I put my Orange Theory membership on hold due to all of my struggles with injuries. On Saturday, I returned. I definitely felt the difference, as I was sore for most of the day. However, today when I woke up, I wasn’t sore at all.
The same went for a CrossFit workout I did on Friday that was heavy power snatches, which I haven’t done for quite some time due to my various injuries. I wasn’t sore at all.
This hopefully means I’m stronger than I was last year.
This past weekend my daughters and I entered a fitness festival.
It as a 40 minute HIIT workout, followed by a 2-mile run, followed by a 40 minute barre workout, followed by a 2-mile run.
When I signed us up for this, it seemed like a good idea.
However, what I didn’t take into account was the fact that during the HIIT workout, I ran over 2 miles. So the total run was almost 7 miles.
By the time I got to the barre workout, I was done. The last 2 miles seemed like a limp because my muscles had gotten cold during the transitions.
This was fun, but I definitely paid for it by being unable to walk or move much the next day.
I do this all the time; what looks like fun on paper and doesn’t seem bad at all, actually is.
Yesterday, I did Orange Theory’s Dri Tri. The Dry Tri consists of:
As some of you know, I’ve been battling a calf injury so this was my first time back running. It went well. I invested in compression sleeves; I don’t have any calf strains today so far. And this was fun. Orange Theory’s Dri Tri is twice a year (the next one is in September), so I think I’m going to try and use this as a benchmark in the future.
I finished in 44 minutes, with my 5k time being 24:29, which was good considering I haven’t run a 5k since Thanksgiving, and it was our last exercise. I did well on my 2000 m row as well.
Great workout put on by Orange Theory. I got the most splat points (which is Orange Theory speak for when you’re working about your 84% target heart rate) ever, which is hard for me to do since I have such a low resting heart rate and am in such good shape. I had a good time. This was fun. I’ll see ya in September!
Two months ago, I started doing HIIT (high intensity interval training) classes to try to improve my fitness and actually push myself, because one of the pitfalls of working out by yourself is not pushing yourself. Every time, I get my butt kicked in HIIT class. But overall I hadn’t noticed any significant change.
Until this week.
This week I went jogging like I normally do. When I jog, I do just that — jog. I don’t push myself. I just run up and down the street to get my heart rate up and get a little cardio in. Well, when I took a look at my heartrate report, I noticed something — I hadn’t hit peak heart rate the entire time I was jogging — I was in cardio the entire time. That’s when I knew; I knew HIIT classes were working.
Needless to say, I’m super excited. Not excited that I’ll have to push myself on my jogs now, but excited I’m improving. I’m itching for 5k season to come around, so I can really test HIIT classes and see if my 5k time has improved and I start winning more 5ks. Because, despite working out by myself, it is all about winning — no matter what I’m doing.
I just did a HIIT (high-intensity, interval training) workout for 90 minutes today at Orange Theory Fitness and got my butt kicked. I ran almost 5 miles at different intensities, and then had to row and do dumbbell moves afterwards. By 1 hour and 20 minutes, I was done. I was barely moving. I’m pretty sore now already.
HIIT workouts are high-intensity interval training workouts designed to increase the
body’s need for oxygen and create an oxygen shortage, causing your body to ask for more oxygen during recovery. This afterburn effect is referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and is the reason why intense exercise will help burn more fat and calories than regular aerobic and steady-state workouts.
Over time, high-intensity workouts can increase your VO2 max, or your body’s ability to use oxygen for energy. This translates to better endurance, which leads to more energy and the ability to sustain more work for a longer period of time.
Working different aerobic systems improves endurance while building stronger fast-twitch muscle fibers, which can help deliver that final kick needed to finish strong. Working out at 70 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate will deliver the greatest EPOC effect.
However, recovery is important. We only get stronger when we recover, and it can take 24 to 48 hours to fully recover from a high intensity interval training workout.
I can tell you right now I would never have done this on my own. The advantages to working out in a class setting is you do do things you otherwise wouldn’t. It was fun. I got an amazing workout. I burned 741 calories. And I feel great! I can’t wait until my next class!
My Journey to the CrossFit Games 