Jenn Pishko - The CrossFit Medical Society

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[00:02:40] That's M-A-D-A-B-O-L-I-C dot com. All right, we are live. Jen Pishko, welcome to the Future of Fitness. Hi, nice to be here. It's great to have you. Thanks. You and I have talked, I don't know, over the past year, three, four, maybe five times. I'm really keen on what you guys are doing at the CrossFit Medical Society.

[00:03:04] You know, as I was telling before, I feel like this is a promise that's now being fulfilled 15 to 20 years later from Greg Glassman's original vision of like, you know, how we fight sickness. And I'm sure you can get into the terminology. If people are in CrossFit or been around the CrossFit community for a while, you probably should know that or you do know that. And then what you guys are doing with community care is really interesting.

[00:03:29] But most of all, as I was telling you, what I want people to walk away from this is like, okay, here's a really interesting model on how fitness, a global fitness brand, you know, 10,000 plus locations can start to merge with healthcare. What that model is. It's not the only model, but it's a model that may push us forward into the, you know, conversation about preventative healthcare. And then also whether or not they should get involved, right? I think that's, that's the big thing.

[00:03:56] So, uh, I'll stop talking for now, Jen, if you want to just give us like your relevant experience and background, kind of how you got to be with the CrossFit Medical Society. For sure. So, you know, I've been a CrossFitter for, for lack of a better term, for a really long time, probably 15 plus years. And back in the day when it was literally grads gyms and you didn't know what you were doing until you walked in and it was on the whiteboard and, you know, away you went.

[00:04:21] And so about a decade ago, decade ago, exactly, actually, I had the opportunity to open up my own affiliate, which is just outside Cleveland, Ohio.

[00:04:31] And, you know, I think kind of coming from like the OG mentality of opening up a CrossFit affiliate, but seeing the trajectory of the way that the world has changed over the last 10 years and just the general interest in what happens when you start taking note of health and fitness and, you know, a broader sense, especially kind of like post COVID.

[00:04:53] So in the last three or four years, you know, my business partner and I really dug into the opportunity to unpack the connection between just the hour fitness that we got with our members during their time at the CrossFit affiliate and then how to support them, you know, in other aspects of their healthcare journey. My background is in nutrition. I have my master's in nutrition education.

[00:05:15] My partner is a physician, Dr. Tom McCoy, and he, you know, practices and appreciates the value of essentially precision in lifestyle medicine. So through that mindset, we started in a very organic place offering ways to support our members' healthcare journey in our own affiliate.

[00:05:34] And then from there, you know, we had the opportunity to have conversations with different folks within, you know, CrossFit leadership and part of the CrossFit health brand that had been around for years about, you know, is this something that can be scaled? What does it look like if we really start to unpack the conversation about the transition from Medicine 2.0, which is happening? And we can talk about that in its own right into Medicine 3.0.

[00:06:00] And what would that look like in the affiliate or for the affiliate owner or within the CrossFit community? And so we've had the opportunity then to essentially take hold of CrossFit health and what it was for years and rebrand it and create a tangible infrastructure with resources, tools, and education for the CrossFit community.

[00:06:23] That includes not only community members, right, but coaches and affiliate owners and then also healthcare providers, knowing that at the end of the day, we all do CrossFit. So we have a common language and we might be coming into that space with different backgrounds. But we can connect and we can create an offering to transition and level up what we can do in the CrossFit affiliate to support our members wherever they are in their healthcare journey.

[00:06:49] And so that's kind of where that conversation started and how we got started. And then, you know, we hit the ground running in June and it's been nonstop trajectory since then. And so it's been really exciting. Yeah. Awesome. My first question is like around this. Someone who's been in the fitness industry for a while knows it makes complete sense that we're at the forefront of healthcare. Right. Right. It makes total sense. It's no great.

[00:07:17] I think most people outside of the fitness industry would say it makes total sense that we're at the forefront of healthcare. Why has it been such a problem? Why has it been such an issue? Why has it been so challenging? Yeah. So I think that's a very loaded question. We could probably spend a lot of time unpacking that.

[00:07:35] But so, you know, in trends with healthcare or the way that the approach to treating disease has been, right, if you look back even 100 years ago, the list of diseases that were on the top five or 10 for causes of mortality were more like acute infectious diseases. Right.

[00:07:55] It was like tuberculosis or you got the flu or different things to where medical intervention was needed by professionals to be able to to intervene and cure these diseases. Right. It was like symptom caused by disease. You cured it and like away you went. And medicine did a great job at that. Right. Like we're kind of rid of all of that.

[00:08:17] Now, though, when you look at the list of diseases that is, you know, top five or six for all cause mortality, it's not acute infectious diseases. It's chronic diseases that have a lifestyle component. Right. That that directly is a risk factor or a way to mitigate risk factors for things like diabetes, heart disease, dementia, high blood pressure.

[00:08:41] And the first line of defense for all of that can come down to lifestyle and lifestyle behaviors. But that's not you know, that's where we get into this problem where now we are treating symptoms with interventions, but we're not actually addressing root cause. And so I think that just the mindset of how we're approaching the types of diseases that are plaguing like our population now, it's it's just shifted. Right. It's just different. And so I think that that's one part of it, too.

[00:09:12] You know, and then you just look at you look at the way or or how the fitness industry maybe, you know, gained popularity or came into fruition. And that's not really what you talked about when you went into a gym. Right. Like 20 years ago, you weren't joining a gym because you wanted to cure your chronic disease. Right. You wanted to lose weight or you wanted to look good in a bathing suit.

[00:09:31] And so I don't know that the layman or just the general population understood how important it was to have exercise as part of your day to day to the degree at which we all, I think, appreciate that now. So I think you have those two conversations that, you know, kind of just came to a head, you know, when we're looking at what's really making our country and the world sick right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well said.

[00:09:58] I've been trying to articulate what I feel is going on in this industry now for almost 17 years, I think. What is going on right now? Because I think it's the most exciting time. We're undergoing some sort of rebrand from what you were talking about, which is essentially fat loss and aesthetics to actually health. To health. And there's numerous factors that are driving towards this one point. I mean, we're coming off an election right now where whatever, I don't care who you voted for.

[00:10:25] But the fact is we got RFK Jr. now at the head of health and he's planning or at least talking about making some very big changes in how we do things. And whether or not that happens, the conversation is still happening much more often than it did before. I had coffee with someone here locally today and that came up. Right. It's like, OK, well, RFK Jr. in the election and health. And, you know, and then we're starting to see like, oh, wow, the trajectory of health care costs is actually quite frightening and rapid. And it's a really big problem.

[00:10:54] And then you start to get people like, you know, Callie and Casey Means out there preaching the word. And so it's it just seems to be changing probably faster than I actually thought it would. Yeah, I am. It is. It's almost like a perfect storm, I think, if you will. And again, I don't I don't know if it's coming off of, you know, you have the aging population that was baby boomers or, you know, is going into the next wave of of retirement phases.

[00:11:22] And so you kind of have that going on and you look at the the health span and lifespan differential. Right. Where people are spending on average the last 12 years of their life. Right. Dealing with some sort of chronic disease issue, if not more than one, which is really expensive. And that's a large population. Right. Of people that is kind of living in that zone right now.

[00:11:42] At the same time, you have, you know, a I mean, my my population, my generation, I think that kind of bore the brunt of covid and and that. And like so it's just kind of this this coming of age. And I think a renaissance or a rebirth is a really great like analogy. It's an awakening. Right. Of things that maybe we knew, but we didn't know or we're thinking about it differently.

[00:12:08] Or now we have multiple and multifactorial resources kind of all pushing in that direction. And so like it's all it's it's just kind of it's snowballing, I think, in a great way. Right. I think in a great way, because now we're talking about health versus, you know, bicep curls. Not that you don't want to have nice biceps, but. Yeah. I like. Yeah. Who doesn't want to look in the mirror? Right.

[00:12:32] You know, it's it's funny how if you start to study a little bit of history, you see that human nature tends to we push ourselves to the very brink and then we do something about it. Right. And that's kind of right now. We're like, whoa, like this is really bad. Like these numbers, like, you know, all the things from diabetes, all the stuff you're talking about. Right. Very curable diseases, lifestyle factor diseases. Like that's all very curable. And now we're starting to really be like, wow, wow, this is really bad.

[00:13:00] I think you're like a part of it, too. For me, it's like seeing my parents. My father passed away five years ago. My mom's 86. What it means to reach that age if you haven't really taken care of yourself. Yeah. It's not fun. No, it's not fun at all. I think we've all had the experience where we've probably watched someone close to us or that we loved like go through some sort of, you know, aging decrepitude process. Right.

[00:13:25] And so, I mean, from the beginning, CrossFit was basically advocating for like, you know, avoiding decrepitude at all costs. Right. And that was the whole point of what fitness was supposed to do for you. It was to prevent you from the aging decline that happens. You know, so there's definitely that trajectory for sure. And so it's just it's an interesting time to take a step back and kind of evaluate what can be done.

[00:13:52] And I also think, too, like we're all feeling we can all feel the ramifications of the expense of health care at a very individual level. Right. It's not like the theoretical, you know, big idea about this, you know, impacting you at some point or three generations from now or whatever happens when we're kind of taking stock of what's going on in real time.

[00:14:13] Like we are as individuals, especially small business owners, which affiliate owners for the most part are the financial burden of what's happening. So besides like getting sick and becoming sicker as a society and a disease economy, like we're actually really financially strapped as a result of that. Most of us, at least. Yeah. It's and this probably dovetail nicely into what you do.

[00:14:39] But, you know, my wife and I just went through enrollment for health care insurance, health insurance. We're going over like, God, we pay a lot. Yeah. And then we still end up paying. Oh, yeah. It's like we're paying every month, but then we go to a dentist or, you know, God forbid I get stitches again. Like we end up paying for that. Right. And it's like until you hit the deductible. And then in the last few months of the year, you're like. Maybe, maybe, maybe like 80-20 coinsurance.

[00:15:07] Maybe they'll pick up what they're supposed to pick up. I think we've been saying a lot in the last few weeks that and the premiums are astronomical. And, you know, for a family of four, I want to say the average premium is just under $24,000 a year is the average premium for a family of four to have the privilege to have access to pay more for health care. Right. And so that's just essentially like your buy in, like your auntie into the pool. Right.

[00:15:32] And you have no idea theoretically what you might end up having to deal with after that. Right. For a number of different reasons. And a lot of that is, you know, the way that the insurance system is structured and, you know, lack of transparency in some regard between, you know, what you go in. I mean, someone was, you know, you go into a restaurant and you're going to order something off the menu. You know how much it costs when you order it. Right.

[00:15:57] Like we know what we're paying for, but we don't know what we're paying for when we go in for care, even with health insurance. And so that's the, that's a huge, you know, just mind. At that point. But yeah. Well, I think we've, we painted the picture of the problem. I think, you know, like I said, most people in our industry probably understand it fairly well. So CrossFit Medical Society, what is your solution? How are you guys coming to market? Yeah.

[00:16:25] I mean, I think solution is a great, is a great word. And I like that, right? Because we can spend all day long talking about problems, but unless we can actively work together to find solutions, like how are we going to move forward? And so I think first and foremost, like we wanted to create a ecosystem that allowed anybody within the CrossFit space.

[00:16:44] So affiliate owners, coaches, community members, healthcare providers to step in and work together to find an alternative way to create health, support health, promote health, like in a real sustainable way, right? Through education, for sure, for healthcare providers that, you know, whether they already do CrossFit, want to understand the methodology. Like we have a great continuing medical education, like program, right?

[00:17:09] With journal articles and all that stuff to unpack, you know, how we can advocate for lifestyle interventions and risk, you know, mitigation for these chronic diseases. Additionally, you know, we have actual tools that affiliate owners can bring into their affiliate to service their community. You know, one of those is direct-to-consumer labs, right?

[00:17:34] Like if you do CrossFit and you want to go onto the CrossFit Medical Society's website, you can order a lab panel and go to LabCorp and get these labs done at an insanely reasonable price and have an understanding of what is going on on the inside. Just as much as you go into the gym and collect data about your free and time and collect data about your free and time and your thrusters and all that stuff, right?

[00:17:54] We can understand what's going on on the inside, you know, and beyond that, what we kind of alluded to with healthcare, what's really exciting is that we have created a platform or partnered with a company to create a platform that allows an alternative to the expensive cost of health insurance through a crowdfunded healthcare service, right?

[00:18:19] And right now in phase one, it's available to CrossFit affiliate owners and coaches within the United States to where they can go and they can essentially enroll and join a community of people where we're paying for the healthcare needs of each other as they arise, not the sick care needs preemptively. And so it's just a completely different way to think about how we want to approach healthcare. And it's really exciting.

[00:18:49] I'm really excited about it. It reminds me a little of CrossFit RRG. Yeah. Do you remember that? Yeah. Like the in-house liability insurance type situation. It was like we all kind of put into a pot and we covered each other and you know, a little history lesson here is like when CrossFit was getting started, um, rhabdomyolysis was something that, uh, was kind of linked to CrossFit. It is.

[00:19:16] I mean, it happens in a lot of different ways and methods, but CrossFit seemed to be very relevant. So there's, there's people going around to different CrossFit gyms, um, either intentionally getting rhabdomyolysis or getting those type of symptoms. And then, then they were suing and that became an insurance issue. So then CrossFit RRG was formed, which was essentially like a community of people. We all fed into it. And then if somebody, you know, if there was any kind of insurance things, we all, we all helped cover it, which was really cool. And I thought that was one of the powers of CrossFit was this really strong community. Yes.

[00:19:46] Of it. Um, so it seems kind of similar to that. Yeah. Yes. No, no, I would say philosophically, right. It's, it's, um, it's aligning incentives, right. With those of us that are doing the due diligence to walk into the CrossFit affiliate support our community locally, first and foremost, right. Cause you're supporting the CrossFit owner and the coaches and you as an individual are going in there. Um, and so, yeah, and we're taking the onus and the opportunity to advocate for health and the promotion of health.

[00:20:15] And what happens when you do put pennies into that bucket. Right. And so we don't want to be penalized and financially held accountable for, you know, taking care of a sick care population. When what we can really do is financially benefit from our aligned incentives to, to dig into health. Right. We know that CrossFit is a great modality that generally like applies the principles of health at its foundation, right. Building lean muscle mass, doing high intensity interval training, like being in a community.

[00:20:45] To do the hard things, like all of the things that can be foundational pillars of health in that regard. And then, you know, you look at ways to leverage or utilize direct to consumer labs and a network of physicians and other healthcare providers that do understand the importance of CrossFit.

[00:21:04] And that's where this ecosystem is created, where we can essentially remove ourselves from this diseased economy where none of that stuff is valued really and we're penalized for it. And we can create a way to talk to each other with aligned values and incentives and encourage each other to keep going to, you know, the health fitness end of the spectrum. Right. Which is what we want. Right. We want to be on that side. We don't want to be on the sick side. Hey friends, this is Eric Malzone.

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[00:22:50] So in most traditional gym models, gym, you have – it's pretty simple, right? You have the gym owner. You have the trainer slash coach. And you have the clients. That's kind of the – now we're interjecting medical professionals. So how is that dynamic shifting? Like maybe, you know, in layman's terms, like how are they interacting with each other? Is there a lot of interaction? Like how are you connecting? And is there technology involved? Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:23:17] And Tom and I, amongst some other people, we spend a fair amount of time kind of talking with affiliate owners about this. And I think if you know the CrossFit methodology and framework of affiliates in general, right, you walk into an affiliate in one city and it's going to look completely different than the affiliate in another city, right? The background of the owner is different. The colors, the vibe, the music they play, the way that the community is structured is going to be different, right? You can have a veteran community. You can have a middle-aged master's community.

[00:23:47] You can be in a college town. Like that's the beauty of it. And we focus and spend a lot of time, you know, talking through webinars and with different affiliates about how to – affiliate owners – how to surface the needs of your community, right? So maybe the 150 people that are currently in your space, but then general, you know, community overall, right?

[00:24:08] Like the city that you live in, the resources that you have, and start to pull out natural connections between what would be the best way to improve health outcomes in your community with resources that you might have access to. And it's more of like a critical thinking approach, right?

[00:24:27] It's not necessarily like a, hey, do this, do that, do that, but it's the push for an organic relationship that really can be impactful in the way that it needs to help you and your community the most. Interesting. When you look at this – I know it's new, so it's hard to put it into like any kind of category.

[00:24:48] But is there any other people or organizations or groups, franchises, whatever be within the fitness overall global landscape that's doing anything similar that's trying to get into healthcare? Yeah. I mean, I think you can probably pull out of a hat and find a variation of that in some capacity.

[00:25:07] You know, you look at some of the big box spaces or global gyms or whatever that are out there, and they are starting to incorporate different types of wellness services and products, right? You know, direct-to-consumer labs is nothing new, right? You can Google that and find any number of companies that can offer that to you. So I don't know that it's something that's completely different.

[00:25:32] I think where we stand apart, so to speak, is that we really embrace the importance of human connection through all of this and like that it's servicing not only the folks that come into the CrossFit affiliate, but the value of the CrossFit affiliate and the owner is such an important piece in driving human connection within their community that that really is the focal point.

[00:25:58] To just to just keep on layering the tools and the resources so that they can become a pillar in their community where people that want to have health advocacy and make connections and become better version of themselves know that they can go to that affiliate. There's resources there and they're going to walk out healthier humans. And what's unique about it, too, is that CrossFit is independent. I mean, you mentioned this, but CrossFit affiliates are independently owned, right?

[00:26:24] So there's no mandate or anything where it's like, you know, someone at the franchisor level decided, hey, we're going to do this. We're going to push this cost down to you guys. You're in. That doesn't happen. So you have to take a different approach, right? You have to kind of sell this, make it useful. You know, ultimately, gym owners have to make more money, too, right? So is there an angle to that? Is it like helping them make more money or retain clients? I mean, I hope so, right?

[00:26:52] Right. And to your point, like, first of all, it's free for affiliate owners and coaches to become a part of the CrossFit Medical Society, right? It's at no cost to them because the more that they can dig into this messaging and this education and use the resources that are being provided through the CrossFit Medical Society, like that, to me, creates added value to what they can continue to offer their members, right?

[00:27:18] And so then when they come in and they have, you know, introductory conversations about onboarding and this, it's not only, hey, we're going to learn how to squat and press, but it's like, if you really want to understand, you know, how to get to a goal weight or improve your health, like, you know, there's a blood panel that you can do. And then there's, you know, physicians on the directory that you can, like, look up and connect with and get resources to. And if you're a member for three months, you can also have this benefit in healthcare, right?

[00:27:48] Like all of these things that it's like, okay, so now my CrossFit affiliate is not only where I go for fitness and community, but it's where I go for my doctor. It's where I go for my labs. It's where I go for my healthcare. Like this is, in fact, where I can go and create a, you know, a health journey that spans not only one hour every day, right, but multiple hours and days and years and all that.

[00:28:10] Yeah. So we've, we've alluded to a lot of the different qualities that you guys offer to gym owners, but maybe let's just get it directly. Like simplify it for me. If I'm a CrossFit gym owner and affiliate owner, like what's the process? I find about you, find out about you guys. Do I need education and sign up? Like walk me through the whole experience. Yeah. Um, CrossFit affiliate owners and coaches would go to CrossFitMedicalSociety.com.

[00:28:35] There's one membership option that's free for owners and coaches combined and you just sign up, right? You use your CrossFit ID, um, and you're in. And then from there, these resources, one are there for you behind the paywall, right? So there's tons of education and webinars from the last six months that you can look at and dig into. Um, you know, your lab panels are there, your, you know, ability to sign up for community care is there.

[00:29:01] All of that stuff is there for you. Um, you know, and we, we connect a lot of times via newsletters and emails on new things that are coming out. And we try to be as present in, you know, events and seminars and different things as we can, um, to, to still connect with, with folks that might not know exactly who we are, what we do. Awesome. And is there, uh, I mean, CrossFit's a very education heavy brand. Is there, are you guys going to be like, what, what is the education component of it?

[00:29:31] You mentioned behind a paywall, there's, you know, workshops and seminars and things you can digest your own pace, but you guys ever thinking of like, okay, we're going to push this into a full on education model. I mean, ideally that would be the goal, um, to where it can be a fully immersive kind of in-person experience. We've done that in, you know, some capacity on the heels of some different affiliate summits and seminars and different things. And we have a bunch planned in

[00:29:56] 2025 where we'll at least have the opportunity to connect with people that would be going to bigger events to at least get a taste for what, what this could mean for them. Um, but no, I think big picture, you know, two, three day education experience, like 100% is on the table. Um, and for right now, it's just making sure that everybody knows that there's a place for them in the medical society. So whether you are the healthcare provider or the affiliate owner

[00:30:23] or the member, right, there's something for you that you can take in and own your health and regain control of it and, and take it back. Yeah. Awesome. Uh, I want to give due time to community care. Yeah. That's what you guys are pushing on right now. Really big. Cause it's in worthwhile. Um, so explain that to me, like I'm seven years old, like what, what exactly is it that you guys are doing there? Yep. Community care is a crowdfunded healthcare platform. And so what that means is you

[00:30:52] would enroll and every month you pay, you have two payments every month. You have your subscription payment, which would for all intents and purposes, we're going to say the first of the month, right? And that is $55 a month for the individual. What that does is that gives you access to the crowdfunded platform. So it's app based, everything that you need to do to take care of

[00:31:14] your healthcare is done in an app. It also includes, um, unlimited virtual primary care telehealth through the app. It also includes virtual mental health talk therapy through the app. It includes a discount for prescription. So in the similar vein that like good RX is like a discount prescription platform. We have our own, um, with that $55, you also get one of our biomarkers included each year.

[00:31:43] So you would get the CFMS foundations panel paid for by the subscription. Um, and then you also get a credit towards a wellness visit, right? So that's all just for being a member, right? That's that the second payment or the second part of the payment that you make every month is based on the healthcare needs of the community. And there's a max, right? So an individual will never pay more than $140

[00:32:10] a month for that healthcare contribution. And we call that the contribution part of it because there's a little bit of a sliding scale. So knowing that at most you're paying 140 a month, it could be below that. And I will tell you that over the last three years that our partners, which are crowd health have been doing this, they've only asked for the maximum contribution two times, right? So with healthier

[00:32:34] cohorts, right, we typically don't have as many healthcare needs, right? And so we're able to live kind of underneath that max. And what that max is for, or what that contribution is for would be anything from, you know, somebody twists their ACL, not in CrossFit, they're on the street and there's pothole and they fall and they tear their ACL and they have to go to the emergency room and they have all of these things that go with a health event, right? That's considered a health event. You submit

[00:33:04] it, it goes to the crowd, it gets dispersed among our population, and then it gets paid. And so it all lives in that platform and that community care platform. It's kind of as simple as that. Yeah, that's really affordable. It's really affordable. Yeah. I mean, given like what we just paid for health insurance, you know, this year and what we'll pay, you know, grants, pre-tax. Is this pre-tax as well? Is this something that people can pay or is it-

[00:33:32] So yes and no. So for your, for your, like your, your contributions and stuff, it's, it couldn't necessarily be pulled from an HSA or an FSA account. There is, depending on the, when you have a health event that's $500 or above, you are responsible for a $500 kind of self-contribution to that big health event. There's no max. So it could be $25,000 worth of emergency services

[00:34:01] and you're only paying 500. That 500 can come from your HSA or FSA because you're paying that to the healthcare system directly, right to the hospital or to the doctor. So you can definitely use pre-tax dollars to support this throughout the year. But the payments every month will come, you know, from, from you. Okay. And what about something like a really critical diagnosis, like a cancer or something like that? That's all funded. You know, the only thing that we are aware

[00:34:30] of are pre-existing conditions. So there is a waiting period before those would be eligible to be crowdfunded. But if you are signing up and you enroll and, you know, next October, God forbid, you come down with leukemia or something like that's all, that's all we have. There's people that have that now that are, that are doing this, right. That have that, that type of disease. And it's funded. Wow. Wow. So for the most part, I know we can't get into all the details,

[00:34:56] but the major exemptions on the costs would be pre-existing conditions. Yeah. So pre-existing conditions have a two-year waiting period. So if it's something that's been documented, treated and, or symptomatically documented, there's a two-year waiting period. I will say there's also, and we, I'm fully immersed in this, but I'm not 100% the expert. So I will direct everybody to the website and schedule time to talk with the experts, but

[00:35:22] you know, pregnancies and all of that is covered, but they're, they're, you can't be six months pregnant and then sign up and then get your expenses paid for. Right. So you would be a member. And then when you become pregnant in that, in that regard, everything is essentially paid for. So there's just, that would be, I guess, considered a pre-existing condition in that regard, right. If you signed up while you're pregnant. So there's a lot of FAQs and tons of information on kind of how

[00:35:48] to think about this with a lot of different types of scenarios, right. So emergency, you go to the emergency room, what happens? It's not planned. It is planned, right. You have kids, like all of those things are, are basically explained, um, you know, and, and dollars and cents and stuff are all kind of laid out for you. Wow. And do you have to be like, how do you know if someone goes to a CrossFit affiliate? Like if, if. So right now, yeah. So right now, because it's just owners and coaches,

[00:36:18] the CrossFit ID is validated with coaching credentials, but the family members and all that are, are fine and eligible. Right. So the primary person, right. Is essentially the creator of the account. And then the family members kind of go on, on that primary account as, you know, the second or the third person. Got it. So as of right now, it's just the, it's the coaches and the affiliate owners, not the members. Yeah. Correct. Correct. Yeah. Got it. Okay. Okay. Let me get on board first.

[00:36:47] Yeah, no, that's great. I mean, because once they're in, then they talk about it, they understand it, right. They can vouch for it or not. Right. Depending on what their experience is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's really, uh, that's really cool. Um, what about, uh, it's probably a question you're going to get a lot. GLP ones. Is that going to be something that's going to be integrated into, into CrossFit medical for, you know, uh, people who need to lose a lot of

[00:37:12] weight? So I think that that's a great question and topic to talk about. Um, I don't know that there's any specific rules that will ever be integrated into the CrossFit medical society. Um, you know, if I had my partner here, he, and I agree with him, you know, he'd advocate for the fact that it always is going to be the answer. It depends when we're talking about healthcare interventions for the individual. Right. And GLP ones can be really great tools for people that

[00:37:42] really need help, you know, gaining control of their healthcare journey. Um, it is a hot button topic because if it's not supported with education and an understanding about how to get off of it safely or what to do while you're on it, or how to really change lifestyle when you're on it, then I think that's where we run into problems. Um, you know, I, I do think that education around what happens to an individual who gives up goes on, it comes off quickly, doesn't get experience

[00:38:11] in weight training, like things that a CrossFit coach or owner can be a support system for somebody that needs to be on it. I think is, is an important education piece. Um, but I mean, as, as far as I'm concerned, I, I don't know that we would be dictating what does or does not happen with regards to, to that specifically. Outside of CrossFit medical and what you've seen in CrossFit medical society, is it, has there been a lot of interaction with the CrossFit community and GLP ones? Like,

[00:38:41] has that been, have you heard? Um, I think, I mean, philosophically, I think the CrossFit community might have like an anti-pharma approach, like just based on, you know, kind of being anti-sugar and, you know what I mean? Just, I think on, on some level, um, I don't, I really don't, I don't know the answer to that. You know, I think, I think people are, I don't know that a lot of folks

[00:39:12] promote that they're really doing it if they are doing it, if that makes sense. Yeah. You know what I mean? That makes total sense. It's not like a badge that you wear, like, Hey, I'm on GLP ones or like, you know, um, from my end, I just, I can tell you that the unfortunate circumstances that happen when people are on it and insurance pays for it for a certain amount of time. And then all of a sudden they don't, and then they're kind of a, you know, shit Creek because it's like, well, what do I do? And now it's really expensive or I don't have a support system. And so I've, and that's not necessarily

[00:39:41] CrossFit specific. That would be just kind of like patient experiences that, you know, we've, we've seen and been with, but. Yeah. So pay me a picture here, Jen. Uh, we'll, we'll give it return the page on 2024 here any minute. So five years from now in 2030, what do you, what's your vision where, where, if we're having a, uh, a beer in, in 2030, you're like, I can't believe it's gone this well. Like what, what does that look like?

[00:40:09] Um, so we've definitely created a big hit to the health insurance industry with a really exciting and well-received healthcare alternative for all of our CrossFit population. I think that would be definitely step number one. Um, you know, if we can continue to be an education platform for healthcare providers, generally speaking, right. So physicians and, you know,

[00:40:39] NPs and PAs and any specialty to give them resources and education to step out of the sick care, you know, state that they're practicing in if they want to, and can be a real advocate for how to take care of folks and, you know, with value-based care, like that would be a huge one for me. I, I really want to support the healthcare providers and the physicians and the doctors that,

[00:41:06] you know, are just as frustrated with everything as the community members are. Um, and you know, how hard they have to work and how burnt out they are and, you know, the dysfunction in the insurance system and all that jazz. So if we can really be an advocate for them in five years, that would be a huge one for me. Awesome. And as of right now, uh, back to the current, what's your biggest challenge?

[00:41:33] Like if, and I ask this in the spirit of people are listening and they can help, like, you know, is it partnerships? Is it just the Philly? Like what, what, what's, what's keeps you up at night right now? Well, that's the thing. No, um, I, it's awareness right now. And I, so I think it's just understanding what the benefits and resources are and how they're built and available for the, all the different components of what makes up the CrossFit community. And so it's not just for one

[00:42:01] specific group organization, but it really is an ecosystem. And so I think that continuing to have advocacy, that it's not only education, but it is tangible tools and resources that can be used in real time today to help change the direct trajectory of health and healthcare. Like that's, that's the, that's the hill I want people to join me on so that we can scream it way louder.

[00:42:26] Awesome. Uh, and if people want to help, what's, what's the best way for them to get ahold of you? Is there a place you want them to go specifically? What's the best? Yeah, definitely. So, I mean, my email for sure, um, would be a great place to start at the Medical Society. So just info at CrossFitMedicalSociety.com. Um, and so that we can connect directly, you know, we are on Instagram, we are on LinkedIn. Um, and so if you want more

[00:42:51] information on social media, you can go there, the, the website, it has a lot of information as well, different types of, you know, memberships and resources and, and things right through there. Yeah. Awesome. Well, well done so far, Jen. Uh, I think it's, it's really exciting, you know, like, Oh, kind of circle back to what I said at the beginning is I feel like this is a promise that's been long overdue from the original founding principles of what CrossFit is. And of

[00:43:17] course, you know, I talk about CrossFit a lot on this podcast, but you know, it's, it's gone up and down. It's had its challenges over the time, but it's still here and it's still over 10,000 affiliates globally. I don't know what that number is exactly. And yeah, definitely over that millions of people. Um, and you know, 24, almost 25 years ago, CrossFit got to become what is the, I believe, right. The champion of, of fitness and what that means to truly embrace a fitness mindset and a

[00:43:45] methodology. And I really think that collectively, like as a community, right. Everybody in that, those buckets that I talked about, we can, we can be what it means to be at the forefront of healthcare, right. Of medicine 2.0, we have all of the tools and resources at our disposal. With a dedicated, motivated community-based group of people. And so it's just, it's, we can take it back, right. We can take ownership of our healthcare back. We can take it all back. Like we, we can do

[00:44:15] this together. Yeah. Awesome. And I think, you know, even if, if you're not in CrossFit, you should go and learn about this model because it could be something that's adapted or resourceful to, to anything that, that you do within this industry, especially if you see the dire need for, um, getting our communities healthier. It's that simple, right? It's not that complicated. Right on. Well, Jen, thank you so much for joining us. It's been an absolute pleasure. I loved it. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, Jen Pishko.

[00:44:44] Hey, wait, don't leave yet. This is your host, Eric Malzone. And I hope you enjoyed this episode of future of fitness. If you did, I'm going to ask you to do three simple things. It takes under five minutes and it goes such a long way. We really appreciate it. Number one, please subscribe to our show, wherever you listen to it. iTunes, Spotify, cast box, whatever it may be. Number two, please leave us a favorable review. Number three, share, put it on social media,

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