How fast did Noah and Patrick cycle reps?

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by Working Against Gravity, the Official Sports Nutrition Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up.

Want to crush the Open? Here is Working Against Gravity’s free Open Prep Guide. You’ll learn about nutrition from WAG, pain-free training from The Active Life, training and competition strategy from Brute Strength and advice from top CrossFit athletes and coaches.

“I didn’t come this far, just to come this far!” — Unknown

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 18.2

18.2

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 reps for time of:

Dumbbell squats

Bar-facing burpees

M 50-lb. dumbbells

F 35-lb. dumbbells

18.2a

1-rep-max clean

Time cap: 12 minutes to complete 18.2 AND 18.2a

We highly recommend reviewing the complete workout and movement standards. You can download your scorecards here.

Ohlsen V. Vellner

• FUN FACT — The entire workout is 110 reps total, so that means you’re halfway at the start of Round 8. 
• Ohlsen waited 2 minutes, 7 second before his first clean at 225 pounds, Vellner waited 2 minutes, 20 seconds. 

Resources:

• STRATEGY GUIDE — Brute Strength coaches Nick Fowler and Adrian Conway break down how to tackle 18.2, everything from warming up to cycling through reps to breathing.
• CLEAN TIP #1 — This is literally the easiest tip you’ll find to fix the bar path on your clean (or snatch), getting that barbell closer to your body so you’re not jumping forward. 
• CLEAN TIP #2 — How do you determine the contact point on your thigh for the clean? This drill is a simple way to find out where you should be making contact on your thighs. 
• WHEN TO DO 18.2 — Depending on what type of athlete you are and what you hope to achieve from the Open, C.J. Martin of CrossFit Invictus offers advice for when you should tackle each Open WOD, and how many times.

COFFEE BREAK CONVERSATIONS

What to tell your friend who just heard that 3 Doors Down is still a band…

Wait seriously? Yes seriously. The popular rock band from the 90s is still cranking out jams, and you can thank the fact that two of their members do CrossFit for why you now know that. They dropped into CrossFit Mettle and Honor in Joliet, IL before hitting a sold out show a couple weeks ago. #CrossFitFamous

What to tell your friend who’s still stressing out about the Open…

Don’t worry, be happy. We made this ‘don’t stress out about the Open’ Spotify playlist so you can chillax a little until you throw down tonight. 

THINGS TO…

RE-WATCH: The Live 18.1 Announcement

In case you were tied up yesterday and didn’t catch the action, you can rewatch the entire live event on Facebook.

3, 2, 1…GO.

HEAR: Chris Spealler, the Legend

Chris Spealler just released his first book, “Speal: A David and Goliath Story.” Spealler joins the CrossFit podcast to talk about the new book and share his lifetime of CrossFit memories as the sport has evolved since he first started in Aromas, CA.

MEET CHRIS SPEALLER.

EAT: Homemade Almond Butter with Vanilla Bean, Honey and Sea Salt

Making your own nut butter sounds like a daunting task, but it’s anything but. Ambitious Kitchen walks you step-by-step through this easy-to-do recipe so you can stop spending $10 bucks a jar at the grocery store. 

NUTTIN BUT GOODNESS.

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

CHALK UP COMMUNITY

• ALONG CAME POLLY — Sixty-four-year-old Polly Schiltz got into CrossFit because of her son. “They assured me that there is a place for me in CrossFit,” and sure enough there was. Oh yeah, Polly had cancer and because it metastasized she continues treatment and in December it started growing again. “[CrossFit has] just given me more ammunition to fight,” she said.
• GRAND OPENING — Raymond and Kayleigh Peterson brought Claremore, OK their first affiliate last week when they opened CrossFit Parts Unknown.

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

Happy Birthday to Ben Bergeron • The Shield Maidens, a women’s wheelchair basketball team based in LA, did 18.1 with Jamie Hagiya • Everyone doing the Open wishes they had a Tia-Claire Tommey at their gym to cheer them on just like this.

What will happen to Malachi Bennett and Jonathan Varela’s 18.1 scores? — According to a post from Tommy Marquez, “they were both assessed a major penalty.” The major penalty is the 15% score reduction for any athlete who used a Xebex rower which was announced Wednesday night. Currently both their scores are
empty for 18.1, but if we did the math right it should work out to be around 418 and 415 reps, which is around 115th to 130th place in the West Region. 

12 Labours’ Luke Espe on doing the Open for fun this year…“Looking back this is the first Open I’ve ever done without the Games being the main focus…The last year of training has been completely different than years past. I take the class workout everyday…Am I in as good of shape as years past, probably not but close, but mentally in a much stronger place. I’m having a blast with training, I’m not as anxious about the Open. 

“I guess what I’m trying to say is I keep seeing people get way to worked up over these Open workouts, don’t be such a spaz. There’s things you can control and things you can’t. You have no clue what Dave Castro is going to throw out there, so just have fun and be a supportive member of your community. Don’t be the downer all the time about the workout, or that you didn’t place high enough, etc. No one cares about that petty shit, it’s a test of fitness, and if you didn’t do as well as you would have liked then you found something that needs to change. Maybe that’s the kick in the ass you need to train harder, fix your diet, sleep better, whatever. But I can assure you being a miserable human being to be around for 5 weeks is not changing your score. So again, have FUN! Journey before destination people.”

“18.1: How Great I Am” by Mike Warkentin, CrossFit Games

Were you nervous before CrossFit Games Open Workout 18.1?

415,276 people are officially #intheopen as of press time, and I’d bet almost 100 percent of them were nervous before 18.1. I understand why. For some reason, entering a competition ramps up the stress level—even for people who don’t have competition goals.

But as soon as a scorecard comes out, everything changes. People who thrive under the massive pressure of running million-dollar companies fret over how they’ll get into the rower. Busy parents who are successfully raising flocks of amazing kids get frazzled by the placement of their dumbbells. Athletes who perform at a high level all the time suddenly get really, really quiet. Everyone needs chalk. All. The. Chalk.

But then the clock starts, the dumbbells fly and the garage or box is awash in smiles, sweaty fist bumps and camaraderie. Here’s why: The Open might represent a test, but every single CrossFit workout is a sort of test. Every time you decide to get off the couch and go to the gym, you’re making a conscious investment to weather the uncomfortable to reap the reward. And you’re going to run into a lot of hard questions before you get home.

“Can I do this? Can I keep going? Can I stand up with this load? Can I learn this new movement?”

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)

4/19: 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)

4/21: FoxWOD (Panama City Beach, FL)

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)

5/19: 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)

5/28: The HAMMY (Hudson, OH)