To live a healthy, happy life, all you need to do is eat well, move well and often, and do so with others. Simple.

But in a world with countless demands on our time and attention and structured for the benefit of convenience and profit — not people — living healthily is certainly not easy.

“That’s how we are wired as humans … to look for the easy path,” says Miranda Alcaraz, CrossFit Level 4 Coach and owner of Street Parking. “But we're also wired as humans to be happiest and to be most effective through struggle and challenging ourselves.”

In this panel discussion at the CrossFit for Health Summit on Feb. 3, 2024, in Austin, Texas, notable figures from the CrossFit community joined Summit speakers for a conversation about doing hard things.

“It’s very important for us to remember that we are physiologically designed to experience hardship,” says Dr. Tom McCoy. “And the more time that we spend in discomfort, the more resilience and capacity and capability we have to manage stressors and other things that come up in our lives.”

Panelists discuss the real challenges people face when it comes to maintaining healthy habits, the power of the shared experience and physical challenges, the problem of willpower, and how to coach others to long-lasting success.

"Doing hard things is the path to you getting better," Dr. Chris Palmer says.

PANELISTS
Miranda Alcaraz, CF-L4
Owner, Street Parking

Dale King
Affiliate Owner, PSKC CrossFit

E.C. Synkowski, CNS, LDN
Nutrition Coach

Mike Giardina, CF-L4, MPH
Senior Manager, CrossFit Health

Tom McCoy, D.O.

Chris Palmer, M.D.

Jacki Hilios Ph.D., MSW
The Phoenix

CHAPTERS
0:00-5:02 - Key ingredients to creating a strong foundation for health.
5:03-7:27 - Dealing with being overwhelmed and building self-efficacy through small wins.
7:41-10:43 - How to connect and collaborate with physicians.
10:54-16:21 - Overcoming barriers to access and getting CrossFit to those who need it most.
16:57-20:59 - The importance of regularly exposing oneself to discomfort.
21:01-22:43 - How physical challenges aid in addiction recovery and improving overall health.
22:49-24:18 - The power of the shared experience when doing hard things.
24:24-27:05 - How doing hard things builds resilience and capacity.
27:21-31:30 - What about willpower?
31:45-33:23 - How one healthcare professional is disrupting the status quo.
33:31-40:33 - GLP-1 drugs: steppingstones or obstacles to health and fitness?
40:37-46:33 - How to create sustainable healthy habits that last.

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CrossFit, LLC is the owner of the world-famous CrossFit® fitness brand. In the 20 years since its founding, CrossFit has grown from a garage gym in Santa Cruz, California, into the world's most popular and effective training program for improving health and performance. CrossFit, LLC is the leading provider of accredited, performance-based training courses and certifications and has more than 125,000 credentialed coaches worldwide. The CrossFit program can be scaled to welcome people of all ages and abilities, and millions of people have already experienced CrossFit's transformational benefits in more than 13,000 affiliated gyms across 155 countries. CrossFit, LLC also directs the CrossFit Games season, the world’s largest participatory sporting event, which, in 2023, had over 320,000 participants from over 180 countries who all competed for the title of Fittest on Earth®.

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