Friday. Oly lifts emom: sdhp's and hang snatches. Wod, 5rds of: 40m farmer's walk @ 113kg, 40m lunges, 10 t2b. Cashout, 200m walking lunges wearing a weight vest. L-sit pull-ups, 4 sets.
Friday night training session. As I entered the gym, the owner told right away that he's ordering jerk blocks from Rogue. That was sick news! I've been drawling over those for a year now. Hopefully someday I'm able to put some weight overhead because those will definitely make a difference for jerks.
Oly.
Every 30 seconds: 1 sumo deadlift high-pull @ 80kg, for 10 minutes
Every minute on the minute: 3 high hang power snatch @ 40kg, for 10 minutes
Two different emom style workouts. There was a 3min break between these. Damn I'd like to do cleans. Sumo deadlift high-pulls are my substitute for those. There aren't many bar movements I can smash right now so I went heavy on the sdhp's. Never have I gone over 60kg before today.
It was a positive thing I was able to do power snatches. Can't put real weight on the bar though but the movement was okay this time. Focus was on extending my hips properly and being powerful. Towards the end it got better.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
40m farmer's walk @ 113kg
40m walking lunges, bodyweight
10 toes-to-bar
Great one. That farmer's walk was a nice piece to throw in the mix. That's definitely not too light. Haven't gone beyond this weight on this movement either before. That's obviously an entire body movement
Bodyweight burned quads big time, especially right after the farmer's walk. That was purely bodyweight stuff but it was definitely sufficient. T2b's were there to bring more pressure on the core. Great workout. Didn't time this at all but worked with same determination as normally.
Cashout.
200m walking lunges
Wear a 9kg vest
Went back and forth that 20m length of grass matt, wearing a vest that weighs 9-10 kilos. Went unbroken for each leg of the distance, then shook my legs before continuing the journey. This was bad ass on lower body.
Gymnastics.
4 sets of:
L-sit pull-ups
Result: 10, 10, 9, 5 reps
In the end I decided to do this old fella I haven't said hi to in ages. L-sit pull-ups, max sets for for 4 sets. First two were 10 reps each, third was close but on the 4th set my arms were so pumped that I could only go for 5. These were no-reps by a long shot but I'll take it. Didn't come to a dead hang in the bottom position. I'm still happy to being able to do these sets nicely.
Tuesday. Clean and jerk complex, 7 working sets of: 1 clean + 2 front squat + 1 split jerk (mostly 90kg). Clean triples (max 105kg). Metcon, 10min amrap of: 6 hang power snatch (35kg), 9 t2b, 12 box jump overs. Result, 191 reps.
Yesterday was a light day because of Super Bowl so my body felt ready for some barbell work. It's been some time since previous bar complex and I had some sort of desire to hit one. Also took couple of sets heavy cleans, and conditioning part was a mixture of light snatches, toes-to-bar and box jump overs. All in all, it was a great session! I took my time to get warm and joints prepared. It took me a good 2+ hours to hang out at the gym.
Complex.
7 working sets of:
1 clean
2 front squat
1 split jerk
Loads: 80, 85, 90, 90, 90, 90, 90kg
These complex stuff are great. It's totally different compared to regular clean and jerk work. Being longer under the stress brings its own twist. Jerk is definitely what is my weak side on these kind of combos. I got these weights done with style but heavier ones could have been too challenging.
Clean was easy, no doubt. Front squats were light if we just look at the weights and compare them to max loads. But in a complex like this they start to bring burden. Especially as there was the jerk waiting around the corner. Jerk is definitely my weaker side of c&j, gotta be putting more effort on that one. More push presses and jerks. Anyway, I'm happy on the way I performed on this one! And the reps were pretty solid on each set. Looked similar, no big differences.
Strength.
Clean 3-3-3-2 (95, 100, 105, 107.5kg)
I had planned on hitting some heavier cleans after the complex. It was supposed to be heavy and it was exactly that. I did these in weightlifting style. I mean they were not touch'n'go triples, more like 3 singles with as minimum rest as possible between reps.
It was positively surprising how high I was able to climb on these sets. I've done 100kg for a triple before but that's the heaviest. Now I got 105kg, there's a video of those lifts below. I knew there's more in the tank so I piled it up to 107.5kg and went after it. I got 2 reps done. Third one fell forward a bit too much and I had to let it go through my hands. That sucked a lot. I really wanted to get that. My training pal said "you'll get it, I already thought you got it".
That was the final trigger for me to try get it once more. I grabbed the bar and pulled. Got it front racked but not in a perfect position. I somehow lost my balance a bit and had to drop the bar. My balance was off too much back and once I tried to drop the bar in front, my right wrist got twisted in a position it didn't want to. So it's been aching for a while now. Hopefully it's just a small thing. Otherwise there's gonna be squats everyday in the future =)
3x105kg
Metcon. Result, 191 reps (7 rounds + 2 snatch)
10min amrap of:
6 hang power snatch, 35kg
9 toes-to-bar
12 box jump overs
This was a good conditioning part in the end. Light snatches, core and hard breathing. That's how I would define this one. It was intentionally light so that it would be possible to keep on going without pauses in vain.
I took the power snatches from high hang position all the way. Those were light, and I liked it. Had they been heavier, it might have had a butterfly effect on the entire workout. Now all elements were completed unbroken each round. For a while I was afraid what would happen with the t2b's. They felt good in the beginning but round by round they got more challenging. Luckily I got them ub for all 7 rounds.
Those box jumps are comfy for me. Don't know what the deal is as those are tougher than normal box jumps but I really enjoy doing them. The number of them was the highest of these three elements and took most of the time and got heart beat high for sure. This was a good triplet to get some action going on and develop metabolic conditioning.
Monday. Snatch emom x 15min: 1 rep hang squat snatch (52.5kg / 115lbs). Hang power snatch 5x5 (40kg).
Yesterday I got a cool thought. If I want to rock my ring muscle-ups some day, there got to happen two things. I'll have to add volume to practicing them and secondly, strict muscle-up would be great. I've taken some progressions towards a strict rep and I came up with a thought of getting some regular kipping reps done every single day. In the warm-up section. I can't add skill session to everyday training because of schedules. There wouldn't be time practically for anything else. So that's why I thought taking a rep or more every single day. At least most of the days. Today was day 1 on this program.
Squat snatch.
Every minute on the minute, for 15 minutes
1 hang squat snatch (2x50, 13x52.5kg)
You'll be seeing more snatches from me in the future. I figured taking heavier squat snatches from hang position, just singles, and climbing up little by little. It turned out my technique wasn't the best today for squat snatches. Simply didn't have the balls to pull fiercely enough. That's why the bar stayed too much in front. I didn't like it. Had 3 misses in total but managed to get the 15 reps done anyway, 1 per minute.
I had aimed to hit something around 60kg but no biggie, I'll take it another day. Today this was the best I could do. Once I got off the gym it felt like I'm getting a cold. Let's see how this evolves. I'm usually not sick so I'm not welcoming this one either. Pauliina nursed me with hot ginger drinks when we got home. Those really felt like they helped a lot! I'll try to fight this one off. It looks like a great training day tomorrow as we have a public holiday in Finland.
Noah Olsen hitting the Dave Castro challenge, brutal combo
Power snatch.
5x5 hang power snatch (40, 40, 40, 40, 45kg)
Metcon was out of question but I still wanted to get some action done so I took couple of sets hang power snatches from hang position, mid thigh. Those hang squat snatches were mostly from high hang, couple of mid-thigh too. Currently I'm more comfortable with high hang. But during these power snatches I wanted to practice the mid-thigh version.
Power snatch set
In my opinion they went pretty well. I was able to pull with lats, not hands that much. Plus the bar traveled rather high, thus not escaping too much in front. Plus the extension was okay. I'm happy on the way these look like, for now.
Sunday. Skills, rings. Strength, emom x 8, power snatch x 2 per min (55-57.5kg). Metcon, 3rds of: 1min hang snatch (40kg), 1min box, 1min push press (40kg), 1min row for cals, 1min rest. Result, 228 reps.
After being weak and a human wreck yesterday I was looking to make a strong comeback this Sunday. Rest day definitely made good as my body was extremely tired. I slept like a baby and we woke up rather late today. Huge breakfast of avocados, smoothie and eggs was plumbed down the throat and after letting it settle for a while we headed to the gym for a good training session with Pauliina.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups (3-1-1 reps)
Decided to try some ring muscle-ups in the beginning of this session. Haven't done these or bar mu's either in a while. It feels like an eternity since last time, no idea when it took place in real life. I'm always a bit nervous when trying ring muscle-ups. Bar versions are working well currently but these rings are intimidating. It was a positive surprise to get 3 reps done unbroken in my first attempt! That is current PR and this was only second time I've got this many done in a row. Took some singles after that too.
Rings
Barbell.
Every minute on the minute, for 8 minutes
2 power snatch (2min x 55kg, 6min x 57.5kg)
Last time when I did snatches it was Toni and Jouni beside me giving tips on technique and something on the starting position. I had positive memories of that session and it inspired me to get my hands on barbell today for some snatches. I did them as 2 power snatches per minute. Started at 55kg and after 2 minutes I went up by a huge leap of 2.5kg. Stayed there for the rest of the workout. Total of 8 minutes of work, 16 snatches, of which 12 were at 57.5kg.
I'll take those with pleasure. It hasn't been self-evident in the past to get these weights up so it feels great to make those lifts without problems. This type of success builds confidence, that's for sure.
Snatches
Metcon. Result, 228 reps
3 rounds of:
1min hang power snatch, 40kg (20, 17, 17 reps)
1min box jumps, 61cm (20, 20, 20 reps)
1min push press, 40kg (20, 20, 20 reps)
1min row for calories (18, 18, 18 cals)
1min rest
Had something like Fight Gone Bad in my mind when I was writing the workouts for the upcoming week yesterday evening. The gym at our place has no room for throwing wall ball around so that had to be left outside of the workout. Had it with me but there was no use for that. I talked Pauliina into making this metcon with me, she just switched the movements but worked her ass off for this one. I'm very proud of her finishing it with style!
The movements for my workout turned out to snatch, box, press, and row. There were 4 stations, each for 1min time, for max reps each time. Every calorie on the rower is considered a rep. This totaled 228 reps in 12min working time. Barbell was 40kg for snatch and press.
This was as nasty as it should be. If you've ever done FGB you know what this resembles. Okay, here were 4 stations compared to FGB's 5 stations which makes it even more miserable. However, I was done after the workout, it got me. I was still able to hold the pace throughout the workout. Actually snatches were the only movement on which my numbers dropped compared to the first round (20-17-17 reps). Other than that all other stations got identical numbers each round.
All movements kept heart beat up, and it really didn't come back at any point. That 1min rest period was warm-heartedly welcomed to get pulse back down. I've done something like this before, different movements though. Take a look at this one. Anyway, I'm very happy on the consistent pace over the course of this workout. There's nothing like a motor that keeps running to keep a smile on my face.
Tuesday. Metcon, 7 rds of: 250m row, 3 hang power snatch (40kg), 6 hspu, 9 t2b, 12 burpees. Time 24.17.
Today's session was difficult to come up with. My right calf is somehow sore still from cramping on Sunday. Yesterday was all about presses and pull-ups in different variations and weights. Today's workout was supposed to be a little easier at least considering the pace on which I was thinking about moving ahead.
Metcon. Time 24.17
7 rounds of:
250m row
3 hang power snatch, 40kg
6 handstand push-ups
9 toes-to-bar
12 burpees
I thought about just putting the clock running but not concentrate it at all, just forget about it and work with these movements with your own pace. You know, just do the work with 70% effort. Well, I started working, did the movements as written and at some point I realized it was indeed a metcon and my heart rate was through the roof at times. Especially after those burpees. Kept a pretty steady pace throughout these rounds, at around 3:30 plus/minus something.
The goal was to keep moving for the entire long workout. Not gas out at any point. Everything went unbroken. That was no surprise to me as the reps were moderate for each station. It doesn't mean it didn't hurt at times. I'm feeling good that snatches felt light, hspu's went touch'n'go style almost every rep, and t2b's were the easiest for me.
Burpees sucked in this workout. As they should too! That's what they are created for =) I have a love / hate relationship with burpees. Probably quite the ordinary story among crossfitters. Such a beautifully simple movement and still, it takes you to dark places when having a high-rep burpee-workout. I battled them through unbroken, paced it though the end a little slower but still managed to keep my body moving constantly.
This workout was somehow great in its own nature. All movements were thought out so that I can move through them without stopping at any point. My focus was not to get the best possible score in the beginning but it changed somewhat during the process of this 24min workout. Originally I thought about possibly taking breaks and then continue but once I started the workout I did it in a regular style and tried to keep up with my round times the further the workout continued.
It was a bit difficult though to move through this workout as my right calf was hard as a rock. It cramped again as I came down from the wall on hspu's on the first round. Then it was tough all the way. I had to do burpees with one leg for couple of rounds as it was a little too sensitive for the jolt with the ground. Got to stretch it out for proper recovery.
The Games start tomorrow for individuals but Masters have already begun. Go and check the live stream at Games.crossfit.com for further information. Now it begins guys, are you ready?!!!!!!!!
Tuesday. Strength, cleans (max 105kg). Workout, emom, for 15min: 1 rep @ 100kg for 5min, 2 reps @ 95kg for 5min, 3 reps @ 90kg for 5min. Metcon, 5rds of: 5/5 db hang power snatch (22.5kg), 10 box. Time 4.14.
This was exactly what I have been waiting for. Very heavy cleans. Singles, doubles and triples, changing the weights every now and then. I find huge pleasure in cleaning the barbell. Especially when squat clean is involved and the weight is at a level where I need to concentrate properly on each lift. I did lots of them today and then some little fun in the end with dumbbell snatches and box jumps.
Strength. Cleans
3x60, 3x70, 2x80, 2x90, 1x100, 1x105kg
My goal was to go as far as possible. Did some hang squat cleans in the end with 60 + 70 + 80kg weights to get properly ready for heavier lifts. Naturally good foam rolling and stretching took place before all of this. At 90kg I started to pull from the floor. Took a double there and then singles at 100 and 105kg. This was the second time ever in my life I took 105kg up from the floor. And it came up nicely. Actually it was better than the 100kg just before. On that lift my form leaned a bit forward but the 105kg was a nice form lift.
I prepared mentally for the 110kg PR attempt, talked myself up but then lost the courage to go under the bar quickly enough. Tried the weight twice but failed to complete it. I had more heavy cleans ahead of me so I was happy with this one and moved on.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute for 15min
1 rep @ 100kg, for 5min
2 reps @ 95kg, for 5min
3 reps @ 90kg, for 5min
This was beautiful! And heavy. My 1 rep max is 107.5kg so lifting these weights was challenging all the way. But most importantly, no misses, solid effort for the entire 15 minutes. That's 30 heavy reps. First of all, this was the first time I did 100kg cleans several times. I took it up 1 rep per minute for 5 minutes. Then dropped to 95kg but did a double. This rep-set for another 5 minutes. That 5kg decrease in weight was significant Might sound small drop but I felt it big time.
At this stage my breathing also got heavier. But it wasn't over. After 10 minutes of work I dropped 5more kilos, making it to 90kg. Idea was to complete a triple every minute. Breathing definitely getting higher by the round. But it was a pleasant feeling to realize I got under the bar quicker each time. It felt tough to come up from the hole. Had to growl every time I stood up from the bottom. This was exactly what I was looking for. Heavy cleans and lots of them, loved it!
Metcon. Time 4.14
5 rounds of:
5/5 dumbbell hang power snatch, 22.5kg
10 box jumps
Something nice in the end. I was pretty much done after cleans but wanted to complete a short metabolic conditioning workout. Dumbbell snatches from hang position and then box jumps. There was another guy doing 21-15-9 deads and boxes so I had to complete the last 2 rounds of box jumps without the Rogue box. Instead I jumped on a bench that is about 15-20cm lower so those box jumps were easy. I kept going all the time. This was a cool one, no reason to stop at any point.
This is my deaload week if you wanna call it that. I've taken it easier on purpose for the last 3 days. It was a tough couple of weeks early this year. And there hasn't been a day without heavy heartbeat nor metcon at all. So on Tuesday I only took heavy singles and climbed up to some record breaking numbers. Yesterday we were doing lots of different skills training with my pal and today I worked with snatches only. Next week I'm on a holiday so I'll have the possibility to train like a pro without time constraints. Waiting eagerly to it!
Snatches. For quality
30 power snatches, 50kg
This was not a modification of Isabel. I didn't pay attention to the clock this time. Classic crossfit test is a benchmark workout called Isabel, 30 snatches for time. Professionals seem to pound it through in 1-2 minutes, as the weight is 60kg rx'd. That's sick pace if you ask me. My goal was to focus on quality and technique. I did the reps as power snatches.
Tried to bring the bar as high on my hips before bouncing it up with explosive hip movement. I did them in doubles and singles. In the end I took 4 reps in a row to finish the workout. This was a good workout to work on quality.
Technique. Snatch
Snatch balance
Snatch press
Squat snatch
Overhead squat
Overhed squat with a pause
I took uncountable amount of snatch balance. Some snatch presses, overhead squats without a pause and with a 10 second pause. I kept light weight only on the movements, most of them with the bar only, or 30 kg on the snatch moves. On the overhead squats my max load was 50kg so it was purely focusing on technique. For some reason I love pauses with a pause. I feel comfy in the bottom position.
I realized something big today on the snatch balance. My feet are pointed differently when I'm doing overhead squats and squat snatches / snatch balance. On ohs my feet are pointed more forward whereas my toes are pointing out more in the squat snatch. On ohs I can hit ass to grass, way beyond parallel. However, as my toes go wider I find it difficult to go below 90 degrees. And that is a problem.
Let's think about it through cleans. When I do squat cleans I do not slow down on the bar at all on my way down. Once my butt hits the ground I start pushing myself up. I can go down relaxed and with good range of motion and mobility, then push aggressively up after reaching the turning point. The case is not the same with my snatch. And my feet look similar, no matter whether it's power clean or squat clean. I'd like to witness the same technical development with my snatch. I'm gonna focus on my feet stance on the landing phase so that I can hit rock bottom on my way down.
Thursday. AM: Skills, handstand. Strength overhead squats. Technique, snatch. Metcon, 6 rounds of: 400m run, 5 hang snatch, 5 hspu. PM: Every minute on the minute style of workout with 3k row, 120 pull-ups and 120 push-ups.
How awesome is it to be on holiday and being able to workout twice a day! And the possibility to go out to Liikuntamylly, which is like a mecca for an athlete =) I'm so thrilled every time I get a chance to go there. And today I had Toni as my training partner. Time flies by so quickly that at one point we realized we had been there for 3 hours haha. Then a lunch and it took us 4 hours total to do some training, nice. It was a PR day for both of us, I got this picture from Toni in the morning as we were both aiming for 75kg lift on the overhead squats. That sealed the deal!
Skills. Handstand. I tried both static handstand hold today and handstand walking. Succeeded pretty well in both of them. I attached samples of both in the recap video. Somehow I'm still wondering why my handstand skills suddenly improved even though I didn't practice that in over a month. That seems a bit weird to me but I don't complain!
We took some wall balls, barbell warm-up, snatch balance to get joints loosened up and ready for pumping. For starters lengthier sets with lighter weights and then from 60kg on it was all about singles. We were purely after the PR, won't deny that. I still wanted to get a couple of reps with lighter weights and here some tips from Toni, the new L1-ceritified coach. He really has an eye for giving tips on the form. It's a different thing am I able to change my habits.
It was an awesome feeling to get that 75kg down and up. It's no issue in the overhead squat to come back up from the hole but it's more of being able to maintain a rock solid core while going down and how to lock the elbows so they wouldn't shake all around while holding the bar over you head. Once you hit the parallel you know you're gonna make a successful lift from there on. At least that's how Toni and I feel like.
It was a cool feeling to hold that 75kg overhead and even jerk it there because I haven't had a barbell in that position with a snatch grip. We both jerked 80kg as well but it was way too shaky for both of us so today there was no chance bringing it home with that weight. I felt like I'm going back and forth with the 80kg bar, just standing, not even trying to squat. Simply couldn't stabilize it.
Recap
Technique.
Snatch clinic.
Snatch and especially snatch deadlift + squat snatch have been the thing we have been putting effort with Toni. The technique there should be way better than it's currently but we both believe we have already gained some important development steps. The starting position is something Toni keeps talking about when pulling from the ground. And how the knees should be getting out of the barbell's way on its way up to the hip. The first pull doesn't have to be fast and fierce, it's more of the second pull from the hips that must be explosive. And while pulling, you must pull with your entire body, bounce the bar from the hips, shrug the shoulders and extend your whole body to create an open path for the barbell to come up in a beautiful vertical line. Then just drop under the bar quickly. As simple as that, in theory. In practice there's lots of repetition ahead of us before it looks like that. At least for me.
These clinics we've done with Toni have been very useful and it's not only about loading as much plated on the bar as possible but with lighter weights working on the bar paths and hoping the muscles will memorize it and soon it will happen automatically without too much thinking. We played around today with 30-40kg in the beginning and then took a couple of heavier reps, reaching a max of 60kg. At this point our bodies were already quite fatigued. And it was still a metcon ahead of us.
Metcon. Time around 17:30
6 rounds of:
400m run
5 hang power snatch, 40kg
5 handstand push-ups
This was a good metcon with a consistent pace all the way from beginning to the end. No reason to slow down at any moment. Each of my rounds were 2:50, varying only within seconds. The fourth round was longer only because we happened to arrive on the snatch station at the same time with Toni. He took his snatches before me so I waited for him to complete them.
I was very happy being able to maintain the same speed in all elements, running felt the same all the time. My shins were aching some because of those 400 double unders from Monday and I felt some pain on the 2 first rounds, then it faded away. The snatches were light but we decided to do them as hang snatches. Hspu's felt like they were flying up and down.
This place is awesome as it's possible to combine running to barbell work and bodyweight stuff too. Can't dismiss this possibility.
Metcon. Every minute on the minute for a total of 30min
First 10min:
Odd minutes, 10 pull-ups + 10 push-ups
Even minutes, 200m row
Second 10min:
Odd minutes, 8 pull-ups + 8 push-ups
Even minutes, 200m row
Third 10min:
Odd minutes, 6 pull-ups + 6 push-ups
Even minutes, 200m row
We went to have some lunch afterwards with Toni, then back home to chill for a while before entering the gym for second session of the day. This was a 30min emom training go rowing, pull-ups and push-ups. The main idea was to row for 200m every other minute, on the even minutes and then do a couplet of pull-ups and push-ups on odd minutes. I decreased the amount of them after every 10 minutes with 2 reps on both movements.
It was a total of 3.000m rowing, 120 pull-ups and 120 push-ups. Rowing pace was consistently at 1:40 so it took 40 seconds to finish those 200 meters. In this workout I wanted to spend no more than 40 seconds on the rowing because this was second session of the day and I didn't want to wear myself out totally. It was a good interval to work on.
Pull-ups turned out to be the most tasking element of these three. Push-ups worked well and were the easiest of them. Good session in general. I did something you might distantly call ghd sit-ups, something like 40 reps, working the core. They were done on a big gym ball so it's probably nothing similar to ghd sit-ups but the movement looked something like it. Then lots of mobility to the end.
Friday. Active work. Skills, 200-300 double unders. Row 2x500m full throttle. 4x15 burpees. Mobility and technique in hang power snatch and overhead squats.
I had no plan entering the gym. The only thing I knew it's gonna be a light day, my upper body is aching and it's been about a month since last rest day so this was a good call I suppose. Still, I wanted to put my heart do some work so there were some double unders, rowing and burpees involved. Some pure technique and mobility with barbell finished the training session. Toni and Joni tagged along for the workouts.
Chad Vaughn
Skills. Double unders. We did sets of 20 reps with Toni, alternating turns, simply to warm-up and focus on skills. After 5 rounds Toni dared to challenge completing max reps double unders. The reps varied between 20 and 47 reps so hard to say what was the total number of reps.
I believe my form was good. I focused strongly in keeping my torso straight, trying to be as effective as possible. I still didn't tape it so I don't know how it really looks like but I tried to check it from the mirror while jumping. Looked solid in my opinion. Good job.
Row / Burpees. My intention was to do 5 rounds of 500m row and 15 burpees, just for completion, not for time. My pace on the rower was 1.39 on the first round and 1.43 on the second one. Then some guy came and took over the rower while I was doing my burpees. Nice… So I had to skip rowing and focus on burpees. Held a pause between burpee sets. Total of 60 reps of burpees and 1k row rather fast.
Mobility. In the end I did a lot of mobility stuff with barbell. Just empty bar, 20kg. I've watched Annie Thorisdottir, Fredrik Aegidius and Chad Vaughn in Instagram and got inspiration to work on hang snatch pull and hang snatch sets, focusing on bar path. Then today's post of "Olychad" got me working towards improved mobility on overhead squats. Take a look at the picture above, that's freaking sick! His mobility is from another planet. Working towards that as well, some day…
Take a look at the boys doing some squat clean in the videos above. Toni and Joni are playing star roles in the videos.
Tuesday. Metcon, death by hspu. Result, 8 rds + 7 reps. Technique, snatch complex: 6 sets of: hang power snatch, hang squat snatch, squat snatch from below the knee, 3 ohs.
Today was reserved for bodyweight skills and olympic lifting technique training. Tomorrow should be more of a strength / metcon type of stuff. It was a good decision to work on the technique plus hspu skills.
Metcon. Result 8 rounds + 7 reps. Total of 43 reps.
Death by handstand push-ups
Oh boy, it's been a while since last "death by" training. I've done one probably only two times. Once with clean & jerks a year ago and snatches in the spring time. It's a perfect way to combine strength and conditioning at the same time. The point in death by is to put the timer running, complete 1 rep on the 1st minute, 2 reps on the 2nd minute. Continue as long as you can follow the rep scheme. At some point there's no time to do as many reps as required. Today it was the 9th round for me.
Today it felt easy for several minutes. I did the reps unbroken up to 8 minutes. On the 9th round I had to take a break after 5 reps. After 5sec I went back on the wall but the recovery was so short I could nail anything but singles. Got to 2 reps short of a full 9 rounds. Total of 43 reps.
The wall hit me fast when it showed it's face for the first time. It was easy up to 6 reps, maybe even 7 reps. On the 8th round I had to do work to get the reps unbroken. Plus, the recovery after doing so many reps was shorter than on the earlier rounds so that was the reason the 9th round tended to be so challenging. Still, I'm happy on the way I got through this one. 43 reps was good.
Technique. Snatch complex
6 sets of the following complex
1 hang power snatch
1 hang squat snatch
1 squat snatch from below the knee
3 overhead squats
All sets @ 40kg barbell
My decision on the snatches was to put light weight on and work on technique. I wanted to do different types of snatches and overhead squats. Focusing on correct bar path and range of motion. This was rather good play with the bar. I have lots of repetitions ahead of me before the bar goes up and down the way I'd like to. Fortunately I know that it's just a matter or working more.
Sunday. Front squat triples (max 120kg). Metcon, Fight Gone Don. Result 232 reps.
What a day. At least I felt like work has been done! Front squat strength training succeeded well and I created by myself. It took my breath away and was one of the toughest workouts I've ever done. Got to fuel up and eat well to fasten up the recovery process. Gonna chill out in the evening and get some energy back in store.
Strength. Front squat 3-3-3-3-3-1 (100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125kg). It was cool to front squat after some time. Classic strength triples, starting at 100kg and adding 5kg till max set. Had no idea how far I could go nowadays. Current one rep max is at 130kg. Hundred kilos wasn't bad at all but I had no expectations, just tried to stay positive and optimistic that I'm gonna stay with the triples in the next set as well. As I was at 110kg the barbell started to feel much heavier but I realized there's a good chance to get 120kg up 3 times. And I got, that was great! Wanted to take a single attempt of 125kg and it was a good one. Stopped there and continued to the wod.
Front squat strength
Fight Gone Don. Result 232 reps
3 rounds of:
1min, hang power snatch, 40kg
1min, box jumps, 61cm
1min, pull-ups
1min, thrusters, 40kg
1min burpees
1min rest
I was smoked! One of the sickest things got to say. At least for me this put me in the border lines of consciousness. I remember having similar feeling when doing Filthy Fifty for the previous time. The cruelty of the workout was clear after the first round. 1min break, and then complete another round, 1min rest and final round is ahead of you. Hard to say what was the most challenging movement, it was more like the combo of all the movements. Each of them made my breathing go heavy and there was no movement that would have been easier than the others.
Strength wise on the snatches my result was the lousiest. Box jumps and thrusters were quite consistent. Take a look at the numbers each round below. Burpees at the end of each round was pure hell. Guess the burpees have never felt as heavy =) Just 1-2 weeks ago I did a metcon with 150 burpees but these 41 reps were way tougher!
Results per round.
Snatches, 13 + 8 + 8 reps
Box, 24, 20, 18 reps
Pull-ups, 25, 20, 15 reps
Thrusters, 15, 15, 10 reps
Burpees, 16, 10, 15 reps
Snatches felt good in the first round as I started the whole workout. I was rather fresh, the front squats felt in my legs but my upper body was ok. Then, on the second round the bar was clearly heavier, it was like some one had added some weight on the barbell. Third round didn't make it any easier.
Box jumps took on my legs and they started to burn early on. Maybe those front squats had their share on the burn. Anyway, the numbers didn't drop dramatically. On the pull-ups my strategy was not to go all in on the first round. I did sets of 10, 10 and 5 on the first round. Probably 10 and 10 on the second and 5's in the last round. My forearms were burning during the entire workout.
After pull-ups it wasn't the most pleasant idea to grab the bar and complete thrusters. Like there were other options, I took the bar and started moving. Did 10 reps each round on the first attempt. On the first and second I did an additional 5 reps. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't do the same on the last round. Would have had time for that. The burpees were challenging. I remember hearing Graham Holmberg say in some video that there's no excuse ever not to keep on going with the burpees. You can always drop down, hit the chest to the ground, and come back up. You can always do it. Just do it. The second round seemed to be the toughest. In the last round I had nothing to hold back anymore so I got to same numbers as in the first round.
Recap of the workout
The feeling afterwards… Indescribable. Felt so awful, had troubles breathing and sight was blurry. It took some time to recover from that feeling. Got home and prepared some good food with Pauliina and stuffed it inside of me to get back on track. It was a great weekend and a relaxing one. Enjoyed it!
Friday. Pair wod with Toni including tire flips, hang snatches, sledge hammer strikes, holding barbell overhead, clean & jerks.
We created one good partner wod with Toni today at his back yard, improvised a bit with the tools available and it turned out to be quite versatile indeed. Good breather!
Metcon. All 4 parts in a row. Time was around 28-29min
Part 1
150 tire flips
Partners alternating after each rep
Part 2
60 hang power snatches, 30kg
Partners alternating after 5 reps
Part 3
120 sledge hammer strikes
Partner A completes 20 sledge hammer strikes in a row, then change turns
Partner B holds a barbell or log overhead while partner A completes 20 strikes
Part 4
60 hang clean & jerks, 50kg
Partners alternating after each 5 reps
Men at work!
The first part was all about flipping the tractor tire. We both liked the movement a lot and it was perfect to start the workout with. It wasn't as heavy as we would like to have it but the movement made both of our hearts beat faster, heart circulating quicker and getting prepared for the rest of the workout. This turned out to be quite a long one, little less than half an hour of work.
The second part was something that could be called double Isabel. 30 reps snatches for both, changing turns after every 5 reps. Because we were working outdoors, we took the bar from hang position rather than from the grass. All weights today were lighter than normally and we were able to keep a steady pace for the entire session.
The third part was probably the toughest. I thought holding a log or barbell overhead would not be that hard of a challenge but it turned out that the combination of hammer strikes and overhead hold were a killer combination to the hands, forearms and grip. There were 6 sets for both of us of 20 hammer strikes and 6 sets of holds. The last 2 sets of holds were painful. However, it was not an option to drop the log because this was a pair workout and it would have slowed us both down. Mental game.
The last part was clean & jerks from hang position. It was only 50kg but after having your forearms burnt in the previous part, the bar felt heavier. I was still able to move it rather nicely and quick. In the beginning I did some presses but towards the end I started using jerk style to make it move faster.
I liked the nature of the workout. It wasn't that heavy on the weights but it got to breathing nicely. I also liked to play with these new tools. Hammer, tire and log. The log was probably around 40kilos.
