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!