We are excited to announce new 4 week strength cycles in the Cove programming that differ not only in the movements but also in the approach. We had great success last month with the wave method of strength training and are now moving on to a new methodology. We know that controlled and intelligent variance is the key to building strength for the long-term health of our athletes.

We will now look at Push Jerks on Mondays (and occasionally on Tuesdays), building on all the raw strength we develop with our push presses.  

Mid-week is deadlift day. Nothing builds more raw strength than the deadlift and let’s be honest, it’s a lot of fun. The focus will, as always, be on maintaining great form.  This will set up nicely for our next cycle, which would be cleans. 

And for Friday, we have one of the more technically challenging lifts, the overhead squat. This lift will not only help our athletes with their ability to snatch (and squat snatch) but also really dial in proper squat technique, midline strength, and stability.

We will be approaching these lifts using a linear progression across. This approach has us lifting the same weight over 3 consecutive sets at a specified number of reps.

That sounds confusing, so let’s give an example.  For the first week of the cycle, we will look to hit 3 heavy sets of 5 reps of a particular movement but using the same weight for that exercise. We will give percentages as guidance.  We want the weight to be challenging but for this cycle, we ask that you do not increase the weight between sets. If you end up choosing the incorrect load (either too heavy or too light), you will be able to make an adjustment with the next week.  Over the next 4 weeks, we will set heavy sets of 5,3,2, and singles across.

This type of training will prepare us for our next cycle, which is linear progression but this time we will be increasing the load with each set.

We will set you at the Cove and in 4 weeks, we will see stronger versions of you.

This Monday is Veteran’s Day.. We at the Cove have a large number of current and former military athletes and we are so thankful for all the efforts and sacrifices.  We could not have this place to connect with one another without them and all they have done.

We are also starting a new tradition for Veteran’s Day, which is the Chad 1000X workout.  This workout is in honor of Chad Wilkson. He was a Navy Seal who had been on several deployments and suffered multiple significant injuries. He suffered severely from PTSD and unfortunately took his own life on October 29^th, 2018. We do this not only in remembrance of his life, but also as a way to raise awareness for suicide prevention.  The step foundations was created in his honor and donations can be made to this organization here.

 It is like any hero workout, in that it is challenging but it’s going to be a little different than most hero workouts. It is simple in execution, with 1000 step-ups. This is a daunting task and one that will most likely take between 1 hour and 1 ½ hours.  So be aware, that your class will be over one hour, and at times, we will have two groups working out at once, similar to Murph.

As with any workout, there are scaling options. It can be done with a weight, without a weight, or in so many other ways. It does not matter what you do, but rather the intention you use to approach this workout. We hope you will join us on Monday, in honor of Chad and all the other brave veterans that have given so much to us.

We will have normal class hours on Monday and we hope you can join us in honor of Chad and all of our other brave veterans who have given so much for our benefit.