Six Questions for CrossFit in 2022

December 31   |   POWERED BY

OK wow. It has been A YEAR.

From the Morning Chalk Up fam to you, thanks for sticking it out with us.

In today’s edition:

• 🔥 Six burning questions for CrossFit in 2022.
• Sara Sigmundsdottir will compete at Wodapalooza.
• Should you do the Whole30 challenge next month?
• Alex Vigneault’s workout of the week to end 2021 with a sweat.
• Get ready to start your double-under engines, RPM’s 10K challenge kicks off Monday.

“How to stop time: kiss. How to travel in time: read. How to escape time: music. How to feel time: write. How to release time: breathe.” - Matt Haig

Six Burning Questions Heading into the 2022 CrossFit Games Season

As we take stock of 2021, the second year of the global pandemic, one ravaged by travel restrictions, surging cases, and seemingly unending waves, we have to give credit where credit is due. CrossFit’s season still went off, the Games were a huge hit, and the sport survived another tumultuous year after an earth-shattering 2020.

So, how will 2022 top this year? Let’s hope it’s all about the competition on the floor, and not what’s happening off of it. With that in mind, here are six burning questions we all want to find out the answer to over the next 365 days.

1. Is Justin Medeiros the next Mat Fraser? The 22-year-old sophomore mullet man wasted no time in bypassing an entire generation of elite CrossFit athletes in snagging the 2021 crown. Medeiros, who is clearly cut from a similar “die for every point” cloth as five-time retired champion Mat Fraser, looks as if he could rule for decades given his age and performance trajectory.

Or is this a new era of parody in the sport where the title changes hands every year and a few veterans snag one belt before they walk off into the sunset (we’re looking at you Ben Smith)? If history is any indication, this will not be the case and we’re in for a long reign given Fraser and Rich Froning are basically the only champions the men’s division has had in the last decade.

2. Is Ricky Garard redeemable? The Australian has said and done all the right things lately, coming clean about taking PEDs, and looking as if he wants to earn back the trust of CrossFit fans and his fellow competitors. Everyone loves a second chance story and Garard’s road to redemption will ultimately come down not to his placement at the CrossFit Games, but his test result afterward.

Garard is irredeemable in some people’s eyes, however, it’s like that in any professional realm. Some sporting fans are purists and if you’ve been popped once, you are dead to them for life. However, Garard has a real chance to clean up his name, and needs to stay clean for the rest of his career for this to happen, and likely also clear from controversy. Time will tell, every test he does that comes back negative helps his case, but this is clearly a two strikes and you’re out situation.

3. Where does Eric Roza take CrossFit in an endemic pandemic? When Roza took over the company from disgraced founder Greg Glassman in 2020, he had grand plans and worldly ambitions. His hiring of Gary Gaines to head up all global affiliates sent a clear message: CrossFit was out for world domination and no country was too small to target.

But we all know what happened, a global pandemic swept across the planet, and by the end of 2020 it had thrown everyone and their dog’s plans into the trash. A “new normal” has emerged where certain markets are now much more difficult for CrossFit HQ to target, most notably China and Asia where the mainland has adopted a “zero Covid-19” strategy that will keep events out of there for what looks like years.

The question is, how does Roza pivot in an endemic landscape? Does he solidify CrossFit in North America and bide his time when it comes to grandiose international goals, or does he stick his expansion plans on countries he knows he can send his team in and out of safely without major headaches? Knowing Roza and his track record, he already has a thought process in place, and pulling the trigger is just a matter of time.

4. Will we see or hear from Greg Glassman? Disgraced former CEO and CrossFit founder Glassman has a new book coming out, titled “Defining Fitness”. Glassman has largely kept out of the public eye since he stepped down in 2020 amid a whirlwind of controversy.

Will CrossFit fans welcome him back, or is he going to get the cold shoulder in trying to reenter the sport’s discussion sphere? Many would point to the latter, as some of his actions have permanently burned bridges, however, it remains to be seen how much of CrossFit and its subsequent community has cast him off permanently.

5. Where does Tia-Clair Toomey go from here? Currently on the hunt to become the first-ever person to compete at the CrossFit Games, the Summer and Winter Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, Toomey is clearly superhuman and not of this planet. If she qualifies for Beijing 2022 in the two-man bobsled for Australia, it gives her yet another notch on her belt, and puts her into thin air territory. But a sixth CrossFit Games title, which would push her past Fraser, is the ultimate benchmark.

Toomey is the greatest female CrossFit athlete of all time, a title she may never relinquish, but 2022 presents a salivating opportunity: the chance for fans to place her above her male counterparts as the greatest CrossFitter ever, period.

6. Will Patrick Vellner retire? Along with Ohlsen, Vellner has, and always will be, a fan favorite and one of a few veterans we’d love to watch ride off into the sunset with a title on their resume. Vellner got close this past season and has clearly mulled the idea of calling it a career, however one thinks he’d love to go out with a bang.

Medeiros is the favorite heading into the 2022 CrossFit Games, but you can never count out Vellner given his track record. Will he finally capture that elusive title, which would cap off an extraordinary career? Or will Medeiros and company prove too much for “ghost” as he decides his body has had enough and it’s time for one of the sport’s defining personalities to retire?

Win Up To $10,000 And A Trip For Two To Miami

If one of your goals for 2022 is to “get fit,” then RP is giving you $30,000-worth of reasons to finally make that happen.

RP’s annual 12-Week Transformation Challenge is kicking off today with our biggest prize pool ever.

And this year, you’ll have 2 additional chances to win—so that means 8 lucky winners will get $15,000 in cash, trips to Miami, and prizes from Trifecta, Born Primitive, Enlightened, and Ascent are up for grabs.

So what are you waiting for? Submit your ‘BEFORE’ photo by Thursday, January 6th to enter the challenge.

Click here to see all the prizes and to learn more.

BIG NEWS: Sara Sigmundsdottir is now competing at Wodapalooza.

• Here’s who else is on the roster.

What’s Morning Chalk Up’s founding story? Founder and CEO Justin LoFranco sits down with Don’t Tone Alone podcast hosts Shai and Leah Douty to share how this whole thing got started.

Underdogs Athletics launched an adaptive competitor program overseen by Case Acree, winner of the inaugural upper extremity division, which includes programming for 10 separate adaptive divisions.

• “With the increased development and participation of adaptive competition, Underdogs seeks to provide the same competitive programming quality and structure that our highest level able-bodied athletes do.”

Not CrossFit, but no less heartwarming: Arnold Schwarzenegger donates 25 homes to homeless veterans.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Should You Do the Whole30 Challenge After New Years?

The Whole30 diet is probably the most well-known diet challenge in existence today. It was developed by Melissa and Doug Hartwig in 2010 and became massively popular in the mid 2010s. In 2018, the Whole30 trademark was licenced to a number of food producers, including Whole Foods Market, marking a dramatic shift into mainstream culture.

The rules for the 30-day fad diet are very simple. Consume only whole foods while eliminating sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, soy, and dairy. Foods that are allowed include meat, nuts, seeds, seafood, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. While weight loss is not an explicit goal of the challenge, it is likely the goal of many who embark on it.

The Whole30 represents an entire class of fad diet approaches that are popular after the turn of the new year. They are restrictive and often focus on complete elimination of foods rather than reduction of consumption. These diets promise all sorts of health and psychological benefits. Metabolic restoration, reduction in systemic inflammation, GI healing, immune balance, reduction in cravings, etc. All the evidence is anecdotal, at best.

Alex Vigneault’s Workout of the Week

Every Friday, we’re bringing you an exclusive workout challenge programmed by a CrossFit Games athlete or coach that you can take on at home or the gym. You can post your times or scores in the comment section.

Today’s workout of the week, and our final workout for 2021, is programmed by four-time CrossFit Games athlete and full-time police officer Alex Vigneault. The Canadian has been a part of the Sureté du Québec, the provincial police force in Quebec since graduating the Police Academy in 2019.

On the competition floor, he is coming off a career best finish at the 2021 Games, placing 8th, his second career top-10 finish. He recorded eight top-10 finishes this past year including a career-best second place finish in Event 9, a workout that featured coincidentally calories on the Echo Bike.

Some advice from Alex: “​​I would go for a moderate/fast pace on the Echo Bike and try to catch my breath on the handstand walk. Muscle-ups should be done in 1-2 sets to get as much rest as possible before the next set.”

To inquire about submitting an upcoming workout of the week, shoot us a note.

10,000 Double-Unders in 30 Days: RPM Training Co’s 10k Challenge Kicks Off January 3

Twenty eight million: That’s how many double-unders the 4,000 participants in RPM Training’s 10k Challenge performed during last year’s event, raising $130,000 in 30 days for charities who work with underserved youth. Registration is now open for the eighth 10k Challenge, kicking off January 3.

Remind me: RPM Training Co., founded in 2012 by brothers Josh and Shane Rogers, is best known to the CrossFit community for their premium speed rope. As of 2021, the company also offers an entire line of redesigned at-home gym equipment.

• Most recently, RPM Training also launched a training platform called Atom, a complete at-home functional fitness training experience, coached by CrossFit Games athlete Pat Barber.

The 2022 10k Challenge Details: The challenge itself simply involves participants logging double-unders (or single-unders as a scale) over the course of 30 days, with the ultimate goal of logging 10,000 jumps from January 3 to February 2.

• To deliver the funds raised for underserved youth, RPM Training Co. and their charitable initiative the Iron Compass partner with charitable organizations that serve youth in the functional training, outdoor and action sport communities.
• This year, they have partnered with three charities: FYR (formerly Steve’s Club National Program), STOKED and a scholarship program with the Capitola Junior Guards, all of which are focused on helping low-income or underserved youth develop physical and mental strength, resilience and confidence, and purpose through community.

...ASK

Can You Build Muscle With Light Weights?

With gyms closing worldwide, you may find yourself training with limited equipment and only light weights at home. But are you going to lose your gains? Or, can you actually gain muscle while training with lighter weights and higher reps?

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...TRY

A Steinborn Squat

Want to add something new for 2022? How about something old? Watch 2019 Worlds Strongest Man Martins Licis demonstrate the Steinborn squat. An uncommon lift that can be traced back to the early 1900s.

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Have A WHOOPING 2022

Stay on top of your 2022 training by tracking your body's performance with a free WHOOP Strap 4.0 and first month's membership on us. WHOOP measures your body's data over 100 times a second to provide personalized feedback on your recovery, strain, and sleep so you can hit those goals you set last January...this January.

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A Healthy New Year's Cocktail

Here at Morning Chalk Up, we believe that calories this year don't count next year. But in case you have more self-control than us, here are some skinny versions of festive cocktail favorites to help you bring in the New Year.

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.

• 🎂 Happy birthday to Emily Sommariva, Scott Switzer, and Tom Foxley (Saturday).
• Leonel Franco from Crossfit Culmination South in Las Vegas, NV hits a 370 pound/168kg squat clean PR.
• Saxon Panchik hits a 275 pound/125kg 3RM thruster PR.
• 😱 Tiffany Beaupré stands up a 220 pound/100kg bottom-up overhead squat.
• Zack Griffith of Richmond, VA gets gymnasty with this handstand obstacle walk wearing a 20 pound weight vest.
• Congratulations Paul Boucher from CrossFit Hyperion in Pleasant Grove, UT on a 49 unbroken toe-to-rings PR.
• Toni Kegle out of CGX CrossFit in Bargersville, IN hit a new snatch PR of 137 pounds/62kg.

Mayhem Athlete released their M30 Day Challenge with the requirement of logging any workout in SugarWOD (not only a Mayhem track) 5 days/week. The challenge begins January 3rd, and participants have the ability to win a grand prize package that includes $5,000 cash.

See all upcoming events