Damned, I wrote a post already and then it disappeared mystically. So this time I let the numbers speak by themselves without stories =) Got to say I'm happy on the push presses. Haven't pressed more than 85kg ever so got to take this with a smile on my face.
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.
Wednesday. Oly, 10 sets of: snatch high pull + snatch @ 55kg. Strength, pause back squat 6x3 @ 120kg. Metcon, 4rds of: 10 power clean (80kg), 15 burpee, 20 ghd, 25 box. Time, 20.33.
It's my birthday so I found a good way to celebrate it after work: crossfit! =) That's a lot of quality time for sure. Olympic lifts, lower body strength and a bad ass metcon. That took my breath away, literally. Loved every second of today's session.
Oly.
10 sets of: snatch high pull + snatch @ 55kg
Both from hang position
This was a new way to work on snatches. And I enjoyed it. Definitely have to take this type of snatch training more often. Big problem for me is the bar is traveling too far away from my body. By doing high pulls it's easy to keep the bar close. And by teaching the body to keep it close, it is also easier to keep it closer on the actual snatch too.
Yes, there were some reps where I caught the bar in front and had to walk a step forward to catch the bar overhead. Still, I consider this practice worth keeping in the repertoire.
Snatch recap
Strength.
Pause back squat 6x3
Got this idea couple of days ago from somewhere. Since then, it's been tickling me from time to time that I'm gonna hit it someday. I had no idea about the weights I'm able to move but I still decided to go for 120kg for triples. They were actually perfect for weights. First rep was easy, second one needed much more work, and the third one was a good grind!
Squat recap
Metcon. Time, 20.33
4 rounds of:
10 power clean, 80kg
15 burpee
20 ghd sit-up
25 box jumps
This was originally 20min amrap but I decided to finish the last round which brought it half a minute overtime of the time frame. I wanted it to be long and mental. Power cleans were semi heavy. During the workout they naturally turned a lot heavier. These were singles from the very first rep. I understood this is not where time will be saved if I hurried through the first round.
Next movement burpees. Just pace them through. Keep moving. As I've said before, there is no actual need to stop on the burpees. It is an easy movement. You just throw yourself down on the floor, hit chest on the ground, and come up. Pace yourself and keep the rhythm on. Think about the breathing while your doing it to make it easier.
Ghd's, my core seems to be strong. I've realized it during these 3 years of crossfit. Maybe that's because of my earlier career as a goalkeeper in floorball. Stronger core means faster moves on the goal as you need to move quickly sideways. These were also unbroken. I got a good hint from Lauri to engage my hips more when coming up. Currently I'm doing the work mostly with the core.
On the box jumps I decided to walk back from the ghd's and start jumping. This was also the element where I need to control my breath strongly because otherwise I would have gassed even more. This was a very good conditioning piece to crown the training session.
Below are some parts of the metcon in the form of a video. Cleans, burpees and box jumps.
Wednesday. AM: Strength, front squat 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1. Farmer's walk 10x20m @ 70-80kg. Accessory, 4rds of: 10 glute ham raises, 15 ghd sit-ups. PM: Skills session of bar muscle-ups (5x5) and handstand.
I had a day off of work so it meant only one thing. It's gonna be two-a-day. There were some errands to be taken care of but I found the time to get a good session in in the early afternoon. It was a squat session combined with some strongman elements and accessory movements. In the evening we went to get with Pauliina and I focused totally on skills. Good one!
Strength.
Front squat 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1
Triples @ 110kg
Doubles @ 120kg
Singles @ 125kg
This was tough. I took 60-90kg lifts from a dead stop in the bottom. Started from the hole, stood up and came back down. So it was totally vice versa than normal front squats. Without any bounce from the bottom it made it very difficult and a different type of stimulus. Probably a very good way to train I'd figure.
At 110kg it was triples, got them done in touch'n'go style and was very satisfied on these. Doubles at 120kg were a lot heavier. I took a breath on top before the second rep. And these were the slowest front squats ever. Definitely not even a slight bounce in the bottom. But form remained okay so I'll take 'em!
On the singles the first one was the heaviest. That startled me a bit but then I decided to man up and do the work as planned. Happy on how I got them done. These really got to me legs and they felt smashed already later in the day. Or was it because of farmer's walk, don't know but it feels good.
Front squat recap
Strongman.
10 x 20 meter farmer's walk
70-80kg per hand
I've done this movement once before. It was awesome that time. A lot lighter but it was intentional because it was a metcon spiced up with burpees. Today I went heavier and had 50kg extra weight on this handle that weighs either 20kg or 30kg. Don't know, I asked about it but didn't get a precise answer and haven't compared it to a normal barbell. Anyway, this was much different than the lighter load.
This is a full body workout to say the least. Legs are doing the work, core has to be very tight all the time. Posture has to be good and shoulders back. Grip needs to be strong. Don't know what part of the body this movement would not strengthen. Suits very well to crossfit. This is classic strongman stuff. You'll see farmer's walk in Rob Orlando's site all the time. And there is a reason for that.
This was 10 rounds of 20 meter carry. I didn't have a clock running for a purpose. Recovery was pretty much walking back and forth the grass mat. It was a good length. No need for too much recovery. Could go heavier on this one. It would be a good idea to have a training pal and do this alternating. We're gonna hit it one day with Jasper.
Farmer's walk
Accessory.
4 rounds of:
10 glute ham raises
15 ghd sit-ups
These legs are going to get stronger. Glute ham raises are one more tool to reach that goal. Farmer's walk and sled are also excellent ways to get there. These ghr's are brutal on hamstrings. I still need a resistance band to assist me do these. This was only the second time doing them. Hopefully soon I'll drop the band away and focus on doing them with bodyweight only. Once I got a set of ghr's done I changed sides and completed ghd sit-ups right after, then a pause before doing another round of this couplet.
Skills.
Bar muscle-ups 5x5
Handstand
Handstand walk
Strict weighted pull-ups
Couple of hours later I stepped in at the Box for a skills session. Muscle-ups were the first thing to focus on. Couple of sets of 5's. These felt easy in each session. And I got them done without stopping on top of the pull-up bar. My hands are ripped so had to use gloves to protect them.
It's been time since I was inverted for handstand so it seemed like a perfect decision to practice this demanding skill. I took a few sets of trying to stay as still as possible and then couple of sets to walking on my hands. In the end I put a weight vest on and did strict pull-ups as accessory movement.
Saturday. Ohs with a pause, doubles up to 70kg. Workout, 6rds for quality: 6 hang squat snatch (40kg), 15 ghd sit-ups, 5m unbroken handstand walk.
We spent almost the entire day in Helsinki. It was time to find proper clothing for our wedding for me, and some other stuff needed to be arranged too. Got to spend it with my baby and her parents so that's pretty much everything I want =) There was time to hit the gym in the early morning still.
Overhead.
Overhead squat with a 5 second pause
Doubles @ 40, 50, 60, 65, 70kg
These were not heavy reps for a reason. Goal was to find that good deep position at the bottom of the hole on snatch. I took the bar from the ground so there was one clean and jerk done before getting the barbell overhead. The weights were pretty light for c&j so it was no biggie to drop the bar on my back.
This was a good drill for snatch / overhead squat. Getting comfortable win the hole. I had to look for the perfect position for a while down there. It was a good choice to hold the position for 5 seconds before coming back up. The loads were not insurmountable. Felt good with them all the time.
Recap
Workout.
6 rounds not for time of:
6 hang squat snatch, 40kg
15 ghd sit-ups
6 meters unbroken handstand walk
Saturday's are in principle dedicated for longer workouts with modest intensity. Honing on skills or long emoms. Something out of ordinary without a fast pace or heavy strength work. This is the plan but of course changes will take place. Today's workout was not for time but exactly a moderate heart beat action fro the beginning to the end.
I wanted to put some elements here that I consider more like skills based movements. There's a lot to be done on my snatch technique so it got a place on this workout easily. I got those from hang position intentionally as it's easier for me to keep the bar closer to body from that position compared to floor position.
Core work is always a good choice and these ghd sit-ups are new thing to me so there's still some sort of novelty included. It may also do good to my back's elasticity. At least it feels it kind of improves the mobility on my back.
Handstand has never been part of any workout I've done. Never ever. Those times that I've practiced handstand it's been a skills session entirely. Just focusing on handstand. This was a fresh breeze to combine this skill with other basic crossfit movements. I marked a 6 meter distance on the grass and goal was to cross that line without any misses. I'm very satisfied over completing each set without tripping over. Great session, mission accomplished.
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.
Great day as my pal Toni came to train with me and Pauliina after work. Today my back was in okay condition so it was definitely time to squat. Pause squats this time, not heavy though. Those gymnastics emom are the best to get pumped up and a good way to hone your weaknesses.
Gymnastics.
Every minute on the minute for 12 min
Odd min: 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Even min: 10 pistol squats, alternating
I've been able to slid lots of pull-ups in my training volume through these emom sets "pre-workout". Today we did these together with Toni, he just had different movements but we worked together anyway. He did ring dips and box jumps. C2B's are a great element to work on in this part in my opinion. Getting stronger with the movement and especially pull-ups where chest hits the bar every time. These were kind of semi-big sets for me. I might try out how many c2b's I can link together in one set. Hmm… good idea.
Pistol squats are always tough. Note to self though: don't do them on a squat day. They took the best of my legs just before back squats. But anyway, these were a perfect movement to be practiced this style. Loved every rep of it. We did these for 12 minutes, that is 6 rounds of each element, totaling 60 reps for both movements.
Strength.
Pause squats 5x3 (across 100kg)
Not heavy this time. It was great to have that bar in my back rack for sure. Squats is something that should be done at least 3 times a week. Big muscles need to be worked on a lot. And it's only through squatting and deadlifts that you can get the best results on lower body.
Pair workout with Toni.
2 rounds of:
2:00 of squat clean, 50kg
0:30 rest
2:00 of ring dips
0:30 rest
2:00 of burpees
0:30 rest
"You go, I go" style
This was purely Toni's imagination. He came up with the time and rep scheme. And it was a good one. We didn't decide on the reps beforehand but agreed to do this "You go, I go" style. That means Toni started the squat cleans, dropped when he felt like it and it was my time to go right away. I had 5's in the squat clean all the way, in both rounds. Ring dips were mostly 6's in the first round and on the 2nd round they varied between 4-6 reps.
Burpees were the only one where he had a game plan because we could have knocked 2 minutes in a row individually but there would have not been any point as a pair wod. It would not have been that intense. So on the first round we did 5's, then high-fives and changed turns. On the second round we did those alternation after each rep, with a good speed and we actually got a little more reps compared to the first round.
My notes are quite blurry but my best guess is that I had about 50-60 cleans, 50 ring dips and actually about the same amount of burpees as well. This was a good end to the training session. I recovered quickly, it wasn't all in type of workout but a good breather anyway. Those rest periods gave us enough time to go full throttle in those work periods.
Thursday. Hang squat snatch doubles, 8 sets (50-52.5kg). Ohs pause singles x 5. Emom x 6: 12 unbroken pull-ups. Conditioning, 4rds of: 10 box, 16 db snatch (22.5kg)
I'm getting to like these snatches. I notice I'm waiting for them with eagerness. Got inspiration to work for pause ohs from Chad Vaughn, this work was great. Some pull-up work and a little conditioning part. I noticed my heart was beating too fast compared to how it should work so I took the conditioning part a little easier. It was a good session.
I really want one of these, awesome equipment!
Snatch.
8 sets of hang squat snatches (4 sets @ 50kg, 4 sets @ 52.5kg)
Alright, total of 8 doubles, I took these with just short recovery, it was something like every 90 seconds perform one set of snatches. This time the starting point for the barbell was mid-thigh. I've done them from high hang but today I decided to work on pulling the bar from a little lower starting position.
For the first 4 sets I worked with 50kg and then added just small plates to reach 52.5kg for the final 4 doubles. First 2 sets were a bit off but still manageable. Then it started to snap on its place little by little. I went to the very bottom on every rep to improve mobility in extreme positions. Just like mr. Vaughn teaches. Whatever this guy tells, it seems to be legit. He was also the biggest inspiration for me to finally move on to work that depth on the squats. Don't just go parallel, go beyond. And after Smolov I've been able to do that also with overhead squats because improved mobility.
OHS.
5x1 reps, with a 5 second pause in the bottom position (60, 65, 70, 70, 70kg)
My front squat bottom position is comfortable and I want it to be alike with overhead squats / snatches so this was perfect tool to develop that. The most difficult part of these reps was how to get that bar back on back rack position after the rep was done =) It took me couple of seconds to go deep and find the ultimate position, then hang around for 5 seconds there. That really flexes my shoulders so once I got up it was a bit intimidating to drop it on my back as shoulders were tired.
For legs this was easy. Had I been able to drop the bar after each single, I would have gone heavier for sure. This movement was a king one. Definitely have to go for more pause squats in all versions of squatting, back / front and overhead. I'll do couple of more front squat sessions, then I'm back to squatting for both back and front squats without a specific program in mind.
Gymnastics.
Every minute on the minute
12 unbroken pull-ups
This is something that should be part of daily fitness: pull-ups. Haven't done my share lately. In November I got my shit together and completed tons of reps but in December it was much less. Got to add reps for sure. Today I did these emom style, 12 reps which took about 15 seconds, then rest for the remaining minute. It showed me there's work to be done as the last 2 sets were tough. They shouldn't be.
Conditioning.
4 rounds of:
10 box jumps, 61cm
8/8 dumbbell 1-arm snatch, 22.5kg
My heart rate was a bit too fast compared to being totally off the cold so I had to take this a little easier. It took me about 90 seconds to finish one round so it definitely wasn't max effort. Both movements tend to push the heartbeat through the roof so I got some rest between stations. All reps unbroken for sure but I took my time between elements. It was great to have some good old sweat running fast!
Thursday. Strength, back squats with a pause 7x3 (max 115kg). Metcon, 15min amrap of: 5 front squat (70kg), 10 pistols, 10 pull-ups, 10 box. Result, 6 rds.
Strength for lower body. Answer to this was pause squats today. I like 'em. After my legs were killed from the squats it was time to put the clock running and start giving my body a hard time, especially on lower body.
I'll try to alternate between front squats and back squats on a regular basis. Front squats tend to work very well as a friend with clean & jerk work. Back squats are something I do prior to pure metcon work. On these days I like to do a workouts that put more stress on lower body in general like today as well.
80kg
These felt good today. I got two video clips of these sets, the first one is from warm-up sets at 80kg, the latter one is maybe the last set or the one before that, at 115kg. The sets were good for today, not max effort, I believe there was a little room to add weight but had I gone higher I wouldn't have been able to do this many sets. This was my call this time to do multiple sets at weights I knew I'm able to move.
115kg
Metcon. Result, 210 reps (6 rounds)
15min amrap of:
5 front squats from rack (70kg)
5 pistol squats, left leg
5 pistol squats, right leg
10 pull-ups
10 box jumps, 61cm
This was kind of created on the spot. I had in mind knocking some front squats and box jumps in a metcon, the rest of this were impulsively born stuff. But I'm satisfied on the workout, not the best one but I'll take it. My legs were a bit smashed of the pause squats so going ruff on legs was a little questionable when I come to think about it afterwards.
Took the front squats from rack without having to clean the barbell. There's a difference on picking the bar from floor / from rack. Obviously floor is tougher. I did this metcon with Nano's on so those pistol squats felt a bit more challenging in the beginning because there wasn't that elevation in heels like weightlifting shoes have. I've usually done pistols with those on so this was different. I got them done though.
Team Series Update Show
Pull-ups were easy, the easiest part of this workout. Box jumps felt awkward on the first round, kind of like my legs weighed a ton but then they got the rhythm on and it was just another day of training box jumps. My pace was on average at around 2:30 and it was actually quite steady pace all the way. First round was quicker, the rest were just seconds away from each other. I didn't rush between stations and there was actually some walking that had to be done during the workout because pull-up station was apart from all the other stations.
This was a nice workout and my legs were doing some serious work. At the end of the workout I wasn't that gassed though. Didn't have to put elbows to knees because the pace was moderate all the way. It was a good training day in general, got those squats in my system and metcon for 15 minutes.
Tuesday. Gymnastics, C2B progressions. Strength, tempo squats, 5x2 (max 120kg). Metcon, Diane 21-15-9, deadlift (102.5kg), hspu. Time 8.06.
Squats, yammy! Started this training session with similar type of chest-to-bar progressions as I took on about a week ago. Then tempo squats / pause squats to make my legs stronger. Finally ended up doing a benchmark workout Diane.
This is similar to the one I did on the last days of June with the exception that there was 1 rep more per set today compared to the first progression set. I've considered C2B's a weakness of mine but only because I haven't practiced them. Regular pull-ups are more like a strength and this difference between them has puzzled me so much that I decided to correct this flaw. I've done couple of strict c2b's in every training sessions for maybe 2-3 months now. It's about 95% probability that I've done those strict ones as a warm-up, no matter what's ahead of me in the actual workouts.
This movement is getting together pretty well nowadays. I don't consider it that difficult anymore. Earlier this year I felt like I have to do those repetitions as singles and I couldn't link reps at all. Didn't want it to stay like that so I made my moves. Increase the amount of reps, a lot.
Strength.
Tempo squats, 5x2 (100, 105, 110, 115, 120kg)
5 seconds down, 5 seconds hold in the bottom position, then up
Wanted to have some sort of pause squats for my legs but I wasn't sure how to make it in real life. I follow Chad Vaughn and his pal Mike Cerbus in Instagram and they seem to do a bunch of these for strengthening lower body. Vaughn is a 2-time olympian and a bad ass in all means when it comes to lifting weights.
I wasn't sure how many reps to do without resetting the bar in between, and I finally ended up doing doubles, with 5sec descending time and 5sec bottom hold position, before coming up as fast as possible. The weights were also a mystery me with these kind of squats. Had I done regular pause squats, I could have carried more weight because I can hold the package tight for a shorter time. But for as long time as these were, I gotta let loose the air and catch some more before standing back up.
The "negative" rep on my way down was as developing movement as getting back up. I really enjoyed tempo squats this time. Last time when I did pause squats my left hip flexor got inflamed for couple of days. Now I'm feeling better after today's session =)
This really got to me. Not the best day for me for sure. Deadlifts have never been this heavy in a metcon of 21-15-9. I should be able to knock them through unbroken but that wasn't the case this time. It's a light weight, about 50% of my max load and there is no excuse for dropping the bar unless it's intentional for saving gas for hspu's. Now I had to take extra breaks there and it cost me a PR in Diane.
There was about 30sec difference to my best result (7.34). I think I made it 14-7 on the deads, then 10-5 and finally 5-4. My back was in fire and I didn't want to hold on to the barbell so I had to drop it. Even though it feels it's just couple of seconds your hands are off the bar, it's more in real life. I've witnessed these occasions on video.
Don't know what to say about hspu's. I got them 11-5-5 on the first round, probably something like 5-5-3-2 on the second and finally 5-2-2 on the last one. Deads ate some of my energy from hspu's so I couldn't make them as efficiently as I'd want to.
All in all, this training session was great indeed. I got to practice on my C2B's in the beginning with about 50 reps. Those tempo squats were great in nature and even though I wasn't able to smash top time on Diane, it's still a kick ass workout and I enjoyed every second of it!
Thursday. Strength, pause back squat 4x5 (across, 100kg). Metcon, 10min amrap of: 10 pistols, 10 deads (100kg), 10 ring dips. Result, 5 rounds. Metcon, 10min emom. Odd min 15cal row, even min 12 burpees.
Huh, its's tough after a break. Squats were the name of the game. Pause squats to be exact. Added more posterior chain movements in the workout following squats. Finally I did the rowing / burpee workout together with Juuso, changing stations after every minute, alternating with partner.
Strength. Pause squats
Pause back squats 4x5 (100kg)
My upper back is smacked from yesterday's cleans. There were only 30+ hang power cleans with 60kg but because of a break on cleans my traps are killing me. They are very sore and it felt nasty to lower the barbell on my back. I did air squats and lunges but it's a different game to have real weight on and carry that up and down compared to bodyweight.
80kg pause squats for warm-up
I couldn't make up my mind on what kind of squats I would do. I was thinking about normal squat triples and 5's, pause squats and front squats too. Ended up doing pause squat 5's with couple of seconds pause in the bottom position. Warm-up included 60kg and 80kg sets. On the latter one I bounced a little from the bottom in the last reps. But this is not the case in real pause squats. The whole point is to go down, sit in the hole and come directly up. That's how I completed the working sets.
My hip flexors were burning after 2 sets. The sets were definitely heavy-ish but there was no doubt of completing them as planned. All sets were across (100kg). My lower body took some hit on this strength portion and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow as well.
Metcon. Result, 5 rounds sharp
10min amrap of:
10 pistols, alternating
10 deadlift, 100kg
10 ring dips
10 min amrap and result was exactly 5 rounds. There was simply no seconds left for any more pistols. There were 2 movements that I got to get better at. Pistols are something that I need to get better at eventually. I can knock them pretty well but I'm looking to get more balanced. My left leg works much better than my right one. I seem to have no issues with left one whereas right one is more shaky.
Deadlifts went unbroken each round. Wasn't nice to hold on to the bar but it was tolerable. It felt good to do deadlifts even though it got heavy towards the end. Ring dips is a weakness of mine and needs to be focused. On the first round I went unbroken, then 2 rounds of 7+3, one set of 6+4 and the last was something like 4 reps and then 3x2 to finish the workout.
The working time itself was not that time-consuming but the transitions took me some time to catch my breath. After not having breathed that heavily it feels a bit on the heavy side. It probably takes a week or two to get back on track. Hopefully sooner!
Metcon. Bodyweight
Every minute on the minute, for 10min
Odd min, 15 calories row
Even min, 12 burpees
In the end I talked Juuso into this one. Alternating the 2 elements every minute. Starting with rowing for 15 calories, took me maybe 40 seconds, I'm not sure, I didn't have a timer right next to me. Rowing was the easier part of this workout. It was a total of 5 rounds both movements 75 calories. Not sure how far that is in distance, I only checked that my pace on the last set was 1.38 /500m.
Burpees took me close to 35 seconds every round. That was a solid effort but it felt horrible. Already the first set didn't feel great. I sucked it up and focused on the next rep. Always the next rep. This was a good quick metcon. Could have continued for longer. Not today, definitely not today after the work done prior to this one. But on another day focusing solely on these 2 elements it could have been double the time. I saw something like this on competitorstraining.com where they did it for half an hour. That's beasty.
Couple of more photos from our California trip =) Playing around.
By the way we got engaged with Pauliina while in Los Angeles. We found a perfect and beautiful place called Palos Verdes, known for it's awesome scenery. Had to pop the question in the sunset, she answered yes and so we're getting married in the summer of 2015, boom! She's awesome! Love you so much baby!
Wednesday. Strength, back squats with a pause 3-3-3-3-3 (max 125kg). Workout, 4rnft: 4 deadlift (160kg), 10 ring dips.
My legs have taken some pressure in the past days but I had a good feeling of going for pause squats. It's been a while since I've done them so it was cool to do some sets. Then on the other hand, it's been a while since doing heavier deadlifts so I did couple of lifts combined with ring dips.
Strength.
Back squats with a pause
3-3-3-3-3 (100, 110, 120, 125, 125kg)
Some time ago I did way more of these type of squats, maybe in January, I guess. There's something in pause squats, love 'em. It's somehow brutal as you have to sit in the bottom for a while and then start making your way up from nothing. Obviously the weights are smaller than on regular squats. I feel like these really create strength in hamstrings and are a good variation to regular squat days.
I think the heaviest weights I've done this far have been a triple @ 120kg. Today that set felt "easy" and I was able to add 5kg on the bar. Well okay, it wasn't the same as with 80kg but it came up nicely. Felt confident on 'em. Had a friend to spot me on the last two sets because they were the heaviest pause squats I've done. It was freaking awesome to hit those 125kg sets. Those were tough!
Workout.
4 rounds not for time:
4 deadlift, 160kg
10 ring dips
This was not a traditional metcon workout. My breathing wasn't heavy. I didn't give that much slack but still it wasn't running between stations. After having taking some lighter deadlifts I started taking 4 deadlifts at 160kg, followed by 10 unbroken strict ring dips.
Tuesday's 10k row intervals had it's influence on my hands. My fingers feel kind of sensitive from the palm-side. So it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do deadlifts today. Once I got the idea of deadlifting, it was impossible to turn that thought around. It hurt like hell in my grip strength. Back and hamstrings were okay and there was juice in the tank.
This was easier day for sure. Good set of squats and some heavier deadlifts after a while. I also got some ring dips involved that I consider a weakness. Those felt good today.
Wednesday. AM: Sports, badminton for 1 hour. Strength, pause back squats 3's / 5's. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 15 burpees, 20 one-arm kb swings (16kg), 20 air squats. Result, 5rds + 4 burpees. PM: Recovery run for 30min.
"Regularly learn and play new sports" - Greg Glassman, founder of Crossfit. Okay, so as Pauliina suggested to go and play badminton in the morning, I was in. We played for one hour, then headed to the local gym for dessert. It was a good warm-up to play badminton. It's been couple of years since I've played it last time. Then, it was time for pause squats and a metcon. In the evening I went for a recovery run to flush legs and get them better ready for tomorrow.
Strength.
Pause back squats
3x80, 5x100, 5x110, 3x120, 3x120, 5x110kg
The place didn't have a safety rack so I had to be careful with the weights. I have never learned how to drop the weight backwards if it gets too heavy. And I'm used to squat the heaviest weights inside the rack with safety bars so it's kind of intimidating to squat without that mental safety of the rack.
110kg
I like these pause squats a lot. I wanted to do regular squats with heavier weights for the last couple of weeks so I skipped pause squats for a while. It was a cool comeback of the pause squats and they made me happy. I've learned to love the squat in all possible forms.
I did sets from 80kg to 120kg. The heaviest sets - 120kg - I did in triples, all others in 5's. I would have liked to try 5 reps in the heaviest sets too. Plus it would have been awesome to try a little heavier, 125 or even 130kg for singles or doubles. This type of squat is totally different and tends to be very cruel as you have to start your way up from a still position in the bottom.
120kg
Metcon. Result, 279 reps (5 rounds + 4 burpees)
12 min amrap of:
15 burpees
20 one-arm kettlebell swings, 16kg, alternating
20 air squats
Originally we had planned to go to our home gym with familiar surroundings and certain possibilities for metcons. As we were in a bit different place I had to created a metcon out of blue after the squats. I looked around for weights and equipment, realized the only thing I liked to use was a kettlebell. Unfortunately 16kg was the heaviest one.
No prob, I thought one-handed kb swings to eye level would have been great. And it was pretty cool. Didn't burn the muscles that much but boosted the breathing as I wished. My goal on the metcon was simply get my breathing up and keep going. Classic cardio stuff. And it worked well for it's purpose.
The burpees were a positive surprise, I was able to keep on moving continuously, from the beginning to the end. Round times also indicated this, there wasn't much differentiation between the rounds. I caught my breath after burpees, and grabbed the kettlebell. It was a nice movement, I did 'em "russian style", that is a little over eye level. So that I could see my face in the mirror below the bell. As I said, the weight itself wasn't much, it could have been heavier but the movement itself was easier to handle than regular 32kg kb swings. That's because normally my forearms burn as hell but now the tension eased every time I changed hands.
Air squats can also be tricky in a workout. Such a simple and innocent movement as air squat. But once you keep on doing them high-rep amounts the legs start to get in fire, and the motion gets a little slower. I focused on full range of motion throughout the workout. A good bounce in the bottom and extending my entire torso in the upright position.
It was a good metabolic condition workout. I'm happy I was able to create this one just like that and it turned out to answer to my needs perfectly. At first I felt I don't have the energy at all but after the first set of burpees I was back in the game and after first round my entire body was ready to rock.
Wednesday. Front squats with a pause 5-3-3-3-3 across (100kg). Technique, ohs and snatch balance. Row for 3k. Time 11.12.
Mobility, front squats and rowing. That's it. Sounds and looks easy but felt good and horrible at the same time. Got good strength work for lower body and rowing for 3k finally smashed my legs. Good session.
Strength.
Front squats with a pause 5-3-3-3-3
All sets @ 100kg
My calendar notes only told me it's time to squat. Front squats with a pause. But I hadn't defined the amount of reps or sets in advance, somewhere around 100kg is ok when doing it with a stop in the bottom position. I took sets of 5's with 60kg and 80kg for warm-up, then climbed to 100kg.
Took the first set for 5 reps. It was somehow painful in my left knee so the rest of the sets I took for 3 reps. I paid more attention to my form on the remaining sets. You'll see the first set on the video. Those 3 rep-sets were good for me today. I got them to drill in my leg muscles thoroughly and the strength part worked for its purpose.
First set, 5x100kg
Metcon. Time 11.12
Row 3k
I finessed my legs by rowing for 3 kilometers. Rowing is such an entire-body-burner. But foremost it's a movement that makes legs burn and of course it demands a lot from the cardiovascular system. I always feel like my legs are the ones that suffer the most. Breathing is heavy, no doubt, but it's manageable all the time and I recover quite soon after I stop rowing. But those legs feel horrible for a while.
3.000m = Time 11.12
Today I had no stress on the rowing, didn't think that much about the time and I actually didn't have any idea what my pace was during the row. I turned the screen to face the ceiling not to see the digits at all. I glanced at it at 1.5km, then turned it away again. At 2.4km I happened to take another look and from then on I kept it visible and started pacing myself up. For the last about 500m I put my heart in and finished the 3.000m wod at 11.12.
Sunday. Back squats with a pause (max 120kg). Metcon, 10-8-6-4-2 hspu, 20-18-16-14-12 box. Time 5.07. Warm-up, 1min amrap test of air squats. Result 61reps.
This was a good training day. This has been an easy week compared to normal training weeks and today was the first time I did a little longer sets with a barbell. The squats were heavy, considering they were done with a pause. And in the end was the first real metcon I've done since Monday. The metcon felt great! I've missed those. Next week I'm back to normal programming.
Warm-up. Result 61 reps
1min amrap of air squats
Pauliina saw this test somewhere, it's some sort of test published my Finnish military forces so we both tried it out with my baby. The standards were normal, full range of motion. Got to 60 reps, 1 per second. Pretty normal pace as I think about Tabata workouts. I've done about 20 per 20 seconds regularly. It was a good warm-up for a squat day. Of course I did the classic foam rolling, and resistance band things I always do to get some mobility done for pre-workout. Pauliina also smashed the workout with 53 reps.
Strength.
Back squats with a pause
5 x 80, 100, 110kg
3 x 120kg
Usually my pause squats have been either front squats or overhead squats. Back squats were cool too. Gonna do them occasionally. Wanna create strength from becoming out of the hole. The weights in paused squats traditionally have to be lighter because there's more and longer tension focused on the legs. You simply can't perform similar weights on the bar as with regular squats. I want my legs to become stronger, so I'll hit these paused squats on a regular basis together with normal squats.
Pause squats with 120kg
I believe I haven't gone this heavy at all on this type of squats? Completed 110kg for a total of 5 reps and a triple with 120kg. That felt very good. The last reps of 110kg were challenging so every rep done at 120kg was a success.
Metcon. Time 5.07
10-8-6-4-2, handstand push-ups
20-18-16-14-12, box jumps, 61cm
This metcon was created in a second. Wanted to get my breathing going and I haven't done handstand push-ups in a couple of days so it was easy to come up with a good combination of hspu's and box. Pauliina was suggesting to do higher box jumps as an inspiration from yesterday's Winter War. Great idea honey, gonna do them some day, just add couple of plate on top of a 61cm Rogue box.
A total of 30 hspu's and 80 box jumps. I was able to do this one unbroken without stopping to breath. Tried to keep the transition quite quick too. Had no idea how long it would take to finish this one so I started moderately and quickly understood it's gonna be a short one. This mostly burnt my legs.
Hspu's were not bad. Got to bounce them unbroken without much problems. Just jumped on the wall and decided to keep the body moving. The descending ladder made it easier. Had it been the other way around, from 2 to 10 it might have been tougher. Don't know, but I felt great for manhandling the movement.
Metcon, hspu's and box
Box jumps were tougher on the muscles. Had those squats prior to the workout so my legs were on fire in the end. As the number of hspu's were getting smaller it felt like this was all about box jumps. Still, was able to complete them nicely. Didn't stop at any point. All in all this workout went as planned and I'm feeling great!
Winter War. Yesterday we drove to Tampere to witness the Winter War, Finland's version of the Crossfit Games. It was freaking awesome! The atmosphere was spectacular and the athletes were real crossfitters. A total of 9 events of which the rowing 2-part event, something something similar to the last year's Games, a little shorter version though.
Mikko Aronpää, a great Games athlete, took the Finnish title for the third year in a row, 3-peat as they called Rich Froning =) It was a close call this year, as last year's second Mikko Ojala, an unaffiliated guy, huge monster, was a runner up before the last event.
In fact Ojala dominated the final but Aronpää still barely won because of his steady performance through all the workouts during the day, point difference being only 4 points (583p vs. 579p)
Ladder of thrusters and high box jumps
The ladies' winner was Saara Laaksonen, from Crossfit Turku. This year she got the gold medal after being second last year. She dominated the the final event and thus the entire competition. She had a total of 611 points whereas the second took 541 points. No doubt who was the fittest woman in Finland.
Aronpää and Ojala
I was checking the throwdown with Pauliina, Sipa and his training partner Jake. Toni was also in the scene. In fact he spent the entire weekend enjoying the atmosphere.
Athlete from Toni's box
Saara Laaksonen
Couple of videos in the end of the snatch ladder. Weights between 60 and 120kg, with a 1min work rotation.
Aronpää manhandling 80kg in the red shirt
Aronpää taking 110kg up in the middle, and Ojala 115kg on the left
