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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition was chalked up while stopping in to CrossFit Training Yard and saying high to Becca Voigt.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“You can have incredible strength and you can have relentless endurance, but if you can’t push through that mental threshold when things get tough or it starts to hurt then you’re doing yourself a dishonor after all the blood, sweat, and tears you put into the physical battle. Victory comes from the mind.” — RR
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
A 12-year-old Canadian broke four Canadian National records and four World Records in one competition. You really need to watch Team Some Assembly Required, a veteran-operated competitive adaptive athlete team who just got done competing in Ohio at the Arnold. Carleen Mathews hits a 175 pound snatch on 17.3 and has the best reaction. Watch Ben Smith’s final reps of 17.3. Thuri Helgadottir hits a 187 pound snatch PR.
WHAT TO TELL YOUR FRIEND WHO SAYS THAT PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S CAN’T GET FIT…
Meet Barb Halleen of East Peoria, Illinois, who practices shadow boxing at CrossFit 309. Rock Steady Boxing is a program for about 30 fighters with Parkinson’s disease who head to CrossFit 309 each week for non-contact boxing, burpees and smashing matts with a baseball bat. Because of the success of the program, 309 actually added a section just for them.
THINGS TO…
WATCH: Tia-Clair Toomey
Drops into CrossFit HQ to talk with Pat Sherwood and discuss the challenges of owning an affiliate while training for the Games and how she approaches each Open WOD.
GO TIA GO.
GO TIA GO.
HEAR: The Ben Smith Blueprint
Ben Smith is one of the few top-tier athletes who doesn’t have a coach writing his programming. In fact, he admits to writing his own workouts for years, similar to Rich Froning. Ben Smith sits down with Big Red Express to talk about the methodology behind his “blueprint” and how the everyday CrossFitter can benefit.
TELL ME MORE.
TELL ME MORE.
KNOW: CrossFit HQ Is Hiring
CrossFit is hiring two positions: a copy editor and a social media associate. Oh and high marks for candidate with bilingual skills.
UPDATE THAT RESUME.
UPDATE THAT RESUME.
EAT: Dark Chocolate Mint Coconut Butter Cups
Tuesday’s are tough. Tuesday’s with mint chocolate coconut butter cups are less tough. We’re pretty sure that’s backed by science. How about you bake up a batch and we’ll argue over a baker’s dozen?
IT’S A WIN-WIN.
IT’S A WIN-WIN.
BUY: A Jump Rope Before Saturday
What’s that you say? We haven’t had double unders yet in the Open. Hmmm, well it might be a good time to get a new rope so you’re ready for whatever Dave throws at us this week. If you order today, you can have your RPM jump rope by Saturday.
GET JUMPING.
GET JUMPING.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
Did you know that RockTape offers Functional Movement Technique training courses that focus on human movement, recovery and performance using kinesiology tape and IASTM tools? You’re also going to learn how to tape up your athletes.
Meet Drew Pollner, owner of Project Fitness of Las Vegas, who discovered CrossFit while serving a seven-year prison sentence. Six months after being released, he qualified for the 2014 Regionals and now he owns his own affiliate.
CHALK UP READS
Training and fueling your body appropriately is the KEY to becoming a stronger, better athlete.
There are no shortcuts. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misinformation that gets thrown around when it comes to sports nutrition and a lot of people go by what they hear or what they presume to be true. While nutrition is incredibly individual, there are still some key principles. Let’s set the record straight on some very common questions.
I SEE ATHLETE X EATING COOKIES AND DONUTS ON INSTAGRAM WITH ABS. WHAT GIVES?
Athletes who want sugar know there’s no better time than around your workouts when your body can burn through it and use it as energy. Ever attend a lifting meet? It’s not uncommon to see lifters eating candy bars or having pixie stix before they go max deadlift. There’s nothing wrong with fitting treats into your macros. And keep in mind on social media you’re seeing the highlights of what that athletes eats. Because no one likes to brag on Instagram about grilled chicken and broccoli. Most of them eat pretty clean most of the time.
“17.3 Reflections” by Julie Foucher
Since 2011, I’ve witnessed individuals accomplish things they never thought they could do #InTheOpen and with #17point3, I finally had this experience first-hand.
My lifetime snatch PR is 180#, and I had to work really, really hard for years, pushing past mental barriers to get there. Since my Achilles injury and the conclusion of my competitive career 2 years ago, I’ve lacked the will to put in that mental effort, so I’ve just stopped myself around 150.
When 17.3 was announced, I set a goal to finish all of the 155# snatches. I thought it would be difficult but I knew I could rely on the pressure and community to do it. I thought that if I got that far, I’d be done with the workout – there was no way I would go for 175.