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🛠️ CrossFit Returns to Its Roots With "Forging Elite Fitness"

October 22nd, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 📱 Finding local comps just got easier — CompWorld brings athletes, vendors, and organizers together in one app.

  • 🧠 Your metabolism isn’t broken, it’s adaptable. Work with it, not against it.

  • 🔥 CrossFit brings back “Forging Elite Fitness.” Longtime affiliate advocate John Wooley asks, “What’s behind the revival?”

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

My stance remains the same: ‘Forging Elite Fitness’ is the top marketing framework for affiliates.”

John Wooley, creator of WooleyMemeth (formerly Make WODS Great Again) and co-host of Kettlebells and Cocktails, and the Not for Time podcasts.
INDUSTRY

New App, CompWorld, Brings Athletes, Vendors, and Event Organizers Together in One Place

Credit: Mark Shortt

Mark Shortt knows the grind of small business firsthand. As the owner of ThiccBoi Apparel, he spends most weekends on the road, selling gear at local CrossFit competitions — events that sustain his business. However, finding those competitions became its own full-time job.

Event information was scattered across Facebook pages, Competition Corner, and Eventbrite listings, making it nearly impossible to track what was happening and where.

So, Shortt created his own solution: CompWorld, a digital platform designed to gather every local competition in one place.

  • “This [app] is every single event, every competition, no matter what platform it’s held on,” Shortt told Morning Chalk Up. “It scrolls like Instagram because that’s something people are already familiar with, and it’s fully free for everyone to use.”

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SPEED READS

🏋️‍♀️💬 Gyms = The New Social Clubs: According to new data from ABC Fitness, 57% of people join gyms for connection, not just conditioning. Check-ins are rising, Gen Z leads the charge, and the takeaway is clear — community is the real growth engine for fitness.

🎙️🔥 New Podcast Drop: The Sport of Fitness launches today (Oct. 22) — host Chase Ingraham kicks things off with Tia-Clair Toomey and the 2026 Games location reveal. Catch it live Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel.

🏁🔥 HYROX Tickets Drop Soon: Centr HYROX Phoenix (Jan. 29—Feb. 1) and The Feed HYROX Las Vegas (Feb. 20—22) kick off the 2025/26 season — tickets go live Oct. 30 and Nov. 6. New this year: Flex Add-On refunds, personalized checkouts, race-day wristbands, and PRO-only Worlds qualifiers. Don’t miss your shot.

📋✅ Take CrossFit’s October Brand Survey: HQ’s asking for your input on the brand’s direction — programming, events, media, and more. It’s quick, anonymous, and helps shape what gets built next for affiliates and athletes alike. Add your voice.

ICYMI: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Rogue is back in Aberdeen with one of the sport’s richest prize purses — and a field stacked with champions and challengers.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

The Truth About "Fast Metabolisms" – What Really Drives Your Energy Burn

Credit: @ctpcam / Instagram

We’ve all heard it:

"She can eat whatever she wants; she just has a fast metabolism!"

"No matter what I do, my metabolism is slow, and I just gain weight easily."

Metabolism has become the scapegoat for a wide range of issues, from weight gain to low energy. While it is definitely a key part of your body's energy system, it is also one of the most misunderstood.

  • So, let’s cut through the fluff, clear up the myths, and uncover the truth about what really controls your energy burn.

Spoiler alert: It's not all about being “blessed” with a fast metabolism.

OPINION

CrossFit’s Return to “Forging Elite Fitness”

Credit: @beyond.the.script / Instagram

I wrote an op-ed for the Morning Chalk Up about 18 months ago, and it recently resurfaced because CrossFit finally brought back the slogan, “Forging Elite Fitness.”

I’m glad to see it – affiliate owners have asked for this for years – but the timing raises a question: Why bring back what you paid to retire (since rebranding is expensive), and why now, on the eve of a potential sale?

  • After the jump — John Wooley lays out why “Forging Elite Fitness” mattered, why he thinks it disappeared, and what its comeback could mean for affiliates today.

HIGHLIGHTS

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