“Obstacles are not only to be expected but embraced. Embraced? Yes, because these obstacles are actually opportunities to test ourselves, to try new things, and, ultimately, to triumph. The obstacle is the way.”- Ryan Holiday
PROFILE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Why Brooke Wells' Injury Doesn't Mean She's Done Vying for a Top Spot
The 2021 CrossFit Games provided us a bevvy of highlights and inspiring moments, but one unfortunate, injurious moment under the spotlight of the Coliseum Saturday night cast doubt around Brooke Wells immediate future in the sport.
This week I’m going to take a look at the circumstances surrounding the injury, as well as why I believe we will eventually see Wells back in top form at the Games.
But first, some context:Â Coming into the max snatch event, Wells was in the midst of another stellar performance at the Games, sitting in 6th place and eight points ahead of eventual podium finisher Annie Thorisdottir.
Ascent’s vegan protein powder is made of an organic plant-based protein blend – including pea protein, sunflower protein, and pumpkin protein – resulting in 4g of naturally occurring BCAAs to help with muscle recovery.
Available in both chocolate and vanilla bean, this new protein powder mixes and tastes great by just adding water.
TODAY in London, you can meet Sara Sigmundsdottir at WIT’s downtown London location from 2 – 4 PM local time.
Tighten your belts, the next Rogue challenge is out, and it’s three workouts in a 12-hour period. Registration opened on Friday and the competition begins on Friday, August 27 at 6:00 AM PT. Lowest score across all three workouts wins.
1 Mile (1600M) Run
1 Rep Max Front Squat
Max Repetition Chin-Up
For what it’s worth, this isn’t too dissimilar to the Castro Challenge: Run a sub-5:00 mile and back squat 500 pounds in the same day. Adam Klink completed this challenge last July. He threw in 50 pull-ups for good measure.
Talk about the quarantine blues, Aussie CrossFit Games athlete Ellie Turner has to do not one but two, two-week quarantines back-to-back. Because the border between New South Wales and Southern Australia are closed, Turner has to complete another two-week quarantine after completing her current quarantine in Sydney, making it an entire month before she gets back home.
While we were covering the Games and you were likely busy watching, Tia-Clair Toomey was profiled in the Wall Street Journal about her CrossFit Games career and her aspirations to qualify to compete in Bobsled with Australia in the next Winter Olympics.
PROFILE
The Rise of the Teenage Training Camps
We’ve been tracking the recent rise in training camp development for elite individual and team athletes over the last couple of seasons. Coming off a record season for teenage athletes, we’re now seeing the development of teen-only training camps for the first time.
One big thing: While we’ve seen big names in coaching (MisFit Athletics and Brute Strength specifically) training younger clients for the past several years, it’s mostly been remote. Similar to other big four sports, we’re seeing teenage division athletes actually moving across the country to specifically train in CrossFit.
The details: Two separate training camps are emerging: One in Naples, FL under Brute Strength and the other in Clive, IA with James Townsend’s TBO Training Team.
Brute:Â Emma Cary, Cole Greashaber, Dallin Pepper, James Sprague, and Phil Toon will all be moving to Naples, FL to train under coach Matt Tores.
TBO Training Team: Tudor Magda left Brute and will now be training with Mal O’Brien.
Before nine-time individual CrossFit Games athlete Sam Briggs started CrossFit, her usual breakfast was a giant bowl of cereal. Lunch was the same: another giant bowl of cereal, often featuring three different kinds of cereal all mixed together.
“I didn’t really know any different regarding nutrition,” Briggs explained.
The Zone Diet Days
After years in pounding back cereal, Briggs was introduced to the Zone Diet—the diet CrossFit Founder Greg Glassman long endorsed and promoted—when she started CrossFit in 2009.
The Zone Diet, popularized by the book The Zone Diet, by Dr. Barry Sears, involves tracking Zone blocks. Each zone block is made up of one protein block (7 grams of protein), one carbohydrate block (9 grams of carbohydrates) and one fat block (1.5 grams of fat).
Though she doesn’t remember exactly how many Zone blocks she ate each day, Briggs signed up for a 30-day Zone Diet challenge her gym was offering and diligently ate the exact number of Zone blocks she was told to eat each day. At the end of the 30 days, she took a “cheat week,” but quickly realized the Zone Diet was a better way of eating than her old cereal diet.
Do you struggle with keeping your heels down when squatting? Then this is the drill for you. Add this into your warm-up to work on movement patterns, strengthening your posterior chain, and keeping your weight correctly distributed.
Back pain can be very temperamental. But if there's one thing that a nagging lower back loves, it's a little movement and a good stretch. Perform this mini routine morning, day, or night to release some tension, and pain, from your lower back.
Performing on the outside starts with knowledge from the inside. WHOOP measures your body's data over 100 times a second to provide personalized feedback on your recovery, strain, and sleep.
Knees out, heels down, chest up, weight back. When you're squatting you hear a lot of different cues to help your technique. But which is right for you? How about with the one recommended by the 2019 Worlds Strongest Man? That seems a good place to start at least.
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