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- Behind Brute and PRVN's 2025 Games Dominance
Behind Brute and PRVN's 2025 Games Dominance
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🏆 Inside the training camps that owned the 2025 Games.
📈 The truth behind the protein boom.
🧠 How Nick Penziotto’s gym is giving Parkinson’s patients hope in Florida.
🚨 New Not For Time episode with Sean Woodland and John Wooley drops today!
QUOTE OF THE DAY
[W]hat we saw this season was the creation of a team-first culture that changed the game for all of our athletes”
CROSSFIT GAMES
An Inside Look at Brute and PRVN’s 2025 CrossFit Games Dominance
Credit: Scott Freymond
The secret to placing high on the leaderboard at the CrossFit Games this summer has been revealed: Train with either Brute Strength or PRVN Fitness.
Eight of the top 12 individual athletes – the top six men and top six women — came from either Brute or PRVN.
On the women’s side, two PRVN athletes made the podium: Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Olivia Kerstetter, with Maddie Sturt finishing sixth. On the men’s side, two PRVN athletes finished in the top six: Ricky Garard (second) and Jay Crouch (sixth).
Meanwhile, three Brute Strength athletes placed in the top four: Jayson Hopper (first), James Sprague (third), and Dallin Pepper (fourth).
Worth noting: This is the second consecutive year that Sprague, Pepper, and Hopper have dominated the top spots on the men’s side. Last year, they finished first, second, and fourth, respectively, although Hopper didn’t become a Brute athlete until after the 2024 CrossFit Games, when he was teamed up with Brute Coach El Senouvor.
Continue reading to check out our interviews with Brute head coach, Matt Torres, and PRVN CEO, Nic Johnston.
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SPEED READS
🚨🎙️ New Not For Time Episode Today: Catch the new episode at 9 a.m. ET on the Morning Chalk Up YouTube channel — featuring record-breaking Strongman, Rob Kearney, with hosts Sean Woodland and John Wooley.
🚀❌ CrossFit is the Cure: The world promises shortcuts, but real health takes work. CrossFit strips it back to what matters — train hard, eat right, push your limits, and do it alongside people who care. This is the cure — check out CrossFit’s new marketing materials and assets for affiliate owners here.
💥📉 Why Less Volume Might Be More: This BarBend deep dive reveals that more training volume doesn’t always lead to greater gains—a recent 12-week study found only slight differences, suggesting that smarter scaling can be your real strength secret.
🌎 📋 Now Hiring: LRX is hiring multiple positions (Social Media and Email Coordinator, Community and Events Coordinator, and Community Directors) to help grow its national presence through fitness, pop-ups, and purpose. If you’ve got a passion for people, a knack for logistics, and love making things happen — this is your shot to build something bigger.
🏋️♂️🔥 Clean & Jerk, Unlocked: In this WODprep Camp special, expert coaches break down setup, bar path, timing, footwork, and the jerk so you can lift heavier with better form. Whether chasing a PR or building confidence, these cues will level up your Olympic lifts.
🚨💥 Next Stop, Mesa: The World Fitness Project released the Tour Stop 2 workouts — two tests a day for pros and challengers, each designed to push the athletes as they look to qualify for the season-ending finals in Copenhagen.
ICYMI: 🆕🔥 Which Games rookies made the biggest splash in Albany?
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
The Protein Boom – Are We Finally Getting it Right?
Credit: Shutterstock
Protein has gone from being the quiet corner of the food pyramid to the poster child of grocery store marketing.
Protein shakes, bars, cereals, chips, and even water are proudly flaunting their gram counts.
After years of underconsumption, Americans are now starting to recognize the importance of this macronutrient.
But how much of this is meaningful progress, and how much is just hype?
In this article, we'll review the science behind protein needs and advantages, and examine the rise of protein supplements, shakes, and bars, along with their impact on the trend.
TRIVIA
🏆 At the 2025 Games, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr hit 45 career event wins. Which athlete is not in the all-time top five for Games event wins? |
Last week we asked: “🥇🥇 How many athletes have won at least two events in both of their first two CrossFit Games appearances?”
3
5
6 ✅
9
🤓 Bonus: Who are they?
The correct answer was six: Josh Bridges, Rich Froning, Brent Fikowski, Ricky Garard*, Austin Hatfield, and Lucy Campbell. The most selected answer was three with 37.5%, while the correct answer received 21.4%.
COMMUNITY
How One Florida Gym Became a Lifeline for Parkinson’s Patients
Credit: Nick Penziotto
Nick Penziotto’s love for fitness began at a young age. Growing up, he was constantly active, playing sports and seeking out new physical challenges.
That search led him to discover CrossFit early on. By 2014, Penziotto was competing at Regionals, and two years later, he opened CrossFit 561 in Greenacres, FL.
Penziotto, now a CF-L3 trainer, wanted to share it with as many people as possible, and his vision for the gym was ambitious.
Introducing Rock Steady Boxing
Eventually, Penziotto joined forces with a physical therapy company to co-own his facility. That partnership opened the door to something bigger than just group CrossFit classes.
They saw the potential for an integrated fitness and health hub that combined performance training with targeted rehabilitation.
The first step was “PhysFit,” a program designed for “seasoned” athletes. It provided older members with a training environment tailored to their needs – balancing strength, mobility, and longevity.
Then came a program that would change the direction of Penziotto’s career: Rock Steady Boxing.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
💕Happy anniversary to Wesley and Amanda Barnhart.
Happy birthday to Abby Griswold, Lea Szabo, and Marston Sawyers.
Congratulations to Lena Richter and Nicolas Fernandez, who just welcomed their new baby girl.
Congratulations to Sheena of Ben Lomond Fitness in Utah on this 92-kilo/205-pound clean and jerk PR.
🔥Check out 2024 Fittest Teen on Earth, Pablo Tronchon on this 120-kilo/264-pound snatch.
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