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Explaining CrossFit’s New Divisional Athlete Committee

 
Morning Chalk Up

November 15   |   POWERED BY

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Dissecting CrossFit HQ’s Divisional Athlete Committee
  • Coaching Development Series part two: cracking the lesson plan
  • Is CrossFit’s new ranking system a step forward for the sport?
  • Sammy Moniz’s Recipe of the Month presents Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice
 
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INDUSTRY
  CrossFit’s Divisional Athlete Committee Explained  

CrossFit’s Divisional Athlete Committee Explained

The 2023 CrossFit season is almost upon us, and CrossFit HQ is taking steps to make improvements across the board. One of the biggest is working hand-in-hand with the Divisional Athlete Committee to refine the season format and work on new initiatives.

The details: The Divisional Athlete Committee (DAC) is an extension of what CrossFit HQ has been doing for multiple years. The Athletes Advisory Council has spent the last three years providing feedback about the competition at an elite level. The DAC provides a way to better listen to all of those heavily invested in CrossFit.

  • There are about 37 members of the DAC after interested parties submitted hundreds of applications. These members are located all around the world, and they represent the individual, team, teenage, master, and adaptive athletes.
  • 23 of these athletes have qualified for the CrossFit Games while all of the members have combined to represent 320 CrossFit Opens. Though being competitive in the respective divisions was not a requirement. The DAC organizers just want to work with a diverse group of people invested in growing the sport in those specific divisions.
  • Community members can get involved as well. They can send emails to [email protected] and provide feedback for the DAC.

One important detail: The exact identities of the DAC members are not public knowledge. CrossFit HQ is not withholding them, and it’s not a big secret. HQ is just letting the DAC members decide whether they want to repost the social media or refer to their spot on the committee.

  • Two members of the DAC that have identified themselves are on the list of Games competitors. Eight-time Masters competitor Jen Dieter and five-time Games competitor Saxon Panchik are two of the representatives that will help guide the future of the sport.

The DAC launched in July 2022 ahead of the NOBULL CrossFit Games. This timeline gave the members an opportunity to connect during the season-ending event and work on building relationships. They were also able to hit the ground running mere weeks after the game while focusing on the 2023 season.

The members of the DAC meet monthly to discuss a variety of topics surrounding CrossFit and the season. Getting everyone on the call with wildly different time zones is not a simple matter, but the members have shown a desire to log on and take part so they can have their voices heard.

Making it better: There have been numerous “tactical” discussions heading toward the 2023 season, and they have focused on both 2023 and 2024. There have also been important conversations about how to best improve overall communication.

  • CrossFit HQ added a new full-time position, the Athlete Communications Manager. Becky Harsh fills this role, and she uses it to engage with athletes of all types, formalize communication processes, and help groups continue to grow.

Heather Lawrence, Director of Sport Operations at CrossFit: “I think one of the most exciting things for me is having more voices contribute to how athletes should be communicated with at all levels. And so when you think about the process by which an athlete receives information throughout the entire season, like, where do they go back to find it? What would be easiest?”

“There are some things like that, that are fairly foundational. But some small changes can really impact the athletic experience and touch everybody who is signing up for the Open.”

Perks of membership: Having a say about the CrossFit season and its divisions is one perk for the members of the DAC. They also have access to a wealth of information. They can reach out to either other and gain more knowledge about coaching, programming, or other topics.

  • Another perk is having access to important courses. Lawrence specifically mentioned an 18-year-old woman who has benefited from her time on one of the committees. She has gone from her L1 to her L2 while continuing to receive an education so she can become a better coach in everyday life.
  • CrossFit wants to continue to provide mentorship to committee members, when appropriate. Doing so should only help the different groups continue to grow over the years.

Examining the future: The DAC is only months old, but there are some questions that bear asking. Will the size of the committee remain around 37 members, or will HQ add more in 2024 and 2025? The answer remains unclear. The goal is to remain small enough so that every voice is heard and the DAC continues to be beneficial.

 
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SPEED READS

In case you missed it: Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, was at the Zelos Games all weekend in Las Vegas and you can check out her competition recap, plus Preslie Hirsch’s story about controversial head judge Andrew Hiller.

Team announcement: Yet another powerhouse team has been announced for the TYR Wodapalooza, this time it’s Ricky Garard, Tim Paulson and Mat Dlugos. 🤩

Comp winners: The CrossFit German Throwdown Classic 2022 has wrapped and some notable names made it onto the podium including Mortiz Fiebig and ⁠Elisa Fuliano, who both took home top spots.

Local love: Great local story out of Tampa Bay about Stephanie Beaver, who works out at CrossFit Aero and how she’s overcome the odds and adversity.

Great story: Mikey Witous calls himself “The Fittest Dwarf on Earth” and we’re loving everything about this.

 
LIFESTYLE
  Coaching Development Series: Cracking the Lesson Plan  

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Coaching Development Series: Cracking the Lesson Plan

Part two of our five part series dives into how delivering an incredible group class starts with preparation. Outlining and detailing the class timeline, whiteboard brief notes, warm-up and cool-down requires a great deal of effort and energy, but allows coaches to provide a fun, organized and productive class.

Timeline: Mapping out the class based on the day’s programming is the first step to figuring out how much time can be dedicated to each segment, and ensures the class will fit within the scheduled hour.

  • Bookend the class: Always block off five minutes at the start and end of class to account for the whiteboard brief and cool-down to finish the class on time.
  • Plug in your workout components: Work backwards from the cool-down and plug in your workout of the day. If it’s a time priority workout (AMRAP or EMOM), you will know exactly how long the workout will take. If it’s a task priority workout (prescribed work for time), you will have to figure out the intended time range for the workout and decide if there will be a time cap. If the programming calls for a strength or skill segment before or after the workout, put that into the timeline based on the specifics for that day. Always block off five minutes between major segments to allow for clean-up, questions, bathroom and water breaks, etc.
  • Calculate the time remaining: At this point, you’ve entered the non-negotiables of the programming and can figure out how much time there is for a warm-up and teaching segment.
  • Warm-up: Block off time for the warm-up first, as you can be creative and sneak teaching progressions into a coach-led warm-up if you’re short on time.
  • Teaching: If the programming allows for extra teaching time, this is where you will block off a focused progression for the movement you’d like to emphasize for that class.
Continue Reading...
 
CROSSFIT GAMES
  Coaching Development Series: Cracking the Lesson Plan  

New CrossFit Ranking System: Step Forward for CrossFit?

A new ranking system for the CrossFit Games season was recently announced by HQ through the Hopper e-mail. Morning Chalk Up’s Lauren Kalil sits down with sports experts Dex Hopkins and Mike Halpin to discuss specific athletes that this ranking system could impact, which regions might benefit or suffer from the changes, and how the changes could play out in years to come.

Watch Now...
 
LIFESTYLE
  Recipe of the Month with Sammy Moniz: Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice  

Recipe of the Month with Sammy Moniz: Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice

Nutrition Information (serving 1 cup cooked): Serves 6, 116 cals / 5g F / 15g C / 2g P

This Pressure Cooker Coconut Rice is a simple recipe that I can make with my eyes closed at this point. On average, Mat was consuming about 2-3 cups of cooked rice per meal when he was training to compete. Needless to say, I was making this recipe just about every day. I chose to make it daily because doubling a rice recipe doesn’t always work 1:1, the volume of liquid needs to be slightly reduced even when the volume of rice increases. I don’t have the exact science all worked out but just trust me on this.

Our approach to fueling and feeding was less about weighing and measuring and more about consuming. After some testing at a sports lab, it was recommended that Mat consume 9,700 calories a day to fuel for the rigors of his daily training.

That being said, we knew that was not necessarily an obtainable number strictly because of how much time it takes to consume that much. It’s a part-time job on top of a full-time training job. Our goal was to simply eat as much as possible and fit in those feedings as frequently as possible. Rice was an amazing way to fuel up at each meal to prepare Mat for whatever training was to bring later that day or to fuel up for the following day of training.

Continue Reading...
 
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HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.

  • 🇮🇪  Emma McQuaid‘s 82kg (181lb) snatch and 104kg (229lb) clean and jerk at the November 5 Ulster Open Championships were enough to earn her the national record for all three (Snatch, Clean and Jerk, Total).
  • Congratulations to Susie Fong from Hub City CrossFit in Albany, OR on getting her first bar muscle-up.
  • Games veteran Chris Spealler shows some serious strength (and patience) in this one minute ring muscle-up.
  • Congratulations to Sabrina Raahauge from CrossFit Butcher’s Lab in Copenhagen, Denmark on pulling a 3RM deadlift at 342 pounds/155kg.
  • Semifinal athlete Jessi Smith hit a new back squat PR of 300 pounds/136kg.
  • Congratulations to Jason Khalipa on winning the purple belt division of last weekend’s US Open Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tournament in San Jose, CA. #playnewsportsregularly

At 30 years old and 24 weeks pregnant, Katie Overstreet from CrossFit Kingstowne in Alexandria, VA was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma. Katie and her husband Victor are both teachers in the area, and Victor also serves as a member of the US Army National Guard. On September 30th their son Luca arrived five weeks early, and only one week after his birth, Katie began her first round of chemo treatments. Now, her CrossFit family is reaching out to help one of their own.

  • Gym owner Carrie Satterlie has started a GoFundMe for the family that she has known since 2010, when Katie first came to the gym with her parents.
  • “They are genuinely some of the best humans we know; always there to help a friend or loved one when they are in need. And now, it Is our turn to show them that same love and support,” said Sattlerlie.
 
 
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