Pursuing Health

In this episode, I sit down with Michelle Mitchell, a Cleveland-based accountant, mom, and member of The Bar CrossFit in Eastlake, OH. Michelle shares her incredible story about how exercise and CrossFit have changed her life after a struggle with fibromyalgia syndrome that spanned nearly two decades. She discusses the onset of her symptoms at age 16, a 14-year, painful struggle to find a diagnosis, and her eventual full recovery with exercise. Her story is truly inspiring and she shares take-aways that we can all learn from and apply to our own lives and struggles. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. If you or someone you know has an inspiring story about using lifestyle to overcome disease, please share by emailing info@juliefoucher.com. We will continue to feature stories like this in the future! Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

In this episode, I sit down with 4-time CrossFit Games competitor Scott Panchik and his father Dave to discuss their affiliate, CrossFit Mentality. Scott, along with his siblings, has always been very active and played football at the University of Mount Union where he studied Health and Physical Education. There he was on two National Championship-winning teams and earned Academic All-American honors. He then went on to teach health and physical education at Mentor High School where he also ran the school’s strength and conditioning program and coached wrestling and football. It was during this time that his father Dave introduced him to CrossFit and he began training for the CrossFit Games. He placed 4th at the Games in 2012 and 2013, 5th in 2014, and took 6th place in 2015 despite battling a serious foot injury. A couple of years ago, Dave made the decision to retire from teaching Elementary School and move from Pittsburgh, PA to Mentor, Ohio with the rest of the family to open a CrossFit affiliate with Scott. Since that time the Panchik family has been working together to build CrossFit Mentality into a thriving and successful affiliate. In this episode we discuss the Panchiks' background in athletics, their introduction to CrossFit, and their experience running their affiliate, CrossFit Mentality. We also discuss our recent foot injuries, how Scott's injury impacted him at the 2015 CrossFit Games, and what we have all learned through the recovery process. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. If you or someone you know has an inspiring story about using lifestyle to overcome disease, please share by emailing info@juliefoucher.com. We will continue to feature stories like this in the future! Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

In this episode, I sit down with Juliet and Kelly Starrett to discuss their non-profit organization, Stand Up Kids. Kelly and Juliet founded San Francisco CrossFit in 2005. While Juliet worked as an attorney and ran the business, Kelly coached and ran his physical therapy practice there. Kelly developed the CrossFit Movement and Mobility course and began teaching all over the world. Together, they founded MobilityWOD.com as a way to make this education more accessible. Kelly has consulted and worked with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, professional soccer, major university athletic programs, and elite military groups. His book, Becoming A Supple Leopard, was published in 2013 and become a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestseller, and his second book Ready to Run released in 2014 also made the New York Times Bestseller list. Juliet and Kelly have two young girls, Georgia and Caroline, and after observing the kids at their Elementary School, they created and launched StandUpKids.org, a non-profit and educational platform with a goal of bringing standing desks to all public school children in the US. In this episode they discuss their motivation for starting Stand Up Kids, some of the data around the impact standing can have, and some tips that parents can use at home to help prevent their kids from developing poor habits early on. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. If you or someone you know has an inspiring story about using lifestyle to overcome disease, please share by emailing info@juliefoucher.com. We will continue to feature stories like this in the future! Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

In his 20's Pete Katz was an active, healthy guy - he competed in triathlons, was a vegetarian, and at one point even ran a health food store. A knee injury, a demanding job, and family life eventually took over and he found himself overweight and with a growing list of diagnoses and medications. The threat of having to take an injectable medication for his type 2 diabetes was the last straw, and Pete made dramatic lifestyle changes by starting a Paleo diet and joining a local CrossFit affiliate. I first met Pete in his primary care physician Dr. Isaacson's office as a second year medical student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. In this episode of Pursuing Health, Pete, Dr. Isaacson, and I sit down to discuss Pete's journey back to health. We discuss his background and initial health decline, his frustration with various diet and exercise programs that were short lived, and why he has found Paleo and CrossFit to work so well for him. We also talk about the dramatic improvements in his health and quality of life that have resulted from these lifestyle changes. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. If you or someone you know has an inspiring story about using lifestyle to overcome disease, please share by emailing info@juliefoucher.com. We will continue to feature stories like this in the future! Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

Lewis Howes is a former two-sport collegiate athlete and professional football player. He suffered a career-ending injury that sent him on a search for a new vision and purpose in his life. After starting several successful online businesses and earning a spot on the US National Handball team, he began his podcast, The School of Greatness. On this show he interviews world-class individuals from all walks of life, uncovering their stories and what has led them to achieve greatness. His guests have included individuals such as Bryan Clay, Anthony Robbins, and Julianne Hough. He compiles lessons learned from these individuals in his recently published book, The School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy, which has quickly gained popularity and is earned a place on the New York Times Bestseller list. In this episode, we talk about some of the adversity that Lewis has overcome, how he started his podcast, the inspiration for his current book, and his specific process for establishing a vision and goals. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

Camille and I both began our Crossfit Games journeys in 2010, and she has competed every year since, ultimately earning the title of “Fittest Woman on Earth” in 2014. In addition to training for and competing in the CrossFit Games, she holds a spot on the Canadian National Olympic Weightlifting team. Camille is also finishing her Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, and she serves as a trainer on the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar staff. In this episode, we sit down to discuss her reflections on 2015 and how she is approaching the 2016 season, our mutual experiences with school while training for the CrossFit Games and how we hope to use our respective educations in the future, and the impact of CrossFit on body image and self confidence in women. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

A Denmark native, Umahro Cadogan is an adjunct professor of Nutrition and Functional Medicine at the University of Western States. He also works directly with individuals and groups including professional athletes and military as a nutritional therapist, and he is a well-known author, chef, and lecturer on the topics of nutrition and functional medicine in Denmark and around the world. In Part 1 of this episode, I sat down with Umahro at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games to discuss his story and his general approach to nutrition. Here in Part 2, we’ll talk about his nutrition advice for athletes, as well as for supporting the body while recovering from injury. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

A Denmark native, Umahro Cadogan is an adjunct professor of Nutrition and Functional Medicine at the University of Western States. He also works directly with individuals and groups including professional athletes and military as a nutritional therapist, and he is a well-known author, chef, and lecturer on the topics of nutrition and functional medicine in Denmark and around the world. In this episode, I sit down with Umahro at the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games to discuss his story and his general approach to nutrition. In part 2 of this episode, we’ll talk about his nutrition advice for athletes, as well as for supporting the body while recovering from injury. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth. Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.

This past week I released my training program through Beyond the Whiteboard: TRAIN with Julie Foucher. This year, I am making the transition from training for the CrossFit Games to training for life. Even thought I am going to be incredibly busy with medical school, I still want to maintain a high level of fitness. Thus, TRAIN was born: 1 hour in the gym per day, 5 days per week, fully scheduled out for you and jam-packed to build a solid foundation of GPP and proficiency in the full gamut of weightlifting, gymnastics, and monostructural skills. I'm opening this program up to anyone who wants to join me as a virtual training partner through Beyond the Whiteboard. There, you will be able to see my posts for each workout and I will also be able to see and comment on your scores to follow your progress. In this episode I discuss my motivation for creating this program, how it will work, and some of the details of the programming. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, leave a review there, and continue the conversation with #JFHealth. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth.

Dan Bailey is a 5-time CrossFit Games competitor, never finishing outside the top 10 at the Games and most recently placing 4th at the 2015 CrossFit Games. Dan has a background as a collegiate sprinter at Ohio University and he holds degrees in Education and Strength and Conditioning. He currently resides on a boat in San Diego despite my best efforts to convince him to move back to Ohio. In this episode, Dan fills us in on what he’s been up to since the Games, his plans for the upcoming year, and how you can train with him this year through his program on Beyond the Whiteboard. (http://btwb.com/danbailey) Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, leave a review there, and continue the conversation with #JFHealth. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth.

Jenny LaBaw is a 2-time Reebok CrossFit Games athlete, finishing 6th overall in 2011 and taking 1st in the 2012 Northern California Regional. In 2013 she inspired the CrossFit community by completing the CrossFit Games Open workouts each week despite having a broken foot. Jenny has been an athlete her entire life, playing collegiate soccer and track and field, and she is also a very talented trainer, helping individuals to reach their fitness goals, big and small, and ultimately lead healthier lives. Few people knew that Jenny had epilepsy until she released a video in 2012 about her struggle. While she was nervous to talk about it at first, she was overwhelmed by the support of the CrossFit community and the number of people who reached out to her in a similar situation. This year, she has decided to follow her heart and do something BIG to improve epilepsy research and education. Starting September 19th, she will begin a one-month, 500-mile run across the Colorado Rocky Mountains, stopping at various CrossFit affiliates along the way to connect with the community and guest coach some classes. In this episode, we discuss Jenny's history with epilepsy and how leading a healthy lifestyle, along with finding the appropriate medications, has helped her to control her seizures, as well as the details of her upcoming endeavor to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation, Move Mountains. You can follow Jenny's journey and donate to her cause at www.labawlife.com. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth!

You asked for it, so here is my first Q+A-style episode where I discuss topics listeners have submitted. In this episode, I discuss my decision to pursue a career in medicine and how CrossFit has influenced my direction, my approach to balancing medical school and CrossFit Games competition, and how I view the difference between training for the CrossFit Games and training for health and longevity with CrossFit. I also answer the three questions I ask all my guests at the end of the episode. If you like what you hear, please remember to subscribe and rate Pursuing Health in iTunes, and continue to give feedback using #JFHealth.

Chris Hinshaw has an extensive endurance background as an all american swimmer and professional triathlete with multiple podium finishes at the Ironman World Championships. Chris started CrossFit about 6 years ago as a way to regain his own functionality, and he has done an amazing job of bringing his extensive knowledge and coaching abilities from the endurance world into CrossFit. He is the head coach for the NorCal CrossFit Endurance program which has 50+ members. He also shares his methodology in his aerobic capacity seminar and through online programming for individuals and gyms at aerobiccapacity.com where he has over 400 members. He coached and/or programmed for multiple teams and individuals at the 2015 CrossFit Games including CrossFit Mayhem Freedom, UTE CrossFit, NorCal CrossFit, and Kinnick. He personally coaches 23 games individual athletes, including 4 individual podium finishers at the 2015 CrossFit Games, and 9 podium finishers within the past 3 years. He also dedicates time working with adaptive athletes such as Stephanie Hammerman and Kevin Ogar. In this episode, we sit down to discuss Chris's own journey of regaining functionality through CrossFit and how his gratitude for what CrossFit has done for him drives him to give back help make athletes better through his endurance programming and coaching. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth!

**Sorry for the poor audio quality, we had an issue with Dr. Hyman's mic. Dr. Hyman is the founder and medical director of the UltraWellness Center, Chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine, and Director of the Center for Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He is also an 8-time New York Times bestselling author. He is dedicated to tackling the root causes of chronic disease by harnessing the power of Functional Medicine to transform healthcare. He works every day to empower people, organizations, and communities to heal their bodies and minds, and improve our social and economic resilience. I first met Dr. Hyman at the Cleveland Clinic where I attend medical school. I had become frustrated with certain aspects of medicine during my early medical training, but the more I learn about Functional Medicine, the more I believe this is the medicine of the future. From my vantage point, Functional Medicine is creating a revolution in medicine much like CrossFit has in fitness. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Hyman to discuss the basics of Functional Medicine, how he came to practice this way, what he is working on at the Cleveland Clinic, and the importance of community in creating health. Please SUBSCRIBE and RATE on iTunes, and share your feedback in the comments or using #JFHealth!

Each year the CrossFit Games Demo Team is tasked with testing and demonstrating many of the workouts you see during the CrossFit Games competition. I had the opportunity to spend the week of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games with this talented group of individuals: Matt Chan, Zach Forrest, Paul Tremblay, Jennifer Smith, Christy Adkins, and Talayna Fortunato. In this bonus episode, I sit down with the three women of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games Demo Team. Christy Adkins is a 6-time CrossFit Games athlete, competing every year from 2009-2014 and finishing as high as 6th place. This season she narrowly missed her 7th trip to the Games, placing 6th in the Atlantic Regional. An east coast native, Christy has recently moved to San Diego for a few months as she trains for 2016. Jennifer Smith competed with CrossFit Maximus in the CrossFit Games team competition twice before qualifying as an individual in 2013. She also narrowly missed qualifying this year from the very competitive East Regional. She currently lives in Canton, MA and works as a trainer at Reebok CrossFit One. Talayna Fortunato is a three-time CrossFit Games competitor with her highest finish being 3rd in 2012. She took the 2015 season off in order to have surgery on her ankle and is now training for 2016. She also works as a physical therapist in Naples, FL