🔥 Rogue Invitational 2025 Programming Drops

October 28th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Rogue dropped full details for six of nine events — log bar muscle-ups, horizontal pegboard, and “The Duel” all return. More still to come.

  • 💬 Kelly Starrett joins Jason Ackerman and Jason Fernandez to argue that if you’re not addressing pain in your affiliate, you’re missing the point of coaching.

  • 🇦🇺 Bayley Martin and Poppy Hay stood atop the podium after a packed weekend at the Down Under Championship. Recap below.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

Assume there’s three days in the SAP Center; that’s what I’m going to say here. That does not mean the Games are three days long.”

Director of Sport, Dave Castro, on his Week in Review podcast about the 2026 CrossFit Games.
COMPETITIONS

Rogue Invitational 2025 Programming Drops – Log Bar, Horizontal Peg Board Return

Credit: @rogueinvitational/ Instagram

The 2025 Rogue Invitational — one of the most anticipated events on the CrossFit calendar — is set for October 31 through November 2 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Elite CrossFit athletes will go head-to-head alongside the world’s best Strongmen and Strongwomen, testing their limits with Rogue’s signature mix of heavy implements and creative programming.

  • True to tradition, this year’s lineup features fan-favorite odd objects and new challenges. The log bar muscle-up, first introduced in 2022’s “Ski Bar,” is back, as is the horizontal pegboard, which debuted in 2024.

Rogue released the official programming for six of nine events on Monday, revealing the return of the power stairs, sandbags, and yoke carries — all designed to push athletes to their limits and keep fans guessing.

Here are a few more key takeaways from the Rogue programming announcement.

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SPEED READS

🔥🖤 The CrossFit Collection Drops: The new era of CrossFit apparel is here — premium gear built for athletes, by athletes. From the whiteboard to the weekend, this lineup blends function, comfort, and style for wherever training takes you.

🎯📈 Little Wins. Big Results: CrossFit’s Stephane Rochet CF-L4 breaks down why bold new habits often fizzle and how tiny steps build sustainable change. Set your alarm five minutes earlier, add ten grams of protein, or hang from the bar for 30 seconds — simple wins that compound into real progress over months.

🔥📣 PRVN Fitness Is Growing: The Nashville powerhouse is hiring a Customer Service & Social Marketing Specialist — a fitness-minded creative ready to shape PRVN’s voice and community. Join the team redefining what it means to be PRVN. More details here.

🎯💪 Fix Your Form, Fast: From “reclining your chair” to keeping the bar tight with lat tension, Rebecca Fuselier shows exactly how to hit your hip crease without losing your line — and why it’s the secret to stronger snatches and cleans.

ICYMI: 📍 Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr opened up, announced the return of the 2026 CrossFit Games, but keeps fans guessing about retirement.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Your Affiliate Should Be Where People Come to Fix Pain, Not Avoid It

Credit: @besthouroftheirday / Instagram

A new member walks into your gym for their first class.

They're excited, a little nervous, and then they drop the bomb: "My doctor told me not to squat anymore."

  • You freeze. Do you tell them they can't take the class? Do you just have them watch? Do you smile, nod, and hope they figure it out?

When we sat down with Kelly Starrett – a renowned physical therapist who's been doing CrossFit for 21 years – he didn't hesitate: everyone has a preexisting injury. Every single person.

Bad backs. Tweaky knees. Shoulders that struggle with overhead movements. Ankles that won't bend. These aren't exceptions to your programming. They're the norm.

So if you don't have a framework for managing pain and limitations, you're not truly coaching. You're just hoping people figure it out on their own.

TRIVIA

🪵🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Event 1 at the 2025 Rogue Invitational brings back log bar muscle-ups, first seen in 2022’s “Ski Bar.” Who was the only woman to finish all 40 reps that year?

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Last week, we asked: Which athlete is tied with Patrick Vellner for the most career event wins by men at the Rogue Invitational, with six?

  • Mat Fraser

  • Chandler Smith

  • Jeffrey Adler

  • Jayson Hopper ✅

  • Justin Medeiros

This was a tricky one, and only 3% of you nailed it. Fraser received the most guesses at 41.3%, followed by Mederios (28%) and Adler (23%). All of them, as well as Chandler Smith, are tied with four event wins at Rogue, two behind Hopper and Vellner. H/T as always to Fran Lung Analytics.

COMPETITIONS

Bayley Martin and Poppy Hay Win the 2025 Down Under Championship

Credit: Sebastian Vallejo

Australia’s largest offseason competition, the 2025 Down Under Championship (DUC), was held in Wollongong, Australia, last weekend, October 24-26. 

  • For the second year, an Elite Pairs division was added to the schedule, running alongside the Elite Individuals, Masters, Futures, Adaptive, RX, and Intermediate categories. 

A mix of local and international Games-level athletes threw down in both Elite divisions, and by the end of the competition on Sunday afternoon, both divisions had completed seven workouts, and the winners were crowned.

  • Continue reading for standout performances, leaderboard surprises, and the lifts that lit up Wollongong last weekend.

HIGHLIGHTS

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