This Week in CrossFit

Credit: Laura McKenzie (TheEagle.com)

What are we going to do this weekend with no Semifinals to watch?! I’m sure we’ll think of something as we get ready for next week’s Last Chance Qualifier. As we continue to digest how freaking fit athletes have become over the years, let’s also work on putting down the sanitation spray and walk away from the bumper plates as gyms revamp their COVID cleaning protocols.

Games Bound Athletes:

The West Coast Classic

1. Cole Sager (583) / Bethany Shadburne (632) / Invictus (603)
2. Noah Ohlsen (548) / Kari Pearce (628) / Invictus Unconquerable (595)
3. Sean Sweeney (513) / Danielle Brandon (573) / Ohio Brutes (539)
4. Will Moorad (489) / Dani Speegle (542) / Backcountry Black (530)
5. Brandon Luckett (481) / Regan Huckaby (528) / Blues City Athletics (528)

CrossFit Atlas Games

1. Patrick Vellner (544) | Carolyne Prevost (469) | Pro1 Montreal (570)
2. Jeffrey Adler (492) |  Mekenzie Riley (468) | CrossFit Resurrection (535)
3. Samuel Cournoyer (449) | Baylee Rayl (468) | 1855 (530)
4. Alex Vigneault (449) | Emily Rolfe (456) | Rhapsody (525)
5. Brent Fikowski (442) | Sydney Michalyshen (448) | Team Koda (455)

CrossFit Asia Invitational

1. Stas Solodov (544) | Svetlana Kubyshkina (544) | Kolesnikov Team (585)
2. Aleksandar Ilin (538) | Seungyeon Choi (512) | Team Dubai (570)

Wrapping up the last Semifinals with some key takeaways:

To close out the Semifinals portion of the season, we were left with a lot to chew on between the two virtual competitions and one in-person event.

• The majority of qualifying athletes from Asia are still dominated by Russians, though South Korea and Dubai will also make appearances at the Games.
• The same can be said for Canadians as they dominated the CrossFit Atlas Games.
• “Dad Strength was real,” especially on Father’s Day as new dads Cole Sager and Patrick Vellner stood atop their respective leaderboards.

Athletes at the West Coast Classic crushed records as they took on former Games and Regional workouts:

• Mat Fraser was finally beat! Sort of. Fraser’s previous record on the 2016 Regionals Snatch Ladder was defeated by Tola Morakinyo by just over 15 seconds.
• Women have developed incredible strength in the legless rope climb. In 2013, only two women completed “Legless” whereas this year, 20 completed the workout.
• The 2015 Regional Finale clean ladder got heavier, but athletes were almost just as fast

CrossFit seminar staff are helping train an anti-poaching team in Serengeti, Tanzania:

Most of us can’t say we’ve been mauled by a lion or shot with a poison arrow, but for the anti-poaching team from CrossFit Faru in Tanzania, that’s their reality.

• When the anti-poaching team is out in the field, they often chase poachers on foot so it’s imperative that they’re ready for anything.
• In the future, the group is looking to incorporate more military-style training, combining rifle accuracy with a workout.
• Teaching this anti-poaching team CrossFit is ultimately helping conservation as they continue to save these animals in West Africa.

What really needs to be sprayed and wiped down at the gym?

Now that science says COVID doesn’t spread from surfaces, gyms are revamping their COVID cleaning procedures to see what’s actually keeping us and our equipment safe. Here are some common policies we’ve seen:

• DO wipe down your sweaty mat and wallball
• DO NOT wipe down your barbell or plates
• Use COMMON SENSE: if you sweat on it, wipe it down

Rich Froning teams up with InsideTracker to “create ultimate blood-based action plan for strength, recovery and resilience”

If we’re not doing what Froning is doing, are we even really trying? Froning’s panel includes the biomarkers that mean most to him when it comes to improving performance.

• The panel tests up to 33 biomarkers including testosterone, cortisol, creatine kinase
• You can buy the Inside Tracker x Rich Froning Panel now for $259. 
• Based on your blood work, you receive a personalized action plan from InsideTracker, including nutrition and activity suggestions, to improve your biomarkers. 

Things you don’t want to miss:

• To catch up on Mat Fraser’s life post competing, listen to the recent episode of SimpliFinance with Shaun White podcast. Fraser discusses his supplement company, Podium, that he founded with Heber Cannon and Marston Sawyers, and HWPO Training, his online training company.
• Rich Froning answered some of the most common questions he’s been asked about the AIRWAAV Performance Mouthpiece.
• Games gear is here! Time to stock up on the new NOBULL releases before heading to Madison next month.
• Time to shop the WIT summer sale and Born Primitive’s 20% site-wide sale.
• Update your home gym with Rogue Fitness’s new magnetic barbell collars.
• Need a good summer read? Sam Briggs’ Memoir Start Your Engines was released in a paperback edition that includes a new chapter on the 2020 CrossFit Games season.
• Congratulations to Patrick Vellner on a great week that included qualifying for the CrossFit Games and the birth of his son, Owen William.
• Noah Ohlsen plans to donate half of his second-place West Coast Classic winnings to organizations that promote diversity and inclusion, Project Onyx and the Trevor Project.
• Be part of CrossFit research by taking this quick survey that looks into CrossFitter’s health habits.
• The Filthy 150 is helping CrossFit Games international athletes with a raffle and a GoFundMe campaign to help with CrossFit Games travel costs.

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