Tuesday 22.12: Press, Row, Hspu, Pull-ups + 50-35-20

Tuesday. AM. Push press 2x8 (70kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 15 cal row, 11 front squats (2x15kg db's), 7 hspu. Time, 10.30. Gymnastics, 100 pull-ups. Accessory, upper body strength.

PM. Metcon, 50-35-20 of: t2b and push jerk (40kg). Time, 15.05. Accessory, lower body strength.

Drove Pauliina to work in the morning and headed right away to the gym for a 2h session. Felt a bit scared how my back would handle it. I wrote the programming considering that issue. Only some light front squats were in play today and those didn't feel too good. Everything else went smoothly. In the afternoon I hit another session at the same place. High rep metcon was in main role. Then lower body strength.

Overhead.

• Push press 2x8 @ 70kg

Part of the progression for bigger shoulders. Or actually I don't really care whether they get bigger or not but the functionality of them is the main goal. Getting stronger on upper body in order to master olympic lifts better in the future. This was a total of 2 sets at a pre-determined weight at 70 kilos.

Built up to 80kg for warm-up as it has been some sort of tradition this far. Soon I'm supposed to hit sets at around that weight so maybe I'll have to change my approach in the near future. I was still able to go touch'n'go on both of these sets. Felt really good on hitting the sets well.

Presses and pull-ups

Metcon. Time, 10.30

• 5 rounds of:
• 15 cal row
• 11 squats, holding 2x15kg dumbbells in front rack
• 7 handstand push-ups

This was going to be a great workout. Those squats kinda ruined the purpose of the workout. I should have known better that it puts too much pressure on lower back. But the combination of the elements is great. Let's say my body would have felt fresh, then I could have done this for a 20min amrap with maybe something like 24-16-8 reps of the same movements. Rowing felt like a short distance, that is something to be added somewhat. Squats hurt my back so it hindered me from going at full throttle. Hspu's were good all the way.

Gymnastics.

• 100 pull-ups

Need to keep the volume on pull-ups high because this is a movement that goes downhill if it's not worked on continuously. This was not for time. The sets were 20-10-20-15-15-10-10 reps. I thought about just working on finding a smooth rhythm and keeping my feet together. It got heavier somewhere after 70 reps. Lats took these well. It was only my hands / palms that felt the burden. There is something funny in these hands as it's sometimes the thing not letting me do more reps or go heavier =)

Accessory.

• Bent over row, 4x10, both right and left hand

Now as I'm on vacation and there's not rush out of the gym it's good to utilize the time and do some accessory strength movements. Bent over rows are something I rarely do but I guess these are okay movements anyway. I went 10 reps on right hand, then 10 reps on left hand, and kept a break after those. Repeat for a total of 4 rounds.

Metcon. Time, 15.05

• 50-35-20 of:
• Toes-to-bar
• Push jerk, 40kg

Once I got home, it was meal and nap time. These really make a difference for recovery. Body felt fine in the afternoon, better than in the morning. Main thing on this session was the metcon with which I began the session. It was a high rep workout. Total of 105 reps of both jerks and core work. It makes the nature of the wod different when you throw a good bunch of reps in a row.

50-35-20

First set of t2b's were 10-10-5-5 and then triples to the end. Jerks were 5x10 on the first round. Then number of reps for t2b is not huge in this workout but doing them this way really made it feel in my core. Same with the jerks. Load is light, just 40kg but doing them for a long time without real rest is a nice test of muscle endurance.

Second round of t2b's were 5-5-5-5, and then triples till the end. Jerks were 15-10-10. Was able to do bigger sets on jerks all the way. Last round of t2b's were 5-5-5-3-2 reps. Jerks were 13-7. Damned that bar felt heavy on the last reps. Shoulder felt the burn. This was a fun workout.

Accessory.

• Lower body strength (quads, hamstrings, glutes)

I took my time to work on leg strength afterwards. Lots of sets on different stations of the gym. More like traditional meathead type of action. I needed this anyway because I wasn't able to squat which was the original plan.