Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by FNX, the Official Supplement Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up. FNX Co-founder and 3x Affiliate Cup winner Adrian Conway put together this 10-step guide to getting stronger and leaner in 2018. This free guide also comes with an exclusive 20% discount on their Leaner You bundle to help you fuel your New Year’s training straight into the CrossFit
Open.

“If 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40, why can’t Thursday be the new Friday?” — Unknown

FINALLY AN EPIC WOD-PROOF VACATION.

Time to book your flight.

We think it’s time to book your next vacation, and to Copenhagen, Denmark! Kurhotel Skodsborg being the main reason why.

This gorgeous hotel is settled between a nature reserve and the Baltic Sea. It’s modern design and epic surroundings are reason enough to visit, but that’s not why we’re so into it — their CrossFit Affiliate is the real gem.

Oh, tell me more.

Meet “the Nordics fittest hotel team,” AKA CrossFit Skodsborg, led by former Michelin-star chef Thomas Rode Andersen, (any relation to Danish-born Games athlete Rasmus Anderson and BF to Lauren Fisher we wonder?) and Ole Cosmus, Royal Life Guard with more than 30 years experience with military physical training.

As long as the weather checks out, WODs are held outdoors: on their rooftop terrace, by the Baltic Sea or in the Deer Park.

Did you say Baltic Sea?

Yup, sure did. They also have this thing called Water CrossFit, which we read involves donning a wetsuit and battling the crashing waves for a few laps around the getty paired with some push-ups, sit ups and squats.

We’ve heard rumors of CrossFit classes being offered at resorts abroad (with or without the OK from CrossFit HQ). Jason Khalipa even operates an NC Fit in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but it stands alone from any resorts. There’s the Tulum Jungle Gym on the beaches of Tulum, Mexico where all the equipment is made from wood. This is actually the first official resort affiliate we’ve ever heard about and we’re thinking work retreat after the Meridian and European Regionals…what say
you team?

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

What to tell your friend who totes needs a New Year’s reset…

You should talk to Julie Foucher. Her and Dani are partnering with dietician Brigid Titgemeier for their second annual HealthySelf Reset. The Reset starts January 15 and it’s 100% free. It includes four weeks worth of meal plans, shopping lists, and recipes. Plus you’ll get three body weight WODs and four five-minute WODs each week, making it the perfect intro session for your friend who hasn’t quite said “yes” to joining you at the box. And if you’re thinking of helping your affiliate jump start their nutrition before the Open, we think this one probably fits the bill. 

What to tell your friend who’s getting a little overwhelmed by the oversized classes…

Just deal with it. But if you really can’t and feel like you need space to run wild and free, GQ has a whole week of WODs you can do around the house. 

What to tell your friend who’s tired of hearing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” on the radio…

How does -184 degrees in nothing but your under garments sound instead? Yeah, not for us neither, but thankfully this is only for three minutes and it’s only chryotherapy, not a polar bear plunge. Liza and Dave Anzellotti, who own CrossFit Salmon Creek in Vancouver, WA, actually have their own chryo chamber at the box, though it’s managed as a separate business with their own clientele. Athletes use it from one to three minutes to help with chronic pain, inflamation and recovery. 

THINGS TO…

WATCH: Rory In Ireland, EP. 4

Rory McKernan wraps up his tour of Ireland hanging out at the famous Cliffs of Moher, tries his hand at Hurling, and hangs with the locals.

WATCH.

WATCH AGAIN: The Best Warm Up Ever

In yesterday’s edition, we shared the wrong link for Brooke Ence’s 10 favorite warm-ups. So sorry! So now we’re sharing the correct one.

OUR BAD!

HEAR: The Development of a Champion

Coach Ben Bergeron is back on the Chasing Excellence to discuss his theoretical development of a champion and what makes the difference between good athletes and great athletes.

MUST HEAR.

EAT: Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffin Cups

Welcome to my most basic, yet most addicting and simple breakfast recipe: healthy egg muffin cups. Prepared with cupcake tins, you can make a dozen and take two for the road.

BREAKFAST IS SERVED.

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• ROWING FOR CASH — 58 rowers from LifeThyme CrossFit, CrossFit BDA, Beyond Fit, and the Bermuda Rowing Association joined togther to row 40 kilometres in teams of two or four, and raise $3,160 for the Coalition for Protection of Children’s breakfast programme. Why 40 kilometres you ask? Because that’s the distance from one end of Bermuda to the other. Yes, the island, made famous by its triangle. Oh and that’s 24.85 miles in case you need the conversion.
• THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESCRIPTION — After being rocked by one health crisis after another including including severe depression, a hysterectomy, a blood clot in her lung, breast cancer treatments, a lump removal from her back, cataracts and a devastating diagnosis of osteoporosis of the spine — 51-year-old Gail Anderson has finally found something that has truly changed her life: CrossFit three days a week at CrossFit Fergus Falls. 
• DEAR CROSSFIT — “At first I didn’t like you. At first you scared me. Then I got to know you, very slowly. You have given me confidence, happiness and both inner and outer strength. You never judged me and have always been there for me when I needed you the most.” 

“This Is the Moment His Life Changed” by Jason Addams, CrossFit Journal

I’ve always been overweight. I’ve enjoyed athletics at different parts of my life, but so far as I can recall I have not yet lived a single day “as prescribed.” Not one.

Whether you believe in a divine creator or not, isn’t it our responsibility to maximize the gifts we were given? Do you not owe it to yourself, your family, your children and to life itself to use the machine you were given throughout life?

We have manufactured a society that worships youth. It assumes you have fewer contributions as you age. It sets limits on your spirit, your mind and your body because you’ve made too many trips around the sun. Why do we resolve ourselves to the couch? Why is there cheap sugar, fat and salt on every street corner? Why do doctors treat sickness and not promote health?

My divorce was no more tragic than anyone else’s, my troubles not insurmountable. This isn’t a Cinderella story. It is a story about a troubled 40-year-old guy who spent every day of his adult life weighing between 250 and 300 lb. When life happened, even more weight piled on.

1/5 – 1/7: CFV Championships (Fort Vancouver, WA)

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

1/6 – 1/7: KO in the OK (Tulsa, OK)

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

1/11: Row’d Royalty (Worldwide)

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

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

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

1/20: Garage Games’ World Wide WOD (Worldwide)

1/27: Winter Chiller (Fairmont, WV)

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

1/27: IceBreather Classic (Springfield, IL)

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)

2/3: 6th Annual Women’s WOD Jam (Broomfield, CO)

2/3: 5th Annual Golden State Games (Stockton, CA)

2/3: Garage Girls Tour (Milton, GA)

2/10: Mirror Image CrossFit’s Cupid’s Clash (Panama City, FL)

2/10: New WODs On the Block – The Third Wheel (Nationwide)

2/10: Tuff Love (Boulder, CO)

2/22: CrossFit Open 18.1 (Worldwide)

3/1: CrossFit Open 18.2 (Worldwide)

3/8: CrossFit Open 18.3 (Worldwide)

3/10: Women Who WOD (Barbados)

3/15: CrossFit Open 18.4 (Worldwide)

3/22: CrossFit Open 18.5 (Worldwide)