CrossFit Games Layoffs Signal Big Changes to Come

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by NOOMA, makers of organic, simple-ingredient sports drinks with no added sugar.

Looking to add some new equipment to your home gym?! Enter to win a $500 ROGUE gift card plus 4-cases of their delicious drinks. Enter here to win!

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

Duped by Iron Gods: How we got our money back

Remind me.

Last month, we broke news that IronGodsGym.com had been advertising used Assault bikes, Concept2 rowers, and other equipment for insanely cheap prices — like $99 to $200 bucks. And of course, as the saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

Turns out, Iron Gods was a total scam, and we heard from dozens of readers that had fallen for the too good to resist prices. We also heard from several readers who had taken action to get their money back. Here are a few things that worked for them.

1). Dispute the charge.

• Log onto your online banking or credit card account.
• Find the fraudulent transaction and start a fraud claim or dispute that transaction. Tip: You’ll need to have all your receipt records, email, shipping confirmation, and request for a refund handy. Pretty much, everything you ever got from Iron Gods.
• Your bank will ask you several questions about the nature of the dispute. Don’t worry. You’re not being graded. Answer all the questions as thoroughly as possible. Give plenty of detail so the bank has all the information they need.
• Depending on your bank, you may get a temporary credit while the bank or credit card company investigates your claim further. Otherwise, you may have to wait while they look into the fraud claim, sometimes up to 90 days.

2). File a complaint with your local District Attorney’s Consumer Protection Department.

• First, find your local District Attorney’s office. (Tip: You can also just ask good ol’ Google.) From there, you’ll find steps on how to file a consumer complaint for fraud.
• Make a list of all the things you want to include in the complaint. For Iron Gods in particular, this should include the fact that they claimed to only ship once a month as well as whether or not they promised you a refund.
• Write legibly and in pen. Better yet, type it out.
• Print out copies of all your email correspondence with Iron Gods. You’ll want to include these for supporting documentation.
• Once the Office of the District Attorney receives your complaint, the review process can take anywhere between two and eight weeks before you receive a formal written response.

3).  File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

• Once you submit your claim with the BBB, everything you submit will be forward to Iron Gods within two days. They will be asked to respond within 14 days. (They won’t.) So the BBB will send a second request. The BBB will notify you when they respond or that they never responded. Complaints are closed within 30 days.
• Since we know that Iron Gods is no longer replying to emails and that their postal mail is being returned as undeliverable, this may seem less than helpful. However, filing a complaint with the BBB will help consumers protect themselves against future scams.
• When we searched the BBB for complaints against Iron Gods, we discovered we were not the only ones who had a run in with them. Two people had already filed against them, and when we checked the company was listed as having closed their doors for business as of 7/18/18 with the following message from the BBB, “Out of Business. According to information in the BBB files, it appears that the company is no longer in business. The phone numbers the BBB had for this company are disconnected, and directory assistance does not have a listing for this company. The BBB’s mail to this company has been returned as undeliverable. If you have an unresolved dispute with this company you may wish
  to seek legal advice.”

Dang. Okay. So what now?

Well, now we wait. And while we wait, we mull over the lessons we’ve learned on how not to get scammed again.

• Check the Better Business Bureau first if you’re unsure.
• Check your local consumer protection office for current and common scams.
• Consider reaching out to the distributing company to make sure this is a reputable online dealer. Assault Fitness and Concept 2 have released statements warning consumers that Iron Gods is fraudulent. Also, when we reached out to them with questions, we did so as consumers. Both companies responded within 24 hours. It took no time at all.
• When all else fails, remember the adage: “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.”

CHANGES COMING.

CrossFit Games Layoffs Signal Big Changes to Come

Last Tuesday, more than forty CrossFit Games staff were let go. Based on a partial list of names we’ve seen but are declining to publish out of respect for the individual staffers, the majority of personnel were on the CrossFit Games media team: video, photography, graphic design, and Games operations.

The restructuring, orchestrated by CrossFit founder Greg Glassman, came just a week after the 12th CrossFit Games and a surprise to many in the company. One employee who was not laid off estimated it was “close to 30 – 40%” of staff in CrossFit’s Santa Cruz, CA office.

On the surface, the force reduction appears to be further evidence that CrossFit, Inc. is hemorrhaging money and finds itself in dire straits financially. However, after years of failing to turn a profit, the CrossFit Games is now in the black according to multiple sources inside HQ. Last year, they sold more than 60,000 tickets and by all indications the 2018 Games was an even bigger success. They also added a half-dozen new corporate sponsors like RockTape, RXBAR, and Pure Spectrum to their already impressive roster.

So what could be the reason for this massive downsizing?

Continue reading…

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your Mom the next time she forces you to eat your greens…

Not today, Mother. Turns out, eating too much salad can actually mess you up. Too much roughage and raw foods can be hard to digest, especially if your digestion track is not used to it. So how much is too much? One expert says raw veggies should take up 10 to 25 percent of your daily diet. Not so fast, Jr. You still need to eat more vegetables, just cook them to digest easier.

How to reply when your BFF reposts our story yesterday about weed killer in your oatmeal…

It’s complicated. The International Agency for Research on Cancer decided that, based on research in animals, glyophosate really only “probably” can cause cancer. Not the same as eating poisonous oatmeal, true, but it puts it on the same naughty list as a bunch of nasty chemicals, but also hot coffee, red meat and working night shifts. Then again, the Economist just reported that there are another 5,000 lawsuits against Monsato — the maker of the weed killer — currently
pending. 

Things To…

WATCH: No More Regionals? 

Armen Hammer shares his take on the rumors surrounding the 2019 CrossFit Games season. One of the things he speculates is the removal, or at least replacing, of Regionals.

WATCH THIS. 

HEAR: Froning and Friends Games Recap 

Chris Hinshaw sits down with members of CrossFit Mayhem’s teams — Rich Froning and Tasia Percevecz of Freedom and Darren Hunsucker and Elly Kabboord of Independence. Together, the group answers questions ranging from training leading up to the Games, how everyone felt during and after the weekend and everything in between. 

TUNE IN. 

KNOW: How the Benchmark WOD Lynne Got Its Name  

From Lynne Pitts, who did the workout from the mainsite on April 22, 2004. Pitts demolished the bench portion and posted her score. Greg Glassman commented, “Congratulations, Lynne! This workout will bear your name from here on!” So, want to work on your bench? Grab a bench, lower the J-hooks, and give one of these ten bench press workouts a try.

WHAT’S YOUR BENCH?

EAT: Pickled Peppers with Fairytale Eggplant

We want to make these for the name alone. These tiny fruits (new fun fact: eggplant is a fruit!) are palm-sized and streaked with purple and white, and are great in this dish with pickled peppers and cashew butter.

SOUNDS MAGICAL. 

 

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

Chalk Up Community

• NINJA GYM IN LOUISVILLE — Expert instructors guide ninjas-in-training age 4 to 17 at the brand-new gym, USA Ninja Challenge, in downtown Louisville. A kids-only obstacle course program in a 6,800-square-foot gym that also includes climbing, swinging, traversing, balancing, and jumping skills.
• INAUGURAL GULFPORT ANCHOR GAMES — Over the weekend, the Gulfport Anchor Games was put on by CrossFit 228, to benefit Kidz Outdoors, a group that provides outdoor activities for special needs children.

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

Land Warrior CrossFit does the wave with Concept2 rowers • Jocelyn Rose Pawlicki got a 275 pound deadlift PR for two • CrossFit Haywood team Poptarts and PR took second place at the Lakeside Rumble this weekend • Luke Parkinson does burpees on a trampoline • Sgt. Maj. Steven Burkett broke the World Record for most 53 pound kettlebell swings in an hour with 950 reps. 

…and this is the worst partner WOD we’ve ever seen.

Adee Cazayoux on Personal Development…“When we have a problem, hit rock bottom or feel pain of some sort we are vulnerable, sensitive, defensive, and protecting ourselves more than usual. When we are kicking butt, succeeding and achieving our goals we are confident, fearless, kinder and less judgmental. The former is most often when we get into action and try to ‘fix things’ or become better versions of ourselves. Now what if you also tried to do this when things were going well? I have found investing the time and putting in work on my personal development when things are going well is the most
powerful time of all. I am more open to feedback, less defensive, notice blind spots I could never see before, feel more confident stepping into change and this has produced amazing results. This can be in fitness, relationships or just personal development.”

What do you do to feel confident about your body — Kaitlyn Kassis was walking into CrossFit Invictus to train when a man stopped her on the street and asked her that same question. “He then began to tell me about his 18-year-old daughter. She is an athletic girl, but is incredibly self conscious about how big her legs are. She hates wearing shorts because of it, and wants ‘legs like a model’. He begged me to tell him what I do
mentally, not physically, to feel confident in my own skin. He wanted to know what he should tell his daughter. I pointed to the building across the street and said, ‘that place’. I told him that at one point, I was a 17-year-old girl in a very similar headspace as his daughter. It was discovering CrossFit that changed my life. It changed the way I viewed food, and the perception I had of my own body. I told him that I started to value my body for what I was capable of doing, rather than needing the tag on the inside of my pants to read 00. I started to feel proud of my big legs, and my strong body because of how much hard work I had put in to get my first pull-up, first 100 pound clean and jerk, and eventually nearly six years later, win the CrossFit West Regional with my team and then take 2nd place at the CrossFit Games. It is empowering to have a strong, healthy body that allows you
to do so many amazing things.”

At This Gym It’s Ladies Only — CrossFit Kali owner Lindsay Warren wanted to create a place where women would feel empowered and welcomed to work out. Her 2,500-square-foot gym in Denver runs six classes a day, including standard CrossFit WODs, high-intensity interval training, and specialty sessions like ‘Boobs and Barbells.’ “It’s been really fun watching them build each other up and challenge each other in ways I haven’t seen in a co-ed gym,” she said.

“Healthy Competition, Toxic Comparison, and Me” by Aush Chatman, Invictus Fitness

At Invictus Fitness, and inside CrossFit in general, we use competition as a means to help push just a little bit further, to help us reach into the realm of the uncomfortable, so that we can be forged and refined into a better version of ourselves.

But the key to all of that is that we indeed remain ourselves.

Let’s talk comparison first. Part of this title is “toxic” comparison, but comparison by itself is really a neutral party and therefore can be used for good or bad, depending on how it is wielded.

Undoubtedly you cannot compete without comparison. Objectively or even subjectively a score of some kind must be assigned to the participating parties and a comparison of those scores must be made to determine who won.

Now what I do with this comparison is crucial to my mental health and my future training projection and I am not overstating that. Healthy comparison which leads to healthy competition is to keep external things external and use them as feedback.

But, if I make this internal, which is to say I start to make identity (I am) statements about myself based on outcome, this is where I get into trouble. If I say, “Pfft, that figures, I always have sucked at squatting”. Now I am starting to form thoughts that are taking external elements and meshing them with who I am.

This is very important. No outcome, no mistake, no loss, no win can define who I am. Identity, by definition, is internal not external. I bring who I am to the world, the world then provides feedback, and it can help me further shape who I am, but it does not define who I am.

8/25: Iron Belle and Femme Royale Women’s Competition (Austin, TX) 

8/25: CrossFit Sua Sponte Summer Slam (Raleigh, NC) 

8/25: AMRAP For Autism (Waxhaw, NC)

​8/25: CrossFit Decathlon (Indianapolis, IN) 

8/25: Best of the West Summer Event (Bend, OR)

8/25: 2018 Firewall Frenzy (Holliston, MA)

8/25: The Hero Games 2018 (Farmington, AR)

8/25: 2018 Rivertown Throwdown (Cape Girardeau, MO)

8/25: South Central Summer Games 2018 (Richland, MS)8/25 – 26: Battlegrounds Nevada (Reno, NV)

8/25 – 8/26: Battle at the Barn (Ft. Worth, TX) 

8/25 – 8/26: Battle of the Boxes Highland Games (Mt. Airy, MD) 

​8/31: Greece with VoyEdge RX

9/1: Tampa Bay Games (Tampa, FL)

9/1: Battle At The Base 3 (Oklahoma City, OK)

9/6 – 9/9: Kill Cliff Granite Games (St. Cloud, MN) 

9/7: Koski Training Camp (Lloret de Mar, Spain) 

​9/8: Midwest Fall Classic (Tulsa, OK)

​9/8: The Sugar Skull Showdown (Agawam, MA)

9/8: I Can CrossFit Competition (Georgetown, TX)

9/8: Global Aftermath 2018 (Online)

9/8: The Catalyst Games (Bastrop, TX) 

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Bear Cat (Bunnell, FL)

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Wynwood (Miami, FL)

9/8: Booties in Action (Wilsonville, OR)9/8: Hookd2Hops 2018 (Newtown, CT)

9/8: Rumble in the Jungle 2018 (LaVista, NE)

9/8: 2018 Battle of the Bluegrass (Louisville, KY) 

9/8: Decima Throwdown (Littleton, CO)

9/8: First Timers Fitness Festival 2 (Burlington, MA) 

9/8: Girls Gone RX (Bridgeville, PA) 

9/8: BoxLife Games at CrossFit James Island (Charleston, SC) 

9/8: Femme Royale (Denver, CO) 

9/8: Double Trouble Throw Down (Twinsburg, OH)

9/8 – 9/9: The Vermonster Team Challenge (Berlin, VT)

9/15: Warrior Affiliate League Three Amigos (Pomona,CA)

9/15: No Mans Land 4 (Painesville, OH)

9/15: Average Joes (Troy, MI) 

9/15: Stateline Throwdown 2018 (McHenry, IL)

9/16: 2018 Battle at the Rock (Castle Rock, CA)

​9/16: 5th Annual North East Masters Classic (Plainville, MA)

9/22: Shatter the Stigma III (Boyertown, PA)

9/22: New Kids on the 321 Block 2018 (Topsham, ME)

9/22: Femme Royale at Eagle Wing CrossFit (Orange, CA)9/22: 2nd Annual CrossFit TUFF Charity Row-A-Thon (Nashua, NH)

9/22 – 9/23: The Cascade Classic (Seattle, WA) 

9/23: Cadre Crucible Team Competition (Hudson, OH)

9/23: Detroit Red Wings WOD (Detroit, MI)  

9/29: Fallout Powered by Battleground Events (Long Beach, CA)