We have another great week of workouts at the Cove and wanted to give you an insight into some of our programming plans as far as our strength pieces.

Wednesday remains focused on power snatches, as we continue to increase the loads. We are seeing lots of nice technique improvements in this movement.

Mondays, we are starting a cycle focused on Push Press and Friday we are circling back to back squats.

The push press is a dynamic movement that requires not only strength through the shoulder but explosive power from the hip and core stability to transfer that power and stabilize overhead.

Four the next four weeks, we are going to doing wave loading as our strength format.  Wave loading is an interesting strength protocol that allows is to increase intensity and lower volume within an individual strength workout.

Wave loading works like this, athletes will start with a moderate weight (we will assign percentages as a guide) and hit a certain number of reps. The athletes will hit 2 more sets, adding load and taking away reps with each set. Those 3 sets represent a wave. We will take 2 minutes rest and repeat that wave again. 

For example, this is what we have for Monday.

Push Press

Every Two Minutes

6 reps @70-75%

5 reps @75-80%

4 reps @80-85%

Rest 2 minutes and repeat the three working sets

The percentages assigned are a general guide and we give you the freedom to move them up or down, but our focus is that you can hit the prescribed reps with excellent technique.

As far as metcons, we have some interesting pieces for the week.

Monday: 19.1. A couplet of wall balls and rowing that is absolutely brutal.

Tuesday: Tippy Toes, which is a CompTrain Benchmark metcon.

Wednesday: We have snatches and lunges, but for the RX+ athlete, we have the challenge of overhead barbell lunges.

Friday: We have our back squat work and a great metcon of pistols and pull ups. Pistols gives us a chance to work on single legged strength. Single leg strength

(and stability) is such an important part of running and being generally athletic. If you don’t have pistols, don’t sweat it, we always have great scaled versions for you.

See you all at the gym.

Thank you to Coach Hanna and Coach Chris for organizing this Sunday’s Cove 5 K Run

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Testing week, as we look to see what our 1 RM bench press and front squats. Wednesday the loading for our snatch work, crossing in 80% lifts.

Some other highlights for the week.

Monday: We have an interesting EMOM of assault bike, KB swings, and double under. Your score is the number of successful rounds you completed. If double under a movement you are looking to master, don’t be afraid to take the minute to use as focused practice.

Tuesday: Great hero workout in honor of Jason Holbrook. It features heavy thrusters with pull-ups and a run. It’s a chance to prepare for “Fran”, one of the more feared CrossFit workouts.

Friday: We have Chad Prep, as we as a gym are looking to do Chad 1000 for Veteran’s Day. Look for more to come on this upcoming workout

Saturday: A highlight of a partner workout featuring snatches and cleans at some heavier loadings.

Tuesday’s workout is in honor of Jason Holbrook, who lost his life in an IED explosion in Tsagay, Afghanistan

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Please give a very warm welcome to COACH Beth! Beth P. has been at the Cove since 2018 and we are thrilled to have her join the coaching team. She brings a wealth of knowledge to the floor and is excited to utilize her passion for movement (17+ years (!) of licensed and continuing education as a Physical Therapist) in a new way.

“I have always been into sports and fitness and helping people. I was a swimmer, played softball, and ran track. I had a brief stint with CrossFit when I was living in California, but really found my CrossFit home when I came to the Cove for 4th Trimester Fit (a program the Cove ran focusing on postpartum fitness). I needed an outlet – and childcare – and to feel good and strong. The sign above the door at the Cove is spot on. It was literally the best part of my day to get that hour to myself.”

She’s been wanting to coach for a long time but with three young kids, finding time is hard. But with them in school now she has begun teaching ISR (infant swim) and continuing education in rehab and functional fitness.  Her most recent study was in “management of the fitness athlete”, which focused heavily on barbell work. 

“As a Coach I can help you understand mobility faults that can cause a technique issue. With some insight to the issue and some relatable cues I hope to really help athletes perform at their best.”

She loves fitness, but more than anything loves the example it sets for her kids. “Fitness is a lifestyle. I tell my kids all the time, ‘Mommy WANTS to go to the gym. Not mommy HAS to go to the gym. The gym is not a punishment, it is the reward. I get to go to the gym. Even on days you dread and if you think it’s a horrible workout, I promise you’ll still feel better than when you walked in.”

Great advice Coach Beth!

WELCOME COACH BETH

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Building on a great week of workouts last week, we have some more stuff in store for you this week.

We have one more week of tempo training for our front squat and bench press. We are looking for 3-second pauses at the sticking point of each one of these lifts. We encourage you to use the rogue clock and a partner to ensure you are hitting a true 3-second hold.

Wednesday, we increase the loads on our power snatch work, looking for 4 sets of moderately heavy triples.

Here are some highlights of our conditioning pieces

Monday: “Chipper Gone Bad”, which is a tight chipper that ends on a max calories row.

Tuesday: Building on last week, we have a combo of pulling movements and assault bike calories to make it even spicier.

Thursday: We have some weighted box step ups, which are always challenging. We are prepping to do Chad, which is an amazing powerful hero workout. We also are adding in some HSPU’s for our RX+ athletes.

Friday: We are definitely seeing the gym getting stronger, so we are going to challenge ourselves with some heavy power cleans.

This week’s programming can be found here.

These three take partner workout Saturday seriously with their matching outfits!

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