First time putting all the plates on the barbell for modest weight pulls from the ground. Then some skills as I did 100 pistol squats before hitting the last piece with my wife. She told we'd do lunges and push-ups.
It felt great to get a little heavier barbell on my hands. It's been a notch lighter since I stopped training at my previous gym. There's a little transition before we move to our new home. Then I will get back in action for real. Next week we'll go for a holiday. Until then, I'll keep doing crossfit at our current home.
Gymnastics.
Pistol squats, alternating 5x20 reps
Pauliina worked on her deadlifts whereas I practiced sets of unbroken pistol squats, alternating between legs after each rep. Haven't been front or back squatting lately, and it felt like these pistol squats were heavy, a little heavier by each set.
We have been walking around in the nature quite a lot. Yesterday we wandered in Seurasaari to watch the sunset. Below there are couple of pictures along the trip.
Accessory.
4 rounds of:
30 walking lunges, bodyweight
25 push-ups
Not a timed workout. It was cool to do this side by side with Pauliina, each rep was completed at the same time. Synchronized movements as a team =)
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.
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.
Sunday. Skills, emom x 6min: ring mu's. Deads 5x10 @ 130kg (no tng allowed). Accessory, oh double kb lunges @ 2x16kg, 4 x 18m.
For too long has it been break since pulling from the ground. First I had my payback on the rings as last time I did those at CF Kehä, I got none which was mind blowing. Those long straps got to me somehow. Today it was important to get some done. THen longer sets of pulling and finally some accessory play.
Skills.
Every minute on the minute x 6 minutes
1-3 reps per minute
Yeah, it was a great feeling to get myself over the rings again. Took a triple in the beginning, then doubles and singles on the remaining minutes. My left hand almost tore up so I left it at just couple of minutes. This was a good one to restore confidence.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x10 reps @ 130kg
No bounce allowed at the floor, no adjust of the grip
Different type of pulls. Usually I go touch'n'go all the way and the barbell is a lot lighter once I have got one rep completed. The following reps are relatively easier for me. Usually the only restricting element is how much my fingers and palms are ready to take the hit. Not so much the back and hamstrings. Kind of funny but that's how it is.
So this time I worked on the starting position and got to say it burned the entire posterior chain much more than normally. Really liked that one. I can nail 3x190kg or 5x180kg touch'n'go and those are not that bad but doing 10x130kg with a dead stop on the floor feels more in my back and hammies. Hands took these well too as the bar was only at 130kg.
Accessory.
Double kettlebell overhead walking lunges
4 x 18m sets, rest as needed between sets
This was a bit shorter session so there wasn't time to attack a metcon with rage. I went after this right after the deadlifts. These were the heaviest kettlebells I found at the same weight. Last time I did 2x16kg upstairs but it was for 10 meters. Now it was about double so I figured the weight might work alright. First one was easy, the following were heavier. Shoulders on the second one, shoulders and legs on the last two sets.
Monday. Pair workout, 20min amrap of DT @ 60kg, You go, I go style. Result, 16 rounds + 3 clean.
Toni asked me to hit a morning's bro session with him on Monday. I'm still on holiday this week so it suited well for my plans. After the session I headed back to Klaukkala where we stayed for couple of days with the family. It was another long day of doing work at the house. They are moving so we got rid of a lot of stuff at the house. We started right after I came back from the training session and I got home after 10pm. Okay we had lunch and coffee during the day but other than that it was action all the way. It wasn't difficult to get sleep for the night =)
Metcon. Result, 16 rounds + 3 clean
Pair workout
20min amrap of:
DT, You go, I go (12 deadlift, 9 hang power clean, 6 push jerk)
Barbell @ 60kg
Tough. Very tough. Body felt tired in the morning. The sandbag run had destroyed my legs nicely so luckily this was more focusing on upper body, grip strength and lungs. It was great to have a training partner to share the suffer. This was lighter than the regular DT but we added some stakes by making it a 20min amrap. I started, completed one full round, then Toni did one round. We alternated after every round.
We held on to one minute per round for about 8 minutes. Then we started slowing down. I call this a great session with my main man Toni.
Wednesday. Double Grace with Toni @ 80kg. Time, 8.30. Pair wod, 300m run, 30 power snatch @ 60kg, 300m run, 30 c&j @ 60kg, 300m run, 30 deads @ 60kg, 300m run, 40m front rack lunges. Time, 16.20.
What a day! We moved some barbell around with a purpose in the morning with Toni. Double Heavy Grace was in the program to start the day, and then another metcon with quite a bunch of barbell action, with running between movements. Then we spent the day with Pauliina and our little girl in the city of Helsinki.
Double Heavy Grace. Time, 8.30
60 clean and jerk @ 80kg
You go, I go, with Toni
This sounded like a good idea yesterday evening. Today as I woke up it sounded monstrous. And it kind of was to be honest. As we built up to this weight it started to feel like it's doable. The first lifts felt heavy as shit but time corrected this and it started to feel more comfortable. Or at least manageable.
It's pretty mind blowing that we were actually able to smash 80kg barbell like this for so many reps. And without having to slow down tremendously. We are freaking pumped to hit double Grace at 80kg. Great job Toni! This weight seemed to be perfect for a pair work.
Doubel Grace
Wod. Time, 16.20
300m run
30 power snatch @ 60kg
300m run
30 clean and jerk @ 60kg
300m run
30 deadlift @ 60kg
300m run
40 front rack lunges @ 60kg
Divide the barbell movements as you wish, run together as a team
After the first piece shoulders were shot but after warming up a little bit for this one they were in full action again. It was an awkward feeling that the barbell felt light'ish on the first snatches (as it was 20kg less than just before) but the movement was different so it needed some work to get used to it.
Metcon's parts
Great workout to say the least. Only thing I would have changed was the deadlifts. They were too easy and light so the breathing that was through the roof came down a notch. Had there been front squats it would have been a different ball game. Let's make the order like this: snatch --> front squat --> c&j --> lunges = horrible.
Tuesday. Deads 5x3 @ 170kg. Emom x 10min: 3 power clean @ 80kg. Row, 30sec on, 30sec off, for 10min. Result, 1.700m
Huh, Monday's leg oriented day clearly feels in my body. Legs are sore on the sides as well as quads. At least it feels like I've done something for real. It was time to pull from the ground today and finish the session with a little row action.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x3 @ 170kg
It's been some time since completing a bit heavier deadlifts. Okay these were not superheavy but still something you need to play attention to very closely. Took some lighter sets at 130, 150, 160kg before getting up to the working sets.
It felt good to get my hands around the barbell and pull it from the floor. Was able to maintain torso straight in all sets and not compromise form at any stage. Hands also took this pretty well. It's sometimes challenging to get through heavy deads without any rips in palms / fingers.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
3 power clean @ 80kg
I put the timer on with a mindset of doing either 2 reps per minute or 1 rep every 30 seconds. Once I took the first lift the bar felt very good so I decided to add it up to 3 reps in one set. Continued this for 10 minutes, and finished the last set for a total of 10 reps. Being able to complete those without any major issues was a good confidence booster.
Conditioning. Result, 1.700m
30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 10 minutes
Row
In the end I was running out of time so I created this on the spot. Basically I just unloaded the barbell, put the plates where they need to be and sat on the rower. Pace was about 1:40 per set. More like sub 1:40. Butt cheeks numbed at around 7 minutes.
Saturday. Hero workout Bradshaw. Time, 21.06 (PR).
We went to the gym with Pauliina at noon. Ate a good breakfast and went after a hero workout that I've done twice before. It's been ages since doing it before so it was about time to take a gut check.
Had the same feelings as before prior to the workout. Looks a lot easier on paper than in real life. Pull-ups were the only thing I was concerned about. Hspu's were small number, deadlifts were light, and I hoped my shins would feel fine on the du's. I was ready to quite after 3 rounds though =)
Handstand push-ups were the clerkly the easiest piece of these 4 elements. Could have continued them forever. Deadlifts were light theoretically yes. But in real life those started to burn my hamstrings efficiently, and at some point of the workout I needed to take a break before getting on the pull-up bar as those deads hurt so much.
Pull-ups were the toughest of them all by a long mile. Went unbroken on the first 3-4 rounds. From then on I divided them into 8-4 till the end. Those hurt big time. Double unders went well. I foam rolled my shins properly. I've noticed that's the key to success. Without that operation my shins and ankles feel weird, tight and there's some sort of nagging pain in the shins. Today those felt great. Had some misses on couple of sets but majority of them were unbroken. On the last round my shoe laces opened up and the jump rope hit those laces. Couldn't move on like that so I got rid of my other shoe and finished the workout. Must have been an awkward sight, guy jumping rope with only one shoe =)
Strategy in the big picture was to head straight to the wall on the hspu's as they were easy. From there I walked to the barbell, rolled it from the rack to my lifting station and completed the required 6 reps. After deads I needed my break. In the beginning I went straight at the pull-up bar but little by little this transition as well as the completion of pull-ups got longer. After pull-ups I grabbed by jump rope, inhaled and exhaled, then started moving for the double unders. This is how it looked like in my head. It would have been cool to see a video but today there is none available.
Another benchmark workout in the books for this weekend. Yesterday I met with Amanda for the first time and today another lady came to see me at the gym. Linda is a workout I've done once before. That time it was a fair match as the weights were too heavy for me. Today I got a clear personal record on this one.
It's 3.5 years since meeting with Linda last time. I have gained quite a lot of muscle and strength since then. Back then my maxes were 165kg / 87.5kg / 75kg. Now they are 210kg / 108kg / 117kg so obviously the "three bars of death" were lighter as well. I also weigh a bit more (maybe 84kg compared to 79kg back in 2012) so the weights ought to be a little heavier.
However, I wanted to compare the work to the first time I hit this one so I kept them at 80kg. Bench at 84-85kg would have also brought lots of issues in this type of workout for me. Out of these three movements bench is definitely the weakest of them. I have never been a "bencher" by any means. Took my first bench presses after I started crossfitting, and only take them occasionally.
Deadlifts were unbroken each round. Felt rather smooth on them. My left hand was a bit sore on the palm so I had some doubts about how it would feel like during the wod but it was just fine. Cleans were singles all the way. Reckoned I would be able to keep pace better on them. Bar was light anyway so just drop and pick it up again. Worked well. Another focus area was to start cleaning right after bench.
The thing in this workout was definitely the bench, again =) Bench is my goat for sure. Doing moderate load sets with bigger volume screams for trouble. I'm still happy on how well they went. It's just that comparing them to deads and cleans they were the toughest without a doubt. Went 5-3-2 in the first round, then 3-3-3 on the second. On the round of 8's had to break it more. Plan was to do a triple to start with in every set, and succeeded in it as well. All the way up to the round of 5's (3-2).
Let's see how my body feels after this. Last time it took me almost a week to recover =) I have strong confidence that it was due to the heavy volume considering I had just started crossfit about half a year ago. Now my body feels just fine, hopefully tomorrow as well. Couple of years crossfitting in between must have made miracles to body adaptation and recovery.
Pauliina had girls gathering at our house so I needed to get out of the house for the evening. I had no troubles figuring out where to go. It was a crossfit session to come for sure. For some reason I had no plans whatsoever for this session at all, just went on by feeling. Turned out to be snatches, amrap, accessory and cool down.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 18 minutes
Snatch
1-3min: 50kg
4-6min: 55kg
7-9min: 58kg
10-12min: 60kg
13-15min: 63kg
16-18min: 65kg
I took the warm-up easily, didn't rush at all, just kept pounding 40kg barbell up and down for a while. Then turned on the clock and completed one rep per minute. It was great to be able to climb up to 65kg again. Had no desire to build up to max of the day. Just needed to work on my technique. And there is something to be worked on for sure. But the lifts are getting better anyway. The bar is not going all over the place anymore. The lifts are starting to look more similar compared to each other.
Metcon. Result, 222 reps. 7 rounds + 7 db jerks
12min amrap of:
5 deadlift @ 100kg
10 shoulder-to-overhead @ 2x20kg dumbbells
15 box jump
Good metcon! Deadlifts have been away from my thoughts lately but it suited very well for this metcon. It could have been heavier but my palms were a bit sore so it didn't feel that good to hold a barbell. Deads were the easiest part of this workout.
Workout's idea was to keep moving constantly. The longest break was between deadlifts and dumbbells as I needed to complete those s2o's unbroken. No point in dropping the db's as it would be a waste of time picking them up from the floor again. Box jumps put breathing high as they regularly seem to do.
Accessory.
5 rounds of:
12 reverse hypers
8 bicep curls
Reverse hypers have been in the back of my head for a long time. Occasionally I get to do them and enjoy every time. Okay, I could do them more often but it's more of a time issue. Accessory portions are for days when there's no rush at all. This was good accessory piece. After all the work I rowed for 3k for cool down purpose.
Thursday. Deadlift 5x8 (up to 150kg). Wod, 1-10 bench @ 70kg and pull-ups.
Meathead day. Went to the gym very late in the evening but was anxious to get some pulling done. Then I stole the idea for the metcon from one training partner Lauri who just finished something like this one week ago.
Strength.
Deadlift 5x8 (130, 140, 150, 150, 150kg)
It's literally been months since I've pulled from the ground seriously. Maybe deads have been part of metcons but big weights have been non-existing. There's no real reason for that. Maybe it's because my palms tend to get really sore on deadlifts. It's never an issue of hamstrings nor back giving up. It's always about the hands. I get rips and tears from the barbell for some reason.
Metcon. For quality
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 reps of:
Bench press @ 70kg
Strict pull-ups
The previous day was 75 pull-ups but this time I did them strict with supinated grip. That's a rarity for me basically. Thought it would be a good idea to throw them in the mix too every now and then. I got the pull-ups completed unbroken all but the damned last rep =)
My thoughts were optimistic that bench might be ub as well but that did not happen. I recall it was on the 8th round that I had to complete them 5-3 and then the last two rounds were cut too.
Huh we were running errands with Pauliina for something close to 7-8 hours in a row. That was probably not the most ideal preparation for training session. But that was not the first priority for today anyway. I thought I'm happy if there is enough time to hit it at all =) After we came home I jumped in the car right away and started focusing on 16.4 which was released the previous day.
Saturday's cheat meal
CF Open 16.4. Result, 196 reps (31 hspu)
13min amrap of:
55 deadlift @ 102.5kg
55 wall ball shots
55 cal row
55 handstand push-ups
I watched Ro vs. Boz battle from Crossfit's Youtube channel (check below). That made me think about the strategy how to approach this one. The thing that got me intimidated was the combination of deadlifts right into wall balls. That sounds like a murder for lower back. Anyway, Rory seemed to do a deadlift set every 30 seconds. I figured going for that same game plan and see how it turns out. It was the perfect decision for me too. Went 5x10 reps and then 5 reps to finish it.
Tried to go for the first set of wall balls quickly and start moving. It was probably 15 reps to kick it off. Then it was mostly 10's with rather small breaks. This started to feel more in my legs and maybe lungs. Don't know, maybe it was just an overall feeling.
It took me about 15 seconds to get to the rower even though my focus was to get to the saddle soon and start moving the "boat", no matter the pace. No idea of the speed I had on this rowing piece. Tried to just pace myself and get breathing settled in the beginning and then stick to the pace.
CF Open 16.4
The most challenging part of this one strength-wise was the handstand push-ups. I have those pretty well under control but going for 55 reps in a row is not a piece of cake. I went 10 to start them, then 6 and 4 reps, little by little they went to smaller pieces. Those got hard, no doubt. End result was a total of 31 hspu's and 198 reps for 16.4.
I continued to rock the squats to start Friday's session. Need to feel my legs getting stronger so more volume needs to be in the program. Then I took a longer workout, 20min amrap of bodyweight movements and deadlifts. Felt a bit dizzy in the middle of the workout for some reason but it was a good workout anyway.
Strength.
Back squats 5x5 @ 125kg
Couple of days a go I did 7 sets of 5's with 120kg. That was a good starter and reminder to get squats back in the game for real. Today I added some weight on the bar for same rep scheme. However, there was 5 sets this time.
These felt good too. Tried to get these also done pretty quickly without pausing too much on top. Got to keep adding weights in the near future. Then I might have to take more time to finish per set but we'll see.
Metcon. Result, 270 reps (5 rounds + 5 t2b)
20min amrap of:
5 deadlift @ 130kg
10 handstand push-ups
15 toes-to-bar
20 cal row
Got the first round very nicely completed unbroken each element. Then on the second round somehow my heart was pumping awkwardly fast so I needed to take a short break after the second round, and water my head and face with cold face. It wasn't like the metcon was too bad ass. It was something else so I figured I'd better take care of this one. That also resulted me taking the entire workout a notch easier. The rest of the wod went alright though.
Deadlifts were fine all the time. My hands were a little sore so I stayed conservative on this one. On the course of the workout it turned out to be a good call anyway. Maybe those handstand push-ups had an effect on the pump. Felt very exhausted after every set. That was a bit funny as usually these are my strong part nowadays but this was not a normal day by any means regarding the metcon.
T2b's got heavy. I'm not sure if I went unbroken on the first round or did I intentionally break it down already in the beginning. It was mostly 10-5 for first rounds, then 8-4-3 towards the end. I have no idea what the pace was on the rower but it was 270-300m to get to those 20 calories needed to finish the round.
Thursday. Deadlift 3x10. E2mom x 10min: 7 thruster @ 50kg. Emom x 6min: 12 burpee.
Couple of longer sets pulling the bar from ground. Thrusters reminded me that this would be a great one to go for longer time domain. And/Or heavier weights. I once did similar workout for half an hour with 60kg bar. In the end I realized I should already be out the door so it was all about burpees to get heart rate up.
Pulls.
Deadlift 3x10 (130, 140, 150kg)
Entire posterior chain felt very good on these pulls. My palms / fingers felt more sensitive so I bitched a bit with the weights. Stayed light as it felt like my fingers are going to get ripped with heavier loads. Hands have felt awesome lately and there have been no rips at all.
Barbell cycling.
Every 2:00, for 10 min:
7 thrusters @ 50kg
The focus of this was to get familiar with heavier weights and get my wrist get familiar under weights by being in a totally bent position. For some reason thrusters feel like the most challenging movement for me. Wrists and elbows need to be properly mobilized before doing this movement. Even with 40kg I can't just jump into thrusters but need to stretch out my lats and triceps with the help of resistance band work.
Bodyweight.
Every minute on the minute x 6 minutes
12 burpees
As I said at this point I was already in a hurry. My calendar said metcon would have been 12min amrap of rowing and pull-ups (nice combo of pulling). There was zero recovery after thrusters. At 10:00 from the start of thrusters I started hitting my chest to the floor to get after burpees. 12 reps took me about 30 seconds each minute. The time stayed the same but they started to get more mental towards the end. Good finisher!
Today was an easier day. Did some singles on the deadlifts and then a short metcon.
180kg
Pulls.
Deadlift singles (100, 140, 160, 180, 200kg)
Plan was originally to do longer sets but back was tight so that the descent felt tougher than the actual lift. Pulls were okay so I took just singles and dropped the bar back down. I took two singles with either 140 or 160kg, don't remember anymore but then little jumps to 200kg. Haven't lifted that lately. 180kg was easy. Then on the 2k I felt like it's not perfect so I didn't go heavier. Felt solid anyway on these.
200kg
Metcon. Result, 130 reps (6rds + 10 pull-ups)
5min amrap of:
10 pull-ups
10 box
Something quick with heavy heart rate. Couldn't come up with anything reasonable so my buddy Julius at the gym threw in the idea of pull-ups. That was a great one mixed with box jumps. Very good and intense one.
Nice session. Loved to pull heavier after a long time. Then longer metcon. Went to the countryside afterwards to spend the weekend.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x5 (140, 150, 160, 170, 180kg)
Felt like these went very well. It's been a long time since last time. Especially the heavier pulls. Last set at 180kg. That is the heaviest deadlift set for 5 reps but there's more in the tank for sure. I'll post videos tomorrow.
Metcon.
Emom x 20min
1st, 18 cal row
2nd, 12 pistol squats
3rd, 12 pull-ups
4th, 16 ball slams
This was surprisingly hard to finish with respect. There's been rather much pistols lately. Rowing also burned legs a lot. And those ball slams. It's all about squatting and towards the end my arms felt it too. I slam the ball to the ground with all I got every time to get the most out of this movement. Pull-ups were unbroken.
Tuesday. Chipper, 500m row, 40 ghd, 30 pull-ups, 40 ghd, 500m row. Time, 9.17. Metcon, 21-15-9 of: deads (100kg), box. Time, 3.20. Accessory, double kb front rack squats.
Tuesday's have lately been reserved mostly for conditioning pieces. It was a two part session. Both were awesome metcons for sure. The latter was a classic stuff, old school version of pulls and box jumps.
Chipper.
500m row
40 ghd sit-ups
30 pull-ups
40 ghd sit-ups
500m row
Row, core and pull-ups, that was the name of the game. And the "thing" was definitely the ghd sit-ups. Rowing pace was at around 1:45 on both in the beginning and in the end. Ghd's were 26-14 on the first time. Could have done them unbroken but the possible gains didn't top the possible risks in my head. So I took a short break and finished the last reps. Nice to see that this was easy set.
Ghd's made me breathe but pull-ups were alright. I went 20 unbroken to start them, then dropped and finished them in 4-3-3 reps with small breaks between. They got surprisingly hard towards the last reps. The real thing in this workout was the second part of ghd sit-ups. It wasn't ok to fight for similar sets as in the first round. Instead, I went 4x10. Core and hip flexors felt the burden. After those rowing felt a bit awkward but after couple of strokes I got a good hold of it and was able to get to a good pace.
It felt like I'm not ready for the second workout very soon. After walking around and chit chatting a while I got my head back in the game and took some warm-up lifts on the pulls. Just 130kg's for a triple but that helped to get oriented towards the work load ahead.
This is classical workout that seems to repeat in different competitions. It's been at least in some year's Crossfit Regionals, and I've done this myself before too. Pulls were unbroken on the first round, that was a nice surprise. Okay, it should be ub but it's been a while since deadlifting a barbell in general and for longer sets especially. I thought it might get more spicy but that was good. Box jumps felt sticky as my legs were jello already before this workout =)
On the second round of deads I went 9-6 and the last round was unbroken. Box jumps were steady pace sets each round. I'm happy on the way I was able to go through this one. It felt horrible in my legs. Lower body has been in a good test in the last week or more and it's gonna continue as it's not possible to push or jerk weights or even bodyweight currently. That's why I need to pay attention to the programming now, and it's natural that legs are going to get the most attention.
Thursday. Emom x 15min: 1st min 5 deads (150kg), 2nd min 10 hspu, 3rd min 30 du. Right into 15min amrap of walking lunges with 20kg vest. Result, 287m.
Thursday's program was supposed to be meathead oriented. Deads and bench. It turned out both bench racks were taken so I skipped that and changed plans on the fly. Original plan was 12min emom of deads and bench, then 10min amrap of lighter deads, hspu's and du's. This was pretty similar.
Metcon.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes:
1st min: 5 deadlifts @ 150kg
2nd min: 10 handstand push-ups
3rd min: 30 double unders
This was a nice combo. It's been some time since previous deadlifts. Those made my back sore for days and for some reason it has not been on my program since. Today the 150kg pulls felt great. Light weight. There are two rips in my fingers so I stayed at this point to prevent them get torn even more.
Hspu's were good too. I thought about 12 reps also at some point. I've been missing these guys. Prior to double unders I have been foam rolling my shins lately. It has improved my du's tremendously. The difference has been huge compared to not foam rolling the shins. It even felt like "how have I ever stumbled on these jumps". Felt very natural and like I could have continued to jump forever. This metcon brought my breathing up during the 15 minutes.
Last round of the emom wod
Lunges. Result, 287 meters
15 minute amrap of:
Walking lunges with 20kg weight vest
Didn't have any break in between. Just put the weight vest on and started walking down and back the 20m grass matt. Went unbroken for ever 20m leg, then took couple of breaths and continued back. This felt awful already after 40 meters. My quads were burning big time. I'm not quite sure how heavy the vest is. Either 20kg or 30kg.
Last day at work. What a roller coaster of emotions. It's awesome to see all close colleagues have gathered around to show their love as we have spent so much time together in the past. It's been a humble experience and I absorb every bit of it with great gratitude. For the last time I went to train at the place where it all began 3 years ago, Haaga cave. This is where I have built up the base for all strength and skills work. Conditioning was made already somewhat during my floorball career earlier.
Overhead.
Push press 3x8 @ 67.5kg
This is part of the progress with the goal of building stronger shoulders. Now it's all about the 8's, and program said the weight is going to be 67.5kg. The last set was tough and I wasn't fully satisfied on having to arch my back way too much on the last 3 reps. Other than that I walked away with a good feeling of this strength portion.
Pulls.
Deadlift 5x5 @ 170kg
Last time when I did pulls from the floor it was 5x5 @ 160kg. Those deadlifts felt rather light so I decided to jump it up a notch. It's usually depending on how my palms look on pulling days whether it's going to be a good day or a day where I have to stay light. Back and posterior chain in general always take the loads well. Today it was 5 sets of 5 reps at 170 kilos. Felt good about it.
Conditioning.
10 rounds of:
10 handstand push-ups
14 kettlebell snatches, 20kg (7/7)
20 box jumps
This was not for time. It was originally but then a party of two came to hang around at the stations I was working on hspu's, and there's no other place where those could be performed. There was personal training session going on so I didn't have the heart to bother them. There were 3 rounds where I didn't do handstand push-ups and 3 rounds where I didn't do box jumps but snatches took place every single round. I went 7 on right hand, and then switched it to left hand for another 7 reps.
Accessory. There was plenty of time before sauna so I did some biceps and triceps. Something I do practically never. Not that those wouldn't be useful for me. It's just simply something that has not been in my tool box. Today I gave them a shot.
About time to pull from the ground! This time my hands were not ripped at all, and I was anxious of getting my hands on the barbell. Before that there stood handstand on my notes, and the session ended up with a a good conditioning piece of bodyweight action.
Skills.
Handstand
It was a positive surprise to see I had written down handstand practice in my program for today. This skill was neglected for a good time when I was training at my old gym because there was no space for that basically. It was mostly something I worked on during springs and summers. When I changed to this OPC gym this spring I thought there would be more and more of this type of training. Still, it hasn't been there that much. So it's surprising that this thing is going further little by little =)
Strength.
Deadlift 5x5 @ 160kg
It's been some time since pulling from the ground. Reason for this is that on those days that I've planned to do deadlifts there's been some rips in my hands. So it was a lot of positive enthusiasm towards this portion. Kept the bar light because going heavy after some break in the deadlift really feels in my back for days, and kind of prevents 100% training in the upcoming days. Form stayed good and everything felt great.
5x5 @ 160kg
Metcon. Time, 10.48
5 rounds of:
7 handstand push-ups
14 pull-ups
21 box jumps
Nice one! Hspu's were unbroken, and easiest part of the workout. I'd love to have more of them in this wod. Number of pull-ups was double the amount of hspu's. Went unbroken for the first 2 rounds. Then the next 2 rounds were 9-5. Last round was unbroken again. Might have been able to go ub all the way but this was my decision this time, and I hope this was the quicker version overall. Box jumps unbroken. Good breather!
