Friday 14.2: Deficit hspu's, rowing

Friday. Deficit hspu's. Rowing intervals, 10 x 250m with 0:30sec rest.

It was an easier day. I concentrated in working my skills. Handstand push-ups but with an elevation, I put couple of plates under my arms to make the distance longer and thus tougher on the body. Not a real hardcore metcon but still I wanted to get some blood flowing in my system so I took rowing intervals. This day was program-free, had something in my mind but hadn't closed any workouts before I entered the gym. I wanted it to be lighter one.

Handstand push-ups. Deficit hspu's

• Sets of 3 reps
• Starting with 1 plate deficit, adding 1 more plate after each set
• After completing a set with 5 plates, complete the same set-scheme in reverse order
• That is 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 plates
• In the end complete max effort of regular handstand push-ups

I've done deficit hspu's couple of times. But I guess it's been mostly 2 plates, maybe once 3 plates under both arms. Never have I gone deeper than that. Because this was a freerolling session I decided to carry some more plates and go for it. These were fun to do. I had no goals on these hspu's, just wanted to know how it feels like to do them with a tougher set-up.

4 plates deficit

I was positively surprised how easy it was to nail those. I took triples by starting with 1 plate elevation, then added 1 more plate after each set. Max hight was 5 plates under arms, I took 2 sets with 5 plates and then climbed down in a pyramid style. In the end I took the plates off and went after max reps of normal handstand push-ups. Result was 12 reps. Not bad after all those tougher reps. I mean considering my PR is 15 reps.

5 plates deficit

Intervals.

• Rowing 10 x 250m row
• 0:30 sec rest between sets
• Pace around 1:40 - 1:41

Finished the session with rowing intervals. I saw Chris Spealler and Garrett Fisher doing 250m intervals with half a minute break between sets, and I remember thinking why not. I didn't go all in on the sprints. Most importantly I wanted to keep it stable, the first set was 1:40 and I wanted to stick to that number. It was around there all the time.

My goal for today was taking it easier so that every day wouldn't that rough. That's the reason why I didn't touch a barbell at all and concentrated in skills and some light heart beat action. I believe I reached that goal as I wished for.