Thursday, December 6, 2012

Thursday 6.12: Row, back squat, snatch, ring skills

Thursday. Row 2k, time 7.01 (PR). Back squat x 4 (max 120kg), snatch x 4 (max PR 45kg). Ring skills 20min.

Finnish Independency Day. I was ready to do work at the gym. For the sake of this day I took 2k row for time, back squat strength training, snatch training and finally ring skills. It was a long day at the gym and I've earned my meals for today. Toni took a day off today. Joni worked his ass off.

2k row, 7.01, PR

Row 2k. Rowing long distances with quick pace can be very demanding and exhausting experiences. This was exactly that. Luckily I've rowed quite much in the last 1-2 months. My warm-up traditionally includes 1k row and I usually tend to go fast the whole trip. Today I started off with 1.40 / 500m pace and kept it for some time. After 1k it was around 1.45-1.47 / 500m and due to my sprint at the end the clock stopped at 7.01. I really felt the burden in my lungs. It took some time to catch my breath and my thighs were burning. When I took my first strokes some months ago, the burden usually hit my forearms first and they went almost numb in mid-long distances. After having rowed so much - I suppose tens of kilometers - I have learnt to focus the stress to my legs. Nowadays the fatigue hits my legs and lungs first. This has also enabled me to row faster.

Strength. Back squat fours and snatch fours.

  • Back squat 4-4-4-3 (100, 110, 115, 120)
  • Snatch 4-4-4-1 (40, 42.5, 42.5, PR 45kg)

My goal was to go fours all the way to 120kg. I missed with one rep. I wanted to take 4-rep sets all the way. You'll find the videos in my Youtube channel. I've changed the way I warm-up when doing strength workouts. Previously I did rather many sets of warming up with lighter weights. If we think about back squats, 5-rep sets of 60, 70, 80, 90kg were normal for me before going over hundred kilos. After talking with some monsters who lift heavy weights I understood there's no point exhausting your body (20 plus reps) before reaching those weights you really want to focus on. That's why I take several reps with empty bar, then some reps with maybe 60kg and then start putting 100+ weights. I feel my body is more receptive for those heavier kilos nowadays.

I played with empty bar and barbell with 30kg for some time with snatches. I practiced the tracks with power snatch and squat snatch. Then I finally took those 4-rep sets and was able to increase the number of plates and weights. I still recognize the flaws of my technique but it feels difficult to correct them individually. I can lift 40kg but going beyond it would require good technique which I'm lacking. Today was the first time I was able to go further, two sets of 4x42.5kg came up and finally a single rep of 45kg.

Snatch, 42.5kg

Ring skills. For 20 minutes. I played with the rings, took some muscle-up training with the help of jumping from the ground, skin the cat became familiar movement as well. I've never done ice-cream makers before, today I did 5x10 reps. I also did some inverted hang. All in all, it was 20+ minutes to play around.



Toni had a rest day but I slapped high fives with Joni as he entered the gym when I was leaving. He did two quick and heavy workouts, goo job man!

  • 10-8-6-4-2
  • Deadlift (100kg)
  • Bench press (60kg)
  • Time 5.29

His second workout was Grace with 50kg, time 4.37

Take a look at a documentary of Annie Thorisdottir, fittest woman alive, for the second consecutive years. I had to grab my stuff and head to the box right after this



Fittest woman in the world, Annie Thorisdottir


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