Happy Tuesday Morning Chalk Up readers! The CrossFit Games are just about a week away, but headquarters is already preparing for next year’s Open. Grab your WOD buddy and mark your calendars.
In today’s edition:
🍿🍿🍿 The new CrossFit Games doc from the Buttery Bros is now live.
How much does it cost a team to compete at the Games?
The data behind elite women having a longer career.
How to return to the gym postpartum, safely.
“I’m excited to get back on a competition floor, that’s for sure. It’s been 18 months almost since I’ve competed live, so it feels crazy, but I can’t wait.” – Patrick Vellner discussing the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
“To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits, and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.”- Picabo Street
CROSSFIT GAMES
What Does it Cost a Team to Compete at the CrossFit Games?
For many, competing at the Games is a dream come true. But with that dream comes a high-priced ticket to compete. Between food, plane tickets, housing, and even the registration fee at the Games, it can cost athletes and teams thousands, if not more than 10-grand in total.
One big thing: While COVID-19 was a big factor in causing travel prices to skyrocket for international athletes mainly due to increased flight costs and hotel quarantine requirements, U.S. based athletes and teams are seeing their numbers increase as well.
Blues City Athletics is spending nearly $10,000, and they’re driving from Missouri instead of flying: $5,000 on housing, $3,000 on food, $1,125 on fuel and transportation, $550 on team registration.
Coupled with a $6,450 Semifinal bill already paid, the team’s CrossFit season totals $15,600.
For US teams flying, flights to Madison were swiftly headed towards the $1,000 range per person. Multiply that by the four athletes competing and affiliates were looking at spending a minimum of $5,000 just to fly the team and coach.
Other things to consider: It’s also important to consider the indirect costs, like utilizing paid time off or in some cases, unpaid time off to attend the Games.
Unlike the individual division, many team athletes work full time jobs and don’t make their careers out of being professional athletes.
According to Blues City Athletics, each athlete had to take about forty hours of PTO in order to compete at the Games this year.
Why it matters:Â While the sport of CrossFit has grown substantially over the past few years, one thing that has remained a consistent issue has been the payout for athletes over the years. With the pandemic causing travel costs to skyrocket this year and athletes being forced to shoulder the burden, it makes competing in the sport of fitness all the more difficult.
SPONSORED
Jump on a Call with the Fittest Man in History
Like a lot of online programs, every month HWPO members have a group zoom call with their coach.
But unlike every other program, their coach is Mat Fraser.
The Fittest Man in History.
We asked (okay begged) and for one time only this call is being opened up to Morning Chalk Up readers. Join as Mat goes through the month’s programming and answers questions for his athletes.
Catching up with Patrick Vellner: As Vellner prepares to head to Madison, we chatted with him about how he’s preparing to compete in person again for the first time in almost 18 months. After winning the Atlas Games Semifinal, he’s hoping this is the year he gets back on the podium.
Vellner:Â “We know it looks like 15 events, and it’s going to be a lot of working out. I think usually I tend to thrive near the back end of those long beat-down weekends so I’m hopeful that that’s still the case, and I still got it. But there’s going to be a lot of guys gunning and the men’s field is wide open, so it’s going to be a very fun race to watch, I think.”
Who could be standing next to Toomey on the podium: It’s no secret that next week we all expect to watch Tia-Clair Toomey stand on top of the podium for the fifth consecutive year. The question now is, who will be standing next to her? Some popular veteran names like Annie Thorisdottir, Kara Saunders, Katrin Davidsdottir, Kristin Holte, and Laura Horvath all have a legitimate chance. But it would be no surprise if we also saw some American athletes from Underdogs Athletics or even the young guns making a run for the podium.
Fundraiser for the fittest teenage twins: 15-year-old Rodrigo and Rafael Candeias are leaving Portugal for the first time to compete in the teen division of the CrossFit Games. To help get them to Madison, they set up a fundraiser to help pay for expenses.
WHAT TO WATCH:Â
Resurgence is here: Grab your popcorn sports fans; it’s finally here. The big movie debut is now on iTunes to help get you pumped up for the CrossFit Games next week. P.S. Our very own founder Justin LoFranco has a few nice cameos.
On this week’s episode of The Clydesdale Fitness & Friends Podcast, the crew sits down with Alison Scudds to celebrate her appointment as Captain of the Demo Team for this year’s CrossFit Games.
GET INVOLVED:
In memory of Kelsey Wallace: Invictus athlete Kelsey Wallace, wife of Marcus Wallace and mother to Braxton and Bexley, tragically lost her life while giving birth to their third child. The community has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for the memorial service expenses and the short and long-term costs for the newborn baby and two children.
The future of personalized programming for women: Blue Elvin, a female-founded London-based functional-training brand, is starting a global conversation about the future of personalized programming for women. If you’d like to get involved, fill out the survey.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Analysis: Can Women Compete in CrossFit Longer than Men?
In ordinary life, a 39-year-old and a 17-year-old wouldn’t usually have much in common, but when it comes to this year’s CrossFit Games, three of them have a lot to talk about.
That’s because the oldest competitor in this year’s women’s field, 39-year-old Samantha Briggs, will be going head-to-head with two teenagers 22 years her junior, Emma Cary and Mallory O’Brien, in what is the biggest age gap since the 2012 Games.
On the men’s side, the age gap between the oldest and youngest competitor—37-year-old Jason Smith, and 21-year-old Guilherme Malheiros, is 16 years—the second biggest age gap in the last 10 years (both the 2014 and 2015 fields saw a 17-year age gap between the oldest and youngest male).
After having a baby, most athletes are eager to return to the gym and their pre-pregnancy fitness levels. Getting the “all clear” from a doctor at your six week check up often sends athletes back without a solid plan of how to approach fitness in this new season of their athleticism.
What “all cleared” actually means: Being “cleared” is a reflection of initial birth healing, from bleeding cessation, incision healing, to the cervix being closed.
It is not a reflection of exercise readiness, as the system as a whole has still been changed from the inside out.
Your body needs time to regulate and respond to more activities of daily living and exercise demands.
Still doing stationary planks for core work? Let's hope your box starts programming "staying really still for time." If you're only doing static core work, you miss out on a ton of transferable strength gains. Incorporate this exercise using a band to gain stability under tension.
Even after retiring, we're pretty sure the champ still goes Rx on his workouts. But for those of us who aren't quite ready for 100 GHDs, Legless Rope Climbs, and Pistol Squats for time, he has created a scaling and substitution matrix.
The most common mistake in a snatch is standing up and bringing shoulders back too fast during the first pull. Check out this guide to see the right timing, the proper posture, and get an easy drill to make sure you're doing both.
WHOOP strap 3.0 tells you exactly how ready you are to perform every day. It measures your heart rate over 100 times a second to provide personalized feedback on your recovery, strain, and sleep. Sign up now and get a strap and first month on us (no code needed).
Classic grilled chicken gets an update with this easy, healthier barbecue sauce. The sauce can also be stored to deploy on whatever you happen to be grilling throughout the week.
Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlights to [email protected] to be featured.
Congratulations to Roman Khrennikov on his 1st place finish at the Russian Functional Fitness Championship.
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