Your Coffee is ready.
Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition was chalked up while going through our gear list for a summit attempt on Mount Whitney next Monday. Sadly, that means there won’t be a Morning Chalk Up next Monday and Tuesday.
How has CrossFit helped you achieve a life goal? Share your success story and you could be featured in an upcoming edition of the Morning Chalk Up.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If you don’t do it this year, you will be one year older when you do.” — Warren Miller
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
CrossFit Games tickets update…looks like they throttled the ticket release a little. Originally, reserved coliseum tickets sold out in under an hour, but CrossFit just announced that more reserved tickets will be “released to the public on a weekly basis following each Regional week.”
The Regional team roster freezes today at 5PM Pacific (translation: gotta narrow the squad down to a maximum of 8 athletes). Goat Tape is now the official tape of USA Boxing. FloElite offers their predictions for 2017 Regionals events. Meet Shannon McNames, 19-year-old weightlifter who stands at 4’11” and was born three months premature, weighing only one pound, 14 ounces. Cal Strength’s David McKellar hits a 385 pound clean and jerk PR.
With your second cup of coffee…what’s the relationship between caffeine and sports performance?
With your third cup of coffee… CNN on how to talk to someone who does CrossFit actually gets it right: “While injuries are always possible, CrossFit’s obsession with safety borders on the tedious…Do you know what is dangerous? Every sport ever invented…Sport is fundamentally dangerous, but these dangers can be mitigated when performed in controlled environments where trained professionals are regulating your performances. Places such as CrossFit.”
THINGS TO…
WATCH: Making a Champion, Part 3
The third episode in this documentary series following Mat Fraser training to repeat as the Fittest Man on Earth. This episode focuses on Fraser turning weaknesses into strengths.
WATCH NOW.
WATCH NOW.
HEAR: Hormones and Feelin Funky
Ever been in a funk? Melissa Mott of Mantras and Macros spends 30 minutes parked at the beach just being real about where she’s at and what she’s going through.
TUNE IN.
TUNE IN.
DO: Summer Camp Like an Adult
Release your inner wild child and go back to summer camp in beautiful Western Massachusetts. Think waterskiing, campfire, s’mores, sunrise yoga and obviously some CrossFit. Morning Chalk Up readers get $25 off the June 9-11 and October 13-15 camps with code “CHALKUP.”
CANNON BALL.
CANNON BALL.
EAT: Spring Vegetable Lemon Basil Pasta
Literally everything about this recipe makes us want to skip out on work and head to the grocery store. If you cook up this delicious dish we advise pairing it with a glass of Pinot Grigio, naturally.
PASTA TIME.
PASTA TIME.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
AFFILIATE STORIES | CrossFit Trilogy — Pekin, IL
So how did you come up with your name?“Our Name, CrossFit Trilogy, comes from the three main things we use to achieve overall fitness. Those are Olympic Weightlifting, gymnastics, and endurance sports, with a focus on technique and proper human movement patterns.”
Got a interesting story of how you came up with your affiliate’s name? Share and get your box featured in an upcoming edition.
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Finally Free of Knee Braces — Meet Catherine Nicholson of Dragonfly CrossFit in Holly Springs, NC. Plagued by knee pain for years, she’s tossing her knee braces in the garbage can after 11 months of CrossFit.”I started with a personal trainer, did voluntary physical therapy, was told that knee surgery could be on the table within a few years…Then I started CrossFit 11 months ago. I spent the first week wearing these knee braces, tentatively learning new movements and retraining muscles. And then, for the first time in 15+ years, my knee pain started to fade–even as I squatted, increased weights, and regained range of motion. I haven’t worn the knee braces since last summer, but I was always afraid to get rid of them, for fear that I’d get injured again…today I’m finally throwing these things away and not looking back. Thank you for changing my life and giving me my knees back–pain-free!”
In April, Sarah Volf Williams of Roaring Fork CrossFit in Basalt, CO passed away. She was a mother and wife, adventurer, volunteer and dedicated friend. A memorial service is being held to honor Sarah on May 20.
CHALK UP READS
“The Tale of a CrossFitter with a Genetically Bad Back” by Ericka Andersen, Morning Chalk Up
I was born into a family of bad backs. My Dad has had a couple of surgeries, my aunts and other family members, too many to count. And it seems I inherited this genetic curse.
Even before I began CrossFit, I dealt with some back issues. As a marathon runner, injury got to me. I went to my first physical therapist at age 20 – and the problem soon solved itself in a matter of months. Six years later, I found myself off of running and visiting the chiropractor three times a week for months. That too, eventually got better.
In 2012, I discovered CrossFit. My back hurt a bit the week I was supposed to start so I postponed it by two weeks. I was skeptical about the sport – would this really be for me? And would it be worth the financial cost?
A year into CrossFit, the old back did a number on me. I couldn’t even air squat, let alone lift a barbell. There was no particular move that did it—and my orthopedic surgeon slapped my MRI on the screen and told me my herniated disc was genetic.