Inside Adidas' Inaugural Athlete Summit

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Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Just before the Open started, footwear and apparel giant Adidas hosted nine of their sponsored CrossFit athletes for a week-long training camp, or “Primer,” at its “Home Ground” in Germany. Check out our behind-the-scenes look below.

• There are five types of customers at every CrossFit gym. Learning about each type can help you connect better, improve lead cultivation, and build community. Learn more below.

• Writer and Games athlete Emily Beers reflects on her 25.3 experience and what it felt like when her performance exceeded her expectations.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Here I am at 41, way less fit than I was seven years ago, not as strong or lean, and with some gray hairs coming in. But as I hugged [my 18-month-old], Ozzie … I realized how little those things matter.” - Emily Beers, reflecting on her 2025 Open experience

INDUSTRY

Inside Adidas' Inaugural "Primer" Event: A Fitness Playground for Elite Athletes

As the roster of athletes from countries far and wide took to the competition floor in Miami Beach in January, we saw that, compared to previous competitions, more athletes were sporting the Adidas Dropset, a training shoe. 

Adidas’ increasing presence in the world of fitness is significant. It is yet another non-endemic brand that has entered and invested in the competitive fitness space, this one backed by 70 years of sports experience and expertise. 

• While in Miami, we met with the Adidas team, chatted with them about their emergence into the CrossFit ecosystem, and witnessed first-hand the Adidas athlete experience. 

It was an inspiring meeting, sitting with a brand that has had significant influence over so many sports for decades. The way they treated their athletes was impressive, to say the least, providing them with a space to relax and unwind — the penthouse of the 1 Hotel in Miami Beach, no less — food, drinks, quiet spaces, and transportation to and from South Beach.

• This was, we agreed, professional athletes being treated like professional athletes.

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SPEED READS

📆 🏋️ 2025 CrossFit Games Semifinals/Qualifying Events: The CrossFit Open is done and dusted. Now, we move on to the middle stage of the season and a mix of in-affiliate and in-person events. Here’s a month-by-month schedule to keep you in the loop, courtesy of Fran Lung Analytics.

🇮🇸 🎙️ Dottírs x WFP: Over the weekend, Annie Thorisdottír and Katrin Davidsdottír announced that they would be “calling the action” in Indianapolis, IN, May 9-11 for the first World Fitness Project Tour event.

• And, the second episode of Signed, the WFP’s video series highlighting their Pro Card holders, just dropped. It features Victor Hoffer, Pat Vellner, Emma Lawson, and Aimee Cringle.

😎 🏆 TYR Sport, Relentless in the Pursuit: In case you missed it, TYR Sport, the title sponsor of TYR Wodapalooza and TYR WZA SoCal, has begun a new weekly video series profiling their sponsored athletes’ 2025 season. The third and most recent episode features 2023 Fittest Man, Jeff Adler.

ICYMI: As the dust settles on the 2025 CrossFit Open leaderboard, we take stock of the women’s division as we move toward the middle stage of the Games season.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Understanding the Five Types of Customers in CrossFit Affiliates

As CrossFit affiliate owners, we've all been there. We've reached out to members who haven't shown up in a while, only to receive radio silence or a dreaded cancellation. 

• It's frustrating, but the truth is, we've been doing it all wrong.

The key is understanding the five customer types that exist in any market, including your CrossFit affiliate.

You can deploy the right strategies to retain members and turn them into raving fans by identifying who you're dealing with.

Let's break it down.

The Cynic

The cynic is irrationally pessimistic and loves to hate. They leave scathing one-star reviews or bashing CrossFit as a cult.

Cynics are vocal, irrational, and louder than everyone else.

While you can't convert cynics directly, you can't ignore them (especially if they’re already in your membership). We'll come back to dealing with cynics later.

The Skeptic

Skeptics are open to influence but wary of nonsense or wasting their time. They e-mail asking for your coach certifications or pricing structure.

COMMUNITY

CrossFit Open Workout 25.3: Finding Joy in Exceeding My Expectations

Editor’s Note: In this three-part series, Morning Chalk Up Senior Writer Emily Beers documents her journey completing the Open workouts for the first time in eight years.

From 2012-2017, the CrossFit Open always had one thing in common for me: I always fell 

short of my expectations. 

On the leaderboard, yes, but also, I always seemed to fall short of the time or reps goal I set for myself before each workout. 

• I always thought this was a good thing. Isn’t it better to set high expectations for yourself?

To some degree, that makes sense, but at 41, doing the Open workout without any expectations, I realized that I had robbed myself of a lot of joy in my past Open experiences. 

Honestly, I have deprived myself of much joy in every sport I have ever cared about.

When I look back at my competitive athletic career—I competed in gymnastics and track and field as a kid, played NCAA Division 1 college basketball, and was a university rower before finding CrossFit and competing at the CrossFit Games twice on a team and once as an individual in 2014—I spent more time frustrated and disappointed in myself than I did appreciating some pretty significant successes I had along the way.

As a rower, for example, I won the Canadian University Rowing Championship in the women’s eight. Still, I was more focused on not winning the pair that I never thought to celebrate winning the eight, not to mention winning a national championship banner with my university.

• That was always the story for me: Overlooking success because I had wanted more.

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• 🔥 Well done to 15-year-old Ewan of Canada on this 70-kilo/155-pound snatch.

• Congratulations to Saniah of Core City CrossFit on linking her double-unders. Great work, Saniah!

• Well done to Gabi of New Zealand on this 123-kilo/272-pound clean PR.

• Congratulations to David Shorunke on this set of three back squats at 209 kilos/460 pounds.

• 🚣 Congratulations to Jenna, from the Dancer Love Foundation, on rowing 10 minutes straight.

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