How "Unattended Access" Can Help Gym Owners

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• If you’re a gym owner, granting “unattended access” to your members might be just the thing to get some much-needed time off. Get the details and hear from leaders in the affiliate community below.

• The holiday season is a time for family, friendship, and cheer, and sometimes that includes alcohol. Get the low down on how to celebrate (responsibly) and enjoy a drink or two without wrecking your fitness progress.

• European Semifinalist Fernando Llaneza talked about his roller-coaster six months, from the competition floor to a cancer diagnosis.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“In all the years [we have offered unattended access], we have never had any issues or abuse.” - Games legend and affiliate owner, Scott Panchik on the success he’s had with unattended gym access at his affiliate CrossFit Mentality.

INDUSTRY

Gym Owners Wanting Time Off Over the Holidays, Consider Unattended Access

For many small gym owners, the idea of taking a vacation is a luxury that just doesn’t feel realistic at the moment.

• And, even if they can afford to take a week-long vacation, owners often feel like they shouldn’t abandon their gyms, especially over the holidays. 

They feel obligated to be there for their members, many of whom are off work and see Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas break as a perfect time to work out.

Meet four gym owners who have found a solution to the dilemma. 

• The solution?: “Unattended access.” 

Unattended access allows these gym owners to continue to accommodate their members while getting some much-needed time away from the grind.

With unattended access, members can use a key fob to enter the gym at any time, even on Christmas morning, while the gym owner sips coffee in their pajamas and watches their kids open their gifts. 

What They’re Saying

Scott Panchik — CrossFit Mentality in Mentor, OH

Nine-time CrossFit Games athlete Scott Panchik has been offering unattended access at his gym, CrossFit Mentality, for years and said it is particularly useful over the holidays.

“Gym owners work really hard all year long, just like our members do, and around the holidays, it can get really challenging because people want to come in and do their holiday workouts, but the coaching staff and owners deserve that time to recharge. We have to fill our own cups up before we can give the community everything we have,” Panchik told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview.

SPEED READS

🗳️ 🏆 2024 Gym of the Year Giveaway: FITAID’s annual Gym of the Year Giveaway is on now and they will be choosing one lucky gym to get a swagged out prize pack. Follow this link and fill out the form to be entered to win. And, learn more here!

🎄🥦 Free Holiday Nutrition Guide: Check out this free nutrition guide from Training Think Tank Nutrition, which offers tips on managing holiday travel, get-togethers, parties, and more.

📺 🗣️ Constantly Varied Conversations: In John Wooley’s latest video, the Wooley Memeth himself breaks down some recent controversy in the CrossFit Games media space.

🥇🥇A Legend Retires: Two-time CrossFit Games champ Katrin Davidsdottir announced her retirement over the weekend. We will have a full career retrospective soon, but first, check out this breakdown of Davidsdottir’s career achievements from B.Friendly Fitness.

💪 🙌 Working with Larger Bodies Seminar: Athena Perez and Scaled Nation Training will be delivering the Working with Larger Bodies seminar at CrossFit ELM Turnberry in Commerce City, CO, on Saturday, February 15, 2025. Register now.

😎🌴 2024 TYR WZA Miami Beach Wave 2 Ticket Sales: In case you’ve missed it, tickets for TYR WZA Miami Beach are currently in Wave 2 pricing. Get yours soon and save some $$$.

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ICYMI: An Achilles tendon tear is one of the most dreaded injuries in sports and one that we’ve seen with some regularity in CrossFit. Learn more about what it’s like to experience and rehab this injury through the eyes of some of the elite athletes who have suffered it recently.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

How to Enjoy Alcohol This Holiday Season Without Completely Ruining Your Progress

Determining how to manage alcohol consumption through the holiday season is one of the most talked about topics in the health and wellness space during this time of the year. 

• Today, I want to help you create more awareness about the pros and cons of drinking alcohol, how to track it correctly if you currently track macros, and different strategies to have a balanced approach without feeling like you’ve completely derailed your progress.

Pros and Cons

Let’s start by breaking down some pros and cons of alcohol consumption. Check out the two lists below:

Pros

• Enhances social bonding – Sharing a drink with family and friends can create a relaxed atmosphere, helping people feel more connected and sociable, which is especially welcome during holidays.

• Celebratory tradition – Alcohol often plays a part in holiday traditions, and enjoying a glass can enhance the feeling of celebration, marking the occasion as special.

• Elevates food flavors – Certain alcoholic beverages, like wine, beer, or cocktails, can complement the flavors of holiday dishes, enhancing the taste experience when paired well.

• Stress relief – The holidays can be hectic, and a drink in moderation can help reduce stress and make it easier to unwind.

Cons

• Impairs judgment –  Alcohol can lower inhibitions, which might lead to overindulging in food and could throw off your macros. 

• Disrupts digestion and sleep –  Alcohol can interfere with the body’s digestion and sleep quality, especially after a large holiday meal, leading to discomfort and fatigue the next day.

PROFILE

Fernando Llaneza Shares His “Roller Coaster” Six Months, From His Semifinals Debut to His Battle With Cancer

Last May, Fernando Llaneza was competing at the Europe Semifinals. 

The 28-year-old from Spain, who started CrossFit 11 years ago, was competing well, finishing a respectable 24th overall at his first Semifinal competition.

Competing against some of the fittest athletes in the world seems like a lifetime ago, though, as Llaneza finds himself going through chemotherapy for testicular cancer. 

How It Went Down

During Semifinals, however, Llaneza started experiencing some back pain. 

• He wasn’t worried, as “CrossFit athletes have everyday pain, so I thought it was typical back pain,” he explained in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up.

So he popped some anti-inflammatories and continued with the competition.

The pain got worse after Semifinals. And it didn’t feel muscular; it felt more internal and started to move to his abdomen.

Still, Llaneza, the owner of ANTWORK Training Center in Madrid, Spain, brushed it off, increased the pain medication a bit, and continued to train. 

By the end of the summer, he had increased his pain meds from two to three each day. At that moment, he realized, “I think I have to go to the doctor.”

After that, everything happened quickly. Llaneza was diagnosed with testicular cancer; however, his tumor was in his intestines.

HIGHLIGHTS

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• 🎂Happy birthday to Morning Chalk Up's Nicky Freymond.

• Happy birthday (12/7) to Olivia Kerstetter.

• Happy birthday (12/8) to Chris Marhefka and Matt Banwart.

• Check out Victor Hoffer with this two-rep power snatch at 110 kilos/242 pounds.

• 🙌Congratulations to Kealan Henry on his podium finish at the Kanda Throwdown last weekend in France.