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.
Thursday was a busy day all the way from morning to midnight but somehow I found a slot to hit the gym. This week's been running back and forth all the time so I practically don't have time to right that much about the training.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 14 minutes
Odd min, power clean + hang squat clean @ 90kg
Even min, squat clean + 2 front squat @ 90kg
Different type of complex of cleans. Felt pretty good on these. Barbell was heavy'ish though.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
1st min, 7 power clean @ 60kg
2nd min, 10 handstand push-ups
3rd min, 15 box jumps
Most difficult part of this piece was the end of hspu's. Maybe another set could have been nailed but then it might have gone more challenging. Cleans got my breathing heavy, so were the box jumps. In the beginning no big deal but after some rounds it was a different game.
Accessory.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd min, 5 bench press @ 70kg
Even min, 12 reverse hypers @ 50kg
Easy end to this session. Main focus on the reverse hypers. Should have probably gone heavier. It's just kind of a new movement so I didn't dare to.
I took a day off on Wednesday because of issues with timetables. Thursday was a real blast. We directed to Lahti with a bunch of colleagues for workshop purposes, and then relaxed at the Vierumäki sports resort. That is one heck of a mecca for a sports dude. You can practically do anything there, either solo or then in a team.
We had the pleasure of getting familiar with curling to kick the sports piece off. I've played this sport once before in my life couple of years ago when I still played floorball. That time we had a training camp in Kisakallio, similar sports center near Lohja. This was as fun as it could possibly be. We enjoyed this one a lot, hilarious stuff.
Then I got my chance to hit crossfit session and I definitely utilized that. Got some friends accompany me and they were down for a real metabolic conditioning session. I'm very proud of these two studs for giving their best effort in the form of rowing, kettlebell swings and burpees. Looked nasty but they made it through their first cf wod with winning mental attitude!
Oly.
A - Clean complex: Clean + Hang clean + 3 Front squat (60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 95, 95, 95, 95kg)
B - Clean singles (100, 105, 110kg)
There was really no plan whatsoever. That's because I had no idea if there will be a good time slot for a training session or not. So I just grabbed the barbell and started moving it around as we got to the gym. Took some front squats at the end of clean + hang clean combo. Thought about doing that for light weights to get legs warmed up properly but during time I realized I was going heavier and heavier with the same format.
These felt pretty good and I'm happy on being able to do the front squats easily right after the second clean on each set. After taking couple of sets on the complex I added some weight for couple singles. Wanted to have bigger weights. I'm pleased that I can clean 110kg any day as my one rep max is set currently at 118kg.
Clean complex @ 90kg
Metcon.
7min amrap
2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of:
Front squats @ 60kg
Burpees
As I put the guys sweat their butts off in a pair workout there was no doubt I would go for burpees myself too. This was a short-ish metcon where the idea is to keep grinding. I went unbroken on the burpees for every round and for front squats up to the round of 10. The 12's were 8-4 and 14's were 8-6. These really shot my legs big time. They were cramping in the evening. Loved this wod!
After recovering in the sauna and eating a fabulous dinner it was time to get some bowling done. It's been years since I've had my fingers on a bowling ball but it came back quite quickly. Best result for one round was 172 points for me so I'll take it!
Tuesday. Complex emom x 10min: 1 hang squat clean + squat clean + front squat. Intervals, every 3:00, for 21min: 250m row + 7 hang power clean (60kg).
Awesomeness continues! First day having a barbell on front rack position in ages. And it didn't hurt at all, loved every second of it! Went for bar complex and afterwards interval work through rowing and power cleans.
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
1 hang squat clean + squat clean + front squat
1-2min: 80kg, 3-10min: 85kg
You can't imagine how much I've been waiting for this day. Feels like it's been months since I had a bar on front rack previous time. Somehow I believe I live for cleans. Okay, maybe I should stop bitching about a nagging pain. That's probably not the most severe thing of all. It still affected my mental game quite a lot.
This was a lot of fun for sure. Weights stayed conservative for a reason. Didn't wanna go all out on the very first day. After all, I had no idea how my hand would react to this session. It feels good so I'm confident it's gonna be just fine. First 2 minutes were at 80kg, the rest of the sets (8 min) were at 85kg
Complex
Intervals.
Every 3:00, for 21min (7 sets)
250m row
7 hang power clean @ 60kg
Purpose was to go full throttle on each interval. It took me 50 seconds to finish the rowing. Pace was 1:37 in all but 2 sets. One set in the middle was 1:38, and the last one was 1:36. From there I walked to the bar, picked it up and performed 7 hang power cleans. Then walked back to see what the timer said, and it was at 75 seconds. That means to say it was around 70 seconds to finish each set. There was some distance between stations. I'm happy on being able to hold the pace static through all 7 sets.
Great combination of movements. Wanted to take everything out of the cleans, now as I'm able to do them again. I didn't hold back at all on the rowing, that was the main point on this one. My legs were burning as I walked to the bar, especially in the latter half of the workout. It took some 20+ strokes on the Concept2 to finish 250 meters.
Wednesday. Clean complex, 5 sets of: tall clean + mid-thigh + full clean. Intervals with partner, 14 rounds of: 4 hang power clean (70kg), 8 t2b, 12 box. Result, 12.49.
Another loooong day at the office but this time I was able to move around much more and prevent body from total system failure =) It was a huge positive surprise as my main man Toni threw me a message in the morning that he could come and train with me after work. He also had the agenda ready. I got a tetanus vaccination in the morning so that kind of disturbed my plans so Toni's suggestion was right on point!
Toni working on his clean complex
Oly.
5 working sets of the following clean complex:
Tall clean
Clean from mid-thigh
Full clean
Every clean as squat clean (80, 85, 85, 85, 85kg)
The first repetition of this complex is by far the most challenging for me. I haven't used to finish the "tall cleans" in this way. Luckily Toni was there to coach me through it. This really forced me to go under the barbell faster than normally. I'm very happy on the way I was able to carry through each tall clean.
The second and third reps were easy. The weights were so light that there were no issues whatsoever. But I had to stay with these weights because the first one wasn't that easy. That one was more like technique training. First set was at 80kg, the rest at 85kg. Maybe 90kg could have been there too. This time I just wanted to learn how to do this.
Recap of complex
Pair workout. Time, 12.49
14 rounds of:
4 hang power clean, 70kg
8 toes-to-bar
12 box jump
Interval style, you go 1 round, I go 1 round. Rest while the other one works
The point of the workout was to do each round as fast as possible. Go all out every round, which means it is 7 rounds per athlete, total of 14 rounds as a team. Total time was 12.49. For me, there was a bit too long recovery between rounds or then the work load put in was too low as I didn't get too gassed. I was hoping the stimulus to be so that I'd be leaning on my elbows after each round. Then recovering just enough for the next round.
The end of our partner wod
Anyway, I believe this kind of intervals have a lot of potential. When doing them solo, the key is to define fixed rest times between sets / rounds / intervals. That allows you to put 100% effort on each round, then recover, and repeat that for a certain amount of rounds. There were about 40 seconds per round on my behalf and rounds were pretty consistent.
One thing is for sure. It was a blast training with Toni. We started our crossfit journey together back in the days, and it's always quality time to train with my best friend. These are rather rare occasions as we workout in different gyms regularly.
Monday. Strength, power cleans (max 100kg). Emom x 10min, odd min: hang power clean + power clean, even min: hang squat clean + squat clean (max 80kg). Emom x 10min: hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg. Front squat 5x1 (max 125kg). Metcon, 6rds of: 250m row, 7 hspu, 14 medball slam. Time, 12.40.
When you have training partner like Jasper at the gym, the session is destined to be a good one. It took me a good 2 hours at the box as I was in no rush at all. It was a lot of cleans this time. First power cleans building up to a heavy single. Then complex work, and finally a metcon with Jasper. Good times!
Jasper dominating the bell
Strength.
Power clean (2x70, 2x80, 2x85, 1x90, 1x95, 1x100kg, failed at 105kg)
My original plan was to hit the combination cleans that I did afterwards but this came out of blue. Just wanted to get couple of heavier power cleans under my belt before getting some sweat on. My max power clean is 103kg. It has improved about 10kg in the past months. It used to around 90-95kg for some time but then at this new training place I got a new record. Now I got greedy and wanted to break that by going after 105 kilos. That left a little too much in front and I wasn't able to front rack it properly. But 100kg lift was quite decent.
Power cleans
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10 min
Odd min, hang power clean + power clean
Even min, hang squat clean + squat clean
1-4min: 70kg
5-8min: 75kg
9-10min: 80kg
This was fun. There could have been more reps as I felt like the recovery time was a bit too long. Power versions were tougher obviously. Squat cleans were light weight but powers had me keep the loads moderate. Good time to focus on bar paths. Barbells were between 70-80kg. Okay I have done hang powers at 90kg so there was time to climb up. Actually, it came to my mind I should do hang power clean sets at heavier weights.
Complex recap
Complex.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
Hang squat clean + squat clean @ 90kg
The previous complex was a lot of fun so I decided to add some weight and skip the power part of it. Simply hang squat and full squat cleans. Took them by dropping the bar between reps. Tried to keep the bar close and drop down faster.
Very good complex. The weight was such that it made me sweat a lot but the bar came up and down smoothly. I felt only happiness when cleaning the barbell =) There was a lot of cleans taking place today. First power cleans for a heavy single, then 20 minutes of complex work. I hope I had the same skills for snatch as I have for cleans.
Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to say these are the most beautiful lifts in the world but I've been able to build them up so that they are consistent and I always know that lifts close to my 1RM are coming up any day. Situation is a whole lot different with snatches.
You never know how those look in my case =) It's a mystery, and the bar path tends to vary too much. Technique and mobility are much further away from being right on the spot. Of course that would improve just by concentrating more on those lifts.
Squat.
Front squat 5x1 (120, 122, 125, 125, 125kg)
Not planned, just wanted to hit couple of heavier singles. Took triples at 90, 100, 110kg before hitting these singles. They were okay, you'll see the last one on the video below. It was good to have heavier lifts in the books.
Front squat 125kg
Metcon. Time, 12.40
6 rounds of:
250m row
7 handstand push-up
14 medball slam
We did this together with Jazz. Good one. Lots of breathing. Both were very consistent, and had pretty much identical round times. This was supposed to be a 12min amrap, and it was but we decided to finish the last round, and the time stopped at 12.40.
We had two concept2's at the gym but my rower's monitor was black so I timed the first round from Jasper's monitor, and then decided to row for 50 seconds which was pretty close to 250m. Had the damper setting at 10, and gave it a good rage when pulling the strokes.
Hspu's were fine. I thought of having 10 reps per round, and that might have been a good idea. Went unbroken easily on these. On the other hand, would 10 reps have been too much in order to finish them ub each round. Don't know. These felt great anyway.
Medball slams are under appreciated. We've done them before with Jasper and they have proved out as a great element for heavy breathing. The balls are light (6/9kg) but they work well for their purpose. Total of 14 slams after hspu's were a good way to keep the heart rate up. All three elements were great for good intensity. No reason to slow down. Just keep moving. We recovered quickly after this one. Felt great!
Tuesday. AM: Clean complex, 1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean + 1 squat clean (up to 95kg). Emom x 10min: 1 squat clean @ 100kg. Metcon, 6 rds of: 10 deads (60kg), 10 front rack lunges (60kg), 10 burpee. Time, 11.40.
PM: Front squat triples (max 120kg). Metcon, 5 rds of: 8 hspu, 12 pull-ups, 16 ghd sit-ups. Time, 10.52
I woke up in the morning like I was about to go to work. Okay, I did but not to to my workplace. Instead, it was time to put some Rogue apparel on and head to Eltsu for a good morning grind. Afterwards I drove to Klaukkala to assist the in-laws in cleaning their house up. Aftermath of the big spring cleaning. Plus it's time to change those winter tires to summer versions so I went tire shopping with Kari. In the afternoon we went to train at Optimal Performance Center (OPC) for another session of the day.
Clean complex.
Build up on the following complex:
1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean + 1 full squat clean
Weights: 40, 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95kg
Considering my max loads on clean these weren't too serious weights. Power clean is pretty close to max load (1RM is 103kg from one week ago) but that didn't bring any issues. Those felt quite good all the way. Squat cleans were further away from my one rep max (squat clean 1RM is currently 115kg).
However, after racking the barbell on my shoulders as power clean, it's not that easy for me to get a good grip for the second rep, let alone the third one. Yes, it would be easy to get an open hand grip but that's not what I'm looking for. I want to have hook grip in order to have stronger grasp on the bar.
That is exactly why this was a great exercise for me to practice re-gripping the barbell on its way back down from front rack position to hips. This wasn't bad for my legs, this was more like a way to work on that strong grip and transition from one rep to another. Efficiency. I'm happy I was able to hit 95kg. There the last rep had some issues on the grip so I stopped it there and moved on.
Complex recap
Clean.
Every minute on the minute, for 10 minutes:
1 squat clean @ 100kg
Wasn't done with cleans though! Decided to add 5 more kilos to get 100kg. Then, I put the timer running and took one rep at a time, one rep per minute and recovered for the remaining minute. It was a total of 10 minutes. It was cool to get these rather heavy cleans done more than couple of reps.
It was kind of bipolar mentality. First half of them were light and I thought about adding load but then decided to stick to the plan anyway. The latter half were not that heavy either but I had some issues racking the bar as I wanted in the last reps. But they were okay too so this went actually quite well in general.
Cleans
Metcon. Time, 11.40
6 rounds of:
10 deadlift, 60kg
10 front rack lunges, 60kg
10 burpee
Once again this place is great because there's plenty of space so it allows you to do various kinds of stuff that are not possible in my regular gym. One of these things is walking lunges with a barbell. It doesn't matter if it's front rack, back rack of overhead lunges. They all kick ass. I've done them mostly outdoors in Klaukkala as there's a big grass field or some sort of park so it's easy to go after these.
Last week I did overhead lunges, now it was a bit heavier front rack lunges. I piled up 60kg on the barbell and decided to combine deadlifts and lunges as barbell movements, and then burpees to make it a real conditioning session. This really took my breath away.
There are usually heavier deadlifts in my metcons so this 60kg (135lbs) was very light. However, it was surprising how that started to weigh much more during the workout. I got them unbroken anyway, would not have accepted anything else.
Front rack lunges were great! It's mostly been exactly overhead lunges but these one notch heavier front rack lunges made my butt cheeks hurt. It's difficult to describe where this hurt most. The entire body must work together, from legs to shoulders, breathing also becomes an issue. Have to be very tight and tense all over the body, and core must be strong in order to keep the bar in the front rack instead of dropping it too much in front.
Burpees are always a pleasure. In this one they just increased heart beat to the roof. There's no mystery to knocking burpees. Just pace yourself and keep moving. No reason to stop. I'm happy on how the pace of this workout stayed alright throughout the 11-12 minutes. The feeling inside got worse by the minute and it took some time to recover afterwards but it was a very good metcon for conditioning, hands down!
Strength.
Front squat
3x90, 100kg
5x110kg
3x115, 120, 90kg
We decided to start going to this new place I wrote about last week. It's called Optimal Performance Center (OPC). Some of the days we'll hit it here and some days at our workplace. And once the spring / summer gets further, I'll definitely do some outdoor training as well. This new place has perfect prerequisites for crossfit training. Only things they are missing are wall balls and ropes. Other than that it's everything you'd like to have.
My butt cheeks were almost cramping during the day so maybe hitting front squats wasn't the smartest decision but I still decided to stick to my original plan. This was totally by feeling. This was light weight. It went okay but I was a bit conservative as the morning already took some of my energy away from lower body.
Metcon. Time, 10.52
5 rounds of:
8 handstand push-ups
12 pull-ups
16 ghd sit-ups
Ghd sit-ups are my new favorite. It's something I've been dreaming of for about 2 years now. Haven't had the possibility to do them anywhere at all. It has looked so cool when those pro guys and girls have done it that I thought it's a must thing. This was the second time in this place and second time of jumping on ghd sit-ups.
Combination turned out to be hspu's, pull-ups and ghd's. This too, was a great combination of movements. At first there were pistols included in this triples instead of some other element (don't remember anymore what it replaced) but this worked well too.
My hspu's are on a level that these sets didn't burn me too much. At first I had planned on hitting bigger sets of every movement for 3 rounds but this 5-rounder kept me moving better and faster as everything went unbroken. This way I got much more intense of this. There's a time and place for bigger sets too, definitely.
On pull-ups I was practicing in keeping my feet together and bringing them much stronger back on my way down to gain more momentum for the motion. It feels more efficient when using a stronger kip than before. No wonder…
I'm very happy on how those ghd's seem to be a strong side for me. Got through all these 5 sets unbroken and without hesitation. There was a little walk around the gym between all three stations but once I got to the core station I climbed on and started doing reps right away.
