30 – 25 - 20 - 15 - 10 - and 5 rep rounds for time of:

Virtual shoveling, 45#/25#

Push-ups

With an Olympic bar holding only one 45# plate (25#), touch the plate on one side of the barrier, then the touch the other side of the barrier for one 'rep'.  The barrier is 24" tall.

Compare to March 16, 2009.

Post time and thoughts to comments.

Cherie using the good morning to strengthen the posterior chain.

A couple of quick notes:

First, the Chan's will be hosting a Festivus party this Saturday starting at 5pm.  Their address and directions to their house will be listed at the gym on the events board.  They'll be providing the meat, so you should bring your finest Paleo side dish.  Gluten-free beer and wine will be provided, but you're on your own for the hard stuff.  Save your cheats for Saturday and enjoy a night free of weighing and measuring.  Bring some cash too, as we'll be celebrating the holidays with a little Texas hold 'em.  Beginner?  No problem – it's all for fun.

Second, our Wednesday and Friday 7:30pm classes have been extremely popular.  These classes are going to be strictly CrossFit Games prep classes until the Sectionals roll around in March.  Expect some strength work, some power work, some speed work, and some skill work.  No details will be given prior to class, so show up and get prepared for the Games!  Class size is limited, so sign up early if you really want to be a part of the class.

Deadlift 4 x 3 reps @ 82% of 1RM

Then, complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:

10 Thrusters, 65#/45#

10 Pull-ups

30 Double unders

Post time to comments.

Cheresa earning her turkey on Thanksgiving morning.

The Devil in Disguise

So why no sugar substitutes?  Take for instance the dilemma of the diet soda.  Most diet sodas are calorie and carb free, caffinated, sweet and totally delicious (this can be debated).  At first glance, this sounds Zone perfect and a great alternative to that nasty water-stuff. 

Let's start with a very basic principle of the Zone – hormone regulation.  One of the primary benefits of Zoning is the hormone regulation that results from eating a low-glycemic balanced meal.  By controlling your carbohydrate intake and monitoring the glycemic impact of your carb choices, you limit the amount of insulin released by your pancreas.  This maintains a neutral to favorable insulin sensitivity (as opposed to insulin resistance) and circumvents excess carb storage as fat.

Enter the sweetner.  Sweetners are just that – sweet.  When your tongue tastes something sweet entering the mouth, it talks to the brain (specifically the hypothalamus) and says "Hey, here comes energy!"  The brain then says to the pancreas "Yo, dump some insulin because here comes glucose!"  And there it is – a big insulin dump, but all for nothing.  The body is now very confused and unable to effectively regulate insulin and all because of artificial sweetners.

CrossFit Parker opens today!

Our friends Ryan and Kyla are opening their doors today.  They are having a free WOD at 10am for anyone that's interested with BBQ afterwards.  Let's get some people together and represent!  Check out their site for location info.  Of course, this would be an excellent opportunity to refer-a-friend in the Parker area.  Ryan has headed up CrossFit Parker Fire for several years, so they aren't new to the game.  Post to comments if you'll be attending.

Seven rounds for time:

10 Sumo deadlift high pulls, 95#/65#

10 Ring dips

Compare to February 15th, 2009

Post time to comments.

Mike Leet, standing tall.

The Zone Meal Treasure Chest

A sound nutritional plan sends markers of health in the right direction and prevents sickness.  A solid meal should make you feel more focused and full of energy, in addition to satisfying your hunger.  In other words, you should feel "in the Zone."  Being in the Zone is simply finding the right combination, quality, and quantity of marconutrients and timing the meal well – resulting in a beautiful harmonious balance of hormones.

This ideal meal is not going to be the same for everyone.  By following Zone parameters for your body composition, you've only started your path to wellness.  A Zone meal for one person may not be ideal for everyone.  For instance, when I have a meal consisting of 4oz sliced turkey, 2 apples, and 12 almonds – I know that this meal will leave me hungry.  Yet, if I have 4oz sliced turkey, 2 cups of steamed broccoli, 3/4 of a cantelope, and 12 almonds – I feel like dy-na-mite!

What I'd like you to do is create a little treasure chest (a shoebox would do) of Zone meals that make you feel great.  This meal should also have a time of day associated with it, i.e. breakfast, post workout, late-night snack…  As you build a menu of Zone treasures, your ability to live in the Zone becomes easier and easier.  This will result in long life of perfect performance, balanced hormones, and high levels of energy.  Okay, totally exaggerating, but you get the idea.

Need more info about the Zone?

Join us on Sunday December 6th at 1:30pm at CrossFit Verve for an introduction to the Zone, Paleolithic eating, and the wild world of cheat days.  Shred fat, build muscle, and move every quantifiable marker of health in the right direction.  Just in time for the holidays!

For time:

100 Meter lunge
100 Double unders
50 Medicine ball cleans, 20#/14#
100 Double unders
100 Meter lunge

Post time to comments.

 
Anna during the Thanksgiving day team WOD.

Please help to welcome Anna Anderson to the CrossFit Verve training staff.  Anna has been doing CrossFit for over a year, completed her Level I training, and has interned with Verve's foundations for two months.  We are happy and proud to have her as a part of our training staff.   

Four Rounds each for time:
250 Meter row
25  Kettlebell snatch 24Kg (16Kg)
5 Bench press (85-90% 1RM)
Rest between rounds while others play

Post load and times to comments.

More Thanksgiving fun with Elizabeth.

For time:

1 Mile run

Three rounds of:
5 Overhead squats (Body weight) 
10 Power cleans (Body weight)
15 Front squats (Body weight)

1 Mile run

Post time and loads to comments.

 
Thanksgiving day madness. 

 
Streetside "warm-up".

 
Earning a big cheat night during "deck of cards" or team fun.  

"Deck of cards"

As a team of four, grab a deck of cards and shuffle them.  Face cards are worth 10 reps, aces are worth 11, and all numbered cards are worth their value in reps.  Flip a card over and perform the specified movement and number of reps before flipping the next card.  Two members of the team perform a flipped card together as the other two members rest.  Cycle through the whole deck for time.

Hearts = dumbell snatch, 40#/25#
Diamonds = chest to bar pull-ups
Spades = burpees
Clubs = toes to bar
Jokers = team 400m run

Come join us at 10am for this WOD and post times and teams to comments.

 
Matt, aka M.J. is gratful for overhead squats. 

It is very easy to get wrapped up in the daily happenings of our lives.  All the things that are happening right now are of extreme importance and consequence.  We do it so often now that it's a habit.  There are those special days that special people remind us of why we love what we do and why life is worth the journey.  Today we am truly grateful.  Our life would not be the same without all of you.  You have truly changed us forever.  We thank you all for the big and little things you do everyday that make our lives better, happier and all around more worth living - Matt and Cherie.

Things we are grateful for and make our lives better:

• Our athletes, yes you.  ALL of you!
• Eachother
• Our family
• Dogs (Bosley in particular)
• The community that surrounds us  
• Great overhead squats and dumbells
• Lululemon
• Chalk
• Weightlifting shoes
• CrossFit, Dr. Sears and the Zone diet (really this is true)
• Buddy Lee jump ropes
• Almond butter
• Bars that don't bend and have good whip
• Ben and Jerry's (cheat days wouldn't be the same without them)
• From the Verve ladies: "Workouts that make the boys take their shirts off".
• War paint
• Zac's socks
• Colorado's 300 days of sunshine
• Wallballs that are evenly weighted
• Spaghetti squash
• Love
• Mountains that ask to be climbed, skied, hiked…
• And did we mention all of you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Five rounds for time:

5 Deadlifts

5 Hang power cleans

5 Front squats

5 Push press

5 Man makers

Start light, 20# for the guys and 15# for the ladies, and add 5# each round.  It's touch and go until you finish a round, at which point you change dumbells and go again.

Post time to comments.

Jared getting ready to pull under a snatch. 

Intensity defined

Anyone that has spent much time in a globo-gym has surely run into the "Gym Boss".  This is the guy that clearly is in charge of the gym – and more specifically, the free weights.  You might recognize the Gym Boss by his strappy tank top, his revealing shorts/overalls, the bandana that covers the majority of his forehead, or maybe his perfectly bronzed skin.  He's most likely carrying a small hip purse that carries snacks and trinkets and things.  The Gym Boss has one characteristic that separates him from the pack – his loud yelling between reps or sets.  This is clearly the mark of an intense workout… or is it?

Our definition of intensity takes a more scientific approach.  Intensity is exactly equal to power, which in turn is equal to force multiplied by distance, divided by time.  Let's put this idea into application with a workout… let's try "Fran".

"Fran"
21-15-9
Thrusters, 95lbs
Pull-ups

One repetition of a thruster will move 95lbs 48".  One repetition of a pull-up moves my 205lbs body 28".  We are completing 45 reps of both thrusters and pull-ups, so our total load equals 300lbs and the total distance equals 76" multiplied by 45 repetitions.  Let's say it takes me 5 minutes to complete Fran – there is the time component of the equation.

Power = (Total Load * Total Distance) / Time

P = 300lbs * 285' / 300sec

P = 85500 ft lbs / 300sec

P = 285 ft lbs per sec

P = .51 horsepower (550 ft lbs per sec)

Again, power is exactly equal to intensity, which can be measured for every workout.  The magic is in the movements, the art is in the programming, and the science is in the explanation – that's CrossFit in a nutshell.  So when people ask you what you mean by high intensity workouts, you can tell them that intensity is equal to force multiplied by distance divided by time and not by how loud you are between reps.

For time:

800m Run

1 Round of "Cindy"

400m Run

3 Rounds of "Cindy"

200 m Run

5 Rounds of "Cindy"

Post time to comments.

 
Mas and Joylyn take on New Zealand.

– This post is thanks to guest authors Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Godinez.

Are we all part of something bigger?   Do you take Crossfit with you on vacation, or do you take a vacation from Crossfit?  Verve makes travel WOD's available, or do you make your playtime into a workout?  

Recently, we were very lucky to honeymoon around New Zealand and Sydney for several weeks.  Crossfit has truly become part of our lifestyle over the past year, so it was perfectly natural for us to look up the local affiliates during our trip.  Once people got over the initial shock of us spending part of our honeymoon working out, they quickly welcomed us into their families.  If you've been around Verve or Crossfit for any amount of time, that is one of the most special aspects, being part of a much larger community of Crossfit.    The affiliates we visited ranged from fresh and recently opened, to more established.  We sometimes ran on our own two feet, took trains, buses, and of course, drove our "Love Bus" campervan to find them all, but at the end of each mapquest we found open doors and garages filled with people just like our friendly group here at Verve.  People pushing themselves past their limits, dripping with sweat, cheering each other on, having a hearty laugh at themselves, and sticking around to work on skills or just chit-chat about life. 

 
 
The time at the affiliates such as Crossfit New Zealand, Crossfit Auckland, Crossfit Christchurch, Crossfit Dunedin, and Crossfit Sydney not only allowed us to meet new friends, but also learn a little something.  Our new friends were quick to offer phone numbers, emails, travel advice, and time to catch drinks.  Not only did our tour give us a way to work off some of our fish and chips, and multitude of winery sampling, but we were also exposed to new workout environments and training regimens.  Sometimes switching up a routine can provide beneficial cues or insight to a movement or lift.

Here is some of what we learned from our trip: 

• WOD’s still make you suck air whether at altitude or sea level.
• Good lifting form and technique travel well and are wrinkle free.
• Park WOD's = always cool….beach, mountain, or city.
• Animals = extra fun.
• Sweat angels still look sweet halfway around the world.
• 21-15-9 does not change to 9-15-21 down under.
• Caution!! 170 Kilos is not the same as a 170 lbs. (Darn metric system!)
• Xachary Pine's spirit follows you to push you no matter the distance (his picture was on the wall in Crossfit Auckland–really, see below)!

For those of you who travel near or far, who’ve participated in other affiliate workouts, what tidbits have you noticed while navigating across mountains, oceans, rainforest, or even backyards?  We would love to know, please share and post to comments.

Five rounds for time of:

3 Snatch, 95#/65# (65% of 1RM)
15 Overhead squat, 95#/65#
Run 400 meters

Post time to comments.

Ryan knocking out pull-ups during this weeks pull-up fest.

Many people are curious about how to prevent hand tears.  Our recommendation is to build up tissue toloerance and improve grip without the aid of tape.  However, this takes time so here is our perfessional tip of the day: make reusable tape gloves that will save your hands during high rep pull-up WOD's.

First, start with a piece of tape that is more than double the length of your hand.  Fold it in half lengthwise.  Then, make a bend in it and keep the two sides as close as possible.

Next, take the roll of tape and tape from the bend at the top (the finger hole) all the way to the bottom and continue halfway up the back side.  You'll want two strips for each hand, which you'll secure with a section of tape around the wrist and a section around the palm.

    
 
There you have it – when you're done with your 150 pull-ups you can unwrap the wrist and palm and save the two finger strips.  These are nearly as good as gymnast straps and can be used in your next marathon pull-up WOD  Enjoi!