The 2025 CrossFit Open is Here!

February 28th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • CrossFit Open Workout 25.1 is here! Get tips and strategies from coaches Matt Torres, John Singleton, Justin Cotler, Kyle Rolfe, and Perrin Behr.

  • EC Synkowski explains why most CrossFitters don’t need to worry about special meal timing.

  • Joe Cebulski owns 8th Day Gym in Grand Rapids, MI, a 15-year affiliate. Learn about the gym and the secrets to Cebulski’s longevity today.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’d use the term ‘back’ loosely. I’m still here.” - Rich Froning Jr., 10-time CrossFit Games champ, after finishing 25.1 at the live Open announcement.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @crossfitgames / Instagram

2025 CrossFit Open Workout 25.1 Released — Get Tips and Strategies From Top Coaches

It’s here! The beginning of the 2025 CrossFit season and that means the kick-off of the 2025 CrossFit Open.

We’ve assembled a dream team of elite coaches–Matt Torres, John Singleton, Justin Cotler, Kyle Rolfe, and Perrin Behr–to bring you tips and strategies for each workout. Among them, they’ve coached podium and multiple-time Games podium athletes like James Sprague, Dallin Pepper, Kari Pearce, Bethany Flores, Alex Gazan, and Ricky Garard, as well as many other Games competitors.

Check out the full live announcement here.

CrossFit Open Workout 25.1 

As many rounds and reps as possible in 15 minutes of:

  • 3 lateral burpees over the dumbbell, 50/35 pounds

  • 3 dumbbell hang clean-to-overheads, 50/35 pounds

  • 30-foot walking lunge, 2x15 feet

After completing each round, add 3 reps to the burpees and hang clean-to-overheads.

Scorecards and Descriptions

Full workout description video here.

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SPEED READS

🚨🚨 The CrossFit Open Is Here: The 2025 CrossFit Open starts now with 25.1 and will continue through March 17, so sign up now!

📖 ✍️ Grip Rule Revision: In case you missed it, CrossFit revised and reversed its gymnastics grips policy in the 2025 CrossFit Games rulebook.

  • Rule 7.03 now reads (in part), “Gloves/grips may be made of any material but must maintain a consistent thickness,” and “Grips may be any length.”

📺 🇩🇪 At the Crossroads: Check out this short, beautifully shot, video featuring German CrossFit star Moritz Fiebig. He discusses his plans for the season and offers his take on current debates and controversies surrounding the CrossFit community.

🌟 🎟️ Rebel Renegade Golden Ticket: Sara Sigmundsdottir, the six-time Icelandic Games athlete who resides and trains in Dubai, has been given a “golden ticket” to the Rebel Renegade Games, one of the 10 In-Person Qualifying Events this season.

ICYMI: Red Bull hosted a Fitness Club pop-up in Miami Beach, FL, last weekend. Check out our behind-the-scenes recap of the event and learn about the moves the energy drink giant has been making in the fitness ecosystem.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: Shutterstock

The Case Against Pre-Workout Obsession: Why Most CrossFitters Don't Need Special Nutrition Timing

As a nutrition coach, one of the most common questions I get from my CrossFitting clients is, "What should I eat before my workout?"

  • There's an obsession in the fitness world with perfecting pre-workout nutrition, from timing meals just right to supplementing with fancy powders and potions.

Here's the truth: for most CrossFitters, all this pre-workout fuss is unnecessary. 

Why? Because you likely already have all the fuel you need from your regular meals.

Your Body's Built-In Fuel Tanks

Think of your body as a car with two gas tanks – one filled with carbs and the other with fat.

Even if you're lean, you have enough fat stores to power you through weeks of workouts. The carb tank is smaller and needs a bit more attention.

  • But here's the key: If you're eating a normal diet with regular meals throughout the day, your carb tank will almost always have more than enough to get you through a typical hour-long CrossFit class.

So, unless you routinely do intense workouts lasting more than 90 minutes (the workout, not just the warm-up, cool-down, and/or accessory work), you don't need to stress about specific pre-workout meals.

Your body is smarter than you think.

When you eat balanced meals at reasonable intervals, your body efficiently stores that energy for later use. Thus, you can fuel your workouts all day without directly trying.

COMMUNITY

Credit: 8th Day Gym

From 2 Members to 500: 8th Day Gym Celebrates 15 Years as a CrossFit Affiliate

Fifteen years ago, when most people had never heard of CrossFit, Joe Cebulski finished his athletic career as a decathlete and decided to take a risk and open a CrossFit affiliate.

He rented a small room in a community gym in Grand Rapids, MI, and opened 8th Day Gym in 2010. 

He had just two members. 

A year later, the gym Cebulski was operating out of closed its doors, so he drove around Grand Rapids looking for a new space to call his own. 

Eventually, Cebulski found an abandoned tire shop on the edge of downtown. However, he couldn’t afford the space on the bottom floor he had his eye on, so he settled on renting the upper room, a 5,000-square-foot space with an additional 2,000 square feet of office space. 

  • “We moved into that space with just 30 members,” Cebulski said, laughing, and calling himself “delusional” for taking such a risk at the time.

The risk, though, paid off.

Today, 48-year-old Cebulski has not only taken over four additional spaces in the building but also owns the entire 30,000-square-foot facility. He has a thriving business that offers CrossFit, boot camps, personal training, open gym memberships, and, soon, endurance classes.

Fifteen years in, 8th Day CrossFit [which now goes by 8th Day Gym has four full-time and 20 part-time coaches, some of whom have been coaching for Cebulski for seven to 10 years. Further, Cebulski lives a lifestyle that works for him.

  • “Generally speaking, I do not have that hectic morning-to-night life of a [typical] gym owner. I have a great staff and we have been doing this for quite some time. I could leave for two weeks or two months and everything would be fine,” he said.

HIGHLIGHTS

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