Monday 13.1: Back squats, ohs, metcon

Monday. Back squats with a pause (max 110kg). Overhead squats with a 10sec pause (max 60kg). Metcon, 3rds of: 15 burpees, 20 front squats (60kg), 25 box. Time 13.00.

Squats! Awesome, I decided to try squats with a pause also on back squats, it was the first time. Previously I've done front squats and ohs with a pause, and it was as phenomenal with back squats too, must say. The metcon was brutal, simply brutal…

View from our hotel window last Saturday, not bad, scenery over Tampere

Skills.

• Ring row transitions.

I'm taking some muscle-up progressions into warm-up section for some skills training just become better with the rings. Today I didn't move to actual ring muscle-ups, just worked on ring rows and the transition stage from pull to the dip. It was a good one. Maybe tomorrow I'll hit some more mu training.

Strength. Squats

• Back squats with a pause 5x5 (80, 100, 105, 110, 110kg)
• Overhead squats with a 10sec pause 5x1 (50, 55, 60, 60, 60kg)

These are great! Don't get me wrong, you got to do regular squats too but these are newcomers in my training program and I want to keep it versatile so that my body don't get used to repeating same movement patterns every time. And putting "ass to grass" definitely improves mobility in the hips. Stopping in the hole activates muscles in a different way once you try to dig yourself up from there. It's a totally different movement to keep body on a movement all the time than staying and stopping in the bottom position.

I took sets of 5 on back squats. The first set was clearly lighter and concentrated in getting better prepared for the upcoming sets. THe 4th set was @ 110kg and seemed to be a bit tough so I took the last set at the same weight. They came up nicely. Had to catch a breath in the middle but legs held well. The weights are clearly different compared to regular squats.

This was the second time in a week as I was hitting overhead squats with a 10 second pause in the bottom position. Last time I took the heaviest reps @ 50kg. Today I wanted to upgrade that and worked to 60kg barbell. It was very well managed and I guess I must go heavier next time. The hardest thing seemed to be bringing the bar down without dropping it. Haha, no but it was a great exercise for the catch for the squat snatch. This will definitely bring confidence in the catch and bottom position. Take a look at the videos of both squat versions.

Metcon. Time 13.00

• 3 rounds of:
• 15 burpees
• 20 front squats, 60kg
• 25 box jumps, 61cm

Killer! The workout was a leg-burner. No rest or lighter part for lower body at any stage. I understood that before jumping onto the workout so I decided to have a break after the movements. It was only 3 rounds but gassing myself in the beginning would have been a disaster. It was tough even without rushing it so it turned out to be a good idea.

I got the idea for this workout from my brother who had done something similar. The box jumps were probably the most challenging part of it. Surprisingly the burpees were the "easiest" of them. Doing this kind of metcon after squats is a tough decision. But hey, you got to be prepared for anything at any given moment so why not go for it!

Friday 10.1: Front squats and ohs with pause, metcon

Friday. Ring skills, emom for 10min (ring rows, 1-arm extensions). Strength, front squats with a pause 4x3 (across 105kg), overhead squats with a pause 5x1 (across 50kg). Metcon, 21-15-9, overhead squats (50kg), narrow grip pull-ups. Time 6.07

Lately I've been eagerly waiting for upcoming squat days! It's important to learn to love 'em. It all starts from the legs. Have them strong and you're able to move easier. You'll have the capabilities to keep on moving when your legs are strong. Add good metabolic condition and you're a beast. That's what my goal is. I have the goal of making my legs stronger than they currently are. Some skills in the beginning, then pause squats and finally a metcon of ohs and pull-ups.

Front squat 105kg

Ring skills. Every minute on the minute, for 10min

• For 5min: 5 ring rows, rest of minute mobility
• For 5min: 3/3 one-arm extensions

Took some classic warm-up with foam roll and mobility that seem to work for me. Next I played with the rings to get prepared for the workouts. Did some ring rows and then rest of the minute I stretched my shoulders for the upcoming overhead squats. After 5 minutes I changed it to 1arm extensions with the clock running all the time. I used the rest of the time edging my squat snatch with pvc pipe. I believe these 1-arm extensions will help in keeping the balance with the rings and will develop the grip comfortable in the long run too.

Part II of the "Behind the scenes 2013"

Strength. Squat day

• Front squats, 4x3 (across 105kg), 3 second pause
• Overhead squats 5x1 (across 50kg), 10 second pause

I did front squats with a pause about a week ago. They were great! From that day I've been waiting to get them on my schedule again. And today it happened. Front squats with pause, this time triples and all sets across, @ 105kg. Felt good with the load. The third set was the toughest, it felt a bit awkward on my right ankle for some reason. Other than that, it felt good all the way. I'm definitely doing paused squats more in the future. Starting from a static sit from the bottom, you need to be strong to get out of the hole. I believe this will increase my leg strength.

Must admit this is something I copy pasted from Chad Vaughn. He's been doing overhead squats with a long pause. This should help in feeling natural in the squat snatches. And especially on the "big lifts" where this should bring stability because you learn to be at your home in the bottom position. I thought I couldn't do it with much more than 30kg =) I took some sets with empty bar, then 30kg and 40kg. Those felt so natural that I decided to put 50kg. In addition I did snatch balances (probably for the first time in my life) and snatch presses before going all the way down.

Squats

I felt awkwardly good in the bottom position. Because I feel very natural in the deep bottom position in front squat but not that natural in overhead squat. However, today it felt extremely good and I had no problems staying there for eternity. The weight did feel light even though there was 50kg on the bar. And coming back up from there was easy. Shortly, this was great workout!!!

Ohs 50kg

Metcon. Time 6.07

• 21-15-9
• Overhead squats
• Pull-ups

The combination was kind of cruel. I realized it after the first round. I did both movements unbroken but took my time to get my hands and shoulders some recovery time in the transition. I wanted to do them without breaks and I definitely needed the recovery for my shoulders. The overhead squat was nasty. It started to feel on both my shoulders and my legs. On the pull-ups I took very narrow grip compared to regular width. It was good variation and definitely worked for me.

Sunday 5.1: Ring skills, clean/snatch technique, du's

Sunday. Ring skills. Technique, clean pulls & snatch pulls. Workout, emom for 20min. Odd min, 5 power clean, even min, 30du.

Lighter day, for a while. Concentrated in skills and technique. Ring mu progressions for some time, then pulls on cleans and snatches, trying to find a good spot for the "bounce". Finally I took a workout with light cleans and double unders, for technique and skills.

Ring skills. Ring muscle-up progressions

• 10 sets of 2 ring rows + 1 transition
• Ring mu attempts

I want to be better at muscle-ups, both bar and ring versions. Need to be working harder on those. More frequently and more progressions. Got to be doing pull-ups higher than normally: chest-to-bar's and belly-to-bar's. I can nail bar mu's always when I try them but I want to make them more effortless. Want the pull-up be so high I don't have to struggle on the transition stage. Same with the ring mu's, or actually even more. There have been some days I haven't got any reps even though I've tried them multiple times. Today was one of them.

That's why I'm gonna do more of progressions for full reps. I've checked Austin Malleolo's muscle-up drills video for couple of times and tried to absorb the tips he's given. I did 10 sets of a ring row slash transition complex It looks so easy when you look at someone else do it but when you hold the rings with a false grip it immediately feels heavier. The grip is not comfortable at all but is kind of mandatory, at least in the beginning. In case I would be able to pull myself higher, false grip would not be needed anymore. That's what I've learned.

These sets were very good drills to get better at ring mu's. Need to be doing more of these.

Recap

Technique. Numerous sets of:

• Clean pulls
• Snatch pulls
• 50kg barbell

Toni has been giving some tips for me on my oly lifts, or to be more specific, my pulls on clean and snatch. The spot where I bounce the bar from my thighs is somewhere on my mid-thighs which is way too low. Being able to locate the bar higher - "on the pocket" - would create more power on the pull and the bar would travel in a more vertical path upwards. It would also help to on the landing position as I wouldn't be jumping forward on the heavier weights.

So we've been trying to spot the bar higher when we have trained together. Today I put only 50kg on the bar and focused on completing better pulls. And once I was concentrating on this, I believe I was able to get it higher. But it needs lots of thought because otherwise I'll get back to my old habits of bouncing it from too low. I worked on both clean and snatch pulls.

Workout. For technique

• Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes
• Odd minutes, 5 power cleans, 50kg
• Even minutes, 30 double unders

This workout was light in nature. There were a good number of clean pulls and I wanted to get some full reps technique-wise too. No surprise that my focus was on pulling the bar from as high as possible. Toni I need you to give some thoughts on my performance on the pulls and power cleans.

Double unders were okay. Not perfect though but still okay. Couldn't go unbroken. As you see my first reps tend to suck compared to the ones from 5-rep on. My body bends too much in the first reps and I have to bend my knees too. After couple of jumps I get a hold on the movement and it feels much better. At that point I get a good confidence on the jumping too. Still need to be doing more work on the form.

Friday 27.9: Muscle-ups, handstand, sprints, metcon

Friday. Skills, muscle-up 11x1, handstand. Sprints 8x100m. Metcon, for completion: 5 rounds of: 10 t2b, 10 ring row.

Friday night. Pauliina was outdoors with her friend so I had some quality time with crossfit =) Decided to work on my weaknesses. Went to Pirkkola, "HC Triplet" venue to do bar muscle-ups and handstand.  I also ran 100m sprints, which has been a rarity. Then I hopped on my car and drove to home gym for a metcon and mobility.

Skills.

• Muscle-ups, 11x1
• Handstand

It's been a while since I did my last muscle-ups. I've practiced on ring muscle-ups but haven't been able to perform a successful rep. Will have to concentrate more on those. However, today was reserved for bar mu's. There's still that awkward twist as I land on the pull-up bar with right side first. That's because my right leg does the "kick" and left leg kinda lags back.

Waiting for muscle-ups to be done

I'm still able to nail every rep I attempt but those definitely consume more energy compared to a situation where I would be pulling higher with both legs doing work equally. So getting reps done is very positive but there's technical work to be fixed in order to make them more effortless. And once I get rid of that biased right side, it will probably ease the ring muscle-ups as well because there you have to keep the package tight and not twist the body to any direction.

Took 20 dips at the top of the pull-up at then end of the last muscle-up. My shoulders were destroyed after this training part so I was able to do only a couple of sets handstand skills. It felt good though in the beginning. Towards the end I felt like there's no strength left in my shoulders so I decided to move on to running.

Friday evening at the gym, surprise there's no one

Sprints.

• 8 x 100m sprints

When was the last time I did running? Honestly, I don't know. There's been running as part of a metcon. I have intentionally done running metcons when I've been here in Pirkkola or lifting weights in Eltsu because there's also a running track in the weight lifting place. But I haven't been concentrating in running 100 / 400 meter sprints.

Recap

So today I did 8 sets of 100 meter sprints. Recovery was the walk back after which I immediately went for the next run. The latter half of the sprints was agonizing. I gave my all in the running part. In the beginning my shins were hurting a bit but it went away after the first run. Maybe that was only because of lack of running.

On the first 2 runs I felt my pace was around 80-90% of max but from then on my joints were loose enough and it felt good in my body, legs and upper body. Did 8 sets and felt awesome after having done them because it's been such a long time since last running training.

Kiddos playing football during the sprints

Metcon. For completion

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 toes-to-bar
• 10 ring rows

Drove to the gym in order to do bench press for strength. Once I arrived at the Box, I realized the bench was missing the actual bench?!? Not the most comfortable platform to lay on. So I had to modify. Was thinking about floor presses and even tried some dumbbell bench presses. After doing some foam rolling, playing with the barbell I noticed I wanted to concentrate today on bodyweight movements. Let's save the barbells for tomorrow.

Whaaat?

A movement that always needs improvement is toes-to-bar (or knees-to-elbows, doesn't matter). It's awesome movement for a number of reasons. It strengthens the core, shoulders, grip strength, metabolic conditioning, actually the entire body gets it's share. And ring rows are simply nasty. My muscles tend to go tired after just a short number of reps so no harm in doing those once in a while.

Toes-to-bar

Toni was taking a day off today. His talking about doing one of the benchmark girls tomorrow. If he's able to make it to local crossfit affiliate, I'm looking forward to see how he's doing. For finnish speaking guys: if you're in Facebook, look up Crossfit Vantaa and you'll find an interview of Tony the Pony. He's the "crossfitter of the week" =)

Ring row

Jason Khalipa

Friday 5.4: Ring skills, metcon, rowing

Friday. Ring skills, metcon, rowing.

Pony joined at the Box to work out. My body has taken some hit due to lot of barbell work with heavy weights. I wanted to take it lighter so I left the barbells for Toni this time. Instead, I mostly used rings for today's workout as well as bodyweight. Toni copied the training, in addition he did push press before the metcon.

Before the workout I warmed up with the rings, doing inverted holds for few sets as well as handstand holds against wall. Also some sets of ring rows and L-sit holds with the rings. To kick the training on the first thing we have done with Toni for the last maybe 4 times is that we take a double under battle. Alternating with Toni, 5x20 unbroken sets of DU's so that once the other one quits, the other one starts.

Metcon. Mostly rings

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min deficit push-ups
• 1min ring rows
• 1min ring push-ups
• 1min rest

This looks easy but was a killer! Short workout but my upper body was smashed after it was over. Triceps were simply burning. Definitely the most difficult part was the deficit push-ups. We put 2x20kg plates to place our hands on and the idea is to make the chest hit the floor to make it a little tougher movement. First ring rows were easy but after the wall hits you, it's difficult to get back on track right away. Ring push-ups not as painful as the deficit ones.

Rowing. 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off for 20 minutes. Distance rowed: 3.377 meters.

That first metcon didn't make me gasp for air so I strongly wanted another one to give something for my heart as well. I've done this type of rowing for a few times and it gives me the satisfaction every time. I was able to do strong strokes from the very beginning. My pace was constantly under 1.40/500m, at best it was 1.31, probably on average I'd say it was around 1.38-1.39. Happy with this one, even though my ass also goes numb in this workout =)

Toni's workouts. Push press as strength and metcon for dessert.

Push press EMOM. 1 rep each minute with increasing load after every 5 minutes.

• For first 5 minutes, 2x60kg
• For the following 5 minutes, 1x65kg
• For the following 5 minutes, 1x70kg
• For the following 5 minutes, 1x80kg

The point was to add 5kg after every 5 minutes but Toni accidentally jumped 10kg after 70kg directly to 80kg. Well, no wonder, he is known for his skills to count weights on the barbell, right Toni? ;) Maybe that last leap was lethal in this workout as he managed to finish the 5 sets with some failed reps at 80kg but was not able to increase load after that.

Toni's Metcon.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min deficit push-ups
• 1min ring rows
• 1min ring push-ups
• 1min rest

Tuesday 12.3: Rest day

Tuesday. Rest day.

In the morning my feeling was that my body wants to have a break so I decided to sleep a bit longer and chill out for one day. Tomorrow I'll get back on track with my programming. Toni decided to go and train solo. Well, Elias who is a newcomer and has decided to make a life changing decision to start training hard, was also at the gym with Tony the Pony, this one is a disciplinary guy!

Toni's workouts. Time 19.40.

• 50 kettlebell swings, 20kg
• 50 sit-ups
• 50 push presses, 20kg
• 50 wall balls, 15kg plate
• 50 back extensions
• 50 ring rows
• 50 push-ups

Yep, Jenny Labaw completes 150 reps on 13.1, one-legged...

Taking on King Kong, not the lightest of the workouts

Sunday 30.12: Active recovery, floorball

Sunday. Active recovery, playing floorball with family.

I have three brothers and one sister. One of my younger brothers' - age 13 years - floorball team challenged family members to play against them. So of course I took the challenge and played with Sami - my older brother - in the same line against little bro :) This was a 1.5h game so we got our legs warmed up after a few days crossfit training. Yesterday I was running with sled, the day before I took some 100m sprints and on Thursday I PR'd my back squat. It was a good pitstop to have some active recovery for my legs. Thanks Henkka for giving this opportunity to play against you guys, tough opponent!

Me and Sami warming up

Our dad is on the left

Toni's workouts. Toni went to the Box and concentrated on technique, not heavy weights. What do you think about today's training session? Ring rowing is a new element to you as well as squat cleans.

• Pull-ups
• 4x5 squat clean, 50kg
• 4x5 front squat, 60-70kg
• 4x5 handstand push-ups
• 4x5 ring rows