Monday. Deadlift 5x1 (max PR 170kg). Metcon 5 rounds of deadlift (120kg), 10 burpees. Time 4.19.
Today we had a quick one together with Toni. Deadlift singles for both of us and then metcons. I stuck with deadlifts and burpees. Toni wanted to do Tabata workouts. A new PR was accomplished as well.
Tabata squats
Strength. 5x1 (130, 140, 150, 160, PR 170kg). My main focus today was on the deadlift centered metcon. For starters I wanted to do heavy deadlift singles, 5 attempts, loading the barbell up to 170kg, my new personal record! It wasn't beautiful, that's for sure, but it came up. I wasn't able to utilize my legs properly so it was all about my back muscles to pull the bar up. Still, I'm very satisfied with the weights. I'm not sure I like to post this rep but I've promised to keep this blog as transparent as possible :)
Deadlift, 170kg, PR
Metcon. Time 4.19.
5 rounds of
5 deadlift, 120kg
10 burpees
I thought this would have been worse metcon than it actually was. I had thoughts beforehand that I'm gonna be gassed after two rounds but it was easier. 120kg isn't that heavy anyway so it was all about burpees. How fast can you do them and how quickly after burpees you can grab the bar as they have just made you breath heavily? Today I believe my strategy was good and my breaks weren't that long. I also learned something new with the burpees. I was able to go down faster than normally and I believe that had effects on the pace of my metcon. I'm happy with the time for now.
Burpees
Toni's workouts. Deadlift singles and tabata workouts.
Deadlift singles, 130, 140, 150, 150kg
Tabata ring push-ups. 8+8+8+8+7+7+6+5. Total of 57 reps. Result 5 reps
Tabata sit-ups. 13+11+10+10+10+10+10+10. Total of 84 reps. Result 10 reps.
Tabata squats. 19+15+16+15+15+15+15+14. Total of 124 reps. Result 14 reps.
Sunday. Active recovery, playing floorball with family.
I have three brothers and one sister. One of my younger brothers' - age 13 years - floorball team challenged family members to play against them. So of course I took the challenge and played with Sami - my older brother - in the same line against little bro :) This was a 1.5h game so we got our legs warmed up after a few days crossfit training. Yesterday I was running with sled, the day before I took some 100m sprints and on Thursday I PR'd my back squat. It was a good pitstop to have some active recovery for my legs. Thanks Henkka for giving this opportunity to play against you guys, tough opponent!
Me and Sami warming up
Our dad is on the left
Toni's workouts. Toni went to the Box and concentrated on technique, not heavy weights. What do you think about today's training session? Ring rowing is a new element to you as well as squat cleans.
Different type of training for this Saturday. We headed to a sports center called Liikuntamylly in eastern Helsinki together with Toni to perform something a bit different. We've never been to this place but the training possibilities are spectacular to say the least. At first we were a bit disappointed because the main weightlifting area was reserved to a team and thus restricted access. So we had to change our plans and to the regular gym in Liikuntamylly.
Sled
Toni did bench presses, I concentrated in bodyweight movements, especially dips and handstand push-ups. I didn't count the reps but there were numerous sets between 3-5 reps. I'd say there were plenty of them. In addition I took dip sets 10+15+20 reps.
For about 20 minutes we did thorough mobility training with Toni. It was very useful because lately we have forgotten to do them properly. We must pay attention to our mobility, elasticity and flexibility constantly. Especially as we are lifting heavy weights all the time we must do mobility to prevent injuries.
As we were ready to leave the place after a semi training session we got to sneak to the weightlifting area and I'm telling you we were like kids in a candy store for the first time. The area was simply perfect. A lot of racks, barbells, plates, sled, wall balls etc. I decided to run with sled, Toni PR'd his deadlift!
Sled. God damn I fell in love with this bastard! It's awesome leg burner :) I have no idea how much I should put weights in that sled, today I had 20+15+15 plates on it, in addition to the sled itself. I guess there should be somewhere around 80-100kg to make the best of it. This time was more like getting to know each other and next time I'll take full advantage of this toy. I believe there were 4 sets back and forth this 20-30 meter distance. It was fun!!! I challenge you Toni to join me with this sled next time...
Toni's workouts. He started with bench presses, reaching 95 kilos, singles and doubles. A lot of handstand push-up training and mobility in between. Finally the climax was his deadlift where he reached 160kg and a new record. Up to 140kg his form looked good! In the final two reps the back maybe leaned a bit forward but the determination was huge to get those weights up. And to be honest, I'm sure he could have added plates in the bar and lift heavier weights but it was smart not to compromise form over new records.
Bench press sets of 95kg, 1-2 reps
Handstand push-ups
Mobility
Deadlift 3-3-1-1-1 (110, 130, 140, 150, PR160kg)
Crossfit announced a winter challenge, quite a workout...
CrossFit - Announcing The Ranch Big Bob Winter Challenge
Friday. 10 x 100m sprints with 20sec rest between sprints.
Something a bit different today. It feels I haven't run for ages so today was a good evening for that purpose. This was a good reminder that it must be included in the programming continuously. Keep it constantly varied! Remember to do strength, metabolic training and skills, combine different movements on a daily basis and lift heavy barbells often.
Ready to run
Today I took 10 sprints, each for 100 meters on a snowy pavement. It was anyway a steady platform to run. I took 20 seconds rest after the next run. I started to feel the pressure after 3-4 sets but I believe my pace remained good from the beginning to the end. I didn't have a clock running so it's hard to say how fast my legs were going.
My running track
Toni's workout. Time 15.12.
21-15-9
Clean & jerk, 40kg
Dips
How was this workout, I think your triceps know you worked today? :)
Thursday. Back squat 5-5-5-5-3-2 (max PR 135kg). Pair metcon 8 rounds of 10 k2e + box jumps. Time 8.16.
The whole gang at the Box: me, Pauliina, Toni and my brother Sami, nice! Good feeling and ready to lift weights. We took some rowing for starters, then double unders, warming up hamstrings, lower back and hip area. Toni successfully continued to practice his kipping pull-ups, they look much better nowadays and he's able to do a few reps in a row, assisted with a rubber band. I'm confident he's gonna get rid of that band soon and go for genuine kipping pull-ups. I must say he is a determined athlete. Once he has decided to learn something new, he will keep on pursuing that until he reaches his goal.
Strength. Back squat 5-5-5-5-3-2 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130, PR 135kg). Huh, that was not my goal today but once it felt so good, I had to keep on adding plates on the bar and take a new personal record of 135kg :) My goal was to go for 5 rep sets up to maybe 125 kilos but it simply didn't feel that heavy so I had to push through. My warm-up for these squats was good and more concentrated in getting those specific muscles ready that are needed for squats: my hip area, hamstrings, lower back, abs.
This time I believe the depth of my squats was way better than last time, the day before Christmas eve. I'm happy with these. And it was time to break my record, which dates back to 2nd December. It feels like an eternity but it's been only three weeks :) I did that PR in Stockholm. Today I did fives up to 125kg and then 3 reps for 130 and for 135kg my bro secured my lifts from behind. He maybe assisted a bit in the first lift but in the second I took it up myself so I can proudly say I did a new PR :) The last lifts were not easy but I got my head in the game and was able to come up from under the pile of all those plates.
Back squat, 130kg
Back squat, 135kg
Sami went to 140kg and attempted a new PR of 150kg, which this time failed to come up. Current max is at 145kg. Toni also broke his record yesterday with 10kg when going after 120kg.
Metcon. Pair wod with Sami, my brother. Time 8.16.
8 rounds
10 knees-to-elbows
10 box jumps, 64cm
At the end we took a pair wod with Sami consisting of two movements: knees-to-elbows and 64cm box jumps. I started with the K2Es and Sami with the boxes. We did them with pretty much the same pace so this was a good workout to be done with him. Total of 80 reps each movement. Box jumps wasn't the issue for neither of us but the knees-to-elbows became difficult as my groins started to fire up and go numb. For the first maybe 4 rounds I went unbroken, then it had to be divided. Sami had the same problems with K2Es. I think we were equally equipped with strength and skills in this workout and we timed the final reps at 8.16. I focused on raising my knees all the way to my elbows and not doing half reps during the workout.
A little playing in the end
Toni's workout. Time 13.12
3 rounds of
9 deadlifts
50 double unders
15 box jumps
Toni skipped strength workouts today and put all effort in completing a deadlift centered metcon. This was a good call and follows Toni's ideology of not every time lifting heavy weights. I believe his plan is to do strength plus metcon on one day and then only a metcon on the second day, following this rhythm few times a week: every other day is a strength based workout. This is how he is going to pay more attention to his metabolic conditioning. Good call!
Wednesday. 1k row, time 3.24. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-1-1 (max 80kg). 12min amrap of hang cleans and hspu, result 54 reps. In addition biceps and triceps training.
Back to business! Me and Pauliina met with Toni at the Box to do some serious training and we succeeded well today. For starters we took over the rowing machine and the speed was faster than normally for both of us. I have been eager to go for clean and jerk for several days so today I got my chance. Toni concentrated in back squats and done very well, the guy increased his max load with 10kg! Pauliina took an upper body exercise.
Got an iPod Christmas present from my baby :)
Strength. Clean & jerk 3-3-3-1-1 (60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg). If my elbows allow me, I'm absolutety going to do c&j every week from now on. At some points I didn't do them pretty much at all because I did cleans and presses on different days. However, I've realized this is the thing I must improve. It's one of the basic movements in crossfit, the foundation of olympic lifting and I simply love it.
My clean and jerks have basically been clean and press. Today was the first time I took a first step to jerking the bar up. I'm confident that when I reach the point of making this movement naturally, the movement becomes way more effortless. I succeeded in some jerks pretty well in my opinion. Sometimes I've had some problems with my elbows that have hindered my training. Due to the Christmas break I got the rest that I needed and was ready to do c&j again. I reached my max of 80kg. I put 82.5kg on the bar and tried once. From the video afterwards I realized I did the right things, I bounced the bar with good timing, shrugged my shoulders up at the correct time and was able to lift the bar to chest level. However, I wasn't able to use the momentum to my advantage and go under the bar. That's why my new record will have to wait for a while.
Clean & jerk, 80kg
Metcon. Result, 6 rounds and 2 hspu, total of 54 reps.
12min amrap
4 hang cleans, 60kg
4 handstand push-ups
I have a desire to master handstand push-ups well. My hands are long so I have to travel rather long distance up and down the wall but I will strengthen my triceps more in the future to ease this awesome movement. Even though I couldn't go many reps unbroken in this metcon, I still managed to do 26 reps of HSPUs during those 12 minutes. Only on the first round I went unbroken, then on the second 2+2 and then in 2+1+1 / singles.
For the cleans / snatches I've finally got that upper thigh bouncing going well as opposed to how I did them earlier. I used to just lift the bar up without giving that extra speed upwards by bouncing the bar "from the pocket". It's more difficult to bounce the bar by doing hang cleans rather than lifting it from the ground, or at least for me it was. This was a good lesson to remind doing different types of cleans constantly. I suppose performing hang cleans compared to cleans from the ground results in more strength in upper back. Correct me if I'm wrong. I did my hang cleans today unbroken in the beginning, and mostly in two sets later on. This was a good day of training, high rep metcon with semi heavy weights. With every rep my technique becomes better. You'll see the hang cleans in the Youtube Channel.
Toni's workouts. Metcon's result: 8 rounds and 2 cleans, total of 66 reps. Strength: Back squat 3-3-3-2-1-1 (80, 90, 100, 110, PR 115kg, PR 120kg).
Metcon,12min amrap
4 hang cleans, 60kg
4 handstand push-ups (assisted with foam roll)
Toni's PR, back squat 120kg
He did good today! PR improved with 10kg, that's remarkable :) And the amount of reps in the metcon was high, well done! For now, he is doing handstand push-ups assisted with a foam roll, very natural way of starting with the movement. We are both in love with HSPU.
Second day in a row of resting, hasn't happened lately. It's because of the christmas holidays, I spent the days at my in-laws with Pauliina, warm and comfortable christmas, their house was decorated like it was the Santa Clause's home =) The food was great, company was even better and I enjoyed the last couple of days tremendously. In the evening we drove back home and Toni is arriving home on Wednesday as well. That means only one thing, we are heading to the gym on Wednesday!
Sunday. Deadlift (max 160kg) and back squat (max 120kg), 5 reps alternating.
I concentrated purely on strength training today, purpose was not to reach my maxes or close because I'm still fighting against some sort of flu that came two days ago. That's the reason why I didn't want to do any metabolic training today and my rowing warm-up was very slow, just trying to wake up my body. Don't get me wrong, I'm not having fever but my throat and nose are not feeling normal. If I was totally sick, I wouldn't have gone to the gym at all, naturally.
Strength. Alternating two strength movements, aiming for 5 reps each every time for 5 sets.
Deadlift 5-5-5-3-1 (130, 140, 150, 155, 160kg)
Back squat 5-5-5-5-5 (90, 100, 110, 115, 120kg)
I tried something different today, alternating two basic strength movements, deadlift and back squat, not for time but for quality. The goal was to do 5 sets of 5 reps each. I started with 130kg deadlift and continued with 90kg back squat. My deadlift went in fives up to 150kg. On the 155kg my right hand slipped on the fourth rep so I didn't get full amount of reps. Then 160kg is rather heavy so I decided in advance to take a single rep.
I haven't done back squat fives for a while so I liked this one. I had a good feeling and I thought my range of motion was good. Now afterwards as I took a look at the videos I didn't like the depth of my squat at all so I'm not gonna post them here :) However, you'll find them in the Youtube Channel as always. I reached 120kg, each set included 5 reps.
Feeling a bit sick today so I'm skipping training. I'm gonna fight this off and head back to gym tomorrow, hopefully. This was not planned so I got to get back on schedule =)
Couple of videos for you guys, enjoy
Jason Khalipa X-mas Turkish Get-Up
Crossfit - Tahoe Throwdown: Rogue vs Again Faster, Part I
Today I wanted to go for clean and jerk as strength training. I was a bit afraid how my elbows would react and they started to scream in the early steps of my training session so I had to skip that and concentrate in taking it easier and save my elbows for the following days. Toni also took it light today. However, at the end he rowed fast and PR'd his 2k row with over 40 seconds.
My movements.
Row 1k. Time 3.28
Clean & jerk
Shoulder press
Handstand
Ring skills
Skin the cat
GHD sit-ups 3x30
Toni's workouts. Terchnique and skills, row 2k for time (7.15, PR).
Handstand push-ups
Ring push-ups
Ring dips
Kipping pull-ups
Overhead squats
Row 2k, time 7.15
Toni's previous 2k record was 7.56, today it turned to 7.15.
Thursday. Metcon of box jumps and kb swings. Time 5.11. Pistol training
Today I exceptionally concentrated in doing a single wod and skipped strength training totally. This was intentional because my elbows are a bit sensitive so I didn't want to press them too much. And I have squatted twice this week so my legs have got their share as well. Toni went for clean & jerk strength training.
Kettlebell swing, american style
Metcon. Time 5.11
4 rounds of
21 box, 64cm
12 kb swings (32kg)
I took my new 32kg kettlebell to the Box for the first time and I just loved it! Four rounds of box jumps and kettlebell swings, american style. I went unbroken all the way, just took some breath between transitions. Final time a bit over 5min. Box jumps began to put pressure on my thighs on the third round but somehow I managed to push that pain to the background and push it forward. There was a moderate amount of reps per round so I completed them with strength and good form. I was very happy to do them american style, that means swinging those 32 kilos all the way over my head for a full range of motion. There was a total of 84 box jumps and 48 kb swings. I also took some swings at the end of the training so there was something like 80 reps in total. I like my new toy!
I also took some skills training today. I took some sets of double unders, they are really rolling well nowadays, I'm proud of myself =) Then I also did pistols today (one legged squats), something like 4 sets of 6-10 reps with alternating legs.
Toni planned his reps well in advance, first two rounds of 5 reps, then 3 rounds of 3 reps and finishing it with 5 singles. The meaning was to add load after each set. He almost managed to do so and actually was able to do new records. First of all, 82.5kg was his new PR for clean and jerk, the previous was somewhere around 60-65kg. That's because he simply hasn't done this movement for a while. His clean 85kg was also PR as well as pressing 82.5kg.
Wednesday. Back squat 3-3-3-3-1 (max 130kg). Metcon of double unders and snatches. Time 12.39.
Today I woke up, ate breakfast, did my morning preparations, put on my training clothes and was ready to hit the road. Just a last look at the clock: 2.30, hmm... Okay, back to bed, this wakening was a mystery. Another try at 6.00 and this time I actually left home to train hard. Schedule stood back squats and a metcon. Toni was there with me to do a metcon from the main site a couple of days ago.
Got a christmas present from my team at work, awesome!!!
Strength. Back squats 3-3-3-3-1 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg). I wanted to reach my max today and I got it. I was also trying 132.5kg, however today was not the day to make personal records, just a tied record. I consider this day victorious, squatting felt good and I reached good weights. I was able to compensate Monday's hasty training day.
Back squat, 130kg
Metcon. Time 12.39.
100-80-60-40-20 double unders
2-4-6-8-10 snatches, 40kg
Total of 300 DUs and 30 snatches with pretty much my max load, good and exhausting workout! On the first round I took 100 doubles and then 2 snatches, second round 80 DUs and 4 snatches. For doubles I went 100 to 20 down by 20's and for snatches 2 to 10 up by 2's each round. Yesterday I took 100 doubles in a row just to prove myself I can do it. Today, there was no point trying to go unbroken because that would have gassed me already for starters. I took the first 100 reps in 50 + 35 + 20 sets. Then 2 snatches and back to action with the doubles. After completing 180 doubles in short time did its purpose. My shoulders and arms were screaming for a break. However, there was no break in sight. Do 4 snatches and go back to doubles.
Snatches
This rhythm continued for over 12 minutes and as the amount of double unders decreased the number of snatches increased. Take into consideration that 40kg is almost my max load. I have once lifted something over but usually I'm lifting exactly this amount of weigths. So completing 30 reps with max load with increasing amount of reps really made it tough for me. Rounds of 2 and 4 snatches went well, on the 6 reps I did them 3 + 3, round of 8 in 4+4 and the last round of 10 reps in 4+3+3.
It was encouraging to see that my endurance was good and my breathing was no issue in this workout even though this was a metcon to say the least. Both of the movements normally make a heart bounce back and forth but I'm sure I've developed greatly in this sense. I believe that has been my strength all the way from the beginning anyway. It was only the lasck of strength in my upper body that made this metcon last for a while. I think this was a very good exercise to strengthen my upper body strength. First heavy back squats and this in addition, awesome training day!
In the evening I had floorball training for 2h.
Toni's workouts. Technique: kipping pull-ups and handstand push-ups. Workout of the day, time 6.04.
5 rounds of
5 squats, 75kg (70% of max)
10 burpees
Toni's workout
As I think back a few months when Toni started crossfitting, he used to do this type of workouts often: 5 reps of one strength movement and 10 burpees for 5 rounds. That was a classic for him. Remembering how his burpees looked back then, today's burpees were awesome. It used to be some sort of crawling in to the push-up position and back but nowadays Toni has found a way to complete reps with style.
Tuesday. Deadlift, Every Minute On the Minute (EMOM), 5x120kg. Double under training.
Monday's workout was a bit hasty so today I was smarter and came to the gym way in advance. Yesterdays' squats took their taxes, I guess my front squats put too much pressure on both of my elbows because they were in great pain already in the evening. Then I had my floorball training in the evening as well which didn't ease the pain =) Today my plan was to do a hero wod but there were huge number of push-ups involved so I had to skip it and concentrate in quality training for deadlifts.
Going for pull-ups
Deadlift EMOM. Every minute on the minute, 5 x 120kg deadlift.
I spoke Toni and my brother to do this workout some months ago but I realized I haven't done it myself at all. Do 5 reps of 120kg deadlift every minute on the minute for 10 minutes. I did these unbroken and fast so I had about 45 seconds rest each minute after completing those 5 reps. This wasn't that rough a workout after all, even though there were 6k kilos pounced around. I don't know how it would have turned out if there were more weights involved. It's anyway a good and quick workout to be done.
After chilling for a while I took some double unders and for fun I tried if I could go for 100 reps in a row. I was happy to witness I reached that 100 rep-club at first try =) Okey, I don't know what the point of this was but still, it was fun to do so many doubles just like that. We also found a way to do modified GHD sit-ups, take a look at the photos. Well, okay, it's not the same but something like it.
Modified GHD's
Toni's birthday workouts. 28th birthday wod, time 7.09. Compare to my birthday wod 4th November.
28 ring push-ups
28 double unders
28 knees-to-elbows
28 double unders
28 lunges, 20kg bar in front rack position
28 double unders
Toni has his birthday today so he continued the birthday wod "tradition" which I started two months ago. He turned 28 so wod included 28 reps of some movements. First set of ring push-ups unbroken, same with the double unders. K2E was too difficult, it was something like 5 in the first attempt, then sets of 2 reps until the end. This movement should have been replaced with something else to get the full benefits of the workout. Lunges unbroken as well. Second and third set of doubles went well but not unbroken, maybe in 2-3 attempts.
Monday. Front squat 1-1-1-1 (max 120kg), back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (max 125kg).
My feeling was good and I was well awake as I jumped into my car and headed to the box. However, I arrived at 7.10 and was supposed to be in a meeting 8.00 so I had to rush to do my squats. This was not the intention and I couldn't reach my max effort. This was somewhat a disappointment as I planned to accomplish heavier lifts than I did. Toni also did some front squats and Tabata training.
Strength. Front and back squat singles.
Front squat 1-1-1-1 (100, 110, 120, 125kg failed)
Back squat 1-1-1-1-1 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg failed)
I only took some double unders, bear complex with a cold bar and then two sets of overhead squats before entering front squats. Probably the shortest warm-up ever, not a good decision. I must repeat this workout with good preparation and add overhead singles for starters. The idea of going after ohs + fs + bs singles is to increase the load after each single rep.
Front squat, 120kg
I took 120kg up front squatting which is my current max. Okay, that was a job well done but this was only a single rep so I was looking to go further. I added 5kg to the bar and missed the rep. My back squats went well and my 125kg was even easier than 120kg, which sounds a bit awkward :) After short recovery I tried 130kg but it stayed low for a second or two and I had to drop the barbell. Then it was time to run to the showers. After 125kg I was confident to go after a new PR but it was too hasty to go after it this time.
Toni's workouts. Toni PR'd his front squat and did "Tabata This" as well.
Front squat 3-3-3-2-1 (70, 80, 85, 90, PR 95kg)
Tabata This: row 8, squats 15, pull-ups 3, push-ups 5, sit-ups 9
Saturday. Clean & jerk x 1 (max PR 80kg), 2012 CF Open wod no. 3. Result 7 rounds.
Today was a good day to hit the gym with Pauliina and Toni. Yesterday I got my head back in the game after a rest day and decided to go for clean & jerk and a workout from CF Open 2012, workout number 3. This time I skipped rowing and took double unders 4x25 to warm-up. This was definitely a good day and good results! Toni did today's main site 12min amrap, looked tough as well :)
Deficit push-ups
Strength. Clean & jerk 1-1-1-1-1 (60, 65, 70, PR 75, PR 80kg). Yeah, I nailed this one. I haven't been chasing better numbers in clean & jerk for a while, last time I did it was on 14th November. This movement is critical so I should definitely have it on the schedule (snatches too) constantly. Last time I cleaned my PR for 75kg but wasn't able to jerk it all the way overhead. So today's numbers were huge! 80kg clean & jerk just PR'd my old clean, press and clean & jerk numbers. I had to go for 82.5kg too because I felt I had some strength in my pockets as well. However, that 82.5kg got a little short on the clean. As I paused the video where the bar hits its highest point I was very frustrated I couldn't turn it to my chest. I leaned a bit too much forward which forced me to drop the bar. That was close! I would have pushed it up no matter what, that's for sure.
PR lift, 80kg
Metcon. Result 7 rounds, 252 reps.
18min amrap of
15 box 24' = 64cm
12 push press, 115lbs = 52.5kg
9 toes-to-bar
Box jumps
My brother has been pushing me to go after this workout for a while so today it finally fitted my schedule. This was the workout number 3 from this year's CF Open. 18 minute amrap is cruel due to the length of it and consider also the movements that are included. We just got new Rogue 24' box at the gym, that's 64cm. 15 box jumps followed by 12 reps of push press for 52.5kg and finally 9 toes-to-bar to finish the round. On a running clock do as many reps as possible in 18min. On average my pace was around 2 and a half minutes per round.
This new box is 64cm, and the previous "box jumps" that we've done with Toni have been on a bench of 41cm (occasionally plates under it have increased it to 46cm) so adding 23cm is over 50% more than what we are used to. I did them unbroken anyway, I found a good rhythm and it rolled on nicely, no problemos. My strategy for push press was to do it in two sets for as long as possible. I managed to keep it up for maybe 4 rounds, 6+6 reps. Then the last 3 rounds I did them 5+5+2 and 5+4+3. My shoulders were in pure pain at the end of the last round. My toes-to-bars turned out to be a success story. I managed to do them unbroken, all but the last 2 reps :)
Toes-to-bar
There was quite a number of total reps. 105 box jumps, 84 push presses, 63 T2Bs, 252 total reps. This workout seems to be created for shoulder pressure especially. Also cardio-pressure was high after a few rounds. I enjoyed this one and was happy to maintain a good pace throughout the metcon.
Toni did today's main site wod of 12min amrap. He pushed through 3 rounds and 8 deadlifts to the fourth round. His push-ups looked very good and the guy looked to fall in love with this new standard of deficit push-ups =)
Pauliina came home yesterday so I didn't want to leave to the gym early in the morning. My body also screamed for rest. I thought about this for a while and wondered why does my body feel so tired right now. I figured I've been lifting lot of heavy barbells after Saturday. Especially yesterday and the day before were fatiguing workout days. On Wednesday I thrustered 5.000kg and on Thursday lifted 6.000kg through front squats and deadlifts in less than 6min.
Saturday 8.12: Linda
Sunday 9.12: Technical things and skills training
Monday 10.12: Heavy backsquats and tough squat metcon
Tuesday 11.12: Rest day
Wednesday 12.12: Thrusters, this was rough man
Thursday 13.12: Workout consisting of 30 reps rather heavy weights
Toni's workouts. Technique for snatches and handstand. In addition a metcon for time.
5 rounds of
4 wall climbs
30 air squats
8 ring push-ups
Toni, what was your time on the metcon and how was it like? Any thoughts for today's training?
Toni started his day with bench press, the guy was jolting around as he was so eager to start pressing and seek for heavy weights. He reached his shared PR in bench and looked good doing his 20min amrap metcon.
Wednesday. 1min on, 1min off for 20min, thrusters (50kg). 106 reps.
I had a shorter workout in the morning so after rowing the classic 1k, some pvc pipe warm-up and empty bar bear complex I started my workout of the day. I wanted to go for 30minutes but had some scheduling issues so I decided beforehand that I'm going for 20min workout.
Metcon. 1min on, 1min off for 20min, thrusters (50kg). Total reps 106.
13
13
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
I had no idea how fast man should go with those thrusters. Never done this type of workout. I got the inspiration from Rob Orlando who often seems to go after this type of workouts. The difference between me and Rob O is that he did this with 225lbs (102.5kg)... =) He went for 4-5 reps each round for 30minutes, i.e. 15 rounds. This one was tough on my shoulders. My front squats are rather strong so that was no problem but those shoulder to overheads were rough in the last rounds.
I started the workout by doing 13 reps, same on the second round. I could have added reps in those but saw the future beforehand and realized not to push it too much and gas already in the beginning. From the third round on I decided to hit a number and stick with it until the end. Round by round the bar got heavier and it would have been awesome to see how heavy it would be for the following 5 rounds. My shoulders were in flames and it simply felt good! Total of 106 reps and thus 5300kg, nice.
7th round of the workout
Toni had a rest day, he felt he needed some time to get himself together and recreate energy level, then do a fierce comeback tomorrow morning.
Recover, take it easy, chill for a while. As you can see below, I fell in love with handstand practicing after my trip to Sweden. It's hard to avoid them. In addition to the workouts below, I tend to row 1k as warm-up, I usually do it with a pace around 3.30min / 1k.
2.12 Back squat, metcon, handstand skills
3.12 Floorball, handstand skills
4.12 Front squat, Grace
5.12 Two workouts, deadlift, bench, step-ups, hspu, handstand skills + floorball
6.12 Row 2k, back squat, snatch, ring skills
7.12 Game Day
8.12 Linda, handstand skills
9.12 Technique, skills
10.12 Back squats, metcon, ring skills, handstand + floorball
Here are some tough workouts done by the beasts of crossfit, Rich Froning, Dan Bailey and Chris Spealler at stage. Enjoy!
Monday. Back squat 3-3-3-2 (max 125kg), metcon of various squats, k2e, burpees and pull-ups. Time 7.00. Ring skills and handstand training for cooling down. Floorball in the evening.
Linda is still reminding of herself in my upper body. That's why today was leg-oriented day. Back squats and a squat-focused metcon to accompany my strength training. I can't stay away from practicing handstand so I took some training today at the gym as well as at the floorball training which took place in the evening. Some ring skills was done as well.
Strength. Back squat 3-3-3-2 (110, 115, 120, 125, failed on 130kg). I had written down to take 5x3 sets, it was very optimistic that I could finished those sets I had planned (up to 130kg). I managed to lift 120kg three times, 2 reps with 125kg and finally failed on my current max 130kg. Today's focus was on going deep. I think I performed well, concentration was good, my for was good and I hit the bottom position deep enough to reach 90 degrees. I felt joy :)
120kg
125kg
Metcon. Time 7.00
10 back squats, 80kg
30 knees-to-elbows
20 front squats, 60kg
20 burpees
30 overhead squats, 20kg
10 pull-ups
My metcon included back squats, front squats and overhead squats, spiced with some movements in between. After strength training I didn't want to load the barbell with heavy weights. I didn't have that much energy anyway so I could have gone faster with this metcon. Starting from back squats, continuing to k2e's. I went 25 unbroken, then to the end. I took front squats in two sets, burpees felt like it was a slow motion movie. Overhead squats I took with an empty bar 'cause I haven't done those much. I wanted to give that load through reps, not through heavy weights. Even though it was only 20kg, the form started to come unstable at some point so I had to lower the bar two times. That's because it started to seem a bit shaky at times. I completed the workout with 10 pull-ups. Total time, exactly 7.00min.
This was a good workout, I got my heart racing. I'd like to do this with a fresh body and with a bit heavier weights. Let's say that I'd like to add 20kg in each bar. The amount of reps was good, no need to change that. Some box jumps could have been involved if a twist was needed :)
Toni went to the gym in the evening, I had floorball "for recovery". What did you do at the gym Toni?
Due to yesterday's hard workout I scheduled this day to concentrate mostly on technical things, skills and some giving some pressure on my triceps. I also introduced some new movements into my selection, pistols. I thought I couldn't do any of them because of my mobility but it was a pleasant surprise that it wasn't that tough at all :) I took 1k row for starters and then sweated for one hour with the following movements
Technique and skills. I used only empty bar for technical moves.
Double unders
Cleans
Push jerk behind the neck
Split jerk
Pistol
Free handstand
Handstand push-ups
Triceps muscles
Biceps muscles
Toni's workout. Linda, time 46.28.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift, 100kg
Bench press, 80kg
Clean, 60kg
Linda should be done in line with own bodyweight. These weights are lighter for Toni than they should be, he wanted to make the workout with same weights as we did yesterday with Sami. Here's the first round of 10's.
Saturday. Pair wod Linda. Time 33.21. Handstand and double unders skills training.
Today is my little sister Linda's 18th birthday so in honor of her I met with my brother Sami at the gym to do a wod called "Linda", one of the benchmark Girls. It's also called the "3 bars of death" and for a reason! For a warm-up I took 5x20 double unders, squats, overhead squats, hip openers, cleans, presses and some deadlifts. Then it was time to push the button and hear the classic 3-2-1-go!
Linda. Pair wod, time 33.21. I'm 79kg, Sami is 76kg, we calculated with 80kg anyway.
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift, 1 1/2 bodyweight
Bench press, bodyweight
Clean, 3/4 bodyweight
The weights should be in line with bodyweight. If there is a team, bodyweight is the average of the athletes. We calculated as we weighted 80kg, even though we're a bit shy of that. By the way, I used to weigh same as my bro but I've gained those extra kilos that I was looking for, nice! This workout was cruel. First complete 10 deadlifts, 10 bench presses, 10 cleans, then move to round of 9's and so on. As we did it as a team, you're allowed to move to the next station only when both athletes are done with their reps. Sami started with deadlift, I took off with bench press and rotated as described. Deadlift was 120kg, bench press 80kg and clean 60kg. Take into consideration my current maxes. Deadlift 165kg, bench press 87.5kg, clean 75kg.
Beforehand I thought I would have some gigantic problems with bench press, other than that I was confident I would nail it. That prediction was correct, going after 55 reps of my 91% max was a nightmare. Doing strength training with that weight wouldn't be a prob because of the number of reps but these sets were so long that I was in trouble in the early steps and my bro had to partially help me push the bar up. I would have loved to do it individually to go for rx'd workout but that was simply impossible. Got to keep on improving my chest and triceps muscles.
Cleans and deadlift barbells had nice weights on them. The workout made it tough because of the mountain of reps that had to be completed but I loved the weights they had on. I did cleans in two sets up to round of 6's, then the last five sets unbroken. Same strategy with the deadlifts, I divided it to two pieces and last five rounds unbroken. I believe I could have done them unbroken for maybe first two rounds as well but that was off my strategy because I believed it would have killed me later on in the workout. That's why I stuck with the plan and I'm happy about that.
This was extremely tough one and definitely worth being one of the benchmark girls. It was one of the toughest workouts strength-wise. I simply ran out of gas with bench but managed to stay solid with clean and deadlift. Heavy breathing was part of it for sure and I think the other people at the gym were staring at us and wondering why the hell are those guys shouting all the time. It was a huge mental game, especially up to round of 6's. In the beginning it felt the workout is not progressing at all because there were so many reps. In the last rounds it moved on quickly.
Handstand + doubles. After getting a grip of life again after Linda, we concentrated in two areas of skills that need to be trained on. I have strengths in double unders and Sami has some nice handstand skills. So we helped and coached each other with these ones. Sami also did some muscle-ups, a movement I haven't practiced yet, every once in a while I take some jumping muscles-ups.
In the evening I'm concentrating in eating and watching the floorball world championship games. Happy birthday Linda!
I'd love to crossfit today as well but we have a game in the evening so I'd better not risk anything but concentrate in giving my everything to the team and help us win the game. Tomorrow we'll do a heavy workout with my brother.
Toni went running today and had a meeting with "Sandy" if you still remember her from Triplet :)
Tell us how it felt!
Thursday. Row 2k, time 7.01 (PR). Back squat x 4 (max 120kg), snatch x 4 (max PR 45kg). Ring skills 20min.
Finnish Independency Day. I was ready to do work at the gym. For the sake of this day I took 2k row for time, back squat strength training, snatch training and finally ring skills. It was a long day at the gym and I've earned my meals for today. Toni took a day off today. Joni worked his ass off.
2k row, 7.01, PR
Row 2k. Rowing long distances with quick pace can be very demanding and exhausting experiences. This was exactly that. Luckily I've rowed quite much in the last 1-2 months. My warm-up traditionally includes 1k row and I usually tend to go fast the whole trip. Today I started off with 1.40 / 500m pace and kept it for some time. After 1k it was around 1.45-1.47 / 500m and due to my sprint at the end the clock stopped at 7.01. I really felt the burden in my lungs. It took some time to catch my breath and my thighs were burning. When I took my first strokes some months ago, the burden usually hit my forearms first and they went almost numb in mid-long distances. After having rowed so much - I suppose tens of kilometers - I have learnt to focus the stress to my legs. Nowadays the fatigue hits my legs and lungs first. This has also enabled me to row faster.
Strength. Back squat fours and snatch fours.
Back squat 4-4-4-3 (100, 110, 115, 120)
Snatch 4-4-4-1 (40, 42.5, 42.5, PR 45kg)
My goal was to go fours all the way to 120kg. I missed with one rep. I wanted to take 4-rep sets all the way. You'll find the videos in my Youtube channel. I've changed the way I warm-up when doing strength workouts. Previously I did rather many sets of warming up with lighter weights. If we think about back squats, 5-rep sets of 60, 70, 80, 90kg were normal for me before going over hundred kilos. After talking with some monsters who lift heavy weights I understood there's no point exhausting your body (20 plus reps) before reaching those weights you really want to focus on. That's why I take several reps with empty bar, then some reps with maybe 60kg and then start putting 100+ weights. I feel my body is more receptive for those heavier kilos nowadays.
I played with empty bar and barbell with 30kg for some time with snatches. I practiced the tracks with power snatch and squat snatch. Then I finally took those 4-rep sets and was able to increase the number of plates and weights. I still recognize the flaws of my technique but it feels difficult to correct them individually. I can lift 40kg but going beyond it would require good technique which I'm lacking. Today was the first time I was able to go further, two sets of 4x42.5kg came up and finally a single rep of 45kg.
Snatch, 42.5kg
Ring skills. For 20 minutes. I played with the rings, took some muscle-up training with the help of jumping from the ground, skin the cat became familiar movement as well. I've never done ice-cream makers before, today I did 5x10 reps. I also did some inverted hang. All in all, it was 20+ minutes to play around.
Toni had a rest day but I slapped high fives with Joni as he entered the gym when I was leaving. He did two quick and heavy workouts, goo job man!
10-8-6-4-2
Deadlift (100kg)
Bench press (60kg)
Time 5.29
His second workout was Grace with 50kg, time 4.37
Take a look at a documentary of Annie Thorisdottir, fittest woman alive, for the second consecutive years. I had to grab my stuff and head to the box right after this
