Tuesday 19.11: Eccentric squats and a chipper

Tuesday. Eccentric squats 3x8 (105-110kg). Chipper, 20 hspu, 30 pistols, 40 burpees, 50 pull-ups.

Squats! Went for eccentric version of back squats, slowly getting down there and then normally back up. This was the name of the game this Tuesday. That pretty much sucked all my juice as I felt there wasn't much left when I started my metcon, which was a chipper of 4 different bodyweight movements. Squats went well, then I was worn out on the metcon.

Strength. Eccentric squats 3x8 (105, 110, 110kg). This was the heaviest combination I've had this far. I've taken these slow-mo squats either 3 or 4 sets for 8 reps each set. The weights have been varying between 100 and 110kg. This was the first time I didn't do any set @ 100kg, instead jumped a bit forward. Small step but the difference is obvious. I can feel it right away if there's 100 or 110kg.

I was able to maintain a solid form on the squats. As Toni said my knees are pointing out properly. Maybe it's because there's enough time to think about it when it takes about 3 sec to get down in the hole. When you're not rushing, you can adjust the hip and knees to the way they should be.

The weights were perfect for today. I felt good squatting today and the barbell was as heavy as I needed it to be. It's nice to see my legs have become stronger and strength base is increasing. Legs are the place everything starts from so it's important I get them to the next level.

Chipper. Time 9.54

• 20 handstand push-ups
• 30 pistol squats
• 40 burpees
• 50 pull-ups

I was very tired on my lower and upper body already when entering the metcon. This chipper style is quite different from a regular 5-rounder. There's plenty of reps of 1 movement at once. You have to perform those before you are able to move forward. I thought I would have nailed the hspu's in 2 sets, something like 12+8 but for some awkward reason my shoulders were fatigued already in the beginning. It got very sticky and took me couple of sets to finish them.

Same with pretty much all the movements, I was slower completing them and they felt more challenging than normally. I thought I would chip this through in just a couple of minutes but it took me plenty of time. With a fresh body this could be done so much faster. On the pull-ups I did 15 on the first set, then about 10's till the end.

Monday 28.10: Eccentric squats, row intervals

Monday. Eccentric squats 3 x 8 (100-110kg). Row intervals for 4.030m.

Another day to strengthen my lower body. Now I've had a good chance to work on my legs, in the last month or so. And the results can be seen. The weights I've been able to move lately have made me smile at the gym. Today it was time for eccentric squats, thanks for olympic lifter Kendrick J. Farris for the tip.

Strength. Eccentric squats 3x8 (100, 105, 110kg). Third time doing eccentric squats and I really feel for this type of strength work. It's taxing on lower body but the gains are obvious. I feel my legs are already stronger =) I've done a lot of squatting this month as I promised to myself and wrote it down here earlier. I've stuck to the plan to keep on strengthening my legs because I genuinely believe legs are the motor for pretty much all strength movements.

The first time I did eccentric squats, the weights were @ 80-100kg on 4 sets. Second time the barbell was loaded with 100kg for all 4 sets. For today my decision was to add some weight and complete 3 full sets. The 100kg went nicely from memory. On the next set more work and more breathing was needed to get the reps done. My legs were burning on the last reps. For the last set I upped the weights to 110kg. That was heavy for this type of squatting. Did mental huffing and puffing, grabbed the bar on my back and started going down and up. Slowly down, then up as quickly as possible. Got that 110kg done nicely, awesome!!!

Take a look at mister Farris completing regular back squats 10 x 240kg… 

Rowing. Distance 4.030 meters.

• The following sequence for 25minutes:
• 60sec row, 60sec rest
• 45sec row, 45sec rest
• 30sec row, 30sec rest
• 15sec row, 15sec rest

Don't know where I saw this interval style but it worked. For a total of 25 minutes, different length of intervals followed by each other. Starting with 1min, then 1min rest. Decreasing the work / rest with 15sec each set. After the last set - set of 15sec work/rest - start all over again. So there was a total of 5 rounds of this sequence.

Obviously the 60 and 45 second sprints were the toughest ones. I went all in from the very beginning. Didn't want to save anything in my tank, just go full throttle from point zero. At start my pace was around 1.35/500m, in the end it was more like 1.45/500m. I tried to keep it around 1.40 at max. The shorter ones were faster, the 60-45sec intervals were tougher to maintain the quick pace.

Good interval work. Total of 4k rowed is something. That's clearly more than a metcon would produce. Well, in interval training there should be longer distance anyway. I like to try out various pacing styles with rowing. Simply sitting there and rowing for distance (2-5k) seems to be a bit boring so I like to pace it in interval style. And it's much more fun to go all in all the way =)

Enjoy the recap of the 2013 Games!

Wednesday 16.10: Eccentric squats, reverse hypers

Wednesday. Eccentric squats 4 x 8 (all sets @ 100kg). One legged reverse hypers 3 x 10, both legs. Some deadlifts and dips, mobility.

I was looking for today's squats with extreme eagerness. I've had some left hip issues and thus I haven't dared to do heavy front / back squats in ten days. I have compensated it with doing deadlifts and improved my posterior chain through deads. Today I was full engaged at work and had no possibilities to eat twice during the day. My lunch was not perfect either so my juice was not in place once we went to gym with Pauliina. Had to make some quick decisions after negotiating with my body so I focused only on leg work. Skipped a metcon totally. Squats and reverse hypers.

Strength. Eccentric back squats 4 x 8 (all sets at 100kg). Did this type of squats for the second time in my life. Lower yourself slowly, bounce back and move yourself up normally, a.k.a as quick as possible. Did 4 sets of 8 reps @ 100kg, each set at same weight. I got new olympic shoes, the first in my life, yesterday and I fell in love immediately. Thanks Toni for ordering them for me!

The stabilization in squat is from another world when wearing these Adidas shoes. I found a good stance yesterday in front squats and today in back squats. I'm looking to have great assistance from the oly shoes in certain movements: all possible squats (overhead, front and back) and squat snatch / clean.

Four sets was perfect considering I did 8 slow mo reps @ 100kg. Had decided on the weights beforehand and liked the barbell's feeling all the way. There's a big depth on the squat as you see on the video.

After the squats I did some deadlifts and regular dips, then moved on to do reverse hypers, for 3 sets of 10 reps. It was not a pure reverse hyper machine but something like that. Main focus was on hamstrings and glutes. It was a single-legged station so I did 3 sets both legs. Definitely felt the pressure on the hammies.

By the way, heard Toni did a new PR in clean & jerk, 92.5kg saw the daylight, not bad mister! =)

Wednesday 2.10: Eccentric squats, metcon

Wednesday. Eccentric squats 5x8. Metcon, 10 to 1, down by 1's: wall climb, t2b, box jump.

Do those squats man. Did it in a different way, eccentric squats was the name of the thing today. 5 sets to make legs burn and finish the training with pure pain on the metcon. Haven't done wall climbs in a long time and today I did 55 of them, accompanied with toes-to-bar's and box jumps. Good training session!

Strength. Eccentric squats 5x8 (60, 80, 90, 100, 100kg). There's one beast that I follow in Instagram: Kendrick J. Farris, go check it out. You won't be disappointed. The guy is a freaking beast, US olympic weight lifter. His loads are incredible and technique is perfect. From him I got the inspiration to do this type of squats, goal is to increase overall strength on hamstrings and give different type of stimulation to legs.

On eccentric squats the point is to lower yourself with slow pace, hit the bottom and bounce back up with good speed. That means you have to use strength all the time when going down. That's why I thought the weights would be smaller. Had no idea of how this would compare to regular weights. Did higher rep sets, 8 reps per set.

Mr. Farris

I actually liked the type of squats I did today. Going down with slow pace made me focus on my stance and knees a lot. Had plenty of time to think how to push my knees out properly to find a hole to sit on. the depth of the squats was definitely good, it felt very comfortable to do those squats.

I started with light weights because as I wrote earlier, had no idea how much weight I could carry in these slow motion squats. Added to 80kg, then 90, finally did 2 sets with 100kg. That actually felt like a good measure, could have done all sets around 100kg. And it felt me feel good that I was squatting 8 reps each set, especially with this type of squat that is more consuming than regular squat.

Metcon. For completion

• 10 to 1, down by 1's
• Wall climb
• Toes-to-bar
• Box jump, 61cm

Total of 55 reps each movement. Starting at 10 reps, decreasing the number of reps each round, going down by 1 rep each round. That means 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 each movement. The 'thing' was obviously the wall climbs. Those were horrible after first round =) T2B's and box jumps were pretty much the rest period, just go through them and focus on wall climbs.

The movement standard says your chest have to hit ground on the bottom position and chest must touch the wall on the other end. Don't have any idea how many reps I did each round, I only remember they were tough, a lot of work had to be done. Ny triceps and shoulders were in agony. And it felt like it's not gonna end like ever.

Didn't have a clock running. No reason for that, only a sign of laziness. I was already on the ground, my chest on the floor and decided to start the wall climbs. Then I thought what the heck, no need for the clock running. Went through the workout in as quickly as possible though. Didn't give myself any slack. This one was a rough one. Beforehand I thought it wouldn't be as challenging as it turned out to be. Great one, have to say.