The Case for Prevention: Why This ICU Doctor Believes in CrossFit (EP.018)

The CrossFit Podcast

CrossFit LLC

Health & Fitness

4.3 • 757 Ratings

🗓️ 10 June 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng is an ICU doctor in Ottawa who spent the pandemic treating some of the sickest patients in Canada. In this conversation, he explains how his experience in the ICU during COVID changed the course of his life — and set him on a mission to keep people out of his ward.

In his episode, he talks candidly about what it’s like to deliver bad news to families, what we’re getting wrong about chronic illness, and how fitness and strength training save lives. Dr. K is also the author of the book “Prevention Over Prescription” and the host of a podcast by the same name. This episode is a rallying cry for coaches, affiliate owners, and anyone trying to improve the health of their community.

Topics Included

What an ICU doctor actually sees and does daily
Why COVID changed the way he views chronic illness
How strength training impacts patient outcomes
What most doctors get wrong about metabolic syndrome
The case for simple, empowering lifestyle interventions

Resources Mentioned

Community Highlight:Mike and Katelyn run Chalkdust CrossFit in Powell, Ohio — a 10-year affiliate built from grit, loyalty, and a lot of long nights.When their old gym closed, they started over, training a few loyal members in the park before opening a space of their own. In the early days, they slept at the gym just to keep things afloat, coaching late into the night and first thing in the morning.

Now, Chalkdust is known for balance. Most members compete locally and move with sharp technique — but they also show up for “Self-Care Saturdays,” a weekly blend of yoga, breathwork, and reflection.That mix of intensity and recovery has become the heartbeat of their culture.

Mike and Katelyn keep it simple: they just want to help people “be more awesome.”

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

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Never once in medical school to be clear, did they ever say you could reverse type 2 diabetes.
0:06.5	CrossFit folk that are going to a gym or coaching.
0:11.8	This is life-saving shit.
0:14.1	Like full stop.
0:15.1	Let's talk about how to get fit and make it sexy and make it simple for folks.
0:18.9	We got to take the power back.
0:20.2	This is a movement we've got to start.
0:22.1	Let's go.
0:26.8	Hello, everyone.
0:28.6	I'm Denise Thomas and this is the CrossFit podcast where we welcome guests to our
0:33.1	making the world a fitter and healthier place.
0:36.6	And I guest today has spent years providing critical
0:40.1	care in Ottawa's largest ICU. And in this environment, every single moment counts and the
0:48.2	human experience is on full display. Now Dr. Cuo-Kermontang, he's not your typical ICU doctor. And you're going to see
0:57.5	that as you listen to this conversation. And he's going to say things pretty much almost indirectly,
1:03.7	hey guys, I want you to put me out of a job. And what he means by that is he doesn't want to
1:09.2	see you in the ICU.
1:12.3	And it makes sense because his personal mission really is to keep people out of the ICU.
1:20.2	And you're going to hear a lot of stories that he's going to tell us directly from the
1:23.7	ICU and especially at the height of COVID, where now it seems to have shaped his life's
1:29.3	work. And if that wasn't enough, in addition to his day job, Dr. Cuojo has become an incredibly
1:36.2	powerful voice in our joint cause for preventing and reversing chronic disease. Prevention over
	...

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