Thursday 31.1: Cleans

Thursday. 5-4-3-2-1: 2-position cleans (from ground + hang clean), 60kg, for quality.

I had ambitious goal to go for cleans. It's been a while since I last time did them, same with clean & jerks and presses. Hammer on 2nd January was previous day including cleans. All because of my elbows that have been taken too much hit. For a long time I thought it's because of crossfit but lately I've noticed it screams more because of my floorball training. Anyway, this week has been different. I was able to do Barbara on Monday, including 100 pull-ups during the workout, snatches have felt good and today I was able to do cleans nicely. It felt good!!!

Ab wheels, Toni

Cleans. For quality.

• 5-4-3-2-1
• 2-position cleans (from ground + hang clean), 60kg

2-position cleans (from ground + hang clean)

It felt so good to do cleans. I have always enjoyed the movement a lot. It's demanding, explosive and strong movement and I'm "all in" with my heart with the cleans. Hope I can do them consistently in the future. Can't wait to do clean & jerks, probably the most demanding and rewarding movement of them all!

Before I started my workout I took a few sets with 60kg and lighter weights and tried out regular cleans, hang cleans and squat cleans, a bit of a mixture of various cleans. It was natural, the tracks and form felt like they should be, and considering how long it's been since previous cleans, I can do nothing but be proud of my upper body this time. Intentionally I stayed at 60kg today not to stress my elbows too much.

My workout was 2-position cleans, which means holding on to the bar continuously and completing a set of two cleans, the first one from ground and the second from knee level as hang clean. Thus, two cleans build up to one rep. My rounds were 5-4-3-2-1. As thinking about the total amount of repetitions, it's 10-8-6-4-2. Each round hold on to the bar without loosing your grip on the bar

I liked this one. It was tough on my pressing power but I made it through. I believe there was one rep that didn't go as I planned so I had to retry it. Other than that, I went by the plan. Looking forward already for the next clean day!

Cashout. To the end I took 50 push-ups + 50 sit-ups as fast as possible, just for fun.

Toni's workout. Time 9.01

• 3 rounds of
• 10 power cleans, 60kg
• 20 push-ups
• 30 double unders

His main ingredient was also cleans. Ten reps each round, adding push-ups and double unders to the play. Total time 9.01. Below you'll see his last round of cleans.

Toni's last round of cleans

Toni's cashout. Handstand training + ab wheel + 50 air squats.

Wednesday 30.1: Back squats

Wednesday. Back squats 5-5-5-5-2 (max 130kg).

My strategy for today after two hard metcon days was to do back squats fives all the way I could climb up to. Nothing else, just heavy squatting. My upper body is jammed due to Barbara and Isabel. Toni's program showed it's time to snatch and he really nailed it.

Strength. Back squats 5-5-5-5-2 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg). I'm holding on to that 130kg, which seems to be my threshold right now. I've lifted 135kg once 27th December. Since then, the line has stayed at 130kg. I guess I'd better invite my bro to squat with me again to go for heavy singles or doubles to reach new records =)

Toni's workouts. Snatch 5-5-5-5-2 (30, 35, 40, PR 45kg, PR 50kg). PR baby! C'mon, way to go mister.

Toni's metcon. Time 2.57

• 6 rounds of
• 5 dumbbell snatch, 15kg, right arm
• 5 dumbbell snatch, 15kg, left arm

Tuesday 29.1: Isabel, snatches

Tuesday. Isabel, 40kg. Time 3.39. Metcon, 6 rounds of 5 db (20kg) snatches, right hand and 5 snatches, left hand. Time 2.49.

This day was fully snatch-oriented. My main workout of the day was Isabel, second benchmark wod for this week. After getting a grip again, I continued doing snatches with dumbbells, it was something like Isabel as well. I also did some kipping handstand push-ups training. Toni took it easy in the morning.

Isabel. Time 3.39

• 30 snatches for time, 40kg

This workout should be completed with a 60kg barbell but considering my max snatch (45kg), 60kg would be a joke. I piled 40kg on, and started lifting. My strategy was to do sets of 5 reps with a short break and continue this style throughout the workout. This plan held on until 20 reps. Next set after that was 4 succeeded ones and one failed rep. Then I struggled with the last piece of strength that was left in my body to finish Isabel. Finally the clock stopped at 3.39. I'm quite happy I was able to do this workout consistently, with a steady pace and without too much breaks in between. I believe soon it's about time to add weights and complete a PR.

After the workout I had similar feeling as with Grace. The start of the workout flows forward without too much troubles. After one third the barbell starts to weigh quite a lot. After two thirds it's a mental game as you simply don't have that strength anymore but you have to dig it from somewhere. I enjoy both of these a lot. Throughout the workouts breathing grows heavy quite soon and you have to do work to catch your breath and simultaneously keep on lifting the bar. Good and complex movements.

It was a bummer my camera's memory card filled up during the filming of Isabel so the last reps are not shown in the video… The first 24 reps are on the video, all that went by the plan :) The last 6 were tougher.

Isabel

Metcon. Time 2.49

• 6 rounds of:
• 5 dumbbell snatches, 20kg, right hand
• 5 dumbbell snatches, 20kg, left hand

I wasn't done with Isabel =) I wanted to do it in a different way, with dumbbells. I used 20kg dumbbell by snatching it one handed, 5 reps with right hand, then 5 reps with left hand, continuing for 6 total rounds. That is 30 reps with both hands. My time was about one minute faster with dumbbells compared to 40kg barbell. The big difference was that I went unbroken all the time. I didn't have to break it into sets. My heart beat was fast but manageable. It was a good metcon and I'm gonna add dumbbells into my metcons as well after some good experience working with them. Last time I used 15kg db's, but 20kg was way better and more suitable for me.

Monday 28.1: Barbara

Monday. Barbara. Rounds between 3.06 and 4.47.

I wanted to start my CF week with own bodyweight workout and make it a tough one. My solution was one of the benchmark workouts: Barbara. She was nasty and made me gasp for a while after the workout. It consisted of four movements, pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and squats. Toni called in sick today so he naturally took a rest day.

Barbara. Rounds between 3.06 and 4.47.

• 5 rounds of
• 20 pull-ups
• 30 push-ups
• 40 sit-ups
• 50 squats
• 3min rest

The rounds were as follows:

• First round, 3.06
• Second rounds, 3.35
• Third round, 4.11
• Fourth round, 4.47
• Fifth round, 4.43

There were a total of 100 pull-ups, 150 push-ups, 200 sit-ups and 250 squats, total of 700 reps. It's been a while since I've done pull-ups or cleans to strengthen my upper back so going for 100 pull-ups today was magnificent. My elbow has been screaming for the start of this year in pain, which is the reason for falling back on pull-ups and cleans. Therefore it really boosted my confidence a lot as I was able to do first and second round unbroken, 20 each round. On the third one I did 15 at first attempt and 10 reps on the fourth and fifth round. Very pleased about that!

My push-ups are my goat, as I've told you guys before. I had troubles with them from the very beginning, especially going for them after pull-ups isn't easy for me. The number of sit-ups caused me to go slower from the mid-workout on. In the beginning it was easy but as the reps grew over 100, they started to become slow. Squats weren't that bad. It hurt my legs but I was able to keep on going.

As a summary, my pull-ups and squats were near to perfect but my pace with push-ups was pathetic and I also got slower in sit-ups towards the end, which actually surprised me somewhat. But hey, there were 200 of them so I guess that should have been predictable =) This was a cruel workout but worth doing. Desperation crawled in just before the middle of the workout. I was able to push those feelings aside and continue to push forward. It would have helped to have a buddy to shout and cheer, no surprise there. Still, I want to emphasize that there were 100 pull-ups, c'mon!

Sunday 27.1: Rest day

Sunday. Rest day.

Hey, it was a good week of training. It's rare that I'm not training on weekend. However, today it was my brother's kid's birthday party and then time to relax with Pauliina.

Since last Sunday, I did Fight Gone Bad, then on Monday continued with back squats strength training and a metcon. Tuesday was a snatch metcon day. Wednesday concentrated in floorball, Thursday was deadlift fives and then 2011 CF Open workout. On Friday I had a game and then Saturday was the Finnish Crossfit Final from 2012. That was a rough one and my legs got their share of the training.

After having this much variety this week and not having the sickest intensity like before, I feel my body is well prepared for the upcoming week. I feel relaxed and I'm anxious to hit the gym. Looking at some awesome videos on Youtube has raised my expectations and hopes for next week. It's gonna be spectacular!

Toni also took it light today. He went to the Box but took it easy. Some ab wheel and then foam rolling and mobility.

Take a look at these fellows:

Dan Bailey, 75 hspu and 100 du in 4.59...

Blair Morrison really understands the meaning of constant variety

Saturday 26.1: Squat metcon, Finnish CF final 2012, Karhureiret

Saturday. Finnish Crossfit Final 2012: Karhureiret. Time 12.22.

What is a better way to launch the weekend on Saturday morning than giving your everything at the Box and let crossfit suck all energy out of you =) With Toni we decided to step it up a notch and do a workout that was in the crossfit finals in Finland 2012. The workout is called Karhureiret, or "Bear's thighs". A lot of squatting took place today spiced up with kb, boxes and T2Bs. Pauliina joined our training session.

For starters we took some handstand push-up training. My focus was purely on the kipping style. I haven't been able to do them efficiently this far but today I found out how they should be done. And all of a sudden, the movement was way easier. I'm very happy about this one!!!

Kipping handstand push-ups

Karhureiret. Time 12.22

• 10 back squats, 100kg
• 50 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 20 front squats, 80kg
• 40 box jumps, 64cm
• 30 overhead squats, 20kg
• 30 toes-to-bar

All but box jumps and overhead squats were rx'd. In the original version box height should be only 50cm, we used the official 64cm. Then overhead squats should be 60kg but hey c'mon, I've never put over 40kg in this movement. I used only the bar which happened to be too light.

What a workout, I enjoyed it! 10 back squat for starters gets the blood flowing nicely. Moving on to 50 kettlebell swings, by the way I've never done that many with 32kg. I divided it into 2 x 25 reps, I was surprised how "easily" I was able to move the weight. I've taken it as a standard to do kb swings american style which means the kettlebell must go overhead to reach full range of motion. 20 reps of front squats turned out to be demanding. I did them in sets of 5 reps.

Box jumps

After quite a lot of reps at this stage it was no surprise box jumps wouldn't go unbroken. I took them with a steady pace, locking my hips at the top, then dropping down and jumping right back. If I needed rest, I stayed at the top for a while, no need to rest at the bottom, that's not beneficial in a metcon. The only thing that made me think what I could have done differently in the workout, is the weights in the overhead squats. I usually have troubles going deep enough in OHS and it's difficult to put weights on the barbell. I haven't done them that much anyway. For some reason, at this point in the workout my hips were loose in a good sense and I was able to lower my body well and I don't think it would have been a problem to add weights. It was too easy I believe. It's been a while since last toes-to-bars took place. I nailed them pretty efficiently. Ten plus ten and then some smaller pieces.

All in all, I think my hamstrings and quads are thanking me afterwards for giving such a pressure on them today. It was rough but manageable all the time. The workout reveals my weakness, which is definitely OHS. Must pay attention to mobility and this movement more. How to find time for everything, that's the key issue. Final time today, 12.22.

Time!

Toni's Karhureiret. Time 24.01

• 10 back squats, 80kg
• 50 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 20 front squats, 60kg
• 40 box jumps, 64cm
• 30 overhead squats, 30kg
• 30 toes-to-bar

Toni smashed the plates =)

Toni did the same workouts. He started with handstand push-up training after warm-up, then Karhureiret was ahead of him as well. He modified the weights in back squats to 80kg, front squat to 60kg and overhead squats to 30kg. The other movements rx'd.

Toni's front squats

He stayed with the same pace with me through back squats and maybe kettlebells as well. This was the first time he threw 32kg around so completing 20+15+15 sets was awesome! I remember times he had troubles swinging 20kg kettlebell. Tony has done some tremendous development in the last 1-2 months. Front squats he completed in sets of 5 reps. From box jumps on he had to catch some breath once in a while which slowed him down a bit. Doing 30 toes-to-bar (once again, he haven't done these) in the end, that was time for some high fives =) Final time 24.01.

Karhureiret sucked our energy big time

Friday 25.1: Game Day

Friday. Game Day.

I had a game in the evening. We lost 4-5 at home…

Toni's focus was purely on metabolic conditioning today as he did interval rowing for half an hour.

Toni's workout.
30 sec on
30 sec off
for 30 minutes

In addition some dips (2x10) and ab wheel (4x10). He loved the rowing part. Tell us more about it!!! I've only done it twice, but only for 10 minutes. Also once I did similar workout with stationary bike.

Thursday 24.1: Deadlifts and 2011 games open metcon

Thursday. Deadlift 5-5-5-5 (max 150kg). Metcon 2011 crossfit games open 11.1. Result 186 reps.

Okay, today it was rather tough one. First strength and then finishing the training with crossfit games open from 2011, workout number 11.1, consisting of double unders and snatches. Toni was doing these workouts together with me.

Strength. Deadlift 5-5-5-5 (120, 130, 140, 150kg). I wanted to concentrate purely on doing fives from the beginning to the end. My grip started to get loose on the last set so I figured it would be difficult to stay with the frame up to 160kg. Last time when I did fives, I went to 160kg as well. I remember my grip holding on much better that time. I believe I wore gloves, today my tape adjustments was sliding away from my palms. Anyway, the lifts felt good all the way and the bar wasn't that heavy at all. I could have easily gone higher with a good grip. There was a tough metcon ahead of us so I saved a bit of my energy for that as well.

Games Open 11.1.

• 10 min amrap
• 30 double unders
• 15 snatches, 35kg

This was the first workout 2011 in the Crossfit Games Open. This year's Open starts 6th March so we'll see some pretty interesting metcons and fierce competition once again worldwide! I enjoyed this workout a lot. Good amount of double unders and snatches. I'm not a specialist in snatches so going for 4 full rounds and 6 double unders pleased me, this time... Once I get a proper hold on snatches I should be able to complete these type of workouts more effectively.

Today my double unders were as good as they have been nowadays. All rounds unbroken but one, on which I did 22 reps before making a minor mistake. Snatches were not bad on the first round but going for the second round I took 5 reps in a row from that point on. The plates on the barbell were very small in size so we had to squat very deep to lower the bar and touch the floor. So there was a good range of motion which added some spice to the workout. We had to take a look at the 2011 standings in Europe and how we would have performed in the Open had we participated. My place in the standings would have been no. 612 in Europe =)

Toni's workouts. Result 136 reps.
Deadlift 5-5-5-3-5-2 (100, 110, 120, 130, 130, 140kg)
Games Open 11.1

• 10 min amrap
• 30 double unders
• 15 snatches, 35kg

Toni's goal was also to do fives. He went to 120kg nicely but then slipped the bar at 130kg after 3 reps. He took another attempt and completed the 5 reps. Finally 140kg was a bit too much and he took 2 reps. His 1-rep max is currently at 160kg. Pony also pushed through the metcon very well. On the first round he did squat snatches for some unexplainable reason =) First round took him 4 minutes, then he completed 2 following rounds in 6 minutes.

Wednesday 23.1: Floorball

Wednesday. Floorball. Rest from crossfit.

Today I had only floorball training in the evening. I had the possibility to sleep longer than on a normal day, which worked well for me. My body wanted to have some recovery, hope it enables me to work better for the next workout. Toni also chilled out this Wednesday.

Some different type of tests

This is the workout that inspired my yesterday's metcon

Tuesday 22.1: Metcon of db snatches, ring dips + Tabata

Tuesday. Metcon of dumbbell snatches and ring push-ups.

This morning training consisted of a metcon. Simple and beautiful. Toni took clean & jerk strength training in the beginning and then continued with a 12min amrap. In the evening I continued with Pauliina for a 1h walk in the crispy winter Helsinki and for dessert some Tabata training =)

Ring push-ups, Toni

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of
• 10 dumbbell snatches, right arm, 15kg
• 10 dumbbell snatches, left arm, 15kg
• 10 ring push-ups

Actually, it was the first time I did dumbbell or kettlebell snatches and I felt it immediately, got to do this more, just add some weights. I would have liked to do these squat versions but I realized my mobility was an issue, same as with regular bar snatches. My hands either tempt to lean too forward or then I have troubles going deep enough. Better take snatches with low weights in to my warm-up selection to get my body used to this type of movement.

Back to the metcon. There were a total of 50 reps each, 10 reps per round. It was a good set of repetitions to go unbroken. I'd like to see how the game would change if I had 20-25kg db's instead. Everything went unbroken without breaks throughout the workout, I also minimized the transitions between movements. I didn't put my clock running. It's very beneficial to work with kb's and db's as it's totally different compared to barbell work, the weights tend to wiggle more in this version.

Tabata. One hour brisk walk for warming up and then continued with Pauliina for Tabata training. We took sets of the following:

• Air squats
• V-ups
• Push-ups

It was awesome to walk around Helsinki's beautiful surroundings in a good wintery weather! Thanks honey for the quality time =) After the walk, put the sauna on, do three sets of Tabata training, squats, mid core through V-ups and finally push-ups. I didn't push through like a maniac, squats were around 16 reps per round, V-ups between 10-14 reps and push-ups 12 reps per round. The point of Tabata training is to do 8 x (20sec work, 10sec rest per round) for each movement. First 8 sets of squats, then abs, finally push-ups. It's rewarding to have a sauna afterwards, c'mon!

Overhead squats, Toni

Toni's workouts.
Clean & jerk 5-3-4-3
Metcon. 6 rounds + 1 ohs

• 12 min amrap
• 5 overhead squats, 30kg
• 10 ring push-ups
• 5 knees-to-elbows

He really had a good pace and didn't rest in vain. Nice job Toni!

Monday 21.1: Back squats and metcon

Monday. Back squats 5-5-5-5-5-3 (max 130kg). Metcon of step-ups, hspu and burpees.

Squat day! I love 'em =) My legs were a bit shattered from yesterday's Fight Gone Bad but after some double unders and warm-up I was ready to pump it. My theme for the following weeks is to get my breath going and increase my metabolic conditioning so I finished the morning workout with a metcon, consisting of leg work, hspu and some classic stuff: burpees. Toni completed pretty much the same workouts. Awesome training day!

Step-ups, Toni

Strength. 5-5-5-5-5-3 (100, 110, 120, 125, 125, 130kg). Sets of 5, starting from 100kg, going up to 125kg with fives. I took another set of 125kg because I knew that's pretty much the limit for fives. So I was able to complete 5x5 back squats. For some extra work I took 130kg as many reps as possible. Today it was 3 times down and up.

Metcon. Time around 11.30.

• 4 rounds of
• 10 step-ups, 80kg, 5 both legs
• 3 handstand push-ups
• 15 burpees

Step-ups are very efficient way of torturing your hamstrings and quads. Going for 10 reps each round is a good number of reps and 80kg seems to work for me pretty well. I'd like to test 100kg but I'm a bit nervous about piling that much load in case I land down in a not-perfect position and something bad would happen. Handstand push-ups seem to be my "goat". I'm having troubles finding enough strength in my triceps to push myself up effectively. I guess kipping would improve my hspu's remarkably. Burpees: you gotta love them and hate them. They get the blood and breathing flowing vigorously but it really feels awesome as you're able to go unbroken for several rounds. I'm definitely going to include these nasty ones in my training programme constantly.

Pony

Toni's workouts.
Back squats 5-5-3-2 (100, 105, 110, 110)

Metcon was similar as mine. He scaled step-ups to 60kg and foam rolled the handstand push-ups. Time was also around 11.30. We had a good rhytm going on as we did it together. There was a good rotation as I started and Toni followed right behind me.

• 4 rounds of
• 10 step-ups, 60kg, 5 both legs
• 3 handstand push-ups
• 15 burpees

Sunday 20.1: Fight Gone Bad

Sunday. Fight Gone Bad. 277 points.

Two days of rest and anxious to hit the Box. Toni suggested to take one of the most classic workouts: Fight Gone Bad. I didn't see any reason why not to so we both did it. It proved to be a nasty one. I took 1k row for starters for time of 3.27 before preparing my body for FGB.

Fight Gone Bad. Total of 277 points. In brackets you'll see the amount of reps for the three rounds.

• Wall ball, 15kg plate thrusters (35, 28, 22 reps)
• Sumo deadlift high-pull, 35kg (20, 17, 12 reps)
• Box jumps (22, 15, 12 reps)
• Push press, 35kg (20, 10, 20 reps)
• Row calories (16, 16, 12 reps)

In this workout you move from each of 5 stations after a minute. This is a 5-minute round from which a 1-minute break is allowed before repeating. There are 3 rounds in the workout. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "switch", the athlete must move to the next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

We did this one in the beginning of our crossfit careers, 27th July 2012. The difference between these two workouts were the order of the movements, this time we went in the order they were supposed to be done. And the box jump's height was 40cm last time, now it was 64cm. Originally it should be 60cm. We don't have a possibility to a 9kg wall ball so we modified it to 15kg plate with which we did thrusters to replicate the effort needed to wall ball.

I was exhausted. In July my shoulders were the ones that bailed me down, now it was my lower body. My upper body was feeling surprisingly good but my legs were burning already on the first round. The box jumps were the major reason for the difference between my two FGB's, there were 100 reps last time for the lower box (it was a bench) and now I had 49 reps to the real Rogue box.

I was better with the wall balls (67 - 85 reps), sumo deadlifts (48 - 49 reps) and rowing (46 - 48 reps). However, with push press I performed way better last time (85 - 50 reps) and box jumps (100 - 49 reps) but that we already covered why this happened. I'm surprised about the push presses. The difference can't be that last time we took the bar from a rack, this time from the floor, that bar is so light anyway. Maybe it's because of the order of the movements. Previously push press was the first movement and I was able to go for it with a "fresh" body. Today it was towards the end of the round as it is supposed to.

My guts were scorching on the second round and legs burning. Somehow I was able to get a grip of life again and push through. This workout is simply freaking rough. There was a lesson learned today. I must put more focus back on the basics: metabolic conditioning. I had to catch a breath once in a while during FGB and I don't like it. I'd like to push through from the beginning to the end and do as many reps as possible. I've gained muscles lately through weight increase but at the same time my focus has been too much on gaining bigger numbers on heavy lifts. I'm definitely going to put a lot of plates on the barbells in the future as well but a lot of effort should be put on metcons as well.

Here's the mid part of Toni's FGB, second round about to start

Toni's Fight Gone Bad. Total of 224 points. In brackets the amount of reps for the three rounds.

• Wall ball, 15kg plate thrusters (30, 20, 16 reps)
• Sumo deadlift high-pull, 35kg (15, 8, 9 reps)
• Box jumps (12, 10, 9 reps)
• Push press, 35kg (15, 15, 13 reps)
• Row calories (18, 15, 19 reps)

Toni's numbers went from 246 to 224. He also made it better this time. The reason for the difference was the height o the box jumps as well. I don't have exact numbers of his last repetitions but here you can see today's figures.

Saturday 19.1: Rest day

Saturday. Rest day.

I'll chill today. My floorball team had a Game Day, win at the road, 6-10, nice. Tomorrow I must go to the Box, let's see how much I'm able to train. I have a lot of training ambition, it's just the doctor's orders I should listen to. At least Toni is gonna do one of the benchmark wods.

How sick is this Miagi wod?

Friday 18.1: Rest day

Friday. Rest day.

It's been a while since last total rest day. There's been an easier day here and there but a total rest day will definitely make good to me body. It has taken some hits so let's recover for some time and then bounce back.

Toni went to the box to copy pasted yesterday's workout of the day. The only thing he changed was the  weights of the deadlift barbell from 120kg -> 100kg.

Toni's workout. Time 17.58

• 2 rounds of
• 5 deadlifts, 100kg
• 50 double unders
• 5 deadlifts, 100kg
• 35 burpees
• 5 deadlifts, 100kg
• 20 box jumps, 64cm

Thursday 17.1: Deadlift metcon

Thursday. Deadlift oriented metcon. Time 12.06.

Toni stayed home today for a rest day. I'm having a dentist in the evening for a wisdom tooth's removal so there's a chance I'm not able to train tomorrow at all. My focus today was to put my heart to the test and see how well I'm able to move weights and my body.

Workout. Time 12.06

• 2 rounds of
• 5 deadlifts, 120kg
• 50 double unders
• 5 deadlifts, 120kg
• 35 burpees
• 5 deadlifts, 120kg
• 20 box jumps, 64cm

This was exactly what I wanted, a hard core metcon with heart bouncing back and forth, up and down, until I was totally smashed. It took a while to recover, it really sucked all my energy =) Main strength element was semi-heavy deadlift of 120kg, 5 reps each time. Between lifts I took 50 double unders, 35 burpees or 20 box jumps, for two rounds. The number of burpees was that last ingredient that made my cry.

Deadlifts were not bad in this one, they were actually the easiest. Double unders got my breathing go heavy and burpees nailed it. The first round of burpees rolled well but on the second one it felt I haven't done them at all, I was way too slow because of fatigue. It was surprising how much it took energy from me.

Thinking about it, it was a fantastic workout but still very, very nasty. Anyway, this reflects what I'd like my body to master: good metabolic conditioning. I have concentrated quite a lot to strength training lately and these workouts allow me to make good observations of what I want from crossfit and how I should train in the future.

Wednesday 16.1: Push Jerk Gauntlet

Wednesday. Push Jerk Gauntlet. Result 80kg.

Another early morning wake-up and time to work towards better overall fitness through crossfit. Schedule stood a deadlift related metcon which we quickly changed to a Rob O's workout, consisting of a new movement, push jerk. Toni reached his new PR of chest-to-overhead moves.

Gauntlet. Starting from 40kg, adding 2.5kg, I reached 80kg, Toni added to 85kg.

Nice one! I copy pasted this one from Rob Orlando at www.strongmanwod.com. After warming up we piled 40kg on the bar and took single reps. The purpose in the workout is to do one single rep at 50% of 1 rep max, then add 2.5kg each minute and see how far you can go by jerking the bar. The difference between push press and push jerk is that in press you dip with your hip and then strongly drive and push the bar up to full extension. In jerk you kind of drop below the bar to straight hands and bent legs, and then extend your body with legs. I haven't done jerks, mostly all my reps have been presses, same with Toni.

I believe I was able to practice this move pretty well. In some lifts my performance was surprisingly good and in some reps it was more like old school push press. It started to become a battle at around 70kg. 75 was tough, for 77.5kg I was able to produce pure rage and the bar just flew up. At 80kg I didn't maintain that rage and couldn't take it up. I wanted to take another try, on which I managed to jerk / press the bar to full extension. I still had some hunger left to go for PR lift of 82.5kg, however I guess my stomache was full enough and the attempt failed.

Toni did the same mental job at 82.5kg which is his old press PR. He took it up, tried 85kg which failed, a short pause and another try, result 85kg pressed up. C'mon!

Push press, 85kg, Toni, PR

Tuesday 15.1: Back squats, push-ups

Tuesday. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of back squats (100kg) and max effort push-ups (178 reps).

Today was a squat day but we carried it out in a bit different way with Toni. We did a workout consisting of back squats and push-ups. Quite a number of both of them today.

Workout. 100kg bar (74% of max), 179 reps.

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
• Back squats, 100kg
• Max effort push-ups (35, 25, 20, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 12, 12 reps)

This workout was not for time. Still, we didn't take extra break between sets. I did this one with Toni, I started squatting and once I finished, I moved on to push-ups and Toni started his first set of squats. He used 80kg barbell, I put 100kg. On the squats the rep scheme was from 10 to 1 reps, going down by 1's and between sets, maximum effort of unbroken traditional push-ups.

The first four rounds of squatting were the toughest because of the high amount of repetitions. Then it started to become easier as workload came lighter. There was a total of 5.500kg squatting today. It was no surprise that push-ups came harder in time. The first set was 35, followed by 25 and 20 reps on the first three rounds. Then I stuck to 15 reps for 5 rounds. On the last two ones my triceps were so numb that I was surprised to have any reps at all. It was funny that both of our hands / triceps started to burn in the squats on the 7-rep round. It wasn't easy to keep up with those 15 reps after that.

I enjoyed doing this workout and I believe there were benefits gained through both squatting and push-ups. This was also a perfect reminder of the strength I need in my triceps. As I wrote earlier this week, I need to keep on developing them and performing push-ups as well more regularly.

Toni's result. 80kg bar (66% of max), 148 reps.

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
• Back squats, 80kg
• Max effort push-ups (35, 14, 13, 10, 10, 16, 17, 11, 10, 12 reps)

From somewhere Toni found some extra strength in the middle of the workout of his push-ups and managed to increase the number of reps just like that. Go figure =)

Monday 14.1: Weighted pull-ups, push-ups

Wednesday. Weighted pull-ups 5x5 (max 15kg), weighted push-ups 3x10 (max 20kg).

Today I concentrated on two main areas: pull-ups and push-ups, with a little weight on me. Toni skipped his rest day and joined me at the gym to do some technique training and weighted push-ups.

Pull-ups. 5-5-5-4-4 (10, 12.5, 15, 12.5, 10kg). Last time I did weighted pull-ups was back in autumn, in September and October. For the last month or so, the number of pull-ups I've done, are few. I've had some issues with my elbow(s) so I've tried to minimize their number. I felt good today and I'm having a guilty conscience of not doing them. That's why I needed to go for them today. My goal was to do 5x5, on the last two sets I managed only 4 reps. I did this workout pyramid style, starting and ending in 10kg, reaching 15kg in between.

Push-ups. 3x10 (10, 15, 20kg). Took some sets without any additional weights to start up. Toni suggested to add some bets on this one so we piled some plates on our backs and did some push-ups. I took 3 sets with 10, 15 and finally 20kg. It was an awkward but still nice movement. The best feature I got from this training was the strong reminder of how important it is to do just simple push-ups. You know, pure old school push-ups. I'd better put this on my schedule on a regular basis.

Floorball in the evening.

Toni's workout. He took it light as well. Some technique with snatches and heavy push-ups to the end. I guess he took sets of 5-10 reps with weights between 10-20kg.

Now he did it, Visa, 200kg deadlift. Beastmode: On

Sunday 13.1: Bench press, snatches

Sunday. Bench press 5-5-3-2. Another workout for snatches.

Today's agenda was supposed to be an easier one. I ended up doing bench presses and a workout of snatches with rather high amount of reps. Also overhead squats were vital part of the programming for today. Mobility in the end with Pauliina. Toni went to the gym in the evening.

Strength. 5-5-3-2 (65, 75 80, 85kg). My goal was to hit 90kg, which would be a new record for me, currently I'm 2.5kg short of that. Now as I think about it, previous time I did bench press as strength training was in Sweden in the end of November. I've done bench twice after that, in a workout called Linda 8th December to celebrate my little sister's birthday and on 5th December in a workout consisting of deadlift and bench. I guess I've kind of forgotten to do that. Better improve on that section 'cause the numbers are not going up by themselves.

Today I reached 85kg which came up twice so I decided to add 5kg and hit a new PR. I tried it twice and failed on both of them. Even though bench isn't one of my favorites I'd better push 100kg up during this year, no doubt about it. Im not gonna put all of my concentration on this one but definitely going to do more in the future.

Workout. Snatch workout for quality.

• Every minute on the minute (EMOM) for 15min
• 2-position power snatch (from ground + from knee-level) + 2 overhead squats
• 40kg on the barbell

Alright, I simply love snatches! This was a good workout, total of 30 reps with 40kg allowed me to focus on the technique as well. I just need a lot of repetition for this movement because it's technically demanding one and deserves a lot of focus on each lift. In this workout I was supposed to do 2 power snatches (one starting from the ground and the second starting from knee level, a.k.a hang snatch), followed by 2 overhead squats. Continuing this 4 rep-set for 15 minutes, every minute is similar. Total of 15 power snatches from ground, 15 hang power snatches and 30 overhead squats. I really needed these movements. I'm having troubles completing squat snatches properly so I solved the problem by practicing both snatches and ohs. I kept 40kg on the bar during the whole workout.

My plan was to go for 12 minutes but I enjoyed it so tremendously that I did 3 extra rounds =) I had no troubles going unbroken in this workout but it was heavy towards the end. Some day I believe I should try out my max snatch. Currently it stands at 45kg. To go over that, I should be able to bend my knees more and squat while snatching. I'm able to lift the bar high enough but I'm not utilizing gravity enough while going under the bar.

To the end we took some mobility, foam rolling and stretching for a while.

Toni's workouts. Bench press and rowing.

• Bench press 3-3-3-f-1-f-f (80, 85, 90, 95, 95, 97.5, 97.5kg)
• Row 1k for time. 3.18.8

Wow, that row time for 1k is simply phenomenal! My record is 3.22 so I must admit, these are sick numbers man =) Bench press went in 3-rep sets up to 90kg, then a fail at 95kg, a successful 95kg and two attempts at 97.5kg.

1.000m row, Toni

Saturday 12.1: Game Day

Saturday. Game Day. Result 16-3.

A day off from crossfitting as my team was about to travel against another team. In the first round we had a tie with these guys so it was supposed to be a close one again. It couldn't have been further away from that. First period, 7-0 for us. At the final buzzer the score board stood 16-3, another win for us.

Toni's workout. Cindy. Result 12 rounds + 5 pull-ups

• 20 min amrap
• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 squats

Toni went to the Box, let's here what he has to offer for us. What kind of feelings, I guess some puke was in play as well :) 65 pull-ups for you man, that's awesome!

Friday 11.1: Shoulder press, front squat, metcon

Friday. Shoulder press 5-5-3 (max 60kg). Front squat 5-5-5-2-1 (max PR 125kg). Metcon of walking lunges and ring push-ups.

I wasn't sure what to do when I entered the Box today. I've been squatting and deadlifting for quite a while and haven't been able to do much work with my cleans, jerks and snatches. At least not as much as I'd like to and there's a reason for that. Today I decided to give it a shot with shoulder press, then continued to PR my front squat, yammy! Then a short metcon in the end. Toni did something new in his category, snatches with weights, not only technical training this time. Plus a short workout for quality.

Walking lunges

Strength. Shoulder press 5-5-3 (50, 55, 60kg). Front squat 5-5-5-2-1 (80, 100, 110, 120, PR 125kg).

I entered my training with shoulder press, going up to 60kg. Then I understood my elbows are not not in their best shape and changed to front squat. Elbows were in the verge of getting hammered with pain so I stopped early and prevented further damages. Huh, front squats were easy today! My mid core is rather strong and I'm able to maintain good form with heavier weights as well. I began with 80kg, next 100, added 10kg and was still lifting 5-rep sets. Soon I was ready for my old record (120kg), which I took up twice today. I was mentally forced to add plates to the bar, 125kg, down and up, new PR, c'mon! I was tempted to go for 130kg but it was not a stable attempt and failed. I'm extremely happy with my lifts today.

Front squat 125kg, PR

Metcon. For cooling down, for quality.

• 3 rounds of
• 20 walking lunges, 2x25kg dumbbells
• 10 ring push-ups

This was a quick play to the end. Lunges and ring push-ups. For some reason I haven't done ring push-ups nor regular push-ups for a while. They are awesome and should be in programming constantly. In autumn I did them way more. This little fun wasn't tough, okay holding the grip was difficult with the dumbbells but other than that, it wasn't bad.

Ring push-ups

Toni's workouts. Snatches 5-5-5 (30, 35, PR 40kg). He also did some tens of different type of push-ups, dips and pull-ups.

Toni's snatches

Today's main focus for Toni was snatches. He hasn't done them with a bar that has plates on it. By far it's been purely technique training so it was about time to hit it. And hey, his squat snatches look very natural. The mobility he has been able to create is something I envy. For future development, he should create more speed through hip explosiveness. Otherwise it's difficult to add weights. Anyway, I'm sure he's gonna lift 50+ weights soon.

Thursday 10.1: Box jumps, metcon

Thursday. Box jumps (high) 6x5. Metcon of kettlebell swings and double unders.

This session was a different type of training. For starters I took a few sets of 25 double unders, got my blood running, took some pvc pipe playing a bit here and there, stretching, box jumps and kettlebell swings. My goal today was to add weight plates on top of the Rogue box to add height to my jumps and then do a metcon with my new kettlebell. Toni focused on front squats plus a metcon.

Box jumps. 6x5. The purpose of this workout was to add explosiveness to my hips and legs. I've taken a lot of strength training lately and wanted also to give a break from hard core strength training. I didn't measure the height of the jumps but the actual box is 64cm (24') plus 8 plates (20-25kg). I'd say that's about 110cm. I once measured those 20 plates, they were 5cm each. Those red ones (25kg) are thicker so it's around that 110cm. There was still some loose air between me and the box so I'll add height next time I go for this workout. This was kinda the first excursion to the world of high box jumps. I really hope this type of training would increase the explosiveness and speed in my hips.

Box jumps, 6 plates

Metcon. I didn't time this. The question is why? I don't know

• 3 rounds of
• 20 kettlebell american swings, 32kg
• 20 double unders

This was a quick and tough one. American swings mean you bring the ball all the way over your head so that your biceps are at the same level as your ears. I wasn't sure how many reps I could do these  swings in a row. On the 20th December I did a metcon of 32kg swings and box jumps. That was a killer as well. I was able to go unbroken all the way to the last round of kettlebells. There I had to break it into 2x10 reps. Other than that, entire workout unbroken. I believe I should utilize my kettlebells more in my training. There's only the minor problem of carrying them with me all around. Still, every time I've been doing metcons with them, I've felt pure joy =) It's always a misery but still some sort of sick victorious feeling.

In the evening I had floorball training for 2h

Toni's workouts. Strength front squats and a 5 round metcon.
Front squats 3-3-3-1 (70, 80, 90, 95). he also tried a new record of 100kg but today was not the day.
Metcon. Time 12.30

• 5 rounds for time of
• 5 clean and jerk, 60kg
• 5 box jumps
• 5 handstand push-up

I had to leave before Toni began his metcon so I must ask was your handstand push-ups against the foam roll? And did I write your metcon correctly? =)

Wednesday 9.1: Deadlifts and rowing

Wednesday. Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5 (max 160kg), rowing 2 x 750m.

My strength element for today was deadlift. Original plan was to repeat a workout I did back in October but my elbows didn't like the idea of completing knees-to-elbows so I modified my workouts of the day. Toni had a rest day and enjoyed a good sleep.

Strength. Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5 (130, 140, 150, 160, 130kg). I've been waiting to do that workout I did in October. Today was supposed to be a good day for that purpose but destiny had other plans. I tried a few K2Es but the swing mode didn't feel good so I did deadlifts as strength training. There I had no issues with my elbows so I took fives up. When I go further than my squat's max load my form starts to compromise as my hips shoot the air first, only then my chest follows. I didn't want to max out today but stay with 5-rep sets till the end. My max set was 160kg, after which I took a 130kg to cool it down and focus on lifting the bar by leading with my chest. I'm happy with the amount I was able to lift as a 5-rep set.

Rowing. 2 x 750m. Average pace for the first set 1.45/500m. Second set 1.44. I didn't want to leave the gym without giving pressure to my heart so I decided to sit on the rower and start pulling. My first set of rowing was going with a 1.45min / 500m speed on average. I decided to top that time so I improved with 1 second on average pace. There was a 2min rest period between sets.

By the way, I'm a bit frustrated with my elbows, especially the left one. I'd like to clean & jerk constantly but once I do, my elbow(s) jam up pretty roughly. I've had to take it a bit easier with such movements that create pressure there.

In the evening I'm going to my floorball training.

Tuesday 8.1: Back squat, interval cycling

Tuesday. Back squats 5-5-5-3 (+f). Metcon, stationary cycling, 30sec on, 30sec off, for 15minutes.

Alright, ready for back squats while Toni's thoughts were on deadlifts. Another workout for the day was meant to be interval rowing which I subbed because the rower was occupied by someone else. Anyway, I was able to put my legs and respiration to test today.

Strength.Back squats 5-5-5-3-f (100, 110, 120, 130, 135). I enjoyed this morning's training a lot. Squats are simply my favorites, luckily it's one of the most important strength movements. You need your legs all the time in all movements, you better have strength in there. Well, I wanted to take longer rep-sets today with heavy weights. Hundred kilos come up and down easily but it's a good starting point to shoot up. At 120kg I know it goes down and up anyday but it was awesome to see I can pop it 5 times in a row. Going for 5 reps is heavy, at least the last reps are tough. I added 10kg to the load and it was heavy man. I pushed 3 reps with pure psyche. I tried 135 - my current PR - but it didn't come up just like that. It was close though…

Back squats, 130kg

Metcon.

• Stationary cycling
• 30sec on, 30sec off, for 15minutes

This was not a bad trade at all. I haven't used stationary bikes almost at all, maybe sometimes in the past for warming up but it turned out to be quite a leg burner. After 5 minutes my quads and hamstrings understood the point of the workout as the last 10 seconds each round were tough. I liked this one, no doubt about it. No matter if it's rowing, running or biking, interval workouts are effective.

Toni's workouts. Deadlifts and squat snatches
Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5 (110, 115, 120, 125, 130kg)
Squat snatches 5-5-5 (technique training with empty barbell)

Deadlift, Toni, 120kg

Toni's focus was on 5-rep sets of deadlifts. This is part of a bigger plan of his. Toni has been doing sets of mostly 3 reps for a long time so through extending it with 2 reps is a remarkable change. He took 5 sets between 110 and 130kg, all fives. It was also cool to see this dude doing snatches! I don't recall him doing them almost at all. This day was more like a technique training and getting familiar with the movement. The overhead squat part of it looked natural.

Snatch technique training, Toni

Monday 7.1: Snatches

Monday. Snatch workout, mostly with 40kg bar.

Today's programme consisted on one of the main four ingridients to my development, snatches. For starters I warmed up my legs, shoulders and back to be fully ready for the workout. I took some empty bar snatches to remind myself of the tracks the bar should bounce up to the sky. Toni was with me to do a metcon.

Workout of the day. 6 sets (30, 35. 40, 40, 40, 40kg)

• 6 cycles of:
• 3 snatch grip deadlift
• 3 snatch high-pull
• 3 power snatches
• 3 overhead squats
• 1 squat snatch

Interesting set of snatch movements. First deadlifting the bar, secondly pulling it to chin level with a bounce and then three power snatches followed by overhead squats and finally the most difficult movement to me, squat snatch which I had to do every time with a power snatch and overhead squat. I found out that when I do my overhead squats, I must pay a lot of attention to the position how my shoulders are externally rotated and armpits directed straigth forward. If I don't think about my form at all, my armpits tend to bend inwards and thus it's very difficult to go down. When I go down in that form, the bar leans forward and it's impossible to hold on to it. Luckily I found a way to get down. Together with Toni we must take more overhead squats in to play to get comfortable with the movement.

Back to this workout. I took sets of 30 and 35kg. Once I got to the 40kg, the first set collapsed on the second overhead squat, the second set on the last ohs and the third one on the last rep, squat snatch. I had to go for a sixth cycle, which I nailed perfectly! Well, perfectly is a bit overexaggarated but I nailed it anyway =)

Toni's workout. 2 rounds and 2 back squats.

• 9 min amrap of
• 30 double unders
• 15 burpees
• 9 back squats, 70kg

He managed to close two rounds and 2 back squats. That means a total of 90 DU, 45 burpees and 20 back squats. He had a 70kg weight on the barbell.

Sunday 6.1: Two metcons

Sunday. Two metcons for today. First DU's and burpees. Secondly, Annie. Time 6.31.

The entourage at the gym was larger than normally. Pauliina was there, Toni with his wife and Sami - my bro - as well =) My elbows are still having some troubles so I had to re-plan the original death by clean & jerk. I didn't do any strength training today and went for two metcons instead to put my lungs in test. Some rowing for starters and then I hit the first one.

Metcon. Didn't time this.

• 4 rounds of
• 30 double unders
• 15 burpees

I didn't time the workout at all but still did my share in a similar way as if the clock was running. I went unbroken throughout the burpees but had a few missed reps in the double unders. I've done some changes in my burpee technique lately to go faster and smoother up and down. Previously I used to first put my hands on the ground and then throw my legs straight back. There is one step too much so nowadays once I'm standing straight, I simply drop down and receive my body with both hands and legs simultaneously. I feel I'm saving some seconds with each burpees and especially in a high rep workout like this it's important to find those bottle necks where time can be saved. I also stumbled a couple of times with my jump rope.

Annie. Time 6.31.

• 50-40-30-20-10
• Double unders
• Sit-ups

First encounter with Annie and I liked it. 150 doubles and 150 sit-ups in total. Time 6.31. I wanted to go unbroken with the double unders but unfortunately the first two sets didn't go as planned, maybe 2-3 sets each. At least the last two rounds went unbroken. I didn't have breaks with the sit-ups at all. It was surprising that the pace with my sit-ups went slower till the end. I was determined to go with the same speed from start to the end. I guess the number of reps had an influence =) This was nice workout, no doubt about it. Better top my time some other day.

Toni's workouts. Nice! Death by clean & jerk and Annie.
Death by clean & jerk, 60kg. Result 7 rounds + 2 reps. Total of 30 reps.
Annie. Time 10.40

Take a look at Toni's seventh round

I liked to watch this mister doing his death by training! Total of 7 rounds and 2 reps in top of that. To my eye, it looked like it went easy for 4-5 rounds, then rest times became shorter and it seemed the bar suddenly became heavier. There was a total of 30 reps in 8 minutes for Toni. That is the amount of reps needed for Grace. Some day soon that workout will probably be done by Toni as well?

Sami went for back squat singles as well as bench press singles. He squatted 145kg and pressed 110kg, huh...

Bench press, 110kg, Sami