Friday 27.5: Cleans, Pushing and Pulling

Friday. Emom x 12min: clean (up to 100kg). Metcon, 3x4min amraps, with 2min rest between amraps.

After taking two days recovery there was no chance in this world I would have skipped the gym. It turned out to be a clean session and then a combination of metcons that I got from one pal.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
• 1-3min: 90kg
• 4-6min: 95kg
• 7-9min: 98kg
• 10-12min: 100kg

My plan was to hit a longer session but the traffic was quite horrible and basically cut my training time a little. Went after cleans in the beginning without that much of a warm-up. That was probably the reason why the barbell felt a little heavier than normally. I was looking forward to building heavier but decided to stay around 100kg because I didn't feel that smooth in the movement.

Clean recap

Metcon.

• 4min amrap of:
• 6 push-ups
• 6 pull-ups
• Result, 8 rounds + 6 push-ups

2min rest

• 4min amrap of:
• 4 handstand push-ups
• 4 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• Result, 7 rounds sharp

2min rest

• 4min amrap of:
• 2 strict handstand push-ups
• 2 bar muscle-ups
• Result, 3 rounds + 2 hspu

This was  a good twisted idea by Miku. Three different 4min amraps of pushing and pulling. It got tougher considering the movements the further the clock ticked. Yes, the reps decreased simultaneously. First of these metcons was the toughest for lungs. Those were light kinda light movements so I was able to move faster. It was about 50 reps each elements.

Next round the pushing changed to handstand push-ups. Those went well too as it was okay to use kipping motion and thus utilize the entire body to move up and down the wall. I'm glad c2b pull-ups were just 4 reps per round. Got exactly 7 rounds at this second amrap.

The last one was miserable. The fact that strict movements are not in my wheelhouse was witnessed efficiently on this one. First round of this was okay. On the second round I got a no rep (actually two of those), and since then had to singles and rest between reps. Bar muscle-ups felt a lot tougher than what I'm used to but I got them unbroken still.

Breathing was heavy on the first and second metcon, and muscles burned due to keeping this body in constant movement. On the last piece breathing stabilized because I wasn't able to just go further. It was more just about hitting a wall and trying to copy with that. Thanks Miku for this combo!

Saturday 21.5: Gymnastics, Row, Du's, Push-ups

Saturday. Gymnastics, 5 sets of strict hspu's. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 300m row, 30 du, 15 push-ups. Result, 6rds + 199m row.

We headed to breakfast early in the morning on Saturday as the weather was as beautiful as it gets. Found a nice café in Kumpula and got a chance to eat outdoors in the sunshine. Then some fitness needed to be improved just a little bit more this time too.

Gymnastics.

• Every 3:00, for 5 sets
• Set of strict handstand push-ups
• Result, 10, 8, 5, 5, 5 reps

This is something I have neglected for too long. It would definitely be beneficial to attack this weakness more often. Strict gymnastics movements. Whether it's handstand push-ups, pull-ups or muscle-ups. Ideally in a metcon it's naturally assisted with a kipping movement in order to utilize the entire body. But for strength purposes strict would be a good tool too.

It was one set every 3 minutes. Started with 10 reps, then 8 and the last sets were 5 reps per set. These tax my shoulders pretty good but also back and hammies are activated as I felt those muscles contract a lot and almost cramp at one set =)

Metcon. Result, 6 rounds + 199m row

• 15min amrap of:
• 300m row
• 30 double unders
• 15 push-ups

My plan was to take it rather easy this time. My body felt beaten up big time so I figured moving around a bit would be a good thing. It turned out pretty soon that it's not gonna be a walk in the park though. Somehow I turned the buttons on and went after it with a good mentality. I'm very happy I was able to dig deep and find the appropriate mental state.

It's been ages since doing double unders so I had no idea how they would turn out to. I foam rolled my shins good as I have found that's a good way to avoid the shin pain on the jumps. That was a good decision and maybe that's the reason why my du's rolled very nice. Had zero misses on those boom!

Push-ups were unbroken too. The round times also stayed consistent throughout the workout and I was able to keep the transitions rather quick as well. At least it felt like it. It's another thing what it looked like from outside hehe

Recap of handstand push-ups

Thursday 29.1: Hspu, Squat, Pair wod

Thursday. Gymnastics, emom x 8min: strict hspu's. Back squat, 3 reps every 90 seconds, build up from 60kg till failure. Result, 2x140kg. Pair wod, 15min amrap of: 50 hr push-ups, 50 squats, 50 burpees, 50 lunges. Result, 2rds + 50 push-ups.

Yes, gimme squats! First some hspu action, then partnering up with Toni for a great back squat workout that took our legs to other dimensions, and finally we hit it for a 15min metcon together as a team. Good one as usual =)

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute, for 8 minutes
• Strict handstand push-ups for 6 min (3-5 reps)
• Kipping handstand push-ups for 2 min (6 rep)

These short emom sets are perfect on the road towards mastering some weaknesses. I feel like I have hspu's pretty well under control nowadays when kipping is allowed but strict ones are from another planet. Those are hard and I can't get a real momentum going on there. I've done 10 for max reps whereas 25 can be done when the entire body is utilised. That means more strength for shoulders and triceps would make the deal for strict ones too. These minutes were not for max reps. I just took couple of reps to get more familiar with strict versions. I believe it was 5-5-5-4-3-4. That was supposed to be it but I took 2 extra minutes just doing couple of kipping reps as well.

It was the perfect avocado ever, had to share this one with you guys =)

Back squat. Compare to 20.12.2014

• Every 90 seconds, perform a triple
• Weights: 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120… till failure
• Result, 2x140kg

This is the same workout I did some time ago for the WinterWar qualification event number 3. That one was done with front squats though. It was such a great workout that I thought trying it out with back squats too. The weights start at light weight and go up moderately so the body gets warm pretty well. It was a triple after every 90 seconds. I did this one with my pal Toni. He started at 0:00, and I took my first set at 0:45. So someone was lifting a triple after every 45 seconds.

That time interval is great. In the beginning it's quite a long time and there's plenty of time to recover. And in the end it really hits big time in the last rounds / sets because you have to work so hard for those reps anyway.

Got to say we both had good results considering our own maxes. Toni smashed 120kg for a triple even though he hasn't been able to squat in a long time seriously because of some back issues. This was a victory for this guy. And 140kg for a double is no joke for me. Especially in a rally like this where time becomes a factor. We felt super happy on the results!

Pair wod. Result, 250 reps

• 15min amrap of:
• 50 hand release push-ups (alternating after 5 reps)
• 50 air squats (synchronized)
• 50 burpees (alternating after each rep)
• 50 lunges (synchronized)

Our legs were destroyed, my quads were screaming for help after those squats. It was surprisingly difficult for us to come up with an idea of a pair workout. We decided to leave the barbell off of this one so it was about push-ups / burpees and squats / lunges. Kind of like two different movements, yet modified to 4 different elements.

It was a 15min amrap of these 4 stations. We did squats and lunges synchronized, meaning we both did 50 reps at the same time. Push-ups were 5 for you, 5 for me style. And on the burpees we have found a way that is economical for Toni and me, we change the athlete after every rep. This way we get them done faster compared to if we did them for example 5 and 5 reps.

Turkey, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, Turkey and rice. Post-workout meal

Not necessarily a bad ass for lungs but legs were taking some hit on squats and lunges and then shoulder and arms in general were getting their share on the push-ups and burpees. It was definitely worth throwing down for it with my main man Toni.

Lauren Fisher

Tuesday 13.1: Gymnastics day

Tuesday. Gymnastics. Muscle-ups, strict hspu's, and double unders.

This has been part of my 2015 programming that there will be days where I will not touch a barbell nor do a metcon as such. Just concentrate on some gymnastics movements or skills to build on those. Muscle-ups are something I strongly feel I have more potential to shine on. Today I paid effort on those, then did emom-style handstand push-up strength, and finally jump rope action. Good stuff!

Muscle-ups.

• 20 singles of ring muscle-ups

These delight me a lot. These twenty reps were probably the best I have ever done. Ever. I took them as singles. Had thought about how to develop my skills on the muscle-ups. Not just trying to rep one at a time but what would the suitable progressions be to get better at this skill? I talked with Toni and we both thought my swing needs some work.

So my plan was to hit some muscle-ups and then finally do lots of swings without even trying to finish the entire movement. That was the plan but the reality was those muscle-ups felt good from the very beginning so I changed it so that I got one muscle-up and continued by doing 2-4 big swings right after that in the same set.

This turned out to be a good strategy. At least it felt natural and my muscle-ups got better by the rep. I believe it was because I got lots of those swings done and the movement pattern becomes more clear all the time. I thought about doing 10 reps but because those rocked pretty well, I kept on doing them. Next goal was at 15 reps, then finally at 20 reps. Feeling stoked!

Hspu.

• Every 90 seconds, perform max set of strict handstand push-ups
• Total of 6 sets
• Result, 10-5-6-6-5-5 reps

Strict hspu's or strict pull-ups are something that I rarely do. On metcons I don't see the point of doing them as strict versions because the goal is intensity. But on a day like this it felt like a good plan. So it was one unbroken set every 90 seconds, then recover the rest of the time period, and complete another one. Repeat for a total of 6 sets.

This was a good one. I took no warm-up on being inverted against the wall. First set went on for 10 reps. Probably the most I've ever done as strict. Then it was 5's and 6's on the remaining sets. I'm very happy on the way I was able to carry on through these sets.

Du's.

• Double unders 20-30-40-50-40-30-20 reps

This was more like a cool down section. Took some time between sets. It's been a while since I've hopped around for jump rope purposes so I wanted to get a feeling of them back in my mind. These went okay have had better but still pretty okay. I'm still pumped up on those muscle-ups. Really feels like some progress was made today. Let's see, I have one buddy at work who can link about ten mu's in a row so I'll have to get a training session with him to absorb some good technique from him.

Sunday 22.6: Skills, Back squat, Deads and pull-ups

Sunday. Skills, 3 rds of: 4 strict hspu, 4 kipping hspu, 40 du. Strength, back squat 3x5 (across 120kg). Metcon, 2-4-6-8-10-12-14, deadlifts (100kg), pull-ups. Time 8.20

Training day after a rest day. Always loving a comeback after taking it easier for a day. We hit the gym with Pauliina and to no one's surprise the gym was empty. During the entire weekend there had been something like 10 people in 3 days. Midsummer day is not the day for a regular Joe to go and do a workout on his own. Anyway, my skills part was a little different this time, then I did back squat 5's and finally metcon was all about pulling hard.

Skills. For quality

• 3 rounds of:
• 4 strict handstand push-ups
• 4 kipping handstand push-ups
• 40 double unders

Usually my skills training is a little different. This time I thought about making it more like a metcon but for quality, not for time. I took very short warm-up (should have taken longer though, not smart to rush on that portion) and went inverted against the wall. Those hspu's felt heavier because of my joints were not as well activated yet as I'd like them to be.

Anyway the idea was to do 8 handstand push-ups, then hit 40 double unders. I did hspu's in 4-4 style, first strict reps and then used kip to finish it off. I got 2/3 round unbroken on the double unders. Second round was 30 ub and then a miss, first and last were perfect.

Strength.

• Back squat 5-5-5 (all sets @ 120kg)

I touched the barbell, went through my traditional warm-up be doing clean pulls, hang cleans, front and back squats, presses in front and back rack. Then loaded the bar little by little, starting from 5x60, 5x80, 3x100kg, to finally reaching my set weight @ 120kg. Then completed 3 sets of 5 reps at this weight.

Hundred kilos was light, but all the sets with 120kg were tough. I was wondering after the first set how I could nail those remaining sets as 5's. I was thinking about scaling the reps and/or kilos because I didn't want any misses. Taking this into consideration I am very satisfied I stayed with the original plan and was able to get all those sets done with mental strength.

Metcon. Time 8.16

• 2-4-6-8-10-12-14 of:
• Deadlifts, 100kg
• Pull-ups

I got inspired by NC Lab to do this workout. They combined deadlifts and wall balls which would have probably been a it smarter decision =) Having deadlifts and pull-ups was a killer on my forearms. It was all pulling back and forth, with a barbell or on a pull-up bar. The weight itself on deads was not heavy but during the course of the workout it starts to feel nasty because of those ripped forearms.

I went unbroken on deads up to the round of 10's. On 12's I cut it in half and same with the last round. Pull-ups were the tougher part of this workout. Those reps shouldn't be a case at all but the combination of these two was surprising. Pull-ups went unbroken up to 8's. The last 3 sets were cut in pieces (6-4, 6-3-3, 5-3-3-3).

It was a tough workout, no doubt. It destroyed my forearms for sure. It wasn't that bad on breathing because I had to start piecing it out towards the end. Had I been moving all the time, it would have been a different thing. On the other hand, that is very encouraging that I can recover pretty decently during a workout if I have to have a break here and there.

Tuesday 3.6: Hspu's, pull-ups, ring dips

Tuesday. Metcon, 10 to 1, down by 1's of: strict hspu's and pull-ups. Cashout, 50 ring dips.

Getting back in action. The pills have really kicked in and the pain is gone. I'm still a bit cautious because I was told not to work with my lower body. So I had to think about movements that would bring as little burden to legs and hip flexors as possible. Ended up doing hspu's, pull-ups and ring dips.

Handstand walking wherever I can, love it! This is in San Francisco

Metcon.

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
• Strict handstand push-ups
• Strict pull-ups

This combined to a total of 55 reps for both movements. Had to go strict intentionally because kipping would have turned to a whole body movement. It's been a humble experience to do handstand push-ups and pull-ups as strict lately. I did them strict in the States too. They should really increase the strength in upper body. Going kipping will increase strength in the entire body plus the side effect of metabolic conditioning. Like them both.

On the hspu's I went unbroken on the first set, and could have done at least 2 more had it been max effort. From then on I complete each set in 2 parts to the round of 5's. The last 4 sets I did unbroken. The cut sets were 6+3, 5+3, 4+3, 4+2, and 3+2. Definitely made my shoulders work a lot. The sets weren't easy for sure!

Pull-ups turned heavy, that took me by surprise. Sets of 10 and 9 went unbroken. On the round of 8's I was no-repped on the last rep. No-repped by myself =) I believe the next round was unbroken, and then on 6's, 5's and 4's were done in 2 sets. The last 3 sets unbroken. I took couple of no reps somewhere during the metcon. I tried to pull with as much as I had but couldn't get high enough so naturally I didn't count them. And I was not giving any slack on the strict / kip arrangement. All reps as strict.

Big shout-out to my main man Toni. He just PR'd his Grace rx'd to 2.58. You'll see couple of his Grace workouts. The first one was completed in 2012, scaled to 40kg, his first Grace ever. And below the newest date with this girl. Congrats man and great development you've had!

2012

2014

Cashout.

• 50 ring dips

As I've written so many times, ring dips must be worked on. I'm not satisfied with the amounts I'm able to complete in metcons. Today seemed like a perfect day to do couple of tens in the end. I tried to do them as quick as possible. I took a 10 at first, then with just small rest periods in between tried to do smaller sets to reach total of 50 reps. And I kept focus on going deep enough to make it count every time.

It was a ten in the beginning, then couple of 5's and then 3's till the end. I tried to keep the rest as short as possible. At times my shoulders and chest was so smashed that I had to shake my hands to get the tension released. This went pretty well in my opinion. I was thinking about the monsters at Crossfit Regionals working on the "50's workout", and tried to simulate the feeling as they had to do 50 ring dips in the middle of the workout. Those guys are the real deal, respect!

Saturday 1.6: Gymnastics session

Saturday. Gymnastics. 1: 5 sets of 10 strict hspu, 10 strict pull-ups. 2: 5 sets of 10 strict ring dips, 1min dead hang on pull-up bar.

Oh boy, the wake-up was rough. My left hip flexor is indeed smashed. Home doctor evaluation says it's inflamed so got to let it be for now. Now working out with lower body whatsoever. It's difficult to walk, it's pretty much limbing style that I roll now. That doesn't keep from working out though. Don't want to use that as an excuse. But I'm not trying to be stupid. I defined the workouts so that they bring burden to my upper body only. Strict reps of hspu's, pull-ups and ring dips. Don't wanna use kip to engage lower body.

Gymnastics.

• 5 sets of:
• 10 strict handstand push-ups
• 10 strict pull-ups

I was thinking about making it emom training to get my heart beat up. That's what I would have really wanted. Metcon after metcon to get my lungs back to shape.With strict reps it's way more challenging and once those muscles start to get numb there's not much to do. Kipping helps in those situation but I had decided not to kip.

Recap

So I took strict hspu's to start with. First round went unbroken. That's by the way more than I've ever done as strict hspu's, c'mon! My "official" PR is 18 reps, used kip motion then. The following 4 sets of handstand push-ups were completed in 3 sets: 6+2+2 each round. I'm very happy how I got these through. There was a possibility that I would have to cut them to more pieces but fortunately I got them done pretty well.

Strict pull-ups are also a rarity. It would be smart to do 'em every now and then but it usually turns to kipping pull-ups because I incorporate them into metcons and there the idea is to complete the reps as quick as possible. Then strict reps wouldn't be the smartest thing to improve metabolic conditioning. Last reps were tough in each set, no doubt. First set was actually quite smooth but then from 2nd round on I had to battle those last 2-3 reps.

Gymnastics.

• 10 strict ring dips
• 1 min dead hang on pull-up bar

Ring dips were a bit too easy this time. I was in my thoughts I guess because I realized this only after the workout was done =) I had no issues in any of the sets. Ring dips is something I've considered a weakness of mine. The problems usually occur in high-rep ring dip workouts. But a 10-rep set shouldn't bring any issues. I should have put bigger numbers per round.

But the pull-up bar hang was nasty! I thought it would be cool to just hang around there and enjoy the moment. It was disgusting. Phew. On the first round I was there for about 50 seconds before dropping and finishing the 60 seconds with another 10 sec hang. On the following rounds I completed the 60 sec hang in 3 sets. About 30 + 15 + 15 second sets. My forearms were tingling and they started to go numb. Also my grip strength simply wasn't there. I felt my fingers sliding down the bar little by little.

This was a good substitute day to what I had originally planned. A different one. I missed the metcon and strength but these practiced movements were something that are always useful. I had thought of hard core bar action and kettlebell / run metcon outdoors but I'll save those for another moment.

Mr. Muhammed rocked that rope climb / sprint workout last weekend!

Monday 5.5: Gymnastics day

Monday. Gymnastics: Skills, ring muscle-ups. For quality, 5rds of: 5 strict push-ups, 10 pistols, 15 pull-ups. More skills, weighted pistols squats, one-arm overhead squats, one-arm overhead pistol squats.

Wanted to take it a little easier today so I went through a different style training session. Started off with ring muscle-ups, then some more bodyweight stuff by working on my strict hspu's, lots of pistols and a good bunch of pull-ups.

New fruit & nut bar in test

Skills.

• Ring muscle-ups

It felt as good as it always does =) Had no problems getting up there, that seems to be the trend now. I'm very happy over this topic. Haven't used much false grip lately because I wanna get rid of that. It's there in my skills tool bag just in case if I need it but mostly I try to go without false grip.

Workout. For quality

• 5 rounds of:
• 5 strict handstand push-ups
• 10 pistol squats
• 15 pull-ups

This is important stuff. Haven't done many strict hspu's and it was a good reminder when I looked at the Regionals workouts that these need to be worked as well. It was said in one of the Update Shows that there are teams that have said they didn't practice strict hspu's at all in the past year. I bet these guys will face some problems in those tough workouts.

So I did 5 strict hspu's per round. They are clearly tougher than kipping version. Then pistol squats. On some rounds I went alternating leg after each rep. On some rounds I did 5 reps left leg, then switched to right leg. I tried to do these as slow and controlled as possible to teach my body the correct path up and down. I felt very confident on the movement. This is my thing. I remember not being able to complete one single rep when I started crossfit. By crossfitting my mobility, strength, balance and coordination has improved so much that this movement is not challenging anymore.

Pull-ups I did unbroken. That was the goal and I had no doubts of not reaching that. I tried to keep my legs together, looking to engage good kip movement in my hip.

Skills.

• One-arm overhead squats, 10kg kettlebell
• Weighted pistol squats, 10kg kettlebell in front rack position
• Weighted pistol squats, 10kg kettlebell in one-arm overhead squat position

In the end I played with my mobility, and skills. I'm not sure I have ever been able to complete a 1-arm overhead squat with a kettlebell. At least to parallel. It felt magnificent! Something has happened and my mobility has improved. The weight itself was light, the main focus was on body movement.

After having done couple of tens of pistol squats, I took a kettlebell in front rack position and did some weighted pistols. It was naturally heavier but similar movement, no problem. But the last thing was over the top: pistols squats while having a kettlebell in 1-arm overhead squat position. That was sick. Never thought I'd make it but there I was, had to sit in the very bottom, stay there for a second or two as a pause squat and then get back up.

This was the first crossfit video I ever saw. Ben Smith doing thrusters and c2b's

Wednesday 22.1: pistols, pull-ups, hspu's, 5k row

Wednesday. Every minute on the minute, for 30min: 1st min 10 pistols, 2nd min 8 strict pull-ups, 3rd min 5 strict hspu. Metcon, 5k row. Time 19.06.

Today was supposed to be an easy day. Concentrating in skills with moderate heart beat, lots of reps in emom style. Then finishing the session with rowing for a longer distance to build up an effective engine further. On paper it felt like an easier one. Still, I felt like some work had been done as I finally came home.

5k row

Skills. For 30 minutes.

• Every minute on the minute
• 1st minute, 10 pistol squats
• 2nd minute, 8 strict pull-ups
• 3rd minute, 5 strict handstand push-ups
• Repeat the cyle for a total of 30min

I told you guys lately about my thoughts about doing hspu's and pull-ups mostly as kipping versions and that it has been on my mind to do also strict versions. Today's workout was the first answer to this issue. I consider it more like a skills training. Pistols, strict hspu's and strict pull-ups. Important movements in my opinion.

This workout was emom training divided into 3 parts. It took 30 minutes in total, 10 minutes of each movement. On the first minute I did pistols squats, pull-ups on the second and hspu's on the third one. Then start over again from pistols. So there was kinda 10 rounds of all 3 movements. I had defined the number of reps beforehand, naturally.

Those reps turned out to be perfect for me. 100 pistols, 80 pull-ups and 50 hspu's. Managed to follow the original plan well. Hspu's were tough in towards the end but I got them unbroken. Pull-ups were also surprisingly tough. Having done kipping reps for a very long time, strict version seemed a bit funny to do. I used both grips, palms facing me and away from me, just to get some variation in the grip too. On 2-3 sets I completed the reps in a square-shaped pole as the pull-up bar was occupied. Of course the grip feels a bit awkward when you're used to round-shaped bar.

Pistol squats are cool. I'm very happy I can do those one-legged squats pretty well. My left leg seems slightly stronger, at least it feels like it in these pistols. I don't do these that often but I always enjoy when I incorporate them into my workouts.

Metcon. Time 19.06

• 5k row

Have had this in mind for a while. it's the longest distance I've ever rowed in one seating. There have been times where I've done interval training for 4-6km but never have I gone over 12min or longer in a row. I turned the rower's display to face the ceiling 'cause I didn't want to stare at the digits. If it was facing me, I know I would have been looking at it all the time. How frustrating is it to see the numbers crawl forward so slowly =) So I put on some music on my iPod and enjoyed the moment. No idea how fast I was rowing. I took a first glance on the numbers at around 2.8km. The pace must not have been lightning-fast but on the last 500 meters I started to pick up on the pace. As you see from the first picture, I was doing my best in the last 100-200 meters. This was a good test for me, I wanted to know what my time would be on this distance.

Sunset from my office today