Sam Briggs, Mat Fraser and Invictus Secure First Ticket to 2019 CrossFit Games

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by RXBAR. Just real food that tastes good and is good for you.

Gingerbread spice and everything nice. Enter for a chance to win one box of the RXBAR limited-edition flavor, Gingerbread. Five lucky winners. Giveaway open until Friday. U.S. only.

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” — Dolly Parton

Fraser, Briggs, Invictus Win Dubai; Earn Ticket to the 2019 Games

Over the weekend, Sam Briggs, Mathew Fraser and CrossFit Invictus were crowned champions of the Dubai CrossFit Championship and secured the first invitations to the 2019 CrossFit Games. 

Here’s a quick recap.

Women

Similar to the CrossFit Games the past few years, the women’s competition provided the majority of the drama and excitement on the floor as “the Engine from England,” Samantha Briggs seized the moment in the final event, beating out Jamie Greene, Karin Frey and Sara Sigmundsdottir in a near winner-take-all finale as just seven points separated the four women heading into the final event.

“It feels pretty amazing. A little bit surreal,” Briggs said in an interview. “Missing out on Regionals and being able to go to the Games last year as an individual, I couldn’t have asked for anything better than to do the first sanctioned event and I’m going to the Games!”

A year after competing in the Masters division at the Games and having surgery to repair her elbow, the 37-year-old Briggs has the distinction of being the first ever individual Games qualifier under the new system.

Men

A new year, and new system yields the same result for three-time reigning Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser. Fraser put an exclamation point on a 100 plus point victory over the field of men by lunging his way to the finish line as the only male athlete to finish the final event. Fraser won seven of the 10 events across the weekend including a perfect four for four performance on the final day to earn an early return trip to the CrossFit Games where he hopes to make it four straight CrossFit Games titles.

“It’s a big relief to know that this is out of the way and I can focus on what I want to focus on now,” Frasier told us. “I’ll train with Tia up until Wodapalooza and then hopefully get some traveling in and have some fun with family.”

Teams

For the teams it was a familiar name, Invictus, that took down the top spot to earn a record 11th straight trip to the CrossFit Games. The roster of Rasmus Andersen, Tommy Vinas, Regan Huckaby and Lauren Fisher were simply dominant. After winning the opening event of the week they never looked back leading the competition wire-to-wire.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your best friend who complains that she’ll be single forever…

You gotta get back out there, just like with training during the holidays. It can be tough to keep your head in the game and stay the course this time of year. All those parties (and all our cookie recipes!) don’t help, but Adrian Conway of Brute Strength reminds us to take a second to remember why we get up and keep WODing every dang day, even when we don’t want to.

And the next time someone says they don’t have time for the gym…

You guys ever play that card game called BS? Here’s a list of 25 ways to prioritize time for fitness. 

Things To…

WATCH: Doing Dubai Event 5 at Home 

Continuing his theme of demolishing online qualifiers for fun, Jacob Heppner did Event 5 from the Dubai CrossFit Championship at Cobra Command CrossFit. He does it in 6:24 which would have put him in second place had he actually done it in Dubai.

SAME BUT NOT THE SAME.

HEAR: A Company of One

Paul Jarvis was a guest on the Duct Tape Marketing podcast and discussed what it’s like to run your own business, the difference between growth and scale, and how to make decisions that will not only make you happier but help you build a sustainable business.

STAY SMALL. 

EAT: Perfect Roasted Chicken

Roasting a chicken is one of those things that everyone just assumes you know how to do. And chicken is a staple for CrossFitters everywhere. Here’s how you can roast your own chicken to take your meal prep to the next level.

CHICKEN IS A STAPLE.

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

Chalk Up Community

• ROW’D ROYALTY — The 2019 Row’d Royalty kicks off January 10th. Born at Diablo CrossFit in 2012, the Row’d Royalty is now an annual “open style” competition. Each week for four weeks a rowing workout will be announced. You’ll have four days to complete the workout and submit your score. And, there is a team competition. There are cash prizes for open
  categories, schwag for age group winners, and a new Concept2 Rower for the winning team.
• FRIENDLY IN-HOUSE COMPETITION — 12 Labours CrossFit ran an in-house competition between their Annapolis and Columbia locations called the Battle of the Districts Presents Slapshot Regatta. With eight rowers per district rowing for total meters in 60 minutes, the total meters rowed were 264,420 with Annapolis taking home the trophy.
• LEFT COAST CLASSIC — Registration is open for the Left Coast Classic, brought to you by the Trifecta Team Series team, set to take place on February 2nd. Teams will be comprised of two athletes (M/M or F/F) within two different divisions (Division 1 & Division 2). 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishing teams for each division will all receive prizes, including free gear and supplements, and ultimately cash prizes for the Division 1
  winners.
• WHO WILL WIN ON EBAY — Usually it’s the bidder that wants to win on eBay, but not in this case. Marcy Heppner, mother to Jacob Heppner, is hosting another St. Jude fundraiser. She’s posting autographed photos of Jacob and Winston and one of Noah Ohlsen and Maximus to be bid on. It’s a race to the finish to see who can sell all 26 autographed photos
  first. 

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

Jacob Heppner back squats 460 pounds, and he made a bet with his wife that he would snatch 280 pounds by the end of the year • Dallin Pepper overhead squats 330 pounds • Danielle Resha  cleans + 2 front squats 225 pounds • Dr. Malcolm Kendrick spoke at CrossFit HQ over the weekend and then did his first WOD • CrossFit Zoetic hosted a CrossFit Gymnastics seminar over the weekend • Meeshell Duke hits a 195 pound clean PR • Team USA weightlifter Jordan
Cantrell gets a 455 pound front squat for two • Brooke Wells is hosting a giveaway with a few of her favorite things. 

…and until you’ve gone as hard as Streat Hoerner we don’t want to hear about dead legs.

Launched — OPEX just launched a new coaching education site for coaches and owners in their network of 43 locations and growing.

CONFIRMED: Two More For the Rogue Invitational — Kristi Eramo and Lukas Hogberg were both confirmed for the Rogue Invitational over the weekend. We now have nearly half of the 20 male and 20 female the athlete spots for this event confirmed.  

Is Haley Adams the Next CrossFit Phenom — ESPNW ran an article over the weekend asking what has already been on the minds of some: Is Haley Adams the next CrossFit phenom? “Adams has an advantage over every adult competitor on the floor, though: She’s part of the first generation of CrossFit natives. Founded in 2000, the sport is only a year older than she is, and because competitive CrossFit didn’t start until the creation of the Games in 2007, the adults all came from other disciplines. Mat Fraser, the men’s
CrossFit Games champion for the past three years, was on track to become an Olympic weightlifter before an injury derailed him, while Tia-Clair Toomey, the reigning women’s CrossFit champ, was a runner.”

— “Because of the huge variety of the events, athletes from other, more specialized sports always come to CrossFit with gaps in their previous training, but Adams has no such gaps. A gymnast since age 10, she transitioned to CrossFit at 14, which allowed her to build a broad foundation of fitness across all of the different potential CrossFit events.

— “As for weaknesses, [Adams’ coach Chris Hinshaw] points to Adams’ pure strength, but even that facet is remarkable. Her combined max deadlift, back squat and shoulder press (the “CrossFit Total”) is 710 pounds — 180 pounds heavier than the best score for an adult woman at that inaugural 2007 Games and enough to place 36th in the adult division this past August.”

“Laura Horvath Withdraws Due to Back Injury,” by Tommy Marquez, Morning Chalk Up

It’s another unfortunate turn of events in Dubai for the 2nd fittest woman on the planet as we have just learned that Laura Horvath is officially withdrawing from the Dubai CrossFit Championship due to injury.

According to Horvath’s coach Michele Letendre, Horvath has been dealing with significant back issues. “Warming up for the snatch, Kris (Horvath’s brother) told me that her back is hurting, and that she was in pain,” Letendre revealed. “The physio said it’s muscular but she’s been taken to the hospital to be checked and make sure it’s not something worse.”

The 21-year old came into the competition as a favorite to earn the sole qualifying spot to the CrossFit Games in August. But after some disappointing performance, including a 25th place finish in the desert run and failing to meet the minimum work requirement in Event 5, the Hungarian sensation was in 9th going into the final day, 118 points back from first.

Horvath sitting so far out of reach of the top spot qualifying spot was a huge surprise, but it’s clear now that she hasn’t been one hundred percent.

“It’s a tough break for Laura for sure coming off such a great season,” stated Letendre “but we just have to move forward and learn from it.”

12/22: The Flanders Throwdown (Zedelgem, Belgium)

1/10 – 2/4: Row’d Royalty (Online)

1/10 – 1/13: Feats of Strength Online Meet (Online)

1/11 – 1/13: CrossFit Fort Vancouver Championships (Vancouver, WA)

1/12: Granite Games Throwdown at New Ulm CrossFit (New Ulm, MN)

1/12: The BrickYard Brawl (South Windsor, CT)

1/12: Hometown Throwdown 4 at CrossFit 534 (Poplarville, MS)

1/12 – 1/13: Scaled Flames (Amsterdam)

1/17 – 1/20: Wodapalooza (Miami, FL)

1/19: New Year New Throwdown Event (El Mirage, AZ)

1/19: Battle For The Axe (Baxter, MN)

1/19: Warrior Affiliate League Fantastic Four (La Puente, CA)

1/26: Lost River Rumble (Bowling Green, KY)

1/27: Big Dawgs Athlete Development Camp (Letchworth, England)

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

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