I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to my calendar before this past week of workouts, so I didn’t realize at first that this was going to be the start of my bad week (or weeks). Fortunately, it didn’t hit me right at the beginning of the week so I didn’t have a totally bad week, but it is always frustrating when they do hit because it really affects every part of my workout.
I wasn’t doing too bad on Monday. I did feel a little off, but it wasn’t anything that was too distracting which is probably why I didn’t just assume it was kicking off my bad week. Monday’s workout was one that I did earlier in the month, but it felt different this time.
For cardio, we started with a 2-minute base pace and a 30-second all-out. We had a 1-minute recovery before starting the next part of the block. Again, we started with a 2-minute base pace and ended with a 30-second all-out but we had a 90-second push pace in the middle. We had another 1-minute recovery and then we repeated the second section again but we added a 1-minute push to all-out before the 30-second all-out.
On the rower, we had 3 blocks. Each block had a stroke drill and a medicine ball exercise. The first block had 10 strokes for each row and then we had bicep curls using the medicine ball. The second block had 12 strokes for each row and then squats using the medicine ball. And the last block had 15 strokes for each row and then we were supposed to do isolated squats with bicep curls with the medicine ball, but I split the exercise up so I did the squats and bicep curls separately.
And on the floor, we had 2 blocks. The first block was all about building up to an ultimate burpee. Since I wasn’t feeling so great, I modified each exercise to make it easier on me. For most things, I used the bench for my hands so I wasn’t fully face down. We had plank low rows, push-ups, pop jacks, squats to shoulder presses, and then ultimate burpees. For the ultimate burpees, I didn’t do the low rows since it isn’t easy to grab the weights from the bench and hold on to them. But I did try my best with what I could do. And in the second block, we had plank jacks and high plank kick-throughs. I did the plank jacks using the bench, but the kick-throughs are really tough to do no matter how I feel since my hips don’t like that movement. I did try those from the ground since I was worried about falling, but I mainly did plank side reaches.
Wednesday’s workout was a new one for me. I was feeling a bit worse, but my medications were helping so it wasn’t as bad as I know it could be. For this workout, we had 2 blocks for each section of the room.
For cardio, both blocks had a mix of flat inclines and incline work. The first block started with a 90-second push pace without incline. Then we had a 1-minute base pace. The next push pace was 1-minute long but at an incline followed by a 1-minute base pace without incline. We repeated the pattern with shorter push paces with inclines and the 1-minute base pace without an incline. The second block was a little shorter so we only did 2 rounds with the inclines and then ended with a 30-second all-out with an incline.
On the rower, we started with a 300-meter row, and then we had high knees. We repeated this pattern for the first block and decreased the row by 50-meters each time. For the second block, we started with a 100-meter all-out row. Then we got to rest as much as we needed and we had a 50-meter base row and then a 100-meter all-out row. We repeated this pattern with adding 50-meters to the base row each time. Because we got as much rest as we needed, this wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I didn’t get that far in the second block but I was able to row each time without needing to stop in the middle of the row.
On the floor, each block had one drop set exercise and one regular exercise. The first block started with a drop set for uppercuts. So we did 12 uppercuts with a heavy weight and then did as many reps as we could with a lighter weight right after. After doing both sets, we had lateral lunges with hammer curls. For the second block, the drop set was with sumo squats. So we had 12 sumo squats with a heavy weight and then as many as possible with a lighter weight. And the other exercise after the squats was reciprocating rows. The rows were a bit tough since they were something that should be face down and but I did do my best.
Thursday was a much harder day for me, so I had to do a lot of rest throughout the workout. This was another repeat workout for me, but I feel pretty certain that I did much better the first time I did this one.
For cardio, the first block started with a 75-second push pace followed by a 60-second base pace. Then we had a 60-second push pace and a 60-second base pace. Then we had a 45-second all-out, 30 seconds of recovery, and another 45-second all-out. The second block was very similar to the first, but we had 3 rounds of a 30-second all-out instead of 2 rounds of a 45-second all-out.
On the rower, we started with a 600-meter row. Then we were supposed to do lunges with a tricep extension with a medicine ball. But I split the lunges and the tricep extensions into separate exercises. Then we had 2 rounds of a 300-meter row with the same medicine ball work. And the last part was 4 rounds of a 150-meter row with the same exercises. I didn’t get through all the rows, but I was into the last section when the block ended.
And on the floor, each block had a mix of strength exercises and stability exercises. In the first block, the strength exercises were front squats and chest presses. And the stability exercises were lunges to squats on the straps and chest presses on the straps. And in the second block, the strength exercises were single-arm shoulder presses and hammer curls and the stability exercises were lunges and balance bicep curls. I did the bicep curls as regular ones, so I didn’t really get the stability part of that exercise, but I know stability exercises are always the hardest for me with my hips.
Friday was another repeat workout for me and probably the worst I felt all week. And we also found out that the coach we have on Wednesdays and Fridays would be leaving and this class was possibly their last class. I was really sad about this because she’s been my coach since I started going to the Culver City studio and I really love how she coaches and pushes us. I’m really going to miss her and it was sad knowing this might be my last class with her.
I had done this workout toward the middle of the month, but again I know I did better the first time I did this workout. For cardio, we started at no incline and for those on the treadmill, they increased the incline by 1% every .1 miles (I increased it every .4 miles on the bike). We did this for 6 minutes before we had some recovery time. Then for the second block, we started at the highest incline/resistance level and then decreased it by 1% every .1 or .4 miles.
On the rower, both blocks were focused on 150-meter rows. But in the first block, between each row, we had bicep curls and in the second block, we had deadlifts to overhead presses. Doing a 150-meter row is a good distance for me, especially when I don’t feel great. It’s a pretty short row so I’m done quickly and I can push myself a bit more since it is shorter. But because of how I was feeling, it was still tough and I just tried to get through each row and I wasn’t too focused on making improvements each time.
And on the floor, both blocks had timed exercises. In each block, we had one exercise that was for 45-seconds long and we had another exercise that we had 1 minute to complete 12 reps and then we could rest. In the first block, we did lateral lunges for 45-seconds and 12 uppercuts within the minute. And in the second block, we had arnold presses for 45-seconds and 12 lunges within the minute. The arnold presses were harder than I expected and I possibly should have gone lighter with the weights, but considering how few opportunities I had to push myself in this workout, it was probably good to have this challenge.
This week of workouts could go a bunch of different ways. It might be a really bad week, or it might not be as bad as it could be. It’s something that I will just have to see how I feel each day and manage my expectations from there. But hopefully, even if I feel horrible I will have some workout wins this week.
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