Every minute on the minute x 20 minutes:
Even minutes-
25 Double unders
25′ Single arm dumbbell overhead walking lunge, right
Odd minutes-
25 Double unders
25′ Single arm dumbbell overhead walking lunge, left

*Use a 50#(35#) dumbbell or a 53#(35#) kettlebell

Post movements and loads to comments and BTWB

The 2018 Verve Open Team Cup champions are . . .
Team Sex Panthers!! 

Led by:
Captain Anna Mattson and Co-Captain Matt Chan

Supported by teammates:
Adam Rosenbloom, Courtney Barry, Ben Stratton, Craig Kalman, Elizabeth Schweyen, Eric Clancy, Jason Kaplan, Jason Rutt, Katie Tollund, Kellie Morante, Leah LaBonte, Lisa Day, Mary Petersen, Trevor Bron, Nicole Alt, Walt Gaines, and Barb Herrera.

Team point totals:
Team Sex Panthers- 224
Team Fun, Fun, Fun- 212
Team Wolf Pack- 206
Team Kip, Kip, Hooray- 146

Congratulations to Team Sex Panthers on your Open Team Cup championship, may you hoist the Chanly Cup with pride!!

As I mentioned earlier, we have two awesome athletes that are not quite done with their CrossFit Games journey. We need to give a special shout out to Matt Chan and Jordan Afraimi. The top 20 individual competitors in each region will advance to the Regionals in May. However, in the age categories, the top 200 athletes in the world will compete in the online age qualifiers in April for a chance to go to the CrossFit Games. 

Matt Chan came in 100th in the Southwest Region, 4th in the men’s 40-44 age group in the Southwest, and is the 43rd fittest man in the 40-44 age group worldwide. 

Jordan Afraimi came in 5th in the Southwest Region in the 16-17 year old age group and is the 178th fittest teen in the 16-17 year old age group worldwide. 

We need to get ready to cheer these two men on next month during their next test of fitness!! Congratulations for being in the top 200 IN THE WORLD, in your age groups. 

We have a few other athletes that had some great leaderboard performances in this Open:

Trevor Bron (scaled division)- 
15th Southwest Region
1st Southwest Region, 45-49 age group
47th Worldwide, 45-49 age group

Andy Emke-Duckett (scaled division)-
72nd Southwest Region
19th Worldwide, 40-44 age group

Nicole Hall (RX division)-
148th Southwest Region
25th Southwest Region, 35-39 age group

Anna Mattson (RX division)-
172nd Southwest Region
27th Southwest Region, 35-39 age group

Cherie Chan (RX division)-
40th Southwest Region, 40-44 age group

Danielle Dangoia (scaled division)-
5th Southwest Region
2nd Southwest Region, 35-39 age group
46th Worldwide, 35-39 age group

Ali Nichols (scaled division)-
20th Southwest Region

Courtney Shepherd (scaled division)-
1st Southwest Region
1st Southwest Region, 35-39 age group
28th Worldwide
6th Worldwide, 35-39 age group

Team CrossFit Verve finished 49th in the Southwest Region!!!

Again, congratulations to everyone that participated int he 2018 Open. This was truly a fun and exciting year. 

10 Rounds for time of:
5 Burpee box jumps, 30″(24″)
10 Pull-ups

Post results to comments or BTWB

THE OPEN IS OVER…. NOW WHAT?

The CF Open is over!! What do we do with all of these feelings and feedback that we have gotten over the past 5 weeks?  What do I do to start preparing for the next year?  The following article mentions some fun goals you can set for this upcoming year. You can see the full article here

And we did it. We made it. 5 unknown and unknowable workouts completed. Maybe you were a “1 and done” type or maybe you did something you wouldn’t do any other time throughout the year and repeated a training session twice in less than 120 hours, regardless, you’ve set the bar for yourself. Arguably most importantly, you’ve identified some glaring weaknesses in your game. Who cares if you can Snatch 120 kilos if 75 pounds feels like 90% of that within 4 minutes after adding in a gymnastic obstacle? Did you really not expect to see chest to bar pull ups again? And now we have crazy stuff like unilateral movements and handstand pushups to really help us see the chinks in the armor that we thought we were polishing out with all that “competitor prep” training. There are so many data points that can be collected on any single Athlete. Your “individualized program” should be all set up to ensure your trip to Regionals next year (or maybe we’ll just hold off until you’re in the Masters category in a few years). But that’s not what this article is really about.

Like clockwork, over the last 6 years, everyone has that “closing time” feeling of not quite knowing where to go. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. If you’re like me, the absolute last thing you want is to start doing more “bar facing burpee’s” in prep of an unknown task that’ll come in another 50 weeks. So here are some options:

 Start with taking an honest look at your performance over the last few weeks. Was a 225/155 lb Deadlift “heavy” for you? Was that second round of Squat Cleans really that bad? Did you lack the thoracic mobility to get your toes to the bar? Seriously, Bar Muscle ups? Use those “data points” to drive your offseason activities. Let the feeling of standing around fighting for a movement that is within your capacity drive you to conquer it on the next go round. Your next 100 training sessions can’t be purely made of your weaknesses, but spending just 5-10 minutes a day on them will yield success. Heck, if you were told you to do 7 minutes of burpees for an Open workout, you might do it 2-3 times in a week. Harness that drive into some discipline that will have carry over into your overall well being and growth as an athlete.

Pick a target event. Sign up for a Team Competition in 2-3 months. Having a battle buddy (not a drinking buddy) for the accountability factor can do wonders for your likelihood of completion. This will also get you more comfortable with the “competition stimulus” and how to handle the anxiety that comes with being judged. Be advised that not all events are ran smartly. The goal is fun and a new challenge, not to see if you can do so much to not walk for the next week. Pick one that has a good reputation for programming as opposed to which one will break you off the worst. A cool venue is always a plus. Somehow doing thrusters on top of a baseball stadium dugout, or pull ups in a harbor makes the experience that much cooler. At the end of the day, the reminder that you’re a small fish in a big pond is always enough to get you back in the gym to keep working hard.

Do a Strongman event. Lift, carry, throw with all your might heavy objects in races that will force you to adapt. Your chances of becoming Eddie “The Beast” Hall are slim. You’ll more than likely find a new appreciation for moving some serious weight and in the process find new ways to tax your midline. You think toes to bar get your core? Try carrying a 500+ lb Yoke. Play around with odd objects that purposely put you out of the best positions. This community and the CrossFit clan are dangerously closely related in that everyone wants to see you succeed and at the end of the day, it’s all about work capacity. Take some time to learn from some of these big fellas and ladies.

Run a 5k. Sounds like a regularly programmed CrossFit workout that everyone skips because it’s “too simple” and not sexy. This is a great opportunity to get out and experience another community and possibly contribute to a worthy cause. Chances are after all of the conditioning you’ve been doing, you’re going to crush it. Remember, we want to be faster than the lifters and stronger than the runners. Don’t get lost down the rabbit hole!

Sign up for an Obstacle Course Race. Climb ropes? Check. Scale walls? Check. Run while carrying things? Check. Get electrocuted? ummm…. There are a ton now all over the country. Pick a local one, or plan a road trip, but keep the goal in mind. Chances are if you’ve been CrossFitting for a bit you’re physically prepared for any OCR. What good are all those pretty muscle ups if all you can’t get over a wall with some mud on you? Do something that scares you!

3 Rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
21 Toes to bar
12 Deadlifts, 275(185#)

Post ties to comments and BTWB

Folks, this is it!! The Open officially ends at 5pm tonight. Did you do 18.5? Are you planning to do 18.5 again? You have one last chance today from 2pm-4pm, during Verve’s open gym hours. Get to Verve as soon as you can, during this time frame, to get signed up for a heat.

Please be sure to submit your scores AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. You can click here to do it. Scores must be submitted by 5pm Monday night, however, the earlier you submit, the better. If there is any issue with your score, it gives me time to email you and get it corrected. 

Got any last minute people who did the judge’s course to get your Open team a few extra points? Please be sure to stick a copy of the certificate of completion on your team’s clipboard, so I can get your points entered!

Who will win the Chanly Cup this year? Which team will have the honor to #drinkfromthecup? Stay tuned this week for the final Spirit of the week as well as the final points update.

In teams complete the following:
Assault bike, 60 calories per team member
*Teammates can switch as often as they like

Every 3:00 team must perform 1 round of “Cindy” each:
5 Pull ups
10 Push ups
15 Air Squats
*All team members can work at the same time for the round of Cindy

Post times to comments and BTWB

5 x 500 Meter row
Rest 3:00 between efforts
Then:
Ring muscle up skill session

Post results to comments or BTWB

 6 DAYS LEFT IN THE MARCH VERVE IN THE COMMUNITY EVENT – Food Drive benefiting METRO CARING – Anna Mattson

WHO IS METRO CARING? “At Metro Caring, we’re meeting people’s immediate food needs while sustainably addressing the root cause of hunger: poverty. At the same time that we provide nutritious groceries to our hungry neighbors, we offer comprehensive, wrap-around anti-poverty programming so that families can break the cycle of food insecurity.

Metro Caring is a welcoming, dignified, health-focused organization, open to everyone in the Denver metro area. Inside our Hunger Prevention Center, you’ll never find soda or cupcakes; superiority or condescension. “

I chose Metro Caring because of exactly what they just said, they provide HEALTHY food options including fruits and vegetables grown in their own greenhouse, teach free cooking classes, and assist in many other ways that help a person or family struggle with food instability.  Metro Caring runs a FREE Grocery store that looks nothing like a food bank, just a simple grocery store where families can get their food for the month and save hundreds on what they might have spent on groceries.

WHAT CAN WE DO? From the dates of Thursday March 8th thru Thursday March 29th, we will be collecting food and necessities from the list below to help them stock their free grocery store.  Simply bring your items in to Verve and place them in the large bin.  Metro Caring will stop by and pick it up at the end of the month.  April, we will have the opportunity to go to their grocery store and help them sort food items, stock shelves, and any other talents we can provide.

Every 2:00 x 3 sets
3 Muscle cleans
Rest 2:00 after last set, then:
Every 1:30 x 8 sets
1 Power clean

Post results to comments or BTWB

VERVE ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT – DANNY FERNANDEZ

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Born in East Los Angeles at USC Medical Center. My company is the #1 healthcare facility builder in the nation and we started an office in Denver and my wife is from Berthoud, CO. I requested to be transferred offices to be able to start a family here. (No better reason to move!! Especially to Colorado!)

HOW DID YOU FIND CROSSFIT / VERVE? I dropped in during one of my trips to Colorado last year and I thought it was a great gym with many of the attributes that Norcal Crossfit had.

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST PET? Golden Retriever puppy that I bought my wife in January, she’s the best dog everrrrrrr (We agree, she is pretty adorable!)

WOULD YOU RATHER GIVE UP ALCOHOL FOR A YEAR OR SMARTPHONE FOR A MONTH? Drop the Smart Phone fosho, making a real good Manhattan after a long week of work is one of my favorite things in life. My Perfect Manhattan recipe: Crown Royal, a sweet vermouth, orange bitters, orange zest, a splash of maraschino cherry juice, topped with orange zest and a cherry!!! (YES, YES, AND YES!)

IF YOU COULD HAVE A SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Ability to see into the future, then I could get a perfect March Madness bracket! (That would have been really helpful this year)

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB YOU EVER HAD? Worked at a Foot Locker during a summer in high school. I got tipped $200 by a stripper who bought like 10 pairs of shoes at once. She said she had never met a shoe salesman as cute and nice as I was.(TRUE STORY) LOL (Tipping the shoe salesman? That is next level right there!)

VERVE UDPATES

BLATENT BRIBE – This Friday Night Lights, bring in any food donation for our food drive and you will receive a delicious cocktail and baked good!!

5 Rounds for time of:
25 Medicine ball cleans, 20#(14#)
10 Burpee pull-ups

Post times to comments and BTWB

And the winner is. . . 

Our 6 week nutrition challenge came to an end a week ago and we are super excited to announce the winners. We had several categories up for grabs, so here they go:

-Most compliant individual x 6 weeks = Nicole Alt

-Most compliant team x 6 weeks = Brandon Gouker, Diona Gouker, and Meghan Fridley

The last two categories belong to the man in the pictures, Mr. Mike Lamoureux. Mike won Most Improved (physical measurements) and Most Improved (workout time). Here are Mike’s before and after numbers:

450x15x20

450x15x20

400x15x20

400x15x20

400x15x20 

Weight      172.1

Waist         35

Hips           39.5

Chest         40.5

Every 5:00 for 5 Rounds:
20 Wallballs, 20#(14#)
Run 200 Meters
20 Russian kettlebell swings, 35#(26#)

*Rest remainder of time
*Score is slowest interval

Post times to comments and BTWB