Monday 6.7: Mu/Row intervals, Squat, Team metcon

Monday. Intervals, every 3:00, perform 3 mu's + 300m row. Back squat (max 135kg). Metcon in a team of 3: sled push (80kg + sled), 100 hspu, 500 du, 100 s2o (60kg), 150 burpee box. Time, 40min.

Got a huge chance to train with my bro and Jasper together. First time ever, freaking awesome! We did intervals in the beginning with Sipa meanwhile Jazz PR'd his deadlift to quite manly numbers, 190kg. And he did a double while he was at it! Sounds like he's about to enter the two hundred digits, c'mon! Squats for strength according to Sipa's plan, and then a brutal workout together as a team of three.

Toni rocked the show on Saturday!

Intervals.

• Every 3:00, perform:
• 3 ring muscle-ups + 300m row
• "All in pace"

Give it all you got on the rower. We went 1.30+ each round. Those muscle-ups were difficult after the first round. This was the first time we both tried something like this with muscle-ups. Not the easiest workout. The purpose was more like a warm-up workout.

5x110kg

Strength.

• Back squat
• 1st set: 5 reps @ 75% (110kg)
• 2nd set: 3 reps @ 85% (125kg)
• 3rd set: 1 reps @ 90% (135kg)
• 4-6th set: 2 reps @ 87% (130kg)

Cool work. Not the heaviest squats. We hurried these over pretty quickly. Just short recovery between sets. Jasper had already smashed his strength and we had a good workout waiting for us. Felt good on the squats. Great to have my hands on the barbell!

1x135kg

Metcon. Time, 40min

• In a team of 3 athletes
• One athlete pushes sled constantly, 2x20m at a time, then slap hands and change the athlete
• 100 handstand push-ups
• 500 double unders
• 100 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg
• 150 burpee box jumps, 61cm

One pushes sled all the time. This was carried out in a similar way as the workout we did in Copenhagen couple of weeks ago with Sipa and Toni, when we were on my bachelor party trip watching the Crossfit Meridian Regionals. That means one is working with the sled all the time. The other two are chipping away the rest of the work. That is first 100 hspu's. You can't do any other element before those 100 reps are in the books.

Once hspu's were done it was time to move on to double unders. Total of 500 du's. Those sucked. Our shoulders were murdered after the hspu / sled push combo. That was much worse than any of us had imagined! I never got to a smooth rhythm on the jump rope. Hspu's were my thing. Felt great on those all the way.

2x130kg

Third element was basically jerks at 60kg. We went mostly on 5's throughout the 100 reps. In the end I took closer to 10 reps on the last set as I felt the energy flowing. Technique was right on spot and these felt good even though shoulders had already been smashed for 15 minutes before touching the barbell in this workout.

Last station burpee boxes. Huh, those kept the heart beat up. Combine that with the sled work, and this last element felt like it took an eternity. The crew was shot after this session. Very good one and we definitely got what we deserved =) Tomorrow we're heading to Italy with Pauliina for our honeymoon, waiting eagerly for that one!

Sunday 5.7: Rest day

Sunday. Rest day.

This day is reserved totally for recovery. We slept late in our hotel Glo, in downtown Helsinki, awesome hotel. Ate breakfast outdoors and then went back home. Tomorrow's gonna be a training day, then we're heading to Italy for honeymoon trip. That also means it's probably gonna be more bodyweight training in the following next two weeks.

This is art!

Saturday 4.7: Mr. & Mrs. Lamppu

Saturday. The big day!

Huh, this was freaking awesome!!! I proposed to Pauliina on our trip to California last summer (2014), and right after we came home she started planning our wedding day. She had the church nailed already before I even knew it, probably even before I knew her haha =) And the day turned out to be Fourth of July, USA's independence day. That felt legit as it is our favorite travel destination in the world.

Wife!

We've been going through the day step by step several times at this stage and browsed through the pictures, talked to people at the party, and peeked all social media stuff, and it honestly feels it was the best party I have ever attended. I guess I'm a little biased here but at least we had that feeling all the way.

My main man!

Pauliina with the help of her parents had made detailed plans in the past year, and a lot of things have really happened in that time. I'm lucky these guys took this seriously and wanted to have the party of our life. My best man Toni and Pauliina's four bridesmaids took care that the plan was carried out as it was supposed to and we didn't have to think about anything during the big day. I can't thank enough of this crew, they rocked it!

It was emotional as Pauliina's father took a lengthy speech of the importance of this day to him. Couldn't help but bring up a tear in my eye. Same emotional feelings became as Toni took the stage. I have probably never been spoken that individually. Both Toni's and Pauliina's maid of honor Katri gave us goosebumps through their speeches. 

All in all, this was nothing short of spectacular day. Enjoyed every second of it, and we were both able to absorb it all the way. Relaxed even more after I was able to give the microphone back to Toni after my own last words =)

Thanks for every single person that was with us to celebrate this important step in our life. No matter if you were with us physically or mentally, appreciate it any case!

Kari!

Friday 3.7: Uphill sprints

Friday. Uphill sprints.

We had a lot of last call errands to be taken care of for the wedding on Friday so there was no chance in getting to the gym at all during the day. We wanted to sleep at different locations so Pauliina stayed at our home with her mother in Helsinki, and my father-in-law Kari took me to their place in Klaukkala. We arrived there at around 8-9 pm and I was anxious to put my sneakers on and do something.

Tornimäki @ Klaukkala

Sprints.

• Run uphill for about 15 seconds
• Recovery was walk down
• Repeat for 5 sprints without rest in between
• Rest 2-3 minutes and repeat for a total of 3 rounds

Every single time when we drive to Klaukkala we go by this good looking hill on our left. During winter, it's used for skiing purposes. In the summertime people use it for outdoor activities, hiking and such. I always look at this place with great respect. It is a killer place, I've been there couple of times doing my thing.

Today was perfect opportunity to hit it right there. I wasn't going to carry wall balls and kettlebells with me but sneakers were easier to hide in my carry-ons so that the future wife wouldn't see that haha. She hoped for me not to work out (at least heavy) so I didn't make a big number of this one. That was kinda cute because she wanted me to be in the best shape of my life on Saturday. That is quite understandable.

I have no idea of the distance and on the video the hill doesn't look that steep but it really felt it, and it has always felt like it in this place. The start is easier but then in the middle there's a sudden change in the game. It becomes heavier and that about 15 second sprint brings lactic acid to my thighs big time. I went continuously up and down for a total of 5 sprints. Recovery was the jog back down. Coming down also puts pressure on quads so it's practically no rest.

First set of sprints

After 5 sprints I recovered for a while, best guess is around 2-3 minutes, and then repeated this cycle for a total of 3 rounds. That means 15 total sprints. Good quick stuff. It took about 5 minutes per round. Warm-up and cool down was the jog from Pauliina's parents house. As I went back Kari had prepared dinner for the two of us, and we spent the night eating and spending quality time with each other, thinking about the upcoming day and what it might look like eventually. Never thought it would become such a dream come true!

Thursday 2.7: Pause Ohs, Long metcon

Thursday. OHS with a 10sec pause, 6x1 @ 60kg. Metcon, 10-8-6-4-2 power clean, 10 front squat, 15 ghd, 20 lunges, 500m row. Time, 30.49.

Today's agenda was a lot of fun. Well, fun is maybe not the best word to describe it but I enjoyed the session a lot more than the couple of last days. First, in the morning, we went for a 45 min walk with my fiancé for some quality time. Then at noon it was pause overhead squats and a long long metcon.

Rogue Ohio Bar

Barbell.

• Overhead squats with a 10 second pause in the bottom
• 6x1 @ 60kg

First of all, I fell in love with this Rogue Ohio Barbell. I've done pretty much all my work with a different type of barbell where the knurl is very sharp. Plus I've used a lot of chalk in my lifts. Maybe that's the reason why my hands are all torn up since I moved to this new gym. There's simply too much friction between hands and the bar. This Ohio bar is smoother on the knurl, and this time I left the chalk alone in its basket.

Tried to improve my snatch by doing overhead squats with a long pause in the bottom position. I went all the way to the very bottom, that's my extreme position on this movement. These lifts felt good all the way. Weights were moderate so there was not supposed to be big problems in any of the singles. Because the paused time was quite long, I wasn't building it heavier this time.

Ohs

Metcon. Time, 30.49

• 10 power clean, 80kg
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 20 lunges
• 500m row

• 8 power clean, 80kg
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 20 lunges
• 500m row

• 6 power clean, 80kg
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 20 lunges
• 500m row

• 4 power clean, 80kg
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 20 lunges
• 500m row

• 2 power clean, 80kg
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 15 ghd sit-ups
• 20 lunges
• 500m row

Those cleans were originally supposed to be a buy-in of 10 reps. Then a 30 minute amrap of front squats, ghd's, lunges and rowing. However, the first cleans felt super and my body just needed to get those more in my system. I decided to do those in singles because the workout was long. No point in rushing those in the beginning and then suffer for the rest of the workout.

Front squats were kinda light if you think about 60 kilos in general but 10 reps in this workout were not cool. They pretty soon started to brome tough. Nasty but tolerable. Went unbroken each round. Had to keep a pause on top after 6 reps in each set to give my legs a break of the tension.

Ghd's were the easiest part of this one. It was mostly about controlling breath when being almost inverted. Core took this well. I got lunges done yesterday too for the same distance. This movement is actually pretty good. That's the reason why they have appeared more in my workouts lately. As pretty much everything else in this wod, lunges also took a lot of burden for legs.

Metcon recap

Rowing was the finisher of each round so I got 2.500 meters in total. My focus was to keep the pace at 1:50 all the time. Rowing in metcons is usually a big mental thing and also burns the body whole-heartedly. At the end of this workout it was really hard to stand up. I went on my knees after the last meter had been rowed. My legs were almost numb. It was a long burn for the lower body. And I also felt like the bar path on the power cleans was good this time and I was able to use my legs much more. That obviously burned legs even more.

Wednesday 1.7: Jerk, Squat, Lunges, Du's

Wednesday. Push jerk triples (max 80kg). Back squat triples (max 130kg). Metcon, 20min amrap of: 10 shoulder-to-overhead (50kg), 20 lunges, 30 du's. Result, 540 reps.

This was the last work day for this week, and now it's gonna be about a 3 week summer holiday for me, hurray! This is welcomed with a big heart. I drove to the gym to celebrate it in the form of a long metcon. Did some strength work prior to that.

Barbell.

• Push jerk triples (60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg)
• Back squat triples (110, 120, 125, 130kg)

For some reason the bar feels heavy right now. Or has felt for a week or so. There's gonna be a break in the training routine as we have a trip waiting for us and there's no chance to get hands on a barbell that much. It's gonna be more like bodyweight training abroad.

Today's focus for strength was shoulders and lower body. First some push jerks, didn't get a video of those but they felt fine. A little shaky on the last set but other than that pretty solid actually. Back squats felt heavy already on the 110kg hehe but still I managed to push through nicely all the way to the last set. There were no problems bringing the bar up and down as planned. But the feeling is that it weighed more than normally. Quite happy though that even with that feeling, I'm able to move the weights normally.

Metcon. Result, 540 reps (9 rounds)

• 20min amrap of:
• 10 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg
• 20 lunges
• 30 double unders

This was a good long one. First element got to my shoulders, the second to my quads, and du's to the breathing in general. Got everything done unbroken in this wod. S2o's were taxing on the upper body but this was a mental decision to push them through without putting the bar down at any point. Didn't really doubt that at any stage.

Recap of metcon

Lunges were nasty, even with just bodyweight. In the beginning I was thinking about taking light dumbbells in my hands but luckily those stayed in the shelf. That would have been brutal. Du's were unbroken each set. That really pleased me! Form was not superb but there were no misses at all. Just finished the 9th round when time hit 20 minutes sharp. Steady work.

Tuesday 30.6: Snatch, Clean, Ring dip, Squat

Tuesday. Snatch, cleans, burpees. Metcon, 7min amrap of: 10 ring dip, 30 air squat. Result, 222 reps.

Yesterday was a rest day so I was full of energy and high hopes hitting the gym. For some unknown reason my left forearm cramped on Monday and made a comeback today on the snatches. Plus I got another rip on my left palm so those kind of dampened the mood, and it turned out to be quite modest session after all. Tomorrow's gonna be a better day. Attitude.

Metcon's round times

Barbell.

• Snatches (40-60kg)
• Power clean triples (60, 70, 80, 85, 90kg)
• 2 sets of: 5 tng power clean @ 70kg + 10 burpee

Those first snatches felt really good, and the bar path was okay. I didn't rush the movement which lead the barbell coming up higher before contacting my hips. That was a good confidence booster for sure. I also got down below parallel nicely so it was looking good. These forearms brought some issues and I moved on to cleans which were not on the agenda originally. Took some triples there just to get some bar action in the books. In the end some interval work before my hand ripped.

Snatches

Metcon. Result, 222 reps (5 rounds + 12 squat)

• 7min amrap of:
• 10 ring dip
• 30 air squat

There was a need to get some real training done but these two issues were bitching in my mind. My pal Jasper agreed on this one when it came to my mind. Ring dips got to my triceps and finally squats were tough on lower body too. This wasn't that bad on the breathing because I had to pause occasionally on the dips. First 2 rounds were unbroken, and from then on I had to break them to pieces. First attempt in each set after that was anyway 6 reps.

Sunday 28.6: Clean, Front squat, Hspu, Box, Sled

Sunday. AM: Run and mobility. PM: clean triples (up to 100kg). Emom x 10min: 1 clean @ 100kg. Emom x 10min: 2 front squat @ 110kg. Emom x 21min, 1st: 10 hspu, 2nd: 15 box, 3rd: 20m sled push @ 110kg.

We spent the day in Klaukkala at the in-laws. Some quality time before the big day next Saturday. That's the highlight of this summer for sure, our wedding day =) Last preparations for that event. Next week's gonna be tight in the schedule so let's see how the training's gonna look like. In the morning we went running with Pauliina and his father for half an hour, then mobility session took place. In the evening I went to the gym for a long session.

Strength.

• Clean triples (70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg)

Couple of heavier cleans to start the day. Somehow those 95-100kg cleans felt rather heavy. There's no doubt I need to get my leg strength back in the game. It's all about the legs. More squats are coming.

Clean triples

Pulls.

• Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
• 1 squat clean @ 100kg

Triples were tough so I changed to singles and did one rep every minute for a total of 10 minutes. Pretty okay reps. I have felt smoother and I'd like to see them go down more explosively but I'll take these for now. Maybe it's only because there hasn't been much rest lately.

Clean emom

Squats.

• Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
• 2 front squat @ 110kg

Front squats are perfect after heavier cleans. This weight suits more to front than back squats. Yesterday's back squats were done at this weight only because of the time restraints. These were okay. Touch'n'go style. On the last set I decided to double the amount just for fun. That was no problem.

Squat emom

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute, for 21 minutes
• 1st min: 10 handstand push-ups
• 2nd min: 15 box jump, 61cm
• 3rd min: 20 meter sled push, 110kg

This sucked big time. Hspu's were okay for 4 rounds, 5th was okay and the last two rounds were awful. Got them done unbroken still. Definitely not easy on the last rounds. Shoulders were smashed after each set.

Box jumps took the heart beat up, and wore my out whole-heartedly but not specifically legs or breathing. It was a feeling that just fatigued the entire body. It took about 25 seconds to complete each set.

Sled was tougher than I had thought. There were 112.5kg of weight plus the sled itself. This sled didn't get heavy but somehow it took a toll on my legs. Quads were killing me after each 20 meter leg. It usually hits right after stopping. Not that much during the push / pull but right after that. This seems to be the name of the game with sled work. Tough workout but I loved it! Great to have hspu's involved in this kind of long emom wod too.

Saturday 27.6: Squat, Handstand, Wall ball

Saturday. AM: emom x 10min: 2 squat @ 110kg. PM: Handstand. Wall balls for fun: 200 reps.

The sky opener pretty clear for this Saturday and we took off to the woods early in the morning for a 30min run / walk (half and half). We were going to the city before heading to the countryside but I somehow managed to find a 30min time slot to sneak to the gym for a quick squat session. I wanted to get my hands on a barbell because I knew that's not an option anymore in Klaukkala.

Strength.

• Emom x 10min:
• 2 back squat, 110kg

Yesterday I got some lighter high rep sets done with 100kg. Today's session was very quick. Just half an hour time and I don't wanna skip the warm-up so it was hasty. Heavier sets were in my sight but didn't have enough time to build up to serious weights. This was a lot of fun though! I have a video of this action but you'll get to see it only tomorrow.

Afternoon.

• Handstand
• 200 wall ball shots, 9kg

We had some things to do at the house but there was plenty of time to mess around. Took some handstand practice and then threw the wall ball for 200 reps, not for time. Unbroken sets of 5x20, and then 4x25. These felt good all the way. Had no issues with the shots. Nice movement.

Friday 26.6: Squat, S2O, Lunges, Ghd

Friday. Back squat 3x10 @ 100kg. Metcon, 3rds of: 30 s2o (35kg), 25 lunges, 20 ghd sit-ups. Time, 9.42.

These legs have been smashed for couple of days so I've been missing squats ever since. Today was the first day I dared to put a barbell on my back (or front rack) for squatting purposes. For the metcon I wanted to have high reps each round on the jerks, and this plan was great.

Strength.

• Back squat 3x10, across (100kg)

Decided to "stay comfortable" on the load. This was same weight each round, just got more reps per round in order to get some volume in. This worked well to get these legs activated again. Getting back to action. Need to squat more, there's no doubt about it. One of the best decisions this far in the past three years was to complete the Smolov squat program last fall. Mobility increased tremendously and legs got stronger.

Squats 3x10

Metcon. Time, 9.42

• 3 rounds of:
• 30 shoulder-to-overhead, 35kg
• 25 walking lunges
• 20 ghd sit-ups

Pauliina suggested one day to do high rep workouts with a barbell. I got inspired by that prep talk and programmed this one. The beef in this one was obviously the s2o's, 30 reps with even a light weight starts to take its toll on the shoulders. I got the first round unbroken with a good burn on the shoulders. Second and third round were identical on the rep scheme: 20-10 reps.

I started lunging right away after barbell work, no need to pause at this point. Went 13 long lunges one way, and 12 reps back down. Same here, just keep on walking. There were some walking around the gym between the stations so that was my rest period.

Ghd's were good each round. I hopped on the machine, and bounced those 20 reps in a row each round. On the last round they got tough but there was no doubt I'd go ub each round. I was more concerned how the 30 jerks would look like. After completing first and second round I had to shake my arms a bit to get a big set of jerks done on the first attempt.

Thursday 25.6: Hang power cleans, Ring dips

Thursday. Hang power clean 4x5 (max 80kg). Workout, 5 rds of: 10 hang power clean (60kg), 10 ring dips.

We woke up again very early in the morning with Pauliina and went for a 30 min walk at dawn. That is a great way to start the morning. That almost turned out to be all I had time for today but late in the evening I sneaked to the gym and did some light work. My legs are still sensitive so I let them take it easier. No hard metcons this time. Couple of hang clean sets and ring dips.

Ilya Ilyin's afternoon heavy workout. I posted his same day morning light workout couple of  days ago

Cleans.

• Hang power clean 5-5-5-5 (60, 70, 80, 80kg)

I prefer squat cleans because those transfer more into clean and jerks and snatches. Mobility improves every time, and it's possible to go heavier. From time to time it's beneficial to do power cleans too. Especially for pure strength purposes. Today the reason was these legs. They were not ready to squat.

Recap of the day

Workout.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 10 hang power clean, 60kg
• 10 ring dip

Easy work to the end. My training pal Jasper had left the building at this stage so we didn't hit it together against the clock but this was just simple work load completed. The purpose was to go unbroken on both elements, and that plan worked well.

Wednesday 24.6: Clean and jerk, Du's, Burpee

Wednesday. E2mom x 10min: 5 c&j (60kg) + 30 du's. E2mom x 10min: 5 c&j (60kg) + 8 burpee.

I would appreciate if someone told me why my legs are killing me. I mean they are out of order for real. Hurts a lot in quads and they are sore when touching. It was gym time anyway, and program said clean and jerks. Didn't go heavy but instead it was heavy mentally in the form of sprints or intervals, however you wanna call it. Tough ones.

Intervals.

• Every 2:00, for 10 minutes, perform:
• 5 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 60kg
• 30 double unders

My hand got torn two days ago on the muscle-ups / chest-to-bars so it had to be taped pretty roughly in order to stand the barbell work. No big deal eventually, tapes worked perfectly. I wanted to breath hard,  as I had worn Rogue's Engine shirt one. That's my metcon shirt, got to go fast heart beat those days.

Played around with the bar with 40-60kg clean and jerks for a while, then tapped the clock running, and the idea was to go touch'n'go with the clean and jerks, and right after grab the jump rope and complete 30 double unders as fast as possible. Of course I had a trip on the set Pauliina took on video. Classic. This was either third or fourth interval. My legs were burning on those c&j's as my lower body was smashed already before opening the gym door. Shoulders felt good all the way but legs and breathing were taking hit throughout the session.

C&J's and doubles

Intervals.

• Every 2:00, for 10 minutes, perform:
• 5 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 60kg
• 8 burpee

After resting for about 3-4 minutes I repeated the system but changed double unders to burpees after discussing it with my mental coach Pauliina. We agreed on 8 burpees would be ideal so these would be something around 40 seconds per interval. And they actually were, same as with the double under versions. That was perfect leaving me over a minute to recover and I really needed that to get my heart beat down to a reasonable level.

C&J's and burpees

These were very nasty, and the body took a good beating on them. Had to walk the pain away for a while after each sprint but the time was enough to recovery still. Definitely not too much rest as it wasn't tempting to grab the bar for the next set. Enough to let the heart beat come down anyway. Try 'em out!

Tuesday 23.6: Front squat, Hspu, High box

Tuesday. Front squat triples (max 120kg). Metcon, 7 rds of: 7 front squat (70kg), 7 high box (70cm), 7 hspu. Time, 12.41.

I set up a date with Jasper at the gym. Agenda was familiar. Move some barbell and then get a good sweat on with your buddy for a badass workout. For me, it was more squats. Jasper's role was to focus deadlifts. But the big question is what happened in the morning? Pauliina woke me up at 6.00am for a morning walk. Wen went for half an hour / 3.3km walk in the central park of Helsinki. That was a great way to start the day!

Strength.

• Front squat triples (90, 100, 110, 115, 120, 110kg)

My body never really got fully warmed up for some reason. It felt cold and maybe the rest between sets was too long, or then it was just mental stuff =) Anyway, I wasn't at my best this time but was still able to move decent weight. These were triples, and I built it up by feeling, reaching 120kg for the heaviest set. Didn't max out on this one though. Then decided to drop down for 110kg before deciding to call it quits and work on the metcon with Jazz.

Couple of sets

Metcon. Time, 12.41

• 7 rounds of:
• 7 front squat, 70kg
• 7 high box jump, 70cm
• 7 handstand push-ups

Originally it was only front squats and hspu's but my training partner threw in some more ideas so this was what it finally ended up to be. Squats, box jumps and shoulder work. I went unbroken on this entire thing. Front squats turned out to be the toughest as my back was killing me midway on this workout. Saturday's deadlifts still felt in my back a little.

I thought it had gone away but all these front squats brought it back. Squats were tng for some time but then they started to form something like 5 reps, a pause and finish the set. Great wod for sure. It got to my strength and breathing. Those high box jumps were a big difference compared to normal box jumps.

Here's the metcon with Jasper

Monday 22.6: Muscle-ups, Row

Monday. Ring mu's 20 reps. Bar mu's 20 reps. Metcon, 2.000m row, c2b's.

Today's session was going to be weightless. Time seemed perfect for muscle-ups, and so it was. I was pumped to get back on the rings after having a break on them for a while. Not only ring mu's but also bar muscle-ups afterwards. Like my pulling strength wasn't shot already I had planned for 50 c2b's at the end for time. 2k row being the twist prior to those pull-ups.

Skills.

• Ring muscle-ups 20 reps (4-4-2-4-4-2 reps)
• Bar muscle-ups 20 reps (8-6-6 reps)

I enjoyed every single rep on the rings. Good warm-up, then jumped on the rings and started working. Plan was to hit couple of sets, check how it feels like and also pay attention to my hands that tend to be sensitive in this kind of challenges. They were okay on the ring muscle-ups. Didn't have any protection, no tapes, no natural grips because my hands were in good condition prior to this session.

I took a set of 4 reps and decided to hang on to that rep scheme in the following sets too. Got it on the second. Unfortunately I only got the third session on tape which was the worst I had during the day. Or let's say the first 2 reps of that set were good, and felt smooth but on the third rep I had my left hand loose and not tight against my body so I missed that rep. Better have it tight every single time.

What I'm happy about is the fact that my feet stayed together and body was much tighter than before. Swing is bigger than it used to be and overall it feels like the package is tighter. Naturally there's lot of edges to be smoothened but I'm happy on the development!

Third set

It also seemed like a good idea to work on bar muscle-ups afterwards. I took the first set for 8 reps, walked around the gym and repeated it for 2 more sets of 6 reps each. These felt in my core. Much more compared to t2b's or ghd's. Now it feels like something was really done with core =)

On the downside I got a bruise on to the middle of my left palm. Can you imagine, a small bruise. Well, I thought that doesn't mind. My metcon was waiting for me so I sat down for couple of minutes, and prepared myself mentally for that one.

Metcon.

• 2.000m row
• 50 chest-to-bar pull-ups

This was not going to be fun. That was my first instinct. Rowing and pull-ups are not friends with each other. Lots of pulling. When I started crossfitting I remember there was one event at the national cf games which consisted of these two elements. It was amrap of c2b's in 8 minutes. You just had to row 2k first before getting to the pull-ups. Nasty one. Should you row hard to leave enough time for c2b's. Or should you take it a notch slower and save energy to the other element.

My plan was to row at about 1.50 because I wanted to dominate the c2b's. Well, dominate is a bit of a strong expression. I wanted to do good on them. That's more appropriate. That blister that had formed on my hand explodes somewhere between 10-15 c2b's, and blood was running on my palm. Didn't want to risk the upcoming week of training so this metcon had to wait for better hand condition. Decided to stop it at 15 reps. That sucked but my muscle-ups rocked well today and I'll take those gains back home with me!

Sunday 21.6: Overhead, Hspu, Dips + Run

Sunday. AM: Overhead technique. Gymnastics, 50 hspu, 30 ring dips. PM: 5k run, mobility.

Damn I'm crushed due to yesterday's brutal workout. Those deadlifts killed my back and lower body. And the long emom just wore me down completely. At least my body feels totally smashed. Energy levels were not great to be honest even though there was plenty of food and recovery on Saturday. We decided to go to the gym together with Pauliina but it was definitely a light session for me this time.

On the evening run

Overhead.

• Tecnique for push press, push jerk, split jerk
• Light weight, 40-65kg

Just took some complexes of presses and jerks. Stayed light with the weights in order to give my body a rest. I was mostly concentrating on my fiancé's press work. Getting her shoulders stronger. Proud of her putting effort on these awesome movements. Shoulder presses, push presses, push jerks and even some split jerks were witnessed. Great job! Natural talent.

Gymnastics.

• Not for time of:
• 50 handstand push-ups
• 30 ring dips

After pounding the bar for some time it was time to let it be and work bodyweight movements. Got 20-10-10-10 handstand push-ups for fun, and then 3x10 ring dips. Not for time, no pressure, just get the work done. Do your thing and smile.

20 hspu

Recovery.

• Run 5 kilometers
• Mobility

In the evening I went for a 5k run in a beautiful weather. Wanted to flush the legs and get some blood flowing in the entire body. It felt surprisingly light to run. I was afraid my back would be too tight to run but it didn't bother at all.

This route was a bit over 5k. I had a mobility break at midway. Basically did some hip and hamstring drills and hung from a pull-up bar multiple times to let my shoulders enjoy the moment. I read from somewhere that hanging from a bar would improve shoulder mobility in the long run. I've added that to my warm-up routines because they really need that. It might be beneficial to spend more time on the pull-up bar though.