Monday 24.6: Bench, floor press, barbell metcon

Monday. For time: 5-4-3-2-1 clean, push press with increasing weight. Bench press 5x5, floor press 5x10.

I saw Rob Orlando posting his barbell metcon one day in Facebook. That video inspired me to try this one out. It was a strength type of workout against time. Then I took bench and floor press strength to follow. Some ancillary action in the end.

Pony FINALLY got his new plates delivered at his place

Metcon. Time 6.51 (failed on the last rep)

• 5-4-3-2-1
• Power clean
• Push press
• Weights: 60, 65, 72.5, 77.5, 82.5kg

So this was not clean & jerk but first a number of power cleans, then push presses. Time after 77.5kg: 5.23. Spent one and a half minute on the last rep and still failed to get full extension, f**k! I re-repped it after I stopped shooting the video 'cause that last rep made me angry. I wanted to take it up and I did! Prepped myself mentally for it so had no other option but to be successful.

It was a good workout, had to catch a breath between sets because the idea was to increase load after each set. I wanted to make the presses unbroken to avoid extra power cleans. I stuck to the plan all the way. It was a nice variation to go entirely for power cleans instead of squat cleans. The weights were so moderate clean-wise that I was able to do them without squatting.

However, the presses were tough as I moved on with heavier weights. The only no-rep was still the last one, 82.5kg. Should have nailed that one immediately. Luckily I got it after 2min rest so I was able to walk away with a smile.

Barbell metcon

Strength. Bench press 5-5-5-5-5 (80kg). Floor press 10-10-10-10-10 (60kg). I believe I'll try to squeeze bench training in occasionally. It definitely isn't the most important movement for me but I'll put it on my schedule maybe more often. At least that's the feeling right now. My strategy with the weights was to keep the kilos same throughout those 5x5 sets. I had predetermined it @80kg. That could have been a little heavier but I didn't have a spotter in the beginning so I played it safe. And I wanted to get it up all 5's, no exceptions. I felt strong with bench today and I believe my technique is better than it used to months ago, no surprise though.

Floor press, hmm. Guess I've done it once before. Not a bad movement. I was thinking about a 3min amrap as a metcon but once again, a spotter would have been valuable. Since I was alone, I decided to change it to 5x10 reps. I really got my triceps hurt in a good way. The first sets weren't that bad but in the last 2 rounds the last 2 repetitions were tough.

Cashout. For quality

• 4 rounds of:
• 10 curls
• 20 air squats, then
• 6min cooling down with crosstrainer, starting high intensity, deloading after each 2min.

Some extra work for arms, spiced with a little breathing exercise. Crosstrainer was used to get fluids moving in my body after something that could be called a meathead training session. Tomorrow it's time for another outdoors training session with Marko. And Pony has promised to make a comeback @ Don's Crossfit, hahaa, yeah!

Home-made protein bars manufactured @ home with Pauliina, tasty! :)

Monday 4.3: Weighted pull-ups, hip thrusters

Monday. Weighted pull-ups 3x10, floor press 3x6, hip thrusters 4x10.

Yesterday's workout - hero workout Coe - really has its after aftershock on my body today. The combination of thrusters and ring dips have caused my triceps to be extremely sore right now and back squats and thrusters made the same feeling on my legs. Every time I love this feeling as much even though it hurts like hell =) Hopefully I can do my olympic lifting training tomorrow as planned.

I've done much more benchmark / hero / challenge workouts lately compared to history. The reason for that is my goal to achieve better muscular stamina and I genuinely believe this is the correct road. These type of workouts are cruel and effective. Today's agenda after yesterday's hard work was a notch easier. Weighted pull-ups, then first touch to floor press and couple of sets of hip thrusters. Toni did a 20min amrap of modified hero wod Coe.

Hip thrusters @ 60kg

Weighted pull-ups. 3x10 (9kg vest). I've done weighted pull-ups and dips earlier but today was the first time I did pull-ups with my vest, which weights 9kg. I took 3 sets, 10 reps each time. Could've also put more effort on training chest-to-bar pull-ups (C2B) but this was my choice today.

Weighted pull-ups @ 9kg

Floor press. 3x6 (40, 60, 60kg), just trying to get familiar with the movement. After pull-ups I realized my triceps were still burning from Coe so I didn't start to load the barbell with heavy weights. My focus was to get used to this movement, never tried it before. The difference between bench press and floor press is the range of motion. Floor prevents you from lowering the bar all the way to chest so the main focus of this one is to focus on the pressing power in the middle to top position. Pretty much the same if you did deadlift from a rack, from knee level to full extension.

Floor press @ 60kg

Hip thrusters. 4x10 reps (60, 60, 60, 80kg). I remember doing hip thrusters once or twice about half a year ago. This is a good supportive movement to create explosive power in the hips. In this set I realized my heels are too far away from my rear. To place the heels closer demands also a greater push from the hips, simultaneously you get better positioning and more stable stance. I corrected my position after this first set. I was able to move that last set of 80kg as easy as the 60kg ones. I believe this is a good movement to take on once in a while.

Hip thrusters @ 60kg

Toni's workouts. Modified Coe, result 6 rounds + 10 thrusters.

• 20 min amrap
• 10 thrusters, 42.5kg
• 10 dips

Instead of going for 10 full rounds Toni subbed this to 20min amrap, which may have been a smart decision. Another adjustment was to replace ring dips with regular dips. Toni, you can give your own comments on this one, did you like it? Do your hands and legs scream for pain? 6 1/2 rounds of pure pain =)