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.

Monday 1.8: Row intervals, Hang clean, High box

Monday. Row 8x500m, 1:1 work:rest ratio. Wod, 10rds of: 5 hang power clean @ 60kg, 10 high box.

Conditioning. Period. Intervals to start with, then light cleans and high box jumps to seal the deal. I took some double unders in the beginning of the latter workout but my shins didn't like it even though there was some serious foam rolling prior to that. So I changed it after 3 rounds to high box jumps.

Intervals.

• 8 x 500m row
• 1:1 work:rest ratio (Every 3:30)

These are tough. Both physically and mentally. Maybe 3 rounds went okay even though there were some leg pain already at that point. But it got serious at 4-5 rounds. The recovery was enough to get back in action but the sets started to feel nasty at about midway, 250-300 meters down. The last 200m of the last sets were pure agony. My legs hurt and lungs were screaming for air. Nice body melt down =) Felt good!

Workout. Not for time

• 10 rounds of:
• 5 hang power clean @ 60kg
• 10 high box jumps, 70cm

First 3 rounds were 25 double unders instead of the box but the remaining was 10 box jumps at a higher box than what I'm used to. It's quite rare actually when I've completed this high jumps. Just couple of occasions.

The barbell was light and focused on perfecting those reps every time. It was a nice end to the session. That row session practically ate my soul so this was an easier one.

Tuesday 23.6: Front squat, Hspu, High box

Tuesday. Front squat triples (max 120kg). Metcon, 7 rds of: 7 front squat (70kg), 7 high box (70cm), 7 hspu. Time, 12.41.

I set up a date with Jasper at the gym. Agenda was familiar. Move some barbell and then get a good sweat on with your buddy for a badass workout. For me, it was more squats. Jasper's role was to focus deadlifts. But the big question is what happened in the morning? Pauliina woke me up at 6.00am for a morning walk. Wen went for half an hour / 3.3km walk in the central park of Helsinki. That was a great way to start the day!

Strength.

• Front squat triples (90, 100, 110, 115, 120, 110kg)

My body never really got fully warmed up for some reason. It felt cold and maybe the rest between sets was too long, or then it was just mental stuff =) Anyway, I wasn't at my best this time but was still able to move decent weight. These were triples, and I built it up by feeling, reaching 120kg for the heaviest set. Didn't max out on this one though. Then decided to drop down for 110kg before deciding to call it quits and work on the metcon with Jazz.

Couple of sets

Metcon. Time, 12.41

• 7 rounds of:
• 7 front squat, 70kg
• 7 high box jump, 70cm
• 7 handstand push-ups

Originally it was only front squats and hspu's but my training partner threw in some more ideas so this was what it finally ended up to be. Squats, box jumps and shoulder work. I went unbroken on this entire thing. Front squats turned out to be the toughest as my back was killing me midway on this workout. Saturday's deadlifts still felt in my back a little.

I thought it had gone away but all these front squats brought it back. Squats were tng for some time but then they started to form something like 5 reps, a pause and finish the set. Great wod for sure. It got to my strength and breathing. Those high box jumps were a big difference compared to normal box jumps.

Here's the metcon with Jasper

Sunday 26.4: Skills and recovery

Sunday. Skills, ring muscle-ups. Skills, 5 rds of: 50 du's, 20 ghd sit-ups. Recovery, 3rds of: 300m row, 10 high box jumps.

Decided to play it safe and easy this Sunday. Last day of the week is pretty much an easier one anyway in my programming so this day was just as perfect as it could have been. Plus, this was somehow remarkable day too in a sense that I got a good friend of mine - Jasper - to start training here with me. New location for both of us, and since it's quite close to his place it was a good deal to start hanging here more often together.

Skills.

• 4 sets of ring muscle-ups
• Result, 5+3+3+2 reps

I'm telling you that sandpaper I bought yesterday has made miracles. My hands have probably been this soft last time in year 1983. This is a no brainer if you're thinking about buying one. Just do it. Don't think it at all. For a crossfitter, hands seem to bring a lot of problems in the form of rips and tears. I'v had my share of them and have now taken a big step further in hand maintenance.

It was actually rather strange feeling when I jumped on the rings as I didn't feel those calluses at all. It was so soft that I actually felt it when holding on to the rings. Same will probably happen when having hands on a barbell. Looking forward to heavy pulls because it has always been kind of an issue as it hurts a lot in those calluses.

Felt good all the way on the muscle-ups. I felt smooth and efficient, comparing to my reps some weeks ago. It's great that my feet stay together nowadays, and I'm able to use hips much more than before. I still had some issues with my elbows today - especially the right one - so I kept the volume low in purpose.

First set was a shared PR of 5 reps. This was the second time hitting that number. Last time it was more of a battle. This time I didn't go further than that. On the second set I looked for 4 reps but got a miss on the last one. Then a tripled and a double.

Skills.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 50 double unders
• 20 ghd sit-ups

Totally a skills oriented workout. It's been some time since doing double unders. I think I've done those only once this month so it was about time. It wasn't as smooth as I had in my mind but still okay. Towards the end it got easier. It was easy to see this element has ben neglected lately.

On the ghd sit-ups I just focused to having a good flow and rhythm, tng reps without stopping at any point. Looking for that efficiency. It wasn't that challenging on the core. Originally I thought this movement would be a core killer but I have felt like at home every time I've been on it.

Recovery.

• 3 rounds of:
• 300m easy row
• 10 high box jumps, 70cm

This was as low intensity stuff as the previous parts of the training session. Row was easy pace, didn't even look at the pace or think about it, just kept moving and flushed my legs with it. Box jumps are a regular in my training but high box jumps are much more rare so I figured it would be good to practice them.

I don't know how people usually do these but at the moment it feels like it's better to do them in singles. Rebounding right away back to the top seems awkward. Maybe when getting used to this that might be the case but it feels right to jump down, reset and jump right back. Anyway, this was a good chill training day in good company!

Wednesday 8.4: Snatch, T2b, High box + Running

Wednesday. AM: High hang snatches (up to 60kg). Metcon, 10min amrap of: 10 t2b, 10 db snatch (25kg), 10 high box (70cm). Result, 172 reps. PM: Running 4x400m. Total 7km running for recovery.

Being on a vacation is like living a dream. I get a chance to workout twice a day, eat and sleep well and still arrange things that needs to be arranged in life. I'm definitely taking advantage of this holiday! At noon I went to the gym to work on my snatches, then back home to eat. Later the same day I went running in the woods and ended up at Eltsu track for some intervals.

Snatches.

• High hang snatches
• 5 x 40, 40, 45kg
• 3 x 50kg
• 1 x 55, 57.5, 60, 60, 60, 60, 60kg

This time I decided to take these snatches from the pocket instead of floor. This way I get the touching point between barbell and hips to the correct place. From the floor it's not that obvious for me. I just realized today that on those days that I don't have hours to workout and there are snatches on the agenda, I need to focus purely on snatches. What I mean by this is I have to take such a long warm-up leading up to squat snatches that it's definitely worth sacrificing all the time on that.

If I skip the half an hour warm-up my shoulders and hips are not open enough and it feels like I'm forcing those extreme positions. Doing snatch balances with both a broomstick and empty 20kg barbell are a game changer. Those have really made my life better.

So it was time to do squat snatches. And it's really comforting to know it's okay to drop the barbell in case you miss it. It allows you to take more risks. I started to build up from 40kg, took two sets and the third 5-rep set as at 45kg. From then on I dropped the reps and added weight. Finished with 60kg singles. There's obviously tons of issues to be fixed on my snatch. Haven't really squat snatched before last fall because my mobility wasn't there. Now it's getting much better and there's a possibility to go deep.

Recap

Metcon. Result, 172 reps (5 rounds + 2 box)

• 10min amrap of:
• 10 toes-to-bar
• 10 dumbbell snatch, 5 right / 5 left (25kg dumbbell)
• 10 high box jump, 70cm

There were overhead squats and t2b's marked up in my calendar but that wasn't going to happen. I was done with that barbell for this day. Instead, I picked up a 25kg dumbbell and rolled a box so it stood at 70 centimeters.

This was intensive workout once again. Not that long - 10 minutes - so I was able to keep moving between the stations. There were 75 ghd sit-ups yesterday but my core felt good so I dared to put more t2b's in this one. Those went unbroken and they should have, even though they started to feel uncomfortable deep inside later in the wod because of those ghd's.

This dumbbells is pretty much the heaviest I've used for db snatches. Usually it's around 20-25kg. This time I did 5 reps with right hand, then 5 reps with left hand. One option would be to change after each hand. No biggie, but these were tough but okay.

Box jumps were the ones that wore be the most. Haven't done that much high box jumps. That's obvious because I haven't seen a high box before. Only randomly I've had the opportunity to do these 70cm jumps. Can't do them t'n'g style. They are singles but I'm going back up right away.

Running.

• 4x400m
• Total of 7km running

After eating, relaxing and foam rolling for 2-3 hours I put on my jogging pants on and headed outdoors.  It was a great weather for sure. Windy but sun was shining and birds were singing. My destination was in Eltsu track and field, the legendary training place. This is the practice place when Helsinki hosts World / Europe Championships in Athletics.

It's about 2km distance from my place to here so that was my warm-up. Some stretching and lunges, hip openers and I was ready to go. Took only 4 sets of 400m running. Basically because I've been busting my butt off this week and feel a bit sore from everywhere. Plus I hate running =) Don't even know why I bothered coming here. I guess because I wanna be a better all-around athlete. If I was about to compete, I'd be running more, much much more.

The point is I suck at it. I've ran so much in my past life that I've ran my share. When my floorball career was going on, it was part of a daily routine, on some days it was shorter, some days longer distances. Summer times were all about running to create a good basic conditioning. My pace today on those intervals was around 1:33 / 400m. That means to say it wasn't the fastest pace on planet earth. Still, it felt good to get these legs moving! Afterwards I did couple of rounds with different pacing, and ran home.

Monday 30.3: Snatch, OHS, Metcon, Handstand

Monday. Snatch by feeling. Ohs by feeling. Metcon, 6rds of: 6 hang power clean (70kg), 9 hspu, 12 high box jumps. Time, 13.00. Skills, handstand

Training day at Liikuntamylly in the morning. This place is divine! I'm on a holiday now so I'm definitely visiting these spectacular places I don't have access on weekdays. There are some restrictions in the evening times for public but during the daytime there's no problem. I worked on my snatch and ohs but the funniest part was absolutely the metcon and handstand.

Barbell.

• Squat snatch
• Overhead squat

There was no clear plan this time. There would have been but there's too much to work on in my snatch technique. Had it been for example clean, I know there won't be any misses and they are very consistent. I know I can hit high percentages of my max every single day. Snatch is totally different. That indicates snatch is highly technical movement, especially when done as squat snatch.

Got to keep on doing those reps to improve mobility and speed. The outcome will be strength. At least according to Coach Burgener. Mobility is the key, no doubt. On the lighter snatches it felt like a lot of things fell in to place and I was actually very happy on those. After 50kg it got more challenging and my technique collapsed somewhat. And I have no idea what those knees were doing on some of the reps =) After going by feeling in the beginning I took emom workout at 50-55kg snatch singles in the end.

Decided to continue with overhead squats after this. Just took 50, 60, 70, 80, 70kg reps. Basically they were singles, some were done with a pause in the bottom. Wouldn't probably hurt too much to do those pause squats more often. It really feels like mobility improves on every repetition. My armpits easily face down when I'm in the hole instead of facing forward like they should. There are some tightness in my shoulders I guess. When I'm standing, armpits are forward but when I'm down, they tend to switch more downwards.

Barbell work

Metcon. Time, 13.00

• 6 rounds of:
• 6 hang power clean, 70kg
• 9 handstand push-ups
• 12 high box jumps

This was a great workout! It is a very small thing but it sure feels great to drop the barbell after a tough set of cleans. It mentally feels good you don't have to bring it down nicely. Just drop it and move forward to handstand push-ups. I did everything in this workout unbroken. None of these elements were easy.

Cleans got tough in the middle of the workout but I fought to get them unbroken. I would have done couple of more rounds ub but they would have definitely been challenging. Breathing was heavy throughout the wod which made everything a little worse.

Handstand push-ups were easy in the beginning but got tough about the same time as cleans, at about mid-workout. I went touch'n'go on the first 4 rounds. Last two rounds I had to stop resting my head to the ground after 6-7 reps before finishing the set.

This box height was a compromise but it was actually great! There were these blocks you can pile on top of each others. One was too low so I got two of them which made it a lot higher than regular 61cm box. The height of this one was around my hips. Had to do the jumps in singles, no way I was rebounding back there. Those really got to my legs and breathing. Great workout!

Skills.

• Handstand
• Handstand walk

I was about to leave the premises but then realized it's ideal for practicing handstand. My shoulders and wrists felt good so I took couple of tries. First, just trying to find a stable freestanding handstand position, and then hs walk afterwards.

It felt like it went pretty well indeed. It's been a while. This is something I don't do that often. If I had training places like this I'd do it 2-3 times a week for sure! Probably spring and summer will make a difference as it's easy to practice being inverted outdoors too.

Handstand

Sunday 25.1: Squats, 20min emom of mu / box

Sunday. Strength, back squat 7x5 (max 130kg). Emom x 20min, odd min: 2 mu, even min: 8 high box jump. Lots of mobility.

I dropped Pauliina at her friends in the morning and headed to the gym for some quality time on my own. Finally got some squats done with this body (okay, it's been a week or so) and felt great about it! After strength portion it was time to work on my weakness, muscle-ups. I've added volume a lot on these ones and it's paying off. Very glad about it.

Strength.

• Back squat 7x5 (110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 125, 120kg)

Would you imagine I did deadlifts this week's Monday and today was the first day I was able to battle through back squats big time? Huh, but that only tells me I haven't done much deadlifting so my body hasn't used to the movement and protests this way. Got to step up my game on that one. How to still keep 2-3 squat sessions a week is a good question.

My plan was to hit 5x5 sets but in the course of the session I decided to add 2 more sets. Started at 110kg, then moved up 5kg after every set, and was able to build up to 130kg for a 5. That was quite tough so I dropped back to 125kg, and then 120kg for the last sets. Kind of like a pyramid hoax.

It felt tremendously good to squat again. These legs have to be strong in order to make everything else shine too. It all starts with the legs. No doubt about it.

Workout.

• Every minute on the minute, for 20 minutes
• Odd minutes: 2 ring muscle-ups
• Even minutes: 8 high box jumps

This was a great way to work on ring muscle-ups with a higher heart rate. Usually I'm all relaxed when I'm doing those. Basically because it's been too taxing for me to do them when tired. Today was the first time I combined some other element with mu's. It needed to be an emom training anyway because a classic metcon would have been too much. Okay, I've done Nate sometime in the history with false grip mu's.

Recap

I had one miss on a set on the rings but other than that I was able to work through the reps in the time frame. I took all sets in singles, 1 rep on top of the minute and the other after 30 seconds. It turned out to be a good strategy. Had one miss about mid-workout so I took one penalty muscle-up post-wod.

High box jumps are a great way to work on hip explosiveness. I jumped up, and stepped down. These were meant exactly to work on hip power. No need to rush through or do them as fast as possible. It took me about 25-30 seconds to complete the reps. It started with just one bumper plate on top of the 61cm box, then round by round I added one more plate on top of the previous one until there were 5 total plates plus the box. Once all plates had been used, I went with that height for the rest of the time.

Mobility. I focused a lot of energy to this part. Close to an hour mobilizing my hips, legs, lats, traps and stretching out. Lacrosse ball was part of the routine naturally. It felt great to get joints loose and these muscle tissues released. Better than a massage.

Sunday 23.2: Front squats, deads and metcon

Sunday. Strength, front squat triples (100-120kg). Deads, emom, 2 reps @ 150-160kg, for 10min. Metcon, 21-15-9, high box jumps and pistols.

It's already 3 days since last squat day so why not shoot for another one? Couldn't find a reason so it was time load the bar, go down and back up. I found time for front squats this time. Heavy triples. And as I just wrote some time ago, if I wanna do deadlifts I better do them on the same day. So I took 2 deadlifts in emom style. My metcon was easier one today with two skills oriented movements.

Squats

• Front squats 3-3-3-3-3 (100, 110, 115, 120, 120kg)

I've done mostly back squats in the past week. Couple of paused front squat sessions. As I recall I haven't done that many front squats with near max loads. If I don't count the 130kg single rep some time ago. Anyway, I thought the time was ready to see some heavier reps.

115kg

I enjoyed the squats tremendously. When I first touched a barbell some 1.5 years ago front squat pretty soon became my favorite movement. Nowadays I love to squat no matter what type of movement plus heavy cleans are my kind of stuff. I'm very happy I feel comfortable under the bar because I believe strong legs are the key to success. It seems to ease all other movements plus it's vital part of having a strong engine.

I started the sets on the front squats at 100kg. This weight was a little too light but as I jumped to 110-120kg the bar got heavy. I'm very happy the way the bar moved today. Doing 2 triples @ 120kg satisfied my needs for this squat session. I haven't kept any stats of doing doubles, triples or any other sets. I've only put the 1 rep max numbers up. But I feel like doing 2 sets at 3x120kg is something that hasn't been seen before.

120kg

That felt great and now as I'm at home and thinking about this it feels even better as I understand I haven't done multiple triples at this weight. Got to love it!

Emom.

• Every minute on the minute, for 10min
• 2 deadlifts (5min at 150kg, 5min at 160kg)

Deadlifting after squatting works for me. Either for strength or for metcon purposes. I took only 2 reps per minute, every minute, for 10 minutes. That makes it 20 reps. The bar weighed 150kg for the first 5 minutes, after which I added it to 160kg.

I had no probs moving the bar. I wouldn't have mind the technique being better (chest more upright) but I'll take this for now. The palms of my hands were so sore for some reason. It didn't feel good to hold the bar. My hands were so dry that it hurt to have a decent grip. Got do to some maintenance at home.

This was a good one. The weight was around 75% of my one rep max. It might be a good idea to do deadlifts as emom training more. Usually I've applied it to cleans, jerks and squats and they seem to work perfectly.

Metcon. For quality

• 21-15-9
• High box jumps (61cm box + 8 plates)
• Pistol squats

Something fun in the end. Box jumps and pistol squats. 45 reps each. Twist with the boxes was that I added 8 weight plates on top of the box to reach some hight on the vertical jump. One plate is around 5cm so I guess this was about 1m high box jump.

This was created on the spot. It just came to my mind that I've been thinking about those high box jumps for a while. I asked Pauliina what could be mixed in with them, and decided to go whatever comes out =) Well, she made it a bit challenging on the lower body: pistol squats. Box and pistols, nice!

I was able to keep a good pace on the workout. Didn't have to stop at any time in either of the movements. That surprised me positively. I thought it would burn my legs bad but they survived well. And I didn't come crashing down on the box jumps after having fatigue in my legs. That was a plus. Box might be cruel and eat people's shins for breakfast.

This was a good training session, again. I was able to nail those front squat and deadlifts as I wanted and the metcon was a nice little play in the end to get some heart rate up and working on some skills.

Thursday 10.1: Box jumps, metcon

Thursday. Box jumps (high) 6x5. Metcon of kettlebell swings and double unders.

This session was a different type of training. For starters I took a few sets of 25 double unders, got my blood running, took some pvc pipe playing a bit here and there, stretching, box jumps and kettlebell swings. My goal today was to add weight plates on top of the Rogue box to add height to my jumps and then do a metcon with my new kettlebell. Toni focused on front squats plus a metcon.

Box jumps. 6x5. The purpose of this workout was to add explosiveness to my hips and legs. I've taken a lot of strength training lately and wanted also to give a break from hard core strength training. I didn't measure the height of the jumps but the actual box is 64cm (24') plus 8 plates (20-25kg). I'd say that's about 110cm. I once measured those 20 plates, they were 5cm each. Those red ones (25kg) are thicker so it's around that 110cm. There was still some loose air between me and the box so I'll add height next time I go for this workout. This was kinda the first excursion to the world of high box jumps. I really hope this type of training would increase the explosiveness and speed in my hips.

Box jumps, 6 plates

Metcon. I didn't time this. The question is why? I don't know

• 3 rounds of
• 20 kettlebell american swings, 32kg
• 20 double unders

This was a quick and tough one. American swings mean you bring the ball all the way over your head so that your biceps are at the same level as your ears. I wasn't sure how many reps I could do these  swings in a row. On the 20th December I did a metcon of 32kg swings and box jumps. That was a killer as well. I was able to go unbroken all the way to the last round of kettlebells. There I had to break it into 2x10 reps. Other than that, entire workout unbroken. I believe I should utilize my kettlebells more in my training. There's only the minor problem of carrying them with me all around. Still, every time I've been doing metcons with them, I've felt pure joy =) It's always a misery but still some sort of sick victorious feeling.

In the evening I had floorball training for 2h

Toni's workouts. Strength front squats and a 5 round metcon.
Front squats 3-3-3-1 (70, 80, 90, 95). he also tried a new record of 100kg but today was not the day.
Metcon. Time 12.30

• 5 rounds for time of
• 5 clean and jerk, 60kg
• 5 box jumps
• 5 handstand push-up

I had to leave before Toni began his metcon so I must ask was your handstand push-ups against the foam roll? And did I write your metcon correctly? =)