Wednesday 26.6: Deadlifts, metcon + handstand

Wednesday. AM: Build up to 12rep deadlift in 15min (max 140kg). Metcon, 4rds of 15box and 10 T2B. Time 4.40. Squat snatch technique. PM: Handstand / headstand skills training.

A little different type of strength training for this Wednesday. High-rep sets of deadlifts, aiming to find a 12-rep max set in a certain time domain. Then a bodyweight metcon and some technique training. Pony is enjoying his summer holiday and stayed home to train at his back yard.

Strength.

• Deadlift
• Build up to 12 rep max in 15min
• Sets: 100, 110, 120, 130, 140kg

Had to check from my blog when was the last time I did deadlifts. It was actually about 3 weeks ago when I was on a date with benchmark wod Diane. And there was another metcon where I combined deads and box jumps, that was phenomenal workout. Today's workout was a copy paste stuff from Rob Orlando's workout of the day some time ago.

Usually my deadlift sets are around 3-5 reps when concentrating in developing strength. This was a nice variation to that rep-scheme. Doing 12 repetitions in a row is a totally different thing as grip starts to become challenging after about 8 reps. Those early sets were easy. The last 2 sets (130 and 140kg) were tough on my grip. Beforehand I thought 130kg would be manageable so it was cool to witness myself picking up the 140kg barbell and complete it all the way. At that point I had 5 full sets done so I figured it's time to call it quits.

I liked this kind of programming with the deadlifts. I believe it's more important to be able to move semi-heavy bars several times in a row than having a huge 1 rep max. It sure as hell feels good as I one beautiful day lift that magical 200kg =) but that's not the main purpose. It's more important to perform 21-15-9 type of workouts unbroken. Anyway, I feel like today's training with deads was great! I still had some strength left in my back but my grip started to get a little slippery so grip strength was more an issue than back strength.

Set of 100kg

Metcon. Time 4.40

• 4 rounds of:
• 15 box
• 10 toes-to-bar

Something little fun to play around after the deadlifts. Box jumps and T2B's. Toes-to-bars are another movement that has been ignored, without a proper reason. This workout went pretty much unbroken except the last set of T2B's. I didn't rush anywhere and didn't run through the box jumps with huge pace. It was more like a solid smooth pace.

Technique.

• Squat snatch
• Overhead squat

I wasn't done with my workouts. Didn't have anything in my schedule but somehow I wanted to do something more. I was thinking about mobility but then realized my squat snatch and overhead squat needs improvement and those two movements also mobilize my upper back and hips in a good way.

At this stage I realized my hips were loose and very active. I had no problems in squatting well over parallel. I took some snatches and then found a good stance to complete some overhead squats. Once I lowered my butt for the first time, it felt perfect! I was very startled how good it actually felt, how natural my hips were in that bottom position. I was able to sit down there in the bottom position, ass to the grass, so to say. I didn't have to slow the movement as I lowered myself but I hit the bottom and stayed there for a few seconds just to find natural position.

After some overhead sets I was confident in trying directly squat snatch. A movement I believe I have never done in one smooth continuation. I tried it and it went perfectly to the bottom! No hip pain whatsoever. Had to redo them several times to proof myself it wasn't by accident. I did quite a lot of squat snatches today because it felt awesome! Hopefully I can activate my hips and upper back as well as today in the future because that squat snatch is a sick movement which I'd like to learn properly.

For cooling down, 6 min cycling with decreasing tempo.

Handstand training. As I got home that back yard of mine looked so tempting that I had to chill out for a sec and then put on some training shorts and walk outdoors. I managed well today. I want to believe I'm taking those important steps to master this skill at the end of the summer. Mastering means handstand walking about 10 meters in a row. Take a look at some clips from this afternoon.

Handstand training

Handstand walking

Headstand training

Toni's workout. Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 1min, thrusters 50kg
• 1min, double unders
• 1min, walking lunges
• 1min, V-ups
• 1min rest

The only thing Pony counted, was the number of thrusters. They were 8, 8, 6, 6 reps in those 4 rounds. The picture is from his back yard. Perfect training spot I would say. If I had that, I'd probably be handstand walking and carrying that tractor tire every day. I'm happy for him to have those bumper plates now worth 60kg, that allows him to do incomprehensible amount of workouts.