Tuesday 22.12: Press, Row, Hspu, Pull-ups + 50-35-20

Tuesday. AM. Push press 2x8 (70kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 15 cal row, 11 front squats (2x15kg db's), 7 hspu. Time, 10.30. Gymnastics, 100 pull-ups. Accessory, upper body strength.

PM. Metcon, 50-35-20 of: t2b and push jerk (40kg). Time, 15.05. Accessory, lower body strength.

Drove Pauliina to work in the morning and headed right away to the gym for a 2h session. Felt a bit scared how my back would handle it. I wrote the programming considering that issue. Only some light front squats were in play today and those didn't feel too good. Everything else went smoothly. In the afternoon I hit another session at the same place. High rep metcon was in main role. Then lower body strength.

Overhead.

• Push press 2x8 @ 70kg

Part of the progression for bigger shoulders. Or actually I don't really care whether they get bigger or not but the functionality of them is the main goal. Getting stronger on upper body in order to master olympic lifts better in the future. This was a total of 2 sets at a pre-determined weight at 70 kilos.

Built up to 80kg for warm-up as it has been some sort of tradition this far. Soon I'm supposed to hit sets at around that weight so maybe I'll have to change my approach in the near future. I was still able to go touch'n'go on both of these sets. Felt really good on hitting the sets well.

Presses and pull-ups

Metcon. Time, 10.30

• 5 rounds of:
• 15 cal row
• 11 squats, holding 2x15kg dumbbells in front rack
• 7 handstand push-ups

This was going to be a great workout. Those squats kinda ruined the purpose of the workout. I should have known better that it puts too much pressure on lower back. But the combination of the elements is great. Let's say my body would have felt fresh, then I could have done this for a 20min amrap with maybe something like 24-16-8 reps of the same movements. Rowing felt like a short distance, that is something to be added somewhat. Squats hurt my back so it hindered me from going at full throttle. Hspu's were good all the way.

Gymnastics.

• 100 pull-ups

Need to keep the volume on pull-ups high because this is a movement that goes downhill if it's not worked on continuously. This was not for time. The sets were 20-10-20-15-15-10-10 reps. I thought about just working on finding a smooth rhythm and keeping my feet together. It got heavier somewhere after 70 reps. Lats took these well. It was only my hands / palms that felt the burden. There is something funny in these hands as it's sometimes the thing not letting me do more reps or go heavier =)

Accessory.

• Bent over row, 4x10, both right and left hand

Now as I'm on vacation and there's not rush out of the gym it's good to utilize the time and do some accessory strength movements. Bent over rows are something I rarely do but I guess these are okay movements anyway. I went 10 reps on right hand, then 10 reps on left hand, and kept a break after those. Repeat for a total of 4 rounds.

Metcon. Time, 15.05

• 50-35-20 of:
• Toes-to-bar
• Push jerk, 40kg

Once I got home, it was meal and nap time. These really make a difference for recovery. Body felt fine in the afternoon, better than in the morning. Main thing on this session was the metcon with which I began the session. It was a high rep workout. Total of 105 reps of both jerks and core work. It makes the nature of the wod different when you throw a good bunch of reps in a row.

50-35-20

First set of t2b's were 10-10-5-5 and then triples to the end. Jerks were 5x10 on the first round. Then number of reps for t2b is not huge in this workout but doing them this way really made it feel in my core. Same with the jerks. Load is light, just 40kg but doing them for a long time without real rest is a nice test of muscle endurance.

Second round of t2b's were 5-5-5-5, and then triples till the end. Jerks were 15-10-10. Was able to do bigger sets on jerks all the way. Last round of t2b's were 5-5-5-3-2 reps. Jerks were 13-7. Damned that bar felt heavy on the last reps. Shoulder felt the burn. This was a fun workout.

Accessory.

• Lower body strength (quads, hamstrings, glutes)

I took my time to work on leg strength afterwards. Lots of sets on different stations of the gym. More like traditional meathead type of action. I needed this anyway because I wasn't able to squat which was the original plan.

Monday 21.12: Clean, Hspu, Burpee, Du, Row

Monday. AM. Metcon, 15-12-9 of: hang power clean (50kg), hspu, burpee. Skills, 5x50 du. Ring skills. PM. Rowing and mobility.

Christmas is coming and I'm having two weeks of free time. My plan is to hit it twice a day on most of the weekdays. On Christmas eve it's gonna be a day off but other than that I'm planning to get the most out of this time. One setback has occurred though. My back is killing me. It's due to those deadlift sets I completed last Thursday… Yes, it's been days since pulling from the ground but my back is still sore.

Metcon.

• 15-12-9 of:
• Hang power clean, 50kg
• Handstand push-ups
• Burpee

Back definitely was an issue today. I was supposed to meet Toni in Liikuntamylly for a long session but my training partner slept in late =) Morning's agenda was kind of Monday Monster Mash type of workout. Three-piece workout of intervals. That didn't happen because my back thought otherwise. Can you believe that 50kg barbell felt heavy to lift from the ground to hips.

Cleans were better but the first pull was awful and got worse by the round. Hspu's were okay but burpees were also painful. Simply couldn't go further. Had to settle my back for a good 15-20 minutes afterwards.

Skills.

• 5x50 double unders
• Ring skills

Little by little it got better and I wanted to practice on my double under skills. It's been long time since doing them so it was about time. Those were supposed to be part of my workout anyway but this worked well too. On some occasions du's went well but there were lots of misses too. I also used rings for skills training, muscle-ups and dips.

Row.

• 1.000m row
• 3min rest
• 2.000m row
• 3min rest
• 3.000m row

Went downtown for a long lunch with some colleagues at noon and then headed back home from where I pretty soon went back to the gym with Pauliina. Didn't wanna pressure my back too much so I sat on the concept2 and went after rowing. 1k + 2k + 3k with 3min rest between distances.

My pace was sub 1:50 on the first, sub 1:55 on the second and sub 2:00 on the last 3k row. At that point my butt was numb already =) This was a good replacement for morning's setback.

Accessory & Mobility. I had plenty of time to stretch and mobilize my joints and muscles. I also did some upper body strength in the form of biceps and triceps. On these sessions where I have extra time it might be useful to hit some of this type of accessory work. I know for a fact that having these muscles stronger would transfer to oly lifts too. That's the reasoning behind it.

Saturday 19.12: Winter War Event 3

Saturday. Winter War, Event 3. Result, 142 reps

Saturday's training session was an easier one. Only one metcon. My back felt as stiff as it could be after those heavier deadlifts on Friday. Even though they felt good when I did them, the following days are often the moments when I feel like something had been pulled from the ground. Another reason for taking it easier was schedule. We were going to celebrate one family member's 70 year birthday party. It was a blast, these people are great!

Winter War, Event 3. Result, 142 reps

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 cal row
• 15 wall ball
• 10 box jump overs
• 2/4/6/8… muscle-ups, ascending ladder

Winter War is a throwdown which aims to find the fittest in Finland. There are a total of 4 qualification events of which the 32 fittest will be called to the competition in February. The events are:

Event 1.

• 8min amrap:
• 10 thruster, 50kg
• 10 thruster, 60kg
• 10 thruster, 70kg
• 10 thruster, 80kg…

Event 2.

• 4min amrap:
• 1 chest-to-bar pull-up
• 1 toes-to-bar

Event 3.

• 10min amrap of:
• 20 cal row
• 15 wall ball
• 10 box jump overs
• 2/4/6/8… muscle-ups, ascending ladder

Event 4. "Barbell Hell"

• 50 deadlift, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 hand power clean, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 front squat, 60kg
• 50 bar over hops
• 50 shoulder-to-overhead, 60kg

I did that first one some time ago. It was a repeat workout from 3 years ago. The only difference was that it started at 40kg then, and I went after the 2012 version. Now it was time for that third event. It looked like a nice one with some muscle-ups in the mix too. Those are always a bit challenging to think how to pace myself because one muscle-ups are gone, it's quite miserable situation =)

Today muscle-ups were not bad at all. To be honest this workout was all about muscle-ups. Row, wall balls and box jumps were small reps which made it easy to cruise through them. My plan was to take it easy on those though because I reckoned gassing myself out on those would make mu's so much more difficult.

First set was unbroken. Muscle-ups were put here in an ascending ladder, going up by 2 reps per round. On the round of 4's I got 3 in a row, and then a single to finish the round. I made a costly mistake there. I tried to jump on the rings to get the last rep done and couldn't get a grip on the rings. They started to swing back and forth which took some time to get them settled. One more muscle-up was completed on the round of 6's. All the muscle-ups were relatively easier than I thought.

It's not common to have mu's in a metcon for me so these are always good ones. Looking back at the workout I could have gone faster. Usually I know how fast I can go but mu's are still difficult to assess. Maybe that's a good reminder of putting them in metcons more often. That's how I would know better how much my body can tolerate of this skills element, strength and conditioning together.

Friday 18.12: Push press, Deadlift, Conditioning, Accessory

Friday. Push press 3x8 (67.5kg). Deadlift 5x5 (170kg). Conditioning, 10rds of: 10 hspu, 14 kb snatch (20kg), 20 box. Accessory, upper body strength.

Last day at work. What a roller coaster of emotions. It's awesome to see all close colleagues have gathered around to show their love as we have spent so much time together in the past. It's been a humble experience and I absorb every bit of it with great gratitude. For the last time I went to train at the place where it all began 3 years ago, Haaga cave. This is where I have built up the base for all strength and skills work. Conditioning was made already somewhat during my floorball career earlier.

Overhead.

• Push press 3x8 @ 67.5kg

This is part of the progress with the goal of building stronger shoulders. Now it's all about the 8's, and program said the weight is going to be 67.5kg. The last set was tough and I wasn't fully satisfied on having to arch my back way too much on the last 3 reps. Other than that I walked away with a good feeling of this strength portion.

Pulls.

• Deadlift 5x5 @ 170kg

Last time when I did pulls from the floor it was 5x5 @ 160kg. Those deadlifts felt rather light so I decided to jump it up a notch. It's usually depending on how my palms look on pulling days whether it's going to be a good day or a day where I have to stay light. Back and posterior chain in general always take the loads well. Today it was 5 sets of 5 reps at 170 kilos. Felt good about it.

Conditioning.

• 10 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 14 kettlebell snatches, 20kg (7/7)
• 20 box jumps

This was not for time. It was originally but then a party of two came to hang around at the stations I was working on hspu's, and there's no other place where those could be performed. There was personal training session going on so I didn't have the heart to bother them. There were 3 rounds where I didn't do handstand push-ups and 3 rounds where I didn't do box jumps but snatches took place every single round. I went 7 on right hand, and then switched it to left hand for another 7 reps.



Accessory. There was plenty of time before sauna so I did some biceps and triceps. Something I do practically never. Not that those wouldn't be useful for me. It's just simply something that has not been in my tool box. Today I gave them a shot.

Thursday 17.12: Squat, Chipper

Thursday. Back squat triples / doubles / singles (up to 145kg). Metcon, long chipper. Time, 15.30.

Huh, today was as sentimental day as it could possible be. I'm about to change my employer after working for this current company for 10 years. I've grown up to a man within that building's walls around me. It has not been just a job, it's been something close to a second home. From the beginning of next year I'm about to build similar confidence and society with another company. Today was my farewell party and it was a really touching event to say the least. I appreciate those guys tremendously. They've affected me in more ways I could ever imagine.

Jasper after the chipper

Strength.

• Back squat
• Triples (60, 70, 80, 90, 100kg)
• Doubles (110, 120, 130kg)
• Singles (135, 140, 145kg, fail at 150kg)

After work I hooked up with Jasper and we agreed to get some strength in our lower bodies and then get a good sweat together. This session was supposed to be identical to the one I just did earlier this week with front squats. That was every 90 seconds for a set of front squats, with climbing weights and descending reps, up to a heavy single.

There were not more than one rack available so we shared it with Jazz. that's the reason why I didn't take a look at the clock at all. Point was to go for a set once the bar was available. This was a good workout and the tempo was good. We did the sets alternating. Triples were light, more like warm-up sets. Doubles were easy too. It was great to see that also 2x130kg was ways.

It was kind of funny to witness that singles were under very good control all the way up to 145kg. That last successful one was a bit tight in the end but there was no doubt in my mind it would come up. And I felt strong on that lift. Some doubt still crawled in my mind about hitting the 150kg lift, and that must have affected the last attempt. It went down smoothly, small bounce there and coming back up. Just didn't have enough to bring it all the way up so I had to let it go. Still happy on the 145kg. It's been a while since going this heavy on back squats.

Got this sandbag from Toni and couple of colleagues today =)

Chipper. Time, 15.30

• 15 pull-ups
• 20 kettlebell swings, 20kg
• 30 medball slams, 9kg
• 30 air squats
• 15 toes-to-bar's
• 600m row
• 30 push-ups
• 20 lunges
• 25 ghd sit-ups
• 15 dips
• 20 box jumps
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 20 overhead squats, 20kg
• 30 burpees

This is something Jasper had written down some months ago. He's had some issues with his hips so we haven't been able to go after this one. Today he was well rested and body felt fresh so it was time to see what this is all about.

The ideology behind this is a chipper. Every movement exists there only once so you just chip it away. All the movements and reps were designed so that you don't have to stop and lean your elbows on your knees but just keep moving.

I was able to obey that plan pretty well. Only two elements had to be broken down. Those were dips and push-ups, a.k.a the pressing movements. Push-ups were 20-5-5, and dips were 8-3-2-2. They got spicy. However, my breaks were not that long as I wanted to keep moving all the time. There was not a single movement that would have been too much to handle. It was more like the continuing agony of having heart rate up and muscles working.

Okay, the last element of 30 burpees was disgusting. At that point of the wod it was just awful. My strategy was just do them one by one, without thinking too much about it. I went up and down without stops. I'm proud of this one.

Wednesday 16.12: Rahoi

Wednesday. Hero wod Rahoi, 12min amrap of: 12 box, 6 thruster (43kg), 6 burpee. Result, 192 reps.

Benchmark workout Rahoi. There was a chance of doing snatches and back squats today but back was too tight for that one so I decided to get a good warm-up and focus on Rahoi. This was the second time doing this one.

Rahoi. Compare to 21.1.2015

• 12min amrap of:
• 12 box
• 6 thrusters, 43kg
• 6 burpee

As rx'd this should be bar-facing burpees but there isn't a good spot where to jump over the barbell and face it for burpees. That takes some space and it's damn hard to find find a good place at this gym without disturbing a good bunch of people in the process. That's why my stations were the box seen below, bar on the platform and burpees behind the platform as regular burpees.

This probably helped me gather more reps as I got a clearly better result than in the beginning of this year. It was well over one full round more but I wouldn't like to compare these that much because the burpees were not identical.

This is a good burner and a nice test for lungs. It needs to be unbroken, just pace yourself on each movement. There is still some transition times to be cut off to get more reps completed in the 12 min time frame. Very good workout in opinion!

Tuesday 15.12: Clean, Row, Hspu

Tuesday. Every 0:30, perform 1 squat clean @ 90kg, for 10min. Row, 0:20 on, 0:10 off, for 10min. Gymnastics, every 1:30, perform 10 hspu.

This Tuesday I went to workout at the workplace's gym. Back to where it all began. This was my place for 2.5 years, on a daily basis. Base was built here. It was fun to get back there. It was lots of emom style work this time.

Oly.

• Every 0:30, perform 1 squat clean @ 90kg

Total of 20 reps, solid work. Nothing too crazy in here. My lower back was tight, probably due to yesterday's lower body smash plus good mornings on Sunday. Anyway, these went nicely. Each rep was similar to each other.

Intervals.

• Row, 0:20 on, 0:10 off, for 10min
• Result, 2.274 meters

I saw Graham Holmberg work his butt off on this identical piece of conditioning. Figured it would be great for conditioning. It was basically 10 strokes, then 10 seconds of recovery before the next set. This really hit me somewhere in the middle. It was a good mental stuff. Pace was 1:38-1:41 throughout all the intervals.

Gymnastics.

• Every 1:30, perform 10 handstand push-ups
• Got through 8 sets

Skills practice in the end. Goal was to fatigue my shoulders big time. And I got a good sweat in all three portions of today's session. I went unbroken for maybe 5 sets. 6th was 9-1, then the 7th and 8th were 6-2-2. Those really got tougher on the last sets. At first I thought about going as far as possible on unbroken sets of 10 reps. But then I wanted to get more reps under my belt. I didn't start the 9th set anymore. The last one really smashed my shoulders.

Monday 14.12: Press, Squat, Lunges

Monday. Push press 4x8 @ 65kg. Front squat emom (up to 135kg). Emom x 10min: 10 reverse lunges (50kg).

This overhead strength thing is getting interesting. I'm looking forward on these sessions where I have the possibility to put the barbell over my head for a good number of reps. Today the game changed a bit. Then squats even though my hamstrings are sensitive from yesterday's good mornings. It wasn't a surprise as I haven't done those basically at all. Seems like a good activating movement! Finally more smashing of lower body with weighed lunges.

Overhead trength.

• Push press 4x8 @ 65kg

Two weeks of 10's are in the books. Now it's time to cut the reps and go heavier. It's gonna be 8's for the next two weeks with increasing weights. It's not easy to determine the loads but luckily me and my shoulder strength mentor had exactly the same view on this issue. It was 65kg for today, then building up in the future. I took one set on video, the 3rd one.

Presses and squats

Strength.

• Every 0:60, perform 3 reps (60, 70, 80, 90, 100kg)
• Every 1:30, perform 2 reps (105, 110, 115, 120kg)
• Every 1:30, perform 1 rep (125, 130, 135kg, fail at PR attempt of 140kg)

Loved it. No doubt about it. I was supposed to do sets every 90 seconds but I realized after two sets that I had done them every 60 seconds so I went with that execution up to the triples at 100kg. Then changed it to doubles every 90sec, and finally after the last double at 120kg it was singles every 90 seconds.

I'm very pleased to this portion. Never in my mind had I these weights in my mind for today. My posterior chain is quite jammed but legs felt okay anyway. Didn't know I'd be so well prepared for heavy squats. Don't even remember when I took 135kg up for the last time. Today that was solid effort and form was not compromised.

That gave me confidence to add 5 more kilos for an attempt at new personal record. Before that I loaded up to 160kg, took it up in my front rack and stood it up, stayed for couple of seconds before re-racking the bar. Tried to fool the system this way to think the bar wouldn't be that heavy. The descent was good, and some way back up looked like it should but then strength vanished and I couldn't stand it up. I'm happy that my core didn't bail me. It was just lack of leg strength.

Accessory.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min
• 10 reverse lunges @ 50kg

Great way to finish lower body. Go after weighed lunges. Had the bar on my back and completed a set of 10 reverse lunges per minute. That took something like 20-30 seconds every round. This also broke a good sweat after couple of minutes. Liked the fact that it burned my legs and put blood running wildly in my body.

Sunday 13.12: Press, Thruster, C2b, Good morning

Sunday. Push press 1x10 @ 68kg. Emom x 6min: odd 12 thruster (40kg), even 12 c2b. Accessory, 3x10 good morning @ 60kg.

We spent the day taking care of some Christmas business and after that my energy levels were quite low. Program was push press, as part of the progression I've been doing. Then short metcon style work and finally accessory work.

Strength.

• Push press 1x10 @ 68kg (+2 extra reps)

It's been 4x10, 3x10, 2x10 before. Now it was only one set of 10 reps. I have always warmed up to a single rep of 80kg before doing the working sets. Today was no exception. 80kg has felt good every time.

So it was only one set of 10, and I was allowed to go further if possible. It turned out to be a good set after all with a total of 12 reps completed. The weights in all sets of 10's were measured quite well and the stimulus was right on the spot. Next up are the 8's for the next 2 weeks.

Overhead & Good morning

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 6 minutes
• Odd min, 12 thruster (40kg)
• Even min, 12 chest-to-bar pull-ups

Just couldn't get it going at any point for a good conditioning piece. Didn't have that killer's instinct for today. This was a short one with thrusters and c2b's. Last set of chest-to-bar's had to be cut in two sets. Other than that I was able to do them unbroken. Thrusters were the easier part of this one.

Thrusters and pull-ups

Accessory.

• Good morning 3x10 @ 60kg

Decided to throw this one in the mix just for the heck of it. Couple of sets good mornings to finish it off. This is something I've basically done like never. Maybe sometimes in the past but some sort of accessory work for strength is definitely welcomed. I've had them in my calendar many times but haven't had enough time nor the proper slot to throw it in. This was fun. Hopefully I have more occasions to go after it. Good one for the posterior chain.

Saturday 12.12: Interval work, Linnamasters

Saturday. AM. Metcon, 4rds of: 5 hspu, 10 power clean (60kg), 15 burpee, 20 kb swing (24kg), 25 wb, 3min rest. PM. Linnamasters throwdown in Hämeenlinna.

Great crossfit day! We were about to head to Hämeenlinna - about one hour away from Helsinki - to witness my brother's first ever crossfit competition. First event for him was going to start at 10.50 so we had to go to the gym at 08.00 in order to get a good session with Toni.

Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 5 handstand push-ups
• 10 power cleans, 60kg
• 15 burpees
• 20 kettlebell swing, 24kg
• 25 wall ball shots, 9kg
• 3min rest between rounds

This was arrogantly stolen from competitorstraining.com, a.k.a. from Ben Bergeron's programming. Funnily we both had this in mind for this week. Together with Toni we decided to go after it this morning. I'm telling you it wasn't an easy decision to wake up at 6.15, eat breakfast and head to Vantaa to pick my buddy up for an early morning bro session.

It was dark outside and streets were empty. Somehow I managed to get my shit together pretty well and was at Toni's place even before I was supposed to, c'mon. Our training session took place in Crossfit 01300, located in Tikkurila, Vantaa. Gym was great. Enough space, everything one needs and barbells felt good in hands too. For some reason I brought my own wall ball as it was laying around in my car anyway.

We thought this workout would have a different kind of nature. The stimulus was exactly right though. It hurt already after the first round hehe. Okay maybe the morning felt in our bodies somewhat. Yesterday evening (when I felt fresh and energetic) I thought about pushing through the wall balls unbroken.

Yep, that was not going to happen. Hspu's were the easy part of this workout. I'd say way too easy. Just 5 reps and always in the beginning of the round when feeling fresh and breathing was in control. Only thing was that when coming down from the wall I felt a bit "dizzy" and felt like I had to get used to being the other way around before touching the bar.

On the power cleans my original plan was to do them 6-4 or 5-5 but already on the first round I changed the plan as I realized Toni was knocking them one by one in singles. That turned out to be a great plan and forearms remained okay all the way, and didn't get shot during the workout. Luckily it was okay to drop the bar after every rep.

Burpees… Huh, those were not nice, at all. I was able to pace them pretty well and didn't have to divide them in any way but those really sky rocketed my heart beat. After couple of reps it was time to think about a happy place and just do it.

Kettlebell swings were light ones. I'm not used to do work at this weight normally. 2-pood is the standard one. In this one this 24kg was a positive surprise (it was rx'd). It wasn't easy to have my hands right after burpees as the plan was to do them unbroken. In the latter rounds I maybe should have caught the kb a bit earlier. I just tried to settle the breathing a bit before the first swings.

First 2 rounds

Last movement was wall balls. That is considered somewhat a strength of mine. It didn't show today =) First round was 15-10, then they were probably something like 10-8-7 or 12-7-6, not quite sure of the precise numbers. I had muscle-ups written in my program for skills training but there was not enough time nor energy to go after them. We had to jump in the car and head to Hämeenlinna to watch the Masters throwdown.

Last 2 rounds

This was my brother's first ever competition so I was definitely going to cheer him up. Luckily Toni also had free schedule so he joined me on this road trip. Lots of respect to all the competitors aged between 40-59 years. There was even one grandpa at 60+. Great engines and lots of strength was witnessed at Crossfit Hämeenlinna.

It's not self evident that everyone at this age can perform all the tricks these athletes were able to do. It was mind blowing to see them give everything they have and leave it at the battlefield! My bro smashed a clean and jerk PR as it was part of one event, congrats Sipa!

55+ ladies smashing clean and jerks!

The events in Linnamasters were

Event 1.

• Modified Jackie
• 1.000m row
• 30 thrusters, 30kg
• 20 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 8min time cap

Bro

Event 2.

• Find 1 rep max of ground-to-overhead in 6 minutes
• Right into 2min amrap
• 2-2, 4-4, 6-6, 8-8… of:
• Toes-to-bar
• Hand release push-ups

Easy money at 80kg. He finished up with 95kg PR

Event 3.

• 8 turkish get-ups, 24kg
• 40 kettlebell snatches, 24kg
• 30 burpee box jump overs
• 40 kettlebell front rack lunges, 24kg
• 40 kettlebell swings, 24kg
• 17min time cap

Final event about to start

Thursday 10.12: Handstand, Deadlift, Hspu, Pull-ups, Box

Thursday. Skills, handstand. Deadlift, 5x5 @ 160kg. Metcon, 5rds of: 7 hspu, 14 pull-ups, 21 box. Time, 10.48.

About time to pull from the ground! This time my hands were not ripped at all, and I was anxious of getting my hands on the barbell. Before that there stood handstand on my notes, and the session ended up with a a good conditioning piece of bodyweight action.

Skills.

• Handstand

It was a positive surprise to see I had written down handstand practice in my program for today. This skill was neglected for a good time when I was training at my old gym because there was no space for that basically. It was mostly something I worked on during springs and summers. When I changed to this OPC gym this spring I thought there would be more and more of this type of training. Still, it hasn't been there that much. So it's surprising that this thing is going further little by little =)

Strength.

• Deadlift 5x5 @ 160kg

It's been some time since pulling from the ground. Reason for this is that on those days that I've planned to do deadlifts there's been some rips in my hands. So it was a lot of positive enthusiasm towards this portion. Kept the bar light because going heavy after some break in the deadlift really feels in my back for days, and kind of prevents 100% training in the upcoming days. Form stayed good and everything felt great.

5x5 @ 160kg

Metcon. Time, 10.48

• 5 rounds of:
• 7 handstand push-ups
• 14 pull-ups
• 21 box jumps

Nice one! Hspu's were unbroken, and easiest part of the workout. I'd love to have more of them in this wod. Number of pull-ups was double the amount of hspu's. Went unbroken for the first 2 rounds. Then the next 2 rounds were 9-5. Last round was unbroken again. Might have been able to go ub all the way but this was my decision this time, and I hope this was the quicker version overall. Box jumps unbroken. Good breather!

Wednesday 9.12: Push press, C&J, Front squat

Wednesday. Push press 2x10 @ 65kg. Emom x 5min: 5 c&j @ 60kg. Front squat 5-4-3-2-1 (up to 130kg).

Went to improve my fitness later in the evening. Somehow I felt like my upper body was very fresh and mobile, especially from shoulders. No tightness whatsoever. That felt super good. Today was purely barbell cycling in different forms. Had no time for metcon. There was "Rahoi" marked in my notes. Maybe I'll hit that some day.

Press.

• Push press 2x10 reps @ 65kg

This is part of the progression I'm doing right now. Idea is to do purely push presses twice a week to increase shoulder strength. Those are not my strong points so I'm looking to improve on those. Going to do longer sets than normally. Currently these are 10's, next I'm going to 8's and so on. Today it was 2x10 reps, and increasing the weight to 65 kilos. I was still able to go touch'n'go on these sets. There's a difference in moving 60kg or 65kg bar but there's still room to add, I believe.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 5 minutes
• 5 clean and jerk @ 60kg

My throat wasn't perfect and nose was running during the weekend and since then I've taken heavy breathing carefully. Today I finally wanted to get a piece of a good action so I programmed emom clean and jerks for today.

This was a little fun portion for sure. Not that heavy though, the bar was at 60kg so it is supposed to move well. For today it was exactly what I needed.

Squat.

• Front squat 5-4-3-2-1 (100, 110, 120, 125, 130kg)

Some squats to finish the session. Total of 5 sets, decreasing the number of reps and simultaneously increasing the load. Starting at 100kg, and going up to 130kg. First two sets were tng, then I took a short breath on top before next rep. After three sets I realized I should already be on my way back home so there wasn't much time to recover anymore.

Tuesday 8.12: Snatch and Clean

Tuesday. 7min emom of power snatches (up to 55kg). 7min emom of power cleans (up to 90kg).

This was a regular work day and then right after the work we headed downtown Helsinki for a dinner with a bunch of colleagues. So I had to squeeze in a short session with barbell emoms before leaving. Looks like the Christmas is coming to Helsinki!

Snatch.

• 7 min, every minute on the minute
• 1st min: 7 reps @ 40kg
• 2nd min: 6 reps @ 45kg
• 3rd min: 5 reps @ 50kg
• 4th min: 4 reps @ 52.5kg
• 5th min: 3 reps @ 52.5kg
• 6th min: 2 reps @ 55kg
• 7th min: 1 rep @ 55kg

Definitely not the most sound version of my snatches. Wasn't able to bring the barbell high enough up my thighs before the last pull. Still, pretty happy that body felt okay today and seems like my body is now feeling normal.

Clean.

• 7 min, every minute on the minute
• 1st min: 7 reps @ 60kg
• 2nd min: 6 reps @ 65kg
• 3rd min: 5 reps @ 70kg
• 4th min: 4 reps @ 75kg
• 5th min: 3 reps @ 80kg
• 6th min: 2 reps @ 85kg
• 7th min: 1 rep @ 90kg

Cleans felt much better, and the bar obeyed my commands pretty well.

Monday 7.12: Snatch complex

Monday. Snatch complex: high pull, full snatch, snatch balance, ohs (40-65kg). Snatch pull triples (up to 90kg).

Lots of snatch action today at the gym. It took me an hour to go through all the work load. This time I didn't have strict plans on the weights at all. Just went on by feeling. What I had in mind was the complex that was carried out as such.

Complex.

• Snatch high pull
• Full snatch
• Snatch balance
• Overhead squat
• Bunch of sets @ 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65kg

Lots of fun. I took several sets at each load so there was a good volume of snatches today. These felt very good, and my technique (compared to what it used to be) was somwhat on point. I'm very happy of today's progress!

60kg

Pulls.

• Snatch high pulls
• Triples @ 68, 70, 70, 80, 80, 80, 90, 90, 90kg

65kg snatch is pretty much the most I've lifted in ages so this was big time success. I jumped to 68kg which turned out to be just a snatch high pull because I didn't drop under the barbell for some unknown reason. Even though 65kg was rather easy, some wall hit me in courage. There's something to be worked on.

65kg

So I changed to snatch high pulls with a bit heavier weights. Focusing on bringing the bar up slowly as I've learned now, then pulling from the hips. Good sesh.

Saturday 5.12: Ohs, Pull-ups, OH Lunges

Saturday. Overhead squat 5's (up to 70kg). Wod, 6 rds of: 15 pull-ups, 10 oh lunges (40kg).

Saturday was a fun day as our god son got baptized. It was a nice gathering to celebrate the birth of this little dude. Later in the evening I got a chance to hit the gym. It was an easier session as I've had a little sore throat for maybe two days. That wasn't serious at any point, and it's already gone but still having a running nose.

Strength.

• Overhead squats
• 5x40, 50, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70kg

It was fun to do overhead squats. Today's focus was on getting deep enough on this movement. This is the only form of squat where I need to pay attention to it. It always feels like I'm in the very bottom but then afterwards I see on video it's just barely below parallel. Mobility issue. It feels tight on shoulders, back and hips at a certain point. But it's definitely doable when being focused on.

Plan was to do 5x5 at 60 kilos all the way. However, it felt good so I kept adding 2kg per set until 70kg was on the barbell. Definitely a good session of ohs. Another thing I kept paying attention to was where my armpits are pointing on the way down. They easily turn downwards instead of pointing forward. From the side view they look good but then when filming from the front it looks like they are rotating inwards a bit.

Recap of the day

Workout.

• 6 rounds of:
• 15 pull-ups
• 10 overhead walking lunges, 40kg

Because nose was running somewhat I took this one more easily. Pull-ups needed to be done for sure. And because the gym was almost empty there was enough space to go for walking lunges across the gym. Weight was light, didn't wanna get my breathing high as lungs / throat / nose were not in perfect condition.

Pull-ups went smoothly. There was no doubt of hitting the sets unbroken but the latter half of them definitely needed some work to be put in the last couple of reps. Lunges were much lighter than pull-ups. Lunges in any form are great. Back rack, front rack and overhead lunges, or lunges with dumbbells. No matter which one it is, it's gonna be great.