How Seven Pregnant Games Athletes Still Train

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“The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win.” — Vince Lombardi 

Finding CrossFit After Losing Use of a Leg

Some background.

In 2013, Amelia Garris was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome after a dog bite left her without the use of her right leg. When she began to lose the use of that leg to nerve damage, she sought physical therapy.

Unable to run at all, let alone walk without crutches, the physical therapists eventually told her they couldn’t help her any longer.

Amelia’s mom looked at her and said, “You’re going to the gym tomorrow.”

It was a CrossFit gym.

“When I went to CrossFit, people didn’t look at me differently, because everyone has to modify things in CrossFit. So I just fit in,” Amelia said.

“I wanted to lift big weights and do everything that everyone else was doing. I just kept going heavier and heavier, and the difference it made both inside and out was quite beautiful.”

Amelia said that CrossFit gave her the confidence to take a job coaching and apply to Graduate school. Amelia also enjoys competing, taking first place in the 4th annual WOD 4 Wheels competition in Houston, TX.

Now Amelia gives motivational speeches on being an adaptive athlete and dealing with chronic pain.

“I picked a road of instead of chasing narcotics, which is what doctors wanted to give me, instead I found CrossFit,” Amelia said.

Things To…

WATCH: Out of the Box, Philippines

In the latest episode of “Out of the Box,” Amit Tripuraneni travels to Manila where people deem it acceptable to take “maintenance medicine” for things like high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease once they reach a particular age. In this episode, take a closer look at what’s happening in and out of boxes in Manila.

FITNESS FOR THE WIN.

HEAR: Kara Saunders with Julie Foucher 

Dr. Julie Foucher, host of the Pursuing Health podcast, welcomes guest Kara Saunders. The two discuss what it’s like to make the transition from competitive athlete to expectant mother, how Kara is maintaining a healthy pregnancy with training and nutrition, and she’s drawing from her CrossFit Games experience to balance the stress of being a business owner and first-time mom.

A FULL PLATE. 

KNOW: How to Hack Your Sleep

Sleep is the most important ingredient for recovery, but most of us aren’t getting enough of it. Here are four things you can do to make sure you’re getting the best night’s sleep.

REST AND RECOVER.

EAT: Spinach and Feta Turkey Meatballs 

Spinach and feta turkey meatballs are an easy way to add flavor and protein to your meal using inexpensive ground turkey. You can add them to salads, serve them over a bed of rice or noodles, or make a meatball sub. Perfect for meal prep and even kiddos love them. 

MEAL PREP STAPLE.

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Chalk Up Community

• WOD FOR JULIE — Each year, Summit Strength in Indianapolis, IN completes the Hero WOD “Julie” to honor the passing of Julie Mills, who is the inspiration behind Summit Strength. This year, on April 13, Summit Strength honored Julie again and collected donations in support of the Colon Cancer Alliance.
• RUCK FOR ARDEN — Teresa Trojanowski and husband Phil are rucking 100 miles straight for four-year-old Arden, who was just diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Beginning May 17, for every $100 accumulated to their GoFundMe page, the two will walk an 800m lap with a 45 pound pack. Their goal is to cover
  Arden’s weekly therapies for an entire year, plus a three-week camp geared specifically towards her needs.
• REASON TO RUN — On Sunday, CrossFit Great North in Thief River Falls, MN hosted Reason to Run. Coach Wyatt Reed ran 50 miles and raised more than $600 for the son of Alexandra Jo Ellingson, who was murdered March 27.
• CINDY-A-THON — On May 18, CrossFit San Leandro and Tamalpais CrossFit in CA will host Cindy-a-Thon to benefit Courageous Women Association, a nonprofit that provides support services and economic resources to women and child victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, homelessness and other crippling life adversities.
• MURPH AT CROSSFIT UNDISCLOSED — This Memorial Day, CrossFit Undisclosed, an affiliate located on the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, whose members are primarily military or DOD civilians, is hosting the Murph Challenge. They are also selling Murph t-shirts to raise money for the box. CrossFit Undisclosed is free and runs off of donations and fundraisers like this. 
• CONCEPT2 GIVEAWAY — Over the weekend, the Reveille Project raised $5,520 for Faith RXD in honor of Becky Conzelman. Raffle winner Darren Carter is taking home a brand new Erg from Concept 2, who generously donated and shipped to the Reveille Project to support the event.

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

Congratulations to OC3 co-owners Jessie and Colin Cartee on the birth of their daughter Jovie • Mia Akerlund cleans 273 pounds for a PR • Armen Hammer cleans 275 pounds for two • Dave Castro paid the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI a visit
yesterday • Scott Stengel deadlifts 578 pounds • Six-year-old Sonya deadlifted 71 pounds for a PR • Marie-Emilie Montagut gets a 198 pound clean and jerk PR • Happy birthday Jamie Hagiya • AJ Davis gets a 300 pound high hang snatch
for two, technically • Emelie Lundberg snatches 198 pounds for a PR • Tasia Percevecz overhead squats 237 pounds from the floor • Amanda Hardeman got a 180 pound snatch PR.

…and if you’re looking for a partner WOD, you’re welcome.

CrossFit at Home at 90-Years-Old — Jonny Davies recently posted on his Instagram about an in-house CrossFit session he recently made to coach Pamela, a 90-year-old woman living alone.

— “This is Pamela. Pamela is 90 years old, she lives by herself and one of her favourite things to do is look after her garden, it’s getting harder for her as she gets older so her daughter Lynne asked me to go and teach her CrossFit.

— “So last week I went to her house we had a chat and practiced some squats off the couch and leg assisted pull ups to my arm. Today was Pamela’s first CrossFit WOD…Pamela did amazing, I hope I am this good when I’m 90!”

Seven Pregnant Games Athletes Share Their Training — Shape Magazine shared how training has changed for CrossFit Games athletes like Emily Bridgers, Kara Saunders, Emily Breeze and others. 

— Kara Saunders: “I’ve always coached that the goal of training is good health and fitness. That looks quite different along the stages of pregnancy and is different for each person.”

— Emily Bridgers: “As of March 2019, I’ve been doing our regular class program, and haven’t started modifying movements much at all. I’ve dialed back the intensity a bit and taken a few more days off due to feeling sick.”

— Ingrid Kantola: “Once I got pregnant, I kept going to class. I still worked out for one hour a day, but I relaxed my approach. Some days my workout looked like the rest of the class, but most days I altered most of the movements and even some of the rep schemes and time domains to fit my personal comfort level and needs.”

“CrossFit Removes Footwear Restrictions at the CrossFit Games,” by Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up

In an exclusive interview with Armen Hammer TV, Greg Glassman revealed that the years-long rule barring athletes from wearing footwear other than Reebok has been lifted and athletes can wear whatever shoes they want at the 2019 CrossFit Games.

Translation: NIKE, NOBULL, Under Armour, inov-8, Adidas and any other shoe an athlete prefers to wear will be allowed.

The shoe restrictions were never part of the original contract with Reebok. They were implemented in 2014. Reebok began providing athletes a broad spectrum of footwear for the competition: Nanos, cleated boots, Olympic lifters, Speed TR, and others.

To be clear, this does not include apparel. Athletes will still be wearing Reebok supplied clothing.

Why this matters: Footwear companies have long expressed frustration that their athletes couldn’t wear their shoes on the biggest stage of their sport — the CrossFit Games. This amounts to a huge missed opportunity for companies like NIKE and NOBULL from marketing their product.

Viewership by the numbers: According to Facebook, 10.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the CrossFit Games season on Facebook. While some of those numbers include the Open and Regionals, brands are still missing the biggest event which draws millions of viewers.

With this change, athletes can hopefully negotiate shoe deals that better support them financially.

Don’t expect to see NIKE and NOBULL in vendor village though. As the title sponsor of the CrossFit Games, Reebok is entitled to protections against direct competitors. That’s not going to change until the contract is up.

4/10 – 4/24: Granite Games Online Qualifier (Online)

4/15 – 4/27: Top Of The Box Online Qualifier (Clarksville, TN)

4/19 – 5/1: CrossFit French Throwdown Individual Online Qualifier (Online)

4/20: The Wodfather VII 2019 (Keller, TX)

4/20: Rookie Rumble at Bucktown CrossFit (Chicago, IL)

4/20: Barnyard Throwdown (Ohatchee, AL)

4/26: Rookie Rivalry at CrossFit Nashua (Nashua, NH)

4/26 – 4/27: Gameday Competition (Mankato, MN) 

4/26 – 4/28: CrossFit Italian Showdown (Milan, Italy)

4/26 – 4/28: The Sun Coast Fitness Festival (Kwa-Zulu Natal, SA)

4/27: 4th Annual Spring Fever Partner Masters Comp (Souderton PA)

4/27: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit KOA (Cranford, NJ)

4/27: The Gnardog Challenge (Reedley, CA)

4/27: Festivus Games (Worldwide)

4/27: Raising the Bar for Charlotte (Medina, OH)

4/27 – 4/29: Asia CrossFit Championship (Shanghai, China)

4/27: Autism Rocks and Rows (San Clemente, CA)

4/27: Garage Games Xs and Ys (Hiram, GA)

4/27: The Explode Individual Classic (West Chester, PA)

4/27: Fast Times at West Tech High (Las Vegas, NV)

4/27: Tyler’s Voice CrossFit Competition (Jefferson City, TN)

4/27: SWFL Sharks Semi-Pro Grid Combine (Cape Coral, FL)

4/27: Explode’s Independent Classic (West Chester, FL)

4/27: Festivus Games at Crossfit Sav-up (Petaluma, CA)

4/27: 4th annual Apple Town Throwdown (Cornelia,GA)

4/27: Kettlebells for Cojones (Montgomery, TX)

4/27: Spring Fever Partner Master Competition (Souderton, PA)

4/27: Best of the Midwest Team Series Part 1 (Westfield, IN)

4/27: Officer Christopher Goddell Memorial WOD (Walkdwick, NJ)

4/27: Pose Method Run RX Course (Lake Havasu City, AZ)

4/27: Battle of the Boxes (Newport,KY)

4/27: 2019 Pensacola Beach Brawl (Pensacola, FL) 

4/27: Festivus Games at Camel City Crossfit (Winston-Salem, NC)

4/27: Festivus Games at CrossFit LaCrosse (LaCrosse, WI)

4/27: 2019 Growler Games (Lexington, NC)

4/27: The Spring Fling (Knoxville, TN)

4/27: Stepping Into Summer (Fairfield, OH)

4/27: REDLINE.Venice A PAINKLLR Competition (Venice, CA)

4/27:  One Mind 1 Force (West Deptford, NJ)

4/28: David Vs. Golitah (Mansfield, MA)

5/3 – 5/4: Tough As Nails (Lubbock, TX)

5/3 – 5/5 The Fittest Experience (Austin, TX)

5/3 – 5/5: Appalachian Games (Asheville, NC)

5/4: 2nd Annual Heavy Day Morgan (Oak Ridge, TN)

5/4: Battle at the Lab 2019 Cinco De Mayo (Clarksville, TN)

5/4: Border Open Part V (El Paso, TX)

5/4: Desert Warrior (Scottsdale, AZ)

5/4: The Jurassic Classic (Kennewick, WA)

5/4: Lifto De Mayo 2019 (Eagan, MN)

5/4: Rookie Rumble Pittsburgh at Arsenal Strength (Pittsburgh, PA)

5/4: Girls Gone RX Delaware (Middletown, DE)

5/4: Girls Gone RX DC (Alexandria, VA)

5/4: Black and Brewed 2019 (Huntsville, AL)

5/4: Row for Wishes (Telluride, CO)

5/4: The Locomotive Games IV (Youngstown, OH)

5/4: Breaking Boundaries Competition (Greer, SC)

5/10: Beast Mode Games 2019 (Greenville, SC)

5/11: 2019 Moco Throwdown (Bethesda, MD)

5/11: Butchertown Cleaver Classic (Louisville, KY)

5/11: Girls on Girls X (Bridgeport, PA)

5/11: Battle of the Gulf Coast (Port Neches, TX)

5/11: Femme Royale So Cal (Orange, CA)

5/11: Squat for Guate (Hickory, NC)

5/11: Left Coast Classic with 5.11 Tactical (Laguna Niguel, CA)

5/11: Southside Showdown (Jenks OK)

5/17 – 5/19: ACA Throwdown 2019 (Johannesburg, SA)

5/18 – 5/19: Big Impact Games (Kaukauna, WI)

5/18: 2019 Barbells in the Burbs Team Comp (Carol Stream, IL)

5/18: 2019 Tough Temple CrossFit Super Total (Bethseda, MD)

5/18: Mad Hatter Games (Danbury, CT)

5/18: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Chester Springs (Chester Springs, PA)

5/18: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit PTV (Redmond, WA)

5/18 – 5/19: Shred Fest (Orlando, FL)

5/18: Cindy-a-Thon (San Leandro, CA)

5/18: Fallout in the Falls (Wichita Falls, TX)

5/18: East Coast Battle ( Hanover, MD) 

5/18: Meshugge CrossFit Summer Melee 2019 (Overland Park, KS)

5/18: Backstreet Brawl 3 (West Bend, WI)

5/19: Heroes and Heroines Team Throwdown (Pawtucket, RI)