This Saturday, we will be hosting the CrossFit Level 2 seminar and the gym will be closed until 6 PM on Saturday and Sunday. We are sorry for the inconvenience but we hope you understand that this is an important educational resource for our staff and an important revenue generator for the business.
I am currently reading “Built to Move” by Kelly and Julie Starrett. It is a great book discussing the actions we can take to improve how our body feels, recovers, and performs with the goal of allowing us all to live a full and active life. In the words of the author, “This book is your game plan for the long game.” One of the action steps that they encourage is a daily diet of walking… which brings us to our challenge. For those that are interested in signing up, we are looking to get in 300,000 steps over a period of 30 days.
Some benefits that you can look forward to:
Better Body Mechanics and Less Pain
With all the sitting we put our bodies through, we have adaptively shortened our muscular structure and connective tissue in the front of the body. Just the mere act of walking gets us to move those quads and hamstrings out of the right angle positions we see in our seated life and move them in a way that nature intended.
Better Sleep
There may be no more important aspect in our body’s ability to regenerate and recover than sleep and multiple studies have a strong positive correlation to all aspects of sleep. Expending energy could be a part of this phenomenon (which we do with CrossFit) but we are also seeing other positive physical changes such as more active cell-signaling proteins to our brain neurotransmitters.
Better Brain Function
I love this one. Studies are finding that when someone is working at their desk for periods of four hours they are seeing significant drops in brain function. This is something we all know and probably feel — that a little bit of movement gets us thinking better.
Better Stress Management
Walking encourages the release of stress hormones. Under periods of stress, the adrenal glands will produce cortisol and adrenaline to deal with these situations. Walking will encourage downregulating these chemicals and encourage the release of endorphins (those good feeling chemicals). There is a reason why we do all those post workout walks after class, as it helps get us out of that fight-or-flight mentality and moves us into a world of recovery.
Better Circulation
Simple movement like walking gets our blood and lymphatic system moving, thus providing nutrients and flushing out debris and decongesting the body.
For some of you with active jobs, this might be an easy challenge, but for others of us we will need to find little ways to get those steps in, here are some suggestions:
Here is the plan for the challenge! We are going to start officially on Monday, July 17th (the same date when we start the new quarter’s goal board). Tracking your steps can be done not only with a wearable watch or device but with any phone. We can help you if you have any technical problems. Here is a link to a Google spreadsheet template that you can download. Enter your steps each day. If you end up having a slow day, don’t sweat it. Just look to make it up over the coming days.
If you are interested in participating, we will have a signup board in the gym or you can just email us at info@crossfitcove.com. Challenges are hard enough on their own (that’s why they are challenges) but community and connection will help make this not only a successful experience but an enjoyable one. And if anyone wants to take a walk and talk about this, I’m all in.
Triple Bogey”
3 Rounds x AMRAP 5:
5 Power Cleans (155/105)
10 Box Jumps (30″/24″)
15/12 Calorie Bike
Rest 5 Minutes Between Rounds
* Pick up where you left off.
FX: 115/85; 20/18
RX: 135/95; 24/20
RX+: 155/105; 30/24; ECHO
For Tuesday, July 4th, we will have a 9 AM class and a 10:15 class.
And of course the gym is always open through the Kastle App. If you don’t have your Kastle account, just email us at info@crossfitcove.com
We are constantly trying to improve what we do here and we cannot do that without input from YOU! In an effort to create the best gym for you and your fellow athletes, we would love to get some critical and candid feedback. We have developed a survey that asks a broad range of questions from class schedules to gym culture. This survey should only take 5-10 minutes (maybe 12 if you have a lot to add in the open-ended questions). Within this survey, you will also see individual questions for each coach as we know the quality of coaching is probably THE number one reason people join a gym. Your honest feedback is critical, so this survey is ENTIRELY anonymous. If we are going to grow and keep the interests of our members at the forefront, want to know it ALL! Thank you in advance for your time AND constructive feedback!
We also have surveys for each individual coach. We have a huge staff (which we hope you love as we do) and their surveys should only take a couple of minutes. If you have time to give us some feedback, we
truly appreciate it.
We are excited to announce that we have started a new online store for CrossFit Cove gear through Sideline Style Company’s Etsy store. We have always struggled to find a vendor that can supply quality shirts and innovative designs and we think that is a fantastic solution. We can now provide so many more options as far as colors, cuts, and designs. S
hirts will also be delivered to your home, so if you are part of our Cove family that no longer lives in the area, you can still grab some great Cove swag.
Come check out our newest designs at the Cove virtual store here.
Today will be our fourth annual Juneteenth workout. Similar to a hero workout, it is a workout based on reflection as much as the demands of the workout.
Juneteenth is an American holiday celebrated on June 19th commemorating when federal orders were read stating that all slaves were free.
To give a bit more detail, during the American Civil War, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared more than three million slaves living in the Confederate states to be free. More than two years would pass, however, before the news reached African Americans living in Texas. It was not until Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, that the state’s residents finally learned that slavery had been abolished. The former slaves immediately began to celebrate with prayer, feasting, song, and dance.
Juneteenth also called “Freedom Day”, is widely accepted in the United States as the day slavery ended. This is not a day just for African Americans to celebrate but a day for all Americans to remember and revere. It’s a testament to America’s ability to recognize wrongs and do its best to change course and make things right.
An article published in the Galveston Daily News summarized so beautifully why we must continue to do the work. “Injustices continue to stain our nation’s honor to prevent us from living up to our stated belief that all are created equal. The abuses of slavery and its successor practices have often been experienced by many generations. And it’s never improper to continue seeking justice for all.”
If you’ve done this workout before, you know this Juneteenth WOD has the volume and difficulty of a Hero WOD. And just like Hero WODs, it is designed to help you step outside of yourself to find a place of reflection, understanding, and remembrance. We can all make a difference.
All are invited to the CrossFit Cove Ellicott City Bar Crawl! It’s just a chance for everyone to get together outside the gym. It’s always fun to see your fellow Cove athletes in something other than gym clothes. Details are on the Cove’s private Facebook page at this event link.
Thank you time Kim Michelotti and the Michelotti family for organizing this social event. We hope that many of you can make it.
Here is the timeline for the event.
Trolley Stop: 1pm-2pm
Manor Hill Tavern (upstairs bar): 2pm-3:30pm
Judge’s Bench: 3:30pm-5pm
Phoenix: 5pm-6:30pm
La Palapa: 6:30pm-??
Wodify is a hugely important tool and we are looking to have the Cove community better utilize this app in an effort to improve the entire experience at the gym.
First, we are huge believers in recording your performances during classes. Your score is a benchmark, a marker of where you are at with your fitness. We want those data points so you (and our staff) can see your strengths, weaknesses, and growth as an athlete. It helps our program for both you and the entire Cove community.
It is also an accountability tool. We all feel good after finishing a workout but that takes an even more significant step when we post that score. It’s a statement, if I did this, I paid the price!
And the community is there to support you. We often see likes and comments from members on Wodify, so no matter the result, please post your scores.
Finally, we want to strongly encourage everyone to reserve their class times in Wodify. It is important that we can have that pre-planning information, to provide the best class experience for you and your fellow athletes. We would rather have you reserve a class time and not show up, just so we can better assess the situation.
For those looking to use our InBody Scanner, we just replaced the toner and it is now back in service.
If you weren’t aware of this InBody Scanner, it is a great tool that is available for our members to do a free scan on a quarterly basis. We are big believers of data to help guide our decisions, which is why we purchased the scanner. It will give you an accurate reading of your weight, muscle mass, and body fat percentage.
In the past, we charged $20 per scan but it now is part of your membership, as we know so many of you are trying to improve your body composition and we want to help you with that and all of your health and fitness goals.
We have a short video for you on how to use the scanner and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at Brian@CrossFitCove.com.
