Pursuing Health

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.

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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.

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**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

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 men of the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games Demo Team.

Matt Chan is a 6-time CrossFit Games athlete, competing every year from 2008-2013. He took the 2014 season off in order to rehab his back, and after suffering a serious injury while mountain biking he came back to finish in 9th at the 2015 South Regional. Matt lives in Boulder, CO with his wife, CrossFit Games commentator, Cherie Chan. They are both known in the CrossFit community for their roles on CrossFit Seminar Staff, application of the Zone diet, and using their fitness to learn and play new sports outdoors.

Zach Forrest is a 3-time CrossFit Games athlete and former Navy SEAL. He lives in Los Vegas, NV where he owns CrossFit Max Effort with his wife Lindsey. This year, he placed 10th at the South Regional. Zach is also a member of the CrossFit Seminar Staff.

Paul Tremblay competed with his team L’Usine CrossFit Ottawa at the CrossFit Games in 2012 and then went on to qualify as an individual in 2014. He made an impressive showing with Team Canada at the 2014 CrossFit Invitational, and he placed 7th this year at the East Regional. Paul is also a member of the CrossFit Seminar Staff.

Hillary Froning and Ashley Khalipa are the better halves of Rich Froning, 4-time Fittest Man on Earth, and Jason Khalipa, 2008 CrossFit Games Champion and multiple-time podium finisher. This year both men decided to forgo the individual competition in order to compete in the team division of the CrossFit Games.

In this episode, I sit down with Hillary and Ashley, who both met their husbands before they started CrossFit, to hear about the impact CrossFit has had on them personally and their families. They discuss how their own relationships with exercise have evolved and what CrossFit means to them, the CrossFit Games aside.

Lindsey Smith was a three-sport Division 1 college athlete (Soccer, Track and Field, and Basketball) at DePaul University and then went on to compete in the CrossFit Games every year from 2009-2012. She narrowly missed qualifying for her fifth appearance in 2013, and took the 2014 season off to give birth to her second daughter.

She now lives in Columbus, OH where she is the Athletic Director of the Wellington School and raises her two young girls along with her husband Web. She also continues to work on weekends as a long-time member of the Level 1 Seminar staff, and on top of all that, she is pursuing her MBA. Lindsey has always been an inspiration to me for her competitive drive, and the way she is able to juggle and prioritize so many different areas of her life. Here she talks about what drives her to take on so much, and how she manages to do it all!

http://youtu.be/ZD61aqVRm38