Hey athletes!

**Long but educational post**

We have a 6-week Power Snatch cycle starting tomorrow. I wanted to touch on the goals of the cycle, some points of performance to focus on, and a couple simple mobility drills to start implementing.

Any good strength cycle should start with a week or two of acclimation. This is where you honing in on technique, explosiveness, and getting used to the movements. This is accomplished with lighter weights.

Goals for this cycle:

-No misses! Shoot to hit every working rep! This will build confidence in your lifting abilities.

-Building consistency in hitting heavier weights. Instead of just building up to a top set each week, we build up THEN have to consistently hit that top weight for multiple sets. This will probably require the time for completion to get a bit longer each week, which gives you a chance to learn how to properly rest between sets.

-Utilizing your legs in the first “pull”. It’s really a push with the legs and the start to a successful lift.

-Speed under the bar. Power variations require us to pull ourselves under the barbell faster.

-Getting used to catching the barbell in a lower power position. A lot of time we see athletes miss lifts due to their hesitation of pulling themselves under the barbell. They often think they have to pull higher, when in reality it’s a mix of pulling harder and pulling yourself under the barbell.

A couple points of performance:

-Percentages are based off your 1RM Power Snatch. This is typically a lower weight than your full snatch. (Don’t worry, the cycle has plenty of weeks to throw around some heavy weight)

-Use the appropriate barbell weight to warm-ups. For example, if your first working set for tomorrow is 60lbs, there is absolutely no reason you should be using a 35lb barbell to warm-up with (that’s over 50% of your working weight). You want your barbell to move fast and feel like a PVC pipe when warming up.

-Get reset each rep. Get a quick, proper set up between reps which will, in turn, help you learn how to utilize your legs, use proper positioning throughout the lift, and require more muscle motor unit recruitment.

-Feel free to video yourself. Watch it in between sets. Every rep should look the same in your set. If not, something is up. Get a coach to look at it if needed.

Lastly, take a look at the video posted for a couple of my favorite upper back/thoracic spine/shoulder openers for Snatches

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In an effort to give our members more insight into the programming at the Cove, we are looking to do some previews of what to expect with the upcoming week.

Last week was a big testing week, as we tested 1 rep maxes in the clean, back squat, and strict press and to balance it out, we had a 1-mile run time trial. We are now back to a 3 week mini strength cycle using tempo training, focused on the front squat and bench press.  Tempo training allows us to work on a movement at the toughest point of the exercise and will help build a foundation for additional strength gains.

For more insights on tempo training, check out our blog post from a month ago.

We will see bench press on Monday’s and Front Squats on Fridays. We want you to lift a challenging load, but to get the most out of this training, you need to be sure you are keeping that 5-second eccentric training tempo.

We also will be adding a power snatch cycle over a period of six weeks. It was designed by Coach John, who is a certified USAW Olympic lifting coach. We are starting at some lighter snatch weights for week one, looking to tighten up that form and build speed. Next week (and each following week), we will be adjusting the loads and reps. We want a reset for each rep and our focus is on speed and technique, we don’t want any missed reps.

A couple of highlights for the week.

Monday – we have a great triplet of unpartition burpee pull-ups, power cleans, and push-ups.  We also are offering a RX+ option of muscle ups. Because this workout is unpartitioned, it will allow our athletes that are still looking to master this movement plenty of time to rest to hit this challenging movement when they are ready.

Wednesday: Love the EMOM of snatches and box jumps and moderate weights. This is a deadly combo.

Thursday: Hitting lots of variations of upper body pulling exercises, including strict pull-ups. For those athletes that are working on getting your first strict pull-up, please take this as a chance to work on scaled versions of pull ups to help build that strength. Coach Carolyn has put out some great pull-up accessory work for those liking to get their first.

Friday: After front squats we have a deadly combo of front squats and burpees but the real challenge if a 150-foot walking lunge. We have some spicy variations of this lunge for our RX+ athletes, including double overhead lunges. It’s a different movement and will challenge your midline and mobility as an athlete.

Saturday: A Cove favorite hero workout of Abbatte, we offer an individual version and a team version of this great workout.

Looking forward to a great week!

Covies in non-gym clothes!

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PROGRAMMING ENHANCEMENTS

As you can imagine, programming for a gym with a wide range of needs can be challenging,  but we are always seeking ways to improve and deliver “the best hour of your day” for each person who walks through the door.  For the last month, the entire coaching staff has been working hard on making improvements to the programming, driven by your inputs via the survey and personal exchanges we have every day.

Overall, when we evaluate programming, two key things we look for are performance gains by the athletes and keeping people healthy and safe. As a box owner, these metrics are non-negotiables and CompTrain has been delivering these. 

But we are aware that CompTrain has gaps that members and coaches are feeling need to be addressed. Here is a summary of some of the feedback and the things we plan to do to address them.

1. More Advanced Skill Development (i.e. HSPU, wall/HS walks, muscle ups, pistols, etc.). You will see these added to strength and skill sessions but also included in the workouts for the RX/RX+ athlete. For those athletes looking to learn more, we can provide some guidance for post-class accessory work.
2. Greater focus on Olympic Lifting. CompTrain does a good job of strength programming through the power lifts but at the exclusion of the Olympic lifts outside of Metcons. We know the importance of dedicated practice and coaching time to these lifts to get the most out of our fitness. To connect the dots between the strength you are building and the power you can unleash via Oly lifts, we will be adding dedicated cycles for them. 
3. Greater Variation in Time Domains in Metcons. CompTrain tends to focus on Metcons in the 18-minute range, as it is their philosophy that this is the sweet spot of training.  We see the value of this time range, but not at the exclusion of the short time domains that allow us to develop aerobic and anaerobic power. More important to us as a staff, this gives us more time to develop strength and the techniques to be successful.
4. Cater more to competitive “CrossFit as Sport” athletes. CrossFit’s prescription for achieving fitness is a regimen that focuses on “a broad, general, and inclusive fitness – not only for the unknown, but for the unknowable” and that training for a wide variety of sports and activities, we become more generally fit. However, some of our members are training for “CrossFit as a sport” and require stimuli they might see in a competition (heavier weights, complex movements, etc.). You will see these added more frequently to the RX+ track.
5. More benchmarks.  A great way to see progress is through comparative data. We will add more benchmark workouts and STRONGLY encourage each of you to put your scores in DAILY into Wodify. This helps us in so many ways so please add that data!
6. Communicating the Hows and Whys  So much time and thought goes into what we do here and we want to share more of that with you. A better understanding of what’s programmed (and why) can help you become a better athlete, motivate you to come often, understand the process, and see the results! I’ll be putting out a weekly message so you can see what’s in store for the week ahead.

We take your health and wellness seriously and personally and want to provide the best possible environment and programming for your success. Thank you for all your continued input and trust in us. 

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