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The Truth Eventually Comes Out

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by RP Strength, the leader in strength sports nutrition, working with high-level CrossFit Games athletes, record holding powerlifters, weightlifters and Olympic athletes. RP just released their new and improved RP Diet Templates 3.0, the same templates that helped tens of thousands worldwide lose fat, gain muscle, and improve their performance.
This week only, save $15 on your template with code “CHALKUP15”.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.” – Unknown

THE TRUTH EVENTUALLY COMES OUT…ABOUT SUGAR

 

The story.

We’ve all known for some time now that sugar causes problems — Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and a laundry list of other issues.

The maddening part is that people in powerful positions have known this for a while — we’re talking more than half a century folks.

Some background.

Project 259, a study conducted in the 1960’s on sugar, was called off by members of the sugar industry because it linked sucrose (a common sugar) to heart disease and bladder cancer.

“Evidence was emerging in the 1950s and 1960s that linked sugar consumption to heart disease, but the sugar industry was interested in casting doubt on that evidence. In [Project 259] they were proving that to themselves and then saying something different to the public,” University of California’s Kearns said.

The takeaway.

While this news isn’t all that surprising, it’s still pretty infuriating. Big food inadvertently controls the information the public is given about the safety of different foods — remember Coconutgate 2017? What about Count Chocula being endorsed by the American Heart Association?

We think your safest bet is to move your body regularly and do your own research about the foods you choose to eat.

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES

 

Roundup — Anna Hulda Ólafsdóttir is 39-weeks pregnant and still CrossFitting. Part of Coah Mike Burgener’s house caught fire over the weekend, but everyone is safe and firefighters were able to put it out before all was lost. Jamie Hagiya took first place at the Cancun Beach Battle down in Mexico this weekend.

With your second cup of coffee…mobility goals. 

Ragnar Relay — At 3:30 PM on Friday afternoon, Jenny LaBaw and Dave Castro lined up on the starting mat awaiting the 3, 2, 1…Go countdown to kickoff the CrossFit division of the Ragnar Relay trail series. 

If you weren’t watching our regular (and sleepy) updates on Instagram, here’s how it went down:

— Dave Castro’s team took the lead in the third leg (of 24 total) of the race and never lost it, despite our best efforts. 

— About 10PM…the race was delayed due to a thunderstorm, which lasted for four hours. At this point, Team Morning Chalk Up was about 10 minutes behind. Huddled inside our tents and the back of an empty trailer graciously offered to us by Valor Fitness and CrossFit Gaspar, we waited out the hours-long downpour, exchanging stories and making memories in the same kind of way we did as teenagers at a camping slumber party.

— 2 AM…storm breaks and we’re off again, sleep deprived and slogging up muddy hills and down through an endless forest that winds through the Alafia National Park. 

— 6 AM…Jenny realizes there’s an alligator in the water. 

— 7 AM…God bless hot coffee, campfires and knowing your final leg is almost done. Dave’s team has increased their lead to around 30 minutes. All 16 of us are CrossFitters, 14 of us at the elite level. Not a single one except for Kristi Eramo and Jenny LaBaw have ran more than 10 miles in a single day in years…or ever. Even so, we’re running sub 9-minute miles in the dark, windy, wet, muddy terrain, jumping over tree roots, and accidentally catching them and crashing into the dirt. When the pavement ends and you’re forced to improvise over tree roots and missed turns on the trail, that’s where the fun starts and we were having a blast. 

11:46 AM…We all gather at the finish line, building a human tunnel for Travis Williams, our final runner, as he crosses the finish line. The joy of finishing has worn away our fatigue a little bit and we’re already talking about doing another one of these. We finished in seventh place overall and second in the CrossFit division. 

Here are a few fun photos

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

 

What to tell your friend who lost someone in the family…

One Saturday, Jacob and Chantal Richardson were doing a benefit motorcycle ride. All of sudden, the unthinkable happened. Jacob and Chantel were in an accident, causing Chantal to fight for her life. The accident left her with little to no brain activity, causing Jacob to make the insanely tough decision to donate Chantal’s organs to the ones who needed them the most. They had only been at CrossFit West Lafayette in West Lafayette, IN since June 2017, but Chantal’s heart for breast cancer awareness was well known. So Justin Morrissette decided to take 2.5 pound change plates, mold them into
hearts
and raise money for the Richardson family and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

What to tell your friend who’s watching a movie instead of listening to you…

Press pause, and read this: “A four-year-old boy is physiologically not so different from a four-year-old girl. The biggest thing that makes women have ‘less upper body strength’ is their mental conditioning, not their physical potential. Around puberty, we slide our kids into these gender roles, and girls are told that they just can’t do certain things. So they stop doing them. If they keep doing those things, however, the results are exactly what you see with men: the ability to control their bodies in time and space with strength and beauty.”

THINGS TO…

 

HEAR: The Newest Mayhem, Tasia Percevecz

Get to know CrossFit Mayhem’s newest team member, Tasia Percevecz, who just moved down from New Hampshire to join Mayhem’s second team. She joins Rich Froning and Friends to discuss everything from growing up doing gymnastics to her current move to Cookeville.

MEET TASIA.

 

DOWNLOAD: The 9 Keys to Strengthening Your Affiliate Community

The business of running a gym begins and ends with community and great communities aren’t built on accident, they’re built with purpose. Ben Bergeron’s Chasing:Excellence team put this guide together to share how they’re doing it. 

IN AUDIO OR EBOOK.

 

EAT: Winter Root Veggie Roast

Cause it’s now winter time (for most of us) and roasting vegatables is kinda effortless, smells fantastic and pretty much pairs with everything. 

DID WE SAY EFFORTLESS.

 

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is fueled by

CHALK UP AFFILIATES

 

STORY SERIES: How has CrossFit helped you achieve a goal?

“In the past 16 months, I have competed in two CrossFit competitions – most recently coming in 6th place in my division at the Festivus Games, after taking first place in the 500 meter row sprint event (1:42) and second the max lift event – a clean (165 pound power clean which was a 15 lb PR as well). In addition, I completed all five events of the CrossFit open, took gold in a powerlifting competition and I climbed a14,000 foot mountain here in Colorado last summer. Most importantly though, I can run around with my son!” — Jaclyn Chiaravalle Miller, Bladium CrossFit in Denver, CO

——

  • FROM 300 TO CF OWNER — Scott Ozark and his dad decided to open up CrossFit Perryville in Perryville, OH this past October. Scott started CrossFit back in 2011, when he weighed nearly 300 pounds
  • MERRY XMAS — Here’s how a few CrossFit affiliates are bringing their members together to celebrate the holidays
Reads

CHALK UP READS

“The Body Image Dilemma For Female Weightlifters” by Bob Takano, Breaking Muscle

A common issue encountered in training female weightlifters is that of body image, and more specifically, bodyweight. In our modern, mass-media controlled culture, both males and females are bombarded from pre-adolescence with supposedly desirable body images. For girls, the ideal is all too frequently the appearance of a fashion model. But what does that appearance have to do with a woman who can lift?

What everyone needs to understand is that an athlete looks like whatever she is. If you are a highly-trained athlete with a specialized lifestyle, the functions you perform will dictate the form that your body takes.



I previously wrote about Diana Fuhrman, one of the pioneers of women’s weightlifting in the United States. Since it was a relatively new sport, few people had any idea of what a female weightlifter might look like. All too frequently, when Diana was introduced as an elite weightlifter, the response was “you don’t look like a weightlifter.” What they actually meant that she didn’t look like a bodybuilder.

Reads

CHALK UP CALENDAR

12/9: Ho Ho Ho CrossFit Kids Competition (Riverside, CA)

12/9: The 2017 Reindeer Games (Del Mar, CA)

12/9 – 10: WOD GODZ 2017 (Shreveport, LA)

12/18 – 20: 6th Annual CrossFit Invictus Online Competition (Online)

1/6: BrickYard Brawl (South Windsor, CT)

1/11 – 14: Wodapalooza Fitness Festival (Miami, FL)

1/13: Abominable Snowdown II (Orem, UT)

1/13 – 14: War of the Wods (Greensboro, NC)

1/20: Winter WOD’rland 2018 (Bend, OR)

1/27: Winter Chiller (Fairmont, WV)

1/27: NorCal Masters 2018 (Richmond, CA)

1/27 – 28: The Fittest Experience (Austin, TX)

2/3: No Weak Links “V” (Whitesboro, NY)

2/3: Caution Grounds 7 (Hialeah Gardens, FL)

2/3: Output Fitness Trials (Miramar, FL)

see full calendar  |  + Send us an event
Is there something we missed? Email us at [email protected].
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