Checking Up on Brute Strength's Stacked 2025 Roster

January 8th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • With the 2025 competitive season almost upon us, we decided to check in with top coaches and training camps about their rosters, plans, and expectations for the new year. First up is Brute Strength, home to the 2025 Games Champ, James Sprague, and the Second Fittest Man, Dallin Pepper.

  • January is the perfect time to set long-term goals. Learn more about what to expect when taking on a year-long self-improvement project today.

  • We sat down with CrossFit legend and 2024’s Fittest Team Captain Kara Saunders to talk about her “retirement” plans and the launch of Heaps Good Nutrition.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I won’t be looking to qualify for the CrossFit Games anymore. That’s as far as I know for now. My priority is my family and having control over my finances a little more, rather than being in the whirlwind of sponsors and prize money that could end at any moment. - Kara Saunders on her plans following her retirement announcement at the 2024 CrossFit Games.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @repsahead / Instagram

2025 Training Camp Preview: Brute Strength

The 2024 CrossFit Games marked the first time that the top two Fittest Men on Earth hailed from the same training camp.

  • James Sprague, last year’s CrossFit Games champion, and Dallin Pepper, the runner-up, have both been Brute Strength athletes for the past six years.

Last month, Brute added the fourth Fittest Man from 2024, Jayson Hopper, to its roster, meaning the camp heads into the 2025 season with three of the top four men from 2024. (The other, Brent Fikowski, retired following the 2024 Rogue Invitational.)

Brute owner Matt Torres couldn’t be more excited about the addition of Hopper, who is teamed up with coach El Senouvor.

  • “We knew that he would be a great fit for Jayson. The combination of what Jayson has had before as a football player [we knew he would] connect well with El’s style of coaching and style of programming…And he’s been loving it so far,” Torres said. 

He added: “He has already achieved so much, and we’re really confident in what we’ll be able to do with him.”

Rounding out Brute’s Games athlete roster heading into 2025 are two-time Games athlete Fee Saghafi and 2023 Games competitor from Sweden Rebecka Vitesson, both of whom are coached by Torres.

A MESSAGE FROM LUMEN

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The bottom line: Lumen gives you specific recommendations, not just a template. It's tailored to you and updated daily. And if you start today, it's 20% off with code "MCU."

SPEED READS

🏃💪 PRVN HQ is now a HYROX Training Club: PRVN HQ, the CrossFit G.O.A.T., Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr’s Nashville home is now a HYROX Training Club. To celebrate, PRVN is hosting its first-ever HYROX event — the HYROX Physical Fitness Test. It’s free and open to the public. Learn more here.

😎🌴 2024 TYR WZA Miami Beach The Gauntlet: Throwdown on the beach at TYR WZA! Registration for the 2025 TYR WZA Gauntlet, powered by the U.S. Army, is LIVE and the workouts were just released.

  • How It Works: After choosing a time slot, athletes battle through five stations in one hour. Each station provides a different workout style, and the top athletes in each division move on to the finals. Available Individual divisions include Scaled, Intermediate, and Rx. Register now!

🇪🇸 🏆 2025 Wodland Fest Wild Cards: Over the past few days, the Wodland Fest, one of two European In-Person Qualifying Events for the 2025 CrossFit Games, announced the first of several “wild card” athletes. The competition will take place in Málaga, Spain, from April 25 to 27.

  • Aniol Ekai, Spain’s current top male CrossFit, and Iceland’s Sara Sigmundsdottir will compete and serve as ambassadors for the event.

🌎🏆 World Fitness Tour: The team behind the World Fitness Project began announcing the inaugural class of “signed” athletes for the 2025 season over the holidays. Get caught up here.

  • The WFP announced this week that recent Dubai Fitness Championship winner Luka Ðukić is one of the signed athletes for 2025.

ICYMI: The 2025 season is upon us, and we’ve got some burning questions. Check them out below.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: Frank Nguyen

What Happens When You Set Year-Long Goals?

Last year, I committed to reading a certain number of books in 2024. 

Before this year, there was no true structure to my reading. I read what I felt like when I felt like it and focused mainly on books about nutrition, wellness, and personal development. 

  • We are at the beginning of a new calendar year now, and many people are focused on how to set goals and how to crush your “new year, new you” vibes. To that end, I wanted to share some of the milestones many—myself included—experience while working on a year-long goal, as well as the highs and lows and everything in between. 

Although my reading goal wasn’t world record-breaking or anything monumental, I found the process fascinating and worth sharing.

The Honeymoon Phase

This is the excitement phase when you are most determined to crush this goal you have set up for yourself. 

  • There is more motivation during this phase because it’s something new that you get to work on and your focus is dialed in to help you toward this goal. 

INDUSTRY

Credit: @heapsgoodnutrition | Instagram

Games Veteran Kara Saunders Launches Nutrition Program for Families, Busy Professionals, and Everyday Athletes

After 10 years of competing, Kara Saunders accepted the Fittest Team on Earth trophy along with her Raw Iron Mayhem Thunder teammates Khan Porter, Emily de Rooy, and James Newbury. During her victory speech, she shared a powerful sentiment with the crowd:

  • “It turns out, in order to be a winner, I needed my people; I needed my community around me,” she said, fighting back tears as she reflected on her more than 10-year journey to the top of the podium. “I wasn’t supposed to do it on my own.”

After finally reaching the top of the mountain, she knew it was time to step aside. In an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, she spoke about her retirement plans. 

  • “I won’t be looking to qualify for the CrossFit Games anymore,” she said. “That’s as far as I know for now. My priority is my family and having control over my finances a little more, rather than being in the whirlwind of sponsors and prize money that could end at any moment. It’s time to create something that I love and can do for a long time.”

And the time to create something new has come with the launch of Heaps Good Nutrition. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🎂Happy birthday to Lindsey Strickler.

  • Watch Anikha Greer double PR her split jerk at 120 kilos/265 pounds and 124 kilos/275 pounds.

  • Mattie Rogers makes easy work of this 128-kilo/282-pound clean and (double) jerk.

  • Amazing job to Ricky Garard on this 160-kilo/352-pound snatch balance and overhead squat.

  • 🏋️Congratulations to Brayan of King Kong Box in Brazil on this 143-kilo/316-pound snatch PR.