Wodify is a hugely important tool and we are looking to have the Cove community better utilize this app in an effort to improve the entire experience at the gym.
First, we are huge believers in recording your performances during classes. Your score is a benchmark, a marker of where you are at with your fitness. We want those data points so you (and our staff) can see your strengths, weaknesses, and growth as an athlete. It helps our program for both you and the entire Cove community.
It is also an accountability tool. We all feel good after finishing a workout but that takes an even more significant step when we post that score. It’s a statement, if I did this, I paid the price!
And the community is there to support you. We often see likes and comments from members on Wodify, so no matter the result, please post your scores.
Finally, we want to strongly encourage everyone to reserve their class times in Wodify. It is important that we can have that pre-planning information, to provide the best class experience for you and your fellow athletes. We would rather have you reserve a class time and not show up, just so we can better assess the situation.
For those looking to use our InBody Scanner, we just replaced the toner and it is now back in service.
If you weren’t aware of this InBody Scanner, it is a great tool that is available for our members to do a free scan on a quarterly basis. We are big believers of data to help guide our decisions, which is why we purchased the scanner. It will give you an accurate reading of your weight, muscle mass, and body fat percentage.
In the past, we charged $20 per scan but it now is part of your membership, as we know so many of you are trying to improve your body composition and we want to help you with that and all of your health and fitness goals.
We have a short video for you on how to use the scanner and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at Brian@CrossFitCove.com.
Hey Covies! Great news! Bullhead Pit Beef will be at Murph to satisfy all your post-WOD food needs! Larry’s meat is AMAZING (hehe) and everything on that truck is just delicious (and affordable too!). He’ll be there ready to go at 10 so the first heat gets the first meat! (sorry, I can’t help it!). Thank you Larry and team for coming!
A CrossFit tradition and one that is very much alive at the Cove is Memorial Day Murph. We celebrate the memory of Michael Murphy with the hero workout “Murph”, followed by a community potluck-style party afterward (food signup can be found here).
Michael Murphy was deployed to Afghanistan in April 2005. During a mission (later depicted in the movie Lone Survivor), he died while climbing to higher ground to make a call for help. Despite suffering severe wounds, he was able to make the call and continue fighting. During that mission, Michael Murphy, Matthew Axelson, and Danny Dietz were killed. The fourth member of their SEAL team, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell, was able to escape, largely because of the call made by Murphy. We honor his heroism with the following benchmark WOD:
“MURPH”
1 MILE RUN
100 PULL UPS
200 PUSH-UPS
300 AIR SQUATS
1 MILE RUN
As safety is of paramount concern for the coaching staff at the Cove(for more on this, check out this great article from Larry Jackson) , we also want to highlight some safety parameters for the workout.
We want all athletes to execute the movements using the full range of motion. This is not just to get the most out of the training stimulus but is a safety concern. Executing movements with a short range of motion puts undue tension on the muscles, ligaments, and joints and can be extremely dangerous.
We are asking all athletes to use a yoga mat or grey mat at the gym for push-ups. We will not have time to clean mats between heats and we want to have a clean space (as much as possible) for each athlete.
We also ask that all athletes be on their second mile run by the 48-minute mark. Going beyond that time we feel is beyond the stimulus of the workout.
While this is a daunting workout no matter how you cut it, there are TONS of great ways to scale to make it work for you:
Break up the reps in easy bit-sized pieces. Most people opt for 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats (for 20 rounds) to get to the 100/200/300 total rep count.
For most, the PUSH UP is the first part to fail. If this is an area of weakness for you, consider breaking up the push-ups even more. Go 5 push-ups, 5 pull-ups, 5 push-ups, 15 air squats (for 20 rounds).
Consider doing “TEAM MURPH”. Find two or three friends (or we can pair you up) and split the volume. For those of you who love partner WODs, this is a super fun way to attack the day!
HALF MURPH is a great option as well. You can cut the runs to 800’s and then hit 50, 100, and 150 reps. We still STRONGLY advise you to break up the reps it smaller sets!
Or you can just do it as an AMRAP. Let’s say 30 minutes is a good “feeling” time cap for you. Go for a run then do a 10 or 12-minute “Cindy”. Then hit another run! Cap yourself at 30 minutes.
We want you to have FUN and work within your own capacity … and the possibilities to make that happen are almost endless. Talk to us or any coach and we’ll figure out a plan that works for YOU. Make a plan and stick to it!
. We are working through all the details of the day, but here are some things we DO know:
We will run multiple heats of 25 athletes per heat.
Your spot MUST be reserved in Wodify and we ask that you stick to your heat time.
If you are doing “Partner Murph”, each partner counts as a single sign-up (meaning, if ten teams of two are going at once, that is a heat of 20)
“Outside Murph” will have pull-up subs including barbell row or sit-ups.
Sorry, no barbells on the rig. Jumping pullups, barbell rows (off the rig) and ring rows are all great options.
Make sure you are hydrating properly ALL WEEK. Drinking water Monday is great, but starting now is even better! All athletes will have to make their own time for a self-paced warm-up before we hit the workout. We will be coming around to all athletes to make sure everyone has an appropriate (and scaled for many) attack plan.
The event will kick off at 9:00 am Memorial Day (Monday, May 31st) with the National Anthem, welcome remarks, and standards review.
And yes, we will have a community potluck-style party after!
We will do our best to safely honor the remembrance, celebration, and community that this day is all about.
This Friday we will be having a regular partner workout but this one will be a very special one. This Friday we will be doing “Noah Leotta”, which is in memory of Police Officer Noah Leotta. Noah, was killed in the line of duty on December 10th, 2015 when he was struck by a drunk driver during a traffic stop. He had pulled over one drunk driver on Rockville Pike when another drunk driver came along and struck him. He was only 24 when he was killed. He was born in Aspen Hill Maryland and served as a member of the Montgomery County Police Force.
Noah was a friend of one of our members, Rob Rollins. We are happy to have this workout this Friday and it will now become an annual tradition at the Cove. This happens to be law enforcement appreciation week and we would like this Friday to be a moment where we can all be thankful for the sacrifices made by so many officers of the law, in particular that of Noah.
So it is official, our very own Coach Jenna Michelotti has indeed qualified for her third CrossFit Games. We are both not surprised and as always amazed by this accomplishment. We have seen her qualify three times now but it never gets old or any less impressive.
With all that said, if you are a CrossFit fan and/or a Coach Jenna fan, you may really enjoy taking a little getaway to see one of the most amazing events in the world, the CrossFit Games! The undeniable test of fittest amongst the most impressive athletes on earth in a battle of the unknown and unknowable. It is an fun, inspiring, and a wonderful experience. I have been 4 times (Coach Brian) and you can’t come away from the experience without being inspired and well as entertained. Think of it as a music festival of fitness!
This year the games August 1st to the 6th once again in Madison, Wisconsin (shocking fun city!)
If you are interested in going, just let us know, as we would love to get a big Cove group to the Games. We can help you with any questions and we hope to have some company for this year’s epic competition to cheer on Coach Jenna.
What might Coach Jenna see in this year’s CrossFit Games swag bag?
We apologize for the inconvenience but we are holding a coaches’ meeting at 6 PM this week and there will be no 5:45 PM class. We hope you understand this minor inconvenience and see it as a part of our continue to improve the Cove.
Memorial Day Murph is fast approaching (more details to come) and this year we are going to get some special Cove Murph shirts. We are doing this via a pre-order (we may order a couple extras), so if you are interested please fill out this form and we will charge your Wodify account. All orders are due by May 10th.
We are excited to announce that this weekend that our friends at the Alpha Project Phyzio and Performance and hosting a free Pelvic Floor Workshop for the gym at 11:30 AM. This is a free clinic and a great opportunity to get learn and get help on this important health issue.
Below is a description from Coach Veronica and Coach Matt
Who should go to this??
Do you pee yourself when you squat, lift or single/double under?
Are you Pre- or Post partum and have questions about staying healthy and getting back into shape post partum?
Do you have pain being intimate with your partner?
Do you have a abdominal separation after giving birth and want to fix it?
Do you have tail bone pain?
These are all things Veronica will be covering in the workshop.
During this workshop she’ll being going over 3-4 exercises you can do to improve you pelvic floor health and teach you how to properly use your pelvic floor.
You may have seen my Veronica around the gym on Mondays. She treats in the back room all day and EXCLUSIVELY works with pelvic floor clients. This it typically women but can also be men.
If you want to learn more about your pelvic floor.
Yesterday we announced Coach Carolyn as the newest addition to the Cove team and today we get to announce yet another great team member, Coach Kelsey. If you haven’t met Kelsea, she is a wealth of knowledge and experience wrapped around a welcoming smile and a love for life.
We asked Kelsey to give us a little bio on her CrossFit journey, so you can get to know her even more.
Fitness and sports have always played an important role in my story. As life evolved, so too has my relationship with sports. In high school, it was softball and cross country that captured my time and attention. In college, it was racquetball and croquet 😂 During my post-college life in Indianapolis, IN, I tried ALL the different fitness things to make friends and stay healthy (master’s swim team, barre classes, Orange Theory, even pole dancing LOL) but realized I was missing a crucial social element so nothing really stuck. When I moved to Detroit, MI in 2017 for work, I decided to go all in and take a chance on CrossFit.
Life has changed a lot in the 6 years since I began Crossfit in 2017; I’ve switched companies, jobs, significant others, hobbies, friends, hell, even states! But Crossfit has always been a good steadying factor. Amidst change, it’s always a place to find camaraderie. Always a place to find people I respect who work hard to make their life better, one day at a time. Always a place to call a home away from home!
When I found Cove in November 2022, I was looking to fall back in love with Crossfit. Somewhere along my 6 year journey, I experienced gym fatigue, as so many of us do. I knew I needed to step away from my box at the time and take a break from the sport. After a few months away (and having spent entirely too much time traveling to play competitive softball), I was eager to find a new CrossFit home. Cove fit like a glove. Brian and Marina let me take my time easing back into the swing of things, joining as a member full time once I was good and ready. Members were warm and happy to welcome a new athlete to their community. It’s been an easy, comfortable transition coming back to the sport. When Brian asked me if I would be interested in coaching, it felt like CrossFit was greeting me back with open arms. I am so honored to be able to work alongside each of you and hopefully unleash more of your capabilities and potential, not just as athletes, but as humans, friends, and members of your own Cove! I thank Crossfit Cove every day for giving me the opportunity to fall back in love with this sport and share that with this amazing community!
Other Fun Facts:
What brought me to Maryland?
FAMILY! I wanted the chance to give back to my parents and play an active role in my nephew’s life!
What else do I like to do besides CrossFit?
I recently found a new hobby in rock climbing! It’s been a welcome challenge on my CrossFit recovery days! I have tapped into a new community of tree-hugging, Subaru-driving, Chaco-wearing friends that I didn’t know I needed 😂
I still play lots of competitive slow-pitch softball, mainly playing in tournaments.
I am a coffee snob/lover and try my damnedest to brew the best beans I can get my hands on.
Spend time with my adorable nephew JJ!
Travel travel travel!
Fun Life Goals
Travel to every US National Park.
Eat at every Michelin Restaurant in Washington, DC.
Enjoy the heck out of life! We don’t have time to waste
We are so excited to have Kelsey (and Carolyn) as part of the team, looking to continue to bring fitness wrapped in a package of fun, hard work, joy, and community to the Cove.
