Wednesday 31.10: 30min Fry-up

Wednesday. 30min Fry-up. 732 reps, Toni 368 reps.

Today's agenda was thinking out of the box. As Toni wrote yesterday: "Tomorrow is all about cooking. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!"We went after a workout consisting of several movements, as many reps as possible in 30 minutes, some strength moves and some basic stuff. This was the longest amrap we've had this far. As warm-up we rowed, did regular warm-up and then lifted deadlifts and push presses with 100 and 50kg and naturally went through all the Fry-up's moves.

Fry-up. Result: 7 rounds and 22 double unders. Total of 732 reps.

• 3 deadlift (100kg) = 24 reps
• 7 burpee = 56 reps
• 40 double unders = 302 reps
• 3 push press (50kg) = 21 reps
• 7 pull-ups = 49 reps
• 40 squats = 280 reps

It was difficult to set a strategy beforehand as I've never done as long a wod as this was. I figured one round would take somewhere around 5 minutes so I decided to concentrate doing one round unbroken, then keep a 30sec break and move on to next round. I stuck with this plan throughout the entire half an hour. Thinking it afterwards, I shouldn't have taken those breaks necessarily after each round. I was afraid of getting totally burnt if I don't take rest periods at all in 30min. The combination of burpees and double unders got my heart, racing wildly. Other than that, my conditioning stayed good and consistent.

The deadlifts were too light. 100kg is about 60% of my max, it felt like the bar was flying up. Maybe more reps or heavier kilos would have been a wise decision. I thought about 120kg yesterday but decided on 100kg anyway. Burpees got some action in my heart even though there were just a few of them. Especially as double unders followed right after them. I'm very happy of my double unders during this workout. First round I took all 40 reps in a row. All but round number 4 went in 2x20. Only that fourth round went in 3-4 attempts. I've never been this good in double unders in a workout when fatigue crawls in. Really, these were easy, awesome!

Push presses were the most demanding movement for me today. Maybe because my shoulders have taken hit for several days in a row. Doing clean & jerks, snatches, overhead squats, pull-ups, ring dips, shoulder presses and push presses in the last four days maybe took their toll. All pull-ups went unbroken, I liked doing them and could have taken more of them. Nice to witness that pull-ups were not a struggle this time :)

Squats were the ones that burnt my hamstrings. The first rounds were not bad but then in the middle of the workout those last squats - after 30 reps - the hamstring fire came in. I pushed them through unbroken anyway. As a summary, all reps in all movements went unbroken, except from double unders which I did in 2x20reps.

Our fry-up worked well for its purpose. The point was to increase metabolic conditioning, go for a clearly longer metcon than normally and include power ingredients as well. We could have spiced it up with heavier kilos in the barbell. Next time when I go for similar type of workout, I'll strategize it more perfectly. If I could turn back time, I would keep shorter breaks between rounds. I thought I would be totally gassed after this one. However, I felt like I had something in my sleeve after the half an hour.

Toni's fry-up. Result: 6 rounds and 5 burpees. Total of 368 reps.

• 3 deadlift (100kg) = 21 reps
• 7 burpee = 47 reps
• 20 double unders = 120 reps
• 3 push press (50kg) = 18 reps
• 7 pull-ups = 42 reps
• 20 squats = 120 reps

Toni's deadlift

Toni took the same wod with slight modifications. Double unders and squats were 20 reps and pull-ups were assisted pull-ups. I think we felt the pressure differently on the moves. Toni experienced push presses as easy ones. Give us some insight of your thoughts chef!

Visa took another huge load up, this time deadlifting 180kg. And hey, this is his "easy week" =)

BEAST, 180kg

Tuesday 30.10: Clean and jerk, metcon

Tuesday. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-2-1 (max 70kg). Metcon 4 rounds of db thrusters, hspu and lunges.

This day was somewhat easier one. I took some sets of clean & jerk, ending up to 70kg. Training also included a metcon with dumbbell thrusters, handstand push-ups and lunges with a bar at my back. Toni was at the gym with me, he went for cleans, bench press and similar kind of workout as I did. This evening is free of training so tomorrow morning we are prepped up for going after something awkward with Toni. Stay tuned!

Dumbbell thrusters

Strength. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-2-1 (50, 60, 65, 70, 70kg). On the last round I took 3 cleans, only 1 jerk. My cleans were power cleans. However, with 50kg I took squat cleans to remind myself who they should go. So this workout was to combine clean and push press to reach "clean & jerk". I took 70kg C&Js up 2 times on the fourth round and once in the last round. In the last round I anyway took 3x70kg cleans and only one jerk. I just realized when writing this that 70kg was my clean PR from 10 days ago, and push press PR from 3 days ago. I thought my morning training wasn't such a success I wanted but now I actually feel pretty good! Still, it takes time to go for Grace (30 x clean & jerk) with the rx'd weights (60kg). It might take a while. I enjoyed that workout a lot when I did it with 50kg last time. However, next time I think I'll go for the original weights.

Metcon. Dumbbell thrusters, handstand push-ups, lunges. I didn't time this one.

• 4 rounds of:
• 10 db thrusters (12.5kg dumbbells)
• 5 hspu
• 20 lunges (with 20kg bar)

I did it with normal speed, no extra breaks in between. I just didn't have the clock running. I felt this one in my hamstrings when doing thrusters in the deepest position. And handstand push-ups are always tough. I used a foam roll where I landed my head with the HSPUs. All sets went unbroken except the last rep of handstand push-ups, last rep! Damned, it was a half of a rep, I didn't want to count that so I did one proper one. I totally enjoy push-ups when inverted, must keep on enhancing in them. Then Diane (21-15-9, deadlift & hspu) would also be possible. And I definitely need to get rid of that foam roll, just bang my head to the floor :) Thrusters and lunges were not that bad, my legs felt it but in reality they were not bad. I should have done this in amrap-mode, more rounds or then just simply more reps. Good movements though!

Toni's workouts. Clean 3-3-3-3-2 (50, 60, 65, 70, 75kg). Bench press 3-3-3-F-3 (60, 70, 80, 85, 80kg). Metcon, 12min amrap. 6 rounds, 4 lunges. Total of 202 reps.

• 12min amrap of:
• 12 lunges (10kg dumbbells)
• 9 db thrusters (10kg dumbbells)
• 12 sit-ups

Toni, how was it, here is the last round of your amrap. First round it took about 1:30, then the following rounds were about 2 minutes. It was solid effort and you managed to keep the pace steady. What do you think of your strength training in the morning?

Monday 29.10: Front squat, snatch, ohs

Monday. Front squat 3-3-3-3-2 (max 110kg, PR), snatch 4x5 (max 40kg), overhead squat 4x3 (30kg).

What a wonderful day for squatting. Yesterday I did 30 reps of back squats with 85% of max weights. This caused my legs to be somewhat tired in the morning as I woke up. I wasn't sure how the energy level would be to do heavy front squats. I proved to myself that great portion of training is mental. I pushed that fatigue to the background and started working. I ended up with another personal record and continued with snatches and overhead squats. I started the day by going 5x20 double unders, all sets unbroken and easy, nice!

Front squat. Sets of 3-3-3-3-2 (95, 100, 105, PR 110kg, 110kg). It is awkward that the more I put plates on the bar, the easier it got. I took some warm-up lifts with 80kg, they felt heavier than I thought they should be. It definitely didn't feel like there's gonna me any magic happening today. However, as I piled more weights, I suppose my joints and hip got more open and I managed to get a good form and the center of mass focused on the right spot. Sets around 100kg were not that bad so I added 5kg after each set until 100kg. I took my new personal record up three times. It felt very good so I took it again, this time 2 reps was enough for me. The first rep of that set looked good but on the second one I lost my form and decided to put the bar on the rack.

Snatch. Sets of 5-5-5-5 (30, 35, 40, 40kg). This is actually turning in to a strength move which I'm always looking eagerly forward to. My technique definitely needs to be worked on. I was going after coach Burgener's tips in snatching the bar from the ground, slowly to the halting deadlift and then furiously snatching it to the top. Previously my attempts have been hang snatches. At this moment I don't feel comfortable enough doing squat snatches, they are always power snatches. That's why I'm going after power snatches and overhead squats to find my perfect form. Once I feel confident with those, I'm able to add kilos and do squat snatches as well.

Overhead squats. Sets of 5-5-5-5 (30, 30, 30, 30kg). That's how my bottom position looks like. It's alright at the moment, my knees are still not pointing enough outside, in my opinion, and the weight is not on my heels. That's what I'm trying to fix now. However, my upper body mobility is from another world today and I'm able to go deep enough with shoulders giving up and letting my hands go back. Today I took 4x5 with 30kg on the bar.

Overhead squats

Toni's workouts. Back squats, technique focused pull-ups / dips workout and finally a metcon, time 9.55. Back squat 5-5-5-5-3 (80, 90, 95, 95, 95kg). Pull-ups 5x3, dips 5x4. Toni's metcon. Time 9.55

• 1.000m row
• 20 k2e
• 20 dips
• 20 du

Knees-to-elbows

Toni, tell us your feelings, how was the back squat? What kind of sets did you go for with these movements? I saw only your knees-to-elbows. By the way I'm very proud that you are doing those nowadays! One month ago you were laughing at them. Now you look like a pro.

By the way, here is a video of Visa doing his back squats in the morning. Pretty light one, 180kg on the bar... He is an animal!!!

Sunday 28.10: Back squat, bench press, pull-ups, ring dips

Sunday. Three workouts. 10-8-6-4-2 of back squats and bench press, for quality. 10-8-6-4-2 of pull-ups and ring dips, for quality. Handstand holds and L-sit holds. Start with 1k row, time 3.30.

L-sit hold

I just love it that in the weekends there's no rush at all compared to weekdays. Work sets its own barriers for crossfit as well as my floorball season, which lasts until March. They are not hindering it but certainly I have to plan my schedule better. Pauliina has been in Sweden as exchange student for couple of months which has allowed me to fully concentrate in enhancing my overall conditioning through hard training. Let's see what happens when she comes back =) No, really, she enjoys sports and encourages me a lot to do crossfit and gives all the space I've needed for crossfit this far. She often joins me at the gym, she is just perfect to me. I love her, couldn't imagine being happier!

Today I did three workouts, the first one is inspired by Rob Orlando who often combines two or three strength movements and does them with significant loads. I combined back squat and bench press this time with heavy kilos. Second workout was similar but performed totally with own bodyweight, pull-ups and ring dips. At the end my third workout was pretty much copied by gymnasticswod's workout of the day, holds of handstand and L-sit. Naturally I started the whole day by rowing. Time 3.30. Then some pvc pipe dribbling, stretching, opening up my joints throughout the body and going after bear complex.

First workout. For quality. Total of 30 reps each. 85% of max.

• 10-8-6-4-2
• Back squat, 100kg
• Bench press, 65kg

These weights are heavy for me. About 85% of my max reps. Back squat max is 117.5kg and 75kg is the heaviest I've tried by far for bench press. So going after 30 reps each movement was supposed to be tough. They weren't easy at least. All sets unbroken except for that round of sixes where my last press didn't come up. I had to lower it to my chest and roll it away. I forgot to put the safety bars there... Must have looked simply stupid as I was getting away under the bar. Other than that rep, the workout was a good one. A lot of reps with heavy kilos is exactly what I was looking for. The sets were tough, no doubt about it. I liked the last reps in each set as they didn't come easy. Back squat actually was relatively light (?) but the bench press's last 1-2 reps each round were quite heavy, me likey. My chest felt the burden at the end.

Second workout. For quality. Total of 30 reps each. Own bodyweight.

• 10-8-6-4-2
• Pull-ups
• Ring dips

I had to take a 10min rest period before moving on to second workout because my chest had taken some pressure with bench press. All pull-ups went unbroken until the end, not bad, could've gone longer. I was also able to do some kipping movement there even though I've always thought that is not the ideal spot to have a pull-up bar, as you can see in the video. My ring dips were okay for 10 and 8 rep rounds. I had to split the 6 reps in 2x3. Fours went in 2-2 and the last two were 1-1. There were one rep in the both of the last two rounds which I didn't count as reps, otherwise the last set would've been unbroken. I like these both moves a lot. That can also be seen in my programming, there have been quite a number of both of them lately. There was quite a long period where pull-ups were non-existing. That was due to my shoulder problems. Those worries are gone and I've introduced pull-ups to program again.

Third workout. Three set of holds each. Own bodyweight.

• 60sec handstand hold
• 60sec L-sit hold
• 30 sec handstand hold
• 30 sec L-sit hold
• 20 sec handstand hold
• 20 sec L-sit hold

Pretty much directly taken from gymnasticwod's workout of the day from today, Sunday 28th. Only the length varied a bit and they added 100 reps of hollow rocks to the end. One minute of handstand hold felt long, that was pretty much the top length for me after all the training today. The second round was a bit short in my opinion, I could have taken 45 seconds. Last round of 20sec was easy. However, I wanted to do same length for both movements, that's the reason why I put only 30 and 20 seconds in rounds 2 and 3. Those L-sits were awful. The first round went surprisingly well. However, in the second round my legs were shaking so bad that I was sure I wouldn't last the whole time. Somehow I managed. Last round went nicely but probably couldn't have gone for half a minute.

The day was hard. Rowing fast for 1k. Back squatting and bench pressing with 85% of max weights for 30 reps each. Then pull-ups and ring dips, 30 each. In the end different holds. I believe my entire body felt it today. Legs were given the "easiest" role today, upper body definitely got the highest pressure moments.

Saturday 27.10: Shoulder / Push press, burpee amrap

Saturday. Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-2 (max 55kg, PR), push press 3-3-3-3-2 (max 70kg, PR). 7min amrap of burpees, 117 reps.

Damned today was a good day! Toni and I both made personal records and we hit a metcon that was known to be very unpleasant. We did it, and felt superb after that! This day concentrated mostly on shoulder and upper body area. I've added my rowing in the warm-up, nowadays I usually row for 1k, today as well. The time is around three and a half minutes each time, today it was 3.34. I know that if I put "all in", the time is few seconds under 3.30, somewhere around 3.20-3.25. My forearms still feel a bit awkward from the early week's training but they certainly do not bother the training that much. We took quite a lot of double unders for starters, for about 10 minutes and also some bear complex movements with the bar. Also snatches and overhead squats - first with pvc pipe, then with empty bar - are part of my rituals nowadays.

Strength. Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-2 (45+50+ PR 55+55+55kg), push press (60+62.5+65+ PR 67.5 + PR 70kg).

What happened?!? My previous record for shoulder press was 50kg, a tough struggle as I remember it. Today I went over my limits by doing 8 reps with higher kilos (3-3-2)... 55kg is the new record. The last reps were tough as they are supposed to be. I'm very satisfied to my performance!

Toni's shoulder press was a success story as well. 3-3-3-F-2-1 (50+55+60+62.5+60+ PR 62.5kg). His presses with 50-55kg looked easy. Sixty kilos came up with three reps and looked very good. He added 2.5kg and failed to get it up. Then he repeated 60kg with two reps and finally got his mind together and outrageously pushed the single attempt of 62.5kg up! New personal record was born =)

Push press rolled as nicely as shoulder press, for both of us. My previous record was 65kg. I started  the sets from where I got stuck with shoulder press. First set 60kg, then adding 2.5kg each round. I already did new PR with 67.5kg, 3 reps, and as my mind was strong I put 70kg on the bar and fiercely forced the bar to go towards the ceiling two times, the last rep simply couldn't be lifted anymore.

Toni also got his record broken, 72.5kg was his last set. He took sets of 3 reps with 60, 65, 70, 72,5 kilos and finally two reps with new PR 75kg. How awesome can a day be if both of us do personal records with both shoulder and push press!

The feeling after the training was just perfect. Hitting two records in one day is awesome. My shoulders are exactly the area in my body where I'd like to see some development in my strength training. I'm sure my back squats are going to come up as I have learnt new technique to have a better form in lifting kilos. My front squat technique is good at the moment and clearly my strongest movements. Toni has also made steady development in his strength levels.

Metcon. 117 reps, Toni 84 reps.

• 7min amrap
• Burpees

What a feeling.. The heart is given huge pressure and my triceps were also smashed in the end. We first counted the reps for 118 and 85 but after video review had to drop them to 117 and 84, it was good we taped them. The camera's memory stick got full during my workout so I didn't catch it until the end. Anyway, here is Toni's version of this nightmarish workout. My wod is in Youtube (about 5min) as well. I had no strategy before, it's hard to think of one as I've never done this workout. I began by going 30 in a row, then 3 seconds pause to shake my hands and legs, continue with 15 reps, another shake, then tens until the end. The last 60-70 seconds I pushed through without any breaks. It's comforting to understand you're near the finish line and I had another motivation as well. My brother did this one and completed 113 reps so I had to beyond that point so he won't be trash talking afterwards. He's finding it difficult that little bro is going further ;) He said today he'll try to beat that result and go for 120 reps, haha, good one, I'm sure he will, he is strong minded and this is the ultimate motivation for him!

Friday 26.10: Technique + skills + game day

Friday. Strength technique training for squat, snatch, overhead squat. Additional skills training for handstand, double unders, chest-to-bar pull-ups and muscle-ups. In the evening: home game.

I met my brother at the gym in the morning, my objective was to concentrate purely on techniques and skills because there was a home game awaiting in the evening. I took back squats under his supervision and I think we found a bit more stable squat position for me than before. I tried it out with 80kg and it felt good. Let's see what happens next time I do strength training. We also took snatches and overhead squats to learn more.

Without the weights I dribbled with jump rope and handstand. First against a wall and then tried to push myself away from the wall to find stability by free standing. Main focus on the skills training was on muscle-ups. We took progression training there, starting from lower hight and building it upwards. Focusing mainly on the first transition, not the entire movement to dipping at the end. My brother has found the way to do single muscle-ups so it was very useful to accompany him in the training.

Sipa took back squats, maxed it out for 135kg, 3-rep sets. Here is his 130kg work.

The game ended in a tie 5-5, tough one. Tomorrow morning I'll head to the gym with Toni!

Thursday 25.10: Active recovery

Thursday. Now I can tell my upper body is really stuck. Tuesday's pull-ups and yesterday's deadlift and row/kettlebell swing combo worked for their purpose. I kind of like the feeling that my forearms, upper and lower back are all jammed :) It's been a while since my muscles have felt like this even though I've been working like a lunatic. I know they'll be better off tomorrow.

Today I filled up the basketball that I just bought last weekend and left it to Toni to seal the deal. He got some tools to block the sand falling out. Let's see how good a wall ball we created after all. We are definitely going to use it more often if it turns out to be handy. I really enjoyed doing Karen wod in Sweden, even though the biggest ball at the gym was too light for rx'd Karen.

My schedule for the evening was to go jogging, just taking it with slow pace, 30 minutes, main focus on active recovery. Jogging, sauna, eating, stretching, eating, relaxing and sleeping.

Below you'll find a video clip from Jason Khalipa teaching progression for performing muscle-ups. Take a look and practice, that's at least what I will do, good tips from him!

Muscle-up with Jason Khalipa

Wednesday 24.10: Deadlift + row + kb

Wednesday. Deadlift 5x3 (max PR 155kg), metcon 3 rounds of 1.000m row & 20 kb swing. Time 14.55.

This was pretty awesome day, to say the least! The whole gang was at the gym. Tony the Pony, Joni and Visa as well. It was crowded today and the plates ran out as everyone were doing their strength workouts at the same time =) I took deadlifts, Toni and Joni took front squats and bench press, Visa did purely strength today and went for back squats, bench press and deadlift. My metcon was a bad ass and really made me suffer in a good way!

Strength. Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3-1 (120+130+140+145+150+ PR 155kg). Strength consisted of serious deadlifting. Luckily Visa pushed me forward to make the record, 155kg. After some lighter weights as warm-up, upto 100kg, I began my grimacing with the weights. It came "easily" for the first two or three sets, then it got extremely heavy. I still managed to pull it up with rather nice form (I think) to the end. 145 and 150kg were tough ones for sure, no surprise there. I have never tried a deadlift that hasn't come up so this time ought to be different. I took 155kg up once, probably took several seconds as it was a mental and physical battle all the way. As I landed the bar, I had used all my power that was in the storage and I didn't even go for another attempt. It would have not been possible at this stage. I felt strong today and I'm very happy I'm able to lift double my bodyweight (76kg)!

Metcon. Rowing and kettlebell swings (20kg). Time 14.55.

• 3 rounds of
• 1.000m row
• 20 KB swing (20kg)

It was a mind blowing experience to combine rowing and kettlebell swings. I've done the combo in a bit different style 2.5 months back and it was a rough one then as well. I knew before the workout that it's gonna demand more mental capacity than normal metcon. And it was so true. I'm very satisfied I completed this workout with style. My pace for the rowing was 1.46/500m for the first round, 1.50 for the second round and finally 1.55 for the last round.

Kettlebells went unbroken except the last round where the handle and my hands were so wet that I had to stop swinging after 10 reps and dry my hands for two seconds. Okay, sounds like an excuse but really, it was slippery =) My forearms were extremely burnt and numb after the workout. The feeling just before hitting the third round, my forearms hurt so much I was wondering how to grab the rower's handle. My grab power was weak that it seemed very difficult to row for another 1k. Anyway, I pushed through and saw the finish line finally. Time 14.55. Happy that I combined these two and went outside the comfort zone! There was a total of 4k rowing today, 1k as warm-up and 3k in this workout. All pretty much with same speed. This is exactly what I wanted.

Toni's front squat

Toni's workouts. Toni took sets front squats 5-5-5-5-5 (max 75kg) and then bench press 3-3-3-3-3-1, maxing it out with 90kg, his new personal record! He did his metcon together with Joni. Toni's time 9.03, Joni 9.10.

• 4 rounds of
• 20 double unders
• 30 squats
• 20 sit-ups

Tuesday 23.10: Clean and jerks, handstand and pull-up clinic

Tuesday. In the morning: clean & jerk technique with lighter weights (50kg). Handstand skills training and mobility. In the evening "pull-up clinic" and a workout.

My plan for today was a bit different than what the reality transformed to. The idea was to do heavy clean & jerks in the morning, then a rough metcon after that. I changed it on the fly to lighter workouts. The evening workout was as planned. I wanted to pay attention to my kipping pull-ups and then I took a workout including pull-ups as well.

Morning. I rowed for one km for starters, I think I'll go for that distance every time from now on. Sometimes faster 1.40-1.45 / 500m, sometimes with slower 1.50 / 500m pace. Why not go for 2k every now and then? Anyway, we took off with Toni with the clean & jerk training. Soon I found out that my both elbows were on fire so I didn't want to add weights to the bar. They were literally almost burning. I don't know why. I still took 3x5 with 50kg, concentrating in getting the form good and taking this more like a technique training as the weights were not that heavy.

I quit the jerks and tried to do dumbbell squat thrusters but it soon came evident that it's impossible to do pretty much anything using my hands. So I stopped teasing my elbows. I still wanted to get some pressure on the shoulders without doing too much movements where elbows must be bent. Do you find a better movement than handstand for that situation? I didn't so I took some skills training there =) No push-ups, just standing still, inverted. I took some sets like that my heels against the wall and then finally took some attempts to force my heels come off the wall. Someone said that once you are in the upside down position, just squeeze your butt and abs, then push the tips of your fingers to the ground. Then you'll witness your heels leaving the wall. I tried that and managed to stay inverted on my own for a few seconds.

Toni took a workout that lasted for about 11.30 minutes including. I'll add the video afterwards after some tuning.

• 30 double unders
• 30 lunges with 10kg dumbbells
• 9 knees-to-elbows
• 25 double unders
• 25 lunges with 10kg dumbbells
• 6 knees-to-elbows
• 20 double unders
• 20 lunges with 10kg dumbbells
• 3 knees-to-elbows

In the end we took some mobility with rubber bands, pvc pipes and stretching.

Evening. After work I wanted to put focus on pull-ups. As I have written earlier, the pull-up bar at the gym is too close to the wall and it's difficult to go for kipping pull-ups. I haven't had the opportunity to practice them properly. That's the reason why I wanted to take a session mainly for learning the technique and do pull-ups more than normally. I drove to the nearby outdoor sports center, the same place where I took hero wod Griffin a while ago. This is one of the venue possibilities for the HC Triplet, vol 2.

I took some pull-ups for starters, trying to find the rhythm that suits best for me, how to come down from the up-position naturally and swing right back. I somewhat found it but definitely not perfectly. I was able to use my hips and entire body to ease the movement but I must go there more often to master it. This is one of the most basic things in crossfit so I will have to find places where to practice it regularly. After doing random amount of pull-ups, sets of maybe 5-7, for some time I decided to take a short workout.

• For quality
• 5 rounds of:
• 10 pull-ups
• 20 double unders

I was able to do two or three rounds unbroken with the pull-ups and then at least the fourth and fifth rounds were done in two sets (7+3 / 6+4). Double unders were ok but still for some reason I did all sets something like 15+5. I was a bit disappointed I didn't go unbroken in all sets. They should be easy at this stage. I was pleased with the pull-ups in general. I was able to do quite a number of them during this evening training (maybe around 80 reps) and got a bit forward with my technique.

Before I headed home I still wanted to go for bar muscle-up training for some attempts. I find it difficult currently to do chest-to-bar pull-ups so that would definitely be my next progression step. As I put my hands straight up, the bar was on my wrist level so I did jumping muscle-ups.

Monday 22.10: Back squats + OHS + K2E

Monday. Back squats 6x5 (max 115kg), overhead squats 4x5 (max 40kg). Workout knees-to-elbows as a pair wod.

I was a bit afraid how quickly I could recover from yesterday's game. In the evening I drove directly to the "box" and did a 45min skills training workout after the game. Then home, slept for less than 6 hours and drove back to the box. Anyway, my mindset has been good towards these early morning training sessions for a long time and I'm eagerly waking up in the morning as I know it's time to do some workouts. Today was no exception, I felt some fatigue in my hamstrings in the beginning but once I got it going it was no issue anymore. We took back squats, I took sets of 5 reps, Toni went for 3 reps.

Strength. Back squats (100+100+105+110+115+115kg), overhead squats 4x5 (20+30+35+40kg). Squatting felt good and I quickly moved forward to +100kg weights. I had decided early on to go for 5 rep sets as lately I've done sets of 3 reps. I was very happy for today's mood and how well I got the kilos up. I took two sets of 100kg, then adding 5kg after each set. The first time I put 115kg on, I got 4 reps as the fifth one stuck to the bottom. I collected my anger, let Toni do his set and then pushed another set of 5 reps of 115kg up. My max set of 3 is currently 117,5kg (last week) so doing sets of 5 with 115kg pleased me a lot. And there were 29 reps in total of +100kg. Good one!

Toni's sets were 3 rep sets of 80+90+100+105kg and single rep of 107.5kg, which is his current PR. We talked that he will go for higher amount of reps next time with squats as he's done mostly 1/2/3 rep sets by far. He's found the technique, now he's going to put focus on doing higher amount of repetitions  with tougher kilos to get some mustard in hamstrings. Toni's upper body is proportionately bigger and stronger compared to lower body. There you will also find his strong areas

Overhead squats were the other part of my strength training. I'm learning the basics of this movement with rather light kilos at the moment. I haven't gone over 40kg by far. Today I also put that amount of plates in the barbell. At some points the form is a bit shaky so I don't want to add more weights before I master the technique. Doing sets of 5 reps holding a bar with plates on it over your head gives some pressure in your arms and shoulders. It's not that heavy for quads and hamstrings but mostly to upper body. I don't know what the feeling is once you put +60kg. I snatched the bar from the starting position every time to get some practice in there as well. I've taken these two (snatch & ohs) to my regular selection of strength exercises so my body will get used to them and be natural by doing them.

Workout. Pair wod with Toni. 5min amrap of knees-to-elbows. Total of 65 reps.

• For the first 5 rounds
• Don 5 reps
• Toni 3 reps

• For the rest of the workout (8 rounds)
• Don 5 reps
• Toni 2 reps

This was easier one to the end. Not a real metcon where the heart is about to burst into flames but taking this one more as an active recovery and keeping body and nervous system familiar with K2Es. We decided to do 5min am rap together as a team. I started, took 5 reps, then switch and Toni did 3 reps. After he is done, I take control again. For the first 5 rounds Toni did 3 reps, after that 2 reps each round. I went for 5 reps each round. We had time to do 13 rounds total so there were 65 K2Es in total for me this time.

Between this workout and back squats Toni took a short metcon by doing

• 15 dips
• 50 sit-ups
• 10 dips
• 35 sit-ups
• 5 dips
• 20 sit-ups

Sunday 21.10: Muscle-up progression, DU, HSPU, K2E

Sunday. Skills training for muscle-ups, double unders, hanstand push-ups and knees-to-elbows. It was also a game day, we won the game.

Today we had a game day, away game, in Helsinki anyway against one of the best teams in this series. We got to a quick 0-3 lead and held it all the way, final result 2-7. Straight from the game I drove to my gym to do some skills training: muscle-up progression, double unders sets. Then I also took a short workout of handstand push-ups and knees-to-elbows. The point of this session was to pay attention to these moves as I haven't been doing them that much lately.

Muscle-ups. I adjusted the rings to my chest level at first, and pulled myself over them to make a dip. As I was able to do that, I lifted the hight of the rings little by little. Finally I was able to set them about 10-15cm over my head and still make a jumping muscle-up. This was the first time I'm practicing them so I'm quite satisfied that I got the tracks in my head right how to perform a muscle-up. However, at this point it feels a distant dream to make a full rep with legs hanging in air in the starting position.

Double unders. Then I took some double under training. Usually there are quite a number of people training at the gym and it's quite crowded with the traditional training equipment that it's difficult to find a spot to use jump rope. In the weekends it's always more space so I wanted to take full utilization of it. I wanted to test how many DUs I can do in a row as I have actually never tried it before. Result 55, see the video below  =)

HSPU / K2E. Finally I took the handstand push-ups and knees-to-elbows, 4 reps of HSPUs and 10 K2Es for 5 rounds. My handstand push-ups are usually performed not to full range of motion but I keep a foam roll or something alike below me. The range is shorter so once I master this and my shoulders get stronger I will get rid of that and hit my head to the floor. I must be patient with handstand push-ups as last time I performed those 3 times in four days in workouts my right shoulder got inflamed. I don't want to experience that again so I'll take this movement once in a while, not too often, not too rarely. Knees-to-elbows were easy this time and were not too exhausting, I like them. They are rough once there are big numbers to be done but in sets of 10 reps they're not too bad at all.

Saturday 20.10: Rowing, cleans and metcon

Saturday. Row 1.000m, time 3.29. 5 sets of power clean (PR 70kg). Metcon 10min amrap of cleans, burpees and double unders: 241 reps.

The day started with rowing for one kilometer for time. My strength workout concentrated purely on cleans, today I hit my new record, 70kg. Grande Finale was a 10min amrap of cleans, burpees and double unders. I made it just under 6 rounds.

Row. Time 3.29. The pace remained the same throughout the workout: 1.44-1.45 / 500m. I sat on the rower right after coming to the gym, I wasn't supposed to time it but rowing felt so good that I decided to put on some speed and go for 1k. In general, I think I should row more and further distances, especially for warm-up. I usually take 500 meters for starters, why not upgrade it to 1k and go for 2k once in a while? I took some more warm-up by squatting, pull-ups, push-ups, stretching, 20kg bear complex and such before continuing to cleans.

Strength. Power clean 3x60, 3x65, 3x67,5, 1x70 (PR), 1x70kg. Nice! I took some power cleans and squat cleans with 40 and 50kg to get used to these movements. I haven't taken squat cleans for a while, current trend for me is to perform power cleans. I took sets of 3 reps with 60 and 65kg and with my standing PR 67.5kg. Naturally I had to upgrade it as I was able to take all three reps up. New record, 70kg, was done. However, I managed to take only single rep, the second attempt failed. I rested for 1-2 minutes, reattempted and took one single rep again. I'm happy I was able to break the record.

Metcon. I did 5 rounds, 6 cleans, 6 burpees and 49 DUs. Total of 21 cleans and burpees, 199 DUs.

• 10min amrap:
• 1 power clean, 1 burpee, 10 du
• 2 power clean, 2 burpees, 20 du
• 3 power clean, 3 burpees, 30 du...

This was a tough one for me. I intentionally put 60kg on the bar, which is heavy for me (compare to my 70kg max from today). I was so gassed after the workout, it took several minutes to catch my breath. All these movements hit metabolic conditioning. I would have been even more smashed if I got my double unders roll well. I had some troubles with them. At some points I took 25 in a row, at some points I managed to go for 3 reps. There wasn't that stability today with them for some reason. Especially at those early rounds (1-3) I had troubles with them. Later on they started to go well.

Cleans were tough! There were a total of 21 reps of cleans, 21 reps of burpees and 199 reps of double unders. I did cleans unbroken up to 4 rounds, the last two rounds were broken to two sets in both rounds. Burpees were naturally quite easy at this workout. I recommend this workout. If you want to upgrade it, substitute burpees to burpee pull-ups and cleans can be spiced up by clean & jerks.

Friday 19.10: Front squat + metcon

Friday. Front squats 5x3 (max 107.5kg PR), metcon consisting of back / front / overhead squats plus pull-ups, ring dips and ring push-ups.

Toni's workouts did their purpose

All focus on squats. My start for this day wasn’t the best possible. I was quite tired when I woke up, my fridge was empty and it was difficult to find a proper breakfast and I didn’t stretch yesterday evening so my hips were a bit jammed. I somehow started my engines, headed to gym and found out that my warm-up had to be different this time as the rowing machine was taken. Maybe not the best possible starting point as I seem to be a slave of my habits. Anyway, I continued through, got myself together, concentrated in doing reps in good form, Toni and Joni soon joined me and we made history. Personal record in front squats, awesome!

Strength. Front squat 5x3 (90+100+102.5+105+ PR 107.5kg)

All of my front squat warm-ups were smooth and it felt good from the very beginning. I had decided to take some reps with lighter weights and start doing heavier from 90kg. It was feather light with 90 so I put 10 more kilos. From there one I added 2.5kg each round, finally taking my personal record with 107.5kg. And I consider my form stayed good, I went deep enough and it wasn't the max I could have gone today. I took all three reps clean and nice. I'm proud of this one =)

Metcon. Squats, pull-ups, ring dips and ring push-ups

• 30 back squats (60kg)
• Max pull-ups (15)
• 20 front squats (50kg)
• Max ring dips (10)
• 10 overhead squats (40kg)
• Max ring push-ups (20)

My legs were smashed from the workout and actually my upper body was quite tired as well. I pushed through this workout but my result wasn't that good. I could have done better some other time, definitely. The idea was to do 30 back squats (60kg), then do as many pull-ups as possible, I managed to for 15 reps. Then I took 10kg off and took 20 front squats. Then I did max reps of ring dips, only 10 reps as my result. Finally 10 overhead squats with 40kg was supposed to be done. I took one rep, after which it came unbearable. I dropped the bar at the second rep, no count. I tried it third time, same result. I just couldn't keep the bar even steady over my head so it was impossible to do those overhead squats. I skipped that one and finally took 20 ring push-ups. I was disappointed I couldn't finish the overhead squats at all. On Wednesday it wasn't a problem at all to do ohs with same kilos. Today it was the burden my legs had taken before and upper body fatigue that wrote my destiny. Still, I was all smile during the day because my strength training went so damned good!

Toni's workouts.  Deadlift (105kg), bench press (65kg): 10-8-6-4-2. Time 5.50

• Tabata double unders
• Tabata hand release push-ups

Toni did the same workout I did Monday, only the kilos were different. He took 105kg deadlift and 65kg bench press. 10 reps of deadlift, 10 presses, 8 reps of deadlift, 8 presses etc. His time 5.50. Deadlifts went ok for the first round, then his form kind of betrayed him and back arched, sets went broken, it was a bit of a struggle. However, his bench presses looked good and easy. He really pushed them well, all sets unbroken, without problems. I think there could have been more kilos on the bar and he still could have taken it up unbroken.

He wrapped the day with two Tabata style workouts: double unders and hand release push-ups.

• Tabata double unders 10+10+5+1+10+5+15+5 = 61 reps in total. Result 1 reps
• Tabata hand release push-ups 7+7+6+4+4+4+4+2 = 38 reps in total. Result 2 reps

Toni concentrating in deadlift technique

Joni took a set consisting of thrusters and burpees. Time was somewhere around 12 min. You will see both Toni's and Joni's workouts from today at my Youtube channel, the link is on the upper right corner of the page. I thought Joni had 40kg at the barbell but from the video it looks like there's little plates at the end as well so I figure it's 42.5kg.

• 21-15-9
• Thrusters (40 or 42.5kg)
• Burpees

Thursday 18.10: Is it time for another HC Triplet?

Thursday. Thursday is a day off from crossfitting. There's been some serious squats, thrusters, deadlifts, bench presses, weighted dips and pull-ups, snatches and some metcons in the last days. In the evening I'm going to team practice to play floorball. Tomorrow morning I'm going to do a longer workout than normally and really test myself. At least the workout doesn't look like it's easy, not even on paper :)

HC Triplet. Is it time for another HC Triplet?!? I think so and Toni is anxious to go for it. The decision was made today that we are going to go for another round of this hard core training day. You'll see what it's all about when you look for "HC Triplet" in this blog, the day was September 8th. We were thinking of scheduling second HC Triplet to November, i.e. next month. This is where you guys come in to play. Please give suggestions on what type of workouts you would like us to perform and we will go after them. You can post them in the comments or send a private message.

The idea is to do three workouts with a short rest period in between. We are going to perform them outdoors. Last time the workouts were done pretty much with own body weight, kettlebells, jump ropes and stairs were the only equipment we had. This time we may have a wall ball with us, hopefully a barbell as well. Contribute to this one and we will take the challenge and do those workouts!

Northern Spirit document. In the mean while you can enjoy this first document about Scandinavian crossfitters. Annie Thorisdottir - World's fittest woman - is involved as well.

Wednesday 17.10: Back squat + ohs + snatch

Wednesday. Back squat 5x3 (max 117.5kg PR), overhead squat 5x6 (max 40kg), hang snatch 4x5 (max 30kg).

Wednesday was a day for another personal record. I had decided that beforehand =) My squats have been rolling good the last days so I had in mind to push my limits forward. I was confident it was going to happen for sure. After squats I skipped a hard core metcon and concentrated in getting better in my overhead squats and took a first real touch to snatches. Weights were rather low as these movements are very new to me. Toni accompanied me with the back squats. He’s done some thinking about what his strengths and development points are and for that reason he decided to enhance his metabolic conditioning through rowing metcon.

Strength. Back squats 5x3 (100+105+110+115+120 failed + 117,5kg). Overhead squats 5x6 (20+25+30+35+40kg), hang snatch 4x5 (20+25+30+30kg).

I did it. Sets of 3 reps, starting from 100kg, each set without compromising the form. I got greedy, my plan was to do 5x3, starting from 100kg and adding 5kg after each round, ending up to 120kg. That last set didn’t come up, I was trying to push it vigorously, the result was a few seconds static squatting position in 90 degrees but it simply didn’t come up. I didn’t want to back down so I took a 1-2 min rest, put 117.5kg on and did three reps for my new PR. How little is the difference, I’m wondering. Maybe it was psychologically harder to add extra 5kg to previous PR but those little plates at both ends of the bar didn’t make a big difference so I got my mind through and was able to lift more kilos than ever, result 3x117.5kg. My cameraman got only the third rep on the video

My mobility has improved ridiculously much. In the spring time it was a far away dream to squat with a bar overhead. I couldn’t do it even with a pvc pipe. My upper back and shoulders were so tight that there was no light at all to this matter. After doing mobility continuously, stretching and keeping hopes up the day finally came when I was able to do overhead squats and keep a rather good form. Definitely it will get better over time but I’m happy to the current state of it. I should go deeper to reach total and acceptable form. Today was the first time I put something extra on the bar. I started with only the bar, ending to 40kg.

Same happened with the snatches. I took them hang versions, bar hanging at knee level at the starting position.  First I took some high pulls to get used to the tracks and then started pulling it all the way to overhead position.  It felt good all the way. First some 20kg snatches, finally pulling up to 30kg. I must definitely take these more often as I have now lost my snatch virginity =)

Toni’s workouts. Back squat 5x3 (70+80+90+100+100kg). His metcon was rowing for 3k in three sets, 2min interval. Total time (including rest) 15.20. On average his pace was 1.53min / 500m.

• 1.500m row
• 2min rest
• 1.000m row
• 2 min rest
• 500m row

Toni, was it a good decision to go for rowing? Any thoughts on your future program planning?

Tuesday 16.10: Thrusters + metcon

Tuesday. Morning: Thrusters 5x5 (max 65kg), metcon 21-15-9 thrusters (42.5kg) + K2E. Evening: Room service, time 7.08.

Rogue - Your gear has arrived

Thrusters are tough: clean, front squat and push press in one package, one continuous movement. That was my agenda for today. A lot of repetitions, strength and metcon had the same elements. I still don’t have a proper timer so it was a pity I couldn’t time my workout of the day. I really wanted the time for this one. After work I wanted to take a short workout, not too heavy so that I would be ready for tomorrow morning's training. Toni put his clock running so we got times for both of us.

Strength. Thrusters 5x5 (50+55+60+62,5+65kg). The number of kilos that went up was a pleasant surprise! I took five sets of thrusters, starting from 50kg, going up to 65kg. If you think about it, my previous maxes are 67.5kg for cleans and 65 for push presses, so completing 65kg thrusters was pretty ok. My last set was four reps, impressive feeling after the set. I was proud of myself after the training. Still I wanted to do a workout including thrusters with Fran’s weights. I changed pull-ups to K2Es. I wonder why I haven’t taken thrusters before like this. It is a bad ass movement but it’s worth doing them once in a while. It's such a whole body movement there's no other like it.

Thrusters 65kg

Metcon. Workout included thrusters with 42.5kg and K2Es. I didn’t have a timer. Around 4-5 minutes I'd say.

• 21-15-9
• Thrusters
• Knees to elbows

First round I went unbroken with both thrusters and knees to elbows. Second round my thrusters broke down and I moved on in sets of 10+5. Knees to elbows were unbroken each round. Third round of thrusters went in 7+2 reps. I tried to push it through unbroken but my eight rep didn’t go all the way so I didn’t count it and did the last two reps after dropping the bar and getting myself together. I was so wasted after the workout and my forearms were burning. The feeling was quite the same as after Fran. I had those thrusters as my strength training beforehand so there were a number of reps in total during this session. This day proved something to me. I have more potential in me than my current figures show. This gave me confidence boost and I'm planning to put more kilos to the bar next time with cleans and presses.

Toni was also at the gym, as well as Joni. Toni went for cleans and Joni was all for back squats. Toni's max set was 75kg, two times singles. Joni did 10 rounds of 5 back squats, I recall it was 90kg each time, concentrating in quantity.

Toni's metcon was a 10 min am rap of the following:

• 10min amrap of
• 20 double unders
• 5 dips
• 5 ring push-ups

His result was 4 total rounds plus 20 DUs and 5 dips. Total of 100 DUs, 25 dips and 20 ring push-ups.

Room service. Quick workout, 100 reps of three movements. Time 7.08, Toni's time 12.08.

• 20 rounds of
• 5 push-ups
• 5 squats
• 5 sit-ups

I don't recommend this workout to anyone who has done crossfit for more than a month. It's continuous transition as the amount of reps is so low all the time during the workout, only 5 reps and change, 60 transitions during 7 minutes... Did I count it right? :) And it basically doesn't make you burn in any of the movements. The only reason I did it was that Toni has done it a few times and he wanted to know what my time would be doing it. He said I wouldn't go under 10 minutes so of course I had to give my everything. Final time 7.08. Yesterday I did bench press so my chest was pretty tight from the very beginning, even though stretching in the evening. However, the amount of reps in this metcon was low so it didn't bother that much. I did some rowing in the beginning and for cooling down, also some mobility at the end.

Toni, would you state your feelings from the day. And the room service? ;)

I'll throw in the complete tuned video of your 10min amrap later in the evening.