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We Geeked Out on Open Data This Week

Good morning and welcome to the weekend edition of the Morning Chalk Up. This is Jessica Danger, your Managing Editor, to bring you a quick wrap-up of the major news items throughout the week. Today’s edition is brought to you by Go Far Fitness.

THE CHALLENGE IS BACK!!! Join eight-time CrossFit Games athlete Stacie Tovar for her spring Go Far Nutrition Challenge!



This challenge is a fun exploration of healthy nutrition and lifestyle habits. Coach Stacie’s daily tasks will encourage you to experiment with fun and simple ways to elevate your existing routine. No measuring or counting, just a sustainable approach to living a stress-free “nutritional lifestyle.”



Jump on Coach Stacie’s 30-day nutrition train today! Registration is now live!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” — Denis Waitley

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Things are Changing and We Don’t Want to Miss a Spring.

We thought the Open was over. Technically it is, but while we waited for the winners of 19.5 to be announced we kept busy crunching all the numbers behind the leaderboard.

How many athletes participated this year? How many entered a score all five weeks? Which country had the most participants? And which is sending the most athletes to the Games? What is the spread from the highest performing athlete to the lower performing? 

There is a lot of info there. And there are a lot of countries sending some new faces to Madison this summer.

But there are a few familiar faces too. Pat Vellner, Annie Thorisdottir, Sara Sigmundsdottir, Mat Fraser, Cole Sager and others all held their ground and came in the top 20, unofficially until the review process is complete.

We also poked a little bit at the question of performance. This year, CrossFit made it no secret that they were reviewing tapes to verify scores. Did that change the way any of the athletes performed through the Open?

As the verification process unfolds, we’re sure the leaderboard will shuffle a bit. And with more Sanctionals kicking off next week with the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge, even more names and countries will be added to the growing list of athletes headed to the 2019 Games. 

Just like spring coming around the bend, it’s an exciting time of change for the sport of fitness.

Enjoy the weekend,

Jessica Danger

Managing Editor

TOP STORIES
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BREAKING: Chyna Cho Joins CrossFit Mayhem Freedom in China
Tommy Marquez

Six-time individual CrossFit Games athlete Chyna Cho will be joining Rich Froning and the Mayhem crew to compete at the Asia CrossFit Championships in Shanghai, April 27-29. Cho replaces Mayhem athlete Kristin Miller, who will be on the Mayhem Independence team, and also competing at the Asia CrossFit Championships in China.

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So How Many People Participated in the 2019 CrossFit Open?
Scott Henderson

Now that the ninth year of the CrossFit Open has wrapped-up, here’s a breakdown of who participated in the 2019 CrossFit Open, including a week by week Open participation breakdown.

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2019 Open Performance By Country
Scott Henderson

One of the changes that came from the restructuring of the 2019 CrossFit season is the race for National Champs. Now that each country claiming an affiliate has an athlete recognized in the Open, how does each country compare? How did each country’s “typical” Rx athletes stand in relation to other countries?

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It Pays To Be A Winner: Patrick Vellner Sets his Sights on the Next Phase of the 2019 Games Season
Armen Hammer

Since Patrick Vellner already has a spot at the Games locked up, this year’s Open was a different affair for the 28-year-old Canadian. Vellner admits that it was “a bit weird knowing it didn’t matter a lot,” but that didn’t stop him from putting out a solid Open, finishing in 31st worldwide.

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Are Major Penalties Making Athletes More Conscious of Their Reps?
Justin LoFranco

Regarding 19.4 on Talking Elite Fitness, Mat Fraser brought up a concern about barbell cycle speed and showing quality reps, especially at the top of the snatch. This brings up the question, are these penalties making athletes more conscious of showing perfect reps when they know their videos will be reviewed and serious penalties assessed?

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Today’s edition is brought to you by
COMMUNITY

It’s officially spring friends. We’ve been enjoying the weather here in sunny southern California. To celebrate, here are a few springtime celebrations.

  1. We played one heck of an April Fools on you…but for a great cause.
  2. Spring is the time for employment, apparently. Brute Strength is looking for a Performance Coach, NOBULL has several positions open in Boston and in New York and NOOMA needs a Social Media Manager.
  3. Spring is also the time to ramp up for those summer vibes with Kari Pearce’s new book Power Abs, which is free until April 10
  4. It’s always the season for good coffee. And chocolate. (Duh.)
  5. Alan Stengel lost a ton of weight, by being committed and consistent across two spring seasons.
  6. Cody Anderson put up a ton of weight with this 300 pound snatch in Metcons. 
  7. And Mathew Fraser and McKenzie Flinchum won 19.5.
Oh and let’s not forget…

Cancer, Metabolism, Fructose, Artificial Sweeteners, and Going Cold Turkey on Sugar (Lewis Cantley/BMC Biology)

The Cardinal Sins of Skewed Research Part Two: Racking (Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades/CrossFit)

Third Time’s a Charm: Travis Mayer is Going Back to the Games (Will Edmonds/Morning Chalk Up)

Can Ben Smith Keep the Streak Alive? (Justin LoFranco/Morning Chalk Up)

Just One Session of HIIT Might Help Stop Cancer Cells From Growing (Elizabeth Millard/Runner’s World)

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