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- 🌴 Official Wodapalooza Qualifier Winners Are In — Here’s Who’s Heading to Miami
🌴 Official Wodapalooza Qualifier Winners Are In — Here’s Who’s Heading to Miami
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🏆 Connor Voltz and Jess Green top the 2025–2026 WZA Online Challenge and Qualifier, officially earning their tickets to Miami. Full details below.
💪 Hitting your first ring muscle-up is a huge milestone, but it takes serious strength, control, and consistency to do it. Pamela Gagnon shares how.
🧠 Science confirms what CrossFitters know — just 30 minutes of strength training twice a week can build real muscle.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
I learn something new about myself every year, and I get to meet a lot of great people who share common goals.”
COMPETITIONS
Connor Voltz and Jess Green Officially Win 2025-2026 WZA Online Challenge and Qualifier
Credit: @johnshootsit @the_jess_green
Connor Voltz from the United States and Australia’s Jess Green officially topped the leaderboard for the 2025-2026 Wodapalooza Online Challenge and Qualifier (WZA OCQ), as invitations were just sent out to the athletes who competed this week.
Although the workout scores for the Individual divisions were due last month, the WZA team has spent the past few weeks reviewing them to ensure accuracy.
Team qualifiers begin on November 13, and the competition will take place from March 12 to 15 in Miami Beach, FL.
Remind me: The top 10 men and women will compete as Elites, along with invitees who will be announced closer to the event. Athletes placing 11th through 49th will compete in the RX Division.
2025-2026 WZA OCQ Top-10 Finishers
Men | Women |
Connor Voltz | Jess Green |
Nick Mathew | Alin Wirz |
William Leahy | Andra Moistus |
Luka Ðukić | Matilde Garnes |
Alexander Majors | Janie Cheverie |
Illia Moskalenko | Hannah Black |
Evan Rogers | Karisa Stapp |
Miko Lilleorg | Astrind Tind |
Josh Gervais | Ellie Turner |
Anderon Primo | Pernille Kristensen |
A MESSAGE FROM VELITES
Velites presents: The HOLO Fall Collection
This season, performance meets style. The HOLO Fall Collection by Velites is here! Bringing new designs, new colors, and for the first time, a three-quarter sleeve version inspired by the raw spirit of early CrossFit.
Every HOLO t-shirt is crafted to deliver total freedom of movement. Made from lightweight, breathable, and odor-resistant materials, they keep you comfortable through the most intense training sessions. The quick-dry technology and in-house production ensure a precise, athletic fit — designed by athletes, for athletes.
With its second-skin feel, superior stretch, and minimalist design, the HOLO collection embodies what Velites stands for: innovation, functionality, and passion for training.
Train hard. Move free. Look bold.
*This newsletter relies on our sponsors. Please consider supporting them.
SPEED READS
🏃🤔 Is Everyone Switching to Hybrid?: The Buttery Bros visit Austin’s run-scene and HYROX pits to ask a simple question with messy answers: what is a hybrid athlete? Cameos from Alec Blenis and Adam Klink make the case that hybrid = concurrent mastery, not just “runner who lifts.”
🏋️🥪 Lunchtime Is Like Recess: At 84 Lumber’s HQ, employees trade lunch breaks for lunges. With on-site CrossFit classes led by in-house coaches, the company has turned wellness into culture — improving morale, focus, and retention along the way. The result? Fitter teams, stronger communities, and a model that proves “movement at work” isn’t just good for health, it’s good for business.
🎙️💪 Meet Dr. Fatty Acid: The viral mind behind @When_Nerds_Teach sat down for a refreshingly real CrossFit podcast episode with Denise Thomas. From battling fatty liver disease and navigating Wegovy to rediscovering strength and confidence, she opens up about humor, healing, and learning to love movement for what it gives, not how it looks.
🏢➡️🧘 Big Box Gyms Go Boutique: Big chains are spinning up studio-style experiences inside their clubs to capture the boutique vibe without a separate membership. Think Life Time’s small-group “Signature Group Training” like GTX/Ultra Fit and strength tracks such as Alpha, plus Equinox’s treadmill-based Precision Run. Read on for why this matters.
ICYMI: 💪 Four-time Games athlete and community legend Rob Orlando is fighting Stage IV cancer, and the CrossFit world is rallying behind him.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
How to Get Your First Ring Muscle-Up: A Step-by-Step Guide
Credit: @b.a.w_media / Instagram
Achieving your first ring muscle-up is a big deal — you’ve earned the right to ring that PR bell, post the video, and celebrate.
Getting there, though, takes serious work. You need solid pulling and pressing strength, as well as the control and stability to stay steady on the rings. It’s a skill built through consistency, not shortcuts.
And with great skills come great questions — starting with:
Where do you begin?
RESEARCH
New Study Says Just 30 Minutes of Lifting is Enough to Make Big Gains
Credit: Scott Freymond
We know CrossFit works. We understand that we can build strength without training like a bodybuilder who spends hours in the gym every day and follows complicated supplementation routines.
We have learned that doing five sets of five back squats, coupled with a short metcon, can be a practical and sufficient strength session.
And now a small study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise confirms what CrossFit enthusiasts have known for a while: Just 30 minutes of strength training results in muscle gains.
Read on for the details of the new study.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🎂Happy birthday to Jonne Koski.
Check out this 130-kilo/286-pound clean complex from New Zealand’s Hiko O Te Rangi Curtis.
Congratulations to Laura Clifton on this 120-kilo/264-pound hang clean PR.
Congratulations to Parker Fontecchio, who just completed a 31-mile ultramarathon while pulling a Toyota Tacoma to raise money for veteran suicide prevention.
👏Watch this 160-kilo/352-pound clean complex from Craig Richey.