Young Guns to Throw Down at Reps Ahead Pro 2 Showcase

March 28th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Everyone loves a head-to-head throwdown, and that’s exactly what Reps Ahead is. Check out our preview of this Saturday’s Pro 2 Showcase below

  • As we prepare for Quarterfinals, take a look at Austin Heaton’s breakdown of which training camp performed the strongest in the 2024 CrossFit Open

  • Highlights from the Wheel WOD Adaptive CrossFit Open

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“James [Sprague] won the first Reps Ahead event, but I’m pretty sure it’s because the Fittest Man in America wasn’t even there. So it shouldn’t be a problem.” - Dallin Pepper, the Fittest Man in America, on his upcoming match against James Sprague at Reps Ahead Pro 2

COMPETITION

Credit: @repsahead / Instagram

The Reps Ahead Pro 2 Showcase Preview: Dallin Pepper, James Sprague, Fee Saghafi, and Alexis Raptis Square Off  

One on one. 

Face to face. 

Mano a mano. 

There is nowhere to hide during a Reps Ahead event. All eyes are on the two competitors, who know they are either going to win or lose. There is no second place. It is a knockout-style fitness competition. 

How it works: Founded by Phil Thomas, Reps Ahead is a unique functional fitness competition format: it’s a one-on-one throwdown where athletes try to get a set number of reps ahead of their opponent. 

  • There is a programmed workout sequence in which the athletes work through a set number of intervals, or until one reaches the required “reps ahead” margin. 

Remind me: The first showcase with professional athletes was held at Black Goat Fitness in Liberty Lake, WA in October 2023. 

Games athlete James Sprague came from behind to defeat Semifinal athlete Tyler Eggiman in a hard-fought match that featured chest-to-bar pull-ups, box jump overs, and hang squat snatches. Eggiman held the lead for the first few rounds, but by round five, Sprague pulled away and managed to separate himself by 14 reps and earn the “Pro 1 Showcase” win.

  • “The suspense and intensity as an athlete from the start to finish feels elevated in this kind of format and I was hooked from the second the clock started,” Sprague shared after winning the Pro 1 event. 

“Pro 2 Showcase”: The next event will take place at CrossFit Tailwinds in Jacksonville, FL, this Saturday, March 30.

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SPEED READS

👨‍🎓💪 CrossFit x Educators: CrossFit HQ made two recent announcements that will come as welcome news for teachers at all levels:

  • CrossFit will offer 50 $10,000 grants to schools in the first half of 2024. The funds will help teachers and administrators outfit school affiliates with equipment and introduce students to the concept of fitness for health and longevity. Apply here.

  • CrossFit Educators Course - Released this week, the CrossFit Educators Course will help educators create and implement CrossFit-based P.E. curricula that’s effective and scalable for kids of all abilities, ages 3-11.

🚨🚨 Affiliate Owner Quarterfinals Database: With a tip of the hat to Morning Chalk Up contributor Mike Halpin at Known and Knowable, here’s a super useful tool for affiliate owners heading into the Quarterfinals.

  • Simply search your affiliate name in the drop-down menu to access a full list of all your athletes who qualified for the next stage of competition.

👩‍🏫📋 Good Read: Check out BarBend’s recap of a potentially important new study on the effects of intermittent fasting on cardiovascular health.

  • From the recap: “On Mar. 18, 2024, the American Heart Association (AHA) highlighted an in-review study with a shocking headline: That time-restricted feeding may increase your risk of cardiovascular mortality by as much as 91%.”

🦋👻 Pat Vellner x Butterfly Squad: Last week Games legend and current Second Fittest Man on Earth, Pat Vellner announced that he had partnered with the animated children’s cartoon Butterfly Squad on a new series about mental health.

  • From the announcement: “I am super excited to announce that I am partnering up with the Butterfly Squad! They have made a cartoon series that teaches kids about their mental health and the best part is they are giving it away for free to every parent & child on the planet and I am super excited to be part of the journey.”

😭 WIT London Closes Doors: In case you missed it last week, WIT London has announced that its final classes will run on March 28 at District Battlesea.

  • From the post: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of WIT London, St Paul’s.”

  • “We want to thank everyone that’s visited and trained with us since our opening in 2018. WIT London was a special place for so many, and was made even more special by the people that came to it.”

  • “Rest assured, this is not the end for WIT. Plans are already in motion to come back bigger and better, so watch this space, and we’ll be sure to keep you fully updated on the journey.”

✍️ Now Hiring: PRVN Fitness is looking for some interns local to Nashville. If you have a passion for learning and want to be part of the PRVN Team, send your application now.

ICYMI: Get to know West Point cadet, CrossFit athlete, and the seventh-place overall man on the Open leaderboard, Cale Layman.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @hwpotraining / Instagram

Which Training Camp Performed Best During the 2024 CrossFit Open? 

Now that the 2024 CrossFit Open is over and the leaderboard results have been finalized, we decided to take a look at the overall leaderboard and see which training camp’s athletes performed best in order to see who is starting the season off strong.

Although there are many training programs in the community, in this post we will solely be highlighting the results from the top athletes in the three of the largest training programs:

  • CrossFit Mayhem

  • PRVN Fitness

  • HWPO

(Note: Please keep in mind that these training programs have hundreds or even thousands of athletes, but we will only be referencing athletes who have either been to the CrossFit Games before or have been specifically highlighted by the training program themselves on social media.)

Let’s dive in, starting with the best-performing program.

CROSSFIT OPEN

2024 Adaptive CrossFit Open Highlights

Organized by Wheel WOD, the Adaptive CrossFit Open is the first stage in qualifying for the Adaptive CrossFit Games by Wheel WOD, to be held this fall in San Antonio, TX, separate from the CrossFit Games, which will be held six weeks prior in Fort Worth. 

  • Athletes were tested in three workouts, which were based on the standard Open workouts but re-programmed by Wheel WOD to accommodate the multiple divisions.

All results remain unofficial until finalized by Wheel WOD, but unless something changes, several athletes will have swept all three Open events, including three-time Games champion Casey Acree, Victor Hugo Assaf, Krista Davidson, Creusa Angelica, Sophie Wilson, and Kate Bures. Wheel WOD co-owner and event director Kevin Ogar leads the Seated Without Hip division.

In total, 30 divisions are competing across 15 categories, with a men’s and a women’s division for each. Here are the top three men and women from each division as the leaderboard currently appears: 

1 Point Upper Impairment Female

  1.  Victor Hugo Assaf - 3 points

  2.  Thibaut Dupré - 16 points

  3.  Artijom Sandakov - 16 points

1 Point Upper Impairment Male

  1.   Genny Tidwell - 5 points

  2.   Emily Avery - 7 points

  3.   Emily Cairns - 9 points

2 Point Upper Impairment Female

  1.   Casey Acree - 3 points

  2.   Breki þórdarson - 12 points

  3.   Alexis Fiorucci - 14 points

2 Point Upper Impairment Male

  1.   Mia Van Rensburg - 5 points

  2.    Camille Vigneault - 8 points

  3.   Christina Mazzullo - 10 points

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HIGHLIGHTS

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