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“You’re never too good to get better.” — Justin Su’a

Briggs, Newbury, and Project X Win Australia; Sturt Earns Invite

While most of the world was sleeping, the Australian CrossFit Championship finished up its inaugural year as a Sanctioned event. After four days of competition ranging from the North Kirra Beach, to the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre in Queensland, Samantha Briggs, James Newbury, and team Project X claimed their spot on top of the podium, and an invite to the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games.

How’d the women do?

From the outset of the competition it was clear that Sam Briggs only knows one speed: 100%. Despite already having earned her invite to the Games by winning Dubai, the “Engine from England,” came out firing on all cylinders winning the first five events for a clean sweep of the first two days of competition.

Briggs’ winning streak came to an end in Event 6 when she was edged out by Hilary Steele for the win by (gasp) one second. Briggs won the next two events for seven total wins in eight events, making the final day of competition just a formality. She needed only a tenth place or better in the final day’s events to clinch the win — which she did comfortably — by 127 points. Not bad for an athlete that “is on a deload,” according to Coach Phil Mansfield in a message to our editor.

With Briggs in the lead and an invite in hand from Dubai, the real race was for second place, as the invite from Australia would be passed down from Briggs to the next in line. Madeline Sturt stepped up to the plate and showed why she’s made the trip to the Games three times as an individual before her 22nd birthday.

The Australia native took control of second place on day two finishing the first two events in second place just behind Briggs. Sturt took a 35 point lead over third place Simone Arthur heading into the back half of Day 2. With the focus on second place, Sturt expanded on her lead, beating Arthur in five of the next seven events.

Sturt’s 53 point lead was solidified in the finale as she tied Arthur for fourth in the event, earning Sturt second place overall and an invite back for her fourth consecutive CrossFit Games.

And the men?

No Regionals, no problem. The reigning king of Australia, James Newbury, showed no signs of letting a new system slow him down, by winning a men’s division made up entirely of athletes from Australia and New Zealand.

Newbury, a three-time individual Games qualifier and the two-time reigning Pacific Regional champion, started the competition strong with a second place finish at the beach in the only event of Day 1. Former lifeguard Matt Mcleod won the event to finish Day 1 in first place, but his time at the top of the leaderboard was short lived.

Newbury took control of first place by winning Event 2 to start Day 2 of the competition, and from there finished every single day — and every single event from there on out — in first place overall for the men. The linchpin of Newbury’s weekend was a  string of four event wins in the next six events following day one that helped him open up a lead that never dipped below 40 points after Day 2.



His lone blemish came with the heavy barbell cycling on event 9 where he finished 12th, but a pair of second place finishes in the final two events sealed his win. Newbury now becomes the first Australian male to earn an invite — his fourth straight — to the CrossFit Games.

Continue Reading. 

GAMES NEWS.

Oh Hey There Second Place

Who you calling second place?

The competition down under, which just wrapped up yesterday, highlighted one of the challenges whenever a sport introduces significant changes — confusion.

The confusion in this case surrounds who gets invited to compete at the CrossFit Games. Sam Briggs, who won the Australian CrossFit Championship, already has an invite from winning the first Sanctional in Dubai. So what happens here?

Well. I’m waiting.

According to the rulebook, if an athlete wins multiple sanctioned events — like Sam — then it’s the second place athletes from the most recent Sanctional event.

Directly from the rulebook (Section 4.04):

“Should the winner of a Sanctionals competition qualify for or receive an invitation to the Games by another means, the second-place athlete/team from that Sanctionals competition will receive the invitation to compete at the Games. This backfill process will continue if the second-place athlete/team has already qualified, received an invitation, and so on.

This backfill process also will follow the chronological sequence of the Sanctionals. For example, if an athlete wins multiple Sanctionals, CrossFit Inc. will backfill to the second-place athlete from the second Sanctionals win, not the first.”

But wait, there’s more.

If Sam were to qualify for the Games by being National Champion or top 20 in the Open worldwide, then her invite from Dubai would pass onto the second place athlete from Dubai — Jamie Greene.

If Jamie has already qualified for the Games, then it’s passed down to the next, then the next until they’ve filled the position.

Whew, that’s a lot.

It is a lot, but it’s a lot more confusing this season because the Open is happening smack dab in the middle of the season. For the 2020 Games season, everything kicks off with the Open so things like National Champions and top 20 — if they choose to keep that around — will already be set prior to any sanctioned events.

Oh yeah, and if you have other questions on the rulebook, chances are we’ve answered them in this helpful guide.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to do when you’re stuck in a rut…

Get up and try something new. Laura, who is 72 years young, got a new exercise from her coach, mayweathers, and she nailed them from the get-go. Talk about getting out of a chair without any hands? Laura could probably lift you out of your chair. Be more like Laura.

So what did you do this weekend, Joe?

Oh, you know, just learned how to shuffle dance and then choreographed an entire routine to make sure my school was getting enough exercise. NBD. What’d you do this weekend?

Things To…

WATCH: Inside Invitus at the Dubai Fitness Championship

Episode five of Inside Invictus follows the Invictus athletes through the 2018 Dubai Fitness Championship. See what they all eat before competing and how they feel going into the swim event. 

SO MANY CARBS CONSUMED. 

HEAR: Justin LoFranco on Tod Nief’s Show

Our very own Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Justin LoFranco, sat down on Todd Nief’s Show to discuss how Justin got into mountain climbing, how the format of Morning Chalk Up came to be, and there’s a weird bit about clowns in the end.

WE HATE CLICK BAIT. 

GET: A Doctor That Understands You

Did you know that more than 20 Games athletes use SteadyMD? That’s because Dr. Dani Urcuyo, who just happens to be married to Dr. Julie Foucher, gets CrossFit and all the reasons you want to keep WODing away in health. Instead of seeing someone that goesn’t get CrossFit, get someone that will ask you about your Fran time.

DOES YOUR DOCTOR EVEN LIFT, BRO?

EAT: Low-Carb Tuna and Salmon Poke Bowl

We love a good poke bowl. But if you’re trying to cut back on carbs, making your own poke recipe at home may be the way to go. Try cauliflower rice instead of white rice, and add tons of flavorful toppings with fresh sushi-grade tuna and salmon for a high-protein, impressive meal.

NO RESERVATIONS NEEDED.

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

Chalk Up Community

• NEW LOCATION — Downstate CrossFit is relocating to a larger facility and they’re hosting a grand reopening this Saturday, February 9th.
• OLYMPIC FUNDRAISER — Anna Tobias and her teammate Paris Henken are training for the 2020 Olympics in sailing. A group from Anna’s box T2 CrossFit is hosting a fundraiser to support them.
• FITNESS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS — Bark River CrossFit in Delafield, WI is opening up its doors to all local first responders March 4 – 9 to show support and to help keep them healthy and able to protect and care for the community.
• FRESHLY AFFILIATED — The Goldner Fitness Center at Fort Sill, OK just became an affiliate and is now Tormenta Fortis CrossFit. 
• FREE CROSSFIT — D. Kru Wellness and CrossFit in Las Vegas, NV are offering free memberships to federal workers who have been affected by the government shutdown. 
• CROSSFIT JUMP ROPE COURSE — CrossFit Mayhem is hosting a CrossFit Jump Rope specialty course on June 22. 

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

Blair Chapman gets a 268 pound snatch PR • Kenzie Riley and Nova Labs are holding a givewaway • You can train with Rich Froning March 15 – 17 • Kate Nye gets a 220 pound snatch • Help us convince Coach Mike Burgener he needs a dog • Michele Fumagalli gets her strict pull-ups back after breaking her wrist at the 2018 CrossFit Games • Sarah Bergkvist gets a 154 pound power clean PR • Chad Wesley Smith had surgery over the weekend for an umbilical hernia • Margaux Alvarez got a cruise employee to try some squats with her during WOD on the Waves • Brent Fikowski does five sets of 261pound hang snatch doubles • Mat Fraser celebrated a birthday while he was in Barcelona for the Freakest Challenge • Willy Georges did heavy Isabel at 225 pounds in 4:02 • Cayla Harper hits a 200 pound hang snatch. 

…and we’re not sure this is the kind of partner Katrin Davidsdottir wanted for her WOD. 

CONFIRMED: Sara Sigmundsdottir — Yesterday, Sara Sigmundsdottir announced she has accepted her invitation to compete at Strength in Depth, the sanctioned event in London next month. 

Fittest in Cape Town is Next Sanctioned Event — The Fittest in Cape Town kicks off Wednesday, January 30th at 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM in South Africa, which is 3:00 AM – 6:00 AM PT.

— Who Will Be There: Here’s the official roster.

— Follow Along: Fittest in Cape Town will be live streaming the event. We’ll also be providing the usual updates and recaps on the competition as well through Instagram, Facebook, and the new Games Portal.

“The Strange, Uplifting Tale of ‘Joy of Cooking’ Versus the Food Scientist,” by Helen Rosner, The New Yorker

The very first edition of “The Joy of Cooking” was self-published by the St. Louis hostess and housewife Irma Rombauer in the first years of the Great Depression. A relatively modest volume, it collected some four hundred and fifty recipes gathered from family and friends, garlanded throughout with chatty headnotes and digressions regarding the finer points of entertaining, nutrition, menu planning, and provisioning.

Since that original edition, the book has become one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time. It also has undergone eight significant revisions: Rombauer’s list of recipes exploded into the thousands; entire chapters were added (frozen desserts) and dropped (wartime rationing).

So it came as a shock, in 2009, when the prestigious scholarly journal Annals of Internal Medicine published a study under the pointed headline “The Joy of Cooking Too Much.” The study’s lead author, Brian Wansink, who runs Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab, had made his reputation with a series of splashy studies on eating behavior—in 2005, for instance, his famous “Bottomless Bowls” study concluded that people will eat soup indefinitely if their supply is constantly replenished.

For “The Joy of Cooking Too Much,” Wansink and his frequent collaborator, the New Mexico State University professor Collin R. Payne, had examined the cookbook’s recipes in multiple “Joy” editions, beginning with the 1936 version, and determined that their calorie counts had increased over time by an average of forty-four per cent. “Classic recipes need to be downsized to counteract growing waistlines,” they concluded.

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Wansink said that he’d decided to analyze “Joy” because he was looking for culprits in the obesity epidemic beyond fast food and other unhealthy restaurant cooking. “That raised the thought in my mind: Is that really the source of things? . . . What has happened in what we’ve been doing in our own homes over the years?”

1/29 – 2/2: Fittest in Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa)

2/1 – 2/2: Battle of the Brave III (North Kansas City, MO)

2/2: Golden State Games (Stockton, CA)

2/2: Left Coast Classic Competition (Laguna Niguel, CA)

2/2: Golden State Games (Stockton, CA)

2/2: A League of Their Own (San Antonio, TX)

2/2: True Paw III Crossfit Competition (Annapolis, MD)

2/2 – 2/3: Project 6ix 2019 (Mississauga, Ontario)

2/3: Masters League Partner Throwdown (Adelaide, AUS)

2/3: Coffland Hero WOD (Norwalk, CT) 

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

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

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

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)

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

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