A Summer of Hope for Foster Kids in Florida

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by EPIC Provisions, fueling athletes and adventurers with nourishing food crafted with consciously-sourced ingredients.

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“It costs $0.00 to tell someone how much they mean to you and to put a smile on their face.” — Unknown

Raise the Bar for a Child in Foster Care

The story.

Place of Hope is just that.

A children’s organization providing family-style foster care, housing and support services for homeless families, and foster care for the hundreds of children in Florida that need their services, Place of Hope is a safe refuge from abuse, hunger, and sometimes even abandonment.

That’s a lot.

It is, but they’re up to the challenge. Place of Hope has several programs running to serve their community, and all of them are aimed at assisting children and youth in finding healing and restoration, which they believe leads to successful adulthood.

One of these programs is called Fit For Hope.

What is Fit For Hope?

Fit For Hope is a summer-long series of fundraisers that will help Gray Fitness center be another safe haven for the kids that need it the most.

“The Gray Fitness Center is so much more than a gym; it is an avenue through which our children and young adults learn the value of health, nutrition, athleticism and team work,” said Charles L. Bender, III, Founding CEO of Place of Hope. Keeping these kids active not only ensures their health, but it also provides measurable growth and improved self-image, all crucial for kids in the foster system.

That’s awesome.

Totally, and what better way to help them than with more fitness. Beginning July 7, fitness goers can provide a brighter future for foster children by accepting the Fit For Hope challenge. Find an event, host an event, donate, or capture some fitness using  #FitForHope and keep those kids feeling fit and hopeful in Florida.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your friend who constantly complains about not meeting interesting people at CrossFit…

Just hang in there. Eventually, someone will walk in and your heart will skip a beat, but not because you’re winded from all those double-unders. Here’s a list of famous people that also love to CrossFit. Some of them might surprise you.

What to tell your friend who’s been avoiding running WODs lately…

No excuses. Bill is 86-years-young and he can do rollouts with the ab wheel. Why? Because Bill showed up at Intrepid Strength and Conditioning day after day to put in work. Be like Bill. 

Things To…

WATCH: CrossFit Instead of Surgery

Adam Kuntz weighed 408 pounds when he walked into Big Muddy CrossFit in Bismarck, ND two years ago. With a wife and two kids, Kuntz knew he needed to change. Determined to avoid gastric bypass, he committed to CrossFit and cleaning up his diet and has built a whole new life for himself. 

HE’S COMMITTED. 

HEAR: The Meatcast Interviews Working Against Gravity

EPIC interviews WAG founder Adee Cazayoux about coaching three of the top five female Games finishers last year and how similar it is to working with her everyday clients. Then, the tasty stuff, when Adee ranks her favorite meats!

TUNE IN.

DO: Fantasy Fit

The app that brings live fantasy sports to functional fitness competitions so you can compete against friends, family, and athletes alike. Before the first competition starts in August, submit your lineup and get in on the action.

SOUNDS (FAN)TASTIC.

KNOW: Chin-Ups vs. Pull-Ups 

We know. You thought they were the same. We get it. But, turns out, they’re not. What’s the difference? Is one better than the other? Which will make you stronger faster? Why do we even need two versions anyway?

NOW YOU KNOW.  

BUY: Any Three Pants for $300

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GET SOME.

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• FANTASY CROSSFIT TAKE TWO…Million that is. The CrossFit Games Fantasy bracket is back for another year. Since no one matched a perfect bracket last year, Reebok is offering $2 mllion dollars to anyone who can correctly guess the top 10 men, top 10 women and top 5 teams at the 2018 CrossFit Games.
• JILL’S WARRIOR WOD — On Saturday, more than 80 athletes joined Land Warrior CrossFit in Suffield, CT to raise funds for officer Jill Kidik, who was stabbed multiple times while responding to a call. The event raised $6,500 for Jill and her family, and go here if you want to read more of her unbelievable story.
• HELP SET A GOAT YOGA WORLD RECORD AT THE DENVER COUNTY FAIR — The Denver County Fair is hosting a goat yoga session as an historic attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the largest goat yoga session in the world! Just $25 gets you fair admission plus a mimosa or Bloody Mary at the end of the session.

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

After his coach enrolled him in CrossFit as an elective, High School junior Rafael Paulino is now down 100 pounds since joining Lancer CrossFit • Angelo DiCicco is going to help you win a case of FITAID •
Sean Sweeney does a pistol on top of a ladder, which is actually a terrible idea considering the CrossFit Games is in one month • Coby Anderson hits a 365 pound squat clean • Stefi Cohen hits a 400 pound back squat double • Val Voboril’s parents join her for a WOD at CrossFit Rising Wave.

…and this dog is all of us during sprint intervals. 

Demo Team Watch — #1Jessica Griffith.

CrossFit Helps Kids In and Out of the Box — CrossFit Hydro in Omaha, NE wants people to know that CrossFit is for everyone, even kids who aren’t otherwise considered athletic. Coach Megan VanBeek hopes that by taking the classes, the kids will learn to enjoy living an active lifestyle and build confidence in the gym and in their daily lives as well. 

Beating MS With CrossFit — Michelle Meisner was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis on Valentine’s Day in 2013. Doctors told her it would alter her life and she would likely lose strength and control of her muscles. But in 2016 Michelle joined CrossFit Loud City in Edmond, OK. Now she is stronger and healthier than ever.

CrossFit for Inmates — Every Thursday at 3 p.m. in Shelby County Jail in Memphis, TN James Lancaster leads a workout to inmates aged 18-25. Participation in the class is earned with good behavior and is part of Lancaster’s non-profit organization, Kings of Grit. “I don’t come here and try to fix them. I’m here to offer them another option. We don’t have to continue to do things the way we’ve been doing it,” said Lancaster.
“We learn a lot from each other.”

“Understanding CrossFit” by Greg Glassman, CrossFit Journal 

From the beginning, the aim of CrossFit has been to forge a broad, general and inclusive fitness. We sought to build a program that would best prepare trainees for any physical contingency—prepare them not only for the unknown but for the unknowable.

Looking at all sport and physical tasks collectively, we asked what physical skills and adaptations would most universally lend themselves to performance advantage. Capacity culled from the intersection of all sports demands would quite logically lend itself well to all sport. In sum, our specialty is not specializing.

The CrossFit prescription is “constantly varied, high-intensity, functional movement.”

The methodology that drives CrossFit is entirely empirical. We believe that meaningful statements about safety, efficacy and efficiency, the three most important and interdependent facets of any fitness program, can be supported only by measurable, observable, repeatable facts, i.e., data. We call this approach “evidence-based fitness.”

7/4: 4th of July Throwdown Team Competition (Cullman, AL)

7/6: Garage Games Firebreather 5k (John’s Creek, GA)

7/6 -7/8: The UG Games (Collingswood, ON)

7/6 – 7/8: The Garage Games Jr. Champion’s Invitational 2018 (Roswell, GA)

7/6 – 7/8: Garage Games Junior Champions Invitational (Roswell, GA)

7/7: CrossFit Elgin Beach Brawl 2018 (Port Stanley, ON)

7/7: Capitol Takeover 2018 (Springfield, IL)

7/7: 2nd Annual Liberty Dash (Johnston, PA)

7/7 – 7/8: Railyard Riot (Lincoln, NE)

7/7: Barbellas (Anaheim, CA) 

7/8: Croatia with VoyEdge RX

7/13 – 7/15: Beach Throwdown 2018 (Schevening, Netherlands)

7/14: Mischief Revolution: Battle of the Brewery (Chicago, IL)

7/14: Mountain Town Summer Throwdown (Breckenridge, CO) 

7/14: Espirit De Corps 2018 (Vancouver, WA)

7/14: Belmar Beat Down (Belmar, NJ)

7/14: Atomic Throwdown (Kennewick, WA)

7/14: Fitness for Faith (Livingston, TN) 

7/14: Sweat Angel Showdown (Indianapolis, IN) 

7/14: Barmageddon (Oklahoma City, OK)

7/14: Red, White, and Blue Showcase (Kearney, NE)

7/14: CrossFit for Hope 2018 (Peoria, IL)

7/14: Team SuperFit Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)

7/14 – 7/15: 2018 Freshcoast Games (Muskegon, MI)

7/14: RX’Mas in July (Urbana, OH)

7/15: The Buckeye Games (Akron, OH)

7/15 – 7/16: Lubbock Summer Games (Lubbock, TX)

7/21: Second Annual Summer Showdown (Nicholasville, KY)

7/21: Swole Wars II (Burleson, TX)

7/21: Sacred Pines Invitational (Ladson, SC)

7/21: Battle at the BallPark (Peoria, IL) 

7/21 – 7/22: The Rubicon (Centerton, AR)

7/21: Summer Partner Throwdown (Hammond, LA)

7/21: The Freedom Games (Greenwood, SC)

7/22: Iceland with VoyEdge RX

7/28: Garage Girls Hard Core Fit (Watkinsville, GA) 

7/28: Garage Girls CrossFit HardCore (Boca Raton, FL) 

7/28: AZ FitCom Competition (Phoenix, AZ)

7/28: Summer Knights Showdown (Springfield, IL)

7/28 – 7/29: CF Summer Circus (Des Moines, IA)

7/29: Summer Sizzle (Wadsworth, OH) 

7/30: Legends of Lebo (Pittsburgh, PA)