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Edward Blanch

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2.15.17 Wednesday Wins

2.15.17 Wednesday Wins
 WEDNESDAY WINS!

 

Today we celebrate a group of AMAZING women who have just completed our FRESH START CHALLENGE!  For the last five weeks, they have been attending classes three times per week and have their gains have been nothing short of extraordinary!

Most came in with no CrossFit experience and, like most of us, had to learn everything ground up.  They focused on good form, learned how to move in ways they never have before and hit some incredible benchmarks.  From tackling some “Girls” to hitting “Hero WODs”, they have accomplished so much in such a short period of time.  They’ve added a LOT of weight to the barbell, rocked double-udders, jumped higher than they imagined and understand what working out with “intensity” means. They were so quick to learn that they were doing complex WODs within a very short timeframe.  In fact, there were days when Cove members said to us “Thank god I’m not in the Challenge… their workout is harder than ours”!

In addition to gains inside the gym, the ‘losses’ outside are pretty darn exciting too.  Scales have gone down (10+lbs in many cases), pants sizes are shrinking and their bodies are working at peak performance because of their clean eating ways.  Eliminating so many favorites (wine, dairy, sugar and more!) was tough for them, but ask any of them and they’ll tell you the reward was more than worth it!

This week they are migrating into “regular” classes so please give them a huge congratulations and welcome them to the Cove as member-athletes!  We feel so lucky they chose us to kick start their fitness journey and can’t wait to see where the rest of this journey takes them!

 

COVE MOBILITY WOD

 

1 Minute Couch Stretch

1 Minute Front Rack Stretch with a band

30 Seconds Bench OH Stretch

3 Rounds

 

 

WOD

Every 3 minutes for 18 Minutes Complete 1 Round rest with remaining time.

10 Power Cleans

12 Burpees

16 KB Swings

Score Slowest Round

 

Fitness: 95/65, 35/26

RX: 135/95, 53/35

RX+: 155/105, 70/53

 

Coach’s Tip: These type of workouts are about maintaining high power outputs (how quickly you complete a round) throughout the workout.  You want to be able to move at a quick but not frantic pace to start the workout and be able to maintain it each round. For those that remember last weeks Row-Front Squat-Burpee-Sit up workout from last week it’s all about finding a pace is aggressive that you can maintain.

 

If this fireman thing doesn’t work out for Thomas M., there’s always CrossFit modeling… 
 

Importance of hand care in CrossFit

Importance of hand care in CrossFit

This is a repeat post for many of you, but given we are six weeks into our gymnastics cycle, this becomes more important than ever.  We haven’t seen many tears (a good thing!) but also have been asked by several people how to protect their hands as we spend more time on the rig. In addition to things like eating right, working on mobility and taking rest days… HAND CARE can be one of the most important things to add to your CrossFit care regimen.  And while there are many debates around hand care and how to achieve optimum results, everyone agrees… you MUST tend to your hands and calluses.  Here’s a quick video on a VERY simple and SAFE way to care for your hands.
If anyone has other great tips or tricks, feel free to post them to the Cove Club FB page.  This is not THE definitive way to care for hands, it is just ONE way that happens to work for us!
 
Register for the CrossFit Open NOW!!!
FOUR more people signed up yesterday, so let’s keep that going!  That’s amazing but we want MORE!  For context, last year we had over 60 people sign up and we are a much bigger gym now!   As a reminder,  The CrossFit Open starts on FEBRUARY 23rd and signups are now live.  If you don’t know what the Open is, it is the pre-cursor to the Reebok CrossFit Games.  And yes, we are hoping for 100% participation!  If you are on the fence for some reason, please please talk to us!
Sign up here at THE CROSSFIT GAMES.  
  THIS SATURDAY (February 18th) will be our 2-Year Anniversary Bash! We are so excited for this weekend and cannot wait for this event!  We should have a big crowd so please RSVP if you haven’t already so we can get a good headcount. Many of you have asked how you can help. PLEASE RSVP ON THE EVENT PAGE HERE
 
STRENGTH WOD
  8 min EMOM 2 Front Squats (this should be 80-90% of 1 RM) SAME WEIGHT ACROSS
   
 
 
COVE WOD
 
 
20 Cal Row 20 Thrusters 20 Sit ups 15 Cal Row 15 Thrusters 15 Sit ups 10 Cal Row 10 Thrusters 10 Sit ups   Fitness: 95/65 RX: 115/75 RX+: 135/95       Coach’s Tip:  Challenge yourself on the thruster load today.  Pick a load that you can do 3-5 with even when you are fatigued.  
Richard L. has been crushing it at the Cove.  He’s killing the WODs AND saw drastic changes from the New Year Nutrition Challenge …

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2.13.17 CrossFit Open Less Than Two Weeks Away!

2.13.17 CrossFit Open Less Than Two Weeks Away!

Register for the CrossFit Open NOW!!!
So far we have 52 athletes registered!  That’s amazing but we want MORE!  For context, last year we had over 60 people sign up and we are a much bigger gym now!   As a reminder,  The CrossFit Open starts on FEBRUARY 23rd and signups are now live.  If you don’t know what the Open is, it is the pre-cursor to the Reebok CrossFit Games.  And yes, we are hoping for 100% participation!

Wait? What?  You want us ALL to do it?  YES!  Many of you may think “Why bother? I’m not here to compete. I’m surely not going to win anything or go to the CrossFit Games.”  To that our response would be… “you’ve completely missed the point of the Open”.

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.  The link to register is right below the main page photo!
THIS SATURDAY (February 18th) will be our 2-Year Anniversary Bash! It is hard to believe but we will be celebrating two years and to mark the occasion we will be throwing a party on Saturday evening from 7:30 – 11p (or later??).  This will not incorporate a WOD, so doll yourselves up and show your fellow athletes what you REALLY look like outside in the real world.  Get ready for a really fun night! PLEASE RSVP ON THE EVENT PAGE HERE
 
 
SKILL WOD
  MU- 5 Kip Swings + 5 Kip Swings and pull the rings to your torso (keep a hollow position, toes pointed the whole time) PU- 5 Kips Swings + 10 Second Chin over bar hold + 20 second supine plank Toes to Bar – 8 toes to bar on the ground (SLOW) Watch at 3:40 into this video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nL-9vG0ss  Followed by 5 Kip Swings.

(Aim for three to four rounds. Quality over quantity.)

   
 
 
COVE WOD
 
 
14 Slam Balls 20 Reverse Goblet Lunges (same weight you snatch) 14 1 Arm Hanging DB Snatches  (7 each arm) 4 Rounds   15 min Time Cap     Coach’s Tip:  Your core will be challenged with the slam balls, so work extra hard to keep that torso upright on the lunges.  We don’t want to see people folding over and putting unnecessary pressure on their lower back.  For the Hanging Dumbbell Snatches you can either alternate arms or hit seven on one arm then hit seven on the next.  Athlete’s choice — as long has you hit seven per arm!  
Ethan W. working through his Partner WOD snatches with a FAST cycle time…

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2.12.17 Open Gym

2.12.17 Open Gym

OPEN GYM 9a to NOON
 

Come on in and make up a missed WOD, work on some skills or just mobilize a bit!  And a huge congrats to those wrapping up the New Year Nutrition Challenge today.  We know it can be hard to dial in your nutrition, but the results we are seeing (in the scans, how you look AND how you are performing) are just incredible.  Coach Brittany will be posting more on “next steps” but please don’t dive head first into a bag of doritos or a block of cheese. Your body is running on good stuff now, so let’s not destroy all that hard work in one sitting!!!!

  RSVP FOR THE ANNIVERSARY BASH (2/18!)   We hit our 2 year mark on 2/2 and we will be throwing a party on February 18th (NEXT SATURDAY!!!) from 7:30 – 11p or later??!.  This will not incorporate a WOD, so doll yourselves up and show your fellow athletes what you REALLY look like outside in the real world.  More details to come, but this will be an adult-only evening, so line up those sitters and get ready for a really fun night. PLEASE RSVP ON THE EVENT PAGE HERE   A huge congratulations to all the Fresh Start graduates!  And a special thank you to our veterans who turned out for an epic partner WOD finale!  Keep an eye out for these new faces in classes starting this week…
 
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2.11.17 Anniversary Bash One Week Away!

2.11.17 Anniversary Bash One Week Away!

 ANNIVERSARY BASH NEXT SATURDAY!
 
We CANNOT wait and hope to see all of you there!  Many of you have asked: what do I wear?  Can I bring anything?  How can I help?  Hopefully this will give you some guidance and context! What should I wear?  Dress is definitely “festive”, but you’ll see a huge range in attire.  We transform the place into a ‘nightclub’ (or, rather, a very cheesy nightclub) so the ambiance will be very different than how you see it every day.  Our guidance would be to wear something you’d wear to a New Year’s party.  Not necessarily one you’ve bought tickets for at a ballroom, but more like a party at your boss’s house.  Women wore everything from party dresses to jeans and blouses, and men ranged from tuxes (yes, it was Chris Franey) to jeans and a button down.

What can I bring? We have domestic beer, wine (red and white) and will be serving a signature cocktail “The Cove Crush”.  If you have something specific you drink, feel free to bring it!!!  We will not be serving dinner, but will provide some really light snacks.  If you want to bring something (a tray of cookies, veggies or some finger foods, you are MORE than welcome to do so!).  We don’t want to be washing dishes all night, so anything you can pick up with your hands or with a napkin is great.  We will also be asking for people to bring coolers as we will need places to keep all that beer and wine chilled!

How can I help?  As always, we are amazed at how generous this community is and how willing people are to just pitch in.  There are three ways you can help us make this party a huge success:

  1. We will have a few volunteers that will help us with ‘party maintenance’ oversight.  They will be tasked at doing a once over of tables to rid empty bottles, restocking coolers, refilling snack bowls, etc.  You might be asked by one of them to help change out a garbage or refill a toilet paper roll, so if you agree to do that, you’re already helping more than you know!
  2. Bring what you like.  See above for what we’ll have, but if something specific will make you enjoy the party more, just bring it!  We want you to have what you love, but can’t provide everything for everyone.
  3. Have fun.  NOTHING is more important to us than you having a great time.  We’ll have a DJ, a photo booth and we’ll be doing a brief ‘awards’ ceremony.  Embrace the cheese.  Catch up with your fellow athletes, and meet some new ones.  And, as always, what happens at the Cove, stays at the Cove.
 
STRENGTH WOD
  Spend 15 minutes working up to a heavy 3 rep Deadlift   WOD
  10 Deadlifts 15/12 Assault Cals Rest 2 minutes 5 Rounds   Fitness: 185/125 RX: 225/155 RX+: 275/185  
Coach’s Tip: The deadlifts should be unbroken in the WOD so pick a weight you can move well!  
Joe T. shows how you should REALLY look on the AirDyne!

 

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2.10.14 Shoulder health with Crossover Symmetry

2.10.14 Shoulder health with Crossover Symmetry

We can’t believe it, today wraps our last day of instruction for the Fresh Start ladies and next week they migrate into their free week of regular classes.  As always, if you see a new face in class, extend a hand or give a high five — even thought they’ve been at it for five weeks, this might feel new again to them! To celebrate their ‘graduation’ we will do a partner WOD at 7:30pm Friday night, pairing up current “Fresh Start” athlete with a “Challenge Graduate” or Cove veteran.  It will be different from the day’s Partner WOD but will be a BLAST.  It will be at 7:30p on FRIDAY night followed by a potluck after.  Bring your favorite snack and/or wine/or beer/or whatever and let’s get after it!  Of course boys are welcome but you might be the minority 😉
 

HEALTHY SHOULDERS WITH CROSSOVER SYMMETRY

Ever wonder what those wrinkly bands are hanging behind the rig?  Where you guessing it was some new torturous device like the assault bike or those jumbo dumbbells that keep arriving?  NO!  This is all about health accessory work for your shoulders.

 

We put a ton of demand on our shoulders (whether it’s lifting a barbell overhead or carrying a suitcase through the airport) and keeping them healthy is incredibly important for life inside AND outside the ‘box’.   We often add mobility and skill sections to further hone the shoulder’s supporting muscles (think I’s, Y’s and T’s and banded pull aparts you might see in a WOD) but there is so much more we can do to keep them working optimally.  Here’s a quick video of how to use the bands to further promote that shoulder health and can be done easily in a few minutes before or after class.  Please try to add Crossover Symmetry to your regular routine here at the Cove. We promise it will make a world of difference!  And if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask!

 FRESH START PARTNER WOD
 
20 Minute AMRAP 60 Calorie Row Buy-in 50 Wall Balls 50 Double Unders 40 Box Jumps/Step Ups 40 Toes to Bar/Knees to Chest 30 Pull-Ups 30 Burpees 20 Cleans 20 Jerks 10 Thrusters 10 Snatches Fitness: 35# RX: 55# RX+: 75# One partner works at a time.  Try to use the same weight for all barbell movements!    
COVE PARTNER WOD
 
3 Min AMRAP For 24 minutes switch on and off every 3 minutes (pick up where your partner left off) 10 Power Cleans 10 Burpees over the Bar 10 Hanging Power Snatch 10 Step Ups   Fitness: 75/55 RX: 95/65 RX+: 115/75   Coach’s Tip: You should be able to get around two rounds in three minutes, so move fast and pick a barbell you can MOVE.  It is about performing three minute ‘sprint’ intervals (with equal amount of rest), so if you aren’t hitting a variety of movements each time you’re up, you’re not doing the workout as designed!  
You may have seen this incredible athlete in a few classes recently.  Arianna B. is in the Fresh Start program and crushing it!  We asked Simone to hop in as her partner for a Fresh Start WOD last week and they killed it.  Support the ladies for their final class Friday night at 7:30p.  Be like Simone. 

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2.9.17 Focus on the practice, not the outcome

2.9.17 Focus on the practice, not the outcome

As we continue down our gymnastics cycle,  remember that skill work, drills and laying the foundation is NOT for beginners.  Even the most elite athletes (Games level athletes) work on drills incessantly.   Here’s a post from Ben Beurgeron about practice that really resonated with us:  “Legitimate practice, he says, requires that you detach yourself from the results. “Focus on actually getting better, without worrying about the outcome.” This, he says, means that you have take a step back from your training. “I know you can do what you’re currently capable of,” he tells them. “If you want to get better, you have to take a step backwards, slow things down, and hammer the fundamentals”. _ The best example of this is the approach he’s used to improve @katrintanja’s muscle-ups. After Kat won the Games in 2015, she didn’t do a muscle-up in a workout for six months. They spent the first three months rebuilding her kip, which she would practice by doing kip swings in sets of 10. Over the following months they slowly started introducing muscle-ups back in her training. “We started with one at a time, then went to 2,” Ben tells me later. “Now we’re up to 7″.   Remember that eight weeks working on drills is small sacrifice when it comes to the big picture.  Focus on the skill work for the day, not the outcome.  

 ANNIVERSARY BASH LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY!
 
Many of you have asked: what do I wear?  Can I bring anything?  How can I help?  Hopefully this will give you some guidance and context! What should I wear?  Dress is definitely “festive”, but you’ll see a huge range in attire.  We transform the place into a ‘nightclub’ (or, rather, a very cheesy nightclub) so the ambiance will be very different than how you see it every day.  Our guidance would be to wear something you’d wear to a New Year’s party.  Not necessarily one you’ve bought tickets for at a ballroom, but more like a party at your boss’s house.  Women wore everything from party dresses to jeans and blouses, and men ranged from tuxes (yes, it was Chris Franey) to jeans and a button down.

What can I bring? We have domestic beer, wine (red and white) and will be serving a signature cocktail “The Cove Crush”.  If you have something specific you drink, feel free to bring it!!!  We will not be serving dinner, but will provide some really light snacks.  If you want to bring something (a tray of cookies, veggies or some finger foods, you are MORE than welcome to do so!).  We don’t want to be washing dishes all night, so anything you can pick up with your hands or with a napkin is great.  We will also be asking for people to bring coolers as we will need places to keep all that beer and wine chilled!

How can I help?  As always, we are amazed at how generous this community is and how willing people are to just pitch in.  There are three ways you can help us make this party a huge success:

  1. We will have a few volunteers that will help us with ‘party maintenance’ oversight.  They will be tasked at doing a once over of tables to rid empty bottles, restocking coolers, refilling snack bowls, etc.  You might be asked by one of them to help change out a garbage or refill a toilet paper roll, so if you agree to do that, you’re already helping more than you know!
  2. Bring what you like.  See above for what we’ll have, but if something specific will make you enjoy the party more, just bring it!  We want you to have what you love, but can’t provide everything for everyone.
  3. Have fun.  NOTHING is more important to us than you having a great time.  We’ll have a DJ, a photo booth and we’ll be doing a brief ‘awards’ ceremony.  Embrace the cheese.  Catch up with your fellow athletes, and meet some new ones.  And, as always, what happens at the Cove, stays at the Cove.
 
SKILL WOD
  MU- 5 slow banded ring traces  + Max Ring to Chest pull ups (no kip, hold a hollow position during the pull up) Pull Ups- 5 Strict Pull ups + 3 chin over bar holds (jump up for the chin over bar hold and hold between 7-10 seconds, slowly lower after each one) Toes to Bar- 7 Straight Leg Kips + Max time in L sit (hanging from pull up bar) 4 Rounds  
WOD
  15 Back Squats 15 Push Ups 15 KB Sumo Deadlift High Pulls 4 Rounds   Fitness: 95/65 RX: 115/75 RX+: 135/95   Tim cap: 12 minutes  
Coach’s Tip: If you do not feel comfortable lowering the weight on your back, please use a rack for the back squats.  For the push ups, we would much rather see 10 QUALITY push ups instead of grinding through 15 bad ones.  Keep a steady pace here and focus on good movement instead of fighting the clock for a fast time.  
Selin A. dialed in with great positioning for her Snatch …

 

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