FIRST LOOK: The Greg Glassman Profile

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by MobilityWOD. Do you want to learn to prevent or treat your own injuries or chronic pain? Do you want to be a better athlete? MobilityWOD provides you with a one-stop-shop solution to make you stronger, faster and more athletic and just awesome all around. Save 20% off an annual subscription with code “CHALKUP20”.

“Thinking will not overcome fear, but action will.” — W. Clement Stone

8 Things I Learned About Coaching from an Active Life RX Seminar

Active Life RX has two goals: to get people out of pain without the doctor and to keep them in the gym. One of the ways they do this is by training coaches, chiropractors, and physical therapists through two-day hands-on Coach Training Workshops, to help them gain a more accurate understanding of flexibility and mobility, how movement impacts injury and performance, and how to apply these lessons back in your gym.

Here are 8 things I learned from attending an Active Life Coach Training Workshop at Red Wolf CrossFit.

1. Before all else, gain trust. Propriety, commonality, and credibility will get you there. Look the part, find commonalty with every client whether she is 65 and terrified or 25 and sure of himself. Make yourself credible and then live there.
2. There is no such thing as Pass or Fail, only Full or Limited. When you use words like “fail” it sets a precedent with your athlete. No one body is a failure, nor can any one person “fail” a movement. It is a range of motion. Everyone works at their own measure.
3. Be transparent. As trainers and coaches, we need to be clear from the outset. Trainers that act as though injuries never occur in CrossFit are not doing anyone any favors. If you’re training with intensity, there is a risk of injury. By being upfront about the risk you are minimizing the potential fall out, not removing it.
4. Do not assume. Never. Not ever. Everyone has a subset of tolerable conditions that we just walk around with every day. Take the time to assess every client’s movement, and follow through with all the assessments. Be thorough.
5. A functional diagnosis is not a medical diagnosis. A functional diagnosis addresses how a body moves;  it is not a medical diagnosis. You can address the movement without making a medical diagnosis. You are not a doctor. (Unless you are, then lucky you!)
6. Irritation drives adaptation. We see this everywhere. Members whose back squats look like good mornings. Members who can’t remain upright in an air squat, who cannot lunge because of ankle mobility. People’s bodies are like water. They will take the path of least resistance. Re-train the path.
7. No athlete will want to spend 15 minutes in class testing ankle mobility instead of deadlifting. You must find ways to incorporate things like mobility and flexibility into class regularly until they realize the value in it. People’s bodies are like water. They will take the path of least resistance. Re-train the path.
8. It’s your job to teach them to know their bodies. We can assess athletes coachand give them a dozen drills and cues, but when they walk outside the gym they need to know their own body. What is their threshold for pain? What does an injury feel like versus an irritation? How do I know when to go full send and when to taper it back? If we can get an athlete to know their own body, we have coached them well.

These Leggings Were Made for You.

Give us all the leggings.

When it comes to leggings, CrossFitters are definitely connoisseurs. We have to have the right amount of stretch and coverage (you know the old bend-over-in-front-of-the-dressing-room-mirror trick). Some prefer high waisted, some prefer crop length over full length. It’s actually quite a science.

If we’re describing your relationship with leggings, then we have some good news for you.

Guess what?

Amazon has a new private line of activewear called Crop 10 and they let you build your own leggings. You can choose the length, waistband and sale of your choice. But are they legit? Some recent commentary in the reviews section:

“…These are perfect in every way. The fabric is thick and supportive”, “comparable to Lululemon quality”, and “They are snug, but they do not bind. Because of the type of fabric, the pants move with you, and by gosh, they look good, too!”.

Okay you’ve convinced me.

A pair of these leggings will run you between $59 – $69 dollars, but there is one catch. You do have to have a Prime membership to order, but let’s be real, you need one anyway!

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell yourself the next time you want to just hide all football season long because tailgate parties and macros make you nervous.

Be less nervous. Just like any other party situation, there are things you can do to prepare. Just like the team you’ll be screaming at to move faster, you gotta’ make a game plan. Here are eight tips to enjoying a sunday watching football with friends and still start your week off right. 

Things To…

WATCH: A Major Transformation

Hank Zehr’s entire life has taken a turn for the better, and it started with getting in shape. When Hank first joined CrossFit he couldn’t jump onto a 12″ box. He’s now down 140 pounds and going for five-mile runs. He is excited that he can keep up with his two teenage sons and that his health is back on track.

HE IS GRATEFUL.

HEAR: That Sticky Space Between Goals

Dr. Cara Miller joins the Feed Me Fuel Me podcast to share her work in the psychology of the space between where you are, and where you actually want to be. Dr. Miller shares exercises that can help expose deep subconscious negative feedback that might be inhibiting your ability to grow.

WHOLE HEALTH.

DRINK: Paleo Protein Coffee Creamer

This high protein, zero sugar, healthy fat and keto friendly creamer is the perfect coffee pairing you’ve been looking. Flavor fuel your morning with Vanilla, Hazelnut or Original with $5 off this three pack sampler with code “CHALKEDUP.”

COFFEE IS SERVED.

EAT: The Lemoniest Lemon Cake Ever

Lemon juice, lemon zest, and lemon glaze give this cake it’s title. Not only does it get its lemony-ness from bonafide lemons, the recipe covered in a lemon icing before being served, sooooooo.

PUCKER UP.

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

Chalk Up Community

• GRAND OPENING — CrossFit 11:24 in Marietta, GA is hosting a grand opening on November 3rd. With a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house, the entire community is invited. 
• WOD FOR WARRIORS — WOD for Warriors is a workout held on and around Veterans Day, open November 2nd – 12th at gyms all across the country. This event is an opportunity to support veterans through functional fitness, compete for more than $2,000 in prizes, and raise funds for America’s veterans. One hundred percent of the proceeds from this event go directly to support Team RWB’s mission.
• EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TRAINS THROUGH ADVERSITY —  Eight-year-old Liam has struggled with tics and Tourette’s for three years. Earlier this week he clean and jerked 51 pounds while his mom watched. “People may judge me for letting my son lift weights. I’m not ‘letting’ my son lift, I’m letting him be comfortable in his own body. While at the gym lifting and doing workouts he is finally calm. He feels safe and loved and at peace within himself.”
• FITNESS DATA BREACH — Mindbody, an app popular amongst SoulCycle and CrossFit gyms, has exposed millions of user records because its servers did not require passwords. Other clients include Lifetime Fitness, Gold’s Gym and Cyclebar and it is estimated that as many as 113.5 million records were compromised.

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

More than 50% off bottles of Margaux Alvarez’s wine • Jordan, who is partially blind, jumped onto a 24” box • William J. Johnston Middle School held a schoolwide CrossFit challenge • Zach Sowder hit a 202 pound strict press PR • You know what’s even better than couples working out together? Masters couples from CrossFit Repentance • Can you floss with 35 pound plates in each hand? • Happy four-year anniversary to Emily Breeze Watson. 

…and this pup has better handstand push-up form than you. 

PREVIEW: Men’s Health Magazine’s must read Profile on Greg Glassman — “For first disrupting the fitness industry and now taking on the health-care industrial complex” coming out today online and in print:

“‘There are at least 20,000 of you training in CrossFit boxes,’ says Glassman, addressing 40 doctors inside an 8,000-square-foot barn nestled in central California’s farm country. It’s a diverse group—a neurologist from Boston, a trauma surgeon from San Francisco, an orthopedic surgeon from Jackson, Mississippi.

“Across more than 20,000 hours of medical school, physicians receive about 25 hours of lecture on nutrition. As for exercise? LOL. What really digs at Glassman is that docs do, however, spend semesters on pharmacology. ‘The CDC estimates chronic diseases [and mental-health conditions] account for 86 percent of health-care spending and 70 percent of deaths,’ he says. ‘If people would just get off the couch and off the processed carbs, 40 percent of those deaths could be avoided.’

“CrossFit Health is about increasing the number of CrossFit boxes, creating access for all. It’s also about fighting the establishment: lawsuits against fitness organizations trying to bring down the brand as well as junkfood companies that fund nutrition science.

“‘What about concerns that they’ll get injured?’ asks an orthopedist. That i-word pulls the trigger. ‘Jesus, as a vast discipline, you orthopedists can’t get enough of football and running, but somehow CrossFit is the boogeyman,’ Glassman says. ‘Fuck injuries. You think we got to 15,000 boxes by hurting everyone?’ ‘No, not me,’ the orthopedist says. ‘I’m asking for other doctors…’ ‘Yeah, I get that,’ says Glassman. ‘But see, we gotta unfuck the doctors first.’ The most controversial man in fitness is at it again, picking fights with the establishment.”

Michele Fumagalli on 9 Weeks Post Surgery — “…my pins were removed last week and a CT scan today would tell us how the scaphoid was healing. In the words of my Dr. ‘I don’t want to say I’m shocked but I am shocked how much it’s healed.’ Now, I won’t be picking up the barbell the next few weeks still, but I’ll be tackling PT and range of motion while continuing to workout as I have been.”

— Remind me? Fumagalli fractured her wrist during the Criterium opening event at the 2018 CrossFit Games and was forced to withdraw. 

SNEAK ATTACK: Wodapalooza Sneaks in Another Qualifier WOD — Yesterday morning, Wodapalooza dropped a second workout for this week. Both WODs four and five are due Monday at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. 

— WOD #5:

15 Minute AMRAP

30 Backsquats (135/95 Pounds)

30 Toes-to-bar

30 Backsquats

30 Deficit HSPU (6”/4”)

30 Backsquats

30/20 Ring Muscle-Ups

“The Challenge of Masters,” by Darlene Prois, BoxPro Magazine

I was 60 when I first walked into a CrossFit Box. The oldest athlete in the room, I was there to earn my CF-L1. My introductory workout was “Fran,” a terrorizing choice for one who’d never done a pull-up or a thruster.

It’s an experience most athletic 35-year old Coaches cannot comprehend. I struggled with PVC overhead squats, panicked at 10-pound wall balls and dreaded being the obvious person to “fix” during training drills.

I might have bailed, had it not been for the encouragement of legendary CrossFit Games athlete Chris Spealler, one of our trainers. I reminded him of his mother, so he wasn’t about to let me forget why I was there.

“CrossFit is not about the Games,” he told me. “CrossFit is about health, fitness and longevity.”

I earned my CF-L1 that weekend, and in the nearly seven years since have coached dozens of masters while struggling with my own limitations as an aging athlete. My husband is a gifted CrossFit Coach and competitive athlete, the fittest 60+ man in Wisconsin, while I am content to compete in the scaled division of the Open.

Between us, we’ve developed a coaching philosophy whose success is mirrored in a strong, fit membership that includes dozens of athletes aged 50 to 76. Six members are over 70.

Our own ages may initially attract master athletes to our Box, but they stay because they see results.

10/12 – 10/14: Faith RX’d (Denver, CO)

10/13: Barbells For Boobs 2018 (Sutton, MA)

10/13: WOD for a Cause (Bloomsburg, PA)

​10/13: C4 CrossFit Co-Ed Classic (Brunswick, NJ)

10/13: 2018 War in the Woods (Norton, MA)

10/13: The Festivus Games (Online)

10/13: Grand Games 2018 (Westfield, IN)

10/13: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ Red Island CrossFit (Smithfield, RI)

10/13: Barbells for Boobs (Steamboat Springs, CO)

10/13: Older, Wiser, Faster, Stronger (Plymouth, MI)

10/13: The Greenville Games (Greenville, SC)

10/13: Reps For Recovery (Hickory, NC) 

10/13: Kal-Haven Trail Ruck (Kalamazoo, MI)

10/13: Fall Brawl (Saint Michael, MN)

10/13: Sweat for Georgia Mae (Wendell, NC)

10/13: Barbells For Boobs (Southaven, MS)

10/13: Wodtoberfest Co-ed Team Competition (Owosso, MI)

10/13: OUTWOD (Atlanta, GA)

10/13: Battle for the Bell VII: Stranger Bells (Southbury, CT)

10/13-14: Central Florida Throwdown 6 (Lakeland, FL)

10/13 – 10/14: Box Wars 3 (Fort Valley, GA) 

10/14: CrossFit for Kayden (Fallsington, PA)

10/20: BCS Classic 2018 (Bryan, TX)

10/20: Head 2 Head in Hamilton (Hamilton, NJ)

10/20: Fittest on the Valley VI (Lahaina, HI)

10/20: Crossfit Bona Fide Third Wheel Throwdown (Portsmouth, NH)

10/20: CrossFit Katana Samurai Showdown VI: Trio of Terror (Mansfield, OH) 

10/20: SE Texas Masters of CrossFit Fall Classic (Cypress, TX) 

10/20: Barbells For Boobs (Stamford, CT)

10/20: Filthy 150 Irish Competition (Dublin)

10/20: CFT’s METAvivor Fundraiser (Carol Stream, IL)

10/20: WOD for the Fallen (Columbia, SC)

10/20 – 10/21: The Independence Games (Florence, SC)

​10/20 – 10/21: The Lincoln Invitational (Spokane, WA)

10/21: Chalk It Up 2018 (Akron, OH) 

10/21: Me Jane, You Jane (Santa Rosa, CA) 

10/26 – 10/28: JAKTRX Atlas Games (Montreal)

10/27: Tough Temple Invitational (Rockville, MD)

10/27: Rock Your Box Throwdown (St.Cloud, MN)

10/27: Halloween Havoc (Harrisburg, PA)

10/27: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ CrossFit Trumbull (Trumbull, CT)

10/27: Saberspook Throwdown (Minneapolis, MN)

10/27: Monster Mash (Ann Arbor, MI)

10/27: The Foundry 5K (Steamboat Springs, CO)

10/27: Rock Your Box Throwdown (Saint Cloud, MN)

10/27: Beartown Halloween Beatdown (Lebanon, VA)

10/27: 9th Annual Fall Brawl (Gibsonia, PA) 

10/27: Boo Bash (Cleveland, TN)

10/27: Crush Cancer at Dogtown CrossFit (Los Angeles, CA)

10/27: Sin City Championships 2018 (Singapore)

10/27: Barbells For Boobs at CrossFit New Albany (New Albany, OH)

10/27: Barbells For Boobs Fundraiser (Nyack NY)

10/27 – 10/28: GIs and Janes 2 (Jackson, MS)

11/2: Wodapalooza Qualifier – Team (Online)

11/2 – 11/3: Women’s WOD Jam Individuals (Denver, CO)

11/3: The Battle of Port Royal Sound (Okatie, SC)

11/3: Battle for the Badges (St. Charles, MO)

11/3: PPS CrossFit Fall Throwsdown (Portland, OR)

11/3: CFT’s 2018 Strongman Classic (Carol Stream, IL)

11/3: WODamania (Riviera Beach, FL)

11/3: Barbells For Boobs at CrossFit Florian (Norwood, MA)

11/3: Bar Wars 2018  (Harker Heights, TX)

11/3: Masters Of The Midway (The Hills, IL)

11/3: Dynamic Duo Deathmatch 2018 (Southlake, TX) 

11/3: Inferno in the Forge (Lawrenceville, IL)

11/3: Perimeter Rowdown (Atlanta, GA)

11/3: Central Texas Showdown (Seguin, TX)

11/3: Rookie Rollout 3 at Troy CrossFit (San Diego, CA)

11/3: Masters of the Midwest (Greenwood IN)

11/2 – 11/4: Reignited Games 2018 (Wilmington, NC) 

11/3 – 11/4: Charlotte Throwdown for Mental Health Awareness (Charlotte, NC)

11/3 – 11/4: GameDay Championship (St. Paul, MN)

11/04 – 11/05: WODNATION BR (Vinhedo, Brazil)

11/10: Emerald Coast Honor Games (Destin, FL)

11/10 – 11/11: South Loop Games (Chicago, IL)

11/10: Metcon 4 Hope (Reno, NV)

11/10: Patriot Games (Rochester Hills, MI)

11/10: Best of the Wurst (New Braunfels, TX)

11/10: 4th Annual Trainwreck Classic (Aberdeen, SD) 

11/10: First Annual Sergeants Fitness Patriot Games (Caldwell, ID)

11/10: Warrior Affiliate League Delta Force (Duarte,CA)

11/10 – 11/11: European Showdown (Paris, France)

11/11: CFF Team Marathon Row (Metuchen, NJ)

11/11: The Battle at Branded One (Las Vegas, NV)

11/15: Push Pull for Pancreatic Cancer @ Hybrid Athletics Bridgport (Bridgeport, CT)

11/17: MetCon Mashups CrossFit Lubbock (Lubbock,TX)

11/17: CrossFit TIG Turf Wars (Brighton, MI)

11/17: Capital Region Rumble (Albany, NY)

11/17: Arizona Clash of the Fittest 2018 (Green Valley, AZ)