Tag Archives: workout

I did get my 4 workouts in this past week, but I’m actually only going to write about the first 3. That’s because this week is Hell Week and my 4th workout was on Sunday so I could make it count toward my 5 workouts to earn my shirt. And I’m going to write about all 5 of those workouts in next week’s post. So this post is just about my 3 regular workouts this past week.

Monday was an endurance day and also a run/row day. I know I’ve had run/row workouts in the past, but I always look forward to them because they feel like they don’t happen that often and are a nice change. Plus, since my classes are 2 group classes, there usually isn’t that much rowing. Last week, that was good because of how my foot was doing. This week, my foot is still a bit tender, but I’m not in as much pain as I was. So I wasn’t powerful with my rowing but I could do it.

The run/row had cardio, a body weight exercise, and a row. The first round was .5 miles on the treadmill (2 on the bike), 50 pulsing half squats, and a 500-meter row. The next round was .4 miles, 40 squats, and a 400-meter row. That pattern continued through the block. I played around with the resistance level on the bike for the cardio, but I mainly kept it at the level between my base and push paces since it took a bit of time to get through it. And I did have to take breaks with the squats because of my foot, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I didn’t get as far into the pattern as I would have liked to, but it was still over 23 minutes of work.

On the floor, everything was timed. We had 3 blocks and each block had 3 rounds of the exercises. Each exercise was done for 30-seconds and we had a few 15-second transitions within each block. The first block had ab dolly rollouts, alternating superman planks, knee tucks on the ab dolly, and plank rotations. The second block had goblet squats with weights, Cossack squats, sumo squats with weights, and lateral hops. And the last block had lateral lunges on the right side, lateral lunges on the left side, and mountain climbers. We were supposed to use weights for the lunges, but I didn’t use them because I used the wall to balance.

Wednesday’s day was a power day and it was a lot of short intervals of work! I think I needed this workout after getting through all my convention work and it was a great energy boost.

For cardio, we had 4 blocks. Each block started the same way with a 45-second push pace, 1-minute base pace, and 45-second all-out. After the all-out, we had a recovery and then another all-out. Each block the recovery got a bit longer and the all-out got a bit shorter. I don’t know if my legs were tired or what, but those all-outs were extra hard on me with the resistance level I set the bike at. I’m not sure what happened, but I just struggled a lot more than I expected to. I still did it, but I know that they weren’t my best all-outs.

On the floor, we had 2 floor blocks and 2 row blocks. For the row blocks, we had either a clean to press or a single-arm snatch with weights before going to the rower for a 150-meter row. This row should be fast and done with much shorter strokes, but I still was dealing with some pain in my foot so I had to do them a bit slower than a typical power row. Even my coach called me out on this, but he understood when I explained why I couldn’t press as hard on my heel. For the other 2 blocks, we had 2 exercises on the floor. One block had chest presses while laying on the floor and plank rotations and the other block had single-arm split stance high rows with weights and plank reaches. Even without a ton of exercises on the floor, it felt like I wasn’t getting a lot of breaks and working non-stop. But I really enjoyed that!

Because I was going to work out on Sunday, I didn’t work out on Friday. But my last non-Hell Week workout this past week was my Saturday class. I knew that I would be doing 3 workouts in a row starting with Saturday, so I did try to be a bit easier on myself. But this workout was a strength day, so it wasn’t as easy to go light.

For cardio, we had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a 2-minute push pace and then we had intervals of base paces and push paces with inclines. And we ended with a run for distance challenge for 90-seconds at an incline. None of the inclines were too high, but I still went a bit lower with the resistance levels than I might do if I wasn’t about to start Hell Week. I still got a great workout in even with going a bit lower than we were supposed to do.

And on the floor, we also had 2 blocks. Both blocks had 2 exercises and then we did a 300-meter row and repeated it. The first block had single-arm low rows with weights and goblet squats. The second block had single-arm chest presses with weights and lunges. I tried to go pretty heavy with the weights since it was a strength day, but still remembering I was about to do 2 days of Hell Week workouts in a row. I think I found a great balance for pushing myself and not going too hard, so I was pretty happy with how things went.

And for my 4th workout, that was on Sunday and it was day 1 of Hell Week. And that will come in next week’s post when I write about all 5 of the Hell Week classes I attend to earn my shirt!

You Might Also Like

Feeling More Back To Normal (or A Good Week Of Hell Week Prep) This Felt Like Hell Week (or An Unexpected But Fun Workout Week) Kicking Off The 12 Days of Fitness (or It’s Like Hell Week Again) A Good, Strong Workout Week (or I Really Love Feeling Like Myself) Dri-Tri Prep Workouts (or The Beginning Of My Workout Week) Finishing Hell Week (or Fires and Being Tired)

After having a 3 workout week the week before, I was hoping I’d be able to do 4 workouts this week. I had already planned on this past week to be only 3 workouts because of my union convention, but I wanted to see what I could do to fix that. But a lot of other things are happening in my life right now, so I couldn’t make that work. So it was another 3 workout week for me, and I did my best to maximize the classes I was able to go to.

Monday’s workout was a bit tough due to pain, but I was fortunately feeling a bit better than I had the past week. And I needed to be feeling better because it was a tough endurance and strength workout! Having both endurance and strength in one class was tough, but it was a good challenge.

For cardio, we had one long block with no recovery. We had base pace increasing inclines for 75-seconds each with a 2-minute flat base pace between. The resistance levels did get higher than what I usually use for my push pace and all-outs, so I needed the flat base pace time to catch my breath and let my legs rest a little bit. But just like it normally is, the inclines felt like they took forever and the flat road time flew by. And after about 20-minutes of this work, we ended with a 1-minute all-out. Because we had been doing so much with inclines during the workout, I did my all-out at a lower resistance level than I normally would.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. For both blocks, we started with a little bit of rowing work. We had 15-stroke drills and then overhead triceps and chest presses with a medicine ball. We repeated that and then went to the floor for the rest of the block. The first block had hip hinge low rows, low rows on the straps, and plank bird dogs. And the second block had deadlifts, single-leg deadlifts (which I do without weights and use more core strength so I can hold on for balance), and plank leg lifts. Even though I wasn’t feeling completely better, the floor work didn’t make me too nauseous so I didn’t have to make that many modifications for the exercises.

Wednesday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. And it was the day after my doctor’s appointment and my foot was in a lot of pain. I have dealt with this before, and sometimes it’s not as bad as it was this time. I wasn’t really able to put my heel on the ground, so I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do much rowing. I have had to try rowing without putting pressure on my heel, and it’s extremely difficult. Fortunately, there was no rowing in this workout. But it was another crazy challenging day!

Cardio was another single-block workout with no recovery built-in. I added in little bits of recovery for myself because even on the bike it can make my heel hurt. But at least I was over feeling pain and nausea, so I was only dealing with one issue. We had a 3-minute push pace, 2-minute push pace at incline, 1-minute push pace at incline, and then repeated that all again but in the opposite order. All of the base paces between each push pace were 90-seconds. And at the end, we had a 90-second distance challenge. Just like on Monday, I had done a lot of higher resistance levels during the workout, so for that last distance challenge I used a lower level on the bike than I normally would.

And on the floor, we focused on drop sets. A drop set is where you use a heavier weight for a lower number of reps and then immediately use a lighter weight for a higher number of reps. We had 3 blocks with 1 drop set exercise for each block. The drop set exercises were chest presses, seated low rows, and bicep curls. And we had 1 other exercise in each block with pull-ups on the straps (I did high rows on the straps), push-ups, and squats to upright rows. Some of these exercises were a bit tough because of my heel, but I was able to work around the pain for most of them. The squats were the hardest thing for me, but I just took a little break when the pain was getting worse.

And Friday was my last workout of the week (Saturday was the first day of the convention!). Again, my heel was still hurting and I was having some hip pain because of how I was walking to not be in pain. But it was manageable. I was worried again that we might have some rowing, but I lucked out and it was another day without rowing! But it was another strength day, so just like the rest of the week, we had a lot of incline work.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks with similar patterns. The first block was a 2-minute base at incline, 1-minute base without incline, 90-second base with incline, 1-minute base without incline, and a 1-minute all-out with incline. Each block, the incline got higher but the incline time was shorter. The second block had 3 incline intervals for 90-seconds, 75-seconds, and 1-minute with the same flat base paces and 1-minute all-out at incline. And the last block had 3 incline intervals for 1-minute, 45-seconds, and 30-seconds with the same flat base paces and 1-minute all-out at incline to end the block.

On the floor, we also had 3 blocks. In each block, we had 3 exercises but the first two exercises were designed to do back to back without changing the weights we were using. The back-to-back exercises were front raises and lateral raises, deadlifts and lunges, and hip hinge low rows and bicep curls. For those exercises, the only modification I had to make was to do the lunges without weights so I could balance. And the other exercises we had were low rows on the straps, squats, and chest presses on the straps. Just like with Wednesday, I had to take a few little breaks because of pain but it wasn’t that bad.

I do feel like I did the best I could with the workouts I went to this week. I would have loved to have fit in a 4th workout another morning, but my schedule just didn’t work to add that in. But just like I said last week, doing 3 workouts is still great! And hopefully this week, nothing crazy happens with my schedule so I can get back to my normal 4 workout week!

You Might Also Like

The First Part Of My Workout Week (or Getting Better From One Thing And Having A New Medical Thing Happen) Another Week of Highs and Lows (or Not Letting One Workout Influence Another) Rowing And Partners (or Enjoying A 4 Workout Week) A Good, Strong Workout Week (or I Really Love Feeling Like Myself) Grateful Again For This Routine (or Sorry If These Posts Aren’t Too Interesting) Having A Shorter Workout Week (or Having A Few Changes In My Workout Plan)

Going into this past week, I knew it was going to be a tough week with how I was feeling. But I was planning on pushing through like normal and going to all my workouts. But it ended up being a week where I only made it to Orangetheory 3 times (I still can’t believe I refer to going 3 times in a week as “only”). But I tried my best for each day I was there.

Monday’s workout was a power day, and I’m glad that’s what it was. I tried taking my medications before going to bed, but it didn’t seem to make that much of a difference. I don’t know if I was feeling that much worse than normal or if the timing didn’t change how they helped. All I know is that I was fighting a lot of pain and nausea the entire time. But at least with cardio, the work was all in short sprints.

We had 2 blocks for cardio. The first block was 4 rounds of a push pace to an all-out with a recovery after. The all-out was always 30-seconds and the recovery was always 1-minute. But the push pace changed. We had a 75-second, 60-second, 45-second, and 30-second push pace. In the second block, we had the same 4 rounds but we did them in the opposite order (starting with 30-seconds and ending with 75-seconds). But the recovery was a bit different because we had about 45-seconds to recover and then 30-seconds of jump squats. I did these as regular squats, but still needed to take breaks during that 30-seconds as I was feeling very nauseous.

On the floor, we also had 2 blocks. The first block had burpees and pull-ups on the straps. I did the burpees with the bench for my hands and I did high rows on the straps instead of pull-ups. We also had rowing starting with a 250-meter row and going down 50 meters each time. Because of how many breaks I needed, I only made it to the 200-meter row. The second block on the floor was timed out with the treadmills. When the treadmills were in their push pace, we had bicep curls (so starting with 75-seconds and going down to 30-seconds). When they were in their all-out, we had shoulder presses. When they were recovering and transitioning to the floor for squats, we had squats. And when they were doing squats we had running man plank work. I did the running man planks with the bench for my hands and rested when I needed to. It was a lot of work back to back and if I was feeling great I would loved this type of power workout. But because I was feeling so off, it just felt like a lot of work. But I did it.

Wednesday’s workout was an endurance day and it was also a run/row day. I was not feeling that much worse than Monday, so that was a bit of a relief. I was really worried I would be feeling really horrible that day. But I still was dealing with pain and nausea, so I didn’t make it that far in the run/row.

Because it was an endurance day, the run segments were a bit longer than a lot of run/row days. The first round was a .25 mile run (or 1 mile for the bike) and then a 200-meter row. Then it was a .5 mile run and a 300-meter row. I was working on the .75 mile (or 3 miles for the bike) segment when the run/row was done. I did take a lot of breaks on both the bike and rower, but I knew that was likely to happen for me.

On the floor, each block had 2 mini-blocks in it and the second mini-block of each was core work. We were supposed to do 3 rounds of the first mini-block before moving on to core work and I only just made it each block. In the first block, the exercises were goblet sumo squats, lateral lunges, and squats before we were supposed to do mountain climbers and static scissor crunches. And the second block had sumo deadlifts, squat sit to stands, and squats before we were supposed to do side plank hip rotations and bicycle crunches. Because I didn’t really make it to the core work, I didn’t have to worry that much about modifications.

Friday’s workout was a regular 2 group class, but we did it as a 3 group class and had 14 minutes at each section of the room. I was still feeling off, but it was less nausea and more pain, so in some ways that it was easier for working out.

For cardio, we had 3 rounds of a 3-minute block. We had a 30-second push pace, 1-minute base pace, and a 90-second distance challenge. Between each of the blocks, we had 1-minute to recover. And then we ended with one more 90-second distance challenge. I did use the resistance level for the 30-second push, but for the 90-second distance challenge I used the resistance level between my base and push pace. I didn’t struggle as much as I feared, but it wasn’t easy.

On the rower, we had a very similar pattern to cardio. We had the 30-second push row and the 90-second distance challenge. But instead of the 1-minute base pace we had 20 side hops which I did more as side steps. I was doing ok for the 30-second push row, but for the 90-second challenge I usually was taking a break in the middle to get over a really bad cramp. I don’t know if the bike or rower is harder when I feel bad, but at least for this day I was doing a lot worse on the rower.

And on the floor, we had 4 blocks to match the cardio and row sections. So we had 3 different 3-minute blocks and 1 90-second block. The first block had neutral thrusters with weights, bicep curls, and full burpees. For the burpees, I used the bench for my hands. And each round, you added one more burpee. So you started with 1 burpee, then 2, and so on. And you continued that through the next 2 blocks. The second block had squats using the straps, high rows on the straps, and more burpees. The third block had sit-ups, palms to elbows (I did them as shoulder taps), and more burpees. And the last block was a burnout block where you started in a push-up hold in the bottom of a push-up and when you needed to rest you moved to a plank. And you went back and forth for those 90-seconds.

And I didn’t work out on Saturday. There were a few factors that affected my ability to work out. I had some scheduling things that were going to make it tough for me to get to class (and on Saturdays there is only 1 time that I can go to without taking time off work). Also, the street where the studio is located was closed so we were told we would need to park a few blocks away and walk. Normally, this would be fine but because of my schedule I wouldn’t make it to class on time because you can’t be that late. So instead of worrying about if I could make it to class or not, I canceled my Saturday workout. And I’m sure that was the right choice.

But this week, I might also need to cancel my Saturday workout, but because I know about this in advance I’m hoping I can find a time to add in another workout. I’m not exactly sure when I can do that, but I’ll see what I can do. And if this week ended up being another 3 workout week, it will be ok. Because I know I’ll be making it up when we have Hell Week later this month!

You Might Also Like

A Bad Workout Week For A Different Reason (or I Guess I Was Too Optimistic) Another Short Workout Week (or Still Can’t Believe My Milestone) Having Some Workout Celebrations (or I’m Glad I Felt Ok At The Beginning Of The Week) My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts) Having A Shorter Workout Week (or Having A Few Changes In My Workout Plan) A Short Workout Week (or 3 Workouts In 3 Different Locations)

Before I get into the recap of my workout week, I have an unexpected update from the Dri-Tri I did on Saturday. I never do the Dri-Tri to be competitive with others, only with myself. But a few days later, the studios posted the top 3 men and women for each location. I had shared the photo with a group text with my workout friends because my friend’s husband got first place. But then after I sent it I realized that I was listed as 3rd place!

I was beyond shocked, and still am. I know that it’s likely because not a lot of women did it, but I’m still taking this win. Especially with how it seemed like so much was working against me.

Now onto my regular workout recap.

Monday’s workout was an endurance day. I was a little sore after the Dri-Tri, mainly because I was trying to not take painkillers because of the burst blood vessel in my eye (it can make it worse if it’s still spreading, and at that point it still was). But it wasn’t the worst endurance day to do when you aren’t 100% there.

We had 3 blocks for cardio that all had the same pattern. We had a push pace, 90-second base pace, push pace, 1-minute base pace, push pace, and a 30-second all-out. Each block, the push paces got longer. We had 1-minute, 75-second, and 90-second push paces. I did try to push myself a bit, but was mindful of how I was feeling as I went a bit harder.

On the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block started with a mini-band mini-block. We had 3 rounds of a squat to leg raise and hip bridges using a mini-band. After completing that, we had a 300-meter row before continuing the first floor block. The rest of the first block had sumo squat front raises, bicep curls, uppercuts, and tricep extensions all using weights. And the second block had lateral step-ups, lunges, and sumo deadlifts. I did the lateral step-ups as lateral lunges so there was a little modification.

Wednesday’s workout was a power day and it was a crazy one! The cardio block was all about all-outs! The entire cardio block was rounds of 1-minute all-outs followed by 90-seconds to recover. And we did that for 10 rounds! Each time we had an all-out, I tried to increase how fast I was going on the bike. Around the middle, I tried to increase the resistance level too, but that was too hard to keep doing for a minute so I went back to just focusing on pedaling faster at my regular all-out resistance level. I think the hardest thing about this was having all the all-outs being 1-minute long. I feel like I’ve done a similar workout with 30-second all-outs, but 1-minute ones are so different. But I felt so accomplished when I was done!

On the floor, we had 3 blocks. The first block had sit-up to jump squats (I did sit-ups to squats and calf raises), lateral lunges, lateral hop-overs, and seated shoulder presses to standing. The second block was a core block and we had static crunch in and outs and toe reaches, both using the mini-band. And the last block had burpees, step-ups (I did lunges), squats, and reverse grip low rows. It was a lot of variety on the floor, but it was also a lot and I was getting a bit sloppy with my form toward the end.

Friday’s workout was another endurance day. And it felt much more like an endurance workout than the Monday one.

We had 3 blocks for cardio. The first block started with a 3-minute push pace followed by a 90-second base pace and a 1-minute all-out. The second block had 2 rounds of a 2-minute push and 75-second base before the 1-minute all-out at the end. And the last block had 3 rounds of a 1-minute push and 1-minute base before the 1-minute all-out.

And on the floor, we had 2 floor blocks and 1 row block. The first block had suitcase squats, lunges to low rows, and plank taps. The second block had sumo squats to upright rows, lunges, uppercuts, and plank shoulder taps. And the row block had rowing plus squats to calf raises. We started with a 100-meter row and increased by 100 meters each round. I unfortunately was struggling a lot on the floor because my hip was really hurting after the bike. But I tried my best and I think most of what I did wasn’t affected too much besides my rowing.

Saturday’s workout was a strength-based day, but it also was a 90-minute class! I’ve done one other 90-minute class before, and it was a great challenge. This class happened to be during my regular Saturday class time, so I didn’t pick it for that reason, but I also didn’t avoid the class either. I figured it would be a great way to close out my week and I was right. Just like the other 90-minute class, we had the regular 60-minute class rotations and then added on another set. So we had 3 blocks on cardio, 2 blocks on floor, 2 blocks on cardio, and 2 blocks on floor.

For cardio, the first 4 blocks had a similar pattern. We had base paces at inclines with a 1-minute flat road base between and ended with a 30-second all-out at incline too. The first block had 30-second inclines, the second block had 1-minute inclines, the third block had 90-second inclines, and the fourth block had 2-minute inclines. And the inclines went down each block as the time got longer. I did go a bit higher on the resistance levels than I normally go, but they were short intervals so it was a good way to test out what I can do. And the last block of cardio was 4 rounds of 30-second all-outs that had decreasing inclines each time.

On the floor, we had a lot of variety in the exercises. For the first part of class, we had chest presses with weights, squats to bicep curls, knee tucks, rollouts on the ab dolly, high rows on the straps, and y-raises. We also had a little bit of rowing with stroke drills (the floor work from the first part of class is a bit of a blur so I don’t remember what was each block). When we were in the bonus floor blocks for the 90-minute class, the first block was on the floor and the second was on the rower. The floor block had low rows with weights, chest presses using the straps, and knee tucks. And when we got to the rower we followed the same pattern as the treadmill with 4 rounds of 30-second all-outs with recovery time between.

I really feel like I had a great workout week this past week. Between how great I felt after my Dri-Tri and finding out that I placed 3rd and having another awesome 90-minute class, it really was great. I did have some issues with pain in my hips that I couldn’t manage the way I normally do, but I feel like I pushed through and didn’t let that stop me. I know whenever I have one of these good weeks, I always say how I wish I could always feel like this. But I also know that I also have to deal with the bad weeks. But when I have those bad weeks, remembering these good weeks helps me make it through that time.

You Might Also Like

Having A Shorter Workout Week (or Having A Few Changes In My Workout Plan) This Felt Like Hell Week (or An Unexpected But Fun Workout Week) My Short Workout Week (or 6 Years Of Family Workouts) Ringing In The New Year With Workouts (or A Rare 5 Workout Week) A Week Of Tough Workouts (or Frustration As Motivation) Back To My Normal Routine (or Working Through My Workouts)

I’m going to be sharing just the first part of my workout week from this past week in this post. I’ll be sharing about my Saturday workout in tomorrow’s post because this past Saturday I did the Dri-Tri! For the other workouts this week, I was trying to mentally prepare for the Dri-Tri but also not overthink things too much. I was also getting over being nauseous and that affects my workouts quite a bit, so it did help me from going too hard and being sore on Saturday.

Monday’s workout was a strength-based class, and it was the day I was feeling the worst this past week. I wasn’t doing as bad as I had at the end of the week before, but it was still a struggle in class to get through a lot of it.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first block started with a progressive hill with the incline/resistance level increasing every 30 seconds before having a base pace and then a flat all-out. The second block had 1-minute intervals with push paces at increasing inclines/resistance levels with flat base paces in-between with a 30-second all-out at the end. And the last block had rounds of push paces at an incline followed by an all-out at the same incline and then a flat recovery between each one. Because I normally use the resistance levels to be for my push and all-out paces, I went lower on those this time so that the incline work was not at the same level.

On the floor, we also had 3 blocks. The first block was a mini-band block and we had monster walks and squats to side leg raises. For the other two blocks we were supposed to do 2 rounds and then we had 200-meter rows after. The second block had sumo deadlifts, lunges, and plank reaches. And the last block had sumo squats, lunge jumps (which I did as regular lunges), and plank jacks. The plank work was hard for me to do with the nausea, but not unbearable. So I just did them using the bench and took a lot of breaks when I was feeling really nauseous.

Wednesday’s workout was an endurance/strength/power day and the first day I wasn’t nauseous since it hit this time. So I was ready to work hard, but I was still taking it a bit easy as I was still dealing with some cramps.

On the treadmill, the first block was all about 3-minute challenges. We had a 3-minute push pace, 90-second base pace, 3-minute push pace, 90-second base pace, and 3-minute run for distance (which was basically like a 2-minute push with a 1-minute all-out after). I kept my push pace at my normal resistance level and challenged myself to keep it there the entire time. It wasn’t easy, but the base pace after helped me get ready for each round. The second block was all about all-outs. We had an all-out at an incline, recovery, all-out on flat incline, recovery, and so on for a total of 6 rounds. So we had 3 all-outs at the incline and 3 without. They did get shorter each round, which helped (2 all-outs for 1-minute, 2 for 45-seconds, and 2 for 30-seconds).

The first block on the floor had hip hinge swings, single-arm low rows, deadlifts, and single-arm high rows. And the second block had single-leg deadlifts (which I did as regular deadlifts), single-arm bicep curls, and uppercuts. And for that second block, we were supposed to use the same weights the entire time and try to not stop during the reps until we finished all 3 exercises. So I had to go a little lighter on the weights because it was based on my uppercuts plus we had a lot of reps to do for each exercise.

Friday’s workout was a strength-based class, but knowing I had the Dri-Tri the next day I knew I had to go easy. I also wasn’t feeling super confident that day. On Thursday, I noticed a burst blood vessel in my eye. It’s harmless, but it looks weird. And on Friday, it was looking even worse (as I write this post on Sunday, it has continued to spread but I know that’s a part of the healing process). So I was feeling a little down and self-conscious, even though I don’t think anyone in class noticed it. The theme for the class was about doing drop sets, and even the cardio had that theme.

We had 3 blocks for cardio and they all had the same pattern. Long push pace, base pace, base pace at incline, push pace without incline, base pace without incline, push pace at incline, and an all-out. Each block, the incline/resistance level went up high and the first long push pace got shorter. But the idea was to have the base pace at an incline feel similar to what the push pace without the incline felt like. Just like earlier in the week, because I use the resistance levels for my push pace on a normal day, I had to adjust those levels so that the incline work felt different to me. But I tried to keep the levels a bit lower because of the Dri-Tri the next day.

For the floor, the first 2 blocks had rowing to start the block. We had a 300-meter row in the first block and a 200-meter row in the second. We were supposed to keep the stroke rate super low for the first half of each row and then sprint for the second half. I know some people struggle with the low stroke rate, but I naturally row pretty slow so that part is easier for me. Getting the sprint done was a lot harder. And all 3 blocks had 1 drop set exercise (where you go heavy for 4 reps and then you use a lighter weight for 12 reps) and 1 regular exercise. We had drop set chest presses and bridge rows on the straps, drop set reverse grip low rows and triceps on the straps, and drop set bicep curls and chest presses on the straps.

After my weekday workouts this past week, I was hoping I was ready for the Dri-Tri. I felt like I had pretty good workouts and didn’t push too hard so I wasn’t tired or sore. But I wouldn’t know until the next day. And that’s coming in tomorrow’s post!

You Might Also Like

Working Through My Workout Week (or At Least I Knew This Was Coming) Dri-Tri Prep Workouts (or The Beginning Of My Workout Week) Last Regular Workout Week Of 2019 (or Still Pushing Through) A More Normal Workout Week (or A Bonus Friend Reunion) A Good, Strong Workout Week (or I Really Love Feeling Like Myself) Another Short Workout Week (or Still Can’t Believe My Milestone)

I knew going into this past workout week that I might only get 3 workouts in and I might have to change the times. I was trying to do what I could to keep things as normal for me as possible, but I had to make adjustments and it’s ok that happened. While I love my routine and plan, it’s also good to be flexible because things come up. And I still got in some really good workouts during the classes I did take.

Monday’s workout was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and we had a lot of short blocks. When our coach was describing the workout at first, it sounded awesome but I wasn’t sure if it would feel like it had endurance elements. But this workout ended up challenging me even though the blocks were short and it was definitely an endurance day too.

For cardio, we had a run/row format but it was all coached so we weren’t switching on our own. When we were on the treadmill we had 2 different plans. The first was a 1-minute push pace, 1-minute base pace, 30-second push pace, and a 30-second all-out. The other plan was rounds of a 30-second all-out and a 45-second recovery. 45 seconds of recovery isn’t a lot, even when it’s a short all-out! And when we were on the rower, we had rounds of 30 seconds of a base row,  20 seconds of a push row, and 10 seconds of an all-out row.

On the floor, we had a mix of regular blocks and timed blocks. In the regular blocks, we had 2 exercises for each. We had hip hinge low rows and squats, push-ups and bird dogs, and mountain climbers and burpees. And the timed blocks focused on variations of similar exercises. The first one had bicep curls at tempo, bicep curls at our own speed, and holding a bicep curl at 90 degrees out. The other timed block had chest presses at tempo, chest presses at our own speed, and holding a chest press at 90 degrees.

Wednesday’s workout was a strength day and it was my last regular workout this past week. And for cardio, we had lots of hills!

We had 3 blocks for cardio and they all had 3-minute hills. The first hill was increasing inclines, the second hill was decreasing inclines, and the last hill we got to decide if we wanted to start at the top of the bottom of the hill and go from there. Whenever we have a choice to start at the bottom of the hill and work our way up or start at the top and work our way down, I always start at the top. I figure it’s more fun for me if the bike is getting easier as I go and not harder. But all the hills were tough and I got the resistance level up pretty high on the bike. And each block also had a 1-minute all-out at the end that wasn’t on an incline, so I went a little less than normal on the resistance level for the all-outs so I could feel like I was really flying as I was pedaling!

On the floor, we started each block with a 300-meter row. I really wanted to try hard on my rows, but it just wasn’t working for me that morning. I wasn’t struggling that much, but I couldn’t push myself the way I was hoping to. After the row, each block also had regular floor exercises. In the first block, we had curtsy lunges to overhead reaches and reverse lunges to shoulder presses (I did the lunges and shoulder presses separately). The second block had sumo squats to upright rows, weighted squats, and sumo deadlifts to low rows. And the last block had transverse squats (which I did as sumo squats) and goblet squats.

I skipped my workout on Friday. Thursday night was the ballot counting for my union election, and I had no clue how late the night would go. In the past, it went until very early the next morning. But since it was being done on Zoom, I didn’t know if it would be shorter or longer. So it just felt safer to cancel the class. And I’ll talk more about the election results in another post.

And on Saturday, I couldn’t go to my normal class time because my parents were coming to visit me! I’ll write more about their visit in other posts, but I went to an earlier class than I normally do so I could still get my workout done. I didn’t realize that I was going to be taking a 3 group class, but it was a nice surprise! It’s been a while since I’ve had a 3 group class and it made it a good challenge.

For cardio and rowing, we had a very similar pattern with timed challenges that decreased as we went. For cardio, we started with a 4-minute distance challenge followed by a 90-second base pace. Then it was a 2-minute distance challenge, 1-minute distance challenge, 30-second distance challenge, and 30-second all-out. And all of those had the 90-seconds of base pace after them. I was starting to experience a bit of nausea during class, so I did have to take some breaks but I tried to keep those to the base pace times.

For rowing, we had the same thing with the timed challenges, but we didn’t get the same 90-seconds of base rowing after. Instead, we used the medicine ball for 15 reps of squats and 15 reps of shoulder presses. Those 90 seconds almost didn’t feel like enough time to do all those reps and get a moment to breathe or drink water! It was a lot of rowing and more rowing than I’ve had in a while, so I know my form suffered a bit. But it was a nice way to challenge myself without feeling the stress of getting a PR on a benchmark challenge.

And on the floor, we had 1 block that had 3 mini-blocks in it. Each mini-block had 2 exercises and we were supposed to do 2 rounds before moving to the next mini-block. The first mini-block had single-arm dumbbell reverse lunges and lunge jacks. I had to modify the lunge jacks to be regular lunges without the weights. The second mini-block had lateral lunges to suitcase squats and cossack squats. And the last block had sit-up to torso rotations and reverse crunches (I did the sit-ups and torso rotations as separate exercises). I finished all the mini-blocks and was starting on the lunges again when the class was done.

Even though I only got 3 workouts done, I think I did a lot of great work in them. And it was nice to see that I could adjust my routine and not have it affect me too much. And this week, I also have a small change to my workouts, but that’s mainly because I’ll be doing a workout with my dad so we picked a different time from what I’m used to doing. I’m so excited about that class because it’s always fun when I have someone with me in class!

You Might Also Like

A Good, Strong Workout Week (or I Really Love Feeling Like Myself) Last Regular Workout Week Of 2019 (or Still Pushing Through) Another Short Workout Week (or Still Can’t Believe My Milestone) This Wasn’t Going To Be A 4 Workout Week (or Some Pleasant Surprises) A Good Workout Week (or Only Dealing With Old Issues) Finally A Normal Workout Week (or I Love Having Nothing Crazy)