The 2024 iF3 "Super Worlds" Kicks Off in Budapest, Hungary

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• The International Functional Fitness Federation’s “Super Worlds” will take place this weekend in Budapest, Hungary with more than 800 athletes on the competition floor. Get the lowdown and our event preview down below.

• The number on the scale is only one measure of progress when it comes to nutrition and body composition. Tracy Tucker outlines six more today.

• Third Monkey Functional Fitness, home of Spring Lake CrossFit in Michigan, suffered back-to-back fires last week, crippling their facility. Learn how you can help.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“At first it was, ‘hey, we might be done for a week’ to ‘hey, we might lose all of this.” - Mike Holt, owner of 3rd Monkey Functional Fitness, on how his mindset shifted in the aftermath of back-to-back fires at his facility.

COMPETITIONS

2024 International Functional Fitness Federation “Super Worlds” World Championships: Preview

Eight hundred and twenty-four athletes. 36 countries. 

The largest International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3) event in history is set for this weekend, December 13-15, in Budapest, Hungary. 

• Athletes will take on six functional fitness tests, culminating in new 2024 World Champions being crowned. 

Remind Me 

The International Functional Fitness Federation held its first World Championship in 2017 in California. 

• The winners of the inaugural competition were Tola Morakinyo from the United States, Camilla Salomonsson Hellman from Sweden, and Team USA.

Every iF3 championship event includes six categories of tests:

• Endurance

• Strength

• Bodyweight

• Skill

• Mixed

• Power

The standardization ensures a well-rounded test of fitness in a manageable amount of workouts. 

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SPEED READS

🥇🗣️ CrossFit Games Champ Reviews HYROX Dallas 2024: Jason Khalipa, winner of the 2008 CrossFit Games and multiple-time podium and top-five athlete, took on HYROX Dallas recently and gave the race a glowingly positive review on his podcast. Give it a watch.

😎🌴 2024 TYR WZA Miami Beach The Gauntlet: Throwdown on the beach at TYR WZA! Registration for the 2025 TYR WZA Gauntlet, powered by the U.S. Army, is LIVE.

• How It Works: After choosing a time slot, athletes battle through three stations in one hour. Each station provides a different workout style, and the top athletes in each division move on to the finals. Available Individual divisions include Scaled, Intermediate, and Rx. Register now!

• So far, the TYR WZA elite athlete roster includes:

  • Team: “The OGs” (Sara Sigmundsdottir, Katelyn Van Zyl, and Victoria Campos), “Relyte Salt Baes” (Arielle Loewen, Alex Gazan, and Emily Rolfe), “PJ’s” (Jeff Adler, Jayson Hopper, and Pat Vellner), “the Boys” (Noah Ohlsen, Chandler Smith, and Travis Mayer), and “the Broadway Girls” (Haley Adams, Brooke Wells, and Sydney Wells).

  • Individuals: Jeffrey Adler, Brooke Wells, Travis Mayer, Anikha Greer, Nick Mathew, Laura Horvath, Gui Malheiros, Alexis Raptis, Ricky Garard, Pat Vellner, Dani Speegle, James Sprague, and Arielle Loewen. Many more to come.

📨💰PushPress Giveaway for GymHappy Clients: Want to win $500? GymHappy clients can check out the details.

🎄🥦 Free Holiday Nutrition Guide: Check out this free nutrition guide from Training Think Tank Nutrition, which offers tips on managing holiday travel, get-togethers, parties, and more.

ICYMI: The documentary film on the 2023 CrossFit Games, Fittest on Earth: Final Showdown in Madtown, dropped last week. Check out our review.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

“Non-Scale Victories” – 6 Ways to Measure Progress That Aren’t a Number on the Scale

While the number on the scale is often the most obvious way to measure progress, it never tells the whole story. 

• Your body weight on the scale can be a valuable tool in understanding current happenings and be included when deciding what to do next with your nutrition. 

However, we don’t recommend it be the ONLY tool used to interpret results, nor should it be the singular factor in changing your dietary habits.

• A good rule of thumb is, “If you’re going to have an emotional response to the results that the scale shows, it is best to skip weighing in that day.”

Here are six non-scale-focused methods of measuring nutrition and fitness progress:

1. Sleep: Sleeping longer and deeper is a sure sign you are making progress towards your goals. Sleep is huge for sports performance, fat loss, muscle gain, and mental clarity. 

2. Hunger: Feeling hungry and then satiated after meals tells us that your hunger hormones are sailing smoothly and your body is calm enough to listen to your hunger cues. 

3. Energy Levels: More energy for more activities is always great! Plus, when we move more, we tend to feel better and maybe look better, too, as we expend more energy. 

4. Workout Performance: Lifting heavier, going faster, and being fitter is always a plus! A strong body is a resilient body. 

5. How Clothes Fit: Using your clothes as an objective marker of progress is often overlooked. But if you feel better in your clothes, you can be sure you are moving the needle forward. 

6. How You Look: Body recomposition is real! We can weigh the same but be much leaner, so notice how you look as well; more muscle means more definition. 

Now, let’s break some of these down a little further to understand how you can utilize them and help determine which ones are right for you based on your current goals.

AFFILIATE COMMUNITY

CrossFit Community Steps Up for Michigan Gym After Back-to-Back Fires

Mike Holt, owner of 3rd Monkey Functional Fitness, home of Spring Lake CrossFit, isn’t one to ask for help. 

• Luckily, a gym member and former employee created a GoFundMe campaign shortly after the gym was hit hard by two fires. 

The gym, located in Spring Lake, MI, suffered a fire on Sunday, December 1, that was isolated to the attic. Holt was at the gym that day and called the fire department, which arrived quickly and took care of it. 

It all seemed to be put out, and Holt was in the clear. But just one day later, he got an alarming call from a friend who told him his gym was on fire again. 

• “At first it was, ‘hey, we might be done for a week’ to ‘hey, we might lose all of this,’” Holt told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview. 

While the majority of the equipment was spared, the entire gym is covered in soot and all the debris leftover from the incident, he added.

• Holt has been working to clean some of the equipment at his home and also led a group of gym members in a big cleaning effort over the weekend. 

These devastating fires have unfortunately left the community without a gym for an undetermined amount of time. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• 🇺🇸Check out this 158-kilo/350-pound split jerk from Teenage CrossFit Games athlete Kaiden Hogan.

• Congratulations to Ayoka, Raheem, Ron, Jamal, and Jarell of Core City CrossFit in Detroit, MI, who qualified for the North American Open Series in Olympic Weightlifting.

• Check out little Lily from Red Wolf CrossFit in Huntington Beach, CA, slinging some big weights!

• Congratulations to former Teenage CrossFit Games athlete Sophie Shaft, who just set a Junior American Record at the 2024 World Weightlifting Championships with a snatch of 101 kilos/222 pounds.

• 🏆Congratulations to “Team Rest of World,” who won the FitFest expo over the weekend. Teammates were Colten Mertens, Jayson Hopper, Dallin Pepper, Arielle Loewen, Sam Dancer, Emily Rolfe, Abbie Domit, Fee Saghafi, Nick Mathew, and Shelby Neal.