Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition is brought to you by Jones Dairy Farm.

Thanks to the CrossFit athletes, gym owners, friends, family and spectators who stopped by the Jones booth at CrossFit Games to sample Jones No Sugar Chicken Sausage, Uncured Bacon and Canadian Bacon.

We loved watching you crush our meats!

Athletes appreciate Jones products because they are a good source of protein, no/low sugar, no allergens/MSG, paleo friendly and gluten-free certified.

Visit www.JonesDairyFarm.com to find a grocery store near your that carries Jones products.

“The mental toughness and the heart are a lot stronger than some of the physical advantages you might have. I’ve always said that and I’ve always believed that.” — Michael Jordan

2019 CrossFit Games Stats and Records Takeaways

Athletes at the 2019 CrossFit Games smashed records and extended streaks across several divisions, including teams and masters. Here is a rundown of some of the most significant records set in Madison.

Individuals

Tia-Clair Toomey produced the most dominant Games performance by a woman winning her third consecutive title, becoming the first three-time women’s champion.  Records that she broke or tied included:

• Earned the greatest percentage of points possible all-time – woman or man – at 89.3% (excluding 2007 where there were only three events).
• Greatest points-margin of victory by a woman all-time at 195.
• Tied for the most event wins by a woman in a Games with five.
• Now has eleven career Games event wins – tied for 4th all-time.

Mathew Fraser had his toughest Games win of his career beating out Noah Ohlsen by just 35 points in route to tying Rich Froning for the most individual titles all-time with four consecutive. Ironically, the last time the men’s title race was this close was when Fraser lost to Ben Smith in 2015 by just 36 points. Fraser set the following records:

• Won the most events in a single Games with six.
• Won the first two events of the Games which had never been done by an individual at the Games.
• Now has 15 career Games event wins – 2nd all-time (Rich Froning with the most at 16).

Additional Records

• Kristen Holte continued her consistent improvement throughout her Games career by taking home the silver medal for her first podium.
• Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson took home his second bronze medal to go along with his 2015 medal. He now has four Top 5s at the Games.

Continue reading…

A Decade of Fuelling the Fittest on Earth

Tucked away in the back of the old Santa Cruz Wrigley’s factory is a warehouse manufacturing the recovery fuel for CrossFitters.

40 thousand free cans of FITAID were handed out at the 2019 CrossFit Games — a far cry from the humble beginnings of LIFEAID Beverage Co. ten years ago.

Where it all began.

“Orion and I met in a CrossFit gym back in 2009 in Santa Cruz and we had this crazy idea and launched LIFEAID in 2011,” said Aaron Hinde, co-founder of the company.

Aaron invited the Morning Chalk Up to the company’s headquarters which supplies LIFEAID products to around 30 percent of CrossFit boxes in America.

“In this warehouse that we’re in now we used to have a little tiny cage that held two pallets of product and that was it. It took us six months to sell through it, one can at a time slowly,” he said.

The company now employs 75 people full time, it’s growth a byproduct of two key factors according to the co-founder.

“The product but also the people and the relationships that we forged early on and nurtured, we still have those relationships nine years later.”

Aaron describes this as the “OG” — or “original gangster” parts of the community — that continue to propel the company forward.

Continue reading…

Things To…

WATCH: Katrin Davidsdottir on Finishing Fourth
Katrin Davidsdottir sat down with Armen Hammer to discuss how she feels about her performance in Madison this year, what she thinks she can improve in her training for next year, and what the process of writing a book was like for her.
SHE’S ON A MISSION.

HEAR: 2019 Games Overview and Age Groups Recap
Sean Woodland and Tommy Marquez recap all the age group competitions from the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games while marveling at some of the individual performances from the Masters and Teenagers. They also discuss recent news from Greg Glassman regarding future presenting sponsorships for the CrossFit Games before getting into some overall thoughts and impressions from a great weekend in Madison.
ALL THE AGE GROUPS.

GET: Kari Pearce’s New PowerAbs Book for Free!
Now’s your chance to get your free copy of Kari Pearce’s new abs book, “Power Abs – The Book; 10 Minutes A Day To The Abs You’ve Always Wanted”! This online book is a complete package of 10 new high-intensity abs workouts to teach you how to work your ab muscles while burning fat at the same time. It’s a 2 for 1 workout!
Get Your Free Copy Today.

EAT: Easy Garlic Lemon Scallops
This easy to make garlic lemon scallop dish is full of diced garlic, fresh lemon and butter to get them just browned enough on the outside. Serve these scallops with a green salad or over some zucchini noodles for a high protein, low carb meal.
MAKE SOME SCALLOPS. 

Today’s edition of the Morning Chalk Up is brought to you by

Chalk Up Community

• PRO-TIP: THE PERFECT ROW WARM UP — Shane Farmer of Dark Horse Rowing offers three steps to the perfect rowing warm up. 
• PULLING FOR OUR LITTLE HEROES — Calavera Barbell in Reno, NV is hosting a fundraiser competition September 6 – 7 at the Sands Regency. All funds raised will go to Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation.
• 24 IN 24 FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER — CrossFit Dynamo in Cumming, GA will host it’s third annual 24 in 24 on August 23 and 24 to benefit the Rally Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer research.
• BACK TO SCHOOL BURPEES — Angie McCord is raising money for back to school products for girls through Clutch. She has committed to doing two burpees for every dollar raised. 
• DO IT FOR DEB — CrossFit Bethel in Bethel, CT held a fundraiser WOD for member Deb, who is in her last fight against brain cancer. More than 100 community members rallied at Do It For Deb and raised $3,000 to the Closer to Free Fund for Smillow Cancer Hospital.
• NINE WEEKS OF THE RP DIET APP — Our Managing Editor, Jessica Danger, is using the RP Diet App for nine weeks. Here’s how she did last week.

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

Chase Knight cleans 350 pounds • Congratulations to Kayla Froning and Drew Richards on their engagement • Happy birthday Brooke Ence • ENCEwear is giving away a Brooke Ence birthday bundle • Royce Dunne snatches 265 pounds for three • Seventy-year-old Loni gets her first pull-up • Austin Barney gets his first bar muscle-up • Seamus Keating cleans 215 pounds.

…and Taylar Stallings won’t train with you on Sundays, but she’ll cheer you on from her chair. 

Ben Smith Shares His Experience at the Games — Ben Smith, who made his 11th appearance at the CrossFit Games after receiving a wild card just days before the competition kicked-off, shares his experience in Madison. 

— “I like the idea of cuts, they did it in my first games in 2009. It makes things exciting and also puts some pressure on each event as an athlete (which I don’t mind). They could have cut to 10 after sat night going into Sunday. Or i’m fine with just leaving it at 20 or 30 and see what happens. There are a lot of really fit people out there now… The tests leading to the cuts should be balanced in typical “CrossFit” fashion, the mono structural tests should be later on after all cuts are made. Seems only fair to get balanced competition later.

— “I also HOPE 5 years from now you will see good competition coming from all over the world. The bigger field and more representation seems like a long term move (or a business move possibly?) but my hope is that it only grows the sport in the long run! Everyone I met this year was super cool in the old school CrossFit mentality type of way. I left this Games with many positives and am going to be rolling into next year with some strong momentum!”

Keep An Eye Out — On August 16, Episode 1 of Road to the CrossFit Games Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson Fittest In Iceland. Being released in multiple mini-docs and produced by Nikolaj Ronnow, who is also working with the Buttery Bros on the new CrossFit Games documentary, get behind the scenes access as Gudmundsson takes on Mat Fraser, Patrick Vellner, Noah Ohlson and the rest of the field in his pursuit to make it back onto the CrossFit Games podium.

Making a Business Health Check-Up — BoxPro Magazine recently published an article on what specific numbers affiliate owners can use to track the success of their box.

— “Pay attention to these not-so-common numbers: What’s your retention? Churn rate? Client acquisition cost? Profit margin?”

“CrossFit Games 2019; That’s a Wrap,” by Jessica Danger, Morning Chalk Up 

Last week, Morning Chalk Up set up shop in the FITAID lounge for the Morning Chalk Up Show live from Madison. We hosted a live show, hosted by Tommy Marquez three times a day, with guests like FITAID’s co-founder Aaron Hinde, Annie Thorisdottir, Chris Hinshaw, and Jason Carroll. We even snagged a live sit down with Mat Fraser at the end of the day, when Nike revealed their gold boxed gift to him for winning his fourth straight title as Fittest on Man Earth.

Field reporters Luke Duffy and Brittney Kleyn flew all the way from Australia to be on the ground with our team. The two ran all over the Alliant Energy Center, and the better parts of Madison, to get you on the ground interviews from Pat Vellner, Noah Ohlsen, Dave Castro and Sammy Moniz, amongst others. They made their way out to the Reebok Fit Barge, to CrossFit Connex, to the ROMWOD Warrior Course, and through a WOD with WIT and adaptive athlete Logan Aldrige. Our photographer, Patrick Clark, was all over the field of play to get the best possible shots of athletes in motion.

We met literally dozens of readers that came up to us asking to buy shirts (We’re sorry! We’ll bring some next year, we promise.) and to take pictures with us. As we walked around the venue, readers stopped us to say thanks for publishing their PR or spreading the word about their event, or being their trusted source for all things CrossFit, and for helping them keep their head above water with all the changes this season. (P.S. Sara Sigmundsdottir and Candy Fraser, Mat’s mom, were using Morning Chalk Up to discover the workouts!)

Thanks to our sponsors — FITAID, Nike, Kettlebell Kitchen and Black Rifle Coffee — and to CrossFit for giving us a shot to cover something this big with our team. It was an honor and a privilege to be your go-to trusted source during the CrossFit Games.

8/16: OUTWOD Charlotte (Charlotte, NC)
8/16 – 8/17: WodFest 2019 (Joplin, MO)
8/17: Fittest in the Fork (Ft. Sill, OK)
8/17: Barbells For Bullies at CrossFit QDA (Buffalo, NY)
8/17: CrossFit Sua Sponte’s Summer Slam (Raleigh, NC)
8/17: The Fossil Games (Denver, CO)
8/17: Warhorse Games KC (Kansas City, KS)
8/17: CrossFit Shatter Summer Slam (Albany, NY)
8/17: The Syndicate Series Presents The Battlegrounds (Columbia, MD)
8/17: Poore Beer and CrossFit Benefit (Hendersonville, NC)
8/17: Unbroken Series Adaptive Games (Marion, NC)
8/17: 6th annual Babes and Bros (Grand Rapids, MI)
8/17: The Battlegrounds at 12 Labours CrossFit (Columbia, MD)
8/17: Back Lot Bout (St. Charles, MO)
8/17: Summer Slam (Raleigh, NC)
8/17 – 8/18: Mayhem on the Mountain (Pelham, AL)
8/18: Red Raider Backyard Brawl III (Coatesville, PA)
8/18: Summer Sizzler (Akron, OH)
8/21: Wodapalooza Individual Qualifier (Online)
8/23 – 8/24: Third Annual 24 in 24 (Cumming, GA)
8/24: Battle For the Badge (Vestal, NY)
8/24: OUTWOD Miami at Move.Lift.Live (Miami, FL)
8/24: OUTWOD Las Vegas at CrossFit Social City (Las Vegas, NV)
8/24: Deadlifts for Kids (Lilburn, GA)
8/24: The Southern Games 2019 (Louisville, KY)
8/24: 2019 Koda First Timer’s Open (Oklahoma City, OK)
8/24: Rumble on the Bay (Green Bay, WI)
8/24: Ragin’ Games (Lafayette, LA)
8/24: The 10th Annual Iron Belle (Austin, TX)
8/24: Battle of the Boxes (Plymouth, MI)
8/24 – 8/25: Oregon CrossFit’s Best of the West Summer Event 2019 (Bend, OR)
8/24 – 8/25: Railyard Riot (Lincoln, NE)
8/30 – 8/31: The Southwest Championships (Orem, UT)
8/30 – 8/31: The 3rd Annual Tampa Bay Games (Tampa, FL)
8/31: The Big WODowski Partner Competition (Delafield, WI)
8/31: Girls Gone RX (Charlevoix, MI)
8/31: Roots Ruck Around the Clock (Poulsbo, WA)
8/31: Saved By the Barbell (Waite Park, MN)
8/31: T-Town Throwdown Partner Comp (Tyler, TX)
8/31: Battle of the Beasts (Quebec, Canada)
9/5 – 9/7: The Iron Games (Cedar City, UT)
9/7: Power Output Challenge 8 (San Antonio, TX)
9/7: Family Fitness Faith Festival (College Station, TX)
9/7: Sirens of September (Smithfield, RI)
9/7: Garden State Open (Berkeley Heights, NJ)
9/7: Hill City Throwdown (Lynchburg VA)
9/7: Midwest Fall Classic (Tulsa, OK)
9/7: OUTWOD Asheville at CrossFit Pisgah (Asheville, NC)
9/7: OUTWOD Brooklyn at Park Slope CrossFit (Brooklyn, NY)
9/7: Double Trouble at Crossfit Unwavering (El Mirage, AZ)
9/7: Girls Gone RX (Virginia Beach, VA)
9/7: WODderfest (Beaufort, SC)
9/7: SE TEX Masters Fall Classic (Cypress, TX)
9/7: The Sugar Skull Showdown (Agawam, MA)
9/7: Power Output Challenge (San Antonio, TX) 
9/8: Wingman (Lincoln, United Kingdom)
9/14: Charm City Throwdown (Sparks, MD)