Friday 30.1: Ohs, Open 14.2

Friday. Ohs emom x 15min (50-70kg). Open 14.2, result 115 reps.

I ended the work week by hitting the gym on Friday and focused on my weakness, overhead squat. Definitely not a strong side in my physical ability. There's a lot of mobility things to be in place that I need to work on. It was an emom for strength part and then the classic Open stuff afterwards that killed me finally.

Overhead squat.

• Every minute on the minute, for 15 minutes
• 3min: 5 reps @ 50kg
• 3min: 4 reps @ 55kg
• 3min: 3 reps @ 60kg
• 3min: 2 reps @ 65kg
• 3min: 1 rep @ 70kg

This was a perfect way to get lots of reps done with increasing weights. Every minute on the minute, always 3 minutes with one reps scheme and then add weights and decrease the amount of reps. Started at 5 reps @ 50kg, and worked my way up 5kg after every 3min. Simultaneously I dropped one rep.

I probably haven't done ohs ever like this, and it started to feel on my shoulders. Squatting with this kind of light weights is no big deal for my legs but I had to struggle somewhat to get a nice form on my shoulders. I took this one from the rack but I'm afraid to drop it in my back so at 60kg and more I dropped the barbell on the floor and power cleaned it back to the safety rack after each set.

I performed this one with dignity. I'm very happy on the way I was able to do. And the weights were perfect for me, it would probably not have succeeded with heavier loading, and lighter one would have left too much in the tank.



Open 14.2. Result, 115 reps

• Every 3 minutes for as long as possible complete the following:

From 0:00 - 03:00

• 2 rounds of
• 10 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 3:00 - 06:00

• 2 rounds of
• 12 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 12 chest-to-bar pull-ups

From 06:00 - 09:00

• 2 rounds of
• 14 overhead squat, 42.5kg
• 14 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Do you remember this one? I think it was Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Talayna Fortunato that pulled it off in the live performance, head-to-head, Open 14.2. This was the first time I did this one, and it was a mental battle. Especially after that emom session I felt like I was wasted after the first round of 10's =)

My strategy was simple. Don't lose the barbell on overhead squats. Then go by feeling on the chest-to-bar's, don't rush it, definitely do not rush it. I got ohs unbroken on the both rounds in the first "amrap" in 3 minutes, same happened on the second amrap or what you call those. Anyways, the 2x12's went unbroken as well. The only time I dropped the bar was when there was 14 reps to be done. I got 9 at first, dropped it and finished the 5 remaining ones. That equalled to 58 overhead squats.

C2b's were not crushing me on the first set but the latter 10 reps were much more tougher already. I took them 6-4 on the first time domain. On the round of 12's I have no memory how it went, most likely the first one was 5-4-3, and the latter was a pathetic one, that's what I remember. It was maybe a 4, then 3 and then maybe singles.

I had to get my shit together after 6 minutes was full. I barely made it to the third time domain and had to rest my elbows to my knees before jumping on to the 14 overhead squats. After finishing those the c2b's were a nightmare. I think I made a double or two in the beginning, and then hit purely singles until the time cap of 9 minutes was full. Tough workout.

Thursday 29.1: Hspu, Squat, Pair wod

Thursday. Gymnastics, emom x 8min: strict hspu's. Back squat, 3 reps every 90 seconds, build up from 60kg till failure. Result, 2x140kg. Pair wod, 15min amrap of: 50 hr push-ups, 50 squats, 50 burpees, 50 lunges. Result, 2rds + 50 push-ups.

Yes, gimme squats! First some hspu action, then partnering up with Toni for a great back squat workout that took our legs to other dimensions, and finally we hit it for a 15min metcon together as a team. Good one as usual =)

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute, for 8 minutes
• Strict handstand push-ups for 6 min (3-5 reps)
• Kipping handstand push-ups for 2 min (6 rep)

These short emom sets are perfect on the road towards mastering some weaknesses. I feel like I have hspu's pretty well under control nowadays when kipping is allowed but strict ones are from another planet. Those are hard and I can't get a real momentum going on there. I've done 10 for max reps whereas 25 can be done when the entire body is utilised. That means more strength for shoulders and triceps would make the deal for strict ones too. These minutes were not for max reps. I just took couple of reps to get more familiar with strict versions. I believe it was 5-5-5-4-3-4. That was supposed to be it but I took 2 extra minutes just doing couple of kipping reps as well.

It was the perfect avocado ever, had to share this one with you guys =)

Back squat. Compare to 20.12.2014

• Every 90 seconds, perform a triple
• Weights: 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105, 110, 115, 120… till failure
• Result, 2x140kg

This is the same workout I did some time ago for the WinterWar qualification event number 3. That one was done with front squats though. It was such a great workout that I thought trying it out with back squats too. The weights start at light weight and go up moderately so the body gets warm pretty well. It was a triple after every 90 seconds. I did this one with my pal Toni. He started at 0:00, and I took my first set at 0:45. So someone was lifting a triple after every 45 seconds.

That time interval is great. In the beginning it's quite a long time and there's plenty of time to recover. And in the end it really hits big time in the last rounds / sets because you have to work so hard for those reps anyway.

Got to say we both had good results considering our own maxes. Toni smashed 120kg for a triple even though he hasn't been able to squat in a long time seriously because of some back issues. This was a victory for this guy. And 140kg for a double is no joke for me. Especially in a rally like this where time becomes a factor. We felt super happy on the results!

Pair wod. Result, 250 reps

• 15min amrap of:
• 50 hand release push-ups (alternating after 5 reps)
• 50 air squats (synchronized)
• 50 burpees (alternating after each rep)
• 50 lunges (synchronized)

Our legs were destroyed, my quads were screaming for help after those squats. It was surprisingly difficult for us to come up with an idea of a pair workout. We decided to leave the barbell off of this one so it was about push-ups / burpees and squats / lunges. Kind of like two different movements, yet modified to 4 different elements.

It was a 15min amrap of these 4 stations. We did squats and lunges synchronized, meaning we both did 50 reps at the same time. Push-ups were 5 for you, 5 for me style. And on the burpees we have found a way that is economical for Toni and me, we change the athlete after every rep. This way we get them done faster compared to if we did them for example 5 and 5 reps.

Turkey, avocado, spinach, tomatoes, Turkey and rice. Post-workout meal

Not necessarily a bad ass for lungs but legs were taking some hit on squats and lunges and then shoulder and arms in general were getting their share on the push-ups and burpees. It was definitely worth throwing down for it with my main man Toni.

Lauren Fisher

Wednesday 28.1: Mainsite + Thrusters, t2b

Wednesday. Mainsite workout from today, overhead complex. Metcon, 7min amrap, 3-3, 6-6, 9-9... of: Thrusters (42.5kg), t2b. Result, 102

Took a long session today of which big portion went to mobilizing my body. It really feels good sometimes to have that much time to maintain the body. First part was directly taken from the mainsite crossfit.com, Wednesday's wod.

Overhead complex.

• 7 sets of:
• 1 thruster
• 1 push press
• 1 push jerk
• 1 split jerk
• Loads: 70, 72.5, 75, 77.5, 80, 82.5, 85kg

It was a funny coincident that I had thought about doing a complex of push press - push jerk - split jerk today. As I woke up today, there stood one pretty much the same workout at crossfit.com. Only difference was that it started with a thruster. Not a bad idea so I took it!

Got off with 70kg,  and added 2.5kg per set. It was a rare moment to do as heavy thrusters as I did today. For some reason those are usually the classic 42.5kg / 95lbs in a metcon but almost never as a strength part of the training session.

The only set where I couldn't finish as planned was the last one. I couldn't nail the push jerk. Actually I didn't even try as the push press was so tight that I barely got it up. Push press seems easier for me than push jerk. Must be something to do with shoulder mobility. Or then not. It feels somehow tighter.

Metcon. Result, 15's + 12 thrusters

• 7min amrap of: 3-3, 6-6, 9-9... of:
• Thruster, 42.5kg
• T2b

This was a lot of fun. Thrusters are great for sure. Nasty but effective. Toes-to-bar made a good combo with them. It was a lot of breathing and burning in shoulders. That 7min time was perfect for this combination. I got the round of 15's done and then 12 thrusters on the round of 18's.

Tuesday 27.1: Hero wod Gator

Tuesday. Hero workout Gator, 8rds of: 5 front squat (85kg), 26 ring push-ups. Time, 19.28.

I knew beforehand that this training day is gonna be a shorter one so I planned for one metcon and one metcon only. So it was supposed to be rather quick session. After checking out couple of hero workouts, I ended up choosing this one: Gator. Squats sounded good and ring push-ups was a great counter element.

Gator. Time, 19.28

• 8 rounds of:
• 5 front squat, 85kg (from ground)
• 26 ring push-ups

Had no idea how long this might take. I googled "crossfit Gator" and ended up at mainsite's workout, dating back to August 2011. After browsing those comments I reckoned it's gonna be finished somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. I also thought those round times would start to get longer and longer because there was insane amount of ring push-ups. So needless to say it was a pleasant surprise I got this one sub 20min and that those rounds didn't collapse towards the end.

This is 185lbs rx'd which equals to 84kg, and I thought the barbell is supposed to be taken from the floor as it usually is unless otherwise told. That weight is okay for me, no problem. My traps are sore from yesterday's cleans, much more sore than normally. That's naturally because of the volume. Still, it felt good to get the bar from the floor. Those front squats felt good, and I got them unbroken. Had to push through somewhat but there was no doubt I would do them unbroken every round.

Mat Fraser

The amount of push-ups on the rings was intimidating at first. It was a reason why I hesitated to take this workout at all. I'm happy I did it. Went as deep as it's possible on the rings and managed to get a total os 208 reps in the books. Decided to go by feeling from the first round on. First round was maybe 16-10, next 2 rounds were completed in 3 sets, something like 10-8-8 or 10-9-7. Next 2-3 rounds were over in 4 sets, I remember them being 8-7-6-5.

For 4 rounds my times got slower each round as probably my rest periods took an extra second here and there, which totaled a little longer round. Then I realized I'm already mid-workout and started to speed it up a notch. From then on my rounds got faster every time. I'm very happy of being able to pace it up. Got some sort of mental boost of confidence and knocked the push-ups in 3 sets for the last rounds, about 11-9-6.

This was a good workout for sure! Mostly it put a lot of burden on upper body for me. Squats definitely felt but those were not the thing. It was absolutely the chest and shoulder work. Breathing was well under control all the time because I had to break down the sets on the rings.

Monday 26.1: Gymnastics and Cleans

Monday. Gymnastics, 3rds of: max effort c2b, max effort hspu. Strength, hang squat cleans (max 95kg). Emom x 12min: 1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg.

I had lots of plans for this training session. Had no need to rush at all, planned to take my quality time and work through a lot of things. After getting mobile I started the gymnastics part and was pretty much ready to leave after that. It was a big forearm burner =) But then I got my sh*t together and was able to pull off a great clean session also.

Gymnastics.

• 3 rounds of:
• Max effort of chest-to-bar pull-ups (22, 16, 16 reps)
• Max effort of handstand push-ups (25, 17, 16 reps)

I really like these gymnastics starts on training sessions to kick things off. Those have been emom style versions this far but now I decided to step my game up and try some max rep efforts as I wrote that I planned couple of days ago. This was way more taxing to do big sets of pull-ups and hspu's. My lats, forearms and triceps were burning and finally went numb after these sets =)

The name of the game was pretty much clear after the first set already. After second I was done and the third one was just brutal feeling. It took me about 12 minutes to complete this 3-rounder. Not that it was for time, definitely not, but I wanted to have some decency on the time frame. After this I went to warm up with an empty barbell and it felt difficult to hold on.

By the way, I ended up doing a PR on handstand push-ups (25 reps on the first attempt), which pleases me a lot! And actually it has to be a PR on those c2b's as well. That was not the definite max out version of those pull-ups. It was wearing a lot and I did those without stopping at any point. Had I stopped and tried to do singles one by one I could have knocked a little more. But that was mentally disturbing so I just took what I got "unbroken" and was satisfied with that.

Cleans.

• Hang squat clean triples (40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 92.5, 95kg)

After recovering enough and getting my forearms back in the game I started working towards heavier set of hang squat cleans. I built it up from light weights. Actually I did 3 hang power cleans + 3 hang squat cleans up to 60kg, then went to hang cleans only.

The most difficult thing in these sets seemed to be how to have my hook grip on the entire time. I had no issues getting under the bar quickly enough. I'm very happy about this fact. When I clean I catch the bar with open hand, a.k.a. not with hook grip. So once the bar comes down from front rack position I need to catch it mid-air and that seems to be a thing I need to work on. It's a prerequisite to being able to catch the bar with a proper hook grip so another rep is starting from the same position as the first one.

This was my original plan for today

Clean emom.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
• 1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg

I also wanted to get the timer running and do some work with a good sweat. And this was the answer this time. 90kg power clean is not easy for me. That was much tougher on me than the hang clean. But it was definitely a great way to practice that. And all reps were similar, and that's the most important thing to me. It can not be a surprise how they look like. There needs to be consistency. It felt great to move that 90kg power clean, that's for sure.

Meathead.

• Pendlay row 5x5 (60, 70, 80, 80, 70kg)

Tried also something I thought I'd never do. My training pal who does traditional gym work was talking this movement up a lot so I figured lets give it a shot. Took couple of sets and it really activated the entire back. Okay, maybe not my thing but it was worth trying =)

Sunday 25.1: Squats, 20min emom of mu / box

Sunday. Strength, back squat 7x5 (max 130kg). Emom x 20min, odd min: 2 mu, even min: 8 high box jump. Lots of mobility.

I dropped Pauliina at her friends in the morning and headed to the gym for some quality time on my own. Finally got some squats done with this body (okay, it's been a week or so) and felt great about it! After strength portion it was time to work on my weakness, muscle-ups. I've added volume a lot on these ones and it's paying off. Very glad about it.

Strength.

• Back squat 7x5 (110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 125, 120kg)

Would you imagine I did deadlifts this week's Monday and today was the first day I was able to battle through back squats big time? Huh, but that only tells me I haven't done much deadlifting so my body hasn't used to the movement and protests this way. Got to step up my game on that one. How to still keep 2-3 squat sessions a week is a good question.

My plan was to hit 5x5 sets but in the course of the session I decided to add 2 more sets. Started at 110kg, then moved up 5kg after every set, and was able to build up to 130kg for a 5. That was quite tough so I dropped back to 125kg, and then 120kg for the last sets. Kind of like a pyramid hoax.

It felt tremendously good to squat again. These legs have to be strong in order to make everything else shine too. It all starts with the legs. No doubt about it.

Workout.

• Every minute on the minute, for 20 minutes
• Odd minutes: 2 ring muscle-ups
• Even minutes: 8 high box jumps

This was a great way to work on ring muscle-ups with a higher heart rate. Usually I'm all relaxed when I'm doing those. Basically because it's been too taxing for me to do them when tired. Today was the first time I combined some other element with mu's. It needed to be an emom training anyway because a classic metcon would have been too much. Okay, I've done Nate sometime in the history with false grip mu's.

Recap

I had one miss on a set on the rings but other than that I was able to work through the reps in the time frame. I took all sets in singles, 1 rep on top of the minute and the other after 30 seconds. It turned out to be a good strategy. Had one miss about mid-workout so I took one penalty muscle-up post-wod.

High box jumps are a great way to work on hip explosiveness. I jumped up, and stepped down. These were meant exactly to work on hip power. No need to rush through or do them as fast as possible. It took me about 25-30 seconds to complete the reps. It started with just one bumper plate on top of the 61cm box, then round by round I added one more plate on top of the previous one until there were 5 total plates plus the box. Once all plates had been used, I went with that height for the rest of the time.

Mobility. I focused a lot of energy to this part. Close to an hour mobilizing my hips, legs, lats, traps and stretching out. Lacrosse ball was part of the routine naturally. It felt great to get joints loose and these muscle tissues released. Better than a massage.

Saturday 24.1: Snatches, Row

Saturday. Emom snatches, 5reps @ 30kg, 4reps @ 35, 3reps @ 40, 2reps @ 45, 1rep @ 50kg, each for 3min. Row intervals, 10rds of: 250m row, 60sec rest.

Main focus today was supposed to be squats. Previous deadlift session still feels in my back so I had to drop them. Dammit. Instead, snatches were a lot of fun, and rowing made my legs burn anyway so no biggie I got what I deserved.

Holy quads, need to squat some more

Snatches.

• Every minute on the minute, for a total of 15min
• Squat snatch
• 3min: 5 reps @ 30kg
• 3min: 4 reps @ 35kg
• 3min: 3 reps @ 40kg
• 3min: 2 reps @ 45kg
• 3min: 1 rep @ 50kg

I needed to get my snatches done. Maybe technique wasn't right there (like it was sometimes hehe…) but it was great to have those squat snatches and this time I was pulling from the ground. Loads were light each time for sure. I just wanted to practice on pulling from the ground with rather lots of amounts of repetitions. My lower back started to remind itself at mid-workout and prevented me to squat after these guys.

Intervals.

• 10 rounds of:
• 250m row
• 60 second rest

It kind of blew my mind when I read an article of Julie Foucher rowing over 1 million kilometers last year. She had huge amount of rowing sessions which was on average about every other day. And as I follow crossfitmayhem - Rich Froning's site - it seems they also have row intervals on a steady basis. Actually this 10 rounder of 250m rowing appears there every now and then.

My times for each interval were as follows:

• 1st round: 47.5sec
• 2nd round: 48.7sec
• 3rd round: 48.5sec
• 4th round: 48.8sec
• 5th round: 48.7sec
• 6th round: 48.9sec
• 7th round: 49.0sec
• 8th round: 48.4sec
• 9th round: 48.6sec
• 10th round: 47.7sec

The first and last were done with a damper setting of about 9-10, the rest were at 8 which is pretty much what I always use. The "boat" moved a bit faster with a higher setting. It was around 1.34-1.39 all the time. Maybe an occasional 1.32 pull in some set. I basically tried to catch up every round with the previous round's result. It ended up being quite steady pacing all 10 rounds. Good interval training!

Friday 23.1: CJ emom, Hero Wod Rahoi

Friday. Emom x 5min: 7 C&J @ 60kg. Hero workout Rahoi, 12min amrap of: 12 box, 6 thrusters (42.5kg), 6 bar-facing-burpees. Result, 6rds + 1 burpee (163 reps).

It was great to have a day off of work, and we went shopping for a bit. Spent the day in Jumbo and after chilling for a while we threw down for a workout. Clean and jerk was how I kicked it off and finished it with a new benchmark workout. Very good training day.

Strength.

• Every minute on the minute, for 5 minutes
• 7 clean and jerk, 60kg

This was actually horrible. Lots of reps and not that much recovery. It brought Grace to my mind… Feeling was pretty much the same at some point. I haven't done this many reps as emom training and it really felt nasty. It's kinda hard to say where it felt the worst, it was more like a overall fatigue hit me big time.

For the first 3 rounds I went unbroken, and the last 2 rounds were 5-2 reps. This was a great way to add high-rep sets into classic clean and jerk strength training. It was more like muscle endurance type of stuff than strength based programming. You can have a look of the session below.

Clean and jerk emom

Rahoi. Result, 163 reps

• 12min amrap of:
• 12 box
• 6 thruster, 42.5kg
• 6 bar-facing-burpee

I noticed this one sometime ago and there was no doubt I would do it one day soon. I've just been waiting for the right moment. It looks easy on paper but you don't have to be the smartest guy in the world to realize it's gonna hurt. It's a hero wod for god's sake. The first part of my training session was so rough that for a minute I though that's gonna be enough for the day. After recovering for 5-10 minutes I started moving and decided to move with a steady pace and not rush through it.

Today my result ended up being 5 burpees short of 7 full rounds. The amount of reps were small for each movement so I had troubles figuring out how this would turn out. As I started working I went unbroken with the elements and kept a break before moving on to the next one. I thought this would benefit me in the long run. 12 minutes is rather long time if you're going all in from the very get-go.

Box jumps were probably the most fatiguing element of this benchmark. You can always swallow 6 more thrusters and burpees, even with them being bar-facing versions which are the worst in my opinion. Every good workout to say the least and the entire training session was intense!

Rahoi

Thursday 22.1: Gymnastics, Pause squats, Pair wod

Thursday. Gymnastics emom x 12min: Odd min: 10 c2b, even min: 10 pistols. Strength, pause squats 5x3 (100kg). Pair wod, 2 rounds of: 2:00 squat cleans (50kg), 0:30 rest, 2:00 ring dips, 0:30 rest, 2:00 burpees, 0:30 rest.

Great day as my pal Toni came to train with me and Pauliina after work. Today my back was in okay condition so it was definitely time to squat. Pause squats this time, not heavy though. Those gymnastics emom are the best to get pumped up and a good way to hone your weaknesses.



Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute for 12 min
• Odd min: 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• Even min: 10 pistol squats, alternating

I've been able to slid lots of pull-ups in my training volume through these emom sets "pre-workout". Today we did these together with Toni, he just had different movements but we worked together anyway. He did ring dips and box jumps. C2B's are a great element to work on in this part in my opinion. Getting stronger with the movement and especially pull-ups where chest hits the bar every time. These were kind of semi-big sets for me. I might try out how many c2b's I can link together in one set. Hmm… good idea.

Pistol squats are always tough. Note to self though: don't do them on a squat day. They took the best of my legs just before back squats. But anyway, these were a perfect movement to be practiced this style. Loved every rep of it. We did these for 12 minutes, that is 6 rounds of each element, totaling 60 reps for both movements.

Strength.

• Pause squats 5x3 (across 100kg)

Not heavy this time. It was great to have that bar in my back rack for sure. Squats is something that should be done at least 3 times a week. Big muscles need to be worked on a lot. And it's only through squatting and deadlifts that you can get the best results on lower body.

Pair workout with Toni.

• 2 rounds of:
• 2:00 of squat clean, 50kg
• 0:30 rest
• 2:00 of ring dips
• 0:30 rest
• 2:00 of burpees
• 0:30 rest
• "You go, I go" style

This was purely Toni's imagination. He came up with the time and rep scheme. And it was a good one. We didn't decide on the reps beforehand but agreed to do this "You go, I go" style. That means Toni started the squat cleans, dropped when he felt like it and it was my time to go right away. I had 5's in the squat clean all the way, in both rounds. Ring dips were mostly 6's in the first round and on the 2nd round they varied between 4-6 reps.

Burpees were the only one where he had a game plan because we could have knocked 2 minutes in a row individually but there would have not been any point as a pair wod. It would not have been that intense. So on the first round we did 5's, then high-fives and changed turns. On the second round we did those alternation after each rep, with a good speed and we actually got a little more reps compared to the first round.

My notes are quite blurry but my best guess is that I had about 50-60 cleans, 50 ring dips and actually about the same amount of burpees as well. This was a good end to the training session. I recovered quickly, it wasn't all in type of workout but a good breather anyway. Those rest periods gave us enough time to go full throttle in those work periods.

Wednesday 21.1: Bench, 20min amrap, Row sets

Wednesday. Strength, bench press 5x5 (80kg). Metcon, 20min amrap of: 5 bench (70kg), 10 t2b, 30 du, 400m run. Result, 5rds + 30 du. Row sets for about 4.100m.

I went to the gym early in the morning. My back is still sore from deadlifting. I'd like to see my body recover from heavy pulling quicker. Gotta get my body used to that. Wanted to squat today but that wasn't about to happen. Instead it was bench. Every time it surprises me how boring movement that is. Didn't even break a sweat. So I took couple of metcons afterwards. Good ones.

Strength.

• Bench press 5x5 (80, 82.5, 80, 80, 80kg)

This really didn't bring me any ups or downs. Just did the job. The movement felt a bit strange after having don't done it in months. I took a little more narrow grip as it felt more natural.

Recap

Metcon. Result, 5 rounds + 30 double unders.

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 bench press, 70kg
• 10 toes-to-bar
• 30 double unders
• 400m run

This was a good breather. My body wasn't too fresh so the first round was a bit sticky. Actually my round times got faster towards the end. It was 400m run shy of 6 full rounds. This wasn't maybe 100% effort but still I got blood flowing pretty well in my body. Everything unbroken except the first round's double unders as I stumbled in the jump rope two times. That was kind of embarrassing. No excuses, my legs, hands and core wouldn't cooperate.

Row.

• 5:00 row, 2:30 rest
• 4:00 row, 2:00 rest
• 3:00 row, 1:30 rest
• 2:00 row, 1:00 rest
• 1:00 row

This was taken from Ben Bergeron. Good idea in this one. Okay, my legs were about to go cramp in the first set of 5 min rowing. That's the reason why my pace wasn't that fast, it was more like 1:50-1:55 for the most parts. In the beginning it was naturally faster but it never dropped below 1:55 anyway. This would probably be an awesome workout with fresh body. I recommend pretty much all rowing sessions to everyone =)

Tuesday 20.1: Gymnastics day

Tuesday. Gymnastics / Calisthenics.

This was the weekly gymnastics quota. I really like these days now as my muscle-ups are about to jump to the next level. Gymnastics days equals no-barbell / no-metcon programming. Simultaneously these days are my active recovery days as I don't like pure rest days that much. Not that I needed one today. Okay, my back muscles are sore in a good way.

Gymnastics.

• 15 muscle-ups
• Handstand
• L-sit to tuck hold
• Elbow levers

Those muscle-ups are really coming together finally. At least there's some progression in my technique as they are somewhat lighter and I can do them with shorter recoveries. I didn't time those repetitions but it was somewhere around 10 minutes to get those reps. I took singles in the beginning, then one friend told me to take a double as singles looked too easy. That was a big motivation for me :)

After muscle-ups I took couple of sets freestanding handstand, that was okay. Then something new cool stuff on putting couple of bumper plates on top of each other, and performing L-sit on them, and from there transferring it to a tuck hold. That was a great core movement, definitely not an easy one. Finally some elbow levers and different kinds of body control movements. Great training day!

Monday 19.1: Deadlift, Hero wod Nick

Monday. Strength, deadlift 3x5 (150-160kg). Hero wod Nick: 12rds of: 12 db squat clean (20kg), 6 hspu. Time, 24.21.

I like those hero workouts and benchmark workouts in general. They are always a good kick in the butt so better just close your eyes, think about a happy place and start working. They are a good fight against the demons in your head to tell you to stop. Before hitting "Nick" I took some deadlifts. It's been forever since previous deadlifts because there's been so much squatting and those two are difficult to match together. At least for me.

Strength.

• Deadlift 5-5-5 (150, 155, 160kg)

Nothing super heavy. As it's been long since previous heavy ones I didn't see the point of putting all the plates on the bar and start pulling right away. The bar moved easily but I felt it in my back muscles that this is something new. The move was a surprise to my body I guess =) I'll add deads and cut down a little on the squats. Definitely the squats are gonna be in the program frequently. It was fun to pull semi-heavy in a while!

Nick. Time, 24.21

• 12 rounds of:
• 12 dumbbell squat clean, 20kg
• 6 handstand push-ups

I'm telling you this fooled my big time. Tough money. Those dumbbell cleans were challenging. They just wore me down! Handstand push-ups were like a walk in the park compared to cleans. Don't know how those dumbbells change the game but there was definitely something.

I think it was one or two rounds of cleans unbroken, then I decided to break it down to 8-4. My legs were fired up and breathing was naturally heavy. The feeling got a little desperate at around 4 rounds as there was so much more work to be done and I was already done. So nothing new under the sun. Before the mid-workout it's the most difficult situation mentally. But as you just do the work and don't think much, it gets better. At some point you realize you've passed way beyond half of the workout and then it's just a matter of finishing it. Today it got easier at around 9 rounds.

Physically it felt worse and worse of course but that's just a state of mind. Keep pushing through and the reward will be there. Today it arrived at 24.21 as the last hspu was completed. Those went unbroken each round. This was physically demolishing on legs on the dumbbell cleans and shoulders were also on a test but they held on pretty well. It was more like a general feeling of being beaten. Great workout as I anticipated!

After the workout I took a lot of time for mobility and stretching. Felt extremely good!

Sunday 18.1: Rest day

Sunday. Rest day.

I had plans of hitting the gym but this time had no obsessions about it. Sunday turned out to be a lazy one, basically I just chilled out and let the muscles recover and build up. Somehow I feel more wrecked up on rest days than on days when I train. My theory is that man is not meant up to chill out and do nothing. Go figure. Anyway, tomorrow's gonna be a new week and new training day.

Mainsite wod, 30 muscle-ups for time, strict ones, hmm…

Saturday 17.1: Gymnastics, Cleans, Open 14.1 + Presses and metcon

Saturday. AM: Gymnastics, emom x 14min, odd min: 8 c2b, even min: 8 hspu. Strength, t'n'g squat clean triples (max 100kg). CF Open 14.1, 10min amrap of: 30 du, 15 power snatch (35kg). PM: Push press triples (70-77.5kg). Metcon of running, s2o's and t2b's. Time 19.51.

Rough day. Two-a-day. Pauliina was celebrating one of her friend's bachelorette party so I had my day to pretend I'm a professional athlete =) Ate a good breakfast, went to the gym, did mobility for much more than normally. Then hit it for a good 2 hours before heading home to eat, take a nap and eat more. In the evening it was time to drive back to the gym for another session. I'm telling ya that 1 hour nap did miracles. My body was tired from the first session but I felt great later in the day. Today also included lots and lots of mobility.

Gynastics.

• Every minute on the minute x 14
• Odd min: 8 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• Even min: 8 handstand push-ups

My daily dose of pull-ups are in the books. That emom workout I did just yesterday felt like a good idea to practice on this gymnastics movement. It hit me today in the morning that I want more of this fun but let's throw some handstand push-ups in the mix too. This was a good combo, alternating the movement every other minute. I also added reps for c2b's. These took only about 10 seconds on both of the movements and the recovery was abundant to get back in the game for the next minute. This indicates there's still more room to add reps or minutes on the pull-ups.

Gymnastics

Strength.

• Squat clean triples, touch'n'go
• Build up to a heavy triple (60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg)

Toni did these one day earlier this week and it inspired me to put this in my calendar as well. The idea was specifically to do touch'n'go style repetitions. That means not resting on the floor at all. I don't know have I ever built these up to a heavy triple. The heaviest reps have always been pretty much singles, I mean at around 90kg and beyond. Or then they have been doubles and triples but there has been a re-grip at the floor.

So it was cool to see how I would be able to fight through these mentally. It was difficult to hold on to the bar on the heaviest weights. When I catch the bar on front rack position, I don't hold it with full grip, it's more like couple of fingers are under the bar in squat clean position. So I have to throw the bar up, catch it again on its way down with a hook grip. With 95 and 100kg this started to come an issue but somehow I got it. On 100kg I had to adjust my fingers on top position before heading down with the barbell.

Clean was heavy but I got under the bar well anyway. My legs took some hit but they were strong all the way. They just got a little fatigue even though they held on well under the barbell.

Clean triples, tng

CF Open 14.1. Result, 260 reps (5 rounds + 30 du + 5 snatch)

• 10min amrap of:
• 30 double under
• 15 power snatch, 35kg

This is a good workout. I did this a while ago solo but the order of the movement was the other way around, by accident, and it was also mistakenly a 12 min amrap. I just didn't remember the specifics correctly so that's why. Plus we did this together with Toni as a pair workout, one athlete working for one round, then high fives and the other one steps up. That time I knocked all snatches unbroken because there was recovery between rounds.

Today those snatches were too much for me to fight through unbroken. I went 10-5 each round, didn't try to go ub on the first round as I anticipated problems by pedaling too much in the beginning. Maybe I still should have gassed more. There were one miss on first and second round on the double unders, other than that they were unbroken. Hook grip stayed on at the snatches but they just wore me down whole-heartedly. Maybe all that work being done had its effect on my endurance on this one. Anyway, this is a great workout, no doubt! Good engine wod.

Start of the wod

Strength.

• Push press triples (70, 72.5, 75, 77.5, 70kg)

There were several hours between sessions and a nap that made the difference. It's great to have a sleep during the hour, then hit another training session. Food is also the key to recovery. Today I used a lot of time for mobility at the start of AM session, and kicked off the PM session too with the same ideology, plus ended it with mobility work. I've probably never done this much body maintenance in one day. Felt good.

Push presses were a bit sticky, not the smoothest days of putting weight overhead. Weights were not awesome but I definitely had to do work to get them done.

Metcon. Time, 19.51

• 1.000m run
• 10 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg
• 20 toes-to-bar
• 800m run
• 8 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg
• 16 toes-to-bar
• 600m run
• 6 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg
• 12 toes-to-bar
• 400m run
• 4 shoulder-to-overhead
• 8 toes-to-bar
• 200m run
• 2 shoulder-to-overhead
• 4 toes-to-bar

Goal was to get a good semi-long metcon in the system with lots of running included. This was my answer to the call. Descending distance / reps of all three elements guaranteed that the intensity stayed high. My running pace got faster towards the end as the meter were cut down every round with 200m. That way I was able to run quicker.

Even though push press triples were maybe not the best I've done in my life, this shoulder-to-overhead was good job from me. In real life, this was push jerk with 60kg. I got these 30 reps total whereas running was for a total of 3.000 meters. Because t2b's are obviously easier to complete than jerks, I doubled the amount of them each round so there were a total of 60 reps of those. They felt great all the way. Timer stopped at 19.51 after finishing all the reps. This was exactly what I was looking for! Great way to end the training day. In the evening it basically more eating, sauna and tv time =)

Mobility. I got inspired by Crossfit Reykjavik's youtube channel where Jami Tikkanen and Annie Thorisdottir demonstrated couple of mobility tips for the entire body. They actually have lots of those short videos there, go check them out. I posted one video yesterday. Today I took advantage of those tips, and got loose on my body. Lacrosse ball has been away in my training bag for too long but today it saw the daylight again. Resistance band is a daily tool to activate my body and it was in play earlier in the day of course.

Friday 16.1: C2B, Front squat

Friday. Gymnastics, emom x 6min: 7 c2b. Strength, 10x3 front squat (120kg).

Another day of hard grinding with the squats. It was front squats this time. Got to say it's time to hit some back squats, I've been longing for them for quite some time. My system required back squats so I took one session of those couple of days ago but mostly it's been purely front squats. Today's sets were heavy triples. Prior to them I got c2b's for skills purposes.

It's that time of the year. The CF Open is upon us!

It's gonna be a blast watching these bulls chip away the workouts

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute, for 6 minutes
• 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups

I need to get my pull-ups done. No excuses. Today I knew there's not gonna be enough time to hit a metcon so this emom warm-up was my way to add some elements to strength portion. It was awesome to witness these c2b's were light. They didn't come even remotely tough at any moment of these 6 minutes. Had no doubts I would nail them but there was a chance they would have been unpleasant anyway. On the other hand, my chest-to-bars have become a lot better in the past year. Before that they were pathetic. As I think of it, these could have been done with more reps per minute or more minutes with the same reps.

Mobility tips by Jami Tikkanen @ Crossfit Reykjavik

Strength.

• Front squat 10x3 (1x125kg, 9x120kg)

There was no doubt these are gonna be brutal. Goal was to hit them with 125kg load. I took one and it was heavy as sh*t. Got it, but it was obvious it's gonna be too heavy for 9 more sets. Had to drop down to 120kg, and continue smashing the sets. I took 'em every 3 minutes, and after 5 rounds one set every 4 minutes. I wanted to keep some intensity there because that seems to work better for me. After 5 sets the load was too heavy to keep the same imd frame so I took one extra minute for recovery.

First rep was doable, the second was heavy and the last one was painful. Last sets were the most challenging physically but mentally it was the most difficult before the middle of the workout. Those sets were seriously heavy and there was more than half to be completed still. Set by set those got done and gainz were made.

Thursday 15.1: Snatch, Ohs, Thrusters, Burpees

Thursday. Hang squat snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (50-55kg). Ohs 3x5 (60kg). Metcon, 10-8-6-4-2 of: thrusters (40kg), lateral burpees. Time, 3.04.

Thursday concentrated mostly on snatch work. First some hang snatches, then took some deep overhead squats to work on the position. Finally I had time for a quick one, and it turned out to be very high intensity stuff, and thus cruel for the body and lungs.

Mobility time

Snatch.

• Hang squat snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 (4x55, 6x50kg)

I had higher expectations for this snatch session. The catching part of the snatch wasn't quite there so I fell forward on some of the reps. Started at 55kg, and after couple of repetitions I dropped to 50kg. Those were much easier but still they were not perfect. There was one miss during the entire session as it fell too much in front but I replaced that with another attempt.

Overhead squat.

• 3x5 reps (all sets 60kg)

After snatches I added 10kg and worked for the overhead squat movement, and mainly the idea was to dig deep on the squat's depth. I'm happy on the form I was able to maintain on these reps, and my armpits were shooting forward which is a good thing obviously.

There was one moment of lack of concentration on the third set and my barbell fell forward on the 4th set… It wasn't that heavy but it just shakes somehow and it's difficult to save it once it starts to go. Anyway, overhead squats are great for sure. It wouldn't make any harm to combine them with snatch work.

Metcon. Time, 3.04

• 10-8-6-4-2 of:
• Thrusters, 40kg
• Lateral burpee

Huh, this was bad ass. I thought about short, high intensity workout. This was exactly that. I was able to do work throughout the workout, I'm very happy on the way this was carried through. There was mental game element involved as my legs started to go jello but I told myself to keep moving anyway.

Naturally everything unbroken. Both of these movements shot heart beat through the roof, and it took some time to get back in life after the workout was over. It was interesting as the weight itself wasn't heavy but my legs were really feeling it. Shoulders kept hanging there pretty well but it was mostly the lower body that tried to whisper to slow down. Luckily head was in the game and I didn't listen. Great workout!

Wednesday 14.1: Jack

Wednesday. Warm-up skills, 3rds of: 10 pull-ups + 10 pistols. Metcon, benchmark workout Jack, 20min amrap of: 10 push press (52.5kg), 10 kb swing 20kg, 10 box. Result, 10rds (300 reps).

I hit the gym for an early morning session. Decided to work more on skills in the warm-up section, something new I'll try now. Then it was time for a benchmark workout that I recently discovered by going through the list of all those nasty workouts. There are some great wods to follow!

Skills.

• 3 rounds of:
• 10 pull-ups
• 10 pistol squats

My palms are so extremely sore from yesterday's muscle-ups. There were so many reps for me that these hands are not used to. It wasn't easy to have my hands around the pull-up bar but somehow I got sets of 10 reps done, with 10 pistol squats completed after each set. I thought this is a good way to get some skills practiced in the day's training session. Change the movements and work on weaknesses on a regular basis.

Jack. Result, 300 reps (10 rounds)

• 20min amrap of:
• 10 push press, 52.5kg
• 10 kettlebell swing, 20kg (rx'd would be 24kg)
• 10 box jump, 61cm

This was an awesome workout! It looked tolerable even though the amount of push presses was a little scary beforehand. I realized there's gonna be a serious number of shoulder-to-overhead business going on during those 20 minutes of the wod. The weight was not significant but it was a high-rep workout so it would start to get heavy. The heaviest bell they have at the gym is 20kg so I went with that. Rx'd version would be 4kg more.

Kb swings were light, no doubt. And the number of box was not that bad. I was positively surprised they also felt that way through the workout. They could have easily become heavier but not this time. This was all about the push presses. And I was not going to put the bar down before 10 reps were completed each round. It hurt every time I cleaned the bar because of those sore palms, so I made sure to finish the sets unbroken.

Jack, first 10 minutes

That needed some extra breath after box jumps but it was a wise decision in order to shine in the presses, and thus in the entire workout. Once the timer hit its finish, I had just completed my last box jump to reach a total of 10 rounds, or 300 reps. I'm happy that my pace remained the same all the way to 20 minutes. This forced me to have the breaks between movements but it was a good call in order to get them done unbroken. Had I put the bar down, there would not have been that many reps completed. Great and painful workout!

Tuesday 13.1: Gymnastics day

Tuesday. Gymnastics. Muscle-ups, strict hspu's, and double unders.

This has been part of my 2015 programming that there will be days where I will not touch a barbell nor do a metcon as such. Just concentrate on some gymnastics movements or skills to build on those. Muscle-ups are something I strongly feel I have more potential to shine on. Today I paid effort on those, then did emom-style handstand push-up strength, and finally jump rope action. Good stuff!

Muscle-ups.

• 20 singles of ring muscle-ups

These delight me a lot. These twenty reps were probably the best I have ever done. Ever. I took them as singles. Had thought about how to develop my skills on the muscle-ups. Not just trying to rep one at a time but what would the suitable progressions be to get better at this skill? I talked with Toni and we both thought my swing needs some work.

So my plan was to hit some muscle-ups and then finally do lots of swings without even trying to finish the entire movement. That was the plan but the reality was those muscle-ups felt good from the very beginning so I changed it so that I got one muscle-up and continued by doing 2-4 big swings right after that in the same set.

This turned out to be a good strategy. At least it felt natural and my muscle-ups got better by the rep. I believe it was because I got lots of those swings done and the movement pattern becomes more clear all the time. I thought about doing 10 reps but because those rocked pretty well, I kept on doing them. Next goal was at 15 reps, then finally at 20 reps. Feeling stoked!

Hspu.

• Every 90 seconds, perform max set of strict handstand push-ups
• Total of 6 sets
• Result, 10-5-6-6-5-5 reps

Strict hspu's or strict pull-ups are something that I rarely do. On metcons I don't see the point of doing them as strict versions because the goal is intensity. But on a day like this it felt like a good plan. So it was one unbroken set every 90 seconds, then recover the rest of the time period, and complete another one. Repeat for a total of 6 sets.

This was a good one. I took no warm-up on being inverted against the wall. First set went on for 10 reps. Probably the most I've ever done as strict. Then it was 5's and 6's on the remaining sets. I'm very happy on the way I was able to carry on through these sets.

Du's.

• Double unders 20-30-40-50-40-30-20 reps

This was more like a cool down section. Took some time between sets. It's been a while since I've hopped around for jump rope purposes so I wanted to get a feeling of them back in my mind. These went okay have had better but still pretty okay. I'm still pumped up on those muscle-ups. Really feels like some progress was made today. Let's see, I have one buddy at work who can link about ten mu's in a row so I'll have to get a training session with him to absorb some good technique from him.

Monday 12.1: Back squat, Clean emom

Monday. Strength, back squat 5x5 (across 120kg). Ever 30sec: 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg, for 10min. Random cardio work.

How great is it to make a comeback at back squats? It's beyond words, loved it! Today's work was pretty much all about leg strength. After squats and cleans I tried to do some sort of metcon but to be honest it didn't turn out very well. But there were some work being done anyway.

Squats.

• Back squat 5x5 (all sets @ 120kg)

These went perfectly. I was looking forward to these a lot. Originally I was supposed to do 10x3 heavy front squats but my neck still hurts from last front squat session (on Friday) so I as cautious of doing the same movement where it got sore. Now I can turn my head quite normally but had to take one pain killer in the morning anyway.

I'll save front squats to next time but it was awesome to get back squats in after a long pause. I just wanted to remember how it feels like so I took 5x5 and ended up doing all those sets at 120kg. Very positive signal was that I manhandled the weight. No problems whatsoever with these. Went rock bottom each rep and bounced back up. The path up and down felt great, these squats were solid. Felt happy after these. I took them with short intervals, something like one set every 2:00-2:30 minutes. Had a squatting partner there, we just basically changed the weights, short analysis on the sets, and one of us went back to action.

Dating 2 years back in Big Sky

Emom.

• Every 30 seconds:
• 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg

One day it hit me that I haven't done heavy cleans that much. This is in my wheelhouse and I want it to stay that way. This is how it looked like on paper. One heavy rep from hang position every half a minute. Weight was 90kg. Could have been a little heavier. This was good though. The only thing I was thinking that I had a bit too much time to get under the bar. Had it been a little heavier, there would have been a rush to drop quickly.

But the reps were similar in technique. That's a good thing. One day I looked back at some old training videos and one clip was a PR attempt in clean. Ended up not being able to catch the bar in front rack position and lost the bar forward. The weight was 70kg and year was either 2012 or 2013. So I'm happy on every lift nowadays. Freaking long journey has been traveled in this crossfit thing. Knocking 20x90kg every 30sec from hang position is progress.

Cash out.

• Rowing
• Thrusters
• Toes-to-bar
• Burpees

Yep, my legs were pretty much done after squats and cleans. I thought about doing a high intensity metcon in the end but that was too much to handle for me this time. My legs were smashed after rowing 200 meters =) What would I say about this portion. The star moment was 50 burpees but other than that it was not something to be told to the next generation.

Sunday 11.1: Wb, Squats, Pull-ups

Sunday. Tabata wall ball, air squats, pull-ups.

We went to see Pauliina's parents this Sunday so it was only natural to have one of my best friends with me: mister wall ball. It was time for some Tabata action today in the winter weather.

Tabata.
8 rounds of:
20 second on, 10 second off:
Wall ball (result, 10 each round)
Air squat (result, 17 each round)
Strict pull-ups with supinated grip (7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3 reps)

Got to say that wall ball as Tabata training was awesome. My shoulders started to burn towards the end. It was pleasant for couple of rounds, maybe a bit too pleasant but then the recovery started to feel quite short and it was time to get my hands on the ball again. My focus was 10 reps each round because it takes about 2 seconds to complete one rep. It's difficult to make it faster, it's not a burpee. I got those 10 reps for all 8 rounds.

I shaked my legs for a while and got heart beat down again, then hit another set of Tabata in the form of air squats. After wall ball it was way more challenging to do squats. I felt the burn in my thighs after two rounds of this circle. I fought through those 8 rounds and goal was to hit the very bottom of the squat each round and extend the hip fully on top position.

Basically I never do pull-ups with supinated grip. Now I thought I could do some strict versions. Tabata wasn't possibly the best way to train them. On the first round I was holding back a little but on the second round I already felt the fatigue somehow. Especially as it wasn't okay to use the entire body with a kip. The results on pull-ups were pathethic. But those wb's and squats felt good.

Saturday 10.1: 45min amrap

Saturday. Metcon, 45min amrap of: 1.000m row, 50 walking lunges, 25 hr push-ups. Result, 6rds + 375m

Exeptionally this day was a work day. No biggie, my gym moment just took place just a bit later than normally. Workout of the day was way longer than normally. Decided to hit it bit time rowing, added with some bodyweight action. It was great, no doubt. It might be good to do one long metcon per week, that's something I've had in my mind for some time now.

Metcon. Result, 6 rounds + 375m row

• 45min amrap of:
• 1.000mn row
• 50 walking lunges
• 25 hand release push-ups

During these days there's not much more you can do. Let the barbell alone and concentrate in this stuff. It was a good engine builder, 45 minutes is no joke. This was one of the longest ones I've done ever. Hero wod Small comes to my mind when talking about wods over half an hour. That consisted of rowing, running, box jumps and burpees. Think about that, I guess it took me something like 45 minutes too.

I created this from my head. Wanted rowing to be the main element and to get a good bunch of kilometers done. It turned out to be 1k per round. My pace was about 1:50 for the first round, then it slower down a little for the later rounds. But my principle was not to drop it to slower than 1:55. That was pretty much the speed I had for most of the workout. Not hard, not heavy, that was not the nature of the workout.

It was meant to be more of a steady pace wod. Keep on moving with a solid pace. No need to rush and sprint through any of the movements. Aim to keep heart rate under control and manageable. I believe I managed well on the workout's goal.

Lunges got to my legs eventually. 50 reps every round totaled to 300 reps overall. I'm saying the odds are great that my ass hurts tomorrow. Those lunges get to me every time, quads, hamstrings and butt cheeks are going to be sore.

It's been probably 1-2 years since I did hand release push-ups. Regular ones or ring versions are okay but for some reason these haven't been seen in my wods at all. No reason for that, they just haven't appeared. They were great, I have only positive thoughts about hr push-ups. I saw those being done at the 2010 CF Games Final event and got the inspiration to pass them on one the upcoming workouts.

Wasn't able to do them unbroken, had to cut them to couple of sets. First it was mostly 12 reps, then smaller sets from there on. Anyway, I got a good number of push-ups in the bank. Great time hanging at the gym and doing consistent work.