Sunday 28-31.8: Olympic lifts, Conditioning, Bodyweight

Sunday 28.6 - Wednesday 31.8: Olympic lifts, Conditioning, Bodyweight.

Last weekend we needed to prepare our home for the upcoming move. We finally moved this week's Tuesday. So there's been quite a lot of other stuff called life. Luckily those days have counted when I've had the chance to hit the gym. Unfortunately my gym card for Optimal Performance Center is over now, ended this Wednesday. I've bought some iron from Rogue and waiting to receive those this week.

Sunday.

• Every minute x 15 minutes: Clean & jerk
• 5min: 5 reps @ 60kg
• 5min: 3 reps @ 70kg
• 5min: 1 rep @ 80kg
• All sets touch'n'go

No pause at any point, just cycle the barbell. These felt great. There's something cool to move the barbell up and down without breaks.

C&J's emom

• Wod. Time 5.33
• 3 rounds of:
• 10 power clean @ 80kg
• 10 high box jumps

This combo was tough, no doubt. Both elements took my breath away. Power cleans were not light. Especially for so many reps. I did those in quick singles. I'm very happy how well I got this metcon done even though it felt awful quite soon.

Monday.

• Oly, jerk from rack 5x3 @ 80kg

Also touch'n'go style, push jerks. I did these every 2:00 but the recovery was enough. Not light for sure, not the heaviest possible but I needed to concentrate well to get these done. A little shaky on some reps in my opinion but still something I was able to manhandle.

Clean / Box metcon

• Wod. Result, 232 reps (7 rounds + 8 pull-ups)
• 12min amrap of:
• 12 pull-ups
• 20 wall ball shots

Huh, this hurt. Unbroken on the pull-ups for maybe 4-5 rounds. I tried to keep the transitions rather short so that's why I needed to break them in the last rounds. Wall balls were ub for probably 2 rounds, then it was 12-8 for the rest of the way.

Wednesday.

• Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes: 1 snatch @ 60kg

It's been a while since doing snatches so it was 'bout time. Decided to do one rep every minute. That seems to be enough recovery to smash another within the time cap. There are things to be worked on so I didn't go heavier.

Snatch emom

• Gymnastics, 30 bar muscle-ups

This was not a timed workout. Just completed them for quality. It was 6-5-4-4-3-3-3-2. My lats are sore from that 12min amrap of pull-ups and wall balls. Great to be able to do these as well without issues still, even though my volume has been lighter lately.

• Every minute on the minute x 20 minutes:
• Odd min, 15 ghd sit-ups
• Even min, 10 dumbbell snatches @ 25kg, alternating

This was the last day in OPC and I didn't have to hurry as the rest of the family was on the move. I decided to do another workout of core and snatches. It took 25-30 seconds to finish every set on both movements so there was consistency on the board.

Tuesday 23.8: Clean and jerk, Snatch, Ghd, Row

Tuesday. Complex, build up to a heavy complex of: 1 power clean + 3 tng push jerk (up to 90kg). Wod, 20min amrap of: 5 power snatch @ 60kg, 25 ghd, 500m row.

Focus on Tuesday was moving the barbell up from front rack. It feels like an eternity since going overhead. Don't know if that's the truth but that's the first feeling. Second focus was putting 60kg snatches on a metcon. Not a joke for me.

Oly.

• Build up to a heavy complex of:
• 1 power clean + 3 push jerk @ 60kg (40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90kg)

This was success. I did these rather fast without that much recovery between sets. Every set was touch'n'go from front rack to overhead. I'm very proud of these lifts. Lately since getting our firstborn, my training volume has gone down quite naturally but it has felt great every time when hitting the gym. It's spectacular to spend time with this little kiddo so the change has been something I can definitely live with =) Got the last set on video.

Wod. Result, 4 rounds

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 power snatch @ 60kg
• 25 ghd sit-ups
• 500m row

Snatches were heavy for me, 60kg ain't that easy. Took them singles all the way. No misses however, which is good news. Ghd's were unbroken and rowing was around 1:50 pace all the way. At one point I had to wait for 30-60 seconds to hop on the ghd's as one guy stepped in in the middle of the metcon. I wrote this as 20min amrap but decided to finish the 4th round. Timer stopped at 20.34, and considering that extra stop on the ghd's, let's say it was 4 rounds sharp.

Tuesday 2.8: Thrusters, Clean, Hspu, Dips, Ghd

Tuesday. Build up to heavy triple of thrusters (result, 80kg). Emom x 6min: 5 thrusters @ 60kg. Emom x 10min: odd 3 power clean @ 90kg, even 10 hspu. Wod, 5rds of: 10 ring dips, 15 ghd.

Couldn't decide between cleans and something overhead so it turned out to a mixture of those both in the form of thrusters. It's cool to build heavy on that specific movement. Then some barbell cycling utilizing the same movement. Some wods afterwards.

Overhead.

• Build up to a heavy thruster triple (50, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg)
• Every minute on the minute x 6 min: 5 thrusters @ 60kg

Sometimes thrusters feel awkward on my elbows but warming them up correctly and using those sleeves I bought some time ago have helped tremendously. It's because I have a full grip on the barbell whereas I hold the bar on just 2-3 fingers when I squat clean it. The bottom position with full grip sometimes feels not so good due to the grip. Today the warm-up was on point I guess.

Went all the way to 80kg for a triple. Felt good to go there. Barbell obeyed the commands told to it. This wasn't the absolute 3RM but I felt like my elbows didn't point straight ahead anymore on the last set so I didn't wanna compromise that form.

After finishing the last strength set I came down a little and completed 5 reps @ 60kg for couple of minutes. Those burned my lungs nicely.

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• Odd min, 3 power clean @ 90kg
• Even min, 10 handstand push-ups

Damned those power cleans felt heavy. I'm glad I did this exactly like this but the weight on the barbell started to feel much heavier, and some of the reps were something I'm not proud of. Had to step forward and legs went too wide on the landing. Nothing serious but I'd like to see every single rep look the same, no matter the weight.

Hspu's were okay for the first rounds but the last ones were something to really focus on. I got through them unbroken but they were hard in the end. Last round was a battle.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 ring dips
• 15 ghd sit-ups

The last piece of today came as a surprise. Was definitely not planned beforehand. Rings looked tempting and so I looked around what to partner them up with. Wasn't gonna touch any weights at all for the rest of the day. Ghd's came up pretty quickly.

Dips were unbroken for 2 rounds. Then I broke them into 6-4, then 5-3-2, and lastly 5-2-2-1. Kept the recoveries so that I got through this as fast as possible. Ghd's unbroken. This was a good combination of movements. Triceps were sore after the session.

Wednesday 13.7: Jerk, Ghd, Push-ups, Row

Wednesday. Push jerk 5's (up to 80kg). Metcon, 6rds of: 15 t2b / ghd, 15 push-ups, 15 cal row.

Yesterday's Holleyman with Toni really feels this morning. My traps are sore as hell which means to say those 30x95kg power cleans were really heavy for me. It was one heck of a workout, and I liked it a lot. Especially doing it with my best pal.

Overhead.

• Push jerk 5's (60, 70, 75, 80, 80, 80kg)

In the morning I went to hit another session. Overhead strength and a conditioning piece to seal the deal. This jerk thing has really gotten to another level. I'm extremely happy about it. It's very cool to see that 80-90kg bar goes up nicely. Recently I did 5x85kg and 3x90kg sets for personal records where 90kg is also my 1 rep max. Seems like there's some room to go heavier.

Today I decided to stay at around 80kg for couple of sets, and felt good on those sets. On the last set (on video) I had to correct my feet which didn't please me but overall I'm very happy on the performance.

Metcon.

• 6 rounds of:
• 15 toes-to-bar / ghd sit-ups
• 15 push-ups
• 15 cal row

Plan was to do ghd sit-ups for all 6 rounds but just when I was about to start the machine got occupied so I changed it to t2b's on the fly. In the end it was 3 rounds of t2b's and 3 rounds of ghd's. Went unbroken on the first round of toes-to-bar's, and the other two had to be broken up, don't quite recall how. Second set of t2b's were probably 9-6 or 9-3-3, and the last set maybe 5-4-3-2-1. Yeah, I'm quite sure this is how it went.

Push-ups were unbroken, easier than I thought. On the rower I have no idea of the pace as I only stared on the calories on the digital screen. Anyway, this was a good metabolic conditioning portion for the day.

Monday 20.6: Squats, Pistols, Ghd, Lunges

Monday. Back squats 5x10 @ 90kg. Skills, 3rds of: 14 pistols, 20 ghd. Accessory, 400m walking lunges with weight vest.

Bradshaw destroyed my forearms the other day. My best guess is that my right forearm is in a bit of an inflammation mode right now. That has an effect on the things I was able to practice today. I was pumped up to do a bunch of stuff but turned up smart and listened to my body. Today was purely lower body oriented session due to circumstances.

Strength.

• Back squats 5x10 reps @ 90kg
• Touch'n'go style

This was a bit different action. Lots of reps with lighter weight. The thing was that breaks were not allowed on these sets. Just take it on your back, and pump it up and down for 10 reps. Weights was alright for today, last reps were nastier on the sets, especially the 4th and 5th set. This could have been heavier though but for now I'll take it. These weren't a walk in the park by any means.

Recap

Skills.

• 3 rounds of:
• 14 pistol squats, alternating
• 20 ghd sit-ups

Holy hip flexors. Both movements burdened those areas and they didn't get much recovery in the process. Changed the leg after every rep. Completed those without breaks but paced myself every round. Ghd's unbroken.

Accessory.

• 20x20m walking lunges (400m)
• Wear a vest

I've done this before in the past. In the beginning this goes on nicely. After couple of rounds it gets tough. Legs burn a lot. Towards the end it just gets worse. The latter part is miserable. But it's definitely going to be good in the long run. In the evening my legs cramped continuously so the leg work for today was definitely on point.

Monday 6.6: C&J, Front squat, Hspu, Ghd

Monday. Every 90sec, for 8 sets: 4 tng c&j @ 70kg. Front squats 5x4, across @ 110kg. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 10 hspu, 20 ghd. Result, 160 reps.

Good session of olympic lifts, strength work and conditioning with gymnastics elements included. Yesterday's Linda made my shoulders tight and lower back sore too. It doesn't matter if the barbell is heavy or moderate weight on deadlifts, they usually have an effect on my body the following 2-3 days.

Oly.

• Every 90 seconds, for 8 sets (12min)
• Perform 4 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 70kg

I added the stakes on the clean and jerks this time, and put 70kg for multiple tng reps. This is heavier and more taxing than what the safe version would be like. It's very satisfying that 70kg barbell on this movement is not intimidating nowadays. That's how I realize development has taken place over the years.

However, doing 4 c&j's without resetting the bar at any stage is another story. That should be heavy. Quick singles are easier. This was touch'n'go so it ought to be tougher. I'm very pleased with the effort shown in this piece. Got through the 8 sets as planned. I was looking to do fewer sets it felt good so I went to 8 sets.

Strength.

• Front squat 5x4 @ 110kg

This was also supposed to be 4 by 4 initially. Completed one more set for fun. All weights across at 110kg. Not super heavy but I haven't squatted heavy lately and my back was killing me from yesterday's deadlifts so these were a bit conservative.

Metcon. Result, 160 reps (5 rounds + 10 handstand push-ups)

• 10min amrap of:
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 20 ghd sit-ups

This couplet turned out to be tougher than expected. I realized during the workout that it's about being in inverted or semi-inverted position throughout the 10 minutes and using hip flexors a lot. Maybe it was exactly the burn of hip flexors and core that also made the handstand push-ups more challenging. I went unbroken for 2-3 rounds, then came off the wall after 7 reps for 1-2 rounds and then lastly 6-2-2 or something alike in the end.

Ghd's got tough, holy moly! I thought these might be possibly unbroken all the way. How wrong was I… Well, the majority was but towards the end those got gnarly big time, and I had to jump up to stand and relax my hip flexors for couple of seconds before continuing. This happened maybe 3 times in total.

Sunday 29.5: Power cleans, Pistols, Farmer's walk, Ghd

Sunday. Power clean 3-3-3-3-3 (up to 95kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 power clean @ 50kg, 20 pistols. Metcon, 4rds of: 40m farmer's walk @ 130kg, 25 ghd's.

Today's agenda was inspired by the ongoing crossfit regionals. Pistols and cleans were the main goal for today. Prior to that I decided to take triples on power cleans and hit some records there. In the end another brutal workout to seal the deal. I call that a great Sunday! During the day we spent quality time with my wife in Porvoo, what a beautiful city, especially during the summer time!

Oly.

• Power cleans 3-3-3-3-3 (80, 85, 90, 93, 95kg)

Didn't have this part in my mind early on but at at some point today I realized I need to warm-up anyway for the pistol / clean portion so why not take advantage it and rattle through some triples in the process. This time I built up to a heavy touch'n'go triple.

There is no doubt that those last two sets were personal records if I recorded max sets of something else than singles. Heavy power cleans are definitely not in my wheelhouse so I'll take this result victoriously and a smile on my face.

Metcon. Time, 9.00

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 power cleans @ 50kg
• 20 pistol squats, alternating

They did this for 4 rounds of 28 pistols and 15 power cleans. I modified it a notch, the volume stayed a little lower (118 --> 100 pistols and 60 --> 50 cleans). The reason was 28 pistols didn't something I'd be going through very fast. My legs are smoked from yesterday's strongman type of workout. Figured this would give me more intense end result.

This was brutal on lower body. Damned those pistol squats. I have them okay but when there's a good volume of those they are going to wear me down. More efficiency on those wouldn't be too bad of a thing. I did them 10-10 in every set.

This started with power cleans and so I did the first set unbroken. The following rounds were all singles. That was not predetermined by any means. In the beginning they were light, especially after the heavy clean triples. But then after the first round I started to save my legs for the pistols. Going unbroken would have taxed me a lot more than these singles. And thus I was able to keep going more effectively.

Metcon. Time, 12.20

• 4 rounds of:
• 2x20m farmer's walk @ 130kg
• 25 ghd sit-ups

My legs were cramping after the pistol metcon. Especially right quad was feeling miserable. Had to drink a lot and foam roll those quads to recover before the last event on this Sunday. I'll tell ya, those farmer's walks felt much more brutal after previous work being done today.

Ghd's were destined to be completed unbroken. Had to take a short break in the last set on top of the ghd machine as it felt like I'm not going to get up again otherwise =) This was a very good workout to smash core all the way.

Monday 23.5: Clean and jerk, Thrusters, Ghd

Monday. Emom x 10min: power clean & 3 jerk @ 70-73kg. Emom x 12: Odd min, 12 thrusters @ 40kg. Even min, 15 ghd.

Good quick session of olympic lifting and emom work to improve conditioning and also skills plus efficiency on those movements.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• Power clean + 3 touch'n'go push jerks
• 1-5min: 70kg
• 6-10min: 73kg

This was great. Actually those jerks felt surprisingly easy. I had thought about doing them at 70 kilos for 10 minutes but then in the middle decided to add some weight. Conservatively but still a little jump. Got to try this with a little heavier too in the future.

Conditioning.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
• Odd minutes: 12 thrusters @ 40kg
• Even minutes: 15 ghd sit-ups

Second piece of action was good too. Went on with this couplet for total of 6 rounds each movement, 72 thrusters and 90 ghd's. Liked to get some volume in the bank. Both movements got breathing on the heavier side. Okay in the beginning it was easier on the breathing and it was definitely manageable throughout but it started to get heavier. Went unbroken on both, and tried to move fast all 12 minutes. Recovery was somewhere around 30+ seconds after each station.

Thursday 19.5: Row, Ghd, Box, Snatch, Burpee

Thursday. Metcon, 3rds of: 30 cal row, 30 ghd, 30 box jump overs. Time, 14.10. Metcon, 8min amrap of db snatch (25kg) and burpees.

The playoffs started today in the Ice Hockey World Championships. Had to rush home after work to check Finland win Denmark. Got to say there seemed not to be a lot of feeling and will to win but on either team's mentality. Still, Finland won and moved on to compete against Germany or the comp host Russia. I found a chance to hit the gym after the game.

Metcon. Time, 14.10

• 3 rounds of:
• 30 cal row
• 30 ghd sit-ups
• 30 box jump overs

This was all about hip flexors. Every movement put pressure on those areas and it took a while after the metcon to recover. No idea of the row pace, I just looked at the calories and kept pulling. Ghd's were unbroken on the first round. On the second round I broke it to 18-12, and 12-10-8 on the last round. Core stayed good on these, it was all about the hip flexors. On the box overs I paced myself but never stopped moving.

Metcon. Result, 116 reps

• 8min amrap
• 2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of:
• Dumbbell snatches @ 25kg
• Burpees

My plan was to hit another metcon today so after recovering for a while I came up with this one. One training partner hit something with db snatches and burpees and it sounded good so I modified it to this one. This was a perfect conditioning piece. Got my breathing high and the overall fatigue hit me little by little.

Monday 2.5: Clean and jerk, Pull-ups, Ghd

Monday. Clean and jerk 1+3 (up to 84kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 4 c&j @ 70kg, 12 pull-ups, 16 ghd. Time, 11.57.

The past clean and jerk or anyhow overhead type of sessions have felt great so I continued that mood by hitting another c&j session. Then metcon including overhead, pull-ups and core work. Holy smoke my hip flexors were on fire.

Oly.

• Clean and jerk 1+3 (60 70, 75, 80, 82, 84kg)

These felt good all the way. Just a little shaky on some reps but in general I'm happy with how the barbell moved. These were all touch'n'go jerks which add the pleasure in my head. I didn't even think about it at the moment but now as I go back I got to say it was a big thing.

Metcon. Time, 11.57

• 5 rounds of:
• 4 clean and jerk @ 70kg
• 12 pull-ups
• 16 ghd sit-ups

Clean and jerks were quick singles each round. It's great that 70kg barbell moves this well. That is by no means an issue to put the barbell overhead. Surely it gets my heart rate up and it takes a toll on the body in overall sense but the main thing is that the bar moves nicely.

Pull-ups were destined to be unbroken and that plan got carried through I wanted it to be. Last round was agony but I got them done. Ghd's were much more painful than normally. It was probably the entire combination that made my hip flexors sore, numb and everything else. It was a lot to handle but oh so good workout!

Thursday 28.4: Cleans, Squats, 15min amrap

Thursday. Emom x 15min: Cleans (up to 100kg). Front squat 7x5 @ 100kg. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 10 hang power clean (40kg), 12 box, 14 ghd. Result, 293 reps.

Today I'm having a day off from work so I got a chance to hit it early in the morning. I had some studying waiting me up to do so that's the reason the session took place even earlier than normally on free days. Took some clean and jerks in the beginning but shoulders felt tired so I changed it to cleans on the fly and then some lighter front squats. And metabolic conditioning in the end. Good session.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
• 1-5 minutes: 3 cleans @ 80kg
• 6-10 minutes: 2 cleans @ 90kg
• 11-15 minutes: 1 clean @ 100kg

These were all squat cleans. Decided to go by feeling on these. Even though I warmed up longer than normally my body felt stiff and maybe it was still asleep =) That's the reason why the upcoming front squats turned out to be a notch lighter as well.

Three parts, each section took 5 minutes. 3x80, 2x90, 1x100kg emoms. At first I almost game myself too much slack and thought about going at 80 kilos all the way. Luckily I didn't. These felt pretty good despite the stiffness.

Strength.

• Front squat 7x5 @ 100kg

It was fun to get some front rack squats done after a while. The load was moderate, something that needs to be moving smoothly under any circumstances any day. I focused on proper bar path and having a good control through the middle on both ascend and descend parts.

Metcon. Result, 293 reps (8 rounds + 5 cleans)

• As many reps as possible in 15 minutes of:
• 10 hang power clean @ 40kg
• 12 box jumps
• 14 ghd sit-ups

This seemed like a lot of fun and definitely was so. Cleans and box jumps were completed right next to each other so there was no time-waste there. Ghd's need to be completed at the other side of the space and you can't do cleans there so this needed to be completed at two spots. That took some transition so I played it in my head before starting the workout.

I figured the walk is compulsory between stations so my strategy needs to be so that once I get to the ghd's I gotta jump right into those and start moving. Same thing when returning from there. Grab the barbell right away (after marking the time of each round). Did all these unbroken for sure. I wrote this so that there are no excuses to stop. Round times varied by just seconds, they were quite sharp around 1:50.

Friday 8.4: Two metcons and cleans

Friday. Wod, 10min amrap of: 20 squats, 15 ghd, 12 jerks (2x15kg db's). Result, 273 reps. Cleans up to 100kg. Wod, 4rds of: 12 kb swing (32kg), 25 lunges, 250m row. Wear a 10kg vest. Time, 11.25.

Today was somewhat an easier day. It wasn't supposed to be but I didn't come up with a perfect plan so this is what it turned out to =) The latter metcon beat my legs though. Cleans in the middle were lighter ones.

Metcon. Result, 273 reps (5 rounds + 3 jerks)

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 air squats
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 12 shoulder-to-overhead, 2x15kg dumbbells

First piece was basically no warm-up needed type of wod. Bodyweight plus some lighter dumbbells. Focus was on keeping my body moving constantly, and not stop to breathe. Still, this didn't get me gassed that bad. Legs got their share on the workout. I did the s2o's as push jerks all the way so those got to lower body nicely too.

Cleans.

• Singles 60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg

These were light ones. I was spotting one guy on the bench occasionally and didn't have a timer running so this turned out to be a little sloppy piece but I'm happy the lifts were good anyway. Below is the last one at 100kg's

Metcon. Time, 11.25

• 4 rounds of:
• 12 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 25 walking lunges
• 250m row
• Wear a 10kg weight vest

After the last round was completed I realized the set-up sucked quite a bit of my time. It took me 15+ seconds to walk from rower to the kettlebell. Yes I know, sounds like I should have brought the bell next to the rower. The idea didn't even cross my mind :) On the other hand, maybe that was a good thing so I got my legs recovered a bit on the walks.

Having that vest on also on the kb swings and rowing definitely had its effect. Swings felt kind of funny, and I'm still wondering if I was wearing it the right way or should the front side be on my back. Anyway, lunges were nasty. Definitely liked those in some twisted way.

Sunday 3.4: Snatch, Mainsite

Sunday. Snatch emom x 10min: snatch + ohs (up to 60kg). Metcon, 20min amrap of: 400m row, 20 ghd, 10 ohs @ 42.5kg. Result, 5rds + 379m.

Oh my, these legs have felt sore big time since Thursday. Yesterday's heavy squats probably didn't help either. Today's agenda was snatches in the beginning and then a longer amrap in the end.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• Snatch + overhead squat (50, 50, 55, 55, 55, 60, 60, 60, 60, 60kg)

It was a blessing to get my hands on a barbell and hit some snatches. It was a blast. I honestly feel like my snatches have taken a huge leap forward (not literally) on the technique. Once in a while I look at the videos from history just to compare how things have changed on my crossfit path during time.

Began at 50kg and went on by feeling. The snatches were okay. Only the first 60kg lift was horribly off but other than that they were alright. They were caught a little too front which is a classic in my case. I have never failed a snatch too much behind so that probably gives a hint that I'm not pulling back enough.

Snatches and first round of overhead squats

Metcon. Result, 5 rounds + 379m row

• 20min amrap of:
• 400m row
• 20 ghd sit-ups
• 10 overhead squats @ 42.5kg

This was on mainsite (www.crossfit.com) yesterday and it caught my attention. Decided to hit it today, just subbed running for rowing due to circumstances. Rowing was easy pace, something around 1:50+. My reasoning was that saving couple of seconds there would not make a big difference. Instead, cutting the transition times would make.

Through the rounds of 2-4 I had to change the order of ghd's and ohs's because someone was hassling over with the ghd machine for some back extensions. Well, I didn't mind which movement came first, and didn't reckon a difference in the difficulty level either way. These were unbroken each round.

Monday 28.3: Intervals, Ghd's

Monday. Every 4:00, perform 15 cal row, 12 wb, 9 burpee. For 7 total sprints. Accessory, 75 ghd's.

This day was all about sprinting as fast as possible. I left the barbells alone. My legs are still tired so today's effort was a good battle. This was entirely bodyweight stuff. In the end I did core accessory work.

Intervals.

• Every 4:00, for 28min
• 15 cal row
• 12 wall ball
• 9 burpee

Each set took me about 1:20, couple of seconds give or take to some direction. Rowing was somewhere at 1:30 pace. At least on the two sets on which I checked the digits afterwards. Can't see the pace when the digitals show the number of calories so I had to come back, push some buttons and see the pace after intervals. I just wanted to go max effort each time I had my hands on the handle. Happy to see the pace was fast for me.

The reps of each element was planned so that I can push through even with the dark place crawling in. It's a funny feeling when legs are almost out of gas but you just keep going forward. It's not the first intervals that are bad but after couple of those the last ones are miserable. It finally made my legs hurt already after the rowing.

Burpees started to burn legs big time, and 9 reps were definitely enough. I had thought about the rep scheme in couple of different styles but this was eventually the one, and I liked it.

Recap

Accessory.

• 75 ghd sit-ups

Some core work in the end. I basically did this as an emom workout. One set of 15 reps per minute. It took quite precisely 30 seconds so it was 1:1 work:rest ratio. It got hard on the last 2 minutes but there was no doubt of hitting each set.

Sunday 20.3: Jerk, Ghd, Pull-ups, Push-ups, Run

Sunday. Metcon, 30min amrap of: 7 jerk @ 60kg, 15 ghd, 12 pull-ups, 20 push-ups, 10x20m run. Result, 6rds.

Holy hammies, my lower back and hamstrings are sore, and the general feeling in my body is that some work has been put in the past days. The last couple of sessions have been more intense than normally. I have been able to dig down and put my head in the dark place and still keep going. That have also made my lungs burn more than normally. Today I figured it's necessary to take a longer workout and tomorrow's gonna be a rest day.

Metcon. Result, 6 rounds sharp

• 30min amrap of:
• 7 push jerk @ 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 12 pull-ups
• 20 push-ups
• 10x20m shuttle run (200m)

This was a good choice after all. Decided to just throw in some movements in a brainstorming session in my head and see what comes up. Then mix them up and decide on the rep schemes. Consulted my wife as well in order to get an objective view on the game.

I was thinking about whether to do 7x60kg or 10x50kg on the jerks. My body really feels hammered throughout so it was difficult to know how it would adapt. I took couple of jerks at 40kg and 50kg, then decided to just go at it at 60kg without testing it at all. It was good weight for sure.

Ghd's were alright, just made breathing a bit heavy as I have to stay tight in the bottom and keep the breaths inside. I took my time after ghd's before getting on the pull-ups. Went unbroken on those, that was the goal. Push-ups are classic. Haven't done much of those so this was a good call by Pauliina. First 3-4 rounds were unbroken. Then it was broken down to smaller pieces but at least 10-12 reps were done on the first attempt each set.

This thing called running. It would made sense to run more, much more. It's just a little difficult to arrange as there is no easy access outdoors and the gym is located in a place where you can't practically go outside running. When we are in Klaukkala during some weekends I often plan to run in order to get that in the program too.

First jerks of the metcon

Tuesday 1.3: Row, Jerk, Pistols, C2b, Ghd

Tuesday. Wod, 3rds of: 40 cal row, 20 s2o @ 50kg, 20 pistols. Time, 15.12. Emom x 14min. Odd min, 7 c2b. Even, 15 ghd.

Was supposed to do push press sets for strength but left shoulder felt awkward on those reps that I did with 60kg barbell so I dropped it and moved on with my plan. The metcon was great. Then some accessory elements in emom style to finish it.

Metcon.

• 3 rounds of:
• 40 cal row
• 20 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
• 20 pistol squats

I'd prefer workouts where you can go unbroken on each element each round. That is exactly the reason why I programmed this one. These are always a pleasure though. In other words, I don't mind the workout. Everything goes.

Row for 40 calories equalled something around 550m per round. I tried to keep a good pace all the time, didn't rest on the rower. Didn't go 100% either, that would have been an awkward decision. Jerks were 14-6 on the first round, then 10-5-5 on the latter rounds. Yes, those felt in my shoulders but legs were burning throughout the workout. None of the elements gave a proper rest period for them.

Pistol squats crowned the triplet. Smashed my lower body for sure. I was a bit afraid to redline on the jerks as those had a big effect on my legs. So I had to hold back a bit on those. In the big picture I believe this workout went nicely.

Accessory.

• Every minute on the minute x 14 minutes
• Odd minutes, 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• Even minutes, 15 ghd sit-ups

I consider c2b's a weakness for me so this piece was warmly welcomed. I've knocked 20+ unbroken chest-to-bar's but the endurance for those is not greatest. And I'd like to do them in bigger sets. No point in doing just a few reps at a time. At least for me that's not the achieved state of mind. Ghd sit-ups are strong within me. Still, these got to my core pretty well in the last rounds.

Thursday 25.2: Burpees, Snatch, Ghd, Press

Thursday. 4min amraps of burpees and snatches with ascending weights. Metcon, 20 to 2, down by 2's ghd's. 10 db press between ghd's.

Another long day at work. This thing called crossfit is a perfect way to zero my thoughts and get back to life. It was a productive day indeed but energy levels start to come down at some point. Then it's time to gear up and go to work, to the gym though. By the way, the Crossfit Open is upon us! They will publish the first event, 16.1 on the upcoming night. It's gonna be spectacular to kickoff the crossfit season. I love to watch and follow the pros doing their job to find the fittest on earth.

Intervals.

• 4min: 30 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 35kg (result, 32 reps)
• 4min rest
• 4min: 20 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 50kg (result, 25 reps)
• 4min rest
• 4min: 10 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 60kg (result, 13 reps)

My camera's battery went dead on the first amrap so I couldn't relive the moments but fact is that on the first round I went unbroken on the burpees. Actually every round. That was the easy part. Then came the snatches. First round was 10-10-5-7 reps to finish it with 32 reps.

Second set was with slightly heavier weights at 50kg. First 20 burpees, then use the rest of the remaining time of 4 minutes to complete as many snatches as possible. It was triples all the way until the last set where I took one extra rep.

Third amrap was at 60 kilos which meant it's gonna be singles from the very first lift. This was a good strategy, and I don't know how many fails there would have been had I tried to do doubles. In the beginning I was a bit too ambitious and tried to do fast singles. This led to one failed rep. Other than that it was okay. Definitely not the best snatches I've had but the barbell came up.

Metcon.

• 20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 of ghd sit-ups
• 10 dumbbell presses @ 2x15kg

This was created on the fly. Just started moving and came up with this during the first set of ghd's. That was a good time pressure to think what to do after the 20 reps are done. Walked right onto dumbbell rack and picked up two pieces of 15kg db's, and went for 10 reps. That was easy in the beginning.

During these 10 rounds they got tougher towards the last rounds. Core got also stiff in the metcon and both movements brought pressure there. Went unbroken still, and refused to take any rest between elements. Walked over to the dumbbells, picked them up right away and put them overhead. Same with the ghd's.