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- 🔥 Justin Cotler Signs On as HWPO Training’s Director of Coaching
🔥 Justin Cotler Signs On as HWPO Training’s Director of Coaching
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🔥 HWPO Training adds veteran coach Justin Cotler to its powerhouse staff.
😴🥗 Forget ice baths or massage guns — the real recovery duo is sleep + food.
🏋️♀️ At 14, New Zealand’s young gun, Tahlia Vosaki, outlifted almost the entire Teen Games field.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I just feel like this is the right move for me at this time in my career. I want to win. That's the bottom line.”
INDUSTRY
Justin Cotler Joins HWPO Training Coaching Team
Credit: HWPO Training
HWPO Training has announced it’s expanding its coaching staff and bringing on Justin Cotler as the Director of Coaching.
The founder and owner of Underdogs Athletics is a seasoned, highly respected coach in CrossFit, guiding multiple elite athletes to the CrossFit Games over the past decade.
HWPO Training announced the move through a press release and social media posts on Monday.
The training program, built by five-time Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser, has become a household name in the CrossFit community. The brand is known for its world-class coaching staff and spanning training programs for the everyday athlete.
Cotler’s athletes include those who have finished on the podium at the Games, but he has yet to produce a gold medalist. Some of his notable athletes are Kari Pearce, Bethany Flores, Alex Gazan, Danielle Brandon, and Ricky Garard.
With the move to HWPO Training, Cotler has one clear goal in mind:
“What I want to do is help bring a champion to HWPO again in the same way that Mat [Fraser] was for all those years. It's going to start from the top down, and that's just the way it's got to be, and this is the right place to do it,” Cotler said in a video on HWPO Training’s Instagram.
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SPEED READS
⌚💪 CEO on Recovery: Whoop founder Will Ahmed starts his days with strength, running, or Pilates, follows with cold plunges and meditation, and ends with family time and a 10 p.m. bedtime — all while preaching “harmony, not balance.”
😂🏆 Shred Shed Showdown: Josh Bridges, Dallin Pepper, and Jayson Hopper battle through five offbeat challenges — from blindfolded rack pulls to no-handed burpees — all dreamed up by Justin Medeiros. Who walks away with the crown (and bragging rights) as the first-ever Shred Shed Champion?
🌴🔥 WZA Qualifier Is Live: The road to Miami starts now with the 2026 Wodapalooza Online Challenge & Qualifier. With 32 divisions — from first-timers to elites — athletes can throw down solo (Oct. 8–20) or in teams of three (Nov. 13–24) for their shot at the floor in Miami this March.
💪❤️ A Few Push-Ups Short: Meet Keith Knapp — husband, father, owner of Community Fitness Lab (home of CrossFit Fairfield), and forever athlete. In this Forever Athlete feature, Knapp shows what it means to balance family, business, and fitness while still chasing personal goals, proving that being “a few push-ups short” doesn’t stop you from living the lifestyle.
🇺🇸🏋️ Everyday Heroes Assemble: The CrossFit Everyday Hero Service Cup, powered by Mayhem Athlete, kicked off yesterday, September 15, and runs through September 22. Entry is $10 ($45 bundled with tee, patch, and Mayhem Athlete programming); anyone can participate and there’s still time to sign up. Top finishers advance to Cookeville in November for the in-person Service Games.
ICYMI: 💯 The Red Bull 100: HYROX’s take on “unbroken.”
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
The Most Underrated Recovery Tools – Sleep and Food
Credit: Shutterstock
In today’s world, the word “recovery” often conjures images of high-tech massage guns, ice baths, or infrared saunas.
And while these tools can help, many people overlook the two most powerful recovery strategies: sleep and nutrition.
It’s not that we don’t know that sleep and proper eating are vital. It’s that we have underestimated how important they truly are, not just for athletes but for anyone dealing with stress, physical demands, or mental focus.
Whether you're working towards fitness goals, recovering from illness, or just trying to perform your best each day, your body’s ability to recover depends on how you sleep and what you eat.
Let’s explore why.
TRIVIA
🏆 How many combined CrossFit Games Podium Finishes do the TYR Cup athletes have? |
Last week, we asked: 🏴💪 How many athletes have finished on the podium at the Rogue Invitational but never at the CrossFit Games?
0
5
3
2 ✅
1
Bonus: Tell us in the comments who they are.
The correct answer was two (Cole Sager and Chandler Smith). Only 16.3% of you got this one, and only one person identified the correct two athletes.
CROSSFIT GAMES
A 260-Pound Statement: Meet CrossFit’s Teenage Rising Star, Tahlia Vosaki
Credit: @jenniferstevensphotography / Instagram
How much could you clean and jerk when you were 14?
Whatever it was, it was probably less than Tahlia Vosaki’s.
Vosaki made her debut at the Teenage CrossFit Games this year and completed a 260-pound lift in Event 2, the max clean and jerk.
She lifted more than 17 boys in her age group and outlifted all the girls in both divisions.
Not a bad showing for this rookie with big dreams.
Vosaki comes from Christchurch, New Zealand, far away from the platforms she performed on in Columbus, OH.
Her mom, Roberta, and she took three flights to reach the US, spending nearly 18 hours in the air. But it was a goal that Tahlia had been working toward for a while.
Continue reading to see how an eight-year-old with rugby roots found her way into CrossFit.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🎂Happy birthday to Alec Smith.
🥇Congratulations to Amalia Ortuno from Costa Rica on winning her sixth title of Fittest on Earth at the Adaptive CrossFit Games.
🥈Congratulations to Jordan Cabrita on his event win and his second-place overall finish at the Adaptive CrossFit Games.
🔫Check out how Emma Lawson is getting prepped for the TYR Wodapalooza SoCal TYR Cup this weekend.
🙌Congratulations to everyone who competed at Wodcelona in Barcelona, Spain, last weekend.