“Keep your mind open to change all the time. Welcome it. Court it. It is only by examining and reexamining your opinions and ideas that you can progress.”- Dale Carnegie
COMPETITION
What is the Florida GRID League?
Have you ever been scrolling on your phone and come across a clip of a person doing burpee pistols or maybe butterfly ring muscle ups?
If you have, that’s the Florida GRID League. A sport that takes athletes with a specific skill set and makes them into super specialists, not only is it a spectacle to watch, but a big attraction for CrossFitters alike.
Not too long ago, five-time Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser was on a GRID League team called the New York Rhinos. While the Pro GRID League has since ended, the Florida GRID League, often referred to as FGL, has come to play, with eight different teams of 14 athletes going head-to-head in matches testing strength, skill, and speed.
Remind me: The way the FGL works is two teams, co-ed, race head-to-head in a series of weightlifting, body-weight, and gymnastic tests. The teams are composed of an equal number of men and women players who specialize in either bodyweight, heavy weight, or general movements.
Chelsea Raineri, 28, is a former collegiate gymnast, a current PE teacher by day and a FGL bodyweight specialist by night (or day depending on her training schedule). Raineri was hesitant at first about joining the league, but was convinced after a friend who is also in the league touted her abilities and told her she’d be a great fit as a bodyweight specialist. She is also an avid CrossFit athlete and coach at CrossFit Mill Street in Vienna, VA.
Upon entering her first match, Raineri said: “As soon as I got there I felt like a college athlete again, I didn’t even know half of these people and I was received with open arms and I haven’t looked back.”
“It’s the best thing that’s happened to me as a team-focused athlete. It’s so team focused it’s not about the individual, but everything I do can affect the whole team.”
“Honestly, I think it elevated my CrossFit because now when I’m out there I’ll be doing gymnastic movements, such as cycling butterfly muscle-ups, so now when I go to do a workout for CrossFit it ends up feeling easier.”
“So I think what’s great is that it elevated my own expectations and my own standards. I tell myself ‘actually you can push harder, actually you can work harder’.”
Another CrossFit turned GRID athlete is Griffin Roelle, 31, who is a two-time CrossFit Games veteran, and nicknamed “CrossFit Thor.” He’s been active his whole life and after a football career didn’t pan out he turned to CrossFit in 2016. He went to the Games in 2018 as a team member and in 2020 as an individual. Finishing in 31st place and 25th place, respectively.
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🚨 🚨 The Weekly Buzz: Check out the new collab between the Morning Chalk Up and Kettlebells and Cocktails and get caught up on some of the top community, affiliate, and sport stories of the week.
On this episode: TYR WZA Updates, the Down Under Championship Qualifiers, the Rogue Invitational roster, Core City Kids, the Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run, and more.
🎟️ 🎟️ Invitations for the Rogue Invitational Legends Division have been sent out. CrossFit OG, Margaux Alverez, posted hers to Instagram with the comment “Always honored to be invited as a Legend to the @rogueinvitational 🙏🏽 I can’t wait to return in October to Austin and see everyone 🙌🏽.”
ELFIT x Underdogs Retreat: Following the ELFIT CrossFit Championship, members of the Underdogs Athletics team (the technical partner for the event and programmers for the championship) will host the Hurghada Fitness Retreat with ELFIT. The retreat is November 22-26 and will include workouts and skill training sessions, excursions on Mahmya Island, a sunset safari, relaxation on the Red Sea beach, and more.
The first ten people to register will receive a $100 discount, so sign up now!
ICYMI: The 2024 Open is coming (well, next year anyway); check out a few of our early thoughts on what movements might be included.
LIFESTYLE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Four Common Mindset Shifts that Happen with Nutrition Clients
I was a little hesitant to write about something so subjective to each person and their experience with their coach. However, I’ve witnessed magical transformations occur in that muscle that lives between my clients’ ears, so I decided to outline some of the mindsets I’ve seen.
The first mindset shift looks something like this:
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing and it probably shouldn’t be
A new client signs up and they are ecstatic to get started. I don’t blame them. They finally take the plunge, spend a decent amount of money, and are standing at attention ready for their marching orders. Although the willingness to comply is a treat, they are always taken aback when I start the first week off changing just one thing.
Wodcelona Sees Growth, Introduces New Adaptive Divisions in Second Year
The largest inclusive CrossFit competition in the world was held last weekend, amidst palm trees and the Mediterranean sea.
The second annual Wodcelona, held in Barcelona, Spain was host to hundreds athletes competing in over 36 categories, consisting of “able-bodied” individuals, teams and masters, as well as over 20 adaptive categories, many of which were new this year.
Some background: Founder of the non-profit, Limited Edition Athletes and 2017 Wodapalooza champion Marc Gil, began the fitness festival last year, as he envisioned a competition held in the city of Barcelona that was fully inclusive: categories that offered competition to “able-bodied” athletes as well as multiple categories of adaptive athletes.
Held in partnership with Nike, in just its first year, the 2022 event hosted over 800 athletes over 16 categories and over 10,000 people attending the festival over the course of the weekend.
“Our goal is not to be like the biggest competition… We just want to make sure that everybody has a chance to go there and have fun and participate and be part of this.”
“One of the things that we definitely realize is that we have athletes who might be in a quadriplegic situation, being absolutely impaired. Here they have the chance to compete,” said Gil.
As the adaptive categories and roster availability are becoming more limited at the CrossFit Games, a competition like Wodcelona is all the more significant. 2022 Winner Amalia Ortuno, in an interview last year, shared how much it means to her to compete on such a large stage.
“Wodcelona had a lot of spectators. In the Games, there’s not so many spectators because [adaptive athletes] still aren’t given that importance,” said Ortuno.
“For me, competing is everything. I love the competition. I love the three, two, one. That part is my favorite, it’s a lot of rush. I love training but I have a more powerful mind when I am competing than training,” Ortuno continued.
Gil, along with LEA, has worked in conjunction with CrossFit, helping to develop their adaptive division for the CrossFit Open. Additionally, LEA has worked with Spartan Races as well as the 2022 Wodapalooza event, advising and helping to improve adaptive programming and accessibility.
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