In teams of 2 complete the following for time:
100 Kettle bell swings, 32kg(24kg)
100 Goblet squats, 32kg(24kg)
100 Meter handstand walk
400 Meter partner carry

*Only 1 person can work at a time. Must finish all reps at one station before moving to the next.

Post times to comments and BTWB

This weekend is chalk full up with stuff to do. And so is the rest of the summer at Verve.

**The Taco Festival is going on Saturday, there will be lots of traffic and some road closures around Verve, so plan accordingly. No worries about parking though, the landlord does an awesome job of making sure no one takes Verve parking spots. So come in, workout, grab a taco, and then learn about nutrition. 

Saturday stick around after open gym and listen to Clara talk all things detox at 2pm. This lecture is open to everyone interested in getting their learn on. The cost is that of your attention span and willingness to learn.

Sunday Verve is hosting an i99 gymnastics clinic. . . that appears to have sold out!! It’s will be running from 12pm-3pm, for those signed up, have an awesome time. If you missed this one, stayed tuned, there may be more. 

Verve is hosting the CrossFit Football Trainer Course Saturday and Sunday July 11th-12th. Spots are still available. For more information and to register, click here.

The O2X Summit Challenge will be August 15th at Winter Park Resort. All the Verve trainers are doing it, which means so should you. You can sign up at the front desk at Verve.

Front Range CrossFit is hosting the first annual Do More Charity Challenge October 3rd-4th. It’s a 6 person team competition. Verve will put $600 towards registering a team. There are several of you that have expressed an interest, please put comments on the blog so we can help get you guys together to form a team. Click here for more info and rules.

Three rounds of 1:30 to complete as many burpees as possible:
10 Push jerks, 155#(105#)
Max burpees over bar
Rest 1:00 between rounds

Rest 5:00

Three rounds of 1:30 to complete as many box jump-overs as possible:
15 Push press, 135#(95#)
Max box jump-overs, 24″(20″)
Rest 1:00 between rounds

Rest 5:00

Three rounds of 1:30 to complete as many toes to bar as possible:
20 Thrusters, 75#(55#)
Max toes to bar
Rest 1:00 between rounds

Post reps of each round to comments or BTW

I saw this article recently from Lisbeth about scaling and thought it was spot-on for some of the things I see as a coach.  I can’t tell you how many times I am getting times or rounds at the whiteboard (yes, Mike C. – whiteboard) and the reply I get is “I got 9:26 NOT rx”, as if the hard work you just performed is sub-par because you did not do the heaviest load or movements.  Lisbeth has done a much better job articulating how I feel when I hear those replies. (*pardon the lprofanity)

Scaling Is Not An Apology

Deadlift
10-1-10-1-10-1

Then, 3 rounds for quality:
20 Barbell good mornings, 45#(33#)
15 Meter overhead walking lunge, 45#(33#)
Rest 2 minutes

Post loads to comments and BTWB

Verve is kicking off it’s Summer Nutrition Series with a nutrition lecture this Saturday afternoon from 2pm to 3pm. Verve’s own Clara Wisner will be talking about a topic chosen by you. . . “Keys To Detoxification”. What does that even mean, you ask. Well here is a brief outline of what you have in store for you:

What Is Detoxification?
• Removal of toxins
• 4 primary toxin removal systems
• The processing of toxins by your liver, most of which go into the bile and then into your digestive tract for final clearance)

How do we get Toxins in the first place?
• Scientists estimate that every human has at least 700 contaminants in their bodies
• Symptoms: headaches, joint pain, bloating, digestive upset, fatigue, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, etc.
• Our bodies do a lot of stuff that creates toxic by products, from creating energy to cellular reparation. An example is lactic acid formation during anaerobic exercise.

How detoxification affects our sleep?
• Sleep helps “detox” our brains

How detoxification affects the skin?
• The skin is your largest organ.
• If your detox systems are working properly your skin will be glowing and clear
• Acne is not about your body trying to push toxins out through the skin
• When the body is inflamed, it cannot detox properly and the skin will become irritated, and the compounds that are needed to repair and replenish the skin will be

How detoxification affects the your energy?
• If your detoxification systems are working properly you will have good energy, if not you feel sluggish, have brain fog.
• 80% of all the energy in your body is devoted to detox processes.
• If you eliminate foods that contain the most toxins: gluten, grains, dairy, and legumes then your body will have more energy to use for you!

*10 things you can do to support you body’s detoxification this week and get better sleep, more energy, and glowing skin.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is only a brief glance into the bundle of information Clara has planned for you. This lecture is open to Verve athletes, family, friends, and pretty much anyone reading this blog and wants to get some info. So finish up your open gym sweat session Saturday afternoon, then grab a seat and be prepared to get learned. 

**This Sunday is the i99 clinic from 12pm-3pm. The cost is $50 and there are only 1 spot left!! Get signed up now and work on some basic gymnastics. Think you are beyond the basics? Just remember, for those of you who have been in the hunt for a muscle-up, if we don’t even have an efficient, refined kipping pull-up how can we expect that to translate to a more skilled gymnastics movement? Perfect the basics!! Click here to register.

For time:
50 Hang power clean, 155#(105#)
150 Double unders
50 Chest to bar pull-ups

Post times to comments and BTWB

Got pull-ups? By Courtney Shepherd and the fine people of Eat To Perform

We all have goats, weaknesses, that we are constantly trying to improve. A common one is the pull-up. I have had a lot of people come to me lately asking for advice on how to improve their pull-ups. Body weight movements can be hard in  general, so when I came across an article in Eat To Perform titled “7 Reasons Why You’re Struggling With Pull-ups!”, by James Barnum, I thought the context could be helpful towards movements other than the pull-up. 

I will preface, the very first reason given I’m not the biggest fan of, however I didn’t feel comfortable giving this article a new title of “6 Reasons Why You’re Struggling With Pull-ups!”. 

1) You’re too heavy.

I can appreciate the point the author is trying to make. Body weight movements can be easier with less body weight, however, I don’t want anyone to think they cannot get a pull-up until they weigh a certain amount. In a blog post I wrote several weeks back I made mention of 1 of CrossFit’s mantras, which is that strength is the productive application of force. Meaning doing a pull-up is doing a pull-up, no matter what you weigh. 

2) Your grip strength isn’t up to par.

If your grip strength isn’t sufficient to hold your body weight, there’s only a slim chance that you’ll be able to do a pull-up. To improve your grip strength, you need to perform exercises that involve static contractions of the hands, forearms, shoulders and upper back. Hang from the pull-up bar for time, carry heavy dumbbells for distance, load up a barbell and do timed holds for 30-60 seconds.

3) Your back needs to get stronger. 

Although pull-ups are one of the best ways to develop back strength, the fact of the matter is that staring at the rig isn’t building a single ounce of muscle. Whether you can’t do a single pull-up or you can only bust out a few ugly reps before you’re gassed, you should add a few upper body pulling movements into your routine to help build strength. These can include, but are not limited to, pull-up negatives, ring rows, and lat pull downs.

4) Your form needs work.

Pull-ups are like any other exercise or movement – there’s a right way and a wrong way to do them. Here are some tips on maximizing your leverage and getting your back into it:

-Take a shoulder-width grip
-Keep your head up.
-Pull Up and back. Don’t think of the pull-up as a strictly vertical movement. Instead, lean back and pull the bar to your upper chest, not your chin or neck. Your lower body will be slightly out in front of you and your back will remain neutral – the classic hollow gymnastics position)

5) You don’t stay tight. 

If you can’t maintain relative body position throughout the pull-up and you flop around like a mudkip, you have what we call an energy leak. What this means is that instead of using your entire body to pull, you’re relying on whatever muscle will do the work – most likely your rotator cuff. (Hint: that’s bad.) Everything should stay tight when you pull.

6) You aren’t practicing often enough.

You are what your repeatedly do. If your form is on point, but your specific work capacity sucks and you have to jerk your body around to get your chin over the bar after the first repetition, you’re just teaching your body to express an inefficient movement pattern. It’s much more difficult to unlearn bad form than it is to teach it. 

Last week I wrote a blog about volume training, this would be a perfect time to incorporate it.

7) You’re over-reliant on assisted pull-ups.

Some people over rely on the bands to assist in pull-ups. Yes, using bands is a great idea, however constantly varied is what gives us the best opportunity to build multiple muscle groups involved in pulling. During WODs sometimes we use ring rows, sometimes we do rope pull-ups, some of you scratch your heads and wonder why? Because to rely on one thing solely makes that one thing our crutch. It’s hard to progress beyond our trusty crutches. 

As I said before, I could remove the word “pull-up” and exchange it for the word “push-up” or “dip”. The points remain the same. In a nutshell, practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. For full article, click here.

**Big business this weekend!!

1) Nutrition Lecture this Saturday the 27th, 2pm-3pm, @ Verve, presented by Clara Wisner. Stick around after open gym and get your learn on. Open to family and friends.

2) i99 clinic is this Sunday from 12pm-3pm. The cost is $50 and there are only 4 spots left!! Get signed up now and work on some basic gymnastics. Think you are beyond the basics? Just remember, for those of you who have been in the hunt for a muscle-up, if we don’t even have an efficient, refined kipping pull-up how can we expect that to translate to a more skilled gymnastics movement? Perfect the basics!! Click here to register.

In 20 minutes establish a heavy complex of:
1 Snatch pull + 1 power snatch + 1 hang power snatch

Then, every minute on the minute for 10 minutes:
1 complex @ 70% of heaviest complex

Post weights to BTWB

Next week our 5 PM specialty hour will have no classes.  We finished our Olympic cycle last week and many people had great results.  I’m proud of everyone that was able to make it through the entire 6 weeks and saw their numbers go up, whether it was the snatch, clean and jerk, or any of the squat variations we hit day after day.  Think about the numbers you started with on week 1 and where you ended up.  If those weights come up in a WOD, now you know that you can handle that weight and feel comfortable doing so.

So what’s next?  We will be starting a new/old cycle of Hot Dogs and Cupcakes one week from today. Classes will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night at 5 PM.  

So what is Hot Dogs and Cupcakes?  From the original creators of the program:

What is Hot Dogs & Cupcakes? Well, it’s a work in progress – much like we all are. HD&CC was originally started as a blog between two buddies that challenged each other to workouts that addressed their weaknesses. CrossFit.com took care of the conditioning and GPP, but certain areas were left underdeveloped… particularly absolute strength and high level body positioning common to gymnastics.

The CrossFit Verve WODs will take take care of you GPP and HD&CC will help address areas of weakness.  Now be careful it may not seem like you’re lifting a lot, but take it from someone that’s been doing the programming for the past few weeks, it is a lot of work.  No need to add extra lifting days and try to add at most 3 WODS a week.  Yeah you may lose some of your engine or capacity,  but your strength will increase.  It’s a give and take relationship.

So here’s what you need to know.  1 Rep Max for the following:

Back Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Good Morning (I used an estimate for this).  The programming will target these major lifts and then add in accessory lifts.  

We need you to have been doing CrossFit consistently for 9 months to a year.  The volume and short rest make for a really challenging hour of work and similar to the Olympic class, we will correct faults, but teaching will be limited due to time restraints.  

The programming won’t change to much week to week.  The percentage of your 1 rep max that you are lifting will change as well the number of reps performed.  The workouts will be up on the whiteboard for all to see should you want to perform the workouts during Open Gym.  

If you have any questions use the comments to ask.  Here’s to getting strong over the next 6 weeks!   

12 Minute as many rounds as possible of :
50 Double unders
30 Air Squats
15 Kettlebell swings 16kg(12kg)

Post reps to comments or BTW

FOR ALL OF YOU LATE-NIGHT SWEET-TOOTHERS OUT THERE!!

This recipe comes to us courtesy of Danielle!  A great cure for you late night desire for ice cream or cake.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you:

FLUFF (in Danielle’s eloquent words)

1 scoop MP Birthday Cake protein powder
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup ice
—–
– Mix in blender first to crush up all the ice.
– Transfer to big ass bowl.
– Mix with hand blender for a couple minutes until it gets all fluffy.
– Top with chocolate chips and a dash of cinnamon (because, you know, garnishes are fancy)

 Nutritional Info – Can vary slightly based on the protein powder you select
Calories – 207
CHO – 12g
PRO – 26g
F – 7g

3 Rounds for time:
Run 800 meters
21 Power cleans, 95#(65#)
2 Rope climbs, 15′

Post times to comments and BTWB

Start marking your calendars, we got a lot going on around here. . . 

*This summer Verve will be hosting several lectures/ events in it’s Summer Nutrition Series. The first will be held Saturday June 27th from 2pm-3pm @ Verve. Verve’s own Clara Wisner will be discussing The Keys To Detoxification. . . as chosen by you all. This lecture is open to Verve members, family, and friends. 

*Verve will be hosting an i99 clinic Sunday June 28th from 12pm-3pm. This seminar will build/reinforce technique with the handstand, hollow hold, solid kipping technique, toes to bar, dip work, and so much more! If you are thinking that you already have these things and you don’t need to attend, THINK AGAIN! It is always great to go back to the basics and fine tune your mechanics. Spots are limited, click here to get signed up.

*Verve is hosting the CrossFit Football Trainer Course Saturday and Sunday July 11th-12th. Spots are still available. For more information and to register, click here.

*The O2X Summit Challenge will be August 15th at Winter Park Resort. All the Verve trainers are doing it, which means so should you. You can sign up at the front desk at Verve.

*Front Range CrossFit is hosting the first annual Do More Charity Challenge October 3rd-4th. It’s a 6 person team competition. We already have a few people interested, Verve will put $600 towards registering a team, make your intentions known in the comments section so others can join you. Click here for more info and rules.

In 20 minutes, establish a 2 rep max overhead squat

Then, every minute on the minute for 5 minutes:
1 Overhead squat as heavy as possible (must be taken from ground and brought to back)

Post loads to comments and BTWB

Volume training for weaknesses, By Courtney Shepherd and Brian Wilson of Potomac CrossFit

Several months ago a Verve athlete came to me with an article and a question about improving weaknesses. He told me he had 1 big weakness that had reared it’s ugly head several times recently during WODs, and that he wanted to find a way to target this weakness and improve it. He brought with him an article from the CrossFit Journal title “Volume Training For Goats”, and wondered if this was a good approach to building his ring dips. Since that conversation I’ve had several other athletes approach me about weaknesses in both pull-ups and push-ups. I will tell you what I told each of these athletes, I think volume training is a great approach to working weaknesses, specifically those involving bodyweight movements.

At the beginning of workouts you may have even heard me make mention about volume just before discussing scaling. For example, a workout has 5 rounds with 20 pull-ups per round, making the total volume of pull-ups 100. The question becomes what volume of pull-ups are you capable of? Because if the most pull-ups you have done in a workout successfully is 50, then the idea of trying to go for 100 in the current workout is not a good one. A better idea would be to aim for a total volume of 60-65 pull-ups, split over the 5 rounds. By doing this we are increasing your volume of pull-ups and keeping you successful as well as working in the intended intensity.

That would be a way to address volume in a WOD. The above mentioned article addresses volume with additional programming outside of the daily workout.

“This training technique—called volume training—has been used in various forms; it is characterized by specific and repetitive training for a weakness. It could be fielding ground balls with a backhand technique in baseball, shooting free throws in basketball, or pressing to handstand in gymnastics. The goal is to develop proprioception and endurance—defined as the ability to reproduce a movement many times over or at length—in that specific modal capacity.“

Brian Wilson of Potomac CrossFit has been using volume training with his athletes, while volume training can be used for any human movement, Brian has found “that upper-body gymnastics movements (e.g., handstand push-ups, pull-ups, ring dips, push-ups, muscle-ups) see the greatest relative improvement with this method.”

Brian uses a 20 minute system, when I have used it for myself and suggested it to others, I have used a 10 minute system. The idea with either is the same: perform reps every minute on the minute, working sub-maximally (not reaching muscle failure) and to maintain a difference of no more than 2 reps from the first set to the last set. The athlete’s goal is to continue to progress in total number of reps completed per session, while still not going beyond 2 in the difference between the 1st minute and the last minute. An example of what this might look like for someone working on HSPUs using the 20 minute system, is shown below:

Over the course of 5 sessions, this athletes volume of HSPU has gone from 23 to 50. In the article Brian states he has his athletes do this 20 minute work twice per week. I think a better way to say that would be do a session every 3 to 4 days. This is not something that should be done every day, however going too long between sessions will hinder progress.

“A key concept to remember is the athlete should work at a sub-maximal effort. This training method is designed to allow the athlete to practice the movement with near- perfect form, not to create a significant metabolic-conditioning response.“

That’s right folks “near perfect form”. This type of training does not good if we are performing a movement with poor form and barely eking out reps. So if you have ever felt like your push-ups seem to stink and never seem to get better, perhaps you should drop in to an open gym time, set a clock for 10-20 minutes, and every minute on the minute perform some push-ups. While you may feel like this is silly, a good starting place is simply 1 rep every minute on the minute. . . with near perfect form for all reps. You can build from there. On that note, whichever time frame you choose, use the same time frame every time. It would be hard to track progress if every session lasts for a different amount of time.

Lastly, volume training should be prescribed for athletes who have trained regularly for several months or years but still have one or two modalities that need improvement. While this plan might be of use for beginners, it is more important to first build capacity in the general physical preparedness programming that is CrossFit. Build basic strength and capacity before worrying about isolating movements. 

For full article, click here.

7 Rounds, working with a 2 minute clock:
Row 40(30) calories

*For each calorie under 40(30), perform 1 burpee
*Rest 2 minutes between rounds
*Burpees are accumulated and owed at the end of the 7 rounds

Post scores to comments and BTWB

Calling all competitors!!!

In the last few months following the CrossFit Games Open, I have had several people approach me and ask about another comp crew. In the months leading up to the Open Verve had a competitor’s program with specialized programming. This program and it’s programming were designed to help build those athletes that had a desire to improve their competitive performance. Verve’s majority of members come to Verve to workout, lift weight, and break a sweat simply to feel good. To feel happy, healthy, confident, and even help improve their performance in activities that exist outside the gym walls. But there is a nice group of Ververs that have their eyes set on bigger prizes. These athletes enjoy signing up for and competing in local competitions. These athletes look forward to the CrossFit Open every year so they can see the product of their handwork leading up to it. There may even be some that have the goal of one day making it to the CrossFit Games. Verve does not currently have a comp crew on the schedule, nor do we plan to in the immediate future. . . however, with that said, your requests for comp crew work has not fallen on deaf ears. We are simply opting to go about it a different way at the moment. Before I discuss our plan for comp crew, let me first explain to you the concept of macro/ meso/ micro cycles.

Programs such as comp crew, utilize programming cycles to work weaknesses while also maintaining strengths. The first step is to make an overall goal of the program and make a time frame for that goal. Let’s take for example, my goal is to make the top 100 women in the Southwest Region during the 2016 Open. That makes my macrocycle for my goal from April of 2015 to February 2016. In that long term goal I will make smaller monthly goals that will make up my mesocycles. My first mesocycle will be to spend 3 months building strength. Following my strength mesocycle, I will take the next 3 months to focus on using my new found strength to improve my Olympic lifts. Around this time I might start taking all this barbell work and adding in more volume at lighter reps for time, to build my engine and prepare for the Open. Each week of my mesocycles I will have certain programming that will need to get done. This weekly work constitutes my microcycle. Why in the world am I explaining all this? Because, using my example as a basic template, this is our plan for comp crew. We want to take comp crew through several mesocycles/ microcycles with the overall macrocycle goal focused on the 2016 Open. And just like my example, we want to start the comp crew working on a strength mesocycle.

The 5 o’clock pm specialty hour just finished up an Olympic lifting cycle. Starting the week of Monday June 29th, it will be filled with Hotdogs & Cupcakes programming, specifically a hypertrophy phase used to generate a training base or foundation from which to build upon. It will involve high volume and low to moderate intensity. This program will be 3 days per week, Monday/ Tuesday/ Thursday and will be based off percentages of 1 rep maxes in the power lifts (deadlift, back squat, and bench press). If you are interested in the comp crew, we ask that you start here. We will eventually have specialized programming for comp crew, however currently there is no need to. We understand that the 5pm hour does not work for everyone, remember that the programming will be up on the whiteboard, accessible for you to do during any one of our many open gym hours that may be more convenient for you.

Should you choose to start your comp crew journey here, we have a few additional requests to aid in your programming:

1) The program is written to be done on those specific days, please attempt to do them on those days. If you have to change the schedule to fit your schedule, the ultimate goal is that they are not done back to back 3 days in a row. They should be done spread out over 4-5 days, in the order they are written.

2) This program has high volume, please do not add anymore. You will not necessarily feel like to are moving a bunch of heavy weight, but please believe us when we say, it is enough. Please DO NOT add in any additional heavy lifting days.

3) Because this is a strength cycle, the focus is weightlifting. We expect during this cycle there may be a slight decrease in one’s aerobic capacity/ engine. THAT’S OKAY. That will come into play in another mesocycle down the road. To help maintain some of the aerobic capacity you have, please add NO MORE than 3 WODs throughout the week.

4) In order to get the most out of this cycle, if you plan to do the Hotdogs & Cupcakes and a WOD in the same day. . . PLEASE DO THE HD&CC FIRST. You can do the WOD second. Doing them in reverse order will be detrimental to your gains in the strength department. The HD&CC is based on percentages, if you destroy your legs in a rower exhaustive WOD, you will not be able to move 75% of your 1RM back squat for 30 reps. Period. Better to put 100% effort into the strength work at the expense of a slightly slower time in a WOD rather than the other way around.

5) Lastly, let’s talk volume. After reading all this there will be some of you that may laugh and think “3 strength pieces and 3 WODs in 1 week. . . that’s nothing. I’m a highly competitive athlete, I can do more than that.” Please, please, please do not do more than that. We ask that you also be cautious about the WODs you choose to add into your weekly programming. The strength piece is a lot of volume. If you choose a WOD that also has high volume of moderately heavy squats, it will not simply be a matter of “if” but “when” you begin to have aches, pains, and eventually injuries. The goal of the WODs is to help maintain aerobic capacity. If you are unsure what this means, please feel free to ask myself (Courtney) or Eric, we will help steer you in the right direction. We want gains, not busted joints.

If you’ve had the competitive bug itching you since the end of the Open, here’s the starting point to get ready for next year. This is early in the season, this is the time to make gains that we will build on over the next 8 months. Now is not the time to over do it, get injured, and spend the next 8 months rehabbing. This program will provide benefits as long as you follow it based on our recommendations. 

Verve’s goal is to help it’s athletes achieve their goals, big and small. The opportunities we bring to Verve, including clinics, seminars, specialty classes, and in house lectures, are our way of helping build you into whichever kind of athlete you choose to be. You simply need to take advantage of them.

For time:
5 Rounds
15 Deadlift 115#(75#)
12 Hang power clean 115#(75#)
9 Front squat 115#(75#)
6 Push jerk 115#(75#)

Post time to BTWB

If you noticed, we threw a lot of information about upcoming events on last weeks blogs.  Here is a quick recap of those events in case you missed any of the pertinent information.  

O2X Summit Race is August 15th at Winter Park.  6 mile race up the mountain, no man made obstacles only what’s already there.  Sign up sheet is available at the front of the gym.  I’ll begin emailing discount codes this week so you can purchase your tickets.  Remembers this is open to anyone and everyone so tell your friends.  Discounts available for them as well!

Front Range CrossFit Do More Charity Challenge.  October 3-4th.  Teams of 6 compete.  This competition is for anyone.  Whether you CrossFit or not, there is a place for you on a team.  Verve will donate money for teams to compete.  If you’re interested in competing, don’t worry if you don’t have a team, email courtney@crossfitverve.com.

The 5 PM Specialty Hour.  This week is the final week of the Olympic Cycle.  There is no class tonight or Friday.  We will use the class on Thursday to test a 1 rep max clean and jerk.  Next week there will be no specialty classes at 5 PM. The following week, we begin a new/old Hot Dogs and Cupcakes.  Classes will be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  Prepare to get your lift on.  This 6 week phase is designed to build strength.  Might be a good idea to cut the met cons to around 2 per week if you intend to follow this program closely.  A lot of send offs and high reps at pretty damn high percentages.  I speak from experience, this is not easy.  I’ll post more next week about what you’ll need to know as far as 1 rep maxes.  Get ready to get swole.