Tuesday 9.7: OHS, back squat emom, metcon + levers, mobility

Tuesday. AM: Overhead squat 3-3-2-2-1-1 (max PR 70kg). Back squat, emom 3 reps @ 100kg for 10min. Metcon, overhead walk, pistols, front rack lunges, hspu. Time 12.58. PM: row 2k easily, elbow levers, mobility, stretching.

Uuh mama! Another shot to train @ Liikuntamylly. The place is spectacular, can't describe it well enough. Now I'm probably getting close to the feeling of people working out at a regular crossfit box. Only imagination is a limiting factor because you have everything there. That's why my workouts today were a bit different. Overhead squats (possibility to drop weights) and the elements of the metcon are impossible for me to carry out at my home gym. In the evening I went to gym for elbow levers and mobility,

Warm-up.

• Run 800m, then 3 rounds of:
• 10 push-ups
• 20 air squats, then:
• 50 wall balls, 5kg

This was a good set to get some blood running in my veins. Running for starters, feels good as normally I get to cycle or row to begin with. That wall ball was also a little twist. Unfortunately that ball was the heaviest, otherwise I would have nailed Karen at some point.

Strength. Overhead squats 3-3-2-2-1-1 (40, 50, 55, 60, 65, PR 70kg). Yes! I tried this about a month ago, that time I also shared previous record of 65kg but failed on the 70kg. Today on my first attempt of 70kg my core collapsed, then shoulders and that made me drop the bar. After half a minute of desperation I realized I'm in the best place to work out, I'm having my PR shirt on and above all, this should be fun. I went back to the barbell, took it in back rack, jerked it up, got my lunges full of air and did what I came here for. It might have been a bit shy of parallel. I'm not used to do squats without mirrors so it was difficult to know. My overhead squats are deep nowadays but this might have been some cents short. Anyway, it felt very good!

Back squat emom. Back squat, 3 reps every minute on the minute @ 100kg for 10 minutes.

Yesterday evening I planned to go for front squat singles as well but then realized it's more vital to work on my hamstring and posterior chain in general to some day squat 150kg. That's my goal to say it out loud. I need to work with semi heavy loads and get more reps. The load today was pretty good for me. I really like the emom training method because it gets to your breathing, muscles durability and strength in the long run.

I went for 10 minutes. Had no problems to lift that 100kg each minute. A total of 30 reps. Next time I might add some weight, 105-110kg. Good pressure on my hamstrings. And my goal was to go as deep as possible, definitely below parallel.

Metcon. Time 12.58

• 4 rounds of:
• 25m walk, barbell overhead carry, 40kg
• 5/5 pistol squats
• 25m lunges, with bar in front rack position, 40kg
• 5 handstand push-ups

This was sick. I realized after first round it's gonna be tough, especially on legs. I had this totally planned yesterday except for the pistols. Had an empty space there so I went to ask Pauliina what she would throw in there. The answer was cruel. Those pistols changed the game pretty much. Going for weighted front rack lunges after that made my legs burn deeply.

The first element - overhead carry - was a little light. Would have been perfect with maybe 60kg. Then it would have been tough as well. However, I had to use the same barbell so 60kg would have been a disaster in the lunges part. On the first round my pistols were a bit shaky, then it got better. Tougher but with better and smoother technique.

On the first round those lunges went unbroken, the remaining round I had to drop the bar once each round. Handstand push-ups went unbroken which pleases me a lot. I did some strict reps each round and once it started to get on my triceps I changed it to kipping hspu's.

This morning session was at least as spectacular as yesterday. Another PR saw day the light and I got to work on my lower body very well. No need to rush, I took my time in the cooling down as well. I ran for 1.000m and stretched as well.

Row, levers, mobility. After working hours Pauliina had scheduled hitting the gym so I joined her but was determined to take it easy. Rowing 2k with a slow pace to start with. I intentionally kept the pace close to 2:00 / 500m, with a smaller damper setting that normally, it took me 7.53 to finish it. Just to activate the body and get ready for stretching.

I got carried away with elbow levers, inspired from Prasara Yoga, I've added some video clips lately. It is an awesome movement to get to know your body, core and balance. I've been working on that one-handed elbow lever, same today. One of my friends showed 2-handed elbow levers as an example so I gave it a shot and succeeded in the movement at first try! Tried it twice, felt pretty natural actually. I'm gonna work on that one-handed lever progression in the future as well. Good work for core, balance and definitely on shoulders.

Toni's workouts.

• Strength. Clean 3-3-3-3-3-2-2-3 (60, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 80 80kg)
• Workout. 10 to 1, down by 1's. Scaled hspu, toes-to-bar. For completion

Toni completed clean triples, power cleans as always. He's done squat cleans with mainly warm-up weights only. It came up nicely up to 70-75kg. On the 80kg bar he missed that third rep twice but after he realized it was only a mental game, he finished the last set with style. He had the bar high enough on the earlier sets as well but just didn't go under the bar quickly enough.

On the workout / metcon, it was purely for completion, not for time. Handstand push-ups wrere scaled to a foam roll. There were 55 reps both movements. Starting from 10 reps, coming down to 1 rep, down by 1 rep at a time.

The Crossfit Games Finals begin 22nd July!

Monday 8.7: Clean and jerk, running metcon

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.

Sunday 7.7: Handstand training

Sunday. Handstand training.

This Sunday is the rest day of the week. It's a hot day so we headed to cool off to a lake. The water was probably somewhere around 18 degrees so it felt cold when entering there. No chance to enter the waterline easily, had to run and dive to shock the body. It's easier this way, and after a while it wasn't so cold anymore =) It was the first time this summer swimming if you don't count a pool at the swimming stadium. At the end of next week we are heading to Spain with Pauliina so more swimming is definitely ahead!

Handstand. I wasn't supposed to workout today. Just about 10 minutes handstand training. The field was perfect for this purpose so it was very hard not to utilize the possibility. At times I found stability very well, taking into consideration my skill level. I'm getting better and that's very inspiring! Most of the times I'm falling back to where I started from after a few seconds. I recon it's because I don't have the guts to let my legs go forward enough over my head. That's why my legs start to fall back to where they came from. At that point it's difficult to stop the fall with the core/arms. Sometimes I manage that, sometimes don't.

I'm getting more and more confident and natural being inverted with free hand standing without the help of walls. In the beginning I tried to stay balanced and later on the goal was to handstand walk.

Tomorrow I'm gonna meet my bro to do some serious training. I'm having a summer holiday for the next 2 weeks so I'm definitely going to train at places where I don't have the possibility to practice at when working, because of schedules. Looking forward to it!!!

Dusty Hyland teaches some new steps in mastering handstand walk

Saturday 6.7: Metcon of kettlebell presses and swings, squats

Saturday. Prasara yoga: elbow lever progressions. Metcon of kettlebell presses, swings and air squats. Time 13.38.

We are spending the weekend at the countryside. The surroundings are perfect as always. This weekend I'm gonna leave barbells alone and concentrate in bodyweight movements and kettlebells. To warm-up I did elbow lever progressions and then a metcon with kettlebells and air squats.

Elbow levers. This looks easy but is very demanding on the shoulders. I mean very taxing. I got way better this time with the movement than before. Only few seconds of staying still but I got much better control over my body than earlier. My shoulders were on fire after having completed this part. Worked on the lever progressions for about 10 minutes. Having the skill to balance your body with the help of your core is nothing short of spectacular. I'm gonna keep this one on my schedule in order to develop as an all-around athlete.

Metcon. Time 13.38

• 3 rounds of:
• 20 kettlebell presses, 20kg
• 50 air squats
• 20 kettlebell swings, 32kg
• 50 air squats

We packed our kettlebells with us, one for Pauliina, two for me. In this workout I did the presses with 20kg bell and swings with 2 pood bell. Between kettlebells there were 50 air squats to pressure my legs. Times for those 3 rounds were approximately as follows:

• Round 1: 4.10
• Round 2: 4.50
• Round 3: 4.40
• Total 13.38

The presses were completed in sets of 5 reps per hand, then changing hands. All kettlebells unbroken, both movements. Air squats were more difficult. There were 300 of them. First set unbroken, then I believe I had to break it. Usually the first attempt was 20, then 15 and something else. My hamstrings were killing me in the end. Hard to believe such a simple movement can cause such a tremendous burn. Air squat is a genius move!

This workout got my heart pumping blood in my veins and lunges also had to do work. It was a warm day and it was awesome to do this outdoors. The only thing bothering were the flies and other bugs flying around me :) Easy to swing a kettlebell when a bug is eating my calf…

I was tempted to practice on my handstand walk but now I just wanted to relax for the rest of the day. We put chicken skewers on the grill and enjoyed a food feast at the terrace. It was an easygoing and relaxing day with Pauliina!

Friday 5.7: Push press, hspu, pull-ups, dips

Friday. Push press, emom for 10min, 3 reps. Workout for 20min, odd minutes hspu, even minutes pull-ups. Cashout. Curls and ring dips.

Time to activate shoulders! Emom type training methods seems to be legit, I really like them. The pressure mounts the longer you continue the workout. Today's emom training was about push press. Then more pressure on the shoulders and upper body with the help of handstand push-ups and pull-ups. Finally some arm strength.

Hspu

Strength. Push press emom

• Every minute on the minute for 10min
• 3 reps, push press
• 1 set @ 60kg, 2 sets @ 65kg, 7 sets @ 70kg

This was a good call. I had no rush this time. Took some rowing, bodyweight warm-up, barbell work and stretching before I started adding weight on the bar. Took some light sets of shoulder press (40-50kg) and then it was time to move on to this workout. I thought it would work to start with 60kg and work my way up to 70kg, then stay there for the rest of the time.

On the first set of my 60kg presses, my neck snapped a little. Don't know what happened but it did not feel good. I remember having felt that same feeling about half a year ago. That time I had to take some muscle relaxants, hopefully this one is a bit easier. It didn't bother my training today but in the evening I feel my neck being a bit stiff.

First set was 60, the next 2 sets were at 65kg and the remaining 7 sets / minutes were @ 70kg. The last 3-4 rounds started to feel heavy but I completed this workout without any failures. It was exactly as tough as it should have been. The weights were perfect this time.

Pull-up

Workout. Hspu / Pull-ups

• For 20min
• Odd minutes, 3 strict handstand push-ups
• Even minutes, 6 pull-ups, palms facing in

Ten rounds each movement, 30 hspu and 60 pull-ups. I did pull-ups with a different grip than what I'm used to. That's because I tried to concentrate more pressure on my arms than my lats. The amount of reps was not high and there was plenty of rest time after having completed the reps per minute. This one could have been done in shorter time or with higher reps, no doubt about it. However, I didn't feel the need to rush on this one. Basically just wanted to do some quality reps with easy pace. All reps unbroken.

One round of the workout

Cashout. Not for time

• 4 rounds of:
• 10 curls
• 10 ring dips

Because I had already given a lot of tension to upper body, why not give another short workout for them as well. Bicep curls and ring dips. How come I seem to ignore dips and ring dips in my programming? Especially as they are not my strength, that's pure insanity. I've added the amount of push-ups in my warm-up, that's a routine nowadays to complete a few sets of them. The clear aim is to get more strength in my arms. That will definitely help me in all of the upper body movements.

Ring dip

My niece Mona - 7 year old - did a metcon today. It was a 12min amrap of: 5 air squats, 5 dips and 1 pull-up. She nailed 16 rounds… Those are sick numbers for a little kid, awesome job Mona! Guess she is pretty much alike with her father, my bro Sipa =)

Thursday 4.7: Squat singles, hang squat cleans

Thursday. Back squat singles (max 135kg). Perform 30 hang squat cleans (60-70kg).

I had a good feeling about today's workouts. I had prepared myself for it and was ready to take 140kg up again in back squats. I was also thinking about emom training for back squats and finally hang squat cleans. Barbell action. Was hoping to have Toni with me to take those singles up but he had to skip it in the last minute.

Strength. Back squat singles (100, 110, 120, 130, 135kg, 140failed). I believe there was proper warm-up to get ready for some big lifts. Throughout the day my legs felt good and not stressed at all. Still, once I was hitting those heavier weights, it felt like there was 160kg in my back.

After 130kg I thought for a second whether to add 5 or 10kg. Decided to take the smaller step just in case. I was able to squeeze that up, and I felt it in my entire body. Really felt the tension in my abs, and this specific lift probably made it more difficult to get 140kg up. Don't know what the result would have been if I skipped directly to 140kg, my current PR number.

My legs felt they had taken enough and I wasn't ready for emom training. What I had in mind, was 3 reps every minute for 10min @ 70% of 1rep max. Instead, I moved on to hang squat cleans.

Perform 30 hang squat cleans.

• Did them in sets of 5 reps, with short rest
• First 4 sets @ 60kg
• Last 2 sets @ 70kg

This was not for time, nor for strength. I put only 60kg on the barbell, tried to get that technique in place. Wanted to have a lot of reps with light weight and work on the speed in getting under the bar. Didn't rest too much between sets to get some heart beat up as well. The last 2 sets were completed with 70kg.

In the end I worked on my squat snatch technique, not adding kilos but sitting in the hole in the overhead squat position and performing some squat snatches. Then some sets of hang squat snatches with 20kg / 30kg, feeling comfortable.

Lucas Parker, Canadian crossfit athlete

Wednesday 3.7: Bodyweight action

Wednesday. Bodyweight action.

Took it easy today. Practically no barbells at all today. Just worked on some split jerk with empty barbell, it's hard to land the feet in perfect position. Probably because I just haven't practiced that movement. Only occasionally. I worked on elbow levers and planche hold. Then some handstand hold agains the wall for time (max hold 1:00) and then tried to let my heels get off the wall and hold my body still.

Mostly this day was not physically taxing except those elbow levers. I definitely felt them in my shoulders. This Prasara Yoga stuff I've learned from Blair Morrison is sick. Looks very easy and is extremely demanding. I have a long way to go before I feel comfortable in those positions. I will still determinedly work on those movements to improve body control. It's tough, excruciating, difficult to learn but still probably very rewarding once you get the hold of it. And I'm sure it not only bodyweight movements but also other movements easier where you handle some weights. And obviously mobility enhances as well.

Wednesday's focus areas.

• Elbow levers
• Planche
• Handstand hold against wall
• Handstand practice
• Stretching

Toni's workouts. Shoulder press, emom.

• Shoulder press, 50kg
• Emom for 12 min, 3-5reps
• 5-5-5-5-3-3-3-3-3-4-4-5

 

Tuesday 2.7: Sprints and pair wod

Tuesday. Sprints 4x400m with 90sec recovery. Pair wod with my bro. As a team, complete the following set of movements: 150 pull-ups, 150 burpees, 150 kb snatches (20kg). Time 23min.

Yes man! It was time for some outdoors training, one of the best shots of the week. I love these workouts. It's awesome to enjoy the summer weather and do some serious workouts with friends. Today Marko was not able to make it but Toni and my brother came along. We had some pair wod in front of us. Prior to that, we did sprints.

Sprints. Time 10.04

• Run 4x400m
• Rest 90sec between rounds

Time 10.04. On average this means 1.23.5 min per round. The first round was sick. It was clearly seen we are brothers with Sipa and the rivalry between us is fierce. Even though neither of us openly admits it before a metcon, it's obvious we both need to beat that other guy. Our first sprint was fast compared to our normal running pace. I led the round all the way to 250m, on the following 50m Sipa caught me and the final 100m we ran side by side to the goal line. Neither of us took an extreme sprint in the end because there were 3 rounds more to be completed. I thought the pace was not that fast but I stopped the clock at 1.10 so it definitely was faster than we would normally run.

It took some of the sharpest edge from both of us and pace got slower especially on the last two rounds.  Second round was around 1.20 and the last 2 rounds about 1.30. Toni's first round was 1.27, then pace also got a little slower, 1.30 plus minus 5 sec.

Bros

Pair wod. Time 23min

• As a team, complete the following set of movements
• 150 pull-ups
• 150 burpees
• 150 kettlebell snatches, 20kg

Our legs were pretty wasted at this moment. Without a proper warm-up they were smashed. It was time to move on the the pull-up bar. The workout we did with my bro included 2 bodyweight movements and one kettlebell move. First, 150 pull-ups in a row, then 150 burpees and finally 150 kb snatches. All pull-ups have to be completed before entering to burpees, and then snatches.

Pair wod, pull-ups and burpees, first 10min

Our strategy was to go in sets of 10 reps throughout the workout. It pretty much went like that. I did 10's in the pull-ups whereas Sipa changed it to 5's after 100 reps. No big difference there. Other than that, we both went as planned. Good job! And those kettlebell snatches were the first ones for bro, he's openly done dumbbell snatches. The movement is almost the same but the way you have to handle the bell in the up-position so that it doesn't destroy your wrists.

KB Snatches

In the pull-ups I had to concentrate to get all those reps unbroken. I could have managed the sets up to 200 reps, I believe. That would have meant 100 reps for me. Burpees got breathing going faster and the snatches were not that difficult for me. We wouldn't have a more suitable weight in the snatches. 32kg would have been too tough? This was a good workout and it was spectacular to do it as a pair wod!

The end of the metcon, kb snatches

Toni's workout.

• 400m run
• 2min burpees (40 reps)
• 400m run
• 2min double unders (70 reps)
• 400m run
• 2min kettlebell swings, 32kg (34 reps)
• 400m run
• 2min wood thrusters (34 reps)

Toni was supposed to do this as a pair wod with Marko. The other one runs 400m and the other one does certain movements. Once the first guy finishes his 400m run, they switch roles. However, Marko wasn't able to come today (bit of a flu) so Toni imagined Marko was running for exactly 2min. Works well. Those repetition numbers in brackets above are numbers Toni gave me afterwords. He said those are more like estimates.

Pony

Monday 1.7: Complex and a rowing metcon

Monday. Strength: 10 x (hang squat clean + full squat clean + 2 push press @70kg). Metcon, 2k row. Every 250m perform 5 strict shoulder press + 5 diamond push-ups. Wear a 9kg vest. Time 13.36

I love cleans! It was time for another complex type of workout, combining cleans and push presses. It was perfect. And the metcon to follow, huh, exactly what I wanted. And it gets better. I had Pauliina and Tony the Pony with me, couldn't be better.

Strength.

• 10 x (hang squat clean + full squat clean + 2 push press)
• 70kg on the barbell each set

Was wondering the weights for a second and then realized 70kg would suit well for my purposes. I wanted to have 2-position squat cleans: from hang and from ground. I can clean 95kg from the ground but haven't probably done cleaned more than 70-75kg from hang position. And there were also 2 push presses to be done after the cleans. So I got my head around 70kg and completed all sets with the same weight.

It was good to have Tony with me to coach. We did our strength parts alternating so that we were able to give feedback to each other. That was valuable. My elbows weren't in perfect position in the first 2 sets. After that Toni pointed out the importance of the elbows shooting straight ahead. The weight was not that heavy that it would force me in having them in the right position so it was crucial to have a coach saying that out loud. Thanks for that man.

Barbell flew up pretty nicely in my opinion. That 70kg isn't that bad and it was awesome to realize it was also easy on the hang squats as well. The push press was the toughest part strength-wise. However, I had no doubts in any of the lifts. The weight was simply perfect for today. Could have been 75kg but no point in going further from that in this type of workout. It was about one set per 1.5min throughout the workout.

Metcon. Time 13.36

• 2.000m row
• Every 250m, perform the following:
• 5 strict dumbbell presses, 2 x 17.5kg
• 5 diamond push-ups

This was nice. Rowing pace was around 1.40 / 500m in the beginning and the latter kilometer was around 1.45 / 500m. I usually go with the damper setting of 8 and today was no exception. 250m is a short sprint, only about 20 strokes so you can put more effort there. Those presses and diamond push-ups started to eat some of the strength which caused the pace to slow down a bit. Still, that was not the bottleneck, it was more like the transition times between movements.

Had 2 x 17.5kg dumbbells with the strict shoulder presses. Those went unbroken as well as the diamond push-ups. Those concentrate more pressure in the triceps. Having 9kg vest on from the beginning makes it a bit tougher on every aspect of it. In the beginning it felt awkward to row with a weighted vest but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Enjoyed this workout and this entire training session a lot. These were all good wods, first the barbell complex and then some wet-shirt metcon wearing a vest. Loved it!

Toni's workouts.

• Back squats (80, 90, 95, 100, 105, 110, 115kg)
• Metcon. 4.5 rounds of: 10 box (61cm), 10 dumbbell snatch (20kg). Time 5.45

Pony did some old school strength to strengthen his posterior chain. He did some beautiful squats, good depth on the reps, good form in general, and good breathing technique as well. Highest set was 115kg. Then it was time to move on to his metcon, consisting of box jumps and db snatches. He completed those snatches changing hand after 5 reps: first 5 left, then 5 right hand. I put there 4.5 rounds because he was supposed to do 5 rounds but for some sick reason he forgot to complete the last set of snatches =) Well, he punished himself after he relayed it and did the 10 missing reps with 25kg. Fair enough.

Second part of Dan Bailey's short documentary

Sunday 30.6: Bench press, rowing and squats + handstand walk

Sunday. AM: Bench press singles 1-1-1-1-1 (max 100kg, PR). Metcon. 1k row, then 40 bench press (70kg), 1k row. Each time you rack the barbell, perform 15 air squats. Time 16.11. PM: Handstand walking.

Time to put the PR-shirt on and head to the gym. There was no room for error this time. I wrote it to my calendar a week ago that today I'm gonna break that damned 100kg in bench press. And the metcon to follow is a light version of what I've seen Blair Morrison do in the past. What he did was sick, I took it a bit easier.

Strength. Bench press 1-1-1-1-1 (70, 80, 90, 95, PR 100kg). No doubt about that 100k coming up. I only took couple of sets with empty bar and one set of 5x60 for starters, then started adding weights. This far I've done sets of 3 or 5 reps before I've tried that magical boundary to be crossed. Today my clear strategy was to do only singles. That 95kg was no problem, it felt good and I knew 100kg would come up as well. And it fit, had to work for it but it was a rep, PR!

Bench, 95kg

Bench, 100kg, PR

Metcon. Time 16.11

• 1k row
• 40 bench press, 70kg
• 1k row
• Every time you rack the barbell, perform 15 air squats on the spot

I saw this workout performed by Blair Morrison and fell in love with the wod immediately. He did 2k row in the beginning and in the end, plus he completed 100 bench presses in between… Well, my wod consisted of 1k row and 50 reps of bench press. Unfortunately, as I re-counted the presses after the workout, I realized I had miscalculated and done only 40 reps, doup! What a rookie mistake. In that adrenalize flow I was sure I had done 50 but luckily I wrote those reps on paper and Pauliina asked my reps afterwards. That's when it hit me. So I obviously did 40 reps. Had I done 50 reps, it would have been probably 3 more bench sets.

The time after first kilometer in rowing was around 3.30 (1.45/500m), steady pace. It got my heart rate up and it was time to move on to the bench. Transition took some time as I knew I have to put a lot of effort in the first set of bench as I was aiming for 10 reps. Can't do that many 70kg presses when fatigue bothers. I got those ten reps and moved on to first set of air squats. I completed those bench presses in 7 sets so I had to do 6x15 air squats, not a bad amount of squats in one workout. It was definitely the easy part of the wod. I remember Blair doing 22 sets of squats. In those quantities, it's gonna hit you, no doubt about it. And he did 100 reps with bodyweight, huh.

Those bench sets were 10+8+6+4+4+4+4. The first two sets I felt strong and the barbell was moving nicely. Third one was still okay but from then on I managed only 4 reps at once. Finally I was happy to completing all those reps and it was time to get that last rowing kilometer done. The speed was fast, the digital screen on the rowing machine showed a pace of 1.38/500m for the first 300m. I realized it's not gonna be that for long but it simply felt so good in the beginning. I had to utilize that feeling because it was 100% sure it's gonna hurt in the end. And it did! In the middle my pace got slower and I felt the pain, little by little the pain crawled in. I felt my abs, legs and upper body in general being tense and hurt but the goal line was looming so kept on stroking. Got to 1.000m at 16.11.

A good workout to say the least! I think this one might be renewed after some time and this one with correct numbers, 50 reps and let's see what kind of weights. 70kg worked well today, it was perfect for the purpose I was looking for. Distance in the rowing was also good, don't even want to imagine what it would be like with 2k row in both end…

Handstand walking. In the afternoon we went outdoors to our back yard with Pauliina to play around. I concentrated in handstand walk. This time my goal was not just to stabilize myself but to walk forward. PR was about 3-4 meters. Take a look at some attempts below.

Saturday 29.6: Rest day

Saturday. Rest day.

Time to step back for one day. Pauliina is having her birthday so we'll stay out of the Box and spend the day in other ways, trying my best to pamper this lady. Happy birthday my love!

This rest day comes in a good moment and is welcomed by my body. It feels good to relax and let the muscles recover. Especially my hamstrings and lower back needed this day. Tomorrow I'll hit it hard again.

In the mean while…

Source: google

Here's the next step in mastering handstand walk, guided by Dusty Hyland.

Friday 28.6: Kettlebells & burpees with a vest

Friday. Complete 100 kettlebell swings with a 32kg kb for time. Every time you drop the bell, perform 12 burpees on the spot. Wear a 9kg weighted vest throughout the workout. Time 7.34.

Those high-rep heavy deadlifts on Wednesday really got to my hamstrings and lower back. As I woke up yesterday, those muscles were Stiff. I've been trying to stretch them and use some tips from mobility.wod to loosed them up. Still, today they were disturbing me. For starters I took 2 sets of pull-ups and then a kettlebell oriented metcon. On the pull-ups I did 2 sets of max strict reps with that vest on. Result was 8 reps both times. The first set was palms facing off and the second one palms facing me.

Metcon. Time 7.34, sets of 50, 20, 15, 15 swings

• 100 kb swings, 32kg
• Every time you drop the bell, perform 12 burpees
• Wear a 9kg weighted vest

Huh, I was afraid how this would feel because of those hamstring and lower back muscles hurting already in advance. Well, I had proper warm-up and was ready to start moving. Just as I was about to start my metcon I saw a girl having an accident at the gym. She dropped some weight on her head and started bleeding seriously from the back of her head. Luckily there was my neighbor at the gym as well to give some quick first aid to stop the bleeding. Hopefully everything is okay with her.

Back to the metcon. I was hoping to make it in 4 sets. The first set was naturally the best and longest. 50 swings made my heart beat but it was still okay. I started doing burpees immediately and was thinking about resting after those. The second set of swing was way tougher. I had to get 20 reps or more to stay in that 4-set scheme. My forearms started to feel very tense at this stage. Took another set of burpees to keep moving. The last burpees were heavy on this one.

There were 30 reps left with the swings. I decided to share it in half. Those 15 reps felt surprisingly bad. I did a lot of mental game inside my head to convince it's only 15 repetitions and the weight is not heavy, it's quickly over man. The last set of burpees was very tough. I had to rest for a while before I did them because my forearms were numb at this stage. Reps from 86 to 100 were disgusting. Had pretty much no strength left whatsoever but somehow I got the needed reps done.

Total of 100 swings with 32kg (3.200kg) and 36 burpees. All done with the weighted vest on. I'm telling you, it was far from convenient to keep that vest on after the workout. Had to get rid of it immediately. This got to my breathing quite efficiently and the most difficult part of it was the strength grip. I recommend to try it out!

Two-time champ is definitely out from this year's Games, it's a pity

This guy is still in, the 2-time champ is after his third in a straight in just one month time

Thursday 27.6: Snatches, squat/ohs metcon

Thursday. 10 x (hang squat snatch + full squat snatch). Metcon for time. 20 back squats (100kg), 20 OHS (50kg). Cycling to cool down.

Inspired by yesterday's success with hip mobility I decided to change some plans of today's workouts. I was planning to power snatches but was courage enough to trade it to squat snatches. Then a heavy metcon of back squats and overhead squats. Pony and Pauliina joined at the gym. Toni shared the first snatch workout with me.

Squat snatch

Snatches.

• 10 x (hang squat snatch + full squat snatch)
• Weights around 35-40kg

This workout worked perfectly for us. Both Toni and I did this, alternating. No need to rush, working on our technique. Neither of us have done squat snatches. Toni has probably made them with empty barbell, I did my first ones yesterday. We started by having only 30kg on the barbell, then for few rounds kept it at 35kg and the last 5-6 rounds it was 40kg. No need to add weights just for adding weights. This was a new thing for both of us so we wanted to stick to weights we are comfortable with. Having too much weight on the bar would not have worked for its purpose.

The first maybe 3 rounds it was kind of unstable work for both of us. Kind of wiggling and waggling with the bar overhead. With every rep we both felt it got better and it definitely looked better as we were coaching each other. This is new stuff for us so I think I was too cautious to lift the bar vigorously over my head and let it push me towards the ground. That's why the bar didn't land perfectly at each attempt. The weights were anyway light so that I was able to correct those flaws with strength. We should just add strength in the pull so that the bar would come down in upright vertical movement.

This was ideal training for us and boosted a lot of confidence in this movement. Got to have a huge warm-up on my hips and legs in general in order to do this one. Otherwise my hips won't flex enough.

Squat / Overhead squat. Time 7.06

• For time:
• 20 back squats, 100kg
• 20 overhead squats, 50kg

Uuh, tough one. 20 reps each. My strategy with the squats was to finish it in 3 sets and overhead squats in 4 sets. With squats I took 8 reps at first try, then 7 and finally those 5 that were left. God damned I did good squats. Probably because my hips were so mobilized after those squat snatches. They were tough towards the end but manageable. Time after squats was 2.19. My legs were quite destroyed at this point and I had 20 reps left. Had to shake my legs each time I racked the bar with back squats or dropped the bar at OHS.

With overhead squats I wanted to make it in 4 sets. At first I did 6 reps, then 5. Had 9 left and my shoulders were shaking. Another set of 5 reps to make it 16 total reps. Last set, 4 reps: 3 left, 2 left, 1 left and my shoulders failed me, leaned forward and dropped the bar, damn! That was unreal. Only one simple rep left to do and I had to let it go. I want to believe it was more like a technical mistake of not concentrating enough and thus I didn't do enough work with my shoulders.

Eeach time I dropped the bar, I cleaned it up, placed it on the rack, put it on my back, jerked it up and started moving. I lost some valuable time on the last miss so it finally went over 7 mins. Had to re-collect my strength after each set, no matter was it back or overhead squat. Had I taken another set immediately after racking or dropping the bar, I don't think I could have made as long sets as today.

I still left with a goof feeling from the training. The first one was good technical progression and the latter one was a good battle of strength and metabolic conditioning. Afterwards 6min cycling to cool down, decreasing tempo gradually. Some mobility / stretching in the end.

Toni's workouts.

• Same snatch combo as I did
• Power cleans, 5x5 (all sets 60kg)
• 5 rounds of: 20 sit-ups and 20 double unders. Time 6.23

He performed good with the snatches, no doubt about it. We both realized some clear development points in our action but overall, he did good. He took a metcon in the end with 2 basic movements, sit-ups and DU's. Would you believe it, he counted the double under reps correctly! Usually this guy does about 85% of the reps he's supposed to do. It's just too difficult to do the math. Well, I was giving him props for counting right. The answer was he intentionally counted to 23 reps to have it right =D

Wednesday 26.6: Deadlifts, metcon + handstand

Wednesday. AM: Build up to 12rep deadlift in 15min (max 140kg). Metcon, 4rds of 15box and 10 T2B. Time 4.40. Squat snatch technique. PM: Handstand / headstand skills training.

A little different type of strength training for this Wednesday. High-rep sets of deadlifts, aiming to find a 12-rep max set in a certain time domain. Then a bodyweight metcon and some technique training. Pony is enjoying his summer holiday and stayed home to train at his back yard.

Strength.

• Deadlift
• Build up to 12 rep max in 15min
• Sets: 100, 110, 120, 130, 140kg

Had to check from my blog when was the last time I did deadlifts. It was actually about 3 weeks ago when I was on a date with benchmark wod Diane. And there was another metcon where I combined deads and box jumps, that was phenomenal workout. Today's workout was a copy paste stuff from Rob Orlando's workout of the day some time ago.

Usually my deadlift sets are around 3-5 reps when concentrating in developing strength. This was a nice variation to that rep-scheme. Doing 12 repetitions in a row is a totally different thing as grip starts to become challenging after about 8 reps. Those early sets were easy. The last 2 sets (130 and 140kg) were tough on my grip. Beforehand I thought 130kg would be manageable so it was cool to witness myself picking up the 140kg barbell and complete it all the way. At that point I had 5 full sets done so I figured it's time to call it quits.

I liked this kind of programming with the deadlifts. I believe it's more important to be able to move semi-heavy bars several times in a row than having a huge 1 rep max. It sure as hell feels good as I one beautiful day lift that magical 200kg =) but that's not the main purpose. It's more important to perform 21-15-9 type of workouts unbroken. Anyway, I feel like today's training with deads was great! I still had some strength left in my back but my grip started to get a little slippery so grip strength was more an issue than back strength.

Set of 100kg

Metcon. Time 4.40

• 4 rounds of:
• 15 box
• 10 toes-to-bar

Something little fun to play around after the deadlifts. Box jumps and T2B's. Toes-to-bars are another movement that has been ignored, without a proper reason. This workout went pretty much unbroken except the last set of T2B's. I didn't rush anywhere and didn't run through the box jumps with huge pace. It was more like a solid smooth pace.

Technique.

• Squat snatch
• Overhead squat

I wasn't done with my workouts. Didn't have anything in my schedule but somehow I wanted to do something more. I was thinking about mobility but then realized my squat snatch and overhead squat needs improvement and those two movements also mobilize my upper back and hips in a good way.

At this stage I realized my hips were loose and very active. I had no problems in squatting well over parallel. I took some snatches and then found a good stance to complete some overhead squats. Once I lowered my butt for the first time, it felt perfect! I was very startled how good it actually felt, how natural my hips were in that bottom position. I was able to sit down there in the bottom position, ass to the grass, so to say. I didn't have to slow the movement as I lowered myself but I hit the bottom and stayed there for a few seconds just to find natural position.

After some overhead sets I was confident in trying directly squat snatch. A movement I believe I have never done in one smooth continuation. I tried it and it went perfectly to the bottom! No hip pain whatsoever. Had to redo them several times to proof myself it wasn't by accident. I did quite a lot of squat snatches today because it felt awesome! Hopefully I can activate my hips and upper back as well as today in the future because that squat snatch is a sick movement which I'd like to learn properly.

For cooling down, 6 min cycling with decreasing tempo.

Handstand training. As I got home that back yard of mine looked so tempting that I had to chill out for a sec and then put on some training shorts and walk outdoors. I managed well today. I want to believe I'm taking those important steps to master this skill at the end of the summer. Mastering means handstand walking about 10 meters in a row. Take a look at some clips from this afternoon.

Handstand training

Handstand walking

Headstand training

Toni's workout. Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 1min, thrusters 50kg
• 1min, double unders
• 1min, walking lunges
• 1min, V-ups
• 1min rest

The only thing Pony counted, was the number of thrusters. They were 8, 8, 6, 6 reps in those 4 rounds. The picture is from his back yard. Perfect training spot I would say. If I had that, I'd probably be handstand walking and carrying that tractor tire every day. I'm happy for him to have those bumper plates now worth 60kg, that allows him to do incomprehensible amount of workouts.

Tuesday 25.6: Sandy and snatches

Tuesday. Emom, 3 push press for 10min. Metcon of sandy lunges, kb snatches and waiter's walk.

Training day @ Pirkkola outdoor sports center! The gang was me, comeback-Pony and Marko, the new crossfitter, awesome! First we headed to the gym and afterwards some metcons outdoors. Barbell action consisted of push presses. Tony brought the "Sandy", our 25kg sandbag, and I had some kettlebells with me.

The trio

Snatches

Strength / metcon.

• Every minute on the minute (emom) for 10min
• 3 push press

Before Marko arrived at the place, I took some muscle-up training and Toni focused in his pull-ups. I somehow hurt my elbows and they felt sore in the same way as they felt in the end of last year. I genuinely hope that pain will go away. Last time it bothered me for months.

I took 2 sets of push presses with 60kg and stepped back for the guys to finish it. My plan was to do 3 reps each minute @ 70kg for 10min. That would have been an awesome one. Was so frustrated in not being able to finish the workout but luckily that didn't stop me from moving on to the metcon.

Metcon. Result 6 rounds + 12m lunges

• 15min amrap of:
• 20m sandy lunges
• 20 kettlebell snatches, 20kg
• 40m waiter's walk, 20kg

This was a good workout. A triplet. Sandy was as cool as it's always been. Those lunges got to my hamstrings and glutes. Kettlebell snatches raised my heart rate up. There were a total of 120 snatches so towards the end it consumed some of my sharpest strength away. Waiter's walk was rest time for me. It was definitely too light weight or short distance. I tried this movement for the first time. It might have been a different ball game with 32kg bell. I'd like to try overhead carries anyway, with a barbell or kettlebells, doesn't matter as long as there's enough weight.

Total of 132m sandy lunges, 120 kettlebell snatches (2.400kg) and 240m waiter's walk.

Sandy lunges, listen to the sound of Toni puffing in the background =)

Snatches & lunges

Toni's metcon. Time 16.05. Compare to 30.7.2012.

• 4 rounds of:
• 400m run
• 50 air squats

Back to the roots! This was the first crossfit workout ever done by Toni. He was a bit intimidated when he saw the track but before long he heard the magical 3-2-1-go and off he went. His time this time was 16.05.

400m run

Before

After

Marko's metcon. 

• 15min amrap of:
• 20m bear crawl
• 10 kb snatches
• 40m waiter's walk

It's important to Marko to concentrate in workouts that make his heart do the job, get the sweat running and make some muscles hurt. That's why we came up with some new movements as well to create some versatility. Bear crawl seemed to be the most difficult part of it. Snatches flew up and waiter's walk looked good as well. That bear crawl was the diamond of the wod. It was spectacular watch him moving up and down the track. Towards the end he was actually able to improve his time on the last 2 rounds. Mental game!

Waiter's walk

Bear crawl

He's done!