Monday 28.4: Lynne

Monday. Benchmark workout Lynne, 5 rds of: ME Bench (bodyweight), ME Pull-ups. Result, 36 bench, 105 pull-ups.

I figured it might be time to do some bench. Definitely not my favorite thing but it's not one of my strengths so which means it should be practiced. I got a good upper body workout with benchmark workout Lynne, bench and pull-ups. Some mobility at the end of the session.

Lynne. 36 bench, 105 pull-ups. Compare to 13.4.2013

• 5 rounds of:
• Max effort bench press, bodyweight (80kg)
• Max effort pull-ups

Results.

• 1st round, 11 + 30
• 2nd round, 8 + 20
• 3rd round, 6 + 20
• 4th round, 6 + 20
• 5th round, 5 + 15

Lynne is not a timed workout, rest as needed between sets. I've done her once, about a year ago. My bodyweight hasn't changed much, I weigh around 80, 82 at max, depending on the day. Last time I got 25 bench and exactly the same amount of pull-ups.

I gave my everything on the bench every round. On pull-ups I gave myself a little slack on the first 2 rounds and didn't complete as many reps as I could have. On the last 3 rounds I definitely put lots of effort on getting as many reps done as possible.

The workout is demanding on upper body, no doubt. It was a little difficult to put shampoo on my hair in the shower afterwards as my hands, lats and forearms were on fire. It was difficult to squeeze my hand to a fist as forearms were so tense.

This one is challenging from second round on. There's a lot of tension in forearms, lats and upper body in general which makes it nasty to grab the bars. Good workout, no wonder it's a benchmark workout!

We went for a couple's walk yesterday evening with Pauliina =) She took some photos at the end of our trip in the neighborhoods.

Need to work on this one, couldn't find a hollow position yesterday

Hey, if you speak finnish I suggest you go and take a look at Toni's blog. He had his first competition last weekend and was excited on the atmosphere they had at the Box. He wrote a recap of the throw down today from his perspective.

Saturday 13.4: Lynne

Saturday. Lynne. 25 bench press, 105 pull-ups.

Time for a benchmark workout, Lynne. Consisting of bench press and pull-ups. We drove to the home Box with Pauliina and had the possibility to workout just the two of us, nobody else at the spot. Toni is on a cruise currently in Tallinn, Estonia, so he's not going to train during the weekend.

Lynne. 25 bench press, 105 pull-ups.

• 5 rounds of
• ME bench press, bodyweight, 80kg
• ME pull-ups

Results. Total of 25 bench press and 105 pull-ups

• 1st round, 8+33 (PR)
• 2nd round, 5+20
• 3rd round, 5+17
• 4th round, 4+17
• 5th round, 3+18

This workout is not for time. You may rest between movements and rounds. The kilos for the bench press are determined by the athlete's bodyweight. I weigh 80kg at the moment so I equaled that with the barbell (176lbs). The idea is to do max effort each round, starting from bench and continuing to pull-ups. That is max set of repetitions unbroken. Once you have to put the barbell away or you drop from the pull-up bar, you may not continue anymore.

1st round of Lynne, bench press

Yesterday's thrusters made my triceps hurt and they were sore already in the morning. Bench felt heavy from early on and I didn't manage to push that many reps this time. Well, I have never lifted 80kg more than 5 times so I guess this was still ok. On the first round I got 8 reps, then 5, 5, 4 and 3 reps. I might have tried for 1-2 additional reps at least in the beginning if there was a spotter behind me.

The combination of bench and pull-ups was tougher than I thought. After two rounds my upper body was in flames. It is a difficult set-up to continue for another 3 rounds in that condition but I managed it pretty well in my opinion =) Set a PR on the first pull-up round. The last 4 rounds were pretty stable and consistent, only varying with 3 reps (17-20 reps each round).

1st round of Lynne, pull-ups

It felt difficult to grab the pull-up rack but once I got the first pull-up, I tried to ignore the pain and simply keep the rhythm stable and keep on moving. There were a number of pull-ups today, probably going to feel this training session tomorrow in my upper body!