Welcome to Sober Sundays

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is powered by NOOMA, makers of organic, simple-ingredient sports drinks with no added sugar.

There’s still time to win a $500 ROGUE gift card and 4-cases of NOOMA. Enter here for the chance to win!

“There is no standing still. Every second of every day we are making decisions. The results of those decisions determine the outcomes of our lives.” — Ben Bergeron

When the Recovery Community Relies on CrossFit

What is it?

Capstone CrossFit in Lubbock, TX just kicked off a program called Sober Sundays. Every Sunday, from noon to 2:00 PM, they open their doors to the recovery community with a workout and fellowship to support and encourage everyone who attends.

Jackson Hanks, a recovering addict himself, found CrossFit a year into his sobriety. He remembers his first day of CrossFit, “I pulled up to the parking lot and I sat in the car. I was scared shitless, I didn’t know what to expect. Later, I realized, holy crap. It’s the same thing. It’s the same as recovery. Show up as you are, do your best, and just don’t quit.” He’s been hooked ever since.

Trading one fix for another.

CrossFit helped him replace his unhealthy addiction with something positive and he wanted to find a way to share it with the rest of the addiction recovery community.

“There are a lot of parallels between CrossFit and sobriety. I was afraid to get sober because I didn’t know what to expect,” Hanks said. “I thought people were going to judge me. I didn’t know how to do it, and you know this is the same thing when you do your first CrossFit workout. You’re scared. You don’t know what to do.”

The need for something bigger.

With a plan in mind, he approached John Forburger, owner of Capstone CrossFit.

“The need for something like this is a lot bigger than I could have ever imagined,” Forburger said.

Word spread quickly as Lubbock, TX is home to the Center for Addiction and Recovery, the first place of its kind.

“The response has been overwhelming. We’ve received donations for shoes, water, workout clothes, food for after the workouts,” said Forburger, owner of Capstone CrossFit. “We even received a donation of $200 from a gentleman who is celebrating his 30th year of being sober.” 

Jackson Hanks is excited to see the program progress, which has seen upwards of 12 members at a single class. 

“I look forward to Sundays. Just kind of get a workout in, talk about anything that’s going on in our lives at the time, lean on each other and then eat some food. And I mean, that’s it right? That’s the thing that makes up CrossFit. It’s all we need.”

Coffee Break Conversations

What to tell your swolemate the next time you catch her training on a rest day…

Go home, Brenda. Every time you work out, you traumatize your muscles, creating microscopic tears in the tissue. But don’t worry, that’s what’s supposed to happen. It’s the healing of those tiny tears that make your muscles grow in size and strength. Keep training too hard and you could defeat all those hard earned gains by not letting your muscles heal fully which is not cool. But, also, don’t be a total slug. Think light exercise, like taking your dog for a walk, going for an easy swim, or a yoga class. Toe that line, Brenda. Toe that line.

Things To…

WATCH: Build Your Aerobic Engine

Want to be more efficient with certain movements or improve your engine in WODs? WODprep coaches answer some of the main questions people have for building your engine.

WATCH THIS. 

HEAR: Representing the Fittest of the Fit?

In this episode of The Business of Fitness, Jason Khalipa sits down with Matt O’Keefe, founder of Redline Gear and agent representative to some of the fittest on Earth including Mat Fraser and Katrin Davidsdottir to discuss the business and the future of competitive CrossFit.

TUNE IN. 

DOWNLOAD: Free Weight Cutting eBook

Whether you’re a coach or an athlete in any weight class driven sport, remove the guesswork from your nutrition so you can focus your energy on performance with Working Against Gravity’s free Weight Cutting eBook. It’s full of advice on choosing your weight class all the way through to last minute cutting techniques.

GET IT HERE. 

BUY: 2019 Nom Nom Paleo Wall Calendar

Now you can put twelve months of Nom Nom Paleo goodness on your wall! Complete with stickers and brand new recipes, this new wall calendar will inspire you all year long with deliciously hassle-free meals made in just one pot or pan.

YOU NEED ONE. 

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

Chalk Up Community

• STAND FOR HAITI — CrossFit Soda City is hosting a fundraiser WOD for one of their members who is headed to Haiti to work with a not-for-profit project seeking to improve the lives of Haitians through a physical therapy healthcare clinic.
• WIN A YEAR SUPPLY OF RXBARS — RXBAR has two new kids flavors; Double Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chocolate. To celebrate, they are having a Back to School giveaway. Enter to win a year supply of RXBAR Kids, $250 gift card to FabKids, a Strider bike, and 12 Stasher Bags. 
• NEW OWNERS — One of the Charleston area’s longest-running CrossFit facilities has new owners. Clint and Holly Fisher purchased CrossFit Charleston from Joshua Hartzell, who owned it for almost a decade. 

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

Guido and Virginia Trinidad are welcoming another girl into the world • Cassandra Ambrosius got a 135 pound front squat PR • Sara
Sigmundsdottir got a surprise package from Rogue and we’re pretty jealous • Happy birthday to Cole Sager • Congratulations to Carrie Olson who took Gold at the IWF Masters Championship • Danielle O’Hara, mom of three, got her first ring muscle-up on Sunday • Ten teams of 4 athletes at CrossFit Loop completed marathon rows last weekend. 

Health Care for CrossFitters — SteadyMD has launched a brand new website, featuring the top CrossFit athletes that have chosen to be patients including Kristi Eramo, Lindsey Valenzuela, Bethany Shadburne, Scott Panchik, Kari Pearce, Cassidy Lance McWherter, Maddy Myers, Jenny Labaw and Team Invictus.

Paleoethics and GNC Partner Up — Yesterday, Paleoethics, the Official Sports Nutrition Sponsor of the CrossFit Games, and GNC announced a new retail partnership. According to a release, Paleoethics products will be available at GNS stores across North America. In the meantime, you can snag 20% off on GNC.com with code “34042” plus there’s
free shipping on all orders over $49. Win win.  

“I Shouldn’t Have to Lose Weight For My Wedding,” by Scaachi Koul, BuzzFeed News

The way my self-esteem is wrapped up in my weight isn’t something I talk about. I don’t discuss it with my friends or my family. I almost never write about it. It’s all too close to my bones, and I never wanted my most aggressive critics to know that this one cruelty is the one that actually gets to me.

I’ve taken every milestone in my life so far as an opportunity to resent my body, so why stop now? I promised myself I’d be thinner for my high school graduation, then for my first day in university, then for a friend’s wedding, then for my university graduation, then for my book launch, then my bachelorette party, and now, for the wedding. I’ve always failed, and always tried again, because it seemed important that I at least put in the effort. So I made a silent promise to myself that for this day, for these photos, for once, I will be the right size and fit in the right dress and look the right way.

But for me, all of this has become foundationally heartbreaking. I’ve had more than a year to lose the weight I decided I should. But I haven’t. And my inability to lose it, or maybe my refusal to try, because I know it’s rooted in self-loathing, because I’m fed up with having to care, makes me feel like even more of a failure.

8/25: Iron Belle and Femme Royale Women’s Competition (Austin, TX) 

8/25: CrossFit Sua Sponte Summer Slam (Raleigh, NC) 

8/25: AMRAP For Autism (Waxhaw, NC)

​8/25: CrossFit Decathlon (Indianapolis, IN) 

8/25: Best of the West Summer Event (Bend, OR)

8/25: 2018 Firewall Frenzy (Holliston, MA)

8/25: The Hero Games 2018 (Farmington, AR)

8/25: 2018 Rivertown Throwdown (Cape Girardeau, MO)

8/25: South Central Summer Games 2018 (Richland, MS)8/25 – 26: Battlegrounds Nevada (Reno, NV)

8/25 – 8/26: Battle at the Barn (Ft. Worth, TX) 

8/25 – 8/26: Battle of the Boxes Highland Games (Mt. Airy, MD) 

​8/31: Greece with VoyEdge RX

9/1: Tampa Bay Games (Tampa, FL)

9/1: Battle At The Base 3 (Oklahoma City, OK)

9/6 – 9/9: Kill Cliff Granite Games (St. Cloud, MN) 

9/7: Koski Training Camp (Lloret de Mar, Spain) 

​9/8: Midwest Fall Classic (Tulsa, OK)

​9/8: The Sugar Skull Showdown (Agawam, MA)

9/8: I Can CrossFit Competition (Georgetown, TX)

9/8: Global Aftermath 2018 (Online)

9/8: The Catalyst Games (Bastrop, TX) 

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Bear Cat (Bunnell, FL)

9/8: BoxLife Games @ CrossFit Wynwood (Miami, FL)

9/8: Booties in Action (Wilsonville, OR)9/8: Hookd2Hops 2018 (Newtown, CT)

9/8: Rumble in the Jungle 2018 (LaVista, NE)

9/8: 2018 Battle of the Bluegrass (Louisville, KY) 

9/8: Decima Throwdown (Littleton, CO)

9/8: First Timers Fitness Festival 2 (Burlington, MA) 

9/8: Girls Gone RX (Bridgeville, PA) 

9/8: BoxLife Games at CrossFit James Island (Charleston, SC) 

9/8: Femme Royale (Denver, CO) 

9/8: Double Trouble Throw Down (Twinsburg, OH)

9/8 – 9/9: The Vermonster Team Challenge (Berlin, VT)

9/15: Warrior Affiliate League Three Amigos (Pomona,CA)

9/15: No Mans Land 4 (Painesville, OH)

9/15: Average Joes (Troy, MI) 

9/15: Stateline Throwdown 2018 (McHenry, IL)

9/15: Project Uplift (Fort Collins, CO)

9?15: Barbells for Bullies (Lexington, SC)

9/16: 2018 Battle at the Rock (Castle Rock, CA)

​9/16: 5th Annual North East Masters Classic (Plainville, MA)

9/22: Shatter the Stigma III (Boyertown, PA)

9/22: New Kids on the 321 Block 2018 (Topsham, ME)

9/22: Femme Royale at Eagle Wing CrossFit (Orange, CA)9/22: 2nd Annual CrossFit TUFF Charity Row-A-Thon (Nashua, NH)

9/22 – 9/23: The Cascade Classic (Seattle, WA) 

9/22: Girls Gone RX Denver (Denver, CO) 

9/22 – 9/23:The D-Town Throwdown (Decatur, Illinois)

9/23: Games of the Ages Masters Team Competition (Hanson, MA)

9/23: Cadre Crucible Team Competition (Hudson, OH)

9/23: Detroit Red Wings WOD (Detroit, MI)  

9/28 – 9/29: The Primal Games (Savannah, GA)

9/29: Kilo Crush Fest (Hampton, VA) 

9/29: Fallout Powered by Battleground Events (Long Beach, CA)

9/29: Battle for Boise (Meridian, ID)

9/29: K-9 Pursuit (Bristol, CT)