Saturday 23.8: Squats, Thrusters, T2B's + Running endurance

Saturday. AM: Strength, back squat singles (max 135kg). Workout, thruster ladder emom style (40-60kg). Gymnastics, 4x15 unbroken t2b's. PM: Running endurance workout, total of 6.000m running.

Pauliina left to host a bridal shower for her close friend who's getting married in October. I drove them to couple of places but other than that the day was dedicated to training on my behalf. I dropped the girls downtown in the morning and headed to the gym afterwards. My goal was to do squats and thrusters, lots of weight on the bar in total. I spent the rest of the day in Klaukkala and after eating for couple of times I headed to the track and field.

Strength.

• Back squat singles 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (105, 120, 122.5, 125, 127.5, 130, 132.5, 135kg)
• Half squat 5-5-5 (140, 150, 160kg)
• 5 x 100kg regular back squat

My intention was to hit it heavy and maybe get somewhere over 140kg. Every time I intend to do singles, I end up lower compared to hitting for example triples and then couple of singles at the end of those triples. Somehow my legs probably aren't as fresh and warmed up as they are after sets of heavy squats. These singles felt heavy from the very beginning and it was a battle to stand up with the load.

I'd still like to see my legs have become stronger. In front squats I just got a PR and my clean has come up steadily on which I partly give credit to my legs. Same with the deadlift. Just need to get used to heavier loads on my back. That's the reason why after singles I overloaded the barbell and took these squats that look stupid and kind of feel too, but the point is to get used to having this much load on back rack position. Half squatting those give hope of getting them one day up atg-style.

Thrusters.

• With a running clock, in every 2 minutes complete the following:
• 8 thrusters, 60kg
• 8 thrusters, 60kg
• 8 thrusters, 60kg
• 10 thrusters, 50kg
• 10 thrusters, 50kg
• 10 thrusters, 50kg
• 12 thrusters, 40kg
• 12 thrusters, 40kg
• 12 thrusters, 40kg

This was great! It was kind of every minute on the minute style workout, with 1 min rest between. So more like "1min on, 1min off". I decided the reps scheme before starting the workout. On the first minute I id 8 thrusters with 60kg, second minute was recovery, third minute same 8x60kg, fourth minute rest, and one more set with 60kg on the fifth min. During the 6th minute I took 10kg off the bar and continued with 10x50kg sets. It took a total of 18 minutes.

Those sets felt tough, as they were ought to be! It was the point =) It would have sucked if it was a walk in the park. 60kg thrusters are always a pleasure. Hero workout Seven includes 49 reps of those, done it couple of times. Eight reps were okay, the third one was bad.

After I dropped to 50kg I added the reps to 10 at the same time. It was clearly lighter but those 2 extra reps were noticed by my shoulders. They burned about the same as with the first weight class. The last load - 40kg - is something you sometimes see in a workout and was obviously a good thing to be part of this workout, and not only heavy thrusters.

Gymnastics.

• 4 x 15 reps, toes-to-bar

Some core work in the end. This is a good movement and teaches body control as well. If you don't manage your body well, you end up swinging back and forth without a destination. I took 4 sets of 15 t2b's. Easy work, nothing too taxing. The thruster session was already a real pain cave.

Running.

• 1.200m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
• 1.000m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
• 800m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
• 600m moderate, 200m slow, 400m hard, rest 3min
• Total of 6.000m run. Plus 1-2km jog before and after workout

The weather was disastrous at one point, it was raining like it hadn't rained ever before. It lasted for couple of hours and then all of a sudden, the sky was clear at points and it was brisk air, easy to breathe. Perfect for outdoor training! I headed to the local track and field place.

I saw the workout at NC Endurance IG-page. Those are mostly created by the man I've talked before. Man behind NorCal Crossit's endurance programming, Chris Hinshaw. Every workout I've done written by him have been awesome. This was great too. Purely running. Definitely not a strength of mine. I used to he an okay runner back when I played floorball. That's because we used to run before every training session, about. Since starting crossfit, I've neglected this element way more.

The pacing of this workout was more like a subject of conscious. It's difficult to determine for example "moderate" pace. Slow was like recovery jog, moderate was probably like a good metcon pace. And then hard was something close to a final sprint in a long running metcon. In the beginning running felt more sticky but I got loose after the first round. Had a huge cramp in my left thigh after first round but I was able to manage it away.