"McGhee"

Complete as many rounds in 30 minutes as you can of:
5 Deadlift 275#, 175#
13 Push-ups
9 Box jumps 24", 20"

Post time to comments and log this one in the books.

Heather proving Sunday is Funday! 

First and formost, welcome back Zac! We are very happy to welcome Zac back into the Verve family of trainers.  So be nice to him on his first day back!

I often have pondered the subject of heavy lifting and those that fear it.  I know how important heavy lifting is to our bones, over all strength and sense of self worth, but do you?  I ran across this article at CrossFit Invictus and thought it worthy of a reprint.

The Importance of Girls (insert anyone afraid of going heavy here) Going Heavy
Written by Dani Dufrene

I realize that not all of our CrossFit gals are opposed to going heavy; however, it is common for women to feel less comfortable going heavy than participating in met-con WODs. Women who were not engaged in team sports growing up have rarely been exposed to weightlifting. I know I wasn’t. I grew up dancing and dabbling in long distance running. Before CrossFit I certainly never lifted heavy loads overhead.

I think because going heavy is less familiar for women, we have a tendency to either avoid it all together (strategically making heavy days our rest days) or to not push ourselves to our full potential. I believe that is a great disservice to our overall performance both physically and mentally.

Why I think it is important to go heavy:

Going heavy builds confidence and is very rewarding for women. There is something extraordinarily empowering about being able to perform a body weight overhead lift or twice your body weight deadlift. It reassures you that when you are out in daily life you can hold your own – lug several bags of groceries into the house, then balance them on one knee while you open the door; squat down and scoop up your kids one in each hand or change the water jug at the office.

It helps build muscle and increase bone density. Muscle burns more calories than fat. The higher your lean body mass is the more efficient your body is in burning calories. As women get older their bodies produce less estrogen, which helps to keep bones strong. The strain that is placed on your bones during weight bearing exercise promotes bone strengthening and can help fight against osteoporosis.

What it feels like to go heavy:

You will have to dump the weight at some point in time. If you are successful in all of your lifts you are not pushing hard enough. Some women are afraid to test their limits, because they think they won’t make the lift. That should never be a concern. If you can’t make it – you dump it. But you will never know if you don’t try.

You might feel a little dizzy or light headed. If you get dizzy or light headed it is to be expected and you may be able to lessen the effects if you focus on your breathing. The dizziness is due to a lack of oxygen and won’t be as much of an issue if you make sure to take a deep breath at the beginning of each lift.

The last rep of a set should be questionable. When you are truly going heavy, it is work. It should not be performed with the same ease as the weight you use in a met-con WOD. You should have to fight. If you are doing 5×5 it should be a gamble whether or not you make that last repetition. If not, add some weight.

For time:

30 Handstand Push-ups

Post time and thoughts to comments.

Noah inverted!  

Three rounds for time, each on a five minute interval:

Run 400m

Post times to comments.

 
Noon class being amazing sauce! 

Three rounds, 21 – 15 – 9 for time of:

Ring push-ups

Post time to comments.

Josh and Heather rockin the headstands. 

Congratulations to all the April personal records, check it out!

 
What do you plan to do this May? 

Handstand skills

Including; wall handstands, free standing, parallettes, rings and walking.

Post accomplishments to comment.

Regional games team WOD and crowd. 

Ten things that I believe.

• I believe CrossFit found me and that it found you in the same way.
• I believe we are more then a strength and conditioning program, we are a community.
• I believe your deficiency in a movement exactly shows your need. 
• I believe we get better with age.
• I believe our diets are the hardest thing we will ever "dial in".  I believe we need to work at it every day. I believe it gets easier.
• I believe if you always do what you've always done, you'll always be where you've always been.
• I believe love should be respected, cultivated, and cherished like a shiny treasure.  I believe in kindness. 
• I believe if you do not work at it, it will not be great.
• I believe sick days are meant to be used.
• I believe you must have passion about at least one thing in your life.

What do you believe in?

Nutrition Workshop this Sunday May 9th at 1:30pm.  The Nutrition Workshop is great for both beginners and advanced athletes. As always, the Nutrition Workshop is open to the public and free of charge – so don't delay – mark it on your calendar!

Dynamic effort box squats

12 X 2 reps at 50% to 60% of 1RM

Post loads to comments.

 
Team Verve placed 4th in the running event,(team members not pictured Joylyn and Mas).

Congratulations to all who competed this last weekend.  Your spirit and athleticism never cease to amaze us!

-Deep thoughts by James Whitmire

I referred to his work at the regionals as “awe-inspiring” and Matt Chan, in typically humble fashion replied, “Thanks James. They’re just workouts!”

Yes and no.  Yes, they’re workouts. But calling them “just workouts” denigrates them and the effort put into completing them.  Maybe to non-Crossfitters, they’re just workouts.  But to us, they’re much more than that. They’re challenges.

Look, there are a lot of people in life who avoid challenges like a plague. You know them, I know them. They’re either afraid of failure, afraid of success, or afraid of putting forth the effort to find out whether they’ll fail or succeed. 

But I don’t know any Crossfitters like that.  Crossfitters see that challenge thrown at them on the website or the whiteboard and they respond. They might be scared, they might question themselves, but they will take on that challenge.  They might fail, they might succeed, they might throw up, but they will take on that challenge.  That’s what makes us Crossfitters. We like that challenge because we like seeing what we’re made of. Because it’s only when we find out what we’re made of that we can figure out how to make ourselves more.

Matt, your challenge is to be the fittest man on the planet.  The reason you impressed us this weekend wasn’t because you smoked that horrific chipper in 6:35. It was because you looked deep into the heart of that challenge and trained and ate and foam rolled and planned and cooked and weighed and measured and slept and lifted and stretched and focused and learned and breathed and worked and did everything you could and kicked that challenge’s ass.  Well done.

Now do it again in California!

Matt praying before his PR 325# Clean & Jerk. 
 

In five minutes , complete the following:

Row 1000m

As many double unders as possible

Rest two minutes and repeat for a total of three rounds.

Post double under total to comments.

Amy, capable of carrying a large load, a long distance, and quickly. 

What is a CrossFit Athlete?

We all watched or played sports growing up.  We were inspired by athletes that seemed larger than life.  They seemed to defy gravity, have no pain, and perform without practice. Now that we're older and wiser, we know that to be a world class athlete takes more than top notch performance on game day.

An athlete is a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength.  By definition, CrossFitters are all athletes, which is what makes our program so damn rewarding.  Now that we have grown up and understand what it takes to be a world class athlete, we can find satisfaction by getting a taste of their world through training like them.  By competing against ourselves and our peers on a daily basis and exposing ourselves to a myriad of exercises, we become athletes.  

But what sport do we play?  What exactly are we training for?  We are preparing ourselves to be ready for anything.  If a friend asks you to go climbing, you're ready.  If you need to help out a stranger in an emergency situation, you're ready.  If you need to carry your kid, a 50# bag of dog food, and close the car door, you're ready.  You're an athlete and your arena is life.  Be your best… because every day is game day!

Post April PR's and significant achievements to comments for all to see.

21-15-9 reps for time of:

Chest to bar pull-ups

Post time to comments. 

Breakfast of Champions.

Are you starting your day off on the right foot?  Are you ready to tackle anything that gets in your way?  There is a fine balance in life that we strive for.  The balance of: enough sleep, proper nutrition, mental and physical activity in our day.  If you are Zoning or Paleo/Zoning, are you getting all your blocks in?

I know in our hectic schedules, getting all of your blocks or even getting good blocks are hard to come by.  Believe me, I know how hard it is to get up a half hour earlier than you usually do to get in a good breakfast.  Your breakfast can make or break your day when it comes to energy.  You can choose to have the quick breakfast with the instant shakes and lots of carbs, which by 10 o’clock you are ready to devour the home made cookies that someone brought in (I speak from experience).  Or, you can choose to have a well-rounded breakfast that will sustain you until lunch.

Timing is essential to proper nutrition.  Eating within an hour of waking is key to getting your metabolism a.k.a. your “furnace” stoked and ready to burn all day long.  After breakfast, try to eat within a 3-5 hour window from the last time you ate.  This might seem daunting when you have to work all day.  Don’t neglect your body, or it will catch up with you in the form of poor nutrition choices latter in the day.  Have a plan of attack.  Paleo kits are killer for the mid-day snack.  Staying on the no more than 5 hour window will also help in getting 5 meals in a day.

No one said this was going to be easy.  If it were, then America would not be in the middle of obesity pandemic.  Society has made our lives into a “Drive thru hell,"  where convenience and a sedentary life style have changed us from: you eat what you have killed/gathered, to “Oh, there's only two cars waiting in the drive thru at KFC!” 

Be converted!  Drink the kool-aid.  Live a happy and fulfilled life.  You are a Champion.  Now eat like one.

Ingredients to a well-rounded breakfast:
1.  You need to have your Proteins– eggs, fish, leftover rotisserie chicken, leftover steak (my favorite).
2.  Carbs that will last- sure, fruits are so tasty in the morning, but don’t ignore the veggies. They will burn longer in your “furnace” than the fruit.  Consider broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, peppers, etc. 
3.  Healthy fats– Avocados are the bomb!  Almond butter and nuts will help keep the hunger at bay.

What are your favorite breakfast recipes?  What keeps you going all morning and more productive in life?  We would love your recipes and photos of your masterpieces to share with everyone.

5K Run 

Post time to comments.

Pat with an amazing 9:26 (2nd place) in the triplet. 

Final heat times for Sunday

9am Daniel Young
10:30am Matt Johnson and Pat Sherwood
12:00pm Tiffany Skidmore
12:30pm Emmalee Moore
3:00pm Anna Anderson 
3:30pm Matt Chan  

Three rounds for time:

10 Chest to bar pull-ups 

10 Front squats, 165#/115#

10 Burpees 

Post time to comments.

All smiles at 6am; Jim, Ware, Beck, Andy, Donna and Ed.