Saturday 19.12: Winter War Event 3

Saturday. Winter War, Event 3. Result, 142 reps

Saturday's training session was an easier one. Only one metcon. My back felt as stiff as it could be after those heavier deadlifts on Friday. Even though they felt good when I did them, the following days are often the moments when I feel like something had been pulled from the ground. Another reason for taking it easier was schedule. We were going to celebrate one family member's 70 year birthday party. It was a blast, these people are great!

Winter War, Event 3. Result, 142 reps

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 cal row
• 15 wall ball
• 10 box jump overs
• 2/4/6/8… muscle-ups, ascending ladder

Winter War is a throwdown which aims to find the fittest in Finland. There are a total of 4 qualification events of which the 32 fittest will be called to the competition in February. The events are:

Event 1.

• 8min amrap:
• 10 thruster, 50kg
• 10 thruster, 60kg
• 10 thruster, 70kg
• 10 thruster, 80kg…

Event 2.

• 4min amrap:
• 1 chest-to-bar pull-up
• 1 toes-to-bar

Event 3.

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 cal row
• 15 wall ball
• 10 box jump overs
• 2/4/6/8… muscle-ups, ascending ladder

Event 4. "Barbell Hell"

• 50 deadlift, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 hand power clean, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 front squat, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg

I did that first one some time ago. It was a repeat workout from 3 years ago. The only difference was that it started at 40kg then, and I went after the 2012 version. Now it was time for that third event. It looked like a nice one with some muscle-ups in the mix too. Those are always a bit challenging to think how to pace myself because one muscle-ups are gone, it's quite miserable situation =)

Today muscle-ups were not bad at all. To be honest this workout was all about muscle-ups. Row, wall balls and box jumps were small reps which made it easy to cruise through them. My plan was to take it easy on those though because I reckoned gassing myself out on those would make mu's so much more difficult.

First set was unbroken. Muscle-ups were put here in an ascending ladder, going up by 2 reps per round. On the round of 4's I got 3 in a row, and then a single to finish the round. I made a costly mistake there. I tried to jump on the rings to get the last rep done and couldn't get a grip on the rings. They started to swing back and forth which took some time to get them settled. One more muscle-up was completed on the round of 6's. All the muscle-ups were relatively easier than I thought.

It's not common to have mu's in a metcon for me so these are always good ones. Looking back at the workout I could have gone faster. Usually I know how fast I can go but mu's are still difficult to assess. Maybe that's a good reminder of putting them in metcons more often. That's how I would know better how much my body can tolerate of this skills element, strength and conditioning together.

Friday 4.12: Thrusters, Mu's, Snatch, Hspu, Pistols

Friday. Thruster ladder, 8min amrap of ascending weights. Result, 43 reps. Metcon, 5rds of: 3 bar mu, 5 power snatch (40kg), 7 hspu, 10 pistols.

Weekend is coming and I'm loving it! Today was a good session at the gym. When I was warming up I accidentally heard from one of the coaches that floorball team Tapanilan Erä is coming to train to the gym. I knew there are some old pals that I used to play with in a different team. It was great to see those guys and throw some small talk while we threw down. Great times! These are the guys I miss from playing floorball seriously. The people around us.

Rosendahl!

Barbell conditioning. Result, 43 reps (3x80kg)

• 8min amrap of:
• 10 thruster, 40kg
• 10 thruster, 50kg
• 10 thruster, 60kg
• 10 thruster, 70kg
• 10 thruster, 80kg
• 10 thruster, 90kg… 

Winter War qualifications are now taking place which means they are trying to find out who are the toughest crossfit athletes in Finland. The contest is in February but qualification is taking place now in December. This was event 1 maybe three years ago. This year it was similar with the difference that the weights started at 50kg. Otherwise the same ideology exists. I figured I'd get a better workout by starting at 40kg to get some heavy breathing.

Tapanilan Erä

Went unbroken on the first two sets, both at 40kg and 50kg. Those were pretty self-evident beforehand as I thought about this. It's been time since doing 60kg thrusters so it was a mystery how those would feel like. My warm-up wasn't perfect and I felt my elbows being very tight. After doing 40kg thrusters for couple of sets in the warm-up and stretching a little more, they started to cooperate.

However, I had to power clean the barbell on the front rack before starting the first repetition. Ideally I would squat clean the bar but it makes it more challenging to get a full grip and having an ideal grip to press the barbell up and overhead. 60kg was 6-4 reps.

At 70kg the barbell was clearly heavier but I got through the set with 4-3-3 reps. Last weight was at 80kg, and I had to go for singles for each rep completed. Legs were good all the way, those felt strong all the time. Shoulders are my weaker part compared to legs and core and it was not surprise that upper body bailed on me on the thrusters finally. It was difficult to know how much to rest between attempts. Didn't wanna burn my shoulders out totally but then again it's not cool to have too long of a break.

Thruster ladder

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 3 bar muscle-ups
• 5 power snatch, 40kg
• 7 handstand push-ups
• 10 pistol squats

This was inspired by Bobby Noyce's workout that I saw in Youtube yesterday. This was a little modification compared to that. He also had overhead squats after snatches, and muscle-ups were completed at the rings. Those bar muscle-ups felt in my core after doing 100 ghd's yesterday. Maybe there's a correlation between those. Bar mu's were as perfect as are in my case. I was proud of those for sure.

Last thruster done

Snatches were light but in the course of action it was probably a good weight as after those it was time to throw myself upside down against the wall for hspu's. My butt is still a bit sore but it definitely didn't bother at all. It was awesome to do pistols, it's such a freaking good movement. Everything went unbroken and that was the goal for sure. Didn't have a timer rolling. That didn't change the nature of the workout a bit. This was my best effort for today.

Thursday 29.1: Hspu, Squat, Pair wod

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

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

Gymnastics.

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

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

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

Back squat. Compare to 20.12.2014

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

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

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

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

Pair wod. Result, 250 reps

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

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

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

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

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

Lauren Fisher

Saturday 20.12: Winter War III, Mainsite

Saturday. Winter War III. Mainsite workout, 1.000m row, 50 db ohs, 750m row, 35 db ohs, 500m row, 20 db ohs. Time, 18.06

Front squats were supposed to be in my program anyway today so I thought why not throw down for the Winter War qualification workout number III. Winter War is the unofficial pursuit to find Finland's fittest man and woman. There are 3 workouts after which we'll find out who are the top 40 to fight for the spot on the podium in February 2015. After this workout I took on one mainsite wod from couple of weeks ago, had to modify it a bit. It was a good kick in the ass.

Winter War III.

• Every 90 seconds, perform 3 front squats
• Weights: 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150…200kg
• Tie breaker: the amount of deadlifts within the time cap
• 2min rest
• During 3min time cap, max effort of 5 attempts of handstand. Result is the combined time of all 5 attempts
• Result, 2x130kg front squat + 14 deadlift. Handstand, 5x10-20sec holds

Let's start with that my one rep max is 135kg. This almost emom style method here brings its own twist. Time to recover becomes an issue at the heaviest weights. I was looking to hit 120kg for a triple, I've done that once in my life. Having done squats like a maniac the last couple of months seemed to pay off in this workout.

Front squats

The first couple of sets were warm-up stuff. First heavy-ish loads appeared somewhere around 110kg. I'm not sure, maybe earlier. After 115kg I felt like now it's my time to shine. First rep in every set felt great, second was not that comfy anymore, and the third one was pure agony. At least in the 115+ sets.

I'm very happy on the kilos being moved here, went over by goals. 2x130kg was sick. That second reps was so tough that I knew a third would be an outrageous move to go after. Decided to drop the bar and finish it with deadlifts at the same weight. Got 14 reps before the 90sec window ended my work.

It took me 16:30 to finish the squats. There was a prescribed 2min rest period to get my shit together and get ready for handstand. It's been at least 2 months since I've tried the entire movement. That's because my wrist was so messed up for quite a while. Today I did zero attempts before the actual workout, I just went by feeling. It was a 5 attempt effort of which the total accumulated time was calculated, and that's your result.

I took actually 6 attempts because I thought it was the 5 best of all your attempts during that 3min time frame. Well, anyway that didn't change anything, all of my efforts were pretty similar. After the workout it was a slight disappointment as I walked to the camera just to witness my memory card was full…….. So I don't have the exact times of each of the attempts but I promise you they were something between 10 and 15 seconds on each attempt. Once I remembered checking the timer as I took off and once I landed, and it showed 16 seconds. And all those sets were similar in nature. I nailed this one well considering my expectations. One thing is for sure, I didn't tape 1 meter square so I won't promise I stayed within the required area.

Don't know but I guess my results are probably far off the leaderboard but I'm doing this for myself. Otherwise I would be competing. And I'm very happy on being able to get those weights moving and also handstand rocked pretty well.

Mainsite. Time, 18.06

• 1.000m row
• 50 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg
• 750m row
• 35 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg
• 500m row
• 20 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg

Originally this was identical except those dumbbell overhead squats were squat snatches with dumbbells. I tried those and couldn't quite find the mobility to get below parallel. I had troubles with these overhead squats too. For some reason it's more difficult with 1-arm dumbbells than barbell ohs.

And I had baby weights anyway. Rx'd it was 20kg but the movement was not so comfortable that I had to go light on the move. Still, I completed it with 5 reps at a time. Looks awkward on paper but that's all I could fight through. This was nasty stuff. Ended up at 18 minutes of grinding. Definitely a weakness of mine those dumbbell movements.

Monday 8.12: Cleans, Winter War 1

Monday. Strength, clean 2-2-2-2-1-1-1-1. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 30 power clean (50kg), 10 pull-ups, 30 box, 10 pull-ups, 30 du's, 10 pull-ups. Result, 190 reps.

Back at home! And back to crossfit! We arrived in the early afternoon, went home, made food and relaxed. By the way, it was freaking awesome to get back to clean food. That is something we both appreciate tremendously and even a short break of that can be felt in the body. Today as we got to our kitchen, magic happened both in the afternoon and in the evening.

Strength.

• Clean 2-2-2-2-2 (90, 92.5, 95, 97.5, 100kg)
• Clean 1-1-1-1-1 (102.5, 105, 107.5, failed 110, failed 110kg)

This was such a short journey abroad that I only had couple of rest days. That probably wasn't that bad at all in the long run. After 1-2 week holidays barbell usually feels heavy but today that was not the case. It was great to get back to lifting stuff from the floor. There's something magical that brings comfort to my mind.

I took doubles, starting from 90kg and ascending 2.5kg after each set. I didn't want to recover that much so it was something like 90sec rest between sets. Emom would have been too much to handle but short recovery is something I prefer in workouts like these.

I'm happy on the weights being moved. I took doubles up to 100kg, and then decided to switch it to singles and go by feeling. Did the same thing and added 2.5kg on the barbell after each lift. It felt great to 107.5kg. The next lift after that was at 110kg. I was able to rack the bar in a good manner but for some reason I fell a bit forward and felt that my heels came up a little bit. It was too difficult to save the mistake so I had to drop the bar in front of me. That was a simple technical flaw so I decided to correct it on the next lift. However, that missed lift got under my skin and the next attempt was just an awkward deadlit without a proper "pull under" at all.

Recap of cleans

Metcon. Result, 190 reps. Compare to 20.12.2013

• 10min amrap of:
• 30 power clean, 50kg
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 box
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 double unders
• 10 pull-ups

This is part of the qualification to Finland's "Crossfit Games", the throwdown where Finland's fittest man and woman will be crowned in February 2015. I'm not participating there but I'm hitting these workouts just for fun if they are easy to complete at our gym. This was part of the qualification last year as well so I did it back then too.

This workout is all about grip strength. The most difficult thing for me is not the breathing even though this definitely gets the heart beat up. Last year my result was 185 and I didn't know how to use hook grip. This time that saved forearms a bit but still it was an issue. Result was 190 reps. That means I finished box jumps on the second round. It would have made a huge leap in the standings if double unders would have gone in the books.

Metcon

On the first round of cleans I did 5x6 reps, purely aiming to save my forearms. On the second round it was triples all the way. These were both good calls in my situation. Pull-ups were mostly 6-4 all the way. In the end there were some more cutting to pieces. Consciously I didn't go unbroken in the beginning because I thought it would kill my forearms. Box jumps got to breathing, no doubt, but they were still manageable.

I have controversial feelings on this one. I hoped to improve my result a bit more but on the other hand I kept moving on a good pace so I'm not regretting anything. 10 more pull-ups and double unders and the result would have hit way over 200 reps. There are some sick results in the leaderboard. Big names are hitting something around 250 reps which means they have taken a number of cleans on the third round. I believe former Games athlete Mikko Aronpää did like 269 reps and is on the top end of the leaderboard.

Saturday 1.2: Rest day at Winter War

Saturday. Rest day. Gonna see the Finnish CF Championship Games, "Winter War"!

It's time to discover the fittest man and woman in Finland today! Venue is @ Tampere and it's gonna be a long day of back-to-back events. The process started already yesterday with a 2-part rowing contest. First the athletes were instructed to go all in on a 7.5km row for time. After 2min break they were to row for another 2km for time. Both distances were separate events and points given separately. That reminds us from 2013 Crossfit Games where the athletes rowed for half a marathon with a 2km checkpoint.

Last year's recap (2013)

Don't know what the other events will be like. The only other event that has been released is a snatch ladder. Toni drove to Tampere already yesterday so he wouldn't miss a single even this Saturday. The doors opened at 8.00 and first even took place 8.15am. We are going there with Pauliina, my brother and his training partner. Everybody's gonna be there so I'm all excited. The place is a sold out!!!

I'm putting my money on Mikko Aronpää, one of the fittest men on earth. He's been to the CF Games 3 years in a row and has taken about 30th place each year.

2014 teaser

Friday 20.12: Winter War III

Friday. Winter War, 3rd event. 10min amrap of: 30 power cleans, 10 pull-ups, 30 box, 10 pull-ups, 30 du, 10 pull-ups. Result 185 reps.

My boys Sipa and Toni had done the qualification workout for Finland's crossfit games so I figured why not go for it too. It looked like an okay metcon and easy to arrange, no extra equipment needed and no need to drop heavy weights so I completed that one today.

Everyday salad with the dinner, keep it clean and healthy

Winter War, Event 3. Result 185 reps.

• 10min amrap of:
• 30 power cleans, 50kg
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 box, 61cm
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 double unders
• 10 pull-ups

I finished the first round and completed 25 box jumps on the second round. The issue here was trip strength. Even though the barbell was light at 50kg on the cleans, it started to pressure the forearms greatly and it was challenging to keep a hold on the bar. Simply couldn't press my palm into fist anymore after a certain point. So that was definitely the movement that kept me from moving faster.

Pull-ups went unbroken, double unders unbroken and the box jumps also practically unbroken. I kept a 2 second pause on the first round at 10 and 20 reps. On the second round I went unbroken. So it's obvious the power cleans was the thing for me in this one. Had it been for example 10 reps each movement each round, I would have gone ub all the way. But that wasn't the case and it made me think about programming.

Competitor's wod programming philosophy includes the following statement:

"20 Rep Benchmark:  We will be rotating through movements and testing a 20 rep max lifts twice per week. 20 reps is enough to ensure we are developing more than just maximal strength. We are looking for strength endurance, stamina, and efficiency in our movements. In addition, 20-reps, if done right, is enough to get yolked and see God."

That site is freaking awesome, hosted by Ben Bergeron, is focused in posting some bad ass workouts for those who aim to be the fittest of the earth, for those who want to make it to the regionals and for those looking to make their best in the Crossfit Open. So in practice you'll find the workout of the day that suits perfectly for you, no matter what your background is.

Back to the initial idea: 20 rep benchmarks. Not a bad idea. Haven't done them at all. Why not try them? It definitely improves strength endurance, stamina and overall fitness level in all dimensions. No matter if it was clean & jerk, snatch, squat or whatever strength movement. Note to self: do it!

I'd love to try jerking from the blocks, have never seen those things live, anywhere

Wednesday 18.12: Rest day

Wednesday. Rest day.

Aaarrrgghh! Second day of rest in a row, didn't see this coming. I had such a long work day / training session at work that it sucked all time and energy out of me. Muscles better grow and prepare for tomorrow 'cause I'm planning to hit it hard! Definitely going to work out.

Well, to tell the truth it must be good for my body to get some time off. It's been rough the last couple of months and rest days have been a rarity. It's a weakness for me not to have days off of training. On the other hand, my body has been ready to work out so I haven't seen the reason to step back that often. I've been able to plan my training sessions so that it's constant variety all the time and thus I've been able to keep on moving on a daily basis.

As I told earlier there's the qualification is currently going on to find the fittest men / women in Finland. There's a total of 3 events before the best of the best will be seen in the Finals 1st February 2014. Yesterday evening was the announcement of the last 3rd and last event. It's a:

• 10min amrap of:
• 30 power clean, 50kg
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 box jumps, 60cm
• 10 pull-ups
• 30 double unders
• 10 pull-ups

Looks like a very attempting workout, classic crossfit stuff: make those lungs carry the air effectively and burn your muscles. All movements are light so the "thing" is who can keep on moving in the pain zone. It's gonna start hurting and you have to be mentally tough to ignore the pain and just keep on completing rep after rep. I'm looking forward to seeing Toni do his share of the work. By the way, Toni has his birthday today, congrats!

Wednesday 11.12: Push press emom, 20min metcon

Wednesday. Push press emom, 3 reps @ 70kg, for 10min. Metcon, 5 rounds of: 500m row, 6 hspu, 10 pistols, 12 ring dips. Took me about 20 minutes.

My collar bones were sensitive from yesterday's cleans. Plus my traps are sore from lifting 5k, that's much more than I regularly clean per day. Today's program was focusing on shoulder strength and metabolic conditioning with bodyweight movements. There's the qualification round going on at the moment in Finland for national crossfit championship, called Winter War. There are 3 different workouts that are done in a similar way as we've seen in Crossfit Open the last years. The athlete must complete the workouts under supervision in an affiliate's premises and the performances must be videotaped. Take a look at the workouts below.

Strength. Emom.

• Every minute on the minute
• Push press, 3 reps @ 70kg, for 10min

Emom training for shoulder strength is awesome. I did these more frequently in the summer time, but it's been months since last time. It's useful to do this one, either as push press or push jerk, both will do. Those collarbones didn't feel good as the bar smashed on them after every rep. Well, it didn't prevent me from doing these, and I felt good completing the movements. The weight on the barbell was good for today. There was lots of upper body action waiting to be done in the metcon as well so I didn't dare to add weight on the barbell.

Metcon. About 20min

• 5 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 6 handstand push-ups
• 10 pistol squats
• 12 ring dips

Had no plan about how many rounds or what time frame I would be going after. I simply drifted the movements and stations without pressure of the clock. Plus there was a case that mixed my thoughts. I was just about to sit on the rower for the second round as someone stepped in front of me to start rowing on his own… So I did some double unders and hopped on a cross trainer to get some blood flowing. The double unders were not so cool when having weightlifting shoes on =) It's not that easy to jump with those on. I had them on because of the pistol squats.

On the rower I went at about 1:50 pace, not that fast. All bodyweight movements were unbroken. Had no doubts about the hspu's but those ring dips pleased me a lot! I haven't considered them my strength and that's why I intentionally have decided to increase the amount of them. This may sound a small thing but for me it was big to nail all those 12rep sets unbroken.

This was a good play, having fun, enjoying the capability to keep on moving my bodyweight well. It took me about 20 minutes to finish these rounds.

Okay, 1000 muscle-ups… Why? I guess "because I can" =)

Winter War. Second workout

• The athlete has 20 minutes to find the max load on the following barbell complex
• Power clean
• Front squat
• Press / Jerk
• Back squat
• Press / Jerk
• Overhead squat
• Men start @ 40kg, and add 5kg after each successful complex
• Result is the max load lifted in the 20min time frame

Toni did this one today and was able to complete a PR in overhead squats at the same time. His result was 65kg. The first workout in the qualification last week was a "death by hand release burpee + 10m run".

Saturday 2.2: Squat, Snatch, OHS, Winter War

Saturday. Back squats 1-1-1-1-1 (max PR 140kg), snatch 1-1-1-1-1 (max PR 52.5kg), overhead squats 3-3-2-1 (max PR 50kg).

Huh, this was one heck of a crossfit day! I spent the whole saturday with my bro. First of all, we met in the morning at the box to do some serious training. Agenda was to train hard first, then take a road trip 2 hours away to Tampere where Winter War - Finnish national crossfit finals - took place throughout the day. Neither of us participated in the qualifiers but we wanted to drive and take a look what it looks like at the spot. Sipa definitely wanted to do the qualifiers before heading to the actual games. I have a Game Day tomorrow so I didn't want to risk anything by going too rough. That's why I went strength singles today, no metcons for me.

Box jumps, Sipa

Strength. Huh, three PR's today!

• Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (100, 120, 130, 135, PR 140kg)
• Snatch 1-1-1-1-1 (30, 40, 45, PR 50kg, PR 52.5kg)
• Overhead squats 3-3-2-1 (30, 40, PR 45kg, PR 50kg)

I simply nailed it. I just wrote on Wednesday that I'd better get my bro to the box so I'd PR my back squat again =) It's been quite a tradition this far. Those squats felt easy for some reason. I didn't take many reps, just warming up with 60kg, trying to stretch as well before entering to real weights. I still had the feeling I could have piled more weights after 140kg, weird… Felt incredibly awesome!

Back squat, 140kg, PR

After squats I decided to give it a shot with overhead squats. My plan was to do sets of 3 reps and start the movement from the ground by snatching the barbell overhead. After discussing it with Sipa, I managed to find better stability in the overhead squat position. I have been playing snatches with 40kg for some time and gained good confidence. It's not an issue anymore to lift it. Therefore it was only natural to add kilos. I took set of 45kg, my old snatch record and overhead squatted my new record (40 -> 45kg). It was rather easy so I stepped it up a notch, 50kg, both snatch and overhead squat, c'mon! Finally I snatched 52.5kg, which now stands my current snatch PR. I didn't try to squat it at all.

This was beautiful, three PR's in one day. This day will stay in my memories for some time =) Sipa's day was sick. He did three workouts with 5 min rest between workouts. First one was the most cruel, heavy thrusters. Short break and continue with box jumps, push-ups and double unders. Finally funny combo of pull-ups and toes-to-bars. I'm telling you, this guy was crushed after the workouts. His shoulders were screaming in pain. Take a look at the videos below!

Sipa's workout no 1. Result 38.4 reps (38 thrusters and 4 burpees)

• 8 min amrap of:
• 10 thrusters, 40kg
• 10 thrusters, 50kg
• 10 thrusters, 60kg
• 10 thrusters, 70kg
• 10 thrusters, 80kg
• 10 thrusters, 90kg
• Once the athlete is not able to do thrusters anymore: bar-facing burpees

Sipa's workout no 2. Result 132 reps (2 rounds + 2 double unders)

• 6 min amrap of:
• 20 box jumps, 64cm
• 10 hand release push-ups
• 20 double unders

Sipa's workout no 3. Result 58 reps

• 4 min amrap of:
• 1 pull-up
• 1 toes-to-bar

Winter War. After the workouts we headed north to Finland's national crossfit games. The workouts were sick and the guys were monsters. We were stunned to look at the guys performing. The winner - Mikko Aronpää - participated in the Crossfit Games last year and finished as the 32nd fittest human on earth. These athletes had to go through 5 workouts before the last 10 guys reached the final workout which stood as follows. That was sick, especially as the 100kg front squats and 80kg overhead squats started from the ground, not from rack. Cruel.

Mikko Aronpää, rope climbs

With a 15min time cap perform the following. Barbell starts from the ground.

• 10 muscle-ups
• 10 deadlifts, 150kg
• 20 toes-to-bar
• 2 rope climb
• 10 front squats, 100kg
• 20 toes-to-bar
• 2 rope climb
• 10 overhead squats, 80kg
• 20 toes-to-bar
• 2 rope climb
• 5 muscle-ups

Mikko Aronpää at the clean & jerk ladder, 120kg