Friday 11.10: Bench, row, run

Friday. Bench press 3-3-3-3-3 (max 92.5kg). Metcon, 5 rounds, effective time of: 2min row, 2min run.

Friday for bench strength and cardio endurance. It's probably been something like 3 weeks since last bench session so it was about time. I don't consider bench being the most important of the strength movements but still it is worth doing every once in a while.

Strength. Bench press 3-3-3-3-3 (80, 85, 90, 92.5, 90kg). I was strong today. Take into consideration that I believe I have never lifted 3 reps at a weight that starts with number 9. Today I did 3 sets, the heaviest being 92.5kg. After that set I understood I couldn't upgrade it to 95kg which I was looking forward to. Wanted to get full 3 reps in each set. Decided to round it back to 90kg. Pauliina was spotting me on the last sets and said the last set was too light. I might agree on that one. Should have kept it at 92.5kg. Had to put in a lot of work though.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds, effective time of:
• 2min row (approximately 600m)
• 2min run (approximately 435m)

Been thinking about this type of action for some time. I'd love to have a skierg at my disposal. When Pauliina was living in Stockholm and we used to go to the local gym, they had skierg in there. The machine is freaking awesome. It gets to your breathing, legs, triceps and shoulders. I don't think there's a place that it leaves in peace when you're in action.

Anyway, today I did this workout for 20 minutes. With 20 minutes I mean total work time was 20 min, effective time. Then there was also the transition times between the two stations. Rowing took me for about 600 meters on average in that time period and on the treadmill (yes, I had to use a treadmill…) I set the pace at 13 km/h. On the last round it was 16km/h. Had no idea how fast that is, I just set it and kept on moving my legs.

Both movements made my breathing go heavy. Of course it started to burn my legs a bit too. The burden always starts to feel when I row 3k, no doubt about it. Running was actually pretty cool stuff in a metcon, even if it was on a treadmill. However, the pace was difficult to set as this machine is a strange thing to me. Now as I think about it, running 435m on average is a bit too short distance. Should have probably been somewhere around 500 meters, I guess? Not an expert on running though.

This video below is something I was talking with one of my training colleagues yesterday. He was giving similar tips as Dan Bailey is talking about in the video.