Friday 29.4: Snatch balance, Karhureiret, Conditioning

Friday. Snatch balance 5x3 (50-60kg). Karhureiret. Time, 14.35. Conditioning, 7rds of: 2min row, 2min bike.

It was a notch longer workout session today. Tried some snatch balances in the beginning to get a feeling of those after a long break. Then some old school stuff from Finland's championships some years ago. That sucked. Then conditioning piece in the end.

Oly.

• Snatch balance 5x5 (50, 50, 60, 60, 60kg)

These have been rare in the past months. I had that wrist issue earlier in the year and that caused I haven't done either these nor overhead squats with proper weights at all. It still felt kind of funny even though I have no problems in my wrists and haven't had in a long time.

It was cool to get these done. I'm looking forward to doing more of these accessory stuff for snatch in the future. I'm certain these will build up the confidence for the actual snatch too.

The video is unedited for couple of min

Karhureiret. Time, 14.35. Compare to 15.5.2013

• 10 back squats @ 100kg
• 50 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
• 20 front squats @ 80kg
• 40 box jumps
• 30 overhead squats @ 50kg
• 30 toest-to-bar's

The reason is unknown but I was done already on the swings. Literally I was trying to create excuses not to finish this workout. Luckily didn't but for some reason my body refused to work ideally, even though I had lots of passion to attack this workout.

Yes I got through this faster than before with heavier weights but I can't be satisfied of the effort fully. Especially the kettlebell swings and box jumps stayed to haunt in my head. Had to break both of them. Kettlebell swings more than once. No reason for that. And this was probably the first time ever pausing on the box jumps. Body was just completely in shut down mode. Somehow I got through this and maybe the last two elements went better than I assumed at that point of the workout. Back squats were unbroken, front squats were 5's and overhead squats were 10-8-7-5 reps.

Conditioning. Total of 28 minutes

• 7 rounds of:
• 2min row
• 2min bike

Damned I was over and out after that metcon. Yesterday my gym turned 1 year old so they had a birthday party. There was some leftover cake at the lobby. Once I saw it after the metcon I felt weak in my body and needed to fuel up. That felt like a perfect idea =) Huh, it was delicious!

After some recovery I jumped on the rower and bike combo, 2 minutes each with a running clock for 28 minutes total. That was a good end to the session!

Wednesday 15.5: Back squat, OHS, Finnish CF Final 2012: Karhureiret

Wednesday. Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (max 135kg), OHS 1-1-1-1-1 (max PR 65kg). Karhureiret, time 15.51.

Main workout of the day was "Karhureiret", loose translation would be "bear's thighs", referring to the amount of leg work ahead of you. This was the final event at the crossfit finland finals in 2012. I've done it once before, today I repeated it with a little heavier load. Before the workout I took singles in back squat and overhead squats.

Going for 130kg

Strength.

• Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (110, 120, 130, 135, 140f)
• Overhead squat 1-1-1-1-1 (50, 55, 60, 65f, PR 65kg)

Those back squats felt good and I was able to go deep enough with heavier loads as well. After 130kg the game changed and the barbell became heavy. The fourth set - 135 - was successful but the last one with 140kg (tied PR attempt) failed to come up all the way. Haven't gone over 130kg in a while as I remember so I received some confidence for future.

On the overhead squats I was determined to go for new max numbers. Previous record was 60kg so I started my sets from 50kg and added 5kg per lift. On the first attempt of 65kg I failed to come up from the hole even though I landed there nicely but on the second one I nailed it all the way! PR 65kg. I was ready to move on.


Karhureiret. Time 15.51. Compare to 26.1.2013

• 10 back squat, 100kg
• 50 kettlebell swings, american style
• 20 front squat, 80kg
• 40 box jumps, 61cm
• 30 overhead squats, 40kg
• 30 toes-to-bar

I remembered this workout sucks and I remembered correctly =) Three different types of squats with increasing amount of reps and decreasing load. There were kb swings, box jumps and T2B's between squats. Originally Karhureiret says the box jumps should be completed on a 50cm box but we only have 61 so that's a little extra. Then on the other hand the OHS should have been 60kg but considering my max load that would have been ridiculous to try it out with that weight. I put 40kg on the bar and started moving. In January I used only the bar (20kg) so today this workout was heavier.

I completed the back squats unbroken, kettlebells in 30 reps at first try, then 2x10reps with as little break as possible. I just needed to loosed the tension in my forearms for a few seconds. Front squats went better than last time. Now they were 7+7+6, previously I needed 4x5 sets. Box jumps, uhh. Don't remember that precisely, guess it was 15+10+ something. The overhead squats I got to do in sets of 10+7+7+6, better than I expected =) And lastly the toes-to-bars were about 10+10+5+5.

All in all, my breathing was going fast and it was an overall test to how good an all-around athlete I am at the moment. I was pleased on the way I managed to rattle through this workout. There's always something to improve on but in general this went good!

Now I'm off to Barcelona for holiday with Pauliina and her parents. Gonna enjoy the climate and the atmosphere. Of course I'm not forgetting crossfit, that's for sure but I don't believe I have access to barbells so it's gonna be more like bodyweight action, handstand push-ups etc. Like it was any easier… =) Gonna let you know anyway how I'm training.

Saturday 26.1: Squat metcon, Finnish CF final 2012, Karhureiret

Saturday. Finnish Crossfit Final 2012: Karhureiret. Time 12.22.

What is a better way to launch the weekend on Saturday morning than giving your everything at the Box and let crossfit suck all energy out of you =) With Toni we decided to step it up a notch and do a workout that was in the crossfit finals in Finland 2012. The workout is called Karhureiret, or "Bear's thighs". A lot of squatting took place today spiced up with kb, boxes and T2Bs. Pauliina joined our training session.

For starters we took some handstand push-up training. My focus was purely on the kipping style. I haven't been able to do them efficiently this far but today I found out how they should be done. And all of a sudden, the movement was way easier. I'm very happy about this one!!!

Kipping handstand push-ups

Karhureiret. Time 12.22

• 10 back squats, 100kg
• 50 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 20 front squats, 80kg
• 40 box jumps, 64cm
• 30 overhead squats, 20kg
• 30 toes-to-bar

All but box jumps and overhead squats were rx'd. In the original version box height should be only 50cm, we used the official 64cm. Then overhead squats should be 60kg but hey c'mon, I've never put over 40kg in this movement. I used only the bar which happened to be too light.

What a workout, I enjoyed it! 10 back squat for starters gets the blood flowing nicely. Moving on to 50 kettlebell swings, by the way I've never done that many with 32kg. I divided it into 2 x 25 reps, I was surprised how "easily" I was able to move the weight. I've taken it as a standard to do kb swings american style which means the kettlebell must go overhead to reach full range of motion. 20 reps of front squats turned out to be demanding. I did them in sets of 5 reps.

Box jumps

After quite a lot of reps at this stage it was no surprise box jumps wouldn't go unbroken. I took them with a steady pace, locking my hips at the top, then dropping down and jumping right back. If I needed rest, I stayed at the top for a while, no need to rest at the bottom, that's not beneficial in a metcon. The only thing that made me think what I could have done differently in the workout, is the weights in the overhead squats. I usually have troubles going deep enough in OHS and it's difficult to put weights on the barbell. I haven't done them that much anyway. For some reason, at this point in the workout my hips were loose in a good sense and I was able to lower my body well and I don't think it would have been a problem to add weights. It was too easy I believe. It's been a while since last toes-to-bars took place. I nailed them pretty efficiently. Ten plus ten and then some smaller pieces.

All in all, I think my hamstrings and quads are thanking me afterwards for giving such a pressure on them today. It was rough but manageable all the time. The workout reveals my weakness, which is definitely OHS. Must pay attention to mobility and this movement more. How to find time for everything, that's the key issue. Final time today, 12.22.

Time!

Toni's Karhureiret. Time 24.01

• 10 back squats, 80kg
• 50 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 20 front squats, 60kg
• 40 box jumps, 64cm
• 30 overhead squats, 30kg
• 30 toes-to-bar

Toni smashed the plates =)

Toni did the same workouts. He started with handstand push-up training after warm-up, then Karhureiret was ahead of him as well. He modified the weights in back squats to 80kg, front squat to 60kg and overhead squats to 30kg. The other movements rx'd.

Toni's front squats

He stayed with the same pace with me through back squats and maybe kettlebells as well. This was the first time he threw 32kg around so completing 20+15+15 sets was awesome! I remember times he had troubles swinging 20kg kettlebell. Tony has done some tremendous development in the last 1-2 months. Front squats he completed in sets of 5 reps. From box jumps on he had to catch some breath once in a while which slowed him down a bit. Doing 30 toes-to-bar (once again, he haven't done these) in the end, that was time for some high fives =) Final time 24.01.

Karhureiret sucked our energy big time