Monday 13.10: Squats, 8min amrap

Monday. Strength, Smolov, squat 7x5 (130kg). Metcon, 8min amrap of: 5 hang power clean (50kg), 10 box. Result, 140 reps.

I was waiting anxiously for this day. Another heavy day of squatting. These heavy strength days for legs are getting me nervous because I know it ain't gonna be easy. I listened to my body closely and was making it sure I was ready for 35 reps of bad ass squats. Jouni joined me at the gym and he seems to be pumped up and ready to talk me up so that definitely eased the mental game. He was my spotter of the day. He worked on some deadlifts and then we hit a 8min amrap together.

Evening stroll with Pauliina ended up in Eltsu =) Just checking it out though

Strength.

• Smolov, back squat 7x5 (130kg)

Lots and lots of mental preparation to make sure these weights would come up as planned. I looked back on all the sets and weights I have moved in the past weeks of this Smolov squat program. Last week 130kg triples were very tough so that made me a bit insecure of hitting 5's today. Then again, I was able to move 7x5 at 125kg a week ago and 5x7 at 125kg just last Saturday. That boosted my confidence and I decided to build it up with doubles and singles up to the load of the day: 130kg.

Last single I took up was 120kg and it didn't feel heavy. Still, I wasn't sure how 130kg would feel. It weighs a lot in back rack but then as I went down it felt okay and it got me pumped up for the first set. For some unknown reason I was more confident of hitting these 5's than the 3's last week with the same weight… I got mentally strong before every lift plus Jouni was my back up man so there was no other option but to man up and do the work.

None of the lifts were light. But the real work was done during the last 2 reps of each set. At times it felt like the bar stopped the upward motion but I guess it was moving all the time. The most important thing was that I got them done, and they looked pretty similar to each other and to the previous squat sessions as well. Didn't have to compromise technique at all. Here's one of the sets, either second or third. Last 2 reps of them. As you can hear, they were not light =) I wanna take this opportunity to thank Jouni for encouraging me on the lifts and spotting all sets. Thanks man and great job on your lifts too!

Squat 5x130kg

Metcon. Result, 140 reps

• 8min amrap of:
• 5 hang power clean, 50kg
• 10 box

Okay, legs were smashed potatoes after the strength portion but recovering for a while and thinking about the metcon brought the strength and stamina back to the body. We decided to hit it together with Jouni, at least for the same time scheme. He did burpees, lunges and dumbbell presses instead during those 8 minutes.

I didn't wanna have the barbell too heavy, this was light instead and brought me no troubles at any time. Afterwards thinking, it could have easily been heavier while still being "light". After first round I realized one set of cleans and box would be quickly over so there would be a lot of rounds during this short amount of time. My pace was consistent which pleases me a lot, it hovered around 50+ seconds all the time. First 2 rounds were sub 50 sec though. I just clicked the "round" button on my cell phone and continued moving around. It was great to have Jouni working beside me all the time.