It’s almost summer… it must be time for another Whole30 challenge! We’re tossing the sugar, grains, and alcohol and getting in a good long stretch of clean livin’ — join us!

We’re mixing it up a little this time by offering you levels at which to participate: beginner, and Rx. If you’ve never done a Whole30 before, stick to beginner — trust us, it’ll be challenging enough! If you’ve done a Whole30 once or twice before, take a stab at the Rx.

The Why

The Whole30 is a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system. Participants commonly report consistently high energy levels, improved athletic performance, better sleep, and improved focus and mental clarity.

The Whole30 is about looking better, feeling better, and performing better. Many people experience weight loss, but the reason to do the challenge is not weight loss per se. That’s because it isn’t a good indicator of your overall health or how good you look. We have lots of examples of people who have remained the same weight or even gained weight over the course of the challenge, but who also found their six-pack and performed better than ever. This is because they changed their body composition (converted some of their fat into muscle, which is more dense.)

The Details

Beginner Level

Duration: Thursday, April 28th – Friday, May 27th (30 days)
Entry Fee: $20 cash

Nutrition Commitment

• Complete the Whole30, as pioneered by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.  In brief, for 30 days you’ll be giving up sugar, alcohol, and grains, and eating real, natural, unprocessed food in the form of meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruit, and good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds.
• Join the Facebook group for info and moral support at www.facebook.com/groups/virtuositynutritionchallenge

Prizes

For the purposes of prizes, the beginner and Rx levels will be combined.

• First place man and woman will each win:
  • $150 cash
  • A $150 credit towards membership
• Second place man and woman will each win:
  • $100 cash
  • An $100 credit towards membership
• Third place man and woman will each win:
  • $50 cash
  • A $50 credit towards membership

Rx Level

Duration: Thursday, April 28th – Friday, May 27th (30 days)
Entry Fee: $20 cash

Nutrition Commitment

• Complete the Whole30, as pioneered by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.  In brief, for 30 days you’ll be giving up sugar, alcohol, and grains, and eating real, natural, unprocessed food in the form of meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruit, and good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds.
• Log all food and drink intake using one of the following tools:
  • MyFitnessPal — download app for smartphone; change your settings so that we can view your log (Settings > Sharing & Privacy > Dairy Sharing > Friends Only.)  We will befriend you once the challenge begins.
  • Wodify — use the “My Journal” functionality, submitting for review each day.
  • Notebook — you will have the least accountability this way, but you can do it old school and bring it by the front desk once a week for us to peruse.
• Join the Facebook group for info and moral support at www.facebook.com/groups/virtuositynutritionchallenge

Exercise Commitment

• Participate in at least 5 classes per week (CF, any of our specialty programs, or private sessions.)
• Log all workouts in Wodify (or working logging platform / notebook of your choice.)
• If you’re going on vacation or can’t make it to the gym during the challenge, you should still get in 5 workouts per week — try to visit another box, or do one of the vacation workouts at www.crossfitvirtuosity.com/articles/travelwods

Prizes

For the purposes of prizes, the beginner and Rx levels will be combined.

• First place man and woman will each win:
  • $150 cash
  • A $150 credit towards membership
• Second place man and woman will each win:
  • $100 cash
  • An $100 credit towards membership
• Third place man and woman will each win:
  • $50 cash
  • A $50 credit towards membership

Getting Started

On Thursday, April 28th during all classes, we’ll be running the challenge buy-in! You need to attend this event to enter the challenge.

Before class, you should:

• Join the challenge Facebook Group
• Read the Getting Started guide to the Whole30 and The Whole30 Program Rules

During class, you will:

• Pose for ‘before’ pictures: men should wear shorts; women should wear shorts and sports bra. Make a note of what you wear so that you can try to wear exactly the same outfit again for your ‘after’ pictures! (more details below.)
• Complete performance benchmarks: 3RM Thruster and “Not Quite Jackie” (more details below.)
• Weigh in
• Pay your cash entry fee (this funds the prize pool.)

On Friday, May 27th during all classes, we’ll be having a end-o-challenge extravaganza to weigh-out / benchmark / after-picture all beginner/Rx level participants. Rx+ participants will weigh-out / benchmark / after-picture during any class on Wednesday, March 30th.

Before and After Pictures

• Participants must have 3 ‘before’ pictures taken by Sam at the BBC: front view, side view and back view. Men should wear shorts; women should wear shorts and sports bra.
• To be eligible to win, participants must have 3 ‘after’ pictures taken by Sam at CFV. Same views / attire as ‘before’ pics. If possible, please wear exactly the same outfit at the end as you wore at the beginning!
• Pictures will remain private for the duration of the contest except for before/after composites of the 3 male and 3 female finalists that will be printed out and viewable at the front desk to challenge participants only in a survey used to vote for winners.
• Once the contest is over, we would very much like to use before / after photos of participants to help persuade future clients to clean up their diet! We will ask about your preferences on this at the beginning and again at the end of the contest — we hope you’ll help us out!

Performance Benchmark

• Participants must complete the following benchmarks at the beginning of the challenge:
  • 3RM Thruster
  • “Nancy” — 5 Rounds For Time: 400m Run, 15 Overhead Squats (95/65)
• To be eligible to win, participants must repeat the benchmark (using the same scaling if applicable) at the end of the challenge.