In teams of two, every 4 minutes x 7 rounds: Run 400m together 21 Synchronized kettlebell swings/goblet squats, 24kg(16kg) 12 Pull-ups, each partner completes on their own
*For all odd-numbered rounds perform kettlebell swings. For all even-numbered rounds perform goblet squats.
Who’s got 4 thumbs and is ready for the Team Series?!?!
Are the CrossFit Games getting you pumped up for competition? Grab a partner and get ready to have some fun in the 2018 CrossFit Team Series. Registration is now LIVE and it’s time to create your team.
Registration goes like this: Team Managers will log on, create a team and pay $40. When they’re done, they’ll get a unique link to invite their teammate to join their team. The second athlete then follows the unique link to join the team.
Two sets of partner workouts will be released on Wednesday, Sept. 19, and Wednesday, Sept. 26. In Week 1, pairs will have until Monday, Sept. 24, to complete the workouts and submit their scores. The deadline for Week 2 will be Monday, Oct. 1. This means pairs have five days to complete the workouts once they are released.
Verve already has a few teams signed up. These workouts will not be programmed as WODs, they will need to be completed during Open Gym time. The planning is already underway for times that everyone can get together and do the workouts while competing against other teams. It’s $40 for a little spirited, fun, friendly, in house competition. Click here to register your team.
Today’s workout has a time cap. This means that in order to complete all the work in under the time cap we might have to scale the reps, weight, or distance on the run and that is absolutely okay! Below is an excerpt from the blog, Words with Lisbeth, about scaling and why it should be done and why it’s not a bad thing. We’ve posted this a few times in the past, but it’s worth another post.
Scaling is an adjustment of the workout to your individual needs. Scaling is not an apology or an excuse. And it’s not some bullshit way to talk down to yourself or anybody else.
The ubiquitous use of the term scaled is kind of unfortunate in our fitness world because it’s an ill-fitting term, but it’s too late now to go back and change the word.
If I could, I’d call it something more apt like “tailored” because everybody understands that clothing off the rack doesn’t always fit right, so you go to the tailor and get it fitted to your body. What good scaling does, is tailor the workout to you.
But in our fitness world, as we increasingly geek over data, we seek to find more ways to make everything uniform so that we can measure who is the fittest or the fastest or the strongest or the best. So we make one super-human standard and everyone else has to adjust off that standard. I get it. Makes sense. I used to be into that, but most of the time now I really don’t care for dick-measuring contests, but that’s just me.
See, I’m just me and I do my thing. Do I want to beat the person next to me in the workout? Oh hell yeah, sometimes I do. And sometimes I don’t give a flying frisbee. Sometimes I just want to still be breathing at the end of the workout. A little stronger, a little smarter, a little sexier, right?
Nor should you ever make anybody else feel small for scaling. It’s just a workout. There will be another one tomorrow. If you’re smart, you’ll scale that one to your abilities too.
Don’t lower your eyes or shrug your shoulders or mumble something about “not doing it RX.” Scaling is not an apology, so don’t talk like it is. You’ve offended no one and you have nothing to apologize for.
You were here. You did the work as hard as you wanted or needed to on this day. And life went on. Go out and kick ass.
As many reps as possible in 12 minutes: 2 Overhead squats, 135#(95#) 2 Chest to bar pull-ups 4 Overhead squats, 135#(95#) 4 Chest to bar pull-ups 6 Overhead squats, 135#(95#) 6 Chest to bar pull-ups …..continue in this fashion until the clock hits 12:00.
*Every minute on the minute (including 0:00), complete 3 front squats.
It’s Monday. Jen is just showing us how sometimes you gotta put your head down and get to work. Fully supported by Matt and Jason.
Folks!! Whose got two thumbs and is excited to get signed up for the 2018 MBS Turkey Challenge?!?!?!
This annual local competition has become a fairly big one to the Verve community, usually pulling multiple teams and individual competitions. It makes for a Verve fun filled weekend. Not sure what I’m talking about, click here for more info about the event. Know EXACTLY what I’m talking about?? Then get your alarms set, because registration opens this morning at 9am. This event generally sells out. Here is the link to the main page with all the registration details.
While you are marking your calendars, make sure you have Verve’s 10 year anniversary party inked in.
When: Saturday October 6th @ 7pm
Where: Verve
What: An adult evening filled with adult beverages, dancing, pictures, corn hole, and karaoke. It’s “prom” themed, or said another way, we want you to dress up!!!
Keep an eye out for an event page to RSVP to as well as fliers around Verve to remind you.
5 Rounds on a 4 minute clock: 100′ Farmer carry 100′ Prowler push 100′ Walking lunge With remaining time, as many DB snatch as possible, 50#(35#) Rest 1 minute between rounds
Steve’s Club Throwdown
In teams of 2, complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 12 minutes of:
60 Deadlifts, 155#(105#)
60 Burpees
60 Shoulder to overhead, 135#(95#)
*Sprint members are invited to join the 9:00 am WOD for today’s workout.
Today’s workout is all about the kids. Steve’s Club and its participating members provide a national network of programs through which at-risk or under-served youth of any socioeconomic background can join in the CrossFit Community at a reduced, low or no cost structure.
If you’d like to donate to Steve’s Club, you can do so online by clicking HERE
We are not charging drop ins today and ask that people donate to Steve’s Club instead.
We at Verve love helping out when we can and Steve’s Club is a great organization and we are happy to be a part of the Throwdown.
Ken sending a little encouragement Steve’s way, as they work through a partner WOD.
When Muscle-ups Taste Like Humble Pie By Melody-Sara Feldman
It’s winter 2010.
Our gym has been open for less than a year, which means I’ve had access to “high” rings for about that time.
Today, we have ring muscle-ups programmed in the workout of the day, and considering the demands of running a new, short-staffed small business, I’m squeezing in my workout on my own in the middle of the morning.
I do the class warm-up, which includes a general warm-up and some skill work related to the muscle-up. Then I turn on the clock, start the workout and proceed to fail muscle-ups repeatedly for about 10 minutes.
And then—no shit—I throw a full-on, ugly, crying temper tantrum as a 25-year-old adult.
My coach at the time looks at me knowingly. He has seen me “get” things relatively easily in CrossFit, but it’s only because I haven’t yet tried many things that are “hard” relative to my athletic background.
He lets me bask in my own misery and self-hatred for another minute or so, and then, without skipping a beat, he proceeds to fire off some of the best coaching I’ve ever received. A real reality check to my ego.
He says something about how I’m not allowed to be mad at myself for failing at something I haven’t put in time practicing.
Whoa.
Because I think that’s worth repeating, let’s say it twice.
I haven’t yet earned the right to be frustrated because I haven’t put in time practicing this skill. My frustration was pure ego, and that’s it.
He was right. How often did I practice muscle-ups in 2010? About once a month, when they showed up in the workout of the day.
And this was a movement that I couldn’t just “walk on” to. Instead, it was something that needed dedicated time (and more time than I had anticipated once I started practicing) for strength and skill work. I needed the strength to hold the false grip, to pull high enough and capture the dip position, and then to press out of the dip. And, of course, I needed to productively apply that force at the right time—that’s the technique piece.
Patience—Then More Patience
You cannot expect yourself to automatically be good at something—be it simple or high level. In fact, I’d argue that most people move on too quickly from the simple, “progressing” before they’ve actually mastered the mechanics of foundational movements.
I mean, who works on the lowly air squat when she can slap some weight on a barbell and tuck into a set of thrusters?
But this lack of technical skill in foundational movements contributes to a lack of success with higher-level tasks.
My point is this: I see myself circa 2010 muscle-up tantrum in my athletes all the time. I’m still not immune to this feeling, either; I just recognize it now for what it is.
Here’s how it goes down: Athlete A observes Athlete B, who’s been doing CrossFit for five or six years, make a movement as challenging as a muscle-up seem effortless, and then Athlete A tries one. Understandably, it goes not well. Athlete A then decides to put in few weeks or months of practice, maybe under the watchful guidance of a coach. Most likely, the goal—technical mastery—won’t be achieved in that time. Athlete A then plays this savage mental game, wondering what’s wrong with him or her. A put in weeks of effort! Hopefully you can hear the sarcasm.
This process represents a disconnection. It’s natural, but it’s greedy given the sum of the effort, and it’s emotionally immature. But it’s part of the process, and we all have to go through it.
So it’s your job as a coach to be a truth teller, and by doing this, you will teach your athletes patience and perseverance. You will teach them how to earn things. It’s also your job to hold them back and help them master the basics before unleashing them into the more complex (and riskier) stuff.
And then, again, you must remind them that learning this hard stuff will be an uphill battle that will require of them more than they have previously given. And no, it probably won’t come easily or quickly. It’s your job to teach them this life lesson of progressing the right way from simple to complex and from weak to strong.
Teach this lesson with compassion. Remember your journey. It might have been easier for you to learn movement if you have a proclivity for it, but at one point, you also didn’t know how to do muscle-ups or snatches.
But teach this lesson. Don’t let your athletes get away with the easier-in-the-short-term route of frustration/avoidance or just frustration. Your athletes will learn a lesson when you guide them to work on a skill for weeks, months or years before achievement. That lesson will be invaluable, and it will transcend the walls of the gym.
People quit often when results aren’t immediate or near immediate. As a coach, it’s your duty to be their guiding light, not just in physical progressions but also in athletic and emotional maturity.
Take it one step at a time, and be there for them when they need you.
Joey and Jake proving to Clancy they are more than quarterly attendees. (Lisa is also in the pic)
THANK YOU!
Time is the most valuable resource someone can give and MANY members of the Verve community gave their time to make Femme Royale a huge success. We cannot thank you enough for investing in, not only our community, but the Denver CrossFit community as a whole. We are always grateful beyond words with how you all get behind all of the events and initiatives that we put in front of you, from competitions to charitable drives.
Please know that we recognize and appreciate this and are beyond grateful for the community that chooses Verve as their gym.
Today is the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. On September 11, 2001, 343 fire fighters died in the line of duty, as did 71 law enforcement officers. An additional 2,563 civilians or government employees were also killed. Today we honor these men and women.
A total of 2,977 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
At the World Trade Center (WTC) site in Lower Manhattan, 2,753 people were killed when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 were intentionally crashed into the north and south towers or as a result of the crashes.
At the Pentagon in Washington, 184 people were killed when hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building.
Near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93 died when the plane crashed into a field. It is believed that the hijackers crashed the plane in that location, rather than their unknown target, after the passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the flight deck.
Steve’s Club Throwdown is coming to Verve this Saturday!
This Saturday, one WOD, one good cause.
Steve’s Club provides CrossFit programs to Colorado’s at-risk and under-served youth, teaching them resilience, perseverance, and confidence. Most importantly, like many of us have experienced, they discover what they are capable of in life by pushing themselves in CrossFit.
Verve will be hosting the Steve’s Club Throwdown workout as our WOD on Saturday September 15th. This will be our workout for all 3 Saturday classes. It is a partner workout, so you can start to plan accordingly.
As a member of Verve, you simply need to show up, should you feel like donating to Steve’s Club, Saturday would be an awesome time to do it. We are also welcoming any friends or family that wish to join you, to drop in to Verve. Rather than our standard drop if fee, we will simply ask that all drop ins donate the $20 to Steve’s Club. So bring your buddies from other gyms, throw down on a sweet partner WOD, and donate to an organization that gives the gift of CrossFit to kids at risk of doing something far worse with their lives.
Suggested Donation: $20 (or more) All donations are tax-deductible. Steve’s Club can take cash, check, venmo on site.
Registrations opens for the 2018 MBS Turkey Challenge- Monday September 17th – This is a fun annual local competition, drawing a huge number of competitors, spectators, and vendors. – You can register as an individual or in a team, but you gotta register fast cause this event always sells out!! – Mark your calendars and set your alarms. You can get more info about the event by clicking here.
Verve celebrates 10 years in business!!- Saturday October 6th @ Verve – Folks, we are going to party. Big. – We will send out an actual invite but mark your calendars now and schedule a babysitter, it’s adult party time. . . and you are gonna love the theme. We promise.
