Tag: CrossFit Podcast Page 2 of 5

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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Jocelyn Rylee and Dave Durante with text WHERE CROSSFIT AND THE OLYMPICS COLLIDE and the CrossFit MEdical Society logo podcast thumbnail

[CFMS SERIES] Dave Durante on Life After the Olympics (EP. 053)

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On November 17, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

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

Olympian and Power Monkey Fitness co-founder Dave Durante joins the CrossFit Podcast to talk about the transition from elite competition to lifelong fitness. After representing the U.S. in gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dave discovered CrossFit, and it changed his life.

He shares how CrossFit helped him stay healthy and strong beyond his competitive years, the story behind Power Monkey Camp, and why gymnastics remains one of the best foundations for athleticism at any age.

TOPICS INCLUDED

  • Life after elite sport: finding purpose and health beyond competition
  • How CrossFit reignited Dave’s passion for training
  • The creation and evolution of Power Monkey Camp
  • Building bridges between gymnastics and CrossFit
  • The importance of play, curiosity, and community in adult fitness
  • Why gymnastics is the ultimate foundation for all sports

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Community Highlight

After two decades studying cancer genetics, Dr. Jennifer Beebe-Dimmer wanted to give patients something they could act on today. That’s how the CAPABLE program was born, a free, 12-week, CrossFit-based intervention for cancer survivors.

Coached by Level 1 trainers, participants train three times a week and complete pre- and post-testing for strength, conditioning, and biomarkers. Since 2019, more than 275 people have gone through the program, most of whom had never done anything like it before.

The results speak for themselves: significant improvements in quality of life, body composition, sleep, and A1C, with cognitive function up next.

Beebe-Dimmer calls CrossFit the “secret sauce,” not just for the workouts, but for the coaching and community that keep people coming back.“

When I look back at my career, this will be the most meaningful thing I’ve done.”

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

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com] or complete our survey here.

Join us LIVE every Thursday at 10 a.m. If you love this podcast, please drop us a rating and review, and share it with everyone you love.

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Images of Denise Thomas and Sara WIlkinson with text A DIFFERENT LOOK AT CHAD1000X thumbnail

Sara Wilkinson: “Grief Is Love With Nowhere to Go” (EP. 051)

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On November 10, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

You’ve probably heard of the workout CHAD1000X (1,000 weighted step-ups for time) and The Step Up Foundation – the organization using fitness to raise awareness for mental health and veteran suicide prevention. 

In this episode, we get to know the selfless leader behind both: Sara Wilkinson. After losing her husband, Navy SEAL Chad Wilkinson, to suicide in 2018, Sara turned grief into purpose, creating a global movement that’s brought thousands together each year to honor his legacy and support others who are struggling.

She opens up about what it means to carry grief, how community heals, and the importance of looking people in the eye and asking, “How are you, really?”

Topics Included

  • The story behind Chad1000X and its growth into a global movement
  • How Sara transformed grief into purpose through The Step Up Foundation
  • Compassion, resilience, and the power of community in healing
  • Suicide awareness, mental health, and the language we use around loss
  • The realities of military life, brain injury (CTE), and post-service transition
  • The importance of small acts of kindness and connection

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight

Cory and Sara Fulana don’t just run two gyms — they run on purpose.

At Silk City CrossFit and CrossFit Hartford, service is part of the workout. Every month, they rally their community for something bigger — suicide awareness events with Uplift, women’s WODs supporting local female-owned businesses, Toys for Tots drives, marathon rows for the Boys and Girls Club, and Hero WODs that honor those who have served.

Their question is always the same: How can we give back?

Because for Cory and Sara, CrossFit isn’t just about fitness — it’s about using strength to serve others.

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

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com] or complete our survey here.

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James Hobart, Don Faul, Zia Rohrbaugh with text CATCHING UP WITH DON AND ZIA LIVE PODCAST thumbnail

[LIVE] The Latest From CrossFit’s CEO and A Top Affiliate Owner (EP. 052)

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On November 8, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

CrossFit CEO Don Faul and Affiliate Council Chair Zia Rohrbaugh join host James Hobart for a pulse check on what’s happening across the company and the community. They discuss the role of CrossFit HQ and CrossFit affiliates, the importance of the CrossFit brand for affiliates, and how to support international communities.

Stay till the end to hear from special guests Troy Peterson of ValorFit and Mike Egan, as they preview their plans for Veterans Day. 

Support Mike in his effort to break a world record and raise money for ValorFit HERE.

Let us know what you think –> podcasts@crossfit.com

Follow us on YouTube to join us every Thursday at 10 am PT.

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Nicole Carroll, Denise Thomas, and Craig Howard with text FORGING ELITE FITNESS IS BACK LIVE PODCAST thumbnail

[LIVE] Understanding the Return to Forging Elite Fitness® (EP. 048)

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On November 7, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

“Forging Elite Fitness®” has been part of the CrossFit brand since 2003. And now, it’s representing CrossFit front and center once again after a few years of lurking behind the scenes. But what does it really mean? And what doesn’t it mean? And why are we bringing it back? 

In this show, Denise Thomas is joined by Nicole Carroll, Craig Howard, and Jocelyn Rylee to unpack the phrase that debuted its revival tour this week in our new “Forging Elite Fitness” video and accompanying article. They’ll talk about where the misunderstanding often lies: Is it only about Games athletes? Is “elite” too aggressive? Or does it perfectly capture what CrossFit does for anyone who walks through the door, from grandparents to Games competitors?

Let us know what you think –> podcasts@crossfit.com

Follow us on YouTube to join us every Thursday at 10 am PT.

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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

The Story Behind the Viral @When_Nerds_Teach – Meet Dr. Fatty Acid (EP. 049)

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On November 3, 2025

In The CrossFit Podcast

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.

Topics Included

  • Discovering CrossFit as a total beginner and overcoming intimidation
  • Balancing modern medicine (Wegovy) with lifestyle change
  • Teaching, burnout, and how CrossFit helps with decision fatigue
  • Managing body image, binge eating, and food anxiety

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight

At just 16, Harrison Kennedy is already competing at the highest levels of CrossFit, but his story is about more than training.

After facing mental health struggles, Harrison found purpose again at CrossFit Delta Fox in northern England, a gym partnered with The 180 Project, which helps people rebuild their lives after prison, addiction, or trauma.

Now he’s giving back, coaching younger athletes and showing them the same thing CrossFit showed him: that community and hard work can change everything.

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

Share Your Thoughts: Email us [podcasts@crossfit.com] or complete our survey here.

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