I know you are all waiting on pins and needles but we will announce TOMORROW the winners of the team competitions. Reason being some of the team participation scores (i.e. getting the WOD done and submitted) will not be finalized until late tonight. So we figured we’d hold off on announcing ALL the category points until then.
TO RETEST OR NOT TO RETEST:
THAT IS THE QUESTION…
There’s lots of chatter around the box about 17.1 (which we love!) but also have heard lots of talk around “re-testing” the workout. Many of you have asked us personally whether or not your should do 17.1 again to improve your score and we appreciate you are asking us FIRST. But for those who have been afraid to ask (or are wondering why everyone is even talking about it in the first place), here’s a bit more context and food for thought for next weeks:
ONLY RETEST IF RANKINGS REALLY MATTER: We only recommend retesting if you think you will significantly improve your regional or team ranking and that matters to you. For example, if you are an elite or seasoned athlete with an established baseline (and/or can assist your gym in sending a team to regionals), you might consider retesting if you think you had reps in the tank. For example, our very own WODFather, Geo Rockwell, is a top level athlete and his score is important to CrossFit Federal Hill as they are trying to qualify for the games, so every rep matters. By the way, he went from 14:35 the first time and dropped to 12:35 as a final score. GASP!!! Go Geo!
YOUR BODY ISN’T DESIGNED TO RETEST THAT QUICKLY: Retesting a WOD within a day or two (or three) can be extremely taxing on the body– especially long ones like 17.1 with BIG VOLUME. There’s a reason we don’t program demanding movements like heavy dumbbell snatches every other day. They are HARD and your body needs to RECOVER. Think of it just like any other programming — if we programmed two WODs back to back with the same movements that left you sore as heck, you wouldn’t just hate us… you wouldn’t come back (because it is horrible programming). Don’t think of the Open any differently.
YOU MISS OUT ON THE DAY’S PROGRAMMING AT THE COVE: We are strategic and have a long term view of our programming cycles (whether or not you realize it!). For example, if you retested 17.1 and missed Monday’s WOD, you missed an opportunity to improve your footwork on the split jerk (our current movement focus) and build shoulder strength. You are sacrificing a long term growth goal for a short term number.
IT CAN BE MENTAL: Then there’s the mental aspect. We have seen MANY times athletes retest only to score the same (or worse) than their original time. This can be extremely disheartening and frustrating for the athlete. But we are never surprised when that happens (see point above…your body isn’t recovered!)
Does this mean you should NEVER retest a particular WOD? Heck no! We love retesting; just with adequate time in between tests so you can truly measure your fitness improvements (think “Hero WODs” and “Girl” benchmarks we do all the time). This is an important part of CrossFit and one of the things we love most about it. Wait a month or two (maybe when the Open ends) and THEN see if you show improvement. We bet you will!
SKILL WOD
Gymnastics Cycle Test
Yep, it’s that time! Hopefully we are recovered from 17.1 and can put all of our new knowledge and strength to the test by re-testing our gymnastics ability. Remember that a ‘win’ doesn’t just mean more reps, it means BETTER reps and moving more efficiently too. The volume WILL come!
EMOM in 7 minutes
_____Muscle ups
_____ Pull ups
_____ Toes to Bar
WOD
Every 2 minutes for 14 minutes
6 Power Cleans
____ Double Unders
Fitness: 115/75 (30 Doubles)
RX: 135/95 (40 Doubles)
RX+: 155/105 (50 Doubles)
COACH’S TIP: Challenge yourself on the barbell today. It is only six reps, so pick something you can do in one or two sets (remember, that’s only three reps if you split in two) and get after it! If you are new to doubles, keep the barbell heavy and just scale the number of doubles. Remember, once you can do a few doubles, we will BAN you from singles in Metcons! It is the best way to get better at them!
Welcome Phil to the Cove! Meredith and Caroline’s Dad is about to school ALL of us!
What an exciting few days at the Cove! The Open is off to a great start, and we are hoping you are getting a sense what it is all about! If you are doing 17.1 “officially”, please submit your score to games.crossfit.com. Midway through the main page there is a button that says “submit score”. Log in and it’s very easy data entry. We will then have to “validate” your times, so PLEASE LEAVE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR SCORESHEET by the Wodify station. You take the bottom strip (below the dotted line) and the top stays with us!
We had a ball 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 17.2. 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!
WHAT DID YOU LEARN WEEK ONE?
Throughout the course of the Open, we’ll be sending through some tips or bits of advice to make this a memorable (in a good way!!) experience. Now that you understand the intensity of the workouts and how ‘game day’ might differ from ‘training days’, there are several things to think about as you gear up for 17.2:
RECOVERY DAY
If you are doing the Open WOD on Friday, Thursday should be an ‘active recovery’ day — meaning, do the things you normally do like row, go for a run or walk. It is about lowering the intensity but keeping it high enough that you keep blood flowing to help reduce residual fatigue in the muscle. Whether it is recovering from yesterday’s WOD or from weeks of getting after it, let your body have a moment to recover and get ready for the next round!
FUEL YOUR BODY
Really try to find a good balance of quality carbs, fats and proteins. Don’t think of it as just ‘eating clean’ (as you can ‘eat clean’ and only eat chicken for a week) because that just won’t work. We all know that diet is critical to optimizing the human engine, so pay extra attention to it and treat your body well. This also includes staying properly hydrated. BUT that doesn’t mean chugging a gallon of water right before your heat in 16.1. It means hydrating over time. We should be consuming half our body weight (in ounces) every day, plus an additional 16-20 per hour of intense activity. So, start drinking… now!
MOBILIZE
We should always be working on opening our hips, shoulders, ankles (and more!) but use this week to do a lot of stretching, foam rolling and band work. The more mobile you are, the better your workouts will be – and the better your recovery will be too.
TALK ABOUT IT
If you’re nervous, tell someone! Often times, just talking about it helps shake some of the anxiety. The coaches are always available and we’ve got multiple forums to communicate (our Cove Club FB page and every team has their own page). And chances are, someone is either feeling the same way OR has been there! You might find (like we do every day at the gym) that when you lean on your community, magic happens.
AND YES, MAGIC DOES HAPPEN!
If you come to the Open and do what you do every day at the box (work hard, push yourself and support each other) we promise amazing things will happen. Don’t lose sight of the fact that those things happen every day here at the Cove. We see people do things they never thought possible during a random Tuesday WOD or at Open Gym. Almost daily people do incredible things like getting their first pull ups or lifting something they never thought they could. But with the bright “Friday Night Lights” shining, there’s no limit as to what could happen!
INTRAMURAL TEAMS
We will be announcing the winners of week one’s intramural competition later this week. It was great to see the 30’s battle it out for naming rights and the old folks took some time organizing, but their “MySpace” page should be up and running once the dial up internet actually connects.
We had several athletes join the Open at the last minute, so here is the final roster for “THE GENERATION GAP” intramural competition!!
We will have four different teams based on age:
The “Kids”
Justin Mi.
Trevor D
Ethan W
Meridith N
ARIAHNA P
Holden
AShley J
Stephanie M
John J
Pranav
Sara C
Ali B
Brittany H
Charles W
John C
Ronald E
Ashely D
Brittany M
Josh T
Kevin P
Teressa F
Julie P
The “Early Thirties” (30-34)
Chelsea L
Drew V
Joe T
Justin M
Katie R
Sean D
Aaron T
Christen V
Dan B
Joe D
Katie E
Sai
Stephanie A
Caroline M
Corey N
Maria A
Melissa G
Patrick C
Apryl G
Brianna S
Cara H
Kyle M
Lyndsey C
Mike C
Susan W
Angie B
Laree
Nicole B
Robyn Z
Ryan W
The “I cant’ believe I’ll be 40 soon” team (35 – 39)
Angie M
Dan P
Justine F
Liz Barr
Matthew R
Michael K
Ada R
Beth M
Irina K
Jessica M
Jessica S
Keisha M
David M
Lydia S
Misa F
Rich L
Angela D
Briannca S
Chris F
Erin L
Nassim E
Rikki D
Don K
Ed M
Kim M.
The “Masters”
Denisse W
Martine J
Mike D
Robert N
Steve M
Angie H
Garth C
Julie J
Karl G
MaryAnne A
Phil J
Brent L
Brian A
Cathy H
Eyal H
Jo A
Kevin R
Marina A
Scott W
Terry S
Paul H
Pia
Hassan E
Paul K
Susan S
Pam J
SKILL WOD
Front Squats 6/6/3/3/3
WOD
20 Cal Row
30 Wall Balls
20 Sit Ups
3 Rounds
Coach’s Tip: The sit ups are your “rest” today, so get after it on the rower and try to hit big sets on the wall balls! If you are still sore from 17.1, please consider scaling the volume, weight on the wall ball or just do two rounds!
Lots of people working VERY hard on Friday night! One of several epic heats…
Lots of exciting things to be done this fine Sunday! First of all, if you are doing 17.1 or have done it already, please submit your score to games.crossfit.com. Midway through the main page there is a button that says “submit score”. Log in and it’s very easy data entry. We will then have to “validate” your times, so PLEASE LEAVE THE TOP PORTION OF YOUR SCORESHEET by the Wodify station. You take the bottom strip (below the dotted line) and the top stays with us!
In addition, there will be lots of people doing 17.1 for the first time. Come judge or just cheer them on. There’s a rumor that some rowing will occur while “Goonies” is playing (sponsored the “older” thirty intramural team). Coach Mike will also be opening the gym up early for a little ROMWOD session. We will be needing the back room at 11 AM for about a 1/2 hour so we might boot you if you are in there then.
With over 100 people registered for the Open, it is by far the most exciting event the Cove has ever done (yes, maybe even more exciting than the anniversary party!). Congratulations to those who already put 17.1 “in the books” and good luck to those who have yet to do it! Remember that YOU must enter your score (and we will be asked to validated it by CrossFit Headquarter). Scores MUST BE IN BY 8PM EST ON MONDAY!!!!!
2. Of all the area CrossFit boxes, we have the most athletes signed up for the Open (and this includes 12 Labours which has three locations and a team that came in 2nd in the world)!
You can do the WOD any time between Thursday night at 8p when the workouts are announced and Monday afternoon when scores need to be submitted. If you cannot make it on Fridays, you will need to secure your own judge for another time. The Cove Club FB page will be packed with offers and requests to judge, so just post a “Hey, I need a judge at XX time and happy to return the favor”… and you’ll get someone! Keep in mind that if you are traveling, boxes around the globe will be doing the same workout, so you can certainly drop into any box on the road and they’ll likely connect you with someone to judge you to get the ‘official’ score.
STRENGTH WOD
Take 15 minutes to find
Find a heavy 1 Rep Squat Clean
WOD
For over 90 athletes, it’s the moment we’ve been waiting for! As a reminder we will be doing the Open WOD for all classes tomorrow, so even if you haven’t signed up, you’ll have a taste of what athletes around the world will be tackling! Just to put some things in perspective for you:
1. We have 90 (and counting!) Cove athletes doing Open this year (vs. 60 last year)
2. Of all the area CrossFit boxes, we have the most athletes signed up for the Open (and this includes 12 Labours which has three locations and a team that came in 2nd in the world)!
3. We have athletes in every age group and spanning a WIDE variety of CrossFit experience (with many doing CrossFit for less than three months!)
This will be an exciting five weeks for each and every one of you and we are so excited to see what challenges you overcome and breakthroughs you make. And we promise, if nothing else, it will be FUN!
COVE OPEN DETAILS: PLEASE READ!
The CrossFit Open consists of 5 workouts announced over 5 weeks. Starting on Feb. 23rd (the WODs are announced at 8p on Thursday nights) we will do all the workouts at the Cove on Fridays. This means the announced Open WOD will be the Friday WOD every week in lieu of partner WODs. PLUS we will have a special “Friday Night Lights” Open WOD in lieu of the regular 5:30p AND 6:30pm classes. That means we do a big team WOD event, we act as judges for each other and hang around for pot-luck style drinks and snacks after. Maybe we can even bust out the disco ball. Here is some key information you’ll need and some answers to questions we’ve already been asked:
WHAT IF I’M NOT OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE OPEN. CAN I STILL DO THE WORKOUTS? Every Friday Cove WOD will be that week’s Open workout. That means in classes all day long, you will get a chance to do it. Since we will have participating athletes in almost every class hour, we will running classes as if everyone is doing it. That means ALL classes will run as two heats and you will judge each other. One group will do the workout and the other will judge. Then we will switch. Again, even if you are not registered, you will get a real sense of what it is all about! Don’t be intimidated but he word “judging”. It means your quality of movement will be held to a high standard and you’ll be having someone count your reps (trust us, it’s SO nice not to have to do the math at the end of class!). We will all hear “no rep” at one point during this Open!
WHAT IF I CAN ONLY MAKE AN EVENING CLASS TIME AND I’M NOT DOING THE OPEN?Come in and do your workout during your regular time (meaning, show up any time DURING the Friday Night Lights event)! It will not follow a normal class structure, but we will have recommended warm-ups ready for you to do before you get after it. So if you can only WOD in the evening and need to scoot on out, that’s totally fine!
WHAT IF I REGISTERED FOR THE OPEN BUT CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE BOX ON FRIDAY?Don’t worry if you can’t make it every Friday (or any Friday for that matter) and still want to do the Open. You can do the WOD any time between Thursday night at 8p when the workouts are announced and Monday afternoon when scores need to be submitted. Show up, do your best, and put in your score. If you cannot make it on Fridays, you will need to secure your own judge for another time. The Cove Club FB page will be packed with offers and requests to judge, so just post a “Hey, I need a judge at XX time and happy to return the favor”… and you’ll get someone! Keep in mind that if you are traveling, boxes around the globe will be doing the same workout, so you can certainly drop into any box on the road and they’ll likely connect you with someone to judge you to get the ‘official’ score.
WHAT IF I’M NOT DOING THE OPEN OR I’M NOT DOING THE WOD FRIDAY NIGHT? CAN I STILL COME TO THE EVENT? Even if you are not competing in the Open or if you did the workout earlier that day (or if it is your rest day) please come! It is such a fun night and you’ll get to meet so many people that make up this wacky and wonderful box. Per usual, please bring any beer and snacks you will need to refuel post-WOD. Remember this is a pot-luck style Open celebration!
HOW DO I SUMBIT A SCORE IF I’M DOING THE OPEN? Your judge will have a scoresheet that you will sign after your workout is complete. It will include your score and your judge’s name. You will need to log in to games.crossfit.com (or use the app) and enter your scores by 8PM on Monday evening (5P Pacific Time)
INTRAMURAL TEAMS!
Most importantly the Open is a time for people to push together. When we think of the magic of CrossFit it is in that we are all suffering together and somehow find a way to laugh when it is over. It’s that togetherness that is the special sauce that allows people to do more with their bodies than they ever thought possible.
This year we are once again doing our ‘intramural league’. It is an internal “competition” that doesn’t measure itself on reps or time rather on participation, heart, creativity and the spirit of community. The idea of signing up for the Open might feel REALLY outside your comfort zone or fall squarely against your feelings about the word “competition” generally speaking… but think of all things you have already tried here at the Cove and how you felt about yourself afterwards. This is just another challenge that will make you stronger… mentally and physically. But that word makes you uncomfortable still, let’s lose the word “competition” entirely. Let’s just call it a “Friday Night Lights WOD”. One with super-sized high fives and tons of laughing during AND after. Oh, and beer.
Once again, we are creating mini teams within our own Cove community to further bolster the excitement around the Open, but unlike last year, we are building the teams to around “THE GENERATION GAP”! We all continue to adjust the teams as people continue to sign up!
We will have four different teams based on age:
“The Kids”: The under 30 crew
The “Dirty Thirties”: The 30 -35 athletes
The “I can’t believe I’ll be 40 soon” team: Athletes 35 – 49
The “Masters”: The elderly 40+ crew who refuses to use the handicap bar in the bathrooms
We are not assigning team ‘captains’ for each; we will leave it up to you to decide how to rally yourselves. You can earn your team points in a few different ways. We will be adding more scoring opportunities but here is a taste of the things we will be looking for:
Perform the workout and enter a score between 8p Thursday and Monday at 8P EST. If for some reason you can not get the workout in (travel,life,etc) just submit a score of zero. (25 total points possible)
Best Selfie Submitted (weekly) (5 Points)
Spirit of the Open (weekly) (5 points)
Best team name (yes, we expect you to come up with something more creative than what’s above!
Best social media presence
(many of these will be judged by the Cove coaches each week!)
To date, here are the teams!
The “Kids”
Justin Michelotti
Trevor Dennison
Ethan Wassil
Meredith Nichols
Holden Harriot
Ashley Jubar
Stephanie M
John Jubar
Pranav Chitalia
Sara Casey
John Crevling
Brittany Haidett
Ali Bradley
Charles Walker
Kevin Petty
Teressa Fox
Ashely Danus
Josh Tornetta
Ariahna Phelps
The “Dirty Thirties” (30-34)
Chelsea Logsdon
Joe Tito
Katie Ramsey
Stephanie Allen
Aaron Tolentino
Dan Buchheit
Joe Dougherty
Caroline Murphy
Corey Nees
Patrick Cox
Melissa Gill
Maria Alcoke
Mike Condon
Cara Hafer
Apryl Gladden
Brianna Severn
Kyle Murphy
Lyndsey Condon
Angie Bryl
Robyn Zayas
Nicolle Sharp
Nicole Bucheitt
Justin Merrill
Laree Siddiqui
Ryan Woodward
Suzie Woodward
Sai Aravapalli
Sean Danus
The “I cant’ believe I’ll be 40 soon” team (35 – 39)
Coach’s Tip: This workout is ALL ABOUT PACING! Keep a steady pace on all moments and breath evenly throughout. On the dumbbell, please keep your shoulders above your hips as it will be torture on your back if you put too much stress on it. This is a LOT of reps! Consider stepping in for the burpees to get to the box to save energy.
VARIATIONS
Rx’d: (Ages 16-54)
Men use 50-lb. dumbbell and 24-in. box Women use 35-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box
Teenagers 14-15:
Boys use 35-lb. dumbbell and 24-in. box Girls use 20-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box
Masters 55+:
Men use 35-lb. dumbbell and 24-in. box, step-ups OK Women use 20-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK
DUMBBELL SNATCHES
The dumbbell snatch starts with the dumbbell on the ground and finishes with the dumbbell directly overhead. At the bottom of the movement, BOTH heads of the dumbbell must touch the ground. The dumbbell must be lifted overhead in one motion. Touch-and-go is permitted. Bouncing the dumbbell is not allowed. Athletes must alternate arms after each repetition and may not alternate until a successful rep is achieved. The non-lifting hand and arm may not be in contact with the body during the repetition.
Scaled: (Ages 16-54)
Men use 35-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK Women use 20-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK
Scaled Teenagers 14-15:
Boys use 20-lb. dumbbell and 24-in. box, step-ups OK Girls use 10-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK
Scaled Masters 55+:
Men use 20-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK Women use 10-lb. dumbbell and 20-in. box, step-ups OK
For those of you not aware of how this works, The CrossFit Open consists of 5 workouts announced over 5 weeks. Starting on Feb. 23rd (the WODs are announced at 8p on Thursday nights) we will do all the workouts at the Cove on Fridays. This means the announced Open WOD will be the Friday WOD every week in lieu of partner WODs. PLUS we will have a special “Friday Night Lights” Open WOD in lieu of the regular 5:30p AND 6:30pm classes. That means we do a big team WOD event, we act as judges for each other and hang around for pot-luck style drinks and snacks after. Maybe we can even bust out the disco ball. Here is some key information you’ll need and some answers to questions we’ve already been asked:
WHAT IF I’M NOT OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE OPEN. CAN I STILL DO THE WORKOUTS? Every Friday Cove WOD will be that week’s Open workout. That means in classes all day long, you will get a chance to do it. Since we will have participating athletes in almost every class hour, we will running classes as if everyone is doing it. That means ALL classes will run as two heats and you will judge each other. One group will do the workout and the other will judge. Then we will switch. Again, even if you are not registered, you will get a real sense of what it is all about! Don’t be intimidated but he word “judging”. It means your quality of movement will be held to a high standard and you’ll be having someone count your reps (trust us, it’s SO nice not to have to do the math at the end of class!). We will all hear “no rep” at one point during this Open!
WHAT IF I CAN ONLY MAKE AN EVENING CLASS TIME AND I’M NOT DOING THE OPEN?Come in and do your workout during your regular time (meaning, show up any time DURING the Friday Night Lights event)! It will not follow a normal class structure, but we will have recommended warm-ups ready for you to do before you get after it. So if you can only WOD in the evening and need to scoot on out, that’s totally fine!
WHAT IF I REGISTERED FOR THE OPEN BUT CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE BOX ON FRIDAY?Don’t worry if you can’t make it every Friday (or any Friday for that matter) and still want to do the Open. You can do the WOD any time between Thursday night at 8p when the workouts are announced and Monday afternoon when scores need to be submitted. Show up, do your best, and put in your score. If you cannot make it on Fridays, you will need to secure your own judge for another time. The Cove Club FB page will be packed with offers and requests to judge, so just post a “Hey, I need a judge at XX time and happy to return the favor”… and you’ll get someone! Keep in mind that if you are traveling, boxes around the globe will be doing the same workout, so you can certainly drop into any box on the road and they’ll likely connect you with someone to judge you to get the ‘official’ score.
WHAT IF I’M NOT DOING THE OPEN OR I’M NOT DOING THE WOD FRIDAY NIGHT? CAN I STILL COME TO THE EVENT? Even if you are not competing in the Open or if you did the workout earlier that day (or if it is your rest day) please come! It is such a fun night and you’ll get to meet so many people that make up this wacky and wonderful box. Per usual, please bring any beer and snacks you will need to refuel post-WOD. Remember this is a pot-luck style Open celebration!
HOW DO I SUMBIT A SCORE IF I’M DOING THE OPEN? Your judge will have a scoresheet that you will sign after your workout is complete. It will include your score and your judge’s name. You will need to log in to games.crossfit.com (or use the app) and enter your scores by 8PM on Monday evening (5P Pacific Time)
INTRAMURAL TEAMS ANNOUNCED!
Most importantly the Open is a time for people to push together. When we think of the magic of CrossFit it is in that we are all suffering together and somehow find a way to laugh when it is over. It’s that togetherness that is the special sauce that allows people to do more with their bodies than they ever thought possible.
This year we are once again doing our ‘intramural league’. It is an internal “competition” that doesn’t measure itself on reps or time rather on participation, heart, creativity and the spirit of community. The idea of signing up for the Open might feel REALLY outside your comfort zone or fall squarely against your feelings about the word “competition” generally speaking… but think of all things you have already tried here at the Cove and how you felt about yourself afterwards. This is just another challenge that will make you stronger… mentally and physically. But that word makes you uncomfortable still, let’s lose the word “competition” entirely. Let’s just call it a “Friday Night Lights WOD”. One with super-sized high fives and tons of laughing during AND after. Oh, and beer.
Once again, we are creating mini teams within our own Cove community to further bolster the excitement around the Open, but unlike last year, we are building the teams to around “THE GENERATION GAP”!
We will have four different teams based on age:
“The Kids”: The under 30 crew
The “Mid Thirties”: The 30 -35 athletes
The “I can’t believe I’ll be 40 soon” team: Athletes 35 – 49
The “Masters”: The elderly 40+ crew who refuses to use the handicap bar in the bathrooms
We are not assigning team ‘captains’ for each; we will leave it up to you to decide how to rally yourselves. You can earn your team points in a few different ways. We will be adding more scoring opportunities but here is a taste of the things we will be looking for:
Perform the workout and enter a score between 8p Thursday and Monday at 8P EST. If for some reason you can not get the workout in (travel,life,etc) just submit a score of zero. (25 total points possible)
Best Selfie Submitted (weekly) (5 Points)
Spirit of the Open (weekly) (5 points)
Best team name (yes, we expect you to come up with something more creative than what’s above!
Best social media presence
(many of these will be judged by the Cove coaches each week!)
To date, here are the teams!
The “Kids”
Justin M
Ethan Wassil
Meridith Nichols
Holden
AShley Jubar
Stephanie M
John Jubar
Pranav
Sara Casey
John Crevling
Brittany Haidett
Ali Bradley
Charles Walker
Kevin Petty
Teressa Fox
Ashely Danus
Josh Tornetta
The “Dirty Thirties” (30-34)
Chelsea L
Joe Tito
Katie Ramsey
Stephanie Allen
Aaron T
Dan Bucheitt
Joe Dougherty
Caroline Murphy
Corey Nees
Patrick Cox
Melissa Gill
Maria Alcoke
Mike Condon
Cara Haffer
Apryl Gladden
Brianna Severn
Kyle Murphy
Lyndsey
Angie Bryl
Robyn Z
Nicolle Sharp
Nicole Bucheitt
The “I cant’ believe I’ll be 40 soon” team (35 – 39)
Liz Barr
Michael Kovacs
Dan Pino
Justine F
Angie Munoz
Jessica Marx
Keisha Montgomery
Beth Merritt
Jessica Sharp
Irina Kolb
Ada Rodriguez
David Merritt
Misa Francis
Lydia Stroup
Angela Davis
Briannca Smith
Erin Lally
Rikki Daniels
Don Kitchen
Kim M.
Ed Montgomery
The “Masters”
Angie Hughes
Brian Anglim
Cathy Hurley
Denisse W
Eyal Hen
Garth Cronkit
Jo Alivar
Julie Jones
Kevin Rothstein
Marina Anglim
MaryAnne A
Mike Dramski
Paul Hayden
Paul K
Phil Julien
Soctt Waters
Steve M
Susan Sanchez
SKILL WOD
1 Min Keg Drill
1 Min Shoulder distraction
1 Min I’s, Y’s and T’s
2 Rounds
SKILL WOD
Every 2 minutes for 18 minutes
200 meter run
12 Slam Balls
Max KB Swings
Coach’s Tip: Enjoy the run. It’s beautiful outside.
A throwback shot from last year’s Open! Expect to be judged and hope your judge is drinking beer!
We wanted to celebrate the 25 incredible athletes who committed themselves to good eating, consistent training AND incorporated positive lifestyle changes for 35 days. For those of you who are new to the Cove or did not participate in the Challenge, Coach Brittany led a group of us in a team-formatted clean eating challenge that produced INCREDIBLE results across the board. We did pre-post body composition testing (as we know the scale does not always tell the real story) and took pre/post photos to demonstrate proof of performance with several data points.
And the results are in! We have pooled the total figures and as a group they WELL OVER 100lbs of fat resulting in a decrease of body fat by 32%. On top of the fat loss, muscle was gained and PRs were crushed!!!
Each person had different reasons for signing up. Some were looking to simply clean up their nutrition after the holiday season, others were looking for fat loss and increased performance. Here’s what Coach Brittany had to say about what unfolded, but her advice is universal and relevant to everyone at the Cove (not just the challenge participants):
“I was blown away by the number of people who tracked their intake for the 5 weeks and even gave macro counting a shot! Can we also give a shout out to those who stayed alcohol free for 5 weeks and those who had perfect nutrition logs….never once going off plan!!!!!
No matter what your reason you should be very proud of yourself as you took 5 weeks to focus on you and figure out a system that is individualized to you. I provided you guidelines but the work put in was ALL YOU.
It may not be realistic to keep all sugar out forever but I do recommend that you keep your level of awareness high. When you look at a nutrition label think of this….for every 1 gram of sugar, you are eating a sugar cube….so if a drink or food has 20g sugar, would you sit down and eat 20 sugar cubes?!?!? Slowly add foods back into your diet and see how you are feeling. You may find that a food you enjoyed before the challenge no longer satisfies you. Also, if you lost a significant amount of weight and are closing in on your goal, be patient with yourself. The closer you are to goal the slower the weight loss. AND as many of you experienced, the scale may not not move as much as you would like but what is your body doing? Are you losing fat and gaining muscle? because if that is the case you are going to be tighter, wear smaller clothes and have an increased body composition. So do not let the scale rule be your ultimate measure of success.
Moving forward….
Follow the healthy habits
veggies at EVERY MEAL
Protein at EVERY MEAL
Starchy carb post workout and 2 hours pre workout
Drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water
Plan your treats!!!!
Limit alcohol to 3-5 drinks a week (f/m)
If you go off the rails, the next meal is an opportunity to set yourself straight
If you are low energy, you are probably NOT eating enough!!!!
Remember each day is a new day!!!!!
The winning Team (Coach Marina’s) will receive a personal plan from me. Be on the look our for an email/questionnaire to fill out so I can obtain additional, specific information to you. For the rest of you, I would love to provide you additional guidance to assist you in achieving your goals. For the Challenge members, I will open up FLEX TOTAL, (3 month program with weekly checkins) as well as the FLEX Jump Start (1 time 1:1). FLEX TOTAL is $100 a month and Jump Start is $75.
I want you all to give yourselves a HUGE pat on the back and high five one another when you see another nutrition challenger at the gym.
We will be looking for feedback to enhance the program and we WILL do this again!!!! The format may change slightly, but we will be beach body ready come the summer! Again, congratulations to all the Challenge participants and please remember that the entire coaching staff looks forward to supporting you on your continued path to good eating, increasing fitness and overall better health!
THE CROSSFIT OPEN STARTS THURSDAY!!!
We are up to 76 athletes registered! Keep it up!!! You have until Thursday afternoon to sign up; once the first workouts are announced, sign ups are CLOSED. You cannot sign up mid-way through the Open, so do it NOW!
Every Friday night (the workouts are released Thursday evenings) we all get together for a “Friday Night Lights” style WOD. We cheer each other on, we act as judges (counting reps and checking movement standards) for each other so we can submit those official scores to CrossFit.com but most of all… we have a BLAST. But don’t worry if you can’t make it here on Friday nights; during the Open every Friday WOD will be the Open Workout for that week (partner WODS go on hold for those weeks). Trust us, those five weeks are some of the best ever here at the Cove.
30 min EMOM Min 1: 15 Wall Balls Min 2: 15/12 Cals on the Rower Min 3: 12 Dumbbell or Barbell Thrusters Min 4: 15/12 Cals on the Assault Bike Min 5: 1 minute rest
Max Score Male: 342 Max Score Female: 324
Coach’s Tip: We ALWAYS care about movement quality, but if you are participating in the Open, not hitting standards will result in a ‘no rep’. Today’s EMOM is extra focused on high quality movement. There are five stations (one being rest) and we want you to hit targeted rep counts for each station with some rest time to spare. We are no providing weights as we want you to pick a load that you can move well from the first rep to the last.
Another great shot from Saturday’s 2nd Anniversary Bash! Meet Arianna and Michelle B… they just finished up the Fresh Start Challenge, are officially chugging the Cove Kool Aid and joined us full time. Give them a fist pump or hi five when you see them!
We’ve also added the high-resolution non-watermarked files to a Flickr album, so you can download them and use them however you’d like! Each one of the shots is separate so you can have the ‘real’ and unbranded photo for personal use. Once again, we had a ball on Saturday and if these photos are ANY indication, you all did too!
At 8 PM we release the workout and our website takes a big hit as everyone tries to figure out how much the next day’s metcon is going to hurt so good. It’s the answer to that one question that lets you go to sleep at night. But what do you do with that information?
We are sure many of you then spend the next hour making up a game plan or messaging someone to find out theirs. Not that you should spend THAT much time on it, but it IS something you should pre-think before tackling any workout. For those of you who don’t… or don’t know quite how to think things though, here’s a snippet on Coach Brian’s strategy for yesterday’s Metcon of 6 power cleans and 8 burpees for 9 minutes of fun:
“As I break down this workout I focus on two variables, the length of the work out (9 minute so middle of the road length) and the movements, moderate to light power cleans and burpees box jumps. One of those movements I feel pretty confident about (power cleans) and the other is the bane of my existence (burpees).
With those two variables I can now make a plan. At 9 minutes I want to move quickly but not sprint and burn out at the end. I feel confident that I could do 6 power cleans unbroken but after last week’s workout of power cleans, burpees, and swings, I am thinking maybe I break that up into smaller sets of preserve my lungs and try to control my heart rate For the burpees, I am going to jump up on some of them but other times I am going to step my legs in to preserve energy.
So how did it go? All in all, pretty good. I worked hard, felt accomplished, and enjoyed it once it was over. I was happy with my cleans and they really didn’t effect me negatively at all. In retrospect I think I should have tried a couple rounds of unbroken cleans instead of dropping the bar every 3 reps. Over so many rounds that six to ten second delay added up. What went poorly was my technique of doing burpees. And that is the lesson I learn every time there are burpees and I know I need to practice them more. Because I went in with a strategy to pace myself, I also think I could have increased my pace faster at the end as I had a bit still left in the tank. I started to really try to sprint the workout in the last 1:30 and I think I should have tried that more at the 2:00 minute mark versus the 1:30. All in all, it was a great workout. I feel fitter, I am energzied for the rest of my day, and now I have learned just a little more about my abilities as an athlete that I can now apply these lessons to future workouts. Bring on those burpees in the OPEN!”
Our job is to help you understand the GOAL of the workout, but how you attack it is highly personalized. And with it being “Open season”, trying develop a game plan can do wonders for not just the WOD, but it is a great learning opportunity for any future ones!
THE CROSSFIT OPEN STARTS THURSDAY!!!
We are up to 73 athletes registered! Keep it up!!!
Every Friday night (the workouts are released Thursday evenings) we all get together for a “Friday Night Lights” style WOD. We cheer each other on, we act as judges (counting reps and checking movement standards) for each other so we can submit those official scores to CrossFit.com but most of all… we have a BLAST. But don’t worry if you can’t make it here on Friday nights; during the Open every Friday WOD will be the Open Workout for that week (partner WODS go on hold for those weeks). Trust us, those five weeks are some of the best ever here at the Cove.
Spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy 3 Rep Snatch
(power or squat)
COVE WOD
15 Power Snatches
25 Sit ups
____Double Unders
4 Rounds
Fitness: 75/55 (30 dubs)
RX: 95/65 (40 dubs)
RX+: 95/65 (50 dubs)
14 min Time Cap
Coach’s Tip: The sit ups are your ‘rest’ here, but don’t go TOO slow as that could eat up a lot of clock. The goal is to go hard and fast on the barbell (it should feel like a LIGHT weight!) and you should get your heart rate reset on the sit ups so you can attack those double unders! Remember to relax those shoulders on the doubles as you don’t want them to be too fatigued as you get back on the bar.
Words cannot express our deepest thanks for not just an amazing night, but an amazing spirit of community, support, and love. We feel so lucky that each of you chose this as your home away from home and have become not just great athletes and friends, but FAMILY.
Saturday night was an epic celebration of everything “Cove”. The most beautiful manifestation of community we could ever imagine was only trumped by the generosity and thoughtfulness of the collective of YOU.
We never expect ANYTHING from you besides hard work and a commitment to yourself and your fellow athletes, but you continually surprise us by going above and beyond. Your generosity is overwhelming and we are so grateful for it. Not only were we wowed by the gifts presented to us, the thoughtfulness that went into each and every one was mind-blowing.
Our coaches are precious to us, and the fact that you recognized each and every one in such a personal and unique way was wonderful. We, as coaches, do this because we love it and we care so deeply for each and every one of you. For you to recognize and honor us in the way you did was beyond anything we could hope for.
For those of you who couldn’t be there this year, it is a requirement you be there for the THREE year anniversary!
We created a Flickr album of all the pictures shown on the slide show at the Anniversary Bash. Here’s over 1200 pictures representing our second amazing year at the Cove and all of you who are also amazing!
So far we have 67 athletes registered! The Open is a galvanizing event for ALL CrossFitters, but especially for us here at the Cove. For five weeks and for five workouts, any and every athlete in the world has the opportunity to participate in an event that is the qualifier for Regionals (and then the CrossFit Games) called the CrossFit Open. It’s not about getting you to the Games, it is about creating an even greater sense of community with CrossFitters around the world… but especially here at this box.
Every Friday night (the workouts are released Thursday evenings) we all get together for a “Friday Night Lights” style WOD. We cheer each other on, we act as judges (counting reps and checking movement standards) for each other so we can submit official scores but most of all… we have a BLAST. But don’t worry if you can’t make it here on Friday nights; during the Open every Friday WOD will be the Open Workout for that week (partner WODS go on hold for those weeks). Trust us, those five weeks are some of the best ever here at the Cove.
Sign up at THE CROSSFIT GAMES. Here is a list of the brave souls who have committed already! Be inspired! Sign up now!
6 Power Cleans
8 Burpee Box Jumps
9 min AMRAP
Fitness: 95/65
RX: 115/75
RX+: 135/95
Coach’s Tip: This great “couplet” will test your engine as there is no real “rest” in this WOD. The goal is to move quickly, but not at a sprint pace for the 9 minutes. Th cleans should be a weight you can do unbroken and the burpee box jumps should be at a solid pace! This is a classic WOD we would see in the Open, so if you’re nervous about signing up, this is just the kind of workout we might see in the next five weeks!
Apparently the photo booth got some love on Saturday, but people forgot their print outs! A collection of awesome shots awaitS you at the box… and we’ll soon get digital prints of every single one!
It will be a LATE NIGHT Saturday night so we are pushing Open Gym time to 11am on Sunday. That means you can come in and work out from 11a-2pm, but know there will likely still be some things to be cleaned up (or people cleaning around you). We ask for your patience and forgiveness in advance!
A special thanks to our little elves helping make the magic happen!
