bad, I might not be able to do so. It’s going to be something I just have to try and see how I feel. But I’m excited to have a new cardio thing to challenge myself with. I don’t know how many days a week I will use it, but I’m hoping to build up to doing it for each of my home workouts. I need to get more cardio work done. I know I need to. But it’s been hard to figure out what I can do at home. Now, I need to be glad that I found something that fits into my space and I just have to build up my endurance.

Comments Off on Figuring Out Some Cardio (or Working With What I Can)

Posted in Fitness

Tagged cardio, fitness, Orangetheory, workout

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