Tuesday 31.3: Overhead, Front Squat, Metcon + Clean, Metcon, Ghd, Handstand

Tuesday. AM @ Eltsu: Strength, press / jerk (max 90kg). Strength, front squat emom (up to 135kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 250m run, 10 oh lunges (40kg), 50 du. Time, 13.20.

PM @ OP Center: Power clean emom x 11 (PR 103kg). Metcon, 12min amrap of: 4 bar mu, 8 hspu, 12 pistol. Result, 127 reps. Cashout, 60 GHD sit-ups. Skills, handstand.

What a day! In the morning we went to our wedding place to arrange some things concerning the big day. Afterwards I dropped my lady to work and my responsibility was to go to work in a bit different style. Today it was Eltsu cave where I got my daily doze of crossfit in. After food and nap it was time to hit it again, this time in a totally new place, Optimal Training Center.

Overhead strength.

• Complex of: 1 push press, 1 push jerk, 1 split jerk (60, 70, 70, 70, 70, 70, 80, 80kg)
• Pause jerk 3x80, 3x85, 1x90, 1x90kg

Starting the day by putting weight overhead. I was looking forward to this part for sure. Actually the entire day got me chills as I was thinking about it. I was like a little boy in a candy shop. My left shoulder has bothered me for some time in the heavier weights. In lighter ones no problem. I was optimistic today but it made a comeback after I put 70kg on the barbell.

This was a bummer my mood dropped for a second. No stretching would help and I couldn't figure out what to do. Then somehow it occurred to my mind that I could take a wider grip on the barbell. That's because there are no issues when I do snatch grip presses or jerks. Let's give it a shot. And it helped immediately! Couldn't be happier about this. I was a little careful on the jerks but it sure felt great to put weight overhead!

After finishing the complex sets I decided to work on my jerk. Let's do it with a pause on the dip phase. Get your breath, dip down, halt there for a moment, then extend the hips and jerk it to the sky. These were amazing. Why have I not done these before. I believe these will bring awareness to the movement very well.

Recap of overhead strength

Squats.

• Front squat, 3 x 60, 90, 100kg
• Every minute on the minute
• 1-3min: 3 x 100kg
• 4-6min: 2 x 110kg
• 7min: 1 x 120kg
• 8min: 1 x 125kg
• 9min: 1 x 130kg
• 10min: 1 x 135kg
• 11min: 1 x 140kg failed

This part was left a bit to imagination on the spot. Took some triples to get a feeling how my body reacts on these. Feeling was great. I did pause squats on those earlier sets. Then it hit me that this should definitely be an emom workout. With ascending weights and descending reps. Started off with triples, then doubles and finally singles. My camera's memory card went full at some point so I didn't get the entire stuff on video.

After 6 minutes it was supposed to be singles and 120kg was light so I added 5kg after each minute. Ended up hitting 135kg and I', telling you it wasn't that bad. Yes, I Had to push it but it was manageable. The easiest one I've had this far. It was probably the third time I've got it ever. After that one I put something like 160-170kg on the bar, took it on my front rack, stepped back, held it for couple of seconds and put it back on the rack. Actually I had troubles re-racking the bar for some reason so I had it for quite a while =)

The strategy for this one was to fake my body to first give a huge load, then drop it back to 140kg and nail it. I believe this was a good strategy as the bar felt comfortable after that monster load. Still, I couldn't finish this one. It's almost there though. I'm taking it one day.

Attempt at 140kg

Metcon. Time, 13.20

• 5 rounds of:
• 250m run
• 10 overhead walking lunges, 40kg
• 50 double unders

Running is a great element in metcons. Usually I have to utilize treadmill if I wanna have running as part of a metcon and that's just not the same. I'll take it as there are no options but I prefer real running any day. Another thing I wanted to have in this metcon is an element that I can't do in my normal gym. Overhead lunges. Okay it's possible to do them but you can't walk forward, you just have to go up and down within that one meter area. No cool. Here I can walk around with the bar as there is plenty of space. Double unders were part of this just to get some skills done and breathing go high.

This was exactly what I wanted as I was writing the metcon. Running was steady pace. Oh lunges unbroken. Got to shoulders and breathing. Double unders are okay but putting a lot of them in a workout in a row makes it a bit miserable. They burn my shoulders a lot. I've done 100 reps sometime unbroken so I got them but 50 reps in a workout will probably force me to break them down somehow. This time I did them in either 25-25 or 20-15-15 reps. I think there was one trip but other than that it was intentional.

Strength.

• Every minute on the minute x 11 minutes
• Power cleans
• 1-3min: 3 x 80kg
• 4-6min: 2 x 85kg
• 7-8min: 1 x 90kg
• 9min: 1 x 95kg
• 10min: 1 x 100kg
• 11min: 1 x 103kg (PR)

After eating, taking a nap and eating, I headed to this new place that was just opened about two weeks ago. Optimal Training Center, a freaking heaven. There were Rogue and Eleiko bars and plates, possibility to do muscle-ups, handstand walk, do farmer's walk, push sled, ring muscle-ups, ghd sit-ups, reverse hypers if you want to. The point is: once I come here, it's not gonna be just basic stuff but I want to utilize these circumstances.

Wanted to get my hands on this Rogue bar right away. Power cleans in the same way as front squats in the morning. I saw mr. Froning do this kind of workout and got inspired by it right away. These cleans felt super good, and it felt from the very beginning it's gonna be a great day of cleaning. Ended up getting a personal record. Getting bigger numbers for power clean must mean things are looking better for squat cleans too.I've improved about 10kg of my power clean lately. I'll take it.

Emom power cleans

Metcon. Result, 127 reps (5 rounds + 3 hspu)

• 12min amrap of:
• 4 bar muscle-ups
• 8 handstand push-ups
• 12 pistol squats

Looked easy on paper but damned it got me big time! Bar muscle-ups and handstand push-ups are a real combination. First time ever I've mixed these two elements. I was able to do mu's unbroken except for one set. I believe it was the 3rd or 4th round. Purely lack of concentration. On hspu's it was same thing. With the difference that it was not lack of concentration, it was lack of strength =) My shoulders were killing me. It was the last full set of hspu's that I had to break in to 5-3 reps.

Didn't warm up for pistol squats. Just took one rep with both leg before the workout to check it how it's done. I figured my legs were already waiting for some action. And they worked well. These were surprisingly comfortable. I liked how they wore me down in the course of the workout but still I was able to keep moving on them. My breaks took place between pistols and bar mu's. I wanted to get those mu's unbroken so I had to chill instead of jumping right back on the pull-up bar.

Cashout.

• 60 GHD sit-ups

Had to do these. I've never tried even one rep so this was a must. Took 4x15 reps with a pause between sets. Total of 60 reps. This was cool, and I guess these would definitely get to the core in a workout. This might be a deceiving movement. It wasn't that bad but let's wait for tomorrow. Then we'll see how it really goes.

Skills.

• Handstand

Just wanted to play around and take advantage of the great area of grass to go inverted. Liked it a lot. That grass area is perfect for handstand walk as well as sled push and farmer's carry. There were some people doing their thing so the latter ones were out of question. Great day of training for sure. Loved every second of it!!!

Monday 30.3: Snatch, OHS, Metcon, Handstand

Monday. Snatch by feeling. Ohs by feeling. Metcon, 6rds of: 6 hang power clean (70kg), 9 hspu, 12 high box jumps. Time, 13.00. Skills, handstand

Training day at Liikuntamylly in the morning. This place is divine! I'm on a holiday now so I'm definitely visiting these spectacular places I don't have access on weekdays. There are some restrictions in the evening times for public but during the daytime there's no problem. I worked on my snatch and ohs but the funniest part was absolutely the metcon and handstand.

Barbell.

• Squat snatch
• Overhead squat

There was no clear plan this time. There would have been but there's too much to work on in my snatch technique. Had it been for example clean, I know there won't be any misses and they are very consistent. I know I can hit high percentages of my max every single day. Snatch is totally different. That indicates snatch is highly technical movement, especially when done as squat snatch.

Got to keep on doing those reps to improve mobility and speed. The outcome will be strength. At least according to Coach Burgener. Mobility is the key, no doubt. On the lighter snatches it felt like a lot of things fell in to place and I was actually very happy on those. After 50kg it got more challenging and my technique collapsed somewhat. And I have no idea what those knees were doing on some of the reps =) After going by feeling in the beginning I took emom workout at 50-55kg snatch singles in the end.

Decided to continue with overhead squats after this. Just took 50, 60, 70, 80, 70kg reps. Basically they were singles, some were done with a pause in the bottom. Wouldn't probably hurt too much to do those pause squats more often. It really feels like mobility improves on every repetition. My armpits easily face down when I'm in the hole instead of facing forward like they should. There are some tightness in my shoulders I guess. When I'm standing, armpits are forward but when I'm down, they tend to switch more downwards.

Barbell work

Metcon. Time, 13.00

• 6 rounds of:
• 6 hang power clean, 70kg
• 9 handstand push-ups
• 12 high box jumps

This was a great workout! It is a very small thing but it sure feels great to drop the barbell after a tough set of cleans. It mentally feels good you don't have to bring it down nicely. Just drop it and move forward to handstand push-ups. I did everything in this workout unbroken. None of these elements were easy.

Cleans got tough in the middle of the workout but I fought to get them unbroken. I would have done couple of more rounds ub but they would have definitely been challenging. Breathing was heavy throughout the wod which made everything a little worse.

Handstand push-ups were easy in the beginning but got tough about the same time as cleans, at about mid-workout. I went touch'n'go on the first 4 rounds. Last two rounds I had to stop resting my head to the ground after 6-7 reps before finishing the set.

This box height was a compromise but it was actually great! There were these blocks you can pile on top of each others. One was too low so I got two of them which made it a lot higher than regular 61cm box. The height of this one was around my hips. Had to do the jumps in singles, no way I was rebounding back there. Those really got to my legs and breathing. Great workout!

Skills.

• Handstand
• Handstand walk

I was about to leave the premises but then realized it's ideal for practicing handstand. My shoulders and wrists felt good so I took couple of tries. First, just trying to find a stable freestanding handstand position, and then hs walk afterwards.

It felt like it went pretty well indeed. It's been a while. This is something I don't do that often. If I had training places like this I'd do it 2-3 times a week for sure! Probably spring and summer will make a difference as it's easy to practice being inverted outdoors too.

Handstand

Sunday 29.3: Clean, Mu's, Pistols, T2b

Sunday. Workout, 4rnft of: 1 power clean (90kg), 2 mu's, 10 pistols, 15 t2b. Core work. Intervals.

Today's training session was not hard core. It was supposed to be a long steady pace workout with muscle-ups included. It started off well but quite soon both of my elbows started talking to me you shouldn't go there. I've had this similar pain more often something like 2 years ago when I still played floorball. Had to take it easy for that reason because I don't want it to come back.

Workout.

• 4 rounds not for time of:
• 1 power clean, 90kg
• 2 ring muscle-ups
• 10 pistols
• 15 toes-to-bar

This type of stuff work actually worked very well. On longer workouts with moderate pacing I usually put some elements that are kinda weaknesses for me. It's a great way to improve on those elements. I would have continued this sequence for about half an hour but stopped after 4 rounds due to the elbows being too sore in a bad way.

Power cleans at this weight are no joke for me. For squat clean that wouldn't be that bad but as power it's a different game. Not too long ago this was pretty much my 1 rep max. Last week I upped it too 100kg.

It was cool to have muscle-ups as part of a metcon. I have a dream that some day I'll hit benchmark workouts Amanda and Nasty Girls. When those days come I have reached everything I have dreamed of as a crossfitter =)

Core and intervals. My mood wasn't the best after I stopped the workout of the day. So I walked around for a while and thought what I was able to do next. Even hanging from the pull-up bar was uncomfortable. Finally I grabbed a dumbbell, put it on my chest and did sit-ups for a while, couple of sets. Finally I needed to get my breathing go fast so I jumped on a crosstrainer and did intervals 30 sec on, 30 sec off. Those are always great, no matter if it's rowing, running or crosstrainer.

Saturday 28.3: Rope climb, Wall ball, Wall climb

Saturday. Rope climbs, wall ball shots, wall climbs.

The big day is getting closer as we're getting married this summer. Today we slept late, ate huge breakfast and headed downtown to get some stuff purchased regarding the wedding. So it was much later in the evening when I went to the cellar to check out what kind of tools there are to improve fitness. I found a rope and wall ball, then went outdoors to play around.

Rope climbs. These rope climbs are the real deal! They are extremely taxing. There's something that makes it very challenging. It's difficult to say where it feels the most. It's not the legs, it's not the shoulders, it's not core, it's not grip, it's not breathing. It is the combination of all the above mentioned.

That's no joke. At least at this stage of my rope climbing skills, it feels like it is very all around element of fitness. Every single rep is challenging and I need to have a break between reps before jumping back at it. After getting back down it is kind of overall fatigue that comes to my mind.

People talk about different wrap styles. I'm not a specialist in this so I'm walking on a shallow ice right now but I believe those are called Spanish and Russian wraps. Spanish being the most secure where you wrap your legs around the rope and create the most friction there can be. Thus, it's the most safe one.

Whereas the Russian wrap is much quicker but on the other hand it's as secure. There you can move longer distance with one pull. Basically it feels like it's gonna be the future for me too. Not at this moment yet though. Earlier in Crossfit Games people used to have a proper wrap but nowadays it's totally on the Russian style simply because it it quicker way to get up and down.

Wall balls. These were just for fun. Wanted to throw the ball for some time. Main focus: full range of motion and smooth movement both up and down. Hit the bottom and extend properly. I have no chance to mark the rx'd hight of the wb shots but I make sure they go beyond 3 meters. This building is the same where I usually do my wall ball metcons. The target is just on another wall, around the corner.

Wall climbs. This movement is actually pretty awesome. I jump on the wall but there is also the pulling motion included. In a similar way as in muscle-ups. This one is also a full body movement. When done multiple consecutive reps, they put the breathing high and start burning upper body.

The Open. The Crossfit Open 2015 is pretty much over. At least all Live Open Announcements have taken place but people still have their chance to up their game and improve results on the last event. Gotta say these seemed to be much harder workouts than before. Each and every wod looked tough as nails.

I give respect to Dave Castro for making them events that require skills in a way different level than before. There were muscle-ups and handstand push-ups in the early steps of the events, instead of putting them in the end.

Also the weights were heavier this time. First of all, 1RM of clean and jerk right after a tough workout which consisted of 52.5kg snatches. There were also 85kg cleans included. This was the second year in a row when there was not a time domain in a workout. Everyone who wants to finish the 15.5 has to complete the same workload as everybody else. Tough job. I'm eagerly waiting for the Regionals, it's gonna be a blast to watch them!

Friday 27.3: Squat, Deadlift, CF Open 14.3

Friday. Back squat doubles (max 137.5kg). Deadlift doubles (max 200kg). CF Open 14.3, result 130 reps.

This is the day when my 2 week holiday began, kaboom! It will be warmly welcomed in my heart. What this means is a lot of sleep, lots of training and a good bunch of food stuffed in my throat. I celebrated that with good load of posterior chain work.

Strength.

• Back squat doubles (110, 125, 130, 135, 137.5), 1x140kg

Squats were quite tough on the heavier sets. Somehow emom training even on squats feel better than having a good break between reps. When the clock is running, heart rate is higher and I'm sweating much more and feel prepared for the strength work.

Today's goal was to climb up on the weights, little by little. I was hoping to hit something beyond 140kg but this time I got only one single at that weight. Gotta get more of these heavy reps so my body gets used to them. It's a different thing to complete triple at 130kg than a single at 140-145kg.

Live announcement of 15.5

Pulls.

• Deadlift doubles (110, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200kg)

Couldn't avoid the Friday pulls. There was a time when I didn't do deadlifts at all. Basically it was last autumn because of the Smolov squat program. It felt hard to squat after deadlift day. This year I solved this "problem" by pulling heavy stuff from floor on Fridays. On Saturday I'll hit a longer lower pace workout, somewhere around 25-40 minutes, and Sunday is reserved for gymnastics. That's been the base schedule lately.

Last time when I pulled heavier stuff it felt like my fingers are about to get cut off from the rest of my hand. I hadn't taken good care of my hands and there were calluses which I tried to prevent my holding the bar basically with my fingers. That was not cool. This time I had good hand maintenance beforehand which allowed me to take a good grip on the barbell with my entire palm.

This allowed me to concentrate fully on putting gall the pressure on my back and hamstrings. And the bar felt much lighter than last time because of this. Took quite a leap from 110 -> 150kg but the bar was moving with good speed there as well. I kept adding 10kg on the barbell. At some point I realized there's 190kg and I had never taken more than a single at this weight. Today it was a double and it didn't feel the max so I took a real milestone weight upon me. Freaking awesome to get a double at 200kg!

2x200kg

CF Open 14.3. Result, 130 reps. Compare to 15.3.2014

• 8min amrap of:
• 10 deadlift, 60kg
• 15 box
• 15 deadlift, 85kg
• 15 box
• 20 deadlift, 102.5kg
• 15 box
• 25 deadlift, 125kg
• 15 box
• 30 deadlift, 145kg
• 15 box
• 35 deadlift, 165kg
• 15 box

Huh, what a tough workout. My legs were fired from the previous strength work and it was definitely not ideal for getting the best possible result on this one. Still, I got only 2 reps less than last time. Box jumps were okay but after deadlifts they also maintained the heart rat low.

My back was shot already on the round of 85kg deads. Definitely due to the earlier pulls and squats. I didn't look back at my strategy from year ago but at least the beginning seemed similar. Box jumps unbroken, and the first round of deads unbroken too. Then, 10-5 on the 85kg deads, and maybe 5's on the round of 102.5kg's.

Next set of deadlifts was heavy. Damned the barbell weighed like a ton. And my back was fired up big time. Year ago at this stage it was 5's in the beginning, and then came down to 4's and 3's. This time it was more like 3-4 reps in the beginning, and then after 15 reps it was doubles to the finish. Having to complete the reps in smaller sets obviously took some time compared to last 14.3 attempt.

I still had the time to push through the last set of box jumps in the remaining 30 second time window. I'm happy on the way I got this one done. Last time I had time to do 3 more reps at 145kg but it was the only single workout for that day. And it would have been enough for one session but I wanted some squats and heavy deads done as well. Great session!

Thursday 26.3: CF Open 12.3

Thursday. CF Open 12.3, 18min amrap of: 15 box, 12 s2o (52.5kg), 9 t2b. Result, 288 reps (pr).

We were going to a a theater with Pauliina and a great friend couple. It was a show called Speksi, a traditional theater organized entirely by university students, this time it was medical students, future doctors. It was once again a blast, great show and awesome dancing too. We've hit it couple of times with Miia and Jake earlier too, they rock! =) Had to sneak in for a short workout. I dug in some old Open workouts and went after one of my favorites, Open 12.3.

CF Open 12.3. Result, 288 reps (8 rounds, PR). Compare to 12.6.2014

• 18min amrap of:
• 15 box
• 12 shoulder-to-overhead, 52.5kg
• 9 toes-to-bar

This is probably the longest Open workouts there is in the field of Crossfit. At least the longest I've seen and done. For a while the feeling was great and fresh, quite soon though it becomes a little unpleasant (in a good vibe way). And at some point it starts to burn your guts from the inside, then it's just about pushing through and ignoring the voices in your head that tell you to slow down. I felt like a king after this workout! Got a better result than ever even though I've had e running nose for days now and my plan was to take it a notch easier than normally.

Strategy was to pace myself on the box jumps, unbroken but no need to have a panic mode pace on those. Just keep the body moving. Boxes kept my heart rate up and legs warm. I took a break before touching the barbell. This is where the difference is done on this workout, those shoulder-to-overhead's. It's a good question whether you should aim to go unbroken or break the sets.

I've tried both. Once I did those unbroken but that resulted in me having to get myself together before moving on. Plus I had to pause after boxes before getting my hands on the barbell. On another time I made those sets in two attempts. Today my strategy was clear. Box and t2b unbroken, and s2o's in 7-5 each set. And I stuck to that plan every round. Also on the first round even though it wasn't heavy at this point. It was important because that might have fatigued my shoulders too early on.

Yesterday I pressed / jerked for 5k of iron overhead and today was similar amount of weights being moved from front rack to overhead. My shoulders still feel great. T2b's were the easiest part of the entire workout. Awesome workout every time I've done this, and I felt like I deserved the show for the evening in good company!

Wednesday 25.3: Overhead complex, Ohs, Push jerk

Wednesday. Overhead complex, 5 sets of: 1 push press, 1 push jerk, 1 split jerk (max 80kg). Ohs with a pause, singles (max 75kg). Workout, 3rds of: 2min push jerk (60kg), 2min rest. Result, 20 reps each set.

My head is still full of snot so metcon didn't find itself to my program this Wednesday. After work we went with Pauliina to check out one new gym that opened its doors last Friday. It was sick. Kind of a crossfit Box without with the possibility to come and go however you want, and whenever you want. The place was filled with Rogue and Eleiko bumper plates, squat racks and pull-up bars. They even had a 20m grass where you can pull / push sled, handstand walk or do farmer's walk. Basically whatever you want. We're going to train there one day and check it how it feels like.

Overhead complex.

• 5 sets of:
• 1 push press
• 1 push jerk
• 1 split jerk
• Sets @ 70, 75, 80, 80, 80kg

Today I still went to the old gym to workout. There's a lot of restored energy benchmarked for metcons. Had to postpone hardcore versions to future though. I kept it light today on the barbells. My left shoulder wasn't feeling great so there was no chance of going to limits.

First it was a complex for developing overhead strength. Complex work are awesome, I really enjoy those every single time. It's a different style of stimulus brought to the body. I've done similar combination of movements at about 85-90kg. The most difficult of these is traditionally the push jerk. There are some mobility issues which make push jerk more challenging. On lighter weights it doesn't have any issues.

Ohs.

• Overhead squat singles with a pause
• Weights @ 40, 50, 60, 70, 75kg

This part was just for fun. Wanted to smash couple of overhead squats, and especially with a pause in the bottom. On 40kg and 50kg I took couple of reps but then on the heavier ones just wanted to feel it once and I was done.

Last one was tough and fell a bit forward in the bottom. I was able to save it anyway. Those lighter weights were okay stuff. Overhead squats usually don't feel in my legs at all. It's light weight considering my squats but my shoulders always feel a bit tense and I should focus on having my shoulders externally rotated and armpits forward each time. That is the focus, it's just so darn hard because my shoulders are tight.

Workout. Result, 20 reps per set

• 3 rounds of:
• 2min amrap push jerk, 60kg
• 2min rest

Didn't come up with any better idea so I put on 60kg on the bar and put the clock running. Just simply do a 2min amrap of push jerks, then rest 2 minutes, and repeat for a total of 3 rounds. I've done this in the past maybe 2-3 times in the past 3 years. Stolen from Mikko Salo, the champ. This time I didn't gas out from the beginning. Just worked through 10 reps, racked the bar, then took 2x5 reps to finish each set at 20 reps.

Push jerk amrap at 60kg

There was 20+ seconds left in the clock in the first 2 rounds, but this last one burned my shoulders more so there was only 10 seconds left in the timer after 20 reps. This is a great workout for building up shoulders. Today these 20 reps were enough for me. That was a clear goal as the timer hit 3-2-1-go.

Tuesday 24.3: Front squat, C2B, Burpee

Tuesday. Strength, front squat doubles (max 130kg). Metcon, 3rds of: 10 c2b, 10 front squat (60kg), 10 burpee. Time, 5.07.

My throat was still sore so I wasn't in the best shape at all. Yesterday's missed squats popped up in today's agenda, and I was hungry for them. There had to be some sort of metcon too and I got this one from competitorstraining.com from couple of days ago.

Strength.

• Front squat doubles (90, 100, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130kg)
• One single @ 135kg

There were no huge expectations for these squats but I just needed to get them done. It's been too long since squatting heavy and my legs were waiting for these big time. I thought they might be heavier but for some reason these felt great all the time.

It happened to be a good day of training. It's been a while since going to very heavy loads. And I got a double at 130kg which I believe has not happened before. My 1RM is 135kg so I cheered for this double for sure. After that I took one single at the shared pr number.

2x130kg

Metcon. Time, 5.07

• 3 rounds of:
• 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 10 front squat, 60kg
• 10 burpee

This was obviously supposed to be a sprint from the first second. My face wasn't normal with nose and throat feeling a bit of a flu (not bad but something anyway) so I took it a little easier. My barbell was located far away from the pull-up bar which was probably not the best decision time-wise. There were a lot of people at the gym and I had not chance for this.

My strategy was to break the c2b's every round, drop down and quickly get back up to complete more reps. Didn't try to go unbroken in any round. Front squats definitely unbroken, and then pace the burpees, keep the same steady pace all the time. And walk between the barbell and pull-up bar to cool down the breathing. This worked well for today.

Monday 23.3: Clean, C2B

Monday. Power clean build up to a heavy single (max PR 100kg). Emom x 10min: 2 power clean @ 90kg. Skills, every 90sec: 15 c2b. Squat therapy and mobility.

There were high expectations for this Monday. I knew beforehand there wouldn't be no need to rush so I would be able to work my ass off. Schedule showed there were front squat doubles, maybe high rep back squats as well as cleans for barbell work. And then a very intense style metcon in the end. However, my throat feels like there's a piece of cactus right now, that's the feeling I've had all day. Don't have a flu though but this just doesn't feel right so I had to take it easy.

Meal prep for the week

Pulls.

• Power clean, build up to a heavy single
• 3x70, 3x80, 2x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x100kg

Yesterday got me thinking what my max load for power clean would be. Max before this day as been 95kg and it's quite recent too. I have traditionally taken all heavy cleans with a squat. This part of the session wasn't that serious, just wanted to put some weight on the bar and pick it up on the front rack.

All of these cleans felt very good. Barbell's touching point on my thighs was quite high, and there actually was a short time when the bar was weightless as I turned it over. The last rep was 100kg which is 5 kilos more than I've ever power cleaned. I'd like to say it wasn't my max load. Well, it was but there definitely is more potential. I didn't try any heavier loads this time. Left some for next time.

Emom.

• Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
• 2 power clean @ 90kg

As these cleans were solid I threw in a workout of emom training. Doubles of 90kg, kinda heavy. But for some sick reason these felt very good too. There was a psychological effect. I had just lifted 100kg up so dropping 10kg back was a lot lighter mentally.

I felt like a superman lifting that 90kg for doubles every minute. Okay, not a super heavy weight for some people but for me 2 reps of power cleans at this weight is no walk in the park. Squat cleans would have been a different thing.

Clean 2x90kg

Skills.

• Every 90 seconds:
• 15 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Pull-ups - and especially c2b's - are always something that should be on the agenda of improvements. I just bought "natural grips" from Rogue at the same time with my rope, so they got to test on these c2b's. They felt very good as I put them on but unfortunately they didn't stay on place on the pull-ups. For 2-3 sets they were okay but at least the last one was a bit frustrating. I need some protection on my hands with the pull-up bar. At least on this bar as someone has taped it and there's a lot of friction with hands every time. I'm not a huge fan of rips and tears. And those tend to come very easily on my hands.

First set of chest-to-bar's was easy. Second one was a lot tougher. Third one was impossible to get through unbroken, I guess it was 10 reps on the first try on this set. And last set was a lot of pain. Focus was to get as many reps as possible on the first attempt, then finish the set as quickly as possible because there was that 90 second time window.

Mobility.

• Squat therapy
• Resistance band stretches
• Overhead squats with a pause in the bottom
• Snatch balance with a pause in the bottom
• Lacrosse ball work

I still wasn't ready even though it felt like there wasn't much I was able to do. So I grabbed a pvc pipe and worked on overhead squats and snatch balances and staying in the bottom position for seconds. Also did it with an empty barbell. Those extreme positions make good for mobility purposes.

Squat therapy's results were absolutely positive. Never thought I could get as close to the wall as I did today. It took multiple attempts, starting from much farther, and then every attempt was an inch closer. Finally my toes were about the length of my middle finger plus 1-2cm away from the wall. That's success!

Sunday 22.3: Muscle-ups, CF Open 15.4

Sunday. Skills, muscle-ups. CF Open 15.4, result 71 reps.

Yesterday was an easier day with just couple of rope climbs in the books so I really wanted to get back in action. It was time for the weekly doze of muscle-ups. Plus the CF Open that was released couple of days ago seemed like an interesting workout so I decided to throw down for it. First Open wod I've done this season.

Skills.

• Muscle-ups

Instead of just knocking muscle-ups for fun I paid more attention to how my feet work on those repetitions. They traditionally go here and there which is absolutely not efficient. And if I ever want these to be a strength of mine, that's not the way to do muscle-ups.

So I tied my feet together with a resistance band and hoped that would make a difference. This is something I might do with bar mu's as well. My technique on them is already much more solid than on the rings. Someday they'll maybe match. Hopefully… :)

It felt awkward to have that band preventing my feet to go apart from each other. For sure it made good things, and maybe I can deceive my body and muscle memory this way to think that's they way to do them.

It's freaking awesome that I have muscle-ups in the first place, even though there's tons of work to be done. And I felt immediately that this place was more difficult than the one I practiced on last weekend in Klaukkala. Only because this place is little too low. The ceiling is not as high as I'd like to. Unconsciously I keep my legs a little bent because I'm afraid they'll hit the floor. And those rings can not be set higher, otherwise my head will be hitting the roof or the pipes hanging from there. Yes, these are all good excuses. Just do the work, don't bitch about it.

Anyways, those  muscle-ups kind of got to my left elbow for some reason and it got sore. Almost dropped the Open workout before it even started. Cleans were okay. Heavy but okay. But hspu's felt tough in the warm-up. That elbow bothered me a little.

CF Open 15.4. Result, 71 reps (5 hspu's in the round of 18's)

• As many rounds as possible, in 8 minutes of:
• 3 hspu + 3 clean, 85kg
• 6 hspu + 3 clean, 85kg
• 9 hspu + 3 clean, 85kg
• 12 hspu + 6 clean, 85kg
• 15 hspu + 6 clean, 85kg
• 18 hspu + 6 clean, 85kg
• Continue the pattern as far as possible

This really looked like potentially a great workout. And it was. Mixing handstand push-ups and cleans has never been a bad idea. One thing was a bit intimidating on this workout. My squat clean is rather strong with 115kg but then again 95kg is the heaviest I've power cleaned ever.

So it was obvious those might turn heavy after couple of reps. Hspu's are something I'm confident with normally. Now the pain in elbow was a little disturbing but I wasn't gonna bail because of that. The rep scheme was cool too. Usually these come in identically but this was biased for hspu's. Better that way because the bar was rather heavy.

CF Open 15.4

You can see the video above of the workout. I'm happy on the way I performed. If there is something I'd do better, it's hspu's. They felt heavy early on as I already explained. Plan was to go by feeling but my expectation was to do the round of 9's still unbroken, and then cut it to smaller sets. It would have also been awesome to drop the barbell after every rep but this gym wouldn't take it too good. Small difference but mentally that's big.

Saturday 21.3: Rope climbs

Saturday. Skills, rope climbs

It surely was an awesome party yesterday evening with a bunch of colleagues. All 400 of them. It went late and I got to sleep at 4am. Even though I was enjoying water all night (okay one glass of red wine) it affected the body because of the quality of sleep. I slept late, ate a huge breakfast, watched couple of crossfit videos and went to have a nap.

Saturday night set up

This day was perfect for a rest day or at least active recovery. But just sitting on the couch watching TV makes a human lazy so I went outdoors to search for an opportunity to get to play with my rope I just got in my hands. It turned out the same place where I can do ring muscle-ups is ideal for rope climbs too.

I hung the rope there on the stairs and worked on this specific skill. Not a metcon, not a workout, just having fun and getting used to this stuff. It was sick, I love this! My fingers got a little numb on the climbs.

There is definitely lots to improve on my technique so that it gets more effective and doesn't consume me that much every rep. I reckon it might be a great workout to have a bunch of rope climbs (10-20?) for time. Or then combine it with either running, wall balls or kettlebell swings. These are elements that I can easily mix with this one.

Actually the only time there's been rope climbs in my workouts was when we hit a partner wod together with Toni some time ago, earlier this year at the Box where he practices all the time. That time it felt like I had the ropes within me, today those felt much harder.

By the way, the Crossfit Open 15.4 was released Friday morning Finnish time, and it looked like a great wod. Heavy power cleans and handstand push-ups. I'm happy Tommy Marquez pointed out Dan Bailey's superhuman hspu abilities, I'm expecting him to show big numbers on this one!

Friday 20.3: Squat, Snatch, Box, Run

Friday. Strength, back squat triples 5x3 (130kg). Metcon, 3rds of: 12 snatch (45kg), 20 box, 400m run.

Today was a dream come true type of day. Early Christmas or whatever you wanna call it. I ordered a climbing rope from Rogue Wednesday night and it arrived at noon today by UPS at my work place. I was having lunch while the delivery guy called and made my day. I had chills during the lunch before I was able to pick it up. And it was freaking awesome. All 7.6 meters of it! Today there's no chance I can try it out anywhere as couple of hundred of my colleagues are gathering in Helsinki for a party so let's see if the weekend brings another chance to try out this new tool.

Strength.

• Back squat 3-3-3-3-3 (across 130kg)

Today was strongly focusing on legs and breathing. Total of 5 sets of triples at the same weight @ 130kg. Prior weights were 90-110-120kg for triples. These felt good all the way. First two sets were easier than the last three ones. And the last rep was obviously the toughest on each one of these. Had to be mentally in the right place to get these up stylishly.

Metcon. Time, 11.53

• 3 rounds of:
• 12 snatch, 45kg
• 20 box
• 400m run

We were supposed to do a partner workout with Toni but my training partner left the gym 15 minutes after he entered it because his thoughts were not there, he was already in the party that was gonna take place in couple of hours =) Haha, so he had to go and seek for a pre-party. Thus, something had to be written down for metabolic purposes. It turned out to be snatches, box and running.

Great workout. Snatch is definitely not in my wheelhouse and is never a wrong move to add it in to a metcon. Box jumps and running seemed like a good combination to get heart rate up so this really had its grip on me. It took me seconds shy of 12 minutes to finish it. Snatches slowed down a little each round but other than that I believe it was kind of similar in all rounds.

Thursday 19.3: Zimmerman

Thursday. Hero wod Zimmerman, 25min amrap of: 11 c2b, 2 deads (142.5kg), 10 hspu. Result, 220 reps.

There were couple of options how to approach this Thursday. Had to listen to my body and what it needs to get done today. Snatches were one option, squats were on the table too as well as a chipper style clean and jerk / bodyweight combo. All good and different workouts but a hero workout was the winner.

Zimmerman. Result, 220 reps (9 rounds + 2 deads)

• 25min amrap of:
• 11 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 2 deadlift, 142.5kg
• 10 handstand push-up

This is a newcomer for me. It's been in my phones notes since January, and I've promised myself to give it a try someday. Friday is already a classic for deadlift but I took it one day earlier because this seemed to feel my mood of the day perfectly. Pull-ups were very intriguing and I had to get them done.

Zimmerman is a long amrap, 25 minutes of elements that are not that easy. Pull-ups are chest-to-bar versions, deadlifts are semi heavy, and the number of hspu's per round is high. So it was difficult to comprehend how this is going to turn out. My strategy was to go by feeling. I know my body and that there would be no point in rushing through the gates early on because c2b's would kill me later on. And traditionally people think that once hspu's are gone, they really are gone.

I cut the pull-ups in pieces already in the first round. I wouldn't gain anything by trying to be a hero and aim for unbroken sets. Instead it was 6-5 or 7-4 in the first rounds. For most of the last rounds it was 6-3-2 reps, to release the tension in my lats and forearms. The amount of volume was huge for me. Total of 100 c2b's is no joke. I've done 100-150 pull-ups in a metcon but c2b's are next level. And hundred of them is about 100% more I've ever done in a workout.

Deadlifts would not create any problems. They were semi heavy but totally manageable. This was the easiest part of the workout. Focus here was not just to pull it but maintain good and solid form all the way. I believe it absolutely stayed as planned.

Hspu's were a mystery beforehand. How would they go? No idea. I'm very comfortable nowadays on them but if the volume would grow over 60 reps that would probably slow down. There was a total of 90 reps of these in the end. I'm extremely happy I was able to get through each and every set unbroken!

This hero wod was tough especially on upper body, not that bad for breathing. Consistency is a word that describes my pace well today. On the 7th round my heart was taking some extra beats so I had to wait for a while, that's why it took a bit longer.

Wednesday 18.3: Row, Burpee, 12min metcon

Wednesday. Emom x 14: odd min 15 cal row, even min 15 burpee. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 5 power clean (70kg), 15 box, 30 hr push-ups. Result, 205 reps.

Wednesday's session was two-metcon workload. No strength part as such. Rowing and burpees are horrible as a combination, no doubt about it. It took me some time to get my s**t together. Then I threw down for another metcon we wrote together with Toni earlier.

Conditioning.

• Every minute on the minute, for 14 minutes
• Odd min, 15 cal row
• Even min, 15 burpee
• Total of 105 cal / burpee

Yeah, it seemed much easier on paper and it actually was pleasant for couple of minutes. Tide turned pretty quickly due to burpees. Rowing was a bit nastier every round but the beef in this workout was definitely the burpees. It took me about 38 seconds to pull for those 15 calories. I had the dumper setting at about 8, which is quite regular setting on the Concept 2-rower.

This was a 7-rounder in total. Seven sets of 15 burpees, which also took about the same amount of time as rowing, little less than 40 seconds. Those 20 seconds slipped away quickly. My pace stayed the same in every single set and that is victory for me. I was going to a darker and darker place towards the end but there was enough strength to battle through. My goal was to have that 100 cal / rep barrier broken.

Metcon. Result, 205 reps (4 rounds + 5 clean)

• 12min amrap of:
• 5 power clean, 70kg
• 15 box
• 30 hand release push-ups

It took some time to walk the pain away after the last burpee. I went to cheer on my baby for a while, chilled out and started warming up for the barbell action. Cleans felt good so I piled up for 70kg which was the original plan. After the first workout the thought of 70kg on the bar was a distant dream. I got them rolling pretty well and with good technique in my opinion.

The first workout probably had its effect on the second one because my legs were jello from rather early on. Cleans were okay, had to shake my legs though before taking the first box jump. Did those unbroken as there were only 15 reps anyway.

Hand release push-ups were tough. Originally I had written the rep scheme a bit differently but it was a good call from Toni to build the amount of reps high for push-ups. That was definitely a high-rep set for me, and those would not be done unbroken for sure. I did these in a similar way every round: 10-8-7-5 reps.

Great to get some heavy breathing under way in the form of these two workouts. Even though there wasn't strength portion I liked the idea of incorporating semi heavy cleans in the metcon.

Tuesday 17.3: Skills, Push press, Ohs, Pull-ups, Du's

Tuesday. Skills emom x 10: odd min 8 hspu, even min 12 t2b. Strength, emom x 8: push press 3 reps @ 70kg. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 6 ohs (45kg), 12 pull-ups, 24 du. Result, 261 reps.

Huh what a day at work. It was kind of a seminar and it was sitting all day long. Yesterday's cleans and front squats really felt in my legs, and just sitting down most of the day didn't help in recovery at all. Especially my quads were sore and getting more sore all the time. I wan anxious of hitting the gym right after work to get it out of my system. And it sure was a great training session. In only 45 minutes I was able to get a really good combination of workouts, and it was very effective.

Mikko is the King, 10x440lbs (200kg), for a total of 4 sets…

Skills.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 min
• Odd min, 8 handstand push-ups
• Even min, 12 toes-to-bar

This was a good warm-up for push press. I have my regular warm-up routines but today I threw them in the trash bin because of the time table at hand. There simply wasn't enough time to do everything. I got shoulders prepared for hspu's and then reckoned core and lower body would be activated in the course of t2b's. And I was pause squatting / lunging with bodyweight during some of the sets to activate the entire lower body.

Handstand push-ups were easy. Sometimes I take 'em for granted but now as I look back on the development of this movement it definitely hasn't always been this way. For quite a long time it was a goat for me but then one beautiful day I promised myself I'll fix it. And I did, by tripling the amount of volume on the movement. Didn't take too long to make it a moderate skill but nowadays I feel very natural being inverted pushing myself up against the wall.

Toes-to-bar were in this one to engage core and prepare for this way for the push press. These were also kind of light stuff. Had I continued this for multiple rounds they might have been tougher. Or if this was a metcon for time without the recovery between stations it would obviously be another case.

Strength.

• Every minute on the minute x 8 min
• 3 push press @ 70kg

Overhead strength is something I've been mentally struggling lately. It's been on the back of my head to improve this element. No matter if it's shoulder press, push press, push jerk, split jerk or snatch but having a barbell overhead is somehow brutally beautiful, and I want to be okay in that sense.

These were triples in emom style. Only 70kg, shouldn't be a problem. And it wasn't. The only problem was that my left shoulder took some pain in the last rounds. Don't know the reason but it was around 4 rounds went perfectly and then it was a little difficult to straighten my left arm fully because there was a stabbing pain in the shoulder. Probably something that will go away on its own I'd say. No biggie, I managed to work through the rest of the repetitions.

Metcon. Result, 261 reps (6 rounds + 3 pull-ups)

• 15 min amrap of:
• 6 overhead squat, 45kg
• 12 pull-up
• 24 double under

It was great that these two previous parts were emoms so I had time for a good old school stuff in the end. Ohs, pull-ups and jump rope, good combo. Why these? Because overhead squat is not a strength by any means, and doing it in nanos is even more challenging due to mobility restrictions. Secondly, pull-ups are such a basic element in crossfit that I prefer it as a strength rather than a weakness. If you're not good in pulling, there are going to be issues in metcons. Du's seem to be periodical, sometimes they roll very well and in other cases they are moderate. So I wanted to practice them in a metcon under higher heart rate.

Kara Webb 15.3

Ohs went great. Especially in completing them without weightlifting shoes I always consider it a success story. Had no problems in going well under parallel. In weightlifting shoes I hit the bottom on a regular basis. Pull-ups went unbroken even though they got heavy towards the end. I could have probably knocked out more reps in this workout had I cut the pull-ups (and had the barbell close to the pull-up bar instead of walking around the gym) but I really wanted to do 'em ub to practice hanging in the pull-up bar under tension.

Double unders had some tripping there but I blame it on the surroundings this time =) I had to do the jumping in such narrow places that I was constantly afraid of the jump rope hitting something or someone. That probably went under my skin and I lost concentration for a while at times. This was a very good and efficient training session and I'm very happy that there was enough time to push through each part of it!

Monday 16.3: Clean, Front squat, Bar mu's, Wb

Monday. Emom, clean singles. Start at 60kg, add 5kg until 100kg. Then add 2.5kg per min. Result, 115kg. Strength, front squat 4x4 (max 122.5kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 5 bar mu's, 20 wb. Time, 12.30. Cashout, 50 wb and 2km run.

This day was awesome! First I got some strength work done at the gym in the form of emom cleans and regular front squats. Then I changed clothes and headed to the nearby Pirkkola sports center for an outdoor metcon, something similar to CF Open 15.3. Same elements, now I know what the fuzz is all about.

Pulls.

• Every minute on the minute
• Clean singles
• Start at 60kg, add 5kg per minute
• After 100kg, add 2.5kg per minute
• Result, 115kg

This hit me like a lightning last week that I wanna do this. Emom workouts are the best I know. The ideology is like normal strength training with the exception of having the recovery periods short in between. In some cases it's compulsory to have good breaks, let's say when you're knocking 5x5 heavy back squats. Wouldn't happen with less than minute of recovery.

Today I began with light weights. Took doubles in the end to warm up and did some pause squats also with 60-70kg weights. It was light stuff up until somewhere around 100kg. My focus there was to bring the bar as high as possible and not hurry with the pull. That was the focus, not necessarily the desired outcome =) I liked to have these on tape to analyze them more closely but that was not gonna happen today 'cause there were plenty of people taking care of their fitness.

After 100kg my only target was to get under the bar as quickly as possible and to ignore the talks in my head of not having the time and courage to get under these loads. Basically all my missed lifts in clean are due to lack of courage to drop under the bar. Weights over 110kg are intimidating as hell. Those missed lifts look more like deadlifts as I don't drop down at all.

This is actually the reason why I started doing deep squats on both back and front squats, as well as pause squats (starting from last autumn) because that would help me have the balls to be under big loads in the deepest position possible in cleans. And that has really helped. Today was a big day in this sense. I never thought about being crushed under the bar, and I had the nerves of dropping down, even for a PR attempt at 117.5kg. Wasn't able to get it nicely in the front rack position and it fell forward but I take it as s huge step forward as it was the first time being able to have a sense of how it feels to have the bar on front rack in the bottom with this heavy bar. Today was the second time I had 115kg successfully up.

Strength.

• Front squat 4x4 (110, 115, 120, 122.5kg)

Front squats are natural continuance to cleans / clean and jerks. Body is already warmed up so you can jump to real weights practically right away. The first set felt rather heavy at first but then again I had decided to go up anyway so I put on 2.5kg plates more, and took another set. That felt as heavy but squats are mysterious to me. They often feel heavy but there's still more in the tank.

So I didn't think about it that much, just kept on adding weights on the bar, next stop at 120kg. Before coming to the gym I thought this might be the end of these sets but as it came up okay, I realized there's more in these legs and core to get one set more with slightly heavier load. 122.5kg is the heaviest I've ever had for 4 reps. Not bad. I'm very happy!

4x120kg

Metcon. Time, 12.30

• 5 rounds of:
• 5 bar muscle-ups
• 20 wall ball, 9kg

After barbell play I changed clothes, jumped in my car and drove five minutes to Pirkkola which is a great sports park. The reason I went there is bar muscle-ups and wall balls. There was a big desire to get those in my system. The weather has been so beautiful that I wanted to take advantage of the spring and nature coming to life again after long winter.

This combination was a real shoulder killer. I did both movements unbroken each round. Wall balls were easier but right after each set the shoulder burn occurred. I walked between these two stations and didn't hurry because I really wanted to get all muscle-ups done in one set without dropping down in between. They weren't all beautiful but it was great to have 'em unbroken all 5 rounds.

Metcon

Cashout.

• 50 wall ball shots
• 2km run

After chilling for a while the wall ball was shot to the target 50 reps more. It was 2x25 reps with recovery between sets. My shoulders had it for today. Dropped the gear in my car and headed for a cool down run in the woods of Pirkkola. The track seems to have some snow still there but it will probably be no time and it's all good for 400m sprints. Hopefully so!

Sunday 15.3: Run and Gymnastics

Sunday. Run 4km. Gymnastics, ring muscle-ups (PR 4 reps).

We spent the weekend in Klaukkala and my mood was great. Of course the company was good with my fiancé and her parents, plus the weather was so freaking beautiful as it has been the past couple of days. It's been months since I've seen sun so the difference is huge. Okay, I might be exaggerating but it's been dark and wet for some time. We had the possibility to eat outside on our terrace so it really was warm.

Run.

• 4 kilometer run

There was a wall ball in my car too but it stayed there for the entire time. Yesterday I was just chilling out. We made sushi in the evening, and it was the first time in my life. That was kind of cool thing. My rolls weren't the most beautiful ones but they tasted delicious =)

So we were both anxious with Kari to go outdoors for a training session. He's been running like a maniac in the nearby nature for the entire winter so he took me for a run on one of his classic routes. It was a 4km run, easy pace, but it felt good. It was awesome as birds were singing, and sky was clear blue all the time.

Gymnastics.

• Ring muscle-ups
• Complete 15 reps (including 4 rep PR!)

This was the main part of today's training session. I was anxious of searching a spot where I could hang my Rogue rings and hit some muscle-ups. There is something cool in doing this stuff outdoors. No matter if it's gymnastics, sprints, kettlebells, weightlifting or bodyweight training, I just love it outdoors. Weather is neither an issue, but it sure as hell is a positive push if the weather is like this!

I was a bit afraid we wouldn't find a perfect spot but luckily this one was very close to the in-laws house. Maybe 100 meters from there, not bad. Kari brought ladder with him and sawed off one useless tree branch which seemed to be on our way. The hight of this branch was exactly on spot so that I jumped a little to reach the rings and thus I was able to keep my torso straight all the way without stressing my feet hitting the ground. That's the situation at the gym because the rings are too low.

Ring skills

First rep a single, and the purpose was just to get used to this environment. After that one neighbor that we hadn't seen before came out and started talking what's happening here. Luckily he was just interested and wanted to see how things are done. I got a little positive pressure there and took a new PR with 4 consecutive reps! That was a big thing!

I've taken 3 reps once in my life. Those have mostly been singles and doubles. Today I got 2x3 reps and once 4 reps. This was beyond my dreams. Having a place like this where I can use my entire body is essential. It has to be high enough. My sets today were 1-4-3-2-3-2 to reach a total of 15 reps. My technique definitely needs improvement but at this point I'm happy on every single rep I'm able to perform!