How Do CrossFit Games Athlete's Taper?

August 7th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Will any American woman finish on the podium this year? How many women will wear the leader’s jersey in Fort Worth? We predict these and more in the second part of our “Buy or Sell” the 2024 CrossFit Games series.

  • How do Games athletes approach tapering in the lead-up to competition? As it turns out, everyone is different, so we talked to five 2024 podium contenders’ coaches—Pat Vellner, Justin Medeiros, Jeffrey Adler, Alex Gazan, and Emily Rolfe. Find out what we learned below.

  • NOCCO USA and CrossFit Invictus announce the “Rise and Perform” athlete scholarship for the 2025 Games season.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A lot depends on how the body is feeling in the lead-up, but ultimately, the hay is in the barn. Training is done. No one’s getting fitter in the last week. [They’re] just getting recovered physically and prepared mentally to perform at the highest level possible.” - Adam Neiffer, Justin Medeiros’ coach, on how his mindset in the final days before the Games

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @crossfitgames / Instagram

Buying or Selling? Our Writers Predict 2024 CrossFit Games Outcomes, Part 2

The 2024 CrossFit Games begin in a matter of hours now. 

  • More events have been released, and bets are being made on who will succeed in Castro’s return to individual programming. 

We still don’t know the whole picture, so let’s do another “what-if” about what might happen this year once the competition starts.

Some of our favorite analysts in the CrossFit space returned to give their views on buying or selling these possible CrossFit Games outcomes:

Buy or Sell – Three Different Women Wear the Leader’s Jersey

Scotty Freymond (Writer, Morning Chalk Up) – Sell

Grace Walton, who has a swimming background, has the best chance of beating Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr in Event 1: Run Swim. This would give her the leader’s jersey for one event. 

  • As of this article, we don't know the rest of the events on day one (or much about the weekend), and I don't think it really matters. 

  • Let’s say Event 2 is an odd object workout that Horvath wins — Toomey-Orr should have enough of a buffer from the first event to take the overall lead (if she doesn’t have it already). 

And once Toomey-Orr has the lead, taking it from her will be like taking candy from a…well, a Great White shark.

  • The most likely scenario, though, is that only one woman wears white and red the entire weekend — and she lives in Nashville.

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SPEED READS

🏋️🥇 2024 Olympic Weightlifting on Barbend: Be sure to sign up for The BarBend Newsletter to get in-depth results and analysis of the 2024 Olympic weightlifting contests, scheduled to take place August 7-11.

🏋️💪 Individual Event 3: Amanda .45: Check out the history of the benchmark workout “Amanda,” and its evolution into “Amanda .45” in this CrossFit Games post, then watch athletes take it on at Event 3 on Thursday.

  • “Amanda .45” is 13-11-9-7-5 reps for time of muscle-ups and squat snatches (135/95 pounds).

🏃👟 Friday Night Lights Event Update: The CrossFit Games team announced an update to Individual Event 6, now called “Track and Field.” The workout description now reads:

For Time:

  • 1600m Run

  • Then,

  • 50-yard sprint

  • 50-yard bag carry

  • 75-yard sprint

  • 75-yard bag carry

  • 100-yard sprint

🏋️🪜 Individual Event 8 Update: The Clean Ladder announced last week on Dave Castro’s Instagram now has more details.

Round 1 (30 athletes compete)

For time:

  • 3 reps – 255/165 pounds 

  • 2 reps – 265/175 pounds 

  • 1 rep – 275/185 pounds

  • 1 rep – 285/195 pounds

  • 1 rep – 295/205 pounds

Round 2 (20 athletes compete) 

For time:

  • 2 reps – 295/205 pounds

  • 1 rep – 305/215 pounds

  • 1 rep – 315/225 pounds

  • 1 rep – 325/230 pounds

Round 3 (10 athletes compete) 

For time:

  • 1 rep – 325/230 pounds

  • 1 rep – 345/240 pounds

  • 1 rep – 365/250 pounds

Time cap: 2 minutes

💪🔥 NOBULL at the 2024 CrossFit Games: Former title sponsor of the CrossFit Games, NOBULL will be in Fort Worth with a full slate of community events at CrossFit Panther City. Get all the details here.

ICYMI: When Ben Smith took the competition floor at the 2024 Crossfit Games Semifinals earlier this season, he was a decade older than many of his competitors and brought with him 15 years of experience. We talked with him about some of his favorite competition memories and his advice for CrossFit leaders today.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @johanyjutras / Instagram

How Jeffrey Adler, Pat Vellner, and Other Top Crossfit Games Athletes are Tapering for Fort Worth

Ever wonder about when and how CrossFit Games athletes start to taper their training volume, intensity, and frequency to be as fresh as possible to perform their best at the CrossFit Games?

  • What does their last week of training look like? 

  • When do they hit their last hard workout? 

  • What do they do the day before the Games?

We reached out to Jeffrey Adler, Justin Medeiros, Patrick Vellner, Emily Rolfe, and Alex Gazan’s coaches to find out, and it turns out tapering for the Games is more of an art than a science, 

  • The goal is to walk the fine line between being as fit and prepared as possible and being as fresh as possible. 

And as it turns out, no two athlete’s taper is the same.

Pat Vellner

Ordinarily, five-time CrossFit Games podium finisher Pat Vellner starts tapering 10 days before the Games, but this year, his long-time coach Michele Letendre had him start his taper 15 days before the first day of competition. 

The decision to change it up this year was based both on feedback Letendre received, as well as “trying to avoid injury,” she said.

  • “His volume is the first thing to get cut. And gradually, it keeps going down until about seven days before competition,” Letendre explained. 

Though it’s a fraction of his normal training, Vellner still spends 90 minutes to two hours of “working time” in the gym during his taper.

COMMUNITY

Credit: NOCCO USA

NOCCO USA and CrossFit Invictus Join Forces to Offer “Rise and Perform” Scholarship for the 2025 Season

Are you a young CrossFit athlete, or do you know a young aspiring CrossFit athlete? If so, you are in luck. 

  • NOCCO and Invictus are offering a new “Rise and Perform” Scholarship to fuel, empower, and support young athletes who demonstrate exceptional dedication and potential and have goals to compete.

The award includes financial support, elite coaching, a NOCCO sponsorship, and more for young individuals to move and train in San Diego, CA.

The details so far: The “Rise and Perform” Scholarship will provide financial support for the athlete or athletes to move and live in San Diego, train with Invictus, a NOCCO sponsorship, and more as they work to excel in their sport.

  • Eligibility – Open to 18–24-year-old athletes. You must provide a recommendation letter from a coach or counselor and demonstrate outstanding performance in sports and academics. You will introduce yourself to the award selection committee via a short video.

  • Award – The scholarship will run through the 2025 CrossFit season from the lead-up to the CrossFit Open in January through the CrossFit Games in August. 

  • The recipient will be awarded $1,000 monthly, a monthly assortment of NOCCO products, and a membership at Invictus with dedicated coaching, support, and mentorship from their elite coaches and athletes.

Application Period: September 1-30

HIGHLIGHTS

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