Saturday 14.5: HC Triplet Goes Kehä!

Saturday. HC Triplet Goes Kehä. Three team events with Toni and Sipa.

Huh what a competition day with the boys!!! The volume ramped up to this year's HC Triplet. To see what HC Triplet is really about you can scroll to the right hand side of the blog and check the links to prior Triplets. This was the fifth time we arranged this with Toni. Last two times my bro has been part of it too. Shortly, the idea is to thrown down for 3 grueling events to torture our bodies and minds. This year's "games" were a success as well. First time we did this inside, location was Toni's crossfit affiliate called Crossfit Kehä. Usually we have been outdoors, mainly in Pirkkola sports park. This was also the first year we had barbells included in the game.

Event 1. Time, 38 minutes

• One athlete rows 300m constantly
• In the mean while, 2 athletes chew down a chipper of:
• 50 bar muscle-ups
• 100 burpee box jumps
• 50 handstand push-ups
• 100 pull-ups
• 50 squat cleans @ 80kg
• 50 thrusters @ 50kg

All of the three events were supposed to be different style and different stimulus. The first one was classic chipper style workout with one guy rowing at the sidelines all the time. Just row your 300 meters and tag next one in line for rowing. We rotated the rower evenly of course for the entire 38 minutes that this bad boy took us to complete.

This felt like it took an eternity. It was difficult to know exactly how much it would take time but it was no surprise it took energy, a lot of energy to get to the finish. Our plan was to go by feeling. We didn't divide the work load evenly, just agreed to go for a good bunch of reps, then tag the next one to work on his behalf.

Bar mu's kind of fell on my neck to complete mostly. Those felt pretty good today. I reckoned not to take too big bites as it was the first part of the workout. It was 3-5 reps per set all the way. Burpee box jumps were about 5 reps per dude at a time. That seemed to suit well for everybody.

Hspu's felt very good. Those also seemed to be good for Sipa and Toni too. So I only got to do one set for 10 reps and the second one for 5 reps. At this point I thought they would suck more but luckily not.

Pull-ups. Those could have potentially destroyed us but there was good mental strength and someone was hanging on the pull-up bar constantly. Toni ripped his hands right on the bar mu's so these were nasty to go after with a bloody blister in hand. Luckily he found a glove in his bag. It was probably not cool to do pull-ups with just fingers.

God damn that squat clean @ 80kg! Especially the first reps felt heavy. I was able to rack that barbell perfectly every time. It just felt heavy as hell in the bottom position. There was no doubt of standing it up though. But it really smoked legs and hip flexors with every lift. But those got better through time on everybody's behalf. I believe I got most of these done. Ideally it was planned so that we would do quick singles but it change on the fly and went by feeling.

In the beginning thrusters felt like they would definitely be the most disgusting element. Never have I done so light thrusters at 50 kilos! After 80kg barbell that really felt something we smashed rather easily. It was about sets of 5 reps all the way. Finally after 38 minutes it was over. Very good job guys! Great way to start the Triplet, awesome commitment from everybody!

Event 1

Event 2.

PART A. Time 17min

• Interval work of kettlebells and shuttle runs
• Each athele completes one round of work, tags the next one to work the same work load. Once every athlete has completed the first round, they move on to the next round
• 1st round: 20 kettlebell swings @ 32kg + 10x10m shuttle run
• 2nd round: 20 kettlebell snatches @ 24kg + 10x10m shuttle run
• 3rd round: 20 deadlifts @ 32kg + 10x10m shuttle run
• 4th round: 20 double kettlebell jerks @ 16kg + 10x10m shuttle run
• 5th round: 20 double kettlebell front squats @ 16kg + 10x10m shuttle run

PART B. Result, 74 reps.

• Right into part b, as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
• Clean and jerks @ 70kg

This was nasty. If the first was more of a long, grueling chipper, this was interval work where legs were destined to get murdered in the process. Point was that Sipa started, he completed the 1st round of work, Toni and me rested in the mean while. Once Sipa threw himself over the finish line, I completed the same work load. And after I had done my part, Toni did his. After Toni, Sipa moved on to round 2, and this system continued through all 5 rounds.

The dark place definitely showed up on the shuttle runs. It was shuttle runs on purpose. That's a million times worse than 100m run itself. It really didn't matter which element of these five alternatives was going on. Okay they first swings were heavier, and front squats got our legs big time as well.

Sipa lost his calf in the process on one of the runs. He started limbing because of the cramp. Luckily we had magnesium spray and he was able to continue nicely. We had different weights for different movements. This time we agreed the loads were right were they needed to be.

It took us 17 minutes to complete the kettlebells and runs. Part B initiated right after the work had been completed. This frightened us a little prior to the workout. I thought why the heck did I program this heavy barbell right after intervals.

However, we got this! We won the barbell for sure. We kept the same order on this one. Sipa started, I was second, Toni came third. I felt strong already on the first rep. Took it on the front rack, and bounced it overhead with the same movement, not stopping at any point. Was able to keep this pace throughout the 8 minute time window. I felt like my partners also improved towards the end all the time, and it started to look like a feather in their hands towards the end! We got through 24 rounds + 2 reps. That makes it a total of 74 reps.

Event 2

Event 3.

• 15min amrap of:
• Rope climbs

Grande Finale! We once saw Mikko Salo and Jonne Koski post a workout where they did 30min amrap of rope climbs. That really stuck to my head as we honored their work capacity with my bro. HC Triplet seemed like the perfect place to redeem that promise we made to each other to get after it some day.

The rope was long. A lot longer than I have used to climb in Klaukkala. Well, I have 7.6m rope but the distance to climb is probably 5 meters long. This was probably 7 meter all the way. At first we climbed to 5m (I went to mark it with a tape in the beginning) but at some point I decided to start going all the way to the roof. I still had something in my tank and strength left, and I didn't want that to be the case once HC Triplet Goes Kehä was finished!

It felt super good to climb. And I was very positively surprised how well my body was able to hold on with just short recoveries between climbs. Toni had some issues with his shoulder and had to withdraw at some stage and it was on me and Sipa to finish the 15 minutes. That made the recovery even shorter. Still, we somehow were able to move up and down the rope nicely. I have no idea of the amount of reps we completed. Sipa had an idea of about 20 reps per dude.

These competitions have always been tough as nails for us. Definitely heavy work both physically and mentally. These are written to be tough, and we succeeded in that goal. As we look at this afterwards I got to say some progress has taken place for Sipa, Toni and I. There's no way we could have done this volume in the last Triplet in 2014. Neither did we have the skills back then required in this comp. So it's very uplifting to stop for a while and think how much progress has been made in the past years.

Event 3

HC Triplet is just around the corner

The day is about to take place. This is tough stuff! We have scheduled another HC Triplet to our calendars with Toni. If you have stuck around for some time in my blog you probably know what this is all about but in case this term sounds strange you can check below what the heck I am talking about =)

HC Triplet
HC Triplet II: In to the woods
HC Triplet III
HC Triplet IV: Kettlebell Fiesta

Basically this all started in 2012 when we took our first steps as crossfitters with my best friend Toni. One day we got an idea of hitting 3 workouts in one day. That time it was a mind blowing suggestion as we were used to take it one per day.

On 8.9.2012 it all changed and we went to Malminkartano's recreational area. Since then, we arranged the next Triplets at Pirkkola's sports center. Fourth time was the first time we had more athletes and it turned out to be a team competition. Next time is probably individual but the venue will change. Stay tuned!

Saturday 10.5: HC Triplet IV, Kettlebell Fiesta

Saturday. HC Triplet IV. Three Events, pair workouts. Paired up with Toni against Sipa and Jake.

Awesome!!! What a day! On the other hand, can't call it a surprise. These Triplet throw downs are simply the best crossfit time ever. Having a blast with my training partners. Today was the first time ever we had company with Toni in these Triplets. Sipa and Jake tagged along so it was only natural to do these workouts as pair workouts, teaming up with Toni against Sipa and Jake. It was a tight one!

The gang

Event 1. Toni & Don 22.39. Sipa & Jake 23.05

• 200 double unders cash in
• 400m run
• 40 kettlebell clean & jerks, 32kg
• 400m run
• 60 burpees
• 400m run
• 80 sit-ups
• 400m run
• 100 walking lunges, 25kg sandbag
• 200 double unders cash out

All these workouts were different style of events. The first one was something like a chipper. One athlete was allowed to work at a time except for the run part. Both were required to run at the same time for the entire 400 meters. On all movements one guy was allowed to move body or weights at a time. The reps were ascending from 40 to 100 reps, changing the element after each run. The workout began and ended with 200 double unders.

I'm very happy on the way Toni was dominating all of these events. There was a time in the past where most of the reps would have fallen for me to complete. But today we are in a situation where this stud has developed tremendously and we were able to complete most of the reps evenly. I think I did a little more burpees and sit-ups but other than that we made the reps fifty fifty.

Recap, Event 1, Sipa & Jake

Our strategy was simple. We got to keep moving all the time, no rest at any time of the workout. Once the other one wears down it's time for the other guy to step in. On the c&j's we had planned on making it in 4 sets of 10 reps but if it starts to burn too much, it's okay to drop it and let the other one perform. We didn't want to see those moments where you try to gasp for air and the kettlebell is not moving at all. Those sets were somewhat challenging but we were able to manhandle them nicely!

On burpees our plan was to do first sets as 5's and then singles, alternating after every rep. On couple of occasions I took couple of extra reps to let Toni rest for a few seconds. We were both moving efficiently and there was no need to stop and breath. Either of us was moving all the time.

Recap, Event 1, Toni & Don

On sit-ups I believe we went through it mostly in sets of 20 reps. That wasn't the most taxing element in this one. I tried to do them as fast as possible with some rage in my mind. This was something I didn't wanna slow down.

Lunges were definitely a pain in the ass, literally =) 100 lunges, which we divided something like 20's. It most definitely burned my lower body. Toni didn't seem to bother at all about this movement, the guy was enjoying his time!

In the end it was time to hit another set of 200 double unders. We had some misses in both ends of the workout on du's but mostly it was okay performance. I believe these were the only one where we could have done better? It was a solid effort all the way from beginning to the end. Running was decent in all rounds. I'm telling you it sucked big time right after burpees! Huh it felt like we were on a slow recovery jog. But then after sit-ups it felt light. The element performed affected a lot.

Sipa and Jake probably ran a little faster. On the other hand we nailed the kettlebell jerks in 4 sets whereas they had about 7 sets. That made a difference to our advantage plus we did Sandy lunges in less sets so we saved some time in the transition. We got this one with about 30sec shorter time.

Event 2. Toni & Don 35.16, Sipa & Jake 30.34

• 21-15-9-15-21 of:
• Wall ball, 10kg / partner in squat hold
• Pull-ups / partner holds wall ball overhead, 9kg
• Kettlebell swings, 32kg / partner pull-up bar dead hang

On paper this seemed like "the thing". As nasty as it gets. Traditional 21-15-9 rep scheme with a twist as you have to climb back with 15 and 21 reps in the end. Another twist was that while the other athlete is completing the required reps, the other one has a role as well. He has to stay in a static hold position. Either sit in a squat, hold a wall ball overhead, or dead hang from pull-up bar. We had 2 wall balls with us, Jake has a 10kg ball and Sipa 9kg. Those are both home made from a basket ball filled with sand.

Recap, Event 2, Sipa & Jake

Recap, Event 2, Toni & Don

The static hold was the surprise element at least to me. Haven't done anything like that. It really made a difference here. Especially on the pull-up bar dead hang. And think about the order of the elements. Both had to complete all 81 reps of all 3 movements, that is 81 wall balls, 81 pull-ups and 81 kb swings. In addition they had to do those static holds while the other one was doing his share. Lots of work.

Toni started this one with 21 wall balls, I was in squat. After Toni did his reps, we changed positions. After my 21 wb's, Toni jumped on the pull-up bar and did 21 of them while I held the wb overhead. And then changed again. This was the name of the game. Imagine doing pull-ups and then stay up there for static hold as Toni moved on to kettlebell swings. That wasn't cool.

Jake and Sipa beat the crap out of us on this one. Guess there was about 4-5min difference. The difference was made mainly on the pull-up bar. We were evenly good on wall balls, all 4 of us. Even though it felt difficult in the beginning to hit the target with good enough accuracy, it started to feel better and better towards the end. Everybody had misses, it was different to throw the ball on this target compared to a wall.

There was a good amount of reps to be done and those static holds had their influence, no doubt. Because we took some time on the pull-up bar, I got some extra recovery time so I felt pretty good during the workout. Forearms were definitely tingling because all the work but it was manageable. And palms were quite sensitive after the workout. We were afraid how it would affect the last event. They were sore as hell, same on the legs, it felt horrible. These 2 workouts had been taxing! The first one was 20+min and this was about 35min so no wonder we were aching in pretty much all body parts.

Event 3. Toni & Don 4rds + 32 kb snatch. Sipa & Jake 3rds + 17 t2b

• 20min amrap of:
• 50 air squats
• 40 kettlebell snatches, 24kg
• 30 toes-to-bar
• 20 goblet squat, 32kg kettlebell

My favorite! We had a good rhythm and fast heart beat from the very beginning. All 4 movements guaranteed heart rate was sky rocketing and muscles hurt. But it was the last event and we had a good vibe going on all the time. We nailed this one. No extra pauses, just kept moving continuously. The only strategy we had was on the t2b's and snatches. We had decided Toni would do 5's and I'd do 10's. We managed to follow that rep scheme for 3 full rounds, on the 4th round we both did something like 4's and 8's.

On snatches we decided to try complete them in 10's for as long as possible. Other than that it was more like "go by feeling", complete as many reps as you can, don't gas yourself but don't give slack either. That worked very well. We did goblet squats in 2 sets all the time, we did something between 8-12 in every round. On the squats I have no idea what happened or how many we did in any of the sets =) We just listened to the judge count the reps and talked during the workout. "You go!"

It was a surprise how well we moved, ourselves and the weights. We were in a zone. Must say I had a great training partner! This day was something like a perfect training day come true. Something I'd like to do if I had a bachelor party some day =)

Entire Event 3, Toni & Don

We were able to top Sipa's / Jake's time on the first one, then on the second one we were beaten roughly. On the third one we made a comeback and got a little over 1 round better result. I'm very happy overall on my personal performance and above all our team's effort. Don't know what we could have strategized better on these events. Double unders could have been better, that I can say out loud. Other than that we kept the motors running constantly. It's pretty obvious Toni's engine has also taken some big steps as he was also able to keep on moving without stopping to gasp. That was some sick action mate!

And probs to Sipa and Jake too. That was some beast mode crossfitting in every workout. You guys had a good and clear strategy as well in each of the 3 cruel events and you stuck to it. It was a pleasure witness your incredible work capacity. There was something cool in the atmosphere during the day. Thanks to Toni, Sipa and Jake for making this day possible. It was definitely a great training day!!!