#noplacelikecove

 Today I dropped in the gym near our new house to log some meters.  I was stuck at the house waiting on technicians and deliveries and only had an hour to spare, so driving to the Cove wasn’t an option.  It was my first time there, but also my first time in a ‘globo gym’ in quite some time.  EVERY bit of my time there was a rock solid reminder of why CrossFit (but especially the Cove) is so amazing.

The facility is what you’d expect. A sea of elliptical and treadmills and a machine “work” single body part — one at a time.  The people, while I’m sure lovely at the core, looked miserable. There was no laughter, cheering or even smiles.  Eye contact was minimal, except when I felt some stares as I grunted through an intense tabata interval.  I did walk by someone on the way out and said “keep it up” and the look on his face was pure confusion.

The place was carpeted.  WHAT?  How would they clean Ronnie’s pools or Josh’s sweat angel?  Oh, that’s right!  No one was sweating!  I’m not joking… people looked fresh as daisies.  There was no one laying on the floor… or even breathing heavy.

We get more work done in five minutes than they did in an hour.  To me, multitasking at the Cove means trying to grab some chalk or water while I transition in a matter of seconds from one thing to another.  THIS is a whole different kind of multitasking!  (I snapped this while resetting my tabata clock on my phone next to the rower).  Ironically there is a countdown clock in the photo but it runs on 45 second cycles for eternity and is supposed to keep these people moving. It didn’t.  Too busy on their phones texting, I don’t think they knew it was there…

I had a hard time motivating to the soft rock station playing.  Sure, Sheryl Crow is nice for a car ride, but not for heavy Cleans I did between rowing to break up the sets.

There were no towels (and certainly no scented and chilled towels).  There were no bumper plates.  No whiteboards where I could count my meters (I borrowed a pen and used a business card from the trainer’s desk).   Oh, and don’t get me started on said “trainer”.  That’s a whole different post!  No music blasting.  No Franey ‘majestic’ clapping.  But most importantly… no Covies.

Sometimes you don’t know how great have have it until you don’t.  So, more than anything, I cannot wait to see you all tomorrow!

8 min EMOM

3 Back Squats (build up in load)

 

30 Second On/30 Seconds Off Box Jumps Goblet Squats Low Plank Toes to Bar 4 R0unds   Coach’s Tip:  If you choose your weights right, the strength work will be challenging.  Be sure to keep your form in tact through every single rep.  One minute goes quickly, so pre-think your increments and change the bar quickly!  Think of the Metcon as more of a recovery day.  30 seconds on and 30 seconds off is hard to reach a super high intensity with, especially when low planks are thrown in there.  That is the whole point people!  We need days that act as recovery and do not push the limit to the max.  It lets you sweat without totally breaking yourself down.  

Twinning!