Complete as many rounds as you can in twenty minutes of:
5 Handstand push-ups
10 L pull-ups
15 Steps, walking lunge

Post rounds completed to comments.

Mas Godinez, 11th place in the 105kg weight class with a 405kg total for the weekend, AMAZING job Mas, you are an inspiration to many.

This recipe is a humdinger if you like spicy food!  Traditional Jambalaya is a cajun rice-based dish containing meat and seafood.  Scott Hagnas of Cooking for Health and Performance found a way to make Jambalaya the paleo way.  We thank him for the idea, and we added a few things and took some things out to fit our paleo/zone way of eating.  Lets get started awrite!

Ingredients:

• 1Tbs of Olive oil 9F
• 15oz of spicy sausage (i.e. andouille sausage, Sunflower has it) 16P
• 1 1/3C of chopped white onions 2C 
• 1 1/2C of chopped green peppers 2C
• 1C of chopped celery .5C
• 4C of chicken broth
• 3C of water
• 15oz of shrimp 10P
• 4C of finely chopped cauliflower 2C
• 4cans of El Pato Mexican tomato sauce (yellow can)
• 1tsp Cajun seasoning
• 2 bay leafs
• Cayenne pepper.

25P 6.5C 9F

Preparation:

Add oil, onion, peppers, celery, and sausage in a large stew pot.  Sauté for five minutes, and then add seasoning and bay leaf.  Sauté for another two minutes.  Then add the water, broth, tomato sauce, and cauliflower.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat.  While this is simmering, grab another skillet and place a little olive oil and shrimp in the skillet.  Remove the bay leaves.  Add a dash of Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper to the shrimp.  When the shrimp have turned pink, add them to the stew. 

Let the pot of flavors take over your kitchen for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand. WARNING: This recipe is not for the weak!  There is some serious spice to it, so be forewarned.  If you like spice, this is the ticket.  This recipe makes 15Cups at 1.7P .5C  .7F Per cup.  A 3-block meal would be 2cups at 2.5P 1C 1.4F.  Cool your mouth down with some tasty fruit to equal your carbs.  And try a little alligator pear (avocado) in yo’ jambalaya for additional fats.

Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Post loads to comments.

 
Matt Chan, 1st Place 94kg Division and overall Event Champion, 2010 USAW/CrossFit Open. (Couldn't help it, had to post the main-site photo – CC)

Checking Your Head in the Game.

I heard a quote; "There is trained and untrained", by Olympian Casey Burgener, when commenting on how he deals with the pressures of game day.  He said, nothing should matter, you should be able to wake up and perform no matter if you woke up feeling like dog crap or not.  This is because you are either trained or untrained.  I have ran this quote over and over in my head, realizing that it is a bit of a linguistic holy grail.   So many times athletes want to do better, they continue to put themselves through psychological warfare.  Realizing it will not help, only blunt progress, but they do it just the same, and why?  

When hearing Casey quote this, I also realized what he meant when he said trained, he was not talking about six month, 1 year or even 4 years.   He's an Olympian for goodness sake, he's talking about 10, 12, 15 years of training to prepare him for game day.  For some that training comes in many forms even a variety of sports, for others it is sticking to one discipline and committing long enough to see success.  It is in my experience that those who succeed are not always the most talented, lucky, or genetically gifted.  It is those that are relentless to their goal, health, love, fitness, skill or sport.  Those that put in the years, rack up the mileage, forget about small "failures" and celebrate when years later those turn into successes.

It's a hard pill for us CrossFitters to swallow.  We want it all and we want it all NOW.  I say to that, there is trained and there is untrained, which do you want to be?

"Nancy"

Five rounds for time of:
400 meter run
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps

Post time to comments.

Anna Anderson, deemed the athlete most likely to be a country singer finished 6th place in the 69kg.

What a weekend. The USAW/CrossFit inaugural event started on Friday and went on clear into Sunday afternoon.  The event was streamed live on the intranet for FREE, with 200 athletes from all over the states.  For the first time ever CrossFit held a competition that included weight classes.  There were 7 women's weight classes and 8 weight classes for men.  Verve had 6 athletes competing spread out between 5 different classes.  Here are the results.

Men's 69 KG
Chris Zienkievicz 8th place; 70kg(154#) Snatch, 90kg(198#) Clean & Jerk and 5 Rounds even on the triplet

Women's 63KG
Emmalee Moore 3rd place; 49kg(108#) Snatch, 67kg(147.7#) Clean & Jerk and 6 Rounds+1clean on the triplet.
Cherie Chan 8th place; 53kg(116#) Snatch, 68kg(150#) Clean & Jerk and 5 Rounds+3cleans on the triplet. 

Women's 69KG
Anna Anderson 6th place; 58kg(128#) Snatch, 70kg(154#) Clean & Jerk and 5 Rounds+1clean on the triplet. 

Men's 94KG
Matt Chan 1st place; 113kg(249#) Snatch, 144kg(317#) Clean & Jerk and 7 Rounds+6pull-ups on the triplet.

Men's 105KG
Mas Godinez 11th place; 78kg(172#) Snatch, 113kg(249#) Clean & Jerk and 5 Rounds+4cleans on the triplet.

Congratulations to all the Verve athletes, it was amazing to witness, coach and compete. We learned a lot, had many personal records, bought a new pull-up structure, and got the itch to do it again.  Thank you to all the Verve athletes that came out to volunteer, take pictures, cheers and generally bring a smile all our faces and a thank you to USAWeightlifting and CrossFit!

"Lynne"

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

Post reps for both exercises in all rounds.

Emmalee Moore 3rd place in the women's 63kg class, congrats Em!

Row or Run a 5K

Post time to comments.

69kg weight class, Chris Zienkievicz snatching 70kg (154#).

REMINDER CROSSFIT VERVE IS CLOSED TODAY FOR THE USAW/CROSSFIT EVENT

The USAW/CrossFit event was kicked of with a bang today and Verve athlete Chris Zienkieviz did not disappoint.  Chris was successful in all three attempts on the snatch, starting at 60kg, 65kg and finishing with 70kg.  Immediately after the athletes moved on to the Clean & Jerk, judges were strict and we were all estatic when he jerked 90kg (198#) on his third lift.  Chris finished his lifting with a successful 160kg (352#) total.

On to the triplet.  Chris looked strong in the triplet and completed 5 rounds flat for a 210kg addition to his total.  Chris finished with 370 points getting him 7th place.  Congrats Chris, way to represent! 

For time:
50 Box jump, 24" (20")
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 16kg (12kg)
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20# (14#)
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Post time to comments.

Slaughter, Mr. Young, Mel-M, H.P. and Courtney… an afternoon WOD.

If you haven't heard, the USA Weightlifting and CrossFit have joined forces to put on a unique event this weekend in Colorado Springs.  There are over 200 athletes from all over the country competing, some crossfitters, some weightlifters.  CrossFit Verve has six athletes competing over the course of three days.  The events are as follows:

Snatch, 1 rep
Clean and jerk, 1 rep
As many rounds and reps as possible in ten minutes of:
55kg Squat clean, 6 reps
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Add together the best snatch (in kg), the best clean and jerk (in kg), and the total reps performed in the triplet for your final score. Post score to comments.

All events will be completed one right after the other, so once an athlete starts the snatch, it's game on! Here is the start times for the Verve competitors.

Friday, October 1
69kg Chris Zienkievicz 1pm

Saturday, October 2
63kg Emmalee Moore 11:30am
63kg Cherie Chan  11:30am
69kg Anna Anderson 11:30am

Sunday, October 3
105kg Mas Godinez 2pm
105kg Matt Chan 2pm

If you can't make the road trip, but still want to watch the action, Watch it LIVE for Free.

NOTE: Saturdays classes are cancelled, but a WOD will be posted…

With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute… continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

Post number of minutes completed to comments.

Lt. Col. Reeman, representing with the Verve team at the Metro Dash.

Building a Capacity 

We've all done it – jumped into something blindly with both feet without testing the water first …and we've all gotten burned because of our eagerness.  Surely, this sort of enthusiasm is admirable, yet we don't encourage it due to the potential for injury.  

Take for example the GHD sit-up or the butterfly pull-up.  Without fail, athletes that have attempted workouts incorporating the GHD sit-up have found themselves undeniably crippled.  Others have pieced together fragments of a butterfly pull-up and completed a workout utilizing their new skill and paid the price with tenderized flanks.

The lesson that we'd like to impart in this little note that when you are learning a new skill, build a capacity over time.  Sometimes the stimulus elicits a response that you weren't expecting.  But a wise approach to learning new skills would be to start with a relatively low dose of the stimulus and see how your body reacts.  As you get stronger and your body adapts to the stimulus, then think about adding intensity to the equation.  

Remember: having to recover from a mistake costs you time away from the gym and doesn't make you any fitter.  Building a capacity over time makes you stronger and smarter. 

Saturday's classes are cancelled due to the USAW/CF meet in Colorado Springs.  With that said, we'd still like all interested athletes to show up at 9am at Verve for a workout. No sign-up is necessary, details will be posted and all are welcome.  

Three rounds for time of:

500m Row  
30 Squat cleans 95#

Post time to comments.

Gayle thinks you should go to Colorado Springs this weekend and watch the USAW/CrossFit Open.

What are we going to do with all these weird veggies, three block dinner.

Mouth watering isn't it?

It's September and we belong to Grant Family Farms veggie share.  It's been a fun season of fruits and veggies and we've learned a ton.  Like what the heck is that in the picture?  Well  we aren't exactly sure, what would be the fun in that?  We do know what it is not, it is not a squash or a potato, we think it's in the turnip, radish family.  So how do we stay in the zone with the unknown?

When you've been zoning for as long as we have, you start to see some similarity and you can make some pretty darn good assumptions about foods and their block content.  Similar food seem to always have the same blocks measurements.  We've also noticed that whatever you roast (we're talking paleo veggies people so not potatoes) and all things can be roasted into a delicious goodness, WILL in fact generally be 1/2 cup per carbohydrate block.  I have measured this countless times until my heart is content and this is a very good rule of thumb with low glycemic veggie mixes.

Here's what we do know…

1 Eggplant, from farm
1 Onion, yellow
1 Green skinned white veggie (think it's a radish/turnip, from farm and as large as a 16" softball)
Chicken Breast

Grill the chicken, I love the Mrs. Dash, no salt, grill seasoning.  Cut up all the veggies, spray pan with olive oil, and toss into broil on high.  After 10 minutes on broil, cover the top with squirts of lime juice, no salt all purpose seasoning and cumin.  Broil for a minimum of 10 more minutes (or until you get the yummy roasted crunch), stirring and covering the veggies with a liberal amount of spices as you go.

Viola'

A 3 block meal = 1.5 cups of the roasted veggies, three ounces of grilled chicken and 3 fat blocks.  I used nuts, but avocado would be amazing.  

Now mix it up by roasting up those unknown veggies for some mouth watering goodness.

"Diane"

21 – 15 – 9 reps for time of:
Deadlift 225# (150#)
Handstand push-ups

Compare to September 2009.

Post time to comments.

Jake, one of the few to complete "Mary" as prescribed yesterday, amazing really!

Someone said to Voltaire, "Life is hard." Voltaire replied, "Compared to what?"

Many of you saw this posted to comments yesterday.  When I saw it on the main-site, it hit a serious chord.  It seems like in life we go through periods where things seem "hard", or negative, impossible, defeating, derailing, and collapsed.  We feel weak, thrashed, overcome, betrayed, disappointed and frustrated, no one can escape these feelings.  Not one person walking around, hasn't felt them.

If CrossFit has taught me anything, it's that we are all essentially the same.  My pain and turmoil is no greater then yours and your battle is no more serious then mine.  In order to achieve the victory we all seek in our lives, we have to go through these battles. Without the battle, the victory does not follow and life becomes mundane, predictable and underwhelming.  

The difference come from the people we choose to surround ourselves with, whether we take responsibility for what we have created in our lives.  The difference comes from who we become when we feel overcome and the difference comes in how we follow through with our dreams. If we choose to be active in our futures, health, dreams and love, the pendulum has no choice but to swing the other way.  

Next time we are feeling any of these things, look around and ask yourself if life is hard, compared to what? 

"Cindy"

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

Or

"Mary"

Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand push-ups
10 One legged squats, alternating
15 Pull-ups

Post your choice of girls and rounds completed to comments.

 Catherine, Gerson and a Chan leg, getting it done as a team.

Why "Cindy" or "Mary"?  The development of a well rounded athlete does not end with being able to complete certain tasks, such as muscle-ups, handstand push-ups, or even pull-ups.  A beginner may choose "Cindy" because of the relative ease of the movements.  Others may choose "Cindy" because they use this workout to benchmark their current level of fitness.  But the question that begs to be answered is – why "Mary"?

Anyone who has completed "Cindy" knows that as the rounds progress, completing the individual components of a round becomes more and more difficult.  For instance, the push-ups during rounds 1-10 go unbroken with relative ease, but the later rounds become very difficult – breaking the set of 10 one, two, three and more times.  Similarly, for many people completing a few handstand push-ups or pistols is fairly easy.  But, as we fatigue, these movements become increasingly difficult to complete.

I look at these two workouts as a progression in body control.  When completing 18+ rounds of "Cindy" becomes fairly easy – it's time to swallow your pride and attempt "Mary".  At first glance, "Mary" doesn't appear to be that difficult.  But if an athlete approaches "Mary" with the same intensity (read: power output) as he/she would "Cindy", the athlete will learn a potent lesson regarding body control while fatigue has set in. After all, 20 minutes of handstand push-ups, pistols, and higher rep pull-ups, you discover that Mary is no joke! Which girl will you choose?