Week started with bodyweight gymnastics stuff and another metcon consisting of barbell work and rowing. Lots of sweating and breathing.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
1st min: 15 pull-ups
2nd min: 10 handstand push-ups
3rd min: 15 box jumps
These were destined to be unbroken. Pull-ups went very well and didn't have any issues on those. It was surprising that handstand push-ups felt a bit awkward in the beginning. Had couple of no-reps that I had to compensate. Feet came off the wall and I lost my balance. That was not cool. Shoulders took them quite well though. I realized my hand position was a bit off on the first sets. That's why there were some issues. Corrected it and the last sets went nicely. Box jumps kept breathing a notch faster.
Metcon.
10 rounds of:
3 bench press @ 80kg
250m row
Plan was to do heavy power cleans and rowing. Cleans would have probably been at 90kg. However, all three platforms were taken as well as all squat racks. Only one bench station was free so I figured why not. Turned out to be 3 bench at semi-heavy weight and rowing with a faster pace. This was a good wod.
Sunday. Tng power clean and push jerk, build up (up to 90kg). Emom x 15min: 1st min 5 power clean @ 70kg. 2nd min 5 front squat @ 70kg. 3rd min 5 push jerk @ 70kg.
We came back home Sunday evening. I unpacked the stuff and headed to the gym. Below you can see what happened. That 90kg push jerk without resting it at the front rack position was huge for me. First time weight this style. Beyond my dreams if you would have asked it me couple of months ago.
Overhead.
Build up to a heavy touch'n'go power clean and push jerk
Saturday. AM: 7 sets of 10 db snatch @ 25kg and uphill sprint. Rest as needed between sets. PM: Metcon, 10rds of: 20m farmer's walk @ 2x25kg db's, 7 double db jerk @ 2x25kg, 30 air squats.
Went outdoors with Kari to hit a session at Tornimäki hill. Dumbbell snatches and sprints up the hill. Hurt legs nicely.
Finns have been celebrating Midsummer this weekend. The sun will never go down during the night and it's light all day. Usually people go to their summer cottages and celebrate this festivity with friends or family, grill some food and enjoy their time. We went to Klaukkala but in the morning I went to the gym to do strongman style workout. It's a bummer that I videotaped the workouts but accidentally deleted everything from my camera during the weekend =)
Thurday. Push jerks, build up to a heavy triple (max 90kg). Conditioning, every 3:00 x 7min: 10 burpee box jump + 15 wb.
Plan was to do some emom snatches. My back was still sore from Tuesday's deadlifts. It's common that going a bit heavier on the pulls my back definitely feels it the following couple of days. Going to a squat position didn't feel attractive so I changed the plans when I was warming up. Remembered the good streak of overhead strength and body felt receptive for that so I decided to go for push jerk triples.
Overhead.
Push jerk triples
Build up to a heavy triple (40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, PR 90kg)
It was probably about a week ago when I got 5 reps at my 1RM @ 85kg on this movement. Split jerk can carry heavier weights but that doesn't feel so natural in my shoulders so I've worked much more on push jerks lately. Today I thought 85kg should not be an issue (if everything was going good) and possibly a new record on push jerk might be true.
I built up to a heavy triple on 5kg increments after 70kg. It was kind of funny that 50kg and 70kg barbells felt heavier and maybe not that smooth. The other sets felt goof. After completing 80kg set without problems I knew 85kg would be cool too. Got that completed touch'n'go too. At that moment I realized I'm gonna put 90kg over my head at least once. It was huge thing to make it three times. Even on would have been a record.
Intervals.
Every 3:00, for 21 minutes
10 burpee box jumps + 15 wall ball shots
These were all-in intervals. Got 10 reps of burpee boxes as soon as possible, then walked couple of meters to the wall ball station to start throwing the ball around. This burned my legs a lot! Especially on the wall balls. Right after I finished the last box jump it hit me in the legs, and throwing ball got them even more fired up already on the first reps. This was a good conditioning piece and got mental at around 3 rounds. I had thought about doing it for 5 sets but took couple of extra ones to dig deeper.
Tuesday. Deads 5x3 @ 170kg. Emom x 10min: 3 power clean @ 80kg. Row, 30sec on, 30sec off, for 10min. Result, 1.700m
Huh, Monday's leg oriented day clearly feels in my body. Legs are sore on the sides as well as quads. At least it feels like I've done something for real. It was time to pull from the ground today and finish the session with a little row action.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x3 @ 170kg
It's been some time since completing a bit heavier deadlifts. Okay these were not superheavy but still something you need to play attention to very closely. Took some lighter sets at 130, 150, 160kg before getting up to the working sets.
It felt good to get my hands around the barbell and pull it from the floor. Was able to maintain torso straight in all sets and not compromise form at any stage. Hands also took this pretty well. It's sometimes challenging to get through heavy deads without any rips in palms / fingers.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
3 power clean @ 80kg
I put the timer on with a mindset of doing either 2 reps per minute or 1 rep every 30 seconds. Once I took the first lift the bar felt very good so I decided to add it up to 3 reps in one set. Continued this for 10 minutes, and finished the last set for a total of 10 reps. Being able to complete those without any major issues was a good confidence booster.
Conditioning. Result, 1.700m
30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 10 minutes
Row
In the end I was running out of time so I created this on the spot. Basically I just unloaded the barbell, put the plates where they need to be and sat on the rower. Pace was about 1:40 per set. More like sub 1:40. Butt cheeks numbed at around 7 minutes.
Monday. Back squats 5x10 @ 90kg. Skills, 3rds of: 14 pistols, 20 ghd. Accessory, 400m walking lunges with weight vest.
Bradshaw destroyed my forearms the other day. My best guess is that my right forearm is in a bit of an inflammation mode right now. That has an effect on the things I was able to practice today. I was pumped up to do a bunch of stuff but turned up smart and listened to my body. Today was purely lower body oriented session due to circumstances.
Strength.
Back squats 5x10 reps @ 90kg
Touch'n'go style
This was a bit different action. Lots of reps with lighter weight. The thing was that breaks were not allowed on these sets. Just take it on your back, and pump it up and down for 10 reps. Weights was alright for today, last reps were nastier on the sets, especially the 4th and 5th set. This could have been heavier though but for now I'll take it. These weren't a walk in the park by any means.
Recap
Skills.
3 rounds of:
14 pistol squats, alternating
20 ghd sit-ups
Holy hip flexors. Both movements burdened those areas and they didn't get much recovery in the process. Changed the leg after every rep. Completed those without breaks but paced myself every round. Ghd's unbroken.
Accessory.
20x20m walking lunges (400m)
Wear a vest
I've done this before in the past. In the beginning this goes on nicely. After couple of rounds it gets tough. Legs burn a lot. Towards the end it just gets worse. The latter part is miserable. But it's definitely going to be good in the long run. In the evening my legs cramped continuously so the leg work for today was definitely on point.
Sunday. Thruster, build up to a heavy single (85kg). Wod, 5rds of: 10 cleans (ascending weights between 60-80kg), 15 box. Time, 9.12. Accessory. Barbell work with kettlebells hanging with rubber bands.
Today we spent the day with family in Espoo. Great day even though the weather ain't that summery at the moment. It's been raining fiercely the past couple of days. In the evening I went to the gym and worked on overhead stuff, good intense metcon and accessory work.
Overhead.
Build up to a heavy single thruster (40, 50, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85kg)
This was something different. Usually when I do thrusters, it's most likely going to be part of a conditioning piece. Today the focus was on strength. I did couple of reps at 40-50-60 to get used to the movement. From then on I took purely singles. My forearms and biceps are sore as hell from yesterday's hero workout. Also calves and hamstrings are sore so it was a good way to start the training session.
Mut because my arms were sensitive I started to feel the burn in those areas at some stage of building the weights up. It's cool that I've been able to put weights overhead lately and that is seen in my overhead strength too. Completing 85kg thruster rather easily was freaking great!
Thrusters
Metcon. Time, 9.12
10 power cleans @ 60kg
15 box jumps
10 power cleans @ 65kg
15 box jumps
10 power cleans @ 70kg
15 box jumps
10 power cleans @ 75kg
15 box jumps
10 power cleans @ 80kg
15 box jumps
This got nasty pretty soon. Breathing was heavy early on. 10 power cleans and 15 box jumps, that was the name of the game each round. I just added 5kg after each round on the barbell, ranging from 60kg to 80kg.
Strategy was to go all singles from the very get-go. Tried to keep the bar moving continuously though. Lift, drop and repeat. Only at 75kg I needed to take the first short mental break. And at 80kg I needed a break after 6 reps. It got so heavy that it felt difficult to get the barbell high enough. I don't wanna lift it with gross technique.
Box jumps were unbroken. Tried to minimize all the transitions on this one, still having some sanity on the pacing. After cleans I walked easily to the box and started jumping. After box jumps I walked to change the weights, step back, inhale and approach the barbell for another set of 10 singles. This worked well in my opinion and I'm very satisfied on the pace kept on this metcon.
Metcon
Accessory.
Stablity work with barbell and kettlebells
This was some sort of trend at some point. I tied some kettlebells on a barbell with the help of rubber bands. At first I did overhead walk and then overhead squats. This must be a great accessory tool for snatches and overhead stability in general.
Accessory work
It would definitely be beneficial to do bench with the help of this as well. Some people do overhead squats, that might be quite challenging. This was the first time I've ever done this kind of stuff so it was just something to get used to. As you can see, my training partner Lauri is showing some sick mobility in the video, good job mister!
Saturday. Hero workout Bradshaw. Time, 21.06 (PR).
We went to the gym with Pauliina at noon. Ate a good breakfast and went after a hero workout that I've done twice before. It's been ages since doing it before so it was about time to take a gut check.
Had the same feelings as before prior to the workout. Looks a lot easier on paper than in real life. Pull-ups were the only thing I was concerned about. Hspu's were small number, deadlifts were light, and I hoped my shins would feel fine on the du's. I was ready to quite after 3 rounds though =)
Handstand push-ups were the clerkly the easiest piece of these 4 elements. Could have continued them forever. Deadlifts were light theoretically yes. But in real life those started to burn my hamstrings efficiently, and at some point of the workout I needed to take a break before getting on the pull-up bar as those deads hurt so much.
Pull-ups were the toughest of them all by a long mile. Went unbroken on the first 3-4 rounds. From then on I divided them into 8-4 till the end. Those hurt big time. Double unders went well. I foam rolled my shins properly. I've noticed that's the key to success. Without that operation my shins and ankles feel weird, tight and there's some sort of nagging pain in the shins. Today those felt great. Had some misses on couple of sets but majority of them were unbroken. On the last round my shoe laces opened up and the jump rope hit those laces. Couldn't move on like that so I got rid of my other shoe and finished the workout. Must have been an awkward sight, guy jumping rope with only one shoe =)
Strategy in the big picture was to head straight to the wall on the hspu's as they were easy. From there I walked to the barbell, rolled it from the rack to my lifting station and completed the required 6 reps. After deads I needed my break. In the beginning I went straight at the pull-up bar but little by little this transition as well as the completion of pull-ups got longer. After pull-ups I grabbed by jump rope, inhaled and exhaled, then started moving for the double unders. This is how it looked like in my head. It would have been cool to see a video but today there is none available.
It's been a while since doing back squats for strength. Different styles of squats have been part of my training but pure back squats not in the near history. It takes time for me to get warm for the squats so it usually takes the entire training time slot I have reserved for the day. Today it was about time to hit it again. It seems to fluctuate on the squats. Sometimes I squat a lot, and sometimes it goes to the background.
Strength.
Back squats 5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1 @ 130kg
I had determined the reps and weights beforehand so it was easy to build up and just start doing the reps. It was heavy for sure but still I had positive mind entering the first set. Got the first 3 sets completed as prescribed.
Triples were okay too all but the last rep. Should have waited a little bit more on top as I rushed it and failed to bounce back up. First single was miserable, maybe because of that failed rep just a moment ago. I took it pretty quickly without recovery. Last two singles were much better.
Accessory.
10x10 overhead walking lunges with 2x16kg kettlebells
Rest as needed between sets
My legs were done after the squat session and time was ticking. Decided to go for something more rare. Upstairs there are a bunch of kettlebells so I went to play with them. Took one kettlebell on each hand, threw them overhead and started lunging. One 10m leg down the floor, drop the bells, pick them back up and repeat for a total of 10x10 meters. Good stuff. Really burned mostly my shoulders. Nice way to work on them.
Wednesday. Metcon, 5rds of: 3 mu + 50 lunges. Metcon, 5rds of: 12 kb swing + 250m row. Time, 7.54.
I realized on my way to the gym that I had zero plans of what to practice today. That was kind of odd but "luckily" the traffic was jammed and I had plenty of time to think about the workouts. First one was more skills based and the second one was a great conditioning piece.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
3 ring muscle-ups
50 walking lunges
It struck me suddenly that muscle-ups need to be performed today. I looked at my hands and they looked alright. Ready for action. Without that much warm-up I jumped on the rings and started moving. Mental pre-game was on point today and it helped tremendously with the muscle-ups.
Took one set of mu's, and went lunging for 50 reps. Repeated this for a total of 5 sets. It was a very positive thing that the rings felt great today. Those sets didn't feel like they would be any kind of issue at all. The video below is the last set.
Metcon. Time, 7.54
5 rounds of:
12 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
250m row
This was more intense. Kept the transitions as short as possible all the time. It's important to take the first pull on the rower right away and not hang around to adjust the foot handles before that. There's plenty of time to adjust those after you get the "boat" moving.
Kettlebell was 2 pood version and I programmed it at 12 reps in order for me being able to grab it right after the rower. Had it been 15-20 swings I would have taken a short break before swinging it.
Focused today lots on clean complex. Afterwards I was tired of moving the barbell so it was time to move just the body. Calisthenics in the metcon.
Oly.
10 sets of the following clean complex:
1 hang cleans
1 cleans
2 front squats
Barbell at 90kg each set
Built up to this moving barbells in different combos at 40, 60, 70 and 80kg's. Then started the first set @ 90kg. This was not a timed workout. It was pretty cool to understand that this load was very much under my control. On the video you'll see the last set of the 10 completed ones. I believe all the sets looked alike.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
15 toes-to-bar
20 push-ups
Not a timed workout either. Focus was on getting the push-ups done unbroken. Those got very tough on the last 2 rounds but I'm really happy on completing them ub every round. The last maybe 6-7 reps were miserable on those rounds.
Toes-to-bar's were unbroken on the first 2 rounds. Then I had to start breaking them up. Third was maybe something like 8-4-3, then maybe 4 attempts to finish the round. This hurt more in the muscles than lungs.
Monday. Gymnastics, death by hspu. Result, 55 reps. Metcon, 6rds of: 300m row, 10 burpees. Time, 11.03.
Started the week with a quick session of two metcons. First started with skills based portion, then pure conditioning to finish the session. We went out with wife afterwards for dinner and stroll in the sun. I like the way this week started for sure =)
Gymnastics. Result, 55 reps (round of 10 reps completed)
Death by handstand push-ups
It's been ages since doing "death by" workouts for the previous time. The idea is that you put the clock on, and complete one rep on the first minute. Two reps on the second minute, 3 reps on the 3rd min and so on. It ends when you can't finish the reps needed within one minute.
My shoulders felt yesterday's push jerks already before this session began so it was challenging enough to smash these handstand push-ups. It was easy in the beginning but once it gets taxing, the difference is suddenly quite big compared to the previous minute.
It was somewhere at probably 7 reps that I felt it's gonna be tough to get 10 minutes done. Had to break the reps on the last rounds but still got the work done.
Metcon. Time, 11.03
6 rounds of:
300m row
10 burpees
I had decided to have a short training session so I basically jumped on to this with just short recovery. I was sweaty already so why waste time as you can also hit it right away. This was a good wod indeed. Rowing and burpees never fail. Rowing was 1:40+ and from there I walked couple of meters to my burpee area.
The strategy was to walk those few steps deliberately and start working the burpees right away. No standing still and waiting the breathing to settle. And after burpees I walked back to the rower and took the first stroke immediately. Then adjusted the foot handles during the process. Focus was on these transitions today.
Sunday. AM. 5 hours of gardening. PM. Push jerk 5's, build up (up to 85kg). E2mom x 10min: 10 push jerk @ 60kg. Accessory, 40 strict pull-ups.
After breakfast we went outdoors to take care of the yard. There was quite a lot work to be done, and we actually spent 5 hours doing different kinds of things. It was a blast though, I liked it! Especially in good company. Sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. In the evening I needed my doze of crossfit so I drove to the gym to move the barbell.
Luckily I have been free of elbow pain lately so it's been a blessing to put the barbell overhead. I have enjoyed it tremendously. Today I built up for that same objective, getting stronger overhead. Push jerks from the rack, all 5's. Started light, and went up little by little. Focusing on getting fast and utilizing my hips properly.
Got to say these weights were ridiculous. My one rep max on push jerk is 85kg. Some time ago I did huge record of making that 3RM. And today I was able to make that identical weight for 5RM. Got to be pleased big time for this opportunity!
Barbell cycling.
Every 2:00, for 10 minutes
10 push jerks @ 60kg
After doing strength work I dropped down to 60 kilos and decided to add reps for sets. Every 2 minutes I completed one set of 10 push jerks @ 60kg. Total of 5 sets (for 10 minutes). This got spicy surprisingly soon. Maybe it was the third set where I realized it's gonna be tough to finish this. The last reps of every set were challenging. My shoulders held on and got through this piece.
Accessory.
40 strict pull-ups
Upper body was quite tense after the first two pieces so these pull-ups were nasty from the very beginning. Went unbroken on the first two rounds but then it got miserable. Nothing to be told to future generations about this one.
Saturday. AM. Ohs triples, build up to a heavy triple (up to 75kg). Wod, 10rds of: 3 power clean (85kg), 3 back squat (110kg). Time, 12.25. PM. Wod, 5-4-3-2-1 rope climb, 15 medball clean.
Thursday and Friday were full rest days. We had lots of stuff to be taken care of and I simply didn't find time to hit a workout. And that felt kind of good anyway so I let the gainz take control on those recovery days. On Saturday I woke up early to hit the gym for barbell work. Then at noon we traveled to Klaukkala to spend the weekend with Kari and Maija. It was a double training session.
Oly.
Overhead squat
Build up to a heavy triple (40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75kg)
It's been a while since doing overhead squats at real weights. My wrist have not liked this movement and it feels a bit awkward on this movement. It's kind of funny as it doesn't matter on the snatch though. I started at 40kg, then added 5kg after each set. No time domain here, just went on by feeling. It was rather straight forward action anyway with short recoveries.
I'm very happy on these weights. Probably the most I've been able to overhead squat for a triple. This movement is not the best of my lifts by a long mile. I've done 90kg for a single once but it gets really heavy at around these loads.
Metcon. Time, 12.25
10 rounds of:
3 power clean @ 85kg
3 back squat @ 110kg
This was different kind of action with only barbells in sight. Usually there is some bodyweight element included but doing just barbell work is a different kind of nature. The weights were moderately heavy so that I can't just go and rip it all the time. However, it was supposed to be something I can still move nicely. That means it's gonna hurt.
Got the power cleans in singles all the way from the very first set. It was heavy but manageable. Back squats were obviously unbroken. Had to take my time between movements in order to perform well all the time. In the beginning it was about one minute per round for 3-4 minutes, then it started to get a little longer per one round.
Metcon.
5 rope climb
15 medball clean
4 rope climb
15 medball clean
3 rope climb
15 medball clean
2 rope climb
15 medball climb
1 rope climb
15 medball clean
In the evening we went to the nearby park with Kari to do a workout in the nature. It's been 3-4 weeks from HC Triplet. During the last event there (15min amrap of rope climbs) I hurt my left shin big time. It got rubbed agains the rope so bad that it went all bloody from two sides of the shin. Afterwards it got inflamed and it took weeks to get the wounds totally healed up.
So yesterday I thought now it's about to test rope climbs again. The result was that the same wounds are now open and active again. Got to medicate those rashes well… Hopefully they recover much sooner this time.
Anyway, this workout was super cool! Holy arm pump. I can manage some rope climbs for sure but getting some volume on this movement gets to my body. Great workout.
Wednesday. Benchmark workout Barbara. Time, 34.36.
This has been in my plans for some time and was thinking about doing it earlier this week too. Got to say the day wasn't ideal as my core was smashed from Monday's ghd's and hip flexors were aching too. However, that's life and you just have to deal with it. Don't bitch about it, just do it.
At first I thought pull-ups and push-ups would be the deal breaker here, and sit-ups and squats would be the easier part. It turned out to be quite the opposite. Those were the easier parts of these 4 elements. First two rounds were unbroken on the pull-ups, then 15-5, fourth round started with 13-4-3 pull-ups and the last one was 10-4-3-3 reps.
On the push-ups I got through mostly something like 10-15 reps on the first try, then 5's before relaxing the tension, until I reached 30 reps. This was the plan which I was able to carry through alright.
Rounds 1-3
But the sit-ups and squats. Damned they got me. And usually any kind of sit-ups are my strong part so this was not cool to witness. My core was still sore from Monday's ghd's so that definitely had an effect. The first round went okay but already on the second one I had to start breaking them up. And lost a ton of seconds / minutes in the long run because of that.
Rounds 4-5
Sit-ups also made my hip flexors tight. It was awkward trying to get up from the floor right after sit-ups =) Squats got tough too. Legs were burning for sure but those hip flexors were the issue. Wasn't able to keep going, felt so nasty in there. This is a good benchmark workout, as they all tend to be. Haven't found a benchmark wod that would be a waste of time. Bad ass workouts all around.
Tuesday. Clean singles, build up (result 112kg). Every 15sec, for 5min: 1 clean @ 90kg. Emom x 18min. 1st: 15 db press @ 2x20kg, 2nd: 30 lunges, 3rd: 15 box.
Went to the gym today with a plan to hit some olympic lifts in the form of cleans. Pulling strength and explosiveness were on the agenda. Some variation with the cleans. Had to change my plans on the fly as I had Barbara on my mind. Had some nagging issues in the body so I modified the metcon in the end totally.
Every 15 seconds, for 5 minutes (20 reps), perform 1 squat clean @ 90kg
Studied some stories I heard Rich Froning tell about some of his lifting sessions with the guys. First go heavy, then do a notch lighter load for higher reps, for time. First I built up to a heavy single which I haven't done in a while. Took multiple fast singles at 60, 70, 80kg's before starting to do just one single per weight.
The game changed pretty soon probably somewhere at 105kg. Before that I felt quick and explosive, especially out of the hole. On the way up the bar felt easy, smooth and light. That's not a surprise to anyone that there's a lot of mental game in olympic lifts, as well as in pretty much every aspect of fitness. Let it be crossfit or something else.
Anyway, I realized on the video that there's plenty of space and time to go under the barbell also on the heavier cleans. The bar traveled much higher than it is needed in order for me to get a chance to drop under the bar. Still, that 112kg bar was the heaviest I was able to clean today. It gets mental at some point. There is no logical reason for not putting more weight on the bar. Something prevents from going under the bar though =)
95kg + 110kg
Conditioning.
Every minute on the minute x 18 minutes
1st minute: 15 push presses with 2x20kg dumbbells
2nd minute: 30 walking lunges
3rd minute: 15 box jumps
This was a good finisher. The combination of lunges and box jumps got to my lower body quite nicely. Went up and down the green matt for 30 lunges. That took me something like 40 seconds I'd guess. Left me some recovery to walk back to the box, shake my legs couple of times and then start jumping around.
The third element in this one was push presses with dumbbells in both hands at the same time. Got through with 20kg db's. On the first round I completed 12 reps as I figured that would be cool number of reps. However, on the second round I jumped to 15 reps and finished with that. Plus did the 3 extra reps that were missing on the first round. These presses were physically the most demanding part of the workout. Shoulders were gone but I still got them unbroken every round. Stopped on top and locked elbows correctly before getting another rep done.
Monday. Every 90sec, for 8 sets: 4 tng c&j @ 70kg. Front squats 5x4, across @ 110kg. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 10 hspu, 20 ghd. Result, 160 reps.
Good session of olympic lifts, strength work and conditioning with gymnastics elements included. Yesterday's Linda made my shoulders tight and lower back sore too. It doesn't matter if the barbell is heavy or moderate weight on deadlifts, they usually have an effect on my body the following 2-3 days.
Oly.
Every 90 seconds, for 8 sets (12min)
Perform 4 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 70kg
I added the stakes on the clean and jerks this time, and put 70kg for multiple tng reps. This is heavier and more taxing than what the safe version would be like. It's very satisfying that 70kg barbell on this movement is not intimidating nowadays. That's how I realize development has taken place over the years.
However, doing 4 c&j's without resetting the bar at any stage is another story. That should be heavy. Quick singles are easier. This was touch'n'go so it ought to be tougher. I'm very pleased with the effort shown in this piece. Got through the 8 sets as planned. I was looking to do fewer sets it felt good so I went to 8 sets.
Strength.
Front squat 5x4 @ 110kg
This was also supposed to be 4 by 4 initially. Completed one more set for fun. All weights across at 110kg. Not super heavy but I haven't squatted heavy lately and my back was killing me from yesterday's deadlifts so these were a bit conservative.
This couplet turned out to be tougher than expected. I realized during the workout that it's about being in inverted or semi-inverted position throughout the 10 minutes and using hip flexors a lot. Maybe it was exactly the burn of hip flexors and core that also made the handstand push-ups more challenging. I went unbroken for 2-3 rounds, then came off the wall after 7 reps for 1-2 rounds and then lastly 6-2-2 or something alike in the end.
Ghd's got tough, holy moly! I thought these might be possibly unbroken all the way. How wrong was I… Well, the majority was but towards the end those got gnarly big time, and I had to jump up to stand and relax my hip flexors for couple of seconds before continuing. This happened maybe 3 times in total.
Another benchmark workout in the books for this weekend. Yesterday I met with Amanda for the first time and today another lady came to see me at the gym. Linda is a workout I've done once before. That time it was a fair match as the weights were too heavy for me. Today I got a clear personal record on this one.
It's 3.5 years since meeting with Linda last time. I have gained quite a lot of muscle and strength since then. Back then my maxes were 165kg / 87.5kg / 75kg. Now they are 210kg / 108kg / 117kg so obviously the "three bars of death" were lighter as well. I also weigh a bit more (maybe 84kg compared to 79kg back in 2012) so the weights ought to be a little heavier.
However, I wanted to compare the work to the first time I hit this one so I kept them at 80kg. Bench at 84-85kg would have also brought lots of issues in this type of workout for me. Out of these three movements bench is definitely the weakest of them. I have never been a "bencher" by any means. Took my first bench presses after I started crossfitting, and only take them occasionally.
Deadlifts were unbroken each round. Felt rather smooth on them. My left hand was a bit sore on the palm so I had some doubts about how it would feel like during the wod but it was just fine. Cleans were singles all the way. Reckoned I would be able to keep pace better on them. Bar was light anyway so just drop and pick it up again. Worked well. Another focus area was to start cleaning right after bench.
The thing in this workout was definitely the bench, again =) Bench is my goat for sure. Doing moderate load sets with bigger volume screams for trouble. I'm still happy on how well they went. It's just that comparing them to deads and cleans they were the toughest without a doubt. Went 5-3-2 in the first round, then 3-3-3 on the second. On the round of 8's had to break it more. Plan was to do a triple to start with in every set, and succeeded in it as well. All the way up to the round of 5's (3-2).
Let's see how my body feels after this. Last time it took me almost a week to recover =) I have strong confidence that it was due to the heavy volume considering I had just started crossfit about half a year ago. Now my body feels just fine, hopefully tomorrow as well. Couple of years crossfitting in between must have made miracles to body adaptation and recovery.
Saturday. Benchmark workout Amanda. Time, 15.20. Squat clean triples, build up to a heavy set (100kg).
This day was remarkable in my crossfit career. First time being able to do benchmark workout Amanda rx'd. Wasn't pretty to be honest but was able to do it anyway with real weights. Afterwards I went to build to to a heavy set of squat clean triple.
I've done this once before with 40kg barbell. It's a totally different game to add 20 kilos on the barbell. Ring muscle-ups went pretty nicely today. For no reason it's been some time since hopping on the rings. It was cool to see I still got it. Had to break them obviously in several sets during the workout.
In the warm-up I took one rep at 60kg snatch, then started the clock on Amanda. The feeling after having 9 muscle-ups fatigue shoulders a bit and then trying to stabilize the barbell overhead in the bottom position was unreal. Hard to even describe how it felt but it simply felt unnatural. I lost the first one in front, and the second attempt went too far back. By the way, that was the first snatch that went through in my life. They always stay in front if I miss them.
Third attempt was caught but it looked ugly as hell. Same with the fourth. Then little by little I started to get it under control. Last reps on the round of 9's were decent. Rounds of 7's and 5's were already smoother. It felt better and better in the course of the workout. It was almost a pity the workout ended. I liked the snatch part towards the end.
I'm very happy I was able to complete this workout. It's been in the back of my head that some day I want to complete it rx'd. These are written to be squat snatches and some of them definitely were not but I'll take it anyway. 60kg snatch is not self-evident for me, especially in a metcon. Sometimes in a snatch session it feels heavy so doing 21 reps of those in metcon is great.
Oly.
Build up to a heavy set of squat clean triple
Sets at 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg
It was different to do these sets after metcon. Usually I do strength and barbell cycling before and then hit a workout afterwards. It was a good change in methodology. These weren't the lightest of cleans I've done but still they rolled quite okay.
Doing them touch'n'go style is more taxing than 3 x quick singles so I'm happy with this. On the last rep of the 100kg set I lost the tightness in my body so had to reset the bar and take the last rep as a single.
