Tuesday 10.6: Cleans, front squat, running metcon

Tuesday. Strength, squat clean 3x10 (max 80kg). Front squat 4x3 (across 100kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 400m run, 10 c2b, 20 box jump-overs.

Training day with my training pal Juuso. We decided to make it a bit different. First work on some strength and technique at the gym. Then we jumped in my car and drove to nearby Pirkkola outdoor sports center. Our focus was supposed to be pull-up bar and running. From these elements we ended up doing muscle-up / kip skills and then a metcon with running included.

Strength.

• Squat cleans, 10x60, 10x70, 5x80, 5x80kg
• Front squat, 4x3 (across 100kg)

First, it was clean-time. I came empty-headed to the Box and started thinking what to do with cleans. I was thinking about building it up to a heavy single and that way get back to the feeling of heavy weights. Then again, I decided to get multiple reps at medium weights. Took the first set unbroken touch'n'go style, as well as the set of 70kg's too. My forearms were numb at the end of 70's.

That set was tough and I knew 10x80kg unbroken t'n'go would be impossible. My grip strength was gone after those 2 first sets. After Juuso had done his snatches in between I piled 10 more kilos and adjusted my feet below the bar. I took 5 reps at first, then after a break I took another set of 5 reps. Actually it was more like 5 singles with minimum rest, but definitely not touch'n'go.

It was great to clean that bar, no doubt. One of my favorite moves. It feels heavier than I'm used to. The reason for this is the absence of heavy barbell in couple of weeks. I'm building it up to where the weights used to be.

Skills.

• Bar muscle-ups

It's been a while since I last time did mu's at a pull-up bar. It was a magnificent day that time as I learned how to land over the bar balanced. Today I did them not in such style as I did more work with the right side of my body / legs. That's why I did the old school twisting to get up there. Anyway, it was great to do muscle-ups once again. Got to do them more!

Couple of muscle-ups

Metcon. About 11min

• 4 rounds of:
• 400m run
• 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 20 box jump overs

This was great! Horrible but great! Running metcons are usually nasty. That element puts me in a dark place from where I have to dig myself up to find a daylight =) It felt bad but I enjoyed every second of it. The second element was pull-ups but I upgraded it to chest-to-bars. At first I thought about making it 15 regular pull-ups per round but this was more beneficial in my opinion. And it was very encouraging to make each round unbroken!

Originally we had thought the metcon to be a couplet of the above mentioned but I threw in a surprise element of box jump overs, for the first time in my life. I saw those guys smash them in the Regionals and instantly wanted to do 'em. We took some reps to get a feeling and get a better understanding what the rep scheme should be like.

20 box jump overs was great indeed. At first it felt easier but pretty soon it hit us what this is going to be like. On the second round of the workout we shared the disbelief of completing the workout. At 3rd it felt bad but the end was near and we both fought through the muscle and lung burn. Last round is usually mentally easier because you know you'll only have to grind through just a little bit.

It was a good training day, no doubt! Gym strength, cleans and squats, and classic running metcon spiced up with training for weaknesses, muscle-ups and chest-to-bars. Thanks to my training partner for keeping it real!