Emma Lawson Joins Stacked Brute Strength Crew

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Good morning, and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Emma Lawson, 2023’s Second Fittest Woman, is joining Matt Torres’ elite Brute Strength camp this season.

• With spring here, it’s time to start prepping for Murph—check out these push-up training tips.

• At Adidas’ “Home Ground,” Bethany Flores shared how rehabbing injuries helped sharpen her mental game.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“You can be grateful and still say, ‘This sucks.’ […] There's a dichotomy that can live in your heart where it’s both fun and exciting and stressful and confusing.” - Bethany Flores on the idea that “pressure is a privilege.”

PROFILE

Emma Lawson Joins Powerhouse Line-Up at Brute Strength

Three-time CrossFit Games veteran and former teen champion Emma Lawson has officially joined Brute Strength, home of a star-studded roster of top CrossFit athletes.

Lawson, who turns 20 this year, will continue to live in Ontario, Canada, and train remotely under the guidance of Brute Strength owner Matt Torres. 

• She is still managing a nagging back injury that prevented her from competing in the 2025 CrossFit Games season. However, she is set to compete in the upcoming World Fitness Project (WFP) season.

Remind Me: The top two Fittest Men from the 2024 CrossFit Games, James Sprague and Dallin Pepper, are longtime Brute athletes who both train under Torres.

This year, Jayson Hopper, who placed fourth at the 2024 Games, also became a Brute athlete and trains under coach El Senouvor. 

Fee Saghafi, who recently finished second in the 2025 CrossFit Open, and Rebecka Vitesson, a 2023 Games competitor from Sweden, round out the 2025 roster.

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SPEED READS

👟🏋️CrossFit Games Vendor Information: The CrossFit Games vendor deck is now available, and the vendor booth application form is live. Check it out now, as there are some significant changes from 2024 and previous years.

🌎 🎟️ 2025 Qualifying Event Updates: Here are a few quick updates from some of the 2025 CrossFit Games Qualifying Events.

• Wodland Fest: Check out the full rosters for both the men’s and women’s fields at one of the two European Qualifying Events here.

• Syndicate Crown: Organizers of the North America East In-Person Qualifying Event are releasing team workouts.

• French Throwdown: The long-running competition and one of the two European Qualifying Events has been revealing its partners for this year and the list is impressive. Check out here.

🌎🥇 WFP Tour Event I Information: The inaugural World Fitness Project Tour Event is just under 40 days away on May 9-11, 2025. Check out the venue details and accommodation options.

ICYMI: Sydney Wells just finished 44th worldwide in the Open and enters the summer eager for redemption after her early-season exit in 2024. Read more here.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Prepping for “Murph”: 3 Protocols to Train for CrossFit's Most Famous Workout

Every year, as Memorial Day approaches, CrossFitters around the world begin preparing for one of the community's most revered challenges: Murph.

A recent question from JD on the Chasing Excellence podcast highlighted a common struggle. Despite being able to run a six-minute mile and perform 20 unbroken strict pull-ups, his push-ups consistently became his breaking point during the workout.

For those unfamiliar, “Murph” is a Hero workout performed in honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

• The workout consists of a one-mile run, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats, concluding with another one-mile run. 

Many athletes partition the middle exercises into 20 rounds of "5-10-15" (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats). Some perform it while wearing a 20-pound weight vest for added difficulty, though many, like JD, opt for the unweighted version.

When preparing for “Murph,” we want to follow two important training principles: the overload principle (gradually increasing demands on the body) and specific adaptation to imposed demands (SAID), which means training the exact movements you'll be performing.

With that in mind, here are three distinct training protocols to help conquer this challenge.

PROFILE

The Privilege of Pressure: Bethany Flores on the Power of a Healthy Mind

At the inaugural Adidas “Primer” in Herzogenaurach, Germany, athletes attended lectures and participated in workshops covering topics ranging from nutrition and performance-based eating to the advantages of a healthy mind and mindset coaching. 

• One session was led by Dan Donachie, a mental performance coach from the UK with decades of experience working with professional athletes. 

Donachie discussed techniques for recovery, stress relief, and meditation, emphasizing diaphragmatic breathing, engaging with one’s inner critic, goal-setting, and journaling, among other practices. 

For Bethany Flores, everything resonated. 

Some background: In 2021, Bethany Flores won the West Coast Classic, qualifying her for a fourth trip to the CrossFit Games. However, she was unable to compete due to a serious case of COVID-19.

Once recovered, Flores faced further setbacks in late 2021 and early 2022, including a high ankle sprain, nerve pain, and the return of chronic back issues that had plagued her for years. 

She withdrew from the 2022 season during the Quarterfinals. 

At that time, there was very little Flores could do physically. She was in pain every day. The only training she could engage in was mental. She pursued breath therapy and meditation as ways to take control of her mental state.

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• 🎂Happy birthday to Matt Udink.

• Congratulations to Brenda Castro and her family, who just announced that they have twins on the way.

• Congratulations to Tracey from 1Hundred Fitness on her recent back squat PR.

• Check out this snatch from Bayley Martin at 110 kilos/242 pounds.

• 🙌Happy affiliate anniversary to ETDC Box CrossFit in Colombia.

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