Good morning and welcome to the WODDITY podcast for news about CrossFit. We are a daily podcast, Monday through Friday, doing CrossFit news in five minutes or less.
My name is Ben Garves and today is Monday, the 11th of November, 2019.
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WODDITY’s 45 Days of Fit-Mas Holiday Gift Guide
We are announcing one special holiday gift idea each day from now until December 25th (some people know that as Christmas!) I’ve put a link to the page in my show notes. Bookmark it and check back each day for a new gift idea for the fitness lover in your life.
Torian Pro Winners
The Torian Pro is a huge event, attracting big-name talent even without Sanctional status. Winners this weekend were:
- Individual Women: Madeline Sturt, Jessica Coughlan, and Lindsay Vaughan
- Individual Men: Brandon Swan, Evan Morris, and Zeke Grove
- Pro Pairs Female: Tasia Percevecz and Chyna Cho as the Freedom Women Team
- Pro Pairs Male: Royce Dunne and Rich Froning as the Royce ‘N’ Rich Team
If you want to dig deeper, I have a link to the full leaderboard in my show notes at WODDITY.com.
Speaking of leaderboards, today is the day athletes submit their final scores for the 2020 CrossFit Open. Taking a quick peek at the leaderboard had a huge surprise this morning. While we’re still waiting on times from athletes like Mat Fraser, Patrick Vellner, and Noah Ohlsen, THE Rich Froning Jr is currently sitting in first place on the leaderboard after submitting a time of 10:56 for 20.5. So far, that time is third in the world.
CrossFit Coolidge Corner Noise Complaints
Another CrossFIt affiliate is under fire for noise complaints. CrossFit Coolidge Corner is getting unwanted attention from a neighbor in their Brookline, Massachusetts neighborhood. The neighbor has posted disparaging signs and is arguing the gym should be forced to move to another location. This could be devastating news for the small business, after a long and public City Council fight for CrossFit Horsepower in Hermosa Beach, California forced that gym to close last year. The neighbor is complaining specifically about sound and vibrations from dropping weights.
When I think about these situations, I think about why these gyms have opened in the first place. I’m going to take a quote directly from CrossFit Coolidge Corner’s “About Us” section on their website:
“At the heart of the CrossFit ethos is the community we foster the values we represent. Not unlike Brookline itself, our gym offers a unique atmosphere of mutual support, dedication, hard work and humility. We partner with members to bring out the best in each other. It is our privilege to provide a professional and supportive environment…”
I think this speaks louder than anything I can say about how important it is to protect the work these gyms do.
AMRAP Roundup
Today’s AMRAP Roundup has six stories. In this segment, I hit you gently with top headlines. If you want to read these stories more in-depth, you can find links to all of them by visiting the show notes at WODDITY.com
Six headlines for time. Let’s go!
- Roger Lockridge at FloElite wrote a story looking at CrossFit athlete Dani Speegle as a case study about how athletes make their earnings in the sport. Spoiler alert: you have to be in the top of the top tier of competitors in CrossFit to make a decent wage.
- Amanda Barnhart took to Morning Chalk Up with an op-ed about how this CrossFit Open was noticeably light for elite women. I think the title captures the main take away: Let the Girls Play With the Heavy Barbells.
- CrossFit had a big weekend in the media, getting featured in articles on both ABC News and NBC News.
- Men’s Health also dug into one Bill Henniger, the founder and CEO of Rogue Fitness, and how he has grown the company from a small e-commerce site to over 600 employees in a 600,000 square-foot facility. They’re even building a multi-use arena for events like CrossFit competitions.
- Democratic Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is leading a CrossFit workout in Santa Monica today as a part of a two-day visit to Los Angeles. Gabbard is a Major in the Hawaii Army National Guard and will also be speaking at Veterans Day LA.
- CrossFit has reopened one of their Instagram accounts after announcing a hiatus from the Facebook-owned social media platform six months ago. Their CrossFit Training account is now active again and posting content on how to improve your movements and form.
And that’s it for news about CrossFit on Monday, November 11th.
Thanks again for being a loyal fan and listener. If you’re a fan of the work we do and want to support it, you can become a Patreon member at patreon.com/woddity. You can also give us a five star rating, subscribe to the podcast, and share with your friends and family. For WODDITY, I’m Ben Garves. We will chat tomorrow.
