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Thursday 170831

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4 Rounds for time of:
15 Toes to bar
15 Ring dips
15 Push-ups
15m Handstand walk

Post times to comments and BTWB

Meghan getting in some post WOD work with team prowler pushes.
Meghan getting in some post WOD work with team prowler pushes.

Your nugget of nutritional information for the week.

I think we can all agree, carbs are the best. Who doesn’t love carbs? (If you say you are one of those really weird people that loves all protein and always has trouble getting in all their carbs for the day. . . I don’t even comprehend what you are saying) Unfortunately processed carbs is a wonderful place companies like to sneak in high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is cheap and makes things taste better. But if it’s cheap and makes things taste better, then there’s got to be a catch. . . and there very much is. Here is an article about the pitfalls behind consuming HFCS and how it’s removal from our diet can have huge health benefits. 

Overweight children and adults get significantly healthier and quickly with less sugar
By American Osteopathic Association

Osteopathic physicians suggest shifting the conversation from weight to health for overweight children and adults, asking patients to reduce their sugar intake to see measurable improvements in metabolic function.

Improved measures of health can be seen in less than two weeks of sugar reduction, according to a review published in the August edition of The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association (JAOA).

Keeping the simple sugar fructose, particularly high-fructose corn syrup, off the menu can help avert health issues including obesity, fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Fructose accelerates the conversion of sugar to fat, researchers noted. Their JAOA review summarized the results of several carefully controlled studies, finding a link between high consumption of sugar, in particular fructose, and increased fat synthesis in the liver.

“Fructose provides no nutritional value and isn’t metabolized in the brain. Your body converts it to fat, but doesn’t recognize that you’ve eaten, so the hunger doesn’t go away,” explains Tyree Winters, DO, an osteopathic pediatrician focused on childhood obesity. “Many young patients tell me they’re always hungry, which makes sense because what they’re eating isn’t helping their bodies function.”

Overfed and undernourished

The JAOA review identified fructose as a particularly damaging type of simple sugar. Compared to glucose, which metabolizes 20 percent in the liver and 80 percent throughout the rest of the body, fructose is 90 percent metabolized in the liver and converts to fat up to 18.9 times faster than glucose.

HFCS is found in 75 percent of packaged foods and drinks, mainly because it is cheaper and 20 percent sweeter than raw sugar. Fructose turns on the metabolic pathways that converts it to fat and stores it in the body, adding weight. At the same time, the brain thinks the body is starving and becomes lethargic and less inclined to exercise.

“If we cut out the HFCS and make way for food that the body can properly metabolize, the hunger and sugar cravings fade. At the same time, patients are getting healthier without dieting or counting calories,” Dr. Winters says. “This one change has the potential to prevent serious diseases and help restore health.”

Fighting back

Once people have put on a significant amount of weight and developed eating habits that rely on packaged and processed foods with HFCS, change can be daunting. Historically, physicians have told patients to restructure their diet and start exercising heavily, with a plan to check back after a month or more. That approach rarely works, as seen by the ever-growing obesity epidemic.

Instead, Dr. Winters suggests checking blood work about two weeks after patients agree to begin limiting their sugar intake to help patients see clear benefits for their effort.

That single change in diet improves metabolic results in less than two weeks. Imagine the power of doing a ‘before and after’ comparison with a patient, so they can see for themselves that their health is improving. Seeing those results, instead of just stepping on a scale, can motivate them to keep going,” Dr. Winters explains.

Monday 170828

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Take 15 minutes to establish a heavy back squat

Then, 5 rounds:
300(250) Meter row
5 Back squat @ 75% of heaviest
Rest 2 minutes

Post loads and times to comments and BTWB

Hey guys, how did that assault bike work go after the workout?
Hey guys, how did that assault bike work go after the workout?

Yo, yo, yo. . . what’s the haps?

This weekend (September 2nd & 3rd) Verve is closed while we host a CrossFit Level 1 Seminar. We will have one morning class at 7am both Saturday and Sunday. There will be no additional classes or open gym time. The workouts will be super fun, sign up in MBO and reserve your spot!!

Monday (September 4th) is Labor Day. Verve will have an abbreviated schedule with limited classes. Please check MBO for class times and get signed up for class. We will be doing a Hero WOD partner style, so start pre planning that workout partner. 

Saturday September 9th we will be hosting a Steve’s Club charity WOD. Stay tuned for more details. 

 

Sunday 170827

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For time:
50-40-30-20-10
Russian kettlebell swings, 53#(35#)
Ab mat sit ups
Double unders

Post times to comments and BTWB

Jared displaying few signs of life after the full class assault bike work, #SexyFaceSunday
Jared displaying few signs of life after the full class assault bike work, #SexyFaceSunday

 

Thursday 170824

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10 Round for time:
Row 20(16) calories
Sprint 200 Meters
Rest 1 minutes between rounds

Post times to comments and BTWB

Dueling Adams on the assault bikes.
Dueling Adams on the assault bikes.

Break, I don’t need no stinking break. . . .

Anyone that has been a member of Verve for any period of time knows how class starts off every day. We meet at the whiteboard and we discuss the WOD. We address the goal of the workout, about how long do we want it to take, how many rounds roughly are we looking to get. We address how the weights should feel, unbroken, broken once, broken no more than twice, etc. What are some modifications we can do if a movement on the board is outside of our current capabilities? After spending about 5 minutes at the board our goal is to have already helped all athletes start to make their workout game plan, a plan that becomes more solidified as we go through the warm-up.

Not everything we do has to be done unbroken, although some days the workout absolutely calls for it. But I want to address the desire to do something unbroken for the sake of. . . moving without stopping. But moving for the sake of moving can turn out to be at the expense of actually doing the movement correctly. Let’s throw out an example of ring dips, because we had these in a workout recently. The workout called for 10 ring dips per round. When the workout was introduced, it was advised that these dips be broken up, from the beginning, in an effort to sustain ring dips longer. It was advised to try working in sets of 5’s. Anyone could use bands to assist with their dips, but when it came to picking bands, the same game plan was advised. 

3, 2, 1, go time, and everyone is off. As the workout continued on I began to watch people struggle with their ring dips (both assisted and unassisted). I would watch an athlete lower a portion of the way and press up a portion of the way. When I saw this struggle happen, I hoped it would mean the person doing this partial range of motion ring dip would simply stop and rest. But they did not. They continued doing more dips, with each one meeting the range of motion standards less and less and less. I actually told someone to stop and rest. When they did, I mentioned that they were no longer doing the full movement, so shake it out for a minute before trying again. 

I’ve seen this with pull-ups, ring dips, wall balls, thrusters, etc. You name it, I’ve seen a movement be shortened to something no longer that movement, all in an effort to not stop moving. I admire anyone that can settle lovingly into the pain cave and just embrace the suck. I admire anyone who’s mind will tell them to continue to move, even if their body is no longer producing the same work. Because a strong mental game is clutch in CrossFit, getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. But we cannot let a strong mental game always be the guy running the show (our mental game can also identify as female, I’m not sexist). Let’s chat about wallballs for a minute. I can move up and down while pushing a ball. And I can start off getting below parallel and getting the ball above the line, but about 15 wallballs in I no longer squat low enough and the ball is no longer getting high enough. So what am I doing? Not a wallball. It makes no difference if I hold on to a ball for 50 reps, if only 15 of those reps are actually meeting the standard of a wallball. Why? We train certain ranges of motion for every movement because working to those full ranges of motion are what strengthen our joints and the muscles that surround them. If we shorten range of motion for a movement the only thing made stronger is our cardio respiratory endurance. We are not getting stronger in said movement. And that is the key to this blog. 

Whether or not you feel like you need to rest, if you are not doing the movement correctly, you need a rest. Or you need a modification or some assistance. Or we need to lighten the load. But if I want to be better at ring dips, I need to do a ring dip. If I want my wallballs to improve, I need to do wallballs. Doing more bad pull-ups will never equal to more good ones. It just equals to building a solid volume base of bad pull-ups. 

Pat Sherwood, a long term employee of CrossFit HQ, long time programmer, previous Level 1 Staff flow master, and owner of CrossFit Linchpin (your favorite provider of the Monday Monster Mash), wrote about this similarly in an article published in the CrossFit Journal titled “Break Before You’re Broken”. Click here for full article.

Our daily goal should simply be to attack the workout with as much intensity as possible, doing the movements to their standards as best as possible, whether it is with assistance or some for of modification. Mechanics, consistency, intensity, that’s the mantra that gets us our results of improved fitness. 

Wednesday 170823

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Every minute on minute for 20 minutes
1 Power clean
*Start at 50% of 1 rep max and add 5 pounds each minute.

Rest 5 minutes then:

As many power cleans as possible in 5 minutes at 70% of today’s heaviest lift

Post results to comments or BTWB

VERVE ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT – ALI NICHOLS!!!

This… video… is…. awesome and is a true representation of the awesomeness of Ali.  Most of you have had an opportunity to meet her since she goes to many class times. Ali is one of the OG members at Verve and has logged EVERY SINGLE workout she has ever done; her energy and positivity is infectious and she wears her love for her 5:30am crew and swolemates on her sleeve.  Ali – there are not enough words to express our happiness for having you as a member as long as you have been. So many people have watched you grow as an athlete and we are excited to see what your future holds.  CHEERS ALI!

Monday 170821

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For time:
Run 1000 Meters
15 Deadlifts, 275#(185)
9 Burpee bar muscle ups
Run 800 Meters
12 Deadlifts, 275#(185#)
6 Burpee bar muscle ups
Run 400 Meters
9 Deadlifts, 275#(185#)
3 Burpee bar muscle ups

Post times to comments and BTWB

Connie and Amelia take 1st place in the 50/50 division of Femme Royale!!!!
Connie and Amelia take 1st place in the 50/50 division of Femme Royale!!!!

Congratulations to Connie and Amelia on their 1st place finish at Saturday’s Femme Royale competition. Verve had 5 teams, 10 total ladies representing on Saturday and they all absolutely crushed the day. From just having an amazing sprit and sense of camaraderie to crushing the workouts with some pretty sweet PRs, these ladies were awesome to watch. 

Barb and Katie
Barb and Katie

 

Erin and Liz
Erin and Liz

 

Ali and Jen
Ali and Jen

 

Diona and Meghan
Diona and Meghan

 

#squadgoals
#squadgoals

Sunday 170820

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In teams of 2 complete as many rounds as possible in 18 minutes of:
15 Overhead squats, 75#(55#)
15 Toes to bar
15 Front rack lunges, 75#(55#)
15 Handstand push ups
15 Calorie Row

*One athlete works at a time

Post rounds and reps to comments and BTWB

Caroline and Nate earning their keep as workout demos for the start of Femme Royale.
Caroline and Nate earning their keep as workout demos for the start of Femme Royale.

 

We want to give a HUGE shout out of thankfulness and gratitude to the many people who volunteered their time Saturday to help with Femme Royale. You judged, moved equipment, cleaned, and overall supported Verve in any way we needed. Events like this do not run smoothly. . . or at all, without you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are what make this community awesome.

Anna Mattson
Stan Sloan
Nate Rader
Garret Mueller
Eric Kiker
Caroline Herter
Jess Morgan
Juliann Couture
Brendan McManus
Mike Cain
Laurel Remmele
Ben Madden

 

Friday 170818

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8 Rounds for time of:
12 Dumbbell deadlifts 40#(25#)
50′ Dumbbell farmers carry 40#(25#)
9 Dumbbell Hang power cleans 40#(25#)
50′ Dumbbell farmers carry 40#(25#)
6 Dumbbell shoulder to overhead 40#(25#)
50′ Dumbbell farmers carry 40#(25#)

Post results to comments or BTWB

When your mobility looks like Cirque du Soleil
When your mobility looks like Cirque du Soleil

I… ALMOST..HAVE…A……MUSCLE…..UP (said while hanging with one arm over the bar)

SO many of your are SO close to getting your first bar muscle up, even some of you got your first one.  For those of you wanting to join the club or just newly entered into the bar muscle up club, there are some techniques and drills you can do to break the movement down into manageable pieces.

Drill #1 – Carl Paoli from Gymnastics WOD

 

Drill #2 – A little bit of a different take from Travis Ewart from CrossFit Invictus

 

There are many ways to skin a cat, so try different techniques to either get your first bar muscle up OR become efficient at your newly gained skill.

VERVE UPDATES

  • No class on Saturday due to Femme Royale competition, but a FUN partner workout on Sunday.
  • We are still hoping to get a couple of volunteers for the comp, so if you have the time, shoot info@crossfitverve.com with when you can come in.

Thursday 170817

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As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
20 Wallballs 20#(14#)
10 Ring dips
30 Double unders

Rest 5 minutes

Then, as a class, as many 20 meter prowler pushes as possible in 5 minutes

Post times to comments and BTWB

The all dudes class cranking out some calories on the assault bikes.
The all dudes class cranking out some calories on the assault bikes.

Study: diet soda can really mess with your metabolism. New research helps explain why artificial sweeteners are linked to obesity and metabolic disease. By

Artificial sweeteners have been controversial for almost as long as they’ve been around. As early as 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt was compelled to defend the world’s first no-calorie sweetener. “Anybody who says saccharin is injurious to health,” he said, “is an idiot!”

The debate rages on today. Some dietitians and nutritional scientists go to bat for artificial sweeteners like sucralose and stevia as a safe way to enjoy sweet drinks and foods while avoiding the calories. Other scientists believe they play a role in the obesity and metabolic disease epidemics because they confuse the brain and the body about the caloric value of sweet foods. A lot of consumers — especially those trying to lose weight — end up confused.

Enter Dana Small, a neuroscientist at Yale University, whose research, published Thursday in Current Biology, promises to change not only our understanding of sweeteners, but of sweetness itself.

How Small discovered something baffling about sweetness

Small did not set out to test the healthfulness of artificial sweeteners. Rather, she was exploring a more fundamental question: Is the rewarding character of sweet foods due to the calories those foods contain?

To test her hypothesis, Small created five beverages. All were sweetened using the identical amount of sucralose, an artificial sweetener, so that they tasted about as sweet as a drink containing about 75 calories of sugar. But then Small varied the calories using a tasteless carbohydrate called maltodextrin. The small army of beverages she produced — each with its own distinctive color and flavor — were all equally sweet, but contained the following calories: zero, 37.5, 75, 112.5, 150.

After subjects had consumed each drink six times over a period of weeks — twice in the lab and four times at home — Small used fMRI brain scanning to see how each drink affected brain reward circuits. Her prediction: The more calories, the greater the reward.

The results were nothing like she envisioned. The most “reinforcing” drink was the 75-calorie one. It generated a stronger brain response than the 0-calorie drink, but it also generated a stronger brain response than the 150-calorie drink.

This made no sense. If calories were what made sweet foods appealing, why would a 75-calorie drink be more rewarding than a 150-calorie drink? But if calories had nothing to do with it, what made the 75-calorie drink more desirable than the zero-calorie drink?

It took Small two years to unravel these baffling results — with more experiments and analysis. In one experiment, she measured the body’s metabolic response, which is the energy the body expends to process calories. Once again, the results repeated themselves. The metabolic response to the high-calorie drink was lower than it was for the medium-calorie drink, a result that made Small think, “Holy cow, what’s going on?”

Diet soda may do more harm when consumed with carbohydrates

Eventually, she pieced it all together. Sweetness, she realized, plays a role in how the body responds to food. “It regulates the metabolic signal,” Small says.

When sweetness and calories were matched, it all ran as expected: the 75-calorie drink produced not only the largest metabolic response but also the largest brain response — because the calories matched the taste.

But when there was a “mismatch” between sweetness and calories, the response was strangely muted. “It’s like the system threw up its hands and didn’t know what to do,” Small explains.

The findings present certain troubling questions. For example, what happens to all those “mismatched” calories that don’t get metabolized? “We know it’s not being used as a fuel” Small says. “What’s happening to it?”

Those extra calories, she says, are probably being stored, either in muscle, in the liver, or in fat, none of which is desirable. “If sweeteners are disrupting how carbohydrates are being metabolized, then this could be an important mechanism behind the metabolic dysfunction we see in diets high in processed foods.”

The findings also suggest that whatever benefit or harm there may be to artificial sweeteners is context dependent. A diet drink consumed by itself and on an empty stomach may be far less harmful than one consumed with carbohydrates — with a sandwich, say, or a bag of chips.

But what’s troubling is that in an effort to reduce added sugars, food companies are now designing all sorts of products that contain blends of sweeteners and carbohydrates that could be disrupting the body’s metabolic response. The sports drink Powerade, Small notes in her paper, contains the sugars glucose and fructose alongside the artificial sweeteners sucralose and Acesulfame K. A yogurt product made by Chobani called Simply 100 similarly contains 14 grams of carbohydrate (six of which are from sugars) as well as stevia leaf extract.

This may also explain why the existing body of research on artificial sweeteners is so mixed. For example, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 found that Dutch children who consumed a single artificially sweetened beverage each day for 18 months gained less weight and less fat than children who drank a single sugar-sweetened beverage each day.

And yet, in much of the observational research — in which scientists look at large populations — people who consume artificially sweetened drinks, especially those who consume them a lot, appear to be at an alarmingly high risk for obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Defenders of artificial sweeteners attribute this to “reverse causation.” Obese people, they point out, are already at a higher risk for obesity and metabolic disease. And since obese people are likely to turn to artificial sweeteners to lose weight, these studies just make it appear as though the artificial sweeteners are putting them at higher risk. (These studies, in other words, can make correlations look like causes.) Critics of artificial sweeteners counter that they still look bad even when you adjust for BMI, and that rats fed artificial sweeteners have been found to gain more weight than rats who are not.

In the Dutch study, when the children consumed their beverages at school, it was during morning break. The paper does not indicate whether or not food was consumed alongside them, and if so what kind of food.

Small’s research suggests this could be an important variable. Similarly, habitual users who drink, say, three or more artificially sweetened beverages a day may be more likely to consume them in combinations with food that are problematic.

It’s pretty much impossible to detangle taste from nutrition and metabolism

Ultimately, Small’s research attests to how difficult it is to disentangle taste and deliciousness from nutrition and metabolism. Behind the universal love of sweet foods lies a nest of complex body-brain systems that are partly driven by metabolism, but also regulate it.

“Taste,” Small says, “can change the metabolic fate of calories.”

In other words, the dream of foods that taste great but have none of the calories may be just a dream.

Monday 170714

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For time:
30 Back Squats, 135#(95#)
30 Handstand push ups
20 Front Squats, 135#(95#)
20 Strict handstand push ups
10 Overhead squats, 135#(95#)
10 Deficit strict handstand push ups, 4″(2″)

Post times to comments and BTWB

Clancy grossly out numbered by the ladies of the 4:30pm class.
Clancy grossly out numbered by the ladies of the 4:30pm class.

Speaking of a big gathering of ladies. . . 

Femme Royale is this Saturday, August 19th. Verve will not be having any classes or open gym. The day will be spent over run by ladies doing fitness. Gentlemen, due to a lack of interest, there is no Bro-Down on Sunday. This means we will be having our regular Sunday class schedule. . . and it will most likely involve the partner workouts of Femme Royale that were altered a bit to cater to the men. 

*Ladies, interested in signing up for Femme Royale? You still can, click here to register.

*Ladies (not competing) and gents, are you around on Saturday? We could use some judges. Click here to sign up and help out.

If you are not competing and are not able to help judge but you have a bit of free time to stop by, then come ready to cheer some ladies on!!