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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.

Why is FNX fueling up with cricket protein? Not only is environmentally sustainable, but cricket protein is an incredible source of clean nutrients and protein. Their chemist sits down to walk through all the science and offers up a discount so you can try it for yourself.

P.S. All 18.2 scores are due by 5 PM Pacific.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don’t value you. Know your worth even if they don’t.” — Unknown

I’M JUST GONNA SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE.

 

Before there was T-Swift.

There was SlimFast, or more broadly speaking meal replacement shakes, but really let’s call them ‘weight loss shakes,” cause that’s how they were marketed. Well these convenient, on-the-go shakes hit the 90’s hard. Many of these shakes maxed out at 200-300 calories and went hand-in-hand with the “eat less, move more” craze.

These shakes and bars were a way of life for a while, but one entrepreneur is calling for a do-over.

I shake it off, I shake it off.

Connor Young, a former CrossFit affiliate owner, sold his gym and used the funds to found Ample in 2015. Ample’s meals speak to the whole foods-minded consumers of today by using superfoods, real ingredients, and packing enough calories to properly fuel their bodies.

The meals come in a portable bottle and pack tons of healthy fats and carbs, protein, fiber, probiotics, and prebiotics, and other superfoods. Each meal provides between 400-600 calories (HEY! A shake that can actually fuel an intense training session) and they offer Original, Keto, and Vegan formulas — you just have to blend.

Drink up buttercup.

Young doesn’t see other meal replacement shakes as competition as much as the other meal delivery services that focus on nutrition and dietary specifications.

They do have an edge though: serious convenience.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT…LITERALLY.

 

Setting the scene. 

OK. It’s Friday Night Lights at CrossFit 133 in Georgetown, MA. Everyone is throwing down for 18.2 and now it’s the big dogs’ turn — AKA coaches Dennis Floyd and Lou Porazzo.

So 3, 2, 1…GO and the last heat started.

So what happened next?

At about the 2:30 mark, the lights went completely out and the WOD stopped, which was kinda a buzz kill, especially if you have to redo about 7 rounds of 18.2. 

BUT, instead of wrapping things up, they asked athletes pull out their cell phones Woodstock style and five minutes later they kicked 18.2 off again in a box illuminated just by phones.

That’s straight up legit. 

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

 

What to tell your friend who’s kid needs an idea for a book report…

You want something previous to start your Monday, then read the 2017 CrossFit Games through the eyes of a 7-year-old. With lines like “In the last event, [Mat Fraser] knew he had alrady won, so he paused and he smiled and I felt happy” it’s too precious not to like, love, double-tap, or however you appluad on the Internet. 

——

“The Clean”

By Scott Simmonds

A wonderful lift is the clean.

Move right and it comes out quite keen.

Grab the bar and you lift,

At rising be swift.

Elbows too fast to be seen.

THINGS TO…

 

WATCH: Ro v Boz

In case you were busy Friday, Rory McKernan and Adrian Bozman squared off for round 2 of their friendly fitness rivalry. With two events on the line, which athlete was able to come out on top?

RO V BOZ.

 

HEAR: How to Coach Your Team to Win

Former US National Team volleyball player, Priscilla Tallman joins the Better Than Yesterday podcast to talk about transitioning from athlete to coach, but also shares the life lessons she’s learned along the way that have made her (and you) a better leader.

LEAD FROM THE FRONT.

 

KNOW: How to Know if Your Gut is Unhealthy

There’s tons of talk going on right now about gut health and how to improve it. But how do you know if your gut is unhealthy (or healthy) to begin with? 

YEAH, KINDA BEEN WONDERING.

 

 

EAT: Meatless Mondays

No, that’s not really a thing but we like alliteration over here. If you’re feeling a little beefed out, here are 17 high-protein meals you can make without adding any meat. 

MAKING ME HUNGRY.

 

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

 

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

Mattie Rogers hits a 131kg/288 pound clean and jerk and a 101kg/222 pound snatch at the American Open. Side note: she’s weighing in at 66.7 kg, significantly lighter than her typical competition weight • We really wish we’d found this video during 18.1 of Sarah Hannon completing eight scaled reps. Sarah doesn’t not
have the use of her legs • Dave Castro and Greg Glassman’s selfie basically says everyone is going to die on 18.3 • Jacob Heppner saved this 300+ pound clean with his biceps • This is how you should film your Open WODs • UMMMMM shut the front door, cause Stefi Cohen just deadlifted 545 pounds.

…and this is actual footage of Dave Castro taunting all of us right now. 

Early 18.2 Leaderboarding — Mathew Fraser cleaned 385 pounds in 18.2a • Masters athlete Justin King cleaned 376 poundsBrooke Wells accidentally skipped a round so she redid the entire 18.2 and 18.2a 20 minutes later. Missing from the leaderboard…Val Voboril and Marcus Filly.

Carly Fuhrer announces she’s sitting out the 2018 season…“It’s been a tough decision, but for the last 6 or so months its been quite a wild ride, lots of big life changes, and training has been on the back burner. Thru all that I have made the decision not to compete in 2018 [and] enjoy life, go back to school, wreck my body on the snowy mountains, and overall try to enjoy training again, competing isn’t what I need or want at the moment, and im 100% ok with that…but the important thing is that I am taking a much needed break to enjoy myself…Thank you all for your continued support on my journey
and I look forward to being back for the 2019 season, cuz I will be back.” 

Xebex responds to being banned from the CrossFit Open…“In the spirit of an open competition, we have reached out to CrossFit with an offer to send our Xebex Rowers to Headquarters in hopes that they will conduct thorough tests of our products versus the Concept 2 Rower…as we consider side-by-side video comparison of two machines to be a limited measurable data set in determining “similar type and calibration” …Our 2nd generation console came about in an effort to make our Rower similar in type and calibration to the standards of the CrossFit Open. For many years, CrossFit has prided itself
on inclusivity and community spirit, and we believe that equipment selection, within clearly defined tolerances and characteristics set forth by CrossFit Headquarters, should be a community issue that is open for discussion…we ask the CrossFit community and our many customers to share this invitation with CrossFit in hopes that we can work with CrossFit to make sure all athletes have a place in future Opens without fear of disqualification or penalty.”

Rory McKernan withdraws his live 18.2 score after reviewing video…“I am proud of my effort, but not my reps. After reviewing my performance on 18.2, I acknowledge my lack of hip extension on multiple reps and am choosing to withdraw my result and enter a new score. This is no one’s fault but mine and I own it outright. I do this for fun and NOT to be the fittest athlete on Earth. That DOES NOT act as an excuse to skirt the rules of the competition. I feel responsible for demonstrating integrity in movement.”

Reads

CHALK UP READS

“Not Everything Needs To Be A PR” by Pete Hitzeman, Breaking Muscle

Allow me to break the fourth wall for a moment, and take you inside what it means to be a coach and a writer. When I first started writing, I thought it was my job to take the thoughts that were inside my head and commit them to paper, to let you know what I was thinking. Likewise, when I began to coach, I thought my job was to impart what I knew about movement onto my athletes.

But that isn’t what works. Instead, my job as a writer and a coach is to get inside your head, recognize the reality that exists there, and work to reshape it in a way that moves you closer to what you want to be. The magic doesn’t happen with what I give you, but what you do with it inside yourself. This means that the vast majority of the time I spend on writing doesn’t involve my fingers tapping madly away on a keyboard. Nor does the lion’s share of my coaching involves giving cues, talking to athletes, or demonstrating techniques.

It involves intense, persistent observation. The empathic connection between writers and readers, and coaches and athletes cannot be created any other way. It’s easy to skip this step and write finger-wagging articles telling you to do this or stop doing that. I’ve written a few of those pieces myself, but they aren’t the work I’m most proud of. The most profound writers and talented coaches meet their subjects where they are, and lead them in a direction; they don’t stand in the pulpit and rain down fire and brimstone.

Reads

CHALK UP CALENDAR

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)

3/23: The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth is released (iTunes)

3/24: 4th Annual St. Paddy’s Day Competition (Norwood, MA)

4/7: Battle of the Badges (Anaheim, CA)

4/7: The Revolution (San Antonio, TX)

4/7: GenX Masters Comp (Salem, MA)

4/13 – 4/15: The Railyard Games (Albuquerque, NM)

4/14: Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/14: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

4/14: Deuces Wild by Warrior Affiliate League (Baldwin Park, CA)

4/14: Atlas Blarney Stone Competition (Denver, CO)

4/14 – 4/15: Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Challenge (Columbia, MD)

4/14 – 4/15: WOD Wars Fitfest (Dunedin, FL)

4/19: Teens and Masters Qualifier (Invitation Only)

4/20 – 4/22: Athens Throwdown (Athens, Greece)

4/21: Festivus Games (Nationwide)

4/21: Mayhem for MSR (Cookeville, TN)

4/21: Loganville Lockdown (Loganville, GA)

4/21: FoxWOD (Panama City Beach, FL)

4/28: Battleground SoCal (Wimington, CA)

4/28: Girls Gone Rx (Cincinnati, OH)

4/28: Salem Slaughterfest (Salem, OR)

4/28: 3rd Annual Appletown Throwdown (Cornelia, GA)

4/28 – 4/29: Walter’s Cup Throwdown (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

5/4 – 5/5: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/4 – 5/6: European Masters Throwdown (Budapest, Hungary)

5/5 – 5/6: Tribal Clash (Quarteira, Portugal)

5/5: Cinco de Mayo Classic (San Antonio, TX)

5/5: The Locomotive Games III (Youngstown, OH)

5/11 – 5/12: Beast Mode Games (Greenville, SC)

5/11 – 5/12: Midwest Monster (Joplin, MO)

5/12: Barbells for Bullies (Danbury, CT)

5/12: The Mountain Meltdown (Parks City, UT)

5/19: Raising the Bar for Recovery (Medina, OH)

5/19: East Coast Battle (Hanover, MD)

5/28: The HAMMY (Hudson, OH)

5/19 – 5/20: GameDay Mankato (Mankato, MN)

5/26: Beauty is a Beast 2 (Indian Rocks Beach, FL)

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