Danielle Brandon Parts Ways With Coach

July 15th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Danielle Brandon’s coaching switch.

  • 🔄 Stop chasing fitness trends. Start trusting the fundamentals.

  • Six CrossFit nutrition experts share what really works long-term.

  • 🚨 The Not For Time podcast premieres today at 9:00 a.m. ET!

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

While it’s not ideal circumstances, I am excited for the opportunity to prepare and spend this last month with coaches I’ve respected for a long time.”

Danielle Brandon on her coaching change.
CROSSFIT GAMES

Danielle Brandon Shifts Coaching Team Ahead of 2025 Games

Credit: Ava Kitzi

In the coming weeks, Danielle Brandon will no longer be working with Coach El Senouvor of Brute Strength. 

  • Coaches Adam Neiffer and Jesse Bifano will step in to help Brandon prepare for the 2025 CrossFit Games. 

In 2021 and 2022, Neiffer and Bifano coached Justin Medeiros to two CrossFit Games titles, and over the past week, Senouvor and Matt Torres (Brute Strength’s CEO and owner) have assisted them with the transition. 

  • “Danielle and Coach El have worked really hard to prepare for a successful CrossFit Games this season,” Neiffer and Bifano told the Morning Chalk Up. 

Neiffer went on to explain that, unfortunately, a month out from competition, Brandon needed a change in leadership. 

  • “Because Jesse and I work together with all of our athletes, but only have Justin scheduled to compete in Albany, we have the ability to fulfill a coaching role for another athlete at this year’s CrossFit Games. Both El and Matt Torres have been extremely gracious throughout the transition process over this last week,” Neiffer and Bifano said.

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SPEED READS

🚨🎙️ Not For Time Premieres Today: Catch the first episode at 9 a.m. ET on the Morning Chalk Up YouTube channel — featuring five-time champ Mat Fraser with hosts Sean Woodland and John Wooley.

🤯 💪 Pulling Off the Impossible!?: South Korea’s Oh Yohan sets a new 24-hour pull-up world record with 11,707 reps — that’s eight pull-ups a minute for an entire day!

🚦🥇 Road to the Games 25.08: CrossFit dropped a new episode of the fan favorite “Road to the Games” series reboot. This episode features CrossFit Games veteran Danielle Brandon and Games rookie Anikha Greer.

💤 Don’t Sleep on This: A recent study suggests late-night workouts could be disrupting your sleep and recovery. Get the breakdown here.

🧠🏋️ Rapid Fire CrossFit Tips: Training Think Tank Coaches Mia Gianelli and Mike McGoldrick share smart, practical fixes for CrossFit’s toughest movements — from burpees to barbell cycling.

ICYMI: 📺 Our definitive guide to the CrossFit Games docs.  

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Hidden Enemies of Health – 3 Distractions Sabotaging Your Best Intentions

Credit: @benbergeron / Instagram

You know exactly what to do: eat whole foods, get enough sleep, do CrossFit regularly, and manage stress. The blueprint for health isn't rocket science — it's been the same for decades. Yet here you are, still struggling to make it stick.

The problem isn't knowledge. It's distraction.

While you're busy chasing the latest health trend or searching for the perfect morning routine, three powerful forces are quietly steering you away from the fundamentals that actually work.

TRIVIA

🚣😩 In 2018's infamous "Marathon Row" event at the CrossFit Games, the men's winning time was:

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last week we asked: “How many athletes from the WFP Tour Stop I Challenger Division qualified for the 2025 CrossFit Games?

  • 0

  • 2

  • 5 ✅

  • 9

  • 11

The correct answer was five: Jack Rozema, Tudor Magda, Jorge Fernandez, Jennifer Muir, and Ty Jenkins. Out of all the responses, 36.5% answered correctly.

INDUSTRY

Stop Playing Macro Tetris: What These 6 Nutrition Coaches Do Differently

Credit: @nutrition_rx / Instagram

If I’ve learned one thing after coaching CrossFit for 15 years, it’s that getting people to show up at the gym is the easy part. 

  • Getting them to change their diet, however, often felt like an insurmountable challenge. 

One thing that seems to make the challenge less daunting, however, is when they find the right nutrition coach.

But how do you go about finding the right coach and the approach that’s going to work for you long-term? After all, nutrition isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. It’s personal, and what works for one person might leave another feeling sluggish, underfed, or overwhelmed. 

  • And with so many nutrition coaching companies available today, navigating the space can feel like a workout in itself. 

So, we did some of the legwork for you and spoke with six different nutrition coaches in the CrossFit space to find out what each one of them is all about:

  • Justin Romaire with CBG Nutrition 

  • Meredith Root and Alex Parker with Tactic Functional Nutrition

  • Jen Broxterman with NutritionRx 

  • Tracy Tucker with Training Think Tank 

  • EC Synkowski with OptimizeMe Nutrition

  • Mallory Lawson with Nutrition Strategies

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