Friday 5.6: Squats, "Benny"

Friday. Back squat 3x5 (across, 130kg). "Benny", 3x5min amrap with 3min rest between sets: 2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of power snatch (40kg), box.

Friday pulls were supposed to be on the program. It's quite often to combine squats and deadlifts towards the end of the week. Squats were on the table but my core or somewhere under the left ribs are feeling some sort of pressure when pulling heavy or sneezing / coughing. So I left deads alone and concentrated on a workout I named Benny after my beloved furry friend Benny who went to dogs' heaven exactly 2 years ago on this date.

Strength.

• Back squat 5-5-5 (130kg)

Yes, it felt good. Decided to do couple of 5's and it was meant to do 4x10 reps on deadlifts afterwards. I built up to this weight by doing sets at 5x60, 3x90, 3x110, 2x120kg. Those weights felt very confident, and they should be. I took my time warming up before touching the barbell.

Had to do these reps with a good pause on the top position. That's what I usually do when having a heavier barbell on my back or front rack. It was all good for each set. The last rep was kind of a fluke though. I lost control on the way down a bit but was able to save that in the bottom.

Squats

Benny. Result, 66 reps each round (round of 10's + 6 snatch)

• 3x5min amrap
• 3 min rest between sets
• 2-2, 4-4, 6-6… of:
• Power snatch, 40kg
• Box jump

This turned out to be a good mental battle. I had to place the box a little further down the hall but not too far anyway. Ideally it would have been placed a bit closer. Don't know if that would have changed anything at the end of the day. First reps were easy because volume was low. Six snatches are something I can push through unbroken but it got my breathing heavier, and adding box jumps to this combo made legs on fire.

At round of 8's I broke it in to 4-4, and the next round was 5-5. On the round of 12's I got 6 snatches done before hitting the time cap. On the last amrap I messed up with the rep scheme so I'm not quite sure how much work was completed in the 5 minutes. After round of 8's I started to think whether I skipped the 6's so I did it or re-did it. In the end I stopped after 10 reps had been done on both snatches and box jumps. Boxes were unbroken each time.

That means to say it was 6 reps shy of what I got on the two first amraps, or then 6 more reps, go figure. But one thing I know and that is this was painful in the end. And my dog was a bad ass, and I miss him.

Other.

• Deadlifts
• Kettlebell swings, 28kg
• Handstand push-ups
• Mobility

I took some deadlifts after squats but merely up to 130kg before I felt the pressure on the left side of my torso under the ribcage. That doesn't feel right so I have avoided things that bring second thoughts. In the end I took some 15 rep sets of kb swings at a 28kg bell and 10 hspu's between swings. Plus lots of mobility and foam roll stuff plus some rowing to flush the legs.