Brooke Wells Announces New Coach — Powered by Vuori
December 10 |
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. The Legends Masters Competition begins today in Phoenix, Arizona, Patrick Clark previews the action below. And, when 78-year-old John Ford’s wife passed away earlier this year, he turned to CrossFit for comfort, Emily Clark shares his story.
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“Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”- Hunter S. Thompson
COMMUNITY
Pioneers of the Sport Head to Arizona for Legends Masters Competition
If you’re in the Phoenix, Arizona area and looking to see elite CrossFit athletes competing from a safe social distance then the Legends Masters Competition is for you. Three hundred and eighty-five of the best masters athletes will be competing live and in-person Dec. 10-13 in the Goodyear Ballpark located just outside of the city.
The details: Legends, in its fourth year of existence, is one of the longest-running “masters-only” competitions in the world. This year they were one of the first event organizers to jump into action as an alternative competition for masters athletes who saw their season come to an end after the Games canceled the Age Group divisions competitions.
The competition was originally set to take place at the iconic Del Mar Fairgrounds in California on September 10-13 but had to pivot due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition offers 14 age group divisions, seven each for men and women. Those age groups are 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64 and 65+.
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CROSSFIT GAMES
Brooke Wells Announces Shift to PRVN Fitness and Coach Shane Orr
When Brooke Wells made the announcement that she was leaving CompTrain after over four years of success under the tutelage of Ben Bergeron, speculation as to where she would end up was rampant throughout the CrossFit community. On Wednesday afternoon Wells put those speculations to rest in an Instagram post when she announced she would start following the PRVN Fitness training program with Shane Orr as her coach.
One big thing: Over the past few seasons, Shane Orr has amassed a significant record as a coach of elite CrossFit athletes. He has coached his wife, Tia-Clair Toomey to four-straight “Fittest Woman on Earth” titles and Mathew Fraser to two of his five “Fittest Man on Earth” titles. For Wells, this move might be the thing that gets her over the hump and onto the podium for the first time.
Remind me: Since bursting onto the CrossFit scene as a 19-year old at the 2015 Games, Wells has been considered one of the top stars in the sport, but her lack of a podium finish has been frustrating to the now 25-year old and six-time Games qualifier.
In her Games debut she placed 16th and immediately became a fixture in conversations within the sport as “champion-in-waiting”.
To spice up your holiday season, Fitness Santa is bringing you 12 days of Crossmas, that’s 12 straight days of fun fitness giveaways from some of your favorite brands absolutely free.
From December 1 – 12, we’ll be doing Instagram live giveaways each day at 5:00 PM PT, totaling 78 prizes from:
Connection, Not Performance Tops “My Favorite 2020 Moment” for Five CrossFit Games Athletes
As 2020 comes to a close, it’s all too easy to wish these last days away so we can take a collective deep breath at midnight on December 31 and leave the last 12 months in the past. But through the drama and devastation brought on by the Greg Glassman scandal and the global pandemic — the gym closures, the financial losses, the event cancellations, the stir crazy weeks at home, and on and on — we have continued to make an effort to tell silver lining stories.
78-Year-Old John Ford Loses Wife, Finds Comfort in CrossFit
When his wife climbed into bed complaining of a headache, 78-year-old John Ford wasn’t too concerned. “I asked her if we needed to go to the hospital, and she said she didn’t. Then she laid down, and that was it,” Ford said of how his wife of 27 years, Mary Ann Ford, died at the age of 69 at the end of May 2020. “I tried to roll her over but she was non-responsive…the doctors said there wasn’t anything they could have done. She had a massive brain bleed probably from a blood pressure spike,” he said.
Six months later, Ford continues to grieve. “I still have my moments when I’m alone at home in the evenings. Sometimes something can set me off and I’ll start bawling like a baby,” said Ford, who still works as a Real Estate appraiser.
One big thing: Though he misses his wife “immensely,” joining CrossFit Xtra Mile in Fenton, MO in July — a gym owned by his granddaughter’s fiance Corey Lewis — has helped his emotional state in a big way, Ford said.
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Kelly Starrett on How Jillian Michaels Got it so Wrong
Dr. Kelly Starrett, a 15-year affiliate owner, founder of The Ready State and author of Becoming a Supple Leopard, joined Make Pods Great Again to discuss Michaels' latest attack on CrossFit. In short, he calls her video a "Zombie Thirst Trap" and argues instead that CrossFit is scalable and great for the masses.
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Here's a premium tip from the Professor, Brent Fikowski: your thumbs experience a lot of friction when using a hook grip. Add in some toes-to-bar or kipping pull-ups and that friction is amplified. Fikowski shows you two methods to properly tape your thumbs to keep you working out longer, without thumb pain and skin tears.
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.
Our very own Justin LoFranco strict presses 165 pounds for 3 for a PR.
Joshua Al-chamaa and Michael Smith snatch 264 pounds.
Congrats Claire Fikowski on stringing her first ring muscle-ups!
COMMUNITY
As we roll through the holiday season, CrossFit boxes around the community increasingly look to charitable causes, here are three more holiday fundraisers that have come across our desks this week:
12 Heroes for O.U.R:CrossFit O.U.R. in Draper, UT is hosting the “12 Heroes for O.U.R.” CrossFit fundraising challenge to help raise awareness and funds for Operation Underground Railroad, an organization devoted to ending child-trafficking and child slavery. The event involves completing 12 hero WODs in a 12-hour window on December 12. Those wishing to participate can join in from their own local gyms and the workouts will be livestreamed as well. Learn more and sign up.
Christmas Fundraiser and Elf-Off:CrossFit LoLo in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada will hold their third annual “Elf-Off,” a fun event to raise money for a different cause each year. This year the event will be virtual and livestreamed on Instagram on December 12 at 7 PM PT.
Wishing on a WOD: Last weekend, Beaverton CrossFit in Beaverton, CO hosted its 11th annual Wishing on a WOD fundraiser benefiting Make-a-Wish Oregon. The Beaverton gym has a goal of raising $20,000 this year and has raised over $18k already. Learn more and donate now to help them hit their mark.
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