Pauliina had girls gathering at our house so I needed to get out of the house for the evening. I had no troubles figuring out where to go. It was a crossfit session to come for sure. For some reason I had no plans whatsoever for this session at all, just went on by feeling. Turned out to be snatches, amrap, accessory and cool down.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 18 minutes
Snatch
1-3min: 50kg
4-6min: 55kg
7-9min: 58kg
10-12min: 60kg
13-15min: 63kg
16-18min: 65kg
I took the warm-up easily, didn't rush at all, just kept pounding 40kg barbell up and down for a while. Then turned on the clock and completed one rep per minute. It was great to be able to climb up to 65kg again. Had no desire to build up to max of the day. Just needed to work on my technique. And there is something to be worked on for sure. But the lifts are getting better anyway. The bar is not going all over the place anymore. The lifts are starting to look more similar compared to each other.
Metcon. Result, 222 reps. 7 rounds + 7 db jerks
12min amrap of:
5 deadlift @ 100kg
10 shoulder-to-overhead @ 2x20kg dumbbells
15 box jump
Good metcon! Deadlifts have been away from my thoughts lately but it suited very well for this metcon. It could have been heavier but my palms were a bit sore so it didn't feel that good to hold a barbell. Deads were the easiest part of this workout.
Workout's idea was to keep moving constantly. The longest break was between deadlifts and dumbbells as I needed to complete those s2o's unbroken. No point in dropping the db's as it would be a waste of time picking them up from the floor again. Box jumps put breathing high as they regularly seem to do.
Accessory.
5 rounds of:
12 reverse hypers
8 bicep curls
Reverse hypers have been in the back of my head for a long time. Occasionally I get to do them and enjoy every time. Okay, I could do them more often but it's more of a time issue. Accessory portions are for days when there's no rush at all. This was good accessory piece. After all the work I rowed for 3k for cool down purpose.
Thursday was a busy day all the way from morning to midnight but somehow I found a slot to hit the gym. This week's been running back and forth all the time so I practically don't have time to right that much about the training.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 14 minutes
Odd min, power clean + hang squat clean @ 90kg
Even min, squat clean + 2 front squat @ 90kg
Different type of complex of cleans. Felt pretty good on these. Barbell was heavy'ish though.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
1st min, 7 power clean @ 60kg
2nd min, 10 handstand push-ups
3rd min, 15 box jumps
Most difficult part of this piece was the end of hspu's. Maybe another set could have been nailed but then it might have gone more challenging. Cleans got my breathing heavy, so were the box jumps. In the beginning no big deal but after some rounds it was a different game.
Accessory.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd min, 5 bench press @ 70kg
Even min, 12 reverse hypers @ 50kg
Easy end to this session. Main focus on the reverse hypers. Should have probably gone heavier. It's just kind of a new movement so I didn't dare to.
Monday. Emom x 10min. Odd, 3 power clean. Even, 3 hang squat clean. Front squat 3x5. Metcon, 5rds of: 7 back squat (70kg), 12 burpee. Time, 6.00. Accessory, 3rds of: 10 reverse lunges, 10 reverse hypers.
Efficient but a rather lengthy session. Oly lifts, squats, metcon and some accessories. Everything I'd like to squeeze in one session of crossfit. Still, it got fit in one hour.
Reverse hypers
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd min, 3 power clean
Even min, 3 hang squat clean
Sets at 80, 85, 85, 90, 90kg
Started quite soon after entering the gym. Original goal was to go at 90kg all the way but I took the first as "warm-ups". I really didn't take that much preparation before these lifts. These went pretty well. I'm happy that those 90kg power cleans were unbroken without dropping the bar between reps. That was kind of a mystery how it would turn out to be.
Strength.
Front squat 3x5 (110, 115, 120kg)
This felt heavier right after the cleans. Especially now as I try to do the pieces with less rest time in between. I actually wasn't able to get the last rep on the set of 120kg done. That was a bummer but I decided to forget it and move on.
Metcon. Time 6.00
5 rounds of:
7 back squats @ 70kg
12 burpees
Huh, this was a quick and intense one. Burpees are the real deal in here. Okay, also squats are challenging as the entire body is pumped up from the burpees. The last 2 reps on squats burned my hamstrings nicely but the thing was absolutely the burpees. I'm happy on the way I was able to keep moving.
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
10 reverse lunges (60, 70, 80kg)
10 reverse hypers (0, 20, 30kg)
The purpose was just to get more strength stuff done. Lunges are perfect for that. I have never gone this heavy on these. Mostly something like 50-60 kilos. Right after every round of lunges I went to do reverse hypers which is a killer movement for hamstrings and butt cheeks, the entire posterior chain to be correct. Started with that empty machine and added some weight on the following sets. This is rather new stuff for me.
Another early morning workout. This time the night sleep was lengthy, and I felt much better when waking up. We have been focusing on getting more sleep on a daily basis and it's paying off. I feel much more energetic during the day. This has been a good trend lately. It still requires more warm-up in the very morning workouts to get mentally and physically fully prepared.
Overhead.
Push press 4x6 @ 70kg
Part of the progression. I have now gone with this "program" for 4 full weeks. Twice a week. Started at 4x10, 3x10, 2x10, 1x10. Then same amount of sets but weight increased and reps decreased to 8's. Now it's time to go for 6's. Today's load was 70kg.
Damned the bar felt heavy even with an all-around warm-up prior to touching the bar. At 40-50kg the bar felt much heavier =) Once I had pushed 60kg for couple of reps I decided I wouldn't go for a heavier single before the first working set but started the first one when climbing up. Felt okay. A bit shaky but still rather solid. My shoulders and triceps took these well but for some reason it didn't feel as smooth in the front rack when I dropped the bar from overhead as normally.
Metcon. Result, 4 rounds + 150m row
10min amrap of:
300m row
20 double unders
15 wall ball shots, 9kg
Going for bodyweight elements purely equals to heavy breathing. There's usually not much room for recovery and leaning elbows on knees. Or at least there shouldn't be. It's a different thing if there's barbells included or high level skills such as muscle-ups. This was rowing, double unders and wall balls.
My plan was to get a steady pace throughout the workout. Rowing was faster than if it was a longer distance. I kept the damper setting somewhere between 8-10, depending on the round. I've been neglecting double unders as those have not rolled as I want to. That's not the correct way to attack weaknesses for sure =) They usually hurt in my shins for some reason. Box jumps don't but jump rope does. Sick. I reasoned foam rolling my shins would make a difference, and that definitely did! Felt great jumping around.
Wall balls were good, made my legs burn a bit. Nice combination mixing it with rowing. That really brought fatigue in to my legs. This workout definitely felt in my legs and breathing. Good one.
Accessory.
Reverse hypers 3x10 @ 20, 30, 40kg
Barbell row 3x10 @ 60, 70, 80kg
At first I thought about getting back home to recover but then this hit me from somewhere. Took couple of sets of both reverse hypers and rows with a barbell. I'm not sure if I did the rows correctly. This was how I felt like it needs to be done. I've done them with dumbbells for couple of times. That's more natural for me. This was probably the first time I did this with a barbell. Reverse hypers feel like a great accessory element. Especially after squats. Today I piled some weight on the system and tried how it feels. Awesome for posterior chain development.
Squats.
Back squats
5x120, 125, 130kg
3x132.5, 135kg, 2x137.5kg
1x140, 142.5, f 145kg
Front squat
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes of:
5 front squats @ 90kg touch'n'go
Afternoon session was all about squatting. First back squats and then front squats to murder my legs totally. Had to flush it with cycling for 10 minutes on a stationary bike. That felt like the best cycling piece ever. I did lots of mobility, stretching and then that cool down. Without those I probably wouldn't walk anymore. My legs are gone already now in the evening. I'm anticipating they are sore as hell tomorrow.
My plan was to do back squats. Built it up little by little. Even though I wasn't able to build up close to my max load, I'm still happy due to Sunday's and Monday's volume of lunges and workouts in general. Especially those lunges made my legs sore big time. Plan was to do 5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1. Last set of the triples was so damn heavy that I racked the barbell after 2 reps. And the last single had to be assisted up by my spotter.
I wasn't planning on doing front squats initially. However, I took some weight off the bar and left it at 90 kilos. Then took 5 reps for fun, walked around and took another. At that moment I decided to make it something like strength conditioning. Didn't have a clock running as this was created in the spur of the moment while I was doing it. I basically walked around to shake my legs and then returned to the bar. These were touch'n'go style squats which made it more difficult.
Tuesday. Back squat triples (up to 140kg). Overhead strength singles (up to 90kg). Emom x 20min: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squat. Accessory, 3rds of: 12 reverse hyper, 90sec rest, 10 ghd's with pause, 90sec rest.
Long session at the gym. Everything went as planned, and I left with a big smile. It took a while to go through all the planned work but there was no rush so I took my time to improve my fitness level. Squats to kick off the session, then overhead work. Metcon was mental more than anything, and finally some accessory work to strengthen core and lower body.
Strength.
Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 140, 140, 140kg)
Now I decided to start the session with back squats so my back wouldn't get tight in the process. This worked well, and body felt great for back squats. The first sets were obviously light. It's always awesome to see that 130kg is no biggie for a set. I still remember a time when it was a bit shaky even for a single. There's been a clear development.
Next station was at 140kg. Wasn't light. For sure. But I nailed those anyway, somehow =) Form wasn't beautiful but I'm glad anyway of hitting the weights as planned. I had the option of putting some extra kilos on the barbell if the first set of 140kg would have come up more easily. But the first set was somewhat a battle so I decided to keep it at the same weight for each set.
Recap
Overhead.
Shoulder press 1-1-1 (across 60kg)
Push press 1-1-1 (across 70kg)
Push jerk 1-1-1 (across 80kg)
Split jerk 1-1-1 (across 90kg)
Good one to get some action overhead. Weights were a bit conservative. I mean for singles. Started on strict press, then made it a notch easier by every round by changing the style how to put the bar overhead. But the twist was to add 10kg each time.
This felt great and at this very moment it feels good to do this as some sort of progression. Add little weight per movement and try how far it's possible to go. Push press was relatively the easiest of these four styles when taken into consideration the weight being handled. I took a video of each press/jerk so you'd witness it too. It's been time since jerking serious weight so it felt kind of funny to go at 90kg. Quite steady but I felt it hasn't been possible to jerk heavy lately.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 20min
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
As you probably know this resembles one benchmark workout. Called Cindy. That is a 20min amrap of the mentioned movement pattern. This was a modified version of doing it in emom style. Even though it was kind of easier, it was still horrible towards the end. It took 31-33 seconds each round to complete the required amount of work so that was as solid as it can be. No difference between rounds.
It just started to burn muscles round by round towards the end more and more. Somewhere in the middle it started to get mental. Pretty much in the same way as in Cindy. I remember last time completing that one, I was mentally exhausted at 8 minutes =) But managed to push through that dark place and come back to a happy place.
Pull-ups were the easiest part of this one. Push-ups started to feel like they are going to kill my triceps. Managed to get them unbroken still. Air squats were not nice either in the end. Kept the breathing high and legs burned. Not as much as I had anticipated but still there was good tension in lower body. Got to say these nanos are darn good in all possible movements you need in crossfit. They are made for squatting! And jumps are also good so I dare to declare these the best shoes ever.
Metcon needed no barbell this time. Pull-up bar and bodyweight movements
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
12 reverse hyper
90 second rest
10 ghd sit-up with 2 second pause at parallel on both descent and ascent
90 second rest
Accessory work to strengthen core and posterior chain. It was nice to have time to work on this kind of extra work. Reverse hypers to put more pressure on posterior chain, and ghd's were done in a different style. That made a big time difference. Regular ghd's with a pause at parallel level on both ways, up and down. Good burn on the core!
Wednesday. Ohs singles (up to 85kg). Front squat singles (up to 130kg). Back squat singles (up to 140kg). Sled push 8x20m (up to 150kg). Accessory, 3rds of: 10 reverse hypers, 10 glute ham raises.
Originally this day was booked for back squats but yesterday I promised myself to give it a rest. My legs felt smashed yesterday after those squat cleans. However, last night squatting came back in to my mind and the plan came back alive. Decided to see how I feel like after waking up. Well, it turned out I did all possible forms of squats.
Back squat singles (110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140kg)
This wasn't like attacking new PR's but building up to a heavy single. Only on front squat I looked for a new record. I know it's close! Overhead squats went up to 85kg. I also looked for 90kg but couldn't quite hold it. Last 2 reps didn't go as low as the earlier squats. That is something worth putting focus that no matter the weight, the lifts look similar. Like they do in front and back squat.
Front squats felt great in every single rep. That last successful repetition at 130kg was smooth and not even that heavy. I had already put 135kg ready for next lift but then it came to my mind that it's actually my current PR so why not jump right into new one. Because the previous was okay I decided to skip 135kg and do 137.5kg instead. Maybe a mental breakdown =) I know anyway that I'm close to 140kg on this one. Got to do more squats and probably some accessories to strengthen my legs.
Back squats were the easiest of these. Well, can you say the easiest but anyway they felt good. I wanted to have a spotter on the last rep just in case but it was not such a big deal. It was a good spotter to psyche me up.
Squat recap
Sled.
8x20m sled push
As I just wrote I wanna strengthen my legs and lower body. Sled is a perfect tool for this objective. This is heavy shit. This grass matt is 20 meters but at times it can feel like a long distance. Pushing a sled is largely mental stuff. It's gonna hit lower body with a vengeance and once you hit a set the legs are going numb pretty soon. But it also feels so damned good. Today I got 8 sets of 20 meter trips done, and built it up so that most of the loads were at 150kg (plus the sled).
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
10 reverse hyper
10 glute ham raise
This was the first time doing these movements with the real machines. I've had some modifications earlier but they can not compare to this real stuff. These pretty much murdered my hamstrings. It didn't require much after all this squatting and sled pushing. I'm gonna have these included in my game plan on a steady basis because it's obviously gonna strengthen my lower body. Awesome elements!
Wednesday. Eccentric squats 4 x 8 (all sets @ 100kg). One legged reverse hypers 3 x 10, both legs. Some deadlifts and dips, mobility.
I was looking for today's squats with extreme eagerness. I've had some left hip issues and thus I haven't dared to do heavy front / back squats in ten days. I have compensated it with doing deadlifts and improved my posterior chain through deads. Today I was full engaged at work and had no possibilities to eat twice during the day. My lunch was not perfect either so my juice was not in place once we went to gym with Pauliina. Had to make some quick decisions after negotiating with my body so I focused only on leg work. Skipped a metcon totally. Squats and reverse hypers.
Strength. Eccentric back squats 4 x 8 (all sets at 100kg). Did this type of squats for the second time in my life. Lower yourself slowly, bounce back and move yourself up normally, a.k.a as quick as possible. Did 4 sets of 8 reps @ 100kg, each set at same weight. I got new olympic shoes, the first in my life, yesterday and I fell in love immediately. Thanks Toni for ordering them for me!
The stabilization in squat is from another world when wearing these Adidas shoes. I found a good stance yesterday in front squats and today in back squats. I'm looking to have great assistance from the oly shoes in certain movements: all possible squats (overhead, front and back) and squat snatch / clean.
Four sets was perfect considering I did 8 slow mo reps @ 100kg. Had decided on the weights beforehand and liked the barbell's feeling all the way. There's a big depth on the squat as you see on the video.
After the squats I did some deadlifts and regular dips, then moved on to do reverse hypers, for 3 sets of 10 reps. It was not a pure reverse hyper machine but something like that. Main focus was on hamstrings and glutes. It was a single-legged station so I did 3 sets both legs. Definitely felt the pressure on the hammies.
By the way, heard Toni did a new PR in clean & jerk, 92.5kg saw the daylight, not bad mister! =)
