Read the latest Morning Chalk Up articles on BarBend
Your Coffee is ready.

EXCLUSIVE: Sigmundsdottir Documentary Ep. 1

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. Achy joints keeping you from training like you want to? Easy way to combat that is by taking in more quality fatty acids. Renew (our Krill oil) is a great supply of EPA/DHA that will combat that joint inflammation, and for the next 24 hours you’ll get 30% off with code
“FNXKrill”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” — Mike Tyson

PREDICTING THE OPEN, PART 4.

 

We’ve been so good at predicting Open WODs that we’re coming back for one more round of fortune telling. 

What you need to know.

Yesterday, at around 8:00 AM Pacific, the CrossFit Games suddenly went live from Reykjavik, Iceland, where Dave Castro announced that 18.5 would be one of three WODs, and the community will get to vote on which one we all suffer through. 

Q: When will the voting begin?

A: Dave Castro will announce all three WODs tomorrow at 3PM Pacific live on Facebook. Voting will continue until 5PM Pacific. 

Q: How will I vote?

A: You’ll vote on Facebook. So go there once the announcement is over. 

Q: Can I vote if I’m not registered in the Open? 

A: Yes. 

A brief history of “the vote”.

At the 2015 CrossFit Games, Dave Castro asked fans to vote on Twitter whether they wanted to see Double DT or Heavy DT. Fans picked Heavy DT, but the following year Castro programmed in Double DT. 

Moral of the story, be careful what you wish for. There’s no escaping. 

So what will the WOD be?

By taking the Heavy/Double DT example, we think all three WODs will be variations of the same workout. There will be no “easy option.” 

Scenario 1: The Classic Closer

That would be Fran with a capital F, the workout which closed the first three years of the CrossFit Open and it also includes no repeated movements: thrusters and chest-to-bar pull-ups. 

You can program this WOD so many painful ways. 

Scenario 2: A combo of everything else we haven’t seen yet

There are four movements that have been in every single CrossFit Open that have yet to appear: chest-to-bar pull-ups, barbell snatches, thrusters and wall balls. Seems a little eccentric to have thrusters and snatches so let’s settle on a triplet with either thrusters or snatches with CTB and wall balls. Have fun. 

Scenario 3: Dave Castro goes really cray in which case just try not to die…if you do die, make sure a friend notes your time. 

STEADYMD IS GOING ‘CHA-CHING’

 

What happened?

SteadyMD, the company paving the way for CrossFitters to have access to primary care physicians who actually understand functional fitness and its benefits, is announcing a major round of funding later today. We’re talking $2.5 million in cold, hard greenbacks.

Dang, that’s some cash. 

And it’s not just for their functional fitness practice, which is led by Dr. Dani Urcuyo — husband to Julie Foucher. All told, SteadyMD has eight online primary care practices that cater to specific patient groups: Bodybuilding, Strength Training, Functional Fitness, Running, Triathlon, LGBTQ, Diabetes, and General Health.

CEO Guy Friedman’s mission is to make “high-quality, high-attention concierge health care available and affordable to millions of Americans,” and this round of investment will allow them to rapidly expand. 

I want that.

Join the club. No seriously, they’re now acepting applications

EXCLUSIVE DROP: Sara Sigmundsdottir: Perseverance Ep. 1

 
alt_text

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

 

What to tell your friend can never remember where she put her keys…

Do you know where your defibrillator is located? Mera from CrossFit Fabriken in Sweden was doing 18.2 when she saw her friend having a heart attack. It actually stopped completely. It just so happened that one of the drop-ins that day was a cop who specializes in emergency medical care. Mera remembered where the defibrillator was, PRed her 100m sprint, and brought it back, saving her friends life. “I visited Lennart in the hospital last week and he told me the doctors said the odds of people surviving something like this are very, very low,” she said. Scary, but it’s a good reminder. 

THINGS TO…

 

WATCH: The Live 18.5 Announcement

Going down tonight at 5PM Pacific, Katrin Davidsdottir, Sara Sigmundsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir are throwing down live for week 5 of the CrossFit Open. You can watch all the action live on Facebook.

SET YOUR REMINDER.

 

?WATCH TOO: Recovery and Giving Back

From bulimia and anorexia into a drug and alcohol addiction, Carleen Mathews opens up about her recovery and how she’s using CrossFit to help others overcome their challenges.

ROAD TO RECOVERY.

 

HEAR: Postpartum Training and the Road Back to the CrossFit Games

Julie Foucher dives into the topic of training during and after pregnancy. She welcomes Lindsey Valenzuela onto the show to share her experience gaining 90 pounds, having a C-section delivery and spending two months in bed rest postpartum.

TUNE IN.

 

EAT: 6 Ways You Can Use Those Canned Tomatoes

How many cans of tomatoes do you have sitting restlessly in your pantry right now? Check the dates so they don’t go to waste and while you’re at it, here are a half dozen ways to put them to good use.

CAN IT.

 

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

 
  • TRAINING MINDSET TIP — Are you training, or are you just working out? One isn’t better than the other but it does depend on your overall goals. Brute Strength’s Nick Fowler walks through three questions to ask yourself to determine which one is you.
  • TEACHING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS — This CEO dad introduced his kids to CrossFit when they were young, and not just for its health benefits but because of the lessons hard work teaches you. “Most of my education came by way of confronting difficulty. Thanks to CrossFit, most days our boys watch their mother and me make ourselves uncomfortable — on purpose — so that we become stronger and healthier. They watch us make good decisions that improve our lives, with the evidence of how hard it is right there, dripping from our foreheads.”
  • DOWN SYNDROME DAY — Yesterday was World Down Syndrome Day, and to celebrate CrossFit 7070 hosted a special WOD for 6-year-old Enzo, the son of one of their members. “My heart melts as I see how my box has decided to create a special WOD for World Down Syndrome Day! I encourage you to try it or create your own special WOD for this day.”

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

Sara Sigmundsdottir is now sponsored by NICE Iceland Pure Water. To our knowledge, Sara is the only athlete to have a water sponsor • Andrea Montalvo is chopping off her hair to donate to make wigs for cancer patients • Stefi Cohen
squats a 401 pound triple.

Tease of the Week — Yesterday, the Fittest on Earth Facebook page went live from inside the Háskólabíó movie theater in Reykjavik, Iceland where athletes were gathered to watch the world premiere of The Redeemed and the Dominant. After the introductions were wrapped up the live stream showed the beginning of the film, for about 12 seconds before cutting out. 

Reads

CHALK UP READS

“Lone Zambian CrossFit Affiliate Targets Lifestyle Diseases” by Hilary Achauer, CrossFit Journal

CrossFit Amaka, founded in 2014, began in an outdoor garage attached to an old house in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. “Amaka” means “strong” in Nyanja, one of Zambia’s most common languages. (More than 70 languages are spoken in the country.) The affiliate’s founders were an American couple who had been doing CrossFit in the United States and could not live without it—so they opened Zambia’s first affiliate.

Today, CrossFit Amaka is owned by Kim Otteby, who purchased the business in October 2017. Since then, it has grown into a community of about 100 members from all over the world, and the affiliate has moved out of the garage and into a custom-built space that includes a workout area, an office, two therapy rooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and a lounge.

Otteby answered our questions about increasing awareness of CrossFit in Zambia and the challenges and opportunities of owning Zambia’s only affiliate.

Reads

CHALK UP CALENDAR

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)

3/30: Last Day to Sign Up for Northern Italy w/ VoyEdge RX

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

4/7: The Revolution (San Antonio, TX)

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

4/7: Lt Col William “Wild Bill” Schroeder Memorial Competition (San Antonio, TX)

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: RISE of the Masters (Statesboro, GA)

4/14: CrossFit Forte FORCE For Families (Nashville, TN)

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

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

4/14 – 4/15: Funky Town Throwdown (Ft. Worth, TX)

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)

4/21: Swamp Challenge (Gainesville, FL)

4/21: Mucctown Throwdown (Winnemucca, NV)

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: Beastette Bash at CrossFit Ananda (Arlington, TX)

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

4/28 – 4/29: Battle of the Bluffs (Council Bluffs, IA)

4/28 – 4/29: King City Throwdown (Tupelo, MS)

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

5/4 – 5/5: No Gutz No Glory (Denver, CO)

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

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

5/5 – 5/6: Barbell de Mayo (Woodbridge, VA)

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

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

5/5: Granite Games Throwdown (Southaven,  MS)

5/5: Battle of the Boro (Goldsboro, NC)

5/5: New WODs on the Block (Grand Rapids, MI)

5/5: The Crawfish Challenge (Columbia, SC)

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

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

5/11 – 5/12: Reebok’s Ready for Action – Fittest in Israel (Israel)

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

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

5/12: The 5th Element (Bedford, NH)

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

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

5/19: Barbells in the Burbs (Carol Stream, IL)

5/19: Gladiator Games (Concord, NC)

5/19: The Pillage of Palm Harbor (Palm Harbor, FL)

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].
Your Coffee is ready.