Morning Chalk Up Under New Ownership

November 17   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• The Morning Chalk Up announces new ownership
• India’s Fittest Woman, Hannah Kathrein, gains confidence training at CrossFit Fringe
• Part two of our “Moments from Madison” series before the Games move in 2024
• Nienke van Overveld continues partnership with Reebok
• And, Lena Richter’s Workout of the Week

Don’t forget to hit us up with story tips, highlights, quotes of the day and more.

‘Tis the season to check out Morning Chalk Up’s Black Friday | Cyber Monday Buyers Guide.

“I don’t care anymore. I just want to do what my body lets me do.” - Hannah Kathrein, 2023 Fittest Woman in India on how her body image and mindset have shifted through training in CrossFit

Letter from the Editor: New Morning Chalk Up Owners

Today, we are excited to announce that BarBend and Pillar4 Media have acquired the Morning Chalk Up, effective immediately.

The Morning Chalk Up sent out its first newsletter on February 26, 2016, and since that day we have published thousands of stories and produced hundreds of hours of content. We have highlighted elite and everyday athletes, affiliate owners and members, while keeping the CrossFit community informed about the fitness industry, competitions and dramatic physical and mental health journeys.

Our writers and staff members are pillars of their affiliate communities, practicing and coaching the CrossFit methodology. We’ve watched and aided people as they change their lives, fight chronic disease and model the transformational power of CrossFit for their children, parents and families. We’ve sought out certifications (all of us hold CF-L1s, L2s, or L3s) so we can be more knowledgeable in our roles as coaches, journalists and storytellers. We challenge ourselves daily to find the best and most insightful content available to share with you.

We do this because we believe in the power of CrossFit and the power of the community.

None of this will change.

As a team, we welcome the new opportunities this ownership change will afford. BarBend and Pillar4 Media have made it their mission to be at the center of coverage and analysis of all things strength and strength sports and the Morning Chalk Up will play a significant role in bolstering that mission.

We’ve got some great things planned for the coming CrossFit season and beyond.

Chalk up before you walk up.

— Joe Genetin-Pilawa
Managing Editor, Morning Chalk Up

This Holiday Season, Gift The Mobility & Movement Bible Everyone Is Talking About: Built To Move.

Did you know that you can predict your likely lifespan with a simple mobility test?

The famous sit-and-rise test is just one of many game-changing gems found in Dr. Kelly & Juliet Starrett’s recent New York Times Bestseller, Built To Move.

In the book, the powerhouse mobility duo shares how to increase your range of motion, avoid injury, adopt holistic wellness habits, counteract the harmful effects of technology, and support healthy aging as a result.

The perfect holiday gift for all your buddies who want to move freely and live fully, Built To Move helps us understand and offset the damaging conveniences of modern life.

🚨 🚨 New Competition Format: The Filthy 150, in partnership with The Progrm announced a new competition format coming January 26-27, 2024. Individuals and Teams of Three will compete in the DKIT Sport Facility in Ireland.

One Hour to Go All In: The Gauntlet at TYR Wodapalooza is open for registration now. If you haven’t experienced it, The Gauntlet is a way for spectators to throw down in front of the crowds at TYR WZA and compete in some seriously tough workouts. Check out the divisions and register for a time slot now. 

🎙️ 🎙️Jason Khalipa, 2008 CrossFit Games champion and eight-time Games athlete was a guest on the Jocko podcast yesterday and discussed his life, career in CrossFit and his successes in business, marriage and fatherhood.

💪🔥 FitFest 2023 VIP Events: The Birmingham, UK event featuring a Pro CrossFit Athlete showcase with some amazingly stacked teams announced a series of VIP events including workshops, Q&As with athletes, and a special elite workout on Friday, December 8. Learn more and get your tickets now.

ICYMI: Grandmasters Rx is a Masters-only affiliate helping old people get and stay fit.

How Training at CrossFit Fringe Helped India’s Fittest Woman Hannah Kathrein Gain Confidence

Hannah Kathrein walks a few blocks down a busy Missouri road to CrossFit Fringe four times a day, to and from her morning and afternoon sessions. At the box, where the 26-year-old has been for only eight weeks and will only be for another two (at least for the foreseeable future), she’s gained an entirely new perspective on training, strong women, and the CrossFit community.

Kathrein started CrossFit just before COVID-19 broke out in early 2020 at CrossFit 7 Seas in Mumbai, India. It had taken her lots of time and persistence to even get to a gym in the first place, having struggled with anxiety and a lack of confidence in the past.

She admits that she was the type to be worried about getting “too bulky,” like all of the other girls in India, she says. Once she joined CrossFit, though, that all changed.

• “I don’t care anymore. I just want to do what my body lets me do,” Kathrein said.

When lockdown protocols started lifting, Kathrein joined a group of guys from the gym (including the Fittest Man in India at the time) for daily parking garage workouts. She fell in love with the workouts, the competition, and the newness. She did her first Open and landed a third-place finish in her country. For two years, she continued with this routine until she contacted coach Ian Day, who at the time lived in Colorado, United States, but eventually led Kathrein to Missouri.

• “I wanted something for myself,” Kathrein said on why she reached out to Day for personal programming and coaching help. “I realized that I have a lot of weaknesses that weren’t being looked at or worked on.”

Kathrein and her mother, who was motivated to come to the United States in order to continue her studies, traveled to Missouri in the fall of this year with a ten-week stay scheduled. Kathrein says that her mother has been integral to her success as an athlete, from packing meals and driving during the Open to unending support for her athletic endeavors not common in India.

• “In India, parents don’t support sports as much because there’s no income there,” Kathrein said. “But my parents have always let me do what I really liked, and also knew that I needed a push because I was so scared and timid.”

Now that she’s immersed in the culture at Fringe, a bustling fitness community full of athletes Kathrein’s age, she realizes how different the experience really is.

• “I’ve never really trained with many other women, so coming here and having so many girls – I feel like more girls than guys – was so nice,” Kathrein said. “Even though you’re competitors, you’re friends and happy for each other when they succeed or get better, which is something I haven’t seen a lot.”

‘Moments from Madison,’ Part Two: The Start of the Intervals

Over the years CrossFit has introduced new implements, location changes, equipment drops, you name it, it’s happened.

One of the more notable moves by CrossFit was the introduction of interval-style workouts, which are now a mainstay at the Games.

The first: In 2017, Event 12, CrossFit introduced for the first time an interval-style workout with forced rest. Some may remember its 2-2-2-3 minute style, where, in the first 3 rounds, the athlete worked for 2 minutes, then rested a minute before starting the next interval.

• Each interval began with two 20-foot rope climbs and 10 calories on the ski erg. Once the buy-in was complete, the athlete would move down the floor, every 10 reps for the first 30 reps, then 3 reps thereafter, on the way to accumulating 75 OHS at 155/105 for men and women respectively. At which point the athlete could cross the finish line. This workout gave us two memorable finishes.
• In the final heat for the men, Noah Ohlsen entered the event in 4th place, and his intentions for the event were clear. When asked about his thoughts on pacing this event, he replied “this is a sprint’.
• True to his word, he tore through the overhead squats in the first interval, setting the pace with 30.  By the end of the second, he’d accumulated 43 reps. He would accumulate just 2 more scored repetitions the entire remainder of the workout, as general fatigue, as well as multiple failed reps on the rope climbs, took their toll on his morale and his performance.
• Over on the women’s side, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr entered the event with a 38-point lead over Kara Webb. After 3 intervals, Webb had a 6-rep lead on Toomey, positioning herself to make up some significant points on the Games leaderboard. In interval 4, Katrin Davidsdottir finished off a dominant performance, winning the event, and Webb crossed the finish line only 14 seconds later for what seemed to be a second-place finish.
• With Toomey finishing in 14th, earning 52 points, Webb’s 94 points would have had her leapfrog Toomey, and it would be Webb wearing the white leader’s jersey at the Fibonacci Final, the last event for the Games, later that day.
• However, the judges conferred and revealed that Webb had indeed done only 72 of the 75 scored repetitions; her score was therefore invalid. Head judge Adrian Bozman determined Webb’s score should be adjusted only by six seconds for the error, but the resulting drop from 2nd to 4th in the event meant she would begin the final down by six points, rather than up by four, over Toomey.

Team Athlete Nienke van Overveld Continues Long-Term Partnership with Reebok

Taking home fifth place in the Affiliate Cup at the 2023 CrossFit Games, was Games Veteran Andre Houdet’s team, No Shortcuts. Alongside coach/teammate Houdet, was Netherlands athlete, Nienke van Overveld. As a five-time Games athlete, van Overveld has been a part of multiple teams, including 2021 4th place finishers, CrossFit Surbiton, out of England.

With 2023 being van Overveld’s final competitive CrossFit season, she looks ahead to new challenges, backed largely by her sponsor, Reebok Europe.

Tell me more: Nienke van Overveld has been working with Reebok Europe for six years now, signing on as a partner when she was new to the competitive CrossFit circuit. She reflects on the excitement of signing with such a giant of a brand, so early on in her journey as a professional athlete.

• “Reebok has always allowed me to live the life I’ve wanted to live. They’ve completely supported me, all along the way. It has always felt so personal and connected – they really support my goals and dreams,” said van Overveld.

All the way: As van Overveld transitions away from competing personally, she is helping others to follow in her footsteps. With her coaching program, All The Way, the Games veteran programs for clients worldwide, gives video feedback and inspires beginner CrossFitters to continue and push themselves in the sport.

• “I’m so happy to be doing this, I work with athletes from all over, and help them get started in the sport. These are the clients I really enjoy – they’re such a big part of the community,” said van Overveld.

In addition to online programming, as van Overveld has a background in gymnastics, the former competitor hosts gymnastics and competition clinics throughout the Netherlands and Belgium.

• “My priorities have shifted from doing 20+ hours of training a week, to train three times a week with my own programming and I really love it. Besides those trainings, I have also taken training more outside of the CrossFit gym,” shares van Overveld.

Lena Richter’s Workout of the Week

Today’s workout is programmed by Swedish/Norwegian athlete, three-time team Games athlete, Lena Richter.  In 2021, she joined Team CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue who then went on to win the CrossFit German Throwdown and place 2nd at the CrossFit Games. For the next 2 years, they became the most dominant European team ever at the CrossFit Games, accumulating 2 silvers (2021 and 2022) and a bronze (2023). Her workout today comes from Kriger Training and is called “Run into Fire”.

Lena Richter

For Time:

1600-1200-800-Meter Run
32-24-16 Thrusters, 95/65 pounds (43/29kg)
24-24-24-Meter Handstand Walk
16-16-16 Burpee Pull-Ups

Scaling tips: Athletes can adjust the loading on the thrusters down to 75/55 pounds (35/25kg) or the reps down to 24-18-12. For the handstand walk, athletes can reduce the distance to something they can do in 1-2 attempts each round or alternately perform 3 wall walks.

Advice from Lena: “I love this workout because of the thrusters and hope you do too!”

To inquire about submitting an upcoming workout of the week, shoot us a note.

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Try this snatch drill to practice with time under tension, pausing at the high hang position for three seconds, while completing a set of five reps. When we lift under fatigue, our technical issues become apparent and it's an opportunity to find ways to be more efficient.

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.

• 🎂Happy birthday to Nick Mathew and Steven Stover.
• 🎁Happy birthday to Harriet Roberts.
• ⭐️Congratulations to Artie for competing in the Masters Division at the Meadowlands Classic in New Jersey.
• 🙌Congratulations to CrossFit Salvictus and head coach Diego Pedroso of Batalha, Portugal on becoming a new affiliate.
• 🏋️‍♀️Congratulations to CrossFit Chief Nation in Massapequa, NY on becoming a new affiliate.

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