5 Epic Odd Object Workouts From CrossFit’s Recent Past

May 9th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Odd object events like “Strongman’s Fear” and “The Texas Oak” have given us so many exciting moments and opportunities to see our favorite athletes adjust to new and unknown implements. Check out some of our favorites from the recent past!

  • Are you leaving money on the table with your client onboarding process? We have some tips and strategies to keep this from happening while boosting client retention.

  • The Age Group Semifinals start today! We’ve got everything you need below, from workout descriptions to who to watch on the leaderboards.

Should your gym be featured as our Affiliate of the Month for June? Please drop us a note to explain why!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There is literally almost nothing else you can do that will improve client retention as much as having a one-on-one introduction to your gym.” - Chris Cooper, Two-Brain Business on maximizing the value of your gym on-ramp practices

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: Enrique Villaseñor

Big Lift Energy: 5 Epic Odd Object Workouts From CrossFit's History

A few weeks back, we published an article highlighting some of our favorite “big lift” moments from recent CrossFit competitions. 

Among the highlights were Gui Malheiros’ 305-pound snatch at the 2021 CrossFit Games, Mat Fraser’s 280-pound clean during the 2019 CrossFit Games, and Sam Dancer and Brooke Wells clearing the deadlift ladder at the Ranch in 2016. 

These moments have stayed with us over the years and are among the most impressive feats in CrossFit’s short history. As always, though, lists are subjective, and there are countless other lifts that could be highlighted from past CrossFit Games, Semifinals, and off-season competitions. 

Then there’s a completely different category of big lifts that we still need to examine: Odd objects.

For this list, we’re looking at some memorable big lifts that trade in barbells and kettlebells for yokes, logs, and something simply known as the “pig.”

At last year’s CrossFit Games, finishing the second event, the “Pig Chipper,” proved to be an insurmountable task for many of the athletes. 

  • Of 80 competitors, 32 athletes failed to finish under the time cap, partially due to the massive weight of the "pig," 10 flips of which book-ended the workout. What is a "pig," you ask? It's a large rectangular block of dead weight (imagine a refrigerator, only heavier and lying on its side). The athlete flips it end-over-end, longways.

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SPEED READS

🔥🌏🔥 World On Fire: Todd Meleney, former NOBULL CMO, and his marketing team have announced the opening of their new agency, World On Fire.

  • From the press release: “World On Fire is a boutique brand agency that works with high-growth brands in the fitness and wellness space. Specializing in brand strategy, brand identity, partnerships, and activations, the agency creates momentum for its clients by utilizing an ecosystem of athletes, creators, and partners to disrupt the status quo and build communities.”

  • World On Fire is currently hiring for several roles. Learn more.

🏋️‍♀️🎓 Pit Collegiate Throwdown: Designed to help fill in what some have described as the “lost years” for athletes aging up from the Teen to the Individual division, the Pit Collegiate Throwdown offers the opportunity for athletes 18-22 to throw down against their peers.

  • The online qualifier runs June 9-30, and the in-person finals will take place concurrently with the Pit Teen Throwdown from August 27-30. Learn more and get registered now!

🏆 TYR Wodapalooza Drops TYR Cup Details: More details are emerging about the structure and format of the elite division.

  • First, the format will be North America vs. The World. As the teaser described it, this will be “an all-star match-up, featuring a two-team, head-to-head format. Each squad will be composed of four men & four women, with the captains chosen by YOU.”

  • Then, yesterday, the event structures were released, and… 😳🤯 we were not prepared. This is going to be EPIC! Learn more here.

🏆🧑‍🚒 Register For The CrossFit Service Cup: Built to Serve Now! 

  • The details: The CrossFit Service Cup is a virtual competition that asks athletes to complete three workouts over the course of one week (June 6-13).

  • The competition will include Competitive, Rx’d, and community divisions, and service members in the following professions are invited to join: Affiliate Owner, CrossFit Trainer, Medical Professional, Educator, Military Veteran, Active Duty Military, Law Enforcement, Firefighter, First Responder, EMS Responder.

🚨🚨 2024 Team and Individual Semifinals Workouts: Last week, after two of the workouts were leaked, the CrossFit Games team released all of the workouts for the 2024 Team and Individual Semifinals.

  • Check out the Team and the Indy workouts now.

  • The 2024 CrossFit Games Semifinals are set to take place May 16-June 2. Learn more.

🏋️‍♀️📋 Training Camp Semifinalists: Several prominent training camps have dropped full rosters of their Semifinal-qualifying athletes. Check out the lists now:

ICYMI: Athletes are gearing up for Semifinals, and that means more than just being physically and mentally ready to try to qualify for the Games. Learn how you can support your favorite CrossFit athletes.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @crossfit / Instagram

Is Your Client Onboarding Process Leaving Money on the Table and Hurting Client Retention?

Have you ever wondered why, for years, most CrossFit affiliates chose to onboard new clients via group “On-Ramps,” or “boot camps.”

It’s not the way CrossFit founder Greg Glassman did things.

Glassman started all new clients with one-on-one personal training, eventually grouping more experienced people, to utilize time more efficiently.


Somewhere along the way, though, CrossFit affiliates began onboarding clients in groups – sometimes small groups, other times big groups – and it remained that way for years.

But fast forward to 2024 and it seems the tides have turned again and fewer and fewer gyms are onboarding new clients via group intro classes.

So, what gives?

Looking At Some Data

We put out an informal poll to gym owners, and only eight percent of the 200-plus gyms who responded said they utilize group on-ramps as their onboarding method. 

More popular answers included “No Sweat Intros,” one-on-one personal training, and sending new clients straight into the regular group class.

To see if we were onto something, we reached out to gym management software company PushPress, to see what their data showed.

They were able to pull data from 1,262 CrossFit gyms that report consistently and found that only four percent of gyms currently onboard new clients via some group intro class.

A MESSAGE FROM BARBELL JOBS

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CROSSFIT SEMIFINALS

Credit: @willmoorad / Instagram

2024 CrossFit Games Age Group Semifinals Workout Descriptions and Who to Watch

For the first time in the Quarterfinals era, the Age Group athletes tackled the same workouts as the Individuals. 

  • The top 200 in each division will continue their season with the online Age Group Semifinals, running from May 8-13. 

Remind me: This year the age groups will have their own CrossFit Games, separate from individuals, hosted by Legends and Pit Teen Throwdown. Between 10 and 40 athletes per division will move on to their championship event at the end of August.

Age Group Semifinals Workout Descriptions

For time:

50 cal row
9 snatches (165/115 pounds)
50 cal row
6 snatches (195/135 pounds)
50 cal row 
3 snatches (225/155 pounds)

Time cap: 20 minutes

HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🚣Check out this Swiss rowing team getting their workout in outside of the gym.

  • Congratulations to Games athlete Nicki Torreggiani on the 88-kilo/195-pound snatch PR.

  • Congratulations to Liv on the 142-kilo/313-pound front squat PR.

  • Congratulations to Jenny and Vicky of CrossFit High Gear in Medina, OH, on taking first place at their competition over the weekend.

  • 🤸‍♀️Lazar Djukic is getting ready for Semis. Check out his handstand walking skills.