Sunday 1.11: Pull-ups, Burpee, Kb

Sunday. Gymnastics, unbroken pull-up sets of: 30-25-20-15-10-5, rest as needed between sets. Wod, 5rnft of: 10 burpee, 7/7 kb jerk (24kg).

On Sunday I went to the gym in the evening. I've felt kind of tired all weekend but I'm very happy I pushed myself to the gym in the evening. We had some errands to be done so only time slot was later in the day.

Gymnastics.

• 30-25-20-15-10-5 of:
• Unbroken sets of pull-ups
• Rest as needed between sets

Lots of pull-ups. My pal Toni did a good bunch of pull-ups couple of days ago so that inspired me to hit big sets too. Well big, that's kind of relative. I saw Nathan Bramblett hit a 5min emom of 30 unbroken pull-ups… That's from another planet. Yes, I can hit 30+ pull-ups (max set is 41 in the history) but it needs some time to recover before the next set.

Below you can see the set of 20 reps. All these sets were doable, even though the last reps felt tough. And that's how it was supposed to be. Had they been too easy, I would have walked away a bit disappointed.

20 pull-ups

Wod.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 burpee
• 7 right hand kettlebell jerk, 24kg
• 7 left hand kettlebell jerk, 24kg

Later on I threw my chest to the floor, knocked couple of burpees, then saw a kettlebell next to me in the process, and decided to jerk it in the air. It formed to burpee / kb shoulder-to-overhead. Seven jerks per hand, then change from right to left hand, and repeat. I was pretty well gassed after this one.

Monday is a rest day. I was supposed to hit it for cleans, front squats for barbell work. Then rowing and light hang cleans for conditioning but it turned out that we were home only in the late evening, and there was practically no time anymore to workout. That didn't bother me this time at all. Somehow I'm pleased to this full rest day. Hopefully tomorrow's a better energy level.

Thursday 13.11: Kb, Pistols, Du's and Row

Thursday. Metcon, 20min amrap of: 10 kb press (20kg), 14 pistols, 30 du's, 300m row. Result, 6rds + 3 pistols.

Squat is pretty much the only barbell work I can do currently and you can't squat everyday (or do you hmm…) so today was all about bodyweight. I took a longer metcon involving classic stuff and then skills too. Great decision! It worked very well for the purposes and goals I had.

Metcon. Result, 6 rounds + 3 pistol squats (337 reps + 1.800m row)

• 20 min amrap of:
• 10 (5/5) kettlebell press, 20kg
• 14 (7/7) pistol squats
• 30 double unders
• 300m row

What I really wanted to do was handstand push-ups. I had been dreaming about it for days. My right hand is still too sore if I try to flex it to 90 degrees on the wrist. That makes it impossible to nail hspu's. On the bottom position it's okay but being inverted with straight arms is way too painful. It's not a healthy pain for sure. Let the time heal this one. I can train other stuff in the meanwhile. I'm just missing some real barbell work and hspu's.

It felt natural that kb presses would be out of question but I tried it anyway as a substitute for hspu's. Surprisingly there was no pain at all in this movement so it got part of the workout. 20kg bell is the heaviest there is at the gym. My 2-pood baby was at home. Those presses were the easiest part of this metcon.

Pistol squats are perfect element in a metcon, hands down. They get heart beat up, requires strength and skills at the same time. Can't perform them without either of them. And it also indicates if the body is biased in either left or right side. Obviously my left leg is much stronger than the right one. Had no issues with left leg whereas right was more challenging strength-wise. I still got them all done as planned. These require more accuracy when performed with Nano's instead of weightlifting shoes because of the heel elevation.

Double unders felt okay. My shins were a bit sensitive for some reason, maybe there's been box jumps or double's every day this week. I had 3 misses on the sets, one in every other set. Mostly in the last reps of those sets. I'd say those were more like minor concentration flaws.

Basic dinner, side salad

On the rower I went sub 1.45 on the first rounds and then sub 1.50 pace later in the workout. I tried to save my legs here and pull more fiercely with upper body. That's not ideal style in the long run but this combination of elements made my legs burn. Especially those pistols were cruel. I'd like to burn my shoulders more. That is somehow brutally satisfying feeling. Maybe I'll try some light push press tomorrow because those kb presses felt okay.

Keep the veggies involved. We had salmon for dinner in addition to these

By the way, have you been watching weightlifting's world championships this week. They're doing some crazy shit in Almaty, Kazakhstan. We also have couple of Finnish lifters there so it makes it even more interesting. There are some beautiful lifts being completed by Chinese athletes. I'm not that familiar with the lifters but I'm enjoying every second I see professionals do their thing. You can watch the games live from here.

Monday 2.9: Handstand, kettlebell metcon

Monday. Skills, handstand walk. Kettlebell metcon, swings, presses, goblet squats.

Today I stayed at home circle and focused on skills training and created a metcon for my kettlebells. In the afternoon we're heading to Stockholm, Sweden, for couple of days with Pauliina on a cruiser so I had to wake up early to do some training.

Handstand. Practiced on both stabilizing myself in the handstand position and also on the handstand walk. Managed to walk a couple of meters and having some sort of balance while doing it. Below I tried only to stay stabile, no to move forward. Happened to move a bit further and backwards =)

Metcon. Kettlebell

• 30sec on, 30sec off
• 6min, kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 2min rest
• 6min, kettlebell presses, 20kg
• 2min rest
• 6min, kettlebell goblet squats, 20kg

Brought two of my bells outdoors and did a metcon "interval" style. Swings, presses and goblet squats (front squats). Six minutes per movement, the rest, and move on to next movement. I aimed for a certain amount of reps and then held on to that figure. On the swings it was 15 reps, 20 presses and 15 squats.

Guys playing

Sunday 11.8: Turkish get-ups, hero wod DT

Sunday. Technique / skills: Turkish get-ups. Modified hero workout DT with kettlebell. Time 8.10.

Those kettlebells that I've bought in the course of my crossfit career have definitely paid back in dividends. I recommend everyone to go get one (or a couple) and start moving some weight! Start with lighter ones and build up to heavier loads. I guess one could easily get in very good shape by working solely on kb's. Props to the guy who invented this piece of iron! I started today with turkish get-ups, an awesome all-body movement and a perfect way to get warmed-up for the main workout of the day: hero wod DT.

Turkish get-ups

Technique.

• Turkish get-ups

On a few occasions I've tried this movement. It's actually a very comprehensive move that forces the entire body to be active: legs, core, hand and shoulders. Plus it forces you to balance with your own body and the bell overhead. I have to keep the weights low at this stage as I'm not that familiar with the movement. Guess I did 6 reps both hands.

DT. Time 8.10

• With one hand working at a time with a 32kg kettlebell
• 6 rounds of:
• 12 deadlifts
• 9 hang cleans
• 6 push jerks

Originally hero workout DT is 5 rounds, with 70kg barbell, same movements, same amount of reps. I did this one-handed each round. First round with right hand, second round with left hands. Then right, left, right and left. 3 rounds both hands, alternating after each round. Felt awesome after yesterday's kb presses so I dared to try them (and hang cleans) with this 2 pood bell, movements at a weight that had not seen the daylight before this weekend.

Hang clean

Round times remained solid. 2 rounds (working both hands) took me 2:45, 2:48 and 2:37. Was indeed able to finish stronger towards the end. I was afraid going too fast in he beginning because I didn't know how my shoulders would react to such a workload. Hang cleans and push jerks with this piece was a bit intimidating at start. It went on nicely though. Enjoyed this workout a lot. Have to try it with the original rx'd version with a barbell. Must be a lot tougher as I think about jerking a 70kg bar up there 30 times. Brings me some memories of the chunky Grace I did a while ago.

The weekend was a success. We spent it totally at the country side together with my loved one. Had the possibility to relax, workout together, go outdoors, eat some spectacular barbecue food and watch movies. Nothing more could I ask from a weekend!

Saturday 27.7: Sandbag lunges, kb presses

Saturday. Metcon, 5 rounds of 20m sandbag lunges (25kg), 20 kettlebell presses (20kg). Time 7.54.

We are having a family gathering today at the country side so there was no time to hassle my way to the Box. Instead, after breakfast took the opportunity to work at my back yard. Decided to work with some equipment from my warehouse: sandbag and kettlebell.

Metcon. Time 7.54

• 5 rounds of:
• 20m sandbag lunges, 25kg sandbag
• 20 kettlebell presses, 20kg bell

It was a good breather. Had no problems in performing the movements but they surely made me breath heavily. Just the way I liked it. Quite a quick workout, less than 8 minutes but all the time doing work. Entire body got its share today. Lunges for lower body and bell presses for upper body. Take a look below. Now I'm gonna leave to see all of Pauliina's relatives.

Remember to stay tuned at games.crossfit.com to see the entire action of the Reebok 2013 Crossfit Games, it's on! Two days are gone, two ahead, don't miss a single workout, it's been freaking awesome!!!

Saturday 6.7: Metcon of kettlebell presses and swings, squats

Saturday. Prasara yoga: elbow lever progressions. Metcon of kettlebell presses, swings and air squats. Time 13.38.

We are spending the weekend at the countryside. The surroundings are perfect as always. This weekend I'm gonna leave barbells alone and concentrate in bodyweight movements and kettlebells. To warm-up I did elbow lever progressions and then a metcon with kettlebells and air squats.

Elbow levers. This looks easy but is very demanding on the shoulders. I mean very taxing. I got way better this time with the movement than before. Only few seconds of staying still but I got much better control over my body than earlier. My shoulders were on fire after having completed this part. Worked on the lever progressions for about 10 minutes. Having the skill to balance your body with the help of your core is nothing short of spectacular. I'm gonna keep this one on my schedule in order to develop as an all-around athlete.

Metcon. Time 13.38

• 3 rounds of:
• 20 kettlebell presses, 20kg
• 50 air squats
• 20 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 50 air squats

We packed our kettlebells with us, one for Pauliina, two for me. In this workout I did the presses with 20kg bell and swings with 2 pood bell. Between kettlebells there were 50 air squats to pressure my legs. Times for those 3 rounds were approximately as follows:

• Round 1: 4.10
• Round 2: 4.50
• Round 3: 4.40
• Total 13.38

The presses were completed in sets of 5 reps per hand, then changing hands. All kettlebells unbroken, both movements. Air squats were more difficult. There were 300 of them. First set unbroken, then I believe I had to break it. Usually the first attempt was 20, then 15 and something else. My hamstrings were killing me in the end. Hard to believe such a simple movement can cause such a tremendous burn. Air squat is a genius move!

This workout got my heart pumping blood in my veins and lunges also had to do work. It was a warm day and it was awesome to do this outdoors. The only thing bothering were the flies and other bugs flying around me :) Easy to swing a kettlebell when a bug is eating my calf…

I was tempted to practice on my handstand walk but now I just wanted to relax for the rest of the day. We put chicken skewers on the grill and enjoyed a food feast at the terrace. It was an easygoing and relaxing day with Pauliina!