Read the latest Morning Chalk Up articles on BarBend
Your Coffee is ready.

How much did athletes make competing in Dubai?

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by RXBAR. Just real food that tastes good and is good for you.

Flash sale. Twelve bars for $20. Use promo code “MORNINGCHALKUPUS” when you purchase the RXBAR sample pack and try their best sellers! Live in Canada? Twelve bars for $30 CAD. Use code “MORNINGCHALKUPCA” at checkout.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.” — Unknown

How CrossFit Games Athlete Ethan Helbig Lifts Up Kids

 

Some backstory.

Ethan Helbig is no stranger to hard work. The 23-year-old from Pennsylvania just made his first CrossFit Games appearance in 2018, but he’s been working hard since birth. Helbig was born with a nuchal cord, where the umbilical cord is dangerously wrapped around a baby’s neck. The staff at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh saved Helbig’s little life.

And now?

Helbig wanted to give back to the hospital. Two years ago he started a fundraiser event called a Lift for Kids. The idea is simple — bring in weightlifters like Anna Tunnicliffe, get them sponsored per each pound they lift, then let them lift to their heart’s content. In its inaugural year they raised $13,400.

This year the goal was $20,000, and they opened it up to the public. They had 26 lifters raise nearly $10,000. Then they had the second session of Olympic lifters that came in with a guaranteed sponsorship of 20 cents per pound. At the end of the event earlier this month they had raised $18,500.

They’ve got big plans.

Helbig’s got big plans for next year, including bringing in bigger corporate sponsors and continuing to open it to the public and encouraging other gyms to host their version.

“I have had more fun organizing this than competing at the CrossFit Games and that was one of the best experiences of my life,” Helbig told us in a phone interview.

MONEY. MONEY.

Dubai CrossFit Championship Athlete Payouts

Now that the dust has settled in Dubai, we’ve calculated the final payouts for the complete individual athlete and team field.

In addition to payouts for overall placement, there were cash prizes for top finishes in each event — $3,000 for first, $2,000 for second, and $1,000 for third — and a special $30,000 bonus prize for winning the final event.

If any athlete or team failed to meet the minimum work requirement on an event, then they would forfeit any workout cash prizes earned the rest of the day. For example, for failing to meet the minimum work requirement in Event 5, Mikaela Norman forfeits the $2,000 she would have won for a second place finish in event 6 that same day.

Here’s how the top five made out in each division.

Men

  1. Mat Fraser – $100,000
  2. Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson – $33,000
  3. Willy Georges – $26,000
  4. Travis Mayer – $12,000
  5. Roman Khrennikov – $16,000

Women

  1. Sam Briggs – $92,000
  2. Jamie Greene – $40,000
  3. Sara Sigmundsdottir – $29,000
  4. Karin Frey – $12,000
  5. Dani Speegle – $13,000

Teams

  1. Invictus – $41,500
  2. Team Omnicide – $56,000
  3. Cassidy, Jen, Adrian, Lukas – $17,500
  4. Team Sweden – $11,000
  5. Central Beasts – $9,500

Full List.

Coffee Break Conversations…

 

What to say when Grandma makes a comment on your IG post…

Well there’s a first for everything! Just like those of you that are hosting your first Christmas this year. You have a lot of planning to do and a lot of people to feed. Make them happy with a few perfect wine pairings and a low-key charcuterie board that makes you look like a pro. And if they don’t like charcuterie and wine, well we can’t help you there. 

Things To…

 

WATCH: CrossFit Even When You’re “Morbidly Obese”

Cherise Elliott says she was “morbidly obese” when she started CrossFit. Initially hesitant to walk into an affiliate, Elliott sent a note listing all her health problems to a coach at Put It Up CrossFit in Orem, UT. “(The coach) said four words that changed my life,” Elliott says. “He said, ‘I can help you.”

NOW SHE’S DOWN 100 POUNDS.

 

HEAR: How to Build Resilient Humans

Dr. Joseph Janesz, PhD joins Julie Foucher on the Pursuing Health podcast. Dr. Janesz, who helped Foucher prepare for the CrossFit Games, discusses ways to find motivation and purpose, what distinguishes true champions from other high-performers, and how to build resilient humans.

THERE ARE FIVE HINDRANCES.

 

EAT: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

These little bad boys are so delicious no one will know that they’re free of dairy, gluten, grains and refined sugars. These bars are filled with ingredients that your body will actually know what to do with! They also keep well in the fridge, so you can definitely make them ahead of any party this time of year. 

YES, STILL WITH THE PUMPKIN.

 

PLAN: The Fittest and Funnest 2019 Yet

Women’s Health Magazine compiled a list of 13 adventure activities and fitness weekends to mark on your calendar now. From CrossFit comps to Spartan races to triathlons, there’s something for everyone. 

GRAB YOUR FRIENDS. 

 

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

Chalk Up Community

 
  • PRO-TIP: HIP OR BACK EXTENSIONS — The next time you see hip or back extensions in a WOD (we see you Filthy 50) know the difference and go in with a plan. 
  • FUNDRAISER FOR FALLEN FIREFIGHTER — On Saturday, CrossFIt 1977 and CrossFit Sturbridge are hosting a fundraiser WOD to raise money for the Ava Roy Fund. Participants are asked to donate $20. All proceeds go to Ava, the daughter of fallen firefighter Christopher Roy who died while battling a housefire. 
  • 24-HOUR AMRAP CHALLENGE 2018 — The 6th edition of the 24-Hour AMRAP Challenge took place over the weekend. For 24 hours, teams of six athletes from all over the world completed a virtual real-time team event that lasts for 24 hours. Every hour on the hour a new WOD was announced and athletes completed the AMRAP in 60 mins. After 24 hours, the team with the highest total amount of completed reps is the champion!

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

Congratulations to Brooke Strait on her seventy-five pound weight loss transformation with CrossFit and RPEthan Helbig deadlifted 505 pounds for
three • Travis Williams did 20 cals assault bike, 20 135 pound clean and jerks and 20 more cals in 2:06 • Landon Brazell gets a 350 pound clean PR • Jacob Heppner ties his 350 pound jerk PR • Happy belated 18th birthday Haley Adams

…and Lindsey Valenzuela can still coach a class despite having an assistant coach that bites her butt.

Set Your Reminders — “On the Minute” is back with an episode you won’t want to miss, airing tonight at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET live on Facebook. Join Justin LoFranco and Armen Amirian as they run through the good, bad and ugly from the Dubai CrossFit Championship. 

Who We’re Following…Recently rebranded, the Asia CrossFit Championship Instagram account is now active after being dormant for the past several months. Information has been very scarce, but event director Max Ma recently revealed that the online qualifier will take place in January and more information should be coming out soon.

Tia-Clair Toomey will Also Do the 2019 Open — The world’s fittest woman Tia-Clair Toomey joined FloElite to chat about how she likes Tennessee so far, how she feels about the changes in CrossFit and all about her new app. 

–“I will be competing at Wodapalooza and participating in the Open.”

— “Personally, I am excited for the new qualifying system. I get to be a part of the new direction the sport has decided to go…At the end of the day, they are still searching for the Fittest on Earth. And with this new system, the fittest will still rise to the top. My task is to concentrate on what I can control and to bring my best version of myself on that competition floor.”

— “I’m really excited about the launch of my official app. Having an app gives my fans unprecedented access to my life as a fitness athlete…The app is titled “Tia-Clair Toomey” and will be available in the iOS and Play stores in the next few weeks. I want to connect [with] and support as many people as I can and having an app allows me to do so. My team and I will also go live from the app so my fans can interact with my coach and me as I train for competition.”

— An Updated Renaissance Diet — Renaissance Periodication (RP) has released a new eBook, The Renaissance Diet 2.0, a comprehensive 229 page guide (in PDF format) on how much to eat, what to eat and when to eat it, to maximize your performance and improve your physique authored by an expert team of PhDs, registered dietitians, researchers and elite athletes like RIch Froning, who wrote the introduction. “This book is the most up-to-date, comprehensive resource on the science and practice of fat loss, muscle gain, and
performance-improvement dieting currently available. For those who want the most detailed descriptions of how and why the dieting principles work, RP’s team of professors, PhDs, coaches, medical doctors, athletes, and dietitians have provided just that, with a vast reference library for those that want to expand their understanding even more.”

CONFIRMED: Sara Sigmundsdottir — Wodapalooza just confirmed Sara Sigmundsdottir, who just placed 3rd at Dubai CrossFit Championship, for the sanctioned event in January. 

CONFIRMED: Noah Ohlsen — Rogue Invitational just confirmed Noah Ohlsen

Reads

CHALK UP READS

“How to Coach Your Coaches,” by Hillary Achauer, CrossFit Journal

Most gym owners crave a life of crashing barbells and sweaty faces, not fluorescent lights and TPS reports. They open their doors to avoid the corporate world, and performance reviews seem more at home in a beige cubicle than a warehouse. As a result, many CrossFit gym owners avoid regularly scheduled evaluations of their coaches.

This is a mistake.

Evaluating the people who have the most contact with your members is essential. Without performance reviews, you’re missing an opportunity to improve the experience for your members and the skills of your coaches.

This doesn’t mean performance reviews have to follow a stuffy corporate model. Here, affiliate owners talk about the different ways they handle performance reviews and why regular employee evaluations are a necessary part of any successful CrossFit gym.

The vibe in most CrossFit gyms is casual. It’s friends hanging out and a community of people who love health and fitness getting together in a garage or industrial space to push themselves, support others, get fit and have fun.

The casual atmosphere doesn’t mean affiliate owners should overlook regular employee evaluations that can help create better coaches. Performance reviews can take any form that works for the owner—yearly, quarterly, weekly, etc. If you don’t have a regular system of evaluation in place, consider trying one of these approaches.

Reads

CHALK UP CALENDAR

12/22: The Flanders Throwdown (Zedelgem, Belgium)

12/30 – 12/31: Row for Reveille at CrossFit Hogback (Klamath Falls, OR)

1/5: Barbell Classic 2019 (Plymouth, MI)

1/10 – 2/4: Row’d Royalty (Online)

1/10 – 1/13: Feats of Strength Online Meet (Online)

1/11 – 1/13: CrossFit Fort Vancoyver Championships (Vancouver, WA)

1/12: Granite Games Throwdown at New Ulm CrossFit (New Ulm, MN)

1/12: The BrickYard Brawl (South Windsor, CT)

1/12: Hometown Throwdown 4 at CrossFit 534 (Poplarville, MS)

1/12: Granite Games Winter Throwdown (Waite Park, MN)

1/12 – 1/13: Scaled Flames (Amsterdam)

1/12 – 1/13: Row for Reveille at CrossFit Kitsap (Poulsbo, OR)

1/17 – 1/20: Wodapalooza (Miami, FL)

1/19: New Year New Throwdown Event (El Mirage, AZ)

1/19: Battle For The Axe (Baxter, MN)

1/19: Warrior Affiliate League Fantastic Four (La Puente, CA)

1/19: Battle for the Axe (Baxter, MN)

1/19: Great Lakes Games 2018 (Detroit, MI)

1/26: The Force Wars 2 (Pembroke Pines, FL)

1/26: Lost River Rumble (Bowling Green, KY)

1/26: The Blizzard Bowl (Little Canada, MN)

1/26: 2019 IceBreather Classic (Springfield, IL)

1/26: Hung Like Coff at PFC CrossFit (Las Vegas, NV)

1/26: Steel Rail Shootout 2019 (McComb, MS)

1/26: Brick NY Midtown Throwdown (New York, NY) 

1/26 – 1/27: Game Day Eau Claire (Eau Claire, WI)

1/26 – 1/27: NorCal Masters (San Rafael, CA)

1/27: Big Dawgs Athlete Development Camp (Letchworth, England)

1/29 – 2/2: Fittest in Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa)

2/2: Left Coast Classic Competition (Laguna Niguel, CA)

2/2: Golden State Games (Stockton, CA)

+ Send us an event
Is there something we missed? Email us at [email protected].
Your Coffee is ready.