Tuesday. Overhead complex, push press + push jerk + split jerk (5x75kg). Metcon, 15min amrap of: 10 hang power clean (50kg), 15 box, 20 cal row.
Today was a joyous day. We got a chance to go and see our friends' newborn baby. Okay we went to see that little guy already when he was couple days old but today he already looked like a human being so that was a lot of fun =) That's the reason my session was quite late in the evening today. Elbows hurt like hell without any good reason so the strength part wasn't right on the spot but metcon worked pretty well.
Overhead.
Complex of:
Push press
Push jerk
Split jerk
5 sets @ 75kg
To be honest my plan was to do 8 sets of this complex at 80kg working on speed and explosiveness but that wasn't going to happen. These elbows were okay in the beginning but pretty sooner started to remind what's going on. I really like to have a barbell overhead and was looking forward to this one so it was a bit of a downer.
Metcon. Result, 5 rounds rounds + 15 box
15min amrap of:
10 hang power clean, 50kg
15 box jump
20 cal row
My metcon originally looked like 15min amrap of 3 muscle-ups, 10 push jerks and 20m sled pull. That sled pull was going to be so that I would stand still and pull the sled with a long rope. It would have kicked my butt good time. Maybe some other day.
I kept the cleans light because I didn't want to tease elbows too much. This weight was okay for them anyway. And they felt good throughout the metcon. Light weight so it was unbroken each round. It got to my legs, felt a good burn there. Upper back was alright all the time, as well as grip. Breathing was going heavy on these, as well as in every element of the wod.
Box jumps were heavier than normally but they must be done unbroken if the number of reps is this low. No other option. On the rower I didn't stare at the digits and don't have any idea how fast / slow the boat was moving. All in all, this workout was good. Didn't stress about the pace that much but it was going to be unbroken for sure. After 15 minutes were up I finished the round by rowing the required 20 calories to get 6 full rounds.
Tuesday. AM @ Eltsu: Strength, press / jerk (max 90kg). Strength, front squat emom (up to 135kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 250m run, 10 oh lunges (40kg), 50 du. Time, 13.20.
PM @ OP Center: Power clean emom x 11 (PR 103kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 4 bar mu, 8 hspu, 12 pistol. Result, 127 reps. Cashout, 60 GHD sit-ups. Skills, handstand.
What a day! In the morning we went to our wedding place to arrange some things concerning the big day. Afterwards I dropped my lady to work and my responsibility was to go to work in a bit different style. Today it was Eltsu cave where I got my daily doze of crossfit in. After food and nap it was time to hit it again, this time in a totally new place, Optimal Training Center.
Starting the day by putting weight overhead. I was looking forward to this part for sure. Actually the entire day got me chills as I was thinking about it. I was like a little boy in a candy shop. My left shoulder has bothered me for some time in the heavier weights. In lighter ones no problem. I was optimistic today but it made a comeback after I put 70kg on the barbell.
This was a bummer my mood dropped for a second. No stretching would help and I couldn't figure out what to do. Then somehow it occurred to my mind that I could take a wider grip on the barbell. That's because there are no issues when I do snatch grip presses or jerks. Let's give it a shot. And it helped immediately! Couldn't be happier about this. I was a little careful on the jerks but it sure felt great to put weight overhead!
After finishing the complex sets I decided to work on my jerk. Let's do it with a pause on the dip phase. Get your breath, dip down, halt there for a moment, then extend the hips and jerk it to the sky. These were amazing. Why have I not done these before. I believe these will bring awareness to the movement very well.
Recap of overhead strength
Squats.
Front squat, 3 x 60, 90, 100kg
Every minute on the minute
1-3min: 3 x 100kg
4-6min: 2 x 110kg
7min: 1 x 120kg
8min: 1 x 125kg
9min: 1 x 130kg
10min: 1 x 135kg
11min: 1 x 140kg failed
This part was left a bit to imagination on the spot. Took some triples to get a feeling how my body reacts on these. Feeling was great. I did pause squats on those earlier sets. Then it hit me that this should definitely be an emom workout. With ascending weights and descending reps. Started off with triples, then doubles and finally singles. My camera's memory card went full at some point so I didn't get the entire stuff on video.
After 6 minutes it was supposed to be singles and 120kg was light so I added 5kg after each minute. Ended up hitting 135kg and I', telling you it wasn't that bad. Yes, I Had to push it but it was manageable. The easiest one I've had this far. It was probably the third time I've got it ever. After that one I put something like 160-170kg on the bar, took it on my front rack, stepped back, held it for couple of seconds and put it back on the rack. Actually I had troubles re-racking the bar for some reason so I had it for quite a while =)
The strategy for this one was to fake my body to first give a huge load, then drop it back to 140kg and nail it. I believe this was a good strategy as the bar felt comfortable after that monster load. Still, I couldn't finish this one. It's almost there though. I'm taking it one day.
Attempt at 140kg
Metcon. Time, 13.20
5 rounds of:
250m run
10 overhead walking lunges, 40kg
50 double unders
Running is a great element in metcons. Usually I have to utilize treadmill if I wanna have running as part of a metcon and that's just not the same. I'll take it as there are no options but I prefer real running any day. Another thing I wanted to have in this metcon is an element that I can't do in my normal gym. Overhead lunges. Okay it's possible to do them but you can't walk forward, you just have to go up and down within that one meter area. No cool. Here I can walk around with the bar as there is plenty of space. Double unders were part of this just to get some skills done and breathing go high.
This was exactly what I wanted as I was writing the metcon. Running was steady pace. Oh lunges unbroken. Got to shoulders and breathing. Double unders are okay but putting a lot of them in a workout in a row makes it a bit miserable. They burn my shoulders a lot. I've done 100 reps sometime unbroken so I got them but 50 reps in a workout will probably force me to break them down somehow. This time I did them in either 25-25 or 20-15-15 reps. I think there was one trip but other than that it was intentional.
Strength.
Every minute on the minute x 11 minutes
Power cleans
1-3min: 3 x 80kg
4-6min: 2 x 85kg
7-8min: 1 x 90kg
9min: 1 x 95kg
10min: 1 x 100kg
11min: 1 x 103kg (PR)
After eating, taking a nap and eating, I headed to this new place that was just opened about two weeks ago. Optimal Training Center, a freaking heaven. There were Rogue and Eleiko bars and plates, possibility to do muscle-ups, handstand walk, do farmer's walk, push sled, ring muscle-ups, ghd sit-ups, reverse hypers if you want to. The point is: once I come here, it's not gonna be just basic stuff but I want to utilize these circumstances.
Wanted to get my hands on this Rogue bar right away. Power cleans in the same way as front squats in the morning. I saw mr. Froning do this kind of workout and got inspired by it right away. These cleans felt super good, and it felt from the very beginning it's gonna be a great day of cleaning. Ended up getting a personal record. Getting bigger numbers for power clean must mean things are looking better for squat cleans too.I've improved about 10kg of my power clean lately. I'll take it.
Emom power cleans
Metcon. Result, 127 reps (5 rounds + 3 hspu)
12min amrap of:
4 bar muscle-ups
8 handstand push-ups
12 pistol squats
Looked easy on paper but damned it got me big time! Bar muscle-ups and handstand push-ups are a real combination. First time ever I've mixed these two elements. I was able to do mu's unbroken except for one set. I believe it was the 3rd or 4th round. Purely lack of concentration. On hspu's it was same thing. With the difference that it was not lack of concentration, it was lack of strength =) My shoulders were killing me. It was the last full set of hspu's that I had to break in to 5-3 reps.
Didn't warm up for pistol squats. Just took one rep with both leg before the workout to check it how it's done. I figured my legs were already waiting for some action. And they worked well. These were surprisingly comfortable. I liked how they wore me down in the course of the workout but still I was able to keep moving on them. My breaks took place between pistols and bar mu's. I wanted to get those mu's unbroken so I had to chill instead of jumping right back on the pull-up bar.
Cashout.
60 GHD sit-ups
Had to do these. I've never tried even one rep so this was a must. Took 4x15 reps with a pause between sets. Total of 60 reps. This was cool, and I guess these would definitely get to the core in a workout. This might be a deceiving movement. It wasn't that bad but let's wait for tomorrow. Then we'll see how it really goes.
Skills.
Handstand
Just wanted to play around and take advantage of the great area of grass to go inverted. Liked it a lot. That grass area is perfect for handstand walk as well as sled push and farmer's carry. There were some people doing their thing so the latter ones were out of question. Great day of training for sure. Loved every second of it!!!
My head is still full of snot so metcon didn't find itself to my program this Wednesday. After work we went with Pauliina to check out one new gym that opened its doors last Friday. It was sick. Kind of a crossfit Box without with the possibility to come and go however you want, and whenever you want. The place was filled with Rogue and Eleiko bumper plates, squat racks and pull-up bars. They even had a 20m grass where you can pull / push sled, handstand walk or do farmer's walk. Basically whatever you want. We're going to train there one day and check it how it feels like.
Overhead complex.
5 sets of:
1 push press
1 push jerk
1 split jerk
Sets @ 70, 75, 80, 80, 80kg
Today I still went to the old gym to workout. There's a lot of restored energy benchmarked for metcons. Had to postpone hardcore versions to future though. I kept it light today on the barbells. My left shoulder wasn't feeling great so there was no chance of going to limits.
First it was a complex for developing overhead strength. Complex work are awesome, I really enjoy those every single time. It's a different style of stimulus brought to the body. I've done similar combination of movements at about 85-90kg. The most difficult of these is traditionally the push jerk. There are some mobility issues which make push jerk more challenging. On lighter weights it doesn't have any issues.
Ohs.
Overhead squat singles with a pause
Weights @ 40, 50, 60, 70, 75kg
This part was just for fun. Wanted to smash couple of overhead squats, and especially with a pause in the bottom. On 40kg and 50kg I took couple of reps but then on the heavier ones just wanted to feel it once and I was done.
Last one was tough and fell a bit forward in the bottom. I was able to save it anyway. Those lighter weights were okay stuff. Overhead squats usually don't feel in my legs at all. It's light weight considering my squats but my shoulders always feel a bit tense and I should focus on having my shoulders externally rotated and armpits forward each time. That is the focus, it's just so darn hard because my shoulders are tight.
Workout. Result, 20 reps per set
3 rounds of:
2min amrap push jerk, 60kg
2min rest
Didn't come up with any better idea so I put on 60kg on the bar and put the clock running. Just simply do a 2min amrap of push jerks, then rest 2 minutes, and repeat for a total of 3 rounds. I've done this in the past maybe 2-3 times in the past 3 years. Stolen from Mikko Salo, the champ. This time I didn't gas out from the beginning. Just worked through 10 reps, racked the bar, then took 2x5 reps to finish each set at 20 reps.
Push jerk amrap at 60kg
There was 20+ seconds left in the clock in the first 2 rounds, but this last one burned my shoulders more so there was only 10 seconds left in the timer after 20 reps. This is a great workout for building up shoulders. Today these 20 reps were enough for me. That was a clear goal as the timer hit 3-2-1-go.
Took a long session today of which big portion went to mobilizing my body. It really feels good sometimes to have that much time to maintain the body. First part was directly taken from the mainsite crossfit.com, Wednesday's wod.
Overhead complex.
7 sets of:
1 thruster
1 push press
1 push jerk
1 split jerk
Loads: 70, 72.5, 75, 77.5, 80, 82.5, 85kg
It was a funny coincident that I had thought about doing a complex of push press - push jerk - split jerk today. As I woke up today, there stood one pretty much the same workout at crossfit.com. Only difference was that it started with a thruster. Not a bad idea so I took it!
Got off with 70kg, and added 2.5kg per set. It was a rare moment to do as heavy thrusters as I did today. For some reason those are usually the classic 42.5kg / 95lbs in a metcon but almost never as a strength part of the training session.
The only set where I couldn't finish as planned was the last one. I couldn't nail the push jerk. Actually I didn't even try as the push press was so tight that I barely got it up. Push press seems easier for me than push jerk. Must be something to do with shoulder mobility. Or then not. It feels somehow tighter.
Metcon. Result, 15's + 12 thrusters
7min amrap of: 3-3, 6-6, 9-9... of:
Thruster, 42.5kg
T2b
This was a lot of fun. Thrusters are great for sure. Nasty but effective. Toes-to-bar made a good combo with them. It was a lot of breathing and burning in shoulders. That 7min time was perfect for this combination. I got the round of 15's done and then 12 thrusters on the round of 18's.
Thursday. Clean and jerk complex, 7 sets of: 1 squat clean + 3 jerks (max 90kg). Burpees, 30sec on, 30sec off, for 7min. Result, 12 reps per set.
I don't seem to get tired of working my strength to next level with barbells. Putting weights overhead is a great feeling after a successful lift. Doesn't matter which movement it is but having a barbell loaded with plates and having it with straight arms brings satisfaction beyond words. Today it was turn to work on clean and jerks in a bar complex style. It took its taxes and I felt hammered after that. I only took some burpee sprints in the end.
Barbell complex.
7 sets of: 1 squat clean + 3 split jerks
Weights at 60, 70, 80, 82.5, 85, 87.5, 90kg
I felt good on these lifts. Foam rolling and mobility in the beginning to get myself going. Took some empty bar and 40kg warm-up lifts before making it to 60kg. I felt more shaky in this weight compared to heavier ones =) Squat clean was easy on all lifts. I had the barbells on my fingertips only on the clean and then re-adjusted the bar as I stood up and bounced the bar up to get a good grip.
From 70kg on the lifts were identical in my opinion. I focused well on each set and had good jerks at all reps. I believe my hip work - dip and drive - were good today and I simply felt very confident all the way. Before walking to the gym I thought it would be nice to throw around weights at around 80kg. After having taken that first set at this weight I realized there's more room to go up. So I kept adding 2.5kg after every set.
I can't say the last set was light. But I want to believe there was still air to making it heavier. I wanna keep adding strength on overhead strength so more jerks are ahead of me.
Bodyweight.
30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 7 minutes:
Burpees
Result 12 reps every set
I took some double unders at this stage but it felt like my shins were aching and shoulders were also somehow painful so I skipped it pretty soon. I had some jump rope action in my mind but I changed it on the fly and took burpee intervals. Nice… I set the timer in front of me and started moving up and down.
30 second intervals, as many reps as possible in this time frame. With a running clock, recover for the rest of the minute, then start again. Repeat for a total of 7 minutes. I had time to complete 12 burpees in every set. That was the best pace I was able to go for today. It felt a little worse by the round but I had it locked up in my mind to stick to the 12 burpees after first round.
I'm happy I was able to maintain that speed all the way. Looking from the side it probably looked the same. In the inside it felt different the longer the minutes went on. But I pushed the feeling aside and kept moving. It was a total of 86 reps during this intervals.
What a training day! My shoulders are so messed up from busting my ass off at the gym. Got to give my pal Joni some credit from bringing the metcon in to my knowledge he had seen somewhere. I don't know if I like that he tipped it to me or not. It was a rough one! Plus there were some serious presses and jerks done prior to the metcon so it had its own flavor in the mix too. Took me some time to recover for sure.
Overhead complex. Presses / jerks.
5 working sets of:
1 shoulder press + 3 push press + 5 push jerks
Barbell at 60kg in each set
This was something new and definitely worked to increase strength and muscle endurance. The weight was good for 5 sets. I wanted the weight to be across, i.e. same weight in all working sets. Took warm-up sets with 40 and 50kg. Shoulder press was the limiting factor for which it would have been difficult trying to add kilos on the barbell. I can shoulder press 75kg for a single but doing 65-70kg after couple of sets would have been very challenging. Plus there was a total of 9 reps per set so 60kg turned out to be great this time.
It was also cool to mix these three different style of shoulder-to-overhead movements into each other and practice on the various lifts together. About a year ago we used to have lots of press days with Toni where we worked on our shoulder strength, starting at shoulder press and once the bar went heavier we transitioned it to push press. Those were great workouts too.
The last set was quite tough and it took some minutes to recover and get ready for the upcoming metcon. Could not have moved directly to it because the work load for shoulders was burdening. Got to try this one another time as well.
Recap of overhead complex
Twisted Cindy. Result 341 reps.
20min amrap of:
1 clean & jerk (60kg) + 1 round of Cindy (5pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats)
2 clean & jerks + 1 round of Cindy
3 clean & jerks + 1 round of Cindy…
Gee, thanks Joni =) He just mentioned it by accident one day and it stayed in my mind to haunt. Kind of a Cindy but you'll have to complete 1 clean & jerk on the first round, then 2 reps on the second, always increasing 1 more c&j after every round of pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Cindy is one classical benchmark workout to test one's fitness. Tough test indeed.
Those clean & jerks were absolutely the hardest part of this one. I got to 9 full rounds of the workout and on the last round I completed 10 c&j's, 5 pull-ups and 1 push-up. Damned they were tough. For a long time after the workout I felt like my shoulders were on fire. I went unbroken with bodyweight movements from the beginning to the end but had to cut the c&j's after 6 rounds.
I realized the nature of this workout already after 3-4 rounds. It was a lots of work. And once it was a long workout I decided before the workout not to rush and gas myself out. Because the first rounds might be easy and you could rattle them through quickly but it would definitely get back at you after a short while. So I took my time with the transition before grabbing the bar for clean & jerks.
For first 6 rounds I got the c&j's unbroken, the 7th round was 5+2, 8th round was 5+3 and the 9th was 6+3. On the last round I got 4+3+3 reps. It was bad when I had to let go of the bar. It's not easy to go for another rep right away. That's why I tried to do it unbroken for as long as possible.
Good workout indeed and perfect training session. This took my breath away and was definitely one of the toughest in a while!
