Wednesday 30.9: Row, Shoulder press, Sled, Burpee

Wednesday. Conditioning, 3rds of: 1.000m row, 2min rest. Shoulder press 7x3 (up to 60kg). Intervals, every 3:00 for 21min, perform 20m sled push + 12 burpee.

Morning workout. Conditioning went pretty well but the strength part is always a bit of a struggle in the early morning. Barbell felt heavier than normally. Or actually the bar wasn't that heavy but my limbs felt kind of awkward throughout the session. This is not ideal time of the day for me. But it was great to get a good sweat on!

Conditioning.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1.000m row
• 2min rest between sets

Rowing is something I could basically hit quite soon after walking to the gym. But because it was somewhere 9.00 - 9.30 when it was time to do the work, I took my time in warming up properly before taking the first stroke. Pace was sub 1.50 for each interval. My legs got tired in the middle of the first set =) They started to burn, that shows how "fresh" my body is in the early morning.

For the last two rounds I tried to focus more on the pull with my upper body. Yes, that's definitely not ideal, rowing should be initiated from strong legs but today this lower body would have been out of order for the rest of the session so I had to to this choice.

Strength.

• Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 (50, 55, 60, 60, 60, 60, 60kg)

Traditionally I have ignored shoulder press for strength training. My ideology has been that it's better to have heavier loads overhead in the form of push press / push jerk / split jerk. When you have heavier loads up in the air, it must be more beneficial. This is something that I've tried to implement. Shoulder press is still a great way to test out for pure shoulder strength.

Lately there has been quite a lot of elbow pain. This has occurred more or less in the heavier barbells. Doing shoulder press has not created this kind of pain so I thought it's good to hit some strict press sessions and increase strength in shoulders. It's felt good lately to lift the bar up. Hopefully I can do this stuff in the future as well. It's an awesome feeling to totally burn the shoulders, by any means possible.

Intervals.

• Every 3:00, for 21min, perform the following:
• 20m sled push + 12 burpee

This was created on the spot after presses. Burpees came to my mind first, sled slowly creeped somewhere from the back of my head. Great couplet in my opinion! The purpose of this workout was to go all out from the gates in every set, then maximize the recovery before next session. There would have been no point in taking each interval easily. The point was to go hard.

As this type of workouts usually tend to be, this got tougher towards the end. There was enough recovery between each interval but legs were burning more and more in the last rounds, and breathing was not easy. Actually it always hit me right after the last burpee. That was the toughest part as it felt like someone just hit me in the face at that point. These were quick intervals so it was possible to go 100% pace from the very beginning in all 7 sets.

Tuesday 29.9: Squat, Hspu, Pull-up, Box

Tuesday. Squat triples (up to 143kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 hspu, 15 pull-up, 20 box. Time, 12.44

Nice! Today back was alright and it was great to get some squats in the system. Legs felt strong today and I got some heavy loads up as planned. Metcon's main idea was to get pull-ups done. The rest was a good bonus.

Strength.

• Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 140, 142, 143kg)

My max triple in my life has been 140 kilos. Okay I got it up some weeks ago and it felt like there's more room to lift heavier weights. Today I redeemed those promises in my head. I did the first three of these sets pretty much touch'n'go, even at 130kg. That was sick to pump it up and down just like that. Wasn't heavy at all.

The last three sets were obviously a lot tougher but I'm still very positive surprised how well those loads moved around. 142kg was some sort of PR because I have never lifted that heavy triple. Decided to put one more kilo to add the stakes. The last rep of that set was a huge battle. It was probably a 5-sec ascend from the bottom. I remember when doing it live, it felt like an eternity as it almost stopped at some point for a while.

Metcon. Time, 12.44

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 15 pull-ups
• 20 box jumps

Main reason for this workout were pull-ups. Needed to get those done. And it turned out to the be the nastiest element of this one. Hspu's were unbroken but they also got more challenging in the 4th and 5th round. Could have done maybe 1-2 rounds more unbroken with the same pacing. Felt solid on those. Didn't rush through but went on Rich Froning - style. Pace yourself, rest at the top if needed, then solidly hit the reps with constant movement.

Pull-ups were unbroken for 1-2 rounds, then I cut it to 10-5 for the remaining rounds. My hands felt like they are going to get ripped in the first round so I needed to use gloves this time. Those prevented the rips well.

Box jumps are my thing. They are some sort of strength of mine. My back started to give notice at mid-workout so the last 2 rounds were not pleasant. These 5 rounds were enough to get a good sweat on and good intensity.

Monday 28.9: Snatch, Pair wod

Monday. Emom x 10min: snatch (up to 55kg). Pair wod, 3rds of: 50 burpee, 120 du, 60 jerk (2x15kg db's).

Monday means some sort olympic lifting. Squats should also be part of this day and I like the idea big time. My lower back has been sore as hell for the past week. It doesn't bother me in real life and in most of the movements. But every time I lift something from the floor or go below parallel. That's why I'll take the squats some other day.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min
• 1 snatch
• 1-3min: 50kg
• 4-6min: 53kg
• 7-10min: 55kg

Two things I'm concentrating nowadays every time I pick the barbell from the floor. Shins are as vertical as possible. Secondly, I'll keep my eyes pointed forward, not downwards. Actually there is a third point also. I'll focus on bringing the bar over my knees as slow as possible. It's a basic mistake of mine that I'll be too hasty with the first pull, and thus the bar tends to fly wherever it pleases.

These lifts were a bit shaky on the legs as I look at them afterwards. Could have been slower at the first pull but the starting position seems better than before. That's the takeaway from this session. That back pain disturbed me the later I went in the emom. I was supposed to go for 15 minutes of heavier snatches but that was not possible today.

Pair wod.

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 burpee
• 120 double under
• 60 shoulder-to-overhead, 2x15kg dumbbells

It was awesome to throw down together with Pauliina. This is couple's quality time at its best! =) This was "you go I go" style workout. We were working towards the same mutual goal as a pair. We did 50 burpees, alternating after every 5 reps. Double unders were done in sets of 20 reps. Got to say I'm extremely proud of how fantastic Pauliina dominates the doubles nowadays! Third element was dumbbell jerks.

Shoulders got shot in this one after all the work was done and over. Actually on the second round of s2o's made the shoulders burn big time. There was a lot of people at the gym so it was a bit difficult to find a spot where we could conquer our space for double unders but we found it. I was trying to convince Pauliina to skip the du's and sub it to something else but luckily she forced us to practice on those. Good partner drill in general this entire workout!

Sunday 27.9: Shoulder press, Clean, Pistol, Push-up

Sunday. Shoulder press 5-5-5-5-5 (up to 61kg). Emom x 30min. 1st min, 3 power clean (80kg). 2nd min, 12 pistols. 3rd min, 15 push-up. Accessory. 10 ghd's.

Great to get a good long session in the books. No rush, just quality time at the gym. Shoulder press is something that has not been in the system lately. Metcon was long version of emom workout. Then a good bunch of core work in the end. Yammy.

Strength.

• Shoulder press 5-5-5-5-5 (50, 55, 57, 59, 61kg)

This has been off the program because I have wanted to push press or jerk the bar overhead. However, it seems that this elbow pain is quite consistent when talking about heavier weights overhead. Shoulder press seemed like a good way to get shoulder burn with lighter weights too, building on pure shoulder strength.

Some time ago I did strict press triples at around 60kg. Today's agenda was 5's all the way. Starting at 50kg, building up to 61kg. I felt good on all of these sets, and happy on being able to push it to 61kg at heaviest. Maybe shoulder press could be the way to get stuff overhead without teasing elbows too much.

Recap

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 30min
• 1st min, 3 power clean, 80kg
• 2nd min, 12 pistol squat
• 3rd min, 15 push-up

Long emom. Some time ago I did these much more, 21-30min emoms. Those are usually tough mentally. This was no exception in that sense. Pistols got me in the end. These have usually been mostly bodyweight in my case but today I decided to throw some cleans in the mix. Those worked well. 80kg reps for a triple every third minute. Working on mechanics. The weight itself wasn't the issue, it moved around pretty well.

Pistols were the toughest on this one. Okay, I got them unbroken every round but they were challenging mentally and physically. Those wore my legs out and by mid-workout they felt horrible. I was shaking back and forth when doing those, but got them done anyway as planned. Alternating legs after each rep.

Push-ups are basic element that is rarely seen in my workouts. They are always a good option though so somehow I got them thrown in this workout. This amount was okay. 15-20 was the range. Don't know if 20 would have been too much in the end. On the other hand, I got these done unbroken quite nicely. Breathing stayed under control but on the pistol squats it was probably higher than otherwise.

Acecssory.

• 100 ghd sit-ups

My hip flexors were on fire because of all the one-legged squats but I still wanted to get some core work done in the form of ghd sit-ups. Took 4 sets of 25 reps, with no timer running in the background. First 2 sets felt fine, third was a notch tougher and the last one was a good battle.

Saturday 26.9: Mu's, Hspu, Kb, Du's

Saturday. Metcon, 10rds of: 2 mu, 4 hspu, 8 kb swing (28kg). Time, 14.14. Skills, du's.

Didn't have time to write this post yesterday as we went to celebrate birthdays to the town with family. What a night, good times! At Saturday noon we went to the gym with Pauliina and Jasper. We hadn't even matched our schedules with Jazz but he entered the space when we were going through our warm-ups. Muscle-ups were the name of the game.

1.000g ribs for evening snack

Metcon. Time 14.14. Compare to 12.4.2015

• 10 rounds of:
• 2 ring muscle-up
• 4 handstand push-up
• 8 kettlebell swing, 28kg

My back was sore as hell from the deadlifts on Thursday. That was the reason I thought about postponing this Nate-type workout to later days. I took couple of swing with the bell and it felt alright so I decided to take a shot at it.

This workout is definitely all about muscle-ups normally. Hspu's are at a certain level so completing 4 reps per round is not that bad. Those were the easiest part of the workout. It's always exciting to do muscle-ups, especially in a metcon. It's totally different to do mu's fresh compared to when you're tired from all the workload.

Today those muscle-ups went great. Had no issues with them in any of the rounds. Surely, they needed to be addressed with severity. I didn't just jump on the rings right away after swings and knocked them through. My plan was to do each round as fast as possible. 2 mu's, then straight at the wall for hspu's, and then couple of meters walk to the kettlebell, and started swinging right away. After kb's I took a break to release the tension in my shoulders because I was going to do all the mu's unbroken. No other option in this one.

I'm very happy on how the muscle-ups went. Solid reps. They got a lot tougher towards the end, no doubt. Hspu's were easy in the beginning, then the latter half got to breathing and kept the intensity high. Kettlebell swings were nightmarish. Normally I would consider them a lot lighter than they were this time.

The pain in my back was infernal. It was okay for couple of rounds but somewhere around 4th round it got bad. Round by round it was nastier, and I'm telling you I could not have continued for another round. Lower back was burning, and it took 10 minutes after workout to get rid of the pain. It didn't matter if I was walking or bending my back or anything else, it hurt. I'm very happy on how I performed on this workout. Plan was strict and I stuck to it. Getting through 10 rounds at 14 minutes creates faith to knock a PR on benchmark workout Nate when doing an amrap of 20 minutes of the same rep scheme!

Skills.

• Double unders

Got to practice this one. I'm not on the level of skills I used to be, so I'll make a comeback to dominating double unders. There was a time I went through 100 unbroken reps and then little by little cut off the training of du's so currently there are too much tripping over the jump rope. We went you go I go style with Pauliina who has created some sick skills on the jump rope! Very proud of my wife's ability to learn new skills just like that.

Friday 25.9: Squats, Snatch, Burpee, T2b

Friday. Squat (up to 2x140kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 right hand kb snatch (20kg), 10 left hand kb snatch (20kg), 10 burpee, 10 t2b.

There was a bit of a rush today but I found a spot to get a training session done. In the evening we went to see some friends at a restaurant for some quality time. Session included squats and conditioning.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x90, 107.5, 122.5, 132.5kg
• 2x140, 140kg

Even though the deadlifts felt and looked pretty good yesterday I can feel there was some work being done. My back was tight big time so squats were not something I was looking forward to. That stood in my calendar and I didn't have time to think this over so I stuck to the plan. Triples in the beginning and the doubles in the end. Those doubles were supposed to be triples too but today that 140kg barbell weighed more than normally. On the other hand, all these reps came up pretty nicely so I'll take this for now.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 right hand kettlebell snatch, 20kg
• 10 left hand kettlebell snatch, 20kg
• 10 burpee
• 10 toes-to-bar

This was freestyling as there wasn't a strict plan how to work on my conditioning. Burpees were on the table, and snatches came to accompany them in the form of kettlebells. This session took place at my old gym where I used to do lots and lots of t2b's. That came to my mind and I threw it in the mix too.

Good wod for sure! Total of 20 kb snatches, 10 per hand in a row, then change hands. Everything was completed unbroken. It was mostly tough in general. There was no single piece that felt the worst or most challenging. Breathing was heavy all the time, and there is really no need to stop because the movements were either at bodyweight or then the kettlebell was only 20kg.

Thursday 24.9: Deads, Bench

Thursday. Deadlift 6x3 (up to 190kg). Bench 8x3 (up to 100kg).

This was a great day. I mean already before we opened the gym door it was a spectacular day at work. This carried on to the the training session as well. Deadlifts are scheduled to be on the agenda on a weekly basis, same as the bench. There wasn't time for a metcon. That would have included deads, ghd's and rowing.

Strength.

• Deadlift 6x3 (170, 170, 180, 180, PR 190, 190kg)
• Bench press 8x3 (80, 85, 90, 92, 94, 96, PR 98, PR 100kg)
• Bench singles (PR 105kg)

My notes said 6x3 at 180kg. However, as I was building it up to heavy triples the warm-up sets were at 100, 130 and 150 kilos. Decided to start counting my sets from 170kg on. Two sets at each weight. Those weights felt very good so I kept adding stuff on the barbell up to 190kg. Felt like my back and legs are pretty strong. I wouldn't like to use chalk at all because it dries by hands a lot and results on rips often but on heavy deadlifts that seems to be compulsory. It helped tremendously to chalk up.

I haven't done 190kg for a triple ever before. Maybe a double but not a triple. 5x180kg has been witnessed twice, and lately the pulls have felt good so this was no surprise. Probably could have pulled even more.

Bench was another element of today's session. One day I understood this is a weakness of mine so I'll throw in this one about once every week. Definitely not going to stress about it but at the moment it feels like a good idea. To be honest, it's not that isolated movement that I have considered it to be so it will most likely be beneficial to overall fitness.

My 1RM is 102.5, dating back to stone ages. But I have done it probably once every 3 months =) In the past two weeks I've been able to climb up to 5x94kg and 3x96kg. Today these were upgraded to 3x100kg for a 3RM. That was a distant dream which came real life today. My plan was not to take a single rep at all but Pauliina refused to accept it, and so she talked me into trying that. Probably one of the easiest PR's I've ever done. Usually those are a lot of grind but this one was quite comfortable. Feels good to getting stronger in the entire body.

Wednesday 23.9: Snatch, Clean, Metcon

Wednesday. Emom x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg). Emom x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 35 du, 20 medball slam.

Morning workout, huh, those are tough. Physically and mentally. However, this session I was looking forward to. I have been able to build up some positive anxiety towards snatches. That is something I'm really looking forward to improving in the future. Especially as there has been some coaching lately so it's easier to fix issues.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg)
• Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg)

Two things that I just wrote about considering the starting position. First, shins got to be better vertically aligned before the barbell moves from the ground. Secondly, my eyes were glued to the floor before, now they are looking straight ahead / slightly upwards. These two corrections that I'm now trying to make permanent changes made today's lifts much more solid.

The big thing was that the snatches were consistent, and the bar didn't go to different places in every lift. These fixes also made the bar path some good changes, and I didn't have to catch the bar in front. It was much easier to catch the barbell and ride it down compared to what this used to feel / look like. I'm very happy to this current state. Got to just get more reps and practice on the snatch to make it better.

Cleans were light weight. Just needed to get some work done. Haven't cleaned that much lately so this was more like the fun part of the training session. Two reps per minute. In the beginning those were touch'n'go. Then in the end I focused on completing two singles per minute.

Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 35 double under
• 20 medball slam, 9kg

Alright, there is another thing I need to fix in addition to snatches. It is double unders. There was a time I dominated the movement pretty well. Then, without any good reason I took a good break in them and since then it's been a bit of a challenge. I got too cocky toward du's. Got to be humble and keep practicing them and make them more effortless.

Today those were the toughest part of this workout for me. Sounds awkward to write it down because there were only 35 reps in each set. Last time I did these with Jasper in a partner workout and they went well so I entered this session with a thought of completing each set unbroken. Didn't do it in any of the rounds. That is not acceptable so it needs to be fixed. Got to find some room in she program for skills training.

Rowing was at 1.50 pace for the entire 2.000m total distance. My legs and butt are sore from yesterday's squats big time. Okay, that's no wonder, those 5x5 squats weighed a ton. Ball slams are actually a great movement. I'd like to see a 20kg ball at the gym but there isn't so I'm using what is available. Doing them unbroken keeps the heart rate high and burns legs. My legs in general were taking big hit in this workout.

Tuesday 22.9: Squats, Hspu, Pull-ups, Jerk, Box

Tuesday. Back squat (up to 5x138kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 10 hspu, 15 pull-ups, 10 s2o (50kg), 15 box jump over. Time, 14.40.

I really needed to get to the gym. And luckily there was no rush at all. There was some work to be done, and it would not have been ideal to rush through the elements. Squats and a tough metcon were in the agenda.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x90, 108, 123kg
• 5x138, 138, 138, 138, 138kg

This was supposed to take place yesterday but it got transferred to today. First sets were more like warm-up sets but they were pre-determined as well so I went through them with ease. Legs felt great in those, no prob at all. The jump from 123kg to 138kg is big for me. Just like that, 15 kilos were more in the barbell, and it was supposed to be 5's for multiple sets.

Last week I went up to 4x5 @ 138kg. That was definitely a 5RM for me, and it was for a total of 4 sets. Today it was upgraded to 5 sets, 5 reps per set at the same weight. Absolutely the heaviest I have ever done back squats. Got to be happy and proud of the journey I have come in the past years. Can't bluff it, these were heavy. I knew I'll do them but they were very heavy.

Recap of the session

Metcon. Time, 14.40

• 4 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-up
• 15 pull-up
• 10 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg
• 15 box jump over

Those squats really took the best energy of my body, and legs got fatigued in the process. Had to take a good lengthy recovery before hitting this workout. Pull-ups have been on the agenda lately pretty well, and the volume is okay currently. Another bodyweight element - handstand push-up - is something that needs to be in the program constantly.

There was a combination of hspu's and shoulder-to-overheads which made it tough on the shoulders. Hspu's were unbroken for 2 rounds, then the 3rd one was maybe 7-3, and the last round was 6-2-2 reps. In the beginning the first unbroken rounds felt good but then the workload started to get to me.

Pull-ups were unbroken for 2-3 rounds, not quite sure. When they were broken, it was 10-5. At least in the last round, maybe also the 3rd one. Now as I think more closely, it was broken to two sets in the third round as well. But I kept the pause short there, just couple of seconds.

Jerks felt nasty. The load was light but because of the character of this workout, shoulders got tired and the jerks got heavier. I was still able to do them without dropping the bar between reps. Last two rounds were a good mental battle for the last reps. It felt like it's difficult to hold my arms locked out as I recovered from the drop under the bar. I managed it but damned it was challenging.

Box jump overs were the "easiest" part of this one. That's a bit misleading because actually no part of this one was a walk in the park. Box overs kept the legs tense and breathing heavy. I was happy after every set of 15 reps was done. Good metcon! And good training session in general. Good compensation to Monday's sesh.

Monday 21.9: Snatch, Snatch pulls

Monday. Snatch triples, 6x3 (50kg). Snatch pull triples, 6x3 (60-80kg).

Somehow I never achieved the killer mode this Monday towards the training session. Usually I'm waiting that eagerly, it's something I need right after a long work day. It's a way to level things, and zero my thoughts. Without a good training session I don't relax perfectly. However, today's session was not a success. Okay, there were good things too, and those are the ones I got to focus on.

Oly.

• Snatch, 6x3 @ 50kg
• Snatch pulls, 6x3 (60, 60, 60, 80, 80, 80kg)

Something positive has happened on my mobility. Snatch in the bottom position was okay today, and I didn't feel like tight at any stage of the snatches. Hips and shoulders were both feeling alright. What bummed me a bit was that my plan also included heavy back squats but my back started to get stiff during the session which caused 90kg's to feel heavy on the squat. I really wanted to do those back squats.

On the bright side, snatches felt better than normally. Even depth was better than regularly. I got good teaching tips from one crossfit coach. Very valuable coaching from this guy. He told me to pay attention to my shins in the starting position. The point is to keep them as vertical as possible. It doesn't come easy but I'll try to focus on that in the future. Another thing is to keep the eyes directed straight ahead or even a bit higher. Currently I'm keeping my eyes to the floor. This enables me to open up my hips better in the future, and that is exactly what I need.

After couple of sets back squats I loaded the barbell again for snatch pulls. In the beginning I had 60kg bar, then jumped to 80kg. Focus was exactly on these two things. Shins vertical and eyes up. Start position still felt kind of awkward but it will get better for sure.

Sunday 20.9: Mu's, Handstand, Sled pull

Sunday. Skills, muscle-ups (15 reps). Workout, 10rnft of: 15m sled pull, 5m handstand walk.

Empty gym in the Sunday evening. Two guys spent some time there but other than that, I was there all by myself. This was more skills oriented session with muscle-ups and handstand walk included. New element was also brought up in the form of sled pull, standing. I might have once done it before.

Skills.

• Ring muscle-ups
• Total of 15 repetitions

It's been some time since previous muscle-up session. This one always gets a little butterflies in the stomach as I don't know how they will go. But when I jump on the rings, something good usually happens. They are not yet at the level that I would be comfortable throwing them into metcons but maybe it could be a good idea to mix them up in conditioning pieces too.

On the first set I was looking to make a triple but failed on the last rep for some reason. The following sets were triples then up to 14 reps. That's the reason why I took one single at the end of the session to compensate the first set that stayed a little shy.

Workout.

• 10 rounds not for time of:
• 15m sled pull, standing (55-80kg sled)
• 5m handstand walk

Wanted to get something totally different to close the week. Handstand was anyway going to be in the workout of the day so I threw in some sled pulls as a couplet. This was not for time. Haven't probably ever done handstand walks in a metcon, and this was also more like for quality. But I didn't give too much slack to myself. Especially after the handstand my plan was to shake it off, walk to the rope and start pulling.

After sled I took more break because my skills in handstand are not perfect and I needed that break in order to cover some distance on the handstand. In the beginning it was much tougher but got easier the more I practiced. This was a fun workout, variety to a traditional crossfit workout even though the elements were not new.

Saturday 19.8: Thruster, Burpee, Row

Saturday. Metcon, 3rds of: 1min db thrusters (2x15kg's), 1min burpees, 1min row for calories, 1min rest. Result, 170 reps

Exceptionally, I had a work day today and then we had some family gathering in the evening so there was just a short time window that needed to be utilized. There was not time for lots of action. More like short warm-up, 3-2-1 and go!

Metcon. Result, 170 reps

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min thrusters, 2x15kg dumbbells (22, 20, 20 reps)
• 1min burpees (18, 18, 16 reps)
• 1min row for calories (18, 18, 20 calories)

Pretty much a perfect workout. Didn't need lots of warm-ups to get ready for this one. On the other hand it would have probably been wise to focus on increasing heart rate before starting this workout. This included lots of heavy breathing, and it was a good shock to my system in the first round.

At least this was consistent work all the way. It was tough. On the thrusters my shoulders were burning big time. Knocked 22 reps on the first try, then 20 got me in trouble on the second round, and third was pure agony. I almost dropped the dumbbell on my left hand because I just couldn't hold on to it anymore. But somehow I managed to push through the last couple of reps to reach 20 reps.

Burpees were much heavier than normally after tiring my shoulders first on the thrusters. I still managed to match the pace on the second round but then couldn't hold on to this same pace on the last one. Dropped the result by two reps on the third.

Rowing was the nicest part of this one. Or let's say the least ugly of the three elements. It got to my entire body for sure every time. On the last round I was able to step the game up a little to get 2 more calories on the Concept2. Very intense action, good one for this Saturday!

Friday 18.9: Clean, Pair wod

Friday. Clean triples (up to 100kg). Pair wod, 3rds of: 50 pull-ups, 50 dips, 150 du's. Time, 17.40.

This Friday was more like a freestyle session. It says olympic lifts for Friday's nowadays so it was going to be either cleans or snatches. Jerks are out of limits due to painful elbows. Overhead seems to be the worst for that case. But today they were fine, and it's been a while since doing cleans. At least it feels like it. I've focused more on snatches lately. Jasper had matching schedules so it was great to throw down with this mister at the end of the session for a pair workout!

100kg

Oly.

• Clean triples (60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg)

My lower back felt like it's done a lot of work in the past days so after warm-up I thought of hitting some clean singles at around 90 kilos. Built it up with triples at light weight, and they actually felt very good so I kind of stayed in that mode. At the end I realized there was 100kg's on the barbell for a triple. Not touch'n'go. Dropped it after every repetition, then took another one, didn't rush with the reps.

Felt pretty smooth in each set. Tried to focus on engaging my lats fully, keeping my shoulders back so the barbell would hit a notch higher on my hips. Weights felt good all the way.

Pair wod. Time, 17.40

• In a team of two, perform
• 3 rounds of:
• 50 pull-up
• 50 dip
• 150 double under

This was a lot of fun. Getting the chance to do a workout with a friend rocks. We thought about doing a chipper or then a classic couple-of-rounds type of workout. This was something in between. The volume grew in good numbers. Three elements, 50 reps at bodyweight and 150 double unders per round. "You go - I go" style. Repeat for a total of 3 rounds.

Jasper started with the pull-ups. Once he did his max set, we high fives and changed roles. Alternating for as long as needed to get those 50 pull-ups in the books. And only after we had completed 50 reps of pull-ups we were allowed to move on to the dips. We didn't plan about how to divide the reps between us but we had our thoughts that I might be stronger on the pull-ups and Jasper would demolish the dips.

There was also a point for this reasoning. He did pull-ups strict so it was only natural that I would do more of them. And why did he control the dips? Because he is a pure savage on those. Very proud of how well he smashed them. Strong dude. On the double unders we agreed beforehand that we'd split them into sets of 25 reps, and take turns after each set so these were exactly 75/75 for both per round.

This got tougher by the round, no surprise there, but I'm pretty sure we had consistency in the round times. We didn't tap the timer so I can't guarantee but we didn't keep extra pauses at any stage. Okay, the sets weren't as big towards the end so there must have been some difference. Lats were so numb at some point that pull-ups weren't moving quicker, and on the dips my upper body in general was smashed. Anyway, good breather but mostly muscles hurt so much we weren't able to move faster.

Thursday 17.9: Deadlift, Bench

Thursday. Deads 6x5 (up to 170kg). Bench 6x5 (up to 94kg).

Thursday was a pure strength day. Getting posterior chain stronger with classic 5-rep sets. I've renewed my thoughts about bench press, and at the moment it feels like a smart idea to incorporate that into my program. Definitely not the main focus but at least I'll add more of this element to my training. It is a weakness and I don't like to have those.

Strength.

• Deadlift 6x5 (150, 150, 160, 160, 170, 170kg)
• Bench press 6x5 (70, 80, 85, 90, 92, 94kg)

Currently I'm planning on doing pulls from the ground on Thursday's. It seems to suit my weekly schedule well. My program is very flexible but for now it's put on this day but there will be changes constantly. I'm sure of it. Don't wanna be stuck on routines. This is not a routine, it's some sort of plan how to improve my overall fitness level.

Deadlifts today felt very good. Weights were something I was able to manhandle. Form stayed good throughout the session. I had Pauliina to coach me from the side, and I passed her coaching eye. That was success =) This was a 5-rep set, two sets at 150kg, then another double set at 160kg, and finally at 170kg. I felt strong on these loads. This is most challenging on the grip, hammies and back were fine. Chalk helped a lot this time.

Don't know where I got the inspiration to work on bench. It was probably the barbell shrugged podcast where the guys were discussing the benefits of benching. I realized this is a goat of mine, and it's not a cool thought. I'm gonna improve it, and make it more common lift in the strength element selection.

I benched twice last week, both at narrow grip. By narrow I mean it's the same width as when I pull from the ground or squat. Basically every time I have my hands on a barbell, I grab it from the same spot. Of course snatch / ohs is wider. Narrow feels much more natural for me. Way more steady and stabile. I'm able to produce more power in the press like this.

Deads and press

Today's weights were big PR's for me. I don't keep record on 3RM's or 5RM's but this was definitely a record. I might have pressed 5x90kg but I doubt it a lot. It's more likely 3x90kg. So hitting that easily, and climbing all the way up to 5x94kg was absurd. Haven't benched in ages but it has come up a lot is kind of cool. Even though it's just bench =)

Wednesday 16.9: Squats, Emom, Lunges, Burpees

Wednesday. Back squat (up to 5x138kg). Emom x 10min. Odd min, 10 hspu. Even min, 10 pistol. Metcon, 5rds of: 40m lunges, 10 burpee. Wear a vest. Time, 10.40.

Good long session of crossfit took place today in Vallila's premises. Couple of sets back squat to kick everything off. Then two workouts with bodyweight stuff. Good session for sure. My legs are killing me right now. That's a fact.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x100kg
• 3x115kg
• 4x130kg
• 4x5x138kg

Okay, so there was going to be 5x138kg. For four times… Even though I have never lifted that much weight for 5 reps, this didn't scare me at all. When being able to do multiple triples at the same weight, and after having done lots of sets lately at this weight, I was confident of hitting at least the first sets as planned.

The 100kg and 115kg sets were more like warm-up stuff. I did them touch'n'go. Also 130kg set was no big deal anymore. This is very encouraging. Some time ago this would have needed mental preparation but now it's like an everyday load. Very encouraging. Awesome to look back every now and then to realize some development has taken place.

I'm not gonna say the 138kg sets were light. They weren't. But it was alright, form stayed rather good in all the sets and reps, elbows were down, knees out, and back in upright position. So there is no other option but to smile and walk away victorious.

Squats

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• Odd minutes, 10 handstand push-ups
• Even minutes, 10 pistol squats

This was a 50 / 50 rep workout of hspu's and pistol squats. Handstand push-ups were no problem. Unbroken, with a good feeling. It took 20 seconds to finish each set. Easy and steady pace in each set. Pistols were tougher. Those heavy squats definitely had an effect. On the first rep in my warm-up I fell on my butt. After taking couple of reps with each leg they started to feel okay. Not perfect in any of the sets but manageable. I went 5 with left legs and then 5 with right legs.

Metcon. Time, 10.40

• 5 rounds of:
• 40m walking lunges
• 10 burpee
• Wear a 9kg vest

There were plenty of people doing lots of lunges with dumbbells in their hands. That intrigued me a lot so I decided to put on a 9kg vest and went 20 meters back and forth, then hit chest to deck for 10 burpees. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds. Rounds were steady which pleases me big time. Legs were beaten up. I refused to stop and breathe. Actually this wasn't as bad for breathing, it was mostly burning my legs. Pace was steady all the time.

Tuesday 15.9: Overhead, Hang clean, Box, Row

Tuesday. Overhead complex, push press + push jerk + split jerk (5x75kg). Metcon, 15min amrap of: 10 hang power clean (50kg), 15 box, 20 cal row.

Today was a joyous day. We got a chance to go and see our friends' newborn baby. Okay we went to see that little guy already when he was couple days old but today he already looked like a human being so that was a lot of fun =) That's the reason my session was quite late in the evening today. Elbows hurt like hell without any good reason so the strength part wasn't right on the spot but metcon worked pretty well.

Overhead.

• Complex of:
• Push press
• Push jerk
• Split jerk
• 5 sets @ 75kg

To be honest my plan was to do 8 sets of this complex at 80kg working on speed and explosiveness but that wasn't going to happen. These elbows were okay in the beginning but pretty sooner started to remind what's going on. I really like to have a barbell overhead and was looking forward to this one so it was a bit of a downer.

Metcon. Result, 5 rounds rounds + 15 box

• 15min amrap of:
• 10 hang power clean, 50kg
• 15 box jump
• 20 cal row

My metcon originally looked like 15min amrap of 3 muscle-ups, 10 push jerks and 20m sled pull. That sled pull was going to be so that I would stand still and pull the sled with a long rope. It would have kicked my butt good time. Maybe some other day.

I kept the cleans light because I didn't want to tease elbows too much. This weight was okay for them anyway. And they felt good throughout the metcon. Light weight so it was unbroken each round. It got to my legs, felt a good burn there. Upper back was alright all the time, as well as grip. Breathing was going heavy on these, as well as in every element of the wod.

Box jumps were heavier than normally but they must be done unbroken if the number of reps is this low. No other option. On the rower I didn't stare at the digits and don't have any idea how fast / slow the boat was moving. All in all, this workout was good. Didn't stress about the pace that much but it was going to be unbroken for sure. After 15 minutes were up I finished the round by rowing the required 20 calories to get 6 full rounds.

Monday 14.9: Snatch, Squat, Lunges, Pull-ups

Monday. Snatch + Hang snatch, 8 sets @ 55kg. Back squat triples (up to 140kg). Metcon, 5 rnft of: 15 pull-ups, 40m lunges.

Sunday was a compulsory rest day as my throat was still not in good condition. It wasn't perfect today either but better still. I needed to get some action going on at the gym. Monday means some sort of olympic lifts, today it was snatches. Also squats and some metcon style work of lunges and pull-ups.

Oly.

• Snatch + Hang snatch
• 8 sets @ 55kg

This was a lot of fun. Okay, it obviously needs a lot of work but that's what I'm focusing on right now. I've taken steps to improve on my shoulder mobility which will hopefully have an impact on the bottom position. Plus the first pull is a lot slower than it used to be back in the days when I felt like the need to rush the bar up to the hips.

Positive thing is that I'm not jumping forward anymore. That's a big thing. I'm concentrating on keeping my feet closer together because when I go wide, it's more difficult for me to drop below parallel. I'd also like to see myself showing armpits to the public. And that's what I'm witnessing on the video below. Those are pointing forward. Maybe all the mobility I did prior to the barbell work paid off this time. It was targeted purely on shoulder mobility.

Set of snatches

Strength. Compare to 26.4.2014

• Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 138, 138, 138, 140kg)

This was great. I've done a triple at 140kg sometime in the past once. Today's loads were determined beforehand. Only the last one was something I changed on the fly. The original weight seemed a bit absurd at 145kg. My last 3RM was 140kg so I didn't have enough balls to believe in this new weight.

There were couple of easier sets before getting to 138 kilos. Those were good working sets. Heavy-ish but still very much doable. So I changed the last set to 140kg and took it up nicely. There was really no doubt of hitting that weight. Maybe it was a bit too conservative but after those 138's it felt like a good choice.

Squats

Metcon.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 15 pull-ups
• 40m lunges

I needed to get my heart beat up. On the other hand I did't wanna risk anything so this was something in between. Good set of pull-ups - every set intentionally unbroken - to get a good burn in my lats and to get a decent volume on this movement as well. At the end of the workout I did additional 25 reps to reach a total of 100 reps.

Lunges are always surprisingly tough on lower body. Even though I didn't have any weight on they started to burn legs. Went unbroken still. The grass mat is 20m long so the idea was to go both ways from end to end. Even though I didn't have a timer running, I did this in a similar way as a normal metcon. I'm especially happy on how little time the transition took after lunges. I just walked to the pull-up bar and started ripping.

Saturday 12.9: Pause Ohs, Bench

Saturday. OHS, 10 sec eccentric, 10 sec pause (up to 65kg). Close grip bench press triples (up to 96kg).

There was no there option but to focus on barbell work. I wasn't going to get my heart beat up because my throat was more sore in the morning than it has been in the past couple of days. Other than that I feel great. Went to the gym at noon with mobility stuff in my mind. It turned out to be overhead squats and bench presses.

OHS.

• Overhead squat
• 10 second eccentric phase, 10 second pause at the bottom
• 40, 50, 60, 60, 65, 60kg

The reason behind this is mobility for snatch. This was way different than normal overhead squat. It was a slow motion movement. 10 seconds to lower my butt to the ground, then 10 seconds to hold at the bottom position. Idea is to see improvements in mobility in the long run. The weights were not super heavy at all. Mostly it felt in my wrists as it took 20 seconds per set to hold on to the bar. I felt relieved when I dropped the barbell.

Recap

Bench.

• Close grip bench press triples
• 70, 80, 85, 90, 92, 94, 96kg

Bench never gets my heart rate up and it's kind of an easy element so it suited perfectly for today. Normally bench grip width is wider but this time I narrowed it to the same width as when cleaning or jerking. That feels much more natural anyway for me, now I realized that fact.

This felt ridiculously good. There is no doubt this is some sort of PR for me. I have never pressed these weights for a triple. And even the last set felt like there's more in the tank. Didn't have a spotter so I didn't dare to go heavier anymore. This was a huge positive surprise for me. In the end I took some box jump overs just for fun. But not too much to keep heart rate down.

Friday 11.9: Squats

Friday. Back squat (up to 138kg).

We went to the gym right after work with my baby. She worked on her rowing intervals and I was having a date with the barbell. Heavy back squats were on the agenda. Toni was working up to the evening, and our plan (that we had booked already a month ago) was to go and hit hero workout Murph right after when he is free. However, my throat has been sore for about 2 days so it wasn't worth the risk. I can pump some strength work but a bad ass metabolic conditioning is off the limits at this condition.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 4x90kg
• 4x108kg
• 4x123kg
• 3x138kg
• 4x138kg
• 4x138kg

Otherwise my body felt fine. No problem whatsoever. It was great to get some heavier squats under my belt. These were pre-determined weights, and it looked like a lot of stuff to be lifted at the end. Not that many sets but the last 3 sets were obviously going to be heavy. Okay at the end of Smolov's most intensive weeks there was a 10x3 at 138kg so I had good confidence on hitting each set. On the other hand I have never done 4 reps at this weight so there was something to be nervous also.

Recap

First 3 sets were pretty much warm-up sets. I did them in a quick cycle without having to stop and breath or recover the legs. On the 138kg's strategy was definitely different. I took them with a good pause on top before hitting another rep. It was great to knock all the sets as prescribed! Definitely heavy but they look easier on video than they felt in live situation.

Thursday 10.9: Deadlift, Bench

Thursday. Metcon, 10-8-6-4-2 of: deadlift (150kg), bench (70kg). Time, 6.20.

Throat is a bit sore so I took it light this Thursday. I had another metcon in my back pocket consisting of rowing and double unders which would couplet as a great conditioning piece but that will be postponed to another session. Today was about push and pull with a barbell.

Metcon. Time, 6.20

• 10-8-6-4-2 of:
• Deadlift, 150kg
• Bench press, 70kg

This was a quick one. Couple of minutes. I wasn't rushing through both movements. Took my time. Wanted to complete them unbroken. The deadlift was rather heavy anyway so I didn't wanna compromise my form on this one. Straight back is the key in pulling heavy from the ground. That definitely put my hamstrings on a good burn.

The weight was perfect for deads. Back took these well. It mostly put pressure on my legs. Grip stayed strong on every round because I chalked my hands before every set but it also hurt like hell on my hands at the end of the workout.

Bench is something I haven't done in ages. And probably am not going to do as strength because I'm always bored to death when doing so. But in metcons bench is okay element. I have nothing against it to be honest. However, it's a bit different compared to for example cleans where you can approach the bar, then start gripping and ripping it. On bench I feel like I need to get my form good before lifting the bar from the rack. That takes some time.

Workout

This workout was a good one. I used to do this sometimes when I began my crossfit journey in 2012, with different weights though. It wasn't a big gasser. Had to slow down because I really wanted to go unbroken.

Wednesday 9.9: Clean complex, Squats, Row, Hspu

Wednesday. Complex, 5 sets of: 2 hang squat clean, 1 squat clean, 1 front squat @ 80kg. Strength, back squat 4's (up to 122.5kg). Metcon, row, 5rds of: 500m row, 10 hspu. Time, 13.07.

There are some days I go to work a little later which opens up a time window to hit the gym in the morning. It's kind of cool but then again, body is not that fresh in my case in the very morning. However, I stuck to my plan and was able to work through a good session!

Complex.

• 5 sets of:
• 2 hang squat clean
• 1 squat clean
• 1 front squat
• All sets at 80kg

The barbell felt like it weighs a ton =) I localized it to the the schedule. 80kg barbell is not heavy but at this time of the day it was like 100kg. However, I felt like the bar still moved pretty solidly in each set. I took one complex at 40kg, 60kg and 70kg before starting the working sets. And of course a lengthy warm-up with classic routines.

Strength.

• Back squat (4x100, 107.5, 122.5, 122.5, 122.5. 122.5, 122.5kg)

For some reason my entire body felt like it had been hammered. Legs were stiff and upper body was sore. After those cleans it felt a bit better and these squats were pretty light. These weights were pre-determined by the squat program I'm following right now. So I'll just load it up whatever it says.

On the first two weights I went touch'n'go. On the 122.5kg I took one breath on top between reps. I'm very happy on how I got these done. Felt strong on the squats.

Metcon. Time, 13.07

• 5 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 10 handstand push-up

Yesterday's two metcons were great, and burned up my shoulders big time. That definitely felt today so I was a bit hesitant to stick to my hspu plan. Once I threw myself up against the wall, I realized that's not gonna be a problem at all. First reps felt good so I decided to hit it.

The key in this workout was to shorten the transitions. To be honest my mental state was not in the war zone in the beginning but at some point I noticed there was some sort of fight mode turned on. The rowing part was 500 meters so I figured second or two won't change the game. My pace was 1:50 - 1:55 throughout the workout. Handstand push-ups went unbroken, and were very comfortable.

Tuesday 8.9: Jerk, Ghd, Sdhp, Burpee

Tuesday. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 20 jerk (2x15kg db's), 20 ghd. Result, 203 reps. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 10 sdhp (40kg), 10 burpee. Result, 144 reps.

My plan for this early week was to take it easy on Monday, just focusing on upper body stuff. Tuesday's about conditioning. Wednesday's agenda is strength and oly. Thursday is gonna be posterior chain and conditioning. Friday has two options. Either a hero workout or snatch / squat session. Depending on my training buddy.

Metcon. Result, 203 reps (5 rounds + 3 s2o)

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 shoulder-to-overhead, 2x15kg dumbbells
• 20 ghd sit-ups

Haven't seen this many people at the gym this far. They opened during Easter this year and little by little the place has gotten crowded at times. The word is out there that this place is a good one, I guess. Today I was a little worried as all the barbells were taken so I had to modify my plans. Had I done strength, it would have probably been okay to share a squat rack but for metcon you got to own the barbell.

These two metcons were supposed to be the other way around but it didn't matter. I subbed bar to dumbbells which worked as well, didn't matter. This brought a good burn on the shoulders and core. I got 5 full rounds and couple jerks in addition to that. First 3 rounds were unbroken on the jerks, then it was 12-8 and 13-7 on the remaining two rounds.

Ghd's were unbroken each round. Even though they got tougher, there was no doubt of hitting them unbroken. They definitely started to feel in my core at some point but this is somewhat a strength of mine. Good metcon!

Metcon. Result, 144 reps (7 rounds + 4 sdhp)

• 10min amrap of:
• 10 sumo deadlift high-pull, 40kg
• 10 burpee

Had to go upstairs because all the people. It was a good call as they had 3 additional barbells. This metcon was not going to be done without a bar. It's been ages since doing sumo deadlift high pulls last time. Really, it's been months or over a year, no idea when. But I liked it! Felt rather natural on this one and the bar didn't bounce back and forth but stayed in my control all the way.

This workout freaked me out. Especially after the first one. I realized this is going to hurt. My shoulders got hurt (only muscle hurt though) on the first one so there was a chance this is not going to be fun at all. Both elements forced heart rate up, and I got them unbroken each round. Burpees were nastier. This got me better than the first workout. Had to walk away the pain after 10 minutes was up.

Monday 7.9: Press, Muscle-ups, Pull-ups

Monday. Shoulder press 7x3 (across, 60kg). Bar mu's 5x7 reps. Cashout, 3 sets of Dog Bone pull-ups.

Sunday was a rest day. My knees were hurting a lot. They must have been inflamed - don't know why - but something in the race took its toll on my body. Haven't used to running for that long. Maybe that was the case. The obstacles were not that heavy anyway so that steady running had its effects. I guess we can all agree running is some sort of goat for me. Here's clear evidence for that. Or maybe I have a bad running technique. Don't know but I had to recover yesterday for the entire day. Just ate, rested and put lotions on my knees.

Strength.

• Shoulder press 5x40, 5x50kg
• Shoulder press 7x3 (across, 60kg)
• Push jerk 3x3 (across, 60kg)

Today lower body felt a lot better but I needed to let it take it easy for one more day. Shoulder press was a perfect way to start the week. My plan was to just hit some presses, without a strict plan. After taking 40kg and 50kg sets I decided to hit couple of triples at 60kg. It turned out to be 7 sets in total as shoulder presses. These felt good all the way. Semi-heavy but something I was able to handle well at these weights.

At the end of all the strict presses I took 3 sets of push jerks at the same weight. That means they were obviously light sets, focusing on explosiveness, quickness, and effectiveness. I took them as pause jerks too, as in pausing in the bottom of the dip for couple of seconds before bouncing up from the hole.

Gymnastics.

• Bar muscle-ups 5x7

There was one guy doing so effortless muscle-ups that I got inspired to practice on those too. My plan was to do some sort of sets of pull-ups. Wanted to get a good bunch of them since I wasn't going to do a metcon anyway. So that plan was thrown at the waste bin and this replaced that plan. My lats were burning as much as in high rep pull-up workout. These were big sets for me as my max set if 10 reps.

Sick thing is that I tried different grips on this one. My palms are easily ripped off when doing lots of pull-ups or muscle-ups. I asked this one guy at the gym who happens to be a L2-trainer in his past life. He suggested to try monkey grip instead of regular grip. Tried both of them and maybe that monkey version didn't hurt as much in my palms. Instead, it put more pressure on the wrist and that suited me well. Got to try out this stuff in the future to get a proper perception of what's best in my situation.

Accessory.

• Dog Bone pull-ups, 3 sets (10, 7, 9 reps)

This was the second time I touch on the Dog Bone by Rogue. It really is shaped like a dog bone, a big one. This is a good test for grip strength as you can't wrap your fingers around it. Plus when you do pull-ups there, it turns and twists around, which makes an additional difficulty level. I took 3 sets at the end of this session. First set was 10 reps, second one 7 and the last one 9 reps. Especially on the second set my left hand started to slip before pulling strength wore out. This gotta be a good accessory tool to strengthen grip and pulling strength.

Saturday 5.9: Tough Viking

Saturday. Tough Viking 2015 - contest.

Today was a different kind of day. Couple of months ago Jasper talked me and Toni into this competition called Tough Viking. At the moment he was doing his recruitment process, he didn't tell how the competition would end…

This was a 12km run with plenty of different styles obstacles. I believe there were 21 or 23 total tasks to be done before the finish line. Don't even remember what kind of stuff they had during the course but it started with a bunch of footballers tackling people to the ground and finishing with running through 10.000 volts of electricity. That is the little part Jazz "forgot" to mention when he suggested we'd hit this one.

Here's how it looked like one week ago in Stockholm, Sweden

It was a blast. This one also revealed that running is not my thing. Running itself felt good but my knees started to hurt at some point and the latter half of the race was a bit painful. Muscles felt good. Little cramps in the last kilometer. There were a lot of people so we had to queue to get to some of the obstacles. We had ups and downs for sure.

Maybe the coolest pieces were the ones where we had to get wet in the ocean for different reasons. I'm telling you, at this time of the year it's not very warm water. I thought it would be nasty as hell but in the end it kind of made good to get some cold recovery during the run. The weather was ugly for the entire day and it rained through most of the comp. However, it didn't matter at all. Instead, it brought that Rocky feeling as the mother nature was also testing us =)

Friday 4.9: Snatch, Clean, Row

Friday. Snatch 10x1 (across, 60kg). Emom x 10min: 1 squat clean @ 90kg. Cashout, 2k easy row.

Today was a day with less action and volume. Tomorrow is going to be a different kind of sports day so I laid back today, kind of. No metcon whatsoever, just couple of pulls from the ground, oly lifts. Rowing was easy pace, programmed just to flush legs and get some recovery for the body.

Oly.

• Snatch 10x1 (across, 60kg)

It was a positive signal that I was able to make a good bunch of these lifts at 60 kilos. It's kind of pathetic that the loads are at this level. That's why I'm looking to make them better. My posture seems to be leaning forward when I catch the barbell. That creates some issues, and I actually missed three attempts in front as I wasn't able to stabilize the bar. When leaning back and having weight on the heels it's much more stable. But it's difficult to land like that.

Emom.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min of:
• 1 squat clean @ 90kg

Definitely not heavy. These were about 80% of my max. Wasn't going to make any max efforts today. Just wanted to couple of reps in the bank. No biggie on the legs, light weight. On the first reps my front rack position felt very tight on the lats and shoulders but after some mobility between reps I got them ready for the game.

Cashout.

• 2k row

Active recovery. This was a good call to get the legs back to feeling rather fresh. Pace was at 1:53 for the first kilometer and 1:55 for the second one. I changed the damper setting from 7 to 5 for the latter half of this one.

Thursday 3.9: Squat, Deads, Sled, Pull-ups, Burpees

Thursday. Back squat (up to 138kg). Deadlift 3x10 (across 150kg). Emom x 21min. 1st min:  20m sled push, 2nd min: 12 pull-up, 3rd min: 12 burpee.

This was a cool day. No rush at all so I had a good bunch of stuff to be done at the gym. However, food intake today was not as good as I would have liked to have so that affected energy levels. Mostly on the conditioning part. Food really makes a difference. The food at work was really not food, and my second lunch (before training session) included no meat at all so there's something to be learned from this day. Usually my nutrition is right on point.

Strength.

• Back squat (3x90, 3x108, 4x123, 3x138, 5x130, 5x130kg)
• Deadlift 3x10 (across, 150kg)

Couple of heavier squat sets. In case you're wondering about the kilos, this is probably some sort of percentage work. The last couple of squat sessions have been continuance to Smolov so I'm not determining those weights by myself but I rely on the system. Last time my butt cheeks and hamstrings got sore from back squats but they recovered well for this session.

Those last three sets seemed heavy, and they were but definitely doable. In the process I realized my legs can carry this kind of weights pretty well. Okay, there has to be a pause after every rep before knocking another one.

Last Friday I took pulls from the wall, big sets at 120, 130, and 140kg's for 10 reps. That time I left the session with a feeling that more could be in the tank for these sets. I carried that thought to today's session and redeemed my promise. Three sets of 10 reps, across at 150kg. First set was alright. On the second one - which you can see on the recap video - my grip started to slip big time on probably rep number 4. Somehow I was able to hold on to the barbell and finish the set. Finally it was only on my fingers.

I learned from that and chalked my hands for the third set. Two first ones were chalk free zone. That really made a difference and the last one had no grip issues. It was just heavy. The last couple of reps to be precise. Felt very good to pull semi-heavy (heavy for 10 reps) from the ground.

Squats and deads

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 21min of:
• 1st min, 20m sled push
• 2nd min, 12 pull-up
• 3rd min, 12 burpee

Here I realized the energy levels were not where they should be. I was breathing heavily after couple of minutes. Really after the first round my heart rate was clearly higher than it should be. Sled was not heavy for sure but it took a toll on my shoulders and legs too. Pull-ups were the easiest part of this one. They definitely got uncomfortable at certain point but they were most definitely to be done unbroken.

Burpees were not fun. In the beginning, no biggie. But then it started to feel like each of these three elements brought pressure on my shoulders, and they got fatigued. Especially on the burpees when it was time to push my body back up from the floor. I'm happy about the session in general, strength work was right where it was supposed to be, and metcon served its purpose.