Wednesday. Metcon, 6rds of: 5 power clean @ 80kg, 10 hspu, 15 ball slam, 15 box, 500m row. Time, 34.39.
Huh, it was a busy day. Luckily I got a chance to let some steam off at the gym after work day. It was a long workout with easier pace. More like basic conditioning I would say. Still it burned my legs at times, and it can't be characterized as easy one for sure.
Metcon. Time, 34.39
6 rounds of:
5 power clean @ 80kg
10 handstand push-ups
15 ball slams, 9kg
15 box jumps
500m row
Plan from the beginning was to take this with slower pace. Not to gas out and look for the best possible time. More like keeping a steady rhythm in all of the movements. Took the cleans in singles, dropped between every rep but picking it up right away.
It's been some time since doing handstand push-ups so this felt awesome to get some completed under my belt! Ball slams were much more pain in the ass than I had anticipated / remembered. Even though the ball is only at 9 kilos, that movement still puts breathing heavy and legs feel the pressure nicely.
Box jumps are always a pleasure and I went after those with a smile on my face. Okay that's a bit of exaggeration but those are something I look forward to every time I see them in a workout. On the first round I had to jump on to a stationary bike because both Concept2's were taken. That wasn't too bad of a choice as it burned my legs more than the rower. Anyway this part of the metcon was a pure conditioning piece.
Nice session. Loved to pull heavier after a long time. Then longer metcon. Went to the countryside afterwards to spend the weekend.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x5 (140, 150, 160, 170, 180kg)
Felt like these went very well. It's been a long time since last time. Especially the heavier pulls. Last set at 180kg. That is the heaviest deadlift set for 5 reps but there's more in the tank for sure. I'll post videos tomorrow.
Metcon.
Emom x 20min
1st, 18 cal row
2nd, 12 pistol squats
3rd, 12 pull-ups
4th, 16 ball slams
This was surprisingly hard to finish with respect. There's been rather much pistols lately. Rowing also burned legs a lot. And those ball slams. It's all about squatting and towards the end my arms felt it too. I slam the ball to the ground with all I got every time to get the most out of this movement. Pull-ups were unbroken.
Thursday. Back squat triples / doubles / singles (up to 145kg). Metcon, long chipper. Time, 15.30.
Huh, today was as sentimental day as it could possible be. I'm about to change my employer after working for this current company for 10 years. I've grown up to a man within that building's walls around me. It has not been just a job, it's been something close to a second home. From the beginning of next year I'm about to build similar confidence and society with another company. Today was my farewell party and it was a really touching event to say the least. I appreciate those guys tremendously. They've affected me in more ways I could ever imagine.
Jasper after the chipper
Strength.
Back squat
Triples (60, 70, 80, 90, 100kg)
Doubles (110, 120, 130kg)
Singles (135, 140, 145kg, fail at 150kg)
After work I hooked up with Jasper and we agreed to get some strength in our lower bodies and then get a good sweat together. This session was supposed to be identical to the one I just did earlier this week with front squats. That was every 90 seconds for a set of front squats, with climbing weights and descending reps, up to a heavy single.
There were not more than one rack available so we shared it with Jazz. that's the reason why I didn't take a look at the clock at all. Point was to go for a set once the bar was available. This was a good workout and the tempo was good. We did the sets alternating. Triples were light, more like warm-up sets. Doubles were easy too. It was great to see that also 2x130kg was ways.
It was kind of funny to witness that singles were under very good control all the way up to 145kg. That last successful one was a bit tight in the end but there was no doubt in my mind it would come up. And I felt strong on that lift. Some doubt still crawled in my mind about hitting the 150kg lift, and that must have affected the last attempt. It went down smoothly, small bounce there and coming back up. Just didn't have enough to bring it all the way up so I had to let it go. Still happy on the 145kg. It's been a while since going this heavy on back squats.
Got this sandbag from Toni and couple of colleagues today =)
Chipper. Time, 15.30
15 pull-ups
20 kettlebell swings, 20kg
30 medball slams, 9kg
30 air squats
15 toes-to-bar's
600m row
30 push-ups
20 lunges
25 ghd sit-ups
15 dips
20 box jumps
10 handstand push-ups
20 overhead squats, 20kg
30 burpees
This is something Jasper had written down some months ago. He's had some issues with his hips so we haven't been able to go after this one. Today he was well rested and body felt fresh so it was time to see what this is all about.
The ideology behind this is a chipper. Every movement exists there only once so you just chip it away. All the movements and reps were designed so that you don't have to stop and lean your elbows on your knees but just keep moving.
I was able to obey that plan pretty well. Only two elements had to be broken down. Those were dips and push-ups, a.k.a the pressing movements. Push-ups were 20-5-5, and dips were 8-3-2-2. They got spicy. However, my breaks were not that long as I wanted to keep moving all the time. There was not a single movement that would have been too much to handle. It was more like the continuing agony of having heart rate up and muscles working.
Okay, the last element of 30 burpees was disgusting. At that point of the wod it was just awful. My strategy was just do them one by one, without thinking too much about it. I went up and down without stops. I'm proud of this one.
Wednesday. Emom x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg). Emom x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 35 du, 20 medball slam.
Morning workout, huh, those are tough. Physically and mentally. However, this session I was looking forward to. I have been able to build up some positive anxiety towards snatches. That is something I'm really looking forward to improving in the future. Especially as there has been some coaching lately so it's easier to fix issues.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg)
Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg)
Two things that I just wrote about considering the starting position. First, shins got to be better vertically aligned before the barbell moves from the ground. Secondly, my eyes were glued to the floor before, now they are looking straight ahead / slightly upwards. These two corrections that I'm now trying to make permanent changes made today's lifts much more solid.
The big thing was that the snatches were consistent, and the bar didn't go to different places in every lift. These fixes also made the bar path some good changes, and I didn't have to catch the bar in front. It was much easier to catch the barbell and ride it down compared to what this used to feel / look like. I'm very happy to this current state. Got to just get more reps and practice on the snatch to make it better.
Cleans were light weight. Just needed to get some work done. Haven't cleaned that much lately so this was more like the fun part of the training session. Two reps per minute. In the beginning those were touch'n'go. Then in the end I focused on completing two singles per minute.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
500m row
35 double under
20 medball slam, 9kg
Alright, there is another thing I need to fix in addition to snatches. It is double unders. There was a time I dominated the movement pretty well. Then, without any good reason I took a good break in them and since then it's been a bit of a challenge. I got too cocky toward du's. Got to be humble and keep practicing them and make them more effortless.
Today those were the toughest part of this workout for me. Sounds awkward to write it down because there were only 35 reps in each set. Last time I did these with Jasper in a partner workout and they went well so I entered this session with a thought of completing each set unbroken. Didn't do it in any of the rounds. That is not acceptable so it needs to be fixed. Got to find some room in she program for skills training.
Rowing was at 1.50 pace for the entire 2.000m total distance. My legs and butt are sore from yesterday's squats big time. Okay, that's no wonder, those 5x5 squats weighed a ton. Ball slams are actually a great movement. I'd like to see a 20kg ball at the gym but there isn't so I'm using what is available. Doing them unbroken keeps the heart rate high and burns legs. My legs in general were taking big hit in this workout.
Sleeping made a lot of good! Morning workout was already good, and my body felt even better after eating post workout and taking a nap. Felt a little jammed when going to bed but when I woke up a bit later, I felt super! Sleep definitely makes a big difference. Morning was about overhead strength and conditioning. Evening was a lighter session with muscle-ups and emom bodyweight work.
Overhead.
7 sets of the following complex of:
1 power clean
1 push press
1 push jerk
1 split jerk
Sets: 70, 75, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80kg
At first this was supposed to be from rack but then again I decided to take work on my power clean in the process. Because why not. Plus I would have the chance to drop the weights at the lifting platform. Win-win. This was a lot of fun in my opinion. I'm still getting used to barbell work and weights in general so I didn't go super heavy. Well, it got heavier towards the end but there was no doubt of hitting these weights.
I though push presses might be the toughest part of this, at 80 kilos I mean. But that went well, and it was more like the split jerk. Even though it was the easiest way to get the bar overhead but it was also the last rep so there was some more work to be done.
Recap
Metcon. Time, 15.50
6 rounds of:
5 push jerk, 60kg
15 box
300m row
I wrote this as a 15min amrap. At that point I had 55 meters rowed on the last set of 300 meters so I added up the antes and finished the 6th round at 15.50. Concept2 was a bit further down the gym so there was some walking back and forth between rower and jerk / box. This was obviously unbroken on the jerk and box jumps. I was on the verge of putting 70kg on the bar. That would have made a big difference on the jerks for sure. Now as I look at it afterwards, it would have been fun to see if it was unbroken with that weight too.
Box jumps kept the breathing high throughout the workout, and rowing is always nasty in metcons. Pace was somewhere sub 1.50. There was time to pull it madly back and forth. However, the gains were not that great because of the short distance, and I tried to save some of the energy to those two other elements.
The last set I went a lot faster than the first 5 rounds. It was sub 1.40 through those 300 meters. It was a nice finisher to fully gas myself.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups
I've been missing you guys. Ring muscle-ups. What a sick movement. I was a bit anxious about hitting these because it's such a technical movement. But luckily the level is okay nowadays, and I have certainty of hitting the reps when I attack them. They are not big sets but I'll get them. Today I did a total of about 20 reps in about one minute "intervals". So basically this was some art of emom work.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 10min:
Odd min, 10 ring dips
Even min, 15 ball slam
My plan was not to hit a metcon but I wanted to do something. Ring dips a weakness of mine so it's always beneficial to knock a couple of them. Ball slams got my heart rate up which felt good. This was mostly upper body work.
Can ou believe the Crossfit Games are here?!? This is an early Christmas to every crossfitter. Masters and Teens begin today, and individuals tomorrow on Wednesday. Here's a sneak peak to ya'll
My prediction of the winners are here:
Men:
1. Matt Fraser
2. Scott Panchik
3. Ben Smith
4. Dan Bailey
5. Noah Olsen
Women:
1. Kara Webb
2. Annie Thorisdottir
3. Emily Bridgers
4. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet
5. Sara Sigmundsdottir
Monday. Strength, power cleans (max 100kg). Emom x 10min, odd min: hang power clean + power clean, even min: hang squat clean + squat clean (max 80kg). Emom x 10min: hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg. Front squat 5x1 (max 125kg). Metcon, 6rds of: 250m row, 7 hspu, 14 medball slam. Time, 12.40.
When you have training partner like Jasper at the gym, the session is destined to be a good one. It took me a good 2 hours at the box as I was in no rush at all. It was a lot of cleans this time. First power cleans building up to a heavy single. Then complex work, and finally a metcon with Jasper. Good times!
Jasper dominating the bell
Strength.
Power clean (2x70, 2x80, 2x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x100kg, failed at 105kg)
My original plan was to hit the combination cleans that I did afterwards but this came out of blue. Just wanted to get couple of heavier power cleans under my belt before getting some sweat on. My max power clean is 103kg. It has improved about 10kg in the past months. It used to around 90-95kg for some time but then at this new training place I got a new record. Now I got greedy and wanted to break that by going after 105 kilos. That left a little too much in front and I wasn't able to front rack it properly. But 100kg lift was quite decent.
Power cleans
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10 min
Odd min, hang power clean + power clean
Even min, hang squat clean + squat clean
1-4min: 70kg
5-8min: 75kg
9-10min: 80kg
This was fun. There could have been more reps as I felt like the recovery time was a bit too long. Power versions were tougher obviously. Squat cleans were light weight but powers had me keep the loads moderate. Good time to focus on bar paths. Barbells were between 70-80kg. Okay I have done hang powers at 90kg so there was time to climb up. Actually, it came to my mind I should do hang power clean sets at heavier weights.
Complex recap
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
Hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg
The previous complex was a lot of fun so I decided to add some weight and skip the power part of it. Simply hang squat and full squat cleans. Took them by dropping the bar between reps. Tried to keep the bar close and drop down faster.
Very good complex. The weight was such that it made me sweat a lot but the bar came up and down smoothly. I felt only happiness when cleaning the barbell =) There was a lot of cleans taking place today. First power cleans for a heavy single, then 20 minutes of complex work. I hope I had the same skills for snatch as I have for cleans.
Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to say these are the most beautiful lifts in the world but I've been able to build them up so that they are consistent and I always know that lifts close to my 1RM are coming up any day. Situation is a whole lot different with snatches.
You never know how those look in my case =) It's a mystery, and the bar path tends to vary too much. Technique and mobility are much further away from being right on the spot. Of course that would improve just by concentrating more on those lifts.
Squat.
Front squat 5x1 (120, 122, 125, 125, 125kg)
Not planned, just wanted to hit couple of heavier singles. Took triples at 90, 100, 110kg before hitting these singles. They were okay, you'll see the last one on the video below. It was good to have heavier lifts in the books.
Front squat 125kg
Metcon. Time, 12.40
6 rounds of:
250m row
7 handstand push-up
14 medball slam
We did this together with Jazz. Good one. Lots of breathing. Both were very consistent, and had pretty much identical round times. This was supposed to be a 12min amrap, and it was but we decided to finish the last round, and the time stopped at 12.40.
We had two concept2's at the gym but my rower's monitor was black so I timed the first round from Jasper's monitor, and then decided to row for 50 seconds which was pretty close to 250m. Had the damper setting at 10, and gave it a good rage when pulling the strokes.
Hspu's were fine. I thought of having 10 reps per round, and that might have been a good idea. Went unbroken easily on these. On the other hand, would 10 reps have been too much in order to finish them ub each round. Don't know. These felt great anyway.
Medball slams are under appreciated. We've done them before with Jasper and they have proved out as a great element for heavy breathing. The balls are light (6/9kg) but they work well for their purpose. Total of 14 slams after hspu's were a good way to keep the heart rate up. All three elements were great for good intensity. No reason to slow down. Just keep moving. We recovered quickly after this one. Felt great!
Saturday. Macho Man, emom x 10min: 3 power clean, 3 front squat, 3 push jerk @
60kg. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 5 hang power clean (70kg), 10 t2b, 15 box, 20 medball slam. Result, 300 reps.
We went to workout with Jasper this Saturday. It was destined to be a great bro sesh for real. We both had our own barbell play in the beginning and then hit a hardcore metcon together. This took place early afternoon, maybe a little too early as I had to put the alarm clock wake me up :)
Macho Man.
Every minute on the minute x 10
3 power clean
3 front squat
3 push jerk
Barbell @ 60kg
This is a perfect workout. If you haven't done it, just do it. No need to think about it, just hit the wod and suck it up. This is a benchmark workout at competitorstraining.com. Rx'd version is 85kg :) Not gonna put the barbell at that loading. Jerks would bring a lot of problems. I take this as a good conditioning workout and a way to improve muscle endurance at semi heavy load.
It's 9 reps at 60 kilos and makes breathing go heavy. I got this unbroken every round / minute and it took me about 20 seconds. I tried to do it as fast as possible to give my body as much recovery as possible. Good strategy in my opinion. This gets mental at some point. It looked similar and took as much time in every minute but it gets heavier mentally. It definitely helped to have a great training partner to push me further.
Metcon. Result, 300 reps (6 rounds)
15min amrap of:
5 hang power clean, 70kg
10 toes-to-bar
15 box
20 medball slam, 6-9kg
I suggested immediately as we entered the Box that we'd throw down together for a metcon. Luckily Jazz was all in right away. We wrote this together on the spot. It was a freaking pain feast. Pure conditioning. Cleans got heavy because they were taken from hang position. At times it felt nasty to keep my grip on the barbell. All elements were unbroken and rather steady pace throughout the wod.
On t2b's I almost started doing them 6-4 just to release the tension in my forearms but then again I decided to just push through. I had one miss on the box jumps as I didn't stand up properly but other than that they were okay. Those ball slams are cruel in their own way. We almost left them out but luckily not! We had one ball at 9kg and one ball at 6kg. The weight on the ball didn't matter. It's more about the movement as you're going up and down all the time. We alternated the balls every other round. It sure eased to have a friend battle through this one side by side. It basically resulted in shorter transitions as I noticed Jasper fight through his reps on a steady basis. It's freaking awesome to have him train at this same place now!
I'll have videos of both the Macho Man and the metcon. I'll post them tomorrow because I don't have access to my computer today.
Monday. Warm-up, 10min emom. Odd min 15 kb swing (24kg), even min 4 TGU (10kg db). Back squat 5x7 (110-120kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 10 walking lunges (40kg), 15 ball slam, 20 box. Time, 9.35.
Evening was scheduled for work so it was morning training or no training. It was a mental battle. Early morning workouts are not my thing. I'd rather go do my thing at noon and/or after work. It wasn't far from being just a light workout outdoors but man am I glad I got my shit together and drove to OPCenter for a good session!
Warm-up.
Every minute on the minute x 10
Odd minutes, 15 kettlebell swing, 24kg
Even minutes, 2/2 turkish get-ups, 10kg dumbbell
After basic warm-up, foam rolling, stretching and mobility I took a kettlebell and light dumbbell to get my heart rate up a bit and get joints loosened up. The tool for this was kettlebell swings and turkish get-ups. Kettlebell was light and so was the dumbbell for Tgu's. This was on purpose. No need to put a lot of effort on this one strength wise. The goal for this was to open up my shoulders, back and the entire posterior chain, and get a good sweat. Mission accomplished.
Turkish get-ups are something I do maybe once every 6 months =) There's no certain reason to this, it's just not part of the basic elements in my tool box. As I did it today I realized it's actually a pretty good movement. Especially to activate shoulders. Very good.
Strength.
Back squat 5x7 (110, 115, 120, 120, 120kg)
Wasn't looking forward to this one. I knew it's gonna be rough. What's wrong with me. Last time it was 4x8, now 5x7. These long sets are brutal. These all were supposed to be at 115kg, kind of a progression is in my mind. Building up the sets. First set was anyway 110kg, then I added to 115kg. It came up okay so I decided to climb up a bit more. The last 3 sets were @ 120kg so actually this was heavier than it was supposed to be originally.
My goal was to do the sets as fast as possible. I really crawled in to that dark place in these sets. I have usually done heavier sets in singles. Then pause on the top, inhale and do another rep. This time I did couple of reps in a row touch'n'go (3-5 reps), then a pause before continuing. Doing them this style really put my legs numb for a while after each set. Felt horrible. But I'm proud of this session.
Back squats
Metcon. Time, 9.35
4 rounds of:
10 overhead walking lunges, 40kg barbell
15 ball slams, 9kg ball
20 box jump
Lunges are super! The gym was pretty much empty so I had plenty of space to do overhead walking lunges for 10 meters / 10 steps. After that it was supposed to be 15 pull-ups but my lats are sore from last couple of days pulling so I changed this on the fly to ball slams. Don't know where that idea came from! But it was awesome. The heaviest ball was 9kg so obviously not that heavy but it sure worked well! Box jumps are always great.
Round times remained solid for all 4 rounds (2.12, 2.32, 2.31, 2.18), good good. It could always be faster but at least it was not 100% in the beginning and 60% in the end. That's something I don't want to see in my workouts.
These were all unbroken sets no matter the movement. It would be awesome to get my hands on a really heavy medball. No idea how it would feel like but doing medball-to-shoulder's would be freaking sick! I'd do that kind of workout any day.
