How do you get an echo bike in a hotel room?

August 16   |   POWERED BY

Happy Monday and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Watch Annie Thorisdottir’s CrossFit Games recap interview.
• Get to know John Wooly, the man behind MakeWODsGreatAgain.
• Why does Royce Dunne have an Echo Bike in his hotel room?

“We never know how high we are till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statues touch the skies.” - Emily Dickinson

10 Quarantine Questions with Royce Dunne

Like several other Aussie CrossFit Games athletes, Royce Dunne is currently under a mandatory two-week quarantine at a hotel in Australia. Citizens are required to stay in a hotel for a full two weeks upon re-entry, one of the contributing factors to why it cost some Aussie athletes up to $20,000 to compete at the CrossFit Games.

We caught up with Royce Dunne while she’s quarantined to ask a few questions.

MCU: How long have you been quarantined so far? And when are you able to return home?

RD: I’m currently starting day 9 and can leave the morning of day 15 (20th August AEST).

MCU: Describe the experience overall?

RD: Surreal. It feels vaguely like jail. The staff are very accommodating and a nurse checks in regularly for physical and mental health, but it feels like we have done something wrong – even though we were given the exemption to leave in the first place. It feels like it shouldn’t be legal haha.

MCU: What does a typical day look like?

RD: Get up, brush teeth, make breakfast, catch up on social media with my friends overseas, FaceTime the family, entertain myself on the computer or TV, workout, dinner, FaceTime again, shower, bed.

The Workout Gear Owned, Designed, and Worn by Elite Athletes

Who knows what you need for workouts?

Athletes. That’s who.

Legends is part-owned by some of the world’s greatest athletes such as Steve Nash and Baker Mayfield – A.K.A. People that know what quality workout gear is.

They’re now starting to show up in Boxes around the US and on Games athletes like Adam Klink and Streat Horner.

• Must be legendary: By releasing high frequency, limited edition drops, Legends are able to constantly innovate and improve their gear (and your performance).

Check out their latest drops and see why your workout gear should be made by people that work out.

🍿🍿🍿 MUST WATCH: Annie Thorisdottir’s CrossFit Games recap interview with special guest, Freyja.

Check your mailbox: Rogue Invitational invites have been sent out to Brent Fikowski, Patrick Vellner, Jeff Adler and Travis Mayer so far. The annual three-day invitational kicks off October 29 in Austin Texas. The prize purse is currently up to $1.3 million total with $229,068 going to first place.

Let’s see how this plays out: Former competitive powerlifter, strength trainer and author Mark Rippetoe pulled a Jillian Michaels in an interview with Men’s Health, saying CrossFit isn’t effective at building muscle:

• “Muscle confusion is just a marketing thing that programs like CrossFit use to sell product; it’s not training. Training is the process by which you come into the gym, add weight to the bar, and get stronger.”
• “CrossFit is exercising. It may be hard and make you sore, but it’s just exercising. It doesn’t have the capacity to program a strength increase.”

This is how you ring in your 100th birthday: CrossFit Coronado athlete and WWII paratrooper Tom Rice will be jumping out of an airplane, landing on the beach in Coronado to celebrate his 100th birthday and honor those he served with who didn’t make it back.

The deadline to submit a video or photo for the NOBULL Fitness Festival is September 15, 2021. The fest event will take place November 4-6 in Austin, TX.

🤔🤔🤔 via Squat University: Patient: the doctor told me I should never deadlift again!

• Me: how do they expect you to pick anything heavy off the floor again?

Meet the Meme Man Behind MakeWODSGreatAgain

John Wooley had no expectations when he submitted a meme to CrossFit LLC featuring Australian CrossFit Games competitor James Newbury in response to a meme challenge put out by CrossFit commentator Kayla Banfield during the 2018 CrossFit Regionals.

But what happened next changed the course of his life.

CrossFit shared Wooley’s meme, and suddenly it felt like “being a Kardashian,” he said. “You just watch the follower count climb,” added Wooley, the founder of the popular meme Instagram page makewodsgreatagain.

Prior to the Newbury meme, Wooley’s page—then called CrossFit Trump—had just a few hundred followers. Four weeks later, it had 10,000.

It was a lightbulb moment for Wooley. “If I can connect with people, maybe I can start growing,” Wooley explained to the Morning Chalk Up in an interview at the CrossFit Games in Madison, WI in July about his thought process at the time.

In the months that followed, Wooley’s following continued to grow rapidly, and he decided it might be best to rebrand away from the CrossFit Trump name, as he wasn’t trying to make an overtly political statement.

So Wooley rebranded to makewodsgreatagain, a page that now has 352,000 followers.

What Does ‘Kneesovertoesguy’ Think of CrossFit?

In March of this year, Ben Patrick got the golden touch.

The personal trainer and coach, who has built 700K+ devout following on Instagram under the moniker “Kneesovertoesguy”, largely for his unorthodox approach to knee health, suddenly found himself flooded with requests overnight to sign up to his “Athletic Truth Group”.

The Los Angeles resident quickly found out the world’s most influential podcaster, Joe Rogan, who recently inked a $100 million USD deal with Spotify, had name dropped Patrick on his MMA Show, episode #104 with Cory Sandhagen, and that Rogan himself had incorporated a few of his exercises into his fitness routine. Turns out Patrick, who has worked with a number of professional athletes, and CrossFit, have a few things in common.

...STOP

Using Rings to Work On Your Pistols

The go-to scaling option for pistols is to use rings or a suspension system for support. But this doesn't develop the strength needed for a one-legged squat and eliminates the need to balance yourself, one of the trickiest parts of pistols. Instead, try this exercise to start seeing rapid improvement.

SPONSORED

...LEARN

How To Breathe Better in Workouts

Yes, we know you have been doing it all your life but we've also been running all our lives, and we can certainly use some help there. Research shows that by correcting your jaw and tongue position with a mouthpiece, you can significantly increase endurance, reduce respiratory rate, and boost your recovery.

...SWITCH

A Barbell for a Sandbag on Leg Day

When you're looking to keep things fresh, sandbags are a great way of switching up your workout. The uneven distribution means you're getting a different load pattern and stimulus every time you pick one up. Great for developing not only leg strength but also stability and your core.

...SNAG

A Free WHOOP Strap 3.0 and First Month Free

Hit a brutal WOD this weekend? Or did your sleep suffer for other "weekend" reasons? Discover how all the little things add up to huge performance swings with a free WHOOP Strap 3.0 to track your strain, recovery, and sleep.

...MAKE

Greek Chicken Kabobs

Super easy to make, these chicken kabobs with a zesty Greek marinade are the perfect summer dinner. Cook them on the grill or in the oven and serve with the homemade Greek yogurt tzatziki sauce. Just make sure there is enough for tomorrow's lunch.

See all upcoming events