It's Official -- The 2025 CrossFit Games Move to Albany

January 15th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • The worst-kept secret in CrossFit is now official…The 2025 Games will move to Albany, NY. Maybe the bigger news is that they will only last three days.

  • Why do we feel good after working out? Not, like, immediately — we know — but after a few minutes pass and then for the next few hours? One reason is BDNFs. Learn about them today and how working out promotes brain function.

  • The Crossfit Medical Society launches “CommunityCare,” a crowd-funded, community-based healthcare platform as an alternative to traditional health insurance.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We know the pain points. We know where the frustrations are with owning an affiliate or coaching and the things that make it happen and paying for health care expenses is a huge one,” - Dr. Tom McCoy, co-founder of the CrossFit Medical Society, on why the new CommunityCare program is important.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: Shutterstock

2025 CrossFit Games Will Take Place in Albany, New York

On Tuesday, CrossFit announced that Albany, NY, will be the new home for the 2025 CrossFit Games. The event will be held at MVP Arena from August 1-3.

  • “The CrossFit Games represent the culmination of our season and it is an important moment for our community to come together to celebrate its shared love for CrossFit,” Don Faul, CrossFit CEO, said in a press release. 

Remind me: The Games was moved to Fort Worth, TX, in 2024 but has since relocated after a tumultuous event last year that resulted in the tragic death of a beloved athlete, Lazar Ðukić. It was quite clear after the event ended that it would not be returning to the Lone Star State. 

Faul cited the Northeast, especially New York, as a “large and passionate community of affiliates.”

  • “We expect Albany to be the perfect place to convene our entire community. We are excited to partner with the City of Albany and MVP Arena to showcase the best of the sport,” Faul said. 

The press release also touts the accessibility of the venue from the Albany International Airport. 

  • “We’re excited to welcome the CrossFit Games to the MVP arena. This is an amazing opportunity to host incredible athletes from around the world and showcase an emerging sport and fitness regimen. The three-day event is a fantastic opportunity to bring new visitors to the Capital Region and our capital city of Albany,” Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy said in the press release. 

CrossFit recently released its 2025 rulebook for the Games season, with the Open beginning on February 27. There is no Quarterfinal stage this year; instead, the top 1% of athletes in the Open advance directly to Semifinals, which will be held online for most qualifying athletes. More details on the season can be found here.

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SPEED READS

🏋️ 💪 Follow the 2025 Arnold on Barbend: The 2025 Arnold Sports Festival is a little over a month away and will feature some of the biggest bodybuilding and strongman competitions of the year. Keep up with all the latest news and event previews by subscribing to The BarBend Newsletter.

🗑️ 🗣️ Talkin’ Trash with the Boys: With the title “Let the Trash Talk Begin,” two-time Games champ, Justin Medeiros; 2024 Second Fittest, Dallin Pepper; and 2024 Fourth Fittest, Jayson Hopper dropped what might….maybe…be a new podcast featuring the three of them. Follow their YouTube channels (here, here, and here) and get caught up.

👟🌎 New R.A.D ONE V2: Just in time for TYR WZA Miami Beach, the R.A.D ONE V2 is a redesign of the original R.A.D ONE and offers a more flexible, durable shoe, ideal for athletes seeking both comfort and longevity right from the start.

  • The ONE V2 is part of R.A.D’s new “Tuned for Training” campaign, dropping January 23 in the U.S. Get them here.

😬 AIRWAAV is HSA/FSA Eligible: Thanks to its partnership with Truemed, AIRWAAV Performance and Recovery Mouthpieces are now eligible for purchase with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs).

ICYMI: In case you missed it, we spent the weekend delving into the 2025 Crossfit Games rulebook and laid out key changes for athletes and gym owners.  

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @optimizemenutrition / Instagram

Unlocking the Mind-Muscle Connection

Since you’re reading this, we can assume you've felt the physical rewards of consistent exercise – increased strength, improved endurance, and better body composition.

  • But have you ever noticed how a great workout leaves you feeling mentally sharper, more creative, and even happier?

As it turns out, there's a fascinating biological basis behind the cognitive and emotional perks of breaking a sweat.

I looked at it for a recent episode of the Consistency Project podcast. Here’s some of what I learned:

The Mighty Myokines

When you exercise, your contracting muscles release small proteins called myokines into your bloodstream. Over 650 different myokines have been identified so far, each playing various roles in inter-organ communication and signaling.

  • While researchers are still unraveling all their functions, one thing is clear: myokines are the unsung heroes of exercise's mental magic.

Most notably, they trigger the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

BDNF is a protein that promotes the survival, growth, and plasticity of neurons – the building blocks of your brain.

  • This mighty molecule also plays a pivotal role in regulating mood and emotional processing, especially in the hippocampus – the brain's center for learning, memory, and emotion. 

In short, by bumping up BDNF production, regular exercise acts as a natural mood enhancer.

INDUSTRY

Credit: @crossfitmedicalsociety / Instagram

CrossFit Medical Society Starts Offering Health Insurance Alternative

Individuals looking for an alternative to the traditional health insurance model can enroll in a new program called “CommunityCare,” offered by the CrossFit Medical Society (CFMS). 

  • The CommunityCare program has been a work in progress and was recently launched by the CFMS. 

Dr. Tom McCoy and Jennifer Pishko, owners of McCoy Medical and founders of the CrossFit Medical Society, gave us the inside scoop on what the new program is all about and how affiliate owners and coaches can get involved. 

  • “Traditional health insurance for many of us in the community, not to mention the country in general, is a huge pain point from just a general return on investment with what we get,” McCoy tells Morning Chalk Up in an interview. 

The details: The new program is a crowd-funded, community-based healthcare platform. 

  • An individual can enroll in CommunityCare and pay a membership fee, along with a monthly contribution that varies depending on the medical needs of the community for that month. That price will also depend on the age of the individual and their family size. 

When there is a medical event, the enrolled individual goes to the hospital, and when instructed to give insurance information, the individual tells the provider they will pay in cash. 

When the bill comes back, the individual then sends it to a CommunityCare advocate, who will upload the bill online. 

The advocate will then negotiate a cash price with the hospital, which McCoy says is often half, if not a third, of the initial price. 

Once that’s negotiated, the price gets sent to the community to be paid out.

HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🎉Congratulations to Hattie Kanyo on this 90-kilo/200-pound snatch PR.

  • Congratulations to Caio from Brazil on this 165-kilo/363-pound hang clean PR.

  • Check out Chicho Quesada’s jump rope skills — although we’re not so sure about those triple-unders. 😜

  • Congratulations to Claire Bays, who just got engaged to her partner, Jimmy.

  • 🖐️Can you do a single-arm handstand walk like Harriet Roberts? Well done, Harriet!