We will take a short break from our coverage of Jenna Michelotti’s CrossFit Games experience to put something on your radars. This weekend we will be hosting the Level I seminar. I am afraid we aren’t going to have Saturday classes and the Cove isn’t going to be available for Open Gym until 6 PM on Saturday and Sunday evenings. We apologize for this inconvenience but it is important for us as a gym and staff to have a strong relationship with CrossFit Headquarters. Thank you all for understanding.
We know that many of the workouts were shown on CrossFit’s video coverage, so to give everyone a feel of Jenna’s workout I did a write up for the differnet workouts.
I apologize for any grammar. I am trying to get these out quickly.
Last workout for the day and looking to see how focused Jenna can be after a little setback on the front squat from the previous workout.
Another great workout, hitting a variety of high-level skills sandwiched between small sets of double unders. It looks like a great workout and then I realize that there is a 7-minute time cap!
It is the first time the Teens Division has ever done the peg board in the Games as CrossFit continues to challenge the younger generation. Although it has never been programmed in a teen competition before, Jenna has been spending time on the Cove pegboard just in case the moment comes up. She does great, having a couple of minor issues getting the pegs out of the holes on the descent.
The pegboard was a huge controversy in the Games some years ago. It was a surprise exercise that was unveiled to the athletes and half the elites couldn’t do it. Fast forward some 4 to 5 years and I watch every one of these teen girls doing it easily. This next generation of athletes is going to push the sport to a whole new level.
Jenna smoothly hits the jump rope and knocks her doubles out effortlessly. Like a walk in the park.
25 strict handstand pushups in a short time is a disaster waiting to happen. Jenna chips away in sets from 5 to maybe 2. She is patient and then off to the jump rope and another round of 50.
And that is when I notice it, Jenna is so smooth on the rope. So effortless. The other athletes technique isn’t nearly as dialed in. They are piking, their rhythm is off, and they are actually missing them.
We all know double unders are a tough skill but once most people get them they don’t spend any time perfecting them. Jenna has spent time on ALL her fundamental skills. Her double unders are “CrossFit style rest” where she is recovering for the next movement in the chipper. They are easy bounces. She holds relaxed shoulders. Her hands make perfect circles. Her head is high and breathing easily. Her rhythm is right as if she finds the beat from a song (Is she listening to “Shake it off in her head”?)
She steps to her pistols and is looking “fresher” than her competition. She is zooming through the pistols and we are now watching her pass people.
Off to another 50 dubs and we are getting closer to the finish. Jenna finishes and walks calmly past the GHD to lay her jump rope down. She is on point and is continuing to close the gap on other competitors.
She grinds out 50 GHD situps. It’s grunt work that is perfected regularly in the back of the gym by Jenna and of course, the 5:45 AM class.
She cruises through her last set of 50 double unders and now we are off to the most dangerous part of the workout, the handstand obstacle walk. This is the scary part of the workout where athletes are failing and losing massive amounts of seconds. One slip up and you lose 20 seconds or a lifetime in a sprint workout like this.
I wonder what is going through Jenna’s head. Is there some sort of pre-workout routine? Is she visualizing? Who knows but she attacks that course. There is a girl with a 2-second head start and she is going after her. Her competitor struggles with her balance going up the obstacle and Jenna is moving up. Jenna traverses the difficult and scary downslope of the obstacle. It’s so scary to watch but she is clutch and makes it! She finishes a second behind a neighboring competitor and you can tell that the spirit of competition allowed both of these athletes to do the best they could have at that moment.
Jenna had a great workout once again and showed her breadth as a CrossFit athlete. She handled each one of the skilled movements beautifully. What I loved was that it wasn’t just the most complex movements like handstand walks or peg boards but the most “basic” like double unders that meant so much.
I know some of Jenna’s events have not been covered on the CrossFit site and when they are she isn’t being featured enough, so I am going to do a running blog on some of the events going on to give you a feel for things. I am going to try to get these out fairly quickly, so please excuse the typos and grammar.
The CrossFit Games are a blast but it goes to an all-new level when you get to follow a fellow Covie.
EVENT TWO
MAX TRIO
Max bike calories in 5 minutes 1-rep-max weighted pull-up 1-rep-max front squat
Event two is an interesting event. It’s the total number of calories and pounds lifted. It makes the strategy of the event really interesting, as you have to figure out what the bike is going to cost you for the upcoming two lifts. I have no idea what to expect.
The event starts and I have no idea how many calories Jenna is burning but feeling good about it. Jenna does this really interesting training method but Maffetone training. It is basically long periods of time on a piece of aerobic equipment (bike, rower, running, etc) where you keep your heart rate at a fairly high level for periods of 45 minutes to 90 minutes. It is the definition of boring and dedication to your craft. After seeing her grind those sessions on the bike at the gym, I know she is doing great. She has paid the price to get here.
(I find out at a later date that she hit 99 calories)
The 5 minutes end and she is off to the weighted pull-ups.
I LOVE THIS EVENT. I LOVE ALL THE PROGRAMMING THIS YEAR FOR THE GAMES! It is so inspiring to see young women not only pull up their own bodyweight but add some huge 45-pound and 35-pound plates to weight belts and knock out these pull ups!
Jenna is having some problems with her weight belt. The clip isn’t working. I have noticed a couple of weird things happening to Jenna during the games so far. A clip not working, the rope catching on her leg on the way down from a rope climb, etc. Little annoying things that cost you seconds in a world where seconds count. But she doesn’t let it bother her, she is focused on the task at hand. She gets the clip on and proceeded to do a series of pull-ups with insane weights. I am trying to figure out the math with the colored plates of blues, whites, and greens and just give up. It is just a ton of weight.
(I later find out she hits a 55 pounds weighted pull up which is like strapping on 2 kids from the Cove kids room onto Jenna)
Finally to the front squat. Jenna has her front squat bar all set up. It’s got the big boy weights on and she is off to rep one. She hits it and just explodes out of the bottom of the squat, finishing the rep with ease and a great bar path. THAT’S A GREAT SIGN!
She adds more weight and hits it again at 225 pounds, still looking fast out of the bottom.
She decides to go for it, and adds ten’s to both sides. She has about 40 seconds left and is going for 245! WOW!
She gets into a great position with her front rack and steps it off the rack. One big breath in and down she goes. She hits the bottom with no question that she will NOT be no repped. And bounces up and drives and drives and drives and it just won’t move up anymore. She drops the bar forward. UGH. She almost had an insane lift and then we realize that it’s 245 and she can’t clean it in time to make a second attempt.
I see it in Jenna’s eyes that she realizes that it’s over, she doesn’t have time for another attempt. I am sure she is deflated and she might be for a moment but just for a moment. You can tell Jenna gave it everything, went for it, and just came up short and the focus is now on WHAT’S NEXT!
We can be inspired by what athletes do in the victories but I was inspired by how Jenna handled this really tough moment.
I know some of her events have not been covered and when they are she isn’t being featured enough, so I am going to do a running blog on some of the events going on to give you a feel for things. I am going to try to get these out fairly quickly, so please excuse the typos and grammar.
The CrossFit Games are a blast but it goes to an all-new level when you get to follow a fellow Covie.
EVENT ONE
Three Ways Down
1,400-m run 4 rope climbs (20 ft) 21 DB shoulder-to-overheads 1,200-m run 3 rope climbs (20 ft) 15 DB shoulder-to-overheads 800-m run 2 rope climbs (20 ft) 9 DB shoulder-to-overheads
DB Weight: 50 pounds
I had a flight delay, some issues with my tickets, and had to drive an hour to get to my hotel from Milwaukee. Bedtime is 2 AM and wake up was 7:20. I am exhausted, I haven’t even had my customary Diet Coke (I have a problem) but I can’t help but be excited. You can’t help but feel the adrenaline hit you and I am doing nothing but watching. I am wide awake and pumped.
I go over the wod in my head and feel like this is a good one for Jenna. Jenna’s strength is her well rounded nature, the very epitome of what we strive for as CrossFit athletes. But one thing I know she is secretly good at is running. Not just fast but super efficient in the movement. She will have a great pace and be fine for whatever movements comes next.
For the 2022 Games they run all the teen athletes together, boys and girls. We have 40 athletes at the starting line and it feels like a giant workout, like Murph, but with professionals. There is a special energy to the event.
They count down the workout and the athletes are off. Jenna has a great stride going and I am feeling good for her. I rush up to the top of the stadium steps to see the athletes running. It’s kind of too far to see them and I just wait for Jenna to come on back. It takes her a bit longer than I expected. She isn’t killing the run as I hoped and I start to have that feeling of fear for her.
But of course, what do I know, And she proves once again that she is a CrossFit genius. While others struggle with rope climbs, she is making up time. She passes an athlete or two climbing the rope.
The dumbbells are brutal for her but they are for everyone. This wod looked hard but it is more likely impossible. She is through the first round and wow, she just caught up to a bunch of people. SHE’S A PACING GENIUS.
Onto round two and once again she is running her race. She makes it back and in fact looks even stronger (relative to the other athletes). It’s hard to figure out placing but appears to be passing people.
On to round three and it’s “go for broke” time. I head up to the top of the stadium waiting for her to come back from the short run (only an 800 after all the work!). She is trailing a girl by 15 seconds. I watch this one athlete chalk up and get herself prepared for the final rope climb and Jenna appears out of nowhere. No chalk, no thoughts, no fears. Just a giant leap and she scaled that rope like nothing. JENNA JUST PASSED her and is off to the brutal 50-pound dumbbells. She goes unbroken and sprints to the finish line to complete an amazing event and passes yet another competitor. It was a special moment to witness.
There are times that I think watching a competition of people exercising is really stupid but in moments like this it isn’t. It showed so much character, fortitude, and the emotions and characteristics that we all love in sports. Event one is in the books and super excited for the rest of the weekend.
Jenna leaving the stadium after leaving it all on the floor
We are happy to announce that we are now for pick-up location for John’s Fit Meals. They provide a wide variety of healthy options for the on-the-go lifestyle of our members. You will find that we have a new freezer at the front door that will be where you can pick up your meals.
The CrossFit Games are almost here and we couldn’t be more excited for Coach Jenna as she is about to compete on the world stage.
Her intensity, focus, training, and coaching insights have been such an inspiration and learning experience for the entire gym.
Before she goes off to Madison, Wisconsin she has one final workout this Saturday and we thought it would be fun if it was the Cove’s workout. She is going to be dropping into one of those classes, so you might get a chance to battle one of the fittest people in the world.
“Jenna’s Last Chance Workout”
AMRAP 18
200 meter run
25 Foot Single Arm Overhead Lunges
12 Toes-to-Bar
25 Foot Single Arm Overhead Lunges
FX 35/25, Knees-to-Chest
RX: 50/35
Look’s like we are going to need a new Game’s picture
The CrossFit Games start on August 3rd in Madison, Wisconsin. For those that aren’t familiar with this event, it is a worldwide challenge to find the fittest male and female athletes in the world. It is an amazing spectacle (here’s the trailer to last year’s games documentary) that captures the imagination of any CrossFitter.
As many of you know, Coach Jenna will be competing this year in the 16-17 year division and we couldn’t be more in awe of her efforts and accomplishments as an athlete. We will be posting more about the games and our support of Coach Jenna but for now, to whet your appetite, the Baltimore Sun recently did an article on Jenna that is well worth checking out.
We are hearing some positive feedback from this past week’s programming and we will be continuing the look to improve these workouts to the needs of the Cove.
We had some requests for a preview for the upcoming week’s programing and you can find that at the following link. Understand that we may make some alterations to this programming throughout the week, so you want to be sure to check in at the Cove News webpage for the exact workout.
This Monday for the 4th of July, we will be having two classes, 9 AM and 10:15 AM. It will be our Cove traditional workout of Abbate. As with all workouts, we can scale it to fit around your goals and needs.
As always the gym will be open from 5 AM to 10 PM for Open Gym via the Kastle phone app.
Tomorrow’s workout will be the Cove version of Severin. It is a hero workout named after U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Severin W. Summers III. He passed away on August 2nd, 2009 in Qole Gerdsar, Afghanistan, after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. Summers is survived by his wife Tammy Fraser and his daughters Jessica, Shelby & Sarah.
This workout might be a little bit different than what you might be used to. We do not see strict pull-ups often in workouts and this gives us a chance to put our bodies under a different stimulus. We know many of you might not have strict pull-ups or might have a couple but the volume of this workout might be too much for you. That is fine, our coaches are here to give you all sorts of scaling ideas. J-hook pull-ups or rows, pull-ups or chin-up negatives, ring rows, or banded strict pull-ups are great options you might want to try. All of these options will allow you to get a great workout and build up that strict pull-up capacity. Strict pull-ups are an important movement that leads to healthy shoulder health.
We also are running a long distance today as well, looking at over 4000 meters or about 2 ½ miles of running via 400-meter intervals. You can look to scale distance (200 or 300-meter runs), look for another implement (rowing, ski erg, bikes), or some combination of movements and distances.
Whatever it might be, you can make this workout right for you. Let’s have a great time and keep Sergeant Severin Summers III in our thoughts.
