Health Advice From The Fittest Doc
The CrossFit Podcast
CrossFit LLC
4.3 • 757 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2025
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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
- CrossFit for Health Summit
- Dr. Nick’s Website
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.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Is it acceptable for a doctor who is putting themselves in front of patients and saying, |
| 0:04.2 | I am the expertise in health, to not have health themselves? |
| 0:06.7 | It's essentially a sick population attempting to treat a sick population. |
| 0:11.3 | Where does I go in the long term? |
| 0:13.1 | Most patients are not going to take you seriously when you, as a medical doctor, do not |
| 0:18.1 | practice what you preach. |
| 0:19.1 | I think you said your choices are writing checks, |
| 0:21.0 | your future self will have to cash. |
| 0:22.6 | I believe every day you should be moving. |
| 0:25.2 | I'm not saying that every day you need to be pushing high intensity. |
| 0:28.2 | I think that's stupid. |
| 0:29.2 | However, that does not preclude you getting in movement. |
| 1:13.9 | Dr. Nick, welcome to the CrossFit podcast. You're an MD known on the interwebs as the fittest doc, and you've dedicated your life to the practice of medicine of challenging your patients to not just take pills, but to take ownership of their health. I found a quote you had put on the internet. You said, you do not go to the gym to get fit. You go to the gym to keep your entire life from falling apart. Tell me what you mean by that. It's something that I'm sure, you know, I'm sure that's a quote you resonate with, Jocelyn. And when I obviously articulated that in a place, it came to me because that's something I strongly resonate with. |
| 1:15.3 | I think that, so I've been cross-fitting now since 2010. |
| 1:19.9 | And one thing that I can tell you without any doubt is that since 2010, I've absolutely |
| 1:26.9 | changed various elements of my life to become better at the |
| 1:33.9 | gym and just a better person overall as it pertains to health, fitness, wellness, all of the things, |
| 1:39.9 | right? So if I were to, you know, dig into that deeper, I don't drink alcohol. |
| 1:45.0 | And it's not that I can to drink alcohol. |
| 1:47.0 | In fact, tonight I'm going out to a bar to celebrate Travis's birthday, a friend of mine, he's from my gym, to celebrate his birthday. |
| 1:56.0 | I will probably have a shot. I might have a drink. |
| 2:00.0 | However, if you are able to like, you know, |
... |
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