Friday 6.5: 20min amrap, 30min conditioning

Friday. Metcon, 20min amrap: 7 hspu, 7 jerk @ 50kg, 21 box, 21 lunges. Result, 399 reps.

It was very difficult for me to come up with pleasing training plans. Exceptionally there were not a plan when entering the gym and it had to be created on the spot. Had tons of ideas which finally turned out to be the following.

Metcon. Result, 399 reps

• 20min amrap of:
• 7 handstand push-ups
• 7 push jerks @ 50kg
• 21 box jumps
• 21 walking lunges

In the beginning this felt like okay, I'm gonna dominate this. Pretty soon I realized that was too cocky. The movements were paired intentionally so that two shoulder-demolishers needed to be completed together and the lower body smashes also right after the other.

It worked just like I thought. Shoulders got fired up on the hspu/jerk combo. Jerks also gave pressure to legs so doing box / lunges right after really got tricky. It was a great workout and kept my breathing high and sweating like a pig.

Conditioning.

• For 30 total minutes:
• 1st min: 10 unbroken ring dips
• 2nd min: bike
• 3rd min: bike

Needed to get my head around again after recovering for a while I wrote this one. It meant there were 10 ring dips that needed to be completed unbroken. At least that was the initial plan. At some point I wondered how many rounds I could do without having to drop down from the rings. I'm very happy all 10 rounds got through as planned as this is not my best strength. The next two rounds were written to build engine and endurance on the bike. It worked perfectly as a combo.

Friday 29.4: Snatch balance, Karhureiret, Conditioning

Friday. Snatch balance 5x3 (50-60kg). Karhureiret. Time, 14.35. Conditioning, 7rds of: 2min row, 2min bike.

It was a notch longer workout session today. Tried some snatch balances in the beginning to get a feeling of those after a long break. Then some old school stuff from Finland's championships some years ago. That sucked. Then conditioning piece in the end.

Oly.

• Snatch balance 5x5 (50, 50, 60, 60, 60kg)

These have been rare in the past months. I had that wrist issue earlier in the year and that caused I haven't done either these nor overhead squats with proper weights at all. It still felt kind of funny even though I have no problems in my wrists and haven't had in a long time.

It was cool to get these done. I'm looking forward to doing more of these accessory stuff for snatch in the future. I'm certain these will build up the confidence for the actual snatch too.

The video is unedited for couple of min

Karhureiret. Time, 14.35. Compare to 15.5.2013

• 10 back squats @ 100kg
• 50 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
• 20 front squats @ 80kg
• 40 box jumps
• 30 overhead squats @ 50kg
• 30 toest-to-bar's

The reason is unknown but I was done already on the swings. Literally I was trying to create excuses not to finish this workout. Luckily didn't but for some reason my body refused to work ideally, even though I had lots of passion to attack this workout.

Yes I got through this faster than before with heavier weights but I can't be satisfied of the effort fully. Especially the kettlebell swings and box jumps stayed to haunt in my head. Had to break both of them. Kettlebell swings more than once. No reason for that. And this was probably the first time ever pausing on the box jumps. Body was just completely in shut down mode. Somehow I got through this and maybe the last two elements went better than I assumed at that point of the workout. Back squats were unbroken, front squats were 5's and overhead squats were 10-8-7-5 reps.

Conditioning. Total of 28 minutes

• 7 rounds of:
• 2min row
• 2min bike

Damned I was over and out after that metcon. Yesterday my gym turned 1 year old so they had a birthday party. There was some leftover cake at the lobby. Once I saw it after the metcon I felt weak in my body and needed to fuel up. That felt like a perfect idea =) Huh, it was delicious!

After some recovery I jumped on the rower and bike combo, 2 minutes each with a running clock for 28 minutes total. That was a good end to the session!

Tuesday 23.2: Cleans, Thrusters, Row

Tuesday. Emom x 8min: 3 hang squat clean @ 80kg. E2mom x 20min: 7 thrusters @ 60kg. Cashout, 5rds of: 1min row, 1min bike.

We had a loooong day yesterday with Pauliina running errands so there was no time for a workout session. I took it back today with barbell work. Maybe that made good as my upper body and legs felt like hammered and my palms got some time to recover those rips from Saturday. Today all these were better.

Today's plans in advance

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 8min
• 3 hang squat clean @ 80kg

This was fun. Cleans from hang position for a triple. These felt smooth all the way. And what is important for me is that they look alike. Not much variance between reps in technical sense. I'd like to see the bar brush my hips a notch higher but other than that it's okay stuff.

Overhead.

• Every 2:00 x 20min
• 7 thrusters @ 60kg

Damned that shoulder burn! Had to mobilize my shoulders, lats and triceps more after the cleans in order to get comfortable in the front rack position in the squat. Usually when I front squat I hold the bar with just my fingers so it's not that big of an issue. But on the thrusters I have a firm grip with the entire hand / palm so that requires a lot more mobility.

These were supposed to be touch'n'go sets all the way. And I got through them even though the last rounds were a nightmare. At times I thought about cutting it to 5-6 reps. Luckily I didn't and pushed through. Mental win. It just felt so miserable in my shoulders after some point.

Cashout.

• 5 rounds of:
• 1min row
• 1min bike

Hopped on the rower and started pulling. Pace was somewhere around 1:45-1:48 per 500m. This wasn't an emom style session. Instead, I timed it for 60 seconds on rower first, then jumped on the bike and cycled for another 60 seconds. So there was actual work time of 10 minutes, and the actual piece took thus a bit more due to the transitions. Again, this is something I can see myself doing for a longer time. Last time it was just a short one, today I had time for a bit more. This could easily be a very long wod too.

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