Saturday 20.2: Nasty Girls + Db's

Saturday. AM. Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR). Cashout, 3rds of: 1min row, 1min bike. PM. 5rds of: 12 lunges (2x25kg db's), 10 front squat (2x25kg db's). Accessory, 4x15 bent over row (2x25kg db's).

We spent the weekend in the countryside so I didn't have possibility to write about Saturday's training sessions. It was a two-a-day. In the morning we hit it with Pauliina. There was a benchmark workout called Nasty Girls. In the evening we went outside with Kari for another session. Awesome Saturday!

Nasty Girls. Time, 13.16 (PR)

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 air squats
• 7 ring muscle-ups
• 10 hang power cleans @ 60kg

This was the second time I've done this benchmark workout. These muscle-up wods are always a bit horrifying in advance. Those are not my strength and they tore my palms big time each and every time. There probably hasn't been even one session without rips. Okay that may be exaggeration but it's close anyway.

But the fact is that today's muscle-ups rocked my world. I was proud of myself in the middle of the workout. On the first round my plan was to go 4-3 reps which was a bit optimistic. However, as I started to do them my focus was on keeping a hollow body, tightly together, with a good back swing and lots of patience on the front swing before pulling myself up and over the rings. These must have been one of the best (if not even the best) muscle-ups I have performed. It's a pity I don't have video material as I'd really like to analyze that.

So first round was 4-3 even though it felt like I had something in me to go even unbroken. That would have been a pr so that would have probably been the most stupid thing to do in a workout like this =) Once mu's are gone, it's difficult to get them back. Second round was 3-2-2 and the last one maybe a double or two and then singles. Still the technique was good on these ones all the way.

Air squats were unbroken on the first round, and then I kept a short pause after 30 reps on latter rounds. Cleans were unbroken each round, those were the easiest part of this workout.

Cashout.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1min row
• 1min bike

This might be quite an awesome workout to continue for 20-40 minutes. At least something similar. Don't have a SkiErg which would make it even better. This time there was no time to work more on this couplet.

Legs.

• 5 rounds of:
• 12 walking lunges @ 2x25 dumbbells
• 10 front squats @ 2x25kg dumbbells

I had bought 25kg dumbbells from Germany and this was the first time I got my hands on them. Those little babies were great! And the weather was perfect too so the combination was simply just too good not to hit another session. This focused purely on those db's.

My legs were on fire. Doing this on snow made it interesting as I slipped every now and then as the snow started to pack and turn firm. That made it slippery as ice. This was not a timed wod.

Accessory.

• 4 x 15 bent over row @ 2x25kg dumbbells

Just needed to get something else done with these guys. Bent over rows don't appear very often in my training but it's still a good movement. Today I decided to give it a shot as Pauliina suggested it =) Had to take them for 15 reps as the weight was not heavy for that purpose. I did these with two dumbbells at the same time

Tuesday 29.12: Press, 10min metcon + Squats

Tuesday. AM. Push press 4x6 @ 70kg. Metcon, 10min amrap of: 300m row, 20 du, 15 wb. Result, 4rds + 150m row. Accessory, 3 rds of: 10 reverse hypers, 10 barbell rows. PM. Squats on squats on squats.

Another early morning workout. This time the night sleep was lengthy, and I felt much better when waking up. We have been focusing on getting more sleep on a daily basis and it's paying off. I feel much more energetic during the day. This has been a good trend lately. It still requires more warm-up in the very morning workouts to get mentally and physically fully prepared.

Overhead.

• Push press 4x6 @ 70kg

Part of the progression. I have now gone with this "program" for 4 full weeks. Twice a week. Started at 4x10, 3x10, 2x10, 1x10. Then same amount of sets but weight increased and reps decreased to 8's. Now it's time to go for 6's. Today's load was 70kg.

Damned the bar felt heavy even with an all-around warm-up prior to touching the bar. At 40-50kg the bar felt much heavier =) Once I had pushed 60kg for couple of reps I decided I wouldn't go for a heavier single before the first working set but started the first one when climbing up. Felt okay. A bit shaky but still rather solid. My shoulders and triceps took these well but for some reason it didn't feel as smooth in the front rack when I dropped the bar from overhead as normally.

Metcon. Result, 4 rounds + 150m row

• 10min amrap of:
• 300m row
• 20 double unders
• 15 wall ball shots, 9kg

Going for bodyweight elements purely equals to heavy breathing. There's usually not much room for recovery and leaning elbows on knees. Or at least there shouldn't be. It's a different thing if there's barbells included or high level skills such as muscle-ups. This was rowing, double unders and wall balls.

My plan was to get a steady pace throughout the workout. Rowing was faster than if it was a longer distance. I kept the damper setting somewhere between 8-10, depending on the round. I've been neglecting double unders as those have not rolled as I want to. That's not the correct way to attack weaknesses for sure =) They usually hurt in my shins for some reason. Box jumps don't but jump rope does. Sick. I reasoned foam rolling my shins would make a difference, and that definitely did! Felt great jumping around.

Wall balls were good, made my legs burn a bit. Nice combination mixing it with rowing. That really brought fatigue in to my legs. This workout definitely felt in my legs and breathing. Good one.

Accessory.

• Reverse hypers 3x10 @ 20, 30, 40kg
• Barbell row 3x10 @ 60, 70, 80kg

At first I thought about getting back home to recover but then this hit me from somewhere. Took couple of sets of both reverse hypers and rows with a barbell. I'm not sure if I did the rows correctly. This was how I felt like it needs to be done. I've done them with dumbbells for couple of times. That's more natural for me. This was probably the first time I did this with a barbell. Reverse hypers feel like a great accessory element. Especially after squats. Today I piled some weight on the system and tried how it feels. Awesome for posterior chain development.

Squats.

• Back squats
• 5x120, 125, 130kg
• 3x132.5, 135kg, 2x137.5kg
• 1x140, 142.5, f 145kg

• Front squat
• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes of:
• 5 front squats @ 90kg touch'n'go

Afternoon session was all about squatting. First back squats and then front squats to murder my legs totally. Had to flush it with cycling for 10 minutes on a stationary bike. That felt like the best cycling piece ever. I did lots of mobility, stretching and then that cool down. Without those I probably wouldn't walk anymore. My legs are gone already now in the evening. I'm anticipating they are sore as hell tomorrow.

My plan was to do back squats. Built it up little by little. Even though I wasn't able to build up close to my max load, I'm still happy due to Sunday's and Monday's volume of lunges and workouts in general. Especially those lunges made my legs sore big time. Plan was to do 5-5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1. Last set of the triples was so damn heavy that I racked the barbell after 2 reps. And the last single had to be assisted up by my spotter.

I wasn't planning on doing front squats initially. However, I took some weight off the bar and left it at 90 kilos. Then took 5 reps for fun, walked around and took another. At that moment I decided to make it something like strength conditioning. Didn't have a clock running as this was created in the spur of the moment while I was doing it. I basically walked around to shake my legs and then returned to the bar. These were touch'n'go style squats which made it more difficult.

Monday 19.10: Bench, Dips, Dumbbells

Monday. Bench emom x 10min: 3 reps @ 80kg. Workout, 5rds of: 10 ring dip + 10 light tall clean (2x12.5kg db's). Workout, 5rds of: 10 bent over row (25-30kg db's) + 10 strict press (2x17.5kg db's).

It sucks to have my leg out of order. I have to ignore lower body work for a while. No squats for a week I anticipate. Hopefully just a week, not month(s). Time will tell but I ain't looking for a month of just bench and presses. Today this was exactly the game plan. It was okay for a change but this is not something I'd do on a daily basis =)

Strength.

• Bench press, 10x60, 5x70, 5x80, 5x85, 4x90kg, then:
• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes:
• 3 reps @ 80kg

Started the session with benching for couple of sets. It was a bit difficult to get a good warm-up and sweat on with being cautious of lower body all the time. Bench is a pretty good movement, I've realized it lately but it doesn't bring an old school sweat easily. After taking couple of sets I decided to drop down a bit and add the intensity to by making it an emom workout.

This weight was quite good for this type of emom. Actually it might have been the first time doing bench on the minute style. Worked well.

Workout.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 10 ring dip
• 10 tall clean, 2 x 12.5kg dumbbells

Ring dips were a no-brainer. What to couplet it with was a more difficult question. It turned out to be very light cleans with dumbbells. Heavy db's would have been preferred but at this point you probably know why that didn't happen. Ring dips were the beef on this wod. Went unbroken on them, and focused on full range of motion, and continuous movement and rhythm. Dips felt very good.

Workout.

• 5 rounds not for time of:
• 10 bent over row, 25-30kg dumbbell
• 10 strict press, 2 x 17.5kg dumbbells

Rows are something I do like never. I have overlooked this movement a lot. After trying it out today, I can see there is a point why it might be a good accessory element in fitness. Not replacing anything but at the end of a good training session some bent over rows with dumbbells or barbell are probably not a bad idea if there's plenty of time to play around.

So this was the first time doing these and the weights were moderate. Maybe I'll give it another shot some day. Today I took a short pause on top of the movement, and focused on good control both ways, up and down. Strict presses were the partner for rows. Counter movement. Shoulder press / Strict press for 10 reps at the same dumbbells. These started to get heavy towards the end of each set. Still, they were manageable.