Friday 27.12: Handstand, ohs, snatch, Nancy

Friday. AM: Skills, handstand. Strength, overhead squats 5x3 across (60kg). Technique, snatch. Metcon, benchmark workout Nancy, 5rds of: 400m run, 15 ohs (40kg). PM: Row intervals and mobility.

Another great day! It was no surprise to me beforehand. I was about to meet Toni @ Liikuntamylly, our favorite venue for training. It's usually a place where PR's are born. Today was no exception. I wasn't looking for them but Toni was aggressively after overhead squat records and he made the old one look light. There was plenty of work being done in the morning time. Skills, strength, technique and benchmark wod. We were totally done after Nancy. In the afternoon I went to pick Pauliina from work and decided to do some rowing intervals.

Toni snatching

Skills. Handstand. For me it seems odd that having a long break of handstand training in the autumn time has done good things to my skills. Today I was able to stay inverted longer than ever plus the distance I was able to handstand walk was clearly a PR. It just feels good being upside down. And the platform at this place for practicing this particular skills is perfect. It's made for running, like a track and field type of platform. I couldn't imagine a more suitable ground for handstand skills training.

Handstand skills training

Strength. Overhead squats 3-3-3-3-3 across (60kg). I'm having troubles to workout in a place where I could drop barbells from overhead position so every time I'll get a chance to come here in Liikuntamylly or the cave in Eltsu you'll see me do some sort of overhead movements or olympic lifting. I had predetermined the weights I'm gonna use today. When I've done ohs strength sets, they have always been at 50kg. I wanted to take this to next level and hit 60kg on the bar. My current max is at 70kg so this weight is something where I have to concentrate a lot.

Toni working on his HS

Toni was giving me tips throughout the session. He just completed the L1-trainer's course at Tampere and was being guided with bad ass coaches around the world. Let's mention Jami Tikkanen for instance, a Finnish legend from Crossfit Thames, London. Anyways, Toni was putting effort in my form, having back in correct line, having a tight midline, having my knees pointed out all the time and sitting below parallel. Thanks for the tips Toni!

Handstand walk

It felt very good being able to handle that 60kg good enough. At points I forgot to listen to Toni's hints so my form wasn't great. Still, it was manageable. I'll have to do more work on my mobility in order to being able to narrow my hands on the bar. My grip is as wide as it could possibly be. Have to pay attention to all those tips I've read from the professionals, Chad Vaughn is the first guy that pops in to my mind.

Toni did something like 3x50, 2x60, 1x60, 1x65, 1x70 PR. He also pressed 75kg up but his stomach was already full from the record that the squat part failed to complete. Congrats on the PR!

Recap of ohs & snatch

Technique. Snatch. After having done ohs we moved on to learning things on snatch. We put a lot of effort on the starting position, first pull, high pulls, and some squat snatches as well. This was more like a snatch clinic, not strength training. Max weight must have been 40kg that we fooled around with. It was a very good session and I understood some issues from the starting position and the way my knees should behave on the first pull. Once again, because of my training partner.

Toni's snatch clinic

Nancy.

• 5 rounds of:
• 400m run
• 15 overhead squats, 40kg

Uuh… It was tough. These two elements we are talking about - running and overhead squats - are my weaknesses. That's how I feel the game. So it was crucial to finally do this benchmark wod. I thought it would become an issue with the overhead squats because there were gonna be 75 reps in total! Well, it turned out I was managing it unbroken up to 72 reps. At the 13th rep on the last set it was too much to handle for my shoulders and it started to fall back. I corrected it too much and it fell forward.

The way I performed on this one was something beyond my expectations. In my own opinion, I did it great considering these definitely aren't my strong areas as a crossfitter. That's also why I enjoyed this so much that it's a high-rep workout. Just like yesterday when I did 60 reps clean& jerk with 60kg. It's important to have that muscle endurance and being able to keep going no matter what happens.

First 10min of Nancy

I don't pay attention that much on the time of the workout because we were doing this together with Toni with one barbell only. And there were times where we were both simultaneously at the bar so there were some time lost waiting for your own turn. It took about 18min with everything included. It was a cool workout in a sense that after running I didn't have to stop and gasp for air but I was able to grab the bar - if it was free - and start doing the reps. My third round was faster than the second and fourth was faster than the third. First round was 3:00 and the rest of them were about 3:30 if done without interruptions.

It was a very good training session! There happened to be other crossfitters as well in the morning. There was one guy having same Rogue shirt as I and another dude having same L1-coach shirt as Toni so that was kind of amusing =) We talked about technique and mobility for some time with the guys and I got to keep on digging to this area.


Intervals. Distance 3.424m

• Row
• 30sec on, 30sec off for 20min
• 1min rest after 10min

In the afternoon I went to pick Pauliina up from work and we headed directly to the gym. My role there was to do interval rowing and lots of mobility. That classic 30sec on and 30sec off material was on the board again, it's been months since last time. My ass tends to get numb rowing at full speed so I took a 1min break after 10min. My pace was 1.31-1.36 all the way, mostly at 1.33 / 500m. I consider that a rather fast speed for me but that's what this workout is all about: going all in every set. Took lots of overhead squats with narrower grip, tried some sots press and finally foam rolled my thighs a lot, stretching as well.

Wednesday 16.10: Eccentric squats, reverse hypers

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! =)

Friday 10.5: Deadlift, team wod

Friday. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3-1-1 (max PR 185kg). Team metcon, hspu, pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups.

Today's agenda was to do a team workout together with Toni but during the day my team mate's feeling grew and he had the desire to reach the same clean numbers that I got up yesterday. So I also had some time to deadlift, haven't been doing that much lately with heavy loads. You'll find videos of our lifts from the links I attached, there's still some problems with attaching own videos to the post.

Strength. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3-1-1 (120, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 185kg). I took some reps with 60 and 100kg before moving on to heavier loads. This time it was triples all the way up to 170kg. It was the first time I did more than singles with 160kg, at least I believe so. That 170 was rather heavy and on the 180kg (my current PR) I took only a single, would have been a struggle to get another rep. Once I was already at this level, I had to add 5kg and take a new PR, 185kg =) And my form stayed ok in this strength training, I'm glad about that!

1 second after the PR, 185kg =)

Team metcon. Together with Toni. One team member works at a time.

• 40 handstand push-ups
• 100 pull-ups
• 200 push-ups
• 200 sit-ups

This was the first time we did this type of workout together. Not the first time doing a wod with Pony but determining a certain number of reps per movement and completing them in alternating turns was new thing for both of us. Toni started with the hspu's, did as many as possible, then it was my turn. I was able to hit a PR of hspu's in the first round, 10 of them, first ones were strict and the rest kipping, could've probably squeezed 1-2 more but there were plenty of them in front of us and little time to rest. Once the other one was performing, the other one rested and then a switch.

The pull-ups weren't bad and I'm quite proud of this other crossfitter's pull-ups. He nailed his new max, 10 pull-ups in a row. And from then on, he also did 5+ sets till the end as I recall it. I got 25 on the first round, then 15 and the rest I don't remember.

The push-ups were a nightmare and it felt it took forever to finish them. Toni completed 30 reps on the first round and gassed himself. On the second round he got 10 and less from then on. I got 15 on the first round, then 10's for some time and 5's in the end.

The sit-ups were easy, too easy, should've done it some other way. Maybe toes-to-rings, knees-to-elbows or something like that. We did them in turns, 20 reps per dude, and then switch, only 100 reps each.

My upper body was jammed after this. There were a big number of hspu's, pull-ups and push-ups in total. I enjoyed the way we carried the workout through. Got to propose these type of workouts in the future to Toni as well. What did you think man?

Toni's workout. Clean singles, 70, 75, 80, 85, PR 90, PR 92.5kg. C'mon, he did as well! Great job mate, previous PR was 87.5, today two lifts after that to reach 92.5kg and Toni always does them as power cleans, he hasn't practiced squat cleans to feel natural with heavier weights.

Tuesday 2.4: Jerk, Snatch, OHS, metcon

Tuesday. Push jerk 5x3 (70kg), snatch 5x3 (50kg), overhead squat 5x5 (50kg). Metcon 6 min emom of double unders and 25kg dumbbell snatches.

I got inspired by oly lift / crossfit coach Diane Fu's article concerning olympic lifts and felt obsessive in trying it out. Let's see how my body feels after doing some training with her training ideology. Today it felt very good! Jerks, snatches and overhead squats, finishing with EMOM type training.

Jerk, 70kg

Strength. Jerk, snatch and ohs.

• Push jerk 5x3 (70kg each set)
• Snatch 5x3 (50kg each set)
• Overhead squat 5x5 (50kg each set)

I had decided on the weights beforehand and was able to do them as written on paper. 70kg jerks weren't that bad, I'm very satisfied they were that "light". My technique in jerks has taken some giant leaps and nowadays they look like jerks, not presses. Next step would be to take split jerks into my training regularly with heavy weights but that requires another box where weights are allowed to be dropped. It brings confidence when you know that's ok to drop it if you can't hold it anymore.

I'm more proud of my snatches. In crossfit open 13.1 I was able to PR my snatch to 60kg but before that I had taken 50kg up once and 52.5kg once. There has happened some good things as I was able to do 5 sets of 3 reps unbroken. It felt awesome! I continued to the last strength element today which was overhead squats.

I took the barbell from ground, snatched it up, adjusted my stance and form, then started descending. Managed to do 5x5 with 50kg, nice! I believe each rep I overhead squat, improves my mobility as I feel the tension in my back muscles.

Metcon. Dumbbell snatches and double unders.

• Every minute on the minute for 6 minutes
• 20 double unders, then
• As many reps as possible in the remaining minute of dumbbell snatches, 25kg, alternating hands.

Some snatches in the end, spiced with double unders to make breathing go heavier. Thinking it afterwards, I should have gone for 10 minutes but this was tough anyway. I used 25kg dumbbell to make it heavier on the snatches. This was a good training day and I'm feeling good now to start training hard!

Clean, 87.5kg, Toni

Toni's workouts. Clean and back squat strength.

• Clean, EMOM
• 60kg for 5min
• 65kg for 5min
• 70kg for 5min
• 75kg for 5min
• 80kg for 5min
• 85kg for 5min
• Failed attempts on 90kg so he tried 87.5kg and successfully got it up, new PR! Then,

Back squats 3-3-3-3-1 (95, 100, 105, 110, 115kg). He really made those 80kg and also 85kg cleans look effortless.

Sunday 17.3: Game Day

Sunday. Game Day.

My crossfit was non-existing today because this was a Game Day. We won the last game of the regular season 6-4 so I guess we'll continue the season in the playoffs.

Toni's workouts.

• 5x5 hspu, scaled to foam roll
• 5x5 weighted dips, 15kg
• 5x1 weighted pull-ups, 10kg
• 1/2 Cindy, 10 rounds in 10 minutes
• Back squats, 3x100, 3x110, 1x120, failed attempt of 130kg, 1x130kg (PR)

I wonder when comes the day I can perform muscle-ups

Friday 15.3: Step-ups, double unders

Friday. Step-ups and double unders.

I had plenty of plans for today and wanted to go heavier but then again I was holding back a bit because tomorrow I'm gonna do the 13.2 workout in the 2013 CF Open together with Toni. The workout includes push presses, deadlifts and box jumps so it's not wise to do heavy back squats, clean & jerks or deadlifts the day before. My decision was to do step-ups and also remind my body of double unders, which I haven't done in a while.

Workout. Few sets of step-ups and double unders after which a workout:

• 10 step-ups, 80kg
• 20 double unders
• 8 step-ups, 80kg
• 20 double unders
• 6 step-ups, 80kg
• 20 double unders
• 4 step-ups, 80kg
• 20 double unders
• 2 step-ups, 80kg
• 20 double unders

My legs felt good in the workout and also double unders rolled well from the start. I took rowing, stretching, pvc pipe movements, barbell squats and 5x20 double unders for quite a long time as warm-up before hitting the workout. My body felt fresh and was ready to pump it up.

I kept this session light so let's see what happens tomorrow. It's not gonna be an easy one, my heart will race hard already in the early stages of the workout.

Toni's workouts. Bench and short metcon.
Bench press 5-3-3-2-1-1 (60, 80, 90, 95, PR 100, PR 102.5kg). Toni hit it after training half a year for this goal =) He really wanted to lift 100kg and finally did it. His previous max was 97.5kg, today his 95kg looked easier than normally so he immediately added some weights to reach 100kg. He did a single and added 2.5kg on the bar and reached a new max of 1 rep to 102.5kg. He also tried 105kg twice but failed. Nice improvement on the max load Toni, 5kg!

After bench Toni did two rounds of tomorrow's workout, just to get a feeling what's coming up and what to expect from the workout. Looked like it's not gonna be as easy as it looks on paper. No surprise there =)

• 2 rounds of CF Open workout 13.2
• 5 shoulder-to-overhead, 52.5kg
• 10 deadlifts, 52.5kg
• 15 box jumps, 64cm

Saturday 9.3: CF Open 13.1

Saturday. Crossfit Open 13.1. Result 106 reps.

As I woke up I saw a message sent to me by The Crossfit Games: Your video submission is invalid. There was also a brief explanation why it's not valid. Basically the video was shoot from behind, stopwatch was not in the frame throughout the workout.

Had no other chance but to pack up my gear, get my head in the game and drive to the Box to perform the workout again and try to hit the PR again =) Toni and Pauliina joined as judges and this time we made it sure the video would be accepted! We shot the video (Pauliina) from the side with a running clock visible at all times and the judge (Toni) seen on the video all the time.

Me and my homie

Workout 13.1. Result 106 reps.

• 17min amrap of
• 40 burpees
• 30 snatches, 35kg
• 30 burpees
• 30 snatches, 60kg
• 20 burpees
• 30 snatches, 75kg
• 10 burpees
• max reps of 100kg
• Burpees must be completed to rings that are placed 15cm above top extension.

My previous record in the snatches has been 52.5kg prior to the Open. On Thursday I did this workout for the first time and hoped it would have been my last one. Then I snatched 60kg x 3, awesome result considering my snatch history and current max load. Yesterday we had a tough floorball game and my right shoulder got very sore in that game. Today in the morning as I saw the message, my first reaction was not smiling and joyful of having to perform the workout again. But hey, the reaction from the Crossfit Games was legitimate, so I didn't have any other possibility but to do the workout again and go over those mental barriers once more and snatch that damned barbell overhead several times.

Just in case Toni did the workout again as well even though he had not got that similar message. He played it smart today, took it a bit slower on the burpees and saved energy for the real barrier, 60kg snatches. Once he got that far, he took 3 failed reps for starters with only one minute to go on the clock. Then he got his head straight and snatched that barbell up! He also suffered a mini blackout at the same time but still had time to complete another snatch in the last 10 seconds to go in the workout!!! Result was 102 reps in CF Open 13.1, c'mon! He improved his snatch PR with 10kg for a total of 102 reps.

I really tried to suck that energy in to my own workout as well, this guy performed so well today. And even though the day didn't start in the best possible way in the morning, my result today was even better than the first time, 6 x60kg snatches for a total of 106 reps in the workout! Couldn't be any happier about the result =) Hopefully that right shoulder will be back in action some day soon, it really hurts now.

I was able to complete the first set of burpees 10 seconds slower than the first time but I made up the missing time in the first set of snatches (35kg) and finished at 5.54 (6.10 on the first time). This time is crucial if two athletes are sharing exactly the same result. Then the one who has completed the last full set of snatches in less time, is higher in the standings.

Once I was done with the 30 burpees, there was about 8.30 left on the clock, in the middle of the workout. So my goal was to go for about 1 rep every minute. I really wanted to improve from the previous result because I had done so much mental work to repeat this one. I manage to do 5 successful reps in a row, about 1 per minute. Then the sixth failed but I still had time to snatch it when there was something like 3 seconds left on the clock =) Unbelievable accomplishments from both of us today. Thanks Toni and Pauliina for this one!

Once again we can probably all share the feeling that these snatches were not beautiful, not from educational books so to say, but today it was competition time and then I believe it's not about style, it's about going beyond those physical and mental walls and hit PR's whenever it's possible. Toni did great today and I also did much better than I thought I could do. We both hit out snatch goals for this year and are proud of it. Now we'll have to make them beautiful as well =)

Double front squat =)

Saturday 2.3: Game Day, mobility

Saturday. Game Day, mobility.

We had a game day with my floorball team. My role today was to be a back-up goalie so I had the chance to take it easier today. Let's call it active recovery. Half an hour soccer in the wintery Finland, then half an hour warm-up with the team at floorball field. As the game moved on, I took advantage of that time and used it for mobility. I took a ball and utilized it for mobility, as learned from www.mobilitywod.com. K-starr has some good ideas to improve mobility and elasticity.

Toni's workouts. Back squats and bench for strength and a 6min stair running metcon.

• Back squats 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1 (100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 110, 120, PR 125kg).
• Bench press 10x60kg, 3x80kg, 1x90kg, failed attempt of 100kg, 1x97.5kg (PR), failed attempt of 100kg

Toni's Metcon.

• 6 min amrap
• Stair ascent
• Stair descent
• On top of stairs 10 reps of either push-ups, sit-ups or air squats on rotation.

Toni went to a new location in the morning, a sports center called Pirkkola, a place where we trained in the summer time. He found a new Box there and got inspired so much that he PR'd his back squat and bench press, nice job! Several sets of back squats. He told me the first sets felt a but stiff but towards the end his joints were loose and he made good lifts. Other athletes at the gym were giving him some props as well. I would have liked to be there to see this guy break his records. That's awesome job Toni!

The sets in the bench press look a bit funny. 10 reps at 60kg, then he attacked his max load pretty soon after that. Toni has a twisted obsession of breaking 100kg and he will go beyond that some day. Today he tried it twice, didn't make it but still made a new record of 97.5kg. That's his bodyweight so now he's got to that point as well, nice!

Ode to the Fran (Benchmark girl workout Fran: 21-15-9, thrusters at 42.5kg and pull-ups)

Saturday 29.12: Handstand push-ups, sled

Saturday. Handstand push-ups, dips, mobility, sled.

Different type of training for this Saturday. We headed to a sports center called Liikuntamylly in eastern Helsinki together with Toni to perform something a bit different. We've never been to this place but the training possibilities are spectacular to say the least. At first we were a bit disappointed because the main weightlifting area was reserved to a team and thus restricted access. So we had to change our plans and to the regular gym in Liikuntamylly.

Sled

Toni did bench presses, I concentrated in bodyweight movements, especially dips and handstand push-ups. I didn't count the reps but there were numerous sets between 3-5 reps. I'd say there were plenty of them. In addition I took dip sets 10+15+20 reps.

For about 20 minutes we did thorough mobility training with Toni. It was very useful because lately we have forgotten to do them properly. We must pay attention to our mobility, elasticity and flexibility constantly. Especially as we are lifting heavy weights all the time we must do mobility to prevent injuries.

As we were ready to leave the place after a semi training session we got to sneak to the weightlifting area and I'm telling you we were like kids in a candy store for the first time. The area was simply perfect. A lot of racks, barbells, plates, sled, wall balls etc. I decided to run with sled, Toni PR'd his deadlift!

Sled. God damn I fell in love with this bastard! It's awesome leg burner :) I have no idea how much I should put weights in that sled, today I had 20+15+15 plates on it, in addition to the sled itself. I guess there should be somewhere around 80-100kg to make the best of it. This time was more like getting to know each other and next time I'll take full advantage of this toy. I believe there were 4 sets back and forth this 20-30 meter distance. It was fun!!! I challenge you Toni to join me with this sled next time...

Toni's workouts. He started with bench presses, reaching 95 kilos, singles and doubles. A lot of handstand push-up training and mobility in between. Finally the climax was his deadlift where he reached 160kg and a new record. Up to 140kg his form looked good! In the final two reps the back maybe leaned a bit forward but the determination was huge to get those weights up. And to be honest, I'm sure he could have added plates in the bar and lift heavier weights but it was smart not to compromise form over new records.

• Bench press sets of 95kg, 1-2 reps
• Handstand push-ups
• Mobility
• Deadlift 3-3-1-1-1 (110, 130, 140, 150, PR160kg)

Crossfit announced a winter challenge, quite a workout...

CrossFit - Announcing The Ranch Big Bob Winter Challenge

Wednesday 26.12: Clean and jerk, 12min amrap metcon

Wednesday. 1k row, time 3.24. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-1-1 (max 80kg). 12min amrap of hang cleans and hspu, result 54 reps. In addition biceps and triceps training.

Back to business! Me and Pauliina met with Toni at the Box to do some serious training and we succeeded well today. For starters we took over the rowing machine and the speed was faster than normally for both of us. I have been eager to go for clean and jerk for several days so today I got my chance. Toni concentrated in back squats and done very well, the guy increased his max load with 10kg! Pauliina took an upper body exercise.

Got an iPod Christmas present from my baby :)

Strength. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-1-1 (60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg). If my elbows allow me, I'm absolutety going to do c&j every week from now on. At some points I didn't do them pretty much at all because I did cleans and presses on different days. However, I've realized this is the thing I must improve. It's one of the basic movements in crossfit, the foundation of olympic lifting and I simply love it.

My clean and jerks have basically been clean and press. Today was the first time I took a first step to jerking the bar up. I'm confident that when I reach the point of making this movement naturally, the movement becomes way more effortless. I succeeded in some jerks pretty well in my opinion. Sometimes I've had some problems with my elbows that have hindered my training. Due to the Christmas break I got the rest that I needed and was ready to do c&j again. I reached my max of 80kg. I put 82.5kg on the bar and tried once. From the video afterwards I realized I did the right things, I bounced the bar with good timing, shrugged my shoulders up at the correct time and was able to lift the bar to chest level. However, I wasn't able to use the momentum to my advantage and go under the bar. That's why my new record will have to wait for a while.

Clean & jerk, 80kg

Metcon. Result, 6 rounds and 2 hspu, total of 54 reps.

• 12min amrap
• 4 hang cleans, 60kg
• 4 handstand push-ups

I have a desire to master handstand push-ups well. My hands are long so I have to travel rather long distance up and down the wall but I will strengthen my triceps more in the future to ease this awesome movement. Even though I couldn't go many reps unbroken in this metcon, I still managed to do 26 reps of HSPUs during those 12 minutes. Only on the first round I went unbroken, then on the second 2+2 and then in 2+1+1 / singles.

For the cleans / snatches I've finally got that upper thigh bouncing going well as opposed to how I did them earlier. I used to just lift the bar up without giving that extra speed upwards by bouncing the bar "from the pocket". It's more difficult to bounce the bar by doing hang cleans rather than lifting it from the ground, or at least for me it was. This was a good lesson to remind doing different types of cleans constantly. I suppose performing hang cleans compared to cleans from the ground results in more strength in upper back. Correct me if I'm wrong. I did my hang cleans today unbroken in the beginning, and mostly in two sets later on. This was a good day of training, high rep metcon with semi heavy weights. With every rep my technique becomes better. You'll see the hang cleans in the Youtube Channel.

Toni's workouts. Metcon's result: 8 rounds and 2 cleans, total of 66 reps. Strength: Back squat 3-3-3-2-1-1 (80, 90, 100, 110, PR 115kg, PR 120kg).

• Metcon,12min amrap
• 4 hang cleans, 60kg
• 4 handstand push-ups (assisted with foam roll)

Toni's PR, back squat 120kg

He did good today! PR improved with 10kg, that's remarkable :) And the amount of reps in the metcon was high, well done! For now, he is doing handstand push-ups assisted with a foam roll, very natural way of starting with the movement. We are both in love with HSPU.

Handstand push-ups

Friday 21.12: Mobility and skills

Friday. Mobility and skills.

Today I wanted to go for clean and jerk as strength training. I was a bit afraid how my elbows would react and they started to scream in the early steps of my training session so I had to skip that and concentrate in taking it easier and save my elbows for the following days. Toni also took it light today. However, at the end he rowed fast and PR'd his 2k row with over 40 seconds.

My movements.

• Row 1k. Time 3.28
• Clean & jerk
• Shoulder press
• Handstand
• Ring skills
• Skin the cat
• GHD sit-ups 3x30

Toni's workouts. Terchnique and skills, row 2k for time (7.15, PR).

• Handstand push-ups
• Ring push-ups
• Ring dips
• Kipping pull-ups
• Overhead squats
• Row 2k, time 7.15

Toni's previous 2k record was 7.56, today it turned to 7.15.

2k row ahead

After 2k

Thursday 20.12: Box / KB metcon, pistols

Thursday. Metcon of box jumps and kb swings. Time 5.11. Pistol training

Today I exceptionally concentrated in doing a single wod and skipped strength training totally. This was intentional because my elbows are a bit sensitive so I didn't want to press them too much. And I have squatted twice this week so my legs have got their share as well. Toni went for clean & jerk strength training.

Kettlebell swing, american style

Metcon. Time 5.11

• 4 rounds of
• 21 box, 64cm
• 12 kb swings (32kg)

I took my new 32kg kettlebell to the Box for the first time and I just loved it! Four rounds of box jumps and kettlebell swings, american style. I went unbroken all the way, just took some breath between transitions. Final time a bit over 5min. Box jumps began to put pressure on my thighs on the third round but somehow I managed to push that pain to the background and push it forward. There was a moderate amount of reps per round so I completed them with strength and good form. I was very happy to do them american style, that means swinging those 32 kilos all the way over my head for a full range of motion. There was a total of 84 box jumps and 48 kb swings. I also took some swings at the end of the training so there was something like 80 reps in total. I like my new toy!

I also took some skills training today. I took some sets of double unders, they are really rolling well nowadays, I'm proud of myself =) Then I also did pistols today (one legged squats), something like 4 sets of 6-10 reps with alternating legs.

Clean & jerk, 77.5kg

Toni's workouts. Clean & jerk 5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1-1-1 (60, 65, 70, 72.5, 75, 77.5, 80, 82.5 failed, PR 82.5kg, 85kg failed).

Clean & jerk, 82.5kg, PR, Toni

Toni planned his reps well in advance, first two rounds of 5 reps, then 3 rounds of 3 reps and finishing it with 5 singles. The meaning was to add load after each set. He almost managed to do so and actually was able to do new records. First of all, 82.5kg was his new PR for clean and jerk, the previous was somewhere around 60-65kg. That's because he simply hasn't done this movement for a while. His clean 85kg was also PR as well as pressing 82.5kg.

Monday 17.12: Squats

Monday. Front squat 1-1-1-1 (max 120kg), back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (max 125kg).

My feeling was good and I was well awake as I jumped into my car and headed to the box. However, I arrived at 7.10 and was supposed to be in a meeting 8.00 so I had to rush to do my squats. This was not the intention and I couldn't reach my max effort. This was somewhat a disappointment as I planned to accomplish heavier lifts than I did. Toni also did some front squats and Tabata training.

Strength. Front and back squat singles.

• Front squat 1-1-1-1 (100, 110, 120, 125kg failed)
• Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg failed)

I only took some double unders, bear complex with a cold bar and then two sets of overhead squats before entering front squats. Probably the shortest warm-up ever, not a good decision. I must repeat this workout with good preparation and add overhead singles for starters. The idea of going after ohs + fs + bs singles is to increase the load after each single rep.

Front squat, 120kg

I took 120kg up front squatting which is my current max. Okay, that was a job well done but this was only a single rep so I was looking to go further. I added 5kg to the bar and missed the rep. My back squats went well and my 125kg was even easier than 120kg, which sounds a bit awkward :) After short recovery I tried 130kg but it stayed low for a second or two and I had to drop the barbell. Then it was time to run to the showers. After 125kg I was confident to go after a new PR but it was too hasty to go after it this time.

Toni's workouts. Toni PR'd his front squat and did "Tabata This" as well.
Front squat 3-3-3-2-1 (70, 80, 85, 90, PR 95kg)
Tabata This: row 8, squats 15, pull-ups 3, push-ups 5, sit-ups 9

Wednesday 28.11: Deadlift, bench press metcon

Wednesday. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-1 (max PR 165kg), metcon of bench press, ring dips and burpees. Time 7.30.

Yesterday I took a nap after work as I really felt my body needed a break. I had no floorball in the evening so I had the possibility to take it easy and recover. I ate tons of food, slept and chilled. This was the recipe for success today. Both I and Toni PR'd our deadlift maxes big time. And after strength workout I took a metcon which was rough on the upper body. This day was good and hard.

Toni, 130kg

Strength. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-1 (130, 140, 150, PR160kg, PR 165kg). What happened, I'm still asking myself? 165kg, you must be kidding me. For warmup I took sets of 60, 90 and 120kg and then started hitting plates on the barbell. I thought 140kg would be tough but once it came up easily I knew instantly I'm gonna try new numbers today. I decided to take 10kg steps up, 150kg and then skipping my old record of 155 and going straight to new PR 160kg. I took a steady three-rep set so natural step was to add bets and go for 165kg. That was a struggle but I nailed it, what a feeling! These weights are over double my body weight so I can't be nothing more than super happy =)

Going for 160kg, PR

Metcon. Time 7.30, bench press, ring dips and burpees.

• 4 rounds of:
• 7 bench press (60kg)
• 7 ring dips
• 7 burpees

Total of 28 bench press, ring dips and burpees in 7.30. All these three movements took their share of my upper body strength. There was no "rest" for chest and shoulders. Doing ring dips after bench press was rough and even the burpees after those two felt heavy. First round was unbroken. I'm not sure if I did bench unbroken in the second round or not but third and fourth round went 3+2+2 as ring dips ate my juice little by little. Ring dips went unbroken in the first round, 5+2 on the second round and smaller pieces in the last two rounds. Burpees were naturally unbroken because there were so few of them but they made those other two movements more difficult. This was a hard training session, at least my upper body got its share of the work load. I haven't done many workouts where I'm moving rather heavy weights in a metcon so this was a good variety. We discussed with Toni that we must take these more often in a similar way as in the "Sevenish" last Saturday.

Toni's workouts. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-1-1 (110, 120, 130, 140, PR 145kg, PR 150kg). Wow, this guy also PR'd his old max with 10kg. His previous max (140kg) came up easily so it was obvious he's gonna take heavier weights up in that workout. Toni went straight to 150kg, failed to lift it so he put 145kg on the bar, took it up once and then succeeded to take also 150kg. Very good job man! I'm wondering how come you've been stuck with that 140kg for quite a while because you made it look easy today.

Toni, 140kg, old PR

Toni, 150kg, PR

Toni's metcon. Time 14.12. Compare to my workout 3rd September.

• 1.000m row
• 20 burpees
• 30 kettlebell swing (1 pood = 16kg)
• 40 double unders
• 50m lunges
• 1.000m row

Guy looked ehxausted, what were your feelings? We did this workout pretty much identically, I used 20kg kb instead of 1pood. In September I didn't have the double under skills in good form, I did them in double-single-double-single mode.

Monday 26.11: Back squats + metcon

Monday. Back squats 5x3 (max 120kg), metcon of back squats and pull-ups, time 10.43, 73 pull-ups.

Alarm clock had its moment at 6.00, I woke up and ate breakfast, then headed to the gym with Toni to go for back squats and back squat + pull-up oriented metcon. My quads were still sore from front squats and thrusters. Toni took bench presses as strength training and then five different Tabata workouts.

Tabata rowing in process

Strength. Back squats 5x3 (100, 110, 115, 120, f 125kg). Nowadays I know I can reach 120kg every time I go for it. 125kg seems to be a tough one, today I tried it once but didn't get it up. Sets of 100, 110, 115 and 120kg succeeded. My legs and joints were not that flexible this time, somehow they were stiff from the very beginning. Even though I put effort on my warm-up and used more time in opening my legs than normally. Anyways, 120kg was the max of Monday squats.

Metcon. Time 10.43. Compare to 21st August. Squats with 60kg, my pull-up reps for each round are in brackets.

• 18 back squats
• Max pull-ups (PR 25 reps)
• 15 back squats
• Max pull-ups (12 reps)
• 12 back squats
• Max pull-ups (12 reps)
• 9 back squats
• Max pull-ups (12 reps)
• 6 back squats
• Max pull-ups (12 reps)
• 50m walking lunges with 20kg bar overhead

Total of 60 back squats with 60kg and 73 pull-ups. Not bad, my pull-ups have improved greatly. I still remember the feelings from that August workout and this was very much similar. All rounds of back squats went "unbroken" but in the second and third rounds I had to take a 2 second pause to shake my legs before continuing further. That 60kg is about 50% of my max load. This workout is not only for time but also for pull-up reps. Last time I got 48 reps, this time 25 more... That's progress, I'd say. The first round of pull-ups witnessed my new PR, 25 reps. On the second round I finished 12 reps and decided to hold on to that number throughout the workout.

50m walking lunges in the end after having done back squat strength training and having done 60 squats in this particular workout really burnt my legs, big time. Pressure in the shoulders and upper back area were considerable because of the pull-ups and the overhead position. I did this one in 20m + 20m + 10m sets. For some reason I like this workout a lot and I will keep on doing this one in the future as well. Try it out and you'll see what I mean =)

Toni modified HSPU with stall bars

Toni's workouts. Bench press 5-3-3-2-1-1-f (75, 80, 85, 90, 92.5, PR 95, 97.5kg). Tabata workouts: dips, "handstand push-ups", sit-ups, row and double unders.

• Tabata dips (8, 5, 5, 4, 5, 2, 2, 3)
• Tabata sit-ups (14, 13, 11, 11, 9, 10, 10, 9)
• Tabata handstand push-ups (18, 11, 10, 9, 8, 4, 5, 7)
• Tabata row (100, 100, 100, 100, 110, 110, 120, 110)
• Tabata double unders (30, 19, 19, 10, 15, 5, 11, 9)

Total of 34 dips, 87 sit-ups, 72 hspu, 850m row, 118 double unders. Result for dips was 2reps, 9 sit-ups, 4 hspu, 100m row, 5 double unders. I would say the first round of Toni's double unders were probably the best I've seen from this fellow. It seemed he was like a pro doing his basic double under training. Toni's handstand push-ups were modified to keeping the legs on the stall bars. The biggest thing was that he also made a personal record in bench press, single press of 95kg, nice! Didn't get that on video but here's the 2x90kg

Friday 23.11: Front squat + clean + technique

Friday. Front squat 3-3-2-2-1 (max 110kg), clean 3-3-1-1 (max 75kg). Snatch & overhead squat technique.

Toni went to the gym already in the morning, I had the possibility in the evening. Toni did something extraordinary, he improved his record in cleans with 7.5kg up to 82.5kg! C'mon mister, that's great, the leap is huge! Tell us more how did it go up there? I was determined to do front squats today but got inspired by Toni and did cleans as well =) In the end I took technique training for snatch and overhead squats. My metcon free week is over and tomorrow I'm gonna make my heart beat to the beat of a drum.

Strength. Front squat 3-3-2-2-1 (100, 105, 110, 110, 110kg). Clean 3-3-1-1 (60, 67.5, 72.5, 75kg)

I took several sets for warm-up until I got to three digit numbers and until I felt my legs were open and joints were loose in the correct sense. 100 and 105 kg weren't that difficult. Adding 110kg to the table was another thing. I took 2 reps once, the third one stayed to the bottom. Second set of 110kg I took it up once and felt after the second rep I had given my everything so I didn't try the third rep. I decided to stay with the same weights and took 110kg for the third time, this time it was a single rep.

My cleans went great with 60kg so I decided to ad 7.5kg. That came up rather easy as well so I went to 72.5kg. It was a tough one, I felt after first rep that's too heavy for several reps. I still wanted to go to my tied record of 75kg to lift it up. I took it up with determination and was ready for today's strength training.

For some reason I still felt I wasn't able to perform at my best level today. That's is somehow awesome because I reached my tops for both movements (front squat PR is 112.5kg and clean is 75kg) even though I didn't feel like I could give everything I have. And training by myself was different compared to doing it with Toni. There's the boost I really enjoy training with other athletes.

Technique. Snatch & overhead squat technique.
6 x 1 snatch + 5 overhead squats
Squat snatch technique

After playing with the bar and taking some random snatches and OHS I took six sets of overhead squats starting from the ground, just with the barbell, 20kg, intentionally not adding any weights, purely concentrating in technical issues. Yep, my snatch is ok when I do it as power snatch and with light weights. I feel I have it in control. However, when adding weights I should bent my knees more and go lower. This far I've tried to do them pretty much without squatting at all. My overhead squat position feels difficult, how to keep good form, go deep enough and point those knees out when squatting. I've been working on it and I know that would be the key to go heavier weights with snatches. Lifting heavy weights with only power snatch is challenging. I should definitely go lower and even squat snatch to lift heavier barbells.

Tomorrow I'm gonna meet Toni in the morning to train hard. It's not gonna be an easy workout.

Wednesday 21.11: Back squat + handstand push-ups

Wednesday. Back squats 4-4-4-1 (max 125kg), 4 x max hspu.

I'm still taking it easy this week. In the morning I took only back squats and handstand push-ups. Toni joined the training session and concentrated in front squats and also took a metcon of cleans and double unders. I had floorball in the evening as well.

Back squats. 4-4-4-1 (100, 110, 120, 125kg). I reached my max weights which pleased me a lot. Even though it was not the purpose of the workout it still feels good. The main point was to keep body activated with squats and go deep with rather heavy weights. As I was able to squat properly I decided to put more plates on the barbell. I was able to go for four reps with 120kg, that felt very good. Adding 5kg and reaching my current PR in back squats, 125kg, brought some difficulties. I took single rep, second one failed. Two minutes rest, another attempt of 125kg, I was determined to do two reps. Damned, it was a fail, no reps. Still, a good feeling as all four reps with 120kg with good squat depth were completed, adrenaline was flowing and also got that single rep with 125kg with good form.

Handstand push-ups. 4 x max set of hspu (5, 4, 4, 4 reps). I had decided to do handstand push-ups today as well for strength training too. Four sets of max reps. I've been doing handstand push-ups without any bumpers, plates or anything else where to lower my head. For quite a long time I used to have a foam roll between my hands below my head. As I removed it some weeks ago I'm lowering my head all the way to the floor and then bounce back with the help of shoulders and triceps. By removing foam roll the movement becomes exponentially more difficult and is very demanding indeed. I'm very happy I finally moved to do hspu's without any extra cushions. First set was 5 reps and the following three rounds were 4 reps each. After this I also took some attempts of kipping hspu's and tried to make my body understand how kipping should be done when going for handstand push-ups. It would definitely ease the movement greatly.

Toni's workouts. Front squats 3-3-3-3-3-1 (60, 70, 75, 80, 85, PR 90kg) and a metcon, result 169 reps.

• Every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 12 minutes
• 3 cleans, 50kg
• Remaining of the minute double unders
• Result of the workout is the total number of double unders

First of all, Toni did a new personal record of front squats. His previous one was 85kg and today he lifted triples up to those weights. Then he still added plates and took a single 90 up, great job Toni! A metcon followed after strength training. I did this workout 28th October and this inspired Toni to do the workout as well. I might take this some day again, now that I can do double unders well, I recall having my breath running extremely wild! And so was to case with Toni as well. Toni's result 169 double unders.