First half of September

First half of September



Saturday 2.9

Workout. Time, 32.54

• 5 rounds of:
• 600m run
• 25 pull-ups
• 25 wall ball shots

This was completed with a moderate heart beat. Definitely didn't run the fastest I could. But it turned miserable anyway due to the big sets of pull-ups and wall balls. Took the first set of pull-ups unbroken, then it was 20-5 for the following three rounds. Last set was 21-4 reps. I'm very happy on the performance on pull-ups. It was a total of 125 reps anyway.

Wall balls followed pretty much the same logic. Went unbroken on first and last set, and 18-7 in the rounds between. After the first round of work I realized it's gonna be a gross wod. That feeling got stronger on after the second round. From there on it was a mental battle.

Accessory. 

• Core work

Wife wrote us some stuff to work on. Good work.

Sunday 3.9

Barbell cycling. Result, 16 reps

• Complete as many unbroken complexes of the following sequence in 12 minutes:
• 1 squat clean @ 70kg
• 2 front squat @ 70kg
• 3 push jerk @ 70kg

Oh man! The point was that these need to be unbroken, otherwise it's a no rep. So I just started chipping away the reps. For the first half of the workout I was able to do one set every 40 seconds. Tried to maintain that same pace from the beginning. That's because gassing out in the first reps would have had catastrophical results. From mid-wod on it turned to 50sec sets.

Emom x 15 minutes.

• 1st min: push-ups
• 2nd min: v-ups
• 3rd min: dumbbell jerks @ 25 reps

Wife's idea. I was kind of done after the first piece but she had a good call. Went 40-35-25-25-25 on the push-ups, 23 reps on the V-ups, and 20 jerks every time. Burned the shoulders nicely.

Wednesday 6.9

Pulls.

• Deadlift @ 5x5 @ 150kg

Plan has been lately to do pulls once a week so my body would somewhat get used to it. If it's more rare, it feels like lower back is smashed for 3 days. Now it's been much better even though the weights have been at alright level.

Strength.

• Back squat 5x5 @ 100kg
• Complete sets of:15 pull-ups between reps

I'm starting to build the squats up from light weight on. Completed the pull-ups between sets because I needed to get those in the bank, and the squats weren't that bad.

Thursday 7.9

Intervals.

• Every 3 minutes, for a total of 21 minutes (7 sets)
• 5 hang power cleans @ 70kg
• 5 push jerks @ 70kg
• 10 burpees
• It took sub 50sec every set, steady pace

This was quite horrible to be honest. It's not like this 70kg bar is light weight for me to cycle. But it was definitely the burpees that made it worse. Obviously because they were the last element of it all. I'm very happy on how consistent the effort was every round. They were completed within about one second from each other. Just below 50 sec, mostly 48 seconds.

Thrusters.

• Every 2:30, for a total of 4 sets (10min)
• 15 thrusters @ 40kg

That first piece murdered my legs totally. I took some rest between that and thrusters. Completed 20 reps on the first set, then 15 reps per set. They hurt my legs so bad that it was difficult to stand. It was definitely because of those intervals.

Friday 8.9

Overhead.

• 5x5 push jerk @ 80kg

Felt great for being able to put that barbell overhead with 80kg on the bar. Very happy actually.

Amrap 20. Result, 5 rounds + 7 db snatch

• 20 cal row
• 16 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg
• 12 burpee box overs, don't touch the box

Vow, nasty one for sho'. Burpee box jumps are something I'm not looking forward to that eagerly. My bench is not as high as a regular box so my solution has been jumping over the box without touching it. The leap is thus longer, to create similar stimulus.

Saturday 9.9

Pair wod.

• 100 hang power snatch @ 45kg

Had one friend to throw down with me. Antti worked through both of these workouts. Plan was to hit 8's throughout the wod.

Amrap 12. Result, 6 rounds + 2 squat

• 8 front squat @ 50kg
• 12 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
• 14 dumbbell jerk (7/7) @ 25kg

This was quite a workout. Worked very well. This was written so that everything's gonna be done unbroken. Okay, had to change hand on the jerks. Overall fatigue is what this resulted in.



Sunday 10.9

For completion.

• 5 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 20 overhead squats @ 40kg

Just doing the work, no stress, no clock. Unbroken sets on the ohs.

Monday 11.9

Strength.

• Back squat 5x5 @ 104kg

Meathead day. Just squats and deads. Squats came up by 4kg from last squat session.

Pulls.

• Deadlift 5x5 @ 160kg
• Clean grip
• Deadstop after every rep

Went heavier this time. It was 150kg last time I did deads about a week ago. I'm a bit ashamed to tell I bought lifting straps for deadlifts. The reason why I did that is that basically the only reason why deadlifting doesn't feel good most of the times, is how it makes my hands feel like. They are way too sensitive for some reason. It's not even the grip strength, it's just my palms and fingers that hurt on those pulls.

By using the straps I was able to focus on the actual lift. I did clean grip for some reason on the first set, and decided to finish it that way too.

Wednesday 13.9

Workout.

• Every minute on the minute x 20 minutes
• 5 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 15 air squats

Cindy'ish. I found my spot to train at 9.30 pm. That was so late that I needed to hit it right away, without warm-up. So this was a good choice to hit it.

Thursday 14.9

Workout.

• With a running clock, for 30 minutes

• 0-10min. Result, 6 rounds + 8 burpees
• Amrap of: 8 burpees + 16 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg

• 10-20min. Result, 40, 50, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90kg
• Build up to a heavy hang power clean triple

• 20-30min. Result, 7 rounds + 1 box
• Amrap of: 12 kettlebell swings @ 32kg + 12 box jump overs

Excellent choice. It was a 30min drill. Two 10min amraps, in the beginning and in the end. The middle portion was reserved for barbell action. Both amraps were heavy breathing, and well built amraps. I'm happy that I was able to build up to 90kg on the cleans too. I did this together with Antti. We had one barbell on the cleans, and we did the sets in turns.

Saturday 16.9

Strength.

• Front squat 5x5 @ 90kg

Rather easy actually. Same ideology as with the back squats lately. Building up from the bottom.

Amrap 20. Result, 6 rounds sharp

• 14 wall ball shots
• 7 hang power clean @ 60kg
• 7 handstand push-ups
• 14 toes-to-bar

Felt awful on this. Don't even know what hurt the most. Had to break the t2b's on every round except the first and last. The rest of them were 9-5 or 10-4. Other movements were unbroken. It was some sort of overall nasty feeling that took place for pretty much the entire 20 minutes. Good metcon.

End of August

Latter part of August.


Sunday 20.8

Workout. Result, 5 rounds

• Amrap 30 minutes
• 1.000m row
• 25 pull-ups

My body was smashed big time because yesterday's action. There was a double session on Saturday, lots of pulls from ground, lunges, squats and t2b's. Posterior chain was tight and muscles sore. Decided to take it easy, and pace myself for a bit longer workout. More like basic conditioning piece. Intentionally took quite a big portion of pull-ups per round, and mentally the decision was to do a big set to start every round of pull-ups. They turned out to be 25 unbroken on the first round, then 21-4 or 20-5 on the following 3 rounds. Final round was again unbroken.

Cool down.

• 2k run

Went for a jog afterwards to get body more prepared for next day. Also opened up my lower body, and hip flexors on the way.



Monday 21.8

Strength.

• Bench press
• 5 sets of 10 reps @ 70kg
• 3 sets of 12 reps @ 60kg

Lots of volume for this movement. It's rare that I hit it anyway so I decided why not do a good bunch of reps while I'm at it. Felt good about going after these sets. Definitely my upper body felt it too after the session.

Accessory.

• Dumbbell row
• 15 reps @ 2x25kg db's
• Total of 5 rounds

Finished with some accessory work with dumbbells.

Tuesday 22.8

Barbell cycling.

• Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
• 3 touch'n'go clean and jerks @ 70kg

I was quite proud of this day in general. Good bunch of c&j reps on the first piece, heavier overhead strength on the second, and finish the day by crushing shoulders with accessory work. Originally this was supposed to be 10-12 minute portion. However, got a good rhythm on these so why not continue a bit longer.

Overhead.

• Push jerk 7x5 @ 80kg

In my head it was supposed to be triples. On the first set it changed to 5's just like that. It felt super good so I had no other choice but to go for it. Felt steady on every 7 sets. Great!

Accessory.

• Half kneeling presses
• 6 sets of 10 reps @ 2x25kg dumbbells

Something I've seen Marcus Filly hit quite often. He has interesting stuff going on in his Insta account. Copied this one for today's session to finish my shoulders. Had two dumbbells on front rack position, one knee on the floor, the other one was foot flat to the ground. From there, I pressed one dumbbell / hand in the air at a time, alternating after each rep. Very efficient!

Wednesday 23.8

Workout.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 thrusters @ 2x22kg dumbbells
• 15 cal skierg

We had a work related trip to Tallinn, Estonia on Wednesday. We had some spare time so we hit the local nearby gym with two colleagues of mine. I've been here couple of times, the spot is good. "My Fitness" on top of the shopping center called Viru, downtown Tallinn. There's also skierg, I'm always in for a good conditioning piece with that monster machine. This was excellent piece of workout and heavy breathing.

Oly.

• Power clean
• Build up to a heavy single
• Weights: 60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg

This was good success. I was pretty much done after the first piece :) So I thought I'd take this one easier. But it felt very good from the very get-go. Took some singles, and built up. Turned out I cleaned 100kg. That's rare to be honest. I believe my PR on power clean is 103kg. I believe I had more in the tank today as well but there's some sort of mental break preventing me to pull more. It feels difficult to force myself to drop under the bar. I tried 105kg but it turned out to be clean pull. Looks kind of awkward.

Power clean @ 100kg

Oly.

• Hang power cleans 6x5 @ 80kg

This was very good. Stopped at the waist after every rep. Focused on every single rep, and got these done well.

Thursday 24.8

Workout.

• 10 rounds of:
• 3 bar muscle-ups
• 5 overhead squats @ 60kg

Felt super tired after the day, and was already on the verge of rest day. Luckily my wife talked us into training together. She rowed a lot, I did this couplet, not for time. Just worked and kept a steady pace. Focus was more on technical issues. These movements are not the easiest for me, so this was probably very good session.

Sunday 27.8

AM. I had two days of recovery before this day. So I was eager to hit it again. In the morning we hit a pair workout with my wife. In the evening I did some work on my own.

Pair wod / Chipper. Chewed this with Pauliina

• 200 walking lunges
• 150 push-ups
• 125 kettlebell swings @ 32kg
• 100 burpees
• Wear a 9kg weight vest

Other one of us was moving constantly so this got to us nicely. I had my weight vest on throughout the workout. It sure is quality time from the better end training with wife. Love it! And she nailed this one.

PM

Overhead.

• Thrusters
• 10 sets of 5 reps @ 70kg

In the evening I got another chance to throw down. Thrusters are always a good call. This time it was a notch heavier weight on the barbell. Warmed up and decided to just start knocking couple of sets. These were completed with about 2min rest between sets. Heavy but manageable.

Workout.

• 10 rounds of:
• 12 pull-ups
• 240m run

Another thing I needed to get my hands on were pull-ups. This was created pretty much on the fly. Decided to knock a set that I could do unbroken every round, and no need to breathe and recover before jumping on the pull-up bar after run. So basically I was moving all the time. Jumped on the bar right after run, and went running right after dropping down.

Monday 28.8

Pulls.

• Deadlift 4x6 @ 140, 150, 160, 170kg
• Deadstop at floor after every rep

I've tried to sneak deadlifts into my program. Got to my mind it would be cool to pull heavy once a week. Now my knees and quads are also mainly in ok condition so I should be able to squat well again. Got to build up the strength in there.

Workout. For quality

• 4 rounds of:
• 15 handstand push-ups
• 15 toes-to-bar's

Unbroken sets. Not for time. Just needed to be ub sets.

Tuesday 29.8

Oly.

• Hang power clean 5x5 @ 80kg

I'm happy that I can manhandle this weight on the hang power clean. I've done this 80kg in similar sets twice now, and it feels good. Maybe gotta add some weight on the barbell.

Pair workout. Total reps 132 reps

• Amrap 8 minutes
• Shoulder-to-overhead @ 40/50kg

I had a friend drop by. We did both pieces together. Started with cleans, then this second portion was a pair workout. For 8 minutes, perform as many s2o's as possible. I did 50kg bar, Antti had 40kg. We changed the plates on the fly, 40kg was all the time on the barbell. I started, did 15 reps, then it was Antti's turn. He did his turn, and then a change again. No fixed number of reps. I did 10's from second round on. Good one, big shoulder burn of course.

Wednesday 30.8

Intervals.

• 8 sets of:
• 400m row
• Rest 90 seconds

Huh, lungs were on fire. Legs turned numb at the end of this session. Practically zero warm-up. I figured my body's gonna get used to this stuff on the first two rounds. Then it's accustomed to the flow. I started with damper setting 8, then went up gradually to max numbers. I was able to top my time on every round, compared to the previous set. That made me very pleased!

Workout. Time, 2.09

• 50 burpees

I'm telling you I was sick and tired of training for this evening after the rowing. It was as ugly as it gets. It was difficult to stand, sit or do anything after the last set. However, I had already written those damned burpees on the whiteboard, and Pauliina popped at the gym right in between workouts. She asked what I'm going to do next. So I had no other choice but to do these bastards.

First 25 reps were under control and went on smoothly. It took me 59 seconds to finish'em. I kept moving for the entire time, the pace just got slower as I finished at 2.09. Legs started feeling heavy in the middle. Wall hit me at 35 reps, and it was pure grunt work for the last 15 reps. My shoulders got numb and it also started to burn my core. Sick feeling. Those rowing intervals definitely had their effect.

Thursday 31.8

Strength.

• Back squat 10x3 @ 110kg

Yes, it felt very good to go up and down with some weight on my back. Haven't been able to squat properly during summer months. Now the situation feels better, and I'm hopeful that my mobility sessions have been the solution in this issue. Originally I thought there's something wrong with my knee. But that doesn't seem to be the issue. I figured my quads are just so super tight, that I started smashing them with foam roll and lacrosse ball. It's been super helpful! No pain anymore.

Accessory.

• Good morning 5x12 reps
• Load: 60, 70, 75, 80, 85kg

Never have I done this big loads. I would say holy core. Very good stuff. And I feel it in my hamstrings now on Friday.