GOOD LUCK TO OUR COVE ATHLETES AT THE BATTLE OF BALTIMORE!
Looking for something to do this weekend? Come watch your fellow Cove Athletes compete at the BATTLE OF BALTIMORE at CrossFit Federal Hill! Our very own WODFather, Geo Rockwell, has planned some spicy and challenging WODS for all of the athletes and it should be a great day! It is a three man (or woman) team format and we have EIGHTEEN athletes competing in both the scaled and RX divisions! Three workouts and three mini “floater” WODs to complete the day. Make sure to wish the following teams luck:Maria A/Lyndsey C/Christen V – Women’s RXLiz B/Angela D/Brianna S – Women’s ScaledAllie B/Julie J/Katie R – Women’s ScaledJohn C/Holden H/Josh H – Men’s RXCharles W/Steve M/Mike C – Men’s RXKyle M/Willam S/Scott W – Men’s Scaled
There is likely a nominal charge at the door and all are welcome. Come and show your support! And if you can’t come, send those good Cove vibes our way and follow our progress on the Cove Club FB page!
STRENGTH WOD
10 Scap Push ups
15 Banded Pull A parts
1 Minute of Overhead Bench Stretch (DEMO HERE)
3 Rounds
WOD
1 min of Rowing
1 min of Sit Ups
1 min of KB Swings
4 Rounds
Fx: 35/26
RX: 53/35
RX+: 70/53
Coach’s Tip:Approach this as you would “Fight Gone Bad” or any WOD where quick transitions matter. You don’t want to ‘gamify’ the workout just to get a good score (we want you to do your best at EACH station) but if you are slower on the rower (as an example), you might want to unstrap yourself a few seconds early so you are ready to go on the ab mat at the top of the next minute! This is a sprint workout, so go hard in those three minutes!
GOOD LUCK TO OUR COVE ATHLETES AT THE BATTLE OF BALTIMORE!
Looking for something to do this weekend? Come watch your fellow Cove Athletes compete at the BATTLE OF BALTIMORE at CrossFit Federal Hill! Our very own WODFather, Geo Rockwell, has planned some spicy and challenging WODS for all of the athletes and it should be a great day! It is a three man (or woman) team format and we have EIGHTEEN athletes competing in both the scaled and RX divisions! Three workouts and three mini “floater” WODs to complete the day. Make sure to wish the following teams luck:Maria A/Lyndsey C/Christen V – Women’s RXLiz B/Angela D/Brianna S – Women’s ScaledSimone N/Julie J/Katie R – Women’s ScaledJohn C/Holden H/Josh H – Men’s RXCharles W/Steve M/Mike C – Men’s RXKyle M/Willam S/Scott W – Men’s Scaled
There is likely a nominal charge at the door and all are welcome. Come and show your support! And if you can’t come, send those good Cove vibes our way and follow our progress on the Cove Club FB page!
FRESH START STRENGTH WOD
Overhead Squat
Work up to a heavy 3-Rep set
WOD
10 Min AMRAP10 OHS30 Double Unders (or 60 Singles)10 min AMRAPAdd one OHS rep every round. Score = total number of OHS.Fitness: 45/35RX: 75/55RX+: 95/65If you are proficient on the rope, you should hit a high number of Overhead Squats by the end of this METCON. If the coach sees you drifting into a bad position, they WILL ask you to drop the bar! The way the workout works is Round 1 will be 10 OHS and 30 DUs (or 60 singles). Round 2 would be 11 OHS and 30 DUs (or 60 singles). Then 12/30, 13/30, etc. etc. until 10 minutes runs out!
COVE PARTNER WOD
50 Burpees
100 Deadlifts
500 M Farmers Carry (must be completed in 50 M Segments)
100 Jumping Lunges
50 Burpees
-For Time-
Fitness: 185/125, 35/26
RX: 215/135, 53/35
RX+:225/155, 70/53
Coach’s Tip:Divide work up however you want. As always, never go to failure on any movement as moderate sets should be enough to let you recover while your partner works. Good positioning is key on the farmer’s carries; do NOT sacrifice form for speed!
A throwback to last year’s Battle of Baltimore… podium!
So far we have 18 athletes registered, so let’s get going people! For context, last year we had over 60 people sign up! 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.
Here’s why you MUST SIGN UP NOW!:
Top Ten Reasons to Do the CrossFit Open
1. There will be lots of “firsts” here at the Cove. It may be your first time doing a competition or getting judged on your reps; or maybe you lift something or do a movement you didn’t think possible for the first time. Anything is possible at the Open.
2. You push hard in your workouts but it’s nothing like an Open workout with everyone around you cheering. The energy is electric.
3. The Open is a world-wide competition. It’s something you can share with your friends and family that compete at another box and you can see how you stack up to the WORLD, not just our WhiteBoard.
4. It’s a chance for you to meet the rest of the gym. Who are those crazy people that wake up for the 5:30 AM class? What about the nooners and guy or gal you always chase on the WhiteBoard.
5. There is a scaled division, you don’t don’t need to be “elite” to participate. You can do it even if you are just starting in the CrossFit world.
6. Trash talk -it’s not just for basketball (says Coach Brian).
7. You will learn what you are good at and bad at – you might struggle with Workout 1 with deadlifts but kill Workout 2 with burpees. Who knew you were a ninja at burpees!?
8. It will challenge you and challenges are good.
9. When you watch/judge another member you will learn more than you thought about what good movement looks like.
10. You will be inspired by others and you might inspire someone else.
Just so everyone is aware, there is a $20 charge for doing the Open that goes to CrossFit HQ. It’s annoying but well worth it. Every bit of global data is tracked and you can sort your scores with a variety of filters. It’s ADDICTING! Again, we are aiming for 100 percent participation for this event. The more people involved the greater the experience is!
Sign up at THE CROSSFIT GAMES. The link to register is right below the main page photo!
SKILL WOD
MU- 5 Slow-banded ring trace (keep rings in super tight and close to the body) + Max Ring Dips
Pull Ups- 5 Strict Tempo Pull Ups (explode to the top then slowly lower) + Max Bent over barbell row (pick a load you can do 10+ reps with every time)
Toes to Bar- 7 Kipping knees to stomach (keep feet and knees together the whole time) + Max time in hollow rock position)
COVE WOD
10 Min AMRAP10 OHS30 Double Unders10 min AMRAPAdd one OHS rep every round. Score = total number of OHS.Fitness: 45/35RX: 75/55RX+: 95/65Coach’s Tip:If you are proficient on the rope, you should hit a high number of Overhead Squats by the end of this METCON. If the coach sees you drifting into a bad position, they WILL ask you to drop the bar! The way the workout works is Round 1 will be 10 OHS and 30 DUs (or 60 singles). Round 2 would be 11 OHS and 30 DUs (or 60 singles). Then 12/30, 13/30, etc. etc. until 10 minutes runs out!
Chelsea looks like she’s actually enjoying those burpees!
Today we celebrate Katie D, a hard working single mom of two young boys who seems to have found a way to ‘do it all’. While she works nearby, she resides in Frederick and often travels 40 minutes to make it in on the weekends too. No only does she keep a consistent schedule, she gives the men of the “nooner class” a run for their money (often times she’s the only female in a testosterone-laden class). In addition to keeping many balls in the air, she also had an injury that she successful worked through WHILE making huge gains in her strength and overall fitness. She embodies everything we seek in an athlete and we feel lucky she picked us. We asked her what CrossFit does for her, why she chose the Cove and what she plans to tackle in 2017…
“Simply put, I love CrossFit. With a busy life as a Mom of two boys, a full time (sometimes more than full time) job, and a commute…I NEED CrossFit! I love that there is no “thinking” involved with your daily workout. Just show up, listen to the coach, and work hard. I always tell myself… ‘it’s only XX minutes.” CrossFit has given me results, both physically and mentally, that I didn’t know were possible. Physically I have never been this lean (there is still work to be done here) and strong. Mentally, CrossFit gives me a nice break from…life. There is also such a high when you finish a workout (even more so when you get to click the blue Rx circle) and I never forget the feeling when you do something for the first time. I remember calling my sister after my first rope climb. It is such an incredible feeling that you get to own! I also love that I can do the monkey bars with my kids on the playground! I am sure I look a little silly but who cares – I am proud of myself!
I spent a few years at another box and while I have nothing negative to say about them, there is certainly something different about the Cove. Something so different that I often drive the 40 minutes to come on a Saturday or Sunday! The class structure and programming are different than what I experienced. I like that the class is always kept within the hour. The Fx, Rx, and Rx+ was new to me which I also really like. It helped me benchmark where I was and where I wanted to be. Last but not least, the coaches at the Cove are wonderful! I like that they take the time to discuss the workout as a group and often individually which has helped me tremendously. I’ve told Holden and Maria but for the other coaches (and members), keep pushing/encouraging me. I like the challenge!
Oh – one last thing. I LOVE that you keep the floor clean Marina! I am a neat freak too!
A few months after joining the Cove I started experiencing shoulder pain. I had been playing golf and most likely carrying my 40 lb. 3 year old improperly. Regardless, I was determined to re-hab it while continuing at the Cove (which my doctor supported). I figured there were so many other parts of my body I could work out while taking it easy on my shoulder and I didn’t want to fall too far from the progress I had made so quickly. This is another area where I have to give recognition to the coaches. I was impressed at how they communicated amongst each other. I would occasionally go to a 6:30 am or evening class where I didn’t know the coach as well but they seemed to remember or know I was going to need a modification and I really appreciated that they were ready with suggestions. The noon coaches were also great. There were days they had to completely modify the program for me but it kept me motivated and I always left the class feeling good about my lower-body workout (luckily I like walking lunges)! Working with the coaches, I slowly introduced shoulder exercises and I would say I am very close to being back at 100%!
I have so many goals for 2017… I signed up for my first sprint triathlon which I am very excited about. In the gym, I really want to achieve unbroken double unders, strict pull ups, push-ups, hand stand push-ups and really any of the body weight/gymnastics stuff. Maybe a bar muscle up by the end of the year! I am very excited for fitness in 2017. I would also love to do a CrossFit competition (and win)!
FRESH START STRENGTH WOD
Coach Stretch
Band Pull Aparts
5 Squat Therapy Squats
3 Rounds
WOD
50 Burpees
50 Pull Ups (teach J-Hooks)
50 Sit Ups
50 Wall Balls
50 Swings
COVE STRENGTH WOD
Push Press 3/3/3/3/3
Bottom up KB Carry after each set 25 M right arm/25 M left Arm
COVE WOD
1 Rope Climb
10 Slam Balls
1 Cove Suicide
10 Burpees
6 Rounds
21 Minute Time Cap
Coach’s Tip:This what we would call an ‘engine’ WOD. It’s a longer time domain that requires quick transitions, but also needs heart rate control before you get to the rope. Pick a solid pace on the burpees you can maintain for each round. While it’s 60 total reps, it’s really just quick sets of 10! Just keep moving…
3 Squat Cleans12 Sit ups5 RoundsRest 5 minutes4 Power Cleans12 Box Jumps5 RoundsRest 5 minutes5 Hanging Power Cleans12 Wall Balls5 RoundsFitness: 95/65RX: 155/105RX+: 165/110Coach’s Tip: The loading on the barbell should be moderate to heavy. With the rest, this should not take longer than 30 minutes. Think of it as three mini-METCONS and go all out on each!
A huge thanks to all the amazing women who came to the 2nd Annual Babes Barbells and Brunch event on Saturday. It was so great to see so many strong women tackle such challenging WODs… AND having fun doing it! The energy was awesome, the food was incredible and the company even more so. And a special thanks to Katie R. for putting this all together!
GYMNASTICS ACCESSORY WORK
Today we’ll continue to work on our gymnastics cycle, but if you are ever looking for other ways to build that pulling strength (which translates really well for both the pull up and the MU progression) here is a quick video on developing strength and mobility for deep pulling strength. For those that struggled with jumping chest-to-bar pull ups in the Open last year will also find this drill may help you get your first.
FRESH START STRENGTH
Work up to a heavy 3-rep Jerk
FRESH START WOD
20 Cal Row10 Jerks15 Cal Row7 Jerks10 Cal Row5 Jerks
Time Cap: 12 Minute Time Cap
COVE STRENGTH WOD
EMOM for 8 minutes: MU- 3 Muscle ups or 5 Turnovers with feet on the ground into 5 dipsPull Ups- 5-7 Kipping Pull ups or 5 NegativesToes to Bar -5-7 Toes to Bar or 7 Straight leg kipsWOD
15 KB Swings12 Push Ups9 Power Snatch9 min AMRAPFitness: 75/55 (25/26)RX and RX+: 95/65 (53/35)
Coach’s Tip:Just because you can snatch 95/65 does not mean you should. This is meant to be a FAST and spicy METCON, so the snatches should be unbroken for at least the first two or three rounds.
Babes and Barbells organizer Katie R. looking fit and fierce during double “Grace”…
A reminder that the New Year Nutrition Challenge potluck has been rescheduled as so many people were out of town or unavailable! BUT Brittany will be at the gym for Q&A and to answer questions and give mid-way advice!
A huge thanks to all the ladies who came out to the 2nd Annual Babes Barbells and Brunch!
We’re on for regular open gym tomorrow so come on in and make up a missed WOD, mobilize or work on some skills!
NO 11AM CLASS SATURDAY! BABES AND BARBELLS STARTS AT 11A!
For those of you coming to the Babes Barbells and Brunch, we are so excited for an amazing day. Don’t forget to bring what you signed up for… or if you didn’t sign up, no worries! Just bring something to share. As a reminder, this is a ladies’ only event starting at 11am, so there will be NO regular 11a class. Sorry fellas!
The workout will be “Girls on Girls“! We will be doing ten minutes of THREE “Girl” benchmark WODs in teams of two. We’ll be tackling “Cindy”, (Double) “Grace” and “Jenny”.
“Jenny”. is one of two female Hero WODs and we are privileged to honor her in such a unique way. The WOD is named after U.S. Army Capt. Jennifer M. Moreno, of San Diego, California, who died Oct. 6, 2013, in Zhari District, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked her unit with an improvised explosive device. The 25-year-old was assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Moreno is survived by her mother, Marie V. Cordero; sisters, Jearaldy Moreno and Yaritza Cordova; and brother, Ivan F. Moreno.
Here’s how the day will work. At 11am we’ll get warmed up and review each moment for the three workouts. We will partner up in teams of two, with your partner ideally someone who will be able to share a barbell with you (meaning, you lift comparable loads). NO worries if you don’t have a partner or are unsure of the weight you will use… we will figure ALL of that out! We will then split the partners into one of three groups. This will be the group you ‘rotate’ with from one workout to the next.
Group One: Starts on “Cindy”, moves to “Jenny” then to “Grace”
Group Two: Starts on “Jenny” then moves to “Grace” then to “Cindy”
Group Three Starts on “Grace” then moves to “Cindy” then to “Jenny”
We will do each workout with a 10 minute time cap, so technically we will be doing “half Cindy” and “half Jenny”. We should be able to hit Double “Grace” within the 10 minute cap, so if you finish early, you get more rest time. We will have FOUR MINUTES of rest between each station so you can set up any scales you need and adjust any barbell weights for the next rotation. Total running time for the WODs will be 38 minutes:
0-10:00 WOD 1
10:00-14:00 REST
14:00 – 24:00 WOD 2
24:00 – 28:00 REST
28:00 – 38:00 WOD 3
We should have plenty of room for all the teams at each ‘station’, but we are expecting a large crowd. That means you might not get your favorite bar on the rig and you might have to share it (so no boxes right underneath the bar; keep them to the side to make room for others). This is a day about FUN above else, so worry less about the clock and more about enjoying the day.
Half “Jenny”:
10 Minute AMRAP of the following:
20 Overhead Squats (35 lb bar)
20 Back Squats (35 lb bar)
400 Meter Run (run will be a 200M done as a team to get to the 400)
**one partner works while the other rests (except for the run which is done together)**
Half “Cindy”:
10 Minute AMRAP of the following:
5 Pull Ups
10 Push Ups
15 Air Squat
**one partner works while the other rests**
Double “Grace”:
10 Minutes to Complete:
60 Clean and Jerks (as a team)
**one partner works while the other rests**
SKILL WOD
Every 2 minutes for 6 minutes:10 Thrusters (Increase the load for each round, just 3 sets. Your first set should be a ‘working weight’, not a warm up weight)
COACH’S TIP: The thrusters should be a good warmup for the WOD, but let’s get in some shoulder mobility if you finish your set of 10 with lots of time left on the clock. Find a weight you can move in big sets initially and use a HSPU scale that allows you to hit sets of five at a minimum! We don’t want you failing at the wall and destroying your shoulders.
Some throwback shots from the First Annual Babes, Barbells and Brunch (oh, and our bartender Phil)!
We are super excited by the progress we are seeing from everyone with our gymnastic cycle and we hope you are as well. We are about to hit the mid-way point of the cycle and given what we’ve seen so far, we have decided to make a slight change in the muscle up group.
We initially began the cycle with the intention of building to “bar muscle up” capacity. Over the first few weeks we were purposely working on ring pulling strength, knowing that it would translate to both ring and bar muscle ups. And to start we thought keeping the focus on bar muscle ups allowed us to keep the classes together at the rig. But after seeing the athletes who chose the muscle up cycle (and the fact that many of them have bar muscle ups), we have decided to focus more on developing ring muscle ups. We also spoke to several athletes and they agreed they would get more out of it if we shifted focus more to the rings. If getting that first bar muscle up was what you had your heart set on, continue to follow this strength programing! But we know many of you are dreaming of being over the rings or linking more muscle ups together and we know this work will result in many victories in the coming weeks!
FRESH START CHALLENGE
We are blown away by the progress of this group and cannot believe we are just two weeks in. We know some of you came in and saw the ‘regular’ classes and thought to yourself “there’s no way I’ll be able to do that”. But guess what? You CAN. In fact, you ARE.
Today’s workout is the EXACT SAME workout that your fellow Cove athletes will tackle Friday. We’ve told you time and time again that you are doing versions of what they are doing, but it didn’t seem to be believable to some of you. So, we figure we might have to prove it to you.
What this means…
You’re still on a learning path, but you’ve got a ton of knowledge already. Not only does this mean we’ll all do the same workout today, it means if you can’t make a class moving forward, you SHOULD COME TO A REGULAR CLASS on a day you can. We want you to do three workouts per week, but if your body can take more, then COME ON IN!
The coaches will support you and find any appropriate scales and you’ll be amazed at the support that will come from the rest of the class. And if you’re not comfortable, just post on our Fresh Start FB page that you’re hitting a class and we’ll guarantee you someone will try to be there so you have a partner in crime. Welcome to the big time ladies!
PARNTER WOD
9 KB Swings7 Hanging Power Clean5 Slam Balls10 Rounds Total (1 person completes a full round then switch)Rest 2 minutes500 M Sprint on the Rower (1 partner goes then the next partner goes)Rest 2 minutes from the last partner off the rower9 KB Swings7 Hanging Power Cleans5 Slam Balls10 Rounds Total
COACH’S TIP: There is a lot of rest baked in here (two minutes between rounds AND when your partner is working) so when it’s your turn GET AFTER IT!. All of the reps in each movements should be unbroken, so if you can’t string 9 swings or 7 cleans together, go lighter. If you find that this is still too much volume or you are feeling very fatigued after the first few rounds, feel free to drop the reps to 7, 5 and 3.
Tis the season! The CrossFit Open starts on FEBRUARY 23rd! 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.
Here’s why you MUST SIGN UP NOW!:
Top Ten Reasons to Do the CrossFit Open
1. There will be lots of “firsts” here at the Cove. It may be your first time doing a competition or getting judged on your reps; or maybe you lift something or do a movement you didn’t think possible for the first time. Anything is possible at the Open.
2. You push hard in your workouts but it’s nothing like an Open workout with everyone around you cheering. The energy is electric.
3. The Open is a world-wide competition. It’s something you can share with your friends and family that compete at another box and you can see how you stack up to the WORLD, not just our WhiteBoard.
4. It’s a chance for you to meet the rest of the gym. Who are those crazy people that wake up for the 5:30 AM class? What about the nooners and guy or gal you always chase on the WhiteBoard.
5. There is a scaled division, you don’t don’t need to be “elite” to participate. You can do it even if you are just starting in the CrossFit world.
6. Trash talk -it’s not just for basketball (says Coach Brian).
7. You will learn what you are good at and bad at – you might struggle with Workout 1 with deadlifts but kill Workout 2 with burpees. Who knew you were a ninja at burpees!?
8. It will challenge you and challenges are good.
9. When you watch/judge another member you will learn more than you thought about what good movement looks like.
10. You will be inspired by others and you might inspire someone else.
Just so everyone is aware, there is a $20 charge for doing the Open that goes to CrossFit HQ. It’s annoying but well worth it. Every bit of global data is tracked and you can sort your scores with a variety of filters. It’s ADDICTING! Again, we are aiming for 100 percent participation for this event. The more people involved the greater the experience is!
Sign up at THE CROSSFIT GAMES. The link to register is right below the main page photo!
STRENGTH WOD
MU- 5 Slow banded ring trace (Keeps ring in super tight and close to the body) + Max Ring Dips
Pull Ups- 5 Strict Tempo Pull Ups explode to the top then slowly lower + Max Banded Pull Downs (put a pvc pipe through a band sit on the ground and pull down and up at a fast pace, pvc pipe to chest every time)
Toes to Bar- 7 Kipping knees to stomach (keep feet and knees together the whole time) + Max time in hollow rock position)
COVE WOD
13 Min AMRAP10 Burpee Pull Ups30 Wall Balls____ Double UndersFitness: 30RX: 40RX+: 50Coach’s Tip:This workout is all about pacing. 13 minutes is a fairly long time domain for continuous work, so if you come out of the gates to fast, you will fall off the cliff early. Try to just keep moving and break up the wall balls into at least sets of 10! If you don’t have pull ups
