Sunday 5.5: Bench, bench/row metcon

Sunday. Bench singles (max PR 97.5kg). Metcon, 3 rounds of 1.000m row, bench 15x70kg.

For some reason that workout I did the day before yesterday still takes its toll on my legs. I tried to stretch them but still my walking is not pretty =) Anyway, that's only a good feeling as I know a lot of work has been done. This muscle pain had a lot of effect on today's programming. Bench press singles was what I started with and then the metcon included 3k row and semi-heavy bench presses. Tony didn't show up in the morning, we'll have to see if he's doing his training in the evening. Pauliina joined the workout.

Strength. Bench press 1-1-1-1-1-1 (70, 80, 85, 90, 95, PR 97.5kg). Also tried 100kg, didn't come up this time. I had not planned to do singles but I changed my mind as I entered the gym. It turned out to be a good decision as I hit a new personal record, adding 2.5kg to previous one, now it's 97.5kg.

I took some high-rep sets with only the bar, then 40 and 60kg before moving on to singles. The only purpose was to find that one rep max load at the moment. It seems to be quite close to 3-digit numbers, I'm getting there some day.

Bench press, PR 97.5kg

Metcon. Time 20.40

• 3 rounds of:
• 1.000m row
• 15 bench press, 70kg

Following the strength training I did a rather long metcon with rowing and bench press. I was thinking about the amount of rounds and the bench reps. Decided on the above except that I had planned to do only 10 bench presses. On the first round I continued to 15 and stayed with that rep scheme till the end. My rowing times per rounds were 3.30, 3.37 and 3.41.

On the bench first round was 6+5+4, on the second it was 6+5+2+2 and it was 6 reps on the first try, then a triple and maybe singles from then on, it started to get heavy all of a sudden. I didn't mind about the clock running so I took some time in the transition. That bench press seemed to suck my time as I couldn't do them unbroken. I still consider the weight was ideal for me. It was as heavy as I wanted it to be. Had I done it with 60kg, it would have been too light.

This proved to me it's possible to find some good workouts with bench press as well. I'm not going to add bench in to my schedule a lot more but I'll try to do it once in a while to add strength in chest, shoulders and triceps.

Did some mobility and stretching with Pauliina in the end.

Toni's workouts. Time 8.36

• 200m run
• 10 pull-ups
• 200m run
• 10 wood thrusters
• 200m run
• 25 weighted lunges
• 200m run
• 50 double unders
• 200m run

Pony went outdoors in the evening to do a metcon. Got some pictures from it below.

Pull-ups

"thrusters"

Front squat =)

Saturday 4.5: Hero wod Bradshaw

Saturday. Hero wod Bradshaw. Time 28.33

My programming still includes benchmark workouts and hero workouts. Today was time for another cruel and long workout. Last weekend it was Seven, today Bradshaw was waiting for me at the home Box. Toni did front squat strength and then a barbell complex type of workout.

Stretching in the end with my baby

Bradshaw. Time 28.33

• 10 rounds of:
• 3 handstand push-ups
• 6 deadlifts, 102.5kg
• 12 pull-ups
• 24 double unders

Beforehand I looked at the movements and thought this ain't gonna be that tough. That's the most stupid thought you might have before a crossfit workout =) I've clearly developed in handstand push-ups but I'm still a bit concerned when I see them in a workout. Usually at some point of the wod my strength in triceps and shoulder seem to fade away even though I apply kipping style. I was confident that deadlifts would not be a problem because the weight was not heavy. The second thing after HSPU's I was worried about was the amount of pull-ups, 120 reps total… That's a lot! And finishing it with 240 double unders, didn't know how to react to that number.

I put the clock running and started working. The result was that I completed each and every handstand push-up as strict, that means no kipping whatsoever, not during the entire workout, c'mon, that was progress. I was very proud of it. I started doing them strict and just felt very good during the whole workout, had no problems with them.

Pull-ups in Bradshaw

Deadlifts were as light as I thought beforehand, they were also unbroken throughout the entire 10 rounds. I had to catch a breath between these two movements and I didn't rush during the Bradshaw at any point, I took my time with the breaks because I thought moving too quickly to the next movement would cause harm later on because this was known to be a long workout.

How about the pull-ups? I did them unbroken in the beginning and from 4th round on I kept telling to myself that try to do also the next round unbroken. Round after round I talked myself up to do them without dropping from the pull-up bar. Towards the end it got tougher and tougher. On the last 2 rounds Toni came to cheer on next to me and helped me to finish all 10 rounds unbroken! All 120 of them.

The only movement that I didn't manage to perform unbroken were the double unders. My legs were smashed from yesterday's high-rep bodyweight back squat / snatch metcon and it turned out difficult to keep on jumping. I'm not sure but I'd say 5-6 rounds were unbroken, but some had to be taken in 2-3 sets.

All in all, I'm very satisfied to how well I did the movements. And there were a good number of reps each movement. The point were I could have done better was the transition phases. I rested for some time as you can see in the video below. It was difficult to pace myself and to know how quickly I should have done the movements in order to keep a good and steady pace and still not go too fast to burn myself down.

9th round of Bradshaw

Toni's workouts. Front squat 4x80, 3x85, 3x90, 1x95kg.

• Wod. EMOM for 12 minutes. 60kg on the barbell.
• 1 power clean
• 1 hang squat clean
• 2 front squats
• 2 push jerks

Below you'll see two videos from Pony's training today. First front squats and then one round of his emom training with the 60kg barbell. He managed to do all reps as planned.

Here's Toni's front squats with 85kg

Toni's EMOM training

Friday 3.5: Squat / db snatch metcon

Friday. Metcon of back squats and db snatches.

Turned weekly back squats to a high rep bodyweight back squats to a couplet with heavy high-rep dumbbell snatches. Toni and Pauliina at the gym as well, Toni concentrating in strength training. Good variation and my legs were in good shape after the sprints.

Metcon. Compare to 26th November 2012.

• 18 back squats, bodyweight
• 20 db snatches, 25kg
• 15 back squats, bodyweight
• 20 db snatches, 25kg
• 12 back squats, bodyweight
• 20 db snatches, 25kg
• 9 back squats, bodyweight
• 20 db snatches, 25kg
• 6 back squats, bodyweight
• 20 db snatches, 25kg

Did this type of workout half a year ago, only switched pull-ups to dumbbell snatches and added 20kg on the barbell. This time the load was 80kg. On the db snatches I used 25kg dumbbell and completed the reps 5 with right hand, 5 left, 5 right and 5 left.

It was a consuming workout, not against time. Did each set unbroken, I believe my muscle endurance has improved as I was able to do those back squats without having to rest the bar on the rack at all. Had to take in a few breaths at times but still managed to push it through. I believe the depth of the squats was the best I could do, don't think there's anything to think about. Hope I can maintain that with heavier loads.

Squats, 12 reps

The dumbbell snatches were very demanding towards the end. 20 reps each round, 5 rounds is a total of 100 reps with 25kg did take its toll on me. I managed to do the reps pretty much in a row but it was tough. Unfortunately I couldn't catch those on vid as the memory card was surprisingly full.

Dumbbell snatches, memory card came full

Toni's workouts. Deadlifts and bench as strength.

• Deadlift 7x3 (110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140kg)
• Bench press, some sets, max was 1x100kg

Thursday 2.5: Bar complex, metcon. + Sprints, handstand walk

Thursday. Bar complex for 12min EMOM. Metcon of burpees and dips, 21-15-9.

After a rest day I was ready to pump it up with heavy barbells. The program included barbell movements 12min, few reps each minute. It turned out exactly as difficult as I planned, lucky me! =) I finished the session in the morning with burning triceps. For some reason I didn't see it coming that doing burpees and dips would crash my arms but they certainly did.

2 more rounds to go

Complex. 70kg bar.

• EMOM for 12min
• 1 power clean
• 1 squat clean
• 2 front squats
• 2 push jerks

This was challenging and rewarding. I went on with 70 kilos on the barbell from the very beginning and stayed with it till the end. On the last 2 rounds I failed to get that latter push jerk up. That was a bit frustrating but all in all, this was a high-rep heavy workout and gave me that satisfaction I was looking for. I grabbed the bar from ground on the cleans, first a power clean, followed by squat clean. Then 2 front squats and finally 2 push jerks, total of 6 reps per minute, for 12 minutes.

It took about 20-25 seconds per minute to finish those movements and then I had half a minute to catch my breath. It made my heart beat like a good mtecon at points. However, the biggest burden still focused on my shoulder in the push jerks. The bar was simply too heavy on the last jerks on the last and second last set.

Metcon.

• 21-15-9
• Burpees
• Dips

Without clock running I also did 2 movements I've neglected lately. Even though I try to schedule burpees in my programming, it tends to fade away in the background. That's why I wanted to have some reps, accompanied with dips, also a movement that I'm not that fond of and haven't been doing them that much.

It surprised me how much this burnt upper arms, triceps especially. At times it felt difficult to push myself up from the floor on the burpees as dips took all my energy. The combination of these movements was a killer, despite the number of them, 45 each. Some cycling, hip openers and stretching in the end.

Sprints.

• Run 10 x 100m (40m slight uphill)
• Walk back recovery

In the evening it was time for running. Spring is coming and I'm getting the feeling that it's time to run. In the winter time it's not so cool to run outdoors when it's minus 20 degrees. Well, yes that's just an excuse but still it doesn't seem to be "my thing". As it's getting warmer, it's nice to do sports outdoors.

I measured 100 meters of which 60 meters was flat ground and the last 40 meters were a slight uphill. That was intentional, I found a good spot to do my sprints. My legs were jammed after 5 sets, probably because I haven't been running much in the past months. I'm happy we moved to a new home that is located next to the forest and the circumstances for outdoor running and sports are nearly perfect. The rest between rounds was about the time I walked back to starting line.

Handstand walk. To finish the training day I practiced handstand / handstand walk for about 15min. There's still lot to practice but now I'm confident because I have these spots near my home where it's easy to train. As long as I could hold my both legs over my head and further, it would be easier to find stability. Too often my legs tend to stay too far away from the correct position and that causes my legs to fall back. I'd like to master this skill by the end of the summer, let's see what happens! =)

Wednesday 1.5: Rest day

Wednesday. Rest day.

Picnic time! Sun was shining, and we needed some rest. So we hopped on our bicycles and headed to the nature. Some cycling, eating outdoors and enjoying the spring with my baby =)

Tomorrow I'll hit the Box again and work hard with barbells. In the mean while, check out Chad Vaughn's slooooooow motion clean & jerk with 150kg. Incredible technique!

Tuesday 30.4: Bodyweight movements, skills

Tuesday. Bodyweight stuff, skills.

I left the barbell alone this time and concentrated in skills with purely bodyweight. Wall bars seem to be an excellent tool to strengthen arms, shoulders and core. From the inspiration I got from Pauliina we both tried to do some exercises by utilizing them. It was a good one hour training session.

Bodyweight movements.

• Rings
• Muscle-up training
• Wall bars
• Planche holds

First I played with the rings and desperately attempted to complete a muscle-up. Have to say that it looked pathetic =) Got to get my bro to work out with me this movement because this is totally a technique stuff. I know I have enough strength to complete it but I'm missing the technique to carry out a good rep.

Then we practiced body balance and upper body control / strength with the wall bars. Finally I did several sets of different kinds of planche holds. Never tried them before. The purpose of this day was to get familiar with some gymnastics movements.

Planche, leaning on my knees

In the end I did some triceps for strength training. This day was almost entirely concentrated in bodyweight strength and body control as well as balance. Let's call it a good skills training day.

Planche, leaning on hip bones

Monday 29.4: Front squats, metcon

Monday. Front squats 5-5-4 (max 115kg). Metcon, hang squat cleans, burpees, pull-ups.

I wanted to start the week by squatting, adding a metcon to make my heart beat as well. It was time for front squats, and deviating from the regular rhythm, I decided to do only 3 sets of 5 reps. My metcon included some breath taking elements: hang squat cleans, burpees and pull-ups. I forgot my phone slash timer at home so had to do this without the clock running. Still, I tried to keep on moving. Toni accompanied me and did also squats, back squats this time and then the same workout I did yesterday.

Strength. Front squats 5-5-4 (100, 110, 115kg). For starters I did some sets with 60 and 80kg, then moving on to the actual weights. I did 3 sets and purpose was to do them unbroken with increasing load. These were the best I could do today. 110kg was tough on the last reps so I was maybe a bit too ambitious to aim for 5 x 115kg. That fourth rep was a battle on the last set so it was kind of desperate try but I wanted to nail that last rep. Unfortunately had to drop it, forget it and move on.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds not for time with minimum rest
• 5 hang squat cleans, 60kg (last round, double the reps)
• 10 burpees
• 10 pull-ups (last round, double the reps)

I liked this one a lot. All three movements were perfect for my purposes. What did I want to improve? Speed in dropping under the barbell, squat depth, grip strength, breath control, pulling strength, mental strength in the last round. I forgot my phone at home and I always use wodbox timer in my metcons. So I completed this one without clock running. I still tried to keep my body moving.

Those squat cleans were not heavy but the purpose was to do then as hang cleans to improve on the grip strength and go as deep as possible in the squat. In my opinion I succeeded well with this movement, at least someone told me at the Box they looked nice all the way =) How about those burpees? You got to love them and hate them. It's so traditional crossfit movement that you must do them continuously, somehow I forget to do them. This was a good reminder to keep them on the schedule in the future as well.

The last movement was pull-ups. I believe I've developed in them very much during my crossfit career. When I started this sport one year ago, I managed to do 10 pull-ups in a row. Today, the number is 33 and doing 10 reps should not be an issue anymore. I'm happy to witness completing those 10 reps per round is not difficult at all. Maybe should have added the number to 15.

On the last round mental game stepped in. The goal was to double the number of hang squat cleans and pull-ups. Wasn't easy! The 9th rep on the cleans was a good one by a short margin, had to take a step forward to not miss the rep. The 10th was naturally as difficult as the previous one but I made it! With the pull-ups I got 15 reps in a row, then had to stop at the bottom dead hang position and finish the last 5 reps. It was tough.

Cashout. Some abs, same as yesterday.

• 2 rounds of
• 50 sit-ups
• 10 ab wheel

After work we went outdoors with Pauliina and Benny for an evening stroll.

Head-to-head battle with my dog - Benny

Toni's workouts. Back squats 4-4-4-3-3 (100, 102.5, 105, 107.5, 110kg)

• Metcon. Result 23+22+21. Total of 66 reps.
• 3 rounds of
• 2min amrap, push press, 50kg
• 2min rest

Nicely stayed on the same pace through all 3 rounds. It was mostly 3-7 reps continuously. Naturally the first set of each round was always the longest streak, around 7 reps, maybe 10 reps in the first round?

Sunday 28.4: Shoulder press, push press metcon

Sunday. Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-2-1-1 (max 70kg PR). Push press metcon. Total of 94 reps.

The day after Seven. I felt good and was ready and anxious to train again. I recovered well from that tough and demanding workout and didn't have anything hindering from working hard. I drove to the Box and I was the only soul there during my training session. I guess people liked to to outdoors as it was a beautiful day in Helsinki.

Shoulder press. 3-3-3-3-2-1-1 (50, 55, 60, 62.5, 65, PR 67.5kg, PR 70kg). I woke up in the morning and thought I'd like to do some old school strength training, shoulder press! It's been a while since I've been isolating strength training to focus purely on shoulders. Had I thought about this day on Friday, I'd say it would have been impossible because of all the shoulder work done during Seven but the feeling this morning was perfect.

I took a different approach to warm-up: Jumping Jacks, boxing and some barbell work. Little by little I added some more weights on the barbell and quickly I was at 50kg doing shoulder press. I took videos of today's every lift, including warm-ups, you'll find them from my Youtube channel. I was confident of hitting a new record today. Actually, I wrote in my training notes already in advance =) I went on in triples up to 62.5kg, which I haven't been able before. I believe I've taken that weight up only in singles. And the next weight - 65kg - was a double, definitely haven't been able to do that earlier.

The next weight was a new record, 67.5kg, it came up and I was anxious to try new digits, 70kg (that's 5kg improvement). My first try there was extremely close but it got stuck just inches away from full extension. That was frustrating! Had to take a break, get myself together and force it up. Another PR was created, 70kg!!!

Shoulder press, 70kg, PR

Shoulder press, 70kg, PR, different angle

Metcon. Push press, 35+30+29 reps. Total of 94 reps.

• 3 rounds of
• 2min amrap of push press, 50kg
• 2 min rest

After resting for about 3 minutes I wanted to give the final shot to my shoulders and completed a push press metcon, 3x2min amrap of 50kg push press, 2min rest between rounds. You'll find each round also from Youtube. I was wondering what weight would be perfect for me. I copy pasted this workout from one interview with Mikko Salo and I recall him saying he usually hits about 30-40 reps per round so 50kg turned out to be pretty similar, I'm happy with the decision on the weights. And my result didn't drop dramatically so this definitely was a good workout. My shoulders were numb in the end. Take a look at the first round here.

Cashout. Some quick abs in the end.

• 2 rounds of
• 50 sit-ups
• 10 ab wheel

Source: google

Saturday 27.4: Seven

Saturday. Seven. 40min time cap. Result 6 rds + 2 hspu. Toni 4 rds + 7 k2e.

Horrible workout, period. Schedule stood Seven. I wasn't at my best in the morning, Tony was saying the same thing but we stuck to the plan and went for this one. And I'm super happy we did that! This was all we needed to do for today's workout, it's a hero workout and that says it all, it's gonna be brutal.

Stage is set

Seven. 6rds + 2 hspu. Toni 4rds + 7 k2e. 40min time cap.

• 7 rounds of:
• 7 hspu
• 7 thrusters, 60kg
• 7 K2E
• 7 deadlift, 110kg
• 7 burpees
• 7 kettlebell swings (american), 32kg (2 pood)
• 7 pull-ups
• 40min time cap

This is a hero wod dedicated to 7 CIA officers who were killed by a suicide bomber 2009. The point of hero workouts is to remind us we are happy to be alive and breathing and simultaneously to reach those limits a human can achieve through training. I believe at points I was on my limits of consciousness, felt very weak at points and had to pour cold water on my head. I still enjoyed the feeling of this one tremendously, I'm proud we did it with Pony. We defined a 40min time cap before the workout. I'm disappointed I didn't make it through, even though not missing much of it.

thruster warm-up

Let's look at the different movements. Handstand push-ups first. 1st round unbroken, on the second round the movement became much more difficult. On the 3rd I had problems, it was something like doubles or singles. But, from then on the last rounds I was able to push through 4-5 reps unbroken on first attempt. That brought me a lot of confidence towards the movement. I felt very tired but was still able to force those reps successfully. This movement was a bottleneck time-wise.

After muscle consuming movement like that it wasn't the most appealing thing to move on to 60kg thrusters =) First round unbroken, then in 2 sets. Don't remember how it went in the beginning but the last rounds it was 4+3 reps, probably pretty much like that all the way. Knees-to-elbows was rest period for me, didn't feel like I was doing anything, there were only 7 reps of them so it was quickly over. Deadlift went unbroken all the way, the weight was very manageable.

Seven, first round from both of us

All the rest movements went unbroken as well, burpees, kettlebell swings and pull-ups, they weren't that bad. It was very awkward that even though the movement itself - for example kb swing - was not demanding on my strength or breathing but the second I stopped doing it and dropped the weight, I wasn't able to grab the pull-up bar immediately. I had to lean on my knees for a while and get a hold on myself. I talked to Toni after the workout and my bro as well and they both said the same thing. It was kind of a stress that was relieved after completing the reps. I don't know but that was weird.

What are those lumps on Pony's legs? =)

With all that said, I'd say there were too much rest periods between movements. I was able to do the movements unbroken except for handstand push-ups and thrusters but I had to stop and catch my breath once in a while. That means to say I have to keep on improving on those hspu's and metabolic conditioning. Lot of metcons are ahead of me, benchmark workouts and some hero workouts.

Toni did the same workout with same weights. The only thing he scaled was the hspu. He put a foam roll under him, that's about 15cm I guess. Toni managed to do 4 full rounds and 7 k2e on the fifth round. This was the first time he's ever done thrusters with 60kg.

Afterwards we went to Vermo's horse racetrack with Toni and couple of friends to enjoy this different type of sport, we had a blast and managed to get some euros in our pockets as well for betting the right "athletes". It was a spectacular event and sun was mostly shining, couldn't have wished for more from this Saturday!

Friday 26.4: Back squats + technique

Friday. AM: Back squats 7x4 (max 120kg). OHS technique training. PM: technique training.

Purely back squats as strength training. No metcons today, tomorrow's gonna be a difficult day, we are going to hit it hard with Toni. After strength training I took some sets of overhead squats to work on the technique and form. Toni was on a date with Cindy. After work we went back to the gym with Pauliina. I took it light, a little sweat on and then working on technique.

Strength. Back squats 7x4 (100, 110, 120, 120, 120, 120, 120kg). It's been over a week since previous back squats. They've been demanding lately, can't argue about that. The sets today were 4 reps each time and loads were pretty stable around 120kg. Depth of my squats have developed to good direction and even though I didn't have the possibility to videoshoot the attempts, Toni was there to judge some of the sets.

OHS. Didn't take any metcon or cashout but 3x8 sets of overhead squats with a cold bar to find comfortability in the bottom position and to find a form to squat deep and feel like home. It felt very good. The main problem still exists: my upper back mobility is not good enough. I have to widen my grip to get down. I like to snatch with my hands about 10cm from the far end of the barbell. In overhead squat I have to push my hands at the far ends of the barbell, otherwise my back will get too tight and doesn't allow me to go deep enough. I'd love to keep my grip a bit narrower so I'll have to do some mobility work over there. Anyway, while holding my hands as far as possible, I found a stable and solid form and ohs felt natural.

PM: Technique. In the evening I did some skills and technique training. Those split jerks are something worth training. I don't quite get it yet, better study the form more. I did those jerks from front rack position as well as from behind the neck. I wanted to try out that OHS again, and yes, it felt as good as in the morning =) Then some sit-ups with small rest between 50 rep sets. In the end I had good time to do some mobility and stretching.

• Cycling
• Double unders
• Split jerk
• Overhead squat
• Headstand
• 3x50 sit-ups
• Cycling
• Stretching

Toni's workouts. Cindy. Total of 405 reps.

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 squats

Thursday 25.4: Clean and jerks, metcon

Thursday. 7 x (power clean + hang squat clean + 2 jerks). Metcon. 3-6-9-12, hang squat clean (60kg), T2B.

Thursday's focus was purely on clean & jerks and metabolic conditioning. First I did different types of c&j strength training and finished with a metcon that reminded CF Open 13.4, consisting of two movements: clean & jerk and toes-to-bar. Toni enjoyed a day off.

Strength. 7 x (2-position clean + 2 jerks). Sets of 60, 65, 70, 70, 72.5, 72.5, 75kg.

• 1 power clean from ground + 1 hang squat clean + 2 jerks

Conducted this in a bit different style this time. 4 reps per set, that is first grabbing the barbell from ground and performing a power clean, then a hang squat clean and finishing it with 2 jerks. I did split jerks for practice purposes up to 65kg, then switched it back to regular push jerks that I'm more comfortable with. I have to keep on doing those split jerks with lighter weights to get used to the movement. I like to mix it up with the cleans and do all kinds of versions; from ground, from hang, as power and squat cleans, keep it varying.

I had no problems with power cleans in any of the sets. The weights were light for that purpose. However, the hang squat clean was as heavy as I wanted it to be. This was the first time I got over 70kg up as hang squat clean. I took that set up twice, then added 2.5kg and took the set up also twice. The last attempt was at 75kg. Managed to power clean the bar easily but the hang squat clean didn't come up so I took 2 power cleans from ground and finally jerked it to the ceiling.

The reasoning for this type of strength training is to have different types of cleans and jerks in program. It also strengthens grip strength as you have to hold on to the barbell for a longer period of time. One more feature is that the second clean - performed as hang clean - is more difficult as you've already put effort in the first clean.

Metcon.

• 3-6-9-12
• Hang squat clean, 60kg
• Toes-to-bar

Resting practically not at all after this, I continued pretty quickly to the metcon at hand. Four rounds with increasing amount of reps, adding 3 reps per round. In CF Open the c&j was not defined as hang squat versions, any kind of clean & jerk was allowed. At the time I thought this workout looks nice and decided to modify it a bit. I didn't define a time cap but upgraded the difficulty of the first movement.

Toes-to-bar was the rest period of this workout, no doubt about it, unbroken each round, not bad. There were a total of 30 reps both movements so it was kind of doing hang squat Grace and adding 30 T2B's in the middle of it =) I did c&j unbroken in rounds of 3's and 6's, then on the next round had to break it.

My heart was bouncing like a madman at the end of the workout. Adding those hang and squat elements to the first movement had its own spice in the entity. It was tough and I liked it!

Hero workout that's already on my calendar

Wednesday 24.4: Rest day

Wednesday. Rest day

Body is sore from yesterday's two-a-day and Grace from Monday. We enjoyed this day with Pauliina in Helsinki: restaurant and a gig, nice!

Toni's workouts.
Clean & jerk 7x3 (60kg)
Bench press 3x3 (80kg)

Tuesday 23.4: Bench, weighted dips + sprint metcon, pull-ups

Tuesday. AM: Bench press 5-5-5-5-3-1-1 (max 95kg PR), weighted dips 7x5 (max 30kg). Triceps. PM: 10 rounds of 100m sprint + 20 squats. Pull-up clinic.

In the morning I concentrated in upper body strength training and after work we went outdoors with Pony. Main objective was to run and create a metcon with a high heart rate and make muscles hurt. Then we also took advantage of Pirkkola's outdoor pull-up bars to practice pull-up techniques.

Strength. Bench, dips and triceps.

• Bench press 5-5-5-5-3-1-1 (70, 80, 85, 85, 85, 90, PR 95kg)
• Weighted dips 7x5 (bw, 8, 12.5, 17.5, 25, 30, 20kg)
• Triceps 4 x (12+12) as ancillary movement.

Personal Record, c'mon! It's been a while since bench pressing for max load, must have been in February since seriously trying to go at 90kg or more. My goal was to do sets of 5 as long as possible. I haven't done 5's with 85kg prior to this day. Managed to push them through for 2 sets and on the third one 3 reps. The last set was very tough, first rep not so bad but the following 2 reps needed extra effort. My training partners talked me into trying for record numbers. Didn't need much of persuasion =) I was ready to try it instantly. I took 90kg and it came up easily! That was weird considering how much effort needed to be done for 85kg. Okay, there were multiple reps with that weight so guess that's only natural. There were no other options left but to put 95kg on the barbell and take it up. Thanks Hannu and Visa for spotting the weights!

As I was already focused on upper body strength, why not take weighted dips to maximize the effort. Sets of 5 reps, starting with bodyweight, then using 8kg dumbbell between legs, then 12.5kg db. After this I put on a belt where I was able to mount plates, first 17.5kg, then 25 and finally 30kg. Managed to keep sets unbroken constantly. In the end I did quite a lot of triceps to strengthen that part as well. I want to make the handstand push-ups perfect some day and triceps are the key to success!

Weighted dips, 30kg

Metcon. Run and squats, wearing a weighted vest.

• 10 rounds of:
• 100m sprint
• 20 squats
• Wear a 9kg vest

This was much more wearing than it may sound on paper. We wanted to do 4 rounds of 400m run and 50 squats between rounds but the track was not yet open. It was full of snow still, it's only April. Even though the streets are snow-free, there are still some white in the forest. It didn't take long before Pony modified the workout to 10 rounds of short sprints and 20 air squats between rounds. We did it together at the same time. To put some more difficult level in to this one, I had a 9kg vest throughout the workout. My quads and hamstrings were devastated after this one, already in the middle of it. We managed to keep a steady pace all the time. If there was a clock running, I believe the lap times would not have dropped significantly.

Pull-ups. Several sets of pull-ups.

On the first set of regular pull-ups I was still wearing the weight vest, and took 10 reps for warming up. Then I took a few sets of regular ones, followed by chest-to-bars. I've had difficulties at home Box 'cause the rack is located so close to wall. I feel like I have to do a bigger kip and I need that spaceat least now in the training phase. Here in Pirkkola that's possible. I did some sets of C2B's, max set was 8 in a row. As a cashout I did max effort of regular pull-ups, that was 20 reps after all training, I'm pleased.

Chest-to-bar (C2B) pull-ups

Toni's workout.

• 10 rounds of:
• 100m sprint
• 20 squats

Monday 22.4: Grace, headstand, handstand

Monday. Grace. Time 3.48. Handstand hold, headstand & handstand training.

There are a couple of benchmark workouts that make me nervous. Some of these make my stomach go upside down and just before the zero-hour for a second I try to find an excuse why not to do them. That's only because they are cruel and make your body scream for pain. Then I get a grip and talk myself up to crash the workout. The feeling after these workouts is something that can't be described in words. It's freaking awesome, the reason I love crossfit and today was no exception!!!

Grace. Time 3.48

• 30 clean & jerk, 60kg

It's unfortunate they forbid videoshooting your own training sessions at our Box so I don't have video material to offer from my newest Grace. Sometimes it's possible to take pictures or videos if there are no other people working out but today there were plenty of them. This was the first time I did it with the original weights, rx'd weight is 60kg. For the first time I did it back in September 2012, then together with Toni we completed a double Grace in October 2012, and the last time was in December 2012, all were done with 50kg on the barbell. That weight is history, the only possibility is to do it with 60kg nowadays.

My strategy was to do sets of 6 reps for as long as possible. I recall doing the previous Grace in sets of 6 reps. Today the sets were 6-6-5-4-4-2-1-1-1. The breaks between sets were rather short in my opinion, at least they felt like it =) The first 6 reps were done in about 20+ seconds and 12 reps were in records after 60 seconds. I tried to keep the breaks somewhere around 10-15 seconds in the beginning. From 17 reps on the burden was going up rapidly. It was a tough mental play from then on. I forced some reps up even though my body wanted to take a rest. From 21 I got to 24, then a double and finally 3 singles in the end with no rest between them, only dropping and lifting again. Finally the clock stopped at 3.48.

Tension in forearms was tingling and definitely the most difficult part was the jerk. I believe my clean is at a pretty ok level and I didn't have problems in getting the bar at my chest. Some of the jerks were more like push press or even a shoulder press. For some reason you might sometimes forget to utilize the legs and hip drive and that was exactly what happened at some reps. That's why they felt heavier than they should have felt in the end. Luckily I had no failed reps during the workout, managed to push the bar all the way up to full extension with each attempt. I was extremely satisfied after the workout as I felt I gave my everything to Grace. My goal with both Grace and Fran was to go under 4 minutes and I reached those objectives with both of these benchmark girls.

Inverted. Headstand and handstand practice

• 3 x ME static handstand hold against wall
• Headstand training
• Handstand training

My bro has strong handstand skills and he's been talking me into testing max effort of static handstand hold against wall. I took three attempts, first attempt was 1 minute, then I had to drop off the wall, the following attempts were half a minute each. It probably wasn't the easiest one after doing 30 clean & jerks =)

Then I did some headstand and handstand training. Once again, headstand rolled well. I had no problems in finding a stable form and holding a straight body from head to toes. I also tried another type of approach. Previously I've held my hands close to my head, actually they are located just beside my head, touching the back of my head. The stability comes from head, forearms and elbows touching the ground. The other option is to create a triangle from both palms and a head. Both versions worked for me. In the end I did some free handstand training. To finish the training I did mobility for lower body.

Toni's workouts.

• Back squats 5x5, 100kg
• For 10 min, 30sec on, 30sec off. Distance 1.751m

Pony's goal was 5 sets of 5 reps and he managed to complete them as planned, all sets with 100kg. From the other side of the gym I heard some growling so I guess he really had to focus on the last reps =) That rowing metcon starts to become a classic among us, it definitely is a good workout. You can do it for 10, 20 or 30 minutes, all are good versions.

Sunday 21.4: Mobility

Sunday. Mobility day.

This was scheduled to be a rest day. We were celebrating our housewarming party with family members so we basically just rested and took it light the whole day. In the evening Pauliina felt the desire to work out so I accompanied her to do one hour mobility workouts. Just opening my joints, stretching, trying to avoid muscle soreness and preparing for the upcoming week.

Have you seen Dan Bailey doing his first Jackie already?