The Road to the Games Goes Through...Spartanburg, SC?

October 4th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • The fourth Crash Crucible is coming next week to Spartanburg, SC and today we take a deep dive into its history as a proving ground for future CrossFit Games athletes.

  • What is a gut microbiome and how does it affect your performance as an athlete?

  • Learn more about two-time Olympian and owner of CrossFit affiliate, Be Somebody Gym in Knoxville, TN.

Think your gym should be featured as an affiliate of the month? Send us a note explaining why.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I just like being in the gym. I have always loved being at the gym and the fact that I get to wake up and be around weights all day, that’s where I want to be. And I have a group of people I can do it with.” - Olympian Wes Kitts on his role as owner of CrossFit affiliate, Be Somebody Gym

COMPETITIONS

Credit: Carlos Fleury

Crash Crucible – A Stepping Stone to the CrossFit Games

Since its inaugural year in 2020, Crash Crucible has become a mainstay of the CrossFit offseason for North American athletes. 

Looking back at past leaderboards, the number of future CrossFit Games athletes stands out as the competition solidifies itself as a proving ground for young stars.

It takes years of training for athletes to make the Games, and Crash Crucible provides an opportunity for competitors to test themselves against Semifinals and Games-level athletes.

From Crash Crucible to the CrossFit Games

2020

In October 2020, a then-unknown Jayson Hopper won the Elite men’s division at the first Crash Crucible.

  • Unfortunately, Hopper missed the opportunity to showcase his talents in Sanctionals that year due to the COVID-19 cancelation of the majority of the season. 

Seven months after Crash Crucible, however, Hopper shocked the CrossFit world by winning the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge during the first weekend of the Semifinals. 

Further down the men’s leaderboard at Crash, in 17th, was Luke Parker, who made his rookie appearance at the CrossFit Games in 2023.

Competing in the 2020 women’s field was Michelle Basnett, who finished third. 

  • The following year, Basnett won her first of two African Semifinals and made her rookie appearance at the CrossFit Games.

Caroline Stanley was second place, ahead of Basnett on the Crash Crucible podium. It took Stanley a few more years to make the CrossFit Games, but she secured her rookie appearance in 2023. She cracked the top 20 in 2024 with a 17th-place finish.

A MESSAGE FROM SYNERGY

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Best part? Their racks can be expanded into a full commercial-grade horizontal rack with their expansion kit while still maintaining the vertical storage on the sides. This is great for when you’re ready to upgrade or move into a bigger space. 

Synergy offers their racks in 11 different color options to match your aesthetic and home gym theme.

SPEED READS

📚🏋️‍♀️ 2025 USA Functional Fitness Collegiate Championships: The individual online qualifier for the second annual USA Functional Fitness (USAFF) Collegiate Championships is open now and scores can be submitted until October 23. Athletes must be current college or university students and 25 years old or younger as of December 31. Register now.

  • The top 10 Rx athletes (five male and female each) will be invited to compete in person at the USAFF Collegiate Hypermedley on February 8-9, 2025 at CrossFit Reston, in Reston, VA.

⛑️ 💪 Mayhem Mission Supports Hurricane Helene Relief: Mayhem Mission, the charitable arm of CrossFit Mayhem and Mayhem Nation, is joining with local organizations in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina to support relief efforts following Hurricane Helene. Learn how you can help here. If you are interested in serving on-site, inquire here.

📺👂“Hear Their Stories”: CrossFit’s new video series, called “Hear Their Stories” brings viewers into the heart of the CrossFit community. In the first episode, learn about affiliate owner, Tad Carter and his community at Model City CrossFit in Anniston, AL. Watch now.

📋🧑‍💻Want to Run a Fitness Competition? Check out this new online course from the International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3), “Running a Functional Fitness Competition.” The course is live now and open for enrollment.

  • According to the iF3 description: “This course is an introductory level course, aimed at teaching new or less experienced event organizers about the nuances of running a functional fitness competition under iF3 rules.”

ICYMI: Following the CrossFit Games, Gui Malheiros questioned his future in the sport. He left TYR WZA SoCal refreshed and ready to go into the 2025 season. Learn how he got there in our interview.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: Frank Nguyen

Gut Check Time. What is the Gut Microbiome and How Can it Help You?

While fancy new supplements, recovery protocols, and nuances attract so much attention in the sport of CrossFit, one of the most overlooked aspects of nutrition for performance is your gut microbiome. 

If “nutrition” isn’t in your career title, I don’t know how you could figure any of this out. 

Let’s break it down and make it easier to digest – pun intended. 

What Does Your Gut Microbiota Do?

It regulates your hormones (estrogen, thyroid stimulating hormones, serotonin, and stress hormones), it helps maintain a healthy metabolism, and it helps control and dictate body composition

You may have heard about the bacteria that live in your gut, but two types of bacteria reside there and together they determine how much energy we absorb from our dietary intake. 

A MESSAGE FROM LMNT

Stay Salty

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COMMUNITY

Credit: @weskitts22 / Instagram

From Weightlifting to Gym Ownership: Meet Two-Time Olympian and Affiliate Owner Wes Kitts

Like many college football players, Wes Kitts liked lifting heavy weights. 

A sports science student at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN, Kitts decided to do his internship at a CrossFit gym, CrossFit North Knoxville under owner Johnny Davis.

By the age of 22, he was training exclusively in CrossFit, but where he really excelled was at Olympic weightlifting. 

  • So two years later, he decided to focus strictly on weightlifting, eventually moving to California in 2016 to train for the Olympics at Cal Strength in San Ramon.

The move paid off. 

Kitts, now 34, qualified and competed at his first 2020 Olympic Games (held in 2021) in Tokyo, Japan. More recently, he competed in his second Olympics in Paris, France. 

Both times he placed eighth in the 102-kilogram category.

For the Record

This summer in Paris, Kitts hit three of six lifts, posting a 374-kilogram total (822.8 pounds), which included a 172-kilogram snatch and 202-kilogram clean and jerk (378.4-pound snatch, and 444.4-pound clean and jerk).

HIGHLIGHTS

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