Tuesday 30.12: Rings, Pull-ups, 3x5min amrap

Tuesday. Skills, ring mu's. Weighted pull-ups 8x3. Metcon, 5min amrap of: burpee box jumps and pull-ups. Metcon, 5min amrap of: hspu's and kb swings. Metcon, 5min amrap of: t2b's and db presses.

Yeah, kind of a different day. Took ring muscle-ups in the beginning after a long break. Also pull-ups with added weight is something that hasn't taken place in eternity. Metcon consisted of 3 quick workouts, mostly bodyweight, mixed with some dumbbells. This was great stuff!

Really needed these to save my palms today

Skills.

• Ring muscle-ups, 1-1-1-1-1

Good to have these in my system. And it was solid effort all the way. Each rep were assumably similar. I did mental work prior to each rep to avoid misses because this is as much physical as it is psychological movement for me. This was probably the second time in the past months I've done ring mu's at all. I remember I intentionally skipped this movement totally for a while when I had those wrist issues. Now this needs to make a comeback.

Ring mu's but not from today's session

Weighted pull-ups.

• 8x3 (10, 15, 20, 20, 20, 15, 15, 15kg)

Don't know where this came from but for some reason I had the urge to go after these. Not sure did I get anything out of these but at least the work was being done. Originally I was looking to do 7 sets with normal pull-up grip, that is pronated grip. After 7 sets I though trying one more set with supinated grip. That felt much lighter.

The first 2 sets were the at 10-15kg and I felt there was room to add up so the next couple of sets were at 20kg. The 5th set felt a bit too tight and it felt like next set wouldn't succeed as a triple so I dropped it to 15kg and finished the rest of the sets, maybe a bit too light though on those. Maybe it could've been 17.5kg or something like that.

Metcon. Result, 73 reps (13 burpees on the round of 15's)

• 3-3-, 6-6, 9-9… of:
• Burpee box jump
• Pull-ups

Toni just completed this kind of stuff maybe yesterday. He got 2x5min amraps, pretty much identical, the only difference was he had burpees over the box whereas I had burpee box jumps. Difference? Mine had to be facing the box all the time whereas in burpees over the box you may face the box however you want to. I wanted to work on that explosiveness at the same time when coming up from the burpee. Need to use hips and jump close to the box so that I could bounce on top of the box with one constant movement. Thanks to Toni for the inspiration on the metcons.

It was good to have this kind of quick and fast-paced action. The nature of these metcons is different compared to a 20min amrap or a long benchmark workout. Anyway, I went unbroken on both movements except the 12 pull-ups that I cut to 7-5. Burpee box jumps really know how to get heart rate up. This was a good one.

Metcon. Result, 68 reps (8 hspu on the round of 15's)

• 3-3-, 6-6, 9-9… of:
• Handstand push-ups
• Dumbbell swings (30kg)

Same logic with the reps. Start with a triple with both movements, add 3 more reps each round to both movements. Complete as many reps as possible in the 5min time frame. I got hspu's unbroken on the first 2 rounds. It was no surprise handstand push-ups was the more challenging element of these two. On the round of 9's I cut it to 6-3. And round of 12's it was 4-4-2-2, I just tried to keep the recovery as short as possible, still keeping in mind that I can't rush it so save shoulders a little bit. Once they go out of order, they won't come back in seconds.

"Kettlebell" swings were tougher with a dumbbell. No matter the 2kg difference to 2-pood bell. I'd rather swing the traditional bell because of the grip. It was kind of awkward to fit both hands on the dumbbell as there's not that much space. Well, no biggie, I got those unbroken anyway. Swings for 3-12 reps is nothing so it was only inevitable to make 'em unbroken.

Great workout, and my shoulders were definitely smashed after 5 minutes. I enjoy this kind of 3-3, 6-6… system, especially for workouts that last something between 5 and 7 minutes. Works perfectly, this is what we talked with Toni too.

Fast forward to event 7

Metcon. Result, 101 reps (11 t2b's on the round of 18's)

• 3-3-, 6-6, 9-9… of:
• Toes-to-bar's
• Dumbbell presses (2x15kg db's)

This was extra stuff. I had planned to hit only 2 wods but Pauliina talked me over for a third one. She often hits 4 x 7min amraps, that is some serious shit. What hit me the most on this workout was grip weakness. Had no idea how heavy dumbbells would make perfection on this workout but afterwards thought this weight was great. I got them unbroken which is pretty much the idea for all movements in this kind of short workout. Db presses were not light so I'd figure it was exactly what I was able to move.

And here's the Final too!

Toes-to-bar's were easy for first 3 rounds (3's, 6's, and 9's). From then on I cut it, the round of 12's were 8-4, and the round of 15's were 6-5-4. On the last round I think it was 5-5-1 before the buzzer finally rang. My grip was losing me at some point. There was some tingling in forearms after db presses and that transferred to hanging at the pull-up bar. Great combo of movements, got to say!

All 3 metcons had their moment, and each were good quick efforts and I was happy on being able to move most of the time. That is exactly the reason in a workout like this. That is always the objective for me but the pace needs to be different compared to a short and long workouts.

Monday 29.12: Front squats

Monday. Front squat 10x3 (across 120kg).

Heavy day! Program stood front squat triples, and definitely not easy ones. These weights have climbed up gradually on front squats too. I had little time today as my lady was pushing me to finish the barbell play and head home together with her. She had some running intervals, looked like heavy breathing to my eye.

Back from Christmas

Strength.

• Front squat 10x3 (all sets 120kg)

These 10 sets took me a total of 31 minutes. That means to say there wasn't much of a recovery between sets. Not the ideal length but I prefer a bit shorter if that's possible. It felt like my legs were up to the challenge so it was okay to hit another set after shorter recovery period.

One set at 3x120kg

At this moment I'll say that I've had 120kg on front rack for a triple squat most likely twice in my life. Those 2 times are at least the ones I can remember. So it's probably obvious that I was a bit nervous when I looked at the weights I was supposed to move today.

But confidence was still there as in Winter War I got 3x125kg and 2x130kg just before Christmas. That really boosted self esteem on the squats. So today's first set was heavy but still "easy". That definitely helped mentally, and I got all sets done in a similar manner. First rep was quite easy on every set, second was tougher and third was something that needed to be pushed a lot more.

Event 2, deadlift ladder

This was somehow easier than the heavy back squat triples I did back in late autumn. That's a bit strange as I would think having bar in back rack would create better stability. Anyway, it's cool to find out the weights are going up little by little as I'm trying to create a strong base for lower body.

Sunday 28.12: Sotts Press, Filthy Fifty

Sunday. Snatch mobility drills, sotts press. Benchmark workout Filthy Fifty. Time, 23.33.

Sunday was time for a benchmark workout. I browsed through some archives and found an interesting one named Filthy Fifty. It's been a while since I did it last time and my memories are quite horrific about this one. My body felt a little wrecked after breakfast so it was only suitable that we went to the gym later in the afternoon.

Mobility.

• Burgener warm-up drills
• Sotts press 5x5 (20kg)

Prior to the metcon I did lots of mobility stuff to get my body loosened up and ready for the metcon. Most importantly, to improve my mobility in hips and shoulders. There are some tightness that needs to be worked on. Coach Burgener has awesome tools for this so I've been following he's tips on those occasions where I have enough time.

Today I also did something I haven't been able to earlier. Well, I've done sorts presses with a pvc pipe and with another kind of pipe that weighs couple of kilos. But doing it with a barbell has been off limits this far. At least I don't remember doing them with 20kg bar.

It wasn't as natural as I'd like it to be and look like but I'm getting there. These steps aren't always huge but the most important thing is I'm getting to the right direction. And that's definitely what's happening. This last half a year has been a big thing considering my mobility, in both hips and shoulders.

My back rounds a bit when I'm in the rock bottom position of the overhead squat. That can be seen in those sotts presses. I'm not feeling like home in there but this position is already possible in general and that's a big thing for me.

Recap

Filthy Fifty. Time, 23.33

• 50 box jumps, 61cm
• 50 jumping pull-ups
• 50 kettlebell swing, 16kg
• 50 walking lunges
• 50 knees-to-elbows
• 50 push press, 20kg
• 50 back extensions
• 50 wall ball shots, 10kg
• 50 burpees
• 50 double unders

Lot of action going on in here! First of all, this was the first time I did this workout with rx'd box jumps. Previous times it's been a bench for about 40cm. That's a totally different game and I noticed it right away on the first 2 elements. Box jumps got to my legs and they weren't so fresh for the jumping pull-ups. For some reason I had no pulling power on the "pull-ups". I really don't know what the standard is for the jumping pull-ups. Box took me 1:55 and jumping pull-ups 3:05.

Kb swings were like I wasn't doing anything, it was feather light weight. Got them unbroken all the way, it took 1:42. I'm used to moving double the weight, pretty much the only bell I'm handling is the 2-pood version.

Walking lunges were completed by stepping around the gym. Had to stand up at some time of the round, after thirty something. Those took 1:31. K2e's were bad. I thought I'd rock them but that was not the case. Got them something like 8-8-8-6, and from then on I have no memory at all. That also took some of the intensity off because I had to come down from the pull-up bar. Total time for the k2e was 3:34.

Push press was luckily light weight, completed them in 30-10-10 reps with a total time of 1:58. Back extensions were done in the same manner with same rep scheme, and those took about the same time, 1:49.

Then the heavy breathing began. Wall balls, burpees and double unders. Until this point this had not been the best intensity I could imagine. Had to substitute the wb's to moving 10kg bumper plate up and down. I pushed the plate strong up in the air as if I was throwing a wb, and held my hands up there to "receive" the ball coming back from the wall. Got these done in 3 sets, most likely 20-15-15 reps, time was 2:16.

Burpees were awful! Those bastards took me 4:42, and they totally beat me up. I'm kind of disappointed in not being mentally strong enough to keep pounding my chest to deck continuously. Because I strongly believe burpee is a movement where you actually can move all the time. It's a conscious decision to stop moving. I got these done in sets of 10 reps. Those took an eternity.

Final movement was double unders. Simple at this stage of the workout. I just couldn't grab the jump rope right away. It's quick to go through them anyway, it was 0:53 for this final element, in sets of 30 and 20 reps.

Good workout for sure. Not awesome intensity in the beginning but towards the end it got serious. In the beginning it was more like muscle burn and I couldn't push through for example 50 k2e's. That was impossible. That caused me to have rest periods and breathing was well under control throughout the first 15 minutes.

This stuff is incredible. Each event from the 2009 Crossfit Games. The year our very own Mikko Salo dominated the Games. Crossfit HQ has posted each individual event for both men and women on their Youtube channel. Probably the best way to spend a weekend, enjoy!

Saturday 27.12: CJ, Front squat, Bear Complex

Saturday. Emom, C&J, 1 rep @ 90kg, for 8min. Front squat 7x5 (110-115kg). Bear Complex, 10 reps @ 60kg.

Getting back to barbell work after Christmas! I had lots of anticipation to get my hands on a bar after couple of days break. It was definitely great to play with kettlebells, wall balls, rings and sled for a while but now it was time to get back to build some strength.

Clean and jerk.

• Every minute on the minute
• 1 clean and jerk @ 90kg, for 8min

This weight is not light for me. I know it's a baby weight for lots of crossfitters out there but for me this is something I need to work on. Max load is a three-digit figure but this is not far away from it. I figured there was kinda rest days earlier this week so my body should be pretty well prepared for this one. Okay, my legs were smashed from all the wb + kb work. My hamstrings were tight as hell. Answer to this might be squats haha

Anyway, I'm happy on my technique with the c&j's. No misses at all. Cleans were pretty solid. I should have brought the bar higher on my thighs and extend my hips more, that's something I believe needs to be corrected. Haven't watched the video yet but that's my first instinct. On the jerks the bar's path was vertical which pleases me a lot. It didn't travel forward which means to say something was done right.

Clean and jerks

Squats.

• Front squat 7x5 (115, 112.5, 112.5, 112.5, 110, 110, 110kg)

Just before I took off from home I checked how much was I supposed to lift on those sets of 5's. Had to take another breath as I looked it stated 115kg for a total of 7 sets. That's a freaking huge volume for me. I thought let's give it a shot, and took the first set at the planned weight. It was tough so I dropped 2.5kg and went on with that for the next couple of sets.

Those started to get on my strength a lot so I dropped another 2.5kg and finished the last 3 sets at 110kg. Each of today's sets was heavy. I'm glad for being able to smash through all 7 sets in spite of the fatigue in my legs. Last 1-2 reps of most of the sets were a mental battle for the most part.

Squats

Bear complex.

• 10 reps of Bear Complex @ 60kg:
• 1 power clean
• 1 front squat
• 1 jerk
• 1 back squat
• 1 jerk

Toni did a version of ascending ladder of classic Bear Complex. That inspired me to try it out in a bit different way at the end of this training session. I kept the weight the same at 60kg all the time, just took 10 reps and brought different kind of stimulus to my body compared to Toni's where he started at 40kg, added 5kg every 90 seconds and hit it as heavy as possible. This was more like muscle endurance type of workout.

Bear Complex

Good one, I liked. This would be a good one for let's say 30 reps for time. I've done 30 thrusters for time, 30 clean and jerk for time (Grace), 30 snatches for time (Isabel), and 30 squat cleans for time. This would be a great add to that group of benchmarks.

Friday 26.12: Outdoor metcon

Friday. Metcon, 30-20-10 of: kb swing (32kg), medball clean (9kg), burpee. Time, 9.30. Skills, medball oh lunges.

A little boxing day action. Went for a walk with the crew for couple of kilometers, then hit a workout at the yard. Classic stuff, kb and wb, add some burpees and you have a good  cocktail!

Metcon. Time, 9.30
30-20-10 of:
Kettlebell swing, 32kg
Medball clean, 9kg
Burpee

This is how it turned out. Purpose of the workout? Short and intense. General physical preparedness. Because I usually tend to go to the gym, I love it so much to go to the nature and do work. The surroundigs are so much more inspiring. I need to get to the windowless gym on a steady basis, I couldn't live without having the possibility to lift heavy. But the thing is it's a great variance and outdoors is the only place where I have the possibility to play around with kettlebells and wall balls because there aren't none at my gym. That's one feature I'm missing compared to a regular crossfit affiliate.

This wornout was exactly what I planned it to be. Intense. Got all kettlebells unbroken and to my surprise they weren't even that bad. I just remembered yesterday's burn in forearms and was waiting for that feeling. Well okay let's remember it was only a total of 60 reps. That forearm burn comes from lots of reps.

Medball cleans hit me with a curveball. I thought I would surf them through easily and it would be easiest of all three elements. How little did I know. They were the toughest. Only 9kg ball but my legs were shaking. On the first round I did 3x10. Second round maybe 10-5-5, and the last set 5-5, with just a 2 second drop between.

Burpees were, well u know, burpees. It's the same old heart-warming movement that takes breath away. But there's not feally a good reason to stop moving. Just keep on grinding :)

Great to have these kind of possibilities to go out and play with fitness!!!

Thursday 25.12: Wb, Kb, Rings

Thursday. AM: Every 90 sec x 6 sets: 25 ub wb's. Emom x 10min: 12 kb swing (32kg). Sled pull practice. PM: emom ring dips, 5min: 10 reps, 5min: 5 reps.

Finally back in action. Feels like forever since last workout. Okay, it was on Tuesday but anyways... I love working outdoors and the surroundings here in Klaukkala are perfect.

Wall ball.
Every 90 sec x 6 sets: 25 unbroken reps

First set at wall ball. Great to have my hands at it. Threw it against the house wall, couldn't ask for a better spot. 25 reps unbroken, starting every 90sec. That means it took me something like 45-50sec to finish the 25 reps so there was a little less recovery before the next set. Thus it took me 8.15 to finish those 150 reps. Good quickie!

Kettlebell and sled.
Emom x 10min: 12 kb swing (32kg). Sled pull practice.

Kb was cruel on my forearms. There's not much hook grip you can use on a kettlebell so my grip was somewhat destroyed on those last reps on last sets. Great to get back to kb action! That's hardcore element if you ask me.

Pauliina's father gave me a pulling harness for the sled as a present so of course we tried it right away. Superb! As it's winter now, the sled slid much smoother than on grass in the summer time. Had to add more weight in the sled so Kari sat down and enjoyed the ride haha. But to be honest  the harness was great as it distributed the pressure much more evenly on my upper body.

Rings.
Emom x 10min.
0-5min: 10 reps
6-10min: 5 reps

I was eager to get my hands on newly acquired Rogue rings so I went to the backbyard to get some work done. Took a quick emom workout to strengthen my upper body and improve ring skills

Good training day!

Wednesday 24.12: Rest day

Wednesday. Rest day.

Christmas Eve. Chill. No biggie, hanging with family. It's beautiful as the snow came down earlier this week. Before that it was green all around. Happy holidays to ya'll!

Tuesday 23.12: FGB, Cleans, Row

Tuesday. Fight Gone Bad, result 340 reps. Clean emom x 10min: 5 hang power clean (60kg). Row, 30sec on, 30sec off, for 10min. Distance, 1.724m

It was a slowmo day at work so I sneaked to the gym much earlier than normally. Everybody was leaving for Christmas naturally. It's a great time of the year, at least I love to spend couple of days with family and my baby.

1. Fight Gone Bad
3rds of:
1min wall ball, 10kg
1min sumo deadlift high pull, 35kg
1min box jump
1min push press, 35kg
1min row for calories.
Result, 340 reps (PR)

Thia ia something I look as much forward as Fran :) One of the nastiest benchmark workouts there are in my opinion. For some reason today my feeling wasn't as miserable as normally but still it's not climbing up the ladder to my favorite wods. My work ethic was good. Very solid effort each round. Got 112 reps on the first round and 114 reps on both of the remaining rounds. Last time I did fgb I might have stayed below 300 reps.

There's no possibility to throw wall ball at our gym because the ceiling is too low. Instead I used 10kg plate and simulated the movement pattern. Didn'tdo juat thrusters with that but as I came up I pushed tge plate up in the air so that my shoulders shaked each time. As if I was throwing the ball. And once my hands were straight up I stayed there for a while as if I was catching the ball again.

Each element was tough and had its own dark moment during the workout

2. Hang power clean
5x10 reps @ 50kg

Took these just for fun. Had to rest for a while after fgb but then again I laid my hands in a barbell and completed couple of sets to work on my technique and explosiveness

3. Emom x 10min
5 hang power clean, 60kg

Those 50kg cleans felt good and I needed to get my sweat back in so I turned it to emom workout and added some weight. No problems, this wasn't that heavy either. This was more like technique work too.

4. Row
30sec on, 30sec off, for 10min
Result, 1.724m

Toni has talked about this constantly lately so I figured to trh it out. I've done these 30/30 a lot in the past but it's been a long time. I kept the pace at sub 1.40 pace all the way

5. Mobility

Shoulders were highlighted on this section. Food session!!!

Monday 22.12: Squats, Push press

Monday. Back squat emom x 8min: 1 back squat @ 125kg. Strength, front squat 5x7 (107.5kg). Push press, 8x3 (70-75kg).

I thought about programming for a second and threw an idea in the air of dividing strength days and metcon days apart from each other. So I would play with the barbell for strength on one day and do only metcons on another day. Tried it for one day and decided to get back old school. I was bored to death for doing only strength =)

Barbell.

• Every minute on the minute, for 8min: 1 back squat @ 125kg
• Front squat 5x7 (107.5kg)
• Push press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 (70, 70, 70, 70, 75, 75, 75, 75kg)

I've concentrated a lot on front squats lately so it was about time to put the bar on back rack and do some work. Ended up doing this emom style of semi-heavy singles at 125 kilos. It was kind of weird as I didn't remember how it feels like to have a big load of iron on my back. The bar felt heavy already at 110k as I was climbing up to my working weight. But once I went down and up it was much easier. It was just an awkward feeling because it's been long since heavy back squatting.

This was 8x1 every minute style. The heavy was something I had to work for but totally under control all the way. It fatigued my legs a bit regarding the upcoming front squat 7's. But anyway, it was great to do back squats after a while.

Originally my plan was to just hit front squats for 5 sets of 7 reps at 107.5kg which is 10kg more than last time when I did 7's. Man these were tough sets. First reps were "easy" but very soon it came clear I gotta focus good to get the work done. After all, I had no doubt of hitting the sets but still, they were challenging.

I was about done after these but there stood couple of sets push press in my phone's calendar so I reloaded the barbell and started climbing up from 40kg shoulder press. Took 50-60kg push presses too to get shoulders properly warmed up. I'm not used to drop weight on my back when the loads go over 60kg. Today I dropped each set and they felt great. It's good to know how the barbell path goes and how you got to react and smoothen the impact when you drop the bar.

I completed all of these sets touch and go style meaning I didn't rest the barbell at any point of these triples. Just bounced it back up right away. Loads were manageable all the time. Last 2 sets were heavy'ish, well maybe not the first rep but the last 2 of them.

This was a good test of lots of barbell work but I consider it more meaningful to do metcons primarily.

Sunday 21.12: Rest day

Sunday. Rest day.

I'm grateful for this rest day. Normally I don't consider rest days very valuable but on some occasions they are appreciated. That's when my body is destroyed by workouts. For the last couple of days there's been a good bunch of soreness in muscles so it was great to have a day off for a while.

My grandma turned 85 years today so we drove to meet her and our family for a Sunday brunch in Uusikaupunki, in western Finland. It took a good 3 hour drive both ways and we started the car at 8.00 so I was exhausted when we came back in late afternoon / early evening. Quick nap and I was back in the game.

Tomorrow's gonna be another training day. Until then, enjoy some old school stuff from crossfit.com, back from 2012. James Hobart, Austin Malleolo and Pat Sherwood on a road trip. It's a 5 part series, make sure to watch them all. Good stuff.

Saturday 20.12: Winter War III, Mainsite

Saturday. Winter War III. Mainsite workout, 1.000m row, 50 db ohs, 750m row, 35 db ohs, 500m row, 20 db ohs. Time, 18.06

Front squats were supposed to be in my program anyway today so I thought why not throw down for the Winter War qualification workout number III. Winter War is the unofficial pursuit to find Finland's fittest man and woman. There are 3 workouts after which we'll find out who are the top 40 to fight for the spot on the podium in February 2015. After this workout I took on one mainsite wod from couple of weeks ago, had to modify it a bit. It was a good kick in the ass.

Winter War III.

• Every 90 seconds, perform 3 front squats
• Weights: 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 150…200kg
• Tie breaker: the amount of deadlifts within the time cap
• 2min rest
• During 3min time cap, max effort of 5 attempts of handstand. Result is the combined time of all 5 attempts
• Result, 2x130kg front squat + 14 deadlift. Handstand, 5x10-20sec holds

Let's start with that my one rep max is 135kg. This almost emom style method here brings its own twist. Time to recover becomes an issue at the heaviest weights. I was looking to hit 120kg for a triple, I've done that once in my life. Having done squats like a maniac the last couple of months seemed to pay off in this workout.

Front squats

The first couple of sets were warm-up stuff. First heavy-ish loads appeared somewhere around 110kg. I'm not sure, maybe earlier. After 115kg I felt like now it's my time to shine. First rep in every set felt great, second was not that comfy anymore, and the third one was pure agony. At least in the 115+ sets.

I'm very happy on the kilos being moved here, went over by goals. 2x130kg was sick. That second reps was so tough that I knew a third would be an outrageous move to go after. Decided to drop the bar and finish it with deadlifts at the same weight. Got 14 reps before the 90sec window ended my work.

It took me 16:30 to finish the squats. There was a prescribed 2min rest period to get my shit together and get ready for handstand. It's been at least 2 months since I've tried the entire movement. That's because my wrist was so messed up for quite a while. Today I did zero attempts before the actual workout, I just went by feeling. It was a 5 attempt effort of which the total accumulated time was calculated, and that's your result.

I took actually 6 attempts because I thought it was the 5 best of all your attempts during that 3min time frame. Well, anyway that didn't change anything, all of my efforts were pretty similar. After the workout it was a slight disappointment as I walked to the camera just to witness my memory card was full…….. So I don't have the exact times of each of the attempts but I promise you they were something between 10 and 15 seconds on each attempt. Once I remembered checking the timer as I took off and once I landed, and it showed 16 seconds. And all those sets were similar in nature. I nailed this one well considering my expectations. One thing is for sure, I didn't tape 1 meter square so I won't promise I stayed within the required area.

Don't know but I guess my results are probably far off the leaderboard but I'm doing this for myself. Otherwise I would be competing. And I'm very happy on being able to get those weights moving and also handstand rocked pretty well.

Mainsite. Time, 18.06

• 1.000m row
• 50 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg
• 750m row
• 35 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg
• 500m row
• 20 dumbbell 1-hand overhead squat, 12.5kg

Originally this was identical except those dumbbell overhead squats were squat snatches with dumbbells. I tried those and couldn't quite find the mobility to get below parallel. I had troubles with these overhead squats too. For some reason it's more difficult with 1-arm dumbbells than barbell ohs.

And I had baby weights anyway. Rx'd it was 20kg but the movement was not so comfortable that I had to go light on the move. Still, I completed it with 5 reps at a time. Looks awkward on paper but that's all I could fight through. This was nasty stuff. Ended up at 18 minutes of grinding. Definitely a weakness of mine those dumbbell movements.

Friday 19.12: 30min amrap

Friday. Metcon, 30min amrap of: 20 hspu, 20 box, 20 power clean (60kg), 20 burpee, 200m run. Result, 3rds + 20 box.

Yesterday was supposed to be an easy day with pure skills training. Right now I feel like it didn't go as planned. My upper body is sore from a lot of muscles. That's great. It's a good reminder of having to keep the rings in programming more often. I think I'll put some focus on them during Christmas. Today's theme was constant variety. Half an hour metcon.

Got this baby for Toni as a b-day present with some colleagues =)

Metcon. Result, 3 rounds + 20 box jumps

• 20 handstand push-up
• 20 box jump
• 20 power clean, 60kg
• 20 burpee
• 200m run

Long metcons like this are not everyday stuff. Should they be? Don't know but at least every now and then it would definitely be wise. Pat Sherwood throws in Monday Monster Mash every week for the community to man up and do the prescribed work. Those have never been easy workouts, and they are always long as hell.

My main man Toni turned 30 years on Thursday, and threw a birthday workout to celebrate it like a real crossfitter. It was only suitable to make it a pain cave for 30 minutes. In honor of this great human being I also wrote half an hour metcon. I liked to do the exact same wod as Toni but it's not possible to throw wall ball at my gym so I made some twists. Ideology was pretty much the same anyway. Lots of reps on one movement before you're able to move on to the next station.

It was 20 reps per element, and running was included as well. I wanted this to be mostly bodyweight stuff but barbell was a must too. Beforehand I thought 20 reps of hspu's and power cleans are no joke in a metcon, and they would be the most bad ass part of the workout. In the end I had the least spark in my eyes when it was time to hit chest to deck on the burpees.

Hspu's were challenging on shoulder strength for sure. Let me think how these went. It was 15-5 on the first round. My PR is maybe 22 reps so I didn't wanna go all out on the first minute of a 30min workout =) Second round was probably 10-5-5, third one was maybe 4 sets and the last one was 5-4, and then doubles. This was tough on shoulders but simultaneously it gave room to get the breathing back to normal.

Box jumps went unbroken each round. First round was easy, then it got to my legs. I stayed on the ball of my feet on the jumps, these were very efficient jumps this time in my opinion. Pace got a little slower on the second and third round but then again on the 4th I stepped up my game because time was running down. There was about 40+ seconds left on the clock, and once I finished the clock stood at 29:58.

Power cleans went down in sets of 5 reps from the very beginning. This strategy stood all the way. With hook grip there was no prob with the forearms. But my breathing got heavy, and that forced me to have a break between every 5 rep set.

The nastiest element of this workout was definitely the burpees. After cleans my breathing was heavy and shoulders were still a bit smashed on push-ups against the wall. First round went okay because it was the first one but from then on those felt like 40 burpees. I'll try to always follow my principle of knocking burpees unbroken because it's such a simple movement and there's no point to stop at any moment. I remember Graham Holmberg say in the past that once you stop on burpees, it's a conscious decision of giving up. It's simple to just go down and back up, no matter the pace, but keep grinding. I followed this agenda and hit them unbroken each round.

I programmed 200m running at the end of each round. There were some people at the gym using those cardio devices so I had to check each round what's available. On the first round I got to row for 200m, on the second round it was crosstrainer that was available, and the third one was finally running.

This was a good workout, tough because of the length, both mentally and physically. However, it's probably worth a shot throwing this kind of stuff every now and then.

Thursday 18.12: Ring skills

Thursday. Ring skills.

Originally this day was scheduled to be some sort of rest day or active rest day. Anyway, light for sure. It's been an eternity since I've last time played around with rings for real so this day seemed like a great idea. Really enjoyed it. However, the morning was the real highlight of this Thursday. Toni turned 30 and we had a surprise party for him at work. We got him the Games standards Rogue Box for present and from the look of this mister's face I suppose he was satisfied on his present =)

Rings.

• Muscle-ups
• Front level progressions
• Back lever progressions
• Skin the cat
• Handstand push-up hold
• Ring dips

After not touching on rings with the intention of completing muscle-ups it was a bit intimidating to go for it. I seriously had my doubts if I would make any rep after such a long pause. On my first try I went over the rings but then for some reason my right hand slid off my body and I fell uncontrolled to the ground. That must have looked crazy as Pauliina was kind of scared for me. Anyway, I realized it was only a technical error and it was a good thing I took another attempt to get over it. Got 5 single reps without problems after all.

Next element was lever progressions, for both front and back levers. I took quite a few attempts and made it easier by bending one leg instead of keeping both legs straight. This is very challenging stuff and I'm very happy on the way I was able to perform. Haven't done these practically at all before.

Couple of sets of skin the cat for shoulder and core strength, and flexibility in shoulders too. It was a bit scary to try the handstand push-ups on rings. It took me couple of attempts before I got my feet up there but once I got it, it was all natural from then on. Felt comfortable in the bottom position but it was too heavy for me to push myself up. I simply couldn't move at all =) Tough as hell. Finally I took some ring dips with the deepest dip ever. It was great to play with the rings!

Wednesday 17.12: Push jerk, Pull-ups

Wednesday. Technique, push jerk (50-70kg). Metcon, 10-1 push jerk (50kg), 2-20 t2b. Time, 13.28. Mobility.

I had plenty of time to hassle in the morning. I dropped Pauliina to work earlier than normally, around 8 o'clock. This was the perfect opportunity to hang around for hours at the Box and torture my body. However, this human being was already hammered pretty bad so I took plenty of time for mobility in the beginning. That was a good call because everything felt kind of sore. That really helped.

Technique.

• Push jerk 5x40, 50, 60, 70, 60kg
• Push jerk with a pause 4x60, 60, 60kg

I didn't put the sets written anywhere so this comes from memory. This was pretty close at least. Kept the weights light for a good purpose. I simply wasn't up to heavy lifting today. Instead, I tried to concentrate in moving the barbell faster. Not sure how perfectly I succeeded. But one thing is for sure. I should extend my hips more effectively. That was my focus point but it wasn't easy. You can see it from the clip, especially from the slo-mo version.

First there were normal push jerks with weights around 50kg and 70kg, light stuff but it was good for today. Then I thought about doing same movement with a pause in the dip position. Both elements felt alright today. Shoulders were a bit tight and my lats were tight too due to the pull-ups from Monday's hero workout Josh. I did foam roll them in the warm-up but couldn't quite get them to relax.

James Hobart rocking it back in 2011 =) Box jump standards have evolved a bit from those days

Metcon. Time, 13.28

• 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 push jerk, 50kg
• 2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18-20, toes-to-bar

This was a modification of "Jake the Snake" which was first introduced on Ben Bergeron's site competitorstraining.com. That was 70kg jerks and t2b's were actually pull-ups. Looked like nasty stuff when he crushed it. That stayed in my memory and this was some sort of variation of it. Because my body wasn't fresh I came down to 50kg on the jerks which turned out to be too light. The only tough rounds were rounds 9 and 8 reps. First one was, well the first one, so it was easy. And from 7 reps on it wasn't that many jerks to be done anyway.

It was somewhat surprising those t2b's were as challenging as they were. There was a total of 110 toes-to-bar and 55 jerks. I got the core element done unbroken up to the round of 10 reps. 12's were 8-4. From then on it was a misery. 14's were 6-4-4. Next one 4-3-3 and then mostly doubles. In the latest rounds there were singles among as well. It was just too much to handle linking bigger sets. But luckily dropping down from the pull-up bar is not an issue time wise because you can go back pretty quickly.

This was okay for a workout but as a bad ass metcon it left me a lot of good breathing in the tank. Because of all those drops from pull-up bar it didn't burn my lungs that much. Breathing was under control all the way but core was in flames at around 12 t2b's on.

Recap

Mobility.

• Foam rolling
• Resistance band
• Lacrosse ball
• Sots press

I really needed time for this. This was a clear focus area this Wednesday. In the beginning and in the end, lots of mobility work to release tensions in my body. Foam roll is classic stuff, everyday material currently. I did different styles of stretching for lower and upper body with the resistance band. It's been long time since I used lacrosse ball to target the painful spots in upper back so today was time to get back on track with that. Sots press with a barbell is also something I've paid attention to lately. Not 20kg bar but pvc pipe and then we also have a small bar that weighs about 5-10kg. It's very encouraging to realize I'm able to do that movement in general, even with the lightweight stick. Before Smolov that was not possible.

Tuesday 16.12: Squats, Box, Hspu

Tuesday. Strength, front squat 4x9 (100kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 5 back squat (100kg), 8 box, 11 hspu. Time, 13.13.

Second "management day" in a row this week. That meant a lot of sitting still and listening to different people talking stuff. In other words, my ass was numb already in the midway. Maybe not the ideal approach to a squat day but a man's got to do what a man's got to do. And that is to squat! Metcon afterwards was heavy.

Strength.

• Front squat 4x9 (across 100kg)

All sets at 100kg. First time ever doing this many front squats at 100kg. Those started to feel nasty after 5-6 reps. As it was of course supposed to be. I thought these would be easier but man did they start to become a pain in the ass. I felt it after first set that this is not gonna be that easy.

Got them done so that I completed 4-5 reps (depending on the set) t'n'g, then caught breath on top before knocking 1-2 reps at a time. This was tough stuff. I had to grind through the last reps and my shoulders were taking hit with the legs. It was almost more challenging on the shoulders than lower body. I'm happy on the form I was able to maintain.

Metcon. Time, 13.13

• 5 rounds of:
• 5 back squat, 100kg
• 8 box
• 11 handstand push-ups

This was totally different than normal metcon. Going for 100kg back squat is not that heavy for strength training but throw it into a metcon and it definitely is heavy. Squats, then box jumps and finally hspu's. For a total of 5 rounds. I completed this one with weightlifting shoes because of the squats so my box jumps were not as efficient as normally. I didn't try to bounce right back. I dropped down, and then with the same motion jumped back. Just bent my knees enough and got back up. But it was different than normal box jumps where I stay on the ground for just a fraction of a second.

Those back squats were doable all the way. It's hard to describe how they felt because the weight was okay but it didn't feel tempting to take it on my back rack. Had to take breaks between movements which took some time. Couldn't hop on to squats right after hspu's.

It's been rare to see hspu's in my workouts lately. Right wrist has been an issue for over a month now but now it feels like it doesn't bother me that much any more. It needs proper warm-up but then it's manageable. I got 2 rounds unbroken on hspu's. 3rd round was 7-4, so was the 4th and last round was 8-3. It was incredible to get those reps done, I enjoyed every single rep because I've been missing those a lot. And at some point I thought I'd never be able to do them again. Yes, I was in deep waters some time ago =)

This was a good variance to normal high intensity workouts. Intensity and heavy breathing were part of the elements of this workout but not in a same level as in a regular benchmark workouts for example.

Monday 15.12: OHS, Josh

Monday. Ohs 3x2 (70kg). Hero wod Josh, time 10.43.

Long day at work, after which I drove back home to my love, ate some dinner and then we headed to the gym with my baby. Program stood heavy overhead squat doubles and a hero workout I just recently  caught from somewhere. I've missed this one totally before. Maybe I have ignored it because overhead squats have been a problem earlier. But new tides have turned and I can rock them nowadays. Josh, here I come!

Strength.

• Overhead squat 3x2 (across 70kg)

My intention was to get some heavy ohs done before the actual workout in order to get the metcon weights feel light. Plus it's about time to hit some heavier reps every once in a while. Focus was on moving deep enough and find good balance on the movement. Had no problems carrying the weight on my shoulders. That was good news. It was too heavy for me to try drop it to back rack. I could have but it was a bit intimidating so I decided to drop it to the floor.

Ohs recap

Took some lighter sets at 40, 50, and also 60kg warm-up sets. Total of 5 sets at 40kg, going as deep as possible, like a pause squat depth. That felt great so I continued the same process on 50 and 60kg. On the sets of 70kg my depth was not rock bottom but still below parallel. It would be a good call to go as deep as possible each and every time I squat. Just like on back and front squats.

Josh. Time, 10.43

• 21 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 42 pull-ups
• 15 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 30 pull-ups
• 9 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 18 pull-ups

Great workout! It was challenging on grip strength for sure! My forearms were killing me during the pull-ups. Strategy was to hit barbell movement without dropping the bar at any point. I knew that would be a bit of a challenge but I was able to make it. Goal achieved. I had no idea how long this wod would take time, I guessed something between 10-20 minutes. It ended up being correct, final time 10.43 =)

Ohs was the easier movement. Pull-ups were awful. On the set of 42 reps I cut it early on. It was 10-10-8-7-7 reps. Next round was something like 6-4-4-4-3-3-3-3, and the last one 6-3-3-2-2-2. That means to say it definitely wasn't easy to hold on to the pull-up bar and knock the reps on.

Go ahead and try the workout. Be aware to have some good tension in the forearms. Plus don't let the barbell drop at any point.

Josh recap

Sunday 14.12: Front squats

Sunday. Front squat 10x3 (across 110kg).

It's day of the floorball world championships! Great day to watch some quality floorball. Finland is playing agains Sweden, it's a repeat from 2 years ago. That time Sweden crushed Finland but the 2 finals before that were ours to win. Now that the game is over I'll have to inform our beloved neighbor took the brightest medals back home. It was a great game though!!! Awesome fight. I went to do front squat triples in the afternoon. Quick squats and then sports from TV.

Milko Tokola, Finnish weighlifter

Strength.

• Front squat 10x3
• All sets at 110kg

Lots of squat triples with 110kg. I was in a hurry to drive back to see the game so I sped these sets up. It took me only 20 minutes to push through all 10 sets. That means it was more like an emom training =) One set in every 2 minutes.

This weight felt rather heavy on front rack position as I stepped up and back from the rack but once I dropped down to a full squat it was okay load to handle. It was awesome to see this weight was by no means intimidating. I went almost like t'n'g on all sets. Just a short pause on top to catch a breath, then continued the path back down.

Front squats

Looking forward to smashing some more heavier weights in the near future. Last night's sleep was not the best because we were celebrating Katri's graduation late at night. That's the reason why I dropped metcon from today's program. I had written down a combination of rowing, thrusters and toes-to-bar. That would have been a killer!

Saturday 13.12: Cj emom and DT

Saturday. Clean and jerk emom x 5min: 2 reps @ 80kg. Benchmark wod DT, time 11.30.

Tonight we are heading to celebrate one of Pauliina's best friend's graduation. It was also great to sleep for a good 10h last night. For the entire week I got only something like 6-7h of sleep, and that's okay, I'll manage with that but I'd take 1-2h more every night with great pleasure. So it's classic that on Saturday we sleep late and load the batteries. In the early afternoon I hit the gym for a benchmark workout DT, tough stuff.

Clean and jerk.

• Every minute on the minute for 5 minutes:
• 2 reps @ 80kg

I concentrated in my technique prior to this emom workout with lighter weights, in my warm-up section. Focus was on bringing the bar higher on my thighs in the power clean and then speed on the push jerk or split jerk. I don't have that much time to analyze so I'll let you be the judge on the videos below.

Warming up

This emom workout was great. 80kg is rather heavy for me, especially on multiple reps. It starts to get uncomfortable. However, I felt like the reps looked pretty solid and similar which is always a positive sign in my eye.

Emom x 5min

DT. Time, 11.30

• 5 rounds of:
• 12 deadlift, 70kg
• 9 hang power clean, 70kg
• 6 push jerk, 70kg

Uuh… I got 4 rounds on video, then someone came to the gym and battery was about to run dead anyway. Took the deadlifts unbroken, they were the easiest part of this one. Used clean grip / hook grip on them all the way.

Got hang power cleans unbroken for 2 rounds, then divided them into two parts. Those started to get nasty, very nasty. I could have maybe smashed them unbroken too but that would have had huge impact on my push jerks and that was not gonna happen.

4 rounds of DT

Push jerks were the most challenging part of the workout. My only goal in this workout was to get them unbroken so I did some strategic work with cleans in order to save energy for the jerks. And I finally got every round ub on the jerks, good job.

Great workout to say the least. Very challenging for muscles, shoulders especially. Breathing was also heavy most of the times. Grip strength was also a bit of an issue even though I used hook grip. Good one!

Friday 12.12: Front squat, Push jerk

Friday. Front squat, 7x5 (105kg). Technique, push jerk, light weight.

Friday was not dedicated to hardcore crossfit action. I focused on strengthening lower body through front squats and then played around with the barbell a little more. Just kept it light and aimed to look for explosiveness. This was enough for me for today. Then some mobility in the end for hips and back.

Strength.

• Front squat 7x5 (105kg)

It's awesome to get that barbell on front rack position and squat. This used to be my favorite move, and still I get the vibes of it. I'm using some sort of Smolov programming for front squat currently. Not that disciplined but somehow following that system.

This weight is something I need to concentrate on when I squat but still it's a weight that I can manhandle pretty well. It feels heavier when it's being lifted off the rack but once I get down, it's more comfortable. That's a little awkward =)

Anyway, it was 7 sets of 5 reps this Friday. All sets at 105kg. Last time it was 5x7 @ 100kg so now it was more sets, more weight but less reps. Felt good about the weights. Take a look at the 5th set below.

5th set at 105kg

Technique.

• Push jerk, 3x40, 40, 50, 50, 60, 70, 50, 50kg

This was not heavy at all. Basically light weight and the main goal here was to be explosive and fast on every single lift, no matter the weight. I started with very light load at 40kg, and took triples pretty much all the way. Actually the last 2 sets were 5 reps but who's counting. I believe I was very fast compared to my normal speed under the bar. That's still not quick but for me it was.

This was good practice for this specific purpose. Weights felt like feathers and that was the point all the way. It was cool to get the bar moving as it should. Jerks should not be presses by all means. This time I felt like I was able to lock out instantly and drop under the bar at the same time. Good good

Thursday 11.12: Mainsite workout from 6.12

Thursday. Metcon, 20min amrap of: 10 c2b, 20 squat (42.5kg), 30 du. Result, 425 reps.

Today was Pauliina's official graduation party at the university so we put on our best clothes in the afternoon and went to celebrate the occasion with her parents. Lots of festivities and definitely worth dressing up =) I sneaked to the gym earlier for a quick workout. Took short warm-ups because this was mostly bodyweight stuff. Just needed to get joints and muscles ready for the workout. Lately there have been awesome wods in the mainsite crossfit.com. I took this one from there, dating back to 6.12.2014.

Metcon. Result, 425 reps (7rds + 5 pull-ups)

• 20 min amrap of:
• 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 20 back squat, 42.5kg
• 30 double unders

This was a good rival to the other mainsite workout of rowing and dumbbell snatching. For some reason this won. I wanted to get pull-ups done so this was rather easy to pick. My result was 7 full rounds + 5 c2b pull-ups. This was a long metcon and I knew once again there is no reason to start running back and forth in the beginning. That would have only brought fatigue alongside.

On the c2b's I went 6-4 for up to 4-5 rounds. From then on it was 6-2-2, and the 8th round I had time to finish 5 reps in the last seconds of the workout. These were tough but still, I've developed a lot on this move. This brought me no problems even though they burned my upper body.

Have you done 42.5kg (95lbs) back squats? I don't remember ever having done them at this light weight. They caught me by surprise. Okay, I realized beforehand they must be challenging because otherwise they wouldn't exist on crossfit.com workouts. These wods always kick ass, and this was no exception. Each set of back squats was heavy on my legs.

I got them done unbroken without dropping the bar at any point. I took the bar tom ground every round. On the first round I did 10 reps, then caught my breath and completed a set of 5, more breath and another set of 5 reps. From then on it was 5-5-4-3-3 with short pause on top. But never did I drop the bar before 20 reps were done. That would have been a dork move strategically.

Start of the metcon

Double unders would have suited perfectly for me but there's obviously someone who has thought through this workout beforehand and who has wanted that legs are smashed from the squats before you got to move on to double unders. It's not so cool to jump around with stiff legs. But I got them pretty okay because there was only one miss during the workout, it was on the 5th round.

Great workout! I always love the mainsite wods. There's something in those workouts. Entire body is getting crushed each and every time.

Wednesday 10.12: Snatch, Snatch press, Ohs, Burpees

Wednesday. Snatch, emom x 8min: 2 hang squat snatch @ 50kg. Snatch grip press 3-3-3 (max 70kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 ohs (42.5kg), 10 lateral burpees. Time, 8.12.

Went to work later in the afternoon so I had plenty of time to hit a session in the morning. I stepped at the gym 9.00, and took long warm-up to get ready for this snatch session. I'll continue to focus on snatch to improve on my mobility, and it's paying off. I took some accessory work in the form of snatch press triples. Last element was overhead squat and burpee combo, great one!

Snatch.

• Every minute on the minute x 8 min
• 2 hang squat snatch, 50kg

First I did classic Burgener warm-up stuff with pvc pipe and empty barbell. Then added some light weight on the barbell before starting the actual snatch workout. On these days that I don't have to rush anywhere I definitely take advantage of the time window. I'll prepare my body for 30-60 minutes before hitting it seriously. And I'm sure my body will thank me for that.

First set was on the light side. Second was a disaster with a failed rep on the first rep, and the replacing reps weren't beautiful either. Third set was okay effort and the path was much better than before. Fourth set was the best by far. Both lifts were decent and got to a deeper squat. Next minute effort was pretty much like the the 4th set. Actually the rest of the sets were somewhat similar. There was one shaky lift on the last set but the latter one was a good one. And by good ones I mean good ones for me.

I'm gonna continue to smash snatch in the near future, getting more comfortable in overhead squat position. This is a clean weakness and needs to be corrected.

Snatch emom

Barbell.

• Snatch grip push press behind the neck 3-3-3 (60, 65, 70kg)

When I was doing those sets of snatch press it felt all the time like it's well under control. On the video the first set seems a bit wobbly for some reason. The reason why this was part of today's training session was because I want to get stronger on the overhead position with snatch grip. Eventually this will absolutely transfer into snatch with some level.

Snatch presses

Sets were okay, no problems at all in the presses. Three triples with increasing weight, up to 70kg for max set. I did 85kg press last week when I went to max lift on the overhead squat.

Mobility

Metcon. Time, 8.12

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 10 lateral burpee

I reckoned this might be a fun little shoulder pain. And it was. Combination of ohs and burpees made muscles hurt. Again, ohs position is something that needs to be made better. So you'll probably see these in metcons too in the future. Weight was set at the classic 95lbs which converts to 42.5kg. Better do it this way so for example Nancy is similar weight and not a pound more.

This was no surprise that it hurt in my shoulders and legs. Both elements started to get tougher. I had to pace myself steadily because gassing in the beginning is not my thing. So round times were quite stable and that's the reason I was able to keep the man moving. First and last rounds were the fastest, actually the last one was the fastest. It was kinda like the last sprint to the finish line. There's nothing you have to hold back at that point.

Metcon

This was a great training day. My confidence on the snatch scene is getting better. Gotta work on that good base before hitting "heavy" weights. Plus a good old metcon always makes a man happy =)