“My message is that there is no secret in life at all. All you must do is fight, fight, fight and be consistent and in the end you will be a winner.”- Seve Ballesteros
LIFESTYLE
Tia-Clair Toomey Partners with Pliability for New “Pregnancy Paths” Program
The Fittest Woman in CrossFit History has embarked upon a new journey. Tia-Clair Toomey has joined forces with pliability, formerly ROMWOD, and The MINT Prjct to launch a special program for expectant mothers.
Remind me: Toomey, the six-time CrossFit Games champion, announced on December 24 that she would sit out the 2023 season. The reason is that she and her husband, Shane Orr, are expecting their first child together.
Toomey has been adjusting her training since announcing the big news, and she has been using movements from the pliability program to continue focusing on her health and range of motion.
The partnership with pliability and The MINT Prjct is another significant step considering the people involved and the depth of their knowledge regarding fitness and overall health.
The MINT Prjct, in particular, has a team of female experts who specialize in training and education for pregnancy and postpartum fitness and nutrition. The MINT Prjct has several programs in place, but the members of this team will combine their knowledge with the movement experts at pliability and the undisputed greatest athlete in CrossFit history.
The details: The new Pregnancy Paths consist of three mobility routines spaced throughout the week. These are not uniform programs, however. They change based on the specific trimester and the changes that expectant mothers are experiencing.
The goal of the new Pregnancy Paths is straightforward – to reduce pain and discomfort while improving their ability to move and exercise safely and effectively. Pliability has emphasized the benefits of stretching and mobility health, but the company wants to go a step further after noticing that pregnancy is an often-neglected topic.
“The MINT Prjct is all about educating women and their trainers on how to safely and effectively exercise and stay healthy throughout pregnancy and postpartum,” said Cara Forrester, Director of Education, The MINT Prjct.
“Working with Tia and pliability has been incredibly inspiring, seeing how such an impressive female athlete has adapted her training plans and, most importantly, put time aside to focus on her mobility and movement health throughout her pregnancy.”
“With pregnancy can come discomfort, and mobility is an area we want women to be educated in so that they can feel their best and prepare their body for birth. Having pliability as a platform to share prenatal mobility health is very exciting.”
Toomey: “Pliability has been a large part of my daily routine as an elite athlete and throughout my current pregnancy. I’ve naturally had to adapt my training plans and understand what is and isn’t safe to do, and with the help of pliability and The MINT Prjct team, I’ve been provided with the right exercises to help me with my movement patterns and range of motion which have been essential throughout my pregnancy.”
Just the beginning: The partnership between Toomey, pliability, and The MINT Prjct is only the start. There will be more moves made in the future that will ultimately benefit expectant mothers.
Pliability already has several paths available to its subscribers. These vary based on specific body areas and “states of being.” There is also the ability to tailor the movements to each respective lifestyle or sport so that the subscribers are getting the best possible program for their money.
The partnership with Toomey and The MINT Prjct only adds to the more than 500 hours worth of programming available. Though it goes a step further by addressing an important part of the community.
Important details: The pliability app is available to download on iOS, Android, and any web browser. Videos can be watched on-demand, streamed to any screen, or downloaded for offline use. All users get a 7-day free trial before a flat rate of $17.95 / £16.95 per month or $179.95 / £169.95 Annually.
SPONSORED
Danielle Brandon On Her Secret Weapon
“Dude, the SkiErg is awesome. I used to have more of a love/hate relationship, but it’s trended more towards love lately. It helps me warm up or cool down for heavy shoulder days, or it helps to increase my aerobic capacity when I have conditioning pieces on it,” says Brandon.
“The more I’ve messed with it, the more I have found what works for me and the more efficient I have become. Hoping it shows up this year in the season so I can show my improvement.”
If you want a secret weapon of your own, buy it direct from the people who make it.
SPEED READS
🥓 🥓 Sizzle Reel: rogue athlete, Laura Horvath, is known for her intensity. Check out this highlight video from Rogue Fitness.
Get outside: Check out this piece from the Washington Post about why an outdoor workout is better than an indoor one.
🇪🇬 BREAKING: Underdogs Athletics is programming the Elfit Championships. Check out more info here.
Compete at Semifinals!: Well, not exactly. Spectators and fans attending the North America and Europe Semifinals, will have an opportunity to channel the strength and fitness of their favorite athletes by performing a version of the tests on the competition floor with competition gear.
LIFESTYLE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Six Ways to Master Strict Pull-ups
Strict pull-ups are often a major crux for CrossFitters, holding back the development of sexier skills like butterfly pull-ups and muscle ups.
Gymnastics development is a more frustrating endeavor, because progress isn’t as straightforward as adding a few pounds to a barbell.
Rather than providing a cookie-cutter program that would only help a small population of our readers, we’re going to give you six principles you can apply and tailor to your training. Street Parking put out an amazing quote that captures the essence of this idea.
Jacob Heppner Buys Functional Eating, Enters Next Phase of Career as Entrepreneur
Five-time CrossFit Games competitor Jacob Heppner could foresee from an early stage being an athlete long-term wasn’t viable and he needed to think ahead.
Fast forward to today and the Games veteran has found success as an entrepreneur, while keeping fitness and CrossFit at the forefront especially in his newest venture into nutrition training.
Heppner, who resides in rural Kansas alongside his wife Kelli and corgi Winston, competed in CrossFit until 2020 and knew he never wanted to leave the sport entirely.
The former college football player found CrossFit during his final season and didn’t look back. He went on to compete at the Games five times from 2014 to 2020 with his best finish being in 2019 where he took 6th place.
In 2020 while Heppner was still competing he worked with a nutrition company called Functional Eating (see special offer below). Not long after he retired from CrossFit Heppner teamed up with Josh Bridges to try his hand at the Tactical Games, which is a combination of fitness and shooting.
During that time Heppner kept working with Functional Eating and found it to be such a good product he recently bought the whole company.
“They wanted to create a nutrition program that was changeable and malleable to you,” said Heppner. It isn’t just about providing someone’s macronutrients, it’s about finding something that fits that person’s lifestyle.
“I think when people are in the CrossFit space they look at the people in the field of play; the Frasers, the Tias and the Wells, and they think ‘man, I wonder what nutrition program they are doing, and what kind of secret thing they’re doing.’”
But, “what people don’t realize is because I’ve been on the other side is that it’s really not different than what you can find and so my concept was- let me take this company and actually show people that.”
It was during 2017— the year he had to take off due to a knee injury— that gave him some perspective on what would happen if he weren’t a competitor any longer.
“It was a good thing for me because it really kind of refocused me and I said ‘hey, Jacob, you could hypothetically be one injury, one bad accident, one, you name it away from not being able to do CrossFit anymore at a high level’ and you’ve made your brand so much around competing, which isn’t a bad thing,” said Heppner.
“What will happen if this continues, or what will happen if something else goes awry or goes wrong and now you’re unable to compete. How do you set yourself up for success later?”
Heppner adds, he told himself “I could make a name in this sport. But what happens if I’m done competing in the sport of fitness? Where do I go from there, and so I never really wanted to leave the sport right? It doesn’t make sense to walk away from it and just disappear off the planet.”
“It makes sense to be involved in it. So how do you stay involved in it? You try to give back or create companies, or do things in the space that allow you to stay connected, networked and integrated.”
Heppner launched his first company in 2018: an online programming company called Grit. The company still exists today and is well-known for Heppner’s “Morning Mono” workouts that are usually long and nasty sweat sessions.
Around the same time Grit launched, he became involved with an app company that was a platform for online programming. Heppner saw the potential of the app and bought into the company to build it up. It became so successful it was acquired and bought by Push Press—a major gym management software company. Heppner says he still works part-time for them and still owns a small bit of the company.
He always had an entrepreneurial spirit growing up including having a lemonade stand as a kid. Even during his most competitive years of CrossFit Heppner enjoyed working for various companies on his rest days.
“I fell in love with the business side of things. I fell in love with trying to run something, trying to grow something, and I was only getting one day a week of doing that,” said Heppner.
“And so I decided, ‘Man, I’ve really been enjoying this,’ I wonder what would happen if I gave more time to this than just one day a week and so fast forward, and here we are.”
Functional Eating is offering a special deal for readers of the Morning Chalk Up. Sign up for a free initial consultation with Functional Eating’s head coach and tell them you came from the MCU.
LIFESTYLE
Mother's Day Shopping Guide for Fit Mamas
Looking for something to get your Mom or your special lady for Mother’s Day? If she’s a CrossFitter, then we’ve got some ideas for you!
Do you struggle with squat snatches? It can be infuriating. But how do you get better? Use these drills to help you improve your squat snatches and never dread a WOD with them again.
It’s here. Meet the Nano X3, your new favorite training shoe. With the all new Lift and Run chassis system, you no longer need to stop to change into your running shoes when you see a 400 meter run in a workout. The Nano X3 is the most dialed in Nano yet.
Did you know that the way you load your weights can make a difference? Read this article by Invictus Athlete to see how to load the bar so you can crush your lift.
Ready to learn helpful information about yourself and your training? Whoop helps you monitor your recovery, sleep, training and health and gives recommendations to become a more efficient and healthy human. And don’t worry, for new members we’re hooking you up with a free Whoop 4.0 and a month of membership on us!
You’ve heard of breakfast for dinner, but dinner for breakfast? Marcus Filly talks about the top three reasons why you should be eating dinner for breakfast.
🎉 Happy 15-year affiliate anniversary to CrossFit by Overload in California’s Temecula Valley.
Congratulations to Raheem from Core City CrossFit Kids in Detroit, MI on getting his first kipping handstand push-ups.
Powerlifter Stefi Cohen stands up a 220 pound/100kg squat clean.
😱 Norweigian weightlifter Solfrid Koanda clean and jerks 341 pounds/155kg for an international record in the women’s 87kg weight class.
👑 Semifinal Stat: All 60 women competing in CrossFit’s European semifinal finished in the Top 1000 during Quarterfinals. They were the only individual division to do so.
CrossFit Hydro in Omaha, NE is hosting their 10th Annual Rhonda’s Team Burpee Challenge on Sunday, May 7th. Athletes are challenged to complete 224 burpees to a plate with a partner.
This annual fundraiser benefits colon cancer awareness, in memoriam of gym owner Justin VanBeek’s mother. Find more information on the Facebook event page.
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