The 2024 CrossFit "Offseason"

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up premium subscriber edition.

In today’s edition:

  • It’s tough to call it an “offseason,” but below we break down the major competitions between now and the CrossFit Open.

  • Learn how David Rubin turned his team of part-time coaches into full-time professionals and what it’s meant for his gym and community.

  • Over the years, veteran CrossFit journalist Emily Beers has told 100s of CrossFit stories. Today, she tells her own story — from Games athlete to casual fitnesser to postpartum PRs at 40.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Thanks to CrossFit, fitness had become a habit, so although I wasn’t as fit as I once had been, training had become like brushing my teeth.” - Emily Beers on training after her competitive career ended

COMPETITIONS

Credit: @downunderchampionship / Instagram

A Guide to the Major 2024 CrossFit Offseason Events

With the CrossFit Games in the rear-view mirror, we’re officially in the CrossFit offseason. Though, the word offseason is a little misleading in this case.

  • There is a healthy competition schedule between the start of September 2024 and early February 2025.

Many Games-level athletes will take part in at least one competition over the next six months. For many, it’s a juggling act to determine when to compete, when to have focused training cycles, and when to rest and heal up the nagging injuries they picked up along the season. Here are the major events that fans have to look forward to.

The Big Ones

Rogue Invitational — November 8–10, 2024

The toughest competition of the offseason schedule is held by equipment manufacturer Rogue.  This year marks the sixth running of the Rogue Invitational and the first to take place in Europe as athletes venture to Aberdeen, Scotland. 

  • Rogue will invite at least 10 athletes based on their ranking system. The remaining competitors earn an invite through an online qualifier known simply as “The Q.”

  • “The Q” runs September 5-9. Learn more here. 

With a prize purse that rivals the CrossFit Games, you can count on the best athletes in the world showing up.

A MESSAGE FROM BRAD’S DEALS

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SPEED READS

🎙️🔈Constantly Varied Conversations: In his most recent video, John Wooley provides an assessment of Dave Castro’s performance, both his achievements and challenges. Listen here.

😎🏆 TYR Wodapalooza SoCal Update: The team at Loud and Live is rolling out both community and TYR Cup workouts. Check them out now.

💪📋 Rogue Invitational Update — “The Q”: Athletes can compete in this online qualifier to earn a spot in the Individual competition at the 2024 Rogue Invitational. Registration is open. Learn more here.

ICYMI: CrossFitters are always looking for an edge to improve performance and recovery. While optimizing performance is a worthwhile goal, it also creates an eager market for hyped-up claims sold as “cutting-edge” science. EC Synkowski has more.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @couragedurham / Instagram

How David Rubin Turned His Team of Part-Time Coaches Into Full-Time Professionals

(Originally published, July 23, 2024)

In 2020, David Rubin had 16-18 coaches at Courage Fitness in Durham, NC. 

They were all part-time coaches, many of whom had other full-time jobs, while others were students who bartered for a free membership by coaching a couple of classes a week.

The result: Nobody but Rubin was truly invested in the business. 

  • “Other than just in their personal passion, because financially they weren’t invested, because they didn’t have a long-time future [coaching here],” Rubin admitted. 

Rubin knew if he wanted a successful business, he needed to be able to compensate his coaches professionally, so they, too, would invest long-term. 

So he “made a conscious decision to create full-time, professional staff,” he said. 

Today: Rubin has seven full-time coaches, all of whom earn between $5,000 and $7,000 a month. 

  • “My guys: They take vacations, they are buying houses and cars, they’re having babies. They’re living a normal professional person’s life,” he said. “And that all starts with helping them make more money.”

COMMUNITY

Credit: Ralph Steele

From a CrossFit Games Qualification to Postpartum PRs: How One MCU Writer’s Fitness Journey Came Full Circle After Giving Birth

(Originally published, July 30, 2024)

Observable, measurable, and repeatable. 

  • It’s at the foundation of the CrossFit methodology and one of the reasons we fall in love with it, as it leads us to feel like rock stars in our first few years as PRs come flooding in and we become fitter than we ever imagined we would be.

But eventually, like with anything else, we plateau, we get a little bored, and maybe even a little scared because we know how much it’s going to hurt. 

  • And, if we continue long enough, we age to a place where our bodies just don’t want to do what they did in our 20s or 30s.

And then what?

The honeymoon stage of CrossFit has long worn off, the PRs have slowed or stopped, we’re no longer treating CrossFit as a sport, and the questioning begins:

  • Where does CrossFit fit into my life now? Does it even fit into my life? Is it even still serving me? Or is it hurting me? Is it even a smart way to train anymore?

At least, those were the questions that circled in my head and led me to eventually abandon what I call “real CrossFit” for a number of years because I was burned out and tired of the pressure of trying to hit new PRs all the time.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

  • 💕Happy belated anniversary, (8/2), to Mia and Phil Hesketh.

  • Happy belated birthday, (8/2), to Nicole Biscuiti.

  • Congratulations to Jarell from Core City CrossFit in Detroit, MI, on stringing together 16 double-unders.

  • Congratulations to 73-year-old Lynne from Elite CrossFit in Texas on his first ring muscle-up.

  • 🔥Nice work to Bruna from Porto União CrossFit in Brazil on the 105-kilo/231-pound clean and jerk.