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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition was chalked up while eating some yummy protein pancakes with bananas and peanut butter.
14 days, 11 hours until the first CrossFit Open announcement.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Ultimately, all action and accountability falls on you. We all have the time; we each choose what to do with it. No excuses. Even the greatest workout buddy, trainer or cheerleader can never accomplish anything for you. They can teach, help, motivate and inspire, but the hard work is yours.” — Danny Kavadlo
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
Sara Sigmundsdottir makes a huge announcement that she’s relocating to California and will compete in the California Regional. Stacie Tovar hits a 310 pound back squat PR. Kara Webb does 50 power snatches at 110 pounds as fast as possible. Emily Abbott gets told she’s not feminine enough on a dating website. Amanda Deller of 12 Labours CrossFit snatches 225 pounds. Carleen Mathews does 50 manmakers for time with 35 pound dumbbells. Arnold Schwarzenegger was wearing a CrossFit t-shirt on Snapchat. Seventy-seven years old and staying fit, Jacinto Bonilla has battled prostate cancer while keeping up with CrossFit and even opening his own basement gym when no one would hire him. Here’s what happened when a CrossFitter did yoga every day for three straight weeks.
In Case You Missed It — The Marcus Filly “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Reebok’s highlight video showing off athletes breaking 44 Guiness World Records in 24 hours. If you have no idea what this is, we’ve got you covered.
ON THE RADIO
Julie Foucher returns this week and talks with Biggest Loser trainer Jen Widerstrom. In this episode, Julie and Jen discuss how she got into CrossFit, training for health versus training for a competition and how she approaches healthy living.
CHALK UP READS
There exists a stretch of road that doesn’t show up on maps, old or new. It’s a place where, relatively speaking, few go. But those who choose to travel it are rewarded handsomely for their efforts, especially the ones who venture there on a regular basis. It’s here, on the extra mile, that life’s high achievers and successes distinguish themselves from the masses.
Such is life that we cannot enjoy the fruits of enduring success without first having repeatedly travelled the extra mile. It’s that one extra rep in the gym when your muscles are screaming at you to stop. It’s the extra set of sprints in the pouring rain when the rest of your team have gone home. It’s those extra hours spent at the office to meet that all important deadline. It’s all of these and so much more: It is a place where good becomes great and where ordinary becomes extraordinary; a place where champions are made.
“CrossFit Adaptive Athlete Gives Back in a Big Way” by ABC 13
From bench pressing well over 400 pounds, to winning competitions, CrossFit trainer and amputee, Zack Ruhl is at the top of his game. While his presence in the gym is huge, others say it’s his personality and heart that truly makes him stand out from the rest. Those who know him say he’s a beast.
“I was born with a bone deficiency and it led to my legs being amputated at the age of 2-years-old,” Ruhl said.
But there’s something different here that make’s Ruhl’s place stand out from others.
“I wanted to give free personal training and free memberships to adaptive athletes. Anybody that has a disability comes to my gym and trains for free,” Ruhl explained.
CHALK UP AFFILIATES
If you’re in the Mid-Atlantic area, registration for the Mid-Atlantic Affiliate Challenge opens tomorrow.
If you’re in the Atlanta area on February 11, CrossFit Terminus is hosting a one day Open prep clinic with Emily Bridgers. Cost is $30 and you can signup by emailing here.
An undercover spy dropped into Brick CrossFit to video footage of noise complaints over dropped weights after a court order barred them from doing so.
CrossFit Inferno mourns the loss of one of their members. Tricia Jensen, 37, died in a car crash early Monday morning. “She was like the Energizer bunny, just always on the go, always energized, always so full of positive energy,” said Jensen’s friend Thomas Binnebose.