Friday 24.4: Back squats, Grind

Friday. Back squat 7x5 across (125kg). Strongmanwod.com workout Grind, 20rds of: 20m farmer's walk, 5 burpees. Time, 15.52

Another morning training session. I've had these more lately. On my holiday they were mostly noon sessions which suit me best. Afternoon is second best option. Mornings are not in my wheelhouse but I'll take it if that's all there is available. No second thoughts over that. Today it was lots of squats. Friday pulls didn't happen because I had farmer's walk in my mind so this came instead of deadlifts.

Strength.

• Back squat 7x5 across (125kg)

Lot of volume. This constituted over 4k of back squats which is quite a lot to me. It's usually a bit over 3k when going heavier. And these sets weren't that easy I must say. I had lots of confidence which almost backfired on the very first set. My plan was to hit 3 reps touch'n'go but I almost stayed in the bottom on the second rep =)

That brought me pretty quickly down to earth. Especially as there were 6 more full sets awaiting after getting even that first one in the books. You can probably see from the videos these weren't the lightest ones. But this was a mental win for sure. Super happy for hitting all these sets without misses.

Squats 7x5

The Grind. Time, 15.52

• 20 rounds of:
• 20m farmer's walk (40-50kg per hand)
• 5 burpee

Got to play with a new tool. I had squats and deads scheduled down for today and I had waited these for the entire week. Then yesterday I just realized they have these farmer's walk handles there and those might sub for deads pretty well. So I wanted to test out this little new piece of equipment, normally used more in the strongman scene. This workout was taken from Rob Orlando's strongmanwod.com, workout called the Grind. It was rx'd as bodyweight farmer's walk each hand for 400 meters. Every time you drop the weight, perform 5 burpees on the spot. Time cap 30 minutes.

We have 20 meter grass line which suited perfectly for this one. Making it 20 rounds would constitute 400 meters. After every turn complete 5 burpees, then head on for another round. Had no idea about the weights that should be put on this thing. Bodyweight might have been a lot considering this was the first time. Coach said just put 10's on each end and see how it feels like.

Start of the Grind

The weight was light and didn't tax my lower body in the way I was looking for. It was left unclear whether the empty bar was 20 or 30 kilos so the total load was 40-50kg per hand. This was supposed to be the alternative for deadlifts so the goal was to have some burn in my legs and back. Didn't happen this time, got to go heavier next time on farmer's walk. Might be a good idea to do this for strength. As heavy as possible load for 20 meters. Climb up every 20 meters. Sounds good.

But this definitely had my breathing go heavier. Especially when combined with burpees. Good metcon. It mostly felt in my hands, my grip, and fingers. It's like in deadlift, sometimes feels like my fingers are going to get cut off. Okay this wasn't as bad because the load wasn't that heavy but it reminded the feeling of that. Cool tool to play around. It's not the last time, that's for sure!