Some people have asked if there is still Open Gym at 4:30 on days we run 4:30p classes (currently Mondays and Fridays). The answer is YES! Come on in and do your thing. We only ask that you try to stay clear of the class in action and use your phone if you need a timer for a WOD (so the coaches can use the main timer clock). This is true of ANY class, for that matter. You are ALWAYS welcome to come in and work on your skills as long as it isn’t disruptive to the rest of the athletes!
Today we continue our journey to perfect the Squat Clean. Work on that speed under the bar and make sure that bar path is straight up and down — you don’t want to be chasing the bar or letting it topple you over on your backside (although it likely WILL happen!)
STRENGTH WOD
Hanging Squat Cleans
3-3-3 (all three reps in each set should be unbroken)
Squat Cleans
3-3-3 (all reps should be singles)
WOD
3 Power Cleans
15 WallBalls
6 Power Cleans
15 WallBalls
9 Power Cleans
15 WallBalls
12 Power Cleans
15 WallBalls
15 Power Cleans
15 WallBalls
Fitness 14/10 (95/65)
RX 20/14 (135/95)
RX+ (20/14) (155/105)
12 Min Cap (this should be a sprint!)
Some good old bonding between workouts at Outsiders CrossFit. Looking forward to Adventure Park this weekend! Let us know if you haven’t signed up and want to go!
If you have been going to the Cove for a while you might be sick and tired of the same old stretches.
Perfect Lunge? Pigeon? Air Squats? Come on, give me some variety!
We get understand how you might feel, but these stretches and movements are so important that they HAVE TO BE DONE on a regular basis. As a box overall, our athletes struggle with hip and ankle mobility. This is mostly done from how we live our modern lives with desk jobs and countless hours of inactivity. These stretches up of the hip flexors and allow us to get into better positions, not just in the gym, but in life.
We have seen tremendous growth in the strength numbers in the community, but we need to recognize that all of these mobility drills were a key part driving that growth. By enabling our bodies to get into better positions we are stronger, more efficient, and most importantly — moving safely.
So next time a coach yells “push into a pike” realize that simply opening those ankles will make you a better mover and get more out of your workout.
STRENGTH WOD
10-20 Second L Hold on Pull up Bar
6 Bird Dog Holds (3 each side; hold for 5 seconds each leg)
Great work yesterday on the Squat Cleans. Getting below the bar quickly is challenging, but in the long run will DRASTICALLY improve your overall strength and the loads you can lift.
We talk a lot about scaling here at the Cove. Scaling is NOT something you should be embarrassed by, rather, it is something we should ALL EMBRACE. The most common way to scale is by weight/loads (and, in fact, our programming of Fitness, RX and + is demonstrative of that), but many times the best way to go is scaling volume. Today we are recommending fewer Burpees for Fitness and RX than RX+. But don’t feel like you need us to “post” the volume scales — you can ALWAYS scale your number of reps (and use a coach to help you decide what’s best)!
STRENGTH WOD
Deadlifts
5-5-3-3-3
Between each set 2 wall walks with a 10-20 second hold
WOD
__ Burpees
50 Sit ups
__ Burpees
**3 Deadlifts OTMEM (on the minute every minute) including the first minute**
Fitness 165/110/30 Burpees
RX: 205/135/35 Burpees
RX+: 225/155 /40 Burpees
Time cap of 15 minutes
Some of our men working their Snatch during WOD 1 at the Charm City Throwdown competition!
We hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to get after it today! Another huge congrats to all those who competed this weekend. We know how nerve-wracking it can be to step outside your comfort zone and it was amazing to see so many of you do that — AND so much more. The Cove had an awesome showing at the Charm City Throwdown and we hope the gym is getting some competition fever!
For those of you who signed up for the Adventure Park outing on SATURDAY, there is a sign in sheet by the desk near the WhiteBoard. We need some basic information to process waivers and get participant ages captured. It should be a ball and we are so looking forward to it!
STRENGTH WOD
Find a 1 RM Squat Clean
THEN: Take it down to 60% of that and complete 6 singles
WOD
20 Front Squats
30/23 Cal Row (male/female)
3 Rounds
Fitness 75/55
RX 95/65
RX+ 115/75
**Front Squats should be fairly light**
12 Min Time Cap
Here’s our very own Head Coach/Programmer Geo Rockwell setting up for his 30 shoulder to overheads in the Men’s RX division…
Sorry for the late post, but open gym is ON for tomorrow! Great time to practice skills, work on your weaknesses, or make up a killer WOD you missed this week. Or if you competed today, come on in and roll out or do some recovery/mobility work.
It was an awesome day for the Cove at the Charm City Throwdown. We’ll compile all the stats and show some of the great pictures on tomorrow’s blog. Congratulations to all our amazing athletes who challenged themselves, tested new limits and made us SO proud.
Alyssa looking strong on deadlifts. Also one of the most supportive fans at the Throwdown today!
Even though several of the Cove staff and members will be at the Charm City Throwdown all day tomorrow we will still have a REGULAR SCHEDULE of 9a, 10a and 11a classes!
STRENGTH WOD
Back Squat 5/5/3/3/2/2
WOD
400 M Run
18 Pull ups
15 Box Jumps
3 Rounds
RX+ Chest to Bar
18 min time Cap
The 5:30am crew gets up with…what else? Turkish Get Ups!
It is partner WOD day! There’s nothing better to do on these dreary and rainy days than throwing down and making new friends! Or feel free to bring a friend and show them what this CrossFit thing is all about. Today’s WOD has less complex movements so it is great to drag in those people who have been afraid to try!
Speaking of convincing people to try, we are having another round of Foundations Classes NEXT WEEK on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30pm. As always, it is free and there’s no commitment required.
And lastly, Saturday is the Charm City Throwdown competition. We have 10+ athletes competing in Scaled, RX and Team Divisions. It will be all day at Outsiders CrossFit in Sparks MD. Although the forecast looks terrible, we would love to have fan support. Plus, we’re looking to rent one of these so we can hang out as a group out of the rain! The Cove is gonna be kicking it old school frat boy tailgating style!!!!!!
PARTNER WOD
(1 partner completes a full round while the other partner rests)
Each month we feature an athlete that embraces the difficult feat of changing their lives for the better. We all come with our own set of challenges — whether it is work, family, or just a seemingly endless ‘to do’ list. Getting fit, making yourself a priority and finding that balance is hard work. This month we focus on a man works hard every day. He shows up (often) and is focused, determined and eager to make himself better with each workout. He works on his weaknesses and doesn’t shy away from a challenge. And he has FUN with it. In fact, he calls the Cove his “Iron Playground” (we love that)! He’s a team player, seems to know everyone at the gym (even though he’s a regular in one of our smallest classes). We are lucky to have him at the Cove and proud to present our athlete of the month, Josh Hippensteel!
OCTOBER ATHLETE OF THE MONTH:
JOSH HIPPENSTEEL
Tell us a little bit about yourself…
The Cove is the first place I’ve been involved with Crossfit and I’ve been here since May, I think. Outside the box, I am a huge football fan, even though I don’t pull for one team specifically. I am really into the Orioles and the Pittsburgh Penguins – the two teams I support the most. I am originally from Gettysburg, PA – growing up alongside a brother (20) and my mom and dad. Fun facts: I eat way more peanut butter than you, petrified of birds, and I will listen to almost any genre of music (really hard to stump me on lyrics to anything). In my career now, I travel across the country helping players with recruiting and on to college athletics.
I’ve been consumed by sports my entire life and it’s the one thing I’ve always had a passion for in the first 23 years of my life. As a kid, I played everything under the sun, but as I started to get older, I kept the focus in baseball. Throughout my high school career, I was always traveling around playing in tournaments, different showcases, or hitting in the cage with my dad in the backyard (which felt a lot like Cindy on some hot days with so many reps). In high school, I HATED the weight room. All I wanted to do was go turn double-plays and call it a day. I’d throw up a couple reps on the bench and then just BS with my buddies/hide from the coaching staff until practice started. Even though my work ethic with the weight room wasn’t the best, I still had the chance to play some college ball before transferring to another school. At my second school, I played for a little while but eventually decided school was more important, along with 12oz curls. I still played club ball but took a look at myself in the mirror after the first semester, and I just looked like hell. To most, I didn’t look out of shape, but I knew how I felt wasn’t right and I had always been so used to looking athletic just from playing a sport. From that point on, I’ve been obsessed with fitness and health over the past few years – probably reading more articles online than you can imagine. I put a lot of focus on bodybuilding stuff before starting Crossfit, but I think it got me ready for what we all do and love at the Cove now. It’s turned into a lifestyle for me I just don’t think I could live without now.
How has CrossFit affected life outside of the gym?
It has me always thinking about Crossfit haha. Always ready for the next challenge. As I said before, I feel healthy and strong as an ox, but not finished.
It’s made me so passionate about the sport and wanting to learn more about movements and how to get the most out of your body.
What changes have you noticed since starting CrossFit?
The food and beer tastes better and I’m hearing “shut up” a lot more often from my friends and family because I don’t stop talking about it. Crossfit makes you feel like you could go up and punch someone in the face and they’d say “it’s okay, I understand, you must have crushed that WOD or PR’d this morning, I forgive you.” A lot has changed since I started Crossfit. My endurance through workouts is better (though I still have a ways to go), I feel healthier, and most importantly I feel stronger. I had always neglected my legs but now realize how crucial those are in all lifts and for your daily life. Plus, the lady likes a good pair of calves (wacko). Since starting Crossfit, the focus is just always there, and when at a commercial gym for the past few years, the focus was hardly ever there. Some days at a commercial gym you just wouldn’t feel like doing anything, so you just don’t. Because no one is there to push you to do it, you are your own boss. But with Crossfit, when you might be having a sluggish day, maybe Brian just shotgunned a Red Bull and is high on life. He’s the instructor so you do what he says. And every time, you’re glad you did. Crossfit brings the best out of you that sometimes you think didn’t exist.
What do you enjoy most about The Cove?
There are so many to list. First, the instructors. It doesn’t matter who you’re taking a class with, they’re all fantastic. I’ve never been to another Crossfit facility in this area, but from what I’ve been told, you can’t get a better facility than Brian and Marina’s. And from what I’ve seen, that’s totally true. The place is an iron playground. The best part, no one cares when I yell during a metcon or PR days. And I can’t help it, so I’m glad people get so fired up by it. Even though 6:30am classes probably should be rated “R” sometimes. But most of all, I like the people and the team atmosphere. The one thing I’ve learned with Crossfit is that your box is your team. Being a part of sports and teams my entire life, it feels good to have one again. People try to talk me into trying other boxes but you feel an allegiance to your box, your instructors, and your team that you just don’t want to go anywhere else because you believe yours is the best. Because ours is. The community of people always trying to connect outside of the box is even cooler because I don’t think you get that intimacy at most gyms. But for us, it’s so tightly knit and the box is still so young. I can’t wait to see what Brian and Marina will cook up over the years. It’s driven me so much to want to run a box someday. That’s a long way off because I still have a lot to learn but that’s a big vision for me and has been for a while. Brian and Marina just put the icing on the cake because they look like they are having so much fun every day. I can imagine the grind they have behind the scenes (and I’m sure that’s an understatement), but the effort in the 4th or 5th month of me crossfitting still looks like day 1 from them when I came in for the first time.
Favorite movement and why?
I love oly lifts and anything heavy. Barbell days = the best days. Anything that makes me yell, slam weights, and makes twitch I’m feeling so insane.
Everything barbell that has a numbered result to it that I’ll never be fully happy with and always wanting to be better haha. I’m not even in the same area code as a Froning or Khalipa, but that’s something to shoot for I guess!
Least favorite movement and why?
Anything I can’t do well because it annoys me when I’m not skilled at something. These are works in-progress. So let’s call this section the “okay, I’m just not good at these yet” section. It looks like a grocery listt: snatches, handstand push-ups, handstand walk, muscle-ups on the bar and rings, and the ability to string together T2B’s like rapid-fire. Then again, sometimes when I’m rowing, I’m sure people think I’m getting electrocuted or something.
Any advice for people who are just getting started with CrossFit?Whatever worry you have, throw it out the door. First, the atmosphere is so welcoming that there’s really no need to be nervous or scared. People tell me all the time “I can’t do it because I’m not really that strong.” That really doesn’t matter. The fact that you’re in there getting the work done and doing it at your own pace that challenges you…that’s good enough. You don’t get stronger without practice, but sometimes it’s just tough to be patient with stuff like that. If you are patient, it will pay off. Second, the cost always concerns people. The more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. If you change it into a lifestyle (and trust me, you’ll want to) it’s worth every penny. But if you’re a fan of paying a trainer at a commercial gym $60/hr to get you “in shape” and “stronger” through their own personal training sessions, you could Crossfit for cheaper in a month’s time and look like a Michelangelo statue. Lastly, just have fun with it. Everything you see on TV with the Games is not what every box is all about in their goals for members. The main focus is getting stronger, in-shape, and feeling good about yourself. You don’t need to be the Hulk after day 1…it’s a process. But I can assure you, nothing is better than a PR, a good sweat (one that literally drenches the hell out of your shirt), and having a community of people who are as passionate about it as you are.
STRENGTH WOD
Take 12 minutes to find a heavy load:
Power Snatch with a 5 second pause below the knee
(Pull the weight off the ground, pause below the knee for 5 seconds with perfect back position then snatch)
WOD
10 Power Snatch
___ Double Unders
10 Min AMRAP
Fitness 75/55 (60 Singles)
RX 95/65 (20 Doubles)
RX+ 95/65 (40 Doubles)
Bonnie getting ready for a strong first pull on her Power Cleans…
Our next strength cycle will involve the Handstand Push Up. It is a gymnastic movement that requires strength, skill, balance and coordination to master. The HSPU is an interesting test of fitness. It is not something you can “muscle through” and it puts your body in a position that most of us have not been in since we were 6 years old.
We will be rolling through a series of progressions with this movement; and the important takeaway for you as an athlete is to know your limits and work on your weakness. Knowing your limits is all about developing strength (and for most people flexibility) to be able to support yourself upside down without assistance. Working your weakness is about spending time on what will benefit you the most, even if it is not the most “exciting” thing to do.
Some scaling guides:
If you have trouble holding yourself up against the wall:
–Wall Climbs
–KB Overhead Walk
If you lack mobility to hold a neutral spine:
–Keg Drill
–Shoulder Distraction
–Foam rolling the chest and upper back
If you lack the strength to perform a strict HSPU:
–Seated KB Strict Press
–Plate Presses
–Pike Push Ups
SKILL WOD
HSPU Test
Fitness- Find a modification that you can measure.
(Ex. 10 Wall climbs for time, 30 KB seated Presses, Hand Stand Holds, Max strict HSPU with ab mats, etc. We will find something that works for you)
RX- 20 Kipping HSPU
(you should be able to do one strict and/or handstand hold for 30 seconds)
RX+ 20 Strict HSPU
8 Min Time Cap
WOD
50 Box Jumps
100 Walking Lunges
50 KB Swings
-For Time-
Fitness 35/26
RX 53/35
RX+ 70/53
(15 min Time Cap)
Chris and Kim show hard work pays off when it comes to overhead squats. Both of them set new PRs on Monday…
To say the re-test of the overhead squat was a success would be a tremendous understatement! Not only was the Whiteboard littered with PR badges, but the jumps in weight were just astounding. And besides the weight increases, the form improvements were phenomenal. We know this was a tough cycle, but we hope you see the hard work paid off (and we promise you the techniques you learned for this lift will translate to not just other complex lifts, but to life performance in general!)
SKILL WOD
For 12 Minutes
Event Min: 6 ring rows with a 3 second pause at the top of each rep
Odd Min: 30 seconds of Max DUs
WOD
600 M Row
40 Push ups
20 Hanging Power Cleans
2 Rounds
Fitness 95/65
RX 135/95
RX+ 155/105
15 min Time Cap
Alyissa shows focus and determination with her Clean and Jerks… and with everything else she does!
