Six rounds for time of:
50 Squats
25 Ring dips

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Private Colin Wilmot

Today’s WOD is named after Canadian Forces Private Colin Wilmot, age 24 of Fredericton, New Brunswick.  Private Wilmot was part of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.  Private Wilmot was killed in action on July 6th 2008 in the Panjwall District of Afghanistan.  He is survived by his fiancee Laura, father Eric, and sister Kathleen.

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day where we remember the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.  Memorial Day has been observed since the Civil War.  At CrossFit Verve, we are going to commemorate the soldiers that have past with “Hero” WODs all weekend.  When you are completing these WODs this weekend, remember these heroes, their selflessness, and their families.  

Saturday’s WOD will be held at the Danny Dietz Memorial Park, just east of Lowell on Berry Ave at 10am.  Free WOD, all are welcome.  Directions will be posted here on the blog Friday PM.

The summer line of Verve apparel is in!!  Check out new T-shirts, tanks, and hoodies in the online store.  

50 Double unders
10 Power cleans, 155# (105#)

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Dear Verve, make me strong. So I can lift heavy. Heavy, heavy things.

Good day Verve-ites. What’s the haps? What’s the 411? Who’s hip to the info? Do you know what’s what and who’s who? Are you up to date on the current events? If you have found yourself being the last to know about all the exciting activities taking place at Verve, or being hosted by Verve, well then have no fear for the wide world of social media is here. Verve is fully plugged into the social pipeline and we would love for you to follow us and keep yourself in the know.

You can like us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/pages/CrossFit-Verve/131498516923187

You can follow us on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CrossFitVerve

And you can follow our journey through pictures on Instagram:

www.instagram.com (look for Crossfitverve)

For those of you who boycott the interweb and find it to be the downfall of our society, only making it easier for the machines to rise up. . . well not only can you stay updated with events by reading the WOD blog but we also have an updated events page to check out. Here is a list of some those upcoming events that may pique your interest:

Verve Night Out @ EXDO Event Center
May 24th 9 p.m.
Sign up at Verve, email Patrick McGinty with any questions patrick@crossfitverve.com

Danny Dietz Memorial WOD @ Berry Park in Littleton, CO
May 25th 10 a.m.
Sign up for class in MBO, additional details to follow in future WOD blog 

Crossfit Kids Seminar @ Verve 
May 25th and 26th 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 
Register here

OPENutrition Seminar Series @ Verve
June 8th and 9th 12 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Register here

Crossfit Level 1 Seminar @ Verve
July  6th and 7th 9 a.m. -5 p.m.
Register here 

Run 800 Meters
30 Pull-ups
40 Box Jumps
50 Push-ups
60 Burpees
70 Ab-Mat Situps
Run 800 Meters

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Liz G., getting busy on the prowler’s.

Why Your Knees Track In On Your Squat ~ Luke Palmisano

One fairly common theme that we see from people coming into the doors at Verve is that they are having to find positions they never knew they needed to have. Take the overhead squat, for instance. Holding a bar overhead, while pointing your elbows to the ground, having your armpits facing forward, with the shoulder blades retracted and pushing upwards, is a problem for a lot of people. Life in our world doesn’t often call for these positions. It calls for the positions necessary to talk/text on the phone, drive a car, and type on a computer. Or, take the deadlift. Picking something up off of the ground with a completely straight spine is not taught in our day to day life. Slouching, relaxing on the couch, and generally not focusing on having a straight spine is the norm. So, when we tell you to drive your knees out at the bottom of your squat position, understand one thing first and foremost: we understand that this is new. We also understand that it is hard. So, why do we ask it of you?

Because it’s the safest way to squat. With the foot flat on the ground, if the knees drive out as the hip descends to the bottom of the squat position, your joints are locked into their respective positions in a healthy way, and your tendons and ligaments are all bending in ways that they are supposed to bend. Keep in mind, this is a relatively new way to teach the squat. We used to simply say, “Make sure your knees track over your feet.” Now we say, “With the foot flat, drive the knees out as far as you can.” It ramps up the torque and tension in the hips, leading to a safer position. But what if you are unable to do this? There are two areas of your body that you may want to consider mobilizing.

The first is your ankle. If any of you played sports in another life, you probably remember spraining your ankle over and over again. This, and other activities in your life have led to a serious build-up of scar tissue. How do you know if your ankle is an issue for you? Try performing a one-legged squat. If you can’t perform one with full range of motion while keeping your heel glued to the ground, you lack ankle flexibility. A simple way to work on this is to elevate the ball of the your foot on something, perhaps a 2×4 or some other household object. While keep the heel on the ground, drive your knee forward, and out. This helps you practice your ankle flexion.

Another problem area could be your hip. Because so many of us sit at our jobs, our hips can get very tight. On the side of your hip are two muscles that are stacked on top of one another, the gluteus medius and the gluteus minimus. With the leg straightened, the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus function together to pull the thigh away from midline, or “abduct” the thigh. If these muscles are tight, you obviously wouldn’t be able to perform said movements. So, how can we help this? With our dear, dear friend, the lacrosse ball. Take said ball, lie on your side, and put the lacrosse between your gluteus medius and the ground. Put your weight onto the lacrosse ball. Now, while laying on your side, straighten and extend your leg in a squatting type motion. Do this for a minimum of two minutes per side. 

The goal for you should be to, with feet flat, drive your knees out and your hips down until your hamstrings bump into your calves, and cannot go down any further. Some people call this the “third world squat.” Regardless of what it’s called, it should be on your list of movements to conquer.

Post rounds to BTWB.

Knees out? check. Elbows up? check. Must be Luke’s class

I love to eat, said everybody.  The problem is most of my meals are very boring either because they’re simple and quick or because I simply don’t know how to be creative in the kitchen.  I eat healthy for the most part with an occasional cheat meal every now and then, but my diet mainly consists of grilled food, sweet potatoes, fruit, and nuts.  I need help when it comes to being adventurous with cooking.

One of the blogs I read had a list of great cookbooks that cover all types of diets, from vegan to paleo.  Since I’ve been looking for resources to help me become daring in my culinary adventures, I thought this might also be a good resource for others

I know a lot of our members are great cooks and also either have blogs or know of some great blogs that would be beneficial to Verve athletes as a resource so please post them to the comments section.

Here is the link to the blog that offers cookbooks for all types of diets.  If you know any other cookbooks that might be beneficial please post them in the comments section as well.

21 Front squats, 95# (65#)
Handstand walk 40 feet
30 GHD sit-ups
Handstand walk 40 feet

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We’ll miss you Paul! Rooting for you all the way at the Mid-Atlantic Regional, love Verve & Pete.

Congratulations to all of our athletes who were out and about all weekend!  At the Fresh Meat Competition at CrossFit Cuspis, we cheered as Fernanda, J, Sarah P and Meghan all left everything out there in their first competition.  Sarah finished 16th, Fernanda 5th, Meghan 1st overall and J, a close 2nd place!  Also, we know many of you were running races, whether nearby at the Colfax Marathon (relays, half-marathons, full) or in the hills running 10k’s.  It’s an honor to be part of your training and makes us happy see you applying your fitness outside of Verve!  

Watching our athletes at Cuspis made my heart swell with pride.  Not only were each of them displaying an amazing attitude and the mental fortitude of veterans, but you all MOVED so well!  Even as the workouts wore on, your bodies have trained good positioning/range of motion and you moved efficiently and safely.  As a coach, that made me so happy to see!  And then as I looked around at the fantastic group of other Verve athletes that showed up throughout the day or were checking in on how everyone was faring, it was just another reminder of how truly awesome our Verve community is.  Thank you for all of that!  

Please join us for May’s CrossFit Verve Night Out on Friday May 24 at 9pm!  EXDO is hosting a DANCE< DRINK AND ROLLER SKATE Party with DJ PopAlot and a fantastic light show. So, get your groove on and show your moves on wheels, add a costume or show off your favorite big ass wig with some favorite Verve friends.

Check out the sign-up sheet at Verve, and get yourself on “the list.”  Then you just need to sport your fanciest knee high socks and pay for some rental skates.

Where:  EXDO
What:  DANCE ,DRINK AND ROLLER SKATE
When:  May 24, 09:00pm
Why:  To do some of your best funk and one legged pistols on wheels.
Cost:  Free Admission, pay for rental skates (Like $5.00)

Find Patrick or email with questions. Patrick@crossfitverve.com

**Schedule notes: This next weekend, Verve is hosting the CrossFit Kids Trainer Course.  
Saturday — Red Rocks WOD off-site  
Sunday — Endurance Fun Run at Commons Park  
Monday (Memorial Day) — Limited class hours, and at 10am –> Community Snack Attack Prep.  Bring your own dried fruit, nuts, jerky, and FoodSavers/baggies and we’ll be making paleo/zone friendly emergency snack kits.  These are great to keep in your bag when traveling to keep your nutrition on pointe!  

Get ready for some Hero WODs this Memorial weekend to celebrate and honor our service members and their sacrifices.

1 Power snatch
10 Ring dips
15 Back extensions

Post rounds to comments and BTWB.

Luke and Dan enjoy starting their day with heavy kettlebells.

Gymnastics skills and shoulder prehab on Sunday at 12pm with Maddie.  Don’t miss it!

Back squat, 1 rep
Shoulder Press, 1 rep
Deadlift, 1 rep

Post total to comments and BTWB.

Melissa loves wall balls and 10ft targets.

Come on out on Saturday to get your Total on and then cheer on your fellow CrossFit Verve athletes at the Fresh Meat Competition at CrossFit Cuspis (3730 Federal Blvd. Denver, CO 80211).  Check out their heat times below and give them a shout out!

WOD #1
Jason T — 9:45am
Meghan & Fernanda — 10:30am
Sarah P — 10:45am 

WOD #2
Jason T — 2pm
Meghan & Fernanda — 2:45pm
Sarah P — 3pm

Post results to comments and BTWB.

Jim Duwve, all smiles.

Verve Athlete Profile: Jim Duwve

Where are you from?

I grew up in Cleveland Ohio. I left in 1978 to go to college in Melbourne, FL, beaches, bikinis and a drinking age of 18 were much more appealing than snow and gloomy weather. I joined the Navy in 1982 and spent the next ten years in Pensacola, Jacksonville and San Diego when I wasn’t deployed and sailing around.

How long have you been CrossFitting?

I started CrossFitting almost 8 years ago on the advice of my BJJ instructor. I was looking for a way to increase my endurance so that I could be competitive with the 20 year olds. I started by doing the main site WOD’s at Bally’s and risked being kicked out on a daily basis. I would take my homemade wall ball and hang my rings from the squat rack. That would drive the personal trainers crazy. I eventually turned my garage into a garage gym and worked out at home unit joining Verve in February of 2011.

 I took my Level 1 Cert and Colorado State Patrol Headquarters on Mother’s Day weekend of 2006. My instructors were Coach, Annie and Nicole. Tony Budding was filming the course and Skip and Jodi Miller were helping out.

 What is your favorite workout?

When I followed the main site we repeated WODs quite often. I become very comfortable with Cindy and that became my favorite. I’ve always enjoyed Murph and remember when it became the first Hero WOD. Body weight WODs were always my favorite because I was terrible at the OLY lifts. However, because of Verve’s emphasis on OLY lifting and Luke’s coaching I find I now look forward to WODs that include throwing weight around.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Besides trying to keep up with all my daughter’s activities I enjoy snowboarding, golf, water skiing and anything that involves sand, sun and a cold drink.

What is one of your best/favorite goals you have accomplished since you started CrossFit? 

My favorite accomplishment is probably going to sound shallow, but the ability to develop a solid core and have defined abs alluded me throughout 25 years of working out and athletic endeavors. It wasn’t until I discovered CrossFit that I was finally able to achieve that life long goal. 

As far as achievements go, I am just starting to reach new PR’s that have alluded me for years (getting a new shoulder really helps). Those PR’s are fueling a new desire to improve (I’ve fallen in love with OLY lifting) and re-focus my attention on form and technique verses speed. 

The one thing that I want to accomplish more than anything is a controlled handstand and the ability to walk on my hands.

Anything you would like to add?

I’d like to thank CrossFit Verve for continually evolving to meet the growing demands of their members. The excellent coaches, the dedication to quality instruction, the concern for your members overall well being and the flexibility to provide additional training opportunities through seminars, specialty classes and open gym. You have removed all excuses for us not to perform and improve to the best of our abilities while maintaining a safe and well-supervised learning environment.

Jim, it’s our pleasure to have you with us!

Post time to BTWB.

This is what we do at 5:30 AM…Dominate!

We’ve all heard the we should eat organic.  Problem is it’s usually more expensive than the non-organic option so it may not be in the budget.  We know that organic options expose us to less toxins, provides higher levels of Omega 3′s and antioxidants, and provide more Vitamin A, E , and C than the non-organic, but sometimes price is the determining factor in our selections.

From the Poliquin blog I came across a few simple ideas to make eating organic all the time a more realistic option..  Check out the full blog here.

Here’s the bullet points from the information:

#1: Invest In Organic, Pasture-Raised Meat

Check out the following sources websites for information on safer sources of meat, www.eatwild.com, www.localharvest.org, and www.westonaprice.org/local-chapters/find-local-chapter.

#2: During Summer Always Choose Nutrient-Rich, Full-Fat Organic Dairy

#3: Mix & Match Produce Based on Local Options & The EWG Guide

The (EWG)Environmental Working Group provides two lists as part of their guide to pesticide levels on produce: The Dirty Dozen plus Two of foods that are most contaminated by pesticides, and the Clean Fifteen that are cleanest.

#4: Shop Organic For Special Populations: Kids & Pregnant Women

Check out the full article HERE for more information regarding the above information referenced from the Poliquin Blog