THE RISING TIDE OF RX

“Is it me or are weights getting heavier??”

You might be thinking to your self… “Am I going crazy? I was just beginning to do the RX workouts (or Fitness or +) regularly but it seems the weights and movements and getting harder and harder at each recommended guideline!” No, you’re not crazy. They ARE going up. You’re seeing chest to bars for pull-ups, unbroken doubles and increases in weight often. But this is only because we are getting stronger, more efficient in our movements and increasing our overall fitness. That’s the goal, right?

If you’ve ever asked an experienced CrossFitter if it ever gets easier, their answer should be NO. Sure, you move better and it is easier to get in good positions because your mobility has improved, but we are always challenging ourselves by doing the work faster, with a greater load or with a more aggressive scale. So, it shouldn’t get ‘easier’… at least not INSIDE the box. What you do in the gym should constantly challenge you, but life outside the box should feel easier. Occasional soreness aside, you should be able to lift things easier. To climb stairs quicker. To pick up your kids without strain. So, while it will still be hard each time you step in in the box, know that it is all contributing to a fuller and more productive life OUTSIDE the box.

MOBILITY WOD

 

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Today we recognize the veterans who bravely and selflessly served this country by celebrating Veteran’s Day. With so many veterans and active military at the Cove , this day takes on an even more special meaning for us. Please take a moment to thank them for their incredible loyalty and service to our country.

WEDNESDAY WINS

Every Wednesday we will celebrate the “wins” (big or small) that are achieved by our Cove athletes with the support of this amazing community.

Today we congratulate Justin F. on his incredible journey in just a few short months.  He came to the Cove after losing a tremendous amount of weight on his own.  He was starting to plateau and wanted to dial up his training to take his fitness to the next level.  

In his first two months of doing CrossFit he has lost 23 pounds. Now we don’t always believe in the scale as a measure of success (frankly I think it’s a blatant liar) but it’s obvious the tremendous progress he has made by just looking at him.  Justin continues to improve his movement quality, his strength and conditioning and just completed his second RX workout. He now is living a more active life of hiking, playing ultimate frisbee and pickup soccer.

He’s one of the many hard workers at the “7:30  Late Night CrossFit Crew”

STRENGTH WOD

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1-1 FOUNDATIONS CLASSES

Ask any of our newer members and they will tell you the value of Foundations Classes as an entry point into CrossFit.  And for those who did Foundations 1-1 I’m sure you’d agree that the individual focus can really make a world of difference.  

We are still going to do another round of group Foundations next week (M7:30p, W7:30p and F6:30p) but we are also rolling out a 1-1 opportunity.  It is $80 for THREE 1-1 sessions ($80 TOTAL, not $80 per session!) and then you STILL get a free week.  For any of your friends and family who can’t do evening foundations or would prefer to work in smaller settings, this is a GREAT way to try it out.  We’ll be posting it on Facebook as well so if you don’t mind sharing, that would be awesome.

We were blown away by the times for the 15.5 retest Monday.  The morning crew started out strong with Larry not only beating his time by around a minute, but he went from using a 65lb barbell to a 95lb barbell.  That is just crazy.  Anna decreased her time by over 4 minutes, Katie knocked off 1 1/2 minutes off of her time and Coach Marina and Coach Brian were able to break the magical minute barrier. 

There were too many wins to celebrate here but clearly the programming is working hard… and so are YOU!

SKILL WOD

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WELCOME COACH JOSH  

As we continue to grow in membership and add classes to the schedule, we are excited to do the same with our coaching staff.  While we love bringing in great coaches from outside the box, there’s nothing more exciting and prideful than developing a home grown Coach.

For those of you who know him, Josh is one of the hardest working athletes we have.  He’s a consistent performer, a great mover and couldn’t be a nicer guy.  He’s been an athlete and coach for years and we are excited to bring his experience to the Cove. Sure, you may have heard him yell or scream during a WOD, but we can assure it is only driven by passion and focus — it will never be directed at you!  You’ll be seeing him shadowing classes and eventually leading parts of WODS as part of an on-boarding process.  Here’s a bit of his background and why he’s excited to start this next leg of his CrossFit journey:

“Raised just across the Mason-Dixon in Pennsylvania, I have been involved in sports ever since I could crawl.  Through collegiate baseball, coaching, and now working with high school/youth athletes, sports have completely consumed my life and there is nothing I would do to change that.  I have always put myself and others in a position to compete and I can’t get enough of that feeling.  Now as I get older and wiser, I’ve realized that while growing up, everything came easy.  I never really appreciated “the grind” or went above and beyond to be better than I naturally was in the sport I was playing.  I was always so focused on the skill work and mechanics involved with specializing at one thing or one sport.  CrossFit was a huge wake-up call.

In the past I had talked smack about CrossFit and preached the classic phrase – “I’m not trying to be the best at exercising” – because I never viewed CrossFit as a sport.  But when you step into the box for the first time, the incredible skill work and camaraderie all come back into play as if you’re on the field.  Only this time around, you’re not specializing, you’re becoming a well-rounded athlete who is ready for anything thrown your way.  CrossFit is not just a sport, it’s a way of life and prepares you for just that –Life.  No other sport can do that.  Hanging from a cliff?  Well, you can do a muscle-up, so you’re not falling today.  Your buddy needs to move his living room chair onto a moving truck?  Tell your buddy to start up the truck because you’re going to clean and jerk that thing by yourself.  Bear chasing you?  Well…just run, trust me, you have the endurance.

Of course, your personal goals at the box will always be there, but you care just as much about the person next to you doing their first push-up, first toes-to-bar, or hitting a PR.  The feel of community and collaboration personally drives me to do things I never thought I was capable of doing.  That is what fuels me to constantly motivate others to see those results.  I used to struggle with patience of the process or appreciate “the grind”, but CrossFit leaves you with that every day hunger of wanting more.  And the results follow.

Like Randy Johnson once said – “When you can throw 97mph and put the ball over the plate any time you want, it’s fun.”

Randy is right, that sounds like a ton of fun.  But you can’t come out and throw 97mph with perfect accuracy right out of the gate — just like you can’t deadlift 500 pounds on the first rep of your first day in the box.  It’s a process and that is the most fun part about it – we get to do this every day and keep building.  

I yell and scream along the way not because I’m angry, but because I’m having fun and I have a lot of passion for this. And I want to instill that passion in everyone I have the pleasure of coaching.  Just let me have my coffee first.”

STRENGTH WOD

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