We are looking forward to a BIG night at the Cove! Since it is St. Patrick’s Day AND week four of the Open, we’ll be dialing up our after-party. If you are not doing the Open but still want to participate in the shenanigans, please feel free to come and hang out with us. It is an awesome time and we’d love to have as many Cove members experience this part of the community (and so we can start recruiting you for next year). Remember, it is pot-luck style, so bring something to share!
If you are on an intramural team, remember… 5 extra points to the athlete who brings in the best themed potluck dish and 5 points for best drink!
INTRAMURAL TEAM WINNERS!
Drumroll please!
17.3 WEEK WINNERS ARE…. “#RespectYourElders”
Mighty Murphin Power Lifters – xx pts total
Covies Never Say Die – xx pts total
Rusty Thrusters – xx pts total
#RespectYourElders – xx pts total
Here’s is the breakdown for each category measured:
PARTICIPATION POINTS: 25 TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS PER TEAM
Mighty Murphin’ Power Lifters: 23 pts
Covies Never Say Die: 22 pts
Rusty Thrusters: 21 pts
#RespectYourElders: 21pts
POINTS BEST TEAM SELFIE: The Rusty Thrusters
POINTS SPIRIT OF THE OPEN: #RespectYourElders
Even though the Open is “technically” a competition, it’s all about the fun factor. Mad props to Mike. D rolling in on a WHEELCHAIR and to the old folks for brining their old age to new levels. From Coach Brian’s recruitment video (check it out HERE if you haven’t already!) to cobbling around on canes and walkers, this team knows how to be OLD.
5 POINTS BEST TEAM PHOTO: The Mighty Murphin Power Lifters AND Covies Never Say Die!
This photo is a SHARED team effort. The Mighty Murphin Power Lifters win for the photo, but ONLY because of Ryan W’s comment of “A bunch of millennials standing around waiting for someone to tell them what to do…”. So, we will split the points between the two teams. That also feels very “millenial”. Everyone gets a blue ribbon!
5 POINTS BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE: Covies Never Say Die
Once again, Covies Never Say Die win the prize. Not only is their presence ubiquitous, it’s perfect meme application every time…
5 POINTS MOST INSPRING PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL: #RespectYourElders
For those of you who don’t realize that people do the WOD BEFORE Friday Night Lights, you probably missed an amazing performance by Brent L. He showed up on Friday to the Noon class, and as always, was doubting himself and his ability. He was prepared to “scale the scale” with 20lb dumbbells (vs. 35s). He said, “I just can’t do 35. No way.”. Joe Tito, Brent’s fellow nooner who had done the workout earlier, wasn’t going to let that happen. He took Brent’s 20’s and moved them to the other end of the 25 foot lane and said, “if you want the 20’s, go get them”. He handed Brent the 35s and told him to lunge to the 35s to get them. And he did. And he lunged back. And never looked twice at the 20’s again. AMAZING.
WOD
Coming soon…
“17.3”
These ladies are drinking the Kool Aid and crushing it at the Cove already! Meet new members Gabi and Jordan if you haven’t already…
Tuesday workout featured a fan favorite of the box, a heavy deadlift. Although this movement is a favorite of many we program it judiciously as it is so demanding on our muscular and nervous system. The amazing thing to note about that 5 rep test was how many people hit such big numbers and personal records without deadlifting regularly. How could this happen with so little direct training in the deadlift?
This phenomenon goes to show the power of the constantly varied programming we see in CrossFit. Those increases in strength came from the other diverse movements we see as part of our regular programming. Those strength gains could have built from the different squats we do or the mobility improvements from all keg drills and couch stretches or the core strength that was developed from our recent gymnastics cycle or the explosive power we have been creating through olympic lifts. That constant variety in our programming allows us to be continually improving in so many different areas of fitness. So when the big deadlift test comes up and you haven’t hit that movement regularly you may be surprise how prepared you are to pass that test without really “studying for it”.
And finally, how did I just PR my deadlift? Because of all the hard work I have been doing at the gym. Well done Covies!
SKILL WOD
50 M Farmers Carry
5 Strict Toes to Bar
10 1 arm bent over DB Row
3 Rounds
WOD
25 KB Swings
50 Air Squats
25 Push Ups
3 Rounds
Fitness: 35/26
RX: 53/35
RX+: 70/53
Coach’s Tip: If your shoulders are toasty from Wednesday’s WOD or you want to save your shoulders in case you need them for 17.3, go Russian (to eye level) on the swings today! The push ups are likely the limiting factor in this workout, so feel free to scale the volume. We would MUCH prefer 10 GREAT AND VIRTUOUS reps as opposed to 25 crappy ones.
Welcome back Jacob … and welcome Simon (foreground). They’re here for the next month visiting from New Zealand. You might recognize Jacob as he was here last year AND is featured in our community video! If you haven’t seen that video, check it out HERE
Don’t let this woman fool you. She’s sweet as can be, a great mom and wife at home, but a total beast at the box! For anyone who aspires to be fit for life, look no further than Susan for inspiration.
“Age is just a number”
You might not know this, but Susan is 51 years old. Nope, scratch that… she is 51 years YOUNG. She’s doing things that people in their 20’s only dream of. She’s stringing massive sets of double unders and pull ups. She’s pulling solid numbers on her lifts. And her energy is boundless. “You hear about people who dread about going to the gym. I never feel that way, I want to go to the gym. It is never to late to start and don’t give up because you are over 50. FIFTY IS THE NEW THIRTY! It’s not a number, it’s a mindset”.
It’s a family affair…
You might see Susan crushing WODs with her husband Mark or when she’s home from school, with her daughter Allison. It has become a friendly family competition at times, but they use each other to discuss strategies and approaches to the workouts. If they don’t get to work out together one provides the other with the “scouting report”.
Susan is signed up for the open but Mark is not. He has served as Susan’s “guinea pig” in that he does the workout and then tells her how to approach it. He’ll beat her in some workouts, be she loves to give him a run for his money!
Allison had a great time at the Cove this summer and has gone on to continue CrossFitting at Penn State at CrossFit Nittany. They’ve always had a strong mother-daughter bond, but CrossFit has taken it to a whole new level! Allison is going to be back this week and is planning on coming to Friday night lights. Susan is hoping she can be the designated driver so she can tear it up afterwards!
“Have fun with it”…
Her philosophy during the Open is to do all the things that she has the ability to do and have fun with it. In fact, when we told her that she was ranked SECOND in the state for the scaled division for her age group in 17.2, she had no idea! She credits the pull up cycle for really helping her and she was very diligent working on the pull up cycle. But, of course, still having fun along the way.
She injured herself (herniated disk) snatching at another CrossFit years ago and had to stop there. Her job then got really busy and for years she stopped working out all together. Her and Allison decided they needed a change and they ended up doing a boot camp together. It was good exercise for them and they enjoyed doing it together but when the six weeks was over they realized there was no physical change in them. Susan knew that she saw the most change when she was CrossFitting and they decided to try that together (again).
She’s had some setbacks throughout her CrossFit journey (a weird pec injury that she’s not sure how it happened) and then tweaked a hamstring during a warm up. It was very frustrating, but mostly because she LOVES to workout. She wasn’t upset about the injuries, per se, rather because she was sidelined and felt she’d miss out on the fun. But she said to us, “I remember the conversation we had about how we can scale everything to work around the injury, continue to work on my fitness, and most importantly…keep the habit going”.
She was able to keep working out and was surprised how much she could still get done. Prior to the hamstring injury had signed up for the 100,000 meter rowing challenge so ended up doing weeks of rowing just with her arms. Her big goal this year is to really listen to her coaches, add weights slowly, so she can progress through the year injury free.
She CRUSHED the nutrition challenge…
Susan did everything “right” on the challenge. She never ‘cheated’ and did everything Coach Brittany asked of her. She lost almost 10lbs of fat and put on lean mass. Her body fat % is now deep into the “lean” category (which is less body fat than “ideal”). The Challenge made such a difference but not just in physical performance and body composition…but in ENERGY. Prior to the challenge she would come to the gym and if she got here early she would set an alarm on her phone and take a nap in the car for maybe 10 minutes if she had that time. Now she is full of energy and comes right in and starts to work on things (and we love seeing her focus on that mobility too!)
We don’t know what we did in a former life to deserve a woman like Susan to step through our doors. We are lucky to have her AND her family here. If anyone is a role model for health and fitness, it is this woman. Be like Susan.
WOD
Our very own Teresa F. is leaving us for a couple of months to do some training on the west coast. Tomorrow will be here last workout for awhile se we decided to name it after her. It’s a killer!
Teresa Goodbye (For Now) Wod
EMOM for 10 minutes
Even: ____ HSPU
ODD: 12/9 Assault Bike Cals
Rest 3 minutes
EMOM for 10 minutes
Even: 7 Power Snatch
Odd: 20 Wall Balls
Fitness: (5 HSPU) 75/55
RX: (7 HSPU) 95/65
RX+: (10 HSPU) 115/75
Coach’s Tip: Yep, its another Wednesday EMOM day! We continue training some movements we may expect to see in the Open soon. Remember this is QUALITY over QUANTITY so look for full range of motion and find a rep scheme that allows you to do impeccable reps without gassing out completely.
Susan clearly has Mark wrapped around her little finger. Well, ummm… something like that.
As many of you know our very own Nassim E. has started the Run,Row,Ride: Go the DistanceCharity Foundation supporting the kids from the “Community of Strength Project“. It is started with her new found obsession with rowing, but also based on her desire to give back to those in need. The goal is to run, row or ride massive distances (we are talking in the millions of meters!) in hopes of raising money for the youth of Baltimore.
The Community of Strength is a charity launched by the WODfather himself, Geo Rockwell, that “empowers at-risk youth through CrossFit and provides mentorship and guidance to prepare them for life after high school”. It has been an amazing and positive force for a number of youth in downtown Baltimore and Nassim has decided to take this to the next level. Partnering with Baltimore City Community College the Run,Row,Ride: Go the Distancefoundation looks to provide mentorship and education support upon graduating high school. Just $264 will help a Community of Strength Project student athlete pay for a three-credit course at Baltimore City Community College, such as English 101. Such a small contribution can make a big difference in someones life.
The program athletes are so inspiring and we at the Cove would love to support Nassim and her other fellow Covie exercisers (Corey N, Meridith N, Terry S, Reza, Katie R. and Keith O). For the month of March we are going to start a “check-in for charity” drive. Each time you come to the Cove we would encourage you to check in via Facebook and mention that you are here to support Run,Row,Ride: Go the Distance. We will contribute 10 cents for each check in — and more importantly we will be spreading the word to the larger Maryland community about this great cause. Of course you are ALSO welcome to join the cause and row for dollars! Each one of the above athletes has set up their own fundraising page and we hope to collectively make a huge different in these kids’ lives.
So, come on in… and then “check in” and let’s make a difference!
STRENGTH WOD
Take 15 minutes to find a heavy 5 Rep Deadlift
WOD
Every 3 minutes for 12 minutes compete the following:
15/12 Cal Row
12 Sit Ups
___ Chest to Bars
Fitness: 7
RX: 10
RX+: 15
Coach’s Tip: If you do not have chest-to-bar pull ups, we recommend you try “jumping chest to bar” pull-ups instead of regular pull ups. This movement appeared in last year’s Open and it would be great for our scaled athletes (and those that don’t have unassisted chest to bars) to give it a go! Pending class sizes, one group will start on the deadlifts and one on the Metcon.
Coach Chris delivering a dose of squat therapy to the evening class…
Yet again, we had a great time Friday night, and just like this week we will have apot-luck style after-party (or “during party” if you finish the WOD before others) for 17.3. So bring some food, drinks or whatever makes you happy and get ready for another great night of the Open! EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT SIGNED UP FOR THE OPEN, PLEASE COME! It is the Cove community at its finest and we could use your help cheering, judging or keeping drinks flowing!
If you are doing 17.2 “officially”, please submit your score to games.crossfit.com. We will then have to “validate” your times, so PLEASE LEAVE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR SCORESHEET in the box by the scoresheet table. You take the bottom strip (below the dotted line) and the top stays with us!
WHAT DID YOU LEARN WEEK TWO?
This workout was a bit more daunting for most, but yet again we saw some amazing moments as so many people got their first pull ups, muscle ups, and toes-to-bar. We saw athletes shocked as they got not just one, but several more of them! BUT, we also had some athletes unable to complete the skill and just WISHING it would happen. The lesson here is THIS IS JUST A MOMENT IN TIME.
For those that are still looking to get that elusive first pull up, toes-to-bar, or muscle up, you may not have “at this moment in time”, but with hard work it WILL come. We encourage you to keep practicing all the skills and drills that were part of our recent gymnastics cycle. Our very own Nicole B. collected all the different drills we did during the process and put it into a nifty spreadsheet. IF you are interested in checking it out here is a link. For those of you who hit your ‘firsts’, lets go back to the basics and start refining the movements! Sure, its fun to see someone kick their way up to the bar at the Open, but our goal is to move efficiently, so continue to dial in on the basics and aim for sound and virtuous movement!
INTRAMURAL TEAMS
We will be announcing the winners of week two’s intramural competition later this week… but WOW, what a week! Each team turned it OUT this week and it will be tough to find clear winners in some categories. Keep it up… it makes for RIDICULOUSLY fun.
SKILL WOD
Find a heavy 3 rep Thruster
(go off the rack if the clean is a limiting factor)
WOD
10 Thrusters
30 Double Unders
6 Rounds
Rest 30 seconds after each round completed
14 Minute Time Cap
Fitness: 75/55
RX: 95/65
RX+: 115/75
Coach’s Tip: You’ll see several of this week’s movements are ones that we have yet to see in the Open, but will likely appear at some point. Continue to hone the movement and seek quality over quantity this week. You should pick a weight for the Thrusters that allow you to complete it in one to two sets for the first round. If you are doing 2’s and 3’s out of the gate it is too heavy. If you have doubles AT ALL, do doubles! This is practice, not ‘game day’, so let’s keep working on those skills and scale the number of doubles if necessary.
While 17.1 and 17.2 did not favor the “tall man”, Mike D. continues to CRUSH IT!
Huge congrats to everyone who’s conquered 17.2! If you have done it already, please submit your score to games.crossfit.com. We will then have to “validate” your times, so PLEASE LEAVE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR SCORESHEET by the Wodify station. Remember, you take the bottom strip (below the dotted line) and the top stays with us!
In addition to regular open gym activities, there will be lots of people doing 17.2 for the first time. Come judge or just cheer them on. Coach Mike will also be opening the gym up early for a little ROMWOD session. Should be another fun day at the Cove!
Coach John oversees the first heat of 17.2 Friday Night!
WHAT AN AMAZING NIGHT!!! We saw SO many athletes give their all and so many “firsts” throughout the day. From people getting their first pull up (and then doing MANY more) to first Muscle Ups AND Toes to Bar, it was electric at the Cove all day.
STRENGTH WOD
Strict Press 3/3/3/3
PARTNER WOD
Part I
3 Minute AMRAP
Partner A Rows 250/200 meters
When complete partner A can start doing as many strict press as possible
Once Partner A leaves the rower Partner B can start their row
Part B rows 250/200 meters
Once Partner B is done they can assist partner A
When done we move right into Part II
Part II
3 Minute AMRAP
Partner A Rows 250/200 meters
When complete partner A can start doing as many push press as possible
Once Partner A leaves the rower Partner B can start their row
Part B rows 250/200 meters
Once Partner B is done they can assist partner A
When done we move right into Part II
Part III
3 Minute AMRAP
Partner A Rows 250/200 meters
When complete partner A can start doing as many push or split jerks as possible
Once Partner A leaves the rower Partner B can start their row
We are loving the team spirit around the Open! If you are not doing the Open but still want to participate in the team shenanigans, please let us know and we can add you to a team— the more the merrier! In addition, please feel free to come to any of the Friday night lights events to cheer on your fellow athletes and have a beer with us. It is an awesome time and we’d love to have as many Cove members experience this part of the community (and so we can start recruiting you for next year). Remember, it is pot-luck style, so bring something to share!
After much heated debate and looking back to videotape we have some Intramural team winners to announce! Drumroll please…
17.1 WINNERS ARE…. “COVIES NEVER SAY DIE”
Saved By the Barbell – 34 pts total
Covies Never Say Die – 35 pts total
Rusty Thrusters – 30 pts total
#RespectYourElders – 28 pts total
Here’s is the breakdown for each category measured:
PARTICIPATION POINTS: 25 TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS PER TEAM
Saved by the Barbell: 24 pts
Covies Never Say Die: 25 pts
Rusty Thrusters: 25 pts
#RespectYourElders: 23pts
POINTS BEST TEAM SELFIE: Covies Never Say Die
5 POINTS BEST TEAM NAME: Saved By the Barbell
We know there was a lot of controversy around this one, but we have to give it to the young bucks for being tenacious and holding on tight. BUT, “Covies Never Die” was a close second… and will be interesting to see how each utilizes it’s namesake’s deep heritage to come out on top!
5 POINTS BEST SPIRIT OF THE OPEN: Saved By the Barbell
No one heads to Friday Night Lights thinking “I can’t wait to be in the last heat with only two athletes and have 40 people screaming at me”. But this guy not only had that happen, he OWNED it. Big shout out to Pranav for letting us ALL experience the essence of the Open!
5 POINTS BEST TEAM PHOTO: The Rusty Thrusters
This was only one of two team photos submitted, so let’s try to step it up next week. Jessica S. classed up the photo as the big differentiator here. But props to Ethan W. for trying to teach the late 30’s crew what “photobombing” is.
5 POINTS BEST SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE: Covies Never Say Die
Brilliant use of humor with a VERY SERIOUS message. With Marina on the judging panel, this was a shoe-in win.
5 POINTS MOST INSPRING PERFORMANCE BY AN INDIVIDUAL: #RespectYourElders
And last but certainly not least… Nothing was more exciting to see Pam J. doing things she never thought possible. It was her first time ever doing full burpees and stepping to a 20″ box. She’s one of our most inspiring athletes in general, so it’s no surprise she delivered BIG TIME at the Open. Well done Pam!
WOD
“17.2”
12 Minute AMRAP
2 Rounds of:
50 Ft. Weighted Walking Lunge
16 Toes to Bar
8 Dumbbell Power Cleans
THEN
2 Rounds of:
50 Ft. Weighted Walking Lunge
16 Bar Muscle Ups
8 Power Cleans
VARIATIONS
Rx’d: (Ages 16-54)
Men use 50-lb. dumbbells
Women use 35-lb. dumbbells
Teenagers 14-15:
Boys use 35-lb. dumbbells, perform toes-to-bars / bar muscle-ups
Girls use 20-lb. dumbbells, perform toes-to-bars / bar muscle-ups Masters 55+:
Men use 35-lb. dumbbells, perform toes-to-bars / chest-to-bar pull-ups Women use 20-lb. dumbbells, perform toes-to-bars / chest-to-bar pull-ups
MOVEMENT STANDARDS
WEIGHTED LUNGE
Each lunge begins with the dumbbells at the shoulders, the feet together, and the athlete standing tall. The rear head of the dumbbell must be clearly over or slightly behind the center of the athlete’s body when viewed from profile.
A lunge rep will count when both heels are past the line, the athlete is standing tall with the dumbbells at the shoulders and all standards for the repetition have been met.
The trailing knee must make contact with the ground at the bottom of each lunge. The dumbbells must remain at the shoulders, and the hands must remain around the dumbbell handle for the duration of the rep. Releasing the grip on the handle and letting the dumbbell rest solely on the shoulder is not allowed. Walking lunges are required. Lunging in place is not allowed. Lunging more than 25 feet in one direction without turning around is not allowed.
The rep ends with the dumbbells still at the shoulders and the athlete standing tall with the hips and knees fully extended. Stopping with both feet together on the ground is not required, but both legs must be fully extended if the athlete chooses to step through at the top. The athlete must alternate which foot leads for each rep. Shuffle steps between reps are not allowed. If the athlete fails to meet any standard during a step, including not touching the trailing knee to the ground, not reaching full extension at the top of the rep or not keeping the dumbbells at the shoulders for the entire rep, the athlete must restart from behind the last 5-foot increment they successfully crossed. Similarly, if at any time during the lunge the dumbbells are lowered from the shoulders, the athlete must restart from behind the last 5-foot increment they successfully crossed.
Scaled: (Ages 16-54)
Men use 35-lb. dumbbells, perform hanging knee-raises / chin-over-bar pull-ups Women use 20-lb. dumbbells, perform hanging knee-raises / chin-over-bar pull-ups Scaled Teenagers 14-15:
Boys use 20-lb. dumbbells, perform hanging knee-raises / chin-over-bar pull-ups Girls use 10-lb. dumbbells, perform hanging knee-raises / chin-over-bar pull-ups Scaled Masters 55+:
Men use 20-lb. dumbbells, perform sit-ups / jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups Women use 10-lb. dumbbells, perform sit-ups / jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups
This woman has always been beautiful inside and out… but can we add “fit as f@#K” to her list of attributes?! Cara H… you continually amaze us.
We’ve heard from several members that more evening hours would be greatly appreciated, so we are making it happen. Starting MONDAY, MARCH 6th, we will add the 5:30p hour to the sitter coverage schedule! As always, we ask that you help out the sitter by getting your little one to clean up (and avoid all snacks in the kid’s room). We want them in a safe and clean space… with AND without the sitters!
WEEK TWO OF THE OPEN!
Week One is DONE and it was so exciting to the see how hard each individual pushed through 17.1. Even more exciting was how their fellow athletes rallied around them. The Open offers so many lessons that improve our fitness and lives. One we are already seeing is new appreciation for hitting a higher level of standards in our movements.
This Monday we had a nice strength piece to working up to a heavy set of 3 Front Squats. We saw some great PR’s but something more exciting from the coaching staff’s perspective was a great attention to hitting depth and maintaining positional strength. We know people could have pushed more weight that day with sloppy technique but those squats would not have met the standards that allow us to be both safe and gain the full value of this foundational movement. We saw Lydia S. perform three of the best squats we have ever seen from her (at a very substantial weight!) and we watched Deborah B. show great self control and hold back on overloading the barbell in an effort to push herself further by position and depth.
We know many of you may be frustrated with our focus on quality but trust that you will improve in your mobility,stability, and strength with your focused hard work. We have a number of great technical squatters here at the Cove and it is important to know they were not at that point when they started her at the Cove. Trust the process, be present when executing the movements, hold yourself to a high standard, and know that you are better today than you were yesterday.
17.2 ANOUNCEMENT
There’s something magical about that 8p hour, so you’ll have to wait until then to know 17.2. We will have a slight delay posting it on Thursday (until around 8:15p) so if you want to know the workout immediately, go to Games.CrossFit.com to see the announcement live!
As always, we’ll be hitting the Friday Night Lights event and CANNOT WAIT. Now that you got a taste of what it’s about… come prepared to have a crush a monster workout, hang out with your fellow Covies and bring something to share. Potluck drinks and snacks immediately following! Like last week we’ll have some beer and a specialty cocktail… but we can always use more!
STRENGTH WOD
10 Bent over Barbell Row
6-8 Ring Dips
4 Rounds
WOD
6 Pull Ups
9 Slam Balls
12 Box Jumps
9 min AMRAP
Coach’s Tip: Aim to go unbroken on the pull ups and the slam balls and use the box jumps as your ‘recovery’ time. As always, land consciously and softly on the box for safety purposes! If you are doing the Open on Friday, use today as an active recover day come in and do the WOD at 50% – 75%!
Nobody loves mobility more than this guy. Doing the Open? Take some time today and be like John.
If you don’t rise before dawn, you might miss this guy crushing WODs and transforming himself before your very eyes. He’s a 5:30am regular, has been with us since October, and in those six months he’s made drastic changes both inside and outside the box. And now that he’s just wrapped our New Year Nutrition Challenge with incredible results, he’s looking pretty darn good too!
He’s been doing CrossFit for almost two years, but the last few months have been game changers. He’s faster, stronger and more mobile than ever, and has now made the diet changes to make all that hard work pay off BIG TIME.
MOBILITY MATTERS!
We always preach the mobility gospel at the Cove, and Paul bought in to that big time. He’s been “tight” his whole life, but has now been doing ROMWOD 2 to 4 times a week. While he’ll admit he’s still not as flexible as some (or as flexible as he’d like to be), his mobility gains has made a world of difference. He said everything just “feels better”. His can get into better positions on his lifts now (which let’s him lift more!) and recovery is always easier after a little ROMWOD.
SUCCESS CAN BE MADE OR BROKEN IN THE KITCHEN!
He said he’s always balked at the expression that “it’s 20% what you do at the gym and 80% what you do in the kitchen”, but he’s now a convert. He’s always eaten well (or so he thought), but learned that even food that wasn’t ‘that bad’ had things he wasn’t aware of. He followed Coach Brittany’s plan to the letter. In fact, he was THE MOST CONSISTENT challenge participant! He shifted his mindset and started eating for PERFORMANCE. He made adjustments along the way: eating too much protein first and not enough carbs. But he knows what to do now and figuring it out was all a part of the journey. And the results are astounding. In 35 days he:
He lost 8lbs of body fat. His % BF dropped from 17% to 13%. For someone his age (let’s just say, he’s in the “masters” Open team), that puts him in the “lean” or “athlete” categories on a body composition chart. And he swears this was not a one time thing, this is the new him.
WE ALL HAVE OUR “THING”
This was the first time he has done something like this. He’s made changes over the years, but nothing quite as seismic as the changes made during the Challenge. He cut out caffeine a year ago. But now that he’s figured out this eating part, his energy comes from food, not from coffee our Mountain Dew (yep, Mountain Dew was a “thing”).
This guy runs LONG days. He’s up before 5a and in bed after 10p. He said “I’d drink a Mountain Dew. I really thought I NEEDED it. But now instead of grabbing something for quick energy when I need a boost I make smarter choices. I was on the go the other day and I got a kale and quinoa salad from the deli and was GREAT. Never would have heard me say this before!“. AND CHEESE! Yes, like many of us, cheese was “his thing”. Not just any cheese, but Velveeta! Once referred to him as “liquid gold“, it now “doesn’t even entertain me anymore!“
YOU HAVE TO COMMIT
We asked what advice he’d give to someone struggling with food and their fitness. His answer was simple: “YOU HAVE TO COMMIT“. “You already committed to CrossFit. Of course the gains you came here for will come… to be better… to be stronger… to be faster. But it will be slower.” COMMIT and the hard work in the gym will pay off a LOT faster.
So now what? He’s lost the weight he wanted. Now its about maintaining his food intake and finding the right balances of carbs, fats and proteins. He’s eliminated the “junk” he had in the past and the Challenge helped him think creatively about how to eat better. Not just for 35 days, but for life.
WOD
25 min EMOM
Min 1: 12 Overhead Squats
Min 2: 12 Burpees
Min 3: 12 KB Russian Swings
Min 4: 12 Thrusters
Min 5: Rest
Fitness: 45/35, 35/26
RX: 75/55, 53/35
RX+: 95/65, 70/53
Coach’s Tip: Wednesdays are fast becoming EMOM day! Last Wednesday we tackled a tough WOD that ran for 30 minutes (and included the assault bike) and we had LOTS of people laying on the mats after. Today’s should be tough, but we don’t want it to be THAT hard. Feel free to scale the volume as needed; we want you to have at least 15 second of rest before you hit the next station! We will also continue to focus on quality of movement! The KB Swings should give plenty of recovery time so that the OHS, Burpees and Thrusters should be challenging but attainable.
Meet Eric W! He’s only been with us a few weeks and yet he’s already crushing 17.1. AMAZING.
