Tuesday 9.12: Front squat, 7min amrap

Tuesday. Strength, front squat 5x7 (100kg). Metcon, 7min amrap, 3-3, 6-6, 9-9… of: front squat (60kg), burpee. Result, 96 reps.

Squats all the way. That equals to a great training day. Front squats for starters and a 7min amrap together with Toni. Nice combo of squats and burpees. No wonder my legs were burning. Toni came to his roots at Haaga gym to refresh memories from 2 years ago. That's always a treat. He took some complex work of front squats and split jerks. We had the same time frame on the metcon but he changed the movements to front squats and kb snatches.

Shane Dorian

Strength.

• Front squat 5x7 (across at 100kg)

Continuing to focus on front squats and feeling good about it. Building volume, last time it was 4x9, now it was 5 sets of 7 reps, weight increased 10kg, to a total of 100kg. This weight is around 75% of my 1 rep max. Doing 7 reps was not light but it was something I was able to handle pretty well. I took the first reps of (4-5) each set touch'n'go style without stopping on top to breath.

Then on the last 2-3 reps I had to stop and reset before finishing the sets. There was no doubt in my mind at any point of the strength portion I would hit the sets as written. On the last reps my elbows fell down a bit, and I heard Toni yelling me to lift 'em up. I'm happy with the performance today.

Sam

Metcon. Result, 96 reps (6 squats on the round of 18's)

• 7min amrap
• 3-3, 6-6, 9-9… of:
• Front squat, 60kg
• Burpee

As if I didn't get enough pressure on lower body, I wrote this one on the spot. This style of workout is awesome. That means a couplet where you start at 3 reps, then every round add 3 more reps, and finish as many reps as possible in a certain time frame. For a couplet, 7 minutes is usually pretty good. You can throw pretty much whatever but it's definitely worth a good breathing if you mix barbell and bodyweight stuff. If you want to have a triplet, maybe 12 minutes is more suitable.

Toni hurried me to start quite soon after the strength as he had already finished his barbell work. No prob. At first we were thinking about hitting it with 80kg but the nature of the workout would not have been what I was looking for. Goal was to keep on moving constantly. With 80kg that would have been a different game.

Mobility, mobility

I didn't gas in the beginning. Took my triples with steady pace, same with the sixes. I went unbroken with the squats all the way up to the round of 12 reps. I thought I would do it through the round of 9's (and scared I would have to break that up too to not kill my legs) but didn't see it coming that the bar wouldn't go down for this long. So basically the round of 15's was the only one where I put the bar on the rack for a while after 10 reps, then finished the last 5 reps.

Burpees went ub all the way, and they were not as bad was I was preparing mentally. This was all about front squats. My heart beat skyrocketed on the burpees but my strength was in test on the squats. I was very happy on how my body kept moving even in the pain cave. Got 6 squats on the round of 18's before the time cap rang. It definitely gave a boost that Toni hit his own 7min couplet of front squats and kb snatches at the same time. Good to have that fella at the "box".

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.

Sunday 7.12: Rest day

Sunday. Rest day

Another day of long distance walking. It's our last full day here in Prague, and we decided to take the most out of it. We walked practically everywhere to see some statues and monuments. This place is old and beautiful. After every corner there's a new building worth stopping and amaze the view.

Yesterday's Tabata workouts were light and my body is very fresh right now. I'd like to see a barbell, I'm missing one after couple of days of silent mode. Another thing I'm missing is healthy food. There's no limit to the healthiness of our diet so it's been a shocker to my body :) One more Hard Rock Cafe evening and we're back to normal eating.

Saturday 6.12: Tabata

Saturday. Tabata air squat, Tabata push-ups, Tabata lunges.

After yesterday's day off I was looking for an opportunity to hit a workout. Didn't matter what, I just needed to get this body moving. We've been wandering around the city a lot but I need classic stuff for improving my fitness. I contacted one of the local affiliates beforehand and they were very friendly in welcoming me to throw down with them. Appreciate it a lot! However, it was hard to match the schedules so today I hit a short one while my travel company were resting.

Tabata air squat. Result, 19 reps per round

Tabata, push-ups. Result, 9-12 reps per round

Tabata, lunges. Result, 15 reps per round

Our room is tiny so there's not much room to hassle. Tabata suited perfectly for these bodyweight elements. Squats burned my legs a lot after 5 rounds. I was still able to maintain a solid pace. Push-ups were tough. In the beginning I did only 12 reps, to save some energy for the later rounds. Those took only about 10 seconds. Little by little it got tougher and in the end I was able to get only 9 reps in the time frame. Lunges were the easiest of these movements. I kept a steady pace between 15-16 reps

Saturday 6.12: Tabata

Saturday. Tabata air squat, Tabata push-ups, Tabata lunges.

After yesterday's day off I was looking for an opportunity to hit a workout. Didn't matter what, I just needed to get this body moving. We've been wandering around the city a lot but I need classic stuff for improving my fitness. I contacted one of the local affiliates beforehand and they were very friendly in welcoming me to throw down with them. Appreciate it a lot! However, it was hard to match the schedules so today I hit a short one while my travel company were resting.

Tabata air squat. Result, 19 reps per round

Tabata, push-ups. Result, 9-12 reps per round

Tabata, lunges. Result, 15 reps per round

Our room is tiny so there's not much room to hassle. Tabata suited perfectly for these bodyweight elements. Squats burned my legs a lot after 5 rounds. I was still able to maintain a solid pace. Push-ups were tough. In the beginning I did only 12 reps, to save some energy for the later rounds. Those took only about 10 seconds. Little by little it got tougher and in the end I was able to get only 9 reps in the time frame. Lunges were the easiest of these movements. I kept a steady pace between 15-16 reps

Friday 5.12: Rest day

Friday. Rest day.

We arrived in Prague yesterday evening after about 2h flight from Helsinki, Finland. Our hotel is as close to downtown as it could possibly be, perfect location. We spent tve evening at Hard Rock Cafe which is a must visit place all around the world. The atmosphere is great and the music rocks our world. This one is the largest HRC in Europe, it had several floors and great interior.

Today we took a trip to the Saint Vitus Cathedral and the surrounding President's office area. Views from the top were cool and finally we hopped on a boat to finish the views from the river that divides the town separate.

There's a lot happening in the city. Lots of people and the Christmas is very much visible in the town appearance. It's beautiful.

Thursday 4.12: Deadlifts, Front squats, Ring dips

Thursday. Deadlift 3x5 (max 150kg). Front squat 4x9 (across 90kg). Cashout, 50 ring dips.

Today I was working for only about 2 hours. Then hit the gym for a workout. In the middle of my session I heard Rogue had delivered some stuff for me at workplace. I stopped working out immediately, just cleaned the place up, changed clothes and went to pick 'em up. I was enthusiastic like a little kiddo. Drove home, unpacked the stuff and took my gymnastics rings into use. They were magnificent!!!

Barbell.

• Deadlift 5-5-5 (100, 130, 150kg)
• Front squat 9-9-9-9 (all sets 90kg)

I had planned on hitting 5x5 on deadlift at around 160-170kg. Instead, it turned out to be a lightweight session. Body felt fine, no prob there but my right thumb felt very weird. I looked at it and it seems there's some sort of bruise inside the thumb. That caused too much pain to handle. I used clean grip and hook grip to hold the bar. Maybe without hook grip that would have been okay but that didn't even cross my mind. So I stayed light weight and moved on to front squats.

On the front squats I decided to go for 4x9 sets, at 90kg. My 1RM is 66% of my max. The weight was light for couple of reps but after 5-6 reps they started to burn. Especially as my focus was to go touch'n'go on the squats. Not stay up to breath but just keep going on a steady pace. That was a game changer. Really felt the burn on my legs in the last 2-3 reps, and towards the end those were heavier.

Cashout.

• 50 ring dips

Getting my hands on those rings was something beyond words. I left the gym immediately after hearing  my gear had arrived. After getting home I took the rings right away and went outdoors. There's a kids swing at the back yard which suits perfectly for ring dip practice.

I took 50 reps, sets of 5-10-10-10-10-5. Not rushing at all, just getting familiar with my new best friends. I loved them right away and I hope to see myself hanging there quite often. To get comfortable with them and strengthen upper body. Hopefully I will also find a place where to hang then high for some real muscle-up practice.

In the afternoon we are heading to the airport. Pauliina just graduated and she's up for a treat, a present from me and the in-laws. A trip to Prague, capital of Czech. Coming back on Monday, let's see what the training possibilities turn out to be =)

Wednesday 3.11: Snatch, Row, Hspu

Wednesday. Hang squat snatch technique. Emom x 8min: 1 hang squat snatch (50kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 10 hspu, 20 db snatch (20kg).

Today I went to the gym early in the morning, and then to work until evening. Because there was plenty of quality time at the gym I had planned to do olympic lifts. My current focus is on snatch style working, to get the movement patterns more natural and to acquire better technique. I worked on this skill for at least an hour. Then hit a metcon of rowing, hspu's and db snatch. It took me 2 hours to work through things. Good session.

Snatch.

• Burgener warm-up
• Hang squat snatch, light weight
• Every minute on the minute x 8: one hang squat snatch per min (50kg)

I'm loving it on the new warm-up routines. For some reason I've ignored this for over 2 years even though this stuff is legendary. It just hit me lately. There was a dark era of snatches. I couldn't see the future very bright some time ago. But those Smolov squats improved my hip area mobility (and somehow also shoulder mobility simultaneously) and enabled me to overhead squat like never before. This led to me trying snatch and snatch balance type of elements. And I've seen it very appealing so I'll try to fix some technical issues here and improve mobility further so that I could do deep ohs in a similar way as in squat clean.

I took a few sets between 30-50kg hang squat snatches, aiming to hit it rock bottom on the squat. That's not easy and I definitely didn't find it just like that. I know there's a possibility of getting there but somehow I break it on the way down. That's probably a mobility issue so I unconsciously push against gravity. On the other hand I know I can get there. Sometimes the bar goes too much forward and then it's difficult to go deep.

After working a lot with lighter weights I put the timer on and completed an 8min emom of hang squat snatches, 1 rep at a time with 50kg. I want to and need to get natural with this movement. Building up the base.

Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 10 handstand push-up
• 20 dumbbell snatch, 20kg

At some point during those snatches I realized I have zero pain in my right wrist. It's been bothering for I don't know, maybe a month? First I couldn't do pretty much anything with it but then little by little it's gotten better and better. This was my time to shine on the handstand push-ups! No pain at all, this was huge!

Rowing for half a kilometer, then 10 hspu's. First I thought this would be a good couplet but those dumbbells caught my attention and one had to be picked up, 20 reps, dividing it equally to both hands. On the first round I went alternating, then the remaining rounds were 5-5-5-5, changing hand after each 5 reps.

Recap

Pace on the rower was sub 1.50. On the first round it was close to 1.45 but then on the latter rounds at about 1.49-1.50. Hspu's went unbroken every round. And I'm telling you, they were light! Those felt like I could continue forever =) I'm sure a new record of unbroken reps would have been in the books had I tried it. Well, now it's just talk but the point is those felt awesome. Very happy on being able to do them.

Tuesday 2.12: Snatch balance, Ohs, Long metcon

Tuesday. Snatch balance 5-5-5-5-5 (max 65kg). Ohs 1-1-1-1 (max PR 85kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 5 deads (120kg), 10 burpees, 15 pull-ups, 20 box, 30 du, 400m run. Time, 22.32.

Great training day for sure! I had plenty of time, no need to be hasty at any moment. That is my kind of training session. I love when it's just me, a barbell and lots of time. Put them together and I'm ready to rock. As I indicated earlier, I was enlightened by Coach Burgener's warm-up drills and today I put a lot of effort on those. It prepared me very well for snatch balance and ohs which brought some good results too. Last part of the training session was a longer metcon with lots of work.

Snatch work.

• Burgener warm-up drills
• Snatch balance 5-5-5-5-5 (30, 40, 50, 60, 65kg)
• Overhead squat 1-1-1-1 (70, 75, 80, PR 85kg)

Coach is the legend, and for a good reason. Better listen to this god of weightlifting. I paid a lot of attention to these warm-up routines with pvc pipe, empty barbell and then also 30kg bar. Only objective for this massive warming up was to prepare my body more effectively than normally. As I progressed to snatch balance I felt that in my body. My body was much more loose which was nothing but great. I've probably never this good in my body regarding snatch related movements. Having bar overhead and going to squat position.

I took sets of 5 reps of snatch balance, starting from 30kg, building up to as heavy as possible because it felt good. Bar fell a little forward on some reps but still I'm very happy on the movement patterns and weights being thrown around. My mobility has taken big steps this autumn and it's finally paying off in snatch work also. I've done 60kg snatch balance some time ago but hitting 5x65kg was beyond my comprehension.

Due to that I decided to take couple of overhead squat singles. Ascending 5kg by the rep, all the way to a new personal record of 85kg. Previous one was 80kg, done at spring time this year. I'll take this with pleasure! Got to work on that snatch grip push press / push jerk to get the bar more easily overhead. Going for split jerk was kind of awkward, it was more shaky than pressing the barbell. I need to be able to press / jerk the bar without split.

Recap of barbell action

Metcon. Time 22.32

• 4 rounds of:
• 5 deadlift, 120kg
• 10 burpee
• 15 pull-up
• 20 box
• 30 double under
• 400m run

I wanted to get a longer metcon. I thought of some sort of chipper style stuff but ended up going for a 4-rounder of lots of work. Deadlifts made a comeback, haven't done thos much because there's been so much squatting. I find it difficult to go for both. This was a yack type of workout. Lot of grinding. I was able to smash it unbroken each round. What was the toughest? Surprisingly maybe box jumps. My core is sore from yesterday's toes-to-bar / pistol fiesta and on the box jumps I felt it.

I thought pull-ups would have been the most bad ass element of this one. They were but still all the way manageable. Running was also tough, especially on the last 2 rounds. It was great to have my fingers on deadlift after a while. Plus burpees are always a pleasure =) Great training session, this brought to mind whether I should dedicate some days on pure oly work. By focusing more on light work and technique early in the session would loosen joints up better and the results of the barbell work would generate greater results. Let's see how it turns out.

Recap of metcon

Monday 1.12: Squats, Clean, Pistols, T2b's

Monday. Strength, back squat (max 130kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 5 clean (60kg), 10 pistols, 15 t2b. Result, 166 reps.

Alright, back to squatting. It's been a week since last time but it feels like an eternity =) There's been so much squatting this autumn that I'm used to get my butt to the floor on a regular basis. After squat strength was a metcon with cleans, pistol squats and toes-to-bar. Great to be back on track!

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x90, 105, 120kg
• 5x130, 130, 130, 130kg

Built up to heavy 5's. It was a pleasant surprise these weights felt comfortable on my back. I'm not saying the loads were light but definitely felt great to have heavy loads on the bar. Very natural indeed. I went there gradually, first reaping 3 squats at a time, up to 120kg. Then couple of sets at 130kg. I was in a bit of a rush so my planned 5th set had to be left undone because there was a metcon still ahead of me.

Anyway, those 5-rep sets of 130kg were easy for 2 reps, 3rd rep was something to work on, and the last 2 reps good grinders. I've been back squatting a lot in the past months, and I believe there's a possibility I'd start front squatting more in in December and the beginning of the year. Let's see how that transfers to olympic lifts. I also took Burgener Warm-up today to little by little improve my snatch. Take a look at the video below to get used to this stuff.

Metcon. Result, 166 reps (5rds + 1 t2b)

• 12min amrap of:
• 5 clean, 60kg
• 10 pistol squats
• 15 toes-to-bar

Beforehand I thought this would make a real deal. Just before I hit it off I realized it's gonna be tough stuff on the hip flexors. This was kind of a brainfart that I didn't think of prior to the workout. First, pistol squats after back squats is always a battle for hip flexors but what I'm really talking about is the combination of pistols and t2b. Both elements bring a lot of burden in that place. It's not that big a deal if you only have either of them but together they make hell of a combo.

Thanks Coach, I'll absorb this

So I felt it already after first round in my hip flexors. Breathing was well under control all the way. It was mostly those flexors that were in a big time burn all the time. This resulted in me having to take a short break after cleans before jumping on to the pistol squats. And normally I could roll through couple of rounds of unbroken t2b with these reps but today it was only one ub round. The second round was 10-5 and the rest of them were completed in 3 sets.

I was very happy on getting some sweat on my shirt again. Nothing beats the feeling of a good old school crossfit stuff. Well, okay quality time with my baby is always the best =)

Sunday 30.11: Shoulder-to-overhead

Sunday. Shoulder press 1-1-1 (max 70kg), push press 3-3-3 (max 80kg), push jerk 5-5-5 (max 80kg). Technique, pause push jerk 3x3 (60kg). Technique, snatch.

It was great to get back in business! After 3 days of laziness (okay, I was sick but anyway) my head was in tilt of not getting any sports done. My system screams for it on a daily basis and I'm definitely not the best of me if I can't get to work on my health and fitness. I started my comeback with classical shoulder strength workout. Plus then worked on some technical issues.

Barbell.

• Shoulder press 1-1-1 (60, 65, 70kg)
• Push press 3-3-3 (70, 75, 80kg)
• Push jerk 5-5-5 (70, 75, 80kg)
• Pause push jerk 3-3-3 (60, 60, 60kg)
• Technique, snatch with all variations

Yesterday was Pauliina's graduation party. We had some friends and family at our house to celebrate this woman's long journey in the university. I'm very proud of how she managed to warp it up with good grades, job very well done! Pauliina and her mother had put some fancy stuff on the table and me and Kari went to pick up 2 christmas trees for their house in Klaukkala. It's November and they already have the yard full of christmas stuff, awesome! =)

I had planned on the weights way before I touched on the barbell. Definitely wasn't shooting to max the load after two days of not feeling the best of me. Had to stay away from work on Thursday and Friday, then on Saturday I was feeling okay again. Wanted to go for a little jog in the woods but my better half prevented me not to. Good call baby, thanks for that. Shoulder press today felt good, haven't done those in ages, and I guess I've done 70kg presses maybe 3 times in my life. So considering that it felt great!

Push press was also consistent with all weights thrown around. It felt like the bar was in my control all the way. I was able to go touch'n'go u to 75kg but then at 80kg had to stop it in the front rack position after each rep.

On the push jerk 70kg bar was light. Felt like I could have continued forever. That was a positive signal and boosted my confidence levels. Next set was at 75kg. Bar was tolerable, definitely not too heavy, was able to move it t'n'g style also this time. On the 4th rep I lost balance on the bar a little, it kinda fell back a little so I had to save it and finish the last rep.

At the 80kg bar it felt a little wobbly on some reps. It tends to get a little more shaky at heavier weights and feels like mobility holds me back a little, especially on push jerk. When I split jerk this kind of weights, I feel steady and stable in overhead position. But having my feet rather close together and hands overhead there's something in upper back that restricts the perfect motion.

Recap

Afterwards I took couple of sets pause push jerk at 60kg just to work on the "getting under barbell" part faster. This was success. Plus lots of snatch related technique work with empty barbell.

Friday 29.11: Rest day

Friday. Rest day

Had to take it easy today as well. My throat was not feeling great so it was another day off for me. I'll just recover and take care of this body that is rarely sick. Take a look at couple of cool videos. First Julie Foucher hitting a heavy Amanda and then the classic between Froning and Panchik on "Nasty Girls V2". That finish was epic. This is from 2014 Central East Regionals.

Thursday 27.11: Rest day

Thursday. Rest day.

Feeling a bit of a sore throat. Pauliina took the first hit and now I got it too. Slight flu but no fever. I'll fight this through in no time and get back to action. Being sick is not something I'll tolerate. In the meanwhile, take a look at some videos.

How smooth is his movement

Coach talking about early arm pull. That includes me too.

Wednesday 26.11: Clean and jerk, Clean, Pull-ups, Box

Wednesday. Barbell, clean and jerk, mostly singles (max 95kg). Couple of cleans (max 100kg). Metcon, 11rds of: 4 hang power clean, 8 pull-up, 12 box. Time, 14.27.

Wednesday's seem to be the days when I go to work a little later than normally. There's a good time slot to hit a morning workout. I packed my gym bag and took off 9.15 in the morning. That's good time for me, not too early because I wouldn't that sharp an hour or two earlier. There was a time when I used to do my training at 7.00 but now that seems impossible =) That time there were no options as I had my floorball practice with the team in the evening. Nowadays I prefer to sleep. Agenda for today was overhead strength and metcon.

Final time 14.27 on the metcon. It took me couple of seconds to push the timer off

Barbell.

• Clean and jerk 5x40, 3x50, 3x60, 1x70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 75, 80kg
• Clean 1x90, 95, 100kg

This was great, it was awesome feeling to have the barbell overhead with heavy weights on. I'm not saying this was a perfect session but I felt like I'm back in the game. It's been rare to push / jerk the barbell overhead because of this minor injury but today there was some light on the issue. Started with easy weights, just getting accustomed to the barbell and the movement.

After 60kg I took only singles, there was no max lifts in sight at any point, that was not the purpose of this day. However, I was looking to building up to heavy lifts. Most cleans were technically sound and similar, some of them were a bit off but I'm happy with them. On the jerks my front leg seems to work with lighter weights but when heavier loads come in to play front foot is not going forward enough. That means I'm not dropping below the bar enough which makes it more challenging. Better technique would result in heavier kilos obviously. That has a tremendous effect.

Recap of barbell work

Metcon. Time, 14.27

• 11 rounds of:
• 4 hang power clean, 60kg
• 8 pull-up
• 12 box

This was created on the spot. The only thing I came up was doing couple of pull-ups, everything else was imagination. Somehow cleans ended up partnering up with pull-ups so there were 2 different pull movements. Had to get a friend for these guys and box jumps felt a superb idea. And it actually was. There was some walking between stations. Barbell was about 10m away from pull-up and box stations. It was actually good recovery between movements. Don't know if it would have fastened things up if they had been closer together but this was the way the set up was created.

This was supposed to be a 10-rounder but I messed up with the timer and after the workout it stated there were 11 rounds instead =) Round times were astonishingly similar. It was basically 1:30-1:35 all the time. First 2 rounds were faster as well as the last round which was about 1:10. This was a good metcon for sure. Everything was done unbroken. Nothing too taxing, not too light. Just kept going and pushing through with steady pace.

There are some serious lifts from these guys!

Tuesday 25.11: Air Force

Tuesday. Benchmark workout Air Force.  Time, 9.48.

Today I had time to hang out at the gym for just a little while because we were heading to a dinner and theater afterwards with a bunch of colleagues, Toni including. We were both planning to hit a workout but unfortunately he missed the session. I decided to go for a classic, Air Force. I'll write more about it later. Now I have some issues with internet connection. To be short: it was brutal!

Mobility getting better!

Air Force. Time, 9.48. Compare to 30.8.2013

• 20 thrusters
• 20 sumo deadlift high pull
• 20 push press
• 20 overhead squat
• 20 front squat
• On top of every min, complete 4 burpees
• Barbell at 42.5kg / 95lbs

Okay, internet connection is back and I'll try to re-live the feelings of yesterday's workout. That was some nasty shit. Toni did this one this Wednesday too and thought it was horrible. I've never done this rx'd. Once as individual February 2013, that time I did it as written except for the overhead squats which I didn't do at all. And one year ago in August as a partner workout with Toni. But that was way lighter as pair wod.

The point of this workout is to crawl in to that dark place and fight through the emotions. Just think about a happy place and grind through. There are 4 burpees on top of every minute which brings this to another level. You throw that 4 burpee element to any workout and it's a different game.

I got the thrusters done in the first minute and it was time to thrown chest to deck immediately after that.  I was happy for not having to pick it up anymore for 1-2 reps. That would have been a turn off. This was probably first time doing sumo deadlift high pulls in 2 years or so. I honestly don't remember having done them except for the Air Force workouts last year of course. This was the first time this movement felt natural. It was so awkward in the beginning of my crossfit training. I got these done in maybe 14-6, that means to say I had to do burpees between those sets.

I remembered these were supposed to be done as push presses so I didn't jerk the bar. Just today, one day after the workout, Toni revealed the true nature of that shoulder-to-overhead standard. I was desiring to push jerk it but stuck to push presses as I thought that was the rx'd version. Don't remember how many reps per set but I recall doing them in 2 sets. I guess.

Overhead squats… This was easily the most challenging element for me, hands down! I took 'em in sets of 3-5 reps. Then I had to drop the bar down, reset, complete the punishment burpees, raise my head again and start working. On the first minute of ohs I power snatched the bar, from then on I took it clean and jerked it on my back rack from where I jerked it overhead for the squat. Now as I write it down it sounds kind of irrational but at the moment power snatch didn't feel like a good idea. On the first set of ohs I didn't have much positive thoughts concerning this benchmark workout but after 2-3 sets I got my hope back.

After the last set of ohs I had time to complete couple of front squats before the last burpees. Those few reps were crucial because I decided to mentally push through the pain and burn in my legs no matter what. The burn in my quads was enormous after completing the last 14 front squats in the last minute. Finally the clock stopped at 9.48, and I was happy again =)

I was hoping to catch the entire workout on tape but unfortunately I forgot to empty some old videos there so memory card got full of old training clips. Here are the first 2 minutes of it, thrusters, burpees and some sdhp.

Start of Air Force