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Happy Friday and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition was chalked up while watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens to ring in the 30 day countdown until Star Wars: Rogue One hits theaters.
Haven’t seen the newly released trailer yet? Watch it here.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t believe it.” — Luke Skywalker
“That is why you fail.” — Yoda
MAHTTAYYYYY!
SO WHAT HAPPENED DOWN IN MEXICO?
Oh, not much. Mattie Rogers went 6 for 6, winning 3 gold medals and setting 3 new American University Records.
SHE’S A FORMER CHEERLEADER, SHE COULDN’T HAVE LIFTED THAT MUCH…
Remember what you learned in school: “you don’t judge a book by its cover.” Yeah she might be a former cheerleader who is short and weighs just under 152 pounds, but it turns out Mattie is pretty darn strong.
She snatched 227 pounds (103kg) and clean and jerked 291 pounds (132kg), which basically means she can out lift just about every athlete at the CrossFit Games last year.
WHERE CAN I WATCH?
Sadly, there aren’t a lot of hi-res videos out yet but here’s this video of her 227lb snatch and this one of her 291lb clean and jerk. That clean looked way too easy. Can we say 300 soon?
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
Gainz Box is now shipping to the UAE. The CrossFit PE Teacher’s mission at Hartland Middle School is to “arm [the kids] with as much self confidence and self belief as possible before they graduate here in June.” Beyond the Whiteboard is going to start hosting online challenges every other week, where the top 3 men and women will win some sweet gear. Wanna know how hard you have to work to win the Games twice? Work so hard you still hurt lying on the ground like Katrin Davidsdottir. Chelsey Grigsby is trying to jump rope 10,000 times and you can sign-up to do it too. This is CrossFit Jääkarhu’s battle cry. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Brent Fikowski met Michele Letendre at the airport in Toronto. Read Maddie Shine’s letter to her younger self, to your teenage daughter.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Smith Station High School’s morning news program spotlighted the story of Hailey Hartzog, a student at Smith Station who’s been doing CrossFit for over a year. “I’ve definitely become a lot stronger and it’s helped me realized that I’m capable of a lot more than I thought I was.”
CHALK UP READS
“The Juggernaut: Inside the World of Chad Wesley Smith” by Athlete Daily
The elite powerlifter is just nine days out from competing in Australia, a trip filled with seminars that have cemented Smith as one of the most sought-after strength coaches in the world. Today, at his Juggernaut Training Systems gym, tucked away inside a CrossFit box in Laguna Niguel, CA, many of his sponsored athletes are on hand for a camp.
Smith has been programming for himself since he was 14 years old, though his interest in being bigger and stronger dates back further. As a child in Sunday school, he heard the David and Goliah story. At the end of it, the teacher asked, ‘Well kids, who do you want to be?’ Everyone’s hand shot up to yell. David! David! Smith never gave it a second thought: he wanted to be Goliath.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
Mannequin Challenge shout out to CrossFit Power Valley in Albany, Oregon for having someone pose on the “John.”
Jason and Amy of CrossFit Lake Effect have a heart for giving, that’s why five Special Olympics athletes live in their home with their whole family: “They deserve a shot just as much as anyone else and for us that have so much to give back to the people that can’t.”
CHALK UP TIPS
Brought to You by Weightlifting 101 — Do you have a hard time keeping your elbows high at the bottom of your front squat? By using bands or straps you can help keep your wrists in a less strained position and focus on an upright torso and high elbows.
For Affiliates with CrossFit Kids — Try a little med ball tic-tac-toe as a fun warm-up (or game) for the youngins.