CrossFit Athlete Council Releases Community Questionnaire

February 11th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • The CrossFit Athlete Council (CAC) has created a questionnaire for individual CrossFit athletes and coaches to gather information about topics ranging from safety and the Games season structure to communication and transparency. Get the details and take the survey below.

  • Tracy Tucker from Training Think Tank Nutrition has four tips to help you get ready to crush your Open workouts.

  • Lumen is the “wellness era” tool to optimize your metabolic health. Learn about it below.

  • The CrossFit Podcast is back with a new host, Denise Thomas, and a new focus on the community.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Having the opportunity to sit and learn from experts and masters of their craft is just bonkers. I’m just a huge sponge.” - Denise Thomas, L-3 Seminar Staff member, Coach Development Manager at CrossFit, and host of the newly reimagined CrossFit Podcast on what it feels like in her new role.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @ironandcastle / Instagram

CrossFit Athlete Council to Conduct Community Survey

The CrossFit Athlete Council (CAC) Individual/Coach Committee has released a “community questionnaire” to gather feedback for ongoing meetings the council is having with CrossFit HQ and the Games team. 

  • The survey was sent by Taylor Self, a representative from the Athlete/Coach committee, and will be open for submissions from February 10-17.

Remind me: The CAC was created in late 2024 when athletes, coaches, and affiliate owners were elected by their peers. Those elected were then announced in January 2025. 

The goal of the CAC per CrossFit HQ is “to create an independent space where athletes, coaches, and affiliates can share their competition experience and deliver recommendations to CrossFit.”

  • The CAC is split into three committees: Individual/Coach, Affiliate/Team, and Divisional.

The members of the Individual/Coach committee include:

  • Colten Mertens, CF-L1 (Pending), Games Athlete

  • Taylor Self, CF-L3, Coach

  • Spencer Panchik, CF-L1 (Pending), Games Athlete

  • Ryan Dickey, CF-L3, Coach

  • Olivia Grimsland, CF-L3, Affiliate Owner

  • Yazmin Arroyo, CF-L3, Affiliate Owner

CrossFit described this committee’s role as serving “as advocates and a resource for the CrossFit community.”

The questionnaire comes on the heels of a recent meeting between the CAC and CrossFit HQ on January 27, which included Don Faul and other HQ leadership. 

  • The notes show that Faul discussed the term “Independent,” how that pertains to the CAC, and provided an update on the Head of Safety position. Later in the meeting, Dave Castro discussed the Community Cup and the season structure before fielding questions.

The action items of the CAC kick-off meeting point to what Self is now working on with the community survey for Individual CrossFit Individual athletes and Coaches.

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SPEED READS

🚨🚨 The CrossFit Open Is Coming: The 2025 CrossFit Open will take place February 27-March 17, so get signed up now!

  • Bundle and save on 2025 CrossFit Open shirts and Judges course registration here.

💻😎 At-Home TYR WZA Miami Competition: Did you miss out on the chance to compete in Miami, or are you hungry for a tune-up before the CrossFit Open? Join the challenge, then record and submit your workouts for a chance to win prizes. Registration is free!

🏆🌎 World Fitness Tour Roster — Behind the Numbers with Fran Lung: Dave Charlton from Fran Lung Analytics took a deep dive into the stat books and crunched the numbers behind the World Fitness Tour rosters. Check it out in the Fran Lung Newsletter.

🏳️‍🌈💪Out in the Open: Launched in 2018, “Out in the Open” is the OUT Foundation’s all-gender, 100% inclusive fitness leaderboard for the LGBTQ+ community and allies. Learn more here and register now.

ICYMI: Is Gui Malheiros the most dominant athlete in CrossFit history? No. But is he the most dominant athlete at the thing he is dominant at (lifting heavy)? Maybe. Check it out here.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: Frank Nguyen

Dial in These 4 Things to Help You Crush Your Open Workouts

It’s almost that time of year again and we are all getting ready to crush our workout attempts this year in the CrossFit Open. 

  • Whether this is your first Open season or your tenth, if your name is on the leaderboard, you want to do well. 

Check out the recommendations below to start “fine-tuning” and optimize your performance for every workout attempt.

Prioritizing Recovery Outside of Training

It’s not just about what you do during your training sessions but how your body repairs and adapts in the hours and days that follow them. 

Here are a couple of reasons why recovery outside of training is so important.

INDUSTRY

Credit: Lumen

Lumen: A “Wellness Era” Tool for Metabolic Health

If you’re not waking up chugging a green juice, rubbing your face with beef tallow, or using a smartwatch to track your REM cycle, are you even in the year 2025? 

  • In all seriousness, the global consumer wellness industry has hit a boom in recent years, and it isn't just short-lived fads. It has educated consumers who are looking for science-backed products that actually work. 

This brings us to Lumen, the world’s first handheld metabolic coach that has proven results for weight loss and overall improved metabolic health. The Lumen is easy to use and just requires one deep breath into the device for a personalized metabolic reading. 

The details: The Lumen is one key example of the latest science-backed devices sought after by health and nutrition-conscious consumers.

The consumer wellness landscape has been on an upswing since 2020, and Gen Z and millennials are leading the sales of wellness products and services. 

  • McKinsey estimates that the wellness market has reached $480 billion in the U.S. alone— a 5-10% increase per year. On a global scale, the value is $1.8 trillion.

Consumers are seeking products just like Lumen that offer a deeper understanding of what’s going on inside their bodies. 

The device measures an individual’s metabolism through breath using a CO2 sensor and flow meter. Once paired with the app, it tells them if they’re burning fat or carbs and gives them tailored guidance to improve all aspects of their health. 

  • “Because your metabolism is at the center of everything your body does, optimal metabolic health translates to a bunch of benefits, including easier weight management, improved energy levels, better fitness results, better sleep, etc.,” according to Lumen. 

INDUSTRY

Credit: CrossFit

CrossFit Reloads Podcast Channel, Focuses on Community

In a series of trailers last week, CrossFit revealed that it is revamping and reloading The CrossFit Podcast, with a concentration on the community.

Hosted by Denise Thomas, an L-3 Seminar Staff member, Coach Development Manager at CrossFit, and self-proclaimed “CrossFit nerd,” this new podcast offers stories and interviews from a wide range of individuals associated with the brand and methodology. 

  • Thomas discovered the sport 17 years ago and wants to share stories about people changing the world and saving lives through CrossFit.

Nicole Carroll, CrossFit’s Chief Brand Officer, was also heavily involved in creating the podcast and was its first guest.

“We wanted to restart our podcast channel so we have the freedom to go deeper—where we can get to know and learn from the people out there who are using CrossFit to create health and change lives in lasting and profound ways,” Carroll explained in an email interview with the Morning Chalk Up.

  • Carroll elaborated: “The conversations are primarily geared toward the CrossFit community. That said, because of Denise’s background as a veteran coach and Seminar Staff, she is naturally welcoming to someone curious about CrossFit, endeavoring to bring them along, no matter their experience [level].”

The podcast will also venture beyond the direct CrossFit space to seek outside perspectives and insights.

  • Carroll noted specifically, “guests from outside the community whose work in the academic or clinical space adds a valuable perspective to our discussions and collective understanding.”

In addition to Carroll in the inaugural episode, future editions will include conversations with Chuck Carswell, Helen Taylor, Scott Panchik, Julie Foucher, and others.

HIGHLIGHTS

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