Hero Wod at CrossFit Verve: Nate

So, I'm travelling on business and was able to find quite possibly the coolest CrossFit gym in Denver. CrossFit Verve is the home gym of Matt Chan. So, I signed up online and navigated through Friday afternoon Denver traffic.

Verve proved my theory on the CrossFit community, they are all welcoming and helpful. I walked in the door and barely had time to look around before someone was asking me if I needed help. I was welcomed to the gym, shown to the locker rooms, and then introduced to the coaches. The other people in my class were so welcoming.

For our warm-up, we ran with our PVCs (think a barbell but light like a PVC pipe) to the corner and then did pass-thrus and around-the-worlds to stretch out our shoulders. After a run to the next corner, we did leg swings and good mornings. At the third corner, we did lunges with the PVC overhead. The final corner was squats with pass-thrus.

After our warm-up, we paired up (I was pleased to be approached by one of the experienced Cross-Fitters to be his partner) and worked on a progression to help us with handstand push-ups. The progression was really enlightening and helpful. While I am nowhere near ready to do a correct handstand push-up, I have a lot of ways to work on that technique.

The workout was a Hero WOD, which is named for one of our fallen heroes. Chief Petty Officer Nate Hardy was killed February 4, 2008 in Iraq. This workout was created for him on February 12, 2008. Here is the workout:

As many rounds as possible in 20 Minutes:

2 Muscle-ups
4 Handstand push-ups
8 Kettlebell Swings, 2 poods

A lot of people have to modify this workout in one way or another. I had to modify all of it. Muscle-ups are one of the hardest moves ever. So instead of doing them, I did 2 ring pull-ups and 2 muscle-up progressions. I finally have the movement down, now I just have to work on the strength.

Same thing with handstand push-ups. I learned a lot on how to work up to the skill and will continue to do so. I did pike push-ups on a 24" box.

Kettlebell Swings for women was prescribed at 1.5 poods. A Pood is a Russian measurement. 1 pood is 16kg or 35 pounds. I did this workout with 1 pood kettlebell. I know I can lift and swing a 1.5 pood, but since today was one of the first days my back hasn't hurt in almost 2 weeks, I was not going to risk it.

I completed 11 full rounds and the 2 modified Muscle-ups that started the 12th round. I was pretty happy with that, as my goal was 10 rounds.

I miss my coaches, fellow athletes, and my favorite workout partner. But this workout and this gym was awesome. If I ever find myself back in Denver again, I will not hesitate to go there and workout. The coaches today, Luke and Emily, were fantastic.