Tag Archives: strength

When gyms were shut down for over a year, I could tell that stress and other negative emotions were getting to me more than normal. There is no question in my mind that going to my workouts helps my mental health, and even when I have a good week I can use the workouts to get some stress out of my system. And that’s exactly what happened this past week. I had an overall good week, but I did need to work out some stress and anxiety and I think that led to my workouts being better for me.

Monday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was a 2 group class. And even though there was some endurance work in the workout, I had a lot of opportunities to work on my power, especially on the bike.

For cardio, we had the same workout for blocks 1, 3, and 5. Those blocks were a 30-second push pace, 30-second base pace, and 30-second all-out. I really tried to push my speed on the bike for those all-outs since they were short blocks. And for blocks 2 and 4 we had a 2-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, 2-minute push pace at an incline, 1-minute base pace, 30-second push pace, and 30-second all-out. Those blocks were a bit harder for the all-outs since it was after more intervals, including hills. But I was still able to push myself a bit more than normal for all the intervals.

And on the floor, we also had 5 blocks. This time, for blocks 1, 3, and 5 we had the same exercises. We had burpees, hip hinge low rows, and neutral thrusters. Each exercise was done for 30-seconds (timed out with the treadmills), but we did them in a different order for each block. For block 2 we had pull-ups on the straps (which I did as high rows), plank rotations, and a 150-meter row. And for block 4 we had chest presses on the straps, dead bugs, and a 150-meter row. I finally feel like I can push off on the rower properly with my heel again, so my rowing is almost back to normal. I just have to work on my form which got sloppy while I wasn’t able to row properly.

Wednesday’s workout was a power day. I was having a bit of a bad hip day due to how I slept the night before, but it wasn’t too bad and it was something I could manage pretty well throughout the workout.

For cardio, blocks 1 and 3 were all about 30-second intervals. We had a round of a push pace to an all-out and 2 rounds of a push pace to base pace to an all-out. And after each all-out, we had 30-seconds of a walking recovery which isn’t too long to recover. And in block 2, we had 2 rounds of a 30-second push pace to a 1-minute base pace with a 30-second all-out at the end.

On the rower, blocks 1 and 3 were timed with the treadmills with the 30-second intervals. Even though my rowing is getting better, I don’t have a huge difference between my base and push rows. For my all-out rows, I usually can go harder because I know I will have recovery time after so I can burn out a bit. And for the second block, we had rounds of 150-meter rows with high knees. I tried my best with the high knees, but I pretty much did them as static marching but I think it was a close modification.

And on the floor, blocks 1 and 3 were timed with cardio as well. For block 1 we had 30-seconds of a low row on the left side, 30-seconds of a low row on the right side, and 30-seconds of recovery time. And for block 3 it was the same idea but with single-arm clean to press instead of the low row. And for block 2, we had single-arm squats to upright rows and overhead presses with a rainbow arc (so you moved the weight from side to side).

Friday’s workout was an endurance workout and I was having a bit more hip pain than I did on Wednesday. It was a combination of some residual pain from Wednesday plus some pain due to the weather. But the pain was more about being uncomfortable than it was sharp pain like it can be sometimes. And for all sides of the room, we had a single 14-minute block.

For cardio, it was rounds of a push pace followed by a 90-second base pace. The push paces were 4-minutes, 2-minutes, 90-seconds, 1-minute, and 30-seconds. And we ended with a 30-second all-out. The 4-minute push was really more of a timed challenge so we didn’t have to do what we normally would do for a push pace. So I put the resistance level on the bike at the level between my base and push level. But for the other push paces, I did my normal push level.

The rower was probably the hardest section for me. It was timed with cardio and every time cardio had a push pace or an all-out we had a timed distance row. Rowing for 4-minutes isn’t easy to do no matter how I feel. And it was a bit harder than normal for me due to all my hip issues. I couldn’t do it without a break, but I tried to keep going whenever I could. And when cardio was at a base pace, we had squats and overhead presses with a medicine ball. We were supposed to do 15 of each exercise, but we only had 90-seconds to do it and I couldn’t get them all done so I usually did 10 or 12 reps of each.

And on the floor, we had 3 mini-blocks within the long block and we did each mini-block twice before moving on to the next one. The first mini-block was all about lunges, and I had to modify it to just be regular lunges for the exercises. The second mini-block had lateral lunges to suitcase squats (which I had to do as 2 separate exercises) and cossack squats. And the last mini-block had sit-ups with rotations and reverse crunches. I spent a lot of time on that last block since I usually don’t do sit-ups and do crunches instead, but I wanted to challenge myself and I took my time and did them.

Saturday was another strength day and another 2 group class. And this strength-based workout was based around doing drop sets on the floor, which I always like as a challenge.

We had 3 blocks for both sides of the room. And for cardio, every block had the same pattern. We had a push pace, a 1-minute base pace, hill work, a 30-second push pace, a 1-minute base pace, and a 30-second all out. Each block, the first push pace and the hill work got shorter. We started with a 2-minute push pace and a 90-second hill, decreasing the incline/resistance level every 30-seconds, and each block the push and hill were 30-seconds shorter. The hill work was pretty high for me with the resistance levels, but I could tell that I am getting stronger on the bike because they weren’t as challenging as they were before.

On the floor, every block had a drop set exercise plus one other exercise. And for the first 2 blocks, we also had a row. The first block had a 300-meter row and the second block had a 200-meter row. The drop set exercises were shoulder presses, tricep extensions, and single-arm low rows. And the other exercises were rollouts on the straps, mountain climbers, and plank shoulder taps. I know I didn’t do the heaviest I’ve done with drop sets before, but I also didn’t go as low for the lighter rep sets as I did before. So I think having a smaller difference between the sets of weights I used was a sign of improvement.

This past week honestly was a week I needed. I still don’t love how early I get up in the mornings, but I also feel so much better about things after I’m done with my workout. I need this mood boost in the mornings and I’m glad some of the negative things in my life were used for good with being able to push me more.

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This past week of workouts was not what I was expecting. Every workout at Orangetheory is different, but we had a lot of similar things throughout the week. I definitely pushed myself and sometimes that is a bit much, but this time the pushing just led to soreness which proved I was working hard.

Monday’s workout was a themed class for National Frog Day (yes, that’s a thing). Every section of the workout had frogger squats as a big part of it. Sometimes it was an exercise in the workout and sometimes it was timed within a block. But there were a ton of frogger squats the entire time.

For cardio, every block was the same. We had a 30 second push pace and 45 second base pace that repeated and then we had a 30 second all out pace. After that we had a minute to recover and get off the treadmill/bike before we had 30 seconds of frogger squats. All 3 blocks were like that and the frogger squats weren’t too bad since for me it was the beginning of the class. I did keep my bike resistance levels a bit lower just to not overwork my quads before all the squats.

For the floor and the rower we switched between blocks. So when it my technically my rowing time I had 2 blocks on the rower and 1 block on the floor. And for my floor time I had 2 blocks on the floor and 1 on the rower. On the rower, we started with 10 frogger squats and 1 single arm snatch with a dumbbell on each side. Then we went down 1 frogger squat and up 1 single arm snatch. We had that for about 4 minutes before heading to the rower for a 30 second all out row. When we got back to the rower, we picked up on the exercises where we left off.

The floor was a similar pattern to the rower. We had exercises and then at the end we had 30 seconds of frogger squats. The exercises were high rows on the straps, knee tucks on the ab dolly with pushups, and ab dolly roll outs. The exercises weren’t too hard and I didn’t need that many modifications, but the frogger squats were getting tough. I have no clue how many I did over the entire workout, but they did make me sore and I really didn’t want to do another frogger squat for a long time after I was done.

Wednesday’s workout was an endurance day and it was designed to help get us ready for the 12 minute run benchmark that we will have coming up soon. I have a different feeling about running themed benchmarks now that I do them on the bike, but it’s not a bad feeling. It’s less pressure since I don’t have a big history of what I can do, but also a little uncertainty because of the same reason.

For cardio, we warmed up with a 1 minute push pace before having a recovery and then a 5.5 minute run for distance. I set the resistance level at my old push pace and it was a bit tough to maintain that the entire time. After the 5.5 minutes, we had another recovery before doing the 5.5 minute distance run again. The goal was to do at least what we did the first time. I was able to use the same resistance level and I got a bit further in the distance so I was very happy with that.

On the rower, we started with a 2.5 minute row for distance. I was able to get a little bit further than what I normally can do. Then we had lunges with tricep extensions using a medicine ball. For each round on the rower we were supposed to decrease our row by 100 meters and we kept the lunges with tricep extensions the same. Normally when we have workout plans like this I just use a round number for my rowing distance. But I decided to use my actual distance and do the math each time I was on the rower. It wasn’t too hard, but it did make the rowing a bit longer than it would have been with round numbers.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block was all work with weights. We had shoulder presses, double crunches, and weighted hip bridges. I didn’t go too heavy with the shoulder presses or double crunches because I was still trying to be careful with my back. But with the hip bridges, I did go heavy. I used to be very worried about putting weight on my hips, but I’ve realized how strong they are and I love that I can use a weight that seemed impossible to me before. The second block had toe taps using the bench which I was able to do with holding on to the straps and doing a single leg squat as well as roll outs using the straps. The modified toe taps were tough and I had some issues balancing. I just tried to do what I could and sometimes that meant taking a break and having both legs on the bench between each one.

Friday’s workout was a power day and it had some really awesome moments and some moments that were a real struggle. But the struggle in the workout was something that I think most of us struggled with so having that support helped.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks that were the same. We had a 30 second push pace, 1 minute base pace, 30 second all out, 1 minute recovery, and then a 30 second push pace to 30 second all out. For the first push and all out, I did my new resistance levels since we had a bit of recovery after them. And for the back to back push and all out, I used my old levels since there wasn’t the recovery. I’m glad I have gotten out of the mindset that I have to stick to one set of bike resistance levels since I have been enjoying going back and forth and playing with it.

The rower was where most people in class struggled. We had 3 blocks and each block had a 200, 150, and 100 meter row. And between each row we had frogger squats. Most of us in class also took class on Monday so when we heard we had to do more frogger squats we were pretty annoyed. We were given the option to do regular squats instead and I took that option. My legs were sore after all the frogger squats and I didn’t want to do more. Some people tried them, but I think all of us were not happy that frogger squats made an appearance again so soon.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had lunges while holding weights, lunges without weights, sit-ups, and full burpees. I did my burpees on the bench like I’ve been doing for a while and even with that modification they were tough. I think it’s been a while since I’ve done them so I was a bit rusty with the movements. The second block had lunges with single arm shoulder presses and pop jacks. I did the pop jacks with the bench like the burpees and had the same issue with not being as fluid as I would have liked. I wish the burpees and pop jacks had gone smoother for me, but at least they weren’t hurting me and I could do them.

Saturday’s workout was strength based and it was a great class to end the week on. I felt really strong and powerful and even though this was a strength class it felt like it was more than just that.

For cardio we had 2 similar blocks. We had a push pace, base pace, base pace at incline, regular base pace, and an all out. I used my old push pace for the flat push paces and my new push base as the base pace with incline. It was a great mix of using the resistance levels on the bike and I really pushed myself to pedal faster when we didn’t have incline work. I don’t know why I felt so amazing and powerful in that class, but I did and the cardio work match perfectly for me.

On the rower, we started with a 200 meter row and we counted the strokes. Then we took the number of strokes we did and used that for medicine ball squat front raises. Then we went down one stroke and one squat each round. The goal was to do the strokes on the rower slowly to not have the count be so high. A lot of people rushed through the row, but I took my time. I still did a higher stroke count than I would have liked, but it was not too high which helped me not to have to do as many squats.

And on the floor, we had a lot of weighted work and some Bosu work. The first block had single arm hip swings with weights, half get ups with weights, and pullovers with weights on the Bosu. The second block was weighted hip bridges on the Bosu, chest presses with weights, and plank pull throughs. I was glad to get a break from lower body work on the floor and I was using some heavy weights to feel powerful.

This past week of workouts really had a lot of tough work, including a ton of lower body work. But this week might make this past week look easy because it’s Mayhem time! Hopefully I do ok in those workouts and I can’t wait to see what happens because I am really on a high with feeling awesome!

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I think it was pretty clear that I recently had a pretty bad workout week. It was horrible and I was feeling pretty bad about myself. I knew that it was due to crazy circumstances, but that still didn’t help me feel better about the effort that I did in class. Fortunately, things changed for the better for me this week and I found new things to work on.

Monday’s workout was so much better than the last Monday’s class. I was still dealing with the tail end of my nausea, but I was basically back to normal and I felt much more like myself. We had a strength based class and the rowing had a lot to do with stroke counts which was a nice challenge.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Each block had push paces with no inclines and push paces with inclines. We also had inclines for our all out paces. I was using my normal resistance levels on the bike and didn’t really do much to count for incline work except to use my all out resistance level for push paces with inclines. It made me realize that I might need to work on seeing if I should be increasing my resistance levels on the bike again. I’ve been doing the bike for a long time without a treadmill break and I’m not used to that. When I’m not on it as often, I don’t make a lot of changes with my resistance levels. But if I’m going to stick with the bike (which I’m really feeling like I will be doing), I can’t be static in what work I do.

On the rower, both blocks had the same challenge. We had a 150 meter row and we had to count how many strokes it took to do that. When we had squats with medicine balls and the number of reps equaled how many strokes the row took. So the goal was to have your stroke count as low as possible which requires a lot of patience. I’ve gotten pretty good at being slow on the rower for stroke count challenges so I was able to keep my count around 12-13 each time I did it.

And on the floor, each block had 2 exercises. The first block had squats to bicep curls and push-ups. And the second block had sumo squats to upright rows and sit-ups. For the weighted work, I wasn’t doing my heaviest weights, but I was doing better than I have been doing for the past month or so because I really wanted to push myself.

Wednesday’s workout was another strength day. Strength days used to be really hard on me when I was on the treadmill because I was limited with incline work, but I don’t mind them as much now that I use the bike. But just like on Monday, I know that I’m probably not doing enough resistance work to replicate hills on the bike and I really didn’t do that great with fixing that in this workout.

For cardio, it was mainly done at a base pace alternating between hill work and flat road work. I did use the resistance level between my push and all out paces for the hills, but I know I could do more and I was a little mad at myself after finishing the workout for not doing that. I’m not sure why I have this mental block that I can’t do more because I know physically I can. But maybe I needed this problem to come up so I could be aware of it and start fixing it.

For the rower, it was all shorter rows with squat work between each row. We started at a 200 meter row and then had a 150 meter and 100 meter row. After the 200 meter row, we had regular squats with the medicine ball. After the 150 meter row we had regular squats and ground to press with the medicine ball. And after the 100 meter row we had regular squats, growing to press, and power squats with the medicine ball. The squats were taking me a long time so I didn’t get as much rowing done as I would have liked to. But to keep my hips safe and not hurting I have to make sure that I am not sloppy with my squat form.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block had chest presses, knee tucks, and tricep extensions. And the second block had chest flys, sit-ups, and reverse flys. For the chest presses I could go pretty heavy with my weight, but for the other exercises I had to go a bit lighter than I would have liked to. My arms were feeling a bit weak and I think that my arms have always been like that and again I might just need to put some focus into fixing that.

Friday was another strength day (I feel like having all these strength days is a sign that I needed to work on them). Even though the other workouts during the week were also strength days, they all have their own focus and I was able to find different things to work on during this class compared to the other classes.

For cardio, it was a similar pattern to what we had earlier in the week with alternating flat road and incline work. But the incline work was for longer intervals in this class. When we had the hill work for 2 minutes, I was using my normal all out resistance level. To know I could do that for 2 minutes gave me a real boost in knowing what I could do. It wasn’t easy and my legs were sore when I was done, but I did it! When we had our all outs, they were supposed to be on hills so I did 1 level above what I usually use. If I hadn’t done the hills before, I think I could have done a higher level. But it just continued to prove that my biking ability is much more than I’ve been really doing.

On the rower, we started with a 600 meter row. After that we had squats with medicine ball raises and calf raises. Then we had 2 rounds of a 300 meter row with the medicine ball work after. After that we were supposed to have 3 rounds of 150 meter rows and more squat work, but my hips were really starting to hurt me. Friday morning we had a small earthquake very early in the morning and that woke me up and I never got back to sleep. I know sleep helps my body reset and makes my hip get back into alignment. So when I don’t sleep, I’m at a high risk for having a bad hip day and that’s exactly what happened. So instead of doing the squat work after the rounds of the 150 meter rows, I just kept rowing.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks with 2 exercises each. The first block had deadlifts and hollow hold single arm chest presses. And the second block had seated shoulder presses and double crunches. For the deadlifts and shoulder presses, we had a range for the number of reps we were supposed to do. So I went heavier than normal with the weights to test myself. I don’t think I could do the heavier weights if I had to do more than 5 or 6 reps, but since we could do as few as 5 they worked. For the chest presses and double crunches I just used my normal weights for the exercises because both of those things put a bit of stress on my hips and I didn’t want to risk things with going higher with the weight.

Saturday was an endurance based workout, but I ended up treating the class more like a power day. After all the motivation I had earlier in the week with my bike resistance levels, I decided to test a few things out.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. The first block was 2 rounds of a 2 1/2 minute push pace with a recovery between them. 2 1/2 minutes is a pretty long push pace, but I still decided to see if I could increase my resistance level a bit. I increased it by 1 level (so it was the level between my push and all out pace) and it was tough. 2 1/2 minutes seemed to take forever, but I managed to keep the resistance level there the entire time. The second block was a 6 minute distance challenge. And I decided to use my previous push pace level and see if I could do that for the entire time. I was doing ok with it until about the 4th minute. Then I had to bring it back down to my old push pace level. But to know I did it for that long (plus that I did the previous push paces at a higher level) was the proof I needed that I was due for a change.

On the rower, we started with a 1,000 meter row. That was brutal after all the work on the bike! Then we had 100 jumping jacks to do which was tough as well. Jumping jacks aren’t that easy for me to do, even on my best days. I had to break them up into multiple chunks, but I eventually got them done. Then we had a 500 meter row and we were supposed to do 50 jumping jacks and 50 squats. I skipped the jumping jacks because I could feel my hip getting a bit sore. We had a few more rounds we could do on the rower, but after my 50 squats I was only on the rower for a few minutes before we switched again.

And the floor also had 2 blocks. The first one had upright rows, plank jacks, and knee tucks. And the second one had low rows on the straps, reverse flys, and sit-ups. The weight I wanted to use for the upright rows and reverse flys weren’t available so I had to decide if I wanted to go lower or higher. I tested out going higher with the weights and was able to do it! I don’t know if I’ll be using the higher weights regularly because I did have to take more breaks (so I didn’t get as much work done), but again it was nice to prove to myself that I was having a good week.

I really needed this past week after the week I had before. I needed the boost that I got from doing some great work so I could bring that into this week. I should hopefully be having another good week this week and I want to try to make even more progress!

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