Fifth time organising our very own throwdown. This time at Casa de Lamppu, at my house in Klaukkala. We have pretty awesome training possibilities, especially as the spring weather was beautiful and sun was shining. We had arranged me and my friend Toni was one team. Then my brother and his training partner Jake was the other team. We were supposed to compete "against" each other in partner workouts but Jake had a small tweak in his back on the first event so events 2-4 were completed in a 3-man team. Luckily Jake was able to recover himself back to training mood the following week after HC Triplet
Event 1: "Strongman Mindfuck"
In a 2-man team
2 rounds of:
400m run with sandbags
10 squat clean @ 80kg
250m sled drag
10 squat clean @ 80kg
100m sled pull, standing
10 squat clean @ 80kg
Damn that sled drag was nasty! Most challenging part for me for sure. It turned slow at some point. On the other hand squat cleans were the easiest piece for me. So we emphasized so that I worked more with the barbell and Toni felt strong on that sled. It was a good strategy this time.
Event 2: "Can U Breathe MoFo"
In a 3-man team
18 rounds of
8 hang power snatch @ 30kg
8 lateral burpees
8 pull-ups
You go, I go style. One athlete performs one full round
Heavy breathing! All in every round. Then fist bump and next guy is going full throttle. Nasty one.
Event 3: "I Like to Move it Move it"
In a 3-man team
Amrap 7 minutes
Shoulder-to-overhead @ 60kg
Result, 151 reps
We took these bad boys in sets of 5 reps pretty much all the way. Maybe couple of 7's in the beginning and end but mostly 5's, every one of us.
Event 4: "Finish'em"
In a 3-man team
15 rope climbs
75 thrusters @ 50kg
75 pistol squats
75 handstand push-ups
75 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
75 toes-to-bar's
One man rows 250m all the time. Change man after every 250m
That rowing thing was a good one. It forced everybody to move constantly. Loved those thrusters, they moved efficiently on my own behalf. Everything moved quite nicely which was a positive surprise at the end of the training day. There could have been more volume on all movements.
This was a great training day! Hooking up with my brother and we went to Esport Express training center which reminds me of a good crossfit box even though it's not an official affiliate. We hit this classic Crossfit Open workout from 2012 called 12.3.
It was a nerve-racking situation as we had the possibility to only reserve one station of barbell, pull-up bar and a box. We decided that I'd start the wod, and once I'm ready with the first set of box jumps, my brother goes for his first box jumps. If either of us would have been slower, he would have stepped down and give way to the faster one. However, we are pretty much at the same level and we pushed each other on this one nicely. Ended up with the same result on this 18 min pain cave.
I've tried both strategies, going unbroken on the s2o's and breaking it down with small rest periods in between. Until this day I don't know which one is a better solution. If I go for unbroken sets, then the transition times are a notch longer. Anyway, today I did couple of rounds unbroken, then started to do them in two sets. It was a horrible workout, and with the pressure of my bro breathing down my neck didn't help. But we both managed PR's on this one so it definitely was a success!
Oly.
Hang power clean triples
50, 60, 70, 80, 85kg
This session consisted of quite a few pieces. Second portion was strength in the form of hang power cleans. Built up to a heavy triple.
Workout.
5-4-3-2-1 of:
Rope climb
Squat clean @ 80kg
This was a killer workout. Loved it. Rope climb endurance is something that I'd like to see myself getting better at. I managed this workout well, I'm quite proud of this one. Cleans hurt in the mix of things but they were definitely the easier part of this. Took them as singles, then hit it back at the rope. Perfect workout.
Accessory.
3 sets of:
Single-leg romanian deadlift
8 reps both legs @ 25kg dumbbells
Accessory stuff. Some bulgarian squats and single-leg romanian deadlifts to strengthen the posterior chain.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 14 minutes
Odd min, 14 ball slam @ 30 lbs ball
Even min, 10 burpees
Last minutes: 20 ball slams + 15 burpees
At this point this brought the breathing to heavy levels, especially the further the workout proceeded. In the last round I added some reps to both elements to seal the deal.
Cashout.
3k row
Easy pace row to flush the legs and body
Wednesday 17.5
Amrap 30. Result, 7 rounds sharp
8 back squat @ 80kg
12 handstand push-ups
Run up and down the street
Interesting workout. Running, back squats and handstand push-ups. Back squats are a rarity in metcons so this was a nice combo to try out. No prob, I could give a chance to this kind of action in the future as well. Good one.
Thursday 18.5
Barbell cycling
4 sets of:
10 power clean @ 60kg
4 sets of:
5 power clean @ 70kg + 5 front squats @ 70kg
This took place at the crossfit box near my workplace. Started it with barbell cycling of power cleans and some squats. Barbell moved well
Workout. Time, 9.12
5 rounds of:
20 ghd sit-ups
10 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
Saturday 20.5
Workout.
5 back squat @ 100kg
15 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
10 handstand push-ups
Decided to give another shot to back squats in a metcon, and once again with good vibes. Good combination of movements. Posterior chain / Hamstrings got heated up.
Sprints.
Sprints around the block (600m)
Was supposed to do couple of these but time was cut short after 2 sprints. Those hurt.
Accessory.
Curls
Got some dumbbells sneaked in at some point of the day for some meathead action.
Sunday 21.5
Amrap 20 minutes. Result, 7 rounds
5 overhead squats @ 60kg
Run up and down the street
This is something I'm proud of. Overhead squats are something I suck at so mastering these 60kg bastards felt very good. My strategy was to run faster than normally to make this workout a misery. At the end I felt a bit awkward as I would have liked the ohs reps to be a little higher. Maybe 7 reps would have nailed it. Mobility got better and better by the round.
Skills.
Handstand skills
We went to see some couples and Jake threw the idea of training handstand skills up in the air. It didn't take much to grab that thought. It was nice to go for it. Haven't done them in ages and it was cool to see I still got it.
Monday 22.5
Oly.
Every 0:30, for 10 minutes (20 reps)
1 squat clean @ 90kg
Every 0:30, for 10 miuntes (20 reps)
1 clean and jerk @ 75kg
Cleans felt good, jerks quite stiff. That's why I stayed moderate with it.
Sometimes just working on those strength pieces is enough. Body tells me when I need to step away from heavy breathing and work on strength only.
Thursday 25.5
Workout. Morning session
6 unbroken rounds of:
5 thrusters @ 70kg
15 pull-ups
Yeah, this was great with heavier thrusters and good volume of pull-ups. Didn't time this at all. Basically just wanted to get the work done with unbroken sets.
Workout. PM session
Amrap 15 minutes
15 toes-to-bar's
20 shoulder-to-overhead @ 40kg
30 air squats
Uuh, holy hip flexors. They hurt, so did my shoulders and legs. Well, entire body. Big sets.
Friday 26.5
Overhead.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
1-5min: 5 shoulder press @ 50kg
6-10min: 4 push press @ 60kg
11-15min: 3 push jerk @ 70kg
Working on that pressing power and shoulder strength.
Workout. Time, 14.41
5 rounds of:
7 overhead squats @ 50kg
10 burpees
12 goblet squats @ 32kg
20 sit-ups with a wall ball
Round times stayed solid all the way.
Accessory.
4 sets of:
8 romanian deadlifts @ 90kg (bar not touching the ground)
12 dumbbell row @ 25kg, right hand
12 dumbbell row @ 25kg, left hand
Unilateral work.
Saturday 27.5
AM Session.
Front squat 5x5 @ 100kg
Basic stuff.
Workout. Time, 16.29
4 rounds of:
500m row
15 ring dips
20 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
Rolled the concept2 rower to the back yard in the afternoon, and started pulling the strokes. Ring dips were great, and 2-pood bell pushed breathing heavier. Don't remember the dips anymore how they went. Most likely 1-2 rounds unbroken, then smaller sets.
PM Session
Train run.
5k run at Tornimäki hill
Took about 30 minutes
I actually got lost somewhere in the midst of the hill, and had to ask way how to get out of there :) The following days my calves hurt quite a lot
Sunday 28.5
Skills.
5 rounds of:
3 bar muscle-ups
Run up and down the street
Intervals.
Pull-ups and dumbbell snatches @ 25kg
Rest as needed between sets
1st round: 15+20 reps
2nd round: 15+20 reps
3rd round: 20+20 reps
4th round: 20+20 reps
Got the pull-ups done unbroken. And right after pull-ups I walked to the dumbbell, and started rippin'
There was a tight time window (surprise :)) so I decided to forget about the warm-up, and go longer emom instead. The work load was tolerable and this was a bit of a lighter workout. I just wanted to move and get some blood flowing. Finland was playing ice hockey in the world championships and I wanted to see that game.
Saturday 6.5
Outdoor work and gardening for 9 hours. We built a pull-up bar with Antti, among running other errands.
Lots of stuff needed to be done outdoors. Antti was a huge help in putting up a new pull-up bar on our yard. Now I can also do muscle-ups as there is no roof on top of the bar. This was huge! And right on time for the upcoming HC Triplet, taking place on Saturday 13.5.
Sunday 7.5
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
Squat clean singles
1-6min: 90kg
7-12min: 95kg
Sunday was also an outdoor activity day. Lots of things needed to be done at the house. Luckily the in-laws came to babysit our kiddo so we had the possibility to do those things, and hit a good workout session as well.
Workout.
5 rounds of:
Sled drag 200m downhill/uphill
16 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg
That sled is an awful tool. But very good mental equipment too.
Workout.
4 rounds of:
40m sled pull, standing
20m walking lunges @ x25kg dumbbells
And another sled workout. Lots of breathing took place this day.
Monday 8.5
Oly lifting
A) Complex of snatches and overhead squats
1+1, 2+1, 3+1 @ 60kg
B) Couple of singles @ 60kg
Went to a crossfit box in the morning to work on olympic lifts and then conditioning. My snatch game was not right on the money this time so I took just couple of sets on those.
Workout.
4 rounds of:
5 clean and jerk @ 70kg
3 rope climbs
15 ghd sit-ups
This was great. I usually aim to do elements at this cf box that are not so easy to do at home. Dropping a heavier barbell, rope climbs and ghd's are all stuff that need more things to be arranged in order to go after at home.
Intervals.
4 sets of:
10 lunges @ 60kg
10 burpee box jumps
This burned a lot on lungs and legs. Definitely efficient!
Tuesday 9.5
Intervals.
Every 8:00min, for 32min (4 sets)
5 rounds of:
3 hang power snatches @ 40kg
6 burpees
9 air squats
Times: 4.19, 3.55, 3.43, 3.26
This was a hero workout Chief-style version. 3+6+9 reps, different movements though. 5 rounds of those movements in a row. Complete one set of those 5 rounds every 8 minutes. It took about 4min to complete one round which means to say the work:rest ratio was about 1:1. Was able to go faster every round.
Wednesday 10.5
Workout.
With a running clock, for 15 minutes
1st min: amrap of row
2nd min: amrap of thrusters @ 2x15kg dumbbells
3rd min: amrap of push-ups
Result, 15 thrusters and 25 push-ups per minute. Didn't count the rowing meters
I did this with my wife, rotated the stations so that we started on different elements. Those two pressing movements in a row started to make a difference
Thursday 11.5
Barbell.
Squat clean thrusters, triples, completed as singles
2 sets @ 70kg
2 sets @ 75kg
2 sets @ 80kg
Went to Stadi Crossfit for the second time this week. Heavier thrusters for strength.
Workout.
Amrap 15 min:
5 front squat @ 80kg
15 box jumps
15 ghd sit-ups
Result, 6 rounds + 15 box jumps
This was a great workout. Lots of work on legs and hip flexors. Felt great though.
Latter part of April. Classic stuff taking place. Now as the spring has made its way to Finland too, we've been super busy with making the yard and house look good from outside as well. There's been a lot of outdoor activities that has caused me not being able to workout as much as normally. I've been enjoying my time as a house owner a lot here in the country side with my family.
Wednesday 12.4
Every minute on the minute, for 12 minutes
7 thrusters @ 50kg
Thursday 13.4
Oly.
Complex of: snatch + 3 snatch balance (couple of sets between 60-65kg)
Snatch singles (between 60-67.5kg)
Went to Toni's crossfit box (Crossfit Kehä), and worked out with him and Miku. It was a blast for sure. Started with some olympic lifting, then finished it with a longer metcon. Good suffering. D-ball was a newcomer in my training. Ball could have been a notch heavier. They also had 70kg ball but that was too bulky for me at this point. It was super cool to knock 50 bar muscle-ups at the end of the workout. We did them mostly in triples.
Team wod. Time, 31.55
As a 3 athlete team:
100 deadlift @ 70kg
70 hang power clean @ 70kg
50 push jerk @ 70kg
80 D-ball ground-to-shoulder @ 40kg ball
100 handstand push-ups
50 bar muscle-ups
One athlete does 15 cal assault bike all the time. Two athletes work the chipper. Change roles after every 15 calories
Friday 14.4
Workout.
5 rounds of:
Run in the park
30m sled pull, standing
10 push jerk @ 60kg
Yard work for 2 hours. Playing around with the new sled. Fun toy!
Saturday 15.4
Yard work for 4-5 hours. Didn't get a chance to throw down
Sunday 16.4
Oly.
Every 2:00, for 10 minutes
Snatch doubles @ 60kg
Workout.
5 rounds of:
5 squat snatch @ 50kg
10 pull-ups
15 wall ball shots
Push & pull.
5 rounds, alternating for 5 rounds between:
5 deadlift @ 130kg and
15 handstand push-ups
Clock was not running at any point. Just worked through them. On the last one I kept breaks between movements / sets. Went unbroken on the hspu's
Lower body.
Lunges, back rack
5 sets of 10 reps @ 70kg
Monday 17.4
0-10 minutes. Result, 6 cleans each minute
Every minute on the minute x 10 min
Odd min, amrap of squat clean @ 90kg
Even min, recover
Hard one! That is 5 sets of 1min amrap of heavy squat cleans. Got 6 reps on the first minute, then just focused on getting that same result on the remaining rounds.
20-32 minutes. Result, 5 rounds + 1 burpee bench over
Amrap 12 minutes
3 squat clean thrusters @ 70kg
12 burpee bench jump overs
Phew, this got to my head. Demons tried to get me stop, but I'm proud of the workout being put here. Those bench jump overs are tough. Can't touch the bench at any time.
40-55 minutes.
6x6 front squat @ 100kg
Accessory.
4x20 reps bench press @ 2x15kg dumbbells
It was an effective session. Took me about an hour to finish through.
Tuesday 18.4
Active recovery in the form of swimming at the hotel pool in Tallinn, Estonia. Went there for couple of days for work related purposes.
Wednesday 19.4
Workout.
5 rounds of:
20 shoulder-to-overhead @ 2x14kg dumbbells
20 burpees
Needed to get blood flowing in the body. Wife joined me in the session
Clean fiesta. All hang power cleans during this training session. Nothing less, nothing more. At least 160 cleans. Focusing on big sets and barbell cycling, grip strength and breathing rather heavy with the barbell.
Hang power cleans.
3x5 @ 60, 70, 80kg
3x10 @ 70, 70, 70kg
Grip strength.
60kg x 30 reps
50kg x 40 reps
40kg x 50 reps
Complete the sets with as few sets as possible
On the following days this got to my body big time. Had troubles walking for couple of days :)
Tuesday 25.4
Workout. Time, 6.55
5 rounds of:
10 push jerk @ 60kg
10 pull-ups
Quick and spicy. Unbroken sets of both movements. Jerks got heavier round by round.
Thursday 27.4
Emom x 30 minutes
1st min: run
2nd min: shoulder-to-overhead @ 2x16kg dumbbells / air squats
3rd min: burpees
We did this with two friends, Ville and Jukka, as we visited Turku for work related issues. Hotel had a decent gym so we came up with this wod. With a running clock, amrap per minute for that specific movement, then change station after the minute is full. We went with s2o's for first 15 minutes. At that moment our shoulders were shot due to the combination of jerks and burpees. Changed jerks to air squats on the fly. This definitely took our breath away!
Friday 28.4
Emom x 14 minutes
1-7min: 1 clean and jerk @ 90kg
8-14min: 3 clean and jerks @ 80kg
Workout. Time, 12.50
4 rounds of:
15 pull-ups
20 box jumps
25 ghd sit-ups
Went to the gym near my work to throw some barbell around. Decided to take couple of heavy clean and jerks, then kill my hip flexors and core with the metcon.
Saturday 29.4
Emom x 30 minutes
1st min: 8 front squat @ 60kg
2nd min: 8 handstand push-ups
3rd min: 12 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg
Shoulders were shot but got through this work allrighty
These weren't that heavy as I stop to think about it. Still, these got to me, and especially the next days my lower body was sore as hell. Maybe I haven't done that much pure squatting lately.
Amrap 12min. Result, 6 rounds finished @ 12.50
2 squat clean @ 90kg
8 handstand push-ups
12 pull-ups
Great combo. Can't drop weights at home so these felt a notch heavier than normally as I lowered the bar slowly to the floor. Hspu's and pull-ups were unbroken.
Accessory.
4 sets of:
L-sit hold
I believe the first one was 0:30, second and third were 0:20 and the last one just 0:15 seconds. These really burn triceps, quads, hip flexors and core of course. This is great accessory stuff. Could always do more of these.
Monday 20.3
Oly.
Overhead squat triples (40, 50, 60, 65, 70kg)
Overhead squat singles with a 10sec pause: 5x1 @ 60kg
This was morning workout. Body felt stiff as hell. I took couple of triples but then dropped some weights and played it with good depth in the bottom position for a 10 sec pause.
Amrap 12min. Result, 7 rounds finished @ 12.30
12 ghd sit-ups
12 box jumps
12 wall ball shots
I needed to move my body. This was created on the spot, easy stuff. Don't need to think anything, just move. My pace was good throughout the workout, no need to slow down.
Intervals. Row 4.592m
1:00 work
1:00 rest
2:00 work
2:00 rest
3:00 work
3:00 rest
4:00 work
4:00 rest
3:00 work
3:00 rest
2:00 work
2:00 rest
1:00 work
This was afternoon workout. I found out a half an hour slot to throwdown so I checked what the Concept2 programs include. Found out there was this above mentioned interval training. Great one.
Tuesday 21.3
Overhead complex.
5 sets of:
5 push press + 5 push jerk @ 70kg
Heavy barbell cycling for me. At least for this many reps in touch'n'go style. No breaks in any of the sets. These got heavy.
Accessory.
5 rounds of:
10 handstand push-ups
20 kettlebell swing @ 32kg
Shoulders were crushed on the first piece so this got spicy. Forearms were shot on the swings.
Wednesday 22.3
Strength.
Pause back squat triples, 7 sets @ 110kg
Box squats, 4x5 reps (110, 120, 130, 130kg)
Different styles of squatting. Pause squats always make good to hip flexors as they force hips to get mobile. Smolov squat program (that I've done twice in my life) has been the greatest decision ever to improve mobility in lower body. Box squats are pretty much a new thing for me. Just tried to get used to them.
Thursday 23.3
Thrusters
5 reps per set
Start @ 40kg
Add 5kg per set
Built up to 75kg
Skills.
Bar muscle-ups 5x3 reps
Amrap 15. Result, 8 rounds finished @ 15.27
3 power clean @ 80kg
15 box jumps
15 ghd sit-ups
Saturday 25.3
Complex.
Every 2:00, for 18 minutes (total of 9 sets)
Squat clean + push jerk complex @ 70kg
1st min: 3+1
2nd min: 2+2
3rd min: 1+3
Squats.
5x15 back squat @ 70kg
Sunday 26.3
Helped friends to move. Took all day. Sweating from the very morning
Monday 27.3
Snatch complex.
Snatch + Overhead squat complex
3 rounds of:
1st min: 1+3
2nd min: 2+2
3rd min: 3+1
Barbell @ 60kg
Barbell cycling.
4x8 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 60kg
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
30 ghd sit-ups
15 pull-ups
Monday evening
4x7 min amraps (A+B+A+B). This was Pauliina's creation. Actually it's taken from Kayla Itzines, the Australian fitness lady.
A)
20 air squat
10 burpee
20 bench dips
30 bike abs
B)
20 toe taps
15 lay down push-ups
24 step-ups
50 mountain climbers
Wednesday 29.3
Clean emom.
Every minute on the minute x 30 minutes
1st min: 1 squat clean @ 80kg
2nd min: 2 squat cleans @ 80kg
3rd min: 3 squat cleans @ 80kg
Then start over, continue for 10 rounds (30 minutes)
Must hold hands on the barbell at all times during each set
Can't drop the bar until the last rep
No touch'n'go allowed
Last minute (30th min) go as many reps as possible. Result, 9 reps
