I’ve been wanting to have a week of workouts where I wasn’t dealing with any issues like horrible pain or nausea. I will always have hip issues because that is just a part of my life, but I really missed having a week where hip issues were the only thing I was dealing with. But I never seemed to get that. For one reason or another, I was either having an all bad week or a split week. But I finally got the week I had been craving for so long!
Monday’s workout was a 3 group class because it was a holiday (since I always have Mondays off, I didn’t realize it was a holiday until I got to class). Since that class is usually my only 2 group class of the week, I was a bit sad that it was 3 groups, but it ended up being a really great workout that had a lot of things that made me push myself on my own.
For cardio, we had a run/recovery workout that was done on our own. We had 3 different sections that had different distances and recovery times. The first section was 4 rounds of a .1 run (.4 bike) with 30 seconds of recovery after each. The second section was 2 rounds of a .2 run (.8 bike) with 45 seconds after each. And the last round was a .4 run (.8 bike) with a minute of recovery after. We had a run/bike for distance if we completed that, but I was still working on the .8 bike distance when the block was done. I was feeling really good in class so I could go fast and I was loving that!
The rowing block was similar to cardio with different sections that we were on our own with. But instead of recovery, we had ground to press with a medicine ball. I modified those to be squats with overhead raises, but those are pretty similar. The first section was 4 rounds of a 100-meter row with 5 medicine ball exercises after each row. The next section had 2 rounds of a 200-meter row with 10 medicine ball exercises after each row. And the last section was 1 round of a 400-meter row with 20 medicine ball exercises after it. And when those were done, we rowed until the block ended. I made it to rowing until the block ended which was awesome. I usually don’t make it to the end of the workout assignments.
And on the floor, we had all timed work. We had 2 different blocks and each block had 3 exercises. We had 30 seconds of doing an exercise and 15 seconds to recover and get ready for the next one. And we did 3 rounds of those 3 exercises before moving to the next block. The first block had push-ups on the straps, upright rows with weights, and pop jacks. And the second block had full thrusters with weights, squats, and v-ups (which I modified to sit-ups). It’s very different doing timed exercises because you aren’t counting reps and know how much longer you have to go. I tried to not go too quickly, but I was getting very tired at the end of each 30 seconds of work.
Wednesday was a strength-based class and it was one where I wanted to work hard on focusing on the thing that made it a strength class. We had 2 blocks at each part of the room and we switched after each block. However, I was using the bike for cardio and for rowing, so I had a lot of time on the bike.
The first cardio block started with a 2-minute base pace, but it was at an incline. I used 1 resistance level higher than what I used to use for my all out. After that, we had 1-minute at base pace without incline. Then it was a 1-minute push pace without incline and a 30-second all out without incline. After a quick recovery, we had another 30-second all out, but this time it was at the same incline as the push pace we had at the beginning. The second block started with a 2-minute declining hill. I started at the same resistance level that I used before and it decreased 1 level every 30 seconds. We then had a 2-minute base pace, which felt like a nice long recovery. Then we had the same pattern from the end of the first block with a 30-second all out, quick recovery, and another 30-second all out but at an incline.
For the rowing, it was all about doing stroke drills. Since I was on the bike, I put the resistance level to be double what my base level is (which is what I did last week as well). The first block was slow rowing/stroke drills for 100-meters. We were supposed to count the strokes and then use that number for how many reps we had to do squats to overhead press with a medicine ball. I biked for 30-seconds and then did 8 reps since that is probably close to how many strokes it would have taken me. The second block switch the rowing to be 200-meter so I biked at the heavy resistance level for 1-minute. And the exercise was a squat hold while doing front presses with the medicine ball. This time, I did 12 reps since that seemed like a good number.
And on the floor, the exercises were the same for both blocks. We just picked up where we left off when we returned for the second block. We had chest presses, squats with weights, pullovers, half get-ups, and plank pull-throughs. I usually would use 25 pounds for chest presses, but I pushed myself and used 30 pounds instead (it’s a 30-pound weight in each hand, so a total of 60 pounds). It was so much harder for me, and I couldn’t do all the reps without a break in the middle, but that’s almost the point with a strength day. We need to test ourselves to see if we can lift heavier. I used the 30-pound weights for my squats as well and then used one of the weights for the pullovers. For my half get-ups and plank pull-throughs, I used one 20 pound weight. Even though I went down with the weight, it wasn’t easy since that was heavier than I’m used to.
Friday was a mix of endurance, strength, and power. I was having a bit of a bad hip day, but it wasn’t too horrible and I was able to work around a few things to manage it.
For cardio, we had 3 blocks. The first and third blocks were both 3-minute distance challenges with inclines. And the middle block had 5 rounds of 30-second all outs. I was able to use a bit of resistance on the bike to do the incline work. And I used my base pace level for the middle block with all the all outs.
Rowing was one long block. We started with a 3-minute row. Then we were supposed to do lunges with medicine ball twists but I modified them to be squats with the medicine ball. Then we were back on the rower and we took the distance we did for the 3 minutes and decreased it by 200-meters. We kept doing that and the medicine ball work until we couldn’t take 200 meters off again. Then we just rowed until the block was done. I guess I didn’t get a lot of rowing done in that first 3-minute challenge because I had almost 4 minutes left in the block when I finished the assignment. I wasn’t able to row for the entire 4 minutes that we had left, so I took breaks to stretch out when I needed to. But I still got a lot of rowing done.
And on the floor, we had 3 blocks just like we did for cardio. The first block had bench sit to stands and bench hop overs. The second block had sit-ups to squats on the bench, mountain climbers, lunges, and full sit-ups. And the last block had alligators on the straps and push-ups (I did these on my knees but I didn’t use the bench to make it easier).
Saturday was another day that my hip was bothering me before I got to class, but it was manageable and something that I was so used to since I have been dealing with it for over a decade. The workout was endurance-based, and it wasn’t done in the order that I’m used to. I normally start with cardio and then do rowing and the floor. But this class, I had to start on the floor and then I did the cardio and ended with rowing.
It’s never easy for me to start on the floor, but I was determined to do my best. It was one long block and everything was 12 reps. We had squats to bicep curls to uppercuts with weights, plank pull-throughs, single-leg v-ups (which I modified to full sit-ups), plank leg raises, high rows on the straps, and sumo squats to upright rows with weights. The first and last exercises were really tough for me, and after the first round, I did have to split up the exercises into the individual parts. And I did go a bit easy because I usually don’t have anything after the floor and this time I had the rest of the workout to go. But I still tried to push myself where I could.
The cardio was 2 blocks and they were both very similar. They had a long push pace to start, then a longish base pace, a 1-minute push pace, and a 1-minute all out. I kept the resistance level on the bike at the same level the entire time but I was very focused on how fast I was pedaling for each segment. I overdid it a bit on the long push paces at the beginning of each block, but nothing that I wasn’t able to recover from.
And the rower was also 2 blocks that were similar. The first block started with a 3-minute row. Then we had squats to front presses with the medicine ball. We continued that pattern and decreased the row by 200 meters each round. I was just finishing that up when the block ended. The second block started with a 90-second row and then we were supposed to do squat jacks with the medicine ball (I modified these to be regular squats with a medicine ball). And each round the row decreased by 100 meters. It was weird to end on the rower and I almost felt like the workout was unfinished, but I was also tired enough to know I did a full class.
I’m cautiously optimistic about this week. It should hopefully be another good week for me and I believe we have a benchmark this week. I’m so competitive when it comes to benchmarks, so I hate when I have a bad day when we have them. I can only hope for the best and know that whatever happens will be. But I still will be hoping it goes exactly how I want it to!
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