Rich Froning Does it Again

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by RP Strength.

Do you struggle with recovery during the Open workouts? If so, get your copy of Recovering From Training to maximize your performance during your Open workouts. Use code “OPEN15” to save this week only!

“The best way to be disciplined every day is be disciplined for one day. The best way to be disciplined for one day is be disciplined in this moment.” — Brian Kight 

Morning Chalk Up Announces Official Media Partnership with Multiple Sanctionals

Today, the Morning Chalk Up announced it will be the official media partner for the Brazil CrossFit Championship and CrossFit French Throwdown for the 2019 season and Filthy150 for the 2020 season.

“This partnership will give Morning Chalk Up reporters and analyst exclusive on-site access to cover marquee Sanctionals,” said Justin LoFranco, Morning Chalk Up’s Founder and CEO. “This is an important step to ensuring that fans of the sport of CrossFit have a front row seat and quality coverage that both the athletes and fans deserve.”

As official media partners Morning Chalk Up will be sending their team of reporters to cover these events on the ground, giving fans an all access look at the competition from pre and post event interview and highlights, stats and stories.

First up on the calendar will be the Brazil CrossFit Championship from May 17-19 in São Paulo, Brazil, featuring athletes like Dani Speegle, Jacob Heppner, Elijah Muhammad, Sean Sweeney, Guilherme Malheiros, Spencer Panchik, Mckenzie Riley and Melina Rodriguez.

“The Brazil CrossFit Championship is excited to be partnering with the Morning Chalk Up as official Media Partner of the event,” said Jobst Olschewski, Director of the Brazil CrossFit Championship.

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DATA TIME.

19.2 versus 16.2: Preliminary Analysis

Open workout 19.2 was nearly a repeat of 16.2, and what do you know, the early results show nearly repeated score distributions.

The bottom line: the fittest got A LOT fitter (see below). The rest of us, we still have some work to do.

The difference between the workouts was that in 19.2 athletes have at least eight minutes to complete the first two rounds instead of only four minutes. Though athletes had more time to complete more reps, it doesn’t appear to have increased the number of RX athletes completing the second round or beyond.

One small, but interesting difference between 19.2 and 16.2 is that the percent of athletes running out of time on the cleans instead of the gymnastics movements was higher this year. (Notice blue peaks are higher than red.) Overall strength in 2019 appears relatively the same, but perhaps the ability with toes-to-bar and double unders has seen a slight increase.

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Coffee Break Coversations

What to say the next time your toddler falls to the floor in a fit of emotion…

Reign it in, Sweet Pea. Time to take control of that and take control of your meal prep budget. Here’s how a registered dietician stocks up for her family of four on less than $100 per week.

Now what to do with all that extra dough…

Sock it away for a trip. You’d be surprised what you can furrow away for vacations if you prioritize it. Here’s how one woman saved enough to spend New Year’s Eve adventuring in Australia.

Things To…

WATCH: Tommy Marquez on Life Post CrossFit HQ

Tommy Marquez joins Working Against Gravity to discuss how his life changed once he was laid off from CrossFit Media, how he’s continued his involvement in the sport as an analyst and his take on what he believes the future of CrossFit has in store.

AN ASSET TO MORNING CHALK UP.

HEAR: Annie Sakamoto Fitness with Friends

In the very first episode of Fitness With Friends, Annie Sakamoto joins Sean Woodland and Tommy Marquez to talk about running her affiliate, how she got her start in CrossFit and competing at the highest level.

A CROSSFIT OG.

GET: Free Ground Beef for Life

Through March, all new ButcherBox members get two free packs of ground beef in every order for the life of their subscription. And, because ButcherBox only carries high-quality meat and humanely raised 100% grass-fed beef never taken from feedlots, you have peace of mind.

DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS.

EAT: Sheet Pan Sweet and Spicy Pork

This Whole30-friendly sheet pan dinner was inspired by the flavors of Chinese barbecue pork, long strips of seasoned, roasted boneless pork, often glazed with a sweet barbecue sauce. You can also use boneless and skinless chicken pieces in this recipe or vary the vegetables. Great for weeknight dinners. 

ONE PAN DINNERS RULE. 

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

Chalk Up Community

• CANCER FUNDRAISER — CrossFit LaCo in Montgomery, TX is hosting Kettlebells for Cojones, an event to bring awareness to testicular cancer on April 27. There will be a partner style kettlebell along with a vendor village, food truck and silent auction.  
• AUTISM ROW-A-THON — On April 27 – 28, OC Athletix in San Clemente, CA is hosting Autism Rocks and Rows, a 24-hour rowing relay to support the Autism Community in Action, an organization that provides education and support for families living with autism. Athletes can row in teams of six (RX) or 12 (scaled).
• NEW OWNERSHIP — Rachel Luecht took over as owner of CrossFit Huntley in Huntley, IL on Friday. Luecht and her family have been members of CrossFit Huntley since it opened nearly a decade ago.
• CROSSFIT FOR HUNTERS — Hit or Miss Archery Center and CrossFit Zephyr, both in Albuquerque, NM have created a five-week fitness class to condition participants for hunting season. Called Fit to Hunt, the class combines cardio, body weight movements, and carrying odd objects. There are also AMRAPs with a kick. At the top of the minute you have
  to go up and accurately shoot your bow.

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

Olivia Vollmar gets a 175 pound back squat PR • Maddie Sturt re-did 19.2 • Congratulations to Michelle Behn on taking third place in her first CrossFit competition • Ole Even Rosand gets his first muscle-up • Meg Gallagher has partnered with Target • Ari Zayon got his first muscle-up • Happy third anniversary to CrossFit TILT.

…and if this video of CrossFit Kids Adaptive class doing 19.2 during Friday Night Lights at CrossFit Incite doesn’t catch you in the feels, we don’t know what will. 

Unofficial Top Ten of 19.2 –– As of 10:00 PM PT last night, here are the unofficial top ten from 19.2.

1. Rich Froning — 15:58 | Brooke Wells — 14:20

2. Patrick Vellner — 16:11 | Candy Riffle — 15:06

3. Mat Fraser — 16:28 | Jadzia Truszkowski — 15:08

4. Zachery Buntin — 16:44 | Sara Sigmundsdottir — 15:20

5. Logan Collins — 17:27 | Jamie Greene — 15:22

6. Tyler Christopher — 17:27 | Laura Horvath — 15:41

7. Alex Vigneault — 17:32 | Dani Speegle — 15:41

8. Jacob Anderson — 17:40 | Karin Freyova — 15:43

9. George Sterner — 17:41 | Mekenzie Riley — 15:45

10. ​Eric Carmody — 17:45 | Kristin Holte — 15:48

Making 19.2 Headlines:

— “Dani Speegle Doesn’t Settle in 19.2”…

— “Rich Froning’s World Record 19.2 Video”…

— “‘Do it the same, but faster:’ Noah Ohlsen’s Second Shot at 19.2 is Over a Minute Faster” … Ohlsen catapulted from 796th after week 1 to 242nd as of last night. 

— “The toes to bar are such a trap in that workout:” Wisdom from Patrick Vellner after a blistering 16:11 on 19.2“…

Looking Ahead to Open Announcements — Here are some of the upcoming CrossFit Open live announcement locations. 

— 19.3 Live Open announcement at Diablo CrossFit in Pleasant Hills, CA this Thursday at 5:00 PM PT.

— 19:4 Live Open announcement at Invicio CrossFit in São Paulo, Brazil Thursday, March 14 at 5:00 PM PT.

— 19:4 Live Open announcement at CrossFit Raid in Bensalem, PA Thursday, March 14 at 5:00 PM PT.

— 19.5 Live Open announcement from Dublin, Ireland with CrossFit Filthy150 on Thursday, March 21 at 5:00 PM PT.

— How to Watch: All live announcement will be livestreamed through the CrossFit Games website.

Steph “the Hammer” Hammerman Feature — Steph Hammerman is the first CrossFit Level 2 coach with Cerebral Palsy, a sponsored Nike adaptive athlete and owns Hammer Driven Fitness in Knightdale, NC. She was featured on Good Morning America, where she discusses how she got to where she is today. 

— “Societal perception of people with adaptive needs has changed, but has a long way to go. That’s why I thrive off of achieving the ‘impossible’. When I was younger and told that I would most likely never do something, that quickly became the catalyst to me finding a way to prove you wrong. Sleep away camp at 7 years old, mainstream schooling, college, a masters degree; you name it, I’ve done it and I’m often asked where I believe my sense of determination and optimism comes from.”

— “It’s just my personality and who I was meant to be. I like to be challenged and when God made me he knew exactly what he was doing. He may have put a few physical obstacles in my way, but he also set me up with a toolkit for life that would help me conquer any challenge in my way…I just have to want something bad enough.”

“Why Glassman’s Games Gambit Might Pay Off,” by Patrick Cummings, Morning Chalk Up 

In the summer of 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, Bob Dylan plugged in an electric Fender Stratocaster guitar and promptly pissed everybody off.

What’s happening now in CrossFit isn’t so dissimilar.

In both cases, the drastic changes were about adjusting expectations, shifting perceptions and redefining the future. At the time, the boos and hisses from the crowd were plenty proof that success wasn’t assured for Dylan. It worked out okay, though. I think it’ll work out okay for CrossFit, too. But it’s far from guaranteed.

We’ll take a step in the right direction if we start spending more time trying to understand why these changes are happening and less time indulging our collective dislike for change.

We’ll take a step when we recognize that these adjustments of expectation, these shifts of perception, are all — pardon my use of obnoxious business jargon — issues of branding.

I recognize “branding” is sort of an ephemeral concept, so let’s try to bring it down to earth. If I could be so bold as to offer my own definition: Branding is all the ways you keep or break the promises you are making.

It takes a lot of guts to break promises on purpose, to intentionally screw with your established brand, to go electric at a folk festival. When Dylan walked off the stage that day, nobody was left saying he was just a singer of acoustic protest songs. He lost some people whose values no longer aligned with those of this “new” artist.

But I think Dylan knew he had written himself into a corner and that drastic action was needed to free himself from it. I think those who are great at branding play chess when the rest of us are playing tiddlywinks. Dylan was three moves ahead of everybody else that year. Dylan is great at branding. So is Greg Glassman.

3/7: Open Announcement 19.3 (Online) 

3/14: Open Announcement 19.4 (Online)

3/21: Open Announcement 19.5 (Online)

3/24: The Rockwell Championships Series Team Qualifiers (Online)

3/30: Game of Barbells (Houston, TX)

3/30: Row for a Reason 2019 (Nashville, TN)

3/30: Reps For Rescues at CrossFit Hanover (Hanover, PA)

3/30: Crossfit Redoubt Open Competition (Slovakia)

3/30: Cru’s Crusaders Fundraiser WOD (San Clemente, CA)

3/30: Burritt Built Throwdown (Port St. Lucie, FL)

4/1 – 4/8: Northern California Classic Online Qualifiers (Online)

4/1 – 4/11: The Liege Throwdown Online Qualifiers (Herstal, Belgium)

4/6: Feed, Clothe, Love and Lift (Amarillo, TX) 

4/6: Powerstroke Partner Throwdown 2019 (Fallon, NV)

4/6: Metcon Meltdown (Flemington, NJ)

4/6: Two Peas in a POD Competition (Burlington, MA)

4/6: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Diversion (Williamstown, NJ)

4/6: Rise of the Machines IV (Austin, TX)

4/6: Bay Area Beatdown 2 (Webster, TX)

4/10 – 4/24: Granite Games Online Qualifier (Online)

4/11 – 4/14: CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown Online Qualifier (Online)

4/12 – 4/13: Capstone Caveman Clash and Cook Off (Lubbock, TX)

4/12 – 4/14: Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (Washington, D.C.)

4/13: Capacidad De Dos Amigos (San Antonio, TX)

4/13: The Craic Throwdown (Norwood, MA)

4/13: Warrior Affiliate League Deuces Wild (Chino, CA)

4/13: Battle of the Ages (Pineville, NC)

4/13: 5th Annual Battle for the Mountain (Dawsonville, GA)

4/13: The Requisite Masters Classic (Philadelphia, PA)

4/15 – 4/27: Top Of The Box Online Qualifier (Clarksville, TN)

4/19 – 5/1: CrossFit French Throwdown Individual Online Qualifier (Online)

4/20: The Wodfather VII 2019 (Keller, TX)

4/20: Rookie Rumble at Bucktown CrossFit (Chicago, IL)

4/26: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit Nashua (Nashua, NH)

4/26 – 4/27: Gameday Competition (Mankato, MN) 

4/26 – 4/28: CrossFit Italian Showdown (Milan, Italy)

4/27: 4th Annual Spring Fever Partner Masters Comp (Souderton PA)

4/27: Rookie Rumble at CrossFit KOA (Cranford, NJ)

4/27: The Gnardog Challenge (Reedley, CA)

4/27: Festivus Games (Worldwide)

4/27: Raising the Bar for Charlotte (Medina, OH)

4/27 – 4/29: Asia CrossFit Championship (Shanghai, China)

4/27: Autism Rocks and Rows (San Clemente, CA)

4/27: Garage Games Xs and Ys (Hiram, GA)

4/27: The Explode Individual Classic (West Chester, PA)

4/27: Kettlebells for Cojones (Montgomery, TX)