A sports bra just for nursing moms?

September 8   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today, we’re celebrating two important holidays: National Literacy Day & National Ampersand Day. The former is just a tad more important to us staying in business, but who doesn’t enjoy a good ampersand?!

In today’s edition:

• A new sports bra for nursing moms is launching soon.
• How does 14.65 burpees per minute for an hour sound? 🤯🤯🤯
• Do you want to coach CrossFit on a tropical island?

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.” - Walt Whitman

"You Are More Than A Dairy Fairy." New Company Launches Nursing Sports Bra for CrossFitters

CrossFit moms — this one is for you. Once you got back to the box after having your little bundle of joy, were box jumps, double unders, running, etc. a challenge? Maybe for more than one reason, but a new company is trying to help nursing moms get back to those movements by designing a sports bra that’s both functional and fashionable for CrossFit.

The need for a new nursing bra: Karlie Causey and Jess Fleming, both CrossFit coaches for ten plus years, took everything they hated about the nursing and pumping sports bras on the market and designed their own through their new company, Jen & Keri.

• When Causey had her son almost two years ago, she noticed there weren’t many good nursing or pumping sports bra options that were cute and still functional.
• “All the options out there are either velcro or a zipper or just a little ugly nursing clip and I just hated those. Why can’t there be a regular bra that looks like a regular bra and I can still nurse my kid, I can workout, I don’t have to change right away, moms have a lot of stuff going on,” said Causey.
• As athletes, Causey and Fleming noticed something else. The nursing sports bras currently out there aren’t designed to be supportive for movements in CrossFit that involve high-intensity. Instead, they’re tailored for women that do yoga, biking, walking, or other low-impact activities.
• “When you’re talking about trying to get back to running and double-unders and lifting and box jumps, you have to hold those puppies down. And when women are nursing, their breasts generally are bigger than they’re used to,” continued Causey.

To the drawing board: For the past year, Causey and Fleming have been trying to perfect the sports bra that would incorporate all of these features they believe athlete moms need.

• Fashionable — Instead of velcro or nursing clips, the bra they designed has you pull it up from the bottom and there’s an inner layer that pulls down.
• Functional — A high neck design to allow for a more supportive fit.
• Double feature — The sports bra gives moms the option if they’re nursing or pumping.
• Eco-Friendly — Made with recycled material.

Why it matters: Becoming a mom comes with a lengthy list of changes both mentally and physically. Third Fittest Woman on Earth and veteran Games athlete Annie Thorisdottir, has spoken openly about her own postpartum struggle to recognize her own body — a feeling many moms can relate to. If a new nursing sports bra can help give women confidence when returning to the gym, it’s just one way they can move in the right direction postpartum.

• “I’m proud to be a mom but I don’t need this badge that’s like, ‘look I’m nursing’ I just want to be another athlete in class. One of our main goals is we don’t want people to know that it’s a nursing bra. We’ve shown some of our friends who aren’t moms the bra and they’re like ‘cool, looks like a normal bra,’ and we’re like ‘yes! That’s what we want!’” Causey said.

Causey and Fleming are looking to launch Jen & Keri by the end of September. They already have a second bra that they’re working on that’s going to be a medium-impact bra that will be more comfortable to wear all day.

The big picture: Eventually, the women want to launch an entire line of activewear for athlete moms. By starting the company Jen & Keri, they hope to help moms in CrossFit become more confident in their bodies postpartum and get back to doing what they love.

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Schedule a call today to get started with NCFIT Collective, or jump right in with a 30-day programming sample.

🙋🙋🙋 Want to go to the Caribbean to coach CrossFit? CrossFit Palms in Bonaire is hiring a part-time coach (15-20 hours) to lead classes who enjoys tropical paradises, wearing shorts all the time because it’s never cold, and piña coladas.

COVID Opens Doors? That’s what happened for Tom Delcamp, who unexpectedly pivoted to opening his own gym: Westwind Functional Fitness.

• “I trained at the Dunkirk CrossFit gym for four to five years and then COVID hit and everything was shut down.
• “So I decided to start having classes at my house in Westfield with people I had trained and worked out with. It started with three to four people. Then I received my level one certified coach from CrossFit.”
• “Then the class went to eight to 10 people a night. A month later it turned into two classes a night.”

ROGUE watch: Lazar Dukic and Emma McQuaid are confirmed to compete. We’re up to 13 men and 15 women invited so far. The total will be 20 competing in October.

• ICYMI: The prize purse also got bumped up $100K.

CrossFit Affiliate Owner Nick Anapolsky Sets New Burpee World Record

An affiliate owner from Ontario, CA, just threw down the gauntlet for CrossFitters around the world. Nick Anapolsky set a new world record for the number of burpees completed in one hour. He finished a staggering 879 reps and locked up a Guinness World Record.

Why this matters: The burpee is the movement that every CrossFitter has a love/hate relationship with. It’s the great equalizer that can make every person — Games athlete or everyday citizen — stop and bend over with their hands on their knees.

• The previous world record for burpees completed in one hour belonged to Macauley Jones. The Australian completed 870 reps in one hour back in 2019, becoming a Guinness World Record holder in the process. He averaged 14.5 reps per minute while Anapolsky averaged 14.65 reps per minute.
• Anapolsky completed the challenge at Polsky’s Strength and Conditioning. He posted a video of the final reps and the group of people cheering for him. Once the timer marked the end of the hour, the official scorekeeper confirmed that Anapolsky had hit 879.

Anapolsky spoke to the University of Waterloo about his achievement: “This wasn’t about me breaking the record. It was about creating something exciting [related to] fitness during this slow time. I wish we could have opened the gym so people could come in and watch, but instead, we did a Livestream on Instagram and we had all our members watching from home.”

The affiliate owner showcased his burpee skills in April 2020, posting a WODProof video on Instagram and issued a challenge to his followers. He told them to complete 100 burpees for time. Every minute they had to stop and complete 10 air squats. Anapolsky finished in 4:23. More than one year later, he set the world record and set a new bar for his fellow CrossFitters.

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Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.

• Happy Anniversary to Eric (our CTO) and Erica Sherred.
• 🧈🧈🧈 Happy birthday Heber Cannon.
• When you’re wrong math is so so right: 17-year-old Presley Parkinson accidentally miscoded the barbell, resulting in a 225 pound/102kg clean and jerk PR.
• Congratulations Jordan Zerva from Ocean State CrossFit in Cranston, RI on the 315 pound/142kg overhead squat PR.
• Pome’e from CrossFit Apollo in Las Vegas, NV hits a 495 pound/206kg back squat.
• 🤢🤢🤢Oh that went horribly wrong.

Community spotlight: CrossFit Low Oxygen in Frisco, CO was featured in their local newspaper for their work in assisting those recovering from alcohol abuse. Fit to Recover is a weekly class specifically for those in recovery to help create community and support among members.

• “…those in recovery said having a network of sober friends can be incredibly helpful, as well. Cain, Howes and Limbruner all take part in Fit to Recover, a weekly class at CrossFit Low Oxygen in Frisco meant to help connect people in recovery with others who know what they’re going through.”

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