Wednesday. Workout, of rowing, deadlifts, hang power cleans and wall ball shots. Time, 18 min
Quite a workout. Worked very well for the purpose I was looking for. I went through all those dumbbell movements unbroken, and cut the wall balls in to two sets. Maybe something like 25-15 or 28-12 reps. I'm very happy on the way I was able to go through this wod.
I didn't have much time nor energy to great freaky workouts so I just grabbed a concept2 rower and a set of dumbbells and started moving. This really touched my lungs and burned my legs. Kind of a nasty feeling over this one. Rowing was a notch uglier of these two movements as I wanted to keep the pace between 1.48 - 1.50 throughout the workouts. From third round of the rowing got really tough.
Farther's Day. Emom x 15min up to 100k. Intervals, every 3:00, for 6 sets of: 15 hspu, 15 kbs @ 32kg.
In Finland we are celebrating father's day on the second Sunday of November so it was great to have some breakfast made by the family and then we headed to a big park with the kiddos to hang around. After lunch the twins went to bed and I went outdoors to get some fitness in the books. In the afternoon another park session with the family.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
Hang squat cleans
1-3 min: 5 reps @ 80kg
4-6 min: 3 reps @ 85kg
7-9 min: 1 rep @ 90kg
10-12 min: 1 rep @ 95kg
13-15 min: 1 rep @ 100kg
This was an excellent session for throwing some barbell around
Intervals.
Every 3:00, for 6 sets of:
15 handstand push-ups
15 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
Work 1:00, Rest 2:00
In the beginning I thought if this is too little work for an interval piece. It took me about one minute, or less, to complete one round and I thought I'd better have more recovery than work time because this was very shoulder intensive workout and it would be impossible to maintain that system for 6 sets. In the end I was happy that I wrote this session like this, with all the reps and work/rest periods. Because I was done in the end.
Saturday. Wod, 5rds of: 600m run, 30 db snatch. Time, 27min.
My body was in full devastation for days since Tuesday's workout. Wednesday and Thursdays were pretty much day offs, and I'm very glad I was able to squat heavy on Friday. This Saturday I was Still a little off. I took one bar muscle-up in the warm-up and it felt horrible so I dropped that idea right away. Intensity was so high in the past week or so that maybe my body was not used to that kind of rocky road. However, that feels awesome.
Wod. Time, 27 min
Run around the block (about 600m)
30 dumbbell snatches @25kg
Steady pace throughout thw workout. Round times were 5.15, 5.15, 5.21, 5.30 and 5.40. On the fourth round I felt like my heart was jumping somehow oddly so I needed to take a break in the middle of those snatches, and before heading to the last round of running. Other than that, this was very steady paced workout and effort. Dumbbell snatches were completed with 15 right hand snathces and then 15 with left hand. I remember when this kind of volume made my upper back hurt for couple of days afterwards but this time that's not the case. It needs to be a 70-80kg barbell for quite a number of reps to get that same feeling. Maybe that's a good thing though
My body went to a shut down mode after Tuesday. I had a very intensive training week the previous week as I had took the intensity up a notch in metcons and then the barbells I moved were heavier. This Tuesday sealed the deal and I was sore as f*ck on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday I tried to to do some recovery row but I had a lot of issues trying to row with my concept2. Abs were so sore as I tried to pull the handle that I rowd for maybe 4km and called it quits. On Thursday the situation had not moved tremendously to a better direction. I went for a walk and went the Tornimäki stairs up and down twice (about 350 steps) in order to recover.
Strength.
Back squat 6x3 @ 130kg
As I woke up on Friday my abds were still gone. I don't remember having had core soreness for days before. Anwyay, I was afraid I can't train today either. That would have been a bummer. I decided to try to squat. It felt good. So let's load up the bar and let's go.
Great feeling to take this 130kg barbell for a ride. It's been too long since squatting multiple reps with this load. I've done singles in the past month on these Friday's in the warm-up prior to the working sets. But doing triples at this weight was freaking awesome.
It was about time to hit it at Kehä. That means a lot of barbell throwing with Toni. This time we did intervals to start with, then moved on to strength piece. In the end I smashed my core with accessory stuff. Great training day.
Intervals
Alternate after every round, for a total of 5 rounds of both of:
9 deadlift @ 70kg
6 hang power cleans @ 70kg
3 push jerk @ 70kg
12 cal ski erg
I gave Toni the chance to write the programming for this day. No surprise it was something close to DT. One of his favorites, and something he always somehow suggests. Skierg was originally in the beginning but we decided to throw it in the end so that we wouldn't pace ourselves with that conditioning vehicle.
We talked that maybe it could be smart to do 8 deadlifts, drop the bar, grab it again and finish it. That's to save the grip. However, once I took the barbell, it was natural to just keep pounding forward. For the first 3 rounds I went unbroken with all these movements. It got harder and harder by the round. By the time I got to 4th round, I had to drop the barbell after 8th deadlift, just to release the tension, and then continue to finish it. Same system in the 5th interval.
My first round took 1.10, and it remained in the same range in the following rounds. Nasty set of intervals in my opinion. That skierg in the end was tough as my legs were smashed once I got my hands on the device. Perfect intervals.
Strength
Hang squat clean truples
Barbell @ 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg
We had 10 minutes to establish a max triple for hang squat cleans. We started at 70kg, added 5kg per set and decided to go with the flow. My legs were jello and grip was gone after the first piece. There was 10 minute break between these workouts that I really needed. Otherwise this would have gone south. But after 2-3 sets I got to the core of it and body was back in action.
It's pretty remarkable that I was able to hit that 100kg for a triple. I'm not quite sure as I don't keep track of doubles, triples or anything like taht in any movements. But doing 100kg triple from hang position sounds like a shared PR in my head. I'm very happy about this session.
Accessory
100 ghd sit-ups
I had decided to destroy my core after missing the ghd device for a long time. I completed 50 reps in a row, then 2x25 reps to get a total of 100 reps. My abs cramped at some point in the second set and at least I got what I wanted and deserved. It turned out my abs really got smashed for days. Still, on Saturday I had some issues because of these ghd's and other training volume.
Monday. Emom x 12 min: Front squats up to 130kg. Wod, 5rds of: 10 back squat @ 60kg, 25 push-ups. Time, 8.30
Oh man my traps were sore from all those cleans from Sunday. I have been back squatting once a week on Friday's and have neglected front squats for real, and for a long time. It hit me like a lightning from a clear blue sky. I needed to front squat.
Strength.
Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes of:
1-2min: 8x60kg
3-4min: 4x90kg
5-6min: 2x100kg
7min: 1x105kg
8min: 1x110kg
9min: 1x115kg
10min: 1x120kg
11min: 1x125kg
12min: 1x130kg
However, my concept was a little vague. I just took the barbell for a ride and decided to see how it turns out to in emom style. It was a great way to get prepared by taking a light barbell and take multiple reps. First two minutes was 8 reps @ 60kg. Obviously light one but good to get the body moving and fluids running in my body. Jumped to 90kg after those, then 100kg. Two minutes per weight until 6 minutes had passed.
Then I started to take singles, adding 5kg per minute. I had no expectations whatsoever where I could climb up to. I reckoned maybe something like 115-120kg would be nice. It was mind blowing that I was able to hit 130kg front squat after not front squatting in months. And I don't even remember when I have been up and down with 130kg so I was super happy about this one.
Wod. Time, 8.30
5 rounds of:
10 back squats @ 60kg
25 push-ups
I was pretty much done after those squats but still decided to do something quick. I just started doing without a big plan. As simple as that, back squats and push-ups. Kind of lame but still this was actually pretty good one. My triceps hurt a lot. That doesn't usually happen so maybe it's because I haven't done that much push movements lately.
Saturday was a rest day. We had some friends come by with their kids so the house was full of little people. Plenty of fun and it was nice to see this couple that we haven't seen in months. Due to korona, this has been a little bit different kind of year but luckily we have this thing under control nowadays in Finland as people behave as they should be. Our daughter said Saturday evening that she would like to go to a restaurant this Sunday so we decided to pack our family to the car and head to Espoo in the morning. We took a road trip to the same Nokkalan Majakka, close to Matinkylä to have a delightful lunch there. In the evening I took a quick intense workout.
Workout. Time, 12.30
4 rounds of:
10 hang power clean @ 80kg
400m run
This scared me a little before the workout. Somehow I felt confident but onthe other hand I realized 80kg for hang power cleans is heavy for me. Especially with little or no warm-up the 80kg barbell is heavy'ish. Especially for multiple rounds with quite a number of cleans per round.
This was mentally strong game as I was able to hold on to the barbell every round for all 10 reps without having to let go. Damn those last 2 reps were heavy on the last 2 sets. And I was able to run faster than normally. That also attacked my legs and the entire workout was quite intense and exactly what I needed.
Another Friday, another squat session. It's getting heavier by the week. And I have loved every single session. I feel blessed to being able to squat at all. Okay, I have been pretty much healthy all my life in the big picture but after having some back and knee issues in the summer time I felt desperate. That's why I'm grateful for every single squat that I can do.
Strength.
Back squats
6x4 @ 125kg
What can I say about these squats. Those were solid reps. Yes, they got heavier of course. But somehow it was also "easier" to do only 4 reps per set. Sure I had to growl in the last reps of every set but I had no doubts of hitting those sets. You can take a look at one of the sets. It took me 30 minutes to finish this strength session. It's getting intimidating to add more reps to be honest. Let's see what the next Friday looks like
Third win for this week. Pre-planned workouts. Okay, today was only a 1-piece training session but it was a benchmark workout. Plus it included overhead squats. That's something I haven't done in ages. I'd say it's been at least a year. Why is that? My mobility in my shoulders is not ideal to say the least and it takes a ton of mobility to get to a good overhead squat position. And it still is not perfect. I have always struggled this position, same with the snatch. Nowadays as I do not have that much time I tend to neglect both elements: ohs and snatch.
Still, I got this idea out of the blue, and couldn't dump it. So I saved one entire session for this benchmark workout. I realized beforehand that this is also going to be quite intense. I hoped my ohs would be completed unbroken. And they did. Every set was its own battle. First was simply so long set that it taxed my shoulders. Maybe if I had the bar in a perfect position it would be a lot easier but the reality is that I do not. On the pull-ups I wanted to go by my traditional strategy: try to wolf down a big junk of reps to start with, then just live through it. I took 25 reps, then 10 and 7 reps to finish it.
On the second round I chipped away those 15 ohs with a good battle. I felt the form collapsing in the last couple of reps but because the barbell was light I was able to stick to it. On the pull-ups I chewed 16 on the first attempt, then 8 and 6 reps to reach a total of 30 reps.
Last round was mentally the easiest with only 9 ohs and 18 reps. Ohs unbroken and pull-ups were 12+3+3 reps. My grip was gone after 10 reps but got those 12 to start with. That was mentally much better so I was able to get those needed extra 6 reps much quicker. This was about 2 minute PR compared to previous Josh so I'll take this anytime.
Wednesday: Emom x 10min: 5 thruster @ 60kg. Emom x 5min: 22 wall ball shots
Badminton.
On Tuesday I didn't do any crossfit training but it was one hour of good conditioning with Tuomas as we went to hit some badminton.
Barbell.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes:
5 thrusters @ 60kg
This was continuance to this week's bigger plan. This was written in advance. If it had not been so, I had definitely not gone after these both. I'm very pleased to get two pieces completed in one session. Some barbell work and then an intense workout that I have thought beforehand.
Thrusters are cimply awesome. 60kg thrusters are more awesome. The nature of this workout was that it only takes 10 seconds to complete so the work time is short, recovery is longer. However, the barbell is rather heavy'ish so it takes a toll on the body in the long run.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 5 minutes
22 wall ball shots
The agenda for this one was quite the opposite. Light weight but lots of reps which also burns the body. Especially shoulders in my case. And it took quite accurately 41 seconds to finish one set and those 19 seconds got shorter and short by the minute. That was the feeling despite it stayed identical every round. Last minute was quite awful. You can probably notice there is something similar to Karen which is 150 wb shots for time. My PR is 7.46 so this was good pacing for that one.
Monday. Barbell complex. Wod, 21-15-9 of: hspu and hang power clean @ 50kg. Time, 4.30
It's been a while since moving a heavier barbell or doing any sort of barbell cycling / complex. It just struck me that this 3-kid life has got the better of me and my workouts have become just workouts. My life is busy every single day, from morning to evening and every day that make a decision to train, it's gonna be rather tight schedule. But it's also very important haven for me so I'm gonna keep on squeezing my schedule so that I find that short slot somewhere. On Sunday I put those training slots for every day and wrote the workouts for each day. I also programmed more barbell and heavier weights for this week.
Barbell complex.
Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes of:
1 squat clean @ 90kg
2 front squat @ 90kg
Oh boy it felt awesome. Felt like a king. Just like when I was back in 2016 training at Optimal Performace Center where I used to go on average of 6.5 times a week, and hit 2-3 pieces per training sessions. Pretty much every session began with a barbell, and ended with metcon(s) and accessories. This would have been a normal day for me that time but nowadays it's almost always one piece per day. Ain't got more time for that. But now this was so well scheduled and determined beforehand that this was very efficient session actually. It took me something like 30-40 minutes to finish both pieces.
Wod. Time, 4.30
21-15-9 reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Hang power cleans @ 50kg
I knew this is gonna be fast and it's gonna hurt. And I got through this as I had planned and hoped for. That is, unbroken. The rep scheme was nothing short of superb. It was challenging but still up to my head whether I'm gonna go unbroken or not. Hspu's started greatly in the start, then jumped to the barbell after 15 rest period. It started to feel nasty somewhere at 15 reps. As I put the bar down, it hit my shoulders and grip, plus breathing. Had to take 20 second rest after those cleans.
Second set of hspu's was tough but I could have put couple more reps on the board if necessary. The rest period grew to something like 25 seconds before cleans. Before I grabbed the barbell I thought I needed to cut this to two sets. However, once I got to 8-9 reps, I decided to just hold on.
It's almost awkward to admit it took me +20 seconds to attempt the last set of hspu's. But my forearms were so tense I couldn't feel them anymore and had to shake it off before the hspu's. And another 18 seconds recovery before the last set of cleans.
This was the first time in a log time I have took the entire workout on video. It was funny to see and count the rest periods in the transitions. It always feels like it's just a short period, like 10 seconds every now and then but in reality it takes double that time easily. On the other hand I like to do bigger sets if by any means possible. I feel like it's deveoping me and my work capacity a lot more. I was very pleased on the outcome of this workout for sure. Exactly the stimulus I was looking for.
Sunday. Wod, 30-20-10 reps of: t2b and lunges @ 2x15kg db's. Time, 5.20
Without saying it's obvious that this was inspired by Crossfit Games workout where those guys did t2b's and lunges with kettlebells. I'd really like to have a pair of 24kg kettlebells. I can see the benefits of those. My 2-poods are a bit too heavy and they are from different manufacturere so they are of different size and shape. Dumbbells on the other hand don't quite work the same way with lunges. I have a pair of 15 kg's and 25kg's but as they are shaped differently I find it awkward to Place them in front rack position.
Workout. Time, 5.20
30-20-10 reps of:
Toes-to-bar's
Walking lunges @ 2x15kg dumbbells
This was a quick one. I was so weary as I stepped outside for this workout. Needed to get something done to shake this system up but definitely couldn't get the best of myself for this session. So this was kind of a half-assing with a short wod. Nothing wrong with short and intense workout for sure. On the contrary. Let's think about Fran for example. It takes 3-4 minutes and I'm over and out for the entire day. But then if the movements are like this (t2b and light lunges) it should be a longer workout. Anyway, this was a good compulsory workout because the other option was to do nothing at all.
Toes-to-bar's were 24+6 on the first round, 12+4+2+2 on the second one and 6+2+2 on the last one. Lunges were unbroken. I tried to push myself on this one and didn't give any slack in the transitions. That's the reason why I had to break those t2b sets in pieces. I'm rather happy on the outcome of this workout. As I wrote in the beginning, it would have been ideal to have 2x24kg dumbbells in front rack position to get the right kind of stimulus.
Saturday. Wod, 5rds of: 20 pull-ups, 20 wb. Time, 10.10
I got the inspiration to this one somewhere from the Crossfit Games that was going on during this weekend. To be honest, I can't find an idea to which workout this even remote relates to :) But sill, it was somewhere. Very intense workout and that one wod was enough.
Workout. Time, 10.10
5 rounds of:
20 pull-ups
20 wall ball shots
My strategy was so that the walk between pull-up bar and sall ball station which is about 15-20 meters was supposed to be my recovery period. Once I got to the ball, just grab it and go. Same thing with the pull-up bar. Jump up and see how it goes. That's at least how it felt in my head. My reasoning was to just attack it and probably I would have to break the reps up anyway at some point with this tactic so why not take the first set right away.
On the pull-ups this resulted in going unbroken for first two rounds. Third one was 15+5. Fourth round 12+4+4 reps,m and the last one 10+4+2+3 reps. It's rare for me to do doubles / triples so maybe that shows that this was intense and had to be broken to smaller pieces towards the end. Had I continued to more rounds, my should have been slower from the beginning. This was optimized for 5 round pace.
Continuing to hammer more lower body strength. This is becoming a system of my own. A concept. Friday squats. This time it was time to take 120kg for a ride.
Couldn't find a way to embed a Youtube video right now as they changed the layout so here's a link to my squats: Back squat 6x120kg
Strength.
Back squat 6x6 @ 120kg
Last week it was 115kg for 7 reps, repeat for a total of 5 sets. This time five more kilos, drop down one rep and add one more set. Total volume stayed pretty much the same. For sure these hurt, especially the last two reps of each set.
I'm still stoked to being able to squat consistently. Let's see how this evolves. I had two alternative routes in my head. Either I'm going with this style that I'm adding 5kg and dropping volume by the week. The other option is to complete that 6-4-2, 6-4-2, 6-4-2 system in the end of last year, squat waves. Those worked perfectly for me and my pal Toni.
