Sunday. Emom x 10 min: 3 hang squat cleans @ 80kg. Accessory, 5 sets of: 12 step-ups @ 60kg
Barbell work all the way. First squat cleans, then accessory stuff to strengthen lower body.
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes:
3 hang squat cleans @ 80kg
Found a steady spot at our current house so I was able to knock down couple of sets of squat cleans. My traps were sore from yesterday's cleans but it sure felt awesome to get hands on a bit heavier barbell. My neck and left shoulder have been sore for the past 3 weeks. I have never had any issues sleeping in various beds but this time the first bed on our journey was the worst I've ever had. Since then my left shoulder has felt a bit numb and neck is sore. Got to take that into account when writing my wods.
Accessory.
5 sets of:
12 (6/6) step-ups @ 60kg
It would have been nice to throw that barbell overhead but I didn't dare. Same reason kept the weight moderate on the step-ups but it was a good choice to get more burden for the legs. Went 6 reps on the left leg and then 6 reps on the right leg.
Wednesday. Oly, power clean triples (up to 90kg), hang squat cleans (up to 100kg). Front squat 3-3-3-2-2-2-1-1-1 (up to 130kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 21 cal row, 15 pull-ups, 9 thrusters (2x20kg db's).
This time there was no rush at all so I took a good bunch of volume after work day before heading home to eat and recover. It was a whole lot of fun to throw down at the gym with some friends.
Oly.
A - Power clean triples (80, 83, 86, 88, 90kg)
B - Hang squat clean doubles (80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg)
The thing was to hold on to the bar and go for touch'n'go reps on the cleans. No dropping in-between but hold that grip and complete the triples and doubles. Consecutive power cleans at these weights are something I haven't been practicing that much so this was beneficial for sure. I built up to 90 kilos and walk home with some pride in my shirt.
Second part of cleans was hang squat cleans. These are closer to my forte as I can utilize my legs more. Thus, I was able to go to 100kg. Cleans felt pretty good. On the last one I had to adjust my grip before completing the latter rep of the heaviest load.
More barbell work. These were supposed to be done yesterday but I simply forgot to do them. Who does that? =) At home it came to my mind so I postponed it for today. Couple of triples, doubles and singles, with increasing load. The 130kg was heavy and took me a good time to bring it up so I dropped down to 125kg for the last two singles.
Metcon. Time, 15 minutes
5 rounds of:
21 cal row
15 pull-ups
9 thrusters @ 2x20kg dumbbells
After working with the barbell for some time my body felt like the session is about ready. Had to sell the idea of this metcon to myself more than normally. This was stolen from Ben Bergeron, just modified it a little. Original version was c2b pull-ups and thrusters were clusters. I figured it would be a better conditioning piece this way. No need to lean my elbows on my knees that much.
It worked very well for the purpose I was looking for. No idea what the pace was on the rower, just tried to get that Concept2 moving right away as I sat down. Pull-ups were unbroken on the first round, and then 10-5 from then on. Yes they were pain in the ass (okay, in the lats) but somehow I felt more comfortable on those compared to how I imagined they might feel like. There was 75 total reps anyway. Comfortable is probably not the right word, they were nasty. But I was able to keep moving which was the main goal here.
Thrusters kept heart rate up for sure, as did each of the elements in this workout. Went unbroken with the dumbbells. Shoulders got smashed on these though. Legs felt fine on the thrusters but really needed to focus to get the path good on the dumbbells.
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.
Tuesday. Emom x 8min: 3 hang squat clean @ 80kg. E2mom x 20min: 7 thrusters @ 60kg. Cashout, 5rds of: 1min row, 1min bike.
We had a loooong day yesterday with Pauliina running errands so there was no time for a workout session. I took it back today with barbell work. Maybe that made good as my upper body and legs felt like hammered and my palms got some time to recover those rips from Saturday. Today all these were better.
Today's plans in advance
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 8min
3 hang squat clean @ 80kg
This was fun. Cleans from hang position for a triple. These felt smooth all the way. And what is important for me is that they look alike. Not much variance between reps in technical sense. I'd like to see the bar brush my hips a notch higher but other than that it's okay stuff.
Overhead.
Every 2:00 x 20min
7 thrusters @ 60kg
Damned that shoulder burn! Had to mobilize my shoulders, lats and triceps more after the cleans in order to get comfortable in the front rack position in the squat. Usually when I front squat I hold the bar with just my fingers so it's not that big of an issue. But on the thrusters I have a firm grip with the entire hand / palm so that requires a lot more mobility.
These were supposed to be touch'n'go sets all the way. And I got through them even though the last rounds were a nightmare. At times I thought about cutting it to 5-6 reps. Luckily I didn't and pushed through. Mental win. It just felt so miserable in my shoulders after some point.
Cashout.
5 rounds of:
1min row
1min bike
Hopped on the rower and started pulling. Pace was somewhere around 1:45-1:48 per 500m. This wasn't an emom style session. Instead, I timed it for 60 seconds on rower first, then jumped on the bike and cycled for another 60 seconds. So there was actual work time of 10 minutes, and the actual piece took thus a bit more due to the transitions. Again, this is something I can see myself doing for a longer time. Last time it was just a short one, today I had time for a bit more. This could easily be a very long wod too.
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.
Monday. Emom x 10min. Odd, 3 power clean. Even, 3 hang squat clean. Front squat 3x5. Metcon, 5rds of: 7 back squat (70kg), 12 burpee. Time, 6.00. Accessory, 3rds of: 10 reverse lunges, 10 reverse hypers.
Efficient but a rather lengthy session. Oly lifts, squats, metcon and some accessories. Everything I'd like to squeeze in one session of crossfit. Still, it got fit in one hour.
Reverse hypers
Oly.
Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
Odd min, 3 power clean
Even min, 3 hang squat clean
Sets at 80, 85, 85, 90, 90kg
Started quite soon after entering the gym. Original goal was to go at 90kg all the way but I took the first as "warm-ups". I really didn't take that much preparation before these lifts. These went pretty well. I'm happy that those 90kg power cleans were unbroken without dropping the bar between reps. That was kind of a mystery how it would turn out to be.
Strength.
Front squat 3x5 (110, 115, 120kg)
This felt heavier right after the cleans. Especially now as I try to do the pieces with less rest time in between. I actually wasn't able to get the last rep on the set of 120kg done. That was a bummer but I decided to forget it and move on.
Metcon. Time 6.00
5 rounds of:
7 back squats @ 70kg
12 burpees
Huh, this was a quick and intense one. Burpees are the real deal in here. Okay, also squats are challenging as the entire body is pumped up from the burpees. The last 2 reps on squats burned my hamstrings nicely but the thing was absolutely the burpees. I'm happy on the way I was able to keep moving.
Accessory.
3 rounds of:
10 reverse lunges (60, 70, 80kg)
10 reverse hypers (0, 20, 30kg)
The purpose was just to get more strength stuff done. Lunges are perfect for that. I have never gone this heavy on these. Mostly something like 50-60 kilos. Right after every round of lunges I went to do reverse hypers which is a killer movement for hamstrings and butt cheeks, the entire posterior chain to be correct. Started with that empty machine and added some weight on the following sets. This is rather new stuff for me.
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.
Friday. Build up to a heavy triple of hang squat clean (result, 100kg). Then, 6x3 @ 85kg. Back squat 3x3 @ 130kg. Metcon, 2k row, then 10rds of: 7 c2b, 7 hspu, 20 air squat. Time, 24.50.
Had a lot of time to be spent at the gym this Friday. Quality time at its best. It turned up to be a quad and hamstring slaughter. My legs were murdered big time after the session. I took inspiration from some Froning's video clip for the cleans. Then added some back squats, and a long metcon to seal the deal.
Oly.
Hang squat clean, build up to a heavy triple (40, 60, 70, 80, 90, 95, 100kg), then:
Hang squat clean, 6x3 @ 85kg
My right hamstring is still tense and not feeling normal. That's the reason why I don't want to pull anything heavy from the ground. No deadlifts at all until it's perfect. These were not heavy for pulling to the power position so that was no issues. It felt great to pull from the hang position.
The cleans felt heavy at 95 kilos. The feeling was that I had to hurry to get under the barbell. The loads in cleans are not heavy considering my squats so I've never had to battle to be able to stand up from the hole. But the issue is whether I'm getting under the bar or not. Do I have the balls to drop under, and the required speed to get there.
Watching the 95kg lifts on camera I realized there's a possibility to hit 100kg benchmark for a triple. That felt super. No doubt. Once I get it around my head that I have the speed to get under the load it's possible to go heavier.
After finding a heavy triple it was time to work on the speed at 85 kilos for a bunch of triples. These were good ones, and I focused on keeping my arms straight and bringing the barbell as high as possible to the hips. I played with the video so there are some slow motions too.
Strength.
Back squat 3x3 @ 130kg
These felt much heavier than they should. Maybe my legs had already taken that much in the cleans but these had to be battled through. Three sets were all I needed for today. There was a long metcon still waiting to be completed.
Metcon. Time, 24.50
2.000m row, then
10 rounds of:
7 chest-to-bar pull-up
7 handstand push-up
20 air squat
Beforehand I thought both c2b's and hspu's might be nasty in the last rounds but then again the toughest of these three was definitely the squats. Squats on squats on squats. They were sore as hell after the workout. Went unbroken on every movement.
Rowing was done at 7.30, then the 10 rounds were somewhere around 1.40 per round. C2b's were manageable. Not like I would jump right away on the pull-up bar because I didn't wanna drop down at any stage.
Hspu's were the ones I was most confident during the workout. Just knocked them through, no panic with them. Air squats were unbroken too but I had to pace them from the very first round. I realized making them fast would have brought problems. Those were not fast but they were done unbroken with a steady pace. Only in the last round I hurried to finish it faster. Great workout huh huh!
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.
Wednesday. Complex, 5 sets of: 2 hang squat clean, 1 squat clean, 1 front squat @ 80kg. Strength, back squat 4's (up to 122.5kg). Metcon, row, 5rds of: 500m row, 10 hspu. Time, 13.07.
There are some days I go to work a little later which opens up a time window to hit the gym in the morning. It's kind of cool but then again, body is not that fresh in my case in the very morning. However, I stuck to my plan and was able to work through a good session!
Complex.
5 sets of:
2 hang squat clean
1 squat clean
1 front squat
All sets at 80kg
The barbell felt like it weighs a ton =) I localized it to the the schedule. 80kg barbell is not heavy but at this time of the day it was like 100kg. However, I felt like the bar still moved pretty solidly in each set. I took one complex at 40kg, 60kg and 70kg before starting the working sets. And of course a lengthy warm-up with classic routines.
Strength.
Back squat (4x100, 107.5, 122.5, 122.5, 122.5. 122.5, 122.5kg)
For some reason my entire body felt like it had been hammered. Legs were stiff and upper body was sore. After those cleans it felt a bit better and these squats were pretty light. These weights were pre-determined by the squat program I'm following right now. So I'll just load it up whatever it says.
On the first two weights I went touch'n'go. On the 122.5kg I took one breath on top between reps. I'm very happy on how I got these done. Felt strong on the squats.
Metcon. Time, 13.07
5 rounds of:
500m row
10 handstand push-up
Yesterday's two metcons were great, and burned up my shoulders big time. That definitely felt today so I was a bit hesitant to stick to my hspu plan. Once I threw myself up against the wall, I realized that's not gonna be a problem at all. First reps felt good so I decided to hit it.
The key in this workout was to shorten the transitions. To be honest my mental state was not in the war zone in the beginning but at some point I noticed there was some sort of fight mode turned on. The rowing part was 500 meters so I figured second or two won't change the game. My pace was 1:50 - 1:55 throughout the workout. Handstand push-ups went unbroken, and were very comfortable.
Thursday. Complex, build up to a heavy max of: 1 hang clean + 1 clean + front squat. Result, 100kg. Metcon, 12min amrap of: 8 burpee, 12 box, 16 walking lunges (2x15kg db's). Result, 224 reps.
Got a chance to workout with Jasper. Good vibes are written all over that kind of session. We worked on different things but it didn't matter. Metcon took as long time so we shared the pain and encouraged each other to push further. Started the session with some clean work.
Complex.
Build up to a heavy set of:
1 hang squat clean
1 full clean
1 front squat
Weights: 40, 60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 100kg
Couple of clean singles at the end at 100kg
This was fun as it always is when you give me a barbell and allow me to do cleans in any form. Doesn't matter if it's floor or hang cleans, squat or power. Clean is such a great movement I could do it all day, all night.
Today's agenda was a complex, working different positions. Taking the lift from hang which means to say there is not as much time to get under the bar. I realized my feet got a little bit front on the hang cleans. When I took the bar from ground my feet stayed where they were supposed to.
I'm pretty happy on the cleans. Not the best I've had but okay ones. Hips felt a bit tight which influenced on the smoothness of the movement. My max weight for hang clean is probably 105kg so this was pretty good stuff anyway that went on today. Front squats were pretty light, at least comparing to the cleans. In the end I took some cleans with 100kg, and finished each of those sets with a front squat.
Cleans
Metcon. Result, 224 reps (6 rounds + 8 burpee)
12min amrap of:
8 burpee
12 box jump
16 walking lunges, 2x15kg dumbbells
At first I had jerks, accompanied with burpees and boxes but it felt like it's better to move mostly bodyweight, and leave barbells alone this time. Subbed jerks to lunges with dumbbells. Jasper warned me about this triplet, and suggested to change one element to a more upper body element because he saw the future and told me it's gonna murder my legs.
Big man hitting it
Well, he was right. I felt kind of stupid afterwards that I didn't see this beforehand =) I'll better listen to him next time. Can you imagine burpees were the "rest" period of the workout. The combo of box jumps and lunges was poisonous. Everything was unbroken. Had to shake my legs after every element to get them back in the game. The worst part was definitely lunges. I had a 15kg dumbbell in each arm. Those really smoked my legs.
Result was 6 full rounds, and there was enough time to complete the burpees but I had to do them right away, and speed up. Jasper hit pull-ups and burpees at the same time. It was kinda strange we finished our workouts at exact the same time even though the workouts and time work loads / rep schemes were different.
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.
Monday. Gymnastics, 3rds of: max effort c2b, max effort hspu. Strength, hang squat cleans (max 95kg). Emom x 12min: 1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg.
I had lots of plans for this training session. Had no need to rush at all, planned to take my quality time and work through a lot of things. After getting mobile I started the gymnastics part and was pretty much ready to leave after that. It was a big forearm burner =) But then I got my sh*t together and was able to pull off a great clean session also.
Gymnastics.
3 rounds of:
Max effort of chest-to-bar pull-ups (22, 16, 16 reps)
Max effort of handstand push-ups (25, 17, 16 reps)
I really like these gymnastics starts on training sessions to kick things off. Those have been emom style versions this far but now I decided to step my game up and try some max rep efforts as I wrote that I planned couple of days ago. This was way more taxing to do big sets of pull-ups and hspu's. My lats, forearms and triceps were burning and finally went numb after these sets =)
The name of the game was pretty much clear after the first set already. After second I was done and the third one was just brutal feeling. It took me about 12 minutes to complete this 3-rounder. Not that it was for time, definitely not, but I wanted to have some decency on the time frame. After this I went to warm up with an empty barbell and it felt difficult to hold on.
By the way, I ended up doing a PR on handstand push-ups (25 reps on the first attempt), which pleases me a lot! And actually it has to be a PR on those c2b's as well. That was not the definite max out version of those pull-ups. It was wearing a lot and I did those without stopping at any point. Had I stopped and tried to do singles one by one I could have knocked a little more. But that was mentally disturbing so I just took what I got "unbroken" and was satisfied with that.
After recovering enough and getting my forearms back in the game I started working towards heavier set of hang squat cleans. I built it up from light weights. Actually I did 3 hang power cleans + 3 hang squat cleans up to 60kg, then went to hang cleans only.
The most difficult thing in these sets seemed to be how to have my hook grip on the entire time. I had no issues getting under the bar quickly enough. I'm very happy about this fact. When I clean I catch the bar with open hand, a.k.a. not with hook grip. So once the bar comes down from front rack position I need to catch it mid-air and that seems to be a thing I need to work on. It's a prerequisite to being able to catch the bar with a proper hook grip so another rep is starting from the same position as the first one.
This was my original plan for today
Clean emom.
Every minute on the minute x 12 minutes
1 power clean + 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg
I also wanted to get the timer running and do some work with a good sweat. And this was the answer this time. 90kg power clean is not easy for me. That was much tougher on me than the hang clean. But it was definitely a great way to practice that. And all reps were similar, and that's the most important thing to me. It can not be a surprise how they look like. There needs to be consistency. It felt great to move that 90kg power clean, that's for sure.
Meathead.
Pendlay row 5x5 (60, 70, 80, 80, 70kg)
Tried also something I thought I'd never do. My training pal who does traditional gym work was talking this movement up a lot so I figured lets give it a shot. Took couple of sets and it really activated the entire back. Okay, maybe not my thing but it was worth trying =)
Monday. Strength, back squat 5x5 (across 120kg). Ever 30sec: 1 hang squat clean @ 90kg, for 10min. Random cardio work.
How great is it to make a comeback at back squats? It's beyond words, loved it! Today's work was pretty much all about leg strength. After squats and cleans I tried to do some sort of metcon but to be honest it didn't turn out very well. But there were some work being done anyway.
Squats.
Back squat 5x5 (all sets @ 120kg)
These went perfectly. I was looking forward to these a lot. Originally I was supposed to do 10x3 heavy front squats but my neck still hurts from last front squat session (on Friday) so I as cautious of doing the same movement where it got sore. Now I can turn my head quite normally but had to take one pain killer in the morning anyway.
I'll save front squats to next time but it was awesome to get back squats in after a long pause. I just wanted to remember how it feels like so I took 5x5 and ended up doing all those sets at 120kg. Very positive signal was that I manhandled the weight. No problems whatsoever with these. Went rock bottom each rep and bounced back up. The path up and down felt great, these squats were solid. Felt happy after these. I took them with short intervals, something like one set every 2:00-2:30 minutes. Had a squatting partner there, we just basically changed the weights, short analysis on the sets, and one of us went back to action.
Dating 2 years back in Big Sky
Emom.
Every 30 seconds:
1 hang squat clean @ 90kg
One day it hit me that I haven't done heavy cleans that much. This is in my wheelhouse and I want it to stay that way. This is how it looked like on paper. One heavy rep from hang position every half a minute. Weight was 90kg. Could have been a little heavier. This was good though. The only thing I was thinking that I had a bit too much time to get under the bar. Had it been a little heavier, there would have been a rush to drop quickly.
But the reps were similar in technique. That's a good thing. One day I looked back at some old training videos and one clip was a PR attempt in clean. Ended up not being able to catch the bar in front rack position and lost the bar forward. The weight was 70kg and year was either 2012 or 2013. So I'm happy on every lift nowadays. Freaking long journey has been traveled in this crossfit thing. Knocking 20x90kg every 30sec from hang position is progress.
Cash out.
Rowing
Thrusters
Toes-to-bar
Burpees
Yep, my legs were pretty much done after squats and cleans. I thought about doing a high intensity metcon in the end but that was too much to handle for me this time. My legs were smashed after rowing 200 meters =) What would I say about this portion. The star moment was 50 burpees but other than that it was not something to be told to the next generation.
Sunday. Emom, 1 hang squat clean + 1 squat clean. Start at 80, add 2.5kg per min. Result (100kg). Metcon, 17min amrap of: burpees and snatches. Result, 150 reps.
Now this was a good day. Back on track! I took on cleans for barbell work, always a sure bet. I love the movement. You need to be fast to get them going. Well I'm not that fast but it felt great to get under the barbell with heavy load. I had plenty of options for metcon, all kinds of benchmark workouts came to my mind yesterday evening. Finally I ended up doing 2013 open workout of snatches and burpees, modified so that I could keep up the intensity all the way. Great workout!
Barbell.
Every minute on the minute
1 hang squat clean + 1 squat clean from ground
Start at 80, add 2.5kg per minute
Go for as long as possible
Result, 100kg
This was exactly what I needed. Complex style work with cleans. It was allowed to drop the barbell, no need to do them touch'n'go style. Actually mostly they were singles. The loads were rather big for me so t'n'g was out of question. I had hoped for reaching 100kg which is somewhat a benchmark weight for me from hang position. No prob if taken from floor but hang is a different game. Plus the intensity got higher because of short recovery time.
I took warm-up sets at 40-60-70kg before starting the workout. Felt great all the way! One rep at a time. The reps were short and quick naturally as they were singles but I took some time between the hang and floor position snatches so it was probably something like 30 seconds that it allowed me to change weights and recover. Towards the end it got shorter and shorter. I was just able to nail 100kg in the time frame.
As I look at the reps on video afterwards, the reps regardless of the weight look pretty similar to my eye. I ain't a professional so there might be a lot of variance but to me they look like a solid effort. I'd like to see my lifts look consistent, no matter if it's warm-up or PR attempt.
1 hang clean + 1 clean
The bar got high enough for me to catch it in high position and then travel it down to deep squat. This kind of squat is what I'm looking for in the snatch too. My mobility now allows me to front squat and back squat as low as I could possibly get physically but overhead squat / squat snatch is still shallow. There's only one option: to fix it. I'm very happy on today's lifts, no doubt about it.
Metcon. Result, 150 reps
17 min amrap of:
40 burpee
30 snatch, 40kg
30 burpee
30 snatch, 50kg
20 burpee
As many reps as possible in the remaining time of snatch, 60kg
This was a journey back to 2013 CF Open. The first workout that year was 17min amrap of: snatches and burpees, the difference was on the weights. That year the first set of snatches was 35kg and the second 60kg. That day I nailed my Personal Record on snatch about one and a half years ago, to 60kg. Same happened with my training partner Toni.
Still, my snatch is not on a huge level so knocking 30 light snatches (35kg) and then struggle with 60kg snatches for the remaining time was not something I was looking for. I wanted more intensity so that's the reason behind this decision on weights. If 60kg would be lighter for me, this workout would have rocked as rx'd.
It started with 40 burpees, always a pleasure in a workout =) I took my time with these, did them in 20-10-10 with just short breathing before hitting chest to deck again. I learned my lesson from yesterday's Fran of not running through the gates at 3-2-1-go. Burpees started to feel in my shoulders. They were warm to say the least.
Breathing was under control at this point because it was the first element, 40 reps done. There was 40kg bar waiting to be lifted. 30 snatches @ 40kg. Took 'em in sets of 6 reps, total of 5 sets. Had no idea how this would turn out but at the first sets I decided to go be feeling. Took 6 reps and thought this might be okay set. Didn't wanna make a stupidities by gassing too much. I believe these reps were perfectly fine for me at this weight.
After snatches had been done it was time for more burpees. By the way, I guess these were done on a 15cm target above the athlete's max height when he has his arms straight overhead. Today I did regular burpees anyway. That brought me enough intensity anyway. I did the set of 30 burpees in 20-10 reps, inhaling couple of times between sets. It didn't help so I figured going down again.
At this point I changed the plates on the bar and started lifting 50kg snatches. My shoulders were a bit afraid how that bar would feel like as they were getting fatigued. After first snatch I realized there's no need to stress about. It was definitely heavier than the 40kg bar but totally manageable. I had no misses at any point of the workout. The sets were 5 in the beginning, then a 4, and triples all the way from there on.
I felt like a winner after having completed all the snatches. Secretly I had wanted to finish them and I would have been pleased. Hadn't calculated how far I would be able to go but mentally I just wanted to get these done. There were still some tens of seconds to go so I started moving up and down on the burpees, 20 reps was ahead. At this point I must say they were not pleasant stuff but there was only one thing to do, move the body. After getting the final rep done there was 10 seconds left in the clock. Next station would have been 60kg snatches and I still had 50kg on the bar so no way I could have changed the loading.
Recap of metcon
This was an awesome metcon and a training day in general. Couldn't be more satisfied on my crossfit needs. Below you'll find out how Fran is done Games Athlete style =)
Tuesday. Strength, clean and jerk complex: 1 hang squat clean + 3 split jerk (max 95kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 double db thrusters (2x17.5kg), 10 pull-ups. Time, 5.07.
Great training day for sure. I'd been waiting for this one because Toni and Jouni both came to the gym with me. That combination can result in nothing less than awesomeness. Jouni continued to smash deadlifts, Toni did some Wendler style - push presses. Both guys handled some serious metcons afterwards. My focus was on oly lifts on strength part and a short metcon in the end.
It's been almost a week since pushing weights overhead so it's probably no surprise I missed this a lot. Decided to go for jerks and take the barbell without a rack to work on my hang squat technique at the same time. The weight on cleans from hang position is no biggie nowadays. Thanks to my main man Toni for the tips he gave me 2-3 weeks ago. Since then it's been on a whole other level.
So I took all cleans from hang position and went down to squat clean each rep. Having this kind of barbell complex is a great way to work on clean and jerk, and especially on the weaker one of them. My clean is way better than the jerk so it's better do this way. Okay it doing 3 cleans and 1 jerk would get my body fatigue before the jerk but I'm sure that would not benefit me as much. The jerk wouldn't be the case at all if it was just one, even after couple of cleans. Today's style is a better one to develop the jerk.
After finishing the last set at 95kg for a triple jerk I decided to get one 3-digit lift in my system so I piled 100kg on the bar and took a single. This was from hang position too and it felt great. This jerk felt better than the last one on 95kg. Probably no surprise there because 3 reps at almost max weight is heavy stuff.
There's something beautiful in this one
Metcon. Time, 5.07
5 rounds of:
10 double dumbbell thrusters, 2x17.5kg
10 pull-ups
I had to improvise this one on the fly. I hadn't planned to do anything serious today but the plan changed during the day. Toni was doing push presses which inspired me to hit those clean and jerks. Then both of these guys hit tough metcons so I had to start thinking about one too. It ended up being a shortie of thrusters and pull-ups. My legs were kind of stiff from yesterday's training session, don't know quite sure why but because of this I thought about giving a break to lower body. Well, in that case thrusters are not a safe bet =)
Anyway, they got in this metcon, combined with pull-ups, 5-rounder of 10 reps each. It took me about a minute to get through one round. I didn't rush it at any point of the workout. Just worked through with dedication but not all out effort.
