🔥 Brooke & Sydney Wells Light Up HWPO HYROX Boston

September 30th, 2025

POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 💥 Brooke and Sydney Wells nearly win Pro Doubles in their HYROX debut.

  • 📈 Opening a CrossFit gym in 2025 isn’t like 2007 — passion alone won’t cut it.

  • ⏱️ Noah vs. the Clock: Ohlsen takes on 10 benchmark WODs in 60 minutes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

Basically we signed up for this race two weeks ago while we were together in Hawaii just for fun…[now] we want to actually train for it to see how much we can improve.”

Sydney Wells in an Instagram post from Hybrid Fitness Media.
HYROX

Wells Sisters Place Second in Pro Doubles at HWPO HYROX Boston

Credit: Erin Murphy, @erinmurphydesigns / Instagram

Twin CrossFit phenoms Brooke Wells and Sydney Wells just finished their first Pro Doubles HYROX race in Boston, MA. 

  • The sisters nearly won the division, ultimately finishing second out of 106 teams. 

Remind me: HWPO Training sponsored HYROX Boston, held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center this past weekend. It was the first time HYROX had come to the city. 

The Wells sisters announced on social media that they would be competing in the Pro Doubles division just days before the race. 

  • Brooke has a particularly close relationship with the HWPO Training brand, as both an athlete and as a co-founder of the brand, While on Earth, alongside Mat Fraser and Todd Meleney. 

Brooke and Sydney completed the 8-kilometer, eight-station race in 1:02:39, just eight seconds behind the first-place team.

  • Continue reading to see what Sydney said about their unexpected race-day adventure.

FITAID Hydrate was made for YOU

For a limited time get 30% off + FREE Shipping on FITAID Hydrate 14-count packs!

Looking for an electrolyte powder that leaves the sugar and additives OUT of the packet? (We're looking at you maltodextrin 👀)

Us too... so we made it. Say goodbye to salt overloads and sugar crashes, and hello to the refreshing delight of FITAID Hydrate.

FITAID Hydrate contains zero sugar and NO sucralose, aspartame, or other harmful artificial sweeteners. Featuring an optimized blend of 600mg of Sodium (from pink Himalayan salt), 500mg of Potassium, and 125mg of Magnesium, Hydrate is expertly crafted to boost your hydration, fight fatigue, and support your muscles during any workout.

TRY WATERMELON WAVE 🍉 🌊 TRY PINK HIMALAYAN LEMONADE 🍋🧂

*This newsletter relies on our sponsors. Please consider supporting them.

SPEED READS

🇸🇪🎟️ WFP Finals Dive In: The World Fitness Project Finals week kicks off Thursday, Dec. 18, with a swimming workout in Helsingborg, Sweden — just an hour outside Copenhagen. Fans will need to snag a separate ticket (sold via Eventbrite as an add-on to Finals passes).

🌎💥 Beyond the Podium: Go behind the scenes at The Progrm’s elite CrossFit camp — raw stories, savage workouts, and the mindset work that shapes champions. Check it out.

🏋️‍♂️📚 Coaching Heavy Days, Simplified: CrossFit coaches Eric O’Connor and Stephane Rochet break down how to run strength sessions that hit harder — from explosive warmups to handling “avoiders” and “chronic failers.” Watch here.

🤝💡 Raising the Standard: AffiliateCon, coming to Dallas, TX, October 24-26, brings together 600+ affiliate owners, coaches, and athletes for three days of in-depth sessions on coaching, business systems, and movement. Speakers include Kelly Starrett, Jason Khalipa, Max Isaak, and more. Tickets and rooms are available now.

👟🔥 Reebok Launches Nano Pro: The newest Nano just dropped, a “super training shoe” built with a Graphlite carbon-fiber plate for next-level stability and power. Get the Nano Pro starting on October 7 — sign up for alerts and be first to get yours.

ICYMI: 🏋️ CrossFit behind bars isn’t just fitness — it’s transformation.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Why Opening an Affiliate in 2025 Isn’t Like 2007

Credit: @besthouroftheirday / Instagram

We've worked with over a thousand affiliate owners to date, and we're witnessing something truly fascinating happen.

New gym ownership transitions are becoming increasingly common. 

But here's what's different: instead of the old "I bought it, tried to figure it out, screwed it up, now need help" pattern, we're getting calls from people saying "I'm buying an affiliate and don't want to screw this up – help me do it right from the start."

That shift presents a significant opportunity in CrossFit right now – and most people aren't talking about it.

The Game Has Completely Changed

Let's be brutally honest: this isn't 2007-2012 anymore. You can't just wing it and expect to succeed.

The competition landscape has changed significantly. 

  • You're no longer just competing with other CrossFit affiliates. Now, you face F45, Orange Theory, Barry's Bootcamp, and large, established gyms with legitimate functional fitness setups.

TRIVIA

🥇 Which of the following athletes has NOT won Crash Crucible?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Last week, we asked: 🥇🏆 Which country has Roman Khrennikov NOT won a major competition in?

  • 🇬🇧 UK ✅

  • 🇩🇪 Germany

  • 🇰🇷 South Korea

  • 🇮🇹 Italy

  • 🇺🇸 United States

The correct answer here was the UK. Khrennikov won the2018 European Regionals in Germany, the 2022 Far East Throwdown in South Korea, the 2019 Italian Showdown, and the 2025 World Fitness Project Tour Stop II in Mesa, AZ.

PROFILE

Noah Ohlsen Attempts 10 Benchmarks in 60 Minutes

Credit: Scott Freymond

As CrossFitters, we frequently challenge ourselves with “benchmark” workouts designed to track our fitness progress over time, while also competing against friends and professionals.

  • After all, competition – whether with ourselves or others – is what keeps us returning for more, day after day. 

Classic benchmarks include Hero WODs (those designed to honor a service member or first responder who gave their life in the line of duty) and “Girl” WODs (challenging Metcons, some of which are named after female legends in our sport). 

  • They can also be past competition workouts, such as “Acid Bath,” or ones that were originally programmed on the CrossFit mainsite, like “Filthy Fifty” or “Fight Gone Bad.”

Affiliates also often have their own benchmarks that are unique to their community, and new ones regularly pop up. 

There’s something magical (and a little bit scary) about a benchmark workout that pushes us to go harder, faster, and test our true limits. 

They aren’t WODs that we do every day. 

  • Recently, 10-time CrossFit Games competitor Noah Ohlsen took on a unique challenge, attempting to complete ten benchmarks in 60 minutes.

HIGHLIGHTS

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