Sunday 16.8: Back squat

Sunday. Back squat 10x3 (138kg).

Yesterday was pretty much a rest day. We spent the weekend in Klaukkala with the in-laws. Great quality time with the family. There was some yard work to be done, real life crossfit, and some games that we played, but other than that it was all eating and chilling. Recovery at its best. Sunday evening I went to the gym for the final day of Smolov squat program.

Smolov.

• Back squat 10x3 (138kg)

I did mental prep for days leading up to this day. This is very close to my one rep max of back squat. How happy am I for this stuff to be over! Really, it was brutal, and every session was heavy in its own way. Sunday triples were the heaviest of each day but they were also the shortest sets.

It's been 4-time squatting for weeks now. It has also forced me to think a bit more of the metcons in a sense that I needed to step back on the volume of metcons during this Smolov thing. I've been missing some bad ass metcons, and I think I have good ones in reserve for the upcoming weeks.

There are some takeaways from Smolov. I was mentally strong. Big thing. These sets were not easy. Another thing is that strength crawled in to this body somehow because my legs took this burden well. My legs felt fresh throughout the game and had no issues whatsoever with lower body. Lower back felt the burden in the long run but legs were fine.

Squats 10x3

I was somewhat surprised of not hitting ass to grass in every rep as that was the key gain last year when I did Smolov. That is something that needs to be thought thoroughly. Still, it feels like mobility took a big leap forward this time too. Didn't feel tight or pain in the hips at any time. Very loose actually, felt very good about that. Maybe it was my back that wasn't mobile enough. In front squats it feels way easier to go all the way down because it's easier to keep the back straight all the time.

Friday 14.8: Back squats

Friday. Back squat 7x5 (130kg).

We only had one hour to do our workouts. And for the past weeks Friday's have been 7x5 squats with ascending weights. It takes some time to hit heavier sets so this was all I had time for. Warm-up takes close to half an hour before the first set is on my back, and warm-up is something I don't feel good skipping. It is number one prevention of injuries so warm-up is crucial.

Smolov.

• Back squat 7x5 (130kg)

Damn it was great to move this load for multiple sets! It was a scary thought to do 7 sets of 5 reps @ 130 kilos. I prepped myself for the entire day and reminded every now and then that I can do this stuff. I've done sets at 130-140kg so this is not gonna be an issue. Easy money. Some uptalk to get my head around this session.

Warm-up was lengthy, and when I got to the barbell finally I took sets at 60, 90, 110, and 120kg's. After these my body was ready for the real deal at 130kg. On every set I took my time between reps, not rushing it through because I really didn't wanna see any misses. First sets were okay, heavy from the very first but manageable. In the latter sets it felt like I had to give my legs even more recovery between reps.

I'm very happy on being able to smash this session through. Next squat session is gonna be brutal. The week ends in triples, and heavier than ever. They are downright scary at this point. Got to get a good mental boost before entering the gym =)

Squats 7x5 at 130kg

Thursday 13.8: Snatch, Du's, Ghd, Burpee

Thursday. Power snatch 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1 (max 60kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 30 du, 10 ghd, 10 burpee. Result, 330 reps.

Day between squats. This was more like a go by feeling kinda day. Haven't done snatches that much lately so it was about time. On the metcon the main ingredient was double unders. I feel like they have gone a step back, and at the same time I'm looking enviously Pauliina completing them with great form so it got me some inspiration to hit them.

Snatch.

• Power snatch 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1 (triples at 50kg, doubles at 55kg, singles at 60kg)

I determined the weights beforehand. Triple snatches at 50 kilos, doubles at 55kg and finally singles at 60kg. It's been ages since doing power snatches in some other way than in metcons. This was not a timed portion, not emom, just completed a set, walked a bit, and continued further.

There's a lot to be done in my technique. I can hit light weight up to the hips but when something is on the barbell, I tend not to have the required patience. On the first pull everything is okay but then after knees I don't bring the bar high enough. Pretty classic stuff.

Triples and doubles were alright. I did them touch'n'go style and was confident on the weights. Okay, they are light weight after all but I haven't snatched in a while and this has never been a strength of mine. Singles at 60kg felt heavy. By heavy I mean it's not easy to get it overhead because the bar doesn't hit correct spots and the explosiveness lacks in the movement. But these weights don't bring any stress to the body because 60kg is not a lot of weight, no matter how you measure it. So it always kind of feels like a light day when doing snatches.

Metcon. Result, 330 reps

• 12min amrap of:
• 30 double unders
• 10 ghd sit-ups
• 10 burpees

This was a little fun conditioning part at the end of the session. Didn't wanna touch barbell as tomorrow's another good grind of squats. Just keeping the body moving on the days off. As I wrote, double unders are something that needs to get back in good shape. Today they felt good. Even though I had couple of misses, I felt my form was better and it felt much more natural.

Ghd's were the easiest part of this one but they kept my heart beat high. Burpees are always great. I enjoyed them a lot. They were kinda miserable but I liked them a lot. It's a good movement. There's not really a reason to stop. You can always complete one more burpee. Just hit it. Good mental movement. Managed to complete 6 full rounds plus 30 du's on top of that. Had the du's went better, there was time to complete the 7th round.

Wednesday 12.8: Back squat, Pull-ups, Dips

Wednesday. Back squat 5x7 (125kg). Gymnastics, 5rnft: 15 pull-ups, 10 ring dips.

More squats, 5x7 in the program. I had a great training partner with me at the gym - Jasper. He smashed some overhead strength this time. He's written us a great long chipper which we'll hit some day. Today we didn't have enough time. Need to match the schedules in the upcoming days / weeks. After strength I did some skills based gymnastics work.

Smolov.

• Back squat 5x7 (125kg)

These long sets are painful. Actually my legs took these sets well but for some reason my palms are all white after every set. It's like the blood is not circulating well in to my arms. I showed my hands at the end of one set in the recap video. That means to say my hands are tingling. Why that happens is the width of my hands in the squat. Nowadays I keep them at the same width as in cleans. That creates a better and more stabile platform for the barbell to stay in the back rack position.

There is a possibility my mobility in upper body is not the best so that brings some issues. If it was perfect, blood would flow vividly, and it wouldn't bother my arms at all. Anyway, my point is the longer the sets, the more painful it gets. That's why these 7's are tough.

I'm happy on the way I was able to perform on ever set. There was no doubt of hitting the sets. Except in the morning as I realized this session is all about grinding hard. However, on the warm-up barbell felt light. I went up to 130 kilos for singles before starting the first set. Each set took an eternity, and some grunting was heard but I was determined to complete the sets.

Squats

Gymnastics.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 15 unbroken pull-ups
• 10 ring dips

Not an actual metcon this time. Timer was not on so it was "for quality". Only thing I had in mind was to do lots of pull-ups. It turned out to be 15 pull-ups, and I really wanted to do them unbroken. That's why I wrote in my notes already beforehand that they should be completed ub. I took my time to recover between sets properly. Rest periods were quite identical between each set.

On the ring dips I didn't have that clear plan. Just needed to hit some volume. Not huge but a good number still. Ten reps. First round was unbroken. I'm not sure if the second one was too. But third and fourth round were 5-3-2. My upper body was destroyed. Before last round I chatted with a fellow partner for some time which gave me more rest so I knocked the last set unbroken for 10 reps. This was good skills based workout in the end.

Tuesday 11.8: Clean, 20min amrap

Tuesday. Every 30sec: 1 power clean, for 10min (max 95kg). Metcon, 20min amrap of: 20 cal row, 20 hang power clean (40kg), 15 hspu. Result, 3rds + 50 cal row.

I was waiting this training day eagerly. No squats today. But that was not the reason for me being anxious. I watched the Matt Fraser document that I've posted here as well. Got an inspiration from there so it's been tingling me for some time. Took some power cleans prior to that.

Strength.

• Every 30 seconds, perform 1 power clean
• 0:00 - 1:00: 80kg
• 1:00 - 4:00: 85kg
• 4:00 - 8:00: 90kg
• 8:00 - 10.00: 95kg

Agenda was to just lift. Hadn't planned on the weights at all, just went by feeling. My legs are a bit tired from all the squatting but still the weights came up pretty well. Actually, I felt confident on the cleans, had no issues whatsoever. Breathing was easy throughout the 10 minutes which indicates the weights were easy to handle too.

My max power clean is 103kg so the heaviest ones were not that far away from that milestone. I thought 85kg would be pretty okay but it turned out to be too light. 90-95kg's were perfect for today's session.

Yes, I know the camera is somewhere it shouldn't but hopefully you get the idea =)

Metcon. Result, 3 rounds + 50 cal row

• 20min amrap of:
• 50 cal row
• 20 hang power clean (40kg)
• 15 handstand push-ups

This was rough stuff. Rowing was definitely the toughest part of this one. The combination of rowing and another pulling movement - cleans - was a sick combo. My forearms were numb at some point of the workout. Simply didn't have energy to hold on to the rower's handle. Almost.

It was a different type of approach to the cleans. Lots of them in one set with a light weight. It felt almost like cheating to have the barbell at 40 kilos only. It was light indeed. But it's kind of funny that it started to burn my forearms. For 2 rounds I went unbroken on the cleans. On the third round I fought the reps between 10-15, then had to drop it as I practically didn't feel my arms anymore.

Hspu's were good too. Okay, had to shake a bit after the cleans to get the feeling back on hands but then jumped agains the wall to knock some repetitions. First round was 10-5, second one was 7-4-4, and the third one was 8-4-3 reps.

There was a lot of conditioning to take place in this one. Rowing was challenging. It was exactly the combo of cleans and rowing that made it difficult. Hspu's was a smart move to throw in this one. Breathing was heavy throughout the workout for sure. This is something I recommend you guys to test out.

Monday 10.8: Squats, Ohs, T2b

Monday. Back squat 4x9 (118kg). Metcon, 8min amrap of: 8 ohs (40kg), 8 t2b. Result, 112 reps.

Two heavy Smolov weeks are in the books and the third one just kicked off. That naturally means more squats. After squatting my butt off I went for overhead squats and toes-to-bar as a couplet. The gym was crowded. It really looks like everybody wants to hit it on the first day of the week. And maybe it can be seen that the holiday's are pretty much behind us and people are ready to grind.

Smolov.

• Back squat 4x9 (118kg)

Two weeks have gone by with this squat fiesta. The barbell has obeyed me this far. Every day has been heavy but still I've been able to move it around. When I first did these 4x9's the weight was 103, and last week it was 113kg. So today it was 15kg more than the first time. It's cool to see how it still comes up properly.

There's no chance of doing these reps touch'n'go style. Haven't even tried that. Maybe 2-3 reps but that would eat the energy of my legs so better do them as singles, reset at the top and then squat again. My fingers were tingling at the end of the sets. Maybe the blood isn't flowing as well after a long set because they are tightly around the bar.

Squats

Metcon. Result, 112 reps (7 rounds)

• 8min amrap of:
• 8 overhead squat, 40kg
• 8 toes-to-bar

Legs are taking this squat mafia thing well but my elbows have been painful for about two weeks now. It doesn't seem to go away easily. It's a bit of a dull thing as I'd like to do presses and jerks a lot alongside Smolov. At first I was about to skip the entire metcon because of this but then decided to stop bitching, and do the work.

This was in my notes reserved for a rainy day. It worked perfectly for today's agenda. It was a quick and intense work. Went unbroken on both movements. The time was consumed in the transitions. Couldn't jump right into the next station. Okay, I could have but I wanted to go unbroken all the way. In the beginning this was emom style but then pace slowed down a little and ended up reaching a total of 7 rounds. I was happy over this. Had no idea how far I would go but this was good.

Side dish in the evening. #Donskitchen

Sunday 9.8: Squat, Row, Ghd

Sunday. AM: recovery at the swimming stadium. PM: Back squat 10x3 (133kg). Metcon, 8min amrap of: 300m row, 12 ghd. Result, 4rds + 300m row. Cool down, 3k row.

In the morning we went to the Helsinki swimming stadium to relax, sunbathe and some recovery swim lapses. In the evening I went to work at the gym. It wasn't going to be an easy day. Lots of squat sets, heavy ones. Afterwards a very intense workout, and some easy rowing to flush my legs, and get them ready for the upcoming week.

Smolov.

• Back squat 10x3 (133kg)

Honestly, this was a bit frightening day. I was nervous about the squats for the entire weekend as it was obvious it's going to be heavy. I did my mental game and went to the gym with a strong mind anyway. These squats were destined to come up as planned.

Ten sets of squats is always a bit more mental than doing 4 long sets. It feels like those sets are never ending. I took proper recovery between sets so these took me quite precisely 37 minutes. One set about every four minutes.

These were quite heavy from the very beginning but I managed to push them through in a similar way each set. Towards the end the sounds from my mouth got a little louder which means to say they were heavier. I'm happy this squat session is over =)

Squats

Metcon. Result, 4 rounds + 300m row

• 8min amrap of:
• 300m row
• 12 ghd sit-ups

I created this workout only after the squats. It was magnificent! This was a short metcon on purpose so I would be able to give my everything on the rower. No pacing, just do the strokes and get to the ghd's as fast as possible. For once, I was able to put the elements of the workout close together so there wouldn't be extra walking around the gym. This saved time for sure. Short transitions.

Rowing pace was 1.35 - 1.38 each round. That was enough to make my legs hurt. Breathing was naturally also heavy all the time. Ghd's were unbroken, and easier of the two elements. But it also got tough in the end. Not because of my core but because my legs were getting tired and those are needed in the ghd's too. Felt like hip flexors were on fire. This really made my gasp for air after the metcon was over.

Coold down.

• 3.000m row

Because the metcon was so intense, I figured it's beneficial to flush legs after the torture. There was no plan whatsoever, just kept pulling with easy pace. It was 2:00 pace all the time. No need to speed up. This was just a recovery row. At some point I decided to row for 2k but it felt so good that I kept going for an extra kilometer. Good training session!

Saturday 8.8: Muscle-ups, Handstand

Saturday. Skills, Bar muscle-ups, Ring muscle-ups, handstand.

Today was nothing scheduled on my program so it was more like a play day. Worked on some skills and just had fun fooling around. Pauliina was doing push presses so it was awesome to be there to support her.

Skills.

• Bar muscle-ups (10 reps). Compare to 18.9.2014
• Ring muscle-ups (emom x 5min: 2 reps)
• Handstand
• Handstand walk

Haven't done my homework on the muscle-ups lately. It feels like an eternity since I've done those previously. I had planned on doing only ring mu's but the rings were taken in the beginning so I jumped on the pull-up bar and started ripping it. Took only one set for 10 reps. That was a bit tight in the end but surely some more reps might be in the tank. At home I realized that happens to be my PR number. I've taken it once last fall.

Recap

Ring mu's were doubles every minute for 5 minutes. Felt good on those too. Handstand (walk) is something I could put more effort now as the surroundings are perfect. That grass matt is awesome for training being inverted because it's so flat.

Friday 7.8: Squats, Partner workout

Friday. Back squat 7x5 (125kg). Partner workout, 3rds of: 20 dead (100kg), 60 push-up, 40 db snatch (25kg), 20 burpee box, 20 hspu, 40m lunges (2x25kg db's). Time, 31.30.

It was a blast to have my main man Toni take a surprise visit to my gym. He was supposed to go to his own but I talked him over, and then went to his place to spend the Friday evening. It was back squats again - no surprise there - and then a long ass workout with a partner.

Smolov.

• Back squat 7x5 (125kg)

Huh, every day there is a bigger load on my back and it always feels how much more can this body take. But every time up to this point I have walked away victoriously. It sure feels good to complete these sets without problems. There's a lot of mental game in the play as well.

It took me about half an hour to finish the sets so it was about a set every 4 minutes. Recovery was abundant, and my legs got enough rest between sets. All sets were pretty much similar in my head. Quite heavy from the first to last set but still something I was able to manage well.

Squats and start of the wod

Partner workout. Time, 31.30

• As a team, complete the following for 3 rounds for time of:
• 20 deadlift, 100kg
• 60 push-up
• 40 dumbbell snatch, 25kg
• 20 burpee box jump
• 20 handstand push-up
• 40m walking lunges, 2x25kg

At first we just brainstormed over the elements we want to have as part of the workout. Pushing, pulling, jumping, lunging, that's pretty much it. Worked well. It turned out to be something like a chipper, consisting anyway of 3 rounds. We had planned on doing certain sets, and we followed the plan for the first round, then improvised on the second and third round to make the movements as fast as possible. That means the sets were a bit shorter so either of us was constantly moving body or weight.

Deadlifts were the easiest part. Easy weight, and just couple of reps. Toni had just done heavy deads for strength and I had Smolov so we decided to keep the weight light. On the push-ups I did 15's at first, and then 10's towards the end.

Db snatches we agreed to do 10 reps in a row, then change. I did 5 on the right hand, then switched to left hand, and completed the reps from hang position at 25 kilos. Both snatches and burpee box jumps brought the heart rate up.

I had thought about doing these strict and did so in the beginning. That would have killed the pace on this workout and so I changed to kipping versions. Toni also had some issues on the hspu's so I completed majority of the reps. Burned shoulders very well.

Lunges with 2x25kg dumbbells was probably the most unpleasant element in this workout. There was no doubt we would go unbroken on those 10 meter walks up and down the green matt. But it felt disgusting at the end of rounds two and three. Good workout for a partner wod for sure. And it was great to throw down with Toni.

Thursday 6.8: Cleans, Pull-ups, Burpees, Row

Thursday. Every 30sec, for 6min: 1 squat clean @ 90kg. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 12 pull-ups, 10 burpees, 300m row. Result, 4rds + 67m row.

Great session! I was a bit hesitant to do squat cleans because there's a lot of back squatting taking place right now. However, I missed heavier cleans and decided to rock it. Metcon was entirely bodyweight stuff. Cleans were on the table for some time but then I decided to take them off because my back felt like it's taking a lot of hit due to these squats.

Barbell.

• Every 30 seconds, for 6 minutes
• 1 squat clean @ 90kg

Damned these felt good. Cleans seemed also to be similar when I compare them to each other. I played these back and forth on the video player and I'm happy on them. Quite solid work in my eye. This was a total of 12 reps on a 6 min time frame. One single rep every 30 seconds. Below you'll have the entire clip.

Only one I almost slipped my hands off the bar when catching it on the front rack. But I was able to save that one too. Held it with probably one finger on both left and right hand. Very pleased on the work being done here. I just felt my back is somewhat tired of all the Smolov back squats lately. Legs are feeling fine and I could have continued this forever otherwise. It was also cool to notice 90 kilos ain't much to clean.

Cleans

Metcon. Result, 4 rounds + 12 pull-ups + 10 burpees + 67m row

• 12 min amrap of:
• 12 pull-ups
• 10 burpees
• 300m row

This was genius. I've added the volume on pull-ups and intend to keep it that way in the near future. I wanna get them stronger. They used to be my strength, and I liked it. I don't see a reason why they wouldn't be that again.

Twelve reps of pull-ups, unbroken each round. Total of 5 rounds equals 60 reps. Then straight to burpees. Nailed them unbroken too. Paced them through every round. Breathing was high so I didn't rush them but kept the body moving constantly.

Huh, this is what crossfit does to people

There was a little walk to the rower in the transition. My pace was sub 1:50. Don't know why that picture up there shows 1:51 as the digits were sub 1:45 on the first round and then it was 1:47-1:50 all the time when I pulled the strokes. Anyway, rowing was a good element to be in this one. All movements kept the heart beat high and it was my decision whether to keep moving or stop breathing. Result was a little shy of 5 full rounds.

Wednesday 5.8: Squat, Row, Hspu

Wednesday. Back squat 5x7 (120kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 10 hspu. Time, 10.55.

More work on the legs. Make them carry the load on back. This has been great this far. It's getting heavier by the day. After squats it was rowing and hspu's. Short and intense. Legs can take the burden on the legs, they are not sore but they feel a bit tired after squats.

Smolov.

• Back squat 5x7 (120kg)

Huh, this getting rather uncomfortable. Still, I feel like a man after pushing through these sets. I still got what it takes to push these loads for longer sets. Last week this same sequence was at 110kg so this was a different thing obviously. This time I didn't try to rush through the first reps tng but instead did them in "singles" all the way.

This turned out to be a good strategy and I was able to pace these through without problems. Surely, some of the reps were challenging but there was never a doubt in my mind about completing the sets. Felt happy about this session.

Squats

Metcon. Time, 10.55

• 4 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 10 handstand push-ups

It took some time before it was wise to jump on the concept2 after squats. Rower and hspu station are at the other sides of the gym so there was some walking between these two but other than that I went directly on the wall for hspu's. Went unbroken on them, felt great. Breathing was quite high during the metcon because of the rowing.

Pace was sub 1:50 for 500m. My forearms were tingling when holding on the rower's handle. Don't know why. That was a bit weird. Well, it didn't matter on this one. This combination of movements is great. I believe it's good to have rowing to increase heart rate, handstand push-ups to burn shoulders and improve those skills. There was also an option of increasing the amount of hspu's per round or making it a descending ladder by starting at a big set of hspu's but today's point in the metcon was to keep moving constantly. Times were not changing dramatically between rounds so I felt good about this one.

Tuesday 4.8: Pull-ups, Cleans, Box

Tuesday. Metcon, 5rds of: 15 pull-ups, 2 power clean (80kg), 20 box. Time, 12.00.

This time I decided not to do any strength portion to kick the session off. Metcon usually comes only after some barbell work. I'll have to take it back a notch because of this excessive back squatting in order to get the most out of it. Today's session included only one metcon. That was enough.

Metcon. Time, 12.00

• 5 rounds of:
• 15 pull-up
• 2 power clean, 80kg
• 20 box jump

The reasoning behind this was to get more volume on the pull-ups. As I wrote couple of days ago, I feel like there is lots of work to be done at the pull-up bar. Plus, even though I felt like my strategy worked on the "2007" I didn't like the fact I cut pull-ups to small pieces. Didn't feel good in my head.

That's why my focus today was to get these rounds unbroken, and that's exactly what I did. 15 reps ain't that much. Should be able to do that. Especially when you don't have to do huge amount of work with upper body at the same time. Cleans and box jumps made my legs jello and heart beat high but left enough energy to go through the pull-ups with style.

Cleans were singles, short breath in between. Box jumps were unbroken. Round times were something like sub 2min on the first one, then the 4 remaining were more or less around 2:30. I'm happy on the consistency on this one. This was a good metcon for real. After the workout my legs felt like a ton, so I'm wondering how it's gonna be like tomorrow for another bad ass Smolov day.

Monday 3.8: Back squat, Ghd's

Monday. Squat 4x9 (113kg). Accessory, 100 ghd's.

It is surprising how good my legs feel after one week of Smolov squat program. They are not sore at all, not a bit. Okay, I had a thought that legs wouldn't get too painful but they are probably gonna get tired in the course of these upcoming weeks. That's also the reason why there are going to be days when metcons are not accompanying the strength part. I'll try to do some accessory work after squats.

Smolov.

• Back squat 4x9 (113kg)

Long sets are quite brutal in their own nature. These are all tough but the length of the sets really makes a difference. Short sets (3's and 5's) are heavier for every single rep, and these longer ones (7's and 9's) are brutal as they start to get heavy in the middle of the set. So it's more mental than anything else. Just hold on and do the work.

Today's sets were alright, I'm waiting eagerly (not) to next Monday's 4x9 (118kg). It's gonna be tough. From here on the sets are going to be heavy. Got to do mental prep-work prior to the training session.

9x113kg

Core.

• 4x25 ghd sit-ups
• 0:30 rest between sets

Elbows are a bit sore still, for about a week now. That means to say pressing is off limits. We didn't have that much time anyway today so it was couple of minutes time slot, and we had to go. Toni talked about ghd's at work earlier today, and suggested I'd do 100 reps. That thought popped in to my mind so I went after it. It was basically 60 seconds of work, and 30 seconds of rest, for 4 rounds. In the first round I did 27 reps, the remaining rounds were 25 reps. Unbroken for first 3 rounds. On the last one my core was smashed, and I had to pause for a second on top for maybe 3 times.

Sunday 2.8: Back squats

Sunday. Back squat 10x3 (123kg).

It was a long day at the wedding yesterday, and we got to bed only at 3 am. So naturally we slept late and I went to the gym in the evening after sleeping a whole lot, also napping. Today's agenda was purely squatting. End of Smolov's first week.

Smolov.

• Back squat 10x3 (123kg)

That means to say it was 10 sets of triples. It says the weight should be 122.5kg so I rounded it up a bit.  The weight was something I was still able to manhandle. They felt a bit heavier than they looked like. I wasn't going to make this a long session so my plan was to hit one set every 3:00. That gave enough time to recover from each set. This first week was okay on Smolov, now it's getting much tougher from here on.

Sunday squats

Saturday 1.8: Pull-ups, Row

Saturday. Skills, 100 pull-ups. Cashout, row 3k.

Today is a beautiful day. Our friends are getting married and the weather is as beautiful as the bride. I had the possibility to go to the gym in the morning before getting ready for their big day. I wanted to punish myself on the pull-up bar. Earlier this week I was a bit frustrated with that movement in the "2007" workout so this was my answer to develop this skill-based movement. Some easy rowing in the end.

Easy paced row

Skills.

• Different types of pull-ups, not for time
• 10 strict
• 12 chest-to-bar
• 15-15-15-15-18 pull-ups

Didn't quite have a strict plan. My plan was to do lots of pull-ups in different styles. It started with sets of strict and chest-to-bar versions. Then I took regular pull-ups for as long as I got 100 repetitions completed. It was basically 15's for 5 sets. On the last one I realized I needed 18 to get a total of 100 reps done.

These felt good. I'd like to have the pull-up bar higher from the ground so that I would have to jump to reach it. This bar is a bit too low which means I need to bend my legs a lot, and thus not being able to utilize my entire body that much on the kip. Towards the end I tried to keep my legs better together gymnastics style. As I look at those regular pull-ups on video afterwards, it looks like they are quite high pulls. Close to c2b's.

Recap of pull-ups

Cashout.

• 3.000m row

The purpose of this one was to just flush legs. Definitely not a high intensity workout, mostly low heart rate conditioning stuff. Had the damper setting at 7, and rowed at around 2:00 pace for 500 meters. I didn't even have the monitor visible to me. I turned the monitor pointing to the ceiling, and just enjoyed my time on the concept2. Now I'll get ready for this Saturday's wedding!