12 Days of Christmas Potluck
On Saturday,December 23rd at 10 AM we will be having our traditional “12 Days of CrossFit” workout. It’s like any other workout but with a holiday flare. It can be done solo, as a partner WOD, or scaled in a VARIETY of ways. It is meant to be FUN (we swear) and make you hungry (not sick) for all the snacks after! We will have a single class on Saturday at 10 AM and expect it to be a big community class with multiple heats for the workout.
We are also going to make it a potluck breakfast event after, so we encourage you if possible to bring something to share with your fellow Covies. After finishing the workout, we encourage you to come to hang out with your fellow athletes and spread holiday cheer with one another.
The “12 Days of Christmas wod is executed like the song “The 12 Days of Christmas,” completing each exercise in ascending order then work back down to 1, adding one exercise per round.
1 Burpee
2 Toes-to-Bar
3 Kettlebell Swings 53#/35#
4 Hang Cleans #95#/65#
5 Push Press 95#/65#
6 Front Squats 95#/65#
7 Push Ups
8 Sit Ups
9 Wall Balls 20#/14#
10 Box Jumps
11 Pull Ups
12 HSPU
We know the holidays are about family and we like to think that part of your family is here at the Cove.
Free Shoulder Health Clinic
This coming Saturday at 11:30, we will be holding a shoulder health workshop with our friends at Alpha Project Phyzio and Performance. If you struggle with shoulder pain, neck pain, or shoulder mobility issues (including getting into a front rack position), this will be a great chance to get checked out and learn how to take care of this problematic area.
There will not be an 11:30 class at that time but of course, we have all of the earlier classes and open gym times available.
OUR NEXT STRENGTH CYCLES
This past holiday week, we completed our third strength cycle over the past 3 months. As with all of those cycles, we have seen great improvements in strength and power. The whiteboard was filled with PR stars and we couldn’t be more impressed!
We know how important building strength is to building our fitness, particularly as we get older. We are going continue focusing on building our strength and power over these next 3 months, once again focusing on a push, pull, and squat movement pattern. For the first month, our focus will be on front squats, push jerks, and deadlifts. We will follow that up with back squats, strict press, and snatches. And will conclude by rolling back to our most recent cycle of overhead squats, bench press, and cleans.
We are making some changes to our strength protocols to offer a different stimulus to our athletes.
Instead of working on 5 sets using the same weight, we are lowering the volume moving to 3 working sets. We are also increasing the rest interval to 3 minutes instead of 3 minutes enable us more time to recover. By decreasing the volume, we want to correspond by raising the intensity by increasing the weight on the bar. You will be given a general percentage as an estimate of what the first of set. That is a general prescription and you can alter it slightly depending on how you are feeling the day. After you hit that first set, you have the remaining time to rest before hitting the second set. You can now add more weight, take it away, or stay at the same weight. We are allowing you to accommodate that load depending on the strength levels of that day. After the second set, you will be able make any adjustments for the final set.
A couple of hints and notes to get the most out of this strength cycle. Be sure that your first of the three sets is challenging. Having done the past strength cycles, you should have more notes to work off of to determine a load that makes sense for you.
The opening percentages given to you should be a good marker of where you should start for your first set. We want to be sure that we get 3 solid sets at a challenging weight.
Every day is different, some days you are going to feel super strong, and some days not as much. Give what you have for that particular day and know that it will help you get stronger in the long run.
Finally, be sure to record your scores in Wodify, including notes on how you built up to your final lift.
We are so impressed with the gym this past cycle and are excited to see what you have in store for us now.
Ken looking jacked!
100,000 Meter Street Challenge Is Back!
A tradition at the Cove for the past 8 years has been the holiday row challenge which has become even more special to us that it is now the 100,000 Meter Street Challenge.
The row challenge was created to encourage people to do a little extra work during the holidays. It was a favorite time of the year of our beloved member, Terry Street, who passed away three years ago. If you didn’t know Terry, he was the warmest, most thoughtful, positive person. He LOVED the challenge. It gave him an excuse to hang out with others and when you walked out of the gym, you couldn’t help but smile as Terry just was so happy to be there and to be with you.
In honor of Terry, we are asking participants in the challenge to make a contribution to Team RWB in his name. Terry was a veteran and very involved with issues involving former members of the military. Team RWB very much represents Terry’s love of community and connection. Below is a snippet of their mission, which very much represents the values and ideals of Terry.
“Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) exists to guide them through that journey with real-life and virtual opportunities focused on building a healthier lifestyle because a strong focus on mental and physical health is critical to ensuring veterans’ best days are ahead.”
In the past, we have asked for a $25 donation, but please just make any donation that might make sense for you to Team RWB here.
To the challenge itself, you have the day AFTER Thanksgiving until December 31st to accumulate 100,000M on the Erg (rower) or equivalent meters running or on the bike. If the rower isn’t your cup of tea, you could look to hit the assault bike, concept 2 bike, or run over that period of time. Here are the target numbers if you choose not to row.
Running: 50 miles (1 mile = 2000 meters)
Assault Bike: 1200 Calories = (1000 meters = 120 cals)
Concept 2: 400,000 meters (1000 meters = 4000 meters biked)
You can mix and match these numbers as well
What do I need to do to sign up? Not much! Just slap your name on the temporary whiteboard by the beverage fridges. We will eventually transfer the names to the main whiteboard once the current pull up challenge is finished.
Why are doing this? We started it as a way to burns some xtra calories but Terry has made it so much more. He made it a celebration of life, love, togetherness, and community. So please put your name on the whiteboard and get ready to row!
TERRY STREET WAS THE BEST!
