“Champions don’t blame the tools they’ve been given. Champions sharpen them.”- Abraham Lincoln
NEWS
BREAKING: Justin Bergh Out, Dave Castro New Leader of CrossFit Sport Team
CrossFit HQ’s General Manager of Sport Justin Bergh will be leaving the company and Dave Castro will step in as Leader of Sport Team. The major shake up comes only six weeks out from the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games—the pinnacle event of the sport.
The details: Bergh has been with CrossFit since 2013, ushering the sport from its first year in the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California through its tenure in Madison, Wisconsin.
“After 13 years, Justin Bergh will be leaving CrossFit. JB has done so much for our community and we’re incredibly grateful for the role he’s played in making CrossFit what it is today. Dave Castro will step in to lead our Sport Team, who are prepping to make sure we have an amazing 2023 Games,” CrossFit CEO Don Faul said Tuesday morning, in an internal statement provided to the Morning Chalk Up.
In the email, Faul told CrossFit employees: “Dave will be working closely with the team to ensure a smooth transition. We will provide more details as soon as they are firmed up.”
An email regarding the news was also sent to all affiliates assuring everyone of “an amazing 2023 Games,” signed by Austin (Malleolo, the current GM of Affiliates).
Remind Me: Justin Bergh started his career with CrossFit in 2010 as a business director and from there he led Level 1 seminar staff for 5 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He’s held his position as general manager through many leadership changes and shake ups, including new CEOs, layoffs, and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bergh described his General Manager role as managing “day-to-day operations for all aspects of the CrossFit Games. Executive Production of all competition-related media coverage. All business development for the Games, Licensing for CrossFit Inc.” It is unclear if Castro’s role will fully take over these responsibilities or have or if the new title means new roles inside the company.
Momentous is on a mission to democratize high performance, empowering you to achieve your highest potential in and out of the gym through a combination of cutting-edge products, expert knowledge, and unparalleled guidance. This year alone, Momentous:
Launched 16 new products
Announced 50+ new partnerships with world-leading experts and organizations in human performance, like Dr. Andy Galpin, and of course: CrossFit
Won 3 innovation contracts with the US Military to conduct clinical research and develop revolutionary products
Momentous knows your fitness is always improving and evolving, and so are their products. SHOP BESTSELLERS.
SPEED READS
Turnagain Crossfit finds a new home with CrossFit Alaska (CFAK) after tragedy closed their gym earlier this year.
Drug Test Update: Angelique Connoway is appealing drug test results after she provided a sample at the Africa Semifinal on May 21, 2023 containing metabolites of GW1516.
Connoway competed alongside Michelle Merand on FBDV Mayhem Africa, the region’s only qualifying team.
Chris Hemsworth used Crossfit-style workouts to prepare for ‘Extraction 2,’ according to his trainer.
🏋️♀️ Spring Swag Sale: The Morning Chalk Up Spring Swag Sale is on now. Supplies are limited, so order now.
COMPETITION
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
How To Host The Perfect Summer Throwdown: Pay Attention to the Finances
So you’ve decided to host a summer throwdown! Before you head to social media to recruit your athletes and post flyers around the gym, it’s important to nail down several key elements of planning. In our last series, we discussed the need to think through four key elements of the competition before making it official:
Logistics
Finances
Programming
Press & Communications
We also dove into how you can plan for all the logistical elements of your competition. If you haven’t already, you can read through that here.
Today, we’ll be digging deeper into the financial elements of a competition, and how to make a summer throwdown work for both your affiliate’s, and the competitors’ bank accounts. Here are some questions to get you started.
Do you want to make money or just break even?
Some competitions are designed to be money-makers or fundraisers. Some are designed simply to break even while rallying community support. Here are several financial formats of the competition you can utilize based on your goals.
Luke Parker Ready ‘To Grab Bull By the Horns’ in First Individual Games Appearance
CrossFit Mayhem’s Luke Parker qualified for the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games for the first time as an individual after finishing eighth at the North America East Semifinal. He now has his spot in the sport’s biggest competition, and he is ready to go out and grab the bull by the horns.
Remind me: Back in 2021, Parker took on a new challenge. The former college baseball player had put two solid years into CrossFit and decided he was ready to take it to the next level. He began training at CrossFit Mayhem and attempted to qualify for his first CrossFit Games.
Parker finished 21st in his first Semifinal appearance, missing qualification, but that did not deter him. He continued training hard while joining CrossFit Mayhem Indepdence in the Team division for the 2022 season.
Parker returned to individual competition in 2023, and he put the sport on notice. He qualified for Semifinals once again, and he went out and punched his ticket to Madison. He also did so after completing a 300-pound snatch in one of the most exciting moments of the three weekends.
Parker: “It’s the best feeling ever. I definitely feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be and right where I thought I was going to be. … I’m ready to truly see what my body is capable of.”
“I’m 29 years old now, but a lot of my friends who are younger than me have been doing this for over 10 years.”
“I’m going into my fifth year of ever doing CrossFit, ex-baseball player. So yeah, my body feels young and new. I’m just excited to start grabbing the bull by the horns.”
Travis Mead Completes 1,000 Hero WODs in 365 Days Despite Recent Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis
Had 36-year-old Travis Mead abandoned his plan to challenge himself to 1,000 Hero WODs in 365 days, nobody would have blamed him. The four-time CrossFit Regionals athlete, and owner of Iron Valley CrossFit in Clackamas, OR, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last spring.
But Mead did just the opposite. He decided to push on with the 1,000 Hero WOD challenge, which he started on June 1, 2022 and finished on Memorial Day of this year (May 29).
The details: Completing 1,000 Hero WODs in 365 days requires more than two on several of them—2.73 WODs per day, to be exact. Mead’s original plan was to front load his year to make the second half a little easier, all the while taking Sundays as rest days.
All went well for a while. He was logging three to four Hero WODs each day for a number of months until he had completed 600, maintaining what he said was usually about a 75 percent intensity effort, which allowed him to focus less on his overall times and more on just “moving smoothly and consistently,” he explained.
Summertime Squatting with Caffeine and Kilos: A Free Program
The days are longer, the sun is shining, and all of a sudden, it’s summertime strong season. You know what I’m talking about – it’s that training outside, chilling by the pool, and running on the beach kind of time, and Caffeine and Kilos is all about it.
But suns out, guns out ain’t the theme this year. Sure, it’s great to show someone which direction the beach is, but how helpful is it if they can kick over the legs you stand on while you are flexing?
You want summer solid. Summer strong. Summer squat life. If you want to be able to lug all those beach toys on that vacation, it’s time to change the narrative when it comes to bulking season. Why reserve the heavy squat programming for the winter months? Why not get outside, take in that incredible vitamin D, and use it to build that strong base that will carry you right through into the fall and beyond.
This year over at Caffeine and Kilos, they are running a 4-week squat program entitled Thick Thigh Summer that you can get for free, that’s right FREE! This program is designed to help you achieve solid and powerful legs just in time for summer. Whether you’re a CrossFitter, weightlifter, or someone looking to sculpt your legs for the beach season, this program is just for you!
Compete in the Summer Smash Online Weightlifting Contest
Calling all strong ladies: want to raise money for breast cancer survivors AND lift all the weight? Meet Barbell Babes Summer Smash, an entirely online weightlifting competition that lasts three weeks.
Gasping for air during your workouts? Try AIRWAAV. The AIRWAAV Performance Mouthpiece is scientifically proven with peer-reviewed, published research to provide increased endurance, increased strength, and faster recovery.
Wearable trackers just got a whole lot smaller. You love wearing rings as an accessory, now you can wear one to look good, but also track your sleep, recovery and activity levels. The OURA ring is the smallest wearable accessory that gives you important information about your wellness. Check them out!
Fitness Marketing Agency sponsored their first Athlete at Wodcelona; the most adaptive-focused Crossfit competition in the world, producing a short documentary on the journey, competition, and overcoming adversity.
Congratulations to sisters Katrina Wilcox and Maria Holee on their first place finish in the Not Your Mother’s Iron competition last month at CrossFit High Bar in Evansville, IN.
Affiliate owners Jeff and Maggie Tincher were celebrated by their CrossFit Reston gym family in Herndon, VA, as they begin a new journey in Tennessee.
Not CrossFit, Still Cool: Max Park from Cerritos, CA set a new world record when he solved a Rubix cube in 3.13 seconds.
🇺🇸 CrossFit Sand and Steel in Alexandria, VA is hosting an Independence Day Hero WOD on July 1st at 8:00am.
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