A reminder that partners WODs are back every Friday AND we have sitter coverage for the 5:30pm class. Bring a friend, make a friend or make it a date night!
PARTNER WOD
150 Wall Balls (partner must hold a low plank) 100 Burpees (partner rests) 50 Pull ups (partner must hold the bottom of a squat)Complete as a team, score = time.
WOD8 Deadlifts50 M Cove Sprint 6 RoundsFitness: 185/115RX: 205/135RX+: 225/155
COACH’S TIP: The sprint should be a SPRINT, not a recovery run. Your first few steps might wonky, but power through and focus on speed back to the bar.
Mike T and Julie J. were forces at the Open. Not just as competitors, but they both spent so much time and energy on the rest of us. From judging countless rounds to capturing everything on film, they were the quite the Open duo!
HERE’S ONE FOR A GOOD CAUSE — AND IT’S HERE AT THE COVE!
We’d like to take a minute to tell you about an upcoming charity competition, CF4CF – Competitive Fitness for Cystic Fibrosis. This is a local 501c3 started by CrossFitters a lot like you. The only difference is, one of them has Cystic Fibrosis. CF is a terminal genetic lung disease which causes persistent lung infections and progressively limits the ability to breathe affecting 30,000 people in the United States. Most are not expected to live past 40, which is a huge improvement. In the 80’s the median CF patient’s lifespan was 20 years. Can you imagine doing our WODs everyday with only 30-50% lung capacity? That’s what people likeMegan Laufferand Zack DeBaltzo are doing every time they step in the box. You can read more about them by clicking on their names.
On Saturday, May 7th CF4CF is hosting its 3rd Annual CF4CF Competition. It is for 2 person teams (MM, MF, or FF) in 2 divisions (Scaled or RX). The cost is $190 and ALL PROCEEDS benefit Cystic Fibrosis Research and Grants right here in Maryland. The $190 gets you and your partners t-shirts and swag bags. There will be 3 WODs plus a final for the top 5 teams. Registration is open until Monday, April 18th onlineHERE(http://www.cf4cfinc.org/cf4cf-md-2016-registration.html). If you have any questions, let us know. Hopefully we’ll see some of you out there!For more information on Cystic Fibrosis, clickHEREFor more information on CF4CF, clickHERE
SKILL WOD
12 min EMOMEven: 6-10 Handstand push upsOdd: 6-10 Toes to bar
WODEvery two minutes for 12 minutes15 KB SwingsMax Cals on the RowerFitness 35/26RX 53/35RX+ 70/53
COACH’S TIP: The goal here is to go unbroken on the KB Swings and sprint on the rower. Your score is total cals. Notice there is no rest between rounds today. Plan accordingly, but avoid dogging it by stopping 30 seconds early on the rower. Your goal is increased work capacity not the top score on WODify.
Selin finding a great set up position and laser focused on her cleans…
It was great to see everyone have some fun setting a new 1 RM Split Jerk. While we know there’s something nice about that yellow badge next to your name on the WhiteBoard, in our minds there were PR badges for ALL! Sure, we saw great gains from a lot of athletes, but in our minds real gains shone through in how you moved (the technique) and how comfortable you became in an uncomfortable position!
In terms of numbers, we saw some big gains, but equally exciting, we saw some (technically “smaller” but equally hard to accomplish) gains from some experienced athletes. For some of the athletes newer to CrossFit, the fact that you are getting stronger “overall” will naturally increase your lifts. Take Christen V. for example. She’s an amazing athlete, but new to many of these lifts. She comes regularly, works on her technique and saw a 40lb gain! That may not be normal, but clearly she made it happen! But for experienced CFers, a 5lb gain is a very big deal. Lindsay B. is a great example here. Breaking a heavy threshold to add even 5 more pounds is quite an accomplishment when you’ve been CrossFitting for years (or beyond the CF “honeymoon” period where everyday is PR day!). So let’s celebrate ALL gains as they mean something different to every one of us!
And for any of those frustrated by the whole PR thing, just a few parting thoughts:
1. Sometimes you have to ‘undo’ years of training improperly and that means taking a few steps back before you make giant leaps forward. So getting lower in the lunge, keeping that back toe in and pressing from the rack position might all be new to you. And awkward. Only repetition and time will get you comfortable enough to retrain your body to move and some people just need that extra time. So we guarantee, that if you are one of these people, you may have actually lifted less, but you likely looked MUCH better doing it! Form first and the weight will come. Promise.
2. They require you to come often enough to get the benefit of the programming. Everyone has hectic schedules (and we totally understand) but trying to make it for skill work making up strength days during Open Gym will go a long way. Consistency is king!
3. Even though you may have hit the training cycle spot on, sometimes you just have an ‘off day’. Don’t let this bring you down if you think you could have done more. Give it a week or two and try again. Sometimes you’re sore from the prior day, had a long day at work (or a long night up with kids) and it’s just not ‘your day’. No worries! There’s always another try.
Yesterday we mentioned we’ve been playing with mixing up the order of our strength and skill lately — and that a few other shifts are coming in the next weeks. Yesterday was a great example as we had the majority of class focused on a single lift and an untimed METCON. Today we are ALL metcon!
WOD
40 Seconds on 20 Seconds OffFront SquatBurpeeBox JumpsPower Clean5 RoundsFitness: 95/65RX: 115/75RX+: 135/9540 seconds on Front Squats then 20 seconds rest, then 40 seconds on Burpees then 20 seconds rest, then 40 seconds on box jumps then 20 seconds rest….Score = total reps
COACH’S TIP: It is always the ones that look easy on paper that are actually the hardest. 20 Minutes of work today. Barbell work, conditioning and gymnastics all at play. The focus here is to work for the whole 40 seconds. Your burpees can be slow, but do not stop moving.
You may have noticed we’ve been playing with mixing up the order of our strength and skill lately — and you should notice a few other shifts in the coming weeks. We all want to get in a great workout, but we don’t want to lose our focus on continually refining technique and movement patterns.
Often times we cover a LOT in class and we think it’s important to take the time to really dial in on the coaching for certain elements of our training. As you all develop and progress (which you have!) nuance becomes REALLY important. Not that the basics are not (as we are all at different levels) but we feel the extra time and attention to detail will pay off in spades for every single athlete at the Cove. So, some days you will see more time spent on the strength or skill (and maybe a shorter WOD). And some days we will be laser focused on the WOD (so we can really nail the movements and not just ‘gut it out’).
Today is a great example of this. Our sole focus today is on our 1 RM Split Jerk. Everyone will get a solid warm up and take the time to use the skill and technique work you have learned over the past 6 weeks to hit a new PR. Then we will have an “un-scored” WOD designed to focus less on the clock and more on finding a workload and volume appropriate for YOU. And as always with one rep max days, don’t put too much pressure on yourself! Even if the numbers don’t go up, we can pretty much guarantee you look much better executing that split jerk than you did a few weeks ago. And the weight will follow… we promise.
STRENGTH WOD
Take 20 minutes to find a new One Rep Max Split Jerk
Take at LEAST 90 seconds to two minutes of rest before you hit your final two or three attempts. Do NOT rush this! That should leave you with a least 6 minutes on the clock to try to get after those last really heavy lifts.
WOD
14 Min EMOMEven: 8 Push PressOdd: 40 Double Unders
COACH’S TIP: There will be no score and no “official” weights for the EMOM. Use it as a time to practice and not worry about the score board. We can scale your doubles accordingly (even if you only have a handful, we’d rather you take that minute and practice) and athletes should pick a weight they can do all eight push presses unbroken.
Coach Mike warming up the evening class for some heavy squat cleans…
Come on in and hit Open Gym! We’ll be here from 9a to Noon and hope to see many of you then. ROMWOD will be available in the back room per usual or come in and make up a missed WOD or work on some skills!
STRENGTH WODDeadlift 5/5/5/3/3WOD5 Deadlifts10 Push ups5 min AMRAPRest 3 minutes5 Deadlift25 Double Unders5 min AMRAPFitness: 185/125RX: 225/155RX+: 225/155 (Clapping push ups, unbroken doubles)Coach’s Tip:There’s a three minute break in between so go all out during the five minute intervals. The weight should be something you can move unbroken for at least the first few rounds. And use the strength portion to help guide you to select the appropriate weight. Remember, the prescribed weights above are just guidances. Pick something in between if that’s best for you.
Myrissa and Coach Chris feeling the love on their final push of 16.4…
Now that the Open is over, we’ll be getting back to our regular Friday Partner WODs. So, grab a buddy or make a new friend and come on in for a great workout.
And for those of you who didn’t get enough thruster practice last week… here’s your chance to do it again!
PARNTER WODS ARE BACK!
1 Mile Run together as a team
100 Thrusters
100 Pull Ups
100 Burpees
100 Swings
1000 Double Unders
1000 Meter Row
April Fool’s! We are crazy, but not THAT crazy…
PARTNER WOD(its baaaaaack!)10 Thrusters – 1 Cove Suicide9 Thrusters – 1 Cove Suicide87654321Partner Completes full round then tags in partner to do the same round. 10 then 10, 9 then 9. Time is called when the second partner does 1 Thruster and one Cove suicide. This is a “sprint/rest” interval workout so go hard when you’re up!Fitness: 95/65RX: 115/75RX+: 135/95Coach’s Tip:Focus today is on body position in the thruster. Good solid front squat with elbows up into an explosive push press with a strong finish position.
Bobby and the Cummings men doing what they do best… lifting heavy things and putting them back down.
Another round of Free CrossFit 101 Classes will be starting next week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 PM. If you have someone that might be interested in attending please have them email us at info@CrossFitCove.com. We also want everyone to know that if you would like to review some of the fundamentals of CrossFit you are always welcome to attend any of the classes. Monday we work on squats and presses, Wednesday deadlifts and cleans, and Thursday we finish with snatches and pull ups.
STRENGTH WOD
Split Jerk 5/5/5/5/5(go at 60-70% of 1 RM — we will re-test on Monday! Consider this the de-load portion of the cycle)WOD21-15-12-9KB SwingBurpeesToes to BarFitness: 35/26RX: 53/35RX+: 70/53Coach’s Tip:Use the practice you had on Tuesday for the T2B to help with the WOD today. Your goal should be to go unbroken on the KB Swings.
Rikki did her first 20″ box jump… and then proceeded to do a LOT more in the workout that followed. AWESOME!
We love to celebrate the victories here at the Cove (both big and small) and today we shine a light on Alyissa W.
Alyissa is the best kind of goal-setter there is. She sets achievable goals, that with work and some time, can be done. Several months ago Alyissa had the goal of getting pull ups and was excited when we started our most recent pull up cycle. She was focused for every skill/strength section, let go of the band in favor of J-Hooks and took extra time before and after class to work on strength and the kipping skill.
Three weeks ago Alyissa got her first pull up… and has since then did her first pull up workout (which had 30 in the workout!). Her dedication to refining the movement continues and she still practices before and after class. And with all the kipping practice, core stability and shoulder flexibility she developed, she also has conquered toes-to-bar. A nice little side effect of all that work!
Oh, and one other small note. She did all of this while growing a person inside of her. Yep, she’s pregnant!
CROSSFIT 101 CLASSES NEXT WEEK
Another round of Free CrossFit 101 Classes will be starting next week on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 PM. If you have someone that might be interested in attending please have them email us at info@CrossFitCove.com. We also want everyone to know that if you would like to review some of the fundamentals of CrossFit you are always welcome to attend any of the classes. Monday we work on squats and presses, Wednesday deadlifts and cleans, and Thursday we finish with snatches and pull ups.
WOD
15 Pull ups20 Box Jumps25 Air Squats400 M Run3 RoundsSKILL WOD
Skill WOD20 Hip Extensions20 Banded Good mornings20 Second Plank
COACH’S TIP: Skill WOD is second today to switch up the stimulus a little. For the WOD focus on good clean movement. There is testing and there is training. During training you focus on form, range of motion and quality of movement. 90% should be training. Think of a football team. They practice, practice, practice, to play a few hours on Sunday. Then do it again. Everyday is not a test of your fitness, everyday is practice.
Brendan’s a regular 5:30am guy and Hallie’s a 9:30 gal. This husband/wife duo may not cross time zones in the box, but love watching them come together for 16.4!
