For max reps at each station:
4 Minutes of rope climbs
4 Minutes of burpee box jumps, 24″(20″)
4 Minutes of alternating dumbbell snatch, 40#(25#)
Rest 2 minutes between movements

*Score is total reps at each station

Post reps to comments and BTWB

Why CrossFit? Why high intensity interval training? Why at any age and/ or any time in your life? Why at any stage in your fitness level? Because you deserve to live a long, happy, healthy life. 

If you are reading this blog post, you have probably already bought in to what we are selling here at Verve. Longevity. Health. An enjoyable life filled with activities and adventure outside of the gym. Know anyone that is still not sold yet? Know anyone that still claims “I hear everyone that does CrossFit gets injured”? Well now is an amazing time for you to ask them to simply follow you through Verve’s doors and listen to some highly educated folks explain the benefits of CrossFit training. And if they like what they hear, they can stay at Verve just a little longer and try out their first workout for free. 

Saturday July 9th Verve will be hosting a free intro class. But this is not just any free intro class. With the help of Miles Nichols and his business partner Dr. Diane Mueller, both from Living Love Mindfulness Medicine, Verve will first have a 45 minute discussion about the benefits of CrossFit based training:

“Can High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Help Reverse and/or Prevent Type 2 Diabetes, Unhealthy Weight Gain, and Heart Disease?

A term called “diabesity” has been coined to describe a metabolic dysfunction that can range from mild blood sugar imbalances to full-fledged type 2 diabetes, and is frequently coupled with abdominal obesity (but thin people can have metabolic issues as well).

Insulin resistance is a key element to the formation of blood sugar issues, and a big player in diabetes, weight management, and cardiovascular illness.

In this talk we will explore the science behind how High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), in combination with proper nutrition, adequate sleep, and stress-management, can improve insulin sensitivity and reverse one of the main underlying root causes behind the “diabesity” epidemic.

Did you know that HIIT can be modified to be accessible to all physical conditions and body types? HIIT isn’t just for athletes and strong young adults. In fact, all ages and even those with chronic illness or fatigue can greatly benefit.

We will discuss how to safely modify and successfully apply HIIT for a variety of health conditions and physical fitness levels.

Join us for an engaging discussion followed by an experiential immersion into HIIT!

Looking forward to it!
-Miles”

Following this discussion any and all interested participants may stick around, get warmed-up, and have their first introduction to a workout at CrossFit Verve. The workout portion will also be 45 minutes long. So if you have an hour and half on Saturday that you want to spend hearing knowledge bombs get dropped and then personally experience some sweat bombs drop, get to Verve at 12:30pm and settle in for the ride. 

This event is at no cost and is open to anyone and everyone. Some of you experienced CrossFit folks may be interested to hear the discussion. Got any questions about the event, please leave them in the comments.

Click here for more information about Miles, Dr. Diane, and their clinic.

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
10 Shoulder to overhead 115#(75#)
10 Alternating front rack lunges 115#(75#)
50 Double unders

Post Result to BTWB.

Today, I propose you a question. I want you to ask yourself “Why?”. I want you to ask yourself why is important to you to make it part of your routine to come to the gym. The beautiful thing is that there is no wrong answer. Your why could be in the list below (or maybe it’s not – no big deal):

• It’s important to you to perform high intensity, constantly varied, functional movements to improve upon your base fitness levels. 
• There is a social aspect to Verve that you very much enjoy. 
• You want to be in the best aesthetic shape as possible. 
• You want to be fit enough to enjoy your other hobbies. 
• You want to be able to hold your grandchildren. 
• You want to one day be a part of the competitive Sport of Fitness. 

Whatever your “Why” is, it will help you achieve your goals. Understanding the reason you want something will help your prioritize all of the other things that will get in the way. For example, if the reason you are coming into the gym is to be fit enough to enjoy your other hobbies, the odds are that you don’t need to be training for 2-3 hours per day – which will inevitably take away time from your other hobbies. On the other hand, if your goal is to in the best aesthetic shape of your life, then perhaps spending a little extra time here and there in the gym could help bring you closer to your goals. So here is a little step process I like to give out to people when they are having trouble conquering goals:

1. Define your “Why?”
2. Based on your “Why?”, what are your priorities?
3. What are you willing to give up or add in to your day to achieve your goals. 
4. Make sure your actions bring you closer to your goals, rather than further from them. 

From here it will give you a better understanding of why your are doing the things you are doing, why you make some of the choices you make and how you can help yourself become more successful in and out of the gym. 

Bench Press
1-10-1-20-1-30

Post weight to BTWB

Today we are going to have an impromptu recovery center at Verve.

Jason Thompson from Mya Therapy will be at the gym with his table from 5 – 7 PM.  Many of you are already familiar with Jason but for those of you that aren’t, here is a little information about his company.

Mya Therapy is a mobile massage company operated and owned by Jason Thompson as the massage therapy specialist serving the Denver area and its surrounding neighborhood. Mya Therapy is mobile, that means we come to you where ever you need our massage we will be there.  Mobile massage with Mya Therapy allows you to relax, feel rejuvenated, and maintain a healthy lifestyle in the comfort of your own home. One massage with Mya Therapy has been proven to reduce your stress levels by 53%. Your source for wellness, relaxation and a better quality of life.

Also tomorrow, The Compex traveling trailer will be at Verve with some of their units so that our members can test them out and see how the Compex stimulation units work.  If you’re not familiar with the electric muscle stimulation here’s a brief introduction to the benefits.  

Electric muscle stimulation trains your muscles in a way that traditional workouts alone can’t. A “best kept secret” that many elite athletes and fitness enthusiasts use to enhance their workouts and training programs, electric muscle stimulation (EMS), also known as neuromuscular electric stimulation, muscle stim or e-stim, is delivered through a small device that sends electronic pulses to your nerve fibers in order to create involuntary muscle contractions.

Your normal workouts (voluntary muscle contraction) activate as many as 30% of your muscle fibers. But when you add Compex electric muscle stimulation to your training, you maximize your muscular effort by reaching up to 100% of your muscle fibers-both Type 1 slow twitch muscle (endurance) and Type 2 fast twitch muscle (power and explosiveness). That means maximum efficiency with maximum results.

Should be a really fun day tomorrow with of these great companies on hand.  

For time:
50 Wall balls 20#(14#)
Run 200 Meters
50 Ab Mat sit ups
Run 200 Meters
35 Wall balls 20#(14#)
Run 200 Meters
35 Ab mat sit ups
Run 200 Meters
20 Wall balls 20#(14#)
Run 200 meters
20 Ab mat sit ups

Post time to BTWB

Starting in July we are going to be taking a break from Rowing class.  After talking with Maddie we have decided to take a couple months off from rowing to reevaluate the programming and come up with a whole new progression which we will implement after the summer.  This week will be the last week of rowing class but fear not as we have plenty of rowing planned as part of our daily WOD’s so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get in some meters on the erg during our regular workouts.

Reminder that the T-shirt pre-sale will be ending one week from today.  If you’re interested in the new Verve shirts make sure you get your order in within the next week.  On Tuesday, July 5th we will be sending our order to the print shop for production.  We won’t have any additional t-shirt inventory in the retail room so everyone and anyone that wants a shirt will have to place their order through the square system in the retail room or through the Verve website.  You can order your shirt by clicking HERE.

Thanks to everyone that came to the park on Saturday.  It was nice to get outside and enjoy the weather and play some sports that didn’t require a barbell or any other gym equipment.  Next weekend we are hosting a Level 1 Seminar at Verve.  We are planning on having an early class on both Saturday and Sunday, but are also looking at other options including adding in a pool WOD on one of the days.  Stay tuned to the blog for more information about the upcoming schedule for the weekend.  

A week from today is the 4th of July and we will have an abridged class schedule.  We will have 2 WOD’s and an Open Gym.  The WOD’s will be at 9:00 and 11:30, and Open Gym will be from 10:00 – 11:30 between the 2 classes. This schedule is also subject to change so be sure to pay attention to the blog and MBO for any changes that may happen.  

For time (20 minute time cap):
Partner A: 9-28-14 Reps of:
Thrusters, 95#(65#)
Pull ups
Partner B: 5-20-12 Reps of:
Thrusters, 95#(65#)
Chest to bar pull ups
As a Team Complete:
60 Clean and Jerks, 135#(95#)

Post times to comments and BTWB

Folks!! Finish up your workout this morning and head on down to Huston Park for some fun in the sun with all your favorite fit friends.

The party starts at 10am at Huston Park:

850 S. Bryant St. Denver, CO 80219

Verve has reserved the picnic area nearest the soccer field (Kentucky and S Vallejo).

There will be a volleyball/badminton net, football, spike ball and cornhole. Unfortunately there is no grill (unless a fine Verver has a portable one) so please feel free to bring some delicious RTE food and DRINKS!!! There will be park benches but if you would like to bring a blanket to sit on or a chair, please do so.

Family, kids, friends are all welcome. Bring your hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and a burning desire to beat the entire Afraimi family at hoops. . . Cause they called everyone out. See you there!!

As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of:
50 Double unders
15′ Handstand walk
5 Muscle-ups

Post rounds and reps to comments and BTWB

As the temperatures rise, should I be drinking more than just water? In the wise words of Courtney “master of hydration” Shepherd. . . yeppers.

Colorado hasn’t just been hot lately, thanks to the occasional rain showers, it has also been humid and muggy. To say the sweat production has increase would be a slight understatement. At this point just walking in the gym and looking at the board can generate some sweat coming down our brows. The increase in moisture in the air increases our risk of dehydration and heat related illnesses. That’s because when the air is humid, sweat can’t evaporate and cool us as quickly as it normally does. This can lead to an increased body temperature and the need for more fluids. The question becomes what fluids should I be drinking? Water is a definite but the fluid lost via sweating may need to be replaced with more than just that.

Several ions exist in the body, referred to as electrolytes, that work in conjunction with each other to aid in muscle contraction/ movement, temperature regulation, mental thought, and more. Sodium and potassium are two major electrolytes. When we sweat, we lose body fluids, the loss of fluids causes a change in the concentration of these electrolytes in the body. We can also lose some of these electrolytes with sweat. A big enough change in the concentration of these electrolytes can cause problems such has muscle cramps, excessive fatigue, slowed reflexes, nausea, and confusion, amongst other symptoms. Staying hydrated with water helps maintain this balance but if we experience excessive perspiration during long events, or events of high intensity, this can lead to the loss of sodium which may require the consumption of additional electrolytes. This can be done by adding them to the water we are already drinking.

Gatorade came into creation for this very purpose and back in the day Gatorade actually tasted pretty bad. It wasn’t meant to be a delicious, flavorful drink but rather a way to restore lost electrolytes. Over the years sugar was added to improve the taste. Sugar, unfortunately, has a side effect of helping cause dehydration. So when picking something to supplement our water we need to be careful not to pick something with too much sugar in it. NUUN tablets are electrolyte tablets that can be easily dropped into a water bottle, they come in many flavors, and no added sugar.

If you feel like you are drinking plenty of water, a good indication of this is pale yellow to clear colored urine, but you still feel kind of crummy, try adding some electrolytes. For me personally I alternate water bottles. The first is water, the second has a NUUN tablet, then I go back to just water. Don’t let the summer heat ruin your WODing good time, drink up.

Every minute on the minute for 20 Minutes
Odd minutes = 5 Cleans 135#(95#)
Even minutes = 8 Burpee Box Jump Overs 24″(20″)

Post Results to BTWB. 

Today, is a great workout to dive into the topic of scaling a workout for it’s intended purpose. On paper, this workout does not look like something that can be devastating. However, attacking the EMOM with the correct volume, loading and intensity – it is something that can leave you smoked. 

In this interval style couplet containing both a gymnastics conditioning piece and a weightlifting movement, the work will be roughly 1:1. What does that mean? It means that we will be using a blend of all three energy systems: Phosphogen, Glycolytic, Oxidative. Now, what does that mean and why is important?

If you look at the chart above, it shows that in the beginning of the workout we will be using the ATP-CP (Phosphogen) energy system, however towards the middle of the workout it will be a blend of glycolytic and oxidative and right as the workout ends we will be crossing the purely oxidative (aerobic) threshold. This will make a nice blend between the three. 

Now, to talk scaling. This will be a great chance for you to learn your body and see how different weights and variables work for you. If you load the squat clean too heavy, you could easily miss out on the phosphogen energy system, the one that a sprinter primary uses. If you try to go touch-and-go in the beginning of the workout and it leaves you smoked halfway through, you could miss out on the glycolytic pathway because you will work your way into being aerobic by being bent over and not moving quickly. If you don’t push the burpee box jump hard enough, you will remain aerobic throughout the entire workout and miss out on the goods the other systems bring. Remember to listen to your body and scale appropriately in order to get the intended stimulus of the workout. 

Workout is at the track today!!!

3 Rounds for completion
Sprint 50 Meters
Walk 50 Meters back
Sprint 100 Meters
Walk 100 Meters back
Sprint 200 Meters
Walk 200 Meters back

Post times to comments and BTWB

The gym is closed this weekend!! Verve is hosting the CrossFit Football Seminar Saturday and Sunday. There will not be any classes or open gym time at the gym. . . . but there are still WODs programmed this weekend.

Verve will be having track workouts on Saturday and Sunday at Manual High School: 

Manual High School
1700 East 28th Avenue
Denver, CO 80205

There will be a 9am WOD and a 10am WOD both Saturday and Sunday, please go to MBO to sign up for class. Don’t like running? Perhaps now is the perfect time to try and remedy that. Get outside early while it’s not too hot, get some Vitamin D with friends, and go for a nice little jog. And then maybe after go get mimosas. . . enjoy a beautiful weekend. 

Take 15 Minutes to work to a 2 rep back squat

Then 5 rounds:
10 Back rack reverse lunges at 40% of 2 rep from today
20 Jumping lunges, no weight
Run 100 Meters
Rest 1 minute

Post loads and times to comments and BTWB

Just when you thought we were done talking about INTENSITY, I’ve gone and found another article to hammer the point home.

This lovely little ditty will be brought to you By Courtney Shepherd with a lot of assistance of Mike Warkentin of CrossFit 204.

Monday evening, while wrapping up a class, someone came up to me and asked me, “How do I get better at burpees?” If you recall Monday’s workout, it contained 60 burpees. This athlete and I chatted for a few minutes during which time they told me the burpees were the worst part of the workout, they just kind of “slugged through them”. I get it, burpees, to most people, suck. But what is even suckier, there is nothing you can do to make them better. The only thing you can do as an athlete is tolerate being uncomfortable more and be willing to push through discomfort faster. I can’t make burpees easier, they are intense. I can only make you appreciate intensity more and your need for it. Which is exactly what I told this athlete.

“You have to do Fran today. Stop reading, close your eyes and really think about that for a moment. Note the freefall feeling in your chest, the sweaty palms and the subtle changes in your breathing. Now consider this statement:

You have to do Fran in less than 12 minutes today.

I bet you suddenly don’t feel nervous at all. You might even view the reps as a warm-up for another workout. Same weight, same reps, same workout—different results.

Intensity burns. It tastes like a mouthful of old pennies soaked in battery acid. It makes you dizzy. It causes you to writhe around on the ground trying to work the misery out of your muscles. It usually requires a period spent on your back or butt, and sometimes it sends your lunch back the way it came in. Intensity gets caught in your throat and keeps you hacking hours after the workout ends.

Intensity also brings results. Push someone out of the comfort zone and physiology adapts. Do that regularly and fitness improves dramatically. Discomfort creates adaptation, but it can be very tempting to avoid the continuous discomfort needed to keep driving adaptation—even as a CrossFit athlete who knows its rewards.

Reducing intensity can be as subtle as breaking up Fran’s 15 thrusters when we don’t have to. It’s a very minor reduction in effort, and almost no one notices—sometimes not even the athlete. Fran burns a bit less, and only 20 seconds are added to a PR time, giving him or her the opportunity to attribute the score to an off day, bad sleep or “that third burrito at lunch.”

Luckily, the athlete still stays far fitter than if he or she hadn’t done Fran, but slacking off a little can lead to slacking off a lot, which is equivalent to treating a CrossFit workout like a 20-minute roll through the sports section while plodding on the elliptical machine.

To reap the greatest benefits from CrossFit, you have to be willing to push yourself, to be uncomfortable, to suffer for reward. And most of us are most of the time. The whiteboard and the rivalries thereon are powerful motivational tools. Still, a 5-minute Fran can become a habit if you let your mind trick you into dropping the barbell well before you need to.

Remember: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, while objects at rest tend to head to the chalk bucket.”

Mike’s point to his readers and my point to this particular Verve athlete are one in the same. It’s not enough to just slug through a workout. So you did all the reps and all the pieces, but if all of it together takes 20 minutes when the workout was suppose to take 12. . . there is no adaptation. There will be minimal benefit, other than a few calories burned. If you want a dose of intensity, if you want burpees to feel better and you want improved times in those faster workouts, then take away any and every excuse you have to stop. Don’t worry about RX, what Joe Shmo at 5:30am did, or the average time on the board. Instead, lighten the load, maybe cut the reps, and make your goal to never stop, never put the bar down, not come down from the pull-up structure. If you finish a 12 minute workout in 5 minutes, I guarantee you hauled ass. I guarantee you did not stop moving, and I can guarantee you got more from that workout than if you did the 20 minute version of it. 

So think about it. CrossFit will never get easier. Period. The better you get the harder it gets, you can push yourself even more. So rather than resting until you feel comfortable, keep going, your heart will not physically explode from your chest. Get use to being uncomfortable. Get use to how bad intensity is and next thing you know, those 60 burpees don’t seem so bad anymore. . . . it could of been 100.

**You can read Mike Warkentin’s article “Elliptical Syndrome Cripples Fran, Helen” in it’s entirety by clicking here.

**Remember Verve is closed this weekend as we host the CrossFit Football Seminar. Verve will have a track WOD both mornings at Manual High School track. Get signed up on MBO. Click here for directions.

2 Rounds for time:
Row 20 calories
20 Strict pull ups
Row 20 calories
20 Strict ring dips

Post Results to BTWB. 

Today I am going to be addressing a couple different factors that come to play while training around an injury. An exercise program takes many things into consideration before putting the words on paper. When you are dealing with an injury there are many ways to tinker with the variables a bit to make a workout more in your favor. Here are some things that I did for myself when I injured my back and was returning to a training program:

• Volume Control. The days of throwing caution to the wind are behind me. I can no longer just jump into any workout without carefully sitting down and thinking about what I have done the days prior or what I would like to do in the days to come. If I know that I have travel coming up, I lay low on higher volume squatting or pulling from the ground. My main focus here is not to smoke my hip flexors before sitting and traveling for somewhere between 4-8 hours.
• Exercise Selection. In the introductory phases of going from a rehabilitation program into an exercise training program, it’s important to pick the correct movements. Again, let’s take a lower back injury as an example. Don’t do back or front squats before you do box squats, don’t pull from the ground before you pull from the blocks. Don’t do cleans until you have deadlifts. There are progressions for everything. Pick exercises in the introductory phase that will help you build confidence getting back to the more complicated, technical movements.
• Exercise Order. When introducing new exercises back into a program, don’t be afraid to set the workout up for ideal situations. Training fatigued immediately after an injury isn’t the best route to go. Yes, eventually we would like this to be be able to change, however in the beginning stages – train smarter. What would this look like? Let’s look at writing a workout for someone who is coming back from a back injury in this instance. For assumption purposes, let’s assume the athlete has already worked back up to heavier deadlifts in his strength protocol and it’s time to start testing higher rep, heavier load deadlifts in workouts. How would we do this?
  • Example:
    For Time:
    2K Row
    20 Deadlifts, 275#
    20 Handstand Push-upsWhat this could look like?

    For Time:
    20 Deadlifts, 275#
    2K Row
    20 Handstand Push-ups

    Simply doing the deadlifts in the beginning of the workout will set someone coming back from a lower back injury into a safer scenario than having them do higher rep, heavier weight pulls from the ground in a fatigued state. This is a parameter that we can and SHOULD control. Don’t just throw caution to the wind. Train optimally, not maximally

• Better Recovery Tracking. I know I have referenced this before, however I think it is good material and worth mentioning again. Use a recovery tracking device. Some use heart rate variability – I prefer a system called “Restwise”. I like this system because there are both quantitative and qualitative markers to help you decide how you are handling the workload you are trying to perform. If you receive a score of 60% or below, you are not allowed to train that day. This helps an athlete train optimally, while avoiding being overtrained. If you have a history of doing this to yourself, you should check it out here.