Swiss Team Is Disqualified from the Games

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“Be thankful, be better than yesterday, and help someone else.” — Brandon Lilly 

CrossFit Riviera Gets Disqualified from the CrossFit Games

What happened?

Yesterday morning, CrossFit Riviera in Puidoux, Switzerland, revealed that CrossFit HQ had DQed their team after they won the Meridian Regional about a week and half prior. 

Oh really? Why?

Information is pretty scarce right now. We reached out to CrossFit Riviera but they didn’t get back to us, and CrossFit HQ said more details would be forthcoming, but here’s what Riviera said in an Instagram post:

“CrossFit Riviera was informed today, by the [General Manager] of the CrossFit Games, Justin Bergh, that our team, according to their best judgement, stands in violation of one of the points in the rulebook and hence has been disqualified for the 2018 Games season.

“Point 1.18 of the rulebook states that only one member of the team can be on official licensee of a CrossFit affiliate. In our case, this used to only be Mareck for CrossFit Riviera. At the beginning of the year, Cynthia filed for her own affiliate and her request was approved much quicker than anticipated. Hence the violation of rule 1.18.”

Rule 1.18 and what we don’t now.

As they mentioned, rule 1.18 states: “The Licensee of Record (LOR) for an affiliate may not compete on any team other than a team from their own affiliate…any athlete listed as an affiliate LOR at the close of the first Open workout may not compete for any team other than one from their own affiliate. Conversely, if an athlete becomes the LOR for a new affiliate after the close of the first Open workout, this athlete may remain on their current team.” 

The exception to this rule states: “If an affiliate LOR operates an affiliate that has no adult members or classes and offers only CrossFit Kids programming, AND the LOR does not train at this affiliate, then the LOR may compete for another team, assuming he or she meets all team eligibility rules. This particular LOR should keep in mind that he or she cannot be the affiliate manager for these particular gyms and compete on a different team.”

As of right now, too little information is available like specifically when their second athlete became a LOR. However, it appears likely that if a Meridian team is invited to replace CF Riviera, it will be CrossFit Galileo from Toulouse, France who placed fifth.

As soon as we know more, we’ll share. 

When the gnarly hangovers just aren’t your thing anymore.

A thing of the past.

It’s pretty safe to assume that by now, we all know that the nightly cocktail habit probably doesn’t help us meet our performance or aesthetic goals — so it’s no surprise that more and more athletes (and even just every day CrossFitters) are opting out of the regular booze-fests.

A new “norm”.

Alcohol abstinence has become a lot more common, and less associated with having an alcohol “problem”. You know what else? It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, either. Hello Sunday Morning is raising awareness of this concept.

What is it?

Hello Sunday Morning is a movement towards a better drinking culture. Whether that means abstaining completely from alcohol or taking a break to better your relationship with it, Hello Sunday Morning has an online community that’s there for support and solidarity.

Their mission? “We want to see a world where drinking is an individual choice, not a cultural expectation…”.

Here’s to that.

Whether you’re wanting to cut back on the beers for weight loss, or you’re ready to take it to the next level with your goals in the gym, we bet your fellow box-mates and those at Hello Sunday Morning will be your cheerleaders.

And if you’re missing out on the social hour or something fun to sip on, check out these crafty non-alcoholic distilled spirits.

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your swolemate who’s always dragging at the 6 AM class…

Forget your coffee this morning? The United States Army might have finally discovered the exact amount of coffee you need to stay awake. Army researchers have been researching and assessing caffeine dosing strategies to develop an algorithm, AKA a fancy math formula, that prescribes exactly how much caffeine to consume, and when, to achieve maximum alertness. Finally someone came up with a useful application for really complicated math.

Things To…

WATCH: Carleen Mathews on Recovery and Giving Back

Mathews opens up about her eating disorder as well as her drug and alcohol addiction and how she worked to rebuild her self-worth and identity after committing to her sobriety in 2010.

LIKE A BOSS.

HEAR: From Hypocrite to Advocate

As a young medical student, Dr. Rebecca Blonsky was morbidly obese, weighing more than 320 pounds at her heaviest. She joins Pursuing Health with Julie Foucher and shares how she used CrossFit and nutrition to move from health hypocrite to advocate.

TUNE IN.

EAT: Paleo Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Whip up a batch of these amped up meatballs and keep them on hand for the weekend. Or serve them over spaghetti squash with savory tomato sauce for a classic dish with a paleo twist. 

MOM’S SPAGHETTI.

BUY: Organic Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is kind of like sweet potatoes. We know they’re great for us, we just hate cooking them. But now thanks to Costco, there’s no need! A single box of A La Carte’s organic spaghetti squash comes with six ready to go squashes. (We looked it up. It’s squashes.)

GOOD TO GO.

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

Chalk Up Community

• 24 HOURS OF FITNESS IN PHOENIX — Yesterday we wrote about a new 24 hour CrossFit gym coming to Ohio. There’s another one in Arizona! Octane CrossFit in Phoenix is open 24 hours for all your fitness needs. Turns out, metconning at midnight might be a thing. 
• SAD BUT TRUE — Margaux Alvarez’s Instagram account got hacked and she lost all her followers. Go look at your Instagram, then multiple that by like 100x. That’s how many she lost. But, luckily there are more than enough of you here to make a considerable dent so go follow.

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

Annie Thorisdottir loves food just as much as she loves training, so she’s officially joined the RP Strength Team for her nutrition plan • Ana from CrossFit Wild in West Palm Beach, FL with a killer nine month transformation photo • Cody Anderson is hosting a fundraiser. Grab a shirt or throw the man some (tax-deductible!) cash to get him to the Games • Six-year-old Luiza Caldeira Duarte runs an obstacle course like it’s her job at CrossFit Divinopólis in Brazil • Pat Sherwood took his 60 pound rucksack for a 60 minute walk. In sticker bushes. For fun • Pepper did her first Spartan Race and she only has three legs. 

…and we bet you’ve never taken a salt bath like this before.

CPR Training Can Save Lives –– Five years ago Matthew Tierney was kept alive for eight minutes after having a heart attack at CrossFit Teesside. Owner Lee Howe said, “When Matthew had the heart attack, he was lucky that he was at the gym and that there were people here who knew how to help him. It was genetic, it could have happened anywhere and at any time.” Which is why Howe decided to host a CPR Training course for his members, so they can be better prepared at all times for the unknown and unknowable, even heart attacks. Having CPR certified members and coaches in the gym can save lives. It did for Matthew Tierney and it did for Erik Lyon at Left Coast CrossFit who’s story we told last August. 

Quit the Club Scene for CrossFit — Hannah Eden loved the club scene in Miami. She also loved partying, drinking, and binge eating. Then, in a rare moment of clarity, she found CrossFit. Her first CrossFit class gave her ‘this enormous, total body high that didn’t even come close to the effect from any of the horrid things i’d been doing to myself.’ So, she gave up all the partying, and all the drinking, and dedicated herself to health. Five years later, she’s the owner of PumpFit Club in Fort Lauderdale and the fiery red haired face behind Women’s Health newest program. 

“Weight Training May Help to Ease or Prevent Depression” by Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times

In a recent study, the same researchers who earlier had examined anxiety and resistance exercise now turned their attention to depression.

They wanted to see whether the available research could tell us if lifting weights meaningfully affects the onset and severity of depression. They also sought to determine if the amount of the exercise and the age, health or gender of the exercisers would matter.

What they found was that resistance training consistently reduced the symptoms of depression, whether someone was formally depressed at the start of the study or not. In other words, if people began the study with depression, they usually felt better after taking up weight training. And if they started out with normal mental health, they ended the experiment with less chance of having become morose and sad than people who did not train.

Perhaps most interesting, the amount of weight training did not seem to matter. The benefits essentially were the same, whether people went to the gym twice a week or five times a week and whether they were completing lots of repetitions of each exercise or only a few.

The mental health impacts were similar, too, for men and women and for younger lifters (often college students) and people who were middle-aged or elderly. 

And people did not need to pack on mass or might to reduce their depression. More strength after the experiment did not correlate with less depression, the researchers found.

All that mattered was showing up and completing the workouts.

6/13: Granite Games Qualifier (Online)

6/16: Mayhem in Medford (Medford, NJ)

6/16: Battle on the Creek (Johns Creek, GA)

6/16: Full Battle Rattle (Robinson, IL)

6/16: East Coast War (Wilmington, NC)

6/19: Gauntlett VIII – River Rumble (Portsmouth, OH)

6/22 – 6/23: Urban Street Games (Rock Island, IL)

6/22 – 6/24: The Bacon Beatdown (Daytona Beach, FL)

6/23: Garage Girls CrossFit Grit (St. Simons Island, GA)

6/23: 2018 Summer Swolestice (Gresham, OR)

6/23: HAMCO Heat (McLeansboro, IL)

6/23: The Greenville Games (Greenville, SC)

6/23: The Burn Out (New Bern, NC)

6/23: Battle of the Border (Phenix City, AL)

6/23: Battle of a Beauty with a Beast (South Hadley, MA)

6/23: Clash for Cash (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

6/23: SuperFit Games (Lorton, VA)

6/23: Clash on the Concrete (Miamisburg, OH) 

6/23 – 6/24: Asbury Park Summer Games (Asbury Park, NJ)

6/23 – 6/24: The Dakota Games (Fargo, ND)

6/29 – 6/30: The Grinder Games III (Tall City, TX)

6/30: Summer Stampede (Bethlehem, PA)

6/30: Battle of the Ballpark (Seattle, WA)

6/30: Battle Between Boxes: Will Lift for Food (Des Moines, IA)

7/1: Strong As A Bear VI (San Rafael, CA)

7/4: 4th of July Throwdown Team Competition (Cullman, AL)

7/7: Barbellas (Anaheim, CA)

7/6 – 7/8: The Garage Games Junior Champion’s Invitational 2018 (Roswell, GA)

7/7: CrossFit Elgin Beach Brawl 2018 (Port Stanley, ON)

7/7: Capitol Takeover 2018 (Springfield, IL)

7/7 – 7/8: Railyard Riot (Lincoln, NE)

7/14: Mischief Revolution: Battle of the Brewery (Chicago, IL)

7/14: Mountain Town Summer Throwdown (Breckenridge, CO) 

7/14: Espirit De Corps 2018 (Vancouver, WA)

7/14: Belmar Beat Down (Belmar, NJ)

7/14: Atomic Throwdown (Kennewick, WA)

7/14: Fitness for Faith (Livingston, TN) 

7/14: Sweat Angel Showdown (Indianapolis, IN) 

7/14: Barmageddon (Oklahoma City, OK)

7/14: Red, White, and Blue Showcase (Kearney, NE)

7/15: The Buckeye Games (Akron, OH)

7/21: Second Annual Summer Showdown (Nicholasville, KY)

7/21: Swole Wars II (Burleson, TX)

7/21: Sacred Pines Invitational (Ladson, SC)

7/29: Bare Knuckles Weightlifting Meet (Broomfield, CO)

7/30: Legends of Lebo (Pittsburgh, PA)