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Alessandra Pichelli Announces Retirement

 
Morning Chalk Up

November 3   |   POWERED BY

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Wow, another big news day.

In today’s edition:

  • Wodapalooza announces the first five qualifier WODs with teams able to compete remotely.
  • CrossFit Mayhem making big moves, adding five new individual athletes to the roster.
  • How CrossFit changed these five women’s relationship with food.
  • A new European CrossFit-focused podcast launches.
  • Alessandra Pichelli announces retirement after eight seasons.
 
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“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” - Andrew Carnegie

 
   

Wodapalooza team online qualifier WODs have been revealed, but there’s still more than enough time to register and compete before the November 10 deadline.

Remind me: On November 1, the qualifiers started for the Wodapalooza team online qualification process, including Elite, Rx, scaled, and beginner divisions.

  • Same sex teams of three have until November 10, the submission deadline, to complete the seven qualification tests. with qualification for the presigious Wodapalooza in Miami, FL in January 2022 on the line.
  • The top athletes will qualify for the Elite, Rx, or Intermediate competition, with those who don’t qualify also having the opportunity to register for the scaled or beginner team divisions on a first-come, first serve basis.

One big thing: Each workout in the online qualifier has been designed to accommodate teammates who might not be in the same physical location, so workouts can be completed individually, at different times, and in different cities, states or countries.

The Workouts

Elite/Rx Workout 1 ‘Meet us at the bar’: The first workout involves three individual workouts for cumulative time.

  • Athlete 1 must complete 27-21-15 of deadlifts (225/155 pounds) and pull-ups.
  • Athlete 2 must complete 21-15-9 of front squats (185/125 pounds) and chest-to-bar pull-ups.
  • And athlete 3 must complete 15-12-9 of shoulder to overhead (165/115 pounds) and bar muscle-ups.

Elite/Rx Workout 2, 3, 4 ‘Trinity 2.0’: This workout will be completed on a 20-minute running clock and includes three separately scored tests.

  • In the first two minutes, each athlete will perform as many reps as possible of toes-to-bar (test 1).
  • Then each athlete must complete a 2 km row for time (test 2).
  • In the remaining time, athletes must each complete a one-rep max snatch (test 3).
  • The sum of the three athletes’ scores will be the team’s score for each part of this three-part workout.

Elite/Rx Workout 5 ‘Pick Your PoisonThis workout involves three individual workouts with an 18-minute time cap per workout.

  • Athlete 1 must complete 20 rounds of: 1 Devil Press, 2 DB Thrusters, and 3 Burpees
  • Athlete 2 must complete 10 rounds of: 2 Devil Press, 4 DB Thrusters, and 6 Burpees
  • Athlete 3 must complete 5 rounds of: 4 Devil Press, 8 DB Thrusters, and 12 Burpees

Elite/Rx Workout 6 ‘Chutes and Ladders’Each team member must complete the following within a 16-minute time cap.

  • Athletes must complete: 15 Alt DB Snatches, 50ft Single-arm DB OH Walking Lunge, 30 Alt DB Snatches, 100ft Single-arm DB OH Walking Lunge, 45 Alt DB Snatches, and a final 150ft Single-arm DB OH Walking Lunge with either 50 pound or 35 pound dumbbells.
  • Then complete the same work again but with 70 pound or 50 pound dumbbells.

Elite/Rx Workout 7 ‘Three By Three’Each team member completes three rounds of a three-minute AMRAP for total reps.

  • Each athlete has a 99 Double-under and 33 Wallball (10ft/9ft) buy-in.
  • Then in the Remaining time: Max Double DB Step Overs with either 50 pound or 35 pound dumbbells.
  • Rest 1 minute and repeat.

More details about the online qualifier, as well as information about scaled and beginner divisions, can be found here.

 
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SPEED READS

Alessandra Pichelli announces retirement: After some speculation about her status going forward after the 2021 Games, Pichelli confirmed that she’s hanging it up after eight seasons:

  • “I will miss that bond of Games athletes who understand the sacrifices necessary to get to this level.”
  • “The thrill of competing and the fans kept me coming back year after year, but it feels like the right time for me to step back and spend more time with my husband and family and say yes to some of the opportunities you have to say no to in pursuit of our goals. I have no regrets and wanted to leave the sport both physically and mentally healthy.”
  • “I’m grateful to CrossFit for all the opportunities and amazing memories made all across the globe. CrossFit certainly shaped who I am today and I can say I am proud of all that I have accomplished.”

 There is still time to register and complete the online qualifier for Wodapalooza team of 3s. Teams have until November 10th and the WODs can be done anywhere in the world, even separately.

Mark Your Calendars: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month with World Diabetes Day taking place on November 14.  According to the CDC, more than 1 in 3 U.S. adults have prediabetes—that’s 88 million people—but the majority of people don’t know they have it.

JUST LAUNCHED: Europe is Coming, a new podcast from The Program focused specifically on European CrossFit. Hosted by Jon Singleton, coach to athletes like Gabi Migala and Jacqueline Dahlstrom will give greater exposure for some of Europe’s top athletes.

Brute Strength is hosting a training camp at Scott Panchik’s CrossFit Mentality from December 4-5.

Looking for a coaching job in the United Kingdom? CrossFit UK launched an affiliate job listing database with current openings.

In case you missed it…A lot of news happened yesterday. Here’s a quick clip of headlines worth reading:

 
CROSSFIT GAMES
  Mayhem Making Monstrous Offseason Moves, Adds 2 Top Ten Games Finishers, 4 Total  

Mayhem Making Monstrous Offseason Moves, Adds 2 Top Ten Games Finishers, 4 Total

At the 2021 CrossFit Games, thirty-three athletes competed under the Mayhem Athlete banner across all divisions, by far the most of any training camp, and a record for the Cookeville based training center. During the offseason, they’ve made strategic moves to bolster the roster even further, adding five individual athletes, three of which finished top 10 in 2021.

Who’s new to the list:

  • Saxon Panchik – 5th
  • Guilherme Malheiros – 7th
  • Lazar Dukic – 9th
  • Agustin Richelme – Argentinian National Champion, finished 32nd
  • Piero Gorichon – Chilean National Champion, 10th at the Brazil CrossFit Championship
  • Individual athletes already on the list: Alex Vigneault, Royce Dunne, Samuel Cournoyer, Alexandre Caron, Aleksandar Ilin, Stas Solodov, Haley Adams, Baylee Rayl, Jessica Griffith and Sasha Nievas.

One big thing: Mayhem has quietly emerged as the powerhouse training center for the most elite CrossFit athletes, far surpassing the number of competitors across the other camps with the potential to field more than 40 athletes at the 2022 Games across all divisions.

  • All of this happened over the course of two seasons when they went from attempting to field two super teams at the 2019 Games to winning the affiliate cup in 2020 and fielding a full roster of top tier competitors.
  • This just shows how fast trends shift and move in the elite landscape.

Some deeper insight into the five newcomers:

  • Saxon Panchik: With the formal move to bring Facundo Etchecolatz on as the lead programmer for Mayhem Athlete, some of the athletes he was previously coaching are now under the Mayhem umbrella. At the top of that list is the 5th fittest man on earth Saxon Panchik and it’s clear their relationship has resulted in great performances thus far. Perhaps it’s this relationship and the subsequent results that have encouraged others to want to follow suit and get in with the Mayhem crew. Saxon now has four consecutive appearances at the Games and is coming off a career best of 5th, improving on his previous best of 9th in 2019.
  • Guilherme Malheiros: Malheiros was right at the top of the list following the Games this summer of athletes everyone was talking about. His performance at the Games was obviously fantastic, taking seventh overall; but it was bolstered emphatically by three impressive event wins. When asked about the decision making process Malheiros was succinct and clear in his response: “If you want to be a shark, you gotta swim with the sharks”. Malheiros backed up his Games performance this past weekend at the Rogue Invitational (where he took 5th), including bagging two more event wins (on the Bella Complex and the Duel).
  • Lazar Dukic: Rounding out the trio of top ten males who are now aligned with the Mayhem crew is ninth place finisher Lazar Dukic. The five time fittest man in Serbia has been setting himself up for this kind of success for a handful of years now. Declining his invite in 2019, he preferred to wait until he felt he was actually ready to be competitive at the Games to attend. He did that this year, and as a result has reaped the rewards for his performance in the form of new opportunities, one of which is this one with Mayhem. “I wanted to start working with Mayhem and Facundo as my coach because Mayhem attracts and invites only the best in the sport in their circle. They have so much experience with the Games and all competitions that can benefit me. I’ve known Facundo since 2019 when I won a competition he and Mayhem organized. He’s reached out to me to check in a couple times since then, so we won’t need much time to get to know each other either.” As with Saxon and Gui, Lazar competed this past weekend at Rogue (and made his official Instagram announcement of his alignment with the Mayhem team).
  • South American National Champions Agustin Richelme (Argentina) and Piero Gorichon (Chile) have also teamed up with Facundo and the Mayhem field of athletes, adding to the pedigree they’ll have heading into the 2022 season.

The big picture: Rich Froning and the Mayhem empire are expanding into a variety of realms including farming, coffee, nascar, and hosting competitions internationally, but they are also making a big push in 2021 and heading into 2022 to also boast the most prolific roster of male individual athletes. Add it to the list of things that is going right down in Cookeville, TN.

 
LIFESTYLE
  How CrossFit Changed Our Relationship with Food: Five Women Tell their Stories  

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

How CrossFit Changed Our Relationship with Food: Five Women Tell their Stories

From providing a healthier coping mechanism than eating, to changing the way we view the purpose of food, to helping us take responsibility for our own lives, CrossFit can be a powerful tool in changing our relationship with food for the better.

These are the stories of five individuals who have used CrossFit to do just that, and have regained their health in the process.

Holly Krell: From Restriction to Embracing Food

Holly Krell’s relationship with food was “always a struggle,” she said.

Growing up in a low income household, there wasn’t wasn’t much food available, and she watched her parents attempt various diets.

“I was always heavy and my weight dominated how I felt about myself during my formative years,” Krell said.

As she reached adulthood, just like her parents, Krell, started dabbling with various restrictive diets.

“Early in college, I found a lot of success with the Adkins diet, but like most restrictive diets, when I stopped, I gained all the weight back, plus some,” she said. “I really thought the key to success was limiting certain foods for the rest of my life. If I wasn’t following that guideline, I was failing myself.”

Then she found CrossFit in June, 2014, after finishing college. Immediately, Krell started to see how food was necessary fuel, not just for getting through the workouts, but for everyday life.

“CrossFit helped open my eyes to realizing that there is so much more to the picture. I was able to see that I was more than the number on the scale and my body was more than what I saw in the mirror. The empowerment I felt doing things I never thought I was capable of helped turn off the voices in my head that said I’m not good enough,” said Krell, who trains at Train Harder CrossFit in Odessa,FL.

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HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🤵👰 Happy anniversary Tommy and Missy Vinas.
  • Carolyne Prevost, while also competing in the individual division at the Rogue Invitational, broke her previous record for most deadlifts in two minutes, completing 67 at 225 pounds/102kg.
  • Congratulations 12-year-old Stella Rae from Alpharetta, GA on the 140 pound/64kg clean PR.
  • Congratulations to Nicole Nies for placing second overall, and for breaking one world record and two national records for Powerlifting at the Olympia.
  • Congratulations Andee Jefferies from CrossFit Lakeville in Lakeville, MN on the 300 pound/136kg
  • Invictus Seattle raises more than $9,000 for breast cancer during their Barbell for Boobs fundraiser.

Joel Harding, head coach at Route 250 Health and Performance, broke his femur in four places and has undergone several surgeries over the past week to try and save his leg. He is without medical insurance and his girlfriend has set up a GoFundMe to help offset the medical expenses.

Eaglewing CrossFit in Orange, CA is hiring full time and part time coaches.

 
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