Sunday. Build up to heavy clean. A - triple (Result, 110kg PR). B - single (Result, 117kg PR). Front squat singles (up to 125kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 8 squat clean (70kg), 10 t2b, 12 box. Result, 150 reps.
Got to say it's great to be back!!! It's been so damn busy I haven't had a chance to throw down at all. On Friday we had pre-christmas party and it was a hullabaloo from morning till night. On Saturday we had a gathering with family in Eastern Finland as we went to see my sister's new house. Finally today I got to put on some gym clothes and got to work!
Oly.
Build up to heavy cleans
A - Triples (60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, PR 110kg)
B - Singles (115, PR 117kg)
At first my joints felt very tight from all the laziness and driving in the car, and it was a mystery how this session would turn out to. However, my legs didn't feel tired at all on the warm-up cleans, and the cleans also felt very natural and light.
Plan was to go heavy for a triple and single. Especially to build up to a 3 rep max. I was hoping to pull 105kg which is the heaviest I've pulled, ever. Once I tried 107.5kg and my right wrist popped, and hurt like hell for about 2 months. With that on mind it was a huge success today to being able to get all the way to 110kg. This is actually huge because I have lifted that number for singles only, and just for a couple of times. So going for 3 reps was sick!
Original plan was to go for a max of the day after triples. Didn't know I was going this heavy in the triples so there was room for only couple of singles at max. Singles at these weights are intimidating. The only thing preventing me to go heavier is my head. Both 115kg and 117kg were high enough for sure, and most likely I'd be able to clean more if I only had the balls to drop under the barbell. Fails on cleans are always just clean pulls. Not for a single time have I racked a bar, and not being able to stand it up. These +110kg lifts are mentally very important to build up confidence for heavy lifts.
Squat.
Front squat singles (90, 110, 120, 125, fail 130kg)
After all the cleans my hip flexors were gone, and front squats didn't go as planned. For some time there was 7x3 front squats in my notes but that was not gonna happen. Bar was heavy already at 120kg so it was no surprise 130kg didn't come up.
Metcon. Result, 150 reps (5 rounds sharp)
12min amrap of:
8 squat clean, 70kg
10 toes-to-bar
12 box jump
Freaking awesome metcon! It's been hours since the metcon now as I'm writing this, and my lungs are still feeling it. Or throat. Anyway, the number of squat cleans in a row made the difference. Legs were burning, and lungs were gasping for air. Not for a second did I think about linking the reps together. Singles all the way.
First 10 minutes
Toes-to-bar's and box jumps unbroken. T2b's were surprisingly nasty after all the squat clean. Box jumps didn't feel any easier in the process. But the thing in this metcon was definitely the cleans. In the beginning they were 8 singles in a row. Then at some point it was 4-2-2. That seemed like the quickest way to get over each round. Awesome wod.
Tuesday. Clean and jerk (max 85kg). Clean singles (PR 116kg). Emom x 21min: 1st min 30 du, 2nd min 12 t2b, 3rd min 12 burpee.
I was eager to hit some clean and jerks. Those overhead movements are cool, and I'd like to do those often. Having a barbell overhead is somehow brutal and manly stuff, and gives me a lot of pleasure. I've had this nagging pain in my elbows for a long time. It's on and off kind of thing. It pops up every now and then, and it might also be away for a good time. That's not cool. Anyway, this day turned out to be a success after all.
Toni brought me a souvenir from a throwdown he went to see during the weekend: Voodoo Floss. Hopefully this brings some release on the elbows. Thanks man!
My plan was to hit couple of singles, just to get the jerks going. And then see how 90kg+ lifts would feel like. I've been missing having barbell overhead for a heavy load. I took just singles, even with the lighter weights too. Then finished it off with 5-6 reps at 85 kilos. At this point my elbows didn't wanna take it anymore so I changed it to squat cleans.
I was definitely not aiming for max weight. Originally =) I took the 85kg bar, took it up, and put it down. Added 5kg and took another shot right away. Right after the rep, I added 5 more kilos, and took the clean. Repeated this routine up to 100kg. Basically without breaks.
112kg
It's awesome to be able to put three big plates on the barbell on the cleans. From then on, the game is on. That's not baby weight for me anymore. Having blue, yellow and green plates mean it's 110kg load. After that one I added 2kg after each rep. I figured doing 112kg would satisfy me enough. But it came up pretty well, and this was the first time I thought about hitting a record.
That felt tight so I just put 114kg on the bar. That rep's timing was a little off and I had to step it front a bit when standing up. At this point there was no turning back so it was 116kg next on the bar. Started pulling. Felt heavy but the bar came up well, and I found time to drop under the bar. Once it was on the front rack, there was no doubt of hitting the lift successfully. My legs can carry this kind of loads easily. It's more like a mental thing whether I dare to go under the bar or not. This time mental game was on the spot.
116kg
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 21 minutes
1st min: 30 double under
2nd min: 12 toes-to-bar
3rd min: 12 burpee
My mind was happy after this one, and I almost left the gym without a metcon. Scribbled this one at the spot. Double unders were a no-brainer. I need to keep practicing them. T2b's are always a good choice. And burpees of course. These elements are just perfect. Couldn't imagine a situation where I would look back at a workout with these, and think they didn't serve good for their purpose.
But how about the number of reps. That took me some time. Starting point with the du's was to have then mostly unbroken. On the first round I took 40 reps but had some misses so on the next round it was 30 reps and I stuck to that one till the end. Mostly unbroken, couple of misses including. But the biggest takeaway is that they felt great compared to the latest du sessions.
T2b's were unbroken. It took a toll on my grip and core in the end so the 12 rep sets were also a good choice for today. Burpees were the ugliest of these elements. Really made me breath towards the end. This was a good combination of movement, and finished the training session well.
Monday. Power clean build up to a heavy single (max PR 100kg). Emom x 10min: 2 power clean @ 90kg. Skills, every 90sec: 15 c2b. Squat therapy and mobility.
There were high expectations for this Monday. I knew beforehand there wouldn't be no need to rush so I would be able to work my ass off. Schedule showed there were front squat doubles, maybe high rep back squats as well as cleans for barbell work. And then a very intense style metcon in the end. However, my throat feels like there's a piece of cactus right now, that's the feeling I've had all day. Don't have a flu though but this just doesn't feel right so I had to take it easy.
Meal prep for the week
Pulls.
Power clean, build up to a heavy single
3x70, 3x80, 2x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x100kg
Yesterday got me thinking what my max load for power clean would be. Max before this day as been 95kg and it's quite recent too. I have traditionally taken all heavy cleans with a squat. This part of the session wasn't that serious, just wanted to put some weight on the bar and pick it up on the front rack.
All of these cleans felt very good. Barbell's touching point on my thighs was quite high, and there actually was a short time when the bar was weightless as I turned it over. The last rep was 100kg which is 5 kilos more than I've ever power cleaned. I'd like to say it wasn't my max load. Well, it was but there definitely is more potential. I didn't try any heavier loads this time. Left some for next time.
Emom.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
2 power clean @ 90kg
As these cleans were solid I threw in a workout of emom training. Doubles of 90kg, kinda heavy. But for some sick reason these felt very good too. There was a psychological effect. I had just lifted 100kg up so dropping 10kg back was a lot lighter mentally.
I felt like a superman lifting that 90kg for doubles every minute. Okay, not a super heavy weight for some people but for me 2 reps of power cleans at this weight is no walk in the park. Squat cleans would have been a different thing.
Clean 2x90kg
Skills.
Every 90 seconds:
15 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Pull-ups - and especially c2b's - are always something that should be on the agenda of improvements. I just bought "natural grips" from Rogue at the same time with my rope, so they got to test on these c2b's. They felt very good as I put them on but unfortunately they didn't stay on place on the pull-ups. For 2-3 sets they were okay but at least the last one was a bit frustrating. I need some protection on my hands with the pull-up bar. At least on this bar as someone has taped it and there's a lot of friction with hands every time. I'm not a huge fan of rips and tears. And those tend to come very easily on my hands.
First set of chest-to-bar's was easy. Second one was a lot tougher. Third one was impossible to get through unbroken, I guess it was 10 reps on the first try on this set. And last set was a lot of pain. Focus was to get as many reps as possible on the first attempt, then finish the set as quickly as possible because there was that 90 second time window.
Mobility.
Squat therapy
Resistance band stretches
Overhead squats with a pause in the bottom
Snatch balance with a pause in the bottom
Lacrosse ball work
I still wasn't ready even though it felt like there wasn't much I was able to do. So I grabbed a pvc pipe and worked on overhead squats and snatch balances and staying in the bottom position for seconds. Also did it with an empty barbell. Those extreme positions make good for mobility purposes.
Squat therapy's results were absolutely positive. Never thought I could get as close to the wall as I did today. It took multiple attempts, starting from much farther, and then every attempt was an inch closer. Finally my toes were about the length of my middle finger plus 1-2cm away from the wall. That's success!
Thursday. Strength, build up to a heavy single (max 112.5kg PR). Metcon, 100 S2O (50kg). For every drop, complete 10 box jumps. Time 14.45.
I was pumped up to get some cleans done. Thought about going for 3RM on hang cleans but instead decided to check where my max would be at the moment. It happened to be time to visit PR town. Afterwards I put some iron in the sky and had box jumps as a punishment in that workout. Good training day! Joni and Pauliina was there with me and Joni happened to crush his old deadlift record, c'mon!
It sure was a great strength session. I had a setback one month ago. After not touching on a barbell it felt very heavy already on light weights after my comeback. Since then I've been working my butt off to get back on track and now I'm feeling I am where I wanna be. It was a bit rocky in the beginning but now I'm feeling good. And that's the reason I needed to see where my max load would be on cleans. To get more confident on the movement too.
105kg
First reps were hang cleans which is part of my routines when it's clean-day. I usually go up to around 70kg on hang squat cleans to activate my entire body more properly for the bigger lifts. Today the bar was light and it definitely felt easier when Joni was there to talk me up.
112.5kg PR
It was strange that the bar itself wasn't heavy today at any stage. It came up pretty well as you can see in the videos. It traveled high enough also on the 115kg attempt. There was some sort of mental block preventing me not go under the bar. Looks kind of awkward to do a clean pull and not squatting under it at all.
115kg attempt
Had a problem at 110kg of not pulling the barbell fiercely enough backwards. Thus it stayed a little front but it was easy to recover this time. My record lift was better than 110kg because we talked it over with Joni what the reason was. Very valuable chat on that lift. The front squat part of squat cleans has never been an issue. It's kind of cool it feels much lighter compared to a regular front squat.
I'm happy on these successful lifts! I also took an attempt at 115kg, took a fail and then reminded my body what a good lift looks like so I took additional 100kg clean in the end.
Easy!
Metcon. Time 14.45
100 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg (barbell from ground)
For every drop, complete 10 box jumps on the spot
What a great workout! At least my shoulders were smashed after this one. Actually they were killing already at around 40 reps =) Simply put, complete 100 reps of shoulder-to-overhead movement with 50kg. Grab the bar from ground and every time you have to drop it back complete 10 box jumps right away. Then you're ready to continue those S2O's.
On the first attempt I took 20 reps, then it was 10's all the way. It was a struggle to get them done from mid-workout on. I'm extremely satisfied on being able to hit those 10's throughout the workout. Last 2-3 reps every set were miserable. Breathing was definitely higher than normally but under control anyway because I had to have a pause after box jumps before getting a hold on the barbell again.
Today felt great! PR's taste delicious every time for sure and the following workout took a great burden on my shoulders which was the goal.
PR Day! It's been a long time since last day when I didn't do any metcon or didn't put my heart and lungs to work hard. So today my intention was to give my body a rest on the metabolic condition. Actually I didn't have an idea what to do when I entered the gym. Little before I walked in I got a feeling of doing some clean singles. Not looking for max numbers but just going heavy. The end result turned out to be great!
Back squat, 2x80, 100, 1x120, 130, 137.5, PR 142.5kg
Okay, after having warmed up I grabbed a barbell and started working on clean technique. I went for hang cleans and hang squat cleans for a while with lighter weights. Actually the last hang clean I did was @ 80kg. And it felt easy. Felt like I got under the bar quickly. Never has 80kg been that easy from pocket. When I mean hang clean I mean it's from the pocket, not from mid-thigh. That's your choice, do whatever you want. I've used to do them from the pocket, feels more natural for me.
After 80kg I started doing singles from the floor. First 90kg, felt light, added 10kg to reach 3-digit numbers, still came up solidly. My last record was 102.5kg. I skipped that and jumped right on to 105kg. That's on the video below. I took it with my phone.
It was a pity my phone's memory got full on this lift and I don't have the next lift on camera. Actually the very next rep wasn't a success. I had good tension on the lift and ready to pull and clean. But once I got the bar off the floor it was "too close" to my body and it hit both of my knees on the way up. Well, I dropped it, walked around for a while and got back to the zone, mentally.
Walked to the bar, puffed around, and did my thang. I got under the bar well and I was positively surprised how confident I felt being under that weight on the clean. Coming up with the bar wasn't an issue because my front squat is at okay level. What I realized afterwards was that those front squats with a pause that I've done lately, might have made a difference on today's performance. I've done something between 90-110k. I've created those weights to be at my comfort zone. So dropping under the bar with these weights have felt good.
I think it has lots to do with daring to go under the barbell. If you don't dare, you won't drop, even though you would be able. Even though the bar would travel high enough. This happened to me on the last rep I tried, at 110kg. The bar came up enough, the only thing I needed was the explosive drop. But I didn't drop. Need to work on those paused squats. On both front, back and overhead squats. They are great!
As I was on a roll I decided to try what squats feel like. I had planned to max out the squats on Thursday but it felt okay so I started piling stuff on the barbell. I was pondering what to do after 130kg. Should I put 135 or 140kg right away, and ended up having 137.5kg on the bar. Took it up and went for PR lift of 142.5kg. Previous record was 140kg and it's been there for a while. Completing that 142.5kg was bigger mentally than it is weight-wise. It was a victory for me too difficult to explain. I believe it's been some sort of mental barrier to step beyond 140kg. I hope there are no limits after today's performance! I think double the bodyweight is the amount of stuff I should be able to lift. That would be around 160kg. There's more work ahead of me, and I like it
GREAT DAY!!! My first touch at a crossfit affiliate. I went to "open gym" with Toni to work on ring skills, we were looking to improve on our ring muscle-ups. Then it was time to do some personal records with the barbell: clean & jerks and clean PR's both saw the daylight. Toni also did clean PR. We finished the workout session by doing a pair wod, bad ass chipper.
Skills. Bar muscle-ups and ring muscle-ups.
After doing some stretching and foam rolling I grabbed the pull-up bar and did some pull-ups and chest-to-bars. It felt easy to pull myself high so I decided to go higher, and ended up doing some bar muscle-ups. Haven't done them probably in a month so I completed 10+ reps, couple of singles in the beginning, then 4 in a row, and then 3 unbroken.
Then it was time to do some ring muscle-ups. I feel like it hasn't been that close this far. Okay, I've got the height at a decent level but I haven't been able to duck my head forward through the rings. Today something happened and I got there. We did progressions with Toni's coaching. He's been learning this movement lately and seems to have an obsession of completing a successful rep before the year changes. And I'm sure he will with this level of determination.
We lowered the rings and did some transitions plus we did muscle-ups by sitting on a resistance band that was tied between the rings. It felt so easy to do one muscle-up with the help of those. Maybe that's the reason I understood the transition stage better. My last rep was pretty damned close as you can see from the pic and the video. I know it looks nasty once I dropped there but don't worry, nothing bad happened =)
Two PR's in one session, not bad, I'll take that! The idea was to do clean & jerks and I had not scheduled to do records today but there was something in the atmosphere and the barbell felt lighter than normally so I figured why not hit the max load. And this is one of those places where you can drop the bar and not having to think about being too careful. At my work place's gym you are not allowed to drop the bar so you've got to be careful not to miss a lift.
The 60kg reps we did from hang clean position, then jerked it up in different variations. I took power and squat cleans, push jerk and split jerk, just to get all styles involved and muscles ready for anything that's coming up. On the 70kg I did regular clean & jerks push jerk style. At 80kg I still went touch'n'go for all 3 reps. On the 90kg I did 2 singles and it felt awesome and my form stayed good all the way. Probably haven't jerked that easy 90kg ever.
Took a single lift at 95kg, then moved on the the PR attempt. I have cleaned 100kg twice and jerked it from a rack once but never have I got it to the sky all the way from the floor. My confidence level was high and there was no doubt if the bar would come up or not. Clean was rather easy, and on the jerk I had to do some work. The local coach gave some vital tips on the use of my back leg on the split jerk. I tend to position it a little sideways even though it is critical to have the toes pointed forwards for stability's stake. Next time I'll be split jerking with a better foot positioning for sure. Thanks for the coach Aleksi!
I still took one clean @ 102.5kg for a clean PR, this time the jerk stayed in the middle and I had to drop it. Technique wasn't there on the jerk. There had been quite a lot of work for the shoulders so it was time to catch a breath and move on to our pair chipper.
Pair wod. Chipper
120 wall balls, 8kg
100 pull-ups
80 kettlebell swings, 32kg
40 handstand push-ups
20 cleans, 80kg
We had thought about nailing some thrusters after kb swings but our shoulders were smashed already atfter the muscle-ups and strength training so we decided to skip it. The idea was that one partner works at a time. We split the wall balls in sets of 20 reps, both completed them unbroken. Then on the pull-ups we went "you go, I go", meaning that I started, did as many reps as possible, then we switched turns. Alternating on the pull-up bar, we moved to kettlebell work after we finished 100 reps. On the swings it was 4 sets of 10 reps for both of us, on the hspu's the principle was same as with the pull-ups. And finally some heavy cleans (at least at this stage of the workout) in singles, alternating.
Shoulders were burning already after wall balls. All the work put in prior to the chipper really had its effect on us. Wall balls were okay, the ball was 8kg, the heaviest they've got. I've done some hundred reps with my brother's self-made wall ball out of basket ball which is half the size of this one we used today. It was awkward handling this big a ball, and it slipped sometimes from my hands. Pull-ups felt normal, easy in the beginning, then turning uglier after couple of tens.
Kettlebells seemed like the heaviest movement in this one. For some reason the bell felt way heavier than normally. Maybe it was the combination of the movements, there was quite a lot of action for the upper body. We both managed the hspu's nicely, I did 7 reps on the first 2 sets, then 5-3 towards the end. It was genius to program quite heavy cleans as the last movement in this workout. We both had never done that.
It didn't start well, both took a failed rep as the first rep =) I tried the first attempt as power clean so it didn't take long to make the decision to change it to squat cleans. And they felt great from then on! Got to do more stuff like this where there's a heavy barbell included in a metcon.
Recap of the training day!
All in all, it was a spectacular training day with Tony the Pony, the guy I basically did my crossfitting for the first year. Now he's been working out at this affiliate which obviously has lots to offer for a humble athlete. Plus the atmosphere seemed to be encouraging as well, obviously, it's a crossfit Box.
Entourage: me, Pauliina and Pony. We were thinking about doing those cleans as emom type training, heavy single every 30 or 60 seconds for 10 minutes but Pony wanted to hit singles today. No prob, that proved to be a good call. After strength we decided to take a pair workout, including barbell action and bodyweight movements to accompany the main moves. A good one as well.
Strength. 5x70, 2x80, 1x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x97.5kg (PR), 1x100kg (PR). The bar was light or then I was simply strong. Go figure, but it went perfectly! For starters we did some reps with lighter weights, 60 & 70kg squat cleans. After 80kg I started to take singles. I felt very good all the way, from the very beginning. My legs didn't feel stiff at all even though there was some serious leg work done yesterday. My upper back hasn't done work with bars in a while so it was also prepared for this day.
90kg was extremely easy and I started to feel if this day would be written in the stars. Next step - 95kg - previous record weight. Easy as well. Hmm… Pony said it's gonna be a day of 3-digit numbers today for sure. I got that mental boost and huge confidence after that lift and I knew for sure I'm gonna make a PR but didn't dare to think I'm gonna hit 100kg. After 97.5kg I felt it's definitely possible. If there's no technical errors I'm gonna make that magical lift. And I did. That total 2 PR's today. First one was 97.5 and right after 100kg. Very happy!!!
Pair chipper.
40 clean & jerk, 60kg
40 box jumps, 61cm
40 snatches, 50kg
40 burpees
40 overhead squats, 40kg
40 toes-to-bar
I had planned to do this workout solo with 20 reps each. Once we were at the Box we decided to double the reps and do it as a pair wod. You go, I go. We split the reps so that in clean & jerks 5 reps alternating, 5 snatches alternating and on the ohs I went in unbroken sets of 10's. Toni had some issues with that movement, other than that he also went pretty much as planned. On the bodyweight movements we did 20 reps in a row before letting the other guy do his 20 reps.
The strength movements were perfect. Exactly what I wanted and needed. However, on the bodyweight movements the reps were too low. Okay, it's not nice to do burpees ever but still, there were too few of them. I had planned 20 reps per move when going solo. But, as we paired up, there came those break moments when the other guy performed his movements. Only one athlete going at a time. So considering that, there should have been more box jumps, burpees and t2e's. I could have welcomed 60 reps each. Would have increased the toughness level on this one and probably those snatches and overhead squats would have felt totally different after that many reps.
Had I done this alone, then probably 20 reps each would have been just fine because there wouldn't be those reps periods practically at all. Only the ones that you need to have to catch a breath. Now I was able to go as planned from beginning to the end without breaking any sets. All sets unbroken.
We were already planning to add the number of pair wods in the future and maybe take strength workouts as well such as 5min amrap of 60kg clean & jerks or 50kg snatches. That would make a hell of a training session.
Toni did the same workouts today as I did. I'm not sure about the weights in the clean but somehow I recall him doing 70, 80 and 85kg as power cleans. He tried 90kg a few times but didn't have his head around it and thus he collapsed on the technique. He's basically doing all his cleans as power cleans. There's a lot of strength in this dude. However, once he learns to squat clean, he's gonna add 10kg in his max load, there's no doubt about it. I really hope he would be patient in learning that 'cause I know he is going to learn it quickly and is gonna nail big numbers soon after.
It was awesome to have him at the Box with us today. It's definitely a help when you have a training partner to lift those heavy weights with you and share the metcon pain =)
Saturday. Ring muscle-up training. Cleans 3-3-3-2-2-1-1 (max PR 95kg).
Today's program was simple. Put your PR shirt on, try to get that first ring muscle-up and complete a new record in cleans. Muscle-ups are still waiting for the daylight, clean pr: check! Later today I'll attend a friend's wedding ceremony to celebrate his great day.
The groom =)
Ring muscle-ups. These bastards still beat me. I'm comfortable doing bar muscle-ups, I don't remember an attempt of not completing them after I got my first successful rep. There were 14 of them in the end of last month. However, the movement is a bit more challenging - at least it now feels like it - with the rings as they are swinging around. I can not get that needed help from my leg work currently. I'm confident that as I get the first rep, I realize some stuff in a similar was as with the bar muscle-ups.
Strength. Cleans 3-3-3-2-2-1-1 (70, 75, 80, 85, 90, PR 95kg, 97.5f). I decided on the rep scheme and weights before I opened the gym door. Do triples to start with, then move on to heavy doubles (85/90kg) and go for new PR right after that. I managed to stay with the plan perfectly. That last attempt was kind of a hope to increase the record even more.
Last month was golden time for my cleans. I practiced it a lot, many times, a lot of reps. I believe I've got my technique forward greatly. And squat cleans feel so natural nowadays. The triples up to 80kg didn't feel bad at all. From 85kg on the weights were feeling heavy. I took a double with 85 and with 90kg I took it up twice, had to drop the barbell between those 2 reps.
Clean x 3, 80kg
I skipped the previous record of 92.5kg 'cause I felt the 90kg came up rather easy anyway. I put 5kg more kilos on the barbell and decided to go with the 95kg bar. Got it up, take a look below. Felt awesome! I was greedy and wanted to try that 97.5 as well but I didn't have that juice left anymore that's needed to get those max lifts successful.
I had one clear goal for today: Personal Records! I put my PR shirt on and went to the Box with Pauliina. Because it's spring / summer time already and the weather was sunny, we took on our bikes and cycled instead of driving. It's anyway only 5-6 kilometers away so why not do it more often in the days off work. I had planned to do a benchmark wod as well - Elizabeth - but due to quite a number of repetitions in cleans and snatches, I felt I was done with training. In the end I did ring dips to make it up.
Success!!! The only thing I wasn't able to nail was the jerk of 87.5kg. Clean felt easy the whole day. My warm-up was shorter because we cycled that +5km, then some pvc pipe lunges, squats and overhead squats before moving on to barbell warm-up. I did bear complex type of movements with empty bar and then some clean & jerks with 40 and 60kg before hitting the first single of 70kg. The jerks were easy up to 80kg but then 85kg was a tough one and 87.5kg didn't come all the way up. Could it have been that my motor wasn't still running on full throttle at that time, the shoulders were not as active as possible.
I was thinking about redoing it but since the clean felt superb I wanted to exploit that and try new numbers. So on clean & jerk I stayed with my current PR - 85kg. My previous clean max was 87.5kg so going for 90kg was a but scary, new digits were awaiting me. And it came up easily, what a feeling. Had no other choice but to keep on piling plates on the barbell and take it up. I got 92.5kg up as well and my smile was huge. Also tried 95kg and the bar lifted as high as it should be. I just couldn't bring it back enough, it stayed too much in front of me and therefore had to be dropped.
The final strength movement was the snatch. It didn't feel that light in the beginning but still was manageable and I got some great lifts. I've been doing sets with 50kg lately but in the Crossfit Games Open 13.1 I got that 60kg up to set a new PR in snatches. Today I was looking forward to get that weight up with better and evolved technique. Well, I don't know about the technique but I got it up =) And was able to go beyond to 62.5kg. I also tried 65kg but today was not the day for that.
All in all, it was a great day of olympic lifting!!! You'll find quite a number of videos in Youtube. For some reason there are problems in attaching own videos from youtube to these posts. Same problem occurred yesterday. They are in tube but cannot be added to the post. I added links to some of my lifts so it's easier for you guys to see them.
Today was all about doing strength singles. I had planned to do snatches, clean & jerk, front squat and back squat, all according to Diane Fu's training program. My time was a bit short so I had to eliminate snatch and back squat from the equation so I only did CJ and front squat. No metcons today.
Strength.
Clean & jerk, 70, 75, 80, 85, 87.5kg (clean successful, jerk failed). PR's in clean and c&j!
Front squat, 100, 110, 120kg, 130f, 130f
Awesome! I had put on my PR shirt and was ready to upgrade some digits on the max loads =) My clean has taken some serious steps forward this year, I believe, and through the latest development - squat cleans - I've been able to add load constantly. I have also added hang cleans to my selection way more than before. All in all, there's been a good number of various reps so this was only a consequence of all those. I'm very satisfied!
I began the clean & jerk sets from 70kg, then adding 5kg until 85kg, which was my precious max for clean and 2.5kg beyong my jerk max (82.5kg). Jerking it up felt good and it actually came up a bit easier than the 80kg, which startled me big time =) At 80 I had to push the last centimeters hard to reach full range. At 85 it came easier, nice one.
I realized going for 90kg would not have been the smartest thing so I went for 87.5kg. I managed to get it at my chest at first try with a deep squat clean. My jerk got half way but wasn't able to get it all the way. Split jerk would help a lot in this movement. I don't think I'm trying max weights at home box as I can't drop the weights but I've already spotted a place where olympic lifts can be done properly so I believe we'll deah there with Toni some day next week. I tried clean & jerk with 87.5kg another time and I got that clean part of it successful for the second time in a row! Jerk was bit of a joke this time but how awesome was it to get that clean twice with a new PR! And just moments ago my jerk also improved to 85kg. Great day!
With front squats I got too greedy. I took 80kg up, then 100, 110, 120kg. All came up solidly, after which I put 125 on the barbell. Thought about it for a few seconds, then decided to change directly to 130kg, my current max. That 120kg was so light. That was a stupid move this time, I believe I should have taken 125kg up once and only then continue forward. There was a slight mental hesitation after having 130kg in front rack position and bouncing back up from the bottom position. I got it up enough to know it's only a matter of mental strength but for some reason I thought I can't lift it so I dropped it. I knew right after it I should have delivered it all the way up. The second try wasn't that good, my stomach was already full of satisfaction I suppose so I didn't get that flow zone on anymore.
It was a good training day. I would have liked to go through all four movements but had not enough time to do them all. Toni is travelling this week as well, hopefully he finds that mental toughness to create space for some insane training.
In the evening we went for a one hour stroll in the forest with Pauliina for active recovery =)
Today the spot was Liikuntamylly indoor sports center in eastern Helsinki. Their facilities are perfect for oly lifts which was my main goal for today. My plan stated to go clean & jerk first, then continue with snatches, the two olympic lifts. Program also said I was supposed to practice handstand walk because the place is made for that purpose. My triceps and upper arms from elbows up are in flames because of that Coe I did on Sunday. That's why I stopped after clean & jerk to prevent injuries. Got to be icing those arms today to get them back on track again.
Strength. Started as clean & jerk but my jerking power was a bit lost so I continued with cleans.
Clean & jerk, 3x60, 3x60, 3x70, 2x70kg (failed on the second jerk)
Clean, 3x75, 3x80, 1x85kg (PR)
My warm-up today included running the 200m track for a while, then 3x20 wall balls with short break between sets, stretching, then barbell warm-up: clean high-pulls, cleans, front squats, shoulder presses, back squats, shoulder presses behind the neck and snatches. I had put on my Rogue's PR shirt today so I had a good feeling about the training session ahead of me =)
My cleans were rolling today from the very beginning. I had no troubles in bringing the barbell up to my chest, even those 70kg reps were easy. Some time ago they would have been very tough ones. Now I was able to do 3 reps with 80kg which is definitely something I haven't been able to do ever, not even 2 in a row.
Clean, 3x80kg
I had no other chance but to crush my old record and update it to 85kg. I'm confident to hit 90kg this year. What I should be doing better is to be faster in going under the bar. And more strength to the movement starting from my legs. They should generate velocity for the barbell to go faster and higher. And bring the elbows high immediately. It's easy to say these thing after watching the video but while the load is near maxes it's not that easy to make all these adjustments live in just one second.
Clean, 85kg, PR
After December's injury problems I believe my clean technique has become better and the weights feel lighter for some reason. There may be more explosiveness compared to earlier or maybe there's just been more reps and thus my body has become more receptive to this movement. I have had the possibility now in February to train cleans or clean & jerks every week, which pleases me a lot!
I'm on a holiday this week and Toni is driving around Finland because of work so let's wait and hear if he has done his training for today at the hotel. Hopefully you have found good spot to train hard!
