Pursuing Health

Ian Wee, the Fittest Man in Singapore, is one of 236 athletes who qualified for the 2019 CrossFit Games by earning a National Champion title in the CrossFit Open. This feat is all the more impressive when you consider that hes also in the process of completing medical school, so his time spent training has been quite a bit less than many of his competitors. A student at the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Ian has been participating in CrossFit off and on since 2013. Over the past six years, hes taken time away from the sport to focus on medical training and research (hes published over 50 papers), and to compete as a National Olympic Weightlifter for Team Singapore, where he's set national records in the snatch and total. With the announcement of the changes to the 2019 Games selection process, Ian re-committed himself to regular CrossFit training and found ways to squeeze in extra sessions while keeping up with his studies. His efforts paid off when he finished the Open in first place for his country, securing a berth to his rookie CrossFit Games. I had the pleasure of chatting with Ian the 2019 CrossFit Games, and it was fun to compare notes on what its like to be a medical student while training as an elite athlete. We talked about his experience representing his country at the Games, how he balances school with training, and what plans he has in store for the future.

Christy Phillips Adkins is an 8-time CrossFit Games athlete, competing as an individual seven times between 2009 and 2016, and once on team CrossFit Balance in 2017. Over the course of her career, she overcame both physical and psychological challenges, including narrowly missing the cutoff for the 2015 Games, and recovering from a torn biceps tendon in time to qualify in 2016. After retiring from competition to focus on starting a family, she quickly became pregnant with her now 15-month-old son, Bo, and has embraced what it means to train for longevity and health as a post-partum athlete. Lindy Barber is a former collegiate soccer player who began competing in CrossFit in 2012 after rehabbing a fractured vertebra in her back. She has competed at the CrossFit Games twice as an individual, and has had three podium finishes as a member of Team CrossFit Mayhem Freedom. In Lindys final season, she found herself losing some of her excitement for training as her back injury flared up and she knew that her body was asking for a break. She knew it was time to shift gears with her training to protect her long-term health and to preserve her joy for the sport. The 2019 season marks the first year that Lindy has not been training for the CrossFit Games, and it has been a huge transition for her to figure out what life looks like when not training 6-7 hours per day. I had the chance to sit down with Lindy and Christy during the 2019 CrossFit Games in Madison, WI for a live podcast recording at the Reebok tent. We shared stories about the life and fitness transitions all three of us have undergone over the last few years, and what it looks like to shift from training as a competitive athlete to training for health and longevity.

Dominic DAgostino, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. With a diverse background in neuroscience, pharmacology, nutrition and physiology, Dom brings a unique perspective to the ketogenic diet. He believes it can be applied not just in treating medical conditions but also in contributing to overall health and optimizing human performance. The findings from his research on nutritional ketosis have been utilized by Navy SEALs and NASA, and he recently has been at the forefront of research involving the use of nutritional ketosis as a tool to treat cancer. I had the opportunity to sit down with Dom at the 2019 CrossFit Health Conference in Madison, where he presented on the emerging applications of ketosis. We talked about the basics of the ketogenic diet, how it can fit into the everyday persons lifestyle, and the exciting research hes conducting to learn more about using metabolic therapies in the treatment of cancer.

Josh Bridges is a 6-time CrossFit Games competitor who has been doing CrossFit since 2005. In addition to three first place finishes at the highly competitive California Regional, his top finishes at the CrossFit Games include second in 2011 and fourth in 2014. A former collegiate wrestler and U.S. Navy Seal, Josh has used the lessons hes learned along the way to cultivate his impressive work ethic and mental toughness. He is known and loved for his fiery presence on the competition floor, and for his mantra, "Pay the Man." I had the opportunity to sit down with Josh in front of a live audience at the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games. We chatted about the tools hes using to speed his recovery from a recent knee surgery, his background as a Navy SEAL, what it means to Pay the Man, and his plans for returning to competition.

As the founder of a program that has revolutionized fitness, Greg Glassman is no stranger to controversy. Known to many as simply Coach, he grew up in southern California participating in gymnastics and complemented his training with modalities including weightlifting and cycling. When he later became a trainer, he was kicked out of several globo gyms for employing his unique style of constantly varied, high intensity functional movement before he finally opened the first CrossFit gym in Santa Cruz, CA in 1995. Shortly thereafter, CrossFit.com was created and Greg would post Workouts of the Day, or WODs for athletes from all over the world to complete. Beginning in 2003, CrossFit affiliates began to open and CrossFit experienced exponential growth -- today there are over 15,000 affiliates worldwide. During this period, we witnessed the rise of the CrossFit Games, the ultimate proving grounds for fitness which crowns the Fittest Man and Woman on Earth each year. Most recently, weve witnessed a significant shift in the qualification process for the Games and major changes at CrossFit HQ. Weve also witnessed incredible stories of transformation in the affiliates, with participants losing weight, gaining confidence, and ridding themselves of chronic disease. With the inception of CrossFit Health, CrossFit has turned it's focus towards fighting ever-increasing disease rates and medical costs while also networking CrossFit physicians and educating affiliate owners, coaches, and the general public in an effort to combat corrupted medical science and a tsunami of chronic disease. For his third visit to the podcast, Greg and I sat down just before the 2019 CrossFit Health conference and CrossFit Games in Madison, WI. We discussed the evolution of CrossFit and CrossFit Health, the implications of scientific misconduct in the medical field, and what he sees for the future of CrossFit.

Marcus Filly is a 6-time CrossFit Games athlete, a former medical school student, and the catalyst behind the functional bodybuilding movement. As the owner of Revival Strength, he is passionate about providing training programs to help his clients build strength and endurance without breaking down their bodies. However, Marcus wasn’t always so sure about his path. Following his collegiate athletic career, Marcus entered medical school to pursue what he thought was his intended purpose. Instead, he found that while he appreciated the knowledge and the discipline of his medical training, a voice inside kept telling him he was on the wrong track. After a lot of soul searching, Marcus decided to follow his heart and begin a career in fitness. In doing so, he found a new way to educate and empower people with the tools they need to begin their own pursuit of health and happiness. Marcus and I had a great conversation about the many parallels in our lives, from medical training to the demands of being a competitive athlete. In this episode, we discuss the importance of finding your true purpose, the distinction between functional bodybuilding and other styles of training, and why lifestyle stressors are a huge consideration when it comes to earning intensity in a workout.

Dr. Wayne Jonas is a practicing family physician, an expert in integrative health, and a widely published scientific investigator. In addition to his medical practice, he has served as President, CEO, and Executive Director for Samueli Integrative Health Programs, Director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health, and Director of the Medical Research Fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Dr. Jonas is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Medical Corps of the United States Army and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Drawing on his experience from leading hundreds of research studies, Dr. Jonas authored the book How Healing Works, in which he explains the biology of healing and the science behind the discovery that 80 percent of healing occurs outside of our conventional medical care. His goal is to change the way doctors and patients approach healthcare—away from a disease treatment model to an integrative system that incorporates the best of evidence-based conventional, complementary and self-care approaches. Dr. Jonas’s advice can help us facilitate our own innate ability to heal after both minor and major medical incidents, change how we consume healthcare, and enable us to be more in control of our own health. I first read Dr. Jonas’s book during my own residency in family medicine, and his message really resonated with the way I aspire to practice in my career. I was excited to chat with him recently about the concept of integrative health and how research supports that taking care of the whole person-- mind, body, and spirit-- is imperative for long-term healing.

Neither Feeroozeh Saghafi nor Erin Vandendriessche started CrossFit with the intention of becoming competitors, but over the last several years, both women have slowly worked their way from beginners to up-and-coming Games athletes. Erin Vandendriessche is a former Baldwin Wallace University gymnast and two-time Central Regional athlete, making an appearance on the CTown CrossFit team in 2017, and an individual appearance in 2018. With the changes to the 2019 Games season, Erin made the surprising decision to opt out of the Open, and instead focused on competing at Sanctionals, most notably the Italian Showdown where she topped the podium and earned her ticket to the 2019 CrossFit Games. A former nurse and current nutrition coach, Erin trains out of her husband’s affiliate, Root 18 CrossFit in Medina, OH. Fee Saghafi is a former high school volleyball athlete who started CrossFit as a way to manage her weight and provide direction in the gym while she was in college. After two appearances at the Central Regional (on team CrossFit Mentality in 2017 and as an individual in 2018) she decided to dial in her training and her mindset and commit to her goal of becoming a Games competitor. She finished 24th in the 2019 Open, securing her rookie berth to the CrossFit Games. Fee attended John Carroll University where she earned a degree in Exercise Science and most recently graduated with her Master's in Business Administration. Fee coaches and trains alongside Scott Panchik at CrossFit Mentality in Mentor, OH. Through the years of competing alongside each other in local events, Fee and Erin have grown to become friends in addition to fellow competitors. While they earned their rookie spot at the Games through different avenues, both women have found that embracing a champion mindset has been an integral part of making the leap to becoming one of the best in the world. I caught up with Fee and Erin at CrossFit Mentality to chat about their evolution as athletes, and what tips, habits, and practices they used to qualify for their first CrossFit Games.

Dr. Maude Dull has been active throughout her life, but from middle school through medical training she struggled to maintain a healthy weight, peaking at 240 lbs. As a young doctor specializing in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and working in fast-paced intensive care settings, she used martial arts and then CrossFit to provide an outlet for her stressful work schedule but found her weight wouldn’t budge. Wanting to reach her full potential as an athlete, she enlisted the help of a nutrition coach from Precision Nutrition who focused on changing her habits, and a performance coach who helped her shift her mindset. Maude was finally able to bring her weight to a healthy level, and along the way she learned valuable lessons about the importance of balance in all aspects of life. These days, Maude has pivoted away from adrenaline-seeking work and workouts, and instead enjoys moderation with a challenging job in a Step-Down Unit and workouts scaled to help her remain healthy long-term. I had the pleasure of meeting Maude at a recent CFMDL1 seminar, and was excited to catch up with her at San Francisco CrossFit to share her story of how she changed her habits to overcome obesity, why she made the shift from training for the Open to training for longevity, and what prompted her to join the CrossFit Health movement.

2009 CrossFit Games champion Tanya Wagner has competed in the sport as an individual, on a team, and most recently at the 2019 Rogue Invitational, as a Legend. Over the last ten years, she’s managed to strike a balance between competing, running her affiliate, commentating for the CrossFit Games, and raising her two children. Inspired by the original “CrossFit Girls,” Tanya was a competitor at the second annual CrossFit Games in 2008, where she would narrowly miss a first place victory to Caity Henniger, who has since helped to grow Rogue Fitness into what it is today alongside her husband, Bill. Tanya would come back in 2009 to stand atop the podium and inspire future generations of CrossFit Games athletes. I sat down with Tanya at the 2019 Rogue Invitational to learn more about what it’s like to be one of the original CrossFit champions, and to hear how her approach to training has evolved throughout the many changes in her life.

Dr. Valter Longo is a professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences, and the Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, and the Senior Group Leader of the IFOM Cancer Institute in Milan. His studies focus on the fundamental mechanisms of aging in simple organisms and mice, and how they can be translated to humans. After nearly 25 years of research alongside pioneering scientists, Dr. Longo has applied his extensive knowledge on aging, genetics, nutrition and disease to develop The Longevity Diet. He believes that by following a low-protein pescatarian eating plan combined with periods of a fasting-mimicking diet, one can improve their cellular rejuvenation, increase their resistance to diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and extend their healthy lifespan. I recently caught up with Dr. Longo to learn more about his Five Pillars of Longevity, and how his research has led him to believe that the key to increasing your “youth-span” lies in making long-term, sustainable changes to your nutrition.

Dr. Ken Rictor is the founder, owner and sole physician at Scotland Family Medicine, a Pennsylvania-based family medicine practice using the Direct Primary Care (DPC) model. Dr. Rictor graduated with honors from the University of Maryland Medical School in 1985 and completed his residency at the Washington Hospital in Washington, PA in 1988. Upon the completion of his residency, Dr. Rictor immediately opened his own private practice and enjoyed helping a broad scope of patients as a family physician. Over time, he witnessed the healthcare system making dramatic changes and the role family doctors becoming more limited, with many private practices being bought out by larger hospitals. As insurance contributed to increasing costs, Dr. Rictor fought to keep up with increasing paperwork and overhead, and decreasing time with patients. After 25 years of practice, he made the choice to convert to a Direct Primary Care model in an effort to enhance his patients' experience and reduce overall cost. Since making the switch, he’s noticed an improved relationship with his patients, and his patients have benefited from high-quality, affordable care. I sat down with Dr. Rictor after attending the Hint Summit in San Francisco to learn how he made the choice to switch to Direct Primary Care, the benefits he and his patients enjoy from this model of practice, and some of the commonalities he sees between CrossFit and DPC.

Kara Saunders is a seven-time CrossFit Games veteran with four top-10 finishes under her belt, including 2nd place in 2017 and 4th place in 2018. Growing up as an only child until the age of 13, she naturally found herself turning to sports for entertainment, her favorite being swimming. At 19, a personal trainer introduced her to CrossFit, and Kara’s raw talent, hard work, and discipline quickly led her to success in the sport. Not only is Kara a decorated Games athlete, in 2017, she also became an affiliate owner, opening the doors to CrossFit Kova, in Brisbane, Australia, where she resides with her husband Matt. These days, Kara is taking a different approach to her training- shortly after the 2018 Games, she became pregnant with her first child. We caught up to discuss what it’s like to make the transition from competitive athlete to expectant mother, the training and nutrition practices Kara is applying to foster a healthy pregnancy, and how Kara is drawing from her CrossFit Games experience to balance the stress of being a business owner and first-time mom.

In July 2017, Elizabeth Bradley, MD, stepped into her role as Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. She brought with her a wealth of knowledge and experience as a dietitian, internist, and a certified Functional Medicine physician. Dr. Bradley earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in nutrition from Cornell University and Tufts University, respectively. She started her career as a clinical dietitian at Massachusetts General Hospital, but after 6 years decided she wanted to pursue further training as a physician. She went on to earn her medical degree and complete residency training in Internal Medicine at Dartmouth. After years of practicing Internal Medicine, Dr. Bradley’s passion for nutrition led her to find Functional Medicine and ultimately brought her to the Cleveland Clinic to direct the nation's first academic Center for Functional Medicine. In her role as Medical Director, Dr. Bradley is able to support the advancement of Functional Medicine through research and education while helping patients achieve optimal health through a multi-faceted approach. She has truly come full circle and enjoys practicing as a physician that starts by using the premise that food is medicine. I recently sat down with Dr. Bradley to chat about all things Functional Medicine, from how her own career path led her to where she is today, how the Center for Functional Medicine has evolved over the past 5 years and it's role in bringing a Functional Medicine approach to the mainstream, and how interested practitioners and patients can become involved.

In this episode of Pursuing Health, I chat with two of my good friends and physical therapists, Matt Stevens, DPT and Ryan Summers, DPT, CSCS of Pure Physio. Matt and Ryan share the mindset that physical therapy plays an important role not just in rehab and recovery, but also in optimizing performance. Their approach focuses on one-on-one, individualized attention and includes both corrective exercises to address movement dysfunction and functional training to prevent reoccurring injuries. At their practice in Strongsville, OH, they work with a wide range of clients, from elite endurance and CrossFit Games athletes to weekend warriors. Matt, Ryan and I had a great conversation about the implications of life stressors on training readiness, the need to sometimes lower the intensity, and how everything from manual therapy to mindset can build a hedge against sickness.