Crossfit Kehä

Wadup!

I'm very proud of my best friend Toni opening his own affiliate in Vantaa next month. We started our crossfit journey pretty much at the same time. I was happy to get a friend alongside to train with me for the first year. We built up the base for our strength and engines at Haaga's cave on a daily basis.

After the first year Toni decided to add the stakes and took On-Ramp course at Crossfit Vantaa and joined that Box where he's been training since then and has become a real crossfitter, and lives to compete in our magnificent sport. Now after less than 4 years of crossfit he is about to open his own Box with another pal of his. I'm wishing all the best on your journey Toni and Miku, and congrats on pursuing your dream!

Crossfit Kehä

Friday 4.3: Squats, 20min amrap

Friday. Back squats 5x5 @ 125kg. Metcon, 20min amrap of: 5 deads (130kg), 10 hspu, 15 t2b, 20 cal row. Result, 270 reps.

I continued to rock the squats to start Friday's session. Need to feel my legs getting stronger so more volume needs to be in the program. Then I took a longer workout, 20min amrap of bodyweight movements and deadlifts. Felt a bit dizzy in the middle of the workout for some reason but it was a good workout anyway.

Strength.

• Back squats 5x5 @ 125kg

Couple of days a go I did 7 sets of 5's with 120kg. That was a good starter and reminder to get squats back in the game for real. Today I added some weight on the bar for same rep scheme. However, there was 5 sets this time.

These felt good too. Tried to get these also done pretty quickly without pausing too much on top. Got to keep adding weights in the near future. Then I might have to take more time to finish per set but we'll see.

Metcon. Result, 270 reps (5 rounds + 5 t2b)

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 deadlift @ 130kg
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 15 toes-to-bar
• 20 cal row

Got the first round very nicely completed unbroken each element. Then on the second round somehow my heart was pumping awkwardly fast so I needed to take a short break after the second round, and water my head and face with cold face. It wasn't like the metcon was too bad ass. It was something else so I figured I'd better take care of this one. That also resulted me taking the entire workout a notch easier. The rest of the wod went alright though.

Deadlifts were fine all the time. My hands were a little sore so I stayed conservative on this one. On the course of the workout it turned out to be a good call anyway. Maybe those handstand push-ups had an effect on the pump. Felt very exhausted after every set. That was a bit funny as usually these are my strong part nowadays but this was not a normal day by any means regarding the metcon.

T2b's got heavy. I'm not sure if I went unbroken on the first round or did I intentionally break it down already in the beginning. It was mostly 10-5 for first rounds, then 8-4-3 towards the end. I have no idea what the pace was on the rower but it was 270-300m to get to those 20 calories needed to finish the round.

Wednesday 2.3: Cleans, Squats, Du's

Wednesday. Cleans, build up to a heavy double (110kg). Back squat 7x5 @ 120kg. Metcon, 5rds of: 30 du, 7 hang power clean @ 60kg.

Classic stuff in the form of oly lifts and squats. It was mind blowing to get a barbell on my back for squats as my back has been bugging me lately. Felt great today and hit some volume on the squats for that reason.

Oly.

• Cleans, build up to a heavy double (60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110kg)

It's also been some time since going this heavy on the cleans. At times the bar feels heavier but then again, as you just keep putting weight on the barbell, it keeps coming up anyway. According to some people, you should go heavy every single time you touch the bar.

Weights were good until the first rep at 105kg. The rest came up in a similar way but the rest of them didn't go as smooth up from the hole. First attempt at 105kg came up as if it was 90kg. Definitely felt heavier but I mean there wasn't same bounce from the bottom as I'm used to. Had to take a pause squat on the second rep at 105kg, and re-bounce on both lifts at 110kg. That rarely happens in my cleans so that caught my attention. I'm still very happy on these lifts as I haven't gone this heavy lately.

Strength.

• Back squat 7x5 @ 120kg

Yeah, the weights are baby weights to be honest. On the other hand, I had to start somewhere after having a break on back squats. Focus today was on keeping the form real and go through every set of 5 reps quickly. Just one inhale on top and then back down. Loading was right on point this time. Got to build this thing up again.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 30 double unders
• 7 hang power clean @ 60kg

Got a chance to work on double unders again. Always a useful opportunity to take advantage of. Took couple of reps and it hurt shins a lot as usual. I took a foam roll, went back and forth couple of times on that and it helped big time, and allowed me to go for doubles. This was fun little action in the end of the training session.

Tuesday 1.3: Row, Jerk, Pistols, C2b, Ghd

Tuesday. Wod, 3rds of: 40 cal row, 20 s2o @ 50kg, 20 pistols. Time, 15.12. Emom x 14min. Odd min, 7 c2b. Even, 15 ghd.

Was supposed to do push press sets for strength but left shoulder felt awkward on those reps that I did with 60kg barbell so I dropped it and moved on with my plan. The metcon was great. Then some accessory elements in emom style to finish it.

Metcon.

• 3 rounds of:
• 40 cal row
• 20 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
• 20 pistol squats

I'd prefer workouts where you can go unbroken on each element each round. That is exactly the reason why I programmed this one. These are always a pleasure though. In other words, I don't mind the workout. Everything goes.

Row for 40 calories equalled something around 550m per round. I tried to keep a good pace all the time, didn't rest on the rower. Didn't go 100% either, that would have been an awkward decision. Jerks were 14-6 on the first round, then 10-5-5 on the latter rounds. Yes, those felt in my shoulders but legs were burning throughout the workout. None of the elements gave a proper rest period for them.

Pistol squats crowned the triplet. Smashed my lower body for sure. I was a bit afraid to redline on the jerks as those had a big effect on my legs. So I had to hold back a bit on those. In the big picture I believe this workout went nicely.

Accessory.

• Every minute on the minute x 14 minutes
• Odd minutes, 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• Even minutes, 15 ghd sit-ups

I consider c2b's a weakness for me so this piece was warmly welcomed. I've knocked 20+ unbroken chest-to-bar's but the endurance for those is not greatest. And I'd like to do them in bigger sets. No point in doing just a few reps at a time. At least for me that's not the achieved state of mind. Ghd sit-ups are strong within me. Still, these got to my core pretty well in the last rounds.

Monday 29.2: Clean and Jerks, Squats, Run, Snatch

Monday. Unbroken sets of clean and jerks 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 @ 60kg. Front squats 7x3 @ 110kg. Wod, 6min amrap of 10m shuttle run and db snatches @ 30kg.

It was great to get some barbell cycling completed in the form of clean and jerks. Then squats after a small break on them. The last piece was stolen from competitorstraining.com, that is Ben Bergeron's site.

Barbell cycling.

• Unbroken sets 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of:
• Clean and jerks @ 60kg
• Rest as needed between sets

This was fun. Having the skills to cycle a barbell are advantageous in this sport. Longer sets are a bit more gnarly but definitely useful. The point was to go unbroken on each set, and maintain good form no matter how many reps needed to be completed.

I believe I succeeded in this regard pretty well. Some reps were a bit off but the majority of them were okay. The more tired I got the bar tended to stay lower on the thighs. It landed nicely on the front rack each time. I walked around the gym for a while between sets. This was not a timed workout, and I didn't have the clock running at all on this one. The last four sets I took with basically just minimized rest periods.

Strength.

• Every 3:00, for 21min
• Front squat triples @ 110kg

It was great to get some squats done finally! Okay, the weight wasn't huge but after a break this was just on the spot. Got to put more effort on going below parallel in the near future. Hopefully my back allows it. At least today it was alright. Focus on these was to keep the torso as upright as possible and finish the triples with only one inhale on top of each rep.

Metcon. Result, 14 shuttle runs

• 6min amrap
• 2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of:
• 10m shuttle run
• Dumbbell snatches @ 30kg

This was something different as there isn't much possibilities to run at the gym. We don't have straight access outdoors so it's out of question to go run in the streets. Luckily this workout caught my attention in Bergeron's site so I had to take it right away. I ran back and forth a 10 meter distance at the grass matt.

First round was once back and forth, then doubling it on the next round and so forth. Same with the dumbbell snatches. Starting with 2 reps (1 each hand), then 4 reps, alternating hands after each rep. Snatches were the tougher part of this workout. I went unbroken on the snatches, no pauses at any point of the wod. Plus I grabbed the dumbbell right after finishing every shuttle run. So there was simply no rest period at any stage of the workout. After the wod, I realized I could have ran faster in the beginning. This was an efficient wod. Definitely worth running inside for shuttle runs.

Sunday 28.2: Skills workout, Strongman

Sunday. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 5 bar mu, 20m walking lunges (40kg). Result, 167 reps. Accessory, every 3:00, for 24min, alternating between: 20m sled push (165kg), 40m farmer's walk (115-125kg).

Strongman Sunday mixed with skills. That was the goal for today. My hands have healed pretty well from last muscle-up session and luckily they held on well today on those bar mu's too. Hitting a skills workout in the beginning, and then strongman elements in the latter piece.

Metcon.

• 15min amrap of:
• 5 bar muscle-ups
• 20m walking lunges, 40kg, back rack

These are both excellent movements. The barbell was light for back rack lunges. That was no surprise but the main ingredient of this workout was definitely the muscle-ups. Lunges paired up greatly. I was able to do the lunges unbroken, and would not have accepted it in any other way. They still got me breathing heavier and burned legs on the last meters for sure. They also gave my upper body that much needed rest between muscle-up sets.

I'm very happy on the performance on the pull-up bar. It was 5's all the way, unbroken each set, c'mon! Got through 7 sets of muscle-ups finally. It was only 8m short of full 7 rounds for result in the 15 minute time frame. Mu's got challenging somewhere in the middle of the workout. Okay, they were not a walk in the park at any point but still I was confident throughout the metcon.

Accessory.

• Every 3:00, for 24 minutes
• Alternating between:
• 20m sled push @ 160kg (+sled)
• 40m farmer's walk @ 115-125kg (2 sets @ 115kg, 2 sets @ 125kg)

This was a good call. Had both elements in my notes but hadn't closed how to chase them. Decided to go heavy and alternate between these two every 3 minutes. Didn't do any movement specific warm-ups. Instead, just piled the plates on each other and started to move the sled. The weight on the first leg of the sled came as a surprise. It weighed a ton. But I got it moving and continued to keep the legs churning.

Bought parallettes today, boom!

Farmer's walk was the "easier" part of these two. Maybe only because I'm more familiar with it. For the first two sets the cases were loaded with 2x20kg plates. Then for the latter sets I added 2.5kg on each end.

My body really felt this one hours after it was done. Somehow my quads were shaking and felt weak afterwards. That made me smile inside. The work was definitely put in. Got to keep these elements in the program in the future too. I'm positive these are giving a positive effect on overall fitness.

Saturday 27.2: 20min amrap

Saturday. 20min amrap of: 4 squat clean @ 70kg, 8 hspu, 12 pull-ups, 16 box jump overs. Result, 252 reps.

Quick session at the gym on this Saturday evening. We had a great day in downtown Helsinki with Pauliina. That's why I went to get my conditioning piece done later in the day.

Metcon.

• 20min amrap of:
• 4 squat cleans @ 70kg
• 8 handstand push-ups
• 12 pull-ups
• 16 box jump overs

Don't know why my back has felt a bit tight. It comes when I keep doing squat movements, going below parallel. That is the reason I have been avoiding heavy back and front squats lately. It felt stiff on this one too, especially on the cleans and box jumps. Hspu's and pull-ups gave it some rest in between.

Completed the cleans in singles all the way. Reckoned it is the most beneficial way to go for them. Handstand push-ups were unbroken every round. Had no other option with them but to go without breaks. Pull-ups were mostly 8-4 reps with the exception of first round going in one full set. I never wanted to hit a wall on the pull-ups, that's the reason for breaking them up even though they could have been ub. Tried to pace myself on the box jumps and keep moving constantly.

Friday 26.2: Kb and Running

Friday. Outdoors workout, 4rds of: 30 kb swing @ 32kg, run around the block.

Today there was no chance of going to the gym during the decent hours so I made a move and decided to go for an outdoor metcon. It was a perfect wintery weather for that purpose. Something like 4 minus degrees, no wind at all, and snow in the ground.

Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 30 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
• Run around the block (around 300m)

There was simply no warm-up whatsoever. If you don't count the part where I carried the 2-pood bell to the back yard. That was it. I thought about swinging the bell for some time for warm-up but once I had it going the plan changed on the fly and I took 30 reps unbroken right away. Then dropped it down and took a lap around the block. I have sometime in the history measured it to be somewhere around 300-330 meters. Definitely not a precise number.

The upcoming rounds of kb swings were more painful. My back started to get really stiff, especially in the 3rd and 4th round. First round was ub, the following 20-10 reps. On the running last round was definitely the fastest. This was a good crossfit workout for sure. I vaguely remember there is a hero workout - maybe Eva - where you have 800m run, 30 pull-ups and 30 kb swings for 5 rounds. Must be a pain in the ass. Anyway, it was a lot of fun working outdoors again.

Thursday 25.2: Burpees, Snatch, Ghd, Press

Thursday. 4min amraps of burpees and snatches with ascending weights. Metcon, 20 to 2, down by 2's ghd's. 10 db press between ghd's.

Another long day at work. This thing called crossfit is a perfect way to zero my thoughts and get back to life. It was a productive day indeed but energy levels start to come down at some point. Then it's time to gear up and go to work, to the gym though. By the way, the Crossfit Open is upon us! They will publish the first event, 16.1 on the upcoming night. It's gonna be spectacular to kickoff the crossfit season. I love to watch and follow the pros doing their job to find the fittest on earth.

Intervals.

• 4min: 30 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 35kg (result, 32 reps)
• 4min rest
• 4min: 20 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 50kg (result, 25 reps)
• 4min rest
• 4min: 10 burpees + amrap of snatches @ 60kg (result, 13 reps)

My camera's battery went dead on the first amrap so I couldn't relive the moments but fact is that on the first round I went unbroken on the burpees. Actually every round. That was the easy part. Then came the snatches. First round was 10-10-5-7 reps to finish it with 32 reps.

Second set was with slightly heavier weights at 50kg. First 20 burpees, then use the rest of the remaining time of 4 minutes to complete as many snatches as possible. It was triples all the way until the last set where I took one extra rep.

Third amrap was at 60 kilos which meant it's gonna be singles from the very first lift. This was a good strategy, and I don't know how many fails there would have been had I tried to do doubles. In the beginning I was a bit too ambitious and tried to do fast singles. This led to one failed rep. Other than that it was okay. Definitely not the best snatches I've had but the barbell came up.

Metcon.

• 20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2 of ghd sit-ups
• 10 dumbbell presses @ 2x15kg

This was created on the fly. Just started moving and came up with this during the first set of ghd's. That was a good time pressure to think what to do after the 20 reps are done. Walked right onto dumbbell rack and picked up two pieces of 15kg db's, and went for 10 reps. That was easy in the beginning.

During these 10 rounds they got tougher towards the last rounds. Core got also stiff in the metcon and both movements brought pressure there. Went unbroken still, and refused to take any rest between elements. Walked over to the dumbbells, picked them up right away and put them overhead. Same with the ghd's.

Wednesday 23.2: Jerks, Row/Burpee intervals

Wednesday. Jerk btn, 7x3 @ 80kg. Intervals, every 3:00: 250m row + 8 burpees.

Long day at work. Luckily there was a slot to put time in at the gym. Overhead strength and interval conditioning. Especially that last piece was miserable as it was 100% effort on the sprints.

Overhead.

• Behind the neck jerk triples, 7x3 @ 80kg

Piled up some jerk blocks and worked on my overhead strength and technique. I guess jerking the bar from behind the neck is advantageous as the bar travels right up vertically and that might allow heavier weights on straight hands.

Putting the blocks together at the weightlifting platform was a good warm-up. This movement is very strange for me until today. First sets felt awkward but towards the end sets got better technically.

Intervals.

• Every 3:00, for 24 minutes:
• 250m row + 8 burpees, all in effort

This really was a grueling piece of interval sprints. Rowing was as fast as possible. For me that meant 1:30 - 1:33 throughout the 8 sets of rowing. Right after 250 meters of rowing it was time to throw chest to floor and get after those burpees.

It took me about 70 seconds to finish one interval. That's the reason why one set started every 3 minutes. That made it something like 1:1 work:rest ratio. Okay, a bit more rest. In the end that felt like it could definitely be less. By mid-workout it started to feel a lot shorter. First two intervals I went with damper setting, next two sets with 9, and the latter half of the wod with 10. This wasn't the first time doing row / burpee intervals, these work perfectly every time!

Tuesday 23.2: Cleans, Thrusters, Row

Tuesday. Emom x 8min: 3 hang squat clean @ 80kg. E2mom x 20min: 7 thrusters @ 60kg. Cashout, 5rds of: 1min row, 1min bike.

We had a loooong day yesterday with Pauliina running errands so there was no time for a workout session. I took it back today with barbell work. Maybe that made good as my upper body and legs felt like hammered and my palms got some time to recover those rips from Saturday. Today all these were better.

Today's plans in advance

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 8min
• 3 hang squat clean @ 80kg

This was fun. Cleans from hang position for a triple. These felt smooth all the way. And what is important for me is that they look alike. Not much variance between reps in technical sense. I'd like to see the bar brush my hips a notch higher but other than that it's okay stuff.

Overhead.

• Every 2:00 x 20min
• 7 thrusters @ 60kg

Damned that shoulder burn! Had to mobilize my shoulders, lats and triceps more after the cleans in order to get comfortable in the front rack position in the squat. Usually when I front squat I hold the bar with just my fingers so it's not that big of an issue. But on the thrusters I have a firm grip with the entire hand / palm so that requires a lot more mobility.

These were supposed to be touch'n'go sets all the way. And I got through them even though the last rounds were a nightmare. At times I thought about cutting it to 5-6 reps. Luckily I didn't and pushed through. Mental win. It just felt so miserable in my shoulders after some point.

Cashout.

• 5 rounds of:
• 1min row
• 1min bike

Hopped on the rower and started pulling. Pace was somewhere around 1:45-1:48 per 500m. This wasn't an emom style session. Instead, I timed it for 60 seconds on rower first, then jumped on the bike and cycled for another 60 seconds. So there was actual work time of 10 minutes, and the actual piece took thus a bit more due to the transitions. Again, this is something I can see myself doing for a longer time. Last time it was just a short one, today I had time for a bit more. This could easily be a very long wod too.

Sunday 21.2: Run, Db snatch

Sunday. Wod, 5rds of: 400m run, 20 db snatch (25kg).

The workout took my breath away. It was time to continue working outdoors with dumbbells. It had snowed A LOT during the night. We had just shoveled huge piles of snow away from the terrace and front yard and the same process was waiting there in the morning. But first it was time to get gassed in the form of crossfit. The streets were also naturally full of snow so my ankles were full of snow.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 400m run
• 20 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg

The pace was probably steady each round, that was my gut feeling. Snatches were 10 in a row with right hand, then changed to 10 reps with left hand. Dumbbell snatches seem to take my breath away every time. Running felt like that was the most disgusting part of the wod.

Last lap of running is about to begin

Saturday 20.2: Nasty Girls + Db's

Saturday. AM. Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR). Cashout, 3rds of: 1min row, 1min bike. PM. 5rds of: 12 lunges (2x25kg db's), 10 front squat (2x25kg db's). Accessory, 4x15 bent over row (2x25kg db's).

We spent the weekend in the countryside so I didn't have possibility to write about Saturday's training sessions. It was a two-a-day. In the morning we hit it with Pauliina. There was a benchmark workout called Nasty Girls. In the evening we went outside with Kari for another session. Awesome Saturday!

Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR)

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 air squats
• 7 ring muscle-ups
• 10 hang power cleans @ 60kg

This was the second time I've done this benchmark workout. These muscle-up wods are always a bit horrifying in advance. Those are not my strength and they tore my palms big time each and every time. There probably hasn't been even one session without rips. Okay that may be exaggeration but it's close anyway.

But the fact is that today's muscle-ups rocked my world. I was proud of myself in the middle of the workout. On the first round my plan was to go 4-3 reps which was a bit optimistic. However, as I started to do them my focus was on keeping a hollow body, tightly together, with a good back swing and lots of patience on the front swing before pulling myself up and over the rings. These must have been one of the best (if not even the best) muscle-ups I have performed. It's a pity I don't have video material as I'd really like to analyze that.

So first round was 4-3 even though it felt like I had something in me to go even unbroken. That would have been a pr so that would have probably been the most stupid thing to do in a workout like this =) Once mu's are gone, it's difficult to get them back. Second round was 3-2-2 and the last one maybe a double or two and then singles. Still the technique was good on these ones all the way.

Air squats were unbroken on the first round, and then I kept a short pause after 30 reps on latter rounds. Cleans were unbroken each round, those were the easiest part of this workout.

Cashout.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min row
• 1min bike

This might be quite an awesome workout to continue for 20-40 minutes. At least something similar. Don't have a SkiErg which would make it even better. This time there was no time to work more on this couplet.

Legs.

• 5 rounds of:
• 12 walking lunges @ 2x25 dumbbells
• 10 front squats @ 2x25kg dumbbells

I had bought 25kg dumbbells from Germany and this was the first time I got my hands on them. Those little babies were great! And the weather was perfect too so the combination was simply just too good not to hit another session. This focused purely on those db's.

My legs were on fire. Doing this on snow made it interesting as I slipped every now and then as the snow started to pack and turn firm. That made it slippery as ice. This was not a timed wod.

Accessory.

• 4 x 15 bent over row @ 2x25kg dumbbells

Just needed to get something else done with these guys. Bent over rows don't appear very often in my training but it's still a good movement. Today I decided to give it a shot as Pauliina suggested it =) Had to take them for 15 reps as the weight was not heavy for that purpose. I did these with two dumbbells at the same time

Friday 19.2: Cleans, Squats, 12min amrap

Friday. Emom x 10: hang clean + clean (up to 100kg). Emom x 10: front squat @ 120kg. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 7 front squat (60kg), 15 pull-ups, 15 ghd. Result, 192 reps.

Thursday was a rest day. I'm pretty pleased that I've kept my head with the weekly rest days. Okay those probably wouldn't happen without my better half's guiding. I love to train and it gives me big mental satisfaction. Still, this rest day thing is a new thing for me. Hopefully it results in good things in the long run.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min
• Hang clean + full clean (80, 85, 85, 90, 90, 90, 90, 95, 100, 100kg)

The idea was to drop after each rep and build up to rather heavy set. Back has felt a little tight in the past days / weeks which prevented me going heavier but still these were pretty good loads, especially for hang cleans. Took pretty short warm-up before jumping on to this. Maybe that affected my posterior chain not being totally ready for this.

Haven't done 3-digit cleans lately so this was a good emom. For some reason cleans are something I really love. I'll take this session with pleasure.

Strength.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min
• 1 front squat @ 120kg

Front squats seem to accompany squat cleans very well afterwards. Legs are already prepped up so it's just up to putting the plates on and moving up and down. The bar felt a bit towards heavy today. I'd think after a rest day legs would be pumped up and ready to go. Yes, on the cleans they felt fresh but maybe it was the back that made it tougher because legs were good all the way now as I think about it.

Metcon. Result, 192 reps (5 rounds + 7 squat)

• 12min amrap of:
• 7 front squat @ 60kg
• 15 pull-ups
• 15 ghd sit-ups

It was obvious for me the toughest part of this would be pull-ups. And they were the most unpleasant part of this one. Front squats burned legs for sure but it was definitely the easiest part of this one. Took the barbell from ground each round. Back felt fine on these ones.

Pull-ups were unbroken for the first 3 rounds and then I had to cut them. First at 10-5 and the fifth round was 9-3-3. Last reps really felt in my lats. Ghd's were surprisingly tough. Usually I go tng all the time but this time I had to stop for a second or two on top of one of the sets. Okay only one set but that is a clear sign for me that this was much more challenging than normally. The combination of elements probably made the deal.

Wednesday 17.2: Clean, Hspu, Ball slam, Box, Row

Wednesday. Metcon, 6rds of: 5 power clean @ 80kg, 10 hspu, 15 ball slam, 15 box, 500m row. Time, 34.39.

Huh, it was a busy day. Luckily I got a chance to let some steam off at the gym after work day. It was a long workout with easier pace. More like basic conditioning I would say. Still it burned my legs at times, and it can't be characterized as easy one for sure.

Metcon. Time, 34.39

• 6 rounds of:
• 5 power clean @ 80kg
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 15 ball slams, 9kg
• 15 box jumps
• 500m row

Plan from the beginning was to take this with slower pace. Not to gas out and look for the best possible time. More like keeping a steady rhythm in all of the movements. Took the cleans in singles, dropped between every rep but picking it up right away.

It's been some time since doing handstand push-ups so this felt awesome to get some completed under my belt! Ball slams were much more pain in the ass than I had anticipated / remembered. Even though the ball is only at 9 kilos, that movement still puts breathing heavy and legs feel the pressure nicely.

Box jumps are always a pleasure and I went after those with a smile on my face. Okay that's a bit of exaggeration but those are something I look forward to every time I see them in a workout. On the first round I had to jump on to a stationary bike because both Concept2's were taken. That wasn't too bad of a choice as it burned my legs more than the rower. Anyway this part of the metcon was a pure conditioning piece.