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.
Friday. Emom x 10: Hang clean + Clean @ 90kg. Emom x 10: 3 back squat @ 120kg. Emom x 15: 1st 10m oh lunges @ 50kg. 2nd 10 hspu. 3rd rest.
On Friday it was quite a bit of barbell work. Cleans, squats and overhead lunges. This hurt my body. Especially squats makes my butt cry today on Saturday.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Hang clean + clean @ 90kg
These were good all the way. Hang cleans started to feel heavier but it's good do notice they can be completed any day. Hips felt a bit tight but somehow they managed to do these.
Strength.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
3 back squat @ 120kg
This were brutal. I've one this once before with the same weight I suppose. For couple of minutes it was okay but for 10 minutes it felt nasty. One day after my hamstrings and glutes are sore as hell. I like it!
Workout.
Every minute on the minute x 15 minutes
1st minute: 10m overhead walking lunges @ 50kg
2nd minute: 10 handstand push-ups
3rd minute: rest
Squats took the best of my energy but after some recovery I took one metcon with overhead lunges and hspu's. Had to take advantage of the empty grass matt at the gym as it was almost empty during the day. Lunges were overhead version as it's something that is difficult to arrange on a regular training day because the gym might be crowded.
By the way those lunges sucked! They were as good piece of fitness as they were supposed to be but I mean they burned my shoulders. Or maybe it was the combination of oh lunges and handstand push-ups but my shoulders were devastated after this.
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!
Friday. Emom x 10: hang clean + clean (up to 100kg). Emom x 10: front squat @ 120kg. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 7 front squat (60kg), 15 pull-ups, 15 ghd. Result, 192 reps.
Thursday was a rest day. I'm pretty pleased that I've kept my head with the weekly rest days. Okay those probably wouldn't happen without my better half's guiding. I love to train and it gives me big mental satisfaction. Still, this rest day thing is a new thing for me. Hopefully it results in good things in the long run.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
Hang clean + full clean (80, 85, 85, 90, 90, 90, 90, 95, 100, 100kg)
The idea was to drop after each rep and build up to rather heavy set. Back has felt a little tight in the past days / weeks which prevented me going heavier but still these were pretty good loads, especially for hang cleans. Took pretty short warm-up before jumping on to this. Maybe that affected my posterior chain not being totally ready for this.
Haven't done 3-digit cleans lately so this was a good emom. For some reason cleans are something I really love. I'll take this session with pleasure.
Strength.
Every minute on the minute x 10min
1 front squat @ 120kg
Front squats seem to accompany squat cleans very well afterwards. Legs are already prepped up so it's just up to putting the plates on and moving up and down. The bar felt a bit towards heavy today. I'd think after a rest day legs would be pumped up and ready to go. Yes, on the cleans they felt fresh but maybe it was the back that made it tougher because legs were good all the way now as I think about it.
Metcon. Result, 192 reps (5 rounds + 7 squat)
12min amrap of:
7 front squat @ 60kg
15 pull-ups
15 ghd sit-ups
It was obvious for me the toughest part of this would be pull-ups. And they were the most unpleasant part of this one. Front squats burned legs for sure but it was definitely the easiest part of this one. Took the barbell from ground each round. Back felt fine on these ones.
Pull-ups were unbroken for the first 3 rounds and then I had to cut them. First at 10-5 and the fifth round was 9-3-3. Last reps really felt in my lats. Ghd's were surprisingly tough. Usually I go tng all the time but this time I had to stop for a second or two on top of one of the sets. Okay only one set but that is a clear sign for me that this was much more challenging than normally. The combination of elements probably made the deal.
Monday. Every 90sec: 3 hang squat clean (up to 95kg). Every 90sec: 3 front squats (up to 125kg). Wod, 8rds of: 10 thrusters (40kg), 12 ghd.
Went for another efficient session. I was done for three pieces of action in one hour, including warm-ups. This is nice variation to long sessions at the gym. Oly lifts, squats and conditioning, good combination.
Oly.
Every 90 seconds, perform 3 hang squat clean (60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 95, 90kg)
It was time to add up from single emoms I've been doing lately. This was an unbroken set of a triple clean at hang position. Felt good on the timing, and my legs felt strong. Had no problems with them at all. I was a little skeptical on the pull so that prevented me on putting more weight on the barbell. However, as I look at the video below I realize there was plenty of room still.
90kg
Strength.
Every 90 seconds, perform 3 front squats (100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125kg, 2reps @ 130kg)
Started working towards these pretty soon after the cleans. Some reps at empty bar, then 60kg and 90kg. At that point clock was at 16 minutes as I began the first set at 100kg. Went touch'n'go up to 110kg, then took a short pause on top of the reps.
I'm very happy on these actually. 125kg felt awesome for a double, the third was a grind. On the 130kg the first was somehow light but the second was a good battle and there was no chance for a third rep.
First piece done at 11 minutes, squats at 25 minutes and finally the metcon at 42min
Metcon.
8 rounds of:
10 thrusters @ 40kg
12 ghd sit-ups
This was an intense one and solid pace on each round. Went unbroken on both of the movements. Right after thrusters I walked to the ghd and completed the needed reps. Then walked back to the platform, took a breath and started working.
I believe the clock was somewhere at 31 minutes as I started working on the first round. Didn't take any round times but it felt like the pace was similar for each round. On the last 2 rounds I felt my shoulders burn in a nice way. Other than that this was mostly a good conditioning piece.
Another outdoor workout in the morning. Then in the evening we went to the gym together with Pauliina for some quality family time. I needed to get part of that overhead strength progression in the books.
Metcon.
4 rounds of:
15 shoulder-to-overhead, 45kg
40 walking lunges
Practically without any warm-up I took the barbell up and started moving. Of course shoulders felt a bit stiff in the beginning but got better after round one. Legs felt tired in the process because they never got a rest period.
Lunges naturally made my legs work and because I did s2o's as push jerks my legs were doing small "squats" all the time. It wasn't a biggie in the beginning but got spicy pretty soon. Legs felt heavier in the jerks than the shoulders. I was able to maintain a good and consistent pace throughout the workout.
Overhead.
Push press 3x6 @ 73kg
This happened hours later. After couple of days without real weights I felt like I needed to focus on the warm-up. That sealed the deal and prepared my body for the strength work nicely. These sets were kinda towards the heavier side but still they were manageable. Felt like they were right on point.
Metcon.
5 rounds of:
10 hang power clean @ 60kg
15 ghd sit-ups
Just before the last set of push presses we agreed with Pauliina we're gonna leave in 15 minutes. This was a quick session in other words. At first I thought this strength piece is enough. That was the only thing in my mind when entering the gym.
Then on the other hand there was 10 minutes of spare time so I took some weight off the barbell and carried it to the weightlifting platform. After one minute of doing the last press set I began the metcon. Plan was to work until my time is up and we are ready to leave. It turned out that 5 rounds was sufficient. It took probably something like 7-8 minutes I'd say.
I actually don't have a cell phone right now which I always use as a timer so I haven't timed my metcons in the past week or so. It has been pretty awesome in a sense that it hasn't taken that much time to start the metcons. Usually I prepare myself more than lately because I want to have a good time. Now I just start working and it does not affect the pacing at all. I work as if it was a regular metcon.
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.
Tuesday. Hang clean 8x2 @ 90kg. Front squat doubles, ladder up to 125kg. Metcon, 5rds of: 500m row, 20 push-ups. Cool down, 1k row.
We had a great evening with Toni and our wives. It was quality time in the form of dinner and theater. The show itself was a blast and lots of laughing all the time. This is the reason why I went to train earlier in the afternoon to get a good doze of crossfit done before the evening.
Oly.
Hang squat clean 8x2 @ 90kg
I'm pulling from the hang position right now because I want to heal my right hamstring properly before pulling heavy from the ground. It would be awesome to do heavy cleans and deadlifts too but I won't take that risk. The healing was in good process but then I pulled some clean all the way from ground, and it brought wrong kind of tension in the hammy, so I decided to play it safe from then on. Hang cleans are no problem whatsoever so it feels great to get some heavier cleans done. Today's agenda was doubles at 90kg, all the way. Quite a good number of sets
Squats. Result, 2x125kg
Front squat ladder
Every 90sec, complete front squat triples
Start at 60, then 70, 80, 90, 100kg. Then, add 5kg per set for as long as possible
Then as legs were properly warmed up already from the first part I kept front squatting. I've done this same combo in the past. That time I got to 130kg for a double, and that in mind I kept pushing through. The game actually starts somewhere at 110kg. Sets before that are more or less warm-up stuff.
One triple every 90 seconds. Recovery starts to become an issue at some point. I felt pretty good on the set of 125kg, and I thought about nailing that last rep too, and then take a bit of a longer rest to get a good fight on the 130 kilos
Barbell recap
Metcon. Time, 13.00
5 rounds of:
500m row
20 push-ups
This was a lot of fun. Goal of this workout was to get a steady work done. My pace was sub 1.50 each round on the rower. It was kind of awkward that rowing started to get more comfortable in the course of the workout. Somehow my body got heated up well during the rounds. Yes, of course it also turned nastier as breathing got heavier. But goal was under 1.50, and I stayed in that zone all the time. Didn't go out of the gates like a madman either in the beginning.
Push-ups were going to be unbroken, in my head. And that also went as planned. Yes, they got tougher but it was a positive surprise how well I got through them. In the end I stayed on the rower for another kilometer with slow pace to flush legs.
Sunday. AM: Skills, muscle-ups emom x 8min. Emom x 12min: clean doubles. Metcon, 21-15-9 of: s2o (60kg), row for cal, ghd's. Time, 10.02. PM: Run 5k with vest.
This was a great session. Some skills to kick it off (okay those could have gone a bit better but I'll take it for now), then a good bunch of cleans in different styles. Finally a 10min session of barbell and bodyweight. In the evening I went for a 5k run.
Skills.
Every minute on the minute x 8min:
Ring muscle-ups, doubles and singles
In my head this was planned to be an 8min emom of 2-3 reps per minute of muscle-ups. Maybe triples in the beginning and then doubles in the latter half. Something like that, not a strict plan. I took couple of videos but there were other people on the background so I didn't put that in the recap.
It was more like doubles for the first half, and singles in the latter half. Tried to do a triple in the beginning but it didn't feel that good. It's been some time since muscle-upping last time. I took slow-mo analysis and it looks like I was rushing it a bit. Legs bent too easily when pulling up. And hips didn't take a violent extension so there was an obvious reason why it felt heavier than it used to be. But the take away was to be happy of performing mu's after a longer break.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 12min:
Odd min, power clean + squat clean
Even min, 2 x hang squat clean
1-4min: 80kg
5-8min: 85kg
9-12min: 90kg
This is something I've been looking for! Cleans. There is a loving relationship with cleans and me. I could clean all day, every day. When pulling from the ground it still felt tight in right hamstring so I tried to be careful in those. Hang cleans didn't have any issues.
Weights started at 80kg, then 5 more kilos after every 4 minutes. That means there was three different loads during those 12 minutes. Not super heavy but for today there were great. Once I get my shit together I'll go heavier. Today I felt like my technique was pretty good, and the reps looked pretty much alike. There are some instant replays included in the video below to see there's plenty of shoulder shrug and patience in bringing the barbell to hips.
Metcon. Time, 10.02
21-15-9 of:
Shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg
Row for calories
Ghd sit-ups
Had the same feeling for a while as yesterday. Why would I do a workout with this many jerks in a row. Then again, I thought that might be a fun variance. That's the reason this ended up in my notes anyway. Usually there's just a couple of reps unbroken in a conditioning piece but completing 21 reps in a row is another story.
If it was just for the 21 reps I might have it in me to push through unbroken. But in a workout like this, it would have been absurd for me to do it. Or would it? Don't know but I thought this was a better strategy. It might have been a good idea to just push it and thinking about a happy place at the same time.
Anyway, the first round was 13-4-4, second one 10-5, and the last one was unbroken for 9 repetitions. Rowing and ghd's were unbroken. There was a lot of walking around the gym during the transitions. Had it been less people I would have moved the rower close to the weightlifting platform. Ghd's were originally box jumps but those boxes had mysteriously disappeared during the weekend. Hopefully they make a comeback soon =)
Run.
Run 5km with a weight vest
My plan was to just get outdoors and catch some fresh air but it somehow twisted into a 5 kilometer run with a 9kg vest. It was surprisingly fun to run. That's usually not my forte but this time it felt smooth and effortless. Kind of awkward that when I put some weight on, it feels lighter =) Anyway, this was more like a recovery run. It was a 10km/h pace for 5k.
Tuesday. Barbell work, hang squat cleans 5-5-5-5-5 (across 70kg). Metcon, 20min amrap of: 5 power snatch (40kg), 10 burpees, 15 box, 20 du. Result. 10du short of 8rds.
Today's agenda included some barbell work for hang cleans, not too heavy, more like technique training. Kept it at a weight I was able to manhandle. The metcon was on main focus today. That turned out to suck big time, of course in a good crossfit style. Had a training partner with me, Juuso. We weren't able to do same workout but the time frame was same so we had share the agony together.
Strength.
Hang squat clean 5-5-5-5-5 (across at 70kg)
Today I intentionally stayed at lighter weights. Squat cleans from pocket. I wanted to focus on the speed rather than big weights. I did 5 sets of 5 reps. It felt as good no matter if it was the first or last rep of the set. I felt like it was pretty smooth effort all the way. Below you see one of the sets in the middle.
By the way, it was awesome that we got those big-sized plates at the gym! We've been missing them for a long time. I tried to persuade the guy to purchase those 5kg and 10kg big plates at the gym. He's awesome, he has already bought the Rogue wooden rings and Rogue plyobox. Those are crucial equipment for me as a crossfitter. And now he was able to buy the big plates too. So respect to this guy who listened and wanted to help us crossfitters too.
I guess there's no excuses anymore not to practice on my snatch? I've thought having only small plates is an issue not to work on this movement. I've done my snatches mostly from hang position. Exactly for this reason.
Hang squat cleans
Metcon. Result 390reps (7rds + 10 du)
20min amrap of:
5 power snatch, 40kg
10 burpees
15 box jumps, 61cm
20 double unders
Uuh, this was sick. My shoulders and legs both got smoked. It was something like 11min left in the workout and I was done. It was mentally not the easiest place to be. However, by not thinking about the toughness of the workout but instead, just focusing on the rep at hand, I got through the toughest part and then it started to get easier psychologically.
My focus in longer metcons - well okay pretty much in every metcon - is to maintain the pace from beginning to the end. Today it was not possible, my energy level dropped during the workout and I had to rest my elbows on my knees occasionally. My round times got a little slower each round.
New plates
Still, I felt like I had nothing to give after the workout. It was almost exactly 8 rounds, just a couple of seconds short of it. I was able to complete 10 double unders on the 8th round. 10 more and it would have been exactly 8rds. That was 40 snatch, 80 burpees, 120 box and 150 du. I didn't see it coming beforehand but there were 3 movements were you have to more or less jump (burpees, box, du). I'm telling you my legs were jello after the workout. Plus my shoulders were done because of the burpees.
I went through the workout unbroken. It was awesome to have those big plates on the barbell. It's a totally different thing to have minor plates even though the weight would be the same. The metcon itself was a good breather!
Rich Froning's CF Open 14.4, best performance of the workout in the world. Take a look at the speed on the muscle-ups, in the transition stage
Saturday. Skills, TGU. Strength, cleans (PR 110kg). Clean and jerk complex (max 95kg). Benchmark workout Chief, 5 x 3min amrap of: 3 power clean (60kg), 6 push-ups, 9 air squats, 1min rest. Result, 459 reps.
What a day! We slept late, ate a good breakfast and hit the gym with Pauliina. We met a friend - Juuso - at the gym for a training day. He's a new crossfitter and has taken on the challenge quite well in my opinion. I talked him into this sport for quite a while before he tried his first wod. Since then, he's taken on some pretty nasty workouts, Fran and Cindy to mention some examples. Today it was time for him for a PR squat of 115kg. I did some barbell work in different styles of clean & jerks, some PR stuff was also in play.
Skills.
Turkish get-ups, couple of sets
I've forgotten this movement totally. Yesterday evening Toni threw in this one so that's the reason I figured why not? We don't have any heavy kettlebells at the gym so I used dumbbells instead. It feels a little different with kettlebells / dumbbells. With kb's the weight leans towards the wrist where as db's don't. This was actually a good preparation to the training session as it activated pretty much every muscle in my body and stretched the shoulders as well.
Strength. Cleans
Hang clean, 5x60, 3x70, 3x80, 1x85, 1x90kg
Clean singles from ground 1x100, 1x105, 1x110kg PR
I had planned on doing a clean and jerk complex but decided to take some hang cleans prior to that main strength element. The cleans felt good so I ended up hitting some PR's =) First of all the heaviest bar I've ever hang cleaned is either 80 or 85kg at max. Probably 85kg, I recall I might have once taken a single at that load. Today I as able to get 90kg on my front rack starting from hang position. Some might call that a PR.
That was great and felt awesome! I had to hurry getting under the bar. I felt like the bar didn't come that up so there was no other option but to drop down and find a place under the bar. After 90kg hang clean I wanted to take a couple of regular full cleans, from ground as squat clean. The bar was light so it turned out I had taken a 105kg clean up and understood it's pretty close to a PR lift. My max load before this day was 107.5kg. I decided to give it a shot and skip it, jump to 110kg and try it out. I know it failed last time because I simply didn't dare to go under the bar.
The front squat part of the clean is not the thing, it's definitely the speed under the bar. And courage to drop there. Today I psyched myself up to the lift properly and had decided to get it. It wasn't the most beautiful lift I've done but hey c'mon it was 110kg, that's a big load for this guy.
110kg clean, PR
Clean and jerk complex.
1 clean + 5 split jerk (60kg)
1 clean + 3 split jerk (70kg)
1 clean + 2 split jerk (80, 85, 90, 95, 90kg)
The main focus of the day strength-wise was the jerk portion. I've been thinking about pushing / pressing more iron to the sky in the future to strengthen my shoulders. Push presses, push jerks and split jerks are gonna be the answer. Let's see how it turns out. Anyway, today I did this so that I picked the bar from the floor and then did couple of split jerks in a row.
Starting at low weight, building it up to 90kg and up. I think I'll still have to drop lower on the jerks. A positive thing was that I was mostly jerking the barbell upwards, not that much forward. And my back leg is not sideways anymore as it used to. I got some tips rom Toni's coach when I visited his affiliate. I appreciate the tips I got there.
After quite a lot of cleaning and jerking my fuel was pretty much gone. I had thought about it yesterday but at this stage it wasn't that attempting anymore as I had done more barbell work than I had planned. Chief is a tough bad ass so it would be nice to do it with a fresh body. Luckily Juuso was there too so I suggested we'd hit it together. It's definitely easier mentally to start off if you have a training buddy with you. He was in and so we put the clock running!
I don't know how the total result should be announced but I completed 5+ rounds per amrap. I played it safe all the way. I got those 5 rounds in about 2:30-2:40 each amrap. I thought pushing the limits to the final seconds all the time would have burned my legs badly so I left something in the tank in each 3min amrap. There were a total of 81 cleans, 153 push-ups and 225 squats.
Cleans were the easiest part for me in this one. Then came the push-ups and lastly the squats. It has surprised me every time how the squats eat the juice out of legs. I went through all the movements unbroken except the last couple of sets of squats where I took one second of breath to release the tension in my lower body.
Push-ups are tough for me normally but in Chief I believe I haven't had any issues. That's naturally because of the number of consecutive reps. And the clean is light weight for me so I would be surprised if that brought any issues. The only thing I'm wondering afterwards is should have I gassed more in the earlier amraps to gain better result. I know I could have pushed it for 6 rounds on the first amrap. But how would it affect the following sets as it would obviously suck the strength out of a human being more fiercely.
Don't know the answer. Maybe it could be worth doing couple of short amraps of this one just for fun to see how many rounds I could hurry if it was just for let's say 2-3 amraps with all-in mode. Could it possible to maintain that 6 round pace? I was happy for being able to keep this pace today and speed up a little on the last set. I was done after the workout, both of us were. Chief is tough.
Monday. Skills, ring muscle-ups. Back squats. Hang clean emom, 3 reps @ 70-75kg, for 10min.
This Monday was metcon-free training session. Started with ring skills. As I wrote in the turn of the year, I'll add more rings in my training 'cause those are definitely a weakness of mine. Continued with back squats. My legs were the stiffest ever so it was not a success. Luckily I was able to come up good with every minute on the minute training on hang squat cleans. That felt good and I left the gym with good spirit.
Skills.
Ring muscle-ups (3 reps)
I'll try to squeeze in ring skills about twice a week. That should be the normal case. Maybe not always ring muscle-ups but some sort of ring play anyway. Last year I didn't focus on the rings much so naturally it was difficult to get better at them. Now I've been able to do tens of ring muscle-ups, singles but still reps. Today I did 3 reps, pretty much "every minute on the minute" style. I tried the fourth rep in the same time frame but failed to get up so I moved to squatting.
Strength.
Back squats
5x120, 2x125, 5x100, 5x100, 5x100kg
It's just an excuse - I know - but we were on a tight schedule today so I did a stupid move and tried to hurry through a bunch of workouts I had in mind. So my warm-up for lower body was poor and it felt like I was drinking tar all the way. Didn't feel like going heavy today so I stayed rather low on the weights. I tried to nail 5's but on the set of 125kg I lost my balance and fell forward, thus had to drop the bar. Decided to lower the weights to 100kg and complete 3 sets with short recovery periods.
Workout.
Every minute on the minute
3 hang squat clean between 70-75kg
2x70, 2x72.5, 4x75, 2x70kg
This was good stuff. Every minute, complete 3 hang squat cleans. I took kind of a ladder, going up from 70kg to 75, then last 2 minutes dropped down to 70kg. Originally I had planned to do 8 minutes but wanted to go for extra 2 min in the end. That 70kg was something I was able to manhandle. The heaviest bar was tougher and I definitely had to work on my explosiveness when dropping under the bar. That was actually a great workout to practice speed under bar.
The weights were great for me this time. It wasn't too easy, and not the heaviest I could do. Doing a triple rep on 75kg was tough on grip strength too so it was a grip strengthener as well. Great one!
Wednesday. Clean and jerk complexes @ 60-70kg. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 5hspu, 10 burpees, 15 burpees. Result 6rds + 5hspu.
It was a rare moment to get Toni at the gym to workout with me and Pauliina. We didn't plan this that well beforehand so it was more like a "go with the flow" type of training. Only thing I had in mind was the amrap of bodyweight movements. Didn't want to go heavy on the barbell work so it turned out to be more like a technique training and preparing for the metcon.
Bar complexes.
Bear complex: power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, push press behind the neck
Bar complex: hang power clean, hang squat clean, power clean, squat clean, couple jerks
Bear complex is awesome. Got to try that one out someday. I've done it once very long time ago, don't even remember when it took place. I took it with at max 50kg, couple of sets anyway, nothing serious this time.
Then I put on 60kg on the bar - still not heavy - and started doing bar complex, i.e. performing multiple bar movements without adjusting grip at ground at any moment. The idea was to do 4 different types of cleans, then finish the set with a couple of jerks. On the cleans I used the following sequence. First 2 hang cleans, the first as power clean and the second as squat clean. The last 2 cleans were from the floor, the first one as power clean and the last one as squat clean.
Recap
On the jerks I did couple of push jerks, that is feet landing side by side together. Most of them were split jerks, that is kind of a semi-lunge with bar overhead on straight arms. I wanted to do different types of cleans and jerks with semi-light weight. All reps were @ 60kg except the last which was 70kg. I felt comfortable doing this barbell work. Most of the reps were pretty solid, few flaws in technique though.
Metcon. Result 6 rounds + 5 hspu
15min amrap of:
5 handstand push-ups
10 burpees
15 box jumps, 61cm
This was something sick I was able to come up with couple of days ago. The combo turned out to be a little harsh. Hspu's, burpees and box. Once you've done handstand push-ups it's always a delight to go for burpees. After them the upper body is worn out. And you've been jumping on the burpees. So it's cool to start jumping on the Rogue box after that.
The combination of these movements was tougher than they look on paper. I realized it today in a hard way. My round times turned slower by the round. I went unbroken each round. First round was about 1:30 and the last full round was almost exactly 1min slower. It was the transitions between elements that took me more time every round.
I still loved the workout. It made me cry in the very beginning, in a good way if you know what I mean. Good and painful 15 minutes of my life, worth suffering it through. Made my engine a little bit better and more efficient once again. Love the metcons! That's why I do strength training; to become more enhanced in the metcons. To being able to keep on moving no matter what movements are thrown upon me. Love crossfit!
This lift is awesome in both technique and strength
Thursday. Back squats, 3 x 10 (100-110kg). Clean complex, 6 sets of: hang power clean, hang squat clean, power clean, squat clean (60-70kg).
Today was metcon free day of training. Instead, I worked towards stronger legs and improving my explosiveness on the cleans through a 4-rep complex. Got my sweat on the shirt pretty easily due to the nature of both of the workouts. Squats were exceptionally high-reps.
Strength. Back squats 3x10 (100, 105, 110kg). This was great! Should have added some weight in the early steps. The last sets was as though as it should have been. After having done 3 sets my legs were done and it was impossible to add more weight on the bar. Not that I would have done it anyway, my plan was to hit 3 sets already in the beginning.
It was a different type of challenge. Got to try this out some other time as well. it's good to keep constant variety in the squat training and every training session to be frank. I was thinking between eccentric squats and 10-rep max. Ended up in this workout, not a 10-rep max but heavy-ish and heavy sets.
Complex. Clean complex x 6 sets
1 hang power clean
1 hang squat clean
1 power clean from ground
1 squat clean from ground
1x60, 3x65, 1x70, 1x60kg
This was something between technique and strength and muscle endurance. The weights were light consider the last 3 movements. The first was obviously the heaviest one, hang clean from pocket. As you see from the video, I don't bring the bar that down on my thighs or below knee. It's more like from high hang or pocket as they might say.
This was easily managed strength wise. It was more like trying to complete good reps and finding correct bar path in different types of cleans. It took me 9 minutes to complete 6 sets of the complex. In addition I took 2 various sets before kicking this on. All in that 9 minute time cap. So it didn't take too long to finish it and rest between sets.
Sunday. Technique / skills: Turkish get-ups. Modified hero workout DT with kettlebell. Time 8.10.
Those kettlebells that I've bought in the course of my crossfit career have definitely paid back in dividends. I recommend everyone to go get one (or a couple) and start moving some weight! Start with lighter ones and build up to heavier loads. I guess one could easily get in very good shape by working solely on kb's. Props to the guy who invented this piece of iron! I started today with turkish get-ups, an awesome all-body movement and a perfect way to get warmed-up for the main workout of the day: hero wod DT.
Turkish get-ups
Technique.
Turkish get-ups
On a few occasions I've tried this movement. It's actually a very comprehensive move that forces the entire body to be active: legs, core, hand and shoulders. Plus it forces you to balance with your own body and the bell overhead. I have to keep the weights low at this stage as I'm not that familiar with the movement. Guess I did 6 reps both hands.
DT. Time 8.10
With one hand working at a time with a 32kg kettlebell
6 rounds of:
12 deadlifts
9 hang cleans
6 push jerks
Originally hero workout DT is 5 rounds, with 70kg barbell, same movements, same amount of reps. I did this one-handed each round. First round with right hand, second round with left hands. Then right, left, right and left. 3 rounds both hands, alternating after each round. Felt awesome after yesterday's kb presses so I dared to try them (and hang cleans) with this 2 pood bell, movements at a weight that had not seen the daylight before this weekend.
Hang clean
Round times remained solid. 2 rounds (working both hands) took me 2:45, 2:48 and 2:37. Was indeed able to finish stronger towards the end. I was afraid going too fast in he beginning because I didn't know how my shoulders would react to such a workload. Hang cleans and push jerks with this piece was a bit intimidating at start. It went on nicely though. Enjoyed this workout a lot. Have to try it with the original rx'd version with a barbell. Must be a lot tougher as I think about jerking a 70kg bar up there 30 times. Brings me some memories of the chunky Grace I did a while ago.
The weekend was a success. We spent it totally at the country side together with my loved one. Had the possibility to relax, workout together, go outdoors, eat some spectacular barbecue food and watch movies. Nothing more could I ask from a weekend!
Monday. Clean & jerk singles (max PR 87.5kg). Metcon, 4 rounds of 430m run, 10 hang squat cleans 60kg). Time 12.11.
Yes, had a possibility to work out at Liikuntamylly sports center and I definitely went there. I had nothing but good memories training there. The circumstances are perfect. You can do practically anything out there. It's super for olympic lifting plus you have all possibilities for metcons as well. Today I did clean & jerks and then a running metcon added with some barbell work. Unfortunately my bro couldn't make it as we had planned. Would have been awesome to kick some pair wod.
Strength. Clean & jerk singles (70, 80, 85, PR 87.5kg). For warm-up I did 800m run, lunges, push-ups, squats and then barbell warm-up. I was thinking about whether to try for snatch PR as well but realized that's not the main issue with snatch. It's more important to concentrate in my snatch technique and finding out comfortability in squat snatching. Today I did some hang squat snatches with 20-30kg simply to work on my technique, stance and mobility. Then worked towards the c&j.
Cleans and presses with 40kg & 60kg before starting the singles. 70kg was easy, 80kg came easily as well. I've had some issues pressing / jerking weights over 80kg but today getting that old PR of 85kg up was n issue at all. It felt good. Those cleans were easy for me today all the way. I dared to put small plates in both ends of the barbell and try for a new record, 87.5kg. I'm super happy I got that up, boosted a lot of confidence! You'll have the videos below.
C&J, 85kg
C&J 87.5kg
Metcon. Time 12.11
4 rounds of:
430m run
10 hang squat cleans, 60kg
I scheduled to go for 400m run and 10 hang squat cleans. That track was 200m long so I ran it twice but the transition from there to my barbell took 30+ meters. I believe I ran a solid pace so I was wondering why the clock was at 1.50 when I returned from first lap. The transition must have taken some time from the barbell to the track 'cause I felt good through the workout if you don't count the last lap. It was awful in the end.
On the first round I got those cleans unbroken, the following 3 rounds went in 6 and 4 reps. Love this place for being able to drop the weights when you don't have the energy hold on to it anymore. It's a small thing but at that given moment it feels good!
I feel like I didn't give myself a slack with the cleans. Once I got back from the running I grabbed the barbell rather quickly. And once I dropped the bar on those 3 last rounds I didn't stay and try catch a breath for long. Stepped back, pushed the bumpers back in place and did the remaining cleans. On the last round that running felt nightmarish. My lunges were trying to get a breath so once I went running it just felt like it's burning in my guts. Luckily I got that feeling over after 100 meters.
This workout was perfect for me. This is the only place where I've had the possibility to combine running and barbell work. At my home gym there's no possibility to run and then if I train outdoors I don't have access to barbells, only kettlebells. That's why I need to utilize this place in my summer holiday. On regular working days that weightlifting platform is reserved for sports teams so it's difficult to come here normally.
Thursday. Warm-up, cycling and Prasara Yoga. Strength: Cleans (all sets 80kg). Metcon, 3 rounds of Erin. Ancillary movements for arms and shoulders.
Today's set included some yoga to start with, heavy cleans followed by 3 rounds of benchmark wod Erin. I also did few sets of ancillary work for upper body in the end. And mobility. The coolest part of this session was the yoga set which I have now tried to occasionally include in my training hours.
Pauliina doing push press
Cleans. Sets of power clean and squat clean: 3x80, 5x80, 5x80, 5x80, 2x80kg. Today I decided to use a different type of approach in determining the weights on the barbell. Traditionally I've increased the kilos after each set for as long as it's possible. This time the weight stayed the same (80kg each set, bodyweight, 85% of max) and tried to finish it till the end. Original plan was to do triples but after first set I decided to go for 5's.
Attempting a pose called "half crow"
I wasn't quite sure what kind of cleans I'd like to do so finally I mixed power and squat cleans. Don't know if that's the smartest thing to do but anyway, on the first set I went all power cleans. On the second I took one power clean, on the third set 3 power cleans and on from then on only power versions. So 14/20 were power cleans.
It felt better to do power cleans instead of squat cleans. That's because those hamstrings were not that flexible even though I've tried to loosen the muscles. Considering those were power cleans, I must be happy with the amount of reps completed. On each set but the last I managed to push through the pre-determined sequence. There were a total of 20 reps. It wasn't long ago since I posted a clean single lift-PR video of 80kg.
Metcon. Didn't time this one.
3 rounds of Erin:
15 dumbbells split clean, 17.5kg
21 pull-ups
This has been on my calendar for about 2 weeks now. I've been checking this workout earlier and today decided to hit 3 rounds of it after strength cleans. Clearly my upper back was not feeling totally fresh and I had some problems with pull-ups. Split cleans with dumbbells are something I haven't done ever in my life. Not a bad movement at all!
DB split clean
Yep, it looks a bit different when this guy does the same movements. Hopefully my mobility improves through this new practice method. Prasara Yoga - Half Crow
Monday. Clean 3-3-3-3-3, metcon of cleans, box jumps and push-ups.
Back in Finland! It was an awesome trip to Barcelona, Spain with family; Pauliina and her parents. It was my father-in-law's 60 year birthday trip and we got the chance to celebrate it yesterday by watching FC Barcelona's last home game at Camp Nou stadium, one of the most legendary of them all. It was spectacular as after the game the trophy was given to the team for winning "La Liga". The atmosphere was indescribable.
Strength. Clean 3-3-3-3-3 (70, 80, 85, 87.5, 90kg). Two hours after landing in Helsinki, I was back at home Box doing my thing. I got some accumulated energy that needed to be focused on crossfit. I took clean triples. Thought it would be smart to take it easy after the flight but once I grabbed the barbell, it was pretty obvious it's not gonna happen. It felt good!!! And I wanted to go heavier.
I was able to power clean the set of 85 as such. On the 87.5kg I had to take the second and third as squat cleans. And obviously on the 90kg all three of them. I've been squat cleaning lately so this was an important clean day for me as I noticed I'm able to power clean heavy loads as well. And going for 3 reps at 90kg was sick. I dropped the barbell between reps but still, that's heavy for me.
Metcon. For quality
5 rounds of:
5 hang power clean
10 box jumps, 61cm
15 push-ups
I didn't put the clock running, still I did it with speed. I decided to perform the cleans as power cleans from hang position to make it tougher, 25 reps in total. 50 box jumps to add some cardio and 75 push-ups as I wrote earlier that I must keep on adding this one to my programming more frequently. That's not too easy movement for me when high-rep scheme comes into play. Muscular endurance on push-ups is in its infancy so I got to keep on improving on that one.
This was a good quick workout to get some blood running in my body. Haven't done proper metcons in a week because of the trip. I worked out on some days and focused on cardio and handstand skills but I really missed the barbell. I'm glad I have an understanding girlfriend who let's me train on a daily basis.
I heard Toni did strength training today. He's traveling in Oulu, in northern Finland for 2 weeks. He's found a new gym back there and has focused on strength training and some bodyweight metcons. At his home he's made some purchases. The barbell has arrived and soon I guess he'll get some plates as well.
