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How This California Prison Is Changing Lives With CrossFit
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🏋️ Behind bars at Avenal, CrossFit is more than fitness; it’s transformative.
🔥 From Games floor to firing line: Five-time CrossFit Games athlete Jacob Heppner finds longevity in the Tactical Games.
🇨🇷 Masters champ Chicho Quesada turns challenges into strength, powered by “pura vida.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
For that small time, I didn't feel like I was in prison. I felt like I was actually doing something productive. It was a dream come true.”
COMMUNITY
How CrossFit Is Transforming One California State Prison
Credit: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
You wouldn’t expect to find CrossFit coaches inside a California jailhouse – but at Avenal State Prison, northwest of Bakersfield, that’s exactly what you’ll encounter.
Inmates here aren’t just serving time; they’re running warm-ups, refining movement patterns, and cultivating a fitness culture that’s transforming lives. For the men in the yard, the gym isn’t just a place to sweat.
It’s where they find purpose.
Avenal State Prison and Its Unlikely PE Teacher
Avenal is a level-two prison with minimum to medium-security, holding about 4,000 inmates at any given time.
Built in 1987, it is the state's second-largest prison.
Bryan Eskew’s official title at Avenal is “Teacher, Physical Education,” but he does much more. Eskew holds a role that exists in every prison, and his job is similar to that of a high school athletic director.
Eskew started doing CrossFit in 2013, and as soon as he began working for the prison system, he knew it was a program that could work well there.
Continue reading to see how CrossFit is breaking barriers and building community in the most unlikely place.
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SPEED READS
🔥 “Come Out of Retirement, I Want Your Best!”: Fresh off his 2025 CrossFit Games win, Jayson Hopper called out Mat Fraser, Rich Froning, and smack-talked his friend Dallin Pepper in a viral IG post. The comment section is chaotic; the dumbbell is …probably ruined.
🏃🎟️ HYROX Dallas Spectator Tickets: A limited batch of extra tickets for the November 21-22 event drops today at 12 p.m. CST. Sales are capped at two per transaction due to demand, so act fast if you want to join the action. Get yours here.
⚡️📈 Wellness Boom: From neurotech headsets to strength-tracking wearables, the wellness industry is surging past $1.1T annually. The catch? All that growth hasn’t moved the needle on national health outcomes. Get the details here.
📚👟 Walk This Way: 7,000 daily steps brings big health wins, per new research — and walking culture is evolving with audiobook clubs that blend movement, stories, and community. Learn more here.
ICYMI: 👀 Five athletes we think are on the brink of breakout seasons in 2026.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
CrossFit Games Vet Jacob Heppner Finds a New Competitive Fire in the Tactical Games
Credit: @jheppner66 / Instagram
Most athletes, especially at the elite level, face one key question: What do you do when the sport that defined you no longer fulfills you?
For Jacob Heppner, a five-time CrossFit Games competitor, this crossroads came in 2020 — not due to burnout or injury, but from a desire to rediscover what it means to truly compete.
In a recent episode of Not for Time with hosts Sean Woodland and John Wooley, Heppner discussed his transition from the top levels of CrossFit to the Tactical Games, explaining why this move felt more natural than it initially may seem.
The Surprising Common Ground Between Two Sports
At first glance, CrossFit and the Tactical Games appear to be completely different — one takes place in a gym, the other in an open field.
But look closer, and the similarities stand out clearly.
THINGS TO…
…WATCH
CrossFit’s Age Group Games By Legends and PIT Prodigies
From August 21–24, the world’s top teen and masters athletes will battle for “Fittest on Earth” titles in the 2025 Age Group CrossFit Games. Official leaderboards here.
…SHOP
Gymreapers’ New Gear Drop
Official partner of the Age Group Games, Gymreapers’ limited-edition STATIC/OPS line brings functional streetwear to the forefront, built for durability and relentless movement. From tees and hoodies to sleek design, this drop blends innovation and grit—because “nothing is given, everything is earned.”
…STREAM
United Grid League Championship Event
On August 23 at the Kissimmee Civic Center, the United Grid League will host its 2025 Western and Eastern Conference Finals, a Ringer Point Tournament, and the Championship Match all in one action-packed day.
CROSSFIT GAMES — MASTERS
Masters Champ Chicho Quesada Reflects on PEDs, Podium Finishes, and the Power of “Pura Vida”
Credit: @herculus_photography / Instagram
In late October 2024, two months after the Age Group CrossFit Games concluded, an update was made to the leaderboard.
Due to drug sanctions, Jonathan Edel was stripped of his first-place position in the men’s 40-44 age group, and the rightful winner took over the top spot.
Costa Rica’s Chicho Quesada had become a Masters CrossFit Games Champion.
Quesada first learned about it, like everyone else, when he saw the update to the leaderboard and the news of the positive drug test.
More on CrossFit’s drug policy here.
Chicho’s Pura Vida
Almost three months later, he received an email from CrossFit, congratulating him on his victory and updating him on the prize purse. When asked if he felt that his chance to stand on the top of the podium had been taken from him, he responded with an optimistic view of the situation.
“I got to celebrate twice,” Quesada told Morning Chalk Up.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🎂Happy birthday to Eric Roza and Miranda Alcaraz.
Happy birthday (8/22) to Bethany Flores and Mattie Rogers.
Check out Gui Malheiros repping out these 225-kilo/495-pound deadlifts. Someone’s ready for World Fitness Project Tour Stop 2!
Well done to Alejandro of Colombia on this 129-kilo/285-pound snatch at Fitland Fitness Festival.
⚡️Check out Billie from the Palm Beach Breakers Grid League team, on these lightning fast burpees-over-the-bar.
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