Moving Barbells and Saving Bully Breeds

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by Working Against Gravity.

Want the ultimate tool to up your athletic performance? WAG has teamed up with Brute Strength and the Active Life to create a FREE comprehensive CrossFit Competition Prep Guide loaded with tips from the pros on workouts, recovery and fueling your body for max results! Our custom nutrition coaching program has helped over 15,000 members reach their fitness goals.

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which the body is capable.” — Socrates

Saving Bully Breeds One Rep at a Time

Some background.

Barbells For Bullies is an organization working to save dogs that are often referred to as bully breeds by educating the public and getting these pups into loving and caring homes.

A bully breed?

Bully breeds are not just pit bulls. There are actually more than 30 breeds like Great Danes, Bulldogs, and even Pugs. Sadly, over half of the 1.2 million euthanizations that take place annually are labeled pit bulls.

CrossFit and dogs go hand in hand.



Founder Alex Castiglione has been doing CrossFit for five years. So naturally, in 2016, he reached out to the CrossFit community and held the first Barbells for Bullies fundraiser. Now, Barbells for Bullies holds fundraisers all over the country. 

As of January, Barbells for Bullies has raised and donated over $65,000 for local rescues and animal advocacy groups.

These funds are used to spay and neuter dogs, provide preventative heart worm medication, supply nutrient dense dog food to local shelters, and chip over 1,400 dogs to prevent lost animals from being dropped off at a shelter.

How to get involved.

You can host a Barbells for Bullies event at your gym. The goal for 2019 is 30 Barbells for Bullies satellite events.

“We will utilize our expertise from running over 20 events in 12 cities all over the US in the last few years,” said Alex. We’ll bring this formula to your gym and take the guesswork out of competition hosting. All you need to do is work out and save some dogs!”

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell yourself the next time you want breakfast for dinner…

Sometimes doing things backwards makes a lot of sense. Like getting up before dawn to help cure insomnia, which seems like it wouldn’t at all but it does. That’s what Jason Scott learned last year to help alleviate his ongoing insomnia and it’s all because he stumbled upon a Jocko Willink quote in the middle of the night. 

The next time you’re at a poker table…

I’ll see your bet and raise you $20, which is pretty much what one lady did when she ran 19 miles carrying a dog she found on the side of the road during a marathon. Oh? You run marathons? That’s cool. You save stray dogs? But have you ever done both? Simultaneously? Well Khemjira Klongsanun has. 

Things To…

WATCH: Sara Sigmundsdottir Joins Morning Chalk Up 

Sara Sigmundsdottir joins the Morning Chalk Up in Barcelona, Spain for a quick interview after notching her second straight third place finish at Wodapalooza. She discusses her new coach, how she’s going back to the basics in training, and how she feels going into this season.

LIKE COMPETING FOR THE FIRST TIME. 

HEAR: Danny Lopez-Calleja of Team Soul 

On this episode of the Todd Nief Show, Danny Lopez-Calleja of South Florida based CrossFit Soul discusses how he became involved in the programming for Wodapalooza only to learn a few weeks later that Wodapalooza would be a sanctioned event and how he ensures CrossFit Soul’s success.

LIKE A BOSS.

GET: Chocolate Without a Side of Guilt

Everyone knows Valentine’s Day is just an excuse to eat chocolate, (and then feel terrible). SmoothieBox is giving you an opportunity to get in all your chocolate-y cravings with five free cacao smoothies in your first box, and no guilt. These creamy smoothies are packed full of organic veggies and fruits, plus 20 grams of collagen peptides. 

CHOCOLATE CRAVING SATISFIED.

EAT: Salted Caramel Millionaire Bars

These easy to make salted caramel millionaire bars are vegan, gluten free and paleo. They’ve got a shortbread cookie base, salted tahini caramel filling and then topped with dairy free chocolate.

BAKE YOUR HEART OUT.

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

Chalk Up Community

• HELP AFTER A FLOOD — Yesterday, Crown CrossFit in São Conrrado, Brazil was flooded after heavy rain. They have put up a fundraising website to help replace the damaged equipment. 
• CROSSFIT OFFERS FIRE SCHOLARSHIPS — Following six years of annual fundraising efforts to honor the memories of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots, Captain CrossFit owners Michelle Blevins and Dave Franz announced two scholarships for a degree in Fire Science at Yavapai College.
• NEW OWNERSHIP — CrossFit Apogee in Gibsonton, FL is under new ownership.
• FUNDRAISER FOR A FAMILY — Jeremy and Nora Warner, owners of CrossFit Max Kane, gave birth to their son Jack Kane Warner on January 28. Sadly, Jack passed away on February 1. The gym is collecting donations to help with medical costs.
• AFFILIATE REVIEW — The CrossFit Nomad, Cameron Bucek, dropped into Real Fitness Sarasota in FL and gave a review of his visit there.
• AN EPIC GIVEAWAY — Just in time for Valentine’s Day, EPIC Provisions has teamed up with ButcherBox for the ultimate meat lover’s giveaway. One winner will receive a Classic ButcherBox, packed full of responsibly-sourced, grass fed meats plus an assortment of EPIC animal fats.          

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

Salvador Cabrera gets a 215 pound clean PR • Treyden Wheeler gets a175 pound front squat PR • Jaci Cale gets a 3 rep hang clean at 155 pounds • Sean Gleason gets a handstand push-up PR • Kay Murphy gets her first rope climb • Happy
first birthday Liam Bennington • Eleven-year-old Mason Alderman gets a 105 pound push jerk PR.

…and Mat Fraser is seriously just great at everything. 

Doing CrossFit While Pregnant — Sara Enos Ondrako, who is new to CrossFit, went into it believing two major myths regarding CrossFit, that “doing CrossFit will cause you to look like a body builder…and that CrossFit isn’t safe while you are pregnant.” So, she decided to find out for herself and documented her experience for this article on Medium.

JUST RELEASED — Yesterday, Nike released their new Metcon 4XD, which plays off gym leader boards and chalk-scribbled floors. With erasable back panels on the shoe, you can record your time or weight lifted before you even finish cooling down post WOD. 

Shannon Sharpe On Staying in Shape with CrossFit — Three time Super Bowl champion Shannon Sharpe uses CrossFit to keep in shape after his football career. “When they look at a 50-year-old man just running circles around them, I got kids older than they are, and they can’t keep up with me. That makes me feel good,” Sharpe said. “Makes me want to go back again tomorrow. See them again the next day, and beat them again.”

“What I learned After Three Months of One-on-One Nutrition Coaching,” by Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up 

For the past three years, I’ve been the editor-in-chief for the Morning Chalk Up. As such, I’ve read and written on a litany of food and fitness underneath the CrossFit sun.

I am by no means an expert, but you could say that I know a fair bit about the importance of nutrition and how to use food to help you achieve your goals.

But writing about nutrition and practicing it daily are two very different things. In order to become more knowledgeable, I embarked on a three-month journey. Adee Cazayoux, founder of Working Against Gravity, agreed to be my guide and one-on-one nutrition coach for this “intensive” undertaking.

After all, how hard could it be? I already eat tons of broccoli. Piece of cake.

Lesson 0: Getting Started.

The very first thing I did was work with Adee to set my overall fitness, aesthetic and physique goals. I gave her a deep digest of what my fitness routines looked like and my goals so she could set up macros goals to help fuel me in pursuit of those goals.

Then she set me loose on Working Against Gravity’s exhaustive learning center — an entire trove of reading material to help you along your journey. Think grocery store specific shopping lists, articles, tips, mindfulness exercises, you name it.

On top of logging and recording what you eat, Adee constantly encouraged me along in the mental aspect, giving me mental cues and suggestions during high-stress weeks.

“Don’t throw in the towel on really tough days,” Adee would tell me. “Instead, focus on making sure one thing gets done. If that’s just making your protein goal, then great. That’s a win for today.”

Like Adee, I’m a founder and CEO and the stress of that job can take a toll. Through the last three months I’ve learned a lot about myself and this process and here are four lessons I’ve learned.

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

2/9: Cupid’s Roar Partner Competition (Melbourne, Australia)

2/9: 3rd Annual Black Ops Partner Competition (Wheaton, IL)

2/9: Bedrock Heart Breaker (Calgary, AB)

2/9: Can’t Stop Brock Event (Mankato, MN)

2/9: Battle of the Ages (Jacksonville, FL) 

2/9: Battle for Bae 2019 (San Mateo, CA)

2/9: Battle of the Fittest 6: NYC Throwdown (New York, NY)

2/9: My Bloody Valentine (Vidalia, OH)

2/9: 2nd Annual Battle of the Ages (Fruitland, ID)

2/9: The 148 of 2018 (Evergreen Park, IL) 

2/9 – 2/10: The CF Circus (Des Moines, IA)

2/9 – 2/10: The Chitown Throwdown 2019 Masters Edition (Emhurst, IL)

2/15 – 2/16: 2nd annual Tough Love Competition (Louisville, KY)

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

2/16: Masters of Fitness ( Cape Coral, FL)

2/16: The Garage Games Xs & Ys (Valdosta, GA)

2/16: Couples Clash 2019 (Pensacola, FL)

2/16: Tuff Love (Boulder, CO)

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

2/16: Winter War Games (Spanish Fort, AL)

2/16: Vicious Valentine’s Partner Throwdown (Carlisle, PA)

2/16: Ice Breaker 3 at Unbreakable Athletics Academy (Plainfield, IN)

2/23: Amicus Ambush: Mixed Teams (Dickinson, ND)

2/23 – 2/24: Strength in Depth (London, England)