week of injury crosstraining + 9 no-equipment squat variations

I’m truly unsure how people (willingly) out of work manage day-by-day. As I write, I’m on day three sans a shift at my job. I chose self-isolation in this regard because I began showing odd symptoms at the close of this week and opted not to take any chances with the health of my colleagues and those who come by the shop, and anyone associated thereof. Certainly, I find this the responsible choice, but particularly because my energy levels haven’t changed despite some off-and-on chest pressure and coughing, I’m finding it hard to justify total stillness.

Here I am, though. Home workouts are my norm and though motivation trickles in and streams out, I’m trying to establish consistency with them and learn to not loathe my living room “studio.” In next week’s training you’ll see the workout tied to the 9 Squat Variations video I posted below. I included it here to give anyone struggling to form their own home fitness programs some fresh ideas to liven up leg day. So much more than your standard squat! I also have a core and glute routine available for you to try.

Oh, and this week I RAN for the first time in six weeks! Read on to find out how that went.

Monday, 3/16: 75 minute elliptical intervals + 45 minute resistance band workout

Today marks the first that I fell into a deeply downtrodden state about my injury and the outbreak. Swimming kept me in nature and provided a satisfying challenge to my fitness, but now the pools are closed, and running still isn’t an option – it appears I’m trapped in the gym or on Pittor (my bike) until my leg miraculously improves. Today I tried a run and though my knee held up, my shin and ankle did not, so I stopped after 90 seconds and resigned myself to the elliptical. The session itself was fine, and I think my malcontent drove me to pedal quite hard at points.

I planned to dip into the weight room straight after but, big surprise, could not get myself to. Combine my sadness at not running with a sudden franticness to get to the grocery store before (as I perceived) all my veggies were stolen from the crates, and heavy strength work probably would’ve blown in my face. I think I’ll stick with my living room band workouts until I truly find enjoyment in gym lifting. So many circumstances presently work against touching dumbbells, and I think my body screams “No” for a reason, so I shall listen.

Elliptical:

• 10 min warmup
• 6 x 5 min tempo (level 6)/2 min easy
• 7 x :30 hill (level 10)/1:30 easy
• 9 min cooldown

Band workout (all with a “heavy” resistance band):

• 10 burpees
• 4 x 20 bent over row
• 4 x 15 single-arm face pull
• 2 x 15/2 x 18 lat pull
• 10 burpees
• 4 x 20 seated single-arm row
• 4 x 20 tricep dips (bodyweight)
• 4 x 15 squat to scapular retraction
• 10 burpees
• 4 x 30 plank hip swivels
• :75 plank
• 3 x 20 leg drops
• :75 plank
• 4 x 20 jackknives
• :75 plank
• 10 burpees

Tuesday, 3/17: 85 min cycling intervals + 45 min dryland circuit

I burned off a lot of pent up energy outside of my workouts by deep cleaning our kitchen: surfaces, cabinet fronts, swept and mopped the floors. The space direly needed it and I am extremely happy I took the nearly two hours to tackle the task.

Cycling:

• 5 min easy spinning
• 15 min zone 3 with 4 x hill (varying length)
• 10 x 1 min zone 5/1 min easy
• 40 min zone 3 with 5 x hill (varying length)
• 5 min easy cooldown

Dryland circuit:

• 5 min seated row with resistance band
• 3 x 15 single leg deadlifts w. band
• 4 x 10 Vinyasa
• 4 x 30 banded clamshell
• 4 x 20 bird dogs/ side
• 3 x 12 side plank rotations
• 4 x 30 flutter kicks
• 4 x 30 swimmers
• 4 x 30 prone lat pullbacks
• 5 min seated row with resistance band

Wednesday, 3/18: 75 min cycling + .72 mile run (9:00)

Zone 3 workout during which I guess I zoned out. The ride BLEW by! I kept a pretty low cadence and shifted to harder gears every so often to simulate some climbs. 5 minute warmup, 65 minute zone 3, 5 min cooldown. The run was a really dumb idea, despite its brevity my leg hurt a lot by the end.

Thursday, 3/19: 90 min cycling intervals + 35 minute full-body circuit

Welp, our apartment gym officially closed, meaning no more elliptical and no heavy lifting. Aw well. Woke up for a threshold biking session that whooped my butt and reduced my legs to jelly. Pre-lunch, I sweated in my living room with a fast-paced bodyweight and band cycle and a couple of superset burnouts. Ouch!

Cycling:

• 10 min easy spinning
• 15 min @ 90+ RPM with 3 x :15 bursts at 100+ RPM
• 3 x 12 min threshold (:45 steady, 1:00 harder, :15 sprint, repeated 6x)/6 min easy recovery
• 11 min cooldown with 4 x 1 min “climbs” at harder gear

Circuit strength:

• 5 Sun Salutations to warmup
• 5 x (5 pushups, 10 jump squats, 15 band deadlift-to-row, 20 band step-outs, 15 band deadlift-to-row, 10 jump squats, 5 pushups). 1 min rest in between rounds
• 3 x 50 glute bridge/50 bicycle crunch, no rest
• 3 x 20 yogi squats/50 swimmers, :30 rest
• 1:30 bodyweight narrow squat burnout
• 15 min stretch to cooldown

Friday, 3/20: 120 min cycling

STOKED about this effort! Appropriately hard, appropriate heart rate zone. appropriate effort. The final 30-40 minutes were brutal from a mental standpoint, as any aerobic endurance-based workout typically is. I was so impatient and the minutes ticking by so slowly that J turned MLB Network on his computer to distract me.

Started with a 10 minute easy warmup infused with :15 pops at 100+ RPM, then hit 5 x :30 hill sprints with 2 minutes of recovery. The bulk of the workout came next – 90 minutes at a steady zone 3 effort. Every 10 minutes I switched to either a harder gear/lower cadence or an easier gear/higher cadence to keep myself honest and took in a trio of Clif Bloks about 50 minutes in. 8 minute cooldown to wrap things up – had to sit on the saddle for a moment to let my legs calm themselves.

Saturday, 3/21: 3.14 miles, 12:59 pace + 94 minute outdoor bike ride

The run was rather unplanned, and while I can’t say it went well, I’m glad I accomplished it. I walked a bit but most of it I eyed my heart rate and shuffled along to pain tolerance, and I’ll admit my leg was rather angry for this attempt. Still, my first 5K in almost two months, and the following day my leg showed much less general pain! Perhaps it needs to be nudged along in its recovery?

Midmorning, J and I hit a trail some ways away for a ride. SO many people occupied the asphalt and it was rather disheartening that none of them practiced social distancing. I held my breath whenever we rode past someone. This, combined with my general fear of biking in the open and some malcontent with my speed related to what I expected, rendered the ride less enjoyable than I would’ve wanted. I’ve much to work on regarding my comfort cycling around others. At least later in the evening we ordered takeout from an Italian place nearby to help them navigate the inevitable Covid-19 closures.

Sunday, 3/22: 170 minute long ride

The first half of this ride I had little motivation and a whole lot of boredom. I wrote in 8 x 3 min 90+RPM/2 min 60-65 RPM with a 5 min recovery, and kind of loathed every interval. It wasn’t until I started nibbling my Clif Caramel Macchiato energy bar that I fell into a groove and the desired effort levels. I fueled much more during this workout than I have in previous endurance rides, and overall think this attentiveness kept me from zonking. I totaled about 500 calories over the 2 hours and 45 minutes.

In my water bottle: 2 scoops Skratch Lemon Lime Hydration Mix

Solid fuel: 1 x Clif Caramel Macchiato bar (containes the caffeine equivalent of a shot of espresso!) + 1 x banana, bites taken every 15 minutes of each.

Total Training Hours: 14.7

9 Squat Variations to Try

In the order they appear:

• Narrow squat
• Yogi squat
• Standard squat
• Squat jump
• Squat with lateral raise
• Squat twist
• Sumo squat
• Plie toe squat
• Pop squat

Enjoy my attractive, inadvertent facial expressions.