The dates for the 2019 CrossFit Open are…

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is built by Working Against Gravity, the Official Nutrition Sponsor of the Morning Chalk Up.

Get the jump on your 2019 fitness goals with personal nutrition coaching from WAG. Join in 2018 and get our 2019 Best Day Journal (designed to dig into your brain and help you build a solid routine of habits) absolutely free. Why wait until January 1st to start your resolutions?

Six days until the Dubai CrossFit Championship begins.

“Be miserable or motivate yourself.  Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” — Wayne Dyer

NCFIT Collective Summit Heading to Wodapalooza

The story.

Affiliate owners are invited to join Jason Khalipa and the NCFIT Team at Wodapalooza in Miami as they teach you everything you need to know about running a successful fitness company.

The deets.

On Thursday, January 27, 2019 from 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST you’ll get all the tools you need to take back home to your box to give the same kind of NCFIT experience to your clients every time, every day. And, because building a successful gym takes more than just a few hours in sunny Florida, you’ll go home armed with NCFIT Collective resources to help you dial in your culture, coaching, and community.

And who better to learn them from than Jason Khalipa.

“The NCFIT Collective began when we were looking for a way to send our daily session plans and programming to 100 plus coaches of ours worldwide. We wanted a consistent product from Mexico to China. After developing our own app and curating the content for our team we realized it would be a big value add for gym owners and began selling our programs last year at Wodapalooza,” Khalipa told us in an email.

So what is NCFIT Collective exactly?

The focus of the NCFIT Collective is “building a culture that transcends fitness, developing a team that executes like the best in the world, and programming effective, fun, and inclusive workouts. In this three-hour course, you will walk away with the real methods and insights into what makes NCFIT stand out,” said Matt DellaValle, Director of Operations.

So if you’ll be in Miami in January, head down to the NCFIT Collective Summit and take some real good notes from one of the best.

GAMES UPDATE.

Mark Your Calendars: 2019 CrossFit Open Dates Announced

The story.

We now have the official dates for the 2019 CrossFit Games Open so get ready to start your engines folks. 

Tell me! Tell me! 

The worldwide online competition will start Thursday, February 21st, and will once again span five weeks, concluding on Monday, March 25th.

The week-by-week schedule, confirmed by CrossFit HQ, will follow a similar format as years past. Athletes will have four days to complete the workout(s), and submit their score.

• 19.1: Thursday, Feb. 21st – Monday, Feb. 25th
• 19.2 – Thursday, Feb. 28th – Monday, Mar. 4th
• 19.3 – Thursday, Mar. 7th – Monday, Mar. 11th
• 19.4 – Thursday, Mar. 14h – Monday, Mar. 18th
• 19.5 – Thursday, Mar. 21st – Monday, Mar. 25th

This is the only part that’s not been changed.

Right, because new for 2019, the CrossFit Games Open will be the single largest qualifier of athletes to the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games. The top 20 men, 20 women and the fittest male and female in each country will receive an invite to the Games in Madison.

Looks like #leaderboarding season is right around the corner.

P.S. In case you didn’t notice, CrossFit Strength in Depth sanctioned event falls smack dab in the middle of Open week 1. Ouch. 

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell Bae when he offers to go to the grocery store for you…

Let me make a list, a very very detailed list. Just like you should be doing with your goals, according to Well + Good. They call it an “Eat the Frog Mindest” and it’s based off Mark Twain’s famous quote “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” They suggest doing these seven things first thing every morning to take on the day ready to get shit done.

Things To…

WATCH: On the Minute, Episode 3

Join Armen Amirian of ArmenHammer TV and our Editor-in-Chief in episode 3 of On the Minute. They cover Tia-Clair Toomey’s withdrawal from the Australian CrossFit Championship, what to expect from Dubai CrossFit CrossFit Championship, and who to watch next week once it kicks off.

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, FOLKS.

HEAR: A Giving Community is a Growing Community

Justin LoFranco, founder of the Morning Chalk Up, joined the Beyond Macros podcast to explain why one of our core beliefs is that a giving community is a growing community and how he ensures, daily, that we hold to that as a core value.

BECAUSE IT’S TRUE.

EAT: Accidentally Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

It’s quick, economical, and tastes way more luxe than it should, considering it doesn’t have any butter or cream. It’s got crispy coconut chips, a tuft of bright cilantro, and a swirl of coconut milk on top to keep you from getting bored. And it doesn’t have to be vegan, you can throw some chicken or bacon in there for fun.

SOUPS ON.

GET: Free Holiday Ham from ButcherBox

For the month of December only, all new ButcherBox customers who sign up will receive a free seven pound spiral ham in their first order. Because who doesn’t want a fully cooked, hickory smoked, uncured, bone-in spiral ham that’s free of nitrates, casein, and gluten.

PASS THE HAM, MOM.

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

Chalk Up Community

• NAUGHTY OR NICE — This Saturday, CrossFit Waukesha in WI is hosting “Naughty or Nice.” From 8:00 AM until 10:30 AM you can WOD for free if you donate a toy. 
• COACH NEEDED — CrossFit HSN is hiring an experienced coach in Deefield, FL. 

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

You only have five days left to pre-order your Morning Chalk Up flag shirt and tank • Happy birthday Vanessa Bennington • Congratulations to Alex Vaughn from Beartooth CrossFit who just signed an baseball contract with Dordt College • Alyssa Ritchey jerked 264 pounds in training, coincidentally the world record for the 49 kg weight class • Congratulations to Laura at Tolland CrossFit for making it through foundations • Mattie Rogers won “Best of Team USA November Honors” for her performance at 2018 World Championships • Wes
Kitts does a throwback Thursday to that one time he clean and jerked 485 pounds • Willy Georges clean and jerks 342 pounds • The CrossFit Nomad is the first athlete to drop into the Panchik Brothers‘ new affiliate CrossFit Cliffside in Warrensville Heights, OH.

Australian CrossFit Championship Official Qualifiers — The Australian CrossFit Championship has wrapped up and official invites have been sent out. Athletes who decline or do not respond will forfeit their invitation and it will be passed on to the next athlete on the leaderboard. We’re still awaiting final word on which teams have qualified.

Notable names on the list:

— Men: Jacob Heppner, James Newbury, Dean Linder-Leighton and Zeke Grove.

— Women: Hillary Steele, Maddie Sturt, and Sam Briggs (Invited).

Wrapped Up: CrossFit Strength in Depth — The CrossFit Strength in Depth online qualifier wrapped up yesterday. Officials have until December 10 to reivew video submission and send out official invitations. We’ll keep you posted on who gets one. 

Change of Scenery — The Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge, one of the 2019 CrossFit Games Sanctioned Events,  announced yesterday they are moving venues. Originally run in Columbia, MD since 2012 they are moving the event to the DC Armory in Washington DC. 

CONFIRMED: Rogue Invitational — Katrin Davidsdottir just confirmed for Rogue Invitational. The roster to this invite only event is starting to fill out. 

“Former Members of Switch CrossFit File a Lawsuit After Being Filmed in the Restroom,” by Jessica Danger, Morning Chalk Up 

Last week, 14 former members of Switch CrossFit filed a lawsuit against Matthew Krakowski, the former owner of Switch CrossFit who was arrested in May on 14 felony counts of capturing images of an unclothed person and child abusive commercial activity.

The victims of that assault filed a joint lawsuit in Macomb County Circuit Court seeking more than a million dollars, stating that Krakowski violated their privacy in such a manner that as a result of his “torturous” actions they each “suffered and will continue to suffer mental anguish, disgrace, humiliation, embarrassment, and/or outrage.”

Back in June, the former owner of CrossFit Switch in Clinton Township, MI was arrested for placing a hidden camera in the ladies restroom. An off-duty police officer and member of the gym notified the authorities when she discovered a camera in the ceiling tiles. Once the camera and associated computers were seized, police discovered 13 other victims caught on camera changing in the restroom, some of them children.

Immediately after this tragic breach of trust, Switch’s head coach Mike Novak and in-house chiropractor Derek Elwart came together to buy the gym. Together, the two have worked relentlessly to rebuild the foundation of their community. Now renamed CrossFit Platoon, the community is thriving and, most important, safe for their members again.

12/1 – 12/12: Swan Strong 12 Days of Fitness (Online)

12/8: Fittest Alive in the 845 (Poughkeepsie, NY)

12/8: The 2018 Reindeer Games Finale (Del Mar, CA)

12/8 – 12/9: WOD Godz (Shreveport, LA) 

12/8: Rampage Christmas Throwdown (Murfreesboro, TN)

12/8: A Very Krampus Kilofest (Hickory, NC)

12/8: CrossFIt Raeford 3rd annual WOD for Dogs (Raeford, NC)

12/8: Reindeer Games at CrossFit 321 (Topsham, ME)

12/8: Candor Power Hour Reindeer Games (Tuscaloosa, AL)

12/8: Hypoxia (Butte, MT)

12/8 – 12/9: The Fall Series Throwdown 2018 (Monza, Italy)

12/12 – 12/15: Dubai CrossFit Championship (Dubai, UAE)

12/15: Masters Mania (OKlahoma City, OK)

12/15: Team Luke Fundraiser (Marlboro Township, NJ)

12/15: Santa Slam Toy Drive and Community WOD (St. Petersburg, FL)

12/15 – 12/16: Nightmare Before Christmas CrossFit Competition (Albuquerque, NM)

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