CrossFit rules on Xebex rowers

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by FITAID, the Official Beverage Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up.

With the 18.2 announcement set for this evening, there’s no better time to sign up for BEVBOX, LIFEAID’s monthly subscription service, to get your FITAID on a 30 or 60 day auto-ship! That way, when you crush that Open workout, you can recover with an ice-cold FITAID! Today is your LAST CHANCE to get 50% OFF your first month of BEVBOX, an offer exclusive to Morning Chalk Up readers!

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try” — Unknown

ONE GRANDE CALIFORNIA ROAST PLEASE.

Your morning cup.

Every morning when you pour yourself a hot cup of joe and pull out your phone to read the Morning Chalk Up — like you’re doing right now — you’re probs drinking from beans grown in popular regions like Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Colombia.

Well, if you live in the West, that might start to change a little.

We’re talking Left Coast, AKA the best coast.

Coffee may just be Southern California’s next goldmine on the horizon.

“We learned that we had the ability to grow very good coffee with a very unique flavor,” Jay Ruskey of Good Land Organics and Frinj Coffee explains. “There is a misconception that you can’t grow coffee outside the Tropic of Cancer.”

Currently there are 30 coffee farms growing over 30,000 coffee trees scattered about CA, but the highest concentrations are in Santa Barbara and San Diego counties. At least two dozen more farms are expected to begin coffee production in 2018.

Liquid gold.

This isn’t your sketchy gas station coffee. These growers are aiming to appeal to the premium coffee market. With many specialty coffees selling from $60-$600 per pound, you’re looking at a high dollar specialty crop. Blue Bottle Coffee sold California-grown coffee for $18 per OUNCE. Yeah you read it right.

Think of it like a fancy-schmancy bottle of wine or a good aged scotch, only with a good old fashioned caffeine buzz.

18.2 AND WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

At 5PM Pacific time, the 18.2 announcement kicks off live on Facebook. Patrick Vellner and Noah Ohlsen will square off head-to-head at CrossFit R.A.W in Gibsonia, PA. This will be Vellner’s second live Open WOD and Ohlsen’s first. 

Fun Facts — 

Noah Ohlsen:

— His best finish at the CrossFit Games is fourth, but he’s finished 15th or better in all four appearances.

— Won Regionals three years.

— Won the 2016 CrossFit Open, 2nd in 2017.

Patrick Vellner:

— Placed third both times he’s competed as an individual, but his first appearance at the CrossFit Games was on team CrossFit Plateau 2 in 2015, which finished 20th.

— First trip to Regionals was 2014, where he placed fifth. This was back when only three athletes from each region qualified for the CrossFit Games. 

Predictions —

— Last night, Dave Castro posted this ‘head fake’ hint of Rory McKernan doing a bar muscle-up. Dave would never be that obvious so we’re ruling that out. HOWEVER, we haven’t seen ring muscle-ups since 15.3. 

— ONLY ONCE has Dave repeated a movement twice in the same year and that was burpees over the bar in both 16.1 and 16.5.

— Why handstand walk wouldn’t be outside the real of possibility…The Open is a test, and part of that test is for the athletes going to the next level, and to be frank you can’t do well at Regionals if you can’t walk on your hands. Dave also have shown absolutely ZERO sympathy for forcing athletes to stare at a movement for minutes on end failing rep after rep. Why it might not happen…handstand walks pose some serious challenges for judges as well as video verification.

— For a full list of Open movements throughout the years and a list of ones that have never appeared, click here. 

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

What to tell your friend who’s calling NO REP on switching the dumbbell overhead in 18.1…

Confused? Let’s clear the air since we’ve seen these comments popping up everywhere: ‘he/she switched the dumbbell overhead. Isn’t that a no rep’? It actually IS a rep. The 18.0 dumbbell snatch standard is for snatches, not clean and jerks. We know that many boxes (one that we visited last week) interpreted the 18.0 standard to define all dumbbell exchanges but it doesn’t apply to clean and jerks. The 18.1 movement guidelines also doesn’t specify how the athlete has to transition, only that there must be 100% lockout. But don’t just take our word for it, scroll to about the 8:50 mark where Sean Woodland and Pat Sherwood from CrossFit HQ clarify the standard that athletes can switch overhead.

THINGS TO…

WATCH: The Live 18.2 Announcement

Going down tonight at 5PM Pacific, Patrick Vellner and Noah Ohlsen square off for week 2 of the CrossFit Open. You can watch all the action live on Facebook.

SET YOUR REMINDER. 

HEAR: Entrepreneur Myths and Misconceptions

According to Markus Gerszi, the number one problem with business owners is the false notion that “if I want it done right, I need to do it myself.” He joins the Brute Strength podcast for an episode just for entrepreneurs, whether you’ve alrady started something or you’re thinking about it. 

CEOHHHHHH.

EAT: Paleo Walnut Shrimp

Maple spiced walnuts paired with honey-mayo Shrimp. This party starter has everything you need to kick start Friday wine night. 

GET THE RECIPE.

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• BEING JESSICA GRIFFITH — CrossFit Games athlete, ER nurse, all around badass Jessica Griffith talks about essential oils, mental health, and which hilarious celebrities she’d most like to have Bloody Marys with. After reading this profile, you can’t do anything but heart Jessica Griffith. 
• NUMBER 1 — Puori’s PW1 Vanilla Pure Whey Protein was rated the number one most clean in Clean Label Projects study of 134 protein powders. The number three worst came from Quest. 
• 18.1 ANALYSIS — Jonathan Kinnick from Beyond the Whiteboard breaks down 18.1 participation by division, gender, region and overall performance. This one will keep you busy for a while. 

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES (a highlight reel around social media of CrossFit pros and average joes)

Aaron Hanna hit a 375 pound front squat triple • Autumn Ballard from is using 18.2 to raise money for her coworker who just lost her six-year-old • FlapJacked’s Mighty Muffins are now available in Canada • Ellia Miller hit a 225 pound front squat PR • Thuri Helgadottir joined the NOCCO team.

Under the Radar — OCR and FITAID athlete Hunter McIntyre dropped into CrossFit Invictus for 18.1 and posted an insane 456 reps, landing him 4th in his region and 69th worldwide. 

CrossFit HQ issues official ruling on Xebex rowers and 18.1 — “After reviewing videos from Open Workout 18.1, CrossFit has concluded that Xebex-branded rowers are not allowed in competition. The Xebex configuration is significantly easier than the competition standard and violates the ‘uncommon movement clause’ from the CrossFit Games Rulebook.

“Athletes and gyms who used Xebex-branded rowers in competition must report their 18.1 scores to support@crossfitgames.com by the close of 18.2, March 6 at 5 p.m. PT, to remain in the competition. Athletes and gyms who report their scores will receive a major penalty in the form of a 15-percent deduction. Those who used Xebex rowers must report their scores to remain active in the competition.”

For more background, you can read our story here, but here are CrossFit Games’ answers to two important questions:

Q: Shouldn’t that type of decision be made before the open starts?

A: The equipment uses is in violation of the Uncommon Movement clause, which is in the Rulebook that each participant acknowledges at the start of competition. It reads as follows:

Any violation of the prescribed workout format, including the movement standards and range of motion, will result in the repetition(s) being disallowed. Therefore, athletes and judges should be familiar with the Uncommon Movement Clause…

Q: Will they have a chance to retest using a qualified rower?

A: No. You must report your score to the support team if you wish to remain in the competition.

3/1: CrossFit Open 18.2 (Worldwide)3/8: CrossFit Open 18.3 (Worldwide)

3/10: Women Who WOD (Barbados)

3/15: CrossFit Open 18.4 (Worldwide)

3/22: CrossFit Open 18.5 (Worldwide)

3/23: The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth is released (iTunes)

3/24: 4th Annual St. Paddy’s Day Competition (Norwood, MA)

4/7: Battle of the Badges (Anaheim, CA)

4/7: The Revolution (San Antonio, TX)

4/7: GenX Masters Comp (Salem, MA)

4/13 – 4/15: The Railyard Games (Albuquerque, NM)

4/14: Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/14: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

4/14: Deuces Wild by Warrior Affiliate League (Baldwin Park, CA)

4/14: Atlas Blarney Stone Competition (Denver, CO)

4/14 – 4/15: Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Challenge (Columbia, MD)

4/14 – 4/15: WOD Wars Fitfest (Dunedin, FL)

4/14 – 4/15: USA Functional Fitness Performance Camp (Scottsdale, AZ)

4/19: Teens and Masters Qualifier (Invitation Only)

4/20 – 4/22: Athens Throwdown (Athens, Greece)

4/21: Festivus Games (Nationwide)

4/21: Mayhem for MSR (Cookeville, TN)

4/21: Loganville Lockdown (Loganville, GA)

4/28: Battleground SoCal (Wimington, CA)

4/28: Girls Gone Rx (Cincinnati, OH)

4/28: Salem Slaughterfest (Salem, OR)

4/28: 3rd Annual Appletown Throwdown (Cornelia, GA)

4/28 – 4/29: Walter’s Cup Throwdown (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

5/4 – 5/5: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/4 – 5/6: European Masters Throwdown (Budapest, Hungary)

5/5 – 5/6: Tribal Clash (Quarteira, Portugal)

5/5: Cinco de Mayo Classic (San Antonio, TX)

5/5: The Locomotive Games III (Youngstown, OH)

5/11 – 5/12: Beast Mode Games (Greenville, SC)

5/11 – 5/12: Midwest Monster (Joplin, MO)

5/12: Barbells for Bullies (Danbury, CT)

5/13: 2018 International Functional Fitness Federation Judge Training Course (Manchester, England)

5/19: Raising the Bar for Recovery (Medina, OH)

5/19: East Coast Battle (Hanover, MD)

5/19 – 5/20: GameDay Mankato (Mankato, MN)

5/26: Beauty is a Beast 2 (Indian Rocks Beach, FL)