Annie Thorisdottir the Investor

September 20   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Annie Thorisdottir invests in Yerbaè.
• Heppner beats Bridges.
• 6 tips to stop peeing during double-unders.
• WHOOP data reveals a little less boozing.
• Ricky Garard is back.

“Stay away from those people who try to disparage your ambitions. Small minds will always do that, but great minds will give you a feeling that you can become great too. ” - Mark Twain

Annie Thorisdottir Becomes a Key Investor in Yerbae, Joins Board

The two-time CrossFit Games champion has further expanded her business portfolio. Annie Thorisdottir has become an investor in Yerbae, the clean beverage company that combines yerba mate with loose leaf tea to create a caffeinated drink stronger than coffee or black tea.

The details: Iceland Annie first signed with Yerbae to become a brand ambassador the day before the 2021 CrossFit Games, becoming the first athlete to join forces with founders Karrie and Todd Gibson.

• Six weeks after agreeing to become a Yerbae ambassador, Thorisdottir took on an even larger role as an investor that would include a spot on the board.

One big thing: While CrossFit Games athletes have held various ownership roles, partnerships or co-founder statuses, Thorisdottir’s investment is unique and possibly a first of its kind for a Games athlete. Her financial investment in an outside company is closer aligned to moves being made in other pro sports like Lebron James and Steph Curry, who have both invested millions in a growing portfolio of companies.

• Athletes like Rich Froning and Jason Khalipa have gone on to build empires around the gym brands CrossFit Mayhem and NCFIT.
• Josh Bridges built a direct-to-consumer coffee start-up, Good Dudes Coffee.
• Mat Fraser launched his own training app, HWPO.
• Margaux Alvarez launched her own wine-making business, The Vine Yard.
• Jacob Heppner launched several start-ups, one of which was just acquired by PushPress.

The bottom line: We don’t know the financial specifics, but this is unique, and potentially the start of a new wave of Games athlete investors setting themselves up for a future beyond the competition floor that doesn’t include their gym or programming.

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Ricky Garard is back, and will be invited to compete at the upcoming Dubai CrossFit Championship in December. After serving a four-year suspension for a positive drug test, Garard can officially compete after October 3. Dubai announced they intend to send Garard an invite to be one of the 20 invited athletes.

Heppner Bests Bridges in Boxing Bout: The two Games perennials squared off Friday night in Dubai, UAE for the first-ever CrossFit category boxing match that went the full six rounds. Heppner won the fight by unanimous decision.

• Here’s an ‘okayish’ line-by-line if you missed the fight (scroll down midway).

Filthy150 is forced to cancel its late November event. Their planned venue is now being used as a COVID test and vaccination site.

• “We have spent our last few weeks looking for another venue but unfortunately with COVID we have been able to final a viable alternative.”

Update on Cassandra Moorad: Written by her friend Andrea Elrod and posted to Cass’ Caring Bridge page: “Cassandra’s port was placed on Monday. This is where she will receive all treatments and have her blood drawn. Tuesday she had a CT Scan, Bone Density test, and Echo. All of her tests results were pretty much normal.”

• “Unfortunately having cancer treatments during a pandemic comes with a different set of rules.
• “Cassandra will be allowed one visitor during her first chemo treatment but after that she will have to receive treatments alone.”

Masters athlete and organizer of the Masters Fitness Collective, Eamon Coyne joins the Blacklabel Supplements team as a sponsored athlete.

RPM Training is hiring several in-person jobs at their Santa Cruz, CA headquarters as well as remote positions.

6 Tips to Stop Peeing During Double Unders

Whether it’s talked about, joked about, or totally dismissed, peeing during double unders and impact exercise, in general, is a thing. We often see this at CrossFit classes, where women run to the restroom before the workout, or pee their pants mid-workout.

Contrary to popular belief, this symptom is not exclusive to pregnant or postpartum people. Teenagers, elite athletes, mothers and menopausal people can also experience incontinence doing high-impact exercises like jump rope, box jumps, plyos and running.

We are not here to shame this symptom, rather, we would like to bring attention to what can be done to help troubleshoot it.

Let’s start by defining incontinence. To put it simply, it’s leaking urine (or sometimes feces) unintentionally. This can happen from a sneeze, a heavy lift, during high-impact exercise and/or the inability to hold it for longer periods of time.

WHOOP Data Reveals Users Increased Sleep, Reduced Tobacco and Alcohol Amid Lockdown

With many gyms shut down in 2020 due to COVID-19, people had to focus on finding other ways to improve their overall health and recovery. There were several options available, but multiple large groups used their WHOOP data to cut down on bad habits.

The details: WHOOP CEO and Founder Will Ahmed revealed during the live WHOOP Unlocked event that the company began tracking the data of users who signed up for the service in March 2020 or after, the start of widespread lockdowns. These users began making immediate changes to their lifestyles in a matter of five months by increasing their amount of sleep and decreasing some of the “less positive” trends.

Cutting back: The data revealed that 46% of people reduced the number of days they drank alcohol. Additionally, 34% reduced the number of days they drank caffeine. Both alcohol and caffeine in the afternoon can negatively impact sleep and recovery.

Rich Froning: “This might be the last one”

...KNOW

Where Does 21-15-9 Come From?

It's something you see in thousands of boxes around the world every day. But why doesn't it show up in other methodologies? What's so dang hard about that exact rep scheme? And where did 21-15-9 begin? Check out the link below and discover the origins of Fran lung.

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Your Box Jump Fears

Does this sound like you - you have the ability to get on top of the plyo box sat in front of you, but for some reason, you go to jump...and you just don't go anywhere. Don't despair. Try out these tips, build gradually, and your box jump fears will be a thing of the past.

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The New WHOOP 4.0 For Free

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Avocado Deviled Eggs

Need a low-carb snack or side dish for a family picnic? These avocado deviled eggs are perfect because they satisfy the macro count, and pass the taste test. Fast, simple, and delicious – make sure to make two batches. So when you're done "cooking" you still have some left.

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

• Happy birthday Annie Thorisdottir (Saturday)
• Happy birthday Ollie Mansbridge, head of CrossFit UK (Sunday).
• Happy birthday Chyna Cho.
• Happy birthday Jessica Grondahl, organizer of the Dakota Games.
• Happy birthday Jonathan Haynes, head of CrossFit Games Content.
• Christine Middleton hits a 275 pound/125kg jerk.
• Tully Chapman from 8th Day Gym in Grand Rapids, MI hit a 374 pound/170kg split jerk PR.
• Congratulations Kate Nokwe from Moove Motion Fitness Club in Johannesburg, South Africa on getting your first bar muscle-up.
• Teen athlete Donavon Vogt hits a 240 pound/109kg snatch PR.

🤯🤯🤯 OK, this is pretty crazy y’all.

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