“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson
GOOD
CrossFit Winter Park Gifts Memberships to Female Sex Trafficking Survivors
The community at CrossFit Winter Park in Winter Park, FL has always used Christmas as a time to give back to those in need. Until this year, that meant donating all kinds of gifts to a chosen family in need to “brighten their holidays,” explained Stephanie Nickitas, the owner of CrossFit Winter Park for the past seven-and-a-half years. This year, they took a slightly different, yet possibly even more impactful, approach to the holidays.
The details: CrossFit Winter Park members rallied together and donated goods and gifts to Samaritan Village, a local non-profit organization and safe home that offers a holistic, trauma-informed therapeutic program to survivors of human trafficking. Many of the women stay in the program for 12 to 18 months.
“Our members really went above and beyond. They always do. I don’t think they thought we’d come up with as much stuff for the women as we did. We gave them everything from pajamas, to slippers and bathrobes, to makeup supplies, gratitude journals, personal planners, calendars…all the way to basic house supplies, like toilet paper and cleaning supplies,” Nickitas said.
What happened next: The feedback, from both Samaritan Village and the women currently living in the safe house who received the various gifts, was so overwhelmingly grateful and positive that Nickitas started to wonder what else she could do.
Can knee sleeves protect you from future injury? Yes.
That’s why Element 26 went to work to create knee sleeves that were designed specifically for functional fitness athletes rather than just weightlifters.
With a shape tapering around your knee for comfort on the move, reinforced seams for durability, and using a 6mm neoprene for optimum mobility, these knee sleeves are designed to keep your knees healthy with minimum disruption to your WOD.
The newest Rogue Challenge is live now. Athletes can take on the Pump-N-Row Challenge now through April 19 at 8PM ET for a chance to win $5K or other prizes.
CrossFit Sanitas, Eric Roza’s box, hired a new head coach. Giancarlo Granziani will join Sanitas on May 3 after coaching at Reebok CrossFit ONE in Boston for the past three years.
The European CrossFit Masters Championship is a three-day CrossFit event that will take place in the Storefjell mountains in Norway, February 2022. It will be hosted by Aktivitet Norge in partnership with Prepared Programming and Eleiko Sport .
TrueForm was announced as the Official Treadmill for the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge on May 28-30, 2021. Athletes at the CrossFit Semifinal will be tested in events that include the TrueForm Trainer.
Hafthor Bjornsson will face Simon Vallily, a heavyweight pro boxer with a 17-3-1 record, in a four-round bout in Dubai on May 28.
COMMUNITY
Reebok Helps CrossFit Illuminati Pay it Forward with Two $3000 Gift Cards
On Thursday, Morning Chalk Up published a heartwarming story about Jason Kessler, owner of CrossFit Illuminati in Houston, TX, who purchased 52 pairs of Reebok Nanos for members who’d supported the affiliate through not only COVID-19 but also a 2018 fire that destroyed nearly the entire gym.
Inspired after reading the story in Thursday’s newsletter, Reebok reached out to offer a $3000 gift card to CrossFit Illuminati to buy additional Reebok merchandise for the gym. Reebok also included a second $3000 gift card to “donate to a different affiliate who appreciates their members as much” as Illuminati does.
One big thing: Even though they’re no longer the CrossFit Games title sponsor, Reebok’s president Matt O’Toole reiterated their commitment to the CrossFit community back in March: “Make no mistake, Reebok remains committed to supporting the athletes, affiliate partners, and the global CrossFit community.”
Reebok also indicated that it would now have more resources to focus on supporting the broader CrossFit community now that their contractual obligation to the Games are over.
Today’s pay it forward campaign is another clear example of that.
GOOD NEWS
Good News is our weekly round-up of positive stories around the affiliate community. Are you opening a new gym, expanding a current location, offering new classes, or is your box running a fundraiser? Send us a tip to be featured.
Autism MANA CrossFit Class: At Fit Fast Strong CrossFit in Pueblo West, CO, Kevin Blunt created a new nine-week class where athletes on the autism spectrum can find a positive environment to exercise while simultaneously working on peer relationships, social skills and repetitive behavior.
Dale King Employs those in recovery in Portsmouth, OH: After returning from two tours in Iraq, Dale King returned to Portsmouth, OH in the midst of an opioid epidemic. He opened PSKC CrossFit to help the community and later brought a natural soap and skincare business to his hometown in Doc Spartan. During the pandemic he also developed a kettlebell manufacturing business. All of his employees are in one stage of recovery or another.
CrossFit Orillia pivots during pandemic: In Orillia, Ontario, Canada, CrossFit Orillia made use of a $50,000 business grant and increased its profits by 20% by expanding its online offerings.
Four athletes at Vandenberg Air Force created a CrossFit training group and trained for the Open together. All four, Anthony Golembeck, Alexander DeCastro, Katrina Hartman, Gabrielle McClelland made the Quarterfinals.
Soccer star, Trish Evangelista, opens her dream CrossFit box. After graduating from college from Farmingdale State College, Evangelista bought and now runs Babylon CrossFit.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Tommy Tackles The Future Of Quarterfinals
I had a thought while aimlessly struggling through a set of pistols last weekend.
Quarterfinals have a huge potential to be a community builder in the future.
Maybe I was still getting my wits back after 60 GHD sit-ups, or maybe I was feeling particularly coltish as a result of just being able to compete again, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this inclusion of an additional round somehow had captured something that I think many people — myself included — had been looking for.
A Combined Leaderboard: How Did the Top Quarterfinals Athletes Compare?
The next stage of the 2021 CrossFit Games season will take place in late-May and June and involve 10 Semifinal events (as well as a “Catchall” event). Some will take place in person, some online. But at the end of this stage, 38 men and women will qualify for the CrossFit in Madison, WI.
If the Quarterfinal leaderboards were combined, how would the top athletes compare to one another?
Shark Attack Survivor Uses The Open to Raise Funds for Eight-Year-Old Amputee in Need
Caleb Swanepoel, like many adaptive athletes, competed in his first CrossFit Open this year. But Swanepoel added another element to his competition: a fundraiser. The lower-extremity athlete used the Adaptive Open to raise funds for an eight-year-old amputee, Elijah, who needs a new prosthetic leg.
Swanepoel’s story: Swanepoel, a South African athlete, lost his leg in a shark attack in June of 2015, body surfing with his siblings.
“We were catching big waves… and I was slightly ahead of my brothers to go and catch this big wave, and as I came over the crest of one of the waves… I saw a Great White. I turned to my brothers and shouted ‘There’s a shark in the water, swim!” he says. “I had this feeling in the back of my mind that, you know, something was going to happen.”
“[The shark] slammed into me, pulled me out of the water, and bit my leg completely off. Long story short, throughout that whole encounter in the water, I didn’t think I was going to make it.”
Typically, a bite like the one Swanepoel suffered severs an artery; normally, he says, victims of this kind of above-the-knee attack bleed out in two minutes.
This delicious lightened-up chicken pot pie uses dairy-free alternatives to butter and cream, so you don't feel weighed down during your next WOD. For when you just need some comfort food.
"Comfortable jeans can't look good, say" people who don't know what they're talking about. Revtown took Italian milled denim and infused it with the same stuff used in football uniforms to create soft, comfortable, stretchy jeans that still have the designer look.
Improper overhead positioning is the most common mistake made in Olympic lifts. Sage Burgener, of Burgener Strength, demonstrates the correct position and shows you how to check if you are there.
If meat was in a contest, we think steak would be the GOAT. And right now ButcherBox are giving new members a Steak Sampler (two ribeyes and four sirloins) free in their first box. Morning Chalk Up readers also get $10 off. This deal is only available for five days so grab it while you can.
Beaches? Yes. Jungles? Sure. Spear throwing? Now we're talking. Win an epic Spartan race escape to the island of Oahu. Relax on the beach, take part in the festivities, and get your workout in with free entry to all of Spartan's races across the weekend.
Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlight to [email protected] to be featured.
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