Tuesday. Snatch, cleans, burpees. Metcon, 7min amrap of: 10 ring dip, 30 air squat. Result, 222 reps.
Yesterday was a rest day so I was full of energy and high hopes hitting the gym. For some unknown reason my left forearm cramped on Monday and made a comeback today on the snatches. Plus I got another rip on my left palm so those kind of dampened the mood, and it turned out to be quite modest session after all. Tomorrow's gonna be a better day. Attitude.
Metcon's round times
Barbell.
Snatches (40-60kg)
Power clean triples (60, 70, 80, 85, 90kg)
2 sets of: 5 tng power clean @ 70kg + 10 burpee
Those first snatches felt really good, and the bar path was okay. I didn't rush the movement which lead the barbell coming up higher before contacting my hips. That was a good confidence booster for sure. I also got down below parallel nicely so it was looking good. These forearms brought some issues and I moved on to cleans which were not on the agenda originally. Took some triples there just to get some bar action in the books. In the end some interval work before my hand ripped.
Snatches
Metcon. Result, 222 reps (5 rounds + 12 squat)
7min amrap of:
10 ring dip
30 air squat
There was a need to get some real training done but these two issues were bitching in my mind. My pal Jasper agreed on this one when it came to my mind. Ring dips got to my triceps and finally squats were tough on lower body too. This wasn't that bad on the breathing because I had to pause occasionally on the dips. First 2 rounds were unbroken, and from then on I had to break them to pieces. First attempt in each set after that was anyway 6 reps.
Sunday. AM: Run and mobility. PM: clean triples (up to 100kg). Emom x 10min: 1 clean @ 100kg. Emom x 10min: 2 front squat @ 110kg. Emom x 21min, 1st: 10 hspu, 2nd: 15 box, 3rd: 20m sled push @ 110kg.
We spent the day in Klaukkala at the in-laws. Some quality time before the big day next Saturday. That's the highlight of this summer for sure, our wedding day =) Last preparations for that event. Next week's gonna be tight in the schedule so let's see how the training's gonna look like. In the morning we went running with Pauliina and his father for half an hour, then mobility session took place. In the evening I went to the gym for a long session.
Strength.
Clean triples (70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg)
Couple of heavier cleans to start the day. Somehow those 95-100kg cleans felt rather heavy. There's no doubt I need to get my leg strength back in the game. It's all about the legs. More squats are coming.
Clean triples
Pulls.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
1 squat clean @ 100kg
Triples were tough so I changed to singles and did one rep every minute for a total of 10 minutes. Pretty okay reps. I have felt smoother and I'd like to see them go down more explosively but I'll take these for now. Maybe it's only because there hasn't been much rest lately.
Clean emom
Squats.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
2 front squat @ 110kg
Front squats are perfect after heavier cleans. This weight suits more to front than back squats. Yesterday's back squats were done at this weight only because of the time restraints. These were okay. Touch'n'go style. On the last set I decided to double the amount just for fun. That was no problem.
Squat emom
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute, for 21 minutes
1st min: 10 handstand push-ups
2nd min: 15 box jump, 61cm
3rd min: 20 meter sled push, 110kg
This sucked big time. Hspu's were okay for 4 rounds, 5th was okay and the last two rounds were awful. Got them done unbroken still. Definitely not easy on the last rounds. Shoulders were smashed after each set.
Box jumps took the heart beat up, and wore my out whole-heartedly but not specifically legs or breathing. It was a feeling that just fatigued the entire body. It took about 25 seconds to complete each set.
Sled was tougher than I had thought. There were 112.5kg of weight plus the sled itself. This sled didn't get heavy but somehow it took a toll on my legs. Quads were killing me after each 20 meter leg. It usually hits right after stopping. Not that much during the push / pull but right after that. This seems to be the name of the game with sled work. Tough workout but I loved it! Great to have hspu's involved in this kind of long emom wod too.
Saturday. AM: emom x 10min: 2 squat @ 110kg. PM: Handstand. Wall balls for fun: 200 reps.
The sky opener pretty clear for this Saturday and we took off to the woods early in the morning for a 30min run / walk (half and half). We were going to the city before heading to the countryside but I somehow managed to find a 30min time slot to sneak to the gym for a quick squat session. I wanted to get my hands on a barbell because I knew that's not an option anymore in Klaukkala.
Strength.
Emom x 10min:
2 back squat, 110kg
Yesterday I got some lighter high rep sets done with 100kg. Today's session was very quick. Just half an hour time and I don't wanna skip the warm-up so it was hasty. Heavier sets were in my sight but didn't have enough time to build up to serious weights. This was a lot of fun though! I have a video of this action but you'll get to see it only tomorrow.
Afternoon.
Handstand
200 wall ball shots, 9kg
We had some things to do at the house but there was plenty of time to mess around. Took some handstand practice and then threw the wall ball for 200 reps, not for time. Unbroken sets of 5x20, and then 4x25. These felt good all the way. Had no issues with the shots. Nice movement.
Friday. Back squat 3x10 @ 100kg. Metcon, 3rds of: 30 s2o (35kg), 25 lunges, 20 ghd sit-ups. Time, 9.42.
These legs have been smashed for couple of days so I've been missing squats ever since. Today was the first day I dared to put a barbell on my back (or front rack) for squatting purposes. For the metcon I wanted to have high reps each round on the jerks, and this plan was great.
Strength.
Back squat 3x10, across (100kg)
Decided to "stay comfortable" on the load. This was same weight each round, just got more reps per round in order to get some volume in. This worked well to get these legs activated again. Getting back to action. Need to squat more, there's no doubt about it. One of the best decisions this far in the past three years was to complete the Smolov squat program last fall. Mobility increased tremendously and legs got stronger.
Squats 3x10
Metcon. Time, 9.42
3 rounds of:
30 shoulder-to-overhead, 35kg
25 walking lunges
20 ghd sit-ups
Pauliina suggested one day to do high rep workouts with a barbell. I got inspired by that prep talk and programmed this one. The beef in this one was obviously the s2o's, 30 reps with even a light weight starts to take its toll on the shoulders. I got the first round unbroken with a good burn on the shoulders. Second and third round were identical on the rep scheme: 20-10 reps.
I started lunging right away after barbell work, no need to pause at this point. Went 13 long lunges one way, and 12 reps back down. Same here, just keep on walking. There were some walking around the gym between the stations so that was my rest period.
Ghd's were good each round. I hopped on the machine, and bounced those 20 reps in a row each round. On the last round they got tough but there was no doubt I'd go ub each round. I was more concerned how the 30 jerks would look like. After completing first and second round I had to shake my arms a bit to get a big set of jerks done on the first attempt.
Thursday. Hang power clean 4x5 (max 80kg). Workout, 5 rds of: 10 hang power clean (60kg), 10 ring dips.
We woke up again very early in the morning with Pauliina and went for a 30 min walk at dawn. That is a great way to start the morning. That almost turned out to be all I had time for today but late in the evening I sneaked to the gym and did some light work. My legs are still sensitive so I let them take it easier. No hard metcons this time. Couple of hang clean sets and ring dips.
Ilya Ilyin's afternoon heavy workout. I posted his same day morning light workout couple of days ago
Cleans.
Hang power clean 5-5-5-5 (60, 70, 80, 80kg)
I prefer squat cleans because those transfer more into clean and jerks and snatches. Mobility improves every time, and it's possible to go heavier. From time to time it's beneficial to do power cleans too. Especially for pure strength purposes. Today the reason was these legs. They were not ready to squat.
Recap of the day
Workout.
5 rounds not for time of:
10 hang power clean, 60kg
10 ring dip
Easy work to the end. My training pal Jasper had left the building at this stage so we didn't hit it together against the clock but this was just simple work load completed. The purpose was to go unbroken on both elements, and that plan worked well.
Wednesday. E2mom x 10min: 5 c&j (60kg) + 30 du's. E2mom x 10min: 5 c&j (60kg) + 8 burpee.
I would appreciate if someone told me why my legs are killing me. I mean they are out of order for real. Hurts a lot in quads and they are sore when touching. It was gym time anyway, and program said clean and jerks. Didn't go heavy but instead it was heavy mentally in the form of sprints or intervals, however you wanna call it. Tough ones.
Intervals.
Every 2:00, for 10 minutes, perform:
5 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 60kg
30 double unders
My hand got torn two days ago on the muscle-ups / chest-to-bars so it had to be taped pretty roughly in order to stand the barbell work. No big deal eventually, tapes worked perfectly. I wanted to breath hard, as I had worn Rogue's Engine shirt one. That's my metcon shirt, got to go fast heart beat those days.
Played around with the bar with 40-60kg clean and jerks for a while, then tapped the clock running, and the idea was to go touch'n'go with the clean and jerks, and right after grab the jump rope and complete 30 double unders as fast as possible. Of course I had a trip on the set Pauliina took on video. Classic. This was either third or fourth interval. My legs were burning on those c&j's as my lower body was smashed already before opening the gym door. Shoulders felt good all the way but legs and breathing were taking hit throughout the session.
C&J's and doubles
Intervals.
Every 2:00, for 10 minutes, perform:
5 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 60kg
8 burpee
After resting for about 3-4 minutes I repeated the system but changed double unders to burpees after discussing it with my mental coach Pauliina. We agreed on 8 burpees would be ideal so these would be something around 40 seconds per interval. And they actually were, same as with the double under versions. That was perfect leaving me over a minute to recover and I really needed that to get my heart beat down to a reasonable level.
C&J's and burpees
These were very nasty, and the body took a good beating on them. Had to walk the pain away for a while after each sprint but the time was enough to recovery still. Definitely not too much rest as it wasn't tempting to grab the bar for the next set. Enough to let the heart beat come down anyway. Try 'em out!
Tuesday. Front squat triples (max 120kg). Metcon, 7 rds of: 7 front squat (70kg), 7 high box (70cm), 7 hspu. Time, 12.41.
I set up a date with Jasper at the gym. Agenda was familiar. Move some barbell and then get a good sweat on with your buddy for a badass workout. For me, it was more squats. Jasper's role was to focus deadlifts. But the big question is what happened in the morning? Pauliina woke me up at 6.00am for a morning walk. Wen went for half an hour / 3.3km walk in the central park of Helsinki. That was a great way to start the day!
Strength.
Front squat triples (90, 100, 110, 115, 120, 110kg)
My body never really got fully warmed up for some reason. It felt cold and maybe the rest between sets was too long, or then it was just mental stuff =) Anyway, I wasn't at my best this time but was still able to move decent weight. These were triples, and I built it up by feeling, reaching 120kg for the heaviest set. Didn't max out on this one though. Then decided to drop down for 110kg before deciding to call it quits and work on the metcon with Jazz.
Couple of sets
Metcon. Time, 12.41
7 rounds of:
7 front squat, 70kg
7 high box jump, 70cm
7 handstand push-ups
Originally it was only front squats and hspu's but my training partner threw in some more ideas so this was what it finally ended up to be. Squats, box jumps and shoulder work. I went unbroken on this entire thing. Front squats turned out to be the toughest as my back was killing me midway on this workout. Saturday's deadlifts still felt in my back a little.
I thought it had gone away but all these front squats brought it back. Squats were tng for some time but then they started to form something like 5 reps, a pause and finish the set. Great wod for sure. It got to my strength and breathing. Those high box jumps were a big difference compared to normal box jumps.
Monday. Ring mu's 20 reps. Bar mu's 20 reps. Metcon, 2.000m row, c2b's.
Today's session was going to be weightless. Time seemed perfect for muscle-ups, and so it was. I was pumped to get back on the rings after having a break on them for a while. Not only ring mu's but also bar muscle-ups afterwards. Like my pulling strength wasn't shot already I had planned for 50 c2b's at the end for time. 2k row being the twist prior to those pull-ups.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups 20 reps (4-4-2-4-4-2 reps)
Bar muscle-ups 20 reps (8-6-6 reps)
I enjoyed every single rep on the rings. Good warm-up, then jumped on the rings and started working. Plan was to hit couple of sets, check how it feels like and also pay attention to my hands that tend to be sensitive in this kind of challenges. They were okay on the ring muscle-ups. Didn't have any protection, no tapes, no natural grips because my hands were in good condition prior to this session.
I took a set of 4 reps and decided to hang on to that rep scheme in the following sets too. Got it on the second. Unfortunately I only got the third session on tape which was the worst I had during the day. Or let's say the first 2 reps of that set were good, and felt smooth but on the third rep I had my left hand loose and not tight against my body so I missed that rep. Better have it tight every single time.
What I'm happy about is the fact that my feet stayed together and body was much tighter than before. Swing is bigger than it used to be and overall it feels like the package is tighter. Naturally there's lot of edges to be smoothened but I'm happy on the development!
Third set
It also seemed like a good idea to work on bar muscle-ups afterwards. I took the first set for 8 reps, walked around the gym and repeated it for 2 more sets of 6 reps each. These felt in my core. Much more compared to t2b's or ghd's. Now it feels like something was really done with core =)
On the downside I got a bruise on to the middle of my left palm. Can you imagine, a small bruise. Well, I thought that doesn't mind. My metcon was waiting for me so I sat down for couple of minutes, and prepared myself mentally for that one.
Metcon.
2.000m row
50 chest-to-bar pull-ups
This was not going to be fun. That was my first instinct. Rowing and pull-ups are not friends with each other. Lots of pulling. When I started crossfitting I remember there was one event at the national cf games which consisted of these two elements. It was amrap of c2b's in 8 minutes. You just had to row 2k first before getting to the pull-ups. Nasty one. Should you row hard to leave enough time for c2b's. Or should you take it a notch slower and save energy to the other element.
My plan was to row at about 1.50 because I wanted to dominate the c2b's. Well, dominate is a bit of a strong expression. I wanted to do good on them. That's more appropriate. That blister that had formed on my hand explodes somewhere between 10-15 c2b's, and blood was running on my palm. Didn't want to risk the upcoming week of training so this metcon had to wait for better hand condition. Decided to stop it at 15 reps. That sucked but my muscle-ups rocked well today and I'll take those gains back home with me!
Damn I'm crushed due to yesterday's brutal workout. Those deadlifts killed my back and lower body. And the long emom just wore me down completely. At least my body feels totally smashed. Energy levels were not great to be honest even though there was plenty of food and recovery on Saturday. We decided to go to the gym together with Pauliina but it was definitely a light session for me this time.
After pounding the bar for some time it was time to let it be and work bodyweight movements. Got 20-10-10-10 handstand push-ups for fun, and then 3x10 ring dips. Not for time, no pressure, just get the work done. Do your thing and smile.
20 hspu
Recovery.
Run 5 kilometers
Mobility
In the evening I went for a 5k run in a beautiful weather. Wanted to flush the legs and get some blood flowing in the entire body. It felt surprisingly light to run. I was afraid my back would be too tight to run but it didn't bother at all.
This route was a bit over 5k. I had a mobility break at midway. Basically did some hip and hamstring drills and hung from a pull-up bar multiple times to let my shoulders enjoy the moment. I read from somewhere that hanging from a bar would improve shoulder mobility in the long run. I've added that to my warm-up routines because they really need that. It might be beneficial to spend more time on the pull-up bar though.
Saturday. Sotts press 5x5 (max 30kg). Deadlift, build up to a heavy 5-rep set (up to 180kg). Metcon, emom x 30min. 1st: 10m overhead walking lunges, 2nd: 10 burpee, 3rd: 10 box jump overs. Mobility.
Yesterday's midsummer party makes this weekend seem long as there was one extra day off of work. That's always good news hehe. People are usually at summer cottages at this time of the year and the city is quiet. It was awesome to spend time at friends' house and we made it back home after midnight. Slept late today and then I hit the gym sometime way after noon. No surprise the gym was also quite silent too.
From evening's recovery walk with my love
Sotts press.
Sotts press 5x5 (20, 22, 25, 27, 30kg)
This was not scheduled but it's been at the back of my head that this would definitely be a good tool for me to improve mobility. Don't know if it's wise to put as much load on the bar as possible or just take it light but today was anyway the first day I had something else than a pvc pipe or 20kg empty barbell on my back for sotts presses.
This position is a bit awkward to say the least. It's not as comfortable right now as I'd like it to be. Ideally the torso would be more upright and vertical in order to get good stability, and then it would also be possible to push bigger weights overhead in the squat position. Getting to that position comfortably would make a big difference on snatch, no doubt.
I was able to sit below parallel but going deeper than that would make the position away from ideal one so I stayed there. Some day I'd like to see myself sitting as low as possible. If I'm patient enough, that day will come.
These teens are machines
Pulls.
Deadlift, build up to a heavy 5-rep set (100, 130, 150, 160, 170, 180kg)
It's at least 3 weeks, maybe 4 weeks since I've pulled some serious weights. The reason is clear. I had some weird pain like my left rib was broken or something. The pain was real but only when doing deadlifts. Plus coughing, strange stuff… So I wasn't sure if it would be possible to do these pulls. Very happy the pain is gone and I felt strong on deads today! This should be part of weekly programming to have heavy barbell in my hands.
Because I hadn't had deadlifts in a while my plan was to do sets at around 150 kilos but it felt great and the hunger got bigger during the course of the session so I kept adding weight. Finally went for a pretty heavy set at 180kg. For a second or two I was thinking about maxing out for singles but then kept it rational in the end. These felt very good, great to pull after a long break!
Deads and presses
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute, for 30 minutes
1st min: 10m overhead walking lunges, 40kg
2nd min: 10 burpee
3rd min: 10 box jump overs
There was maybe 2 persons at the gym so I had the grass matt all by myself. That meant lunges for sure. In the previous post I wrote my legs felt fine on the wall balls but I guess the impact of Thursday's lunges and Friday's massive amount of wall balls hit me a little bit late as my lower body was pretty tight and sore. Let's see how more lunges will make them feel like.
Metcon recap
Long emoms are somehow bad ass. In the beginning they feel much easier. The workout starts to feel a bit uncomfortable at about 15 minutes. And at 20 mins I notice recovery is becoming an issue. Don't have enough time to get the heart beat back down before next minute starts. So the nasty feeling is accumulating by the minute, and the last 10 minutes are a misery.
This was the case with each movement. Do just 10 burpees and it's like nothing. Or 10 box jumps, no biggie even though they would be jump overs. But continuing this same pattern for half and hour and it starts to become another case. I like the agony of these. Even though these feel tough mentally I feel like I could continue for much longer. Got to do everything unbroken and so the time spent on each stations remains identical each round.
Friday was a day off of work because we are celebrating Mid-Summer. It's a national holiday, and the day is at its longest. There is no night at all that day, sun never goes down. Pretty awesome if you ask me! We went to a friends' place for the entire day to spend the day, do some barbecue and hit the outdoor jacuzzi they had bought. That was great! In the morning I went to throw wall ball outdoors to get a good shoulder burn.
Mid-summer bonfire!
Wall ball simulator.
10-15-20-25-30-25-20-15-10 wall ball shots
*Unbroken Sets! If you drop the WB the set does not count… Rest as needed between sets.*
This was copied directly from Crossfit Mayhem, a.k.a Rich Froning's affiliate. Turned out to be a great workout. "Flight Simulator"is originally done as double unders, starting from 5 reps, adding 5 per set, going all the way to 50, then dropping back down to 5 reps, and each set must be unbroken. Otherwise you got to start all over again.
The ideology here was the same but obviously the sets can't go as high. This constituted a total of 170 reps which is a lot of wall balls. Had no misses in these sets. That was self evident when I thought about this. It would be huge disappointment by having to drop the wb for example at 24 reps in the biggest set (30 reps). That would be a turn off big time =)
So I had my recoveries between sets so that there wouldn't be a question whether I'd make it or not. Those 3 sets in the middle were the toughest for sure. That is 25-30-25 reps. My shoulders were burning in this one. Legs felt fine all the way, it was mostly on breathing and shoulders on these sets. The video is missing the last set of 10 reps which I finished with just a short break because it was only 10 reps. You can do 10 wall balls on any given moment. Great workout for Friday morning!
Thursday. Complex, build up to a heavy max of: 1 hang clean + 1 clean + front squat. Result, 100kg. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 8 burpee, 12 box, 16 walking lunges (2x15kg db's). Result, 224 reps.
Got a chance to workout with Jasper. Good vibes are written all over that kind of session. We worked on different things but it didn't matter. Metcon took as long time so we shared the pain and encouraged each other to push further. Started the session with some clean work.
Complex.
Build up to a heavy set of:
1 hang squat clean
1 full clean
1 front squat
Weights: 40, 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg
Couple of clean singles at the end at 100kg
This was fun as it always is when you give me a barbell and allow me to do cleans in any form. Doesn't matter if it's floor or hang cleans, squat or power. Clean is such a great movement I could do it all day, all night.
Today's agenda was a complex, working different positions. Taking the lift from hang which means to say there is not as much time to get under the bar. I realized my feet got a little bit front on the hang cleans. When I took the bar from ground my feet stayed where they were supposed to.
I'm pretty happy on the cleans. Not the best I've had but okay ones. Hips felt a bit tight which influenced on the smoothness of the movement. My max weight for hang clean is probably 105kg so this was pretty good stuff anyway that went on today. Front squats were pretty light, at least comparing to the cleans. In the end I took some cleans with 100kg, and finished each of those sets with a front squat.
Cleans
Metcon. Result, 224 reps (6 rounds + 8 burpee)
12min amrap of:
8 burpee
12 box jump
16 walking lunges, 2x15kg dumbbells
At first I had jerks, accompanied with burpees and boxes but it felt like it's better to move mostly bodyweight, and leave barbells alone this time. Subbed jerks to lunges with dumbbells. Jasper warned me about this triplet, and suggested to change one element to a more upper body element because he saw the future and told me it's gonna murder my legs.
Big man hitting it
Well, he was right. I felt kind of stupid afterwards that I didn't see this beforehand =) I'll better listen to him next time. Can you imagine burpees were the "rest" period of the workout. The combo of box jumps and lunges was poisonous. Everything was unbroken. Had to shake my legs after every element to get them back in the game. The worst part was definitely lunges. I had a 15kg dumbbell in each arm. Those really smoked my legs.
Result was 6 full rounds, and there was enough time to complete the burpees but I had to do them right away, and speed up. Jasper hit pull-ups and burpees at the same time. It was kinda strange we finished our workouts at exact the same time even though the workouts and time work loads / rep schemes were different.
Long session at the gym. Good warm-up, no rush. Got my hips and shoulders ready for some action. It was overhead work pretty much today, assistance stuff for snatch. Metcon consisted of ohs and pull-ups, which are poison to me as a combination. Finished the session with some light work.
This was basically overhead squat triples but I started almost every set with a snatch balance. Only the last set was a pure ohs triple without the snatch balance. Just pushed the barbell to straight arms before squatting. In Denmark I didn't finish the 75kg triple and it got me thinking there's a possibility I have never got a3 reps at this weight. Don't know, it is possible but I just don't remember it. That was enough for the day on this movement for me. Felt pretty good on the overhead squats this time!
Recap
Pulls.
Snatch pulls 3x5 (90, 100, 100kg)
This is something I've found very useful. It teaches me lots of patience for snatch. And the bar path looks to be much better, way more correct than before. That makes me smile big time. Plus it's great to get some pulls done as deadlift has been out of question for about 3 weeks now. I told you some time ago there is some weird pain in my left ribcage when pulling heavy loads from the floor or alternatively when sneezing / coughing.
Everything else is okay, no pain at all. But on these occasions there is an internal pressure which I do not like. These 100kg pulls are so light that it doesn't matter. But for snatch grip pulls it is quite a load. I'll have these in my repertoire in the near future just to teach my body. Weight was good.
Metcon. Time, 12.22
5 rounds of:
10 overhead squat, 40kg
15 pull-ups
30 double unders
Huh, it was known already beforehand that ohs and pull-ups are a difficult combo for me. That means to say it is useful to practice that. Ohs was unbroken each round, pull-ups were so for 2 rounds. The following were 8-4-3 for each of the remaining 3 rounds. Double's had trips in 2/5 sets. Three sets were good. This one made me breath hard for sure, and muscles got tired during the course of the workout.
Finisher.
3 rounds of:
500m easy row
20 ghd sit-ups
After writing down what work I had been doing I sat on the rower to get my thoughts together, and did a little cash out in the end. Rowed with easy pace for 1.5km, it was somewhere between 1.50-1.55 per 500 meters. Ghd's were there just to get some core work done in the process.
Tuesday. Emom x 10min: 1 clean and jerk @ 80kg. Metcon, 50 burpees for time. Time, 1.57.
Quick session but a good one! Took a proper warm-up, then hit a 10 minute workout with a barbell. Practiced my movement patterns on olympic lifts. Then time was pretty much up for the day so I just put the clock running and went after 50 burpees for time.
Warm-up
Strength.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes
1 clean and jerk, 80kg
This was a good weight to play around today. Body felt pretty good. It was surprising my legs weren't all smashed even though yesterday was a brutal one. They were cramping yesterday after the session but now it feels okay which was great news! That sled pull was a new thing so I thought my hamstrings would be devastated the next day.
Clean was the easy part, 80kg is not much for a squat clean. I utilized the same tips here as with the snatch. Patience on bringing the barbell up all the way up to the hips before pulling the barbell and dropping under. Worked better than before.
Jerks were okay, I was looking for tips from a weightlifter who has some eye over the movement patterns. So I tested out some stuff during the emom. Basically the foot work was the thing that was under experiments. That's the reason why some of the lifts felt a bit funny.
Emom
Metcon. Time, 1.57
50 burpees for time
This didn't take too long. Just hit it. Chest to deck and back up. No reason to stop when there's only 50 reps to be done. This can be done with full throttle all the way. First minute was around 55 seconds so it slowed down a little bit because there simply wasn't enough strength in my shoulders. They started to burn and the movement got a bit slower even though I kept pushing with everything I had in my tank. Didn't stop for even a 0.25 seconds on top. Just kept moving. Very good finisher for the session!
Monday. Back squat 8x2 (max 135kg). Every 2:30 sled pull / sled push, for 30min, 20m @ 160kg. Metcon, 5rds of: 10 dips, 15 ghd.
Spent 2:30 hours at the gym which was great as it was a bummer I didn't have time to squat yesterday. That knocked at the back of my head for the day so it was good to get that out of the system right away on Monday afternoon. Quite a few doubles, then finished my lower body by pushing and pulling a heavy sled for half an hour. Took some action with thrusters and bar mu's, then a metcon, and finished the session with handstand + mobility.
This was eights doubles with rather short recovery between sets. I got a tip couple of sessions ago from one of the coaches. He emphasized the importance of having elbows right under the barbell. Don't let them fall back but keep them along the same vertical line with the barbell. Check. Feels more solid, it's a tight pack when elbows are pointing down instead of back.
Focus today was on elbows, deep squats, tight core, and squeezing butt cheeks. I feel like I accomplished the goals well. There's nothing I felt like was missing big time today. Pretty solid squats. Happy man. The heaviest sets really were heavy, 135kg is no joke for me. Okay I've lifted 150kg for a single once in my life but the entity must be in good shape to lift 140+ kilos. I'd say I can take 140kg any day as a heavy lift but heavier lifts than that are very demanding.
Squats
Sled.
Every 2:30 minutes, for 30 minutes
First 15 minutes: 20m sled pull @ 160kg
Last 15 minutes: 20m sled push @ 160kg
This was brutal stuff. Every two and a half minutes I pulled the sled for 15 minutes, then a short break as I let some other dude warm-up with the sled. Then another 15 min session by pushing the sled. I had 160kg on the sled for the entire time. That excludes the weight of the sled, no idea how much that weighs.
This was the first time I pulled a sled like this. The point was that I walked backwards, holding a rope that went around the handles of the sled, leaned back, kept my eyes straight (which means they were pointed to the ceiling), lats tightly together like in a deadlift / pull-up or pretty much any pulling movement. Then just slowly walked backwards for 20 meters. This started to become really heavy and the time domain was just perfect. Had to shake my legs after each set.
I was done after the 6x20m pulls but decided to continue to a similar set of pushes. Another 15 minutes of pain and agony. But it worked perfectly. My legs were about to go numb so I'm looking for those gains in the long run!
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
10 dips
15 ghd sit-ups
Took me some time to get my head back in the game after sled work. Didn't have a timer running but that didn't change the name of the game. This was a metcon. The movements won't put my breathing to a real test though. Dips were the tougher one even though there were only 10 reps per round. Rings were occupied by someone for ring rows so I did stationary dips instead. Went unbroken each round. Last 2 rounds were a good battle.
Ghd's are in my wheelhouse. Core is strong enough to allow me to move constantly on this movement. Maybe I should program a high rep ghd in some workout in a chipper style like they had in the Regionals. I had probably 40 reps per round some time ago with this one and those felt good too.
Accessory.
Thrusters
Bar muscle-ups
Handstand hold against the wall
Some action to accompany the actual training session. Thrusters didn't feel too good on my shoulders, and bar muscle-ups ripped one torn piece of my hand open again so the bloody palm was too much to handle. Some handstand training nose facing the wall in the end.
Sunday. Metcon, 3rds of: 20 hspu, 20 pistol, 20 hang power clean (60kg). Time, 14.09.
This time the weather was not as tempting so we hit the gym at noon for a workout. We had some errands to take care of so it was a max one hour session. It was supposed to be squats plus this metcon but I realized there would not be enough time to focus well on both workouts. I was really looking for the metcon so it was an easy choice. I wanted to breath heavy.
Metcon. Time, 14.09
3 rounds of:
20 handstand push-up
20 pistol squat
20 hang power clean, 60kg
Not the easiest setup. The nature of all three elements change radically when you do them for multiple reps per round. Had it been 7-7-7 or 20-20-20 it's a bit of a different thing. The one I was a bit anxious about was hspu's. How would my body react to sets of 20 reps. Last time I did such high volume sets was one year ago in Spain's cf affiliate, and that workout murdered me. This time I survived much better. First round unbroken without any problems. The following rounds were about 10-5-5 reps.
Recap
Pistols were 8-4-4-4 each round. Kept a short break to loose the tension in my legs. Those were better than I thought too. I took one rep each leg for warm-up so it wasn't obvious how they would turn out to.
Cleans were from hang position, and the first round was 10-5-5, second round was probably similar, and on the last round I decided to step up my game my doing 10-10 reps to finish the workout in 14.09. This was an awesome workout, liked it very much! Being able to keep moving despite the fact there was 20 reps of each movement was simply great!
Summer seems to be here! I will not complain, this is our favorite time of the year. So we spent the practically the entire day in downtown Helsinki, walking around and making couple of purchases. The city was crowded with people, looked like we were not the only ones. In the evening it was some quality time at the gym with my baby. Snatches all the way.
Pulls.
Snatch pulls 5x3 (70, 90, 100, 100, 100kg)
Last time I did snatches, there were some pulls right before and it really felt like that is the key for me to better lifts. It creates awareness on the weaker positions of the snatch and it forced me to move the barbell slower up my shins. Now after 3 years of crossfit I realize that. Okay, it has been told before right at my face but the reasoning has been vague so I have ignored that. I'm happy the guys coached me last time on this movement.
Bringing the bar up slower up to my knees allows me to focus on pulling my knees out of the way, and lifting the barbell up to my hips before pulling the bar with traps. Before I have been hasty with my pull and have bounced the bar already from my thighs. This feels much different. Some day it's gonna look like a real snatch =)
Snatch.
Every minute on the minute
1-3min: 40kg
4-6min: 45kg
7-9min: 50kg
10-12min: 55kg
13-15min: 60kg
16-18min: 62kg
19-21min: 64kg
This day concentrated fully on snatches. My confidence level took a huge boost after last snatch day, and it carried through this day. Got to have more of these days when full focus is on snatches. I felt like the bar path was much better on the spot than before, and there was no doubt at any weight whether I'm gonna go under the bar or not. Sometimes in the past I've had those classic doubts before pulling the bar from ground.
Next step is to get used to these heavier weights. Feels kind of funny to say 60+ kilos are heavy but each lift beyond that is actually heavy for me! I want to see this lift become as solid as cleans are nowadays. I'm super happy on the weights I was able to move today, and with zero misses boom!
Mobility is one thing to improve as you probably can see from the recap. Depth is shallow and most of the lifts are power snatches to be honest. I'll take them anyway currently. I'll do my best to go deeper in the future.
Friday. Hang power clean triples (max 80kg). Metcon, 15min amrap of: 10 db thruster (2x12.5kg), 10 burpee, 10 t2b. Result, 220 reps
We were going for a dinner and Escape Room with my colleagues after work so we planned together with Jouni to leave early so we'd have enough time for a workout. There wasn't too much time so it was quick cleans and then a metcon we hit together. Got to say I'm proud of this guy making his way to the gym again. He's taken a good step further in his fitness, and I'd like to be there with him on his journey!
Clean.
Hang power clean triples (50, 60, 70, 75, 80kg)
Didn't remember it anymore that the knurls on the barbells at our work place's gym are very sleek. They are downright slippery, especially without chalk (which I naturally forgot home). So yes, I had good excuses for keeping the weight light =) Took some triples up to only 80kg, and then one set of 10 touch'n'go reps at 60kg. It was more difficult to hold the grip on the bar but for these weights it was still okay with hook grip.
Fastest kid ever?
Metcon. Result, 220 reps (7 rounds + 10 thruster)
15min amrap of:
10 dumbbell thruster, 2x12.5kg
10 burpee
10 toes-to-bar
Jouni had a bit of a different style metcon but the time domain was identical. He had burpees, thrusters and lunges. It was good to have a friend hit it at the same time to share the pain. He had done squats before so it was no doubt his legs would take a lot of hammering in the workout.
The dumbbells were light for sure, and the thrusters were actually the easiest part of the entire wod. I wanted to keep it intentionally low so that this would resemble totally of a bodyweight workout. My shoulders were a bit tired from yesterday which I realized only when having done couple of rounds burpees / t2b's. It felt heavier than normally to push myself back from the ground, and the stretching movement when lowering toes from the pull-up bar, and simultaneously pushing head through the shoulders also burdened shoulders.
After the 15 minutes were done, we had to get going right away as we were about to drive to downtown Helsinki for a dinner and Escape Room. The idea is that you get locked into a room, and with the help of various hints you have a certain amount of time to get out of the room. It was 60 minutes in our case, and we finally made it with 30 seconds left in the clock. What an adrenaline doze to make it in the last moments! Fun day!
Thursday. Emom x 10min: 3 tng push jerk @ 70kg. Metcon, 4rds of: 10 hspu, 20 box. Time, 5.19. Metcon, 3rnft of: 10 db snatch (30kg), 20 ghd.
We were about to go and see some friends and their newborn baby in the evening so there wasn't a lot of extra time after work. Had about an hour altogether anyway so it was gonna be a good one. First some shoulder work on the jerks, then an intense metcon, and finally another short one to finish the deal. Good session!
Strength.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
3 push jerk, 70kg
Presses and jerks are the way to increase shoulder strength. I'd like to see them getting bigger and stronger. Haven't really put the effort though because those nagging pains occasionally in elbows / shoulders. Not extreme ones but they have prevented me from getting as high volume as I'd like to.
Today there was zero pain so I wanted to have jerk work done. Took lighter sets to warm-up after doing some mobility on the shoulders, and actually entire body. Lats felt a little tight from yesterday's pull-ups but other than that my body felt great all the way.
I took the first couple of sets by front racking the bar and walking forward, and after jerks walked backwards to re-rack the barbell. That felt really weird so I went traditionally and faced the squat rack in most of the sets. My camera's memory card was full so it's impossible to get a look at the videos. Here's the first set, and then one extra round after I emptied some space on camera. Felt a little shaky in both of them. Easy to say that these were the only ones, most of the sets were steady =)
Metcon. Time, 5.19
4 rounds of:
10 handstand push-ups
20 box jump
My plan was to do 10 hspu, 15 ghd, and 20 box. After first round of handstand push-ups I started walking towards ghd, and someone else just jumped on it and kept it occupied for couple of minutes. I decided to move right away on the box jumps. It was still taken after 2 rounds so I modified this on the fly to 4rds of hspu's and boxes.
Actually this was probably much more intense than the original one would have been. I was able to keep a legit pace from first to last round, and went unbroken on both movements. It was surprising that hspu's didn't hit me in the face at least on the last round. I felt like I could have done 1-2 more rounds unbroken with the same pace. That's what I want to believe. It would have most likely gone very mental at some point.
Heart rate was high, there is no doubt about it. Box jumps are a good tool to boost that. This was a high rep workout with 80 box jumps so it's quite natural it starts to burn the lower body too. Very good and intense stuff happened today.
Ghd's
Metcon.
3 rounds not for time of:
10 dumbbell snatch, 30kg, alternating
20 ghd sit-ups
This was a similar short workout. Even though I didn't have a clock running, it didn't change the way I attacked the workout. The reason for not timing this was that it was not sure if I'd have access to the ghd machine.
Don't know if I've snatches 30kg dumbbells before today. Well, okay 32kg kettlebell has been flying up and down but this dumbbell thing has mostly been 25kg. Not that there's a huge difference but it was quite heavy. Did them alternating hands after each rep. Ghd's went unbroken. Last round was a bit tough but went down nicely.
Wednesday. Skills, muscle-ups (PR 6 reps). Strength, 3@80%, 2@85%, 1@90%, 3@85%, 2@90%, 1@95% (max 128kg). Metcon, emom x 30min: 1st min 15 russian kb swing (28kg), 2nd min 10 pull-ups, 3rd min 20m sled push (85-110kg).
Training day with my bro. The best. Our work capacity is pretty much on the same level so it's easy to come up with workouts. He wrote this training day's components all the way from skills, and strength to metcon. It turned out to be a spectacular day!
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups (3-3-6 reps PR)
Bro wanted to share coaching tips on the muscle-ups. There are some issues we both have on the rings. No doubt the development has been good and I'm very happy on the level I am right now. Hunger grows during time so it's time to step up our game. Bro has had an issue of linking reps together as he hasn't found the rhythm when coming down after first rep. Today he figured out some stuff, and nailed the reps beautifully after that!
Those triples felt semi-heavy and I thought after the third and final set whether I'm gonna get 3 reps or not. Then I said to my bro that next step for me should be that I should maintain tension in the body during the swing, feet close together and squeeze my butt cheeks. These three things in mind I jumped on the rings and just kept completing rep after rep, finally getting a Personal Record of 6 reps, kaboom!!!
Recap of training day
Strength.
Front squat
3 reps @ 80% (108kg)
2 reps @ 85% (115kg)
1 rep @ 90% (122kg)
3 reps @ 85% (115kg)
2 reps @ 90% (122kg)
1 rep @ 95% (128kg)
Haven't done much of these percentage work on my own. This is pretty classic stuff in the weightlifting scene and in crossfit as well. Considering the rep scheme and loads I was confident on doing these weights without problems. I just did couple of singles at 125kg few days ago.
I was a bit ashamed on the last rep at 128kg as I took a failed rep at first. That went under my skin. Couldn't believe it. So we took the barbell up on the rack and took an easy single at the same weight after a short break. This was a fun short session of front squats.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute for 30 minutes
1st minute: 15 kettlebell sqing, 28kg
2nd minute: 10 pull-ups
3rd minute: 20m sled push (85-110kg)
Long emoms are great. Lately I have done them more than before. Sipa got this from his coach so there was no doubt we would hit it. At first it felt easy. At somewhere around 20 minutes we realized the recovery started to change. Heart beat didn't come down as quickly as in the beginning. Russian swings were the easies part of this one. Haven't done russian style swings pretty much ever. They are a lot lighter. They kept the heart rate up though. Couldn't find the 2 pood bell so we used the 28kg version.
Total of 100 pull-ups were a good number for one session. I thought they would start become tougher after kb swings but forearms stayed sharp till the end. It was more like a whole-body fatigue that starting to wear us down. Each part was doable on their own. It was the combination of movements and the time domain that made the last third of the workout tough. Sled was light but in the same way it started to burn legs. We added some weight in the last rounds.
It was all about snatch work. And finally some light at the end of the tunnel. There was a couple at the gym yesterday and we all did cleans. I noticed already then that these guys are having great technique. Today we got in to talks and it turned out they are weightlifters, and the girl actually had a coach's certificate in weightlifting. I asked for tips on my snatch and it really helped. Appreciate the help I received!
Pulls.
Snatch pulls 5x3 (70, 90, 100, 100, 100kg)
The key to success seemed to be snatch pulls. My biggest problems include quick first pull which makes it difficult to control the barbell and direct it through a perfect bar path. The barbell was so heavy that it was not going to be too fast. Another thing - and probably the biggest problem - is where the bar makes contact with the body.
It tends to touch somewhere around mid-thigh to semihigh-thigh. Never at the hips though. And that's exactly where it should take place. Having a bigger load on the barbell made me have patience with the pull, and thus the bar touched on the hips every single time.
I took the snatches by feeling. Basically the idea was that I wanted to focus on the same bar path as with the snatch pulls. Having patience on the first pull. That was one of the key tips I got today. I really felt I got the contact point much higher today. These are all self evident points but having someone tell it right at your face after your lifts and correcting it right away makes a difference.
All this work resulted in me doing a triple at 60kg which is much better than ever before in my life. Doing them in squat snatches was freaking awesome. Plus, the cherry on the cake was the last rep being the best of them all. Got to work more on this movement now that I got some momentum on =)
Monday. Strength, power cleans (max 100kg). Emom x 10min, odd min: hang power clean + power clean, even min: hang squat clean + squat clean (max 80kg). Emom x 10min: hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg. Front squat 5x1 (max 125kg). Metcon, 6rds of: 250m row, 7 hspu, 14 medball slam. Time, 12.40.
When you have training partner like Jasper at the gym, the session is destined to be a good one. It took me a good 2 hours at the box as I was in no rush at all. It was a lot of cleans this time. First power cleans building up to a heavy single. Then complex work, and finally a metcon with Jasper. Good times!
Jasper dominating the bell
Strength.
Power clean (2x70, 2x80, 2x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x100kg, failed at 105kg)
My original plan was to hit the combination cleans that I did afterwards but this came out of blue. Just wanted to get couple of heavier power cleans under my belt before getting some sweat on. My max power clean is 103kg. It has improved about 10kg in the past months. It used to around 90-95kg for some time but then at this new training place I got a new record. Now I got greedy and wanted to break that by going after 105 kilos. That left a little too much in front and I wasn't able to front rack it properly. But 100kg lift was quite decent.
Power cleans
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10 min
Odd min, hang power clean + power clean
Even min, hang squat clean + squat clean
1-4min: 70kg
5-8min: 75kg
9-10min: 80kg
This was fun. There could have been more reps as I felt like the recovery time was a bit too long. Power versions were tougher obviously. Squat cleans were light weight but powers had me keep the loads moderate. Good time to focus on bar paths. Barbells were between 70-80kg. Okay I have done hang powers at 90kg so there was time to climb up. Actually, it came to my mind I should do hang power clean sets at heavier weights.
Complex recap
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
Hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg
The previous complex was a lot of fun so I decided to add some weight and skip the power part of it. Simply hang squat and full squat cleans. Took them by dropping the bar between reps. Tried to keep the bar close and drop down faster.
Very good complex. The weight was such that it made me sweat a lot but the bar came up and down smoothly. I felt only happiness when cleaning the barbell =) There was a lot of cleans taking place today. First power cleans for a heavy single, then 20 minutes of complex work. I hope I had the same skills for snatch as I have for cleans.
Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to say these are the most beautiful lifts in the world but I've been able to build them up so that they are consistent and I always know that lifts close to my 1RM are coming up any day. Situation is a whole lot different with snatches.
You never know how those look in my case =) It's a mystery, and the bar path tends to vary too much. Technique and mobility are much further away from being right on the spot. Of course that would improve just by concentrating more on those lifts.
Squat.
Front squat 5x1 (120, 122, 125, 125, 125kg)
Not planned, just wanted to hit couple of heavier singles. Took triples at 90, 100, 110kg before hitting these singles. They were okay, you'll see the last one on the video below. It was good to have heavier lifts in the books.
Front squat 125kg
Metcon. Time, 12.40
6 rounds of:
250m row
7 handstand push-up
14 medball slam
We did this together with Jazz. Good one. Lots of breathing. Both were very consistent, and had pretty much identical round times. This was supposed to be a 12min amrap, and it was but we decided to finish the last round, and the time stopped at 12.40.
We had two concept2's at the gym but my rower's monitor was black so I timed the first round from Jasper's monitor, and then decided to row for 50 seconds which was pretty close to 250m. Had the damper setting at 10, and gave it a good rage when pulling the strokes.
Hspu's were fine. I thought of having 10 reps per round, and that might have been a good idea. Went unbroken easily on these. On the other hand, would 10 reps have been too much in order to finish them ub each round. Don't know. These felt great anyway.
Medball slams are under appreciated. We've done them before with Jasper and they have proved out as a great element for heavy breathing. The balls are light (6/9kg) but they work well for their purpose. Total of 14 slams after hspu's were a good way to keep the heart rate up. All three elements were great for good intensity. No reason to slow down. Just keep moving. We recovered quickly after this one. Felt great!
We spent the day in the nature. There is this place called Seurasaari which is beautiful in the summer time. I have actually been there only once before but it sure is a cool place. In the evening I had plenty of time to hang around at the gym so it was a long warm-up before touching the barbell. Snatch technique and another long emom style workout for the weekend. Below are some pics from Seurasaari.
Technique.
Snatch
Focus was on keeping the bar close to body, have the weights light, and analyze the foot work. It seemed difficult for me to go low enough. I can do overhead squats with butt way below parallel but in the very deepest position my spine takes a short bend so that's not the depth I'm looking for right now. But I'd like to see myself drop below parallel on snatches anyway.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 28 minutes
1st min: 12 kettlebell swing, 28kg
2nd min: 10 burpee box jump
3rd min: 10 meter walking lunges (50kg), barbell in back rack
4th min: 12 ghd sit-ups
This was not fun. Couldn't find the 2-pood bell so I had 28kg instead. Not a big difference but I'd like to move the 32kg bell most of the times. This element together with ghd's were the "easiest" of this one. Burpee boxes and lunges were a bad ass combo.
My pace remained identical for all 7 rounds. It just started to feel nastier and nastier every round but mental games was there so I was able to keep up the pace. It took 20-30 seconds to finish swings and ghd's. Not quite sure about the lunges but burpee boxes took about 30 seconds. Those must have been the longest portion of this workout.
Here's a recap of all work being done this Sunday. Actually it was fun =)
