This was the weekly gymnastics quota. I really like these days now as my muscle-ups are about to jump to the next level. Gymnastics days equals no-barbell / no-metcon programming. Simultaneously these days are my active recovery days as I don't like pure rest days that much. Not that I needed one today. Okay, my back muscles are sore in a good way.
Gymnastics.
15 muscle-ups
Handstand
L-sit to tuck hold
Elbow levers
Those muscle-ups are really coming together finally. At least there's some progression in my technique as they are somewhat lighter and I can do them with shorter recoveries. I didn't time those repetitions but it was somewhere around 10 minutes to get those reps. I took singles in the beginning, then one friend told me to take a double as singles looked too easy. That was a big motivation for me :)
After muscle-ups I took couple of sets freestanding handstand, that was okay. Then something new cool stuff on putting couple of bumper plates on top of each other, and performing L-sit on them, and from there transferring it to a tuck hold. That was a great core movement, definitely not an easy one. Finally some elbow levers and different kinds of body control movements. Great training day!
Monday. Strength, push press 5-5-5-5-5 (max 80kg). Gymnastics for 30min.
Different kind of day. I liked it a lot! Some strength for starters and that gymnastics part was extremely cool. I felt like a power monkey indeed. Tried some new cool stuff, implemented purely on bodyweight. I got the inspiration from a guy called Joel who's been working on some bodyweight movements lately. We talked about these last week and today was a great chance to work with him. I felt like a little kiddo =)
Strength.
Push press 5-5-5-5-5 (70, 80, 80, 75, 75kg)
I've been thinking about would it be beneficial to throw some weight in the air in the near future a bit more than I've lately done. Push presses, push jerks and split jerks. To build up stronger upper body in order to ease pretty much all movements. There was a time when I used to do a lot of presses, that was in my early cf career when I didn't practically have any shoulder strength at all. It helped a lot and strength was gained.
Today I did push press 5's for a total of 5 sets. Started at 70kg, built up to 80kg for 2 sets and then finished it off with 2 sets @ 75kg. This 75-80kg was a good weight for me on push press 5's. I was able to do 2-3 reps in one continuous movement before I had to rest on the front rack, reload myself again and finish the set.
The weight was quite heavy even though I had no doubt in my mind about nailing those sets. I took it safe anyway with the last 2 sets dropping 5kg off the max weight today. After this strength portion I'm sure we're gonna see more of this stuff in the future.
Gymnastics.
Handstand push-ups
Planche progressions / holds
Handstand
L-sit to handstand press
It was like 20 years was curt off my age as we played around different types of bodyweight stuff! It was great! Various holds, plank holds, planche progressions and the last movement was pretty sick: from L-sit to handstand press. Or something like that. I'm not sure about the terms on these gymnastics moves =) I piled 3-4 plates under both arms, then did L-sit. From there I brought my legs back and did some sort of plank hold and focused on keeping a straight torso. Not all the way to handstand but kind of a plank hold.
Difficult to explain all the stuff we did but the main thing was it was so much fun and I enjoyed it every minute. I'm glad Joel was instantly ready to go when I suggested he'd tag along. It's cool to have a training buddy, no matter if it's crossfit stuff, pure strength or gymnastics like this. He also suggested we did handstand there. I've always thought handstand is impossible at this gym because there's not enough space. Now I understand that's just an excuse, there was plenty of space to practice this skill. Definitely going to work on this at home gym too!
Thanks Juha for this video tip, I've seen this once before, it's pretty awesome. Sick moves by Dave Durante and Dan Bailey.
Saturday. AM: Back squats, work towards a heavy triple (max 135kg). Pistols and L-sit hold. PM: Skills, muscle-ups and C2B's. Strength, bench press 6x5 (max 85kg).
Two-a-day! Back squats in the morning with Pauliina and Hannu, I'm so glad I'm able to do them again. My left hip is still a bit sore but good warm-ups ease the mobility and I can do those squats normally. Huge thing for me. Morning session was short on time so the playing after the strength was quick as well: some core work. Couple of hours later I returned to action as Pauliina headed to town to see some friends. First skill work in the woods, then back at the Box to do bench. Great training day!
Pistol squat
Strength. Back squats, work towards a heavy triple (100, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135kg). This result was a great success! I've never lifted a triple by having 135kg in my back, boom. The recent squat sessions at 100kg have probably done good things to my strength level. The first weight at 100kg was light. The first heavy set was at 120kg. The next one @ 125kg was very heavy. This was the point where I beforehand thought might be my stop for today.
Should never think about that kind of things. Once I loaded 130kg on the bar, took it up on my back, the barbell felt lighter than 125kg. Got a huge boost of confidence and I knew all 3 reps would be doable. Got them up, it was a good battle and they came up. Had no other possibilities but to put more plates n the bar. Next stop, 135kg.
Hannu doing his metcon of 10-8-6-4-2, deads and bench!
Each rep was a mental game. Caught a breath and completed another rep. The third one was epic. It took an eternity to bring it up again from the hole. Felt like it was one minute of pure work =) Once you almost stop in the middle of the lift while coming up the line between going back down and give in or pressing your teeth together and forcing the bar up to where it belongs, is very thin. Pauliina and Hannu were both watching the last reps so that was a competition in itself to me. Had to use all strength that I had left in my tank. Super happy!!!
Recap of Saturday's training
Core work. Just a little fun in the end.
3 rounds of:
10 pistols, alternating
Accumulate 0:30 L-sit hold
Yep, pistols and L-sit. Sitting still in L-position for core work is sick, very tiring. Completing pistols with the oly shoes is way easier than with normal sneakers. Flat sole makes it more stable. I would have liked to continue this workout (to be honest, didn't want more L-sits) for longer but we had to run. Pistols are awesome, got to do more of them.
L-sit hold
Skills.
Muscle-ups, 20 reps
Chest-to-bar pull-ups, 6x5 reps
We went shopping, ate properly, took it easy and then couple of hours later I hopped in my car and drove to Pirkkola. Wanted to work on my bar muscle-ups. Far too rarely do I get the chance to practice them. Now I had no rush at all so 20 reps saw the daylight. Took them in singles all the way. Some of the reps were okay and I landed on the bar pretty neatly, considering my skill level. On some of them, I had to do a lot of work, the movement wasn't that explosive. More work ahead of me.
Also chest-to-bar pull-ups are something I need to keep on working constantly. Regular pull-ups are something I dare to call my strength. However, hitting chest on the bar is more challenging. I'm able to do them nowadays, that's a huge thing because there was a time when a single rep was too difficult. Took 6 sets of 5 highest pull-ups I'm capable of. Very satisfied to the hight of the reps. Take a look in the video.
Chalk it up and do some work!
Strength. Bench press 5-5-5-5-5 (80, 82.5, 85, 82.5, 80kg). Wanted to finish my upper body after muscle-ups and C2B's so my next target was at my home Box. Did 5 sets of bench with weights between 80 and 85kg. Last time I did bench 5's, it was almost the same, a little lighter. That 85kg was a great one. I'd like to have gone heavier but had no spotter. About a week ago I did triples, then the heaviest set was 92.5kg. These weights have increased, I'm able to do longer sets with bars that I was earlier doing 1-2 reps. Probably that one rep max has also increased.
Tuesday. Muscle-up training. Metcon, time 17.52. Headstand skills training.
Today's main concept was a metcon of bodyweight movements, got my breathing go heavy on this one. Prior to the metcon I tried to do ring muscle-ups. Afterwards did some headstand skills and abs copied from Crossfit Games athlete Talayna Fortunato's blog. For warm-up I rowed 500m and did 5x20 unbroken double unders.
Headstand
Muscle-up training. Tried a few sets but today was not the day for my first ring muscle-up. Couldn't keep the package tight and thus the rings fell too wide apart from each other. This was still way better than before. Those bar muscle-ups definitely have helped me in this area. I can perform several of them in singles and soon I'll master the ring version as well!
Muscle-up training
Metcon. Time 17.52
15 hspu
50 air squats
50 double unders
50 push-ups
50 box jumps, 61cm
2.000m row
The main objective of the workout was to move my body without weights. Handstand push-ups to begin with. Originally I had 10 reps but decided to upgrade it to 15 to get more practice there. Good call. Last week's run / squat metcon brought me back to reality on the air squats. Got to do them 'cause they felt hard a week ago. Today I completed 50 of them.
The double unders I broke in two sets not to burn my shoulders too much. Still, the push-ups were a joke! Don't even dare to unravel in what type of sets I was able to do… But to say something, it took waaaaay too much time! The box jumps at this stage of the game were leg-burners. Breathing was going heavier by the minute so I got that feeling with the box jumps that I usually am after. The hamstrings are on fire, heart is pumping and focus is purely on the next box jump.
To have the 2k row at the end of the workout while blood is pumping fiercely in my veins, I had to mentally uptalk myself to finish the workout. I started and finished easily on the row, it took 7.34min to finish that rowing. The last part of the workout was cruel, but intentionally created.
Headstand training. Took a few sets of headstand training to find balance being inverted. Hopefully this helps my handstand training as well. Getting more and more familiar being upside down.
Cashout. L-sit 0:30, 0:10.
2 x max time L-sit hold, immediately turned into 1min plank hold into 30 sit-ups.
I read Talayna Fortunato's blog on a regular basis and caught inspiration from her training. Some abs in the end.
Friday. EMOM for 12 minutes, 4 snatches, 50kg. Ring skills. Cashout. cycling and sit-ups.
Those Wednesday's hang squat cleans still hurt my upper back, it was a veery good workout! I did today's workout in a similar way. In addition there were ring skills included and some cycling to finish it. Toni is on a leave so he didn't wake up 7.00 in the morning to workout. Instead, he headed to a local gym in the afternoon.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute for 12 minutes
4 snatches, 50kg
I'm very pleased for being able to lift 4x50kg snatches every minute for 12 minutes. That totals for 48 snatches. The CF Open 13.1 was an eye-opener for me. I still remember the feeling of having 60kg on the barbell, 7.5kg over my max load. It was a huge mental barrier to overcome but I nailed it 6 times in the competition. After that single workout I've been able to do sets with the same weight that was my max load prior to the Games. That feeling is simply awesome!
Today's workout was a mixture of strength training and metcon, as are all EMOM-workouts. It takes about 20 seconds to finish those reps and you have 40sec to recover. That means you are able to recover but heart still beats clearly faster than normally.
I was able to do all sets unbroken without losing grip of the barbell. Naturally towards the end it came heavier but still manageable.
Ring skills 2rnft.
2 rounds not for time
30sec invert hold
10 ice cream makers
30sec L-sit hold
10 toes-to-rings
After the snatch workout I played with the rings to get more natural with them and to improve skill level and ring grip strength. It didn't take long before forearms started to fire up. This was not a timed workout. I took my time while transfering between movements. Was able to do those hold movements unbroken as well. There were not many reps in this one but still I felt the burden in my forearms. Maybe those snatches had something to do with it.
Cashout.
5min cycling
100 sit-ups
5min cycling
To finish the training day I stepped up to the stationary bike and started moving. 5 min on, then 100 sit-ups in a row and another set of cycling.
Toni's new crossfit shoes
Toni's workouts. Strength elements, not looking for maxes.
I've done some benchmark workouts the previous days so it was time to skip metcons for today and concentrate in strength training. Toni is having a metcon-full week and it was time to go for another long workout.
Strength. 5-5-5-3-2 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg). My goal was to do sets of 5 reps and hopefully push it through 130kg. Well, that was not even close! I made it with 120kg, then at 125 I took 3 reps and a double at 130kg. I got the third one as well but that was assisted by Toni. My warm-up was good and legs felt good but I suppose all those tough workouts had their share in my strength training. Last time I squatted it was after a rest day and I hit a bit heavier weights that time.
Cashout. Tried for how long it's possible to L-sit. 2 attempts, 36 seconds at first try.
2 x ME L-sit hold. 36sec, 22sec
Back extensions
Toni's workout. Ring hold for starters, 3-round metcon and 3x15 (50kg) bench press for cashout.
Sunday. Three workouts. 10-8-6-4-2 of back squats and bench press, for quality. 10-8-6-4-2 of pull-ups and ring dips, for quality. Handstand holds and L-sit holds. Start with 1k row, time 3.30.
L-sit hold
I just love it that in the weekends there's no rush at all compared to weekdays. Work sets its own barriers for crossfit as well as my floorball season, which lasts until March. They are not hindering it but certainly I have to plan my schedule better. Pauliina has been in Sweden as exchange student for couple of months which has allowed me to fully concentrate in enhancing my overall conditioning through hard training. Let's see what happens when she comes back =) No, really, she enjoys sports and encourages me a lot to do crossfit and gives all the space I've needed for crossfit this far. She often joins me at the gym, she is just perfect to me. I love her, couldn't imagine being happier!
Today I did three workouts, the first one is inspired by Rob Orlando who often combines two or three strength movements and does them with significant loads. I combined back squat and bench press this time with heavy kilos. Second workout was similar but performed totally with own bodyweight, pull-ups and ring dips. At the end my third workout was pretty much copied by gymnasticswod's workout of the day, holds of handstand and L-sit. Naturally I started the whole day by rowing. Time 3.30. Then some pvc pipe dribbling, stretching, opening up my joints throughout the body and going after bear complex.
First workout. For quality. Total of 30 reps each. 85% of max.
10-8-6-4-2
Back squat, 100kg
Bench press, 65kg
These weights are heavy for me. About 85% of my max reps. Back squat max is 117.5kg and 75kg is the heaviest I've tried by far for bench press. So going after 30 reps each movement was supposed to be tough. They weren't easy at least. All sets unbroken except for that round of sixes where my last press didn't come up. I had to lower it to my chest and roll it away. I forgot to put the safety bars there... Must have looked simply stupid as I was getting away under the bar. Other than that rep, the workout was a good one. A lot of reps with heavy kilos is exactly what I was looking for. The sets were tough, no doubt about it. I liked the last reps in each set as they didn't come easy. Back squat actually was relatively light (?) but the bench press's last 1-2 reps each round were quite heavy, me likey. My chest felt the burden at the end.
Second workout. For quality. Total of 30 reps each. Own bodyweight.
10-8-6-4-2
Pull-ups
Ring dips
I had to take a 10min rest period before moving on to second workout because my chest had taken some pressure with bench press. All pull-ups went unbroken until the end, not bad, could've gone longer. I was also able to do some kipping movement there even though I've always thought that is not the ideal spot to have a pull-up bar, as you can see in the video. My ring dips were okay for 10 and 8 rep rounds. I had to split the 6 reps in 2x3. Fours went in 2-2 and the last two were 1-1. There were one rep in the both of the last two rounds which I didn't count as reps, otherwise the last set would've been unbroken. I like these both moves a lot. That can also be seen in my programming, there have been quite a number of both of them lately. There was quite a long period where pull-ups were non-existing. That was due to my shoulder problems. Those worries are gone and I've introduced pull-ups to program again.
Third workout. Three set of holds each. Own bodyweight.
60sec handstand hold
60sec L-sit hold
30 sec handstand hold
30 sec L-sit hold
20 sec handstand hold
20 sec L-sit hold
Pretty much directly taken from gymnasticwod's workout of the day from today, Sunday 28th. Only the length varied a bit and they added 100 reps of hollow rocks to the end. One minute of handstand hold felt long, that was pretty much the top length for me after all the training today. The second round was a bit short in my opinion, I could have taken 45 seconds. Last round of 20sec was easy. However, I wanted to do same length for both movements, that's the reason why I put only 30 and 20 seconds in rounds 2 and 3. Those L-sits were awful. The first round went surprisingly well. However, in the second round my legs were shaking so bad that I was sure I wouldn't last the whole time. Somehow I managed. Last round went nicely but probably couldn't have gone for half a minute.
The day was hard. Rowing fast for 1k. Back squatting and bench pressing with 85% of max weights for 30 reps each. Then pull-ups and ring dips, 30 each. In the end different holds. I believe my entire body felt it today. Legs were given the "easiest" role today, upper body definitely got the highest pressure moments.
