Our apartment is right on the beach and it's a tradition to cast the folding chairs and sun umbrella's in place early in the morning. Kind of build up our camp right on the ocean line. For 2 days in a row we have thrown workouts with Kari right after having done our responsibilities. Running and bodyweight movements have taken place.
Wednesday metcon.
10 rounds of:
100m shuttle run at the beach
10 burpees
Great one! We decided to run in the sand, a little variation to a hard ground. We ran so close to the ocean that I was soaking wet as the water splashed all over me. It's a bit more taxing to run in soft sand and also those burpees felt different as legs and hands sunk in to the sand. This was a great wod and it was mind-blowing to take a recovery swim right after!
Thursday metcon.
5 rounds of:
200m shuttle run at the beach
24 lunges
24 push-ups
Same schedule, same guys and same state of mind. Do some work! We doubled the length of the run and changed burpees to lunges and push-ups. Something like a Loredo workout. I was able to keep a steady pace all the way, didn't stop at any point and got everything knocked unbroken.
And right after finishing those five rounds I dived in to the ocean. The nature really offers its best in these surroundings! It's been great to see Kari hit a wokrout for the last 4 days in a row. He's been working hard and it's gonna pay dividends in the future.
We were supposed to have a relaxing day at the beach but after breakfast Kari suggested we'd take a run before heading to the ocean. It didn't sound too bad and I don't remember turning down that many training opportunities in the past. This was not going to be an exception.
So we put our sneakers on and headed outdoors. Sun was already up, humidity was high too and it was a little different run in about 30 degrees heat. Our pace was moderate so heart rate stayed low the entire time. This run was not gonna be high intensity in nature. We ran 2.5km along the beach, then stopped to awe to scenes and do some push-ups. Then it was time to head back and complete 100 push-ups at the end of the stretch.
Nice and easy recovery day after yesterday's hardcore action. In the evening we're heading to a cruise, ending up in the nearby town where we are going to spend the evening dining.
Sunday was a day at the beach and I focused on sunbathing and handstand skills. It's pretty awesome to throw yourself upside down at such a beautiful scenery if you ask me. And it's been quite encouraging to understand I can do handstand and handstand walk on a sandy platform where tce ground is very uneven under my hands.
Monday. Training at Crossfit Fuengirola. Today was another try to get myself inside the local Box. Kari suggested we'd run there so we agreed to do that together for starters. It was awesome to have him with me at the affiliate. The workout included kettlebell action in the beginning, then some light strength work and finally a killer workout.
Warm-up.
Run 3.5km, then
2rds of:
30sec 1-arm swing, right
30sec 1-arm swing, left
30sec 1-arm clean, right
30sec 1-arm clean, left
30sec kb swing
30sec rest
Barbell.
Deadlift 2x8
Bench 2x8
I did these with light weights. They were supposed to be between 55-65% of max. Had 110kg for deads and 60kg for bench. Way lighter to what I'm used to.
Metcon.
5rds of:
200m run
10 pullups
20 hspu
30 squats
40 du
I saw this written on the wall and said to the coach it's gonna be brutal on shoulders. And it definitely was. The biggest amount of hspu's I've done in training session has been at around 50-60reps. Today the whiteboard said 100 reps. I figured what the heck, let's do it!
It was no surprise it was a nightmare on ly shoulders. All other movements were okay, had no problems with them. But those hspu's... First round was still doable, the desperation hit at the end of second round as I realized there was still 60 reps looming ahead of me.
But somehow I crawled to the finish line in this encouraging environment of crossfit athletes. I felt very welcomed from the first step I took inside this Box. Great community to say the least, respect. And thanks to Kari as well for tagging along and giving good uptalk. Can you imagine he went running alongside me on every round :)
I contacted crossfit Fuengirola in advance to ask for a chance to do a workout with these local guys at their affiliate. They were instantly welcoming me and threw me back with some schedules. In the morning I put on my sneakers and went running down the street next to the beach. The Box is located at the end of the "paseo maritimo". I found the place right away and went to the front door with a big smile. Just to find the place was closed. Doup, that was a bummer. I had totally forgotten the schedules and just trusted my luck with the opening hours.
I had jump rope with me in my backbag and the place had a good solid pavement outdoors so I decided to stay there and practice some skills. I did about 500 reps of double unders and in this humidity the sweating was continuous and abundant. I really wanted to open the front door and get my hands on a barbell for a good wod. Hopefully there's another good time slot when I can run there again and give it another shot. After double unders I headed back home which totalled 7km of running for the day. It was good to get some action in this body and heart rate up after a while.
It's great to have a holiday here in Spain. Nothing special in program except for relaxation. No time pressure to visit new places or drive around looking for attractions. I've spent numerous summers here when I was a little kiddo and the places are familiar already. Now it's time to chill out and enjoy the stay.
On Thursday we were at the beach sunbathing and I felt Wednesday's workout in my body so I decided to take it easy. Handstand was all I got my hands into. There's something awesome in handstanding at the beach when sky is clear, there's 30° and water is splashing to your hands while you're inverted. It's a bit different practicing this skill at the beach as the ground is a little inclined instead of a flat platform. Considering that I think my session went well!
On Friday we visited Malaga, nearby town to go shopping and enjoy the lively atmosphere of the city. Later in the evening I got a chance to play with a pull-up bar at the beach right in front of our casa. By the way, the bar is thick as a tree, not the easiest for the grip! I did some muscle-ups, pull-ups and played around some sort of calisthenics movements while hanging on the bar.
Also did 50 t2b and then 100 push-ups to finish the session. It wasn't the toughest I've done but it seems it's always harder to do workouts abroad for some reason. Maybe it's the nutrition or something in the energy levels but bodyweight feels heavier. Anyway, the point is taking it easier every now and then and relax :)
Wednesday. Skills, ring muscle-ups. Workout, 3 rds of: 1 round of Hammer, 1k row, 1 round of DT, 1k row. Time 47.28.
Today I left work early to hit a workout on my own. Nobody else at the gym except Pauliina who came there about an hour after I had started. We're heading to Spain for a week in the evening. There was a good time slot to find some real muscle misery in the gym. I went after ring skills and a looooong workout.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups
I had no rush at all so I took my time to get properly warmed up, then hit couple of muscle-ups. Just singles this time, aimed to remind my body how it's done. Couple of reps without false grip and then couple in the end with false grip. No biggie, felt good!
Workout. Time 47.28
3 rounds of:
1 round of Hammer (5 power clean, 10 front squat, 5 push jerk, 20 pull-ups) 60kg
1.000m row
1 round of DT (12 deadlift, 9 hang power clean, 6 push jerk) 60kg
1.000m row
Huh, not a funny one. I needed to have my hands on a barbell because I don't know when the next time will be. Will I find one in Spain or is it gonna be more like gymnastics and bodyweight movement there. I don't know the answer so I played it safe and worked with a bar quite a lot. Mixed in some rowing to make it more grueling.
Hero workout Hammer consists of power cleans, front squats, push jerks and pull-ups. I took one round of that set, and combined it with another her workout called DT. That one is originally completed with 70kg bar but that would have been too much for me to handle. Especially those hang power cleans. So I went with the same barbell all the way. DT is about deads, cleans and jerks. In between these two heroes I had a 1k row.
This is obviously not an all in effort for the entire time. It's more like finding your pace and try to stick with it. I decided to take the row at a steady pace, not going to gas myself out of the game, it was sub 2:00 / 500m pace. In the end that started to feel bad too =) There was a total of 6.000m row during this metcon.
In general I found it awesome to hit this kind of long workout compared to a 5-20min workouts. Constant variety. Anyway, see ya, we're going to enjoy the sun and vacation!
Tuesday. Gymnastics, C2B progressions. Strength, tempo squats, 5x2 (max 120kg). Metcon, Diane 21-15-9, deadlift (102.5kg), hspu. Time 8.06.
Squats, yammy! Started this training session with similar type of chest-to-bar progressions as I took on about a week ago. Then tempo squats / pause squats to make my legs stronger. Finally ended up doing a benchmark workout Diane.
This is similar to the one I did on the last days of June with the exception that there was 1 rep more per set today compared to the first progression set. I've considered C2B's a weakness of mine but only because I haven't practiced them. Regular pull-ups are more like a strength and this difference between them has puzzled me so much that I decided to correct this flaw. I've done couple of strict c2b's in every training sessions for maybe 2-3 months now. It's about 95% probability that I've done those strict ones as a warm-up, no matter what's ahead of me in the actual workouts.
This movement is getting together pretty well nowadays. I don't consider it that difficult anymore. Earlier this year I felt like I have to do those repetitions as singles and I couldn't link reps at all. Didn't want it to stay like that so I made my moves. Increase the amount of reps, a lot.
Strength.
Tempo squats, 5x2 (100, 105, 110, 115, 120kg)
5 seconds down, 5 seconds hold in the bottom position, then up
Wanted to have some sort of pause squats for my legs but I wasn't sure how to make it in real life. I follow Chad Vaughn and his pal Mike Cerbus in Instagram and they seem to do a bunch of these for strengthening lower body. Vaughn is a 2-time olympian and a bad ass in all means when it comes to lifting weights.
I wasn't sure how many reps to do without resetting the bar in between, and I finally ended up doing doubles, with 5sec descending time and 5sec bottom hold position, before coming up as fast as possible. The weights were also a mystery me with these kind of squats. Had I done regular pause squats, I could have carried more weight because I can hold the package tight for a shorter time. But for as long time as these were, I gotta let loose the air and catch some more before standing back up.
The "negative" rep on my way down was as developing movement as getting back up. I really enjoyed tempo squats this time. Last time when I did pause squats my left hip flexor got inflamed for couple of days. Now I'm feeling better after today's session =)
This really got to me. Not the best day for me for sure. Deadlifts have never been this heavy in a metcon of 21-15-9. I should be able to knock them through unbroken but that wasn't the case this time. It's a light weight, about 50% of my max load and there is no excuse for dropping the bar unless it's intentional for saving gas for hspu's. Now I had to take extra breaks there and it cost me a PR in Diane.
There was about 30sec difference to my best result (7.34). I think I made it 14-7 on the deads, then 10-5 and finally 5-4. My back was in fire and I didn't want to hold on to the barbell so I had to drop it. Even though it feels it's just couple of seconds your hands are off the bar, it's more in real life. I've witnessed these occasions on video.
Don't know what to say about hspu's. I got them 11-5-5 on the first round, probably something like 5-5-3-2 on the second and finally 5-2-2 on the last one. Deads ate some of my energy from hspu's so I couldn't make them as efficiently as I'd want to.
All in all, this training session was great indeed. I got to practice on my C2B's in the beginning with about 50 reps. Those tempo squats were great in nature and even though I wasn't able to smash top time on Diane, it's still a kick ass workout and I enjoyed every second of it!
Monday. Pair workout with my bro, 5 rounds of: 400m run, kb swings, t2b's and wall balls.
It was third day in a row working outdoors. And it was as great as it could be. Working out with a brother is never a bad choice, quality family time! We went to Arabianranta, checking out the seaside neighborhoods where we used to live a while ago. There's monkey bars and I brought kettlebell and wall ball with me so that was enough equipment for an effective workout.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
One athlete: 400m run
Second athlete: 10 kettlebell swings + 10 toes-to-bar + amrap of wall balls
The point in the workout was that Sipa went running and during his run I had to complete 10 kb swings, 10 t2b's and then for the rest of the time it was an amrap of wall balls. The result per round was the number of wall ball repetitions completed. Those swings and t2b's were just compulsory stuff prior to wb's.
Bros
It turned out to be quite a gasser. Breathing got heavy in the early steps of the workout and settled down some time after the metcon was done. I thought I pressed the timer on when we started but once I went to stop it I noticed it had never even began, nice!
We ran in the park near the sea. The views in Arabianranta are beautiful. It was a pity we didn't have time to stop and awe but we just kept on fueling forward around the loop Sipa had determined us to run. I decided to ignore the heavy breathing and mentally just decided to keep up the pace I picked on in the beginning. That strategy proved to work this time. It felt nasty but I kept it.
Recap of training day
The other part of the workout was swings, core work on the pull-up bar and wall balls. There were only 10 reps on the first 2 stations so it was basically just pushing through. You can always complete 10 reps of any bodyweight movement. It's another thing to keep a steady pace on them during a workout. Today I managed this workout very well and the pace remained good.
First 10min of the workout
The result per round was obviously the amount of wall balls you were able to knock on the wall. By the way the wall wasn't as high as we wanted but it still hurt, naturally. I got 19 reps on the first round, 27 on the second, and 25 on each of the remaining 3 rounds. So it totaled 121 reps, in addition to those 50 swings and t2b's.
It was great to hit a workout with my bro in a perfect weather. It's getting hot in here, and the sky is clear blue. Spectacular! I'm still finding my way to the gym tomorrow. It's been 3 days in a row working outdoors and I miss my barbells. Have to get my hands around those things.
Here's some serious action from Competitorstraining.com, "Black and Blue"
Sun's out, guns out. Summer is here! Hopefully to stay for a while. It's been a cold summer this far so we're enjoying every bit of it! I definitely love working outdoors, there's something different than crawling in to a windowless cave and move a barbell. I need to get that in my system too, otherwise I feel I'm missing something. I need and want to work all aspects of fitness. General physical preparedness. That's called crossfit.
Metcon.
3 rounds of:
800m run
10 turkish get-ups, 12kg kettlebell (5/5 per side)
20 medball squat cleans, 9kg
My lower body has done some work lately and I felt it in my body. On the other hand my triceps still hurt from Thursday's 100 rep S2O workout. It's gotten worse by the day =) But I'm sensing tomorrow they'll be good already. So I was thinking for a while what to do today. Running - a weakness of mine - is never a bad choice. And once we had Pauliina's kettlebell with us, I decided to incorporate that to my workout in the form of turkish get-ups. I don't do it that often and the weight seemed to suit well to me. There was also a new fresh movement: medball cleans.
After brainstorming it for a while it turned out to be a 3-rounder of 800m running, 5 right hand tgu's and then 5 left hand tgu's, finishing it with 20 med ball squat cleans. Looks easy on paper but I'm telling you I was done after this one!
On the running I was able to keep up a steady pace. That's always mind comforting to realize you're not slowing down every round. Running got to my breathing for sure, other than that it felt surprisingly good. This was a run in the near park, not in a track, and the distance is not exact.
Those turkish get-ups are a rarity in my training sessions. Today I figured to give it a shot. I'm very slow on those. Or at least I think I am 'cause I haven't seen anyone else do them. At least not live. Had 12kg kettlebell in one arm, did 5 right hand reps first, then 5 on left hand. They were surprisingly nasty towards the end. It's light weight, I'm having hard time to believe it got to my shoulders =)
Medball cleans were something I haven't tried ever before. Probably because I haven't had a wall ball before. Well, now that problem is solved! Anyway, only 9kg ball but they got to the legs pretty darned well! Last 5 reps were painful in each set.
It was great training outdoors second day in a row. I tried to do various kinds of workouts that are impossible to go for in the gym. And I believe I managed very well! Awesome workouts, all three metcons.
Metcon recap
Skills.
Handstand
Headstand
After we came back home I saw the sunny backyard from our balcony and was tempted to take my shirt off and, warm up my shoulders and legs, then hit it outdoors for some handstand and headstand training.
I practiced handstand, handstand walk and headstand. They went pretty good. Started with still handstand training. In my mental training it was supposed to be still pose but it turned out that I had to make a lot of corrective moves. But that's the way it is nowadays. Handstand is a skill that needs to be maintained constantly. This summer I haven't been doing it that much. Took the first steps last spring / summer, before that the skills were practically non-existing. Now it's getting somewhere.
Handstand recap
This summer has been a rainy one and it hasn't been that tempting to go outdoors to practice on a wet ground. In the end I took some headstand just for the fun of it. That's a skill I feel like there's no problems at all, I'm very comfy in that position.
Saturday. AM: Metcon, 6 rds of: uphill run + 20 kb swing (32kg). Time 12.50. PM: Metcon, 20 to 2, down by 2's of: burpees and wall ball. Time 15.14.
Weekend in Klaukkala, always a treat! We arrived yesterday evening to spend couple of days here to enjoy the summery countryside. It went late yesterday after the cruise with my colleagues and then the soccer match too. But we slept late, ate breakfast, and then it was a good time for me to prepare myself mentally for some uphill training. Running and kettlebells. After eating couple more times I was ready to pump it up again with burpees and wall balls. Both of these metcons were good metcons for work capacity.
I did this workout last summer in the same place. That time I completed 6 rounds of work in 15min amrap. Today I tried to beat those 6 rounds and complete it in a shorter time. And I just got that done, as planned. I had squats done on Friday so my legs were pretty smashed already before this. Difficult to say how far away the spot was up there on the hill where I made the u-turn and came back down.
That uphill run was a painful experience on my legs. Kettlebell swings definitely didn't make it any easier, there as practically no rest at all for lower body on this one. I originally got inspired to do this kind of workout from Blair Morrison as he wrote about something similar in his blog.
Anyway, last year I got 3 rounds unbroken on the kettlebells, this time I got it unbroken all the way. That made me a little proud of myself. Doing 20 kb swings with this little thing ain't the easiest on grip strength during a metcon. But today I was able to push it through despite the pain cave. I tried to keep the transition times as short as possible. First round was 1:48, next two rounds were 2:00 and 2:08 and the last three rounds were between 2:14 and 2:22, the last being fastest. So I gotta say I feel good considering the disastrous feeling in my hammies and quads. It was time to head back to base camp to eat and recover.
Chicken skewer for lunch, yammy!
Metcon. Time 15.14
20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 of:
Burpees
Wall ball
After couple of hours chilling and spending quality time with my love I decided to put on some training gear on and started warming up. Bodyweight stuff was ahead of me. That wall ball is phenomenal. Excellent tool for metcons as it activates the entire body: legs, shoulders and lungs especially.
I got some parts of it on video but the cable is at home so I'll add some recap tomorrow on these moves. I grabbed the wall ball with me with high hopes there would be some spot to throw the ball against. It turned out to be the perfect place for that one just outside the door. So burpees and wb combo was about to take place.
Starting at 20 reps, coming down 2 reps after each set, starting with burpees and alternating with wb's all the time. First round was easy because it was the first one, the round of 18's already got my breathing go heavy, and the actual grind was through rounds of 16's to 10's. After that I saw some positive signals as the rounds got so much shorter compared to the beginning.
My round times got shorter pretty much throughout the workout so the game plan was solid. Just keep on moving. It doesn't feel good, that was for sure already before the workout. But both of these bodyweight movements are manageable and it's all about mental strength / weakness to keep going or making a conscious decision to stop moving.
Saturday was a cruel training day for sure and I felt it in my body afterwards. Even though I ate like a monster throughout the day I still felt tired for until I took a short power nap (and ate some more). The muscles had been burning a lot so they needed fuel to get back in track. It was a great Saturday training-wise and in other sense too. It was great to spend this day with Pauliina here to chill out and relax.
Friday. Strength, back squats 3x8 (max 115kg). Hero wod Bell, 3rds of: 21 deads (85kg), 15 pull-ups, 9 front squats (85kg). Time 11.20.
Friday was reserved for some serious leg capacity work. Starting it with squats, high-rep strength sets and then I happened to check out crossfit.com main page and saw the workout of the day which got my attention right away. Seemed to suit well for today's training purposes. In the evening I went to Helsinki for a cruise with my colleagues. Helsinki was very beautiful and lively in downtown. Plus the archipelago seen from the boat was beyond words.
Strength. Squats
Back squats 8-8-8 (105, 110, 115kg)
I had several options for today's squats, I was thinking between front and back squats, thought about doubles, triples and something else. Then I checked my notes in the phone and realized I had already marked there 3x8 so that's what it was gonna be! I took some pause squats and speed squats with lighter weights to activate my lower body. There was some serious mobility prior to touching the barbell.
I had no idea what kind of weights could be possible for 8 reps. So I piled it up to 105kg and started moving. It's a different thing to do triples or 5's than 8 reps. This weight was manageable though. I jumped up with 5kg steps. Next stop at 110kg. Still, I felt there was energy left so couple of minutes later there was 115kg on the bar. That was clearly tougher but it was not the limit, that's for sure. For today's purposes it felt great anyway.
Squats, 115kg
Metcon. Time 11.20
3 rounds of:
21 deadlift, 85kg
15 pull-ups
9 front squat, 85kg (from ground)
Had thought about redoing one of the Regionals events where they had handstand push-ups, front squats and burpees. But pull-ups would have been warmly welcomed too. So after ending up at crossfit.com I saw the workout of the day - Bell - and it seemed to suit perfectly for my intentions. The bar was light for deadlifts but heavy for front squats. The idea was to use the same barbell and thus it's only natural to grab it from the floor also for the squats.
My strategy was to go by feeling. Had no idea how this would suit my system. On the deadlifts I decided not to pursue them unbroken to save my grip for pull-ups. I took them 14-7 on first round and surprisingly it got much tougher on the remaining 2 rounds so I did them 10-6-5. That was kind of startling.
Pull-ups were the easiest part of this workout. Did them unbroken on the first and then 9-6 and 10-5 on the later rounds, not that long break between attempts. But those front squats… Uuh, they were nasty! I had to bear in mind that there was only now barbell at my disposal so I had to clean it before doing those actual reps of front squatting. Didn't wanna do too may extra cleans so I decided to suffer it through whatever it takes to get the squats unbroken. And I did, it was definitely unpleasant.
I believe the first round was 2+ minutes and as the total time was 11.20 you probably see the big picture. It got evil towards the end. But it was a very good workout indeed! I can warmly suggest this workout to anyone.
Thursday. Strength, build up to a heavy single (max 112.5kg PR). Metcon, 100 S2O (50kg). For every drop, complete 10 box jumps. Time 14.45.
I was pumped up to get some cleans done. Thought about going for 3RM on hang cleans but instead decided to check where my max would be at the moment. It happened to be time to visit PR town. Afterwards I put some iron in the sky and had box jumps as a punishment in that workout. Good training day! Joni and Pauliina was there with me and Joni happened to crush his old deadlift record, c'mon!
It sure was a great strength session. I had a setback one month ago. After not touching on a barbell it felt very heavy already on light weights after my comeback. Since then I've been working my butt off to get back on track and now I'm feeling I am where I wanna be. It was a bit rocky in the beginning but now I'm feeling good. And that's the reason I needed to see where my max load would be on cleans. To get more confident on the movement too.
105kg
First reps were hang cleans which is part of my routines when it's clean-day. I usually go up to around 70kg on hang squat cleans to activate my entire body more properly for the bigger lifts. Today the bar was light and it definitely felt easier when Joni was there to talk me up.
112.5kg PR
It was strange that the bar itself wasn't heavy today at any stage. It came up pretty well as you can see in the videos. It traveled high enough also on the 115kg attempt. There was some sort of mental block preventing me not go under the bar. Looks kind of awkward to do a clean pull and not squatting under it at all.
115kg attempt
Had a problem at 110kg of not pulling the barbell fiercely enough backwards. Thus it stayed a little front but it was easy to recover this time. My record lift was better than 110kg because we talked it over with Joni what the reason was. Very valuable chat on that lift. The front squat part of squat cleans has never been an issue. It's kind of cool it feels much lighter compared to a regular front squat.
I'm happy on these successful lifts! I also took an attempt at 115kg, took a fail and then reminded my body what a good lift looks like so I took additional 100kg clean in the end.
Easy!
Metcon. Time 14.45
100 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg (barbell from ground)
For every drop, complete 10 box jumps on the spot
What a great workout! At least my shoulders were smashed after this one. Actually they were killing already at around 40 reps =) Simply put, complete 100 reps of shoulder-to-overhead movement with 50kg. Grab the bar from ground and every time you have to drop it back complete 10 box jumps right away. Then you're ready to continue those S2O's.
On the first attempt I took 20 reps, then it was 10's all the way. It was a struggle to get them done from mid-workout on. I'm extremely satisfied on being able to hit those 10's throughout the workout. Last 2-3 reps every set were miserable. Breathing was definitely higher than normally but under control anyway because I had to have a pause after box jumps before getting a hold on the barbell again.
Today felt great! PR's taste delicious every time for sure and the following workout took a great burden on my shoulders which was the goal.
Wednesday. Skills, handstand. Complex, 2 power snatch + 2 snatch balance (40-52.5kg). Strength, jerk (max 95kg). Cashout, 200 wall ball together with Toni.
I had the morning off and Toni is still on holiday so we had the chance to repeat the same idea as we did last week. Woke up in the morning, I drove Pauliina to work and then headed to meet with Toni in Eltsu. We had agreed on olympic lifts but hadn't locked it up what to do exactly. That was the first mistake, we didn't quite get our heads together and we couldn't find this session as productive as we wanted.
Skills.
Handstand
This was fun after having neglected for a while. First attempts felt like I haven't tried handstand walking like ever. It was very shaky and I couldn't find balance at all. But on the 3rd attempt it was like I was at home again being inverted. Today I tried to focus on my breathing. It's been an issue because halting breath is not a good thing with this movement. I can stay inverted for about 20+ seconds but then as I lose focus and start breathing all of a sudden I tend to collapse. Breathing steadily all the time would be ideal.
Complex. Snatch
2 power snatch + 2 snatch balance
Numerous sets at 40-45-50-52.5kg
Another complex of:
1 snatch deadlift + 1 snatch pull, 60-70kg
I took quite a number of snatch related movements with empty bar and 30-40kg barbell: power snatch, snatch press behind the neck, overhead squats, snatch balances and squat snatches. Even though my upper body was warmed up after handstand and even though I carried my own foam roll with me to get ready for squat snatches, my body never accepted the fact it was time to go ass to grass.
So I didn't force it but instead came up with this complex of power snatches and snatch balances. And this set felt good. I didn't keep count on the number of sets I got with this complex but I started with 40kg and then built up after maybe 2-3 sets to 45, then 50 and finally 52.5kg which was the heaviest weight on this one. Don't remember exactly how many were done with these weights.
On the power snatches my focus was on hook grip and bar path. Snatch balance was a substitution for squat snatches. I wanted to copy the bottom position of a squat snatch and this time snatch balance seemed like a good choice for that one. Those felt way better than the squat snatches I had tried earlier.
Strength.
Snatch deadlift 70-90-110kg
Split jerk 4x50, 3x60, 2x70, 2x80, 1x90, 1x95kg
Toni suggested to work on the starting position of a snatch so I took couple of sets snatch deadlift + snatch pull combination and after working on those I took snatch deadlifts and tried to build it up a little heavier. I believe it would be a great tool to build on my snatch for sure. Today was just a first glimpse on that movement.
We had great ambition on the split jerk training from rack. However, I felt it already at 50kg that my body wasn't that receptive to barbell work today. I tried to make it believe it is ready but that strategy didn't work well in the morning. We built up to 95kg but those weren't the most beautiful reps I have done. Front leg wasn't doing its share of the game and I was jerking the bar too much front instead of straight up vertically. Well, I'll take it for now, 95kg is okay number to get up on a bad day.
Cashout. For about 7min
200 wall balls as a team, alternating after 10 reps
I had carried my wall ball around so I wanted to play around with it for more than just warming up. I suggested Toni we'd do 10 reps per guy, alternating right away after we've done our share. So Toni started, I took off immediately and we continued this way until we had 200 reps done. It took quite precisely 7 minutes.
It was a light workout in the end. I felt much better in my joints after having done that. Maybe I should have completed those wall ball reps prior to barbell work. This didn't get to my breathing basically at all, that's because there was that pause while the other guy was throwing the ball. I really love working with wb, I always have. I'm so happy to be an owner of one!
There's been a lot of barbell work lately so I skipped them today and concentrated in moving my own body. After the metcon I took some stretching and mobility for recovery purposes. Burpees, t2b and double unders.
Metcon. Result, 320 reps (5 rounds).
12min amrap of:
12 burpees
12 toes-to-bar
40 double unders
Don't let this one fool you. Think about the movements, each make the breathing go heavy. At first sight I thought for a second it's probably a cool and a light one with only bodyweight stuff included. After thinking for a minute I realized it's gonna be a misery. And it was. In a good way of course.
Burpees got to my shoulders on the third round and the pace got a little slower for sure. Got them unbroken though every round. T2b's were easy for 2 rounds, then I took it 6-6 on the 3rd one and 6-3-3 on the last 2 rounds I was able to get through. It was like my hip flexors were coming to an end and didn't agree to come up again.
Double unders felt good even though they were heavy after some jumping around. Combination of double unders and burpees got to my shoulders in a tough way. There was some people at the gym and there wasn't that much extra space so it was kind of a hassle to find a spot each round and be careful not to hit anyone with the jump rope. At times I had to stop jumping because people wanted to go by me. That was kind of a sucker but only natural thing in a crowded area =) It's only a good thing people wanna workout!
These calisthenics guys are pretty darned incredible. I came across this video as Rob Orlando mentioned about it in strongmanwod.com. I look up to this kind of body control. That is sick, respect!
Monday. Complex, emom x 20. Odd min, 1 hang squat clean + 2 front squat. Even min, 1 power clean + 2 jerk (70-80kg)
Today's workout was inspired by crossfit athlete Jeremy Kinnick. Strengthening the entire body by doing clean and jerk type of complex in emom style. Nothing more was needed this time. It was a short training session and I got what I needed.
Toni's brand new Nano 4.0's boom
Barbell. Complex
Every minute on the minute, for 20min
Odd minutes, 1 hang squat clean + 2 front squat
Even minutes, 1 power clean + 2 split jerk
1-4min, 70kg
5-8min, 75kg
9-20min, 80kg
With a 20 minute running clock, perform a set of hang squat clean and front squats on odd minutes and then another combination of power clean and jerks on even minutes. So it was 10 rounds of both complexes. I had not pre-determined the weights but I climbed up as it felt the load was manageable. Started with 70kg, and after having taken 2 sets for both complexes I felt it's good to add weight. Did another 4min with 75kg before jumping to 80kg where I stayed for the rest of the workout.
I'm actually very happy I got to do this to the end with 80kg. Those hang squat cleans started to get challenging towards the end. My max clean from ground is 110kg and max hang clean is 90kg. That's because I tend to do hang cleans from the pocket, some might call it high hang. I took these hang squat cleans from the pocket too. So little by little I had to be faster in pulling myself under the bar.
My hands were slippery in the last 5-6 minutes even though I chalked them up all the time. It just didn't help at all, that was kind of strange. But it didn't bother that much, I used some hook grip to ignore those slippery hands. I'm feeling very comfortable and confident on having weight overhead. Split jerks are coming together and putting 80-90kg weights in the air feels good right now. I've been cleaning and jerking a lot of stuff this month because I wanted to make up the 2 week barbell break I had in the end of May. It's payback time =)
