Thursday 3.4: Squats, row and burpee intervals

Thursday. Strength, back squats 4-4-4-4-4 (130kg). Pair wod, 8 rounds of: 400m row, 10 burpees.

Time to get some squats in the play. I went to the gym with Pauliina and Juuso. Did some squats with my training buddy for starters and then we continued with a pair wod, by combining rowing and burpees in interval style. Short rest between sets. Good session!

He's done!

Strength.

• Back squats 4-4-4-4-4 (125, 130, 130, 130, 130kg)

My focus was on back squats, whereas Juuso did heavy front squats. We alternated the sets. I climbed up from 60, 80, 105kg, then took my first set at 125kg. I felt like there's more to give so I completed the rest of the sets at 130kg. It was time to do 4 rep sets. Those felt perfect for today. The last 1-2 reps were as challenging as they should be. It wasn't easy to get them done, had to concentrate properly on my breathing and form to get it done.

I felt good going for 5 sets of 4 reps with these weights. I guess it would be wise to do more front squats too but it just feels like there's so much to work on and it's difficult to do everything all the time. So it's a lot of balancing between movements continuously.

CF Games Update, women's side

Pair wod.

• 8 rounds of:
• 400m row + 10 burpees

It was good to do this one together with a training partner. We took turns on the rower so that either of us was rowing all the time. I started by rowing, Juuso took on burpees. After I was done with the 400m row, I jumped off and completed 10 burpees immediately, and Juuso took the seat on the rower right after I finished rowing. So after burpees had been done you had some time to rest while the other guy was still doing his share of the rowing.

It was as cruel as I though it would. Total of 3.2k row and 80 burpees is a nasty combo. Rowing started to feel in the guts about from mid-workout on. First 200m were okay but the last 200m wasn't fun =) It was time to put those thoughts aside and just keep on pulling. My focus was to do the burpees right after I stepped up. No breaks in between. The rest was scheduled to take place after the burpees. Burpees burned too, especially because my legs were hammered after rowing (and heavy squats).

It was a good heavy breather. Thanks for tagging along J. In the end I played with the stall bars, looking to some day complete a flag pole move. The metcon was tough - no doubt - but after 2 minutes I was pumped up to workout more. Felt like I could do some more strength work =) Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to hit it again.

Wednesday 2.4: Cleans and gymnastics

Wednesday. Cleans (max 90kg). Gymnastics (rings, t2b, planche holds)

My body felt great during the day and I was ready to go. On the other hand I had zero seconds to think about the workout at hand, what to work on. On the last minute I decided to see how cleans would feel like and then do some bodyweight stuff, skipping metcon for today.

Barbell.

• Squat cleans 5-5-5-5 (60, 70, 80, 90kg)

After warm-up I started to move the barbell. For some reason it felt heavier than normally from the very beginning, even though I felt good entering the gym. I took some fives and called it quits. I completed the reps by feeling, didn't have a certain rep scheme in my mind. Just went by flow and took some reps to get some good reps done.

It wasn't the best barbell day so I deloaded the barbell after 90kg and decided to concentrate on bodyweight stuff, developing body control.

Haven't done hook grip at all, ever. It's been tickling on my mind to try but haven't made any moves

Gymnastics.

• Ring muscle-ups
• 4 rounds of:
• 15 toes-to-bar
• Planche holds on a bench between t2b sets, then:
• Pull-ups on rings
• Stall bars holds
• Stall bars mobility moves

I actually took ring muscle-ups after warm-up, before cleans. Both false grip and without false grip. Then a short 4-rounder, not for time. 15 unbroken t2b's and planche holds on a bench. My focus there was to enhance my body core control and shoulder strength. Aiming to find a strict torso all the way from toes to shoulders, having only my hands to touch the bench. I feel like I've improved on this type of movements a lot. Let's say one year ago I tried these at times but haven't done 'em in a long time. Still, I'm doing clearly better nowadays. Through crossfit I've learned to control my own bodyweight better, there's no doubt about it. Plus, these moves are very cool, I get a lot of enjoyment practicing them.

CF Games Update Show

It was a tough core work as I did those t2b's between planche holds. After having done 4 rounds of this combo I took some strict pull-ups on rings and then also worked on stall bars that we have at the gym. I'd like to see myself doing a "flag pole" move someday at either stall bars or then on a real flag pole outdoors. That's a bad ass movement and demands a lot strength-wise and definitely a kick-ass body control. In the end I remembered mobility tips from Dave Durante where he stretches on the stall bars. I wrote about it some weeks ago if I remember correctly. It was a good call to leave the bar alone and concentrate in bodyweight stuff

This is what I'm talking about, how sick body control is this?