Dave Castro Reminds us to Watch the Mainsite

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by Prospera Supplements.



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“You’re allowed to be disappointed when it feels like life’s benched you. What you aren’t allowed to do is miss your opportunity to lead from the bench. If you’re not a leader on the bench, then don’t call yourself a leader on the field. You’re either a leader everywhere or nowhere.” — Abby Wambach

CrossFit Gave Him His Health Back

Some background.

By age 32, Nick Roubanis weighed 269 pounds, was taking medicine twice a day for asthma and using his inhaler more than 15 times a day. 

“I was experiencing numbness in my arms at night. When I went to the doctor, they started discussing blood pressure medication,” Roubanis said.

A big year.

That same year, Roubanis got married. His wife, a CrossFitter, dragged him into CrossFit Bell in Long Island City, NY. Roubanis thought he’d cruise through a few classes, try to keep up, and be able to keep his diet the same as before.

He was wrong.

He started working with Anthony Lucic, coach and founder of CrossFit Bell and within weeks he was done 60 pounds. 

A new life.

Roubanis still struggles with the urge to overeat, but he’s happier and healthier than he can remember. “My health has taken a 180. I look forward to going to the doctor and getting a clean bill of health. My asthma is completely under control without any medication.”

His biggest accomplishment isn’t the weight loss or getting off the medication, though. It’s getting to play with his kids. “I have two children, James, 5, and Penelope, 3, and I’m physically able to keep up with them,” he said.

DATA TIME

How are 2018 Games Athletes Performing in the 2019 Open After Week 4?

Four weeks down, one to go. And unless Dave Castro introduces a two part workout, there will only be one more scored event for athletes to jump up the leaderboard. Here’s how 2018 CrossFit Games athletes are faring this year.

A few observations.

It’s not looking good for athletes outside top 50. No athlete from outside the top 50 after week 4 has finished in the top 30. If we use that as the cutoff, more than 30 Games athletes won’t be qualifying as individuals through the Open.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen, it’s just never happened before.

Some hard numbers.

For example, 30th place for the men has 411 points and 50th has 592 points (-181 points) and that is a lot of points to make up considering there are 19 other athletes also trying to make up points.

Games athletes dominate the upper portion of the leaderboard.

For the women, 11 of the top 13 position are held by 2018 Games veterans. The only two rookies are Dani Speegle and Karin Freyova.

The men are a little less dominate, holding only five of the top 12 spots.

Continue Reading.

Coffee Break Conversations

How to respond the next time someone brings up politics…

Can you fact check that? And then maybe make a sharp looking list of viable reasons to buy into this? Much like this list of 19 reasons to start weight training. 

The next time you almost eat it on a box jump…

Thank goodness you made it. And thank goodness Tiffany Head, who owns ROMWOD with her husband, did too. By age of 35, she weighed 315 pounds. But after finding CrossFit and Renaissance Periodization, Tiffany changed her life and the lives of every swole and flexy CrossFitter out there.

Things To…

WATCH: Team WIT Does CrossFit Strength in Depth 

Go behind the scenes of day one of Europe’s first CrossFit sanctioned event, Strength in Depth. Watch the athletes get ready, hear from Team WIT and see Sam Briggs bring the hurt.

A SHOWCASE OF FITNESS.

HEAR: Jason Ackerman on Active Life Podcast 

Jason Ackerman has owned multiple gyms, coached at others and now owns a successful nutrition support company called Own your Eating. In this episode of the Active Life podcast with host Dr. Sean Pastuch, they get gritty about what it takes to be a great coach in any profession.

MASTERCLASS IN COACHING. 

DO: Qualify for Granite Games

Team Soul Training is gearing up to launch their new cycle programmed specifically to help you train for the Granite Games online qualifier. From the team who’s coached athletes like Brenda Castro, Dani Horan, Sam Briggs and Soul’s CrossFit Games team, get 15% off your first month of their high-level training program with code “CHALKUP.”

IT’S GAME TIME.

EAT: Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad 

Crunchy cashew Thai quinoa salad that can easily be vegan and gluten-free, and is incredibly crunchy. There are loads of goodness like carrots, cabbage, quinoa, cilantro, cashews, red pepper and onion. There is definitely an Asian flavor profile to this vegetarian meal with a creamy peanut butter and ginger dressing that’s to die for.

SAVE US A BOWL.

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is fueled by

Chalk Up Community

• PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS EVENT — Pancreatic Cancer is projected to be the second killer of all cancers by 2020 with only a 9% survival rate. Project Purple is asking for the help of CrossFit gyms to help raise awareness and funds for critical research and patient aid by hosting Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer throughout the year. Gyms can host on any day of the year.
• AFFILIATE MOVING — CrossFit Garden City owner Dennis Marshall plans to move his gym from Garden City, NY to Mineola, NY by June.
• FUNDS FOR VALOR FIT — CrossFit Waukee in Waukee, IA hosted a ValorFit fundraiser for their 19.4 Friday Night Lights event. Through the purchase of apparel and monetary donations they raised enough money to provide six veterans with gym memberships.

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

Win an RX Smart Gear giveaway package from Jenn and Sam Dancer • AJ Davis back squats 575 pounds for a PR • Wes Kitts gets a 462 pound clean and jerk again • Khan Porter bench pressed 133 pounds for 100 reps with pull-ups every time he broke • Paige Nicole deadlifted 345 pounds for a PR • Jess Estrada cleaned 205 pounds. 

Dave Castro Weighs in on Strict HSPU — In an Instagram post yesterday, Castro talked about the choice to program strict handstand push-ups writing, “Strict handstand push-ups made their debut in the Open this year but should not have been a surprise if you pay attention to CrossFit mainsite programming.”

Noah Ohlsen is Trying Hard and Climbing –– Noah Ohlsen’s 2019 Open started with a 792nd place on 19.1. Since then, Ohlsen has logged a 31st on 19.2, 8th on 19.3, and a 3rd on 19.4, which got him to 74th overall going into the final week. That puts him about 44 spots above the blue qualifying line. 

— But here’s the thing: No athlete who has ever been outside the top 50 has ever finished top 30. Ohlsen would need a perfect performance and a whole lot of other help around the leaderboard for him to qualifify. 

— But, thanks to some heavy leaderboard climbing which put Ohlsen in third overall at Wodapalooza, he’s narrowly outside of getting a qualifying spot from the January Sanctional. Patrick Vellner is on the cusp of qualifying through the Open and if Vellner and 14th place Travis Mayer — who got second at Wodapalooza — both qualify through the Open, Ohlsen will get the ticket. 

Mark Your Calendar — Be ready for the 19.5 live announcements. All streams will be available at Games.CrossFit.com.

On Thursday at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET / 12:00 AM GMT +1:

— CrossFit French Throwdown at CrossFit Silvius Brabo with Lukas Esslinger, Jonne Koski, Carole Castellani and Siri Rohmesmo.

— Down Under CrossFit Championship in Sydney, Australia at CrossFit Ethos with Khan Porter and Jessica Coughlan.

— Wodapalooza from Miami, FL with Tia-Clair Toomey, Mat Fraser, Brenda Castro, and Lea Schmidt.

— CrossFit Filthy 150 with Travis Williams and Sean Sweeney at CrossFit Bua in Dublin, Ireland.

— P.S. Don’t miss the 19.5 live pre-show and live blog from Ireland with our very own Justin LoFranco and Armen Hammer.

Early Leaderboarding…UNNOFFICIAL Top 10 Worldwide:

1. Mat Fraser | Sara Sigmundsdottir

2. Lefteris Theofanidis | Annie Thorisdottir

3. BK Gudmundsson | Dani Speegle

4. Zachery Buntin | Amanda Barnhart

5. Jean-Simon Roy-Lemaire | Brooke Wells

6. Jacob Heppner | Jamie Greene

7. Samuel Cournoyer | Kristin Holte

8. Cole Sager | Kari Pearce

9. George Sterner | Tia-Clair Toomey

10. Uldis Upenieks | Mckenzie Riley

Confirmed for Brazil CrossFit Championship — Lucas Parker is confirmed for the Brazil CrossFit Championship May 17 – 19 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

Location for CrossFit Italian Showdown — Yesterday, organizers announced that the location of the CrossFit Italian Showdown is MalpensaFiere, a multipurpose village located near the international airport of Milan. 

New Doctor at SteadyMD — SteadyMD just welcomed Dr. Lauren Jefferis to the Team! Dr. Jefferis is board certified in pediatrics and trained in functional medicine. She has successfully reversed her own autoimmune disease with Whole30 and other lifestyle changes, making her uniquely positioned to combine her traditional and functional clinical experience to help prevent or reverse chronic disease through lifestyle choices with her clients.

…and this is how you can have Dr. Jefferis as your doctor.

“From Flips to Fitness, How Dani Speegle Became a CrossFit Athlete,” by Tommy Marquez, Morning Chalk Up

During her senior year of college a friend introduced her to CrossFit, but despite her initial reservations, her friend convinced her to watch some clips of the CrossFit Games on YouTube. The two Games events she happened to watch ended up being two of the more notoriously brutal events in Games history: 2013’s Burden Run and the 2014 Triple-3 event.

Speegle was immediately sold. “I watched those two events and was like ‘I gotta get into this’ and the next day walked into CrossFit Ownit down in Melbourne, Florida, and just took it away from there.”

A month later, not only had Speegle fallen in love with the sport, but she called her parents and informed them that despite being three months away from finishing her degree in marine biology degree, she would be switching focus to competing in CrossFit once her schooling was done.

Her parents were supportive, and thankfully the results came relatively quick. A year later she was competing at the 2017 Atlantic Regional on the Kings Point team, and a year after that finished her first and final appearance at Regionals as an individual just three spots away from qualifying in 8th place overall.

Still, despite the success, and continued improvement, the big turning point in Speegle’s competitive came much more recently at the start of the 2019 season. “My major lightbulb moment came in Dubai when I placed top five with some really serious athletes,” Speegle revealed, “I knew that I could compete, but there’s a difference between just going to one of these sanctioned events, and competing for a podium spot, and it took me a while for me to realize that I was at that level now.”

3/21: Open Announcement 19.5 (Online)

3/23: Down for Donuts (Ocala, FL)

3/24: The Rockwell Championships Series Team Qualifiers (Online)

3/30: Game of Barbells (Houston, TX)

3/30: Row for a Reason 2019 (Nashville, TN)

3/30: Reps For Rescues at CrossFit Hanover (Hanover, PA)

3/30: Crossfit Redoubt Open Competition (Slovakia)

3/30: Cru’s Crusaders Fundraiser WOD (San Clemente, CA)

3/30: Burritt Built Throwdown (Port St. Lucie, FL)

4/5 – 4/7: Iron Sharpens Iron Camp (Nashville, TN)

4/1 – 4/8: Northern California Classic Online Qualifiers (Online)

4/1 – 4/11: The Liege Throwdown Online Qualifiers (Herstal, Belgium)

4/6: Feed, Clothe, Love and Lift (Amarillo, TX) 

4/6: St. Peters CrossFit Fitness Awards (Saint Peters, MO)

4/6: Powerstroke Partner Throwdown 2019 (Fallon, NV)

4/6: Metcon Meltdown (Flemington, NJ)

4/6: Two Peas in a POD Competition (Burlington, MA)

4/6: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Diversion (Williamstown, NJ)

4/6: Rise of the Machines IV (Austin, TX)

4/6: Bay Area Beatdown 2 (Webster, TX)

4/6: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Cornerstone (Cincinnati, OH)

4/6: WOD 4 Trent (Phoenix, AZ)

4/10 – 4/24: Granite Games Online Qualifier (Online)

4/11 – 4/14: CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown Online Qualifier (Online)

4/12 – 4/13: Capstone Caveman Clash and Cook Off (Lubbock, TX)

4/12 – 4/14: Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (Washington, D.C.)

4/13: Capacidad De Dos Amigos (San Antonio, TX)

4/12 – 4/14: Athens Throwdown (Athens, Greece)

4/13: The Craic Throwdown (Norwood, MA)

4/13: Warrior Affiliate League Deuces Wild (Chino, CA)

4/13: Battle of the Ages (Pineville, NC)

4/13: 5th Annual Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/13: The Requisite Masters Classic (Philadelphia, PA)

4/13: HandSTANDUP for Haiti (Smyrna, TN)

4/13: WOD Wars Fit Fest (Dunedin, FL)

4/13: CFL Loganville Lockdown (Loganville, GA)

4/13: CrossFit Katy Team Classic (Katy, TX)

4/13: Rescue Road: Obstacle Course Event (Alpharetta, GA)

4/13: Quad Wars at CrossFit Adversary (Williamstown, NJ)

4/13: First Annual McClaren Cup (Rio Rancho, NM)

4/13: Garage Girls 2019 at CrossFit Grit (St. Simons Island, GA)

4/14: To Hill and Back 2019 (Albemarle, NC)

4/15 – 4/27: Top Of The Box Online Qualifier (Clarksville, TN)

4/19 – 5/1: CrossFit French Throwdown Individual Online Qualifier (Online)

4/20: The Wodfather VII 2019 (Keller, TX)

4/20: Rookie Rumble at Bucktown CrossFit (Chicago, IL)

4/20: Barnyard Throwdown (Ohatchee, AL)

4/26: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Nashua (Nashua, NH)

4/26 – 4/27: Gameday Competition (Mankato, MN) 

4/26 – 4/28: CrossFit Italian Showdown (Milan, Italy)

4/26 – 4/28: The Sun Coast Fitness Festival (Kwa-Zulu Natal, AUS)

4/27: 4th Annual Spring Fever Partner Masters Comp (Souderton PA)

4/27: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit KOA (Cranford, NJ)

4/27: The Gnardog Challenge (Reedley, CA)

4/27: Festivus Games (Worldwide)

4/27: Raising the Bar for Charlotte (Medina, OH)

4/27 – 4/29: Asia CrossFit Championship (Shanghai, China)

4/27: Autism Rocks and Rows (San Clemente, CA)

4/27: Garage Games Xs and Ys (Hiram, GA)

4/27: The Explode Individual Classic (West Chester, PA)

4/27: Fast Times at West Tech High (Las Vegas, NV)

4/27: Tyler’s Voice CrossFit Competition (Jefferson City, TN)

4/27: SWFL Sharks Semi-Pro Grid Combine (Cape Coral, FL)

4/27: Explode’s Independent Classic (West Chester, PA)

4/27: Festivus Games at Crossfit Sav-up (Petaluma, CA)

4/27: 4th annual Apple Town Throwdown (Cornelia,GA)

4/27: Kettlebells for Cojones (Montgomery, TX)