I miss the fealing of having legs feel like jello. Today's focus was solely on that. I'd like to squat in order to burn my lower body but for the time being, that doesn't feel smart. So rowing fast had to do the trick today.
So the plan was basically to hold a 1:1 ratio between work and rest. I went fast on the first two intervals, and felt like my legs were feeling numb or something. Completed another two sessions, and felt awful. There was no chance to maintain that pace. Decided to take an extra 2min period in the middle. Then finished the intervals between 1:43 - 1:41 on the following 4 stints. This was effectice for sure. Goal was achieved. Lower body definitely felt this one.
Can't help it. Lower back doesn't feel great so it's upper body pump all the way. After one day of recovery my body felt receptive to smash it again on back and shoulders. This time I decided to add volume.
Workout.
5 sets of:
25 handstand push-ups
15 strict pull-ups
I went on by feeling on the first round. Completed 26 handstand push-ups which is a ton to me. After I wrote this, I checked that my current PR was 25 reps. So that means it was a new personal record. Thanks for that. And going for 5 total sets of that amount, equals to 125 reps which is the most I've ever done in a session. On the rounds of 2-5 I completed 19-16 reps on the first attempt, and finished each 25 rep set with two attemps total. I'm very proud of the effort being done here.
Strict pull-ups were also a success story. I did 14-10 reps on the first set of each round. It seems like these are getting better every time I do these. At least the stamina for these is improving, and I can knock more reps than before. Today's total was 75 reps.
Considering that I completed JT the day before my shoulders, triceps and entire upped body felt okay. Much better than the first time I did this hero wod. I remember having sore body for days afterwards. My back is not giving me an easy way out so I had to still smash some upper body stuff, acommpanied with running which feels good.
Workout.
5 rounds of:
400m run
12 strict pull-ups
24 push-ups
This time I did not have a timer on so I have no idea for how long this one took. Tried to keep a decent pace on the run. Went back and forth our home road, "the wod road". Between some sort of intervals, there were pull and push elements.
I have done more and more strict pull-ups lately. And only because of the back. I haven't been eaher to compromise anything with that. So this has been a good lesson to learn the rhythm of this movement. Went close to unbroken sets. First one was at least. Then something like 7-10 reps on the first try. Push-ups were unbroken every round. Right after pull-ups. Those rolled nicely.
Wednesday. Hero wod JT. Time 9.30. Wod, 50 burpees
I usually work out during lunch break to get a little getaway from hectic work days. It's a perfect way to "relax" if you can say that of crossfit workouts. Today was an exception. Schedule was too tight and couldn't find even a short slot so I went to the garage gym in the evening. Did some mobility work and went to work. Lots of pressing ahead.
I've done this at least once years ago. The image I have on this workout is that the upper body pump was real during the workout, and even rougher the following day. Let's see what the consequences are tomorrow but at least during those 10 minutes my shoulders went numb so that feeling was quite similar as the 2014 version.
I went unbroken on the first set of handstand push-ups. It immediately went to my shoulders and it was challenging to hit the rings right away. I did them something like 8-8-5. It surprised me this time as much as last time that the push-ups are not a walk in the park on this workout. Those felt very awkward, and I believe I got 7 reps on the first try. Felt super strong haha, nooot.
Next round of hspu's went by in about 3 sets, ring dips went in couple of sets, and same logic on the push-ups. Last round was mentally easier as there were only 9 reps per movement, even though those were not easy. Finally the clock stopped at 9.30 which was a personal record (PR) Nice to see I'm still able to reach those levels of fitness. At least occasionally
Wod.
50 burpees
If you compare JT time to previous post on the same workout in 2014, you can see I did 50 burpees for time after JT. Today I decided to contribute to the same idea after this push workout. This time I didn't have a timer rolling, I just went. Didn't have to have rest periods. I still took this a bit more conservative
Sunday's bro session with my big bro and his kid was spectacular. Only positive vibes of that training session. My back felt that the next day so I had to recover on Monday. Nasty feeling in the left part of my lower back. On Tuesday I still had to modify my training and take it easy.
Wod.
5 rounds of:
500m row
10 strict pull-ups
10 strict toes-to-bar's
Went rather fast on the rowing because I was about to do strict reps on the pull-up bar. I knew I wouldn't dominate the strict pull-ups and therefore would have to break them down somehow. Went strict because I didn't want to stress my back too much on this one. Felt food all the way on these movements.
Might be that I went unbroken on the first round or so but the following rounds were something like 6-7 reps on the first set. Strict pull-up is a difficult movement to me as I find it hard to get a rhythm and flow going on this one. I usually have to stay in a dead hang position down there. Those t2b's went unbroken each round. Much better movement but the same challenge on the movement considering the flow and continuity.
Sunday. Pair wod with Sipa: Power cleans @ 50-80kg, running and db carries.
Candy day. My big bro came to visit me for an outdoor training session with his older daughter who also happens to be a cf fanatic. So we did a workout with Sipa as a pair workout, and his daughter did this solo, a bit modified with rowing.
Pair wod. Time, around 27 minutes
50 power cleans @ 50kg
Run 400m / Db carry @ farmer's walk position and overhead position
40 power cleans @ 60kg
Run 400m / Db carry @ farmer's walk position and overhead position
30 power cleans @ 70kg
Run 400m / Db carry @ farmer's walk position and overhead position
20 power cleans @ 80kg
Farmer's walk dumbbell @ 25kg / Overhead walk dumbbell @ 15kg
The main ingredient in this soup was the barbell work in the form of power cleans. Usually I do cleans from hang position but today we carried the gym matt on the drive way as well as a bunch of iron. Barbells, bumper plates, dumbbells and kettlebells. Loved it.
Idea was that we did the required amount of cleans together as a team. Started at 50kg, then added 10kg per rounds, and climbed up to 80kg. Those cleans worked perfectly for me today. My lower back had felt nasty for the entire week so I was a bit nervous how it would feel moving those weights. But no biggie, felt awesome.
After cleans one guy went running up and down the "wod street". In the mean while, the other guy took one dumbbell in farmer's carry @ 25kg, and the other dumbbell was in overhead position @ 15kg. We went something like 30 meters back and forth with those dumbbells, and changed the dumbbells / arms in the process so that both sides got the load they needed. Those overhead carries are not cool. My OH lock down position is far from perfect so carrying anything over my head means I have to do a lot of extra work in vain. Great training though to work on that weakness
My lower back is still nagging from Tuesday's deadlifts. I've had to think how my body feels in different movements and adjust the training accordingly. I would have wanted to squat already but that has not felt the right thing to do right now.
Wod.
3 rounds of:
30 pull-ups
400m run
30 ring dips
400m run
This was a great victory. Quite nasty workout in my opinion. Well, of course it all comes down to game plan. My goal was to hit the first set of pull-ups unbroken and see how it feels and that should determine how the following rounds could be like. It turned out that I knocked each round of pull-ups unbroken. That must be the first ever doing this many sets of around 30 pull-ups in a wod.
Ring dips were tougher, and that was no surprise. On the first round I did 15+5+5+5 and felt like I had it in my control. Second round saw some vulnerability and I went 12+4+4+3+3+2+2, and the last was most likely 12+3+3+3+2+2+2+1+1+1. That means to say my shoulders and triceps got shot pretty well but I got the pump on the workout and was able to keep the heart rate up.
In addition to this main workout, I did some handstand practice in the morning while playing with the kids. And same in the afternoon as we went for a bicycle ride with the whole gang to Klaukkala's track and field. Found a perfect place to try walking on my hands. It was inspiring to see that I'm still able to do these things even though I don't practice them basically at all nowadays. Very occasionally.
It was supposed to be recovery day according to my plan but as I wrote earlier, I'm weak to do rest days if I have the possibility to train. I'm not training to optimally. I'm training because it feels so good mentally. I need my training sessions.
Wod.
21-15-9 of:
Row for calories
Handstand push-ups
Front squats @ 60kg
Toes-to-bar's
Classic formation of a workout, 21-15-9 reps of the above mentioned. Hspu's felt very good. It seemed like the easiest movement of these even though my shoulders were shot from yesterday's action with barbell and dumbbells. That definitely had an effect.
Even though hspu's went unbroken, the burden felt on the front squats too. Having constant tension on my shoulders by having the barbell in front rack position felt nasty on the shoulders. First round of squats were 15-6, and the second 10-5, last one unbroken. T2b's were 15-6 on the first round, then unbroken for the rest of them. This felt like an excellent workout and my breathing also went high so goal was achieved.
Conditioning.
Row 5k
Hopped on the rower and just did the work. Five kilometers, not for time. Easy pace, sub 2:00.
Thursday. For 5 rds of strict pull-ups and bench. Strongman work in the park. Accessory work with dumbbells.
Yesterday was a recovery day which surprised myself a bit. That's what I had written but the fact that I stuck to that was cool. My back felt awkward after Tuesday's deadlifts so that rest day came to need. Today's focus was on upper body strength.
Wod.
5 rounds not for time of:
12 strict pull-ups
15 bench press @ 60kg
It's not that common that I go after strict pull-ups. The movement feels odd to me somehow. No problem pulling myself up but as I come down it's very difficult for me to find a rhythm and speed on this movement. It basically takes me seconds in the dead hang position down there. That taxes me a lot. I did maybe half of these reps with normal pull-up grip, and the other half as chin-ups. Bench presses were completed as 10+5 reps.
Strongman work.
Farmer's walk for 600m @ 2x25kg dumbbells
Front rack carry for 400m @ 2x25kg dumbbells
Took my dumbbells for a walk in the park. These bigger guys are 25kg bells. I just started carrying them in farmer's walk position basically without any idea how this would turn out to. I walked about 100m one way, then dropped them, tried to regain my grip strength and headed back home. Took 3 trips back and forth as farmer's walk. Then I decided to lift them to front rack position and took 2 more trips to reach a total 1.000 meters. Those dumbbells really started to burn my grip on the first carry and then shoulders too on the second style.
Accessory.
4 sets of:
12+12 strict press @ 15kg dumbbell
10 bicep curls @ 2x15kg dumbbells
Just some meathead action to finish the session as I was in no hurry whatsoever at that time. So I decided to enjoy the moment and do something. Strict presses and curls. Went on by feeling.
Lately I scribbled down a template by which I will do my training. We'll see if I'm gonna follow that plan. Idea is good but having three little kids there might come some surprises and if I can't stick to the plan I'll have to throw it into a trash bin and just work by feeling. Currently it showed it's time to do strength training on Tuesdays.
Strength.
Deadlift 4x8 @ 150kg
Bench 5x5 @ 70kg
Deadlifts were a continuation to this deadlift progression I've done lately. This was the third piece on this one. All pull days have been based on 4x8 rep scheme. It started @ 140kg, then 145kg, and now 150kg. Barbell felt good. There's more in the tank for sure. It's been a good movement for me pretty much always. I took "warm-up" up to 170kg, then dropped down to these working sets.
Bench is something I do very rarely so it just suited well to accompany these heavier pulls. My bench is not strong by any meter. This was very conservative anyway and the goal was just to do some bench, nothing ambitious this time.
I had one hour slot to hit my daily workout. Had no plans whatsoever as I stepped outdoors. Felt like I'm gonna go after a longer workout with modest pace. Goal was not to skyrocket my breathing and lay down on the floor afterwards. Just keep on moving.
Wod.
5 rounds of:
800m row
30 push press @ 40kg
20 toes-to-bar's
This turned out to be exactly what I needed. I rowed at around 1.55 / 500m pace throughout the workout. Barbell was light so that was not the case but it was more of controlling my breathing and focus on efficient barbell flow and rhythm. I went 20-10 each round. Had I gone unbroken, my breathing would have gone too heavy and maybe my shoulders might have been shot.
T2b's were 15-5 for all but the last round which turned out to be unbroken. I felt surprisingly good on this movement for the whole session. I thought those might have caused more issues.
Sunday. Back squat 3 x 6-4-2 @ 90 - 130kg. Accessories: good morning, 1-leg romanian deadlift, seated press.
Today was supposed to be all about posterior chain. Back squats witnessed a new progression, similar to the one I did somewhere in the end of last year. It worked well so I decided to give it a go. Lets' see, this was the first session. Weather forecast told it's gonna rain only in the afternoon so I wrote to go after a deadlift progression. Per as usual, the forecast was wrong and it rained a lot so there was not a possibility to carry my gym matt, barbells and plates to the drive way which is my place to pull heavy. Kids are sleeping close to the gym so that's not a possibility to keep bouncing the barbell close in near proximity.
Strength.
6-4-2 @ 90, 100, 110kg
6-4-2 @ 100, 110, 120kg
6-4-2 @ 110, 120, 130kg
This was originally written by Ben Bergeron if my remember right. My friend Toni introduced me to this progression. We already hit this once somewhere in November - December. Squatted once a week for a total of 5-6 sessions. The goal was to increase 2kg per session. That means the heaviest double would be 140kg. That was a time of celebration. I'm looking to go after those number in the home gym too.
Accessories.
4 rounds of:
10 good mornings @ 60kg
8+8 one-leg romanian deadlifts @ 2x25kg dumbbells
12 seated press
This was written on the spot. Some good mornings, 1-legged romanians and seated presses. The first two are pretty straightforward. Seated presses changed a bit during the four rounds because that's something I don't do much and couldn't plan them perfectly in advance. I always worked left hand first, then right side.
First round was 12 reps @ 15kg dumbbell. That seemed a bit too easy. On the second and third round I grabbed a heavier db and completed 6 reps @ 25kg, then dropped that and immediately completed another 6 reps with 15kg dumbbell to reach that same 12 total reps for the set.
On the fourth and last round I decided to go for as many reps as possible with the heavier db (25kg), then drop it and do the same trick with the lighter db (15kg). I started with left hand, could barely complete 10 reps @ 25kg and another 6 reps @ 15kg before my shoulder went numb. It turned out the rep scheme was similar when trying it with the right hand. This was fun to do some old school meat head stuff.
Wednesday. Wod, 8 rds of: hspu, db snatch and back squat @ 60kg
Sorry for posting this in a wrong order. This workout took place on Wednesday but I had to dig it somewhere from my notes what I did that day. I had three rest days prior to this day. I felt lazy or sluggish and had difficulties to get going. Originally it was supposed to be something like Mary but that was not going to happen on a day like this.
Wod. Time, 16.20
8 rounds of:
8 handstand push-ups
8 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg, right hand
8 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg, left hand
8 back squat @ 60kg
Once I started this wod it all fell into place. Somehow it was difficult to start but once it was on, it was on. I was able to keep the pace steady. Two-minute rounds for the entire 16 minutes. Naturally all those movements were completed unbroken. This started to feel nasty somewhere in the middle but I was able to push through without having to compromise the pace.
Saturday. Wod, 7 rounds of DB deads, DB cleans and Wall balls
Thursday's massive amount of hang cleans took its toll on my forearms. Felt like they got smashed and were numb the following day. That's why I went with the running / burpee fiesta. However, this weekend they felt good again so that was a good and quick recovery.
Wod.
7 rounds of:
15 deadlift @ 2x25kg dumbbells
10 cleans @ 2x25kg dumbbells
20 wall balls
It's a totally different thing to do movements like deads, cleans and overhead work with a barbell compared to dumbbells or kettlebells. It's good to do kb/db one-handed for unilateral work and also two-handed for a different kinf of stimulus. The weights can not be compared to barbell weights.
This got to my breathing mostly. Deadlifts were okay even though they got to my posterior chain. Hang cleans are nasty with those 25's. Huh, they weigh quite a lot on those cleans, gets on my grip and boosts the breathing. Once I get rid of them, it's not the most tempting thing to grab a wall ball right away. I have no idea how much this took as my phone is broke and couldn't see a timer. My original plan was to do this for a 20 minute amrap.
Thursday. Wod, 5 rounds of: rowing, hang cleans and push-ups
This was something I copy pasted directly from my pal Ponyschannel. He decided to overcome corona by renting a concept2 rower and naturally took it right away for a test drive with this workout.
Wod. Time, +18min
5 rounds of:
500m row
15 hang power cleans @ 60kg
20 push-ups
For the warm up I did my basic couple minute dynamic stretch / mobility session and built up to a triple clean @ 80kg. Then jumped on the rower and relied that the first 500 meters would help my body get used to a heavier heart rate and get the bdy pumping.
Rowing was probably somewhere around 1.50. Maybe 1.55 towards the end. It was obvious this workout would be all about the cleans. I went unbroken on the first round. It was tough but manageably. I realised though that it would be a suicide to try that trick on the next round too. Broke the rounds of 2, 3 and 4 to 10-11 reps on the first try and then finishing the set with the remaining 4-5 reps. Last round was a battle of wills and I managed to push through the set unbroken.
Push-ups were the easiest part of this one. I don't want to underestimate the suck of push-ups but there were only 20 reps. Went 14+6 all the way on these with a quick shake between sets.
