When you’re stealing avocados to fuel your obsession

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is fueled by Red H Nutrition, a veteran, female owned and operated sports nutrition company in Omaha, NE. The only supplements back by a “30 Day PR Guarantee”!

You’ll learn lots of lessons as you gain fitness experience and athletic prowess, but have you ever sat down and reflected on those lessons learned? Red H Nutrition’s founder, Katie Danger, shares her “101 Things I Learned in 10 Years of Training”.

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” — Carlos Castañeda

The Avocado Craze has Officially Gone Too Far, Folks

Gimme the scoop.

The avocado craze has given us so many wonderful things from toast to dip to face masks, they’ve basically a staple in our homes, or rented apartments, if you’ve spent too much on bougie avocado toast.

But our love for the little green fruit can get pricey, which is why some people have been pretending they’re carrots.

Wait, carrots?

Yup, carrots. Because no one loves carrots, apparently, which is why they’re cheaper. Emmeline Taylor, a criminology professor at the University of London, was “working with retailers to reduce shoplifting when one major supermarket discovered it had sold more carrots than it had ever had in stock…Unfortunately this wasn’t a sudden switch to healthy eating, it was an early sign of a new type of shoplifter.” 

Turns out, people have been scanning avocados as carrots at the self-check counter. 

But that’s brilliant!

Annnnnnd it’s illegal, and we don’t condone thievery so instead of faking our fruits at the checkout, maybe it’s time we consider other options for a new food trend. Like, maybe the actual carrot? Maybe instead of pretending we’re buying carrots we actually buy them. Imagine all the carrot cake. Carrot waffles. Or, lest we ever forget the beloved avocado toast, may we present to you, carrot toast.

Things To…

WATCH: How James Newbury Saved His CrossFit Open Performance

After the 2017 CrossFit Games, James Newbury took three months off from training to rest and recover, which almost took him out of a Regionals qualifying spot. Also, there’s a kangaroo right next to his ROMWOD mat in this video. So that’s cool. 

A LITTLE JOEY. 

HEAR: Alessandra Pichelli on Training as a Job

The six time CrossFit Games athlete sat down with Craig Howard of Diablo CrossFit to chat about how she’s performing the best she ever has thanks to her husand, Achim, and Diablo CrossFit.

TUNE IN. 

KNOW: How to Use Wrist Wraps 

Ever seen those things wrapped around the wrists of the superstars in your gym? We call those wrist wraps and they can really help your grip. Here’s how they work.

WRAP EM UP.

WIN: A Trip to the CrossFit Games and Training with Julie Foucher

She’s teamed up with Puori, who’s giving away two personal training sessions, Games festival tickets, two nights stay in Madison and a $750 flight allowance for you and a friend! Contest ends July 9th. That’s a sweet deal.

TAKE US WITH?

EAT: Big Mac Nachos

What the what. Two things that are probably not allowed in any CrossFit approved diet all wrapped up into one healthier recipe. 

YOU ARE WELCOME.

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

Chalk Up Community

• FIRST FROM HAWAII — Loikena Yamamoto from CrossFit High Impact became the first teenager from Kauai to qualify for weightlifting nationals in his age group. He leaves today for Michigan, where he will be participating in the USA Youth Weightlifting in the 13 and under division. 

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

Maddy Espinoza front squats 235 pounds • Sam Dancer did the Tough Mudder X in another pair of his famous shorts • Bethany Shadburne kills some time with a ridiculous paralette workout for fun at Streamline CrossFit in Cedar Park, TX • Adaptive athlete Antonia box squats using only one crutch at San Francisco CrossFit • Scott Stallings wishes Adam Kerley a happy birthday • 

…and maybe the trick to finally getting handstands is these adorable dogs. 

Couple Hopes to Bring CrossFit to Kids in Ghana — Ryan and Kelsey Colvin of Bothell CrossFit, WA are working with an organization called Partners in Community Development Programme to help rescue Ghanaian children from slavery. So when the two discovered CrossFit, they figured out they can share that same confidence they get in the box with those kids. The couple is working to secure funding for a starter package from Rogue
Fitness to start an affiliate on the grounds of the Village of Life. This affiliate will use CrossFit to rehabilitate and empower victims of child trafficking. 

“Ask a Swole Woman: How Can I Actually Do a Pull-Up?” by Casey Johnston, Self

While pull-ups are badass, they are also somewhat tricky. That is not to say they are impossible, so you should not believe articles that claim, for instance, women just can’t do pull-ups…This is not my experience, nor is it the experience of many women I know who can, in fact, do pull-ups. 

 We wouldn’t all respect pull-ups so much if they weren’t at least a little difficult! it took me a little over a year to get strong enough to do a single pull-up…But just know you might be in it for the few-month haul, at the very least. The nice thing about pull-ups as a goal, though, is they are a concrete result to shoot for, but also one that will teach you lots of good habits along the way, if you let it.

So on that note, to begin with: Increasing how strong you are is a lifestyle endeavor. Unfortunately, learning specific skills and movements isn’t just a matter of showing up to the gym and spending enough time there. You have to train (somewhat) smart, and you have to take care of yourself. By take care of yourself, I mean you need to eat, and you need to sleep and rest. You’re probably not going to get your pull-up by training to exhaustion every single day, and you very likely can’t get it by not eating enough. Muscles are not made of nothing, and are not fueled by nothing. They need you to give them enough food and protein so they can get stronger, so be nice to them.

6/13: Granite Games Qualifier (Online)

6/16: Mayhem in Medford (Medford, NJ)

6/16: Battle on the Creek (Johns Creek, GA)

6/16: Full Battle Rattle (Robinson, IL)

6/16: East Coast War (Wilmington, NC)

6/19: Gauntlett VIII – River Rumble (Portsmouth, OH)

6/22 – 6/23: Urban Street Games (Rock Island, IL)

6/22 – 6/24: The Bacon Beatdown (Daytona Beach, FL)

6/23: Garage Girls CrossFit Grit (St. Simons Island, GA)

6/23: 2018 Summer Swolestice (Gresham, OR)

6/23: HAMCO Heat (McLeansboro, IL)

6/23: The Greenville Games (Greenville, SC)

6/23: The Burn Out (New Bern, NC)

6/23: Battle of the Border (Phenix City, AL)

6/23: Battle of a Beauty with a Beast (South Hadley, MA)

6/23: Clash for Cash (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

6/23: SuperFit Games (Lorton, VA)

6/23: Clash on the Concrete (Miamisburg, OH) 

6/23 – 6/24: Asbury Park Summer Games (Asbury Park, NJ)

6/23 – 6/24: The Dakota Games (Fargo, ND)

6/30: Summer Stampede (Bethlehem, PA)

6/30: Battle of the Ballpark (Seattle, WA)

7/1: Strong As A Bear VI (San Rafael, CA)

7/4: 4th of July Throwdown Team Competition (Cullman, AL)

7/5: Barbellas (Anaheim, CA)

7/6 – 7/8: The Garage Games Junior Champion’s Invitational 2018 (Roswell, GA)

7/7: CrossFit Elgin Beach Brawl 2018 (Port Stanley, ON)

7/7: Capitol Takeover 2018 (Springfield, IL)

7/7 – 7/8: Railyard Riot (Lincoln, NE)

7/14: Mischief Revolution: Battle of the Brewery (Chicago, IL)

7/14: Mountain Town Summer Throwdown (Breckenridge, CO) 

7/14: Espirit De Corps 2018 (Vancouver, WA)

7/14: Belmar Beat Down (Belmar, NJ)

7/14: Atomic Throwdown (Kennewick, WA)

7/14: Fitness for Faith (Livingston, TN) 

7/14: Sweat Angel Showdown (Indianapolis, IN) 

7/15: The Buckeye Games (Akron, OH)

7/21: Second Annual Summer Showdown (Nicholasville, KY)

7/21: Swole Wars II (Burleson, TX)