The Rogue Invitational Begins…Today

October 26   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• The complete spectator’s guide to the Rogue Invitational
• Tyson Bagent shines a spotlight on the CrossFit methodology
• Legends co-founder, Joe Linton, talks about the Masters Division 2024 season
• Review of the Week: GORUCK Rough Runners and Ballistic Trainers
• The women of Momentus are ready for Rogue

Don’t forget to hit us up with story tips, highlights, quotes of the day and more.

“Anticipation of pleasure is, in itself, a very considerable pleasure.” - David Hume

The Spectators Guide to the 2023 Rogue Invitational

With the fifth year of the Rogue Invitational almost upon us, tons of CrossFit and fitness fans will descend upon Austin, TX. Defending champ Laura Horvath is competing, but 3-time Rogue champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr is back to give her a run for her money, and the 2023 CrossFit Games Fittest Man on Earth, Jeff Adler will be there to compete on the men’s side. Check out the full athlete roster.

Here is your guide to the event!

The Rogue Invitational is held at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas from October 27-29, 2023. In addition to the men’s and women’s individual CrossFit competition, the event will feature a Legends showcase and a Strongman competition.

The celebration kicks off on Thursday night at the Iron Game launch party from 5 PM-6 PM. Show up early and check out the vendors, then stay for the Legends Happy Hour. If you grab tickets to this VIP experience, you can meet your favorite Legends while enjoying complimentary food and drinks, carnival games, and a stadium tour on the field.

Why Should You Train In a Barefoot Shoe?

Heel strike. Foot strike. Barefoot. Everyone has an opinion on what your foot should be doing, how it should be hitting the ground, and how much midsole you need in your training footwear.

There’s a lot of reasons barefoot training might be for you:

• Natural foot mechanics
• Improved balance and proprioception
• Strengthen foot muscles
• Improved sensory feedback
• Versatility
• Promote natural arch development

Find out more about barefoot training.

💰 💰 Rogue Invitational Prize Purse Update: Due to an uptick in Bitcoin, the Rogue Prize Purse increased dramatically in the previous few days. As of last night, the total purse was: $1,620,415.80.

• This is the largest purse in the event’s history:
  • 2023 – $1.62M
  • 2022 – $1.25M
  • 2021 – $1.4M
  • 2020 – $375K
  • 2019 – $400K

🚣‍♀️ 🚣‍♀️ Rowvember 2023 Alert: For the fifth year in a row, Dark Horse Rowing is running “Rowvember,” a month-long, pre-holiday challenge. Dark Horse will provide a rowing workout every day for those who sign up and the goal is to complete as many as possible during the month. Last year, 8,000 people signed up. The goal this year is 10,000.

Good Read: The IHRSA, the Global Health and Fitness Association, held its second “Fly-In and Advocacy Summit” in Washington DC recently, coinciding with the Fitness Technology Summit.

• The purpose was to encourage Congress to pass the PHIT Act (Personal Health Investment Today Act), which would allow Americans to use pre-tax money on healthy living activities, like gym memberships, youth sports and fitness equipment. This has been a strategy  being deployed by CrossFit gyms as well as reported in this Morning Chalk Up article.

ICYMI: ROKA x Rogue – The eyewear brand breaks into the CrossFit market with big athlete partners and major collab.

From Burpees and Barbells to Da Bears: Tyson Bagent Brings CrossFit to the Gridiron

In Week 6 of the 2023 NFL season, Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields took a sack in the third quarter. As he got up, holding his hand and grimacing, backup QB Tyson Bagent’s life changed in the blink of an eye.

• The 23-year-old undrafted free agent from Division II Shepard University took the field in relief of Fields. The Bears lost the game by six points.

With Fields sidelined in Week 7 due to the thumb injury, Bagent became the first D-II QB to make an NFL start in 13 years and the first Chicago QB to win his starting debut in almost 20 years. To emphasize how incredible it is that Bagent has even made it this far – it is nearly impossible to find this guy’s college game tape to break down. That is how small his college football program was.

But it didn’t matter how small the school was; Bagent set career records there.

• Most completions
• Most pass attempts
• Most passing yards
• Most TD passes

And more.

Growing up in his dad Travis’ CrossFit affiliate, CrossFit 304, in West Virginia, Bagent knew what hard work was from an early age, watching his father train and become a world champion arm-wrestler. Travis’ history of fitness was especially vital during 2020 and COVID when Bagent’s junior year season at Shepherd was canceled.

His dad shook it off and trained Tyson in his affiliate to ensure he stayed in starting QB form.

Travis built up the physical and mental strength in his son, and it did not go unnoticed.

When Bagent was a senior, Tyler Haines was Shepherd’s offensive coordinator and QB coach in 2022. He also became Shepherd’s pro liaison, communicating with NFL scouts before the 2023 draft.

He reflects on the difference in Bagent:

Legends Championship Co-Founder Joe Linton Talks Games Takeover of Masters Division

The Legends Championship has become one of the premier CrossFit competitions for the masters community over the last few years. In a series of season changes, CrossFit HQ recently announced the event would be taking over the end-of-season competition for the Age Group Divisions, a dream come true for co-founders Joe Linton and Bob Jennings.

Remind me: Earlier this month, CrossFit HQ announced end-of-season competitions for the Age Group Divisions will be hosted by the Legends Championship (Masters) and Pit Teen Throwdown (Teens), while the entire Adaptive season will be hosted by the WheelWOD Games for 2024 and beyond.

Linton and Jennings started the Masters Championship in 2017 and have since been able to grow the competition into one of the premier masters-only events. This year’s competition is being held in Tempe, Arizona from Thursday, December 7 until Sunday, December 10, with 570 athletes competing.

While details on the 2024 Games season are still unclear, Linton shares some insight into the upcoming season and how the move is a great opportunity for the sport and the masters community.

• “We’re excited to get through this first year and show everyone what we’re going to do because even on the masters community side where they don’t know a lot, all of that will get cleared up after one year,” said Linton.
• “The athletes will be blown away by what we can provide,” he added.
• “Separating the competitions is going to open up way more opportunities for more sponsors to be present. I think it’s going to open up more sponsored athletes than what is currently provided because with the fields being so small, there’s not a lot of eyeballs when they’re actually competing.”
• Check out this interview with Linton on the HerdFit podcast as well.

Review of the Week: Rogue Invitational Partner, GORUCK's Rough Runners and Ballistic Trainers

Since its beginning, the brand GORUCK has become synonymous with high quality rucking gear, weight vests and packs, boasting a lifetime guarantee and standards that surpass many of their competitors.

GORUCK has created a culture of rucking, and has grown communities worldwide around it. The company has grown exponentially in recent years, offering not only packs and vests, but additional accessories like sandbags, apparel and a full line of footwear.

As I’ve seen more and more of my gym friends sporting the GORUCK shoes, I’ve been anxious to try a pair or two and recently, I was able to do just that.

Rough Runners: As an avid mountain and trail runner, I was excited to try out the trail running shoes, the Rough Runners. Living in Boise, ID, we have a mix of sandy and dirt-packed trails with some more technical surfaces available further up, at higher elevation. I’ve tried out a slew of brands over the years, on many different trails and surfaces, always looking to find the perfect pair.

Let me first make the disclaimer that shoes are extremely personal: everyone has different needs when it comes to arch support, toe box, rigidity and cushion. I would say that my needs fit pretty closely in the middle. For trail running, I don’t want anything with extreme squish or cushion. I need support but not a ton of give. I like traction, but not so much that I can’t run on the road comfortably if needed. I can’t wear a narrow shoe, as I love being able to spread my toes and wear thick socks. Alternatively, I can’t wear a wide shoe and let my foot slide around, which gives me blisters after about eight miles.

The Rough Runners fit the bill for a shoe that has a moderately sized toe box, lots of firm arch support, and not much give. For me, this was absolutely perfect. Some other bonuses that I enjoyed was their weight. While having knobby traction, they’re very light, and the 10 mm heel to toe drop works perfectly for my running gait. I battle a nagging achilles injury, and this drop allowed for a perfect cadence. A lot of trail and ultra races involve water crossings, and although I haven’t encountered any while wearing the Rough Runners yet, the mesh upper is very lightweight and seems like it would dry very quickly while running.

Women of Momentous Gear Up for The Rogue Invitational

Momentous, the Official Supplements and Sports Nutrition Partner of CrossFit HQ and the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games, has continued to forge partnerships with professional athletes and grow even larger in the fitness arena. The portfolio of competitors partnered with the brand is ever expanding and represents not only CrossFitters, but professional golfers, long distance runners and professional football players as well.

As we gear up for the Rogue Invitational, several of the Momentous athletes are relying on the high-quality supplements that the brand delivers, knowing that these are the tools and components that will help to optimize their performance throughout the weekend.

Seven-time CrossFit Games athlete, (three times on a team, four times as an individual), Lauren Fisher became a Momentous brand ambassador in May of 2021. She had been using the products on her own, prior to the partnership, but now has put great reliance on the products to help her train and recover.

Her favorite Momentous supplement, and one she’ll be using over the weekend is the Recovery protein powder, which she mixes with Creatine. She will also be sipping on Momentous Fuel, (cherry berry flavor is her favorite), if a longer cardio workout is programmed, or possibly right before a tough test. And in order to ensure quality sleep, she’ll be taking Magnesium Threonate at night, as well as Omega 3.

She’s very much looking forward to a weekend of grueling competition, with programming that is sure to test the elite athletes vying for the podium.

• Fisher: “Anything Rogue does is top notch. I think it is the best competition outside of the Crossfit Games. I love the workouts, they usually do classic CrossFit, and I think overall it’s going to be such a fun weekend.”

...WIN

CrossFit Certification and New 100 Words 2POOD Belt

In collaboration with CrossFit, 2POOD is running a giveaway for a free L1 certification, or any CrossFit certification that the winner chooses, along with 2POOD's new 100 Words Belt, inspired by the 100 Words of Fitness. The giveaway ends October 27th, so get on it!

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Maximize Performance with Quality Rest

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TYR Limited Edition Guilherme Malheiros CXT-1 Trainer

These new kicks, created in partnership with the three-time fittest man in Brazil include specific design details representing Malheiros, as well as the comfort, stability and high quality construction that we've all come to expect out of the brand. Check them out now, as they're expected to sell out soon.

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Sip on a Beam Golden Milk Latte

Clinically shown to improve your sleep, this limited edition flavor is perfectly spiced and is the sweet treat you need right before bed.

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Behind the Numbers: How Using Data Can Increase Your Revenue

Wodify's custom reporting tool can help you to dive into your gym's financial and operational data. This can help increase client retention and overall revenue for your business.

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

• 🎂Happy birthday to Kelley Jackson-Essig, Nicole Roggow, and Travis Mayer.
• Congratulations to Pamela Gutierrez of Morpho CrossFit in Costa Rica on the 275 pound/124 kilo squat clean.
• 💪Congratulations to Nuno of Outlier CrossFit in San Diego, CA on the three rep clean at 287 pounds/130 kilos.
• Congratulations to age group division Games athlete Kaiden Hogan on the 342 pound/155 squat clean PR.
• 🔥Congratulations to Games athlete Nick Mathew on the 390 pound/177 kilo squat clean.

On Saturday December 16th, River Drive CrossFit in Savannah, GA is hosting a fundraiser workout for young Ella, who at 10 years old is battling brain cancer. Proceeds from the workout, an additional 5k and any other donations received will go directly to Ella’s family, in order to create some magical experiences and memories. Anyone interested in donating can do so from afar, or can drop in to River Drive CrossFit, if in the Savannah area.

See all upcoming events