Tuesday 18.8: Clean and jerk, Clean, 21min emom

Tuesday. Clean and jerk (max 85kg). Clean singles (PR 116kg). Emom x 21min: 1st min 30 du, 2nd min 12 t2b, 3rd min 12 burpee.

I was eager to hit some clean and jerks. Those overhead movements are cool, and I'd like to do those often. Having a barbell overhead is somehow brutal and manly stuff, and gives me a lot of pleasure. I've had this nagging pain in my elbows for a long time. It's on and off kind of thing. It pops up every now and then, and it might also be away for a good time. That's not cool. Anyway, this day turned out to be a success after all.

Toni brought me a souvenir from a throwdown he went to see during the weekend: Voodoo Floss. Hopefully this brings some release on the elbows. Thanks man!

Strength.

• Clean and jerk singles (60, 70, 80, 5x85kg)
• Clean singles (85, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 112, 114, PR 116kg)

My plan was to hit couple of singles, just to get the jerks going. And then see how 90kg+ lifts would feel like. I've been missing having barbell overhead for a heavy load. I took just singles, even with the lighter weights too. Then finished it off with 5-6 reps at 85 kilos. At this point my elbows didn't wanna take it anymore so I changed it to squat cleans.

I was definitely not aiming for max weight. Originally =) I took the 85kg bar, took it up, and put it down. Added 5kg and took another shot right away. Right after the rep, I added 5 more kilos, and took the clean. Repeated this routine up to 100kg. Basically without breaks.

112kg

It's awesome to be able to put three big plates on the barbell on the cleans. From then on, the game is on. That's not baby weight for me anymore. Having blue, yellow and green plates mean it's 110kg load. After that one I added 2kg after each rep. I figured doing 112kg would satisfy me enough. But it came up pretty well, and this was the first time I thought about hitting a record.

That felt tight so I just put 114kg on the bar. That rep's timing was a little off and I had to step it front a bit when standing up. At this point there was no turning back so it was 116kg next on the bar. Started pulling. Felt heavy but the bar came up well, and I found time to drop under the bar. Once it was on the front rack, there was no doubt of hitting the lift successfully. My legs can carry this kind of loads easily. It's more like a mental thing whether I dare to go under the bar or not. This time mental game was on the spot.

116kg

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 21 minutes
• 1st min: 30 double under
• 2nd min: 12 toes-to-bar
• 3rd min: 12 burpee

My mind was happy after this one, and I almost left the gym without a metcon. Scribbled this one at the spot. Double unders were a no-brainer. I need to keep practicing them. T2b's are always a good choice. And burpees of course. These elements are just perfect. Couldn't imagine a situation where I would look back at a workout with these, and think they didn't serve good for their purpose.

But how about the number of reps. That took me some time. Starting point with the du's was to have then mostly unbroken. On the first round I took 40 reps but had some misses so on the next round it was 30 reps and I stuck to that one till the end. Mostly unbroken, couple of misses including. But the biggest takeaway is that they felt great compared to the latest du sessions.

T2b's were unbroken. It took a toll on my grip and core in the end so the 12 rep sets were also a good choice for today. Burpees were the ugliest of these elements. Really made me breath towards the end. This was a good combination of movement, and finished the training session well.