Tag: CrossFit Podcast Page 1 of 4

Thumbnail image of host Denise Thomas with Text #49 The Viral Teacher Who Tried CrossFit and small screen in screen image of guest Dr. Fatty Acid completing a deadlift at her gym

[Most Played] Everyone’s Favorite Addition to the CrossFit Family: Meet Dr. Fatty Acid

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On February 2, 2026

In The CrossFit Podcast

From now until the end of the 2026 CrossFit Open, presented by Air National Guard, we’re resharing the episodes you all loved the most. Catch a most-played episode every two weeks, right here in your podcast feed. 

Good luck in the Open, and we’ll see you on the leaderboard. Sign up at games.crossfit.com. 

—-

Dr. Fatty Acid, the viral creator behind @When_Nerds_Teach, joins Denise Thomas for a refreshingly honest conversation about finding CrossFit, battling fatty liver disease, navigating Wegovy, and rediscovering strength. A lifelong teacher, she talks about humor, vulnerability, and learning to love movement for what it gives, not how it looks.

Check out the latest content with Dr. Fatty Acid here.

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Quick Update from the CrossFit Podcast Team

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On January 19, 2026

In The CrossFit Podcast

We’re all in on prep for the 2026 CrossFit Open, presented by Air National Guard.

In the meantime, enjoy some of our favorite episodes, dropped in this feed every two weeks. We’ll be back after the Open concludes with fresh content that explores the latest research on a variety of topics in health and fitness with subject matter experts.


Don’t forget to register: games.crossfit.com and we’ll see you on the leaderboard!

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Kelly Starrett with text CROSSFIT IS THE PATH TO LONGEVITY thumbnail

The World Is Finally Ready for Us: Kelly Starrett on CrossFit’s Potential

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On January 12, 2026

In The CrossFit Podcast

Dr. Kelly Starrett joins the CrossFit Podcast to look back on the early days of CrossFit and ahead to what the next 20 years can become. From finding CrossFit through a grainy GIF in the early 2000s to opening one of the first affiliates in the world, Starrett reflects on the ideas that shaped the methodology and the lessons learned through decades of coaching athletes, Olympians, and everyday people.

This conversation explores durability over time, why pain is not a failure but a request for change, and how movement quality, range of motion, and basic strength set the foundation for performance at every age.

Starrett and host Jocelyn Rylee dig into the future of CrossFit, from longevity and conditioning to the irreplaceable value of affiliates as places built around coaching and community. This episode is an honest look at what CrossFit has always been about and what it can become if we apply what we have learned.

Topics Covered

  • The early days of CrossFit and the original affiliate culture
  • Mobility, durability, and reframing pain in training
  • Why youth athletes need movement literacy before specialization
  • Training for sport versus training only for fitness
  • The future of CrossFit and longevity-focused strength and conditioning

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight

Kristin Savage grew up around autoimmune disease. By age 5, she was dealing with joint inflammation, and years later, she was formally diagnosed with lupus.

She found CrossFit in 2012 and later trained and coached at CrossFit Gambit, where she was mentored by Kelly Jackson. Kristin earned her Level 1 and Level 2 Trainer credentials and now has aspirations to pursue her Level 4.

After a severe flare-up forced her to reassess how she trained, Kristin shifted her focus to nutrition, recovery, and scaled training — learning to work in rhythm with her body instead of against it. Within a year, she qualified for Desert City.

Today, Kristin coaches CrossFit in Las Vegas and spends much of her energy helping others navigate training and chronic illness — sharing what she’s learned through experience.

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

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Jocelyn Rylee and Stephane Rochet with text Anti-Dogma and the spirit of n=1 thumbnail

What You Have Wrong About CrossFit’s Recommendations

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On January 5, 2026

In The CrossFit Podcast

CrossFit was born from curiosity, trial and error, and the willingness to test ideas in real time. In this conversation, host Jocelyn Rylee and senior content writer Stephane Rochet revisit the roots of that culture and explore why self-experimentation remains one of the most powerful tools for improving performance, health, and well-being.

They reflect on the early days of nutrition inside CrossFit, the experiments that shaped their own training, and why results-driven thinking cuts through dogma. From zone ratios to carb backloading, fasting, fruit fasts, and the realities of changing needs across life stages, this episode highlights how paying attention, tracking outcomes, and staying open-minded can reshape your relationship with food and training.

Topics Covered

  • The origins of self experimentation within CrossFit culture
  • How to define “what’s working” in training and nutrition
  • Lessons learned from decades of nutrition experiments
  • Adjusting habits across changing life stages
  • Building life skills around food, tracking, and personal agency

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight
Amy and Jim Gay have been part of CrossFit Adaptation for over a decade. Last year, they became the gym’s new owners and quickly faced a challenge.

Located just outside D.C., many members were hit hard by recent federal job cuts. One by one, people were getting laid off and preparing to cancel their memberships.

Amy and Jim didn’t flinch. They told them, “Just keep coming in.”Then a coach had an idea: start a sponsorship program.

Now, members with the means can chip in — either once or monthly — to cover membership costs for others going through tough times. The response has been huge. When things got hard, the community didn’t shrink. It stepped up.

Amy and Jim’s advice to other affiliate owners? Don’t treat your gym like a normal business. The real magic is in the details — staying close, listening, and showing up.

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

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Jocelyn Rylee and Dan Uyemura with Text He's Seen Inside 5,000 CrossFit Gyms and the CrossFit Medical Society Logo

[CFMS SERIES] AI, Community, and the Future of CrossFit Affiliates with Dan Uyemura

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On December 29, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

This marks the tenth and final episode of a special CrossFit Podcast collaboration with the CrossFit Medical Society. 

Dan Uyemura, founder and CEO of PushPress, has a rare vantage point: data from thousands of CrossFit affiliates around the world. In this conversation, he breaks down what separates thriving gyms from struggling ones, why engagement matters more than marketing, and how technology can amplify, not replace, the human experience at the heart of CrossFit.

From the “golden rule” for new members to the psychology behind retention, Dan and host Jocelyn Rylee dig into how affiliate owners can build stronger communities, smarter systems, and more sustainable businesses.

TOPICS INCLUDED

  • The data behind retention: what predicts whether members stay
  • The connection between engagement, referrals, and sales
  • How to onboard new members without making them feel stupid
  • Using technology (and AI) to support, not replace, community

Community Highlight

The FDNY Barbell Club doesn’t just fight fires. They train like their lives depend on it.

Founded in 2019 by firefighter Rick Roman, the department’s official CrossFit team blends competition, camaraderie, and accountability inside a firehouse gym outfitted with ropes, rowers, and barbells.

They push through classic CrossFit workouts, monthly throwdowns, and competitions from local events to the World Police and Fire Games, where Roman and his teammates recently landed on the podium.

For them, every rep has a deeper purpose: staying ready. In full gear, firefighters carry 60 to 130 lb into life-or-death situations, and CrossFit builds the strength, stamina, and grit they need when the alarm bell rings.

“You want to do it right, do it hard, and make sure everyone goes home.”

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com]

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Image of Jocelyn Rylee, Maggie Mullen, and Denise Thomas with text HOLIDAY SPECIAL and snowflakes in the background

Behind the Scenes of the CrossFit Podcast in 2025

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On December 22, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

The CrossFit Podcast team is pulling back the curtain for this special episode. Get a look behind the scenes at what it took to restart the CrossFit Podcast, what we learned the hard way, and the top moments of the show in 2025. 

Spend a little bit of your holiday season with us — Denise Thomas, Jocelyn Rylee, and Maggie Mullen. We hope this episode brings you some holiday cheer, ideas for what to binge next, and a bit of perspective on what matters most.

From all of us to you and your family — both CrossFit and nuclear — happy holidays, and please tell us how 12 Days of Christmas (or whatever WOD you’re hitting) goes. 

Topics Covered

  • Why CrossFit brought the podcast back and what changed in 2025.
  • The turning point episode: Has CrossFit Lost Its Soul With James Hobart.
  • Why we do this podcast – the most meaningful moments.
  • Top five episodes worth revisiting from 2025. 

Episodes Mentioned

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight

CrossFit PolFed RAC exists because one officer, Pierre De Pelsemaeker-Godart, kept sharing something he cared about.

In 2010, when his team in the Brussels Federal Judicial Police moved into an unfinished government building, Pierre had just discovered CrossFit. With no gym, no equipment, and no dedicated space, he organized workouts wherever he could—outside in the park, inside the office, and eventually in an empty underground concrete room.

Pierre led his colleagues in building a training space from scratch using pallets, cardboard, and bodyweight movements. More officers joined because the workouts were simple, consistent, and open to anyone.

By 2014, a small sports room became their home base. They pooled money for second-hand equipment, competed in the CrossFit Open, and officially founded the nonprofit CrossFit PolFed RAC.

Years later, the affiliate is still active, serving dozens of members, because one person believed training together could change his workplace — and did the work to make it real.

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com].

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Mark England and Denise Thomas with the text The Secret Power of Words Thumbnail

How to Get Out of Your Own Way with Mark England

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On December 15, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

In this episode, Denise Thomas sits down with Mark England, co-founder of Enlifted Coaching, to unpack the real meaning of “mindset,” not as a buzzword, but as the story you tell yourself.

A former MMA fighter turned educator, Mark shares how injuries and failure led him to discover transformational wordsmithing: the process of changing your internal dialogue to change your life. He walks through practical tools that anyone, especially coaches and athletes, can use to rewrite limiting stories, calm their nervous system, and reclaim control through language and breath.

This one’s part conversation, part masterclass. Grab a pen.

TOPICS INCLUDED

  • The link between words, breath, and awareness
  • How victim mentality is formed and how to dismantle it
  • The “soft talk” words that cause indecision and stress
  • Real-time application: Denise and Mark’s live exercise on rewriting limiting beliefs

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Community Highlight

After two car accidents and a diagnosis of early-stage Parkinson’s, Becky Johnson refused to give up.

Just days after spine surgery, she walked into CrossFit Loco Ocho — neck brace and all — to do her version of Murph.

“Having a strong baseline of fitness prepares you for whatever life throws your way,” she says.

“This is the sickness-wellness-fitness continuum in action. I got a devastating diagnosis, but I already had the antidote.”

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com].

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Jocelyn Rylee and Matteo Pozzati with Text Fitness is Health not a Luxury and the CrossFit Medical Society logo thumbnail

[CFMS SERIES] The Decline of Health in Italy and How to Stop It

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On December 8, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

This marks the ninth episode of a special CrossFit Podcast collaboration with the CrossFit Medical Society. 

Italy once held one of the lowest obesity rates in the developed world, but that’s changing fast. CrossFit Country Manager and longtime affiliate owner Matteo Pozzati joins the show to talk about the cultural shift in Italy, the rise of chronic disease, and how CrossFit is stepping in to rebuild true health from the ground up.

Matteo shares his journey from coaching in Venice to teaching hospital workers how to move safely, leading Italy’s affiliate community, and fighting to preserve CrossFit’s identity amid the noise of mainstream fitness.

He and host Jocelyn Rylee discuss why elite coaching matters, how education is the bridge to better health, and what it’ll take to connect CrossFit affiliates and healthcare systems worldwide.

Topics Covered

  • The decline of the Mediterranean diet and rise of chronic disease in Italy
  • Bringing CrossFit methodology into hospitals and health care education
  • Building bridges between affiliates and medical professionals
  • Preserving CrossFit’s identity and elite coaching standards
  • Nutrition, culture, and the return to traditional food practices
  • The global challenge of connecting CrossFit to health systems

Community Highlight

For nearly two decades, Erin Richter has been fighting for health on the front lines — and refusing to give up.

She opened CrossFit Old School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 2008, staying there, as she put it, “because this was the area that needed it the most.”

Today, her affiliate serves kids as young as 3 and adults in their 80s. She partners with addiction recovery centers, supports people with disabilities, and helps those told they’d never squat again find their strength.

She’s built nonprofits, raised thousands for local causes, and worked with the state to bring CrossFit into public schools.

Erin doesn’t chase PRs or the spotlight, just impact. In a city dubbed the “Obesity Capital of the U.S.,” she’s quietly changing lives every day.

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com].

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Jocelyn Rylee and Maggie Mullen with text Fat Shaming or Body Positivity?! and the CrossFit Medical Society logo thumbnail

Rethinking Body Image and Nutrition in CrossFit

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On December 1, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

This marks the eighth episode of a special CrossFit Podcast collaboration with the CrossFit Medical Society. 

CrossFit Podcast producer Maggie Mullen steps out from backstage for a raw, unfiltered conversation about body image, nutrition, and the culture of CrossFit. From her early days as a competitor and fueling to perform, to finding balance, Maggie opens up about food neurosis, body dysmorphia, and an alternative view of diet culture.

This episode digs into the tension between discipline and obsession, aesthetics and health, and what it really means to chase your best self inside the gym and out.

TOPICS INCLUDED

  • How CrossFit reshaped Maggie’s relationship with food and body image
  • Body positivity vs. fat shaming — and finding a “third way”
  • The role of CrossFit in building self-awareness and resilience
  • CrossFit as moving meditation and mental health therapy

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Community Highlight

Duncan Seawell is a clinical psychologist and the president of Forging Youth Resilience (FYR), a nonprofit helping gyms open their doors to kids who otherwise couldn’t access CrossFit.

He launched a Steve’s Club chapter in Denver in 2015 and helped shape FYR into what it is today: a network of 20 active clubs reaching thousands of youth, from foster care to incarceration to kids just trying to find their place.

FYR partners with schools, gyms, and foster homes to deliver trauma-informed CrossFit, covering coaching, transportation, and nutrition. But its heart is FYR Camp, a week-long mountain retreat where kids train, hike, and sit in nightly circles to share their stories.

“It’s sort of a group therapy light context,” Duncan says. “One kid says, ‘I’ve been through this,’ and another says, ‘Me too.’ The power of that connection is amazing.”

As Duncan puts it: “Kids are growing unhealthier in all kinds of ways — physical, mental, metabolic. The solution is prevention. Our job is to make sure no kid is kept out of a gym because of money.”

Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com].

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Dr. Nick and Jocelyn Rylee images with text "DO YOU PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH?" thumbnail

Health Advice From The Fittest Doc

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On November 24, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

Dr. Nick (aka The Fittest Doc) joins Jocelyn Rylee to unpack how CrossFit shaped his approach to medicine. They dig into lifestyle versus pharmaceuticals, the role of identity in lasting change, and why doctors need to prioritize their own health.

Topics Covered

  • How CrossFit reshaped Dr. Nick’s discipline and medical practice
  • Lifestyle-first vs. pharma-first approaches to chronic disease
  • Performance as a predictor of future health
  • Building credibility: Should doctors practice what they preach?
  • The role of affiliates in bridging healthcare and community

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight

The Phoenix is built on one idea: recovery is stronger in community.

Since 2006, they’ve reached nearly a million people impacted by substance use and mental health challenges — and CrossFit has become their most popular program. More than 100,000 people have found sobriety and support through Phoenix CrossFit classes, with 83% staying sober beyond the three-month mark.

We spoke with Gavin Young, a Phoenix leader and longtime CrossFit athlete in recovery, who shared how daily progress in training — one more rep, one more pound, one more second — becomes a cornerstone in rebuilding lives.

From Boston to Denver to Philadelphia, The Phoenix is proving what’s possible when fitness meets recovery: a resilient community built on hope, accountability, and shared struggle — one workout at a time.


Know someone you think deserves to be highlighted? Nominate them here.

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com]

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