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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by ButcherBox, your neighborhood butcher for the modern world. Imagine your buddy owned a farm and every month he dropped off a box of grass-fed steaks, free range organic chicken and heritage breed pork. Well, that’s basically ButcherBox. And because they’re awesome, all Morning Chalk Up readers get $10 off their first order + 2 free ribeye steaks.
NOW PLAYING...Carleen Mathew’s Road to the Games Spotify Playlist.
P.S. How would you like us to cover the 2017 CrossFit Games? Take the 2 minute survey and share your thoughts.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Failure is only postponed success as long as courage ‘coaches’ ambition. The habit of persistence is the habit of victory.” — Herbert Kaufman
MOVE OVER ESPN. CBS SPORTS IS HERE.
WHAT HAPPENED.
Yesterday, CBS Sports announced a new partnership with the CrossFit Games to broadcast up to 40 hours of live television coverage of the 2017 and 2018 CrossFit Games season. General Manager of the CrossFit Games Justin Bergh confirmed it, saying “We’re excited that CBS Sports is our new television partner,” meaning ESPN is getting the boot.
ANYTHING ELSE?
Coverage actually debuts tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern. CBS Sports will air a preview show highlighting who’s heading to Madison and some clips down memory lane of past CrossFit Games. They’ve also agreed to broadcast the two-hour CrossFit Invitational in the Fall.
As for details regarding when and where exactly you’ll be able to watch the CrossFit Games, we’ll update you when we know more.
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
Reebok added more 2017 CrossFit Games gear to their store. The Madison Area Sports Commission created a visitor guide for the CrossFit Games.
5 DAYS…until Ben Bergeron’s book “Chasing Excellence” is released and here’s a video promo. Isn’t it ironic? A video promo for a book release.
STATUS UNKNOWN…Chris Spealler found out yesterday he has a bulging disc L4/L5 and L5/S1 is immobile. “I’m still trying to decide if competing [at the CrossFit Games] is worth it for the long haul.”
WHAT TO TELL YOUR MARCH MADNESS FRIENDS…
Just cause it’s off season doesn’t mean all bets are off. Reebok wants you to play CrossFit Games madness, selecting who will be the top 10 male and female finishers, and the top 5 teams. If you get everything perfect, Reebok will write a $1 million check with your name on it. Other top prizes include a $20,000 home gym makeover and a 1-year supply of Whole Foods groceries. Sorry to the rest of the world, only U.S. and Canadian contestants can win but everyone can still play.
THINGS TO…
WATCH: Games Training with the Noah Ohlsen and the Anderson Brothers
Part 1 in this 3 part series follows Alex and Zach Anderson as they head down to Miami, FL to train with Noah Ohlsen in preparation for the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games.
WATCH.
WATCH.
HEAR: BIRTHFIT Postpartum
Dr. Lindsey Matthews, founder of BIRTHFIT joins Joy and Claire for an episode of Girls Gone WOD Podcast talking about life, health, and fitness in the postpartum period.
TUNE IN.
TUNE IN.
KNOW: Krill Oil V. Fish Oil
Never heard of it? Never knew there was a difference? Chances are good you have no idea where your fish oil is coming from so here are a few tidbits to think about when making your next purchase.
KNOW YOUR FISH.
KNOW YOUR FISH.
EAT: Turkey Sloppy Joes with Homemade Sauce
This recipe is for people who don’t have a lot of time, we’re talking 30 minutes or less kinda night. Plus most of these ingredients you already have in your cupboard.
START COOKING.
START COOKING.
BUY: Rogue Benchmade Pocketknife
Rogue partnered with one of the best knife makers in the business, Benchmade, to bring you this premium grade stainless steel tactical pocketknife.
IT’S SHARP.
IT’S SHARP.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
STORY SERIES: How’d your affiliate get it’s name?
“When my wife, Kelly, and I were working on coming up with a name we went through a whole stack of names that we thought would be appropriate for the community we wanted to build. After weeks of dead-ends, we stumbled on a Gaelic/English dictionary in our house that my wife’s grandmother had given her. We took a look at our list of favorite names and decided that Cróga (Brave in English) not only sounded the best, but had the strongest meaning that we wanted to pass on to our athletes.” — David Musgrave, Cróga CrossFit in San Jose, California.
WHAT TO TELL YOUR FRIEND WHO’S LOOKING FOR THEIR FIRST COMPETITION…
Pop open a Kill Cliff then check out the New WODs on the Block, a same-sex three person nationwide functional fitness competition for scaled athletes only. Think Festivus but with a team, and the organizers are taking special care to try and weed out the crème de la crème that might have made it through. Thanks to Ned over at Fitness Battalion CrossFit in Atlanta, GA for dropping us a note. PSSST…right now they’re the only box in Georgia hosting. It doesn’t appear there’s a final day to register but as soon as a host location is filled up you’re SHHHH outta luck.
CHALK UP READS
“Sibling Saves CrossFit Games Champ’s Life” by Brittney Saline, CrossFit Journal
The surgeons had been working for more than seven hours by the time they excavated their patient’s diseased liver.
Mottled with dark patches of scar tissue, the organ looked like that of a 40-year-old alcoholic. Instead, it belonged to 17-year-old Sydney Sullivan, the champion of the Teenage Girls 14-15 Division at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games.
Her 23-year-old brother Tommy lay in a recovery room nearby, recuperating from his own procedure. Doctors had removed his liver’s right lobe—about 60 percent of the organ—and transplanted it into Sydney. A later biopsy of Sydney’s liver revealed she had been living with Stage 4 liver cirrhosis.
“We asked ‘how long would she have lived with that liver?’ and they said maybe a year,” said Judith Sullivan, Sydney’s mother.
“5 Tips on Cultivating a Fitness Community” by Gameplan A
People are more likely to exercise when those around them are doing it too, right? But how do you build a fitness community for your brand? What steps can you take to foster that community? And what made the brands with the huge following what they are today?
While it’s unlikely you just pop out of bed one day and say, “I want to start a fitness community!” there are feasible steps you can take to building one, either for your gym or brand.