Monday 8.6: Loredo

Monday. Benchmark workout Loredo. Time, 20.10 (PR)

My lower body felt stiff as f*ck entering this week. Well, maybe entire body was somehow in off-mode, and definitely not ready for a workout. I went outdoors with the twins, kicked some football with my wife at the same time, and started to get my joints feeling better and better. Still, first air squats felt like I had a weight vest on.

Loredo. Time, 20.10 (PR)

• 6 rounds of:
• 24 air squats
• 24 push-ups
• 24 lunges
• 400m run

I saw Toni post a teaser in Instagram that he's about to hit this one in the near future so maybe that had stayed ringing in my head and this morning it felt like an okay idea. I just started moving and decided to see what happens. First round of bodyweight movements felt a bit stiff but after coming from the first run and entering second round od bodyweight stuff the feeling was much different.

I went unbroken on squats, push-ups and lunges without having to slow down at any point. Same with running. This workout felt like I was the captain all along. I remember having to pause those bw elements occasionally before but this time those were not an issue. Felt great about it. That run is quite precisely 400 meters but there's some incline on the road so that makes the return part of the run feel like I'm running uphill. Even though it's not that radical elevation for sure.

Wednesday 20.7: Double Grace, Pair wod

Wednesday. Double Grace with Toni @ 80kg. Time, 8.30. Pair wod, 300m run, 30 power snatch @ 60kg, 300m run, 30 c&j @ 60kg, 300m run, 30 deads @ 60kg, 300m run, 40m front rack lunges. Time, 16.20.

What a day! We moved some barbell around with a purpose in the morning with Toni. Double Heavy Grace was in the program to start the day, and then another metcon with quite a bunch of barbell action, with running between movements. Then we spent the day with Pauliina and our little girl in the city of Helsinki.

Double Heavy Grace. Time, 8.30

• 60 clean and jerk @ 80kg
• You go, I go, with Toni

This sounded like a good idea yesterday evening. Today as I woke up it sounded monstrous. And it kind of was to be honest. As we built up to this weight it started to feel like it's doable. The first lifts felt heavy as shit but time corrected this and it started to feel more comfortable. Or at least manageable.

It's pretty mind blowing that we were actually able to smash 80kg barbell like this for so many reps. And without having to slow down tremendously. We are freaking pumped to hit double Grace at 80kg. Great job Toni! This weight seemed to be perfect for a pair work.

Doubel Grace

Wod. Time, 16.20

• 300m run
• 30 power snatch @ 60kg
• 300m run
• 30 clean and jerk @ 60kg
• 300m run
• 30 deadlift @ 60kg
• 300m run
• 40 front rack lunges @ 60kg
• Divide the barbell movements as you wish, run together as a team

After the first piece shoulders were shot but after warming up a little bit for this one they were in full action again. It was an awkward feeling that the barbell felt light'ish on the first snatches (as it was 20kg less than just before) but the movement was different so it needed some work to get used to it.

Metcon's parts

Great workout to say the least. Only thing I would have changed was the deadlifts. They were too easy and light so the breathing that was through the roof came down a notch. Had there been front squats it would have been a different ball game. Let's make the order like this: snatch --> front squat --> c&j --> lunges = horrible.

Wednesday 8.6: Barbara

Wednesday. Benchmark workout Barbara. Time, 34.36.

This has been in my plans for some time and was thinking about doing it earlier this week too. Got to say the day wasn't ideal as my core was smashed from Monday's ghd's and hip flexors were aching too. However, that's life and you just have to deal with it. Don't bitch about it, just do it.

Barbara. Compare to 19.3.2014

• 5 rounds of:
• 20 pull-ups
• 30 push-ups
• 40 sit-ups
• 50 air squats
• 3min rest between rounds

At first I thought pull-ups and push-ups would be the deal breaker here, and sit-ups and squats would be the easier part. It turned out to be quite the opposite. Those were the easier parts of these 4 elements. First two rounds were unbroken on the pull-ups, then 15-5, fourth round started with 13-4-3 pull-ups and the last one was 10-4-3-3 reps.

On the push-ups I got through mostly something like 10-15 reps on the first try, then 5's before relaxing the tension, until I reached 30 reps. This was the plan which I was able to carry through alright.

Rounds 1-3

But the sit-ups and squats. Damned they got me. And usually any kind of sit-ups are my strong part so this was not cool to witness. My core was still sore from Monday's ghd's so that definitely had an effect. The first round went okay but already on the second one I had to start breaking them up. And lost a ton of seconds / minutes in the long run because of that.

Rounds 4-5

Sit-ups also made my hip flexors tight. It was awkward trying to get up from the floor right after sit-ups =) Squats got tough too. Legs were burning for sure but those hip flexors were the issue. Wasn't able to keep going, felt so nasty in there. This is a good benchmark workout, as they all tend to be. Haven't found a benchmark wod that would be a waste of time. Bad ass workouts all around.

Sunday 5.6: Linda

Sunday. Benchmark workout Linda. Time, 22.07

Another benchmark workout in the books for this weekend. Yesterday I met with Amanda for the first time and today another lady came to see me at the gym. Linda is a workout I've done once before. That time it was a fair match as the weights were too heavy for me. Today I got a clear personal record on this one.

Linda. Time, 22.07 (PR). Compare to 8.12.2012

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:
• Deadlift @ 120kg
• Bench press @ 80kg
• Clean @ 60kg

It's 3.5 years since meeting with Linda last time. I have gained quite a lot of muscle and strength since then. Back then my maxes were 165kg / 87.5kg / 75kg. Now they are 210kg / 108kg / 117kg so obviously the "three bars of death" were lighter as well. I also weigh a bit more (maybe 84kg compared to 79kg back in 2012) so the weights ought to be a little heavier.

However, I wanted to compare the work to the first time I hit this one so I kept them at 80kg. Bench at 84-85kg would have also brought lots of issues in this type of workout for me. Out of these three movements bench is definitely the weakest of them. I have never been a "bencher" by any means. Took my first bench presses after I started crossfitting, and only take them occasionally.

Deadlifts were unbroken each round. Felt rather smooth on them. My left hand was a bit sore on the palm so I had some doubts about how it would feel like during the wod but it was just fine. Cleans were singles all the way. Reckoned I would be able to keep pace better on them. Bar was light anyway so just drop and pick it up again. Worked well. Another focus area was to start cleaning right after bench.

The thing in this workout was definitely the bench, again =) Bench is my goat for sure. Doing moderate load sets with bigger volume screams for trouble. I'm still happy on how well they went. It's just that comparing them to deads and cleans they were the toughest without a doubt. Went 5-3-2 in the first round, then 3-3-3 on the second. On the round of 8's had to break it more. Plan was to do a triple to start with in every set, and succeeded in it as well. All the way up to the round of 5's (3-2).

Let's see how my body feels after this. Last time it took me almost a week to recover =) I have strong confidence that it was due to the heavy volume considering I had just started crossfit about half a year ago. Now my body feels just fine, hopefully tomorrow as well. Couple of years crossfitting in between must have made miracles to body adaptation and recovery.

Recap

Saturday 4.6: Amanda, Clean triples

Saturday. Benchmark workout Amanda. Time, 15.20. Squat clean triples, build up to a heavy set (100kg).

This day was remarkable in my crossfit career. First time being able to do benchmark workout Amanda rx'd. Wasn't pretty to be honest but was able to do it anyway with real weights. Afterwards I went to build to to a heavy set of squat clean triple.

Amanda. Time, 15.20. Compare to 1.5.2015

• 9-7-5 of:
• Ring muscle-ups
• Snatch @ 60kg

I've done this once before with 40kg barbell. It's a totally different game to add 20 kilos on the barbell. Ring muscle-ups went pretty nicely today. For no reason it's been some time since hopping on the rings. It was cool to see I still got it. Had to break them obviously in several sets during the workout.

In the warm-up I took one rep at 60kg snatch, then started the clock on Amanda. The feeling after having 9 muscle-ups fatigue shoulders a bit and then trying to stabilize the barbell overhead in the bottom position was unreal. Hard to even describe how it felt but it simply felt unnatural. I lost the first one in front, and the second attempt went too far back. By the way, that was the first snatch that went through in my life. They always stay in front if I miss them.

Third attempt was caught but it looked ugly as hell. Same with the fourth. Then little by little I started to get it under control. Last reps on the round of 9's were decent. Rounds of 7's and 5's were already smoother. It felt better and better in the course of the workout. It was almost a pity the workout ended. I liked the snatch part towards the end.

I'm very happy I was able to complete this workout. It's been in the back of my head that some day I want to complete it rx'd. These are written to be squat snatches and some of them definitely were not but I'll take it anyway. 60kg snatch is not self-evident for me, especially in a metcon. Sometimes in a snatch session it feels heavy so doing 21 reps of those in metcon is great.

Oly.

• Build up to a heavy set of squat clean triple
• Sets at 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg

It was different to do these sets after metcon. Usually I do strength and barbell cycling before and then hit a workout afterwards. It was a good change in methodology. These weren't the lightest of cleans I've done but still they rolled quite okay.

Doing them touch'n'go style is more taxing than 3 x quick singles so I'm happy with this. On the last rep of the 100kg set I lost the tightness in my body so had to reset the bar and take the last rep as a single.

Monday 4.4: Clean and jerks, Air Force

Monday. Emom x 10min: 3 c&j @ 70kg. Benchmark wod Air Force. Time, 7.51 (PR)

Rough day huh. That Air Force is one nasty maddafakka. I took clean and jerks in emom style with a little heavier weight than normally in barbell conditioning workouts. Then a blast from the past in the form of that benchmark workout. That sealed the day perfectly.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• 3 clean and jerks @ 70kg

It was great to smash that barbell up and down. Focus was to keep the barbell moving touch'n'go on the ground and on the front rack. No pausing at any stage. Went for triples at 70kg which is basically 10kg more than normally when keeping a bar moving constantly. These felt pretty good even though I haven't done c&j's in a while.

Air Force. Time, 7.51 (PR). Compare to 25.11.2014

• 20 thrusters, 42.kg
• 20 sumo deadlift high-pulls, 42.5kg
• 20 push jerks, 42.5kg
• 20 overhead squats, 42.5kg
• 20 front squats, 42.5kg
• Every minute on the minute, complete 4 burpees

It's been about 1.5 years since I've done this benchmark workout. It's been in my mind in the past weeks and months but it's a nasty one so maybe that's the reason I've been putting it in the background. Those punishment burpees are cruel.

My mental game was clearly better than before and I'm extremely happy on this matter. Especially on thrusters and sdhp's. Jerks were okay but it would have been cool to smash then faster. Overhead squats looked ugly and felt miserable. That was not a surprise though.

What I'm super happy about is the way I finished the workout. Grabbed the bar after ohs's to get couple of reps done before the hopefully last burpees. I was definitely not going to complete a single burpee anymore so I fought through the 15 front squats even though my legs were very weak at that point and my mind wanted to put the bar down and go to bed.

It took me a good time to recover from this but I'm super happy for completing this! This was a 2min personal record on this benchmark wod.

Saturday 20.2: Nasty Girls + Db's

Saturday. AM. Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR). Cashout, 3rds of: 1min row, 1min bike. PM. 5rds of: 12 lunges (2x25kg db's), 10 front squat (2x25kg db's). Accessory, 4x15 bent over row (2x25kg db's).

We spent the weekend in the countryside so I didn't have possibility to write about Saturday's training sessions. It was a two-a-day. In the morning we hit it with Pauliina. There was a benchmark workout called Nasty Girls. In the evening we went outside with Kari for another session. Awesome Saturday!

Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR)

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 air squats
• 7 ring muscle-ups
• 10 hang power cleans @ 60kg

This was the second time I've done this benchmark workout. These muscle-up wods are always a bit horrifying in advance. Those are not my strength and they tore my palms big time each and every time. There probably hasn't been even one session without rips. Okay that may be exaggeration but it's close anyway.

But the fact is that today's muscle-ups rocked my world. I was proud of myself in the middle of the workout. On the first round my plan was to go 4-3 reps which was a bit optimistic. However, as I started to do them my focus was on keeping a hollow body, tightly together, with a good back swing and lots of patience on the front swing before pulling myself up and over the rings. These must have been one of the best (if not even the best) muscle-ups I have performed. It's a pity I don't have video material as I'd really like to analyze that.

So first round was 4-3 even though it felt like I had something in me to go even unbroken. That would have been a pr so that would have probably been the most stupid thing to do in a workout like this =) Once mu's are gone, it's difficult to get them back. Second round was 3-2-2 and the last one maybe a double or two and then singles. Still the technique was good on these ones all the way.

Air squats were unbroken on the first round, and then I kept a short pause after 30 reps on latter rounds. Cleans were unbroken each round, those were the easiest part of this workout.

Cashout.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min row
• 1min bike

This might be quite an awesome workout to continue for 20-40 minutes. At least something similar. Don't have a SkiErg which would make it even better. This time there was no time to work more on this couplet.

Legs.

• 5 rounds of:
• 12 walking lunges @ 2x25 dumbbells
• 10 front squats @ 2x25kg dumbbells

I had bought 25kg dumbbells from Germany and this was the first time I got my hands on them. Those little babies were great! And the weather was perfect too so the combination was simply just too good not to hit another session. This focused purely on those db's.

My legs were on fire. Doing this on snow made it interesting as I slipped every now and then as the snow started to pack and turn firm. That made it slippery as ice. This was not a timed wod.

Accessory.

• 4 x 15 bent over row @ 2x25kg dumbbells

Just needed to get something else done with these guys. Bent over rows don't appear very often in my training but it's still a good movement. Today I decided to give it a shot as Pauliina suggested it =) Had to take them for 15 reps as the weight was not heavy for that purpose. I did these with two dumbbells at the same time

Sunday 22.11: Mu's, Jerk, Snatch, Fran

Sunday. Intervals, 3 rds of: muscle-ups and push jerks. Emom x 10min: 3 power snatch @ 50kg. Fran, 21-15-9 of: thruster (43kg), pull-ups. Not for time.

What a great session. Loved this work being put in today. Okay, I felt somewhat tired in the morning from upper body but it woke up finally. It was great to get some muscle-ups done after hands being ripped for a while. Today it didn't bother any more. Then snatches and Fran with easier pace.

Intervals.

• 3 rounds of muscle-ups and push jerks @ 60kg
• 1st round: 3 mu's + 6 jerks
• 2nd round: 2 mu's + 6 jerks
• 3rd round: 3 mu's + 10 jerks
• 2min rest between sets

Awesome to combine these two movements. I've been a bit hesitant to mix muscle-ups with other elements because those aren't too strong in my case. I once did mu's and rowing intervals as a couple and I remember being entirely worn out after couple of sets. Getting tired doesn't matter at all, that's the entire purpose. But the thing is I still don't know how my body reacts to this kind of intervals including muscle-ups, and once they are gone, they really are gone. I can't recover that fast from those. So it's always like I have to play it safe with ring mu's.

Today I thought about doing a triple on the rings, then hitting 6 jerks with a barbell. This was the case on the first set. On the second one I missed the third rep but decided it's more advantageous to move on rather than try for another single on the rings. On the jerks I got the same amount of reps completed.

On the last round I got that much needed triple done and it felt good. That left me with a good feeling, and I decided not to be grumpy about the missed muscle-up on the second set. Still, the bar was not that heavy after all so I did a total of 10 jerks on the last set. Didn't wanna get ripped hands again so this was enough for this portion of the workout.

Sunday recap

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• 3 power snatch @ 50kg

I've done more squat snatches, singles and doubles lately. I took couple of singles up to 60kg prior to this one to get used to heavier snatches. These triples felt heavy in the beginning. Probably because I haven't used to do power snatches. Those got better through every round. At some point I thought about adding weight on the bar. Then again, I stayed at 50kg and tried to focus on bringing the bar up as high as possible before the last pull. Working on positions.

This is world record lift, over 3 x bodyweight…

Fran. Not for time but "for quality". Compare to 22.11.2014

• 21-15-9 of:
• Thrusters, 43kg
• Pull-ups

For the third piece of conditioning I only had notes for thrusters and pull-ups. Got to say my shoulders were burned at this point. Never at any point was I shooting for a record breaking effort on this benchmark workout. Instead, I took my time with the transitions and the only goal was to go unbroken, and get a good heavy breathing going on. Goal achieved.

Shoulders were shot already after the first set of thrusters. That kind of set the tone of the workout. Usually the second round - round of 15's - is the nastiest, and takes the most out of a human being physically and mentally. This time I was saved of the long burn which is classic stuff after Fran. Those breaks between movements made the difference. But Fran is always Fran. Nasty lady to say the least. I just realized it's been exactly a year from doing Fran for the last time =)

Saturday 26.9: Mu's, Hspu, Kb, Du's

Saturday. Metcon, 10rds of: 2 mu, 4 hspu, 8 kb swing (28kg). Time, 14.14. Skills, du's.

Didn't have time to write this post yesterday as we went to celebrate birthdays to the town with family. What a night, good times! At Saturday noon we went to the gym with Pauliina and Jasper. We hadn't even matched our schedules with Jazz but he entered the space when we were going through our warm-ups. Muscle-ups were the name of the game.

1.000g ribs for evening snack

Metcon. Time 14.14. Compare to 12.4.2015

• 10 rounds of:
• 2 ring muscle-up
• 4 handstand push-up
• 8 kettlebell swing, 28kg

My back was sore as hell from the deadlifts on Thursday. That was the reason I thought about postponing this Nate-type workout to later days. I took couple of swing with the bell and it felt alright so I decided to take a shot at it.

This workout is definitely all about muscle-ups normally. Hspu's are at a certain level so completing 4 reps per round is not that bad. Those were the easiest part of the workout. It's always exciting to do muscle-ups, especially in a metcon. It's totally different to do mu's fresh compared to when you're tired from all the workload.

Today those muscle-ups went great. Had no issues with them in any of the rounds. Surely, they needed to be addressed with severity. I didn't just jump on the rings right away after swings and knocked them through. My plan was to do each round as fast as possible. 2 mu's, then straight at the wall for hspu's, and then couple of meters walk to the kettlebell, and started swinging right away. After kb's I took a break to release the tension in my shoulders because I was going to do all the mu's unbroken. No other option in this one.

I'm very happy on how the muscle-ups went. Solid reps. They got a lot tougher towards the end, no doubt. Hspu's were easy in the beginning, then the latter half got to breathing and kept the intensity high. Kettlebell swings were nightmarish. Normally I would consider them a lot lighter than they were this time.

The pain in my back was infernal. It was okay for couple of rounds but somewhere around 4th round it got bad. Round by round it was nastier, and I'm telling you I could not have continued for another round. Lower back was burning, and it took 10 minutes after workout to get rid of the pain. It didn't matter if I was walking or bending my back or anything else, it hurt. I'm very happy on how I performed on this workout. Plan was strict and I stuck to it. Getting through 10 rounds at 14 minutes creates faith to knock a PR on benchmark workout Nate when doing an amrap of 20 minutes of the same rep scheme!

Skills.

• Double unders

Got to practice this one. I'm not on the level of skills I used to be, so I'll make a comeback to dominating double unders. There was a time I went through 100 unbroken reps and then little by little cut off the training of du's so currently there are too much tripping over the jump rope. We went you go I go style with Pauliina who has created some sick skills on the jump rope! Very proud of my wife's ability to learn new skills just like that.

Saturday 29.8: Gymnastics wod, Partner wod

Saturday. 20 burpee mu's for time. Time, 9.27. Partner wod, 15min amrap of lunges, pull-ups and db thrusters (2x15kg). Result, 5 rds + 3 thruster.

We had a nice day with my wife in the city. Just walked around and enjoyed Helsinki. Weather was beautiful so we just hang around and spent some quality time. In the evening we went to the gym to take care of our fitness. It was one gymnastics metcon to kick off the session and then another one

Metcon. Time, 9.27. Compare to 22.4.2015

• 20 burpee muscle-ups for time

It's not many times that I've done muscle-ups in a workout so each and every one of these is a pleasure. I've done this once before couple of months ago. This was fun from the very beginning. Because I really haven't done that many muscle-up workouts it's always difficult to know how to pace myself.

Didn't have any idea how much it took me last time I did this one so there was nothing to compare the time to. I tapped the round times after every 5 reps. First reps took me 1:35, reps 6-10 were done in 3:09 so that was a lot slower one. Third portion was 2:31 and the last 5 reps were completed in 2:11.

To my eyes that means I gave too much slack in the process. Really difficult to know at this point how fast / slow one must go with this movement. I don't wanna burn myself on this because then it takes time to recover. The muscle-ups started to feel better towards the end because I really tried to keep good tension in the entire body on the swing.

Partner wod. Result, 5 rounds + 3 thruster

• 15min amrap
• One athlete must do 2x20m walking lunges, bodyweight, all the time
• Once the other one does lunges, the other does:
• 10 pull-ups and the rest of time dumbbell thrusters (2x15kg db's)

This was fun, to throw down with my baby. The point was that the other one was doing lunges all the time. Pauliina started the lunges so in the mean while I did 10 pull-ups and then dumbbell thrusters (2x15kg db's) as an amrap for the remaining time while she was lunging. When she finished those, we changed the lunge game, and it was her time to do the couplet.

Recap of partner wod

Pull-ups were the easiest part of this one, could have probably added a bit. But on the other hand, the purpose was to get dirty with the thrusters. And those got ugly towards the end of each set. The dumbbells were 15kg's each so it wasn't super heavy but the ultimate point was to do plenty of them during the time frame. Got to say this goal was reached pretty well.

Got 20 thrusters on the first round, 15 reps on the next 2 rounds. Fourth round was 12 and the last full round was 15 again. Only had time for 3 additional reps when the buzzer called it quits. This was quality time at its best doing partner wod with my wife.

Monday 4.5: Cleans, Half a Mary

Monday. Strength, every 45 seconds, 1-3 full cleans (up to 105kg), for 20 minutes. Metcon, 10 min amrap of: 5 hspu, 10 pistols, 15 pull-ups. Result, 173 reps.

Just perfect. I had forgotten what I was supposed to train today and it was a positive surprise as I looked at my notes. Lots of heavy cleans were waiting around the corner. There were also gonna be front squats and half a Mary, one tough benchmark workout. It got me sweating like a pig.

Strength.

• Every 45 seconds, perform squat cleans for 20 minutes
• 3 sets of 3x70kg tng's
• 1 set of 2x80kg
• 2 sets of 1x85kg
• 3 sets of 1x90kg
• 2 sets of 1x95kg
• Rest of the reps at 100-105kg

This was programmed to go on totally by feeling. What the weights were going to be would be a mystery. What was gonna be 100% sure was the time frame. Twenty minutes of emom like training is the longest I've ever done. At least for cleans. There might have been some sort of squat session where I have done reps every 90-120 seconds for about 20 minutes. This was the best emom wod for me. Got a chance to build up to heavy lifts, and there was a good volume of repetitions with heavier weights.

In the beginning I took couple of sets at 70-80 for triples and doubles. Then at 85kg it was all singles. Couple of sets with 85-95kg and then I got to real weights. Most of the reps were at 100-105kg, and most of these were at the highest weight. These felt great all the way from the first to last rep. It got tough towards the end but my mental game was strong today and I didn't let myself have any doubts.

Metcon. Result, 173 reps (7 pull-ups short of 6 rounds). Compare to 11.2.2014

• 10min amrap of:
• 5 handstand push-ups
• 10 pistol squats, alternating
• 15 pull-ups

There wasn't that much time reserved for this training session so I had to skip the front squat triples I had written down. Metcon was supposed to be just 10 minutes originally anyway, wasn't looking for that entire 20 minute amrap which Mary is in the rx'd version. That lady is tough. I've done it 2-3 times before, and last time hit exactly 10 rounds. That is a lot of volume on the pull-ups. 150 reps is not that easy for me.

Doing half of it was gonna suit great to be performed after today's heavy cleans. Hspu's were light, just 5 reps per round so those were easy and didn't put that much pressure on my shoulders. It was a totally different thing with the pistols and pull-ups. My legs were smashed due to cleans so it was a bit on the heavier side to do one-legged squats.

In my opinion this workout is all about controlling your breathing and of course about pull-ups. There's a lot of them so a game plan should exist. My plan today was to break them already in the first round. Don't remember anymore how they went exactly but it was most likely 2 or 3 first rounds were done in 2 sets. Then it was smaller sets. Definitely the toughest portion of this workout.

Friday 1.5: Deadlift, Amanda

Friday. Strength, deadlift 4x8 (max 160kg). Benchmark workout Amanda, 9-7-5 of: mu's and squat snatch (40kg). Time, 11.55.

Friday pulls were ahead of me. No matter that it is May Day, I'll hit the Box anyway. That's my thang =) We slept late, ate a humongous breakfast and headed to the gym. Classic deadlift session was ahead of me. Then a big time workout called Amanda. Once I get that in the books rx'd, I'll party.

Warm-up workout.

• Every minute on the minute x 10
• Odd min, 15 kettlebell swing, 24kg
• Even min, 10 overhead squat, 20kg

I find it a good way top get the entire body ready for what's up next by doing a little workout. Not every time do I have the time and chance to do it but when I have, it's gonna take place. The purpose is to get it light, just to prepare the entire body for the work ahead of me. Kettlebell swings are great

Warm-up

Friday pulls.

• Deadlift 4x8 (130, 140, 150, 160kg)

Classic stuff. Pulling iron from the floor is great. Brutal strength. I worked for bigger sets today, 8's for 4 sets. These felt good all the way. My hamstrings and back were strong all the way. Like I've told before, it feels like the most challenging thing is that my fingers hurt like hell when I have a heavy barbell hanging on my hands.

I built up in these sets so that the last set was at 160kg. Could have probably gone heavier but this was a good one definitely. I still remember the day when I took 160kg for one rep max effort at Haaga gym. I had a bunch of good buddies with me and the adrenaline was pumping. End result was this weight up on my waist and I was smiling like a little kid on Christmas Eve. Got to be happy on the journey and gains. Picking up the same load today for 8 reps was no biggie.

Deads

Amanda. Time, 11.55

• 9-7-5 of:
• Ring muscle-ups
• Squat snatch, 40kg

I have a dream, and that dream involves me doing Amanda rx'd some beautiful day in the future. Doing 60kg snatches is not a minor thing so combining them with muscle-ups is gonna be awesome. Today I did this one as a scaled version. And I got to admit after looking at my snatches afterwards on video that some of them were power snatches. Especially on the first set of 9 reps where probably all of them were. In the following sets they were better for sure.

Before putting the clock running I took couple of sets of snatches just to make sure how deep is deep enough. There is no mirror at this place and I'm used to secure the depth of my snatches with an eye. This time I tried to get the feel by doing a set and then checking it on video. It got better. Then on the first round of the workout it was way too shallow, no doubt. On the round of 7's and 5's I'm decently happy with them. Not perfect but I'll take it for now.

In general, doing this benchmark was a big milestone to me. No matter it was a light version of it. Combining ring muscle-ups with practically anything is tough for me at the moment so I', happy over any workout with mu's in it. I've done much more metcons with muscle-ups included lately and that is freaking huge thing to me. It proves I have worked on my weaknesses and have gotten better and more all around athlete. And that if something, has been my ultimate goal as a crossfitter.

Friday 24.4: Back squats, Grind

Friday. Back squat 7x5 across (125kg). Strongmanwod.com workout Grind, 20rds of: 20m farmer's walk, 5 burpees. Time, 15.52

Another morning training session. I've had these more lately. On my holiday they were mostly noon sessions which suit me best. Afternoon is second best option. Mornings are not in my wheelhouse but I'll take it if that's all there is available. No second thoughts over that. Today it was lots of squats. Friday pulls didn't happen because I had farmer's walk in my mind so this came instead of deadlifts.

Strength.

• Back squat 7x5 across (125kg)

Lot of volume. This constituted over 4k of back squats which is quite a lot to me. It's usually a bit over 3k when going heavier. And these sets weren't that easy I must say. I had lots of confidence which almost backfired on the very first set. My plan was to hit 3 reps touch'n'go but I almost stayed in the bottom on the second rep =)

That brought me pretty quickly down to earth. Especially as there were 6 more full sets awaiting after getting even that first one in the books. You can probably see from the videos these weren't the lightest ones. But this was a mental win for sure. Super happy for hitting all these sets without misses.

Squats 7x5

The Grind. Time, 15.52

• 20 rounds of:
• 20m farmer's walk (40-50kg per hand)
• 5 burpee

Got to play with a new tool. I had squats and deads scheduled down for today and I had waited these for the entire week. Then yesterday I just realized they have these farmer's walk handles there and those might sub for deads pretty well. So I wanted to test out this little new piece of equipment, normally used more in the strongman scene. This workout was taken from Rob Orlando's strongmanwod.com, workout called the Grind. It was rx'd as bodyweight farmer's walk each hand for 400 meters. Every time you drop the weight, perform 5 burpees on the spot. Time cap 30 minutes.

We have 20 meter grass line which suited perfectly for this one. Making it 20 rounds would constitute 400 meters. After every turn complete 5 burpees, then head on for another round. Had no idea about the weights that should be put on this thing. Bodyweight might have been a lot considering this was the first time. Coach said just put 10's on each end and see how it feels like.

Start of the Grind

The weight was light and didn't tax my lower body in the way I was looking for. It was left unclear whether the empty bar was 20 or 30 kilos so the total load was 40-50kg per hand. This was supposed to be the alternative for deadlifts so the goal was to have some burn in my legs and back. Didn't happen this time, got to go heavier next time on farmer's walk. Might be a good idea to do this for strength. As heavy as possible load for 20 meters. Climb up every 20 meters. Sounds good.

But this definitely had my breathing go heavier. Especially when combined with burpees. Good metcon. It mostly felt in my hands, my grip, and fingers. It's like in deadlift, sometimes feels like my fingers are going to get cut off. Okay this wasn't as bad because the load wasn't that heavy but it reminded the feeling of that. Cool tool to play around. It's not the last time, that's for sure!

Sunday 19.4: Nasty Girls, Row

Sunday. Benchmark workout 'Nasty Girls', 3rds of: 50 squat, 7 mu's, 10 hang power clean (60kg). Time, 13.45. Cool down, 10min easy row.

What a day! This is something I'm very proud of. Having good surroundings, perfect training facilities result in progress. That seems to be inevitable. There was a time when I felt intimidated when I saw rings hanging from the ceiling. Never knew if I'm gonna be able to make a muscle-up or not. Depending on the day. Not anymore. That is in the past. Today's workout was Nasty Girls.

Nasty Girls. Time, 13.45

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 air squat
• 7 ring muscle-ups
• 10 hang power clean, 60kg

The only ring muscle-up related workout I have ever done is Nate. That has been done twice but the first one was with false grip mu's and they probably wouldn't count as reps in a competition with arms bent in the bottom position. It's been a while since I've done false grip mu's and I'm not gonna go back there. That is not the path for me to link muscle-ups together.

Earlier this workout has been very tempting but thinking about the reality of my skills I haven't dared to go after this one. I have thought that once I can complete Nasty Girls and Amanda benchmark workouts rx'd, there is nothing I dream of as a crossfitter. Or let's say I have accomplished everything I have wanted to accomplish. Of course hunger grows on the course of training but these milestones are big time news for me.

So it was air squats to get some burn in hamstrings and quads, then muscle-ups, and the third element was hang power cleans @ 60kg. I did squats unbroken. It was a bit surprising they didn't get to me that bad. I was prepared for a good burn and 2-3 sets to finish it. Noup, this was one set and felt good. Of course it felt in my legs but it was tolerable.

10x60kg

Muscle-ups were absolutely the thing in this workout and the one where I can squeeze some time away the next time I do this because it's all about efficiency on the mu's. My max set is 5 reps so it was obvious I'm not going unbroken on these, yet. It was 3-2-2 on the first set. Second and third set were similar: 2-2-1-1-1. I'm very proud of how I got these through. It's a different thing to do doubles and triples when fresh compared to when doing them in the middle of a metcon.

Cleans were only 60kg so that can not be considered heavy by any means. I rationalized cleans are not gonna be the difference maker so what would I gain by doing them unbroken. That's the reason why they were 6-4 in the first two rounds, and the last one was an easy unbroken set of 10 reps. Didn't want to burn my body by ego-ing them in one set in the first 2 rounds. It's hard to describe how happy I was by completing this workout. Huge thing for me. Amanda is most likely going to be next muscle-up benchmark workout. Maybe not rx'd but a lighter one.

Cool down.

• Row for 10 minutes / 2.500 meters

This was easy pace rowing for some time after Nasty Girls. Purpose was more like to flush the legs. Damper setting was at 8 in the beginning but pretty soon I put it at 5 which is very low for me normally. I just wanted to row easily for a while without thinking anything, just recovering.

Cool down

Wednesday 18.2: Elizabeth

Wednesday. Elizabeth, 21-15-9 of: clean (60kg), ring dips. Time, 5.59.

At first this Wednesday looked like there's no time for a workout. Luckily I was able to squeeze in half an hour of gym time which meant for a quick workout. It was perfect for Elizabeth, one of my favorite benchmark girls. It turned out to be a PR day after all! In the evening we went to eat and movie with my baby, some couple's time.

Elizabeth. Time, 5.59, PR. Compare to 29.12.2013

• 21-15-9 of:
• Clean, 60kg
• Ring dip

This is a benchmark workout that I've encountered couple of times. First one was quite precisely 2 years ago, 27.2.2013. That time I did 'em as squat cleans, and time stopped at 10.28. Best attempt this far has been 6.08 so today's effort was better than ever before. That always brings a smile on my face.

This one's a really good high intense workout. It's always a bit of a mystery how these sets should be divided. It's impossible for me to go unbroken anyway at this stage. I thought I'd make something like 3x7 on the first round but the bar felt lighter than I assumed so it was 10 at first, then 6-5 to finish the round. Second round of cleans were 6-5-4, and the last one 6-3. Towards the end my forearms started to feel the burn even though there was hook grip in the game.

Ring dips were my thing today. Somehow I felt much stronger with those than before in this workout. Ring dips in general have gotten a lot better in the past months. Some time ago I called them a goat but I refuse to do that anymore. Currently I'm doing those in a hollow body position compared to past days when I used to have bent legs behind me. At first this hollow position felt awkward but Toni kept on talking about it so it stuck with me. And better that way. This was they are also as strict as they can be, no kipping included.

The round of 21's was 3x7, second round was 6-5-4, and the last one 4-3-2. This doesn't mean more work is no longer needed. Of course these must be practiced and getting stronger on. I felt worn out after Elizabeth but still there was little gas on the tank. I'm telling you there was big temptation to drop the barbell after clean sets from front rack position but that was not gonna happen at the gym. Had to bring it down nicely as the place was crowded. Good quick session with Elizabeth!

Friday 23.1: CJ emom, Hero Wod Rahoi

Friday. Emom x 5min: 7 C&J @ 60kg. Hero workout Rahoi, 12min amrap of: 12 box, 6 thrusters (42.5kg), 6 bar-facing-burpees. Result, 6rds + 1 burpee (163 reps).

It was great to have a day off of work, and we went shopping for a bit. Spent the day in Jumbo and after chilling for a while we threw down for a workout. Clean and jerk was how I kicked it off and finished it with a new benchmark workout. Very good training day.

Strength.

• Every minute on the minute, for 5 minutes
• 7 clean and jerk, 60kg

This was actually horrible. Lots of reps and not that much recovery. It brought Grace to my mind… Feeling was pretty much the same at some point. I haven't done this many reps as emom training and it really felt nasty. It's kinda hard to say where it felt the worst, it was more like a overall fatigue hit me big time.

For the first 3 rounds I went unbroken, and the last 2 rounds were 5-2 reps. This was a great way to add high-rep sets into classic clean and jerk strength training. It was more like muscle endurance type of stuff than strength based programming. You can have a look of the session below.

Clean and jerk emom

Rahoi. Result, 163 reps

• 12min amrap of:
• 12 box
• 6 thruster, 42.5kg
• 6 bar-facing-burpee

I noticed this one sometime ago and there was no doubt I would do it one day soon. I've just been waiting for the right moment. It looks easy on paper but you don't have to be the smartest guy in the world to realize it's gonna hurt. It's a hero wod for god's sake. The first part of my training session was so rough that for a minute I though that's gonna be enough for the day. After recovering for 5-10 minutes I started moving and decided to move with a steady pace and not rush through it.

Today my result ended up being 5 burpees short of 7 full rounds. The amount of reps were small for each movement so I had troubles figuring out how this would turn out. As I started working I went unbroken with the elements and kept a break before moving on to the next one. I thought this would benefit me in the long run. 12 minutes is rather long time if you're going all in from the very get-go.

Box jumps were probably the most fatiguing element of this benchmark. You can always swallow 6 more thrusters and burpees, even with them being bar-facing versions which are the worst in my opinion. Every good workout to say the least and the entire training session was intense!

Rahoi