“Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”- Alexander the Great
PROFILE
Balance is the Key for Pat Sherwood’s Hectic Schedule
Pat Sherwood learned about CrossFit in 2005 after a conversation with Dave Castro, and he became a prominent part of the company for several years. He worked approximately 200 seminars as part of the HQ training staff, he programmed some events for the CrossFit Games, and he served as a host/analyst for the CrossFit Games Update Show.
Sherwood’s life is just as busy now, but in a different sense. He programs workouts and creates content for CrossFit Linchpin and tackles some of the community’s biggest topics on a podcast with Adrian Bozman. He is also a husband and a father with two stepsons and an infant.
Sherwood has a limited amount of time to achieve fitness, but he makes the most of these opportunities. Sometimes he has to work out in his living room. Other times he can make it out to the garage and use a variety of equipment.
“It’s rugged but bearable, you know, a good way to say. And it’s also in a weird way a good proof of concept. People are always talking about, ‘Man, you can get a lot done with 30 minutes in the gym.’ You really can.”
“And even when life is just bonkers, if you decide that what’s going to be important to you is maintaining your health and fitness, even when life is bonkers, you probably have 30 minutes sometimes during the day.”
A limited amount of time does not mean that Sherwood’s workouts have grown weak. He had a reputation for creating some spicy workouts while at HQ, and he had some willing victims in Tommy Marquez, Heber Cannon, Rory Mckernan, Marston Sawyers, Charlie Dube, and Wilson Tang among others. His programming style has changed in the pursuit of sustainability, but there is still a healthy mix of grueling workouts, heavy sessions, and quick burners.
One fitting example of the changing programming and the need for balance is a simple workout featuring 150 dumbbell power snatches. Sherwood did the workout while watching his infant, and he finished in 17 minutes due to some child-prompted rest periods.
A very different workout is Linchpin Test 13, which is a 400-meter run, 20 burpees, 400-meter run, 19 burpees, and so on until you reach one remaining burpee. This grueling test, which features a weight vest, has a 90-minute time cap.
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In case you missed it: Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, spoke to analysts Brian Friend, Patrick Clark and Tommy Marquez about who will qualify for the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games from Australia’s Torian Pro. 🇦🇺
Got WIT?: The UK based fitness apparel company, which is heavy into the CrossFit space, WIT Fitness, is looking for a marketing director to work out of their London, England office.
Buttery Bros Talk Doing CrossFit with Thor “The Mountain” Bjornsson
Buttery Bros’ Heber Cannon got a first hand look – upwards that is – at one of the world’s most famous strongmen, and lived to tell the tale.
Cannon took on Iceland’s Thor Bjornsson, the strongest man in the world in a CrossFit workout (For Time: 21-15-9; Calorie Assault Bike, Power Snatch at 105lbs/48kg). Cannon, who stands 5’11”, 162 pounds, said taking on Bjornsson, who is 6’9”, 324 pounds, was a tale of two men.
He spoke to Morning Chalk Up exclusively about his encounter, which is featured in a new video on the Buttery Bros Youtube channel which he hosts with partner in crime Marston Sawyers.
Scott Panchik: “Retired,” Yet Still in the CrossFit Games Hunt
Ten months ago, nine-time CrossFit Games athlete Scott Panchik publicly announced his retirement, saying it was time to spend more time with his family and less time on his fitness.
At the time, he had no intention of competing this season, and didn’t even plan to participate in the Open or Quarterfinals, calling it a “slippery slope,” as he might accidentally qualify to Semifinals and find himself back in when he was trying to get out.
Fast forward to January, and all of a sudden there was Panchik on the Wodapalooza roster, leaving the community to wonder how committed he really was to his so-called retirement.
But Panchik was adamant, this didn’t mean he was back in. Wodapalooza was merely a chance to bond with his brothers, Saxon and Spencer, he told us in Miami, FL. Wodapalooza was simply “an opportunity to play a play-off game.”
“Professional athletes, if they could go play in one game or two games and not feel like they have to beat on their body all season long, I think they would,” Panchik explained of how he approached Wodapalooza.
Three months later, though, we can arguably call his bluff, as Panchik is on the Semifinals roster and about to throw his name in the hat at this weekend’s Syndicate Crown in Knoxville, TN.
Panchik Explains “Retirement”
A big part of what led Panchik to today, in a place where the CrossFit Games is back on the table, is because of the experience he had last summer.
“At the (2021) CrossFit Games, I said it was going to be my final ride. And when I made that decision, I was going through a knee injury and knew I was about to buckle up and go into a very difficult weekend,” he began.
“And what was very surprising was throughout that weekend the amount of joy I found in competing, and just being in the moment and taking it event by event. There was something special about it. It set something free inside of me, where I was having more fun than I had ever had before,” he continued.
“Something special happened that weekend that brought me back to why I got into the sport in the first place…I was more present in the moments knowing that was potentially my last time at the Games. Or that it was going to be my last time at the Games.”
The 2022 Semifinal stage will officially kick off with the Torian Pro at the Pat Rafter Arena in Brisbane, Australia. The lone Semifinal event for Oceania will also have the distinction of handing out the first qualifying spots at the CrossFit Games for the individual and team divisions.
With only three allocated Games tickets per division, the race for the podium will ultimately leave some familiar names on the outside looking in or relegated to the Last Chance Qualifier. Before digging into the separate divisions, here are some bigger picture stats to keep in mind heading into the weekend.
Games experience: A total of five women and six men in the event have previously qualified for the Games as individuals. All eleven athletes have also managed to qualify through live in-person competition and five of the six individual qualifiers from the 2021 Torian Pro–which was one of four Semifinals to hold live competition–return this season.
That group is led by Tia-Clair Toomey, who qualified for the Games last year through the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge, the five-time “Fittest Woman on Earth” is joined by fellow Games podium athletes Jamie Simmonds and Kara Saunders. The men’s field has perennial top-20 Games athletes including 2019 top-10 finishers James Newbury and Matt McLeod.
In the team division, two of the three qualifying Affiliate Cup teams from 2021 are back, with CrossFit Urban Energy and CrossFit Awaside returning to try and supplant a Plus64 Army Gold team that disbanded after 2021 and members switched to the CrossFit Selwyn team that finished first in Quarterfinals.
Last Chancers: Newbury and Madeline Sturt are the lone returning athletes that narrowly missed the cut of qualifying, but earned themselves a crack at the Last Chance Qualifier last season.
How to Watch: The 2022 Syndicate Crown Semifinal and Schedule of Events
The 2022 CrossFit Games Semifinals stage kicks off this Friday, May 20 and in North America that means the inaugural Syndicate Crown, the first of four Semifinal events on the continent. The three-day competition will be held at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, TN and the top five finishers in the men’s, women’s and team division will advance to the CrossFit Games later this summer.
Here’s a complete roster of the 30 men, 29 women and 20 teams who are competing.
Live broadcast: A live broadcast of the event will be hosted on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel and the CrossFit Games homepage.
We will update this page with links to each day’s live stream when it’s available.
The Morning Chalk Up Coverage: The MCU team will be providing complete coverage of the competition with exclusive athlete interviews, behind-the-scenes, in-depth coverage, highlights, analysis, images and daily recaps on our website, and on our official YouTube channel and Instagram page.
Subscribe and sign-up for alerts and updates on the latest content as it’s posted.
COMPETITION
How to Watch: The 2022 CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown Semifinal and Schedule of Events
The 2022 CrossFit Games Semifinals stage kicks off this Friday, May 20 and in Europe, the first of two Semifinal events is the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown. The three-day competition will be held at the RAI Amsterdam in Amsterdam, Netherlands and the top five finishers in the men’s, women’s and team division will advance to the CrossFit Games later this summer.
Here’s a complete roster of the 30 men, 30 women and 20 teams who are competing.
Live broadcast: A live broadcast of the event will be hosted on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel and the CrossFit Games homepage.
We will update this page with links to each day’s live stream when it’s available.
The Morning Chalk Up Coverage: The MCU team will be providing complete coverage of the competition with exclusive athlete interviews, behind-the-scenes, in-depth coverage, highlights, analysis, images and daily recaps on our website, and on our official YouTube channel and Instagram page.
Subscribe and sign-up for alerts and updates on the latest content as it’s posted.
THINGS TO...
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This time of year can evoke lots of emotions from Master’s athletes. If you aren’t preparing for Age Group Semifinals, and are sitting there thinking, “if I just made one less mistake in that one workout," this article from Underdogs Masters coach Colette Casey is for you.
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