Today's program was created only at the spot. Didn't practically have strict plans except for squatting. The form of squats and everything else took place little by little. I'm very satisfied to this session!
Time at 4.05
Oly.
Complex, every 2:00, for 10 minutes:
3 squat clean + 1 split jerk @ 80kg
Took warm-up sets at 60, 70, and 75kg's. Then 5 sets @ 80kg. Cleans were cool, no problems whatsoever. Felt a little nagging elbow pain on the jerks so I stayed at 80kg. Felt solid on the jerks though. Recovery was definitely enough to give my best on each set.
Strength.
Pause squat triples
5 sets @ 120kg
This was a good reminder that pause squats are the king. Dead pause in the bottom, no bounce, just strict upraise from the hole. Built up through sets at 60, 90, and 110kg 5's and triples. Took these also with about 2 min recoveries. Last reps were good battles at times. Still, there was no doubt of hitting the sets as planned.
Wod. Time, 4.05
5 rounds of:
10 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
10 box jumps
Short and intense. Holy posterior chain. Would have been awful to go for longer time domain. Breathing was heavy for sure too. Lower back started to feel it in the last 2 rounds. It got very tight towards the end but after it got released after the wod, it eased quickly. Round times were quite equal each round, about 50 seconds per round.
Cashout.
50 burpees
I felt like I had done my share but had still something in the tank so I just threw down and started working. Didn't watch at the clock at all but the main focus was to go unbroken. No pauses, no leaning elbows on knees in between. Just go and do the work.
Monday. Power snatch 5's (up to 58kg). Intervals, every 5:00: 20 cal row + 10 barbell reps. Cashout, 3x15 thrusters @ 40kg.
Evening session at the gym. Yesterday was a good snatch session so I kept going with that. Today was supposed to be a rest day due to schedules but luckily there was a time slot worth taking advantage of. Couple of intervals with rower and barbell, then finally some accessory work via thrusters.
Oly.
Power snatch 5's (40, 50, 55, 57, 58, 50kg)
Damn, 5 power snatches at 58kg is definitely the heaviest I have ever done. Yeah, I know that sounds ridiculous as it's most guys' warm-up weight =) For me it's the real deal. These were touch'n'go reps all the way. More than I dared to hope for.
Intervals.
Every 5:00, for 20:00
20 cal row + 10 power snatch @ 40kg
20 cal row + 10 clean and jerk @ 40kg
20 cal row + 10 thruster @ 40kg
20 cal row + 10 squat clean thruster @ 40kg
This was a great combination. The weights were questionable on some parts. As my legs were burning from the rowing I felt like my technique was a bit off on the snatches and clean and jerks. Rowing pace was 1:36 on both of those times I looked on the screen.
So going pretty much full throttle on the rowing made the barbell movements exotic. On the snatches the weight was alright. Then on the c&j's it was a bit too light. On the other hand I felt like the last cleans were bouncing a bit off my thighs and I didn't have enough patience to pull it up to hips anymore. Shoulders felt good on those so the weight could have been maybe 50kg.
On the thrusters the weight felt surprisingly light. Thrusters are never light so this was kinda funny. Same with the last movement, squat clean thrusters. Don't get me wrong, I was wasted after each of these intervals because I rowed as fast I could and walked right to the barbell and didn't take any breaks. These just made me think if I could have had more weight on the bar.
Cashout.
3x15 thrusters @ 40kg
Clock was quite late so instead of the intended 5x5 front squats I decided to finish the session with couple of thrusters. 15 reps, then short break between and repeat for a total of 3 sets. Shoulders got fired up good time. Legs were fine all the way.
Great Sunday! It's Valentine's Day so we hooked up with some friends for Sunday brunch, enjoyed that time and then went to the gym in the evening with my wife. Couldn't be better. Re-test of an old crossfit open workout from 2013. Development has taken place.
Long story short. This went well. I'm fitter than before if I choose to believe this test. And I will. My snatch max load has not gone up tremendously since previous time doing this one but obviously muscle endurance and technique has.
Should have gassed more on the snatches. I realized that a bit too late though. I took some rest between singles. I have never done more than couple singles at 60kg so this was a new situation for me. It was also a huge win for me mentally. It felt like that bar was going up rather easily. At least considering what I thought about this beforehand. In the end I was able to speed it up. And after the 17 minutes were over I decided to continue to finish 30 snatches to get a piece of the feeling of benchmark workout Isabel.
CF Open 13.1
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
300m row
12 pull-ups
Had no time to recover between workouts so I just ripped the plates off the barbell and sat on the rower. Didn't time this at all. Rowing was not full effort, more easily this time. On the pull-ups there was no other option but to go unbroken, keep the legs tied together and focus on utilizing my hips. Good workout.
Saturday. Metcon, 4rds of: 4 bar mu, 20 wb. Time, 5.24. Push jerk triples from blocks (up to 85kg). Farmer's walk 2x20m (up to 135kg).
Huh I was waiting this session like a little kid. Reason: yesterday was a day off. We went outdoors for a dinner and quality time with family. Today I had decided to take the first step towards the newly acquired Rogue jerk blocks. Respect to the gym owner who finally got these bad boys! This place is great.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
4 bar muscle-ups
20 wall ball
Session started with a skills related conditioning piece. I went back and forth in my head between ring and bar muscle-ups and finally ended up with bar mu's. It's been an eternity since doing mu's last time so it was about time to throw down.
Nice combo. Shoulders were burning pretty well. I still battle with the feeling of how much to gas in metcons including muscle-ups. I'm kinda afraid of hitting the wall on those so I hold back a bit throughout the wod. In this one I felt like I kept good breaks between wall balls and mu's but then again afterwards it was like I could have gone faster. Or with shorter breaks.
Like a dream come true. This is an understatement though. I've seen dreams of these since day one when I started crossfit. My clean is way stronger than my jerk so this is a tool to work on my overhead strength and technique with heavier weights. It's a different thing to lower the barbell on front rack position compared to this where you can drop it on the blocks and tie another shot at it.
I basically didn't have any plans as this was a totally new thing for me. Took a set at 60kg, then 70kg, and just built up by feeling. Finally there were 3 sets of triples at 85kg. Only afterwards I realized that was definitely the heaviest push jerks I have done in my life. 85kg as a single is PR for me and today I did 9 reps at that weight. Split jerk is over 100kg but push jerk's limits have been at this point. I guess something good has happened even though heavy barbells have not been over my head in a month. Felt super happy on this part!
Strength.
Farmer's walk 2x20m (105, 115, 125, 125, 135kg)
Lately I've learned to respect this movement big time. The matt is 20 meters long so I grabbed the handles and went one way, dropped them down, and came back after a little breath taking session. This is definitely an entire body element that requires you to fully engage the entire body. That also results in developing every piece of this body.
This strongman stuff is great. I'm planning to add this to my program on a weekly routine. At least some strongman piece for sure, variance is the key to everything. Pretty obvious stuff. This was the heaviest I have done this far. It started to get on my grip strength in the last round.
Thursday. Deadlift 3x10. E2mom x 10min: 7 thruster @ 50kg. Emom x 6min: 12 burpee.
Couple of longer sets pulling the bar from ground. Thrusters reminded me that this would be a great one to go for longer time domain. And/Or heavier weights. I once did similar workout for half an hour with 60kg bar. In the end I realized I should already be out the door so it was all about burpees to get heart rate up.
Pulls.
Deadlift 3x10 (130, 140, 150kg)
Entire posterior chain felt very good on these pulls. My palms / fingers felt more sensitive so I bitched a bit with the weights. Stayed light as it felt like my fingers are going to get ripped with heavier loads. Hands have felt awesome lately and there have been no rips at all.
Barbell cycling.
Every 2:00, for 10 min:
7 thrusters @ 50kg
The focus of this was to get familiar with heavier weights and get my wrist get familiar under weights by being in a totally bent position. For some reason thrusters feel like the most challenging movement for me. Wrists and elbows need to be properly mobilized before doing this movement. Even with 40kg I can't just jump into thrusters but need to stretch out my lats and triceps with the help of resistance band work.
Bodyweight.
Every minute on the minute x 6 minutes
12 burpees
As I said at this point I was already in a hurry. My calendar said metcon would have been 12min amrap of rowing and pull-ups (nice combo of pulling). There was zero recovery after thrusters. At 10:00 from the start of thrusters I started hitting my chest to the floor to get after burpees. 12 reps took me about 30 seconds each minute. The time stayed the same but they started to get more mental towards the end. Good finisher!
Wednesday. 10min amrap: 20 squat, 10 db snatch @ 25kg, 10 t2b. Result, 226 reps. Every 2:00, perform 10 tng power snatch @ 40kg. Wod, 5rds of: 30 du, 10 s2o @ 40kg.
It was a nice session indeed, 3-piece action where I had two metcons - in the beginning and in the end - and some barbell cycling in the middle. Had a running clock that took me 37 minutes to finish these wods.
Metcon. Result, 226 reps (5 rounds + 6 snatches)
10min amrap of:
20 air squats
10 dumbbell snatches, 25kg, alternating
10 toes-to-bar
It was possible to jump into this without much of a warm-up. I've done this type of solutions lately every now and then. But the first metcons must then be mostly bodyweight stuff. It also works as a warm-up workout. This burned my legs definitely, especially on the snatches.
Barbell cycling.
Every 2:00, perform:
10 touch'n'go power snatches @ 40kg
This was absolutely beneficial for me. I have rarely done longer sets of snatches so this came in handy for sure! I felt comfortable with the movement itself. That was a positive feeling after having a good break of snatch work.
It felt consistent with the bar path and I was able to bring the bar up to the hips before the last pull. That satisfied me big time.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
30 double unders
10 shoulder-to-overhead @ 40kg
On this one I didn't follow the clock that much. As such the workout is rather light and short. After those earlier pieces and after not having worked my shoulders that much lately this burned shoulders pretty well. Even with just 40kg on the bar. Du's went pretty well too. I foam rolled my shins prior to jumping around, that seems to be the key to success on these.
Tuesday. Complex emom x 10min: 1 hang squat clean + squat clean + front squat. Intervals, every 3:00, for 21min: 250m row + 7 hang power clean (60kg).
Awesomeness continues! First day having a barbell on front rack position in ages. And it didn't hurt at all, loved every second of it! Went for bar complex and afterwards interval work through rowing and power cleans.
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
1 hang squat clean + squat clean + front squat
1-2min: 80kg, 3-10min: 85kg
You can't imagine how much I've been waiting for this day. Feels like it's been months since I had a bar on front rack previous time. Somehow I believe I live for cleans. Okay, maybe I should stop bitching about a nagging pain. That's probably not the most severe thing of all. It still affected my mental game quite a lot.
This was a lot of fun for sure. Weights stayed conservative for a reason. Didn't wanna go all out on the very first day. After all, I had no idea how my hand would react to this session. It feels good so I'm confident it's gonna be just fine. First 2 minutes were at 80kg, the rest of the sets (8 min) were at 85kg
Complex
Intervals.
Every 3:00, for 21min (7 sets)
250m row
7 hang power clean @ 60kg
Purpose was to go full throttle on each interval. It took me 50 seconds to finish the rowing. Pace was 1:37 in all but 2 sets. One set in the middle was 1:38, and the last one was 1:36. From there I walked to the bar, picked it up and performed 7 hang power cleans. Then walked back to see what the timer said, and it was at 75 seconds. That means to say it was around 70 seconds to finish each set. There was some distance between stations. I'm happy on being able to hold the pace static through all 7 sets.
Great combination of movements. Wanted to take everything out of the cleans, now as I'm able to do them again. I didn't hold back at all on the rowing, that was the main point on this one. My legs were burning as I walked to the bar, especially in the latter half of the workout. It took some 20+ strokes on the Concept2 to finish 250 meters.
Monday. Clean pull triples (up to 120kg). Every 90sec: 3 back squat (up to 140kg).
Happy day! After having this nagging pain in the wrist it finally seems it's getting somewhat better. My forearm is still feeling kinda weird but the gain is that I can bend my wrist already. That allowed me to go for back squats. Felt super about it!
Always interesting to see documents of Dan Bailey, even though it dates back 2 years ago
This was a lot of fun. Got a chance to get heavier clean-style action in the books. It was hard for me not to take it all the way to front rack as my hands finally felt like they could take it. But I decided to take this one smart. Triples after 100kg.
Strength.
Every 90sec: 3 back squats (up to 140kg)
Feels like it's been an eternity since doing heavy squats last time. It probably hasn't and I have done pretty much lower body the past two weeks but heavy squats are always heavy squats. It was freaking awesome. It was pretty cool to go touch'n'go up to 125kg easily. Then tng @ 130kg for a double, then short pause on top before the final rep.
At 135kg the last two ones were rather tight, at least felt like it. Still, the first rep at 140kg was quite easy, second a good battle and on the third one I rushed it a bit and my spotter assisted me a little on the last rep.
Quality time with my wife. Crossfit at the gym. Nothing more needed from my perspective.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 36 minutes
1st min, 15 kettlebell swing, 24kg
2nd min, 15 box jump overs
3rd, 15 ghd sti-ups
This was a great workout for basic conditioning. Longer metcon where breathing stayed under control pretty well. I prefer this kind of action to steady pace by for example running or rowing.
I had thought about swinging a 2-pood bell but for some reason there wasn't one available so I took the heaviest I found which was 1.5 pood bell (24kg). The weight wasn't very heavy at any point of the workout but time did its trick during the 36 minutes and it started to take its toll. Maybe it was more mental as my shoulder, core and posterior chain took it well. Breathing got heavier towards the end but it was manageable anyway.
Box jump overs are a cool way to get box jumps done in a bit different way. Had 2-3 of stumbles there due to lack of concentration. But only one no-rep though. Those are unforgivable so I repeated that one.
Ghd's were fine all the way. It's cool as I think about the volume of all movements here. There were 180 reps of each element. For ghd's it's probably the biggest volume I've ever done. Core took it well throughout but let's see how it's like tomorrow =)
Tight schedule this day so I went to the gym in the evening. My wrist has not gotten any better and it's very unpleasant to write on a computer so I'll just post the workouts without further explanations this time :)
Friday. Oly lifts emom: sdhp's and hang snatches. Wod, 5rds of: 40m farmer's walk @ 113kg, 40m lunges, 10 t2b. Cashout, 200m walking lunges wearing a weight vest. L-sit pull-ups, 4 sets.
Friday night training session. As I entered the gym, the owner told right away that he's ordering jerk blocks from Rogue. That was sick news! I've been drawling over those for a year now. Hopefully someday I'm able to put some weight overhead because those will definitely make a difference for jerks.
Oly.
Every 30 seconds: 1 sumo deadlift high-pull @ 80kg, for 10 minutes
Every minute on the minute: 3 high hang power snatch @ 40kg, for 10 minutes
Two different emom style workouts. There was a 3min break between these. Damn I'd like to do cleans. Sumo deadlift high-pulls are my substitute for those. There aren't many bar movements I can smash right now so I went heavy on the sdhp's. Never have I gone over 60kg before today.
It was a positive thing I was able to do power snatches. Can't put real weight on the bar though but the movement was okay this time. Focus was on extending my hips properly and being powerful. Towards the end it got better.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
40m farmer's walk @ 113kg
40m walking lunges, bodyweight
10 toes-to-bar
Great one. That farmer's walk was a nice piece to throw in the mix. That's definitely not too light. Haven't gone beyond this weight on this movement either before. That's obviously an entire body movement
Bodyweight burned quads big time, especially right after the farmer's walk. That was purely bodyweight stuff but it was definitely sufficient. T2b's were there to bring more pressure on the core. Great workout. Didn't time this at all but worked with same determination as normally.
Cashout.
200m walking lunges
Wear a 9kg vest
Went back and forth that 20m length of grass matt, wearing a vest that weighs 9-10 kilos. Went unbroken for each leg of the distance, then shook my legs before continuing the journey. This was bad ass on lower body.
Gymnastics.
4 sets of:
L-sit pull-ups
Result: 10, 10, 9, 5 reps
In the end I decided to do this old fella I haven't said hi to in ages. L-sit pull-ups, max sets for for 4 sets. First two were 10 reps each, third was close but on the 4th set my arms were so pumped that I could only go for 5. These were no-reps by a long shot but I'll take it. Didn't come to a dead hang in the bottom position. I'm still happy to being able to do these sets nicely.
This was a rest day. I still drove to the gym, changed clothes, and sacrificed one hour of my time to mobility. Lots of stretching, resistance band work, playing with foam roll and lacrosse balls. Tried to work through entire body. Felt very good to get body loose big time.
Wednesday. Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 50 air squats, 25 ghd. Time, 19.50.
Quick one for this Wednesday. Body's feeling somewhat trashed right now. Legs and butt cheeks are feeling it from squats and wrist disables lots of moves. I'd pay for getting cleans, jerks and handstand push-ups done.
Metcon. Time, 19.50
4 rounds of:
500m row
50 air squats
25 ghd sit-ups
Had to think the elements carefully not to cause any distress on right wrist. That's also the reason I'm writing just briefly now. Rowing was easy pace, 1:53 - 1:58, on purpose. Then bunch of squats with bodyweight only. Those were quite tough actually because of the number of them linked together. Went unbroken each round. Just paced myself on those.
Ghd's were unbroken too, easier than I thought. Worst part were the squats. This was a destroying combo for my back which felt tight already before the workout. Lower back was killing me in the end.
Today was an easier day. Did some singles on the deadlifts and then a short metcon.
180kg
Pulls.
Deadlift singles (100, 140, 160, 180, 200kg)
Plan was originally to do longer sets but back was tight so that the descent felt tougher than the actual lift. Pulls were okay so I took just singles and dropped the bar back down. I took two singles with either 140 or 160kg, don't remember anymore but then little jumps to 200kg. Haven't lifted that lately. 180kg was easy. Then on the 2k I felt like it's not perfect so I didn't go heavier. Felt solid anyway on these.
200kg
Metcon. Result, 130 reps (6rds + 10 pull-ups)
5min amrap of:
10 pull-ups
10 box
Something quick with heavy heart rate. Couldn't come up with anything reasonable so my buddy Julius at the gym threw in the idea of pull-ups. That was a great one mixed with box jumps. Very good and intense one.
Had to go to the doctor today as I don't have any more patience with the right wrist. I'm missing cleans and front squats too much to just wait for it to recover. The doc stuck a needle in there and sucked some stuff away to get the bump settled down. I got to take it easy for a while with the wrist so it was only natural to squat today.
Strength.
Safety bar back squats 8x5 @ 122kg
Don't know if you guys are familiar with this barbell. The form is definitely different than a regular barbell. Rogue has created bar that is shaped in another format. And the big thing is the collar of the bar. That allows to keep wrists in straight angle and torso in a very upright position, thus at least theoretically create most of the pressure on the legs. And due to this reason maybe allow people to load more weight on this bar than a regular barbell.
The bar itself weighs 31.7kg so I had a notch over 120kg on the sets. For me this felt a bit odd as it was the first time doing this type of squats. It put more pressure on the core in my opinion. Not sure though but that's how it felt. I'll have to take another test run at this little thing later this week.
I'm happy I was able to squat today. And that they have this bar at OPC. What a great gym indeed. Luckily there was a coach available to give some tips on this one too.
