Linda with her wonderful husband, Eric, another Verve legend.
Dear Verve,
This week the wonderful Linda Kiker is our Wednesday Athlete Highlight. Take some time to read about this marvelous woman!
Hometown? Fort Worth, Texas
Age?
53
Occupation?
Semi-retired personal chef (because I just can’t close the door on food and cooking)
What do you like to do in your free time?
Love me some family time, hanging out with friends, cooking, all snow activities, dog walking and I’m learning to grow things lately.
How long have you been a member at CrossFit Verve?
3 years
What is your background in sports and fitness?
I was a competitive swimmer from age 5-20, dabbled in track and field where I generally took up space, kick boxing and various other trendy cardio efforts in a basic gym.
What changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CrossFit?
My body has “shape shifted” as I like to say. I’ve gone from a mom bod with little muscle and basically pear shaped, to an athlete’s bod. My health has improved pretty dramatically, due to the fact that the ideas of proper movement, nutrition and mental state are part of the everyday discussions at the gym. I’ve begun to turn around the effects of early menopause lately. I’m putting on muscle and sleeping really well. I’d say my fitness is always improving. I’m pretty excited that I’m not in a place where I’ll just degrade. I fully expect to get better all the time- and I know I will! I’m not going to acknowledge the limits people place on my age group.
Has CrossFit influenced your life outside of the gym? If so, how?
Oh yeah it has! Nothing holds me back. I confidently go out there and try new things, make friends (major gym perk) and I have energy all day long.
What’s your favorite benchmark workout?
You know what? I’m not a fan of anything with a name. Seriously. So I’ll just say anything with double unders or cleans if I have to say something here. ha
Any advice for someone just starting?
Eat and recover. Give yourself a break. Push your ego away. Understand it takes TIME to build things because you gotta tear them down first.
Brendan wants you all to know you can get as creative as you want for upper body pulling.
We know that functional movements are beautiful fitness choices for a number of reasons. But did you know that functional movements are theoretically safe at even super-maximal loads? Pulling on 150 percent of your one-rep max might not yield a rep, but it shouldn’t yield an injury, either (though the bar won’t move). The same can’t be said for the 150 percent of your one-rep max lateral shoulder raise.
Incorporate these exercises into your training regimen if you’re looking for movements with high return and low risk.
Sled drag: It’s just walking, after all. For maximum benefit, stand tall and walk (don’t run) heel to toe. This excellent hamstring and glute exercise is a winner whether you’re going light and long (like a mile of continuous walking) or heavy and short (like eight to 12 efforts for a couple of hundred feet with a couple of hundred pounds).
Airdyne: These machines are like awful baby sitters. With no instruction or skill, virtually anyone can get access to soul-crushing wind work on the bike.
Front carry: Selfishly, I’d like to see these done with a heavy sandbag or a keg for low-tech, high-return training. Similar to the sled drag, athletes will walk with an upright posture, pulling from heel to toe. Most applications will be heavier and incorporate faster turnover than the sled variation. With minimal skill, athletes of all levels can get extremely strong and extremely winded instantly.
Prowler push: If you’ve ever trained with a Prowler, you know its capacity for death and destruction. Regardless of the weight, the harder you push, the harder it pushes back. Any athlete with two working legs can dive deep into fitness gains without any consequences with this death tool.
Sometimes training is about maximum gain with the least effective dose. These four movements can wreck shop without wrecking your body with injuries seven days a week.
Today we honor our Veterans with WOD For Warriors.
Yesterday was Veteran’s Day. A day dedicated to honoring the men and women who have served in the United States’ armed forces. These men and women fought for our freedoms, they stood strong against any enemy to protect our way of life. To say thank you to these brave people just does not seem like enough, but that won’t stop us from saying it. Thank you Veterans.
We honor you today in the best way we know how, with a workout.
WOD For Warriors is a functional fitness tribute workout held once a year on Veterans Day at gyms all throughout the country. WOD for Warriors supports Team Red, White and Blue, whose mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity.
This WOD is designed to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans in a meaningful way by providing an opportunity for veterans and non-veterans to meet and sweat with members of their community through functional fitness on a national level with the goal of fundraising for Team RWB’s Veteran enriching programs.
The workout is “Armistice”. Veterans Day has been observed since 1954 by the U.S. and its origins date back to Armistice Day 1918, which marked the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front in WWI. Veterans Day preserves the historical significance of the 11/11/1918, but also focuses attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. WOD for Warriors is held yearly on the 11th month, 11th day and 11th hour to celebrate the service of all U.S. military Veterans in a meaningful way within their own communities.
The significance of the repetitions in this workout can be seen in the layout where the 11 min AMRAP, 11 power cleans and 11 burpees over the bar represent the 11th month, 11th day and 11th hour while the 19 deadlifts and 18 pull ups represent the year 1918, Armistice Day.
So as you join us today, if you have a Veteran you would like to personally recognize, bring their picture for us to honor while we sweat. Bring a friend or family member that is a Veteran or has a Veteran they would like to honor. Everyone is welcome today. We would like to also encourage that you visit the registration site to donate to Team Red, White and Blue. You may click here for more information.
Veteran’s Day is Friday November 11th. Verve would like to show support for our Veterans on Saturday with the WOD For Warriors.
What is WOD for Warriors? WOD for Warriors is a functional fitness tribute workout held once a year on Veterans Day at gyms all throughout the country. WOD for Warriors supports Team Red, White and Blue, whose mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their communities through physical and social activity.
This WOD is designed to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans in a meaningful way by providing an opportunity for veterans and non-veterans to meet and sweat with members of their community through functional fitness on a national level with the goal of fundraising for Team RWB’s Veteran enriching programs.
What is the WOD? “Armistice” As many rounds as possible in 11 minutes of: 11 Power clean, 135#(95#) 11 Burpees over the bar 19 Deadlift, 135#(95#) 18 Pull-ups
What is “Armistice”? Veterans Day has been observed since 1954 by the U.S. and its origins date back to Armistice Day 1918, which marked the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front in WWI. Veterans Day preserves the historical significance of the 11/11/1918, but also focuses attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. WOD for Warriors is held yearly on the 11th month, 11th day and 11th hour to celebrate the service of all U.S. military Veterans in a meaningful way within their own communities.
The significance of the repetitions in this workout can be seen in the layout where the 11 min AMRAP, 11 power cleans and 11 burpees over the bar represent the 11th month, 11th day and 11th hour while the 19 deadlifts and 18 pull ups represent the year 1918, Armistice Day.
How can I get involved in showing support to our Veterans? You can workout on Saturday. We welcome all Veterans to join us as well, at no charge. If you have never done CrossFit, no worries, this workout has several scaling options provided by Team Red, White and Blue that we are happy to implement.
You can also click here to go to the registration/ donation page and contribute to Team Red, White and Blue.
Want more information about WOD for Warriors and Team Red, White and Blue, click here.
Verve, this week’s edition of our Athlete Highlight is of our own Jason Allison. Jason has been with us at Verve for the past three years and we love him dearly. Jason is a good dude, read about Jason.
Hometown? San Diego
Age? 32
Occupation? IT
What do you like to do in your free time? Concerts, Computers, Mountain Biking, Snowboarding, Eating.
How long have you been a member at CrossFit Verve? 3 years
What is your background in sports and fitness? Soccer most my life, as many sports as I could in high school
What changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CrossFit? General fitness is better than it’s ever been. I’m stronger than ever.
Has CrossFit influenced your life outside of the gym? If so, how? I’m generally happier and am able to participate on all the activities Colorado has to offer, pain free.
What’s your favorite benchmark workout? Cindy
Any advice for someone just starting? Go your own pace, listen to your body I still rarely RX workouts. Find you weaknesses and work on them every day.
The members of Verve Barbell just being as “efficient” as possible.
From the archives of BoxMagazine.com, today’s blog will be about why to incorporate more dumbbells into your training program. Listen up and have a read!
“Look, I’ll be the first to say the barbell is the single greatest strength tool known to man. But about a year ago, some words from Greg Glassman got me thinking. His recommendations for the modern CrossFit athlete? Glassman urged CrossFit enthusiasts to get a bigger deadlift, mature their handstand and use more dumbbells.
I find the request for bigger deadlifts a likely rebuttal to the spike in higher skill expression of strength in the clean-and-jerk and snatch. The handstand was a call, in my opinion, to return to the fundamentals. The dumbbell recommendation seemed more deeply rooted, and the wheels started turning in my brain.
Glassman spoke about the increased demand of dealing with two independent loads (like dumbbells) as a worthy departure from the barbell to the extent of variance. While dumbbells are more expensive and difficult to store than barbells and plates, Glassman has a wonderful point.
If we’re chronically going overhead with a barbell (power cleaning, squatting, etc.), the willingness to use dumbbells might propose a justified use beyond variance. It will promote left and right balance, increased stabilization and intramuscular coordination.
Look back on your program. You’ll likely find a bias toward the barbell and plenty of opportunities to get dumbbells in your hands. If you don’t take my word for it, take Coach’s.”
Frank, Alina, Bailey, and Ryan working on some rope climbs.
**Verve has a short schedule this weekend. We will have classes at 6:30am and 7:30am Saturday, and 7:30am only on Sunday. Verve will be closed the remainder of the day to host the CrossFit Competitor’s course. Sign up in MBO to reserve your spot.
**After you finish up the Everyday Warrior Battle Series workout #2, click here to submit your score.
** Verve will be hosting a FREE INTRO WOD on Wednesday November 16th at 7pm. Got a friend, co worker, or family member asking you about CrossFit? Bring by on the 16th and let them experience a class led by Anna. They can get signed up for the class in MBO.
**Saturday and Sunday November 19th-20th MBS CrossFit is hosting the 2016 Turkey Challenge. Verve has 20+ members competing on teams and as individuals. Get ready to bust out those new Verve shirts and cheer everyone on.
**Got a special chili recipe you bust out when the weather get cooler? Do you think it is the best chili recipe ever? Well, stay tuned for dates and times of an upcoming chili cook off at Verve. Don’t got a recipe but still love to eat it? Well then, you get to be the judges.
As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 1 Rope climb, 15′ 5 Weighted ab mat sit ups, 40#(25#) 2 Rope climbs, 15′ 10 Weighted ab mat sit ups, 40#(25#) 3 Rope climbs, 15′ 15 Weighted ab mat sit ups, 40#(25#) * Add 1 rope climb and 5 sit ups to each round
Ron working through deadlifts during the Everyday Warrior Battles Series workout.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a . . . Basket. Brought to your attention By Courtney Shepherd
The subtle art of not giving a basket?? I’m not walking around handing out baskets, so I’m not sure I need to know a subtle way to stop. But I do often walk around giving out one too many f@#ks and it would greatly benefit me to learn the subtle art form that is, not giving a f@#k. I was fortunate enough to have a good friend send me a link to an article regarding the matter but unfortunately about every 10th word is the F word. It’s an article worth reading, both for it’s humor and reality check. In an attempt to introduce this article AND make it a little more crowd friendly, I have replaced the F word with the word “basket” throughout the article. That’s right, every where you read the word basket, should you choose, you can internally replace it with the F word. Or you can simply read on and learn about how and why to not easily and freely hand out baskets. No, I’m not basketing with you.
“In my life, I have given a basket about many people and many things. I have also not given a basket about many people and many things. And those baskets I have not given have made all the difference.
People often say the key to confidence and success in life is to simply “not give a basket.” Indeed, we often refer to the strongest, most admirable people we know in terms of their lack of baskets given. Chances are you know somebody in your life who, at one time or another, did not give a basket and went on to accomplish amazing feats. Perhaps there was a time in your life where you simply did not give a basket and excelled to some extraordinary heights.
Now, while not giving a basket may seem simple on the surface, it’s a whole new bag of burritos under the hood. I don’t even know what that sentence means, but I don’t give a basket. A bag of burritos sounds awesome, so let’s just go with it.
The point is, most of us struggle throughout our lives by giving too many baskets in situations where baskets do not deserve to be given. We give a basket about the rude gas station attendant who gave us too many nickels. We give a basket when a show we liked was canceled on TV. We give a basket when our coworkers don’t bother asking us about our awesome weekend. We give a basket when it’s raining and we were supposed to go jogging in the morning.
Baskets given everywhere. Strewn about like seeds in mother-basketing spring time. And for what purpose? For what reason? Convenience? Easy comforts? A pat on the basketing back maybe?
This is the problem, my friend.
Because when we give too many baskets, when we choose to give a basket about everything, then we feel as though we are perpetually entitled to feel comfortable and happy at all times, that’s when life baskets us.
Indeed, the ability to reserve our baskets for only the most basketworthy of situations would surely make life a heck of a lot easier. Failure would be less terrifying. Rejection less painful. Unpleasant necessities more pleasant and the unsavory crap sandwiches a little bit more savory. I mean, if we could only give a few less baskets, or a few more consciously-directed baskets, then life would feel pretty basketing easy.
What we don’t realize is that there is a fine art of non-basket-giving. People aren’t just born not giving a basket. In fact, we’re born giving way too many baskets. Ever watch a kid cry his eyes out because his hat is the wrong shade of blue? Exactly. Basket that kid.
Developing the ability to control and manage the baskets you give is the essence of strength and integrity. We must craft and hone our lack of basketry over the course of years and decades. Like a fine wine, our baskets must age into a fine vintage, only uncorked and given on the most special basketing occasions.
This may sound easy. But it is not. Most of us, most of the time, get sucked in by life’s mean trivialities, steamrolled by its unimportant dramas; we live and die by the sidenotes and distractions and vicissitudes that suck the baskets out of us.
This is no way to live, man. So stop basketing around. Get your baskets together. And here, allow me to basketing show you.
SUBTLETY #1: NOT GIVING A BASKET DOES NOT MEAN BEING INDIFFERENT; IT MEANS BEING COMFORTABLE WITH BEING DIFFERENT
When most people envision giving no baskets whatsoever, they envision a kind of perfect and serene indifference to everything, a calm that weathers all storms.
This is misguided. There’s absolutely nothing admirable or confident about indifference. People who are indifferent are lame and scared. They’re couch potatoes and internet trolls. In fact, indifferent people often attempt to be indifferent because in reality they actually give too many baskets. They are afraid of the world and the repercussions of their own choices. Therefore, they make none. They hide in a grey emotionless pit of their own making, self-absorbed and self-pitied, perpetually distracting themselves from this unfortunate thing demanding their time and energy called life.
Say “basket it,” not to everything in life, but rather say “basket it” to everything unimportant in life. Reserve baskets for what truly basketing matters. Friends. Family. Purpose. Burritos. And an occasional lawsuit or two. And because of that, because you reserve your baskets for only the big things, the important things, people give a basket about you in return.
SUBTLETY #2: TO NOT GIVE A BASKET ABOUT ADVERSITY, YOU MUST FIRST GIVE A BASKET ABOUT SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN ADVERSITY
Eric Hoffer once wrote: “A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.”
The problem with people who hand out baskets like ice cream at a summer camp is that they don’t have anything more basketworthy to dedicate their baskets to.
Think for a second. You’re at a grocery store. And there’s an elderly lady screaming at the cashier, berating him for not accepting her 30-cent coupon. Why does this lady give a basket? It’s just 30 cents.
Well, I’ll tell you why. That old lady probably doesn’t have anything better to do with her days than to sit at home cutting out coupons all morning. That’s all she’s got. It’s her and her coupons. All day, every day. It’s all she can give a basket about because there is nothing else to give a basket about. And so when that pimply-faced 17-year-old cashier refuses to accept one of them, when he defends his cash register’s purity the way knights used to defend maidens’ virginities, you can bet granny is going to erupt and verbally hulk smash his face in. Eighty years of baskets will rain down all at once, like a fiery hailstorm of “Back in my day” and “People used to show more respect” stories, boring the world around her to tears in her creaking and wobbly voice.
If you find yourself consistently giving too many baskets about trivial stuff that bothers you — your ex-girlfriend’s new Facebook picture, how quickly the batteries die in the TV remote, missing out on yet another 2-for-1 sale on hand sanitizer — chances are you don’t have much going on in your life to give a legitimate basket about. And that’s your real problem. Not the hand sanitizer.
SUBTLETY #3: WE ALL HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF BASKETS TO GIVE; PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE AND WHO YOU GIVE THEM TO
When we’re young, we have tons of energy. Everything is new and exciting. And everything seems to matter so much. Therefore, we give tons of baskets. We give a basket about everything and everyone — about what people are saying about us, about whether that cute boy/girl called us back or not, about whether our socks match or not or what color our birthday balloon is.
As we get older, we gain experience and begin to notice that most of these things have little lasting impact on our lives. Those people’s opinions we cared about so much before have long been removed from our lives. We’ve found the love we need and so those embarrassing romantic rejections cease to mean much anymore. We realize how little people pay attention to the superficial details about us and we focus on doing things more for ourselves rather than for others.
Essentially, we become more selective about the baskets we’re willing to give. This is something called ‘maturity.’Maturity is what happens when one learns to only give a basket about what’s truly basketworthy.
Then, as we grow older and enter middle age, something else begins to change. Our energy levels drop. Our identities solidify. We know who we are and we no longer have a desire to change what now seems inevitable in our lives.
And in a strange way, this is liberating. We no longer need to give a basket about everything. Life is just what it is. We accept it. We realize that we’re never going to cure cancer or go to the moon. And that’s OK. Life basketing goes on. We now reserve our ever-dwindling baskets only for the most truly basketworthy parts of our lives: our families, our best friends, our golf swing. And to our astonishment, this is enough. This simplification actually makes us really basketing happy.”
To read the full article, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson, f bombs and all, click here.
Ladies and Germs – this week on our Athlete Highlight feature we get the opportunity to learn a little bit about our very own, Adam Clatterbuck. Read up!
Hometown? Topeka, KS
Age? 31 yrs old
Occupation? Systems & Development Engineer at Red Robin International, Inc.
What do you like to do in your free time? Ski/Snowboard & Golf
How long have you been a member at CrossFit Verve? 2 years
What is your background in sports and fitness? Played golf in college, played high school soccer & basketball
What changes have you seen in your body, health and fitness since starting CrossFit? A dramatic increase in lower body strength after spending most of my 20’s at 24 hour fitness gyms with barbell curls, incline bench and cable flys. I never really knew what my max lifts were due to working out by myself all the time.
Has CrossFit influenced your life outside of the gym? If so, how? It definitely gives me something to look forward to after work and has allowed me to hit the ski season at 100% instead of a struggling through the initial conditioning most mountaineers encounter.
What’s your favorite benchmark workout? Fran
Any advice for someone just starting? CrossFit can be intimidating in the beginning, but is worth the struggle. Outside of back squatting and bench press I had never attempted an olympic lift before CrossFit.
For Time:
Run 400 Meters
10 Bar facing burpees
31 Shoulder to overhead 95#(65#)
10 Bar facing burpees
Run 400 Meters
10 Bar facing burpess
31 Deadlifts 115#(75#)
10 Bar facing burpess
Run 400 Meters
Look, I’m the first to agree that the “magic is in the movements.” Keeping it simple with programming is often the best — yet hardest — thing to do. Furthermore, I’m the last person to get fired up about the hottest programming on the Internet. I do, however, believe there are things we can miss when programming general physical preparedness.
Here are four things to keep in mind:
The long-lost glycolytic energy system. By and large, virtually any CrossFit program has the 12- to 20-minute AMRAP dialed in. Furthermore, most know we need strength work, so the phosphagen system gets its fair share of love, too. Though many would argue that the natural work-and-rest interval that occurs inside the typical 15-minute CrossFit workout addresses the middle glycolytic energy system, I’d argue we can hit this sweet spot better. Target this with specific anaerobic efforts like sprints — 45- to 90-second power output training.
Accessory work. Glute-ham raises are awkward in a metcon. Your program will benefit from Romanian deadlifts, reverse hypers and barbell rollouts, so include them. It will help to designate time before or after a typical workout for maximum efficiency.
You have to go long, too. If you aren’t seeing efforts beyond 20 minutes in your program, you are missing out on your potential.
Keep it simple. A workout that requires a protractor, a team of scientists and a mathematical formula doesn’t develop work capacity. The simplest workouts often allow for the best results.
In general, if you stay out of your own way, your training will work itself out. Don’t be cute. Be effective.
