It’s Like Uber but for Fitness

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is brought to you by Kettlebell Kitchen.

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“If you ever get the chance to treat them the way they treated you, I hope you choose to walk away.” — Najwa Zebian

It’s Like Uber but For Personal Fitness

The story.

Robert Shapiro, a gym owner in Boston, MA, just launched an app called SplitFit where participating trainers agree to let small groups split the cost of personal training sessions.

The deets.

People can sign up for the app then answer a series of questions about what they’re looking for. Filters ranging from time of day to intensity of training help match you with other app users looking for the same thing. Then, SplitFit gives you a list of options to pick from. 

The idea is that personal training sessions, which are not always financially possible for others, might be more accessible when the cost is spilt. “Think about it like Uber Pool for personal training,” Shapiro said.

The added accountability can also help. With SplitFit there’s not only a trainer, but a group of others expecting you. 

Where can I sign-up?

Right now, SplitFit is only available in gyms in Boston, like CrossFit Invictus. But Shapiro, who has already had much success with the app, plans to expand to other cities. 

Coffee Break Conversations

New year, who dis?

CrossFit took the whole “new year, new you” thing literally. Yesterday, they launched a shiny new website with new sections listed as Essentials, At Home, Health, Sport and Battles. 

Two birds, one stone, and someone else’s mistakes…

So your resolution for the year includes both keeping a budget and meal prep? Your first run with meal prep can be overwhelming and expensive. Here are eleven budget-friendly meal prep ideas from someone who already made all the mistakes so you don’t have to.

Things To…

WATCH: Breaking the Nutrition Barrier

Jassim Zayed weighed 436 pounds when he had gastric-bypass surgery. But when he started to quickly regain the weight he had lost, he knew he needed to change his lifestyle. That’s when he joined CrossFit T23.

A DIFFERENT PERSON.

HEAR: Ben Bergeron on Learning to Flip Fear

On this episode of Chasing Excellence, Ben Bergeron discusses the evolutionary sources of fear, the role fear plays in your life, and how to use fear to improve yourself. Also, Ben shares how his own understanding of fear has changed over the years.

FEAR INTO ACTION.

BUY: 15% Off RP Diet Templates

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EAT: Delicious White Chicken Chili

Healthy white chicken chili that’s easy and dairy free. Made with green chile, chicken, corn and blended chickpeas to make it creamy. A new family favorite recipe! Serve with avocado, tortilla chips and cilantro.

A FAMILY FAVORITE.

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

Chalk Up Community

• CHRISTMAS GAMES — Nearly 100 athletes joined Carbide CrossFit for the Christmas Throwdown, which was put on to raise money for McMinnville Special Games. At the end of the event, they had raised $3,000 for the organization. 
• WOD FOR DONATIONS — Last month, Gila Valley CrossFit hosted a 12 Days of Christmas WOD and offered free entry to the public if they donated an unopened gift and/or food item. The gifts were donated to the Adopt-A-Family program at Safford High School, who was able to help 20 children. The food was donated to the Safford High School Bulldog Pantry, which provides backpacks filled with food and hygiene supplies for high school students
  in need.
• NEW BOX OPENS — The Standard CrossFit in Toledo, OH has just opened for business. They started their first year right; they did “Chad.”
• JUGGERNAUT IS GOING ON TOUR — Chad Wesley Smith of Juggernaut Training Systems is going on tour. Registration for his first six weightlifting clinics is open and the first clinic of the year is in Oakland, CA on January 19-20th.
• GRAND OPENING — Train Grand Haven is excited to announce that Saturday, January 5th they will be hosting a grand opening. There will be a WOD with food and drinks following. 

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

Allie Stiffler did 12 Days of Christmas at nine months pregnant hoping to induce labor • Congratulations Rebecca on hitting your 2018 CrossFit goals • Jacob Heppner gets a 270 pound snatch almost winning the bet he made with his wife • OC3 Programming is now live • Shelby Allshouse gets a 315 pound deadlift PR • Jason Khalipa is going to share his training as he preps for the Rogue Invitational • Tia-Clair Toomey and Shane Orr are hosting workshops across Europe • Jason Carroll back squats 450 pounds for two.

…and if you’re Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, this is how you clean up after a NYE party. 

Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge Online Qualifier Begins — The first three events of the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge Online Qualifier will be released today by 5:00 PM PT with scores due the following Monday by 5:00 PM PT.

— Remind Me: At the end of the online qualifier, the top 20 men, top 20 women and top 40 teams will go on to the main event in Washington D.C. in April. As an official sanctioned event, the winner of each male and female division and also the winning elite team at the main event will earn a spot to the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games.

— P.S.: The Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge is giving out zero invites to athletes. If you want to compete at the main event in April in Washington D.C., you need to complete the online qualifier. 

“Five Quick-Start Retention Strategies,” by Emily Beers, CrossFit Journal

If you’re a CrossFit affiliate owner, you’ve probably heard a lot of elegant-sounding but vague jargon on the topic of member retention.

Everything from “create a great community” and “it’s all about your coaches” to “be true to your values” and “it comes down to relationships.”But those statements leave much to interpretation. Successful affiliate owners take specific actions to help keep their members around. Here are some of their tips.

Get Every Member Involved

While some people come to the gym seeking fellowship, others show up just to use the facility for an hour. Those who become years-long members have typically found lifelong friends, explained Chris Lomen, owner of CrossFit Sabertooth in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Getting less-social individuals involved in the community can be challenging, but Lomen has a couple of tools he said have worked particularly well for him. He begins by simply explaining to every new athlete the value of the community.

“We make it clear from Day 1 of our foundations program that we want people to feel like a part of the gym, rather than it being a place where they show up, work out and leave without making contact with anyone,” he said. “Part of what makes CrossFit special and fun is the communal aspect, shared suffering—whatever you want to call it.”

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

1/5 – 1/5: KO in the OK (Tulsa, OK)

1/10 – 2/4: Row’d Royalty (Online)

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

1/11 – 1/13: CrossFit Fort Vancouver 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: Granite Games Throwdown (Snyder, TX) 

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)

1/19 – 1/20: Chiang Mai Throwdown (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

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: ATCF Cancer Crackdown: Revival of The Fittest (Pasco, WA)

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

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

1/26: Woid Beast Fitness Challenge (Cham, Germany)

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

1/26: Fifth Annual Cold Steel Classic (Oswego, IL) 

1/26: New Year’s Revolution (Seminole, FL)

1/26: Three Rivers Throwdown (Rome, GA)

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)

2/1 – 2/2: Battle of the Brave III (North Kansas City, MO)

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

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

2/9: Valentine’s Day Crush (North Hollywood, CA)

2/9: The Garage Games Master of the Masters (Suwanee, GA)

2/16: Valentine’s Day Massacre (Kilgore, TX)