🇧🇷 A Brazilian Powerhouse's Comeback Story

June 19th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Inside Kaique Cerveny’s comeback

  • A better way to track your progress

  • How CrossFit Burke found new meaning by offering classes to neurodivergent kids

QUOTE OF THE DAY
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After 10 years of competing, I learned to be more resilient. This time will be no different. I believe each step is an opportunity to be even more focused and seek even greater things.”

— Kaique Cerveny on moving forward after setbacks.
PROFILE

Brazil’s Kaique Cerveny Is Built for the Long Game

Credit: Lydia Stadtheower

Kaique Cerveny is self-made.

The 2023 CrossFit Games qualifier from Brazil admired other CrossFit athletes and understood what it took to become one of them as a young man. It required sacrifice, dedication, and long days of hard work – a complete lifestyle shift for someone who was only 17 at the time.

  • Although this season has presented unexpected challenges for Cerveny, he has chosen to view it as a growth opportunity and a chance to demonstrate resilience.

Find out how Cerveny overcame a year of unprecedented setbacks to get himself back on track with eyes on a summer comeback.

A MESSAGE FROM VELITES

Wanna Race? Gotta Train.

In 2023, Velites became the official sponsor of HYROX Spain. Since then, the partnership has grown and expanded into the new training app and co-branded collection that will gear up athletes for their next race training.

Athletes can sign up for an exclusive discount and early access to shop their favorite products as soon as they drop.

The collaboration between Velites and Hyrox continues to grow stronger, with plans for further expansion and the development of new products and training programs.

Both organizations share the vision of supporting athletes in their pursuit of athletic excellence, and this partnership promises to continue offering innovative solutions in the functional fitness sector.

*This newsletter relies on our sponsors. Please consider supporting them.

SPEED READS

🤝💰Partnered Up: In a detailed post on its website, CrossFit introduced its new and existing partnerships for the 2025 Games season. These agreements include familiar brands like YETI and STRONG Coffee, along with newcomers Saatva and PBFit.

🚦💪Street Smarts: Just what in the heck is streetlifting? This unique mix of calisthenics and weightlifting is being hailed as a challenger to CrossFit, but does it offer enough to stand out? Read this deep dive from Men’s Health to learn more.

🏋️‍♀️ đźŽ‰Get Involved: OrganizaciĂłn de Amigos, a charity dedicated to making CrossFit accessible to youth, announced that the fifth annual C4K Comp will take place on October 18 at CrossFit Wilsonville. Early registration for the fundraiser competition goes down on July 1.

📚📺Fraser Critiqued: Among other things, Dr. Mike Israetel has built a reputation on critiquing athlete workouts on his Renaissance Periodization YouTube channel. The noted exercise scientist recently put Mat Fraser’s workout routine under the microscope.

ICYMI: CrossFit’s Last Chance Qualifier saw a record-low turnout. We asked athletes and coaches why so many people skipped their shot at a Games ticket.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

The Mirror Method: A Better Way to Track Progress Than Body Fat Testing

You step off the DEXA scan feeling defeated. 

Despite a month of consistent workouts and clean eating, the machine indicates your body fat percentage has increased by two percent. 

  • Your gym buddy swears by their InBody results, while another friend just dropped $100 on calipers from Amazon. Meanwhile, you're left wondering: which test should you trust, and more importantly, do any of these numbers matter? 

Here's the uncomfortable truth: we're fixating on the wrong things.

The Accuracy Illusion

First, let's address the elephant in the room: every body fat testing method – even the "gold standard" DEXA scan – comes with a significant margin of error.

These machines do not just measure your fat; they are heavily influenced by your hydration status, which is affected by factors such as when you last ate, whether you have worked out recently, and even the outside temperature.

COMMUNITY

CrossFit Burke Celebrates a Year of Offering Classes for Neurodivergent Kids

Credit: CrossFit Burke

Chad Ciri’s son is 15 years old and is on the autism spectrum. Chad has always wanted to start a class for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and last year, he launched a Uniquely Abled Fitness program at his gym in Fairfax, VA, to serve his son and many others. 

  • “I realized there’s really nothing in our area that specifically serves that population for fitness and teaching them the basics and giving them access to the benefits of fitness,” Ciri tells Morning Chalk Up in an interview. “I built up the courage to be able to offer it on a smaller scale.” 

Ciri is the co-owner of CrossFit Burke, and he started the program with just four to five kids at a time, along with some coaches who also wanted to help with his mission. He was able to grow the hands-on training program to roughly 16 kids ages 12 to 19.

TRIVIA

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HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🔥Check out this 140-kilo/308-pound hang snatch from 19-year-old Icaro from Brazil.

  • Gui Malheiros makes these 147-kilo/325-pound back squats look like air squats.

  • Check out Griffen Roelle on this 147-kilo/325-pound snatch.

  • Watch Loredana of CrossFit Alioth in UAE knock out 80 unbroken toes-to-bar.

  •  đź™ŚCheck out Misfit’s Makenna Enslin’s road to recovery after her ankle injury.