Sunday 28-31.8: Olympic lifts, Conditioning, Bodyweight

Sunday 28.6 - Wednesday 31.8: Olympic lifts, Conditioning, Bodyweight.

Last weekend we needed to prepare our home for the upcoming move. We finally moved this week's Tuesday. So there's been quite a lot of other stuff called life. Luckily those days have counted when I've had the chance to hit the gym. Unfortunately my gym card for Optimal Performance Center is over now, ended this Wednesday. I've bought some iron from Rogue and waiting to receive those this week.

Sunday.

• Every minute x 15 minutes: Clean & jerk
• 5min: 5 reps @ 60kg
• 5min: 3 reps @ 70kg
• 5min: 1 rep @ 80kg
• All sets touch'n'go

No pause at any point, just cycle the barbell. These felt great. There's something cool to move the barbell up and down without breaks.

C&J's emom

• Wod. Time 5.33
• 3 rounds of:
• 10 power clean @ 80kg
• 10 high box jumps

This combo was tough, no doubt. Both elements took my breath away. Power cleans were not light. Especially for so many reps. I did those in quick singles. I'm very happy how well I got this metcon done even though it felt awful quite soon.

Monday.

• Oly, jerk from rack 5x3 @ 80kg

Also touch'n'go style, push jerks. I did these every 2:00 but the recovery was enough. Not light for sure, not the heaviest possible but I needed to concentrate well to get these done. A little shaky on some reps in my opinion but still something I was able to manhandle.

Clean / Box metcon

• Wod. Result, 232 reps (7 rounds + 8 pull-ups)
• 12min amrap of:
• 12 pull-ups
• 20 wall ball shots

Huh, this hurt. Unbroken on the pull-ups for maybe 4-5 rounds. I tried to keep the transitions rather short so that's why I needed to break them in the last rounds. Wall balls were ub for probably 2 rounds, then it was 12-8 for the rest of the way.

Wednesday.

• Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes: 1 snatch @ 60kg

It's been a while since doing snatches so it was 'bout time. Decided to do one rep every minute. That seems to be enough recovery to smash another within the time cap. There are things to be worked on so I didn't go heavier.

Snatch emom

• Gymnastics, 30 bar muscle-ups

This was not a timed workout. Just completed them for quality. It was 6-5-4-4-3-3-3-2. My lats are sore from that 12min amrap of pull-ups and wall balls. Great to be able to do these as well without issues still, even though my volume has been lighter lately.

• Every minute on the minute x 20 minutes:
• Odd min, 15 ghd sit-ups
• Even min, 10 dumbbell snatches @ 25kg, alternating

This was the last day in OPC and I didn't have to hurry as the rest of the family was on the move. I decided to do another workout of core and snatches. It took 25-30 seconds to finish every set on both movements so there was consistency on the board.

Thursday 25.8: Bear Complex

Thursday. Metcon, 30 bear complex @ 70kg. Time, 18.34

Barbell conditioning, and muscle endurance. Clear agenda for Thursday.

Metcon. Time, 18.34

• 30 x bear complex, for time:
• Power clean
• Front squat
• Push jerk
• Back squat
• Thruster
• Barbell @ 70kg all the way

This felt like a good idea the day before. Not anymore after 10 reps. In my mind the demons tried to hold me back and quit the workout at 20 reps but I kept mentally strong and continued forward. This sucked ass big time, no doubt, but it was a pleasure at the same time. Loved it!

No wonder the last lift (thrusters right from back squat) of every rep was the hardest. One rep constituted of those five movements (clean, squat, jerk, squat, thruster). Took 30 "reps" of that combination for time. In my mind I kept pushing through in sets of 5 reps. After every 5 reps I tapped the timer to see how my pace changes. Split times were 2:17, 2:52, 3:18, 3:23, 3:31, 3:11. That means 6 sets of 5 reps.

Wednesday 24.8: Hspu, Pistols, Squat, Deads, Box

Wednesday. Gymnastics, emom x 12min: odd 10 hspu, even 10 pistols. Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg. Metcon, 10 deads (100-130kg), 10 box. Time, 6.18.

Got one hour to improve my fitness. There was some good planning so I found a way to sneak three pieces in one session to get more volume. Gymnastics, strength and conditioning.

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
• Odd min, 10 handstand push-ups
• Even min, 10 pistol squats

After short warm-up I just threw myself against the wall and went for a set of handstand push-ups, 10 reps per set. I knew hspu's would probably go well but pistols were a mystery. Haven't done those in a while, and I'd say my leg strength is not at its highest level of all times. Left leg was good but right felt a notch weaker. Still, this portion was okay!

Strength.

• Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg

110kg is 80% of my 1RM and something I can move nicely for small sets. That's why I did these every 2:00. Recovery was definitely enough. Sets were good all the way. I'm waiting how the game changes as there gonna be bigger sets at this weight.



Metcon. Time, 6.18

• 10 deadlifts @ 100kg
• 15 box
• 10 deadlifts @ 110kg
• 15 box
• 10 deadlifts @ 120kg
• 15 box
• 10 deadlifts @ 130kg
• 15 box

Deadlifts and box jumps are quite a combo, you probably know that. Idea was to do 10 deads with ascending weights, and 15 box jumps between deads. Focus was to do both elements unbroken, and I got that. Got to admit I wanted to drop the bar on 120kg and 130kg sets but got through those thoughts and finished with pride.

Tuesday 23.8: Clean and jerk, Snatch, Ghd, Row

Tuesday. Complex, build up to a heavy complex of: 1 power clean + 3 tng push jerk (up to 90kg). Wod, 20min amrap of: 5 power snatch @ 60kg, 25 ghd, 500m row.

Focus on Tuesday was moving the barbell up from front rack. It feels like an eternity since going overhead. Don't know if that's the truth but that's the first feeling. Second focus was putting 60kg snatches on a metcon. Not a joke for me.

Oly.

• Build up to a heavy complex of:
• 1 power clean + 3 push jerk @ 60kg (40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90kg)

This was success. I did these rather fast without that much recovery between sets. Every set was touch'n'go from front rack to overhead. I'm very proud of these lifts. Lately since getting our firstborn, my training volume has gone down quite naturally but it has felt great every time when hitting the gym. It's spectacular to spend time with this little kiddo so the change has been something I can definitely live with =) Got the last set on video.

Wod. Result, 4 rounds

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 power snatch @ 60kg
• 25 ghd sit-ups
• 500m row

Snatches were heavy for me, 60kg ain't that easy. Took them singles all the way. No misses however, which is good news. Ghd's were unbroken and rowing was around 1:50 pace all the way. At one point I had to wait for 30-60 seconds to hop on the ghd's as one guy stepped in in the middle of the metcon. I wrote this as 20min amrap but decided to finish the 4th round. Timer stopped at 20.34, and considering that extra stop on the ghd's, let's say it was 4 rounds sharp.

Friday 19.8 - Monday 22.8: Cleans, Squats, Thrusters

Friday - Monday 19-22.8. Cleans, back squats, thrusters and gymnastics.

Friday.

• Clean triples 9x3 (70, 70, 70, 80, 80, 80, 90, 90, 90kg)

Getting back to the gym after taking couple of days rest due to a light flu. Felt great to move the barbell. Loads were light because I didn't wanna press my lungs that much.

Saturday.

• Back squat 6x5 @ 120kg

I was a bit nervous how the squats would play out as my body wasn't in 100% condition. It turned out these were awesome. I was positively surprised of how nicely the barbell went up and down with this weight. Normally that wouldn't be worth that much of a celebration but this time it definitely was!

Monday.

• Emom x 12 minutes:
• 4min: 10 thrusters @ 40kg
• 4min: 6 thrusters @ 50kg
• 4min: 3 thrusters @ 60kg

• Emom x 10 minutes:
• Odd, 12 pull-ups
• Even, 10 dips

Time to do some lung work. Figured why not combine a bar with it. Thrusters it was. Good session of weights and bodyweight. The latter part was conducted unbroken on the pull-ups and dips were with the rings for 3 rounds, and the last 2 rounds with bar dips or whatever they are called :)

Used to do tons of these when I played floorball. Great for body coordination and awareness

Week 33: Crossfit

Past week of training. Saturday and Monday were training days, the others were rest days.

Saturday.

• Wod, 10min amrap of: 120m shuttle run, 5 hspu, 10 db snatch @ 25kg. Result, 6rds.
• Wod, 15min amrap of: 15m lunges @ 40kg back rack, 300m row. Result, 6rds.

Saturday was still a pretty normal day of training. The first one was supposed to be a good warm-up hassle but it turned out to be tough as the sets were small. So there was no excuse to slow down. I'm happy on how it turned out. Result was 6 rounds. On Sunday we had the christening for our little newborn girl so there was no time to give to crossfit.

Monday.

• Olympics: Javelin, long jump, hammer, golf, shot put, archery
• Oly: hang power clean triples, 8x3 @ 80kg

The week started in Kisakallio at Lohja as we had a seminar type of gathering with the entire company I'm working at right now. After work hours we played around a little in the form of "Olympics", to honor Rio2016. Different types of sports. I think I fell in love with shot put. It was a pity we only had so few chances to really throw down as there were so many of us. Archery is another sport that I'm really fond of.

Afterwards I got my share of barbell work. Couple sets of hang power clean triples. My throat had been sore since Sunday night so I didn't wanna burden my heart at all during the day. That's also the reason why I haven't been working out since then.

Friday 12.8: Hspu, Clean, Push-ups

Friday. Gymnastics, 4 x max reps hspu (max set 24 reps). Accessory, 5rds of: 10 hang power clean @ 60kg, 20 push-ups.

I got inspired to hit couple of sets handstand push-ups. I was also thinking about doing a complex of strict and kipping hspu's but this was the decision this time. The latter part was not a timed workout.

Gymnastics. Total of 62 reps

• 4 sets of max handstand push-ups
• Sets 24, 15, 11, 12 reps

On the first set I thought I had nailed a new record as I thought 21-22 reps was previous PR. So after thinking about crushing that one I guess my stomach was full already and didn't have the passion to push through beyond 25 reps. Had I not known that it would have been interesting to see if I could have broken that old record.

Accessory. Not for time

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 hang power clean @ 60kg
• 20 push-ups

Got to admit my legs were so destroyed from that 10 rounder where I did 10 front squats at 50kg. It hurt bad and it's been difficult to walk, especially stairs. It's even challenging to sit on a toilet seat right now haha :) That's why I took this day's metcon a bit more easily. Got both elements done in unbroken style.

Thursday 11.8: Deads, Burpees, Wall balls

Thursday. Wod, 5rds of: 10 deads @ 100kg, 20 burpees, 30 wb's. Time, 21.29

Only had time for a short session. A total of about half an hour so it was a quick workout. Took couple of deadlifts up to 140kg after foam rolling, then just put the timer on and went to work.

Metcon. Time, 21.29

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 deadlifts @ 100kg
• 20 burpees
• 30 wall ball shots

This got nasty. Deadlifts were the "easiest" part of this. Burpees were horrible, and wall balls were also obnoxious after the burpees. Got the deads unbroken. Burpees were ub too, just paced myself throughout the metcon. Wall balls were the only ones I broke from round one. They were 18-12 each round.

Wednesday 10.8: Clean and jerk, Squat, Bar mu, T2b

Wednesday. Complex, clean + clean + push jerk (up to 90kg). Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg. Metcon, 10rds of: 3 bar mu, 10 back squat @ 50kg. Gymnastics, 50 t2b.

Oly.

• Build up to a heavy complex of:
• Squat clean + squat clean + push jerk
• 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95kg (failed at the jerk)

Felt pretty good until some point. From then on the jerk wasn't that cool anymore. Didn't drop enough on the last attempt @ 95kg. After that I took some lighter clean and jerks @ 85, 90kg

Strength.

• Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg

This is part of the program at weightlifting101.

Metcon. TIme, 12.16

• 10 rounds of:
• 3 bar muscle-ups
• 10 back squats @ 50kg

Skills and leg burn. Nice combo. My legs are sore now in the evening. I guess this one worked.

Gymnastics.

• 50 toes-to-bar

Not for time, just for fun. Accessory stuff.

Monday 8.8: Pull-ups, Hspu, Snatch, S2o, Box

Monday. Metcon, 7min amrap: 10 pull-ups, 7 hspu. Result, 119 reps. Power snatch 5x3 @ 55kg. Metcon, 7min amrap: 7 s2o @ 50kg, 12 box jump overs. Result, 123 reps.

Monday's session was two intense metcons and some barbell work.

Metcon. Result, 119 reps (7 rounds)

• 7min amrap of:
• 10 pull-ups
• 7 handstand push-ups

Very good metcons, both of them. This got to my entire body and breathing a lot. Had effects on the snatches too.

Oly.

• Power snatches 5x3 @ 50kg

Light weight but didn't feel so light this time =)

Metcon. Result, 123 reps (6 rounds + 2 box)

• 7min amrap of:
• 7 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
• 12 box jump overs

Perfect. Legs were on fire.

Saturday 6.8: Squats, Clean and jerk, Row

Saturday. Back squats 6x4 @ 120kg. Metcon, 3rds of: 10 c&j @ 70kg, 500m row. Time, 11.11.

We were on the move for the entire day so it was late night when I found a good spot to hit the gym. Back squats were on the program and then brutal combination of overhead stuff and rowing.

Strength.

• Back squat 6x4 @ 120kg

This part continues to follow the weightlifting101 system. Just another day of grinding. The weights at 80% are something I have used as warm-up sets so this needs some mental game to understand these are useful in the long run. Maybe I have done too heavy sets before? Don't know. Can you do too heavy sets. Somehow it makes sense to me to lift as heavy as possible, and as often as possible. Period.

Last 5 sets

Metcon. Time, 11.11

• 3 rounds of:
• 10 clean and jerk @ 70kg
• 500m row

This was a lot of fun. I had some thoughts. The other one was doing a long version of this one, let's say 20 minute amrap, or then a shorter one. The nature of the workouts would have been totally different between those. Long workout would have been slower on the clean and jerks but this kept the pace good with the barbell, and there were no long breaks between reps.

Rowing was 1:55 for the first 2 rounds, then sub 1:50 on the last one. I used that rowing for recovery. The barbell got me after every set of 10 reps so it was only logical to get heart rate back down before another set of c&j's. Got to say this was one heck of a workout!

Friday 5.8: Squat clean amrap

Friday. Metcon, 12min amrap of squat cleans (80-90kg). Result, 43 reps

It was a tight schedule at the gym on Friday so there was time for only one piece of work. It turned out to be quite a workout. Amrap of cleans, barbell work that got me breathing and muscles hurting in a short period of time.

Metcon. Result, 43 reps

• 12min amrap: squat cleans
• 1-4min: 80kg (20 reps)
• 4-8min: 85kg (12 reps)
• 8-12min: 90kg (11 reps)

Haven't done much of this type of workout where you complete only one barbell movement for a period of time in amrap mode. For sure there's been workouts where you attack 30 reps of clean & jerk, snatches or thrusters for time or some sort of ladder of the similar movements but a pure amrap is probably unheard of.

It was a great workout, no doubt! First 4 minutes were at 80kg, following 4 minutes were 5kg heavier and the last 4 minutes @ 90kg. On the first piece I kept my pace of completing 5 reps per minute and followed the timer on that one pretty closely.

Second piece was probably the toughest mentally. Legs and back started to hurt, and breathing got heavy. Reps were 3 per minute. Ideally there could have been 4 reps per each minute but my back was killing me. On the last minute I decided to stop bitching and cycled the barbell at about the same pace as on the middle piece. I ripped my right hand and had to fetch some tape in the middle of the set as the barbell got bloody. Missed some time there but was able to step up towards the end. Very good workout!

Wednesday 3.8: Front squats, Burpees, Sled

Wednesday. Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg. Metcon, 20min amrap of: 5 front squat @ 70kg, 10 burpees, 20m sled. Result, 9rds.

Main focus was on killing my legs. Goal reached. Front squat doubles in the beginning and a longer amrap in the end. Legs and breathing were definitely taking big hits.

Strength.

• Front squat 6x2 @ 110kg

This is something I have taken from weightlifting101. Not being that strict with it though. Regarding the schedule. There should be squatting 3 times a week but I squat when I squat. Then I follow that program. The sets are destined at 80% which is less than I am used to go when I squat.

Metcon. Result, 9 rounds

• 20min amrap of:
• 5 front squats @ 70kg (from ground)
• 10 burpees
• 20m sled push @ 55kg (+sled)

This was unbroken stuff for sure but it got tough pretty soon. Legs were under tension continuously so I had to take some recovery before and after sled push. However, the round times stayed quite consistent, and I'm happy on the performance. It was a sweaty 20 minutes and felt like pure crossfit. Good session!

Tuesday 2.8: Thrusters, Clean, Hspu, Dips, Ghd

Tuesday. Build up to heavy triple of thrusters (result, 80kg). Emom x 6min: 5 thrusters @ 60kg. Emom x 10min: odd 3 power clean @ 90kg, even 10 hspu. Wod, 5rds of: 10 ring dips, 15 ghd.

Couldn't decide between cleans and something overhead so it turned out to a mixture of those both in the form of thrusters. It's cool to build heavy on that specific movement. Then some barbell cycling utilizing the same movement. Some wods afterwards.

Overhead.

• Build up to a heavy thruster triple (50, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80kg)
• Every minute on the minute x 6 min: 5 thrusters @ 60kg

Sometimes thrusters feel awkward on my elbows but warming them up correctly and using those sleeves I bought some time ago have helped tremendously. It's because I have a full grip on the barbell whereas I hold the bar on just 2-3 fingers when I squat clean it. The bottom position with full grip sometimes feels not so good due to the grip. Today the warm-up was on point I guess.

Went all the way to 80kg for a triple. Felt good to go there. Barbell obeyed the commands told to it. This wasn't the absolute 3RM but I felt like my elbows didn't point straight ahead anymore on the last set so I didn't wanna compromise that form.

After finishing the last strength set I came down a little and completed 5 reps @ 60kg for couple of minutes. Those burned my lungs nicely.

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• Odd min, 3 power clean @ 90kg
• Even min, 10 handstand push-ups

Damned those power cleans felt heavy. I'm glad I did this exactly like this but the weight on the barbell started to feel much heavier, and some of the reps were something I'm not proud of. Had to step forward and legs went too wide on the landing. Nothing serious but I'd like to see every single rep look the same, no matter the weight.

Hspu's were okay for the first rounds but the last ones were something to really focus on. I got through them unbroken but they were hard in the end. Last round was a battle.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 ring dips
• 15 ghd sit-ups

The last piece of today came as a surprise. Was definitely not planned beforehand. Rings looked tempting and so I looked around what to partner them up with. Wasn't gonna touch any weights at all for the rest of the day. Ghd's came up pretty quickly.

Dips were unbroken for 2 rounds. Then I broke them into 6-4, then 5-3-2, and lastly 5-2-2-1. Kept the recoveries so that I got through this as fast as possible. Ghd's unbroken. This was a good combination of movements. Triceps were sore after the session.

Monday 1.8: Row intervals, Hang clean, High box

Monday. Row 8x500m, 1:1 work:rest ratio. Wod, 10rds of: 5 hang power clean @ 60kg, 10 high box.

Conditioning. Period. Intervals to start with, then light cleans and high box jumps to seal the deal. I took some double unders in the beginning of the latter workout but my shins didn't like it even though there was some serious foam rolling prior to that. So I changed it after 3 rounds to high box jumps.

Intervals.

• 8 x 500m row
• 1:1 work:rest ratio (Every 3:30)

These are tough. Both physically and mentally. Maybe 3 rounds went okay even though there were some leg pain already at that point. But it got serious at 4-5 rounds. The recovery was enough to get back in action but the sets started to feel nasty at about midway, 250-300 meters down. The last 200m of the last sets were pure agony. My legs hurt and lungs were screaming for air. Nice body melt down =) Felt good!

Workout. Not for time

• 10 rounds of:
• 5 hang power clean @ 60kg
• 10 high box jumps, 70cm

First 3 rounds were 25 double unders instead of the box but the remaining was 10 box jumps at a higher box than what I'm used to. It's quite rare actually when I've completed this high jumps. Just couple of occasions.

The barbell was light and focused on perfecting those reps every time. It was a nice end to the session. That row session practically ate my soul so this was an easier one.