November Newsletter
We feel it too:
Over the last few weeks, since Open Enrollment began in the U.S., our CommunityCare team has had more conversations with affiliate owners and coaches than at any other point this year. The tone is the same everywhere: people are scrambling to make sense of exploding premiums and collapsing coverage. We’ve spoken with an L2 coach whose main employer that offers insurance had their amount jump to $2,600 per month for a family of three, paired with a $24,000 deductible. We’ve heard from individuals who used to pay under $200/month with ACA subsidies, only to see their premiums reset to over $1,000/month for 2025. These aren’t outliers, they’re becoming the norm. And yet, as overwhelming as the financial burden is, this moment is about something much bigger than the money.
This past weekend at the Midwest Affiliate Gathering in Cleveland, OH, we had the opportunity to spend time with Greg Glassman. In classic Greg fashion, he reminded us—succinctly and powerfully—of what Big Soda has always been willing to do to protect its interests. And if you zoom out, it becomes impossible not to see the parallel: the same kind of systemic, coordinated protectionism exists in the health insurance system.
The dysfunction isn’t accidental. It’s structural.
As we highlight in the upcoming Health Integration Guide (releasing in January), our course on Explaining Insurance starts with a simple truth:
What Insurance Really Is
Insurance is a tool for managing uncertainty. It works by pooling risk: many people contribute small, predictable payments to protect against large, unpredictable losses. The model functions when the events being insured are rare and catastrophic—a house fire, a car crash, a serious illness. The premiums of the many cover the expenses of the few. When the event becomes common or predictable, the math breaks.
In health care, that’s exactly what happened. Instead of protecting against catastrophe, insurance now pays for routine maintenance—checkups, prescriptions, and procedures that everyone expects to use. As John Cochrane (2013) explains, the U.S. moved from insurance to prepayment. The result was a system in which prices disappeared, incentives distorted, and administrative layers multiplied.
The same dynamic exists in other nations, though it’s disguised by public funding. When citizens expect their health systems to cover every expense, the principle of risk pooling gives way to entitlement, and costs escalate faster than innovation can offset them.
This is why people are flocking to calls with us and with the CommunityCare team—not just because the premiums have become unaffordable, but because the veil is lifting. People are realizing the system was never designed to serve them, and that waiting for it to course-correct is not a viable strategy.
The affiliate community has always been at its best in these inflection points. We don’t wait. We build. We lead. And now more than ever, affiliates are stepping forward to become the health hubs their communities desperately need.
The conversations we’ve had these past few weeks only reinforce what we already know: the future of health travels through the CrossFit affiliate.
The Health Integration Summit — February 2026 | San Diego, CA: Early registration discount ends November 30
We’re now 60% full for the 2026 Health Integration Summit, where CrossFit affiliates, healthcare providers, and community leaders will unite to define the next era of community-based medicine. This is where we turn philosophy into practice—where health freedom becomes structure, and affiliates become health hubs.
The Summit is the culmination of the upcoming Health Integration Guide, releasing in January and serving as the prerequisite for the course. This comprehensive text lays the foundation for how affiliates, physicians, and Health Advocates can operate together—bridging the gap between fitness and medicine to forge true preventative care.
From “David and the Goliaths: The Three-Headed Monster That Ate American Health”
We are living inside a battle between Davids and Goliaths. But this time, the Goliaths aren’t made of flesh and armor—they’re systems: vast, soulless conglomerates of Big Food, Big Pharma, and the medical-industrial complex, all chained together by the invisible hands of insurance. Together they form a three-headed monster that feeds on human potential and sells it back to us as “healthcare.” It manufactures sickness, monetizes survival, and manipulates trust, turning both patients and providers into pawns in a game rigged for profit. This monster is cunning; it doesn’t roar, it whispers. It disguises itself as convenience, care, and coverage while it quietly drains our capacity to live freely and fully. And yet, standing small but unshakable in its shadow is the modern David—the CrossFit affiliate. Chalk-covered, scrappy, and fiercely human, the affiliate isn’t just a gym; it’s a rebellion. It’s where people reclaim what was stolen from them by a system that profits from decline. It’s where movement becomes medicine, and community becomes cure. Against the corporate giants that commodify illness, the affiliate stands for autonomy, truth, and human strength. And though the Goliaths loom large, they have one fatal flaw: they cannot compete with a community that refuses to surrender its agency.
Inside the Health Integration Guide — Coursework Overview
Every module builds on the CrossFit methodology: measurable, observable, repeatable. The Guide bridges science with application—giving affiliates, providers, and Health Advocates the framework to put medicine back in the hands of the community.
Explaining Insurance:
A breakdown of how the medical-industrial complex profits from inefficiency—and why insurance literacy is the new health literacy.
Defining the Affiliate as a Health Home:
Learn how to structure the affiliate as a hub for health—linking movement, monitoring, and mentorship under one roof.
Biomarker Guide:
A practical roadmap for integrating labs, dashboards, and data-driven coaching inside affiliates and through direct care partnerships.
Common Health Issues We Face:
Translating CrossFit’s prescription into clinical prevention for metabolic disease, cardiovascular health, and mobility decline.
Nutrition, Sleep & Recovery:
The behavioral foundation of biological change—how affiliates create measurable outcomes in metabolic health and longevity.
Research to Results:
Turn evidence into language. Learn to communicate the science of fitness and functional medicine to patients, members, and peers.
Workouts for Integration
The Health Integration Guide includes full “Workouts for Integration”—stepwise progressions that mirror CrossFit’s training model. Each builds capacity toward the long-term goal: a fully functioning health hub inside your affiliate.
Resource Curation:
Begin by organizing the trusted tools already available through CFMS—then start delivering that messaging to your members.
Health Advocate Integration:
Train Health Advocates to run check-ins, explain the importance of biomarkers to support the healthcare journey, and connect members with CrossFit-minded practitioners.
Clinical Integration:
Learn how to host blood draws, create wellness on-ramp programs, and build tiered health memberships that make prevention accessible and sustainable.
These aren’t theoretical frameworks—they’re practical blueprints built to be implemented, tested, and refined at the local level.
Join the Movement
The Health Integration Summit isn’t another conference—it’s a working session for those ready to forge the next chapter of CrossFit’s impact on global health.
Register today and use code HIS2026 for discounted pricing through November 30.
Attendees receive early access to the Health Integration Guide, releasing in January 2026. In December, the online forum for this first cohort will go live.
Research Corner: The 3rd Physical Skill – POWER
Continuing our deep dive into the 10 General Physical Skills, this month we’re exploring Power—often described as the most defining expression of CrossFit’s methodology. Power is force × distance ÷ time, which means it’s not just about how strong you are, but how fast you can apply that strength. A heavy deadlift reflects strength. A heavy clean performed explosively reflects power.
Power matters because it directly influences performance, longevity, and functional independence. Research continues to show that individuals with higher muscular power have better mobility, fewer falls, stronger bones, and better outcomes across nearly every marker of physical capacity. When we train movements that move large loads, long distances, quickly—Olympic lifts, sprints, jumps, throws—we’re training the exact quality that keeps us athletic and capable as we age.
Read the full article by visiting the CFMS Journal HERE.
Provider Spotlight: Dr. Zachary Long, DPT
This month’s spotlight features Dr. Zachary Long—better known across the CrossFit and rehab worlds as The Barbell Physio. Zach is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, educator, and co-founder of a national network of clinics designed specifically for fitness athletes. His mission is simple but powerful: keep people training while they heal.
Through The Barbell Physio and Performance Plus Programming, Zach has spent years helping athletes, coaches, and providers understand how to train through injury safely and intelligently. In the clinic, his team’s philosophy is to modify, not stop. Pain is rarely a reason to pause training—it’s a cue to adjust load, movement, or intent. As Zach puts it, “Stopping completely only weakens what was already weak.” That belief drives every decision across the 45 Onward Physical Therapy clinics he’s helped launch in 33 cities since 2019.
The Onward model operates entirely outside the traditional insurance system—an intentional choice that allows Zach and his team to focus on direct patient care rather than paperwork and third-party approval. Every treatment plan is designed around what the individual needs, not what a billing code allows. As Zach explains, “If you’re going to invest in your health, work directly with the person who specializes in exactly what you need.”
When asked what guidance he’d offer to other providers stepping outside the traditional system, Zach emphasized two lessons learned from his own journey:
1. Being a great clinician isn’t enough.
Starting a business requires more than clinical excellence—it demands sales, systems, and communication. “If you don’t enjoy sales,” Zach explains, “you’ll struggle at first. But sales isn’t about convincing someone to buy—it’s about showing them where your solution meets their need.” He points to Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller and $100 Million Offers by Alex Hormozi as two books that helped reframe his mindset around value and connection.
2. Most leadership problems come from unclear expectations.
Zach’s second insight is one many new business owners learn the hard way. “Ninety percent of leadership issues come down to not setting expectations clearly,” he says. Whether it’s staff, partners, or patients, clear communication builds trust and prevents conflict before it starts.
Like most seasoned CrossFitters, Zach can name the workout that left a mark—both physically and mentally. For him, it’s “Air Force,” a deceptively simple combination of barbell movements and burpees that punished his legs and pride in equal measure. The lesson wasn’t about pain tolerance but about knowing when to push and when to pull back—a reminder that even in fitness and business, progress comes from balancing effort with recovery.
Today, Zach balances a small caseload with his national leadership role, continuing to advocate for movement-based medicine and business models that put the athlete first.
We’re grateful to Dr. Long for sharing his expertise during Grand Rounds this month—his insights on performance, pain, and purpose resonated deeply with our community.
Grand Rounds Replay: Hypertrophy for CrossFit Athletes with Dr. Zach Long
In this month’s session, Zach Long, DPT, explains when and how to plug hypertrophy into a CrossFit week to boost strength, protect against injury, and speed return to sport. He covers the big levers—mechanical tension, smart exercise selection, near-failure sets with lighter loads, and simple nutrition rules—then shows how to add 5–8 targeted sets per week without wrecking recovery. Watch the full talk below and share with your coaching team.
Dr. Olivia's Monthly Update:
Last month we introduced Dr. Olivia Dhaliwal a physician in residency in Boone, North Carolina, who recently opened her own cash-pay practice. Each month, Dr. Olivia will share insights from her journey—navigating the complexities of running a clinic while working within the traditional medical system. Here's her update for this month:
At 0530 I get a late start on my morning, rucking to work along Boone's Greenway on my (always active) rest day. I've had to start to compromise with my body, to listen more carefully, as I push my brain and physical body the way I always have - but now in my 30s, in possibly the biggest hurdle so far (residency!) - the price I pay for overdoing it is bigger. I've learned that daily CrossFit before 13 hour days of work is perhaps not in my precious body's best interest, but three times a week certainly is. These next two weeks I'll spend around 80 hours in the hospital, and I won't get to see my patients in my own clinic, but this residency schedule is temporary.
I'm guided by my headlamp and the light of the stars as I greet the New River. Her name is a clever title for a body of water that is among the oldest in the world. I love her name because rivers are new each time you cross (and so are you, in fact).
On my ruck I try to challenge myself to stay off my phone and to-do list, and let my mind wander and dream. Fellow physicians, I know you know this feeling of re-discovering who you are (which is so much deeper and richer than the tasks you complete to be productive and rewarded in our system). My daydreams, when I permit them, sound like this:
"Why do we not have the validation to prove the importance of our daily habits, of consistency? We use numbers to dictate why pharmacology and surgery is successful but fail to do so with quality nutrition - because the former is easily controlled and carefully measured, and the latter is often the opposite, examined only through qualitative studies that rely on erroneous self-recollection, colored by the shame and judgment we have around our eating patterns and food addictions. In Western medicine, we do not account for the non adherence of lifestyle intervention. We do not insist on lifestyle adherence."
I am biased, and thankfully, with you, dear reader, I can be. I love CrossFit's latest slogan — "there are no shortcuts" — because it's true. Discipline and consistency are key. I'm a person who embraces whatever med spas have to offer because I'm vain (I'm human!) AND I know there's no shortcuts to the hard work of eating well. I see CrossFit as the gateway drug to better nutrition. CrossFit taught me to use food as fuel instead of pleasure, escape, or distraction. I recognized the connection between my reps and my intake. I know countless others have, too, and I can't wait to write a prescription for CrossFit Postal to my patients.
My dreams since medical school have been to create a school for healing. For the word "doctor" actually comes from docere - Latin for "to teach" - because good physicians are teachers. I tell my patients I want to be such a good teacher that they no longer need me. Last week two of my patients graduated, having healed their pre diabetes with nutrition (and a little help from metformin, for one of them).
These two patients were not particularly ill, but they were preventably metabolically sick in ways that almost always lead to devastating consequences later in life. I suspect sometimes that my colleagues think I'm a bit too obsessed with metabolic health, but I know it to be the single most important factor of HEALTH (read: NOT illness or pathology - or what medicine prioritizes and worships). While swooping in at the eleventh hour with a diagnosis or treatment is magnificent in some cases, the best medicine is always prevention. It's not glamorous, and it's not profitable, but doing the daily work of caring for your body thoughtfully has infinitely positive ripple effects on you. (And your relatives - human, plant, and animal. How many resources could we save by being more thoughtful about our consumption?)
AI is already beating physicians at the algorithm that Western medicine has become. That's not what I plan to sell at my practice, thank goodness. I won't be replaced by a robot, because I'm selling healing, not drugs. I'm selling knowledge and the invitation to take your health into your own hands, not "management of disease". In the same way CrossFit affiliates sell community, not weight loss, I plan to foster transformations - not transactions.
Each step I take on my way to work reminds me of this most precious aspect of freedom - autonomy. Movement is freedom, and ultimate freedom is autonomy. This is what I'm selling at my practice: the invitation to be the driver of your own destiny and understand that every 24 hours you spend contains choices. The right ones will let your doctor take your diagnosis of pre diabetes and add it to your medical history.
