“The limit is not the sky. The limit is the mind.”- Wim Hof
CROSSFIT GAMES
A Bad Back Wasn’t Enough To Stop Semenza From Qualifying For Her Fifth Ever CrossFit Games
Stoic. Steady. Solid. These are the adjectives that come to mind for Games athlete Paige Semenza.
Given the Misfit Athlete’s demeanor, it should come as no surprise that if Semenza was struggling with an injury, her fans and competitors would never know.
As it goes, her disposition during the North America East Semifinal wasn’t the tip off that she wasn’t 100-percent. Her uncharacteristically tight-margin finish during the event, however, was.
The short of it: At the end of the weekend, there were just 3 points separating Semenza (386) from Anikha Greer (383).
In a sport where milliseconds matter, 3 points was just enough to clinch Semenza the 11th qualifying spot in the North America East Semifinal.
For frame of reference: While the field was 30 women more shallow in the 2022 Semifinals, Semenza easily came in third at the Syndicate Crown Semifinal.
Further, last year she also finished all 6 of the tests in 8th place or better, while this year she finished just one test—Linda—inside the 10 top.
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SPEED READS
LSKD is offering Games Shirts: Check them out now.The Down Under Championship:Registration for the 2023 DUC Online Qualifiers is OPEN! It’s time to IGNITE that inner competitive
Father’s Day Shopping Guide: And it’s not just white New Balance or Air Monarchs.
Spring Swag Sale: The Morning Chalk Up Spring Swag Sale is on now. Supplies are limited, so order now.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
What It’s Like to Compete on a Team at the Torian Pro as an Everyday Athlete
This isn’t a story about elite athletes with sponsorship deals.
It’s about a team of amateurs with a passion for fitness, who stepped up to the challenge of competing at the largest CrossFit competition in Australia–the Torian Pro, in Brisbane Australia. It’s a tale of emerging athletes, of self-discovery and teamwork and a bond forged through shared experience. It’s a story about going after something and having the time of your life doing so.
On May 26-28, 2023, I was privileged enough to compete on a team at the Torian Pro in the Pro Division, and this is our story.
Septuagenarian Gwen Engle has been CrossFitting for over a decade.
She has participated in ten Opens, has a 275-pound deadlift and a 207-pound back squat. She has never lacked motivation when it comes to her fitness, and as a caterer, baker, mother of three and grandmother of five, a sedentary lifestyle has never been on the table.
Gwen is a member of Arbor CrossFit, in Boise Idaho.
Owned by Jonathan Gonzales and María Aragón de Gonzales, Arbor is home to a community of like-minded, fitness-focused youth and adults. Members range in ages from 4 to 81, as Arbor offers classes for kids and Masters athletes throughout the week.
Gwen trains alongside members of all ages throughout the week, and is an integral member of the Masters class. Held every Monday and Thursday, athletes aged 65 and above complete the programmed house WOD. In addition to Gwen, there are 20 other members that regularly attend the classes.
The group’s oldest member, Tony, at age 81, began at Arbor as a personal training client. While this jump-started his fitness, he wanted more: he wanted a community, and specifically a community of athletes his own age, with similar goals and drive.
“My daughter encouraged me to join,” recalled Tony. “I was unhealthy, not very active, you know. And look at what this has become. This is amazing. There are so many of us.”
Over the past three years, with the help and encouragement of Tony and Gwen, more and more older athletes have joined the gym, many of them new to CrossFit, and have formed a tight-knit, supportive community amongst each other.
The Atlon App: The Latest Offering On The Market to Track Your Fitness
Look, I’m a geek for data. Did it even happen if I don’t have my Apple watch on when I work out? Does it even count? I am constantly looking at my heart rate to see when I could have pushed harder, and do not even get me talking about tracking my sleep. All those numbers! So much to extrapolate.
But as a CrossFitter, our fitness can be more multidimensional than other athletic pursuits. A runner just presses the same couple of buttons, and they are off – at the end of training, they have a simple data set. Same for bikers, swimmers, and many others. But we do so many things – one day we are doing a 5X5 deadlift followed by a 12-minute metcon, whereas the next day, we might have a one rep max clean followed by a 20-minute row. The possibilities are endless, and it becomes hard to track these moving parts separately. It would be nice to track weightlifting separately from endurance WODs.
Let me introduce you to Atlon, the newest app for your smartphones and smartwatch.
You can earn exclusive rewards like stickers, patches, and mugs (all the way up to a barbell) by simply referring people to subscribe to our free daily newsletter. Grab your exclusive link and start sharing the Morning Chalk Up with your friends, family, and people you met one time on a saturday morning WOD to get started.
Ready to win a FREE Concept2 BikeErg? All you have to do is ride 1000m on the BikeErg at home or at your gym between July 5th to 9th, and submit your time to the Concept2 Online Logbook, and you can win one of three BikeErgs.
LSKD has burst onto the scene with their edgy activewear and streetwear that can be seen on their athletes like Khan Porter, James Newbury and Sara Sigmundsdottir. Now you can get the clothes you’ve been eyeing for a HUGE discount. Shop the mid-year vibes sale!
Check out this tribute to Ben Bergeron’s coaching career from Fran Gutierrez, Head Coach of Find Your Best, one of the top training camps in South America.
And another tribute from Kenny Johnson, a coach at Bergeron’s CompTrain and CrossFit New England.
We’re only 48 days out from the 2023 CrossFit Games! Teen athlete Kā’eo Subiono prepares with this handstand walk obstacle course.
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