Thu 29.10: Josh

Thursday. Hero wod Josh. Time, 8.55

Third win for this week. Pre-planned workouts. Okay, today was only a 1-piece training session but it was a benchmark workout. Plus it included overhead squats. That's something I haven't done in ages. I'd say it's been at least a year. Why is that? My mobility in my shoulders is not ideal to say the least and it takes a ton of mobility to get to a good overhead squat position. And it still is not perfect. I have always struggled this position, same with the snatch. Nowadays as I do not have that much time I tend to neglect both elements: ohs and snatch.

Hero wod Josh. Time, 8.55 (PR). Compare to 15.12.2014

• 21 overhead squats  @40kg
• 42 pull-ups
• 15 overhead squats @ 40kg
• 30 pull-ups
• 9 overhead squats @ 40kg
• 18 pull-ups

Still, I got this idea out of the blue, and couldn't dump it. So I saved one entire session for this benchmark workout. I realized beforehand that this is also going to be quite intense. I hoped my ohs would be completed unbroken. And they did. Every set was its own battle. First was simply so long set that it taxed my shoulders. Maybe if I had the bar in a perfect position it would be a lot easier but the reality is that I do not. On the pull-ups I wanted to go by my traditional strategy: try to wolf down a big junk of reps to start with, then just live through it. I took 25 reps, then 10 and 7 reps to finish it.

On the second round I chipped away those 15 ohs with a good battle. I felt the form collapsing in the last couple of reps but because the barbell was light I was able to stick to it. On the pull-ups I chewed 16 on the first attempt, then 8 and 6 reps to reach a total of 30 reps.

Last round was mentally the easiest with only 9 ohs and 18 reps. Ohs unbroken and pull-ups were 12+3+3 reps. My grip was gone after 10 reps but got those 12 to start with. That was mentally much better so I was able to get those needed extra 6 reps much quicker. This was about 2 minute PR compared to previous Josh so I'll take this anytime.

Tue-Wed 27-28.10: Badminton + Thruster and Wall Balls

Tuesday. Badminton for 1 hour

Wednesday: Emom x 10min: 5 thruster @ 60kg. Emom x 5min: 22 wall ball shots

Badminton.

• On Tuesday I didn't do any crossfit training but it was one hour of good conditioning with Tuomas as we went to hit some badminton.

Barbell.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes:
• 5 thrusters  @ 60kg
  

This was continuance to this week's bigger plan. This was written in advance. If it had not been so, I had definitely not gone after these both. I'm very pleased to get two pieces completed in one session. Some barbell work and then an intense workout that I have thought beforehand.

Thrusters are cimply awesome. 60kg thrusters are more awesome. The nature of this workout was that it only takes 10 seconds to complete so the work time is short, recovery is longer. However, the barbell is rather heavy'ish so it takes a toll on the body in the long run. 

Workout.

• Every minute on the minute x 5 minutes
• 22 wall ball shots

The agenda for this one was quite the opposite. Light weight but lots of reps which also burns the body. Especially shoulders in my case. And it took quite accurately 41 seconds to finish one set and those 19 seconds got shorter and short by the minute. That was the feeling despite it stayed identical every round. Last minute was quite awful. You can probably notice there is something similar to Karen which is 150 wb shots for time. My PR is 7.46 so this was good pacing for that one.

Monday 26.10: Barbell complex, Hspu, Clean

Monday. Barbell complex. Wod, 21-15-9 of: hspu and hang power clean @ 50kg. Time, 4.30

It's been a while since moving a heavier barbell or doing any sort of barbell cycling / complex. It just struck me that this 3-kid life has got the better of me and my workouts have become just workouts. My life is busy every single day, from morning to evening and every day that make a decision to train, it's gonna be rather tight schedule. But it's also very important haven for me so I'm gonna keep on squeezing my schedule so that I find that short slot somewhere. On Sunday I put those training slots for every day and wrote the workouts for each day. I also programmed more barbell and heavier weights for this week.

Barbell complex.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes of:
• 1 squat clean @ 90kg
• 2 front squat @ 90kg

Oh boy it felt awesome. Felt like a king. Just like when I was back in 2016 training at Optimal Performace Center where I used to go on average of 6.5 times a week, and hit 2-3 pieces per training sessions. Pretty much every session began with a barbell, and ended with metcon(s) and accessories. This would have been a normal day for me that time but nowadays it's almost always one piece per day. Ain't got more time for that. But now this was so well scheduled and determined beforehand that this was very efficient session actually. It took me something like 30-40 minutes to finish both pieces.

Wod. Time, 4.30

• 21-15-9 reps of:
• Handstand push-ups
• Hang power cleans @ 50kg

I knew this is gonna be fast and it's gonna hurt. And I got through this as I had planned and hoped for. That is, unbroken. The rep scheme was nothing short of superb. It was challenging but still up to my head whether I'm gonna go unbroken or not. Hspu's started greatly in the start, then jumped to the barbell after 15 rest period. It started to feel nasty somewhere at 15 reps. As I put the bar down, it hit my shoulders and grip, plus breathing. Had to take 20 second rest after those cleans.

Second set of hspu's was tough but I could have put couple more reps on the board if necessary. The rest period grew to something like 25 seconds before cleans. Before I grabbed the barbell I thought I needed to cut this to two sets. However, once I got to 8-9 reps, I decided to just hold on.

It's almost awkward to admit it took me +20 seconds to attempt the last set of hspu's. But my forearms were so tense I couldn't feel them anymore and had to shake it off before the hspu's. And another 18 seconds recovery before the last set of cleans.

This was the first time in a log time I have took the entire workout on video. It was funny to see and count the rest periods in the transitions. It always feels like it's just a short period, like 10 seconds every now and then but in reality it takes double that time easily. On the other hand I like to do bigger sets if by any means possible. I feel like it's deveoping me and my work capacity a lot more. I was very pleased on the outcome of this workout for sure. Exactly the stimulus I was looking for.

Sunday 25.10: T2b, Lunges

Sunday. Wod, 30-20-10 reps of: t2b and lunges @ 2x15kg db's. Time, 5.20

Without saying it's obvious that this was inspired by Crossfit Games workout where those guys did t2b's and lunges with kettlebells. I'd really like to have a pair of 24kg kettlebells. I can see the benefits of those. My 2-poods are a bit too heavy and they are from different manufacturere so they are of different size and shape. Dumbbells on the other hand don't quite work the same way with lunges. I have a pair of 15 kg's and 25kg's but as they are shaped differently I find it awkward to Place them in front rack position.

Workout. Time, 5.20

• 30-20-10 reps of:
• Toes-to-bar's
• Walking lunges @ 2x15kg dumbbells
  

This was a quick one. I was so weary as I stepped outside for this workout. Needed to get something done to shake this system up but definitely couldn't get the best of myself for this session. So this was kind of a half-assing with a short wod. Nothing wrong with short and intense workout for sure. On the contrary. Let's think about Fran for example. It takes 3-4 minutes and I'm over and out for the entire day. But then if the movements are like this (t2b and light lunges) it should be a longer workout. Anyway, this was a good compulsory workout because the other option was to do nothing at all.

Toes-to-bar's were 24+6 on the first round, 12+4+2+2 on the second one and 6+2+2 on the last one. Lunges were unbroken. I tried to push myself on this one and didn't give any slack in the transitions. That's the reason why I had to break those t2b sets in pieces. I'm rather happy on the outcome of this workout. As I wrote in the beginning, it would have been ideal to have 2x24kg dumbbells in front rack position to get the right kind of stimulus.

Saturday 24.10: Pull-ups and Wall balls

Saturday. Wod, 5rds of: 20 pull-ups, 20 wb. Time, 10.10

I got the inspiration to this one somewhere from the Crossfit Games that was going on during this weekend. To be honest, I can't find an idea to which workout this even remote relates to :) But sill, it was somewhere. Very intense workout and that one wod was enough.

Workout. Time, 10.10

• 5 rounds of:
• 20 pull-ups
• 20 wall ball shots

My strategy was so that the walk between pull-up bar and sall ball station which is about 15-20 meters was supposed to be my recovery period. Once I got to the ball, just grab it and go. Same thing with the pull-up bar. Jump up and see how it goes. That's at least how it felt in my head. My reasoning was to just attack it and probably I would have to break the reps up anyway at some point with this tactic so why not take the first set right away.

On the pull-ups this resulted in going unbroken for first two rounds. Third one was 15+5. Fourth round 12+4+4 reps,m and the last one 10+4+2+3 reps. It's rare for me to do doubles / triples so maybe that shows that this was intense and had to be broken to smaller pieces towards the end. Had I continued to more rounds, my should have been slower from the beginning. This was optimized for 5 round pace.

Friday 23.10: Back squats

Friday. Back squats 6x6 @ 120kg

Continuing to hammer more lower body strength. This is becoming a system of my own. A concept. Friday squats. This time it was time to take 120kg for a ride.

Couldn't find a way to embed a Youtube video right now as they changed the layout so here's a link to my squats: Back squat 6x120kg

Strength.

• Back squat 6x6 @ 120kg

Last week it was 115kg for 7 reps, repeat for a total of 5 sets. This time five more kilos, drop down one rep and add one more set. Total volume stayed pretty much the same. For sure these hurt, especially the last two reps of each set.

I'm still stoked to being able to squat consistently. Let's see how this evolves. I had two alternative routes in my head. Either I'm going with this style that I'm adding 5kg and dropping volume by the week. The other option is to complete that 6-4-2, 6-4-2, 6-4-2 system in the end of last year, squat waves. Those worked perfectly for me and my pal Toni.

Thursday 22.10: Hspu, Db snatch, Air squat

Thursday. Wod, 5rds of: 10 hspu, 20 db snatch, 30 air squat. Time, 11.56

Simple but beautiful. Really tight work day. I had a meeting starting in 40 minutes but I needed my crossfit time for this day. I went outdoors, and came back in 20 minutes later. Squeezed in a 12 minute workout in between. Couple of minutes warm-up and 3-2-1 go.

Workout. Time, 11.56

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 20 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg
• 30 air squats
  

My handstand push-ups are at a level that I know I can perform at an okay level, even with just a little warm-up and when shoulders are not that prepared. I just need to throw myself against the wall once to get oriented. So I dared to throw them in this mix.

Those movements and rep scheme was also diamond. Hspu's were the easiest per round, dumbbells made me breath heavy and squats burned my legs a lot. Even though those squats were "air" squat versions, meaning I had no weights on me whatsoever. It's a trap. And it gets me every time.

Wednesday 21.10: Row, Push press

Wednesday. Wod, 6 rds of: 20 cal row, 20 push press @ 40kg

On Tuesday I really didn't have any resources to hit a workout. That feeling kind of remained on this day as well. I forced myself to train. Considering that I was a walking zombie, I'm wondering why I had thrusters and t2b's in my mind. Luckily I didn't hit those but took it a notch easier with this one.

Random clip of myself in 2012

Workout.

• 6 rounds of:
• 20 cal row
• 20 push press @40kg
  

Actually when I began this one, I Still thought I might me able to do some sort of intervals with these two elements. I mean 20 calories + 20 presses + 20 calories. I began it with that style, and it hurt me like a mofo. I took some breaths and realized there's no way I could complete that kind of intervals multiple times. I mean I rowed pretty much all in style. So I took a pause and completed this traditional style workout of a couplet for 6 rounds. This worked well for me this time.

Monday 19.10: Hspu, Deadlift + Badminton

Monday. AM. Wod, 6 rds of: 6 deadlift @ 130kg, 15 hspu. PM. Badminton for 1 hour

Main focus was on the evening's badminton games with Tuomas. However, I found a time slot during lunch hour and decided to pull from the ground. This idea came out of the blue. I just needed to get it out of my system.

Workout.

• 6 rounds of:
• 6 deadlift @ 130kg
• 15 handstand push-ups

How simple can it be? I took some deadlifts before the workout. But still rather light, a triple at 150kg at max this time. I really haven't pulled in a long time for real. This is pretty much my strongest move strength-wise. I can go heavy on any given day and never have I tested the real max. That's not something I'm ever gonna do either. I don't see the point in pulling 1RM with a rounded back or something alike. Anyway, I believe 205kg is the heaviest I've completed and a double at 200kg.

However, it's been a while and my platform at home is not that solid so I don't wanna take any stupid chances at home. Here, I prefer to have it on the lighter side. This workout was just perfect. My goal was to go unbroken on this one. Didn't have a timer running so I have basically no idea how much this took. Hspu's got tougher than I imagined. Somehow the combo of pull and push is kind of brutal.

In the evening we went to hit another session of Badminton. It's always a great way to spend oe hour. Intense sport, at least when we collide.

Sunday 18.10: Intervals of kettlebells and burpees

Sunday. Intervals, every 4:00 for a total of 6 sets: 15 kbs @ 32kg, 15 goblet squats, 15 burpees

This was very kid-oriented day. I woke up with the little crew early in the Morning, spent couple of hours with them and let wife sleep late. Then I took the triplet outside to a park for some play time. After lunch I had my own quality time. And in the afternoon we went to our friend couple's kid birthday party.

Intervals

• Every 4:00, for a total of 6 sets
• 15 kettlbell swings @ 32kg
• 15 goblet squats @ 32kg
• 15 burpees

Oh man this started hurting during the process. There's nothing difficult or challenging in the movements or the combination. Obviously the swings were the easiest, goblet squats put some acid in my legs and burpees finished the deal. It was just the combination of the elements that started accumulating. Intervals are always tough. It's also a mental game. But in my opinion it's good to have elements that are technically easy so you don't have to think too much, just go.

My round times were consistently between 1.40 - 1.45

Saturday 17.10: Row, Wall Balls

Saturday. Wod, 50-40-30-20-10 of: row calories and wall ball shots. Time, 16.53

We decided to do something different today so we packed our family in to our car in the morning and started driving to Espoo. My wife had googled the cafeterias by the sea and we ended up to a place called Nokkalan majakka in Espoo. We walked around the beach for an hour. Kids were thrilled to find new places and something to climb on as there were rocks and some other incline terrain scenery. Afterwards we went to have lunch to this Nokkalan majakka which turned out to be a fantastic restaurant. For some brainfart I ordered a vegetarian salad which turned out it was probably the best salad I have ever tasted. Goat cheese avocado salad. I'll give it 10/10 points. Also kids' meatballs and wife's salmon were all just perfect. Strong recommendation to this place.

Workout. Time, 16.53

• 50-40-30-20-10 of:
• Row calories
• Wall ball shots

I usually do my workouts during lunch, especially during weekends.This time we drove home after lunch and the twins fell asleep in the car which means to say I missed that training window. At the time I'm writing this post, it's been a week from that day but I recall it was so that I took all the kids outdoors when we returned home. Went to a park with them and when we came back home for dinner I took a short "daddy time" at the gym without any warm-up.

So I just hopped on the rower, went on at 1.50 - 1.55 pace throughout the workout. On the wall balls I hit the first set with 28-12-10 reps, the round of 40 was also 28 to begin with and finished it with 12 additional reps. Last 3 rounds were unbroken, i.e. 30, 20 and 10 rep rounds.

Very good finisher to this day.

Friday 16.10: Back squats

Friday. Back squats 5x7 @ 115kg

Friday squats. Do I need to say more. I'm loving it. This was the eight Friday (or occasional Saturday) in a row to strengthen my lower body.

Strength.

• Back squat 5x7 @ 115kg

Began from 7x10 @ 80kg, then I have been adding 5kg per week to reach this 5x7 @ 115kg day. It's getting heavy. The volume has been rather rough every week. Something between 35-70 squats per squat day. And my lower body hurts always 2 days after these squat sessions.

Today was no different to the previous ones. It feels heavier by the day but still I feel I can manage those loads. However, it everytime feels intimidating. I always take one heavy single prior to the actual work days. But it has always been 130kg. Little by little I should maybe buil that up as well. The point is to go heavier than the actual work sets so that those would feel lighter, pshycologically I mean. Maybe I should build that heavy single up too because next week is gonna be 120kg so there's not big difference anymore.

Wed-Thu 14-15.10: Badminton + Pull-ups, Hspu

Wednesday. Badminton for one hour. Classic stuff, playing badminton with Tuomas once a week or once in 10 days or something like that. Damn it's cool to use this fitness with a buddy in some other sport as well.

Thursday.Wod, 8 rounds of: 12 hspu, 12 pull-ups.

After a rest day from crossfit my body is usually in pretty good state, even though there would be some other form of sport completed the day before. This time however, my legs weighed like led. The badminton had its effects. This was "quality work" which means to say my only purpose was to pace myself and try to go unbroken.

Wod.

• 8 rounds of:
• 12 pull-ups
• 12 handstand push-ups

And I reached my goal. Before the first set I was like how am I going to complete one set of hspu's or pull-ups. Definitely not the best confidence level. But as it always is, when completing the first reps my body accepts the plan and is ready to hit it. I'm very pleased that no matter the feeling my perfromance level is quite stable

I went unbroken on both of these. Pull-ups were the easier piece of these. In the beginning those were kind of intimidating as well because I wasn't ready mentally but in the end there could have been 15 reps. On the other hand, hspu's were calculated perfectly. I believe 9th or 10th round would have been very challenging to hit unbroken. My shoulders were shot. So had I done more than 12 pull-ups, that would have definitely had its effects on my hspu's too so I'll say those reps were perfect for me this time. Total of 96 reps on both elements.

Tuesday 13.10: Hang cleans and double unders

Tuesday. Wod, 6 rounds of: 15 hang power clean @ 50kg, 30 du.

To be honest my body was not receptive to another training and my mind was also not in beast mode. My shoulders hurt from yesterday's db carries, lats were sensitive from pull-ups, somehow my hip flexors also felt like there's an inflammation or something. That was a bit freaky but anyway you might get the point that it wasn't that easy to go and hit a workout.

Workout.

• 6 rounds of:
• 15 hang power clean @ 50kg
• 30 double unders

I had to think what are the kind of movements I can perform without enormous pain. Cleans and du's turned out not to be too painful. But completing 15 cleans in a row per round was a brainfart after Monday's grip mash.

No matter those earlier days' training sessions I was able to crush this one. I didn't have a clock running but anyway I completed everything unbroken. The last cleans of those sets were not comfortable in the last rounds even though I had hook grip on (naturally) all the way. I'm very happy that my du's are nowadays rolling smoothly without hick-ups.

Monday 12.10: Pull-ups, DB carry

Monday. Amrap 30min: 25 pull-ups, 400m db carry.

This was interesting. My lower body tends to get crushed on my Friday squats. Probably because I hit squat strength only once a week so my legs are always surprised what the heck am I doing to them occasionally. But it's been awesome as it's one of the highlights every week. Anyway my grip was also a bit shot from yesterday's kb swings for some reason.

Amrap 30.

• 25 pull-ups
• 400m dumbbell carry @ 2x25kg
  

This was a rough combination if you can imagine. Big set of pull-ups which traditionally hurts forearms / grip in addition to entire upper body and respiratory system. Then after grip was gone it was not so cool to grab two dumbbells and head down our home street back and forth for 400m stretch.

In the first round I had 25kg dumbbell in front rack position and 15kg dumbbell straight overhead. Our home street goes 200m downhill which I went with right hand overhead. Then came back another 200m incline with left hand overhead with that 15kg db. My shoulders were gone after that one.

Second round of pull-ups was still unbroken That pleased me alot. For that round's dumbbell carries I grabbed 2x25kg db's and went farmer's carry all the way. It was miserable to say the least. Once I came back my grip strength was destroyed. It felt funny to jump on the pull-up bar as it was something I have never felt before. I found it difficult to complete the first 2 pull-ups because my forearms were numb. Still, I was able to hang on with something little that I had left in my grip, and completed 15 reps on the first set. Then dropped down, took another 6 reps, short break and finished it with 4 pull-ups.

Third round of carries sucked even more, if possible with the dumbbells. My breathing stayed in control because I had to drop them occasionally. That 400m seems occasionally like an eternity. Especially when walking it with heavy weights. I finished 4 sets of pull-ups and 3 walks with the dumbbells. The last pull-up set was as awkward as the third. It Felt miracleous to finish even the first rep but Still I got 16 reps on first try, then 5+4 to finish it.

I felt like a king after finishing this one.

Sunday 11.10: Hspu, Pistols, Kbs + Badminton

Sunday. AM: Emom of hspu's, pistol squats and kb swings. Accessory upper body workout. PM: Badminton

After having two recovery days I needed to squat. Still, I wanted to train more and make my body hurt. My in-laws came by to play with the kids so that freed my time enought to hit a workout. In the evening I went to play badminton with Tuomas for one hour so this was a great day.

Workout.

• Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
• 1st, all in handstand push-ups (26, 21, 17 reps)
• 2nd, pistol squats alternating (20, 20, 20 reps)
• 3rd, kettlebell swings @ 32kg (25, 22, 25 reps)
• 4th, rest
  

I wrote this as all in efforts on all of these. That means to say it was not 30-40 second effort and then recover before next movement. It was more like 50 seconds so I had a short pause to catch my breath before hitting the next movement. So basically it was 3 minute amraps if you wanna call it that. With the exception that I burned my body for one minute per element, before moving to the next one.

One minute of handstand push-ups is a great shoulder burner. No doubt about it. Onthe first round I smashed 26 reps unbroken. On the second one it was 15 rep to start with, then finished it with 6 more. Last round was maybe 10-12 on the first try, then 2 more sets to finish at 17 reps.

Pistols were good from the beginning. I kept moving on those throughout the minute. It's not my fastest movement but I paced myself and never stopped at any point. It's been months since doing any pistol squats. I tried them couple of weeks ago once but at that time it was a no go. Today, no problems.

Accessory. 

• 4 supersets of:
• 20 push-ups
• 20 bicep curls
• 20 tricep pull-downs
  

This was quite a meathead portion of this training day. That first piece was awful to be honest and I was ready to crawl back inside. So I'm very happy I continued to perfom on this one. Upper body pump to say the least. Push-ups, empty barbell curls and then something I believe is called tricep pull-downs. I bought a cable during spring / summer that can be attached to my Yoke and it's perfect for this kind of accessory stuff.

Badminton.

Classic stuff. It's been maybe 2-3 weeks since we played last time. It was awesome to get my hand on a racket once again. Felt like we never had a break on this one. Great sport

Saturday 10.10: Back squats, Good morning, T2b

Saturday. Back squats 5x8 @ 110kg. Accessory, 4 sets of: 10 good mornings @60kg, 15 t2b.

All of our kids were home on Thursday and Friday as the oldest one had to be taken away from day care due to coughing. They are so much more careful nowadays which I understand well. All because of the novel korona virus. Well, she had a test and everything's just good. The girl is the perfect herself. But that meant my wife had hands full of work with three little kids at home so I didn't dare to go workout after working hours. So I had saved some energy to this Saturday.

Strength.

• Back squat 5x8 @ 110kg

I was longing after these squats. I guess I'm repeating myself but I am very happy on being able to continue this squat progression in this life situation. I tend to avoid any strength progressions because it's mentally devastating if I can not hold on to that Program for some reason. So it's been freaking awesome to stick to this one.

  

It's getting heavier by the week. No doubt about it. I always build up to a rather heavy single before these squats sets. This time it was, and usually has been 130 kilos. It's a mental win to begin with. Once Building up, the 110kg feels much heavier than after I've lifted 130kg for a single squat. You can take a look at the squats on the video. Felt good.

Accessory.

• 4 sets of:
• 10 good morning @ 60kg
• 15 toes-to-bar's
  

I needed to store some accessory stuff in the bank so I don't where this came from but I took some good mornings to put more pressure on my posterior chain. Combined with toes-to-bar's. That was a good combination for core training.

Wednesday 7.10: Rowing, DB Snatches

Wednesday. Wod, 3 rds of: 500m row, 50 db snatch @ 25kg. Time, 15min

This was one of those days that I had zero plans for the day's workout. Actually I didn't have it before the workout started. I just thought it's easy to jump on the rower, start pulling and let my brain do the thinking during the first 500 meters. Considering this starting point, it was a great workout.

Workout. Time, 15min

• 3 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 50 dumbbell snatch @ 25kg
  

So I sat on the concept2, start pulling and somwehere during 200-300 meters I agreed with myself that I could do 50 dumbbell snatches after the first 500 meters. Then after second 500m leg I could do 50 reps of something else. However, those snatches felt kind of great and I didn't come up with anything smooth to replace the snatches so I just kept pounding that dumbbell.

I completed 15 reps, right hand, then 15 reps left hand, and finished 10 reps again with both hands. This same logic stayed identical for all 3 rounds. Very quick workout, efficient and the feeling afterwards was awesome. Comparing how I felt before and after the wod was totally different. I'm so glad I did this one.

Tuesday 6.10: Hspu, Clean, Burpee, Front squat

Tuesday. Wod, 25 hspu, then 8 rds of 5 hpc @ 70kg + 10 burpees, then 25 front squat @ 70kg. time, 14.45.

During lunch break I was able to squeeze in a workout session. Quick one, 15 minutes of heavy sweating and I was done for the day. In the evening I took two kids with me, dropped the other one to her dance training and took the other one and headed to the track and field to mess around.

Workout. Time, 14.45

• 25 handstand push-ups buy-in, then
• 8 rounds of:
• 5 hang power clean @ 70kg + 10 burpees, then
• 25 front squat @ 70kg

At first my whiteboard read 25 burpees buy-in and cash-out, and then 8 rounds of cleans and front squats. Then, I realized it's most probably gonna be too physical to maintain the intensity. So I modified it a bit to begin able to move constantly and thus reach the goal I was looking for. That is to move "all the time" and put my lungs hurt.

I believe I succeeded in the goal set for this task. I got the hspu's unbroken in the books. That was great, considering my PR on hspu's is 26-27. For sure those taxed my shoulders a bit and maybe that was not ideal but I wanted to go ub, and I did.

 

Cleans and burpees. Nothing too physical but definitely something that I needed to find my pace and rhythm not to gas myself too early. Classic stuff, steady pace. In the beginning I had only those front squats at moderate load left to complete. I'm telling you, I had second thoughts about doing these squats at all in the end. What if I'd just stop after the last burpee. But then I stopped bitching around and went for it. I took 13 reps on the first set, then another 12 squats to finish the workout. Definitely a good one!

Monday 5.10: DB clean, T2b, Run

Monday. Amrap 20min: 12 double hang power clean @ 2x25kg, 12 t2b, 400m run. Result, 6 rounds

Starting the week with a simple workout. I had no capacity nor time to create any cool twists. I remember not having any plan when opening the front door of our house. So I needed to sense my body in the warm-up and hear what it wants to say. I heard it whisper "cleans" so this is how it turned out to.

Amrap 20. Result 6 rounds

• 12 double hang power cleans @ 2x25kg
• 12 toes-to-bar's
• 400m run
  

I thought having more than 10 reps of those double db cleans, especially combined with t2b's, would tax my forearms much more. Having my grip under tension on both movements was thought to be tougher so that was a positive signal to realize my hands managed that well. It was surprising that t2b's took on my core already with this kind of moderate volume. Maybe the combination had its effect. As I just finished 6 rounds in the time frame that means to say the round times were somewhere around 3.10 - 3.30. Consistent all the way.

Sunday 4.10: Row, Hspu, Pull-ups, Wall balls

Sunday. Wod, 50 cal row, 50 hspu, 50 cal row, 50 pull-ups, 50 cal row, 50 wb, 50 cal row. Time, 23.30

Saturday was a beautiful autumn day and we celebrated not only my rest day but also Pauliina's mother's birthday party with the in-laws. They came to our house and we put some food on the barbeque and enjoyed the sunny weather with the family and kids. Sunday was totally different when talking about weather. Body was also feeling okay so it was time to hit it.

Workout. Time, 23.30

• 50 cal row
• 50 handstand push-ups
• 50 cal row
• 50 pull-ups
• 50 cal row
• 50 wall ball shots
• 50 cal row

This was probably second or third time when assaulting 50 handstand push-ups in a row. I once did a workout with 50-40-30-20-10 of hspu's and something else. That really boosted my confidence of being able to hit big sets of this movement as well. So that has stuck in my head and now it was implemented in this way. Doing 50 reps of different movements is definitely going to suck, no matter what the movements  are.

My rowing pace is a mystery as I didn't check it at any point. That 50 calory row is somewhere around 700-750 meters in distance. On the hspu's it was a big 20 rep set in the beginning, then 10 reps, 7 and some smaller sets. Pull-ups were feeling okay in the beginning so I knocked 25 reps to start with, then 12-8-5 to finish it. Wall balls were 25-15-10 reps. I was done after the workout for sure. Cool wod but it sucked, good one.

Friday 2.10: Back squats

Friday. Back squats 5x8 @ 105kg

Classic stuff! I'm very happy that I've been able to maintain Fridays as main my squat days for weeks now. this is actually the sixth squat session in a row. This time I changed the focus a bit and probably will in the future as well but still aiming to reserve Fridays for squats.

Strength.

• Back squats 5x8 @ 105kg

I've been doing 7x10 sets in the past between 80-100kg. Now I'm adding more weight and dropping the number of sets and reps, still having 40 squats for total volume this time. These squats moved well. Definitely heavier than before but it helped to have less sets. Let's see what the next week will bring up for squats.

Thursday 1.10: Row, Box, Push-ups

Thursday. Wod, 6 rounds of: 25 cal row, 25 box, 25 push-ups. Time, 23.10

Thinking about training today was pretty much the last thing on my mind. I just had not let my brain think about that possibility for even the slightest moment. Then at some point I realized what the heck, yesterday was a full rest day so I didn't find any excuses but stepped outdoors and decided to force myself to train a bit, with no big purpose behind the workout.

Workout. Time, 23.10

• 6 rounds of:
• 25 cal row
• 25 box jumps
• 25 push-ups

If you haven't figured it out this far, rowing is a great way to start a workout in cases where your warm-up is not right on the money and body is not feeling the vibes perfectly. Through rowing you can get the heart rate up a notch and get ready for what's facing you soon in the workout. So I began by rowing, and decided to keep in on bodyweight movements.

Round times were between 3.40 - 4.00 so once again no big variance between rounds. Just kept moving, paced myself on those reps and headed through. Rowing pace is not known, box jumps unbroken and push-ups were split to two sets except in the begininng they were unbroken

In the evening we went to play around to the training place near the track and field venue

Tuesday 29.9: Row, Clean + Run

Tuesday. AM. Wod, 5 rounds of: 1.000m row, 3 squat clean @ 90kg. PM. Run 10x400m

Oh yeah, I felt my body was stiff and not in the ideally prepared for another workout. I was sure my body would get accustomed to moving some barbells, even though it would be heavy. Well, it turned out it didn't accept it so it was quite a battle.

Workout.

• 5 rounds of:
• 1.000m row
• 3 squat clean @ 90kg

What I am very happy about was that the pacing on this one was consistent once again. Rowing pace was around 1.55 throughout the half an hour was like walking in tar. All the cleans were lifted as single squat cleans. I didn't rush through those lifts at any point. Just wanted to keep the system consistent all the time. Round times were between 5.30 - 5.40 every round so it was somewhere around 28 minutes, I accidentally didn't write the end time up on my notes.

In the afternoon I dropped my little girl to her dance hobby and went running. I thought I'd just run around for a while but then I got excited about running around the track and felt kind of light so I ended up running quite fast towards the end. I believe it was 10 laps of the classic 400m circle. So that jog switched to running with having leg cramps in the end so I was very satisfied to this one

Monday 28.9: T2b, Box jumps, S2O

Monday. Wod, 30-25-20-15-10-5 reps of: T2b, Box jumps, S2o @ 50kg. Time, 23.20

This time I went to work out in the evening. I created this one on the spot. Had only one thing on my mind before entering the gym and it was moderate shoulder-to-overhead type of movement. That fitted in the plan nicely and decided to throw in some bodyweight elements.

Workout. Time, 23.20

• 30-25-20-15-10-5 reps of:
• Toes-to-bar's
• Box jumps
• Shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg

It turned out this was not nice. Lots of repetitions per movement in a row seems to be awful pretty much every time. My plan on that type of stuff is to do a rather big set in the beginning instead of going small steps all the way. On t2b's it meant hitting 20 reps to start with, then 8-4-3 to finish the round. On the following rounds I completed them in about 3 sets, and last two rounds were unbroken.

Box jumps started to burn my legs a lot in probably at least first three sets but no matter the feeling I was able to put that feeling aside and just keep moving. S2o's were 15-8-7 on the first set, then 13-6-6, 14-6, 11-4, and last two rounds were unbroken. Those jerks were awful. Somehow this entire piece was quite a gem, I liked it even though it was quite tough. Maybe I liked it exactly because of that.

Sunday 27.9: Intervals

Sunday. Intervals of HSPU's, Burpees, Wall balls and rowing

We went to Luukki another time this weekend. We are getting familiar with the place and I can see some tradition taking place. Afterwards my training time was about quick intervals. Those were horrible.

Intervals.

• Every 5:00, for a total of 6 sets
• Alternate between A and B

A

• 15 handstand push-ups
• 15 burpees
• 300m row

B

• 15 handstand push-ups
• 15 wall balls
• 300m row

These took me between 2.25 - 2.50 to complete which means to say it was approximately 1:1 work:rest ratio. The first piece (A) was the one that took a bit longer to complete because of the burpees, whereas B was faster.

I was able to push through those hspu's unbroken all the way to the last round where I had to come down from the Wall after 13 reps as my shoulders were smashed. I mean big time smashed. I wanted to break the sall balls too but that would have been something I would not have forgiven myself if that happened. Got to say the burpees were also nasty as hll. The real mental battle was still the last sprint on the rower each round. It was horrible, and the rest really came in to a good place. Plus, I'm very pleased I wrote it for 300 meters only. Had it been longer, the effort could not have been maf effort.

Saturday 26.9: Bar mu's, Cleans, Run

Saturday. Wod, 5 rounds of: 5 bar mu's, 5 hang power cleans @ 80kg, 400m run.

This weekend we went to Luukki for a family stroll for about 2 hours. Then at home after lunch I went to hit this workout. Right afterwards, I grabbed Emma and we went for biking and hiking to Tornimäki hill. In the afternoon we packed the entire family to our car and drove to a playground that we know our love appreciate. In other words, it was quite a hassle, as the weekends tend to be nowadays with kids. I spent the entire day outdoors.

Workout.

• 5 rounds of:
• 5 bar muscle-ups
• 5 hang power clean @ 80kg
• 400m run

Nowadays I don't do very systematic training programmes. It's entirely different compared to what it used to be like before kids. Then I used to spend a ton writing workouts, strength sessions and exploring YouTube videos. Nowadays I'm just happy I can find a training slot to break some sweat and get herat beat up. Occasionally I get a vision in my head the day before and then it stucks in my head for an entire day until I get that out of my system. On other occasions I write the workout as I step outside.

On Friday I "remembered" bar muscle-ups and decided to slip them in to my Saturday wod. It was intentional that I had two pulling elements next to each other. First get the full body experience on the mu's, then 80kg hang cleans to accompany, that is not light weight for me from hang position.

Running broke the tension of having to grab a barbell all the time. Both of those movements are tough so my running was moderate pace.I wanted to be able to jump for the mu's rather fast after coming back from the run instead of having to stand there and grasb air. I liked this workout and am happy for completing 25 bar muscle-ups without any palm rips.

Friday 25.9: Back squats

Friday. Back squats, 7x10 @ 100kg

Thursday was a rest day. I just took a 1 hour recovery walk at the same time I was having one meeting with a colleague. Got to love this distance working system as you can do that kind of stuff more easily. Just put on the shorts and a cap on my head, enjoy the sun and walk around the town while doing work at the same time. But this Friday it was time for those classic squats.

Strength.

• Back squats 7x10 @ 100kg

This was the the fifth time doing this squat progression. Started at 80kg, added 5kg per week and now we are at 100kg. I believe this is the end of it in this form. I played the game through. Next week I'll change it a bit. Lower the volume a bit. My ass is on fire the following days on these. I'm very satisfied that I got through these squat cycles with class, and very happy in genereal of being able to squat at all. There was so long break of squatting for real that I got desperate at time.

Wednesday 23.9: ML @ Crossfit Kehä

Wednesday. Squat clean triples (up to 105kg). Pair wod Chipper. Amrap 24min.

We met with a bunch of guys and gals at Crossfit Kehä, Toni's Box. Agenda was to start with banging some barbell, then hit a workout together as teams and finally put sports aside, get some lunch and start planning the main focus areas for the rest of the year and plan the beginning of the year at work. There were five of us who area leading our unit.

Oly.

• Squat clean triples (singles from ground)
• Barbell @ 80, 85, 90, 95, 100, 105kg

I needed to get my hands on something heavy. Can't much drop a barbell at home so that usually prevents me to go to max loads because if there's a small chance of failing a clean for example  I wouldn't probably attempt that lift. So there was some pent-up demand for barbell dropping and this time it transformed to squat clean triples. To get the most out of this one, I took those triples as singles. Dropped the bar after every rep, and completed triples like this.

ML Chipper / Pair workout. Result, 1 round + 3 devils press

• Amrap 24 minutes
• 50 cal bike erg (25/25 cals at the same time)
• 50 double dumbbell devils press @ 17.5kg
• 50 double dumbbell box step overs @ 17.5kg
• 50 cal bike erg (25/25 cals at the same time)
• 50 shoulder-to-overhead @ 50kg
• 50 toes-to-bar's
• 50 cal bike erg (25/25 cals at the same time)
• 50 front squat @ 50kg
• 50 handstand push-ups
  

This was from Toni's pen. We attacked this one as a pair. He estimated this time-wise quite on point as we just finished one round and biked through 50 cals and 3 devils presses. I usually have a steady pace on this type of workouts and I somehow consider that a strength as well that I can keep on pushing through. Toni on the other hand is known for throwing balls to the wall on the first minute and then trying to stay alive. On his own words he died in the very beginning on this one, after first bike and devils presses :)

Still, it was a great workout in my opinion. Breathing was heavy, shoulders were on fire, so were the legs. Just the way I liked it. After this one the burger for lunch felt deserved.