Monday 22.7: DU's, bench metcon

Monday. Skills, 300 double unders. Metcon, 50 bench press (70kg). Penalties for air squats and burpees.

That tabata deadlift workout really feels in my lower back today. So much weight in so little time. I'm happy I was still able to recover so that it didn't bother today's workouts. I was still wondering in the morning what to do because my body was not at its freshest. Then I realized bench press was the name of the game. I don't enjoy that much of the traditional strength workouts like 5x5 or 5x3 type of strength moves but more like having a moderate weight on the bar and transform it to crossfit workout. Thus, the programming was as seen below.

Skills.

• 15 x 20 double unders with Toni, taking turns

When I was learning this skill, I used to do them pretty much every day. The progress was good but it really felt in my shins. Since I felt I mastered this skill, I've diminished the amount of them dramatically. It's mostly because of the shin pain. It's definitely a movement that should be kept in the warm-up scheme. When you don't practice them on a daily basis, there's no problem. Definitely worth practicing them.

We both felt like it was a perfect way to train for this skill. Our goal was at 300 reps and decided to hit it in sets of 20 reps, taking turns. So the rest period was the time the other one was performing. It went quite nicely. Could have done a bit better though. Both of us did the sets unbroken except about 3 sets. I'd hope to go unbroken all the way in such a short amount of reps. 20 reps ain't much in a row so that should be done unbroken. We're thinking to renew this one, however, increasing the reps a bit per set, let's say 25, then maybe 30. Some day we are at 50 rep sets =)

Metcon. Together with Toni.

• 50 bench presses, 70kg
• Every time you rack the bar, perform 20 air squats on the spot
• Every time you rack the bar, perform 10 burpees after finishing 50 bench
• Bench sets: 10, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 3 reps
• Pony's sets: 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 5, 5 reps

The main focus of the day was on bench press metcon. Complete 50 bench presses @ 70kg. There's a twist, actually two of them. Every time you have to rack the barbell, that creates 2 punishments. The other one has to be completed between the bench sets, the other one after finishing those 50 bench presses. 20 air squats immediately after having racked the bar. Plus 10 burpees for every time the bar is racked. Burpees are done in a row at the end of the workout.

I was able to finish 50 reps with 8 sets of bench, Toni done better, 7 sets. After 7 sets I was 3 reps behind him. So there was a total of 140 air squats for me, Toni accidentally did also 20 reps after the last set so he came to 140 reps as well. Then it was my time to make the calculation mistake after the presses. I quickly counted I had 8 sets and Toni 7 sets. The idea was to have a punishment for every time we racked the bar because you can't go anymore. So there should have been 60 reps for Toni and 70 for me but we did 70 / 80 reps.

Well, it didn't matter, burpee is a freaking awesome movement. It's so comprehensive way for conditioning. We did sets of 10 reps, put a mark in our notes and returned to burpees. This workout was very rough actually. It felt like I'd like to just lay down (which I don't do, ever) so I got on my feet and started walking around to recover. I looked at Toni and he didn't feel any better =) Go give it a shot and let me know if you did it! I'd like to know how you felt.

There you go, some Dusy Hyland's handstand walk drills

Plus, Graham Holmberg getting ready for the Games

Sunday 7.7: Handstand training

Sunday. Handstand training.

This Sunday is the rest day of the week. It's a hot day so we headed to cool off to a lake. The water was probably somewhere around 18 degrees so it felt cold when entering there. No chance to enter the waterline easily, had to run and dive to shock the body. It's easier this way, and after a while it wasn't so cold anymore =) It was the first time this summer swimming if you don't count a pool at the swimming stadium. At the end of next week we are heading to Spain with Pauliina so more swimming is definitely ahead!

Handstand. I wasn't supposed to workout today. Just about 10 minutes handstand training. The field was perfect for this purpose so it was very hard not to utilize the possibility. At times I found stability very well, taking into consideration my skill level. I'm getting better and that's very inspiring! Most of the times I'm falling back to where I started from after a few seconds. I recon it's because I don't have the guts to let my legs go forward enough over my head. That's why my legs start to fall back to where they came from. At that point it's difficult to stop the fall with the core/arms. Sometimes I manage that, sometimes don't.

I'm getting more and more confident and natural being inverted with free hand standing without the help of walls. In the beginning I tried to stay balanced and later on the goal was to handstand walk.

Tomorrow I'm gonna meet my bro to do some serious training. I'm having a summer holiday for the next 2 weeks so I'm definitely going to train at places where I don't have the possibility to practice at when working, because of schedules. Looking forward to it!!!

Dusty Hyland teaches some new steps in mastering handstand walk

Saturday 29.6: Rest day

Saturday. Rest day.

Time to step back for one day. Pauliina is having her birthday so we'll stay out of the Box and spend the day in other ways, trying my best to pamper this lady. Happy birthday my love!

This rest day comes in a good moment and is welcomed by my body. It feels good to relax and let the muscles recover. Especially my hamstrings and lower back needed this day. Tomorrow I'll hit it hard again.

In the mean while…

Source: google

Here's the next step in mastering handstand walk, guided by Dusty Hyland.

Saturday 22.6: Rest day

Saturday. Rest day.

Slept late, spent the entire day at the in-laws, ate good food, played some games and did a push-up with my baby on my back =)

Other than that, I did no sports whatsoever. It's been a while since total rest day and it was about time. My body needed this short break to just hang out outdoors with friends and eating food. Now I'll be prepared for tomorrow's workouts again.

Next episode from Dusty Hyland's handstand progression: "Shrug and shift"

Sunday 16.6: Handstand, kettlebell

Sunday. Handstand skills training. Kettlebell swings for 5.760kg.

As we woke up in the morning, there was a nice invitation from the in-laws to come and join them for Sunday lunch at their place. There was no doubt of hopping in the car and driving to enjoy the delicious food fest prepared by these awesome persons =) We were supposed to go to the gym and my schedule stood 3k rowing, 300 double unders as skills training and ring skills. I was soon to determine a new workout that can be done outdoors.

Handstand training. After a few hours of enjoying Pauliina's parents' company and having a full stomach I started with handstand training. At the time I started it was raining a bit but little by little the grass was soaking wet. And it had been raining for quite some time prior to my training. I might have been a bit too cautious with my kicks up. Okay, I performed okay but I've have better handstand trainings. There were times my body was stable.

Kettlebell EMOM metcon.

• Every minute on the minute for 12 minutes
• 15 kettlebell swings, 32kg

My car is always loaded with my kettlebells, my sugars 20kg and 32kg bells. I tried a new movement - turkish get-ups - and understood I've neglected this awesome movement for no reason whatsoever. Have to keep on adding that occasionally. I've read some kettlebell training stuff on recent articles on a web site that seems to be nearing perfection, breakingmuscle.com. This specific article opened my eyes to the benefits of working with kettlebells.

After trying out that new movement, I moved on to my workout of the day. It was all about kettlebell swings. Total of 5.760kg of them… Complete 15 reps of 32kg kb swings each minute. Repeat the same scheme for 12 minutes. I realized after 4 minutes it's gonna be a tough one. Breathing got heavier and most of all, my forearms were going numb. It took about 30 seconds to finish those 15 reps each minute.

After 6 minutes it was a struggle. I managed to run through about 8 rounds unbroken. Then I had to break it. First to 10+5, then 8+7, 8+4+3 and 5+5+5. That's what I remember. I was glad the workout was over! My forearms were totally in fire, and it hurt for a long time after the workout as well. A good workout in short time. My form stayed good the entire workout, no arching in the back. The swings were made american style, i.e. swinging it overhead, not eye-level.

Here's a clip from the end of the workout.

Second step in perfecting the handstand walk. Compliments from DowTown Crossfit and Dusty Hyland. Continuance to yesterday's opening part.

Virtuosity, Dusty Hyland: Handstand balance

Saturday 15.6: Clean and jerk, bench press, dumbbell action

Saturday. Clean & jerk (up to 80kg), bench press (up to 95kg). Dumbbell metcon.

Today's program was about working with barbells and dumbbells. Some clean & jerk for starters and bench press.

Strength. C&J and bench.

• Clean & jerk, 5x60, 3x70, 3x75, 2x80 (failed on the third rep at 80kg)
• Bench press, 3x70, 3x80, 3x90, 1x95, failed on 100kg

That 90kg bench was sick. I believe I've done that weight only in singles before. Now I hit a triple, nice! After all that work with clean & jerks and bench, 100kg didn't come up. I'm sure it would if going only after a record with singles. You'll find those attempts in Youtube.

3x90kg

1x95kg

Dumbbell workout. Increase load between sets. Not for time. Sets: 17.5, 20, 22.5, 22.5, 22.5kg db's.

• 5 rounds of:
• 5 deadlift
• 5 hang cleans
• 5 press
• 5 squat

Rest between sets as needed. Had no idea what weights would suit for me to start with. I grabbed 17.5kg, added to 20kg and finished the last 3 cycles with 22.5kg. Grip strength was the name of the game.

Take a look at this series of handstand training. I'll keep adding the rest of the season clips, awesome tips to proceed in handstand walk (up the stairs…)

Virtuosity, Dusty Hyland: Handstand position