Wednesday. Metcon, 5rds of: 3 mu + 50 lunges. Metcon, 5rds of: 12 kb swing + 250m row. Time, 7.54.
I realized on my way to the gym that I had zero plans of what to practice today. That was kind of odd but "luckily" the traffic was jammed and I had plenty of time to think about the workouts. First one was more skills based and the second one was a great conditioning piece.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
3 ring muscle-ups
50 walking lunges
It struck me suddenly that muscle-ups need to be performed today. I looked at my hands and they looked alright. Ready for action. Without that much warm-up I jumped on the rings and started moving. Mental pre-game was on point today and it helped tremendously with the muscle-ups.
Took one set of mu's, and went lunging for 50 reps. Repeated this for a total of 5 sets. It was a very positive thing that the rings felt great today. Those sets didn't feel like they would be any kind of issue at all. The video below is the last set.
Metcon. Time, 7.54
5 rounds of:
12 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
250m row
This was more intense. Kept the transitions as short as possible all the time. It's important to take the first pull on the rower right away and not hang around to adjust the foot handles before that. There's plenty of time to adjust those after you get the "boat" moving.
Kettlebell was 2 pood version and I programmed it at 12 reps in order for me being able to grab it right after the rower. Had it been 15-20 swings I would have taken a short break before swinging it.
First of June, summer is officially here! However, May has been warm. It's been beautiful pretty much all the time, and Helsinki has blossomed nicely. Downtown has been crowded for couple of weeks. Today was been predicted by some sources to be the hottest day this spring / summer this far. Pauliina had a great idea of going to Kumpula outdoor swimming pool. This was the first time I went there. It turned out to be pretty cool stuff. To my surprise there was also a training place!
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
15 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
12 (6/6) kettlebell snatches @ 24kg
We sunbathed and hang around at the pool. At some point I went walking around to discover the training place. One friend gave a hint there might be some cool stuff to be played around with. It turned out there was pull-up stations, barbells, bumper weights and kettlebells of different loads.
At first I took a set of 10 strict pull-ups to get the mood on. It didn't take too long to find the kettlebells and come up with this workout. This was tough on the forearms if you think about it. Had to grip some sort of bell in both movements. Swings were unbroken, and the snatches were completed 6 per right hand, then 6 per left hand. Very good one!
Tuesday. Shoulder press e2mom x 30min. Emom x 18. 1st: 7-10 hspu, 2nd: 12 kb swing (32kg), 3rd: rest.
It would be an understatement to say my hip flexors are on fire. Had to be careful with today's training session not to burden those areas too much. That's how it turned out to be strict press and emom conditioning piece in the end.
Overhead.
Every 2:00, for 30 minutes
0-10min: 3 shoulder press @ 60kg
10-20min: 4 shoulder press @ 55kg
20-30min: 5 shoulder press @ 50kg
The plan for this took shape during the session itself. Started with triples at 60kg. That started to get challenging but I wanted to continue pressing. Decided to take 5kg off the barbell and add one more rep. Continued this for another 10 minutes, and repeated the same protocol for the last third. My shoulder took hit on this one. It really fatigued them as planned!
Conditioning.
Every minute on the minute x 18 minutes
1st min: 7-10 handstand push-ups
2nd min: 12 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
3rd min: rest
This turned out to be a very challenging portion. Especially because of those shoulder presses beforehand. I went down for the first set of handstand push-ups and was surprised how difficult those felt. My shoulders were shot already in the beginning =)
It was 7-10 reps per minute, changing a bit by the minute. It was just too much to hold on to 10 reps. Couldn't do them unbroken anyway, except the first round of 10 reps. Kb swings were much more easier to handle. I needed that extra minute recovery before going for next round of hspu's.
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!
Went to the gym in the morning. Body felt a bit smashed after yesterday's longer session. Still it was great to find time for another training session. Needed to do it with bodyweight and light weights though. In the afternoon we went to see my brother's kids' ice skating show. It was a blast, and to see my family after a break was even more fun!
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 25 minutes
1st min: 15 pull-ups
2nd min: 10 overhead squats @ 40kg
3rd min: 15 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
4th min: 30 air squats
5th min: rest
This was scheduled to be unbroken all the way. I'm very happy the pull-ups rolled nicely every round. Could have gone for more rounds too even though they started to feel uncomfortable. Overhead squats burned my legs. Probably due to back and front squats in the past days. Kb's and squats with bodyweight also put more pressure on my legs so this mostly trashed my lower body and kept breathing heavy basically all the time. It was a fun workout still.
Friday. Wod, 10min amrap of: 20 squats, 15 ghd, 12 jerks (2x15kg db's). Result, 273 reps. Cleans up to 100kg. Wod, 4rds of: 12 kb swing (32kg), 25 lunges, 250m row. Wear a 10kg vest. Time, 11.25.
Today was somewhat an easier day. It wasn't supposed to be but I didn't come up with a perfect plan so this is what it turned out to =) The latter metcon beat my legs though. Cleans in the middle were lighter ones.
Metcon. Result, 273 reps (5 rounds + 3 jerks)
10min amrap of:
20 air squats
15 ghd sit-ups
12 shoulder-to-overhead, 2x15kg dumbbells
First piece was basically no warm-up needed type of wod. Bodyweight plus some lighter dumbbells. Focus was on keeping my body moving constantly, and not stop to breathe. Still, this didn't get me gassed that bad. Legs got their share on the workout. I did the s2o's as push jerks all the way so those got to lower body nicely too.
Cleans.
Singles 60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg
These were light ones. I was spotting one guy on the bench occasionally and didn't have a timer running so this turned out to be a little sloppy piece but I'm happy the lifts were good anyway. Below is the last one at 100kg's
Metcon. Time, 11.25
4 rounds of:
12 kettlebell swings, 32kg
25 walking lunges
250m row
Wear a 10kg weight vest
After the last round was completed I realized the set-up sucked quite a bit of my time. It took me 15+ seconds to walk from rower to the kettlebell. Yes I know, sounds like I should have brought the bell next to the rower. The idea didn't even cross my mind :) On the other hand, maybe that was a good thing so I got my legs recovered a bit on the walks.
Having that vest on also on the kb swings and rowing definitely had its effect. Swings felt kind of funny, and I'm still wondering if I was wearing it the right way or should the front side be on my back. Anyway, lunges were nasty. Definitely liked those in some twisted way.
Saturday. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 2 rope climbs, run x meters. PM. Emom x 30. 1st: 15 wb, 2nd: 12 kb swing @ 32kg, 3rd: 14 sandbag ground to shoulder, 4th: 8 ring dips, 5th: rest.
I've been waiting to get my hands on the rope for some time. It was a no-brainer to climb up the tree once we arrived to Klaukkala. Had to do them. There were two sessions on Saturday. Metcon in the morning, and then a slow pace workout in the afternoon in emom style.
Metcon. Result, 5 rounds
15min amrap of:
2 rope climbs
Run x meters
Combination of running and ropes is cool. Get that heart rate up on the run and then rope climbs are bad ass movement that feels tough in pretty much every sense. Two ropes and then run for a distance that I have no idea how far away it was. It took a little less than 3 minutes to finish a round. It stayed consistent throughout the 15 minutes.
This was an amrap which basically ended at 14:41 after I came back from the 5th round. I'm happy on the rope climbs. Didn't have to stop between the reps but just kept gong back for more. Loved this wod.
Couple of hours later I wanted to do something. It turned out to be slow pace workout with low heart rate. Let's say it was more like basic conditioning piece. I had some stuff with me so I wanted to take advantage of them. Hung those Rogue rings on a pull-up bar for dips. My sandbag is also located in Klaukkala normally so I put my hands on that too. Wall ball is always a good choice in my opinion. I've done kettlebell work lately couple of times. This was a nice cool piece in the afternoon.
Thursday. Back squat 3x5 @ 135kg. Workout, 9-15-21 of: kb swing @ 32kg and burpees. Rest 5min, then 21-15-9 of: power clean and push jerk @ 50kg.
What a day! Toni called me to get my ass at Crossfit Kehä. He had assembled couple of guys at the Box for a training session. I needed to get my squats done before hitting the actual workout. The other guys played around with the bar for cleans, jerks and stuff.
Strentgh.
Back squat 3x5 @ 135kg
Huh, this ain't that light anymore. This is part of my progression towards stronger legs. Doing a bunch of squat sets of 5 reps with ascending weights. Today's focus was three sets at 135kg. It's been ages since going this heavy for 5 reps. Or even a single rep. I'm very pleased on the weights and how well I was able to carry that load.
Metcon. Time, 3.56 on the first one / 7.16 on the latter one (if I counted them right)
9-15-21 of:
Kettlebell swings @ 32kg
Burpees
Rest 5 min, then
21-15-9 of:
Power clean @ 50kg
Push jerk @ 50kg
After squats I walked over to the whiteboard and had another glimpse on the upcoming workout. I started to get a feeling it's gonna be nasty. This was one workout with exact 5min rest period in-between.
The first one was a good mental battle. It's all about pure grind. Keep the body moving. My mental game had one small deviation of the unbroken-plan at 12 kb swings on the last round. Other than that I was able to put my head down and move forward. It was a quick wod and shot my shoulders.
The latter part of the workout was tough. It's rare that 50kg barbell weighs that much. The boys had planned on doing 8-7-6 on the cleans on the first round. That sounded like pretty ambitious strategy but I figured on going by feeling. Took 8 reps on the first set, then 4's and 3's to finish it. Jerks were better, 8-7-6 on the first round.
Second round was pretty much triples on the cleans. I believe the first was tng style, then three quick singles and a break. It's surprising how heavy it starts to become. Jerks were 6-5-4 on the round of 15's. On the last round I'm happy that I got the cleans done rather quickly in singles. But then had to step down before going for the jerks. Those were 5-2-2. I'm telling you my shoulders were killed on this one. It was definitely a lot of fun to do this with the boys!
Tuesday. Emom x 10min: 3 push jerk @ 70kg. Back squat 7x5 @ 125kg. Wod, 15-10-5 of: hspu, kb swing @ 32kg, box. Time, 3.40.
Had plans of going to train at my regular gym after a rest day. Yesterday was a compulsory recovery as I went to work early and came home late in the evening. Our lives have been busy lately with Pauliina with lots of errands to run so that's why there have been couple of rest days I would not probably normally take. Toni threw me a message in the morning of coming to throw down at Crossfit Kehä. Didn't have to think even for a second.
Overhead.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
3 push jerk @ 70kg
It was awesome to finally get some weight overhead. I can tell it's been some time since doing jerks as the timing felt a bit off at times. However, the weight was definitely doable. Not too heavy. There was practically not much warm-up before I tapped the clock on. I also dropped the bar on my back rack kind of awkwardly couple of times. I'm still happy on the way this 70kg bar moved up and down during these 10 minutes.
Strength.
Back squat 7x5 @ 125kg
Lately I've added volume on the back squats and completed sets of 5 reps for a good bunch. It's been either 7, 5, 3 or 1 set of 5 reps, and the weights have been adjusted accordingly. This week I jumped 5kg up from the previous 7x5's. Took the sets every 3:00 minutes so that left recovery rather short. Last rep of the last sets were quite heavy.
Metcon. Time, 3.40
15-10-5 of:
Handstand push-ups
Kettlebell swings @ 32kg
Box jumps
The co-owner of Crossfit Kehä - Miku - had completed this workout and left a teaser on the whiteboard and he had also talked Toni over to fight this metcon. I figured this must be a very intense one, and the goal should be unbroken.
My hspu's are strong enough to go through them without breaks. Okay, kb swings were a bit of a mystery how they might affect my shoulders but I was pretty sure for not letting them disturb my focus. Kb swings were okay too. My legs were jello after the strength piece so it was a bit exotic to do swings and boxes with as much intensity as this one. This workout was definitely worth doing it. Short and intense. Lungs were burning.
Friday. Outdoors workout, 4rds of: 30 kb swing @ 32kg, run around the block.
Today there was no chance of going to the gym during the decent hours so I made a move and decided to go for an outdoor metcon. It was a perfect wintery weather for that purpose. Something like 4 minus degrees, no wind at all, and snow in the ground.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
30 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
Run around the block (around 300m)
There was simply no warm-up whatsoever. If you don't count the part where I carried the 2-pood bell to the back yard. That was it. I thought about swinging the bell for some time for warm-up but once I had it going the plan changed on the fly and I took 30 reps unbroken right away. Then dropped it down and took a lap around the block. I have sometime in the history measured it to be somewhere around 300-330 meters. Definitely not a precise number.
The upcoming rounds of kb swings were more painful. My back started to get really stiff, especially in the 3rd and 4th round. First round was ub, the following 20-10 reps. On the running last round was definitely the fastest. This was a good crossfit workout for sure. I vaguely remember there is a hero workout - maybe Eva - where you have 800m run, 30 pull-ups and 30 kb swings for 5 rounds. Must be a pain in the ass. Anyway, it was a lot of fun working outdoors again.
Today's program was created only at the spot. Didn't practically have strict plans except for squatting. The form of squats and everything else took place little by little. I'm very satisfied to this session!
Time at 4.05
Oly.
Complex, every 2:00, for 10 minutes:
3 squat clean + 1 split jerk @ 80kg
Took warm-up sets at 60, 70, and 75kg's. Then 5 sets @ 80kg. Cleans were cool, no problems whatsoever. Felt a little nagging elbow pain on the jerks so I stayed at 80kg. Felt solid on the jerks though. Recovery was definitely enough to give my best on each set.
Strength.
Pause squat triples
5 sets @ 120kg
This was a good reminder that pause squats are the king. Dead pause in the bottom, no bounce, just strict upraise from the hole. Built up through sets at 60, 90, and 110kg 5's and triples. Took these also with about 2 min recoveries. Last reps were good battles at times. Still, there was no doubt of hitting the sets as planned.
Wod. Time, 4.05
5 rounds of:
10 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
10 box jumps
Short and intense. Holy posterior chain. Would have been awful to go for longer time domain. Breathing was heavy for sure too. Lower back started to feel it in the last 2 rounds. It got very tight towards the end but after it got released after the wod, it eased quickly. Round times were quite equal each round, about 50 seconds per round.
Cashout.
50 burpees
I felt like I had done my share but had still something in the tank so I just threw down and started working. Didn't watch at the clock at all but the main focus was to go unbroken. No pauses, no leaning elbows on knees in between. Just go and do the work.
Quality time with my wife. Crossfit at the gym. Nothing more needed from my perspective.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 36 minutes
1st min, 15 kettlebell swing, 24kg
2nd min, 15 box jump overs
3rd, 15 ghd sti-ups
This was a great workout for basic conditioning. Longer metcon where breathing stayed under control pretty well. I prefer this kind of action to steady pace by for example running or rowing.
I had thought about swinging a 2-pood bell but for some reason there wasn't one available so I took the heaviest I found which was 1.5 pood bell (24kg). The weight wasn't very heavy at any point of the workout but time did its trick during the 36 minutes and it started to take its toll. Maybe it was more mental as my shoulder, core and posterior chain took it well. Breathing got heavier towards the end but it was manageable anyway.
Box jump overs are a cool way to get box jumps done in a bit different way. Had 2-3 of stumbles there due to lack of concentration. But only one no-rep though. Those are unforgivable so I repeated that one.
Ghd's were fine all the way. It's cool as I think about the volume of all movements here. There were 180 reps of each element. For ghd's it's probably the biggest volume I've ever done. Core took it well throughout but let's see how it's like tomorrow =)
Friday. 30sec on, 30sec off, for 10min: row. Wod, 10min amrap: 10 sdhp @ 50kg, 20 box overs. Wod, 5rds of 12 kb swing @ 32kg, 12 ghd.
Efficient session. Three-piece wod to finish the working week. I'm telling you guys I'm missing some old school barbell cycling. Once I get my body healed up 100% I'm gonna smash cleans big time. I've been dreaming of getting a bar on my front rack for some time now.
Workout.
0:00 - 10:00
30sec on, 30sec off, row for max distance
10:00 - 15:00
Rest
15:00 - 25:00
Amrap of:
10 sumo deadlift high-pulls @ 50kg
20 box jump overs
Result, 199 reps (6 rounds + 9 box)
25:00 - 33:00
Rest
33:00 - 39:27
5 rounds of:
12 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
12 ghd sit-ups
Clock was running constantly. The plan was to keep 5min breaks between wods but the latter recovery period stretched a bit as I was re-evaluating the movements. This was a great combination of action. There could be some cleans / snatches in the mix as well as hspu's, burpees and ring dips if my wrist would allow it. I really like this kind of effective sessions!
On the rowing my butt got numb towards the end and legs were smoked! Pace was around 1:35 throughout. A little faster in the beginning, maybe 1:32, and at slowest it was 1:37. I checked the distance after 10 minutes were over but I already forgot it.
On the second part the plan was to go unbroken on both movements. I could have broken the sdhp's early on and shortened the transitions. Don't know what would have been the best version but the goal of the workout was met today. Only in the last round I broke the reps as clock was winding down.
Box jumps seem to be my thing. I can keep going even with a heavy heart rate. Legs got tired though during the course of this workout for sure.
After these two workouts my legs were pretty much done so having kettlebell swings in the last piece got me thinking what can I pair it up with. Turned out to be ghd's. This was a nice core workout indeed. Took me slightly over 6 minutes to finish finish it.
Wednesday. With a running clock for 30 minutes. 0-10min: 10min amrap of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 kb swing (24kg), 20 squat. 10-20min: build up to a heavy snatch single. 20-30min: 10min amrap of 5 power clean (70kg), 10 dips, 15 box.
Today was a tight schedule day. There wasn't much time to hang around so I wrote this workout in a bit different way, taking these circumstances into account. I've been trying to squeeze some time off of my sessions lately and succeeded in it pretty nicely too.
Workout.
0:00 - 10:00, 10min amrap of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 kettlebell swings @ 24kg
20 air squats
Result, 280 reps (5 rounds + 15 kb swings)
10:00 - 20:00
Build up to a heavy single
Snatch
Result: 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 63, 65kg
20:00 - 30:00, 10min amrap of:
5 power cleans @ 70kg
10 dips
15 box jumps
Result, 95 reps (5 rounds + 5 cleans)
Practically without any warm-up I started working for this wod. Just opened some hips for 2-3 minutes before tapping the timer on. I would never do that in a workout with heavy weights or if top of the notch mobility was needed (like I even had it =D). However, the idea was that the first piece is mostly bodyweight stuff which is easy to begin with.
It was something that reminded benchmark workout Cindy. Upgraded it with kettlebell swings, 1.5pood bell. 10 minute amrap of these four elements. It took something like 1.30min on the first round, then 1:40 - 1:55 on the following rounds. Unbroken on each movement. Got 20 air squats shy of 6 full rounds.
It was awkward to move to the weightlifting platform right after metcon. Even though I have done crossfit for 3 years, this type of arrangement was not familiar to me. It was nice to see that even though I didn't do warm-up specifically, going for squat snatches after this metcon my hips and shoulders were well prepared, open and ready for action. Didn't feel tight at all, from anywhere in my body.
I didn't pay that much attention to the clock, just climbed up little by little doing singles from the very beginning. First lift felt somehow off but then I got them rolling well. Maybe the first lift felt funny after having my heart rate up still. Had one miss on the heaviest load at 65kg. I shook my hands and took another shot at it, and got it up. This was a good result for me.
As funny as it was to go after snatch singles after metcon, it was as funny to start another metcon right after the last snatch. I just changed my shoes back to Nano's, changed the plates to 70kg and started pulling. Went unbroken on each element in this one too. This was physically more demanding than the first metcon. Cleans made me breath heavy, dips burned my shoulders, chest and triceps. And box jumps are always a good one to burn legs and lungs. This was a good 30min workout!
Went to the gym early in the morning. As I anticipated my legs were smoked. Did some technique work in the beginning and then a longer metcon with modest pacing. In the afternoon only bench presses, short session.
Yeah, messy notes but it reminded me what to do next in the metcon =)
Oly.
Clean
Snatch
There were barely weight on the barbell. It was either an empty or 40kg barbell all the way. This was mostly concentrating on pause cleans at different phases of the bar path. I believe there is something to this drill that might make a big difference in the long run. Probably the most significant thing with which I have got gains on the snatch technique has been to cut the movement in pieces and do high pulls too.
Metcon.
3 rounds of:
5 bar muscle-ups
10 power cleans, 60kg
15 burpees
20 kettlebell swings, 24kg
25 ghd sit-ups
30 double unders
400m row
Long workout. It took something like 8-9 minutes per round to complete. In the first round my body didn't react too well for the muscle-ups. Those felt heavier than normally. On the second and third round I got them rocking much better.
Power cleans were quick singles in every round. Very smooth in my opinion. However, they got me breathing heavily, especially after jumping right on to 15 burpees. That was a nice combination. I paced myself on those, didn't rush at all but kept the body moving all the time.
Swings were unbroken, the weight was only 24kg so that was kind of no-brainer. Ghd's were quite easy. Yesterday I found out that the happiness to good double unders is to foam roll shins before the jump rope action. Today I did the same trick and du's worked well. Had one miss in one of the sets but I'm very happy on the du's!
Rowing was modest pace all the way. Also the transitions were not the fastest. The purpose of this workout was to keep heart rate under control from the very beginning. Good workout.
Strength.
Bench press 5x3 @ 90kg (first set 5 reps)
After eating twice and sleeping in between I went to the gym again to do bench for strength. After a lengthy warm-up I climbed up to 90kg at which I did 5 sets. The first was 5 reps, the rest were triples. All across @ 90 kilos.
Thursday. Back squat triples / doubles / singles (up to 145kg). Metcon, long chipper. Time, 15.30.
Huh, today was as sentimental day as it could possible be. I'm about to change my employer after working for this current company for 10 years. I've grown up to a man within that building's walls around me. It has not been just a job, it's been something close to a second home. From the beginning of next year I'm about to build similar confidence and society with another company. Today was my farewell party and it was a really touching event to say the least. I appreciate those guys tremendously. They've affected me in more ways I could ever imagine.
Jasper after the chipper
Strength.
Back squat
Triples (60, 70, 80, 90, 100kg)
Doubles (110, 120, 130kg)
Singles (135, 140, 145kg, fail at 150kg)
After work I hooked up with Jasper and we agreed to get some strength in our lower bodies and then get a good sweat together. This session was supposed to be identical to the one I just did earlier this week with front squats. That was every 90 seconds for a set of front squats, with climbing weights and descending reps, up to a heavy single.
There were not more than one rack available so we shared it with Jazz. that's the reason why I didn't take a look at the clock at all. Point was to go for a set once the bar was available. This was a good workout and the tempo was good. We did the sets alternating. Triples were light, more like warm-up sets. Doubles were easy too. It was great to see that also 2x130kg was ways.
It was kind of funny to witness that singles were under very good control all the way up to 145kg. That last successful one was a bit tight in the end but there was no doubt in my mind it would come up. And I felt strong on that lift. Some doubt still crawled in my mind about hitting the 150kg lift, and that must have affected the last attempt. It went down smoothly, small bounce there and coming back up. Just didn't have enough to bring it all the way up so I had to let it go. Still happy on the 145kg. It's been a while since going this heavy on back squats.
Got this sandbag from Toni and couple of colleagues today =)
Chipper. Time, 15.30
15 pull-ups
20 kettlebell swings, 20kg
30 medball slams, 9kg
30 air squats
15 toes-to-bar's
600m row
30 push-ups
20 lunges
25 ghd sit-ups
15 dips
20 box jumps
10 handstand push-ups
20 overhead squats, 20kg
30 burpees
This is something Jasper had written down some months ago. He's had some issues with his hips so we haven't been able to go after this one. Today he was well rested and body felt fresh so it was time to see what this is all about.
The ideology behind this is a chipper. Every movement exists there only once so you just chip it away. All the movements and reps were designed so that you don't have to stop and lean your elbows on your knees but just keep moving.
I was able to obey that plan pretty well. Only two elements had to be broken down. Those were dips and push-ups, a.k.a the pressing movements. Push-ups were 20-5-5, and dips were 8-3-2-2. They got spicy. However, my breaks were not that long as I wanted to keep moving all the time. There was not a single movement that would have been too much to handle. It was more like the continuing agony of having heart rate up and muscles working.
Okay, the last element of 30 burpees was disgusting. At that point of the wod it was just awful. My strategy was just do them one by one, without thinking too much about it. I went up and down without stops. I'm proud of this one.
Great crossfit day! We were about to head to Hämeenlinna - about one hour away from Helsinki - to witness my brother's first ever crossfit competition. First event for him was going to start at 10.50 so we had to go to the gym at 08.00 in order to get a good session with Toni.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
5 handstand push-ups
10 power cleans, 60kg
15 burpees
20 kettlebell swing, 24kg
25 wall ball shots, 9kg
3min rest between rounds
This was arrogantly stolen from competitorstraining.com, a.k.a. from Ben Bergeron's programming. Funnily we both had this in mind for this week. Together with Toni we decided to go after it this morning. I'm telling you it wasn't an easy decision to wake up at 6.15, eat breakfast and head to Vantaa to pick my buddy up for an early morning bro session.
It was dark outside and streets were empty. Somehow I managed to get my shit together pretty well and was at Toni's place even before I was supposed to, c'mon. Our training session took place in Crossfit 01300, located in Tikkurila, Vantaa. Gym was great. Enough space, everything one needs and barbells felt good in hands too. For some reason I brought my own wall ball as it was laying around in my car anyway.
We thought this workout would have a different kind of nature. The stimulus was exactly right though. It hurt already after the first round hehe. Okay maybe the morning felt in our bodies somewhat. Yesterday evening (when I felt fresh and energetic) I thought about pushing through the wall balls unbroken.
Yep, that was not going to happen. Hspu's were the easy part of this workout. I'd say way too easy. Just 5 reps and always in the beginning of the round when feeling fresh and breathing was in control. Only thing was that when coming down from the wall I felt a bit "dizzy" and felt like I had to get used to being the other way around before touching the bar.
On the power cleans my original plan was to do them 6-4 or 5-5 but already on the first round I changed the plan as I realized Toni was knocking them one by one in singles. That turned out to be a great plan and forearms remained okay all the way, and didn't get shot during the workout. Luckily it was okay to drop the bar after every rep.
Burpees… Huh, those were not nice, at all. I was able to pace them pretty well and didn't have to divide them in any way but those really sky rocketed my heart beat. After couple of reps it was time to think about a happy place and just do it.
Kettlebell swings were light ones. I'm not used to do work at this weight normally. 2-pood is the standard one. In this one this 24kg was a positive surprise (it was rx'd). It wasn't easy to have my hands right after burpees as the plan was to do them unbroken. In the latter rounds I maybe should have caught the kb a bit earlier. I just tried to settle the breathing a bit before the first swings.
First 2 rounds
Last movement was wall balls. That is considered somewhat a strength of mine. It didn't show today =) First round was 15-10, then they were probably something like 10-8-7 or 12-7-6, not quite sure of the precise numbers. I had muscle-ups written in my program for skills training but there was not enough time nor energy to go after them. We had to jump in the car and head to Hämeenlinna to watch the Masters throwdown.
Last 2 rounds
This was my brother's first ever competition so I was definitely going to cheer him up. Luckily Toni also had free schedule so he joined me on this road trip. Lots of respect to all the competitors aged between 40-59 years. There was even one grandpa at 60+. Great engines and lots of strength was witnessed at Crossfit Hämeenlinna.
It's not self evident that everyone at this age can perform all the tricks these athletes were able to do. It was mind blowing to see them give everything they have and leave it at the battlefield! My bro smashed a clean and jerk PR as it was part of one event, congrats Sipa!
