“Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.”- Winston Churchill
SPEED READS
New federal government nutrition guidelinesignore recommendations from its own scientific advisory committee to reduce the daily allowances for sugar. According to the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the council “recommended cutting the limit for added sugars in the diet to 6% of daily calories from 10% in the current guidelines, citing rising rates of obesity and the link between obesity and health problems like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.”
Food for thought…should you use athletes to demo movements in class? NCFit’s MDV on why he never does.
Trifecta announced an official partnershipwith GYMGUYZ, the mega at-home personal training company that sends trainers and equipment to your home. With the partnership, Trifecta will now be available at a discount to GYMGUYZ members. This adds to their already long list of partnerships that includes UFC, the PGA TOUR, Team USA Weightlifting, and the CrossFit Games.
MUST READ in the print edition of this month’s Men’s Health:Can these two guys save CrossFit? The feature piece explores the details of Greg Glassman’s downfall, Eric Roza’s acquisition of CrossFit and his vision for the future, as well as Roza and Dave Castro’s first meeting at the Ranch in Aromas. “To save the brand, Roza believed it needed to evolve and be more like Roza himself: techy, corporate, progressive, and woke…But would a hard-charging, gun-loving SEAL be the right fit for the new, more kumbaya CrossFit?”
Out of quarantine and on the ice, Tia-Clair Toomey hit her first bobsled training session this week. In the words of the four-time Games champ: “I have A LOT of catching up to do.”
Discussion point: Jacob Heppner and OPEX Fitness on why coaches need to embrace technology, especially now. “I think people are realizing that we don’t have to go into the gyms to get in a good workout. We can stay home. In 2019, something might not have existed in that gym for [home workouts]…but now that we’ve seen it and it works I guarantee there will be a subset of people that aren’t going to want to go back into the gyms.”
Photo du jour: 2020 in a workout…Reebok CrossFit One coach Austin Malleolo dragging a sled with his daughter in a Baby Bjorn. #DadGoals
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CrossFit Athletes Challenge Champs, Record Podium Finishes at the Spartan Games
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
The “Spartan Games: Battle of the Fittest, presented by Harley-Davidson” came to a close on Dec. 23 and crowned two champions. The champions were ultimately professional Spartan racers, but were pushed every step of the way by CrossFit athletes.
Event 8, Spartan Extreme Endurance Vertical 300: The opening event of the final day was a grueling one mile run with a 5.11 weighted vest up a mountain on Spartan founder Joe De Sena’s farm in Vermont. The run included 300 meters of elevation up unforgiving terrain to the top of the mountain.
Trailing rival Hunter McIntyre by two points on the overall leaderboard, reigning two-time Spartan Ultra World Champion Ryan Atkins set the tone immediately on the run, jumping ahead of the pack with triathlete Josiah Middaugh.
In one of the closest races of the weekend, Atkins edged Middaugh by eight seconds to win the event and reclaim the overall lead.
What Affiliates Can Learn from Street Parking About Building Community
In 2016, CrossFit Games athletes Miranda and Julian Alcaraz started posting videos on social media of the two of them doing simple workouts mostly from hotels. As they gained more followers, it morphed into an idea to create an online community of people who could join in on their workouts all over the world. This concept became Street Parking, an online company that now has 32,000 active members.
Their ultimate goal was to provide quality programming and community for those with minimal equipment, time and space, Miranda explained. It quickly attracted people who “couldn’t afford a gym membership, or who travel a lot, or who who live far from a gym, or just for people who don’t necessarily like the group class atmosphere,” said Miranda, a mother of two young children, who continued to post workout videos through both of her pregnancies. This also led to an influx of moms to Street Parking, she explained.
“B is for Burpees” Teaches Toddlers (and Parents) About Functional Fitness
Every parent knows the phrase, “A is for apples.” But what about “B is for burpees?”
B is for Burpeesis the third children’s literature release from CartoonFit Comics, a comic account inspired by well-known cartoons The Oatmeal and Dilbert that’s all about fitness. The author, Marcus Lowther, a CrossFit coach, uses humor as a “light-hearted entry into the fitness world,” for both kids and adults.
The books: Lowther started CartoonFit in 2016, as satire geared mostly towards adults in the CrossFit community. In 2017 he published his first children’s book, The Race Against Time, which brings functional fitness to life through the travels of two characters, Platey (an Olympic lifting plate with a face and legs) and Tina.
“I was a little naive initially,” he says. “Children’s books are hard.”
The Biggest Mistakes CrossFit Athletes Make on the Rower
Shane Farmer from Dark Horse Rowing examines common mistakes he sees CrossFit athletes make in rowing workouts and provides some quick fixes. His advice: you won't win the workout on the rower, but you can definitely lose it.
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Ok, this is not the "healthiest" recipe we've ever highlighted, but New Year's Eve is coming and maybe you're feeling adventurous. This recipe from Delish is not for the faint of heart and involves soaking cake cubes in tequila before deep-frying them to a golden-brown deliciousness. Are you up for the challenge?
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Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlight to tips@morningchalkup.com to be featured.
15-yr-old Kaiden Esparza snatches 145 pounds for a PR.
COMMUNITY
Billy Snyder Memorial Fund: Tragedy struck the Snyder family on Christmas Day when Billy Snyder, a husband, father, and CrossFit coach at BearFight CrossFit in Norfolk, VA was killed in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family, including his wife Megan, also a coach at BearFight, and their two-year-old son, William.
Fenton Center of Hope Gift Drive: In Fenton, MI, the Center of Hope delivered gifts to 300 local children. The gift drive was aided by a big effort at CrossFit Fenton, organized by gym member Christina Clark.
New CrossFit Gym in Hartlepool: In Hartlepool, England, a proposal had been submitted by Matthew Richardson to open a new CrossFit gym. If approved, the gym would not only add to the fitness community there but would also add seven new jobs.
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