First time putting all the plates on the barbell for modest weight pulls from the ground. Then some skills as I did 100 pistol squats before hitting the last piece with my wife. She told we'd do lunges and push-ups.
It felt great to get a little heavier barbell on my hands. It's been a notch lighter since I stopped training at my previous gym. There's a little transition before we move to our new home. Then I will get back in action for real. Next week we'll go for a holiday. Until then, I'll keep doing crossfit at our current home.
Gymnastics.
Pistol squats, alternating 5x20 reps
Pauliina worked on her deadlifts whereas I practiced sets of unbroken pistol squats, alternating between legs after each rep. Haven't been front or back squatting lately, and it felt like these pistol squats were heavy, a little heavier by each set.
We have been walking around in the nature quite a lot. Yesterday we wandered in Seurasaari to watch the sunset. Below there are couple of pictures along the trip.
Accessory.
4 rounds of:
30 walking lunges, bodyweight
25 push-ups
Not a timed workout. It was cool to do this side by side with Pauliina, each rep was completed at the same time. Synchronized movements as a team =)
Sunday. Metcon, 10min amrap: 10 pull-ups, 30 lunges. Result, 8rds. Emom x 10min: odd min 8 hspu, even min 6 front squat @ 60kg.
Sunday evening action. It has been quite a task to find a good spot to go and hit a training session. They have also been quite short so I'll jump quite soon to work without that much warm-up. That's why the first part was pure bodyweight stuff, and finally some barbell work too.
Metcon. Result, 320 reps
10min amrap of:
10 pull-ups
30 walking lunges
Went unbroken on the pull-ups each round. Lunges were bodyweight only, 15 meters down and 15 meters back the grass matt. It was a good starter. I can tell I've been carrying a little baby around all the time. Didn't realize it before this session but when I jumped on the pull-up bar my forearms felt a bit funny. Like they were a little inflamed or something =)
Even though the little girl weighs like 3+ kilos it's a static hold which brings some burden on the arms. Doesn't matter though, I'd carry this little gal wherever she wants to. Anyway, this workout got to my forearms nicely, and the lunges burned my legs and butt.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd minutes, 6 front squats @ 60kg
Even minutes, 8 handstand push-ups
My body has felt more tired lately. Maybe it's because of not working out properly or the lack of sleep and recovery. I feel it only when I put the timer on and start working. I can still push through the dark waters but I feel it taxing my body a notch more. Went unbroken on both elements.
Monday. Back squats 5x10 @ 90kg. Skills, 3rds of: 14 pistols, 20 ghd. Accessory, 400m walking lunges with weight vest.
Bradshaw destroyed my forearms the other day. My best guess is that my right forearm is in a bit of an inflammation mode right now. That has an effect on the things I was able to practice today. I was pumped up to do a bunch of stuff but turned up smart and listened to my body. Today was purely lower body oriented session due to circumstances.
Strength.
Back squats 5x10 reps @ 90kg
Touch'n'go style
This was a bit different action. Lots of reps with lighter weight. The thing was that breaks were not allowed on these sets. Just take it on your back, and pump it up and down for 10 reps. Weights was alright for today, last reps were nastier on the sets, especially the 4th and 5th set. This could have been heavier though but for now I'll take it. These weren't a walk in the park by any means.
Recap
Skills.
3 rounds of:
14 pistol squats, alternating
20 ghd sit-ups
Holy hip flexors. Both movements burdened those areas and they didn't get much recovery in the process. Changed the leg after every rep. Completed those without breaks but paced myself every round. Ghd's unbroken.
Accessory.
20x20m walking lunges (400m)
Wear a vest
I've done this before in the past. In the beginning this goes on nicely. After couple of rounds it gets tough. Legs burn a lot. Towards the end it just gets worse. The latter part is miserable. But it's definitely going to be good in the long run. In the evening my legs cramped continuously so the leg work for today was definitely on point.
Wednesday. Metcon, 5rds of: 3 mu + 50 lunges. Metcon, 5rds of: 12 kb swing + 250m row. Time, 7.54.
I realized on my way to the gym that I had zero plans of what to practice today. That was kind of odd but "luckily" the traffic was jammed and I had plenty of time to think about the workouts. First one was more skills based and the second one was a great conditioning piece.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
3 ring muscle-ups
50 walking lunges
It struck me suddenly that muscle-ups need to be performed today. I looked at my hands and they looked alright. Ready for action. Without that much warm-up I jumped on the rings and started moving. Mental pre-game was on point today and it helped tremendously with the muscle-ups.
Took one set of mu's, and went lunging for 50 reps. Repeated this for a total of 5 sets. It was a very positive thing that the rings felt great today. Those sets didn't feel like they would be any kind of issue at all. The video below is the last set.
Metcon. Time, 7.54
5 rounds of:
12 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
250m row
This was more intense. Kept the transitions as short as possible all the time. It's important to take the first pull on the rower right away and not hang around to adjust the foot handles before that. There's plenty of time to adjust those after you get the "boat" moving.
Kettlebell was 2 pood version and I programmed it at 12 reps in order for me being able to grab it right after the rower. Had it been 15-20 swings I would have taken a short break before swinging it.
Tuesday. Clean singles, build up (result 112kg). Every 15sec, for 5min: 1 clean @ 90kg. Emom x 18min. 1st: 15 db press @ 2x20kg, 2nd: 30 lunges, 3rd: 15 box.
Went to the gym today with a plan to hit some olympic lifts in the form of cleans. Pulling strength and explosiveness were on the agenda. Some variation with the cleans. Had to change my plans on the fly as I had Barbara on my mind. Had some nagging issues in the body so I modified the metcon in the end totally.
Every 15 seconds, for 5 minutes (20 reps), perform 1 squat clean @ 90kg
Studied some stories I heard Rich Froning tell about some of his lifting sessions with the guys. First go heavy, then do a notch lighter load for higher reps, for time. First I built up to a heavy single which I haven't done in a while. Took multiple fast singles at 60, 70, 80kg's before starting to do just one single per weight.
The game changed pretty soon probably somewhere at 105kg. Before that I felt quick and explosive, especially out of the hole. On the way up the bar felt easy, smooth and light. That's not a surprise to anyone that there's a lot of mental game in olympic lifts, as well as in pretty much every aspect of fitness. Let it be crossfit or something else.
Anyway, I realized on the video that there's plenty of space and time to go under the barbell also on the heavier cleans. The bar traveled much higher than it is needed in order for me to get a chance to drop under the bar. Still, that 112kg bar was the heaviest I was able to clean today. It gets mental at some point. There is no logical reason for not putting more weight on the bar. Something prevents from going under the bar though =)
95kg + 110kg
Conditioning.
Every minute on the minute x 18 minutes
1st minute: 15 push presses with 2x20kg dumbbells
2nd minute: 30 walking lunges
3rd minute: 15 box jumps
This was a good finisher. The combination of lunges and box jumps got to my lower body quite nicely. Went up and down the green matt for 30 lunges. That took me something like 40 seconds I'd guess. Left me some recovery to walk back to the box, shake my legs couple of times and then start jumping around.
The third element in this one was push presses with dumbbells in both hands at the same time. Got through with 20kg db's. On the first round I completed 12 reps as I figured that would be cool number of reps. However, on the second round I jumped to 15 reps and finished with that. Plus did the 3 extra reps that were missing on the first round. These presses were physically the most demanding part of the workout. Shoulders were gone but I still got them unbroken every round. Stopped on top and locked elbows correctly before getting another rep done.
Thursday. Emom x 10: Snatch complex (up to 55kg). Metcon, 8rds of: 12 s2o @ 50kg, 40m walking lunges, 500m row. Time, 38min.
On Thursday agenda was snatch work in the beginning and then a long metcon for conditioning purposes. That one was easier on the lungs but burned my legs big time.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Power snatch + Hang snatch + Snatch balance
1-5min: 50kg
6-10min: 55kg
Metcon. Time, 38 minutes
8 rounds of:
12 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
40m walking lunges
500m row
After sparring with couple of friends I ended up doing a longer conditioning piece. This was kind of gnarly. Mostly due to the lunges. Those bastards shot my legs. Basically each movement put pressure in the lower body, and it felt after the 38 minutes were done. S2o's were unbroken, so were the lunges. Okay, it's 20 meters one way, and then back down. Rowing was easy pace, at 1:55.
It was very difficult for me to come up with pleasing training plans. Exceptionally there were not a plan when entering the gym and it had to be created on the spot. Had tons of ideas which finally turned out to be the following.
Metcon. Result, 399 reps
20min amrap of:
7 handstand push-ups
7 push jerks @ 50kg
21 box jumps
21 walking lunges
In the beginning this felt like okay, I'm gonna dominate this. Pretty soon I realized that was too cocky. The movements were paired intentionally so that two shoulder-demolishers needed to be completed together and the lower body smashes also right after the other.
It worked just like I thought. Shoulders got fired up on the hspu/jerk combo. Jerks also gave pressure to legs so doing box / lunges right after really got tricky. It was a great workout and kept my breathing high and sweating like a pig.
Conditioning.
For 30 total minutes:
1st min: 10 unbroken ring dips
2nd min: bike
3rd min: bike
Needed to get my head around again after recovering for a while I wrote this one. It meant there were 10 ring dips that needed to be completed unbroken. At least that was the initial plan. At some point I wondered how many rounds I could do without having to drop down from the rings. I'm very happy all 10 rounds got through as planned as this is not my best strength. The next two rounds were written to build engine and endurance on the bike. It worked perfectly as a combo.
Yesterday my bro planted the idea of this first workout in my head, and I couldn't push it away. Sounded like a perfect metcon to me. This was an efficient session as it took me about 35 minutes to finish this after I started the first metcon.
Metcon. Time, 12.00
500m row
15 shoulder-to-overhead @ 60kg
500m row
20 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
500m row
25 shoulder-to-overhead @ 40kg
This was excellent. The only bad thing was that it took some extra time in vain as I changed the plates on the barbell. That ate a bunch of the entire workout. But the combo of rowing and jerks was pretty cool. And it probably made it even more mental as the reps grew every round, even though the weights decreased. Don't know. Both ways would have rocked. Like this or then 15 reps @ 60kg every round.
I went unbroken on the 60kg jerks. Then 15-5 on the next round, and 18-7 on the last one. It just felt like my shoulders were getting numb on those two latter rounds. I really enjoyed this kind of pain on the jerks in a metcon.
Accessory.
5 sets of 20m walking lunges @ 50kg, back rack
This was more like muscle endurance / strength piece in the end. Weight was good. Next time I might go heavier on this kind of stuff. First 10 meters were fine. The last meters burned my legs big time. I'm very happy on today's performance by all means. Lunges for accessory are knocking at the back of my head quite often but there isn't enough time to get these finishers done.
Sunday. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 5 bar mu, 20m walking lunges (40kg). Result, 167 reps. Accessory, every 3:00, for 24min, alternating between: 20m sled push (165kg), 40m farmer's walk (115-125kg). Strongman Sunday mixed with skills. That was the goal for today. My hands have healed pretty well from last muscle-up session and luckily they held on well today on those bar mu's too. Hitting a skills workout in the beginning, and then strongman elements in the latter piece.
Metcon.
15min amrap of:
5 bar muscle-ups
20m walking lunges, 40kg, back rack
These are both excellent movements. The barbell was light for back rack lunges. That was no surprise but the main ingredient of this workout was definitely the muscle-ups. Lunges paired up greatly. I was able to do the lunges unbroken, and would not have accepted it in any other way. They still got me breathing heavier and burned legs on the last meters for sure. They also gave my upper body that much needed rest between muscle-up sets.
I'm very happy on the performance on the pull-up bar. It was 5's all the way, unbroken each set, c'mon! Got through 7 sets of muscle-ups finally. It was only 8m short of full 7 rounds for result in the 15 minute time frame. Mu's got challenging somewhere in the middle of the workout. Okay, they were not a walk in the park at any point but still I was confident throughout the metcon.
This was a good call. Had both elements in my notes but hadn't closed how to chase them. Decided to go heavy and alternate between these two every 3 minutes. Didn't do any movement specific warm-ups. Instead, just piled the plates on each other and started to move the sled. The weight on the first leg of the sled came as a surprise. It weighed a ton. But I got it moving and continued to keep the legs churning.
Bought parallettes today, boom!
Farmer's walk was the "easier" part of these two. Maybe only because I'm more familiar with it. For the first two sets the cases were loaded with 2x20kg plates. Then for the latter sets I added 2.5kg on each end.
My body really felt this one hours after it was done. Somehow my quads were shaking and felt weak afterwards. That made me smile inside. The work was definitely put in. Got to keep these elements in the program in the future too. I'm positive these are giving a positive effect on overall fitness.
Saturday. AM. Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR). Cashout, 3rds of: 1min row, 1min bike. PM. 5rds of: 12 lunges (2x25kg db's), 10 front squat (2x25kg db's). Accessory, 4x15 bent over row (2x25kg db's).
We spent the weekend in the countryside so I didn't have possibility to write about Saturday's training sessions. It was a two-a-day. In the morning we hit it with Pauliina. There was a benchmark workout called Nasty Girls. In the evening we went outside with Kari for another session. Awesome Saturday!
Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR)
3 rounds of:
50 air squats
7 ring muscle-ups
10 hang power cleans @ 60kg
This was the second time I've done this benchmark workout. These muscle-up wods are always a bit horrifying in advance. Those are not my strength and they tore my palms big time each and every time. There probably hasn't been even one session without rips. Okay that may be exaggeration but it's close anyway.
But the fact is that today's muscle-ups rocked my world. I was proud of myself in the middle of the workout. On the first round my plan was to go 4-3 reps which was a bit optimistic. However, as I started to do them my focus was on keeping a hollow body, tightly together, with a good back swing and lots of patience on the front swing before pulling myself up and over the rings. These must have been one of the best (if not even the best) muscle-ups I have performed. It's a pity I don't have video material as I'd really like to analyze that.
So first round was 4-3 even though it felt like I had something in me to go even unbroken. That would have been a pr so that would have probably been the most stupid thing to do in a workout like this =) Once mu's are gone, it's difficult to get them back. Second round was 3-2-2 and the last one maybe a double or two and then singles. Still the technique was good on these ones all the way.
Air squats were unbroken on the first round, and then I kept a short pause after 30 reps on latter rounds. Cleans were unbroken each round, those were the easiest part of this workout.
Cashout.
3 rounds of:
1min row
1min bike
This might be quite an awesome workout to continue for 20-40 minutes. At least something similar. Don't have a SkiErg which would make it even better. This time there was no time to work more on this couplet.
Legs.
5 rounds of:
12 walking lunges @ 2x25 dumbbells
10 front squats @ 2x25kg dumbbells
I had bought 25kg dumbbells from Germany and this was the first time I got my hands on them. Those little babies were great! And the weather was perfect too so the combination was simply just too good not to hit another session. This focused purely on those db's.
My legs were on fire. Doing this on snow made it interesting as I slipped every now and then as the snow started to pack and turn firm. That made it slippery as ice. This was not a timed wod.
Accessory.
4 x 15 bent over row @ 2x25kg dumbbells
Just needed to get something else done with these guys. Bent over rows don't appear very often in my training but it's still a good movement. Today I decided to give it a shot as Pauliina suggested it =) Had to take them for 15 reps as the weight was not heavy for that purpose. I did these with two dumbbells at the same time
Friday. Oly lifts emom: sdhp's and hang snatches. Wod, 5rds of: 40m farmer's walk @ 113kg, 40m lunges, 10 t2b. Cashout, 200m walking lunges wearing a weight vest. L-sit pull-ups, 4 sets.
Friday night training session. As I entered the gym, the owner told right away that he's ordering jerk blocks from Rogue. That was sick news! I've been drawling over those for a year now. Hopefully someday I'm able to put some weight overhead because those will definitely make a difference for jerks.
Oly.
Every 30 seconds: 1 sumo deadlift high-pull @ 80kg, for 10 minutes
Every minute on the minute: 3 high hang power snatch @ 40kg, for 10 minutes
Two different emom style workouts. There was a 3min break between these. Damn I'd like to do cleans. Sumo deadlift high-pulls are my substitute for those. There aren't many bar movements I can smash right now so I went heavy on the sdhp's. Never have I gone over 60kg before today.
It was a positive thing I was able to do power snatches. Can't put real weight on the bar though but the movement was okay this time. Focus was on extending my hips properly and being powerful. Towards the end it got better.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
40m farmer's walk @ 113kg
40m walking lunges, bodyweight
10 toes-to-bar
Great one. That farmer's walk was a nice piece to throw in the mix. That's definitely not too light. Haven't gone beyond this weight on this movement either before. That's obviously an entire body movement
Bodyweight burned quads big time, especially right after the farmer's walk. That was purely bodyweight stuff but it was definitely sufficient. T2b's were there to bring more pressure on the core. Great workout. Didn't time this at all but worked with same determination as normally.
Cashout.
200m walking lunges
Wear a 9kg vest
Went back and forth that 20m length of grass matt, wearing a vest that weighs 9-10 kilos. Went unbroken for each leg of the distance, then shook my legs before continuing the journey. This was bad ass on lower body.
Gymnastics.
4 sets of:
L-sit pull-ups
Result: 10, 10, 9, 5 reps
In the end I decided to do this old fella I haven't said hi to in ages. L-sit pull-ups, max sets for for 4 sets. First two were 10 reps each, third was close but on the 4th set my arms were so pumped that I could only go for 5. These were no-reps by a long shot but I'll take it. Didn't come to a dead hang in the bottom position. I'm still happy to being able to do these sets nicely.
Another outdoor workout in the morning. Then in the evening we went to the gym together with Pauliina for some quality family time. I needed to get part of that overhead strength progression in the books.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
15 shoulder-to-overhead, 45kg
40 walking lunges
Practically without any warm-up I took the barbell up and started moving. Of course shoulders felt a bit stiff in the beginning but got better after round one. Legs felt tired in the process because they never got a rest period.
Lunges naturally made my legs work and because I did s2o's as push jerks my legs were doing small "squats" all the time. It wasn't a biggie in the beginning but got spicy pretty soon. Legs felt heavier in the jerks than the shoulders. I was able to maintain a good and consistent pace throughout the workout.
Overhead.
Push press 3x6 @ 73kg
This happened hours later. After couple of days without real weights I felt like I needed to focus on the warm-up. That sealed the deal and prepared my body for the strength work nicely. These sets were kinda towards the heavier side but still they were manageable. Felt like they were right on point.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
10 hang power clean @ 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
Just before the last set of push presses we agreed with Pauliina we're gonna leave in 15 minutes. This was a quick session in other words. At first I thought this strength piece is enough. That was the only thing in my mind when entering the gym.
Then on the other hand there was 10 minutes of spare time so I took some weight off the barbell and carried it to the weightlifting platform. After one minute of doing the last press set I began the metcon. Plan was to work until my time is up and we are ready to leave. It turned out that 5 rounds was sufficient. It took probably something like 7-8 minutes I'd say.
I actually don't have a cell phone right now which I always use as a timer so I haven't timed my metcons in the past week or so. It has been pretty awesome in a sense that it hasn't taken that much time to start the metcons. Usually I prepare myself more than lately because I want to have a good time. Now I just start working and it does not affect the pacing at all. I work as if it was a regular metcon.
Saturday. Metcon, 4rds of: 4 bar mu's, 8 hang power clean (60kg), 12 pistol, 16 overhead lunges (50kg).
Today was a different kind of Saturday as we went to witness one of our friend couple's newborn getting baptized. That's why I went to Optimal Training Center only in the evening. It was a late evening session, consisting of gymnastics and barbell work. My original plan was to do back squats but my back is sore from Thursday's deadlifts so that was not an option.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
4 bar muscle-ups
8 hang power clean, 60kg
12 pistol squat
16 overhead walking lunge, 50kg
This was a great and tough combo. Didn't do this for time though. Bar muscle-ups went pretty well, unbroken each set. Had no issues in the sets. At the end I realized my lats were tight as hell, and started to get sore. Like I had done 120 pull-ups or something =)
Cleans were the easiest part of this one. Easiest doesn't mean they were a walk in the park. These brought breathing heavier for a while. Pistols were done with the new nano 5's. They seem to have a bit harder shoe sole than my previous nanos which makes it a bit easier to do one-legged squats. Best shoes for this movement is definitely lifting shoes, for sure.
Toughest element of this workout was overhead lunges, no doubt about it. Haven't done 50kg lunges that much while having the bar over my head so there was a lot of work. Legs, core, shoulders, stabilization. Couple of things to pay attention to. Good workout to close out Saturday!
Wednesday. Back squat (up to 5x138kg). Emom x 10min. Odd min, 10 hspu. Even min, 10 pistol. Metcon, 5rds of: 40m lunges, 10 burpee. Wear a vest. Time, 10.40.
Good long session of crossfit took place today in Vallila's premises. Couple of sets back squat to kick everything off. Then two workouts with bodyweight stuff. Good session for sure. My legs are killing me right now. That's a fact.
Strength.
Back squat
3x100kg
3x115kg
4x130kg
4x5x138kg
Okay, so there was going to be 5x138kg. For four times… Even though I have never lifted that much weight for 5 reps, this didn't scare me at all. When being able to do multiple triples at the same weight, and after having done lots of sets lately at this weight, I was confident of hitting at least the first sets as planned.
The 100kg and 115kg sets were more like warm-up stuff. I did them touch'n'go. Also 130kg set was no big deal anymore. This is very encouraging. Some time ago this would have needed mental preparation but now it's like an everyday load. Very encouraging. Awesome to look back every now and then to realize some development has taken place.
I'm not gonna say the 138kg sets were light. They weren't. But it was alright, form stayed rather good in all the sets and reps, elbows were down, knees out, and back in upright position. So there is no other option but to smile and walk away victorious.
Squats
Gymnastics.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd minutes, 10 handstand push-ups
Even minutes, 10 pistol squats
This was a 50 / 50 rep workout of hspu's and pistol squats. Handstand push-ups were no problem. Unbroken, with a good feeling. It took 20 seconds to finish each set. Easy and steady pace in each set. Pistols were tougher. Those heavy squats definitely had an effect. On the first rep in my warm-up I fell on my butt. After taking couple of reps with each leg they started to feel okay. Not perfect in any of the sets but manageable. I went 5 with left legs and then 5 with right legs.
Metcon. Time, 10.40
5 rounds of:
40m walking lunges
10 burpee
Wear a 9kg vest
There were plenty of people doing lots of lunges with dumbbells in their hands. That intrigued me a lot so I decided to put on a 9kg vest and went 20 meters back and forth, then hit chest to deck for 10 burpees. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds. Rounds were steady which pleases me big time. Legs were beaten up. I refused to stop and breathe. Actually this wasn't as bad for breathing, it was mostly burning my legs. Pace was steady all the time.
Monday. Snatch + Hang snatch, 8 sets @ 55kg. Back squat triples (up to 140kg). Metcon, 5 rnft of: 15 pull-ups, 40m lunges.
Sunday was a compulsory rest day as my throat was still not in good condition. It wasn't perfect today either but better still. I needed to get some action going on at the gym. Monday means some sort of olympic lifts, today it was snatches. Also squats and some metcon style work of lunges and pull-ups.
Oly.
Snatch + Hang snatch
8 sets @ 55kg
This was a lot of fun. Okay, it obviously needs a lot of work but that's what I'm focusing on right now. I've taken steps to improve on my shoulder mobility which will hopefully have an impact on the bottom position. Plus the first pull is a lot slower than it used to be back in the days when I felt like the need to rush the bar up to the hips.
Positive thing is that I'm not jumping forward anymore. That's a big thing. I'm concentrating on keeping my feet closer together because when I go wide, it's more difficult for me to drop below parallel. I'd also like to see myself showing armpits to the public. And that's what I'm witnessing on the video below. Those are pointing forward. Maybe all the mobility I did prior to the barbell work paid off this time. It was targeted purely on shoulder mobility.
Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 138, 138, 138, 140kg)
This was great. I've done a triple at 140kg sometime in the past once. Today's loads were determined beforehand. Only the last one was something I changed on the fly. The original weight seemed a bit absurd at 145kg. My last 3RM was 140kg so I didn't have enough balls to believe in this new weight.
There were couple of easier sets before getting to 138 kilos. Those were good working sets. Heavy-ish but still very much doable. So I changed the last set to 140kg and took it up nicely. There was really no doubt of hitting that weight. Maybe it was a bit too conservative but after those 138's it felt like a good choice.
Squats
Metcon.
5 rounds not for time of:
15 pull-ups
40m lunges
I needed to get my heart beat up. On the other hand I did't wanna risk anything so this was something in between. Good set of pull-ups - every set intentionally unbroken - to get a good burn in my lats and to get a decent volume on this movement as well. At the end of the workout I did additional 25 reps to reach a total of 100 reps.
Lunges are always surprisingly tough on lower body. Even though I didn't have any weight on they started to burn legs. Went unbroken still. The grass mat is 20m long so the idea was to go both ways from end to end. Even though I didn't have a timer running, I did this in a similar way as a normal metcon. I'm especially happy on how little time the transition took after lunges. I just walked to the pull-up bar and started ripping.
Friday. Back squat 7x5 (125kg). Partner workout, 3rds of: 20 dead (100kg), 60 push-up, 40 db snatch (25kg), 20 burpee box, 20 hspu, 40m lunges (2x25kg db's). Time, 31.30.
It was a blast to have my main man Toni take a surprise visit to my gym. He was supposed to go to his own but I talked him over, and then went to his place to spend the Friday evening. It was back squats again - no surprise there - and then a long ass workout with a partner.
Smolov.
Back squat 7x5 (125kg)
Huh, every day there is a bigger load on my back and it always feels how much more can this body take. But every time up to this point I have walked away victoriously. It sure feels good to complete these sets without problems. There's a lot of mental game in the play as well.
It took me about half an hour to finish the sets so it was about a set every 4 minutes. Recovery was abundant, and my legs got enough rest between sets. All sets were pretty much similar in my head. Quite heavy from the first to last set but still something I was able to manage well.
Squats and start of the wod
Partner workout. Time, 31.30
As a team, complete the following for 3 rounds for time of:
20 deadlift, 100kg
60 push-up
40 dumbbell snatch, 25kg
20 burpee box jump
20 handstand push-up
40m walking lunges, 2x25kg
At first we just brainstormed over the elements we want to have as part of the workout. Pushing, pulling, jumping, lunging, that's pretty much it. Worked well. It turned out to be something like a chipper, consisting anyway of 3 rounds. We had planned on doing certain sets, and we followed the plan for the first round, then improvised on the second and third round to make the movements as fast as possible. That means the sets were a bit shorter so either of us was constantly moving body or weight.
Deadlifts were the easiest part. Easy weight, and just couple of reps. Toni had just done heavy deads for strength and I had Smolov so we decided to keep the weight light. On the push-ups I did 15's at first, and then 10's towards the end.
Db snatches we agreed to do 10 reps in a row, then change. I did 5 on the right hand, then switched to left hand, and completed the reps from hang position at 25 kilos. Both snatches and burpee box jumps brought the heart rate up.
I had thought about doing these strict and did so in the beginning. That would have killed the pace on this workout and so I changed to kipping versions. Toni also had some issues on the hspu's so I completed majority of the reps. Burned shoulders very well.
Lunges with 2x25kg dumbbells was probably the most unpleasant element in this workout. There was no doubt we would go unbroken on those 10 meter walks up and down the green matt. But it felt disgusting at the end of rounds two and three. Good workout for a partner wod for sure. And it was great to throw down with Toni.
Saturday. Back squat 5x5 (max 115kg). Emom x 21min. 1st: 10 pull-ups, 2nd: 10 lunges (2x20kg db's), 3rd: 15 box.
Damned it was great to make a comeback! We had our 10 day honeymoon trip in Northern Italy right after the wedding. We had a road trip in such places as Milan, Lake Como, Lake Garda, Venice and the eastern coastline. It could not have been better. We enjoyed it to the fullest, and this time training was on the background. The temperature was constantly at least 35 degrees, at max the digits showed a sick 44 degree heat. That's the toughest climate I've ever been even though I have traveled all my life a lot. During the trip I went running for a long one twice, then did couple of metcons, bar muscle-ups, and of course a lot of swimming. Not for once did I touch a bar so it was about time to get my hands on one today!
Strength.
Back squat 5x5 (90, 100, 105, 110, 115kg)
It is still clearly in my memories when we came back from California last year and I went heavy pause squatting, deadlifting and pistol squatting, that my hip flexors got inflamed. That was not cool so I decided to take it easy on the weights. It will definitely hurt in lower body in the following days because there's been almost 2 week break from barbell work. It's always a different thing to work with bodyweight and weights.
These squats felt good in every single set. I believe it was a smart decision to stay light. I'm having a week off of work still next week and I'm planning to hit it seriously on the upcoming week. Didn't wanna kill my legs and make them out of order for days.
Recap of the training day
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 21min
1st min: 10 pull-ups
2nd min: 10 walking lunges, 2x20kg dumbbells
3rd min: 15 box jump
This got tough. It really felt like I haven't done metcons in the same severity during the trip. But it sure felt great to get my heart beating big time. Pull-ups were tingling my thoughts beforehand. For the three first rounds those didn't feel good in my palms but I changed the pull-up bar to a thicker one (=normal thickness) and those rocked very well after that.
I was about to do lunges with a barbell but my wife did lunges with dumbbells too and the place is not wide enough so we both worked with dumbbells. That was a good variety. I held the db's in front rack position, one dumbbell in each hand, 20 kilos each. These are probably gonna hurt in my butt tomorrow.
It was great to have the entire body activated. Box jumps are in my wheelhouse. Those took about 30 seconds so during the course of action the recovery started to feel short after box jumps. In the first rounds it's always good in these long emoms but towards the end it's gonna get mental. This was a good start to getting back in to the training routines! Here are couple of pictures from Italy.
Overhead squats with a 10 second pause in the bottom
6x1 @ 60kg
First of all, I fell in love with this Rogue Ohio Barbell. I've done pretty much all my work with a different type of barbell where the knurl is very sharp. Plus I've used a lot of chalk in my lifts. Maybe that's the reason why my hands are all torn up since I moved to this new gym. There's simply too much friction between hands and the bar. This Ohio bar is smoother on the knurl, and this time I left the chalk alone in its basket.
Tried to improve my snatch by doing overhead squats with a long pause in the bottom position. I went all the way to the very bottom, that's my extreme position on this movement. These lifts felt good all the way. Weights were moderate so there was not supposed to be big problems in any of the singles. Because the paused time was quite long, I wasn't building it heavier this time.
Ohs
Metcon. Time, 30.49
10 power clean, 80kg
10 front squat, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
20 lunges
500m row
8 power clean, 80kg
10 front squat, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
20 lunges
500m row
6 power clean, 80kg
10 front squat, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
20 lunges
500m row
4 power clean, 80kg
10 front squat, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
20 lunges
500m row
2 power clean, 80kg
10 front squat, 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
20 lunges
500m row
Those cleans were originally supposed to be a buy-in of 10 reps. Then a 30 minute amrap of front squats, ghd's, lunges and rowing. However, the first cleans felt super and my body just needed to get those more in my system. I decided to do those in singles because the workout was long. No point in rushing those in the beginning and then suffer for the rest of the workout.
Front squats were kinda light if you think about 60 kilos in general but 10 reps in this workout were not cool. They pretty soon started to brome tough. Nasty but tolerable. Went unbroken each round. Had to keep a pause on top after 6 reps in each set to give my legs a break of the tension.
Ghd's were the easiest part of this one. It was mostly about controlling breath when being almost inverted. Core took this well. I got lunges done yesterday too for the same distance. This movement is actually pretty good. That's the reason why they have appeared more in my workouts lately. As pretty much everything else in this wod, lunges also took a lot of burden for legs.
Metcon recap
Rowing was the finisher of each round so I got 2.500 meters in total. My focus was to keep the pace at 1:50 all the time. Rowing in metcons is usually a big mental thing and also burns the body whole-heartedly. At the end of this workout it was really hard to stand up. I went on my knees after the last meter had been rowed. My legs were almost numb. It was a long burn for the lower body. And I also felt like the bar path on the power cleans was good this time and I was able to use my legs much more. That obviously burned legs even more.
This was the last work day for this week, and now it's gonna be about a 3 week summer holiday for me, hurray! This is welcomed with a big heart. I drove to the gym to celebrate it in the form of a long metcon. Did some strength work prior to that.
Barbell.
Push jerk triples (60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg)
Back squat triples (110, 120, 125, 130kg)
For some reason the bar feels heavy right now. Or has felt for a week or so. There's gonna be a break in the training routine as we have a trip waiting for us and there's no chance to get hands on a barbell that much. It's gonna be more like bodyweight training abroad.
Today's focus for strength was shoulders and lower body. First some push jerks, didn't get a video of those but they felt fine. A little shaky on the last set but other than that pretty solid actually. Back squats felt heavy already on the 110kg hehe but still I managed to push through nicely all the way to the last set. There were no problems bringing the bar up and down as planned. But the feeling is that it weighed more than normally. Quite happy though that even with that feeling, I'm able to move the weights normally.
Metcon. Result, 540 reps (9 rounds)
20min amrap of:
10 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg
20 lunges
30 double unders
This was a good long one. First element got to my shoulders, the second to my quads, and du's to the breathing in general. Got everything done unbroken in this wod. S2o's were taxing on the upper body but this was a mental decision to push them through without putting the bar down at any point. Didn't really doubt that at any stage.
Recap of metcon
Lunges were nasty, even with just bodyweight. In the beginning I was thinking about taking light dumbbells in my hands but luckily those stayed in the shelf. That would have been brutal. Du's were unbroken each set. That really pleased me! Form was not superb but there were no misses at all. Just finished the 9th round when time hit 20 minutes sharp. Steady work.
Friday. Back squat 3x10 @ 100kg. Metcon, 3rds of: 30 s2o (35kg), 25 lunges, 20 ghd sit-ups. Time, 9.42.
These legs have been smashed for couple of days so I've been missing squats ever since. Today was the first day I dared to put a barbell on my back (or front rack) for squatting purposes. For the metcon I wanted to have high reps each round on the jerks, and this plan was great.
Strength.
Back squat 3x10, across (100kg)
Decided to "stay comfortable" on the load. This was same weight each round, just got more reps per round in order to get some volume in. This worked well to get these legs activated again. Getting back to action. Need to squat more, there's no doubt about it. One of the best decisions this far in the past three years was to complete the Smolov squat program last fall. Mobility increased tremendously and legs got stronger.
Squats 3x10
Metcon. Time, 9.42
3 rounds of:
30 shoulder-to-overhead, 35kg
25 walking lunges
20 ghd sit-ups
Pauliina suggested one day to do high rep workouts with a barbell. I got inspired by that prep talk and programmed this one. The beef in this one was obviously the s2o's, 30 reps with even a light weight starts to take its toll on the shoulders. I got the first round unbroken with a good burn on the shoulders. Second and third round were identical on the rep scheme: 20-10 reps.
I started lunging right away after barbell work, no need to pause at this point. Went 13 long lunges one way, and 12 reps back down. Same here, just keep on walking. There were some walking around the gym between the stations so that was my rest period.
Ghd's were good each round. I hopped on the machine, and bounced those 20 reps in a row each round. On the last round they got tough but there was no doubt I'd go ub each round. I was more concerned how the 30 jerks would look like. After completing first and second round I had to shake my arms a bit to get a big set of jerks done on the first attempt.
