Friday 9.10: Recreational day

Friday. Recreational day, active recovery.

Our boss at work had planned a day of different kind of activities in Vierumäki. Toni was there too. This was a whole day of fun, and afterwards we drove back to our workplace to join the evening with our teams. There was a different kind of action going. Basically quality time with good people.

Attaching the equipment for archery

Active recovery.

• Body composition measurement
• Horseback riding
• Foam rolling for an hour
• Archery
• Handstand

The day started with Inbody body composition test. This was the first time this was done to me, and the results were actually a lot of fun to see. Plus, they were good so there was nothing to be grumpy about. Great to see all the work being done at the gym and in kitchen really pays off.

Pony on a pony

After getting some lunch in our stomachs we went to ride some Islandic horses. That was pretty fun for a one-time experience. Okay, I've ridden a horse twice as a little kiddo.

Foam rolling

Foam rolling was basic stuff, you could call it a mobility class. Back, lats, quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves got hammered. Last thing was an hour of archery. In the beginning I had issues with the grip as I had no idea how to hold the bow. After a while I got a hold on the whole thing and started putting the arrows to the middle. This was a lot of fun in the end!

Me and Vidar

Here is also where I could do my workout of the day. All the activities were not that much sports related. More like active recovery so I worked on my handstand walk while it was others' time to shoot the arrows. Handstands worked very well! From the very first attempt it was very natural and I was able to complete sets of plus 10 meters. It wasn't that shaky as it sometimes is. There was a good rhythm all the way.

The crew

This day goes in the category "always learn and play new sports"

Pony shooting like a pro

Thursday 8.10: Trap bar deads, Bench, Row

Thursday. Deadlift trap bar triples (up to 215kg). Bench singles (up to PR 108kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 bench (80kg), 500m row. Time, 19.50.

Thursday is currently that day when I pull from the ground and do bench. Those are the two main elements of this day. Today was a lot of success. In all possible ways. Got heavy pulls under my belt and received a personal record on the press. Metcon was heavier bench than I've ever done so there was a good volume too and heavy breathing on the rower.

Pulls.

• Trap bar deadlift
• 3x115, 145, 165, 185, 195
• 2x205
• 3x205, 215

My goal today was to give different type of stimulus to my body compared to conventional deadlifts. Trap bar is somewhat different than normal pulls from the ground. The centre of mass is right at the feet whereas in conventional deadlifts it tends to be a bit in front. If you look at it from the side, the grip is right where the feet is whereas in conventional deads the bar has to be a bit in front, slightly contacting the shins. This allows the athlete to put more pressure on legs.

And this really made my feet shake after each set. Back felt fine, and I believe the angle of my back was pretty straight, so I can look at these lifts with slight pride. There are two sides to this barbell. I started with having to go deeper in the start position so the distance pulled was longer. Went up to 3x195kg this way, and a double at 205kg. This is pretty sick as my 1RM is 210kg on conventional deadlift. After this, I flipped the bar over so the distance was shortened a bit. Then continued to pull triples at 205 and 215kg. It was awesome to hold this heavy barbell standing tall.

Deads

Strength.

• Bench press 10x60, 5x70, 3x80, 1x85, 90, 95, 100, 105, PR 108kg)

My point here was basically to prepare for the metcon. Doing heavier reps in the beginning, and then drop down to 80kg is a good tactic because then the barbell feels a lot lighter compared to when climbing upwards. First reps at 80kg felt semi-heavy but after going 100+ it felt light when I dropped down to 80kg.

Anyway, I took singles at 85kg and onwards. Thought about doing couple of singles and if it feels good, I might try to break the record because last time the PR was not the extreme max. Today I witnessed that to myself by taking 108kg up for a new record.

Metcon. Time, 19.50

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 bench press, 80kg
• 500m row

Combining rowing with any strength element as a couplet is tough. Try going deads plus row, and you're gonna be smashed. Or clean and jerks huh. Today it was bench and row. Okay I put the bench at 80kg which forced me to break the sets, except the first one which was unbroken. Then it was mostly 6-4 or 6-2-2, or something like that.

Rowing was 1.45-1.50 each round. My breathing went high on the rower but then dropped down on the bench. The reason for this was breaking the sets. Had I done this with 70kg I most likely would have done it unbroken. However, the goal of this workout was to familiarize myself with heavier barbell with good volume so this succeeded well. All in all, I feel like this metcon and the entire session was great.

Wednesday 7.10: Clean, Front squat, Metcon

Wednesday. Emom x 10min: 3-position clean @ 70kg. Front squat 4x4 (up to 115kg). Metcon, 14min amrap of: 7 front squat, 30 du, 12 burpee. Result, 283 reps.

Morning workout. This time it was alright! Not as unpleasant as in the past couple of sessions. I mean exactly these early morning sessions which are not my favorites as it feels like my body hasn't waken up yet. For some reason today it was all good from the moment I woke up. The weather is much more cool nowadays and it takes more time to get warmed up even though I'm training indoors.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10 minutes
• 3-position clean (high hang, hang, ground)
• Barbell at 70kg

It's been time since doing 3-position cleans. Today it was done in emom style at 70kg barbell. Bar itself wasn't heavy but I played it safe because it was one set per minute, and the main focus was to work on these different positions, and hone on the technique.

Legs still burned somewhat on these cleans. The most difficult one of these is the high hang version. It would be easier to lean forward but the point is naturally not to. Ideally, this would be as close to tall clean but that's not what I was looking for. But high hang definitely. Second rep was hang clean which meant it was pulled from above the knee. Third rep from the ground. And all reps were squat cleans to get the legs well activated.

Cleans and squats

Strength.

• Front squat 4x4 (100, 105, 110, 115kg)

It was awesome to do front squats after a break. There's been a lot of back squats in the past month or two so front squats were warmly welcomed! I kept them light anyway and took 'em up to only 115 kilos. Focused on doing them as quickly as possible with as little rest on top as possible. Elbows up is naturally always the key in this movement.

4x100kg

Metcon. Result, 283 reps (5rds + 1 burpee)

• 14min amrap of:
• 7 front squat, 60kg
• 30 double under
• 12 burpee

This frightened me a bit beforehand. I thought front squats would start to burn my lower back as it has been so tight lately but luckily weekend in Berlin made good and there was no muscle pain at all. Also double unders have not rolled lately as I'm used to.

However, I performed well on each movement. Front squats were good on the legs. Shoulders were on test on du's and burpees, and didn't get rest on the front squats either so actually those also went numb after squats.

Double unders went unbroken which is freaking awesome! Those felt very natural and had no issues with them at all. Felt like I was one with the jump rope hehe. On the burpees it's important to pace yourself. No point in rushing them as fast as possible but it's also important to keep going even though it feels bad. It won't help to stop so drop chest to deck and keep moving.

Round times were on average around 2:30. Even though this was a 14min amrap, I still finished the 6th round at 14.28. Took a while to get my heart beat down so it was easy to breath again.

Tuesday 6.10: Gymnastics emom, 15min amrap

Tuesday. Emom x 8min. Odd min 10 hspu, even min 10 c2b. Metcon, 15min amrap of: 7 s2o (50kg), 12 t2b, 7 ohs (50kg), 12 box. Result, 190 reps. Accessory, 5rds of: 10 ring dip, 20 ghd.

So we spent a long weekend in Berlin, Germany the past days. We came home yesterday at midnight after a great mini vacation! There was simply no time to do workouts as the tour leader (read: my wife) had arranged so much action and activities around the city. Plus we walked around all day, everyday so our feet were destroyed after wandering around for 10k per day. One huge highlight was when we went to see Bundesliga soccer with Kari between Berlin and Hamburg. The atmosphere was spectacular! One evening I had the change of throwing down for burpees, thrusters and some dumbbell work.

Got these little guys for new training shoes, Nano 5's

Gymnastics.

• Every minute on the minute x 8min
• Odd minutes, 10 handstand push-ups
• Even minutes, 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups

I decided to start with more like bodyweight movements instead of killing the barbell. I believe this was a good plan after couple of days more or less chilling. I went unbroken on both movements each round but I got to admit it started to get tough on the c2b's. Next round would have been a huge battle to go unbroken. Hspu's weren't light either. Okay, to mid-workout it was alright but the latter half was challenging. My lats were burning after this and I had to stretch out for a while to get them ready for the upcoming metcon.

Watching Bundesliga with Kari, c'mon!

Metcon. Result, 190 reps (5 rounds)

• 15min amrap of:
• 7 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg
• 12 toes-to-bar
• 7 overhead squat, 50kg
• 12 box jump

The worst part for me of this was one definitely overhead squats. I had thought about jerking 60kg but there would have been change of plates between jerks and ohs so that might not have been the best solution time-wise.

All these elements were completed unbroken according to plan. Only exception was the t2b which was ub for first 2 rounds. Next 2 rounds were 8-4, and the last one was 7-3-2 because I had to rush to jump on the pull-up bar to finish the last round before the buzzer.

Each element had its own twist in the game, and breathing was rather high all the time. None of the movements allowed the possibility to drop heart beat down and recover energy. So I'd call this workout a success in programming. It was great to do ohs with 50 kilos as it is probably the first time I've had this weight in a metcon. Not sure but most likely so. Usually it's been 40-43kg.

Accessory.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 ring dips
• 20 ghd sit-ups

This was not a timed workout. Just needed to get some extra workout done because there was no need to rush away from the gym. Ring dips are always a good call for me as there's plenty of room for improvement. Main focus on this one was rhythm and good range of motion. Goal was met.

Ghd's were good for core. I got a little headache for some unknown reason so maybe ghd's were not the best option because I had to go upside down on every rep, and hold breath when having head downwards. Still, this was a good cashout.

Thursday 1.10: Deads, Bench, Dips

Thursday. Deadlift (up to 170kg). Bench 7x3 (90kg). Accessory, 50 ring dips.

Today was exceptional day. We are having a mini vacation for couple of days in Berlin, Germany. I went to work for rhe morning but pretty soon hit the gym for a strength session. Meathead day to be honest. Some deadlift doubles and 4's. Max load was 2x170kg. Took it up twice.

Bench was more systematic work as I did 7x3 work load at 90kg. Felt great to move this weight around as I remember a time when it was max triple. Lately this has taken huge steps forward so this weight was no problem.

Cashout was 5x10 unbroken dips on the rings. This was early morning session too and I didn't get the most out of deadlifts but bench and dips were rick solid so I'll take these gains and head to the airport!

Wednesday 30.9: Row, Shoulder press, Sled, Burpee

Wednesday. Conditioning, 3rds of: 1.000m row, 2min rest. Shoulder press 7x3 (up to 60kg). Intervals, every 3:00 for 21min, perform 20m sled push + 12 burpee.

Morning workout. Conditioning went pretty well but the strength part is always a bit of a struggle in the early morning. Barbell felt heavier than normally. Or actually the bar wasn't that heavy but my limbs felt kind of awkward throughout the session. This is not ideal time of the day for me. But it was great to get a good sweat on!

Conditioning.

• 3 rounds of:
• 1.000m row
• 2min rest between sets

Rowing is something I could basically hit quite soon after walking to the gym. But because it was somewhere 9.00 - 9.30 when it was time to do the work, I took my time in warming up properly before taking the first stroke. Pace was sub 1.50 for each interval. My legs got tired in the middle of the first set =) They started to burn, that shows how "fresh" my body is in the early morning.

For the last two rounds I tried to focus more on the pull with my upper body. Yes, that's definitely not ideal, rowing should be initiated from strong legs but today this lower body would have been out of order for the rest of the session so I had to to this choice.

Strength.

• Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 (50, 55, 60, 60, 60, 60, 60kg)

Traditionally I have ignored shoulder press for strength training. My ideology has been that it's better to have heavier loads overhead in the form of push press / push jerk / split jerk. When you have heavier loads up in the air, it must be more beneficial. This is something that I've tried to implement. Shoulder press is still a great way to test out for pure shoulder strength.

Lately there has been quite a lot of elbow pain. This has occurred more or less in the heavier barbells. Doing shoulder press has not created this kind of pain so I thought it's good to hit some strict press sessions and increase strength in shoulders. It's felt good lately to lift the bar up. Hopefully I can do this stuff in the future as well. It's an awesome feeling to totally burn the shoulders, by any means possible.

Intervals.

• Every 3:00, for 21min, perform the following:
• 20m sled push + 12 burpee

This was created on the spot after presses. Burpees came to my mind first, sled slowly creeped somewhere from the back of my head. Great couplet in my opinion! The purpose of this workout was to go all out from the gates in every set, then maximize the recovery before next session. There would have been no point in taking each interval easily. The point was to go hard.

As this type of workouts usually tend to be, this got tougher towards the end. There was enough recovery between each interval but legs were burning more and more in the last rounds, and breathing was not easy. Actually it always hit me right after the last burpee. That was the toughest part as it felt like someone just hit me in the face at that point. These were quick intervals so it was possible to go 100% pace from the very beginning in all 7 sets.

Tuesday 29.9: Squat, Hspu, Pull-up, Box

Tuesday. Squat triples (up to 143kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 hspu, 15 pull-up, 20 box. Time, 12.44

Nice! Today back was alright and it was great to get some squats in the system. Legs felt strong today and I got some heavy loads up as planned. Metcon's main idea was to get pull-ups done. The rest was a good bonus.

Strength.

• Back squat triples (100, 115, 130, 140, 142, 143kg)

My max triple in my life has been 140 kilos. Okay I got it up some weeks ago and it felt like there's more room to lift heavier weights. Today I redeemed those promises in my head. I did the first three of these sets pretty much touch'n'go, even at 130kg. That was sick to pump it up and down just like that. Wasn't heavy at all.

The last three sets were obviously a lot tougher but I'm still very positive surprised how well those loads moved around. 142kg was some sort of PR because I have never lifted that heavy triple. Decided to put one more kilo to add the stakes. The last rep of that set was a huge battle. It was probably a 5-sec ascend from the bottom. I remember when doing it live, it felt like an eternity as it almost stopped at some point for a while.

Metcon. Time, 12.44

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-ups
• 15 pull-ups
• 20 box jumps

Main reason for this workout were pull-ups. Needed to get those done. And it turned out to the be the nastiest element of this one. Hspu's were unbroken but they also got more challenging in the 4th and 5th round. Could have done maybe 1-2 rounds more unbroken with the same pacing. Felt solid on those. Didn't rush through but went on Rich Froning - style. Pace yourself, rest at the top if needed, then solidly hit the reps with constant movement.

Pull-ups were unbroken for 1-2 rounds, then I cut it to 10-5 for the remaining rounds. My hands felt like they are going to get ripped in the first round so I needed to use gloves this time. Those prevented the rips well.

Box jumps are my thing. They are some sort of strength of mine. My back started to give notice at mid-workout so the last 2 rounds were not pleasant. These 5 rounds were enough to get a good sweat on and good intensity.

Monday 28.9: Snatch, Pair wod

Monday. Emom x 10min: snatch (up to 55kg). Pair wod, 3rds of: 50 burpee, 120 du, 60 jerk (2x15kg db's).

Monday means some sort olympic lifting. Squats should also be part of this day and I like the idea big time. My lower back has been sore as hell for the past week. It doesn't bother me in real life and in most of the movements. But every time I lift something from the floor or go below parallel. That's why I'll take the squats some other day.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min
• 1 snatch
• 1-3min: 50kg
• 4-6min: 53kg
• 7-10min: 55kg

Two things I'm concentrating nowadays every time I pick the barbell from the floor. Shins are as vertical as possible. Secondly, I'll keep my eyes pointed forward, not downwards. Actually there is a third point also. I'll focus on bringing the bar over my knees as slow as possible. It's a basic mistake of mine that I'll be too hasty with the first pull, and thus the bar tends to fly wherever it pleases.

These lifts were a bit shaky on the legs as I look at them afterwards. Could have been slower at the first pull but the starting position seems better than before. That's the takeaway from this session. That back pain disturbed me the later I went in the emom. I was supposed to go for 15 minutes of heavier snatches but that was not possible today.

Pair wod.

• 3 rounds of:
• 50 burpee
• 120 double under
• 60 shoulder-to-overhead, 2x15kg dumbbells

It was awesome to throw down together with Pauliina. This is couple's quality time at its best! =) This was "you go I go" style workout. We were working towards the same mutual goal as a pair. We did 50 burpees, alternating after every 5 reps. Double unders were done in sets of 20 reps. Got to say I'm extremely proud of how fantastic Pauliina dominates the doubles nowadays! Third element was dumbbell jerks.

Shoulders got shot in this one after all the work was done and over. Actually on the second round of s2o's made the shoulders burn big time. There was a lot of people at the gym so it was a bit difficult to find a spot where we could conquer our space for double unders but we found it. I was trying to convince Pauliina to skip the du's and sub it to something else but luckily she forced us to practice on those. Good partner drill in general this entire workout!

Sunday 27.9: Shoulder press, Clean, Pistol, Push-up

Sunday. Shoulder press 5-5-5-5-5 (up to 61kg). Emom x 30min. 1st min, 3 power clean (80kg). 2nd min, 12 pistols. 3rd min, 15 push-up. Accessory. 10 ghd's.

Great to get a good long session in the books. No rush, just quality time at the gym. Shoulder press is something that has not been in the system lately. Metcon was long version of emom workout. Then a good bunch of core work in the end. Yammy.

Strength.

• Shoulder press 5-5-5-5-5 (50, 55, 57, 59, 61kg)

This has been off the program because I have wanted to push press or jerk the bar overhead. However, it seems that this elbow pain is quite consistent when talking about heavier weights overhead. Shoulder press seemed like a good way to get shoulder burn with lighter weights too, building on pure shoulder strength.

Some time ago I did strict press triples at around 60kg. Today's agenda was 5's all the way. Starting at 50kg, building up to 61kg. I felt good on all of these sets, and happy on being able to push it to 61kg at heaviest. Maybe shoulder press could be the way to get stuff overhead without teasing elbows too much.

Recap

Metcon.

• Every minute on the minute x 30min
• 1st min, 3 power clean, 80kg
• 2nd min, 12 pistol squat
• 3rd min, 15 push-up

Long emom. Some time ago I did these much more, 21-30min emoms. Those are usually tough mentally. This was no exception in that sense. Pistols got me in the end. These have usually been mostly bodyweight in my case but today I decided to throw some cleans in the mix. Those worked well. 80kg reps for a triple every third minute. Working on mechanics. The weight itself wasn't the issue, it moved around pretty well.

Pistols were the toughest on this one. Okay, I got them unbroken every round but they were challenging mentally and physically. Those wore my legs out and by mid-workout they felt horrible. I was shaking back and forth when doing those, but got them done anyway as planned. Alternating legs after each rep.

Push-ups are basic element that is rarely seen in my workouts. They are always a good option though so somehow I got them thrown in this workout. This amount was okay. 15-20 was the range. Don't know if 20 would have been too much in the end. On the other hand, I got these done unbroken quite nicely. Breathing stayed under control but on the pistol squats it was probably higher than otherwise.

Acecssory.

• 100 ghd sit-ups

My hip flexors were on fire because of all the one-legged squats but I still wanted to get some core work done in the form of ghd sit-ups. Took 4 sets of 25 reps, with no timer running in the background. First 2 sets felt fine, third was a notch tougher and the last one was a good battle.

Saturday 26.9: Mu's, Hspu, Kb, Du's

Saturday. Metcon, 10rds of: 2 mu, 4 hspu, 8 kb swing (28kg). Time, 14.14. Skills, du's.

Didn't have time to write this post yesterday as we went to celebrate birthdays to the town with family. What a night, good times! At Saturday noon we went to the gym with Pauliina and Jasper. We hadn't even matched our schedules with Jazz but he entered the space when we were going through our warm-ups. Muscle-ups were the name of the game.

1.000g ribs for evening snack

Metcon. Time 14.14. Compare to 12.4.2015

• 10 rounds of:
• 2 ring muscle-up
• 4 handstand push-up
• 8 kettlebell swing, 28kg

My back was sore as hell from the deadlifts on Thursday. That was the reason I thought about postponing this Nate-type workout to later days. I took couple of swing with the bell and it felt alright so I decided to take a shot at it.

This workout is definitely all about muscle-ups normally. Hspu's are at a certain level so completing 4 reps per round is not that bad. Those were the easiest part of the workout. It's always exciting to do muscle-ups, especially in a metcon. It's totally different to do mu's fresh compared to when you're tired from all the workload.

Today those muscle-ups went great. Had no issues with them in any of the rounds. Surely, they needed to be addressed with severity. I didn't just jump on the rings right away after swings and knocked them through. My plan was to do each round as fast as possible. 2 mu's, then straight at the wall for hspu's, and then couple of meters walk to the kettlebell, and started swinging right away. After kb's I took a break to release the tension in my shoulders because I was going to do all the mu's unbroken. No other option in this one.

I'm very happy on how the muscle-ups went. Solid reps. They got a lot tougher towards the end, no doubt. Hspu's were easy in the beginning, then the latter half got to breathing and kept the intensity high. Kettlebell swings were nightmarish. Normally I would consider them a lot lighter than they were this time.

The pain in my back was infernal. It was okay for couple of rounds but somewhere around 4th round it got bad. Round by round it was nastier, and I'm telling you I could not have continued for another round. Lower back was burning, and it took 10 minutes after workout to get rid of the pain. It didn't matter if I was walking or bending my back or anything else, it hurt. I'm very happy on how I performed on this workout. Plan was strict and I stuck to it. Getting through 10 rounds at 14 minutes creates faith to knock a PR on benchmark workout Nate when doing an amrap of 20 minutes of the same rep scheme!

Skills.

• Double unders

Got to practice this one. I'm not on the level of skills I used to be, so I'll make a comeback to dominating double unders. There was a time I went through 100 unbroken reps and then little by little cut off the training of du's so currently there are too much tripping over the jump rope. We went you go I go style with Pauliina who has created some sick skills on the jump rope! Very proud of my wife's ability to learn new skills just like that.

Friday 25.9: Squats, Snatch, Burpee, T2b

Friday. Squat (up to 2x140kg). Metcon, 5rds of: 10 right hand kb snatch (20kg), 10 left hand kb snatch (20kg), 10 burpee, 10 t2b.

There was a bit of a rush today but I found a spot to get a training session done. In the evening we went to see some friends at a restaurant for some quality time. Session included squats and conditioning.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x90, 107.5, 122.5, 132.5kg
• 2x140, 140kg

Even though the deadlifts felt and looked pretty good yesterday I can feel there was some work being done. My back was tight big time so squats were not something I was looking forward to. That stood in my calendar and I didn't have time to think this over so I stuck to the plan. Triples in the beginning and the doubles in the end. Those doubles were supposed to be triples too but today that 140kg barbell weighed more than normally. On the other hand, all these reps came up pretty nicely so I'll take this for now.

Metcon.

• 5 rounds of:
• 10 right hand kettlebell snatch, 20kg
• 10 left hand kettlebell snatch, 20kg
• 10 burpee
• 10 toes-to-bar

This was freestyling as there wasn't a strict plan how to work on my conditioning. Burpees were on the table, and snatches came to accompany them in the form of kettlebells. This session took place at my old gym where I used to do lots and lots of t2b's. That came to my mind and I threw it in the mix too.

Good wod for sure! Total of 20 kb snatches, 10 per hand in a row, then change hands. Everything was completed unbroken. It was mostly tough in general. There was no single piece that felt the worst or most challenging. Breathing was heavy all the time, and there is really no need to stop because the movements were either at bodyweight or then the kettlebell was only 20kg.

Thursday 24.9: Deads, Bench

Thursday. Deadlift 6x3 (up to 190kg). Bench 8x3 (up to 100kg).

This was a great day. I mean already before we opened the gym door it was a spectacular day at work. This carried on to the the training session as well. Deadlifts are scheduled to be on the agenda on a weekly basis, same as the bench. There wasn't time for a metcon. That would have included deads, ghd's and rowing.

Strength.

• Deadlift 6x3 (170, 170, 180, 180, PR 190, 190kg)
• Bench press 8x3 (80, 85, 90, 92, 94, 96, PR 98, PR 100kg)
• Bench singles (PR 105kg)

My notes said 6x3 at 180kg. However, as I was building it up to heavy triples the warm-up sets were at 100, 130 and 150 kilos. Decided to start counting my sets from 170kg on. Two sets at each weight. Those weights felt very good so I kept adding stuff on the barbell up to 190kg. Felt like my back and legs are pretty strong. I wouldn't like to use chalk at all because it dries by hands a lot and results on rips often but on heavy deadlifts that seems to be compulsory. It helped tremendously to chalk up.

I haven't done 190kg for a triple ever before. Maybe a double but not a triple. 5x180kg has been witnessed twice, and lately the pulls have felt good so this was no surprise. Probably could have pulled even more.

Bench was another element of today's session. One day I understood this is a weakness of mine so I'll throw in this one about once every week. Definitely not going to stress about it but at the moment it feels like a good idea. To be honest, it's not that isolated movement that I have considered it to be so it will most likely be beneficial to overall fitness.

My 1RM is 102.5, dating back to stone ages. But I have done it probably once every 3 months =) In the past two weeks I've been able to climb up to 5x94kg and 3x96kg. Today these were upgraded to 3x100kg for a 3RM. That was a distant dream which came real life today. My plan was not to take a single rep at all but Pauliina refused to accept it, and so she talked me into trying that. Probably one of the easiest PR's I've ever done. Usually those are a lot of grind but this one was quite comfortable. Feels good to getting stronger in the entire body.

Wednesday 23.9: Snatch, Clean, Metcon

Wednesday. Emom x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg). Emom x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 500m row, 35 du, 20 medball slam.

Morning workout, huh, those are tough. Physically and mentally. However, this session I was looking forward to. I have been able to build up some positive anxiety towards snatches. That is something I'm really looking forward to improving in the future. Especially as there has been some coaching lately so it's easier to fix issues.

Oly.

• Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 snatch (50kg)
• Every minute on the minute x 10min: 2 power clean (80kg)

Two things that I just wrote about considering the starting position. First, shins got to be better vertically aligned before the barbell moves from the ground. Secondly, my eyes were glued to the floor before, now they are looking straight ahead / slightly upwards. These two corrections that I'm now trying to make permanent changes made today's lifts much more solid.

The big thing was that the snatches were consistent, and the bar didn't go to different places in every lift. These fixes also made the bar path some good changes, and I didn't have to catch the bar in front. It was much easier to catch the barbell and ride it down compared to what this used to feel / look like. I'm very happy to this current state. Got to just get more reps and practice on the snatch to make it better.

Cleans were light weight. Just needed to get some work done. Haven't cleaned that much lately so this was more like the fun part of the training session. Two reps per minute. In the beginning those were touch'n'go. Then in the end I focused on completing two singles per minute.

Metcon.

• 4 rounds of:
• 500m row
• 35 double under
• 20 medball slam, 9kg

Alright, there is another thing I need to fix in addition to snatches. It is double unders. There was a time I dominated the movement pretty well. Then, without any good reason I took a good break in them and since then it's been a bit of a challenge. I got too cocky toward du's. Got to be humble and keep practicing them and make them more effortless.

Today those were the toughest part of this workout for me. Sounds awkward to write it down because there were only 35 reps in each set. Last time I did these with Jasper in a partner workout and they went well so I entered this session with a thought of completing each set unbroken. Didn't do it in any of the rounds. That is not acceptable so it needs to be fixed. Got to find some room in she program for skills training.

Rowing was at 1.50 pace for the entire 2.000m total distance. My legs and butt are sore from yesterday's squats big time. Okay, that's no wonder, those 5x5 squats weighed a ton. Ball slams are actually a great movement. I'd like to see a 20kg ball at the gym but there isn't so I'm using what is available. Doing them unbroken keeps the heart rate high and burns legs. My legs in general were taking big hit in this workout.

Tuesday 22.9: Squats, Hspu, Pull-ups, Jerk, Box

Tuesday. Back squat (up to 5x138kg). Metcon, 4rds of: 10 hspu, 15 pull-ups, 10 s2o (50kg), 15 box jump over. Time, 14.40.

I really needed to get to the gym. And luckily there was no rush at all. There was some work to be done, and it would not have been ideal to rush through the elements. Squats and a tough metcon were in the agenda.

Strength.

• Back squat
• 3x90, 108, 123kg
• 5x138, 138, 138, 138, 138kg

This was supposed to take place yesterday but it got transferred to today. First sets were more like warm-up sets but they were pre-determined as well so I went through them with ease. Legs felt great in those, no prob at all. The jump from 123kg to 138kg is big for me. Just like that, 15 kilos were more in the barbell, and it was supposed to be 5's for multiple sets.

Last week I went up to 4x5 @ 138kg. That was definitely a 5RM for me, and it was for a total of 4 sets. Today it was upgraded to 5 sets, 5 reps per set at the same weight. Absolutely the heaviest I have ever done back squats. Got to be happy and proud of the journey I have come in the past years. Can't bluff it, these were heavy. I knew I'll do them but they were very heavy.

Recap of the session

Metcon. Time, 14.40

• 4 rounds of:
• 10 handstand push-up
• 15 pull-up
• 10 shoulder-to-overhead, 50kg
• 15 box jump over

Those squats really took the best energy of my body, and legs got fatigued in the process. Had to take a good lengthy recovery before hitting this workout. Pull-ups have been on the agenda lately pretty well, and the volume is okay currently. Another bodyweight element - handstand push-up - is something that needs to be in the program constantly.

There was a combination of hspu's and shoulder-to-overheads which made it tough on the shoulders. Hspu's were unbroken for 2 rounds, then the 3rd one was maybe 7-3, and the last round was 6-2-2 reps. In the beginning the first unbroken rounds felt good but then the workload started to get to me.

Pull-ups were unbroken for 2-3 rounds, not quite sure. When they were broken, it was 10-5. At least in the last round, maybe also the 3rd one. Now as I think more closely, it was broken to two sets in the third round as well. But I kept the pause short there, just couple of seconds.

Jerks felt nasty. The load was light but because of the character of this workout, shoulders got tired and the jerks got heavier. I was still able to do them without dropping the bar between reps. Last two rounds were a good mental battle for the last reps. It felt like it's difficult to hold my arms locked out as I recovered from the drop under the bar. I managed it but damned it was challenging.

Box jump overs were the "easiest" part of this one. That's a bit misleading because actually no part of this one was a walk in the park. Box overs kept the legs tense and breathing heavy. I was happy after every set of 15 reps was done. Good metcon! And good training session in general. Good compensation to Monday's sesh.

Monday 21.9: Snatch, Snatch pulls

Monday. Snatch triples, 6x3 (50kg). Snatch pull triples, 6x3 (60-80kg).

Somehow I never achieved the killer mode this Monday towards the training session. Usually I'm waiting that eagerly, it's something I need right after a long work day. It's a way to level things, and zero my thoughts. Without a good training session I don't relax perfectly. However, today's session was not a success. Okay, there were good things too, and those are the ones I got to focus on.

Oly.

• Snatch, 6x3 @ 50kg
• Snatch pulls, 6x3 (60, 60, 60, 80, 80, 80kg)

Something positive has happened on my mobility. Snatch in the bottom position was okay today, and I didn't feel like tight at any stage of the snatches. Hips and shoulders were both feeling alright. What bummed me a bit was that my plan also included heavy back squats but my back started to get stiff during the session which caused 90kg's to feel heavy on the squat. I really wanted to do those back squats.

On the bright side, snatches felt better than normally. Even depth was better than regularly. I got good teaching tips from one crossfit coach. Very valuable coaching from this guy. He told me to pay attention to my shins in the starting position. The point is to keep them as vertical as possible. It doesn't come easy but I'll try to focus on that in the future. Another thing is to keep the eyes directed straight ahead or even a bit higher. Currently I'm keeping my eyes to the floor. This enables me to open up my hips better in the future, and that is exactly what I need.

After couple of sets back squats I loaded the barbell again for snatch pulls. In the beginning I had 60kg bar, then jumped to 80kg. Focus was exactly on these two things. Shins vertical and eyes up. Start position still felt kind of awkward but it will get better for sure.