Mar 31, 2026
Newsletter
March Newsletter
This month we welcomed Dr. Tommy Wood — neuroscientist, physician, and one of the most rigorous researchers working at the intersection of brain health and human performance — to CFMS Grand Rounds. His message was direct: age-related cognitive decline is largely preventable, and the CrossFit affiliate is already delivering one of the most powerful interventions available to stop it. We also have the Agility article live in the Journal, lab benefit reminders for all CommunityCare members including a new GI microbiome test, and two events — the Forging Youth Resilience Summit in Denver on April 18th and Health Integration Summits in Boston, Denver, and Charlotte — where this work continues.
March Grand Rounds: Dr. Tommy Wood on Brain Health, Exercise, and the Intelligence of Adaptation
Every month, the CrossFit Medical Society brings a clinician, researcher, or healthcare leader into Grand Rounds to advance the conversation. This month, we had the privilege of hosting Dr. Tommy Wood — neuroscientist, physician, performance consultant, and one of the most credible voices in the world on brain health and cognitive longevity.
About Dr. Tommy Wood
Dr. Tommy Wood is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at the University of Washington, where his laboratory investigates brain health across the entire lifespan — from therapies for newborns with brain injuries to the prevention of adult brain trauma to the constellation of factors that drive long-term cognitive decline and dementia. He holds a biochemistry degree from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in physiology and neuroscience from the University of Oslo. He has published dozens of peer-reviewed papers and lectured globally on brain health, metabolism, physical activity, and human performance.
Beyond the lab, Dr. Wood serves as a performance consultant to world-class athletes across more than a dozen sports — including Formula 1 drivers operating at the outer edge of human cognitive and physical demand. He is a founding trustee of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine, and a competitive athlete himself, having competed in CrossFit, ultra-endurance events, powerlifting, and strongman. His recent book, The Stimulated Mind, translates his research into a practical, evidence-grounded framework for building a brain that doesn't just resist decline — it gets stronger with age.
"Age-related cognitive decline and dementia are largely preventable. The brain, like muscle, is directly shaped by the demands we place on it. If you don't lift weights, you don't get stronger. The same principle governs the brain."
Key Takeaways
The brain operates on a demand-driven model. Brain structure and function are directly proportional to the demands we place on them. A brain that isn't challenged — physically, cognitively, socially — loses capacity. The prescription isn't a pill. It's stimulus.
CrossFit is uniquely positioned as a brain health intervention. Complex, varied, coordinated physical movement performed in a social environment hits multiple cognitive systems simultaneously. CrossFit's constantly varied programming isn't just good for fitness — it drives neurological adaptation in ways that isolated or predictable exercise cannot replicate. Reactive movement, novel skill acquisition, coordination under fatigue, and community accountability all build what Dr. Wood calls cognitive "headroom" — the reserve of mental function that determines how well the brain handles age-related stress.
The 3-S Framework — what the brain needs to thrive:
Stimulation — Cognitively demanding, physically complex activity. Not passive entertainment or low-effort exercise. The brain must be challenged with novelty, coordination, and unpredictability to adapt.
Supply — Nutrition that fuels the brain: adequate protein, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin D, iron, and polyphenols. Metabolic dysfunction and nutrient deficiency are silent drivers of cognitive decline that often go undetected for years.
Sleep — The brain's non-negotiable recovery window. Where metabolic waste is cleared, memory is consolidated, and neural repair happens. Chronic sleep disruption accelerates every pathway of cognitive decline.
Muscle is brain medicine. Resistance training doesn't just protect the body — research shows it changes brain structure in ways that increase resistance to Alzheimer's pathology. Skeletal muscle mass is directly tied to metabolic health, insulin sensitivity, and inflammation — all of which are upstream drivers of cognitive aging. The training floor is, quite literally, a neurological intervention.
Social connection is not a soft benefit. Isolation is one of the most powerful accelerants of cognitive decline. The CrossFit community — the shared suffering, the accountability, the belonging — isn't a perk of the training. It's a protective mechanism for the brain. This is not motivational language. It's biology.
CME Course Coming Soon
The full Grand Rounds session with Dr. Tommy Wood will be available inside the CFMS app. Healthcare providers can watch the recording and complete the post-video examination to earn CME credit. The course covers the neuroscience of exercise, the demand-driven model of cognitive decline, and the clinical case for CrossFit as a brain health intervention. (We'll ping you when you can enroll in the CME course!)
To just watch the recording, check out the CFMS Community App!
Agility Is a Systems-Level Health Capacity. CrossFit Trains It.
The latest article in the CFMS Journal takes on agility — not as a performance metric, but as a fundamental marker of health. The argument is direct: agility isn't speed or strength in isolation. It's what happens when the neuromuscular, vestibular, and cognitive systems work together under real-world demands. And when any part of that system degrades — through inactivity, injury, or disease — the consequences cascade.
Why Agility Is a Systems-Level Health Capacity
What makes agility particularly important is that it reflects more than strength or speed in isolation. Effective agility requires the coordinated interaction of multiple physiological systems, including muscular strength, rate of force development, joint stability, proprioceptive feedback, vestibular function, and cognitive processing speed. The nervous system must rapidly perceive environmental change, select an appropriate motor response, and execute that response with sufficient force and precision to maintain stability.
When any component of this system degrades — whether due to inactivity, injury, aging, or disease — the ability to manage transitions declines and injury risk increases. This systems-level integration likely explains why agility-related measures such as reactive stepping, change-of-direction ability, and balance recovery are often stronger predictors of injury and functional decline than isolated measures of strength or aerobic capacity.
Why CrossFit Trains Agility Effectively
CrossFit's training methodology is exceptionally well aligned with the biological demands of agility. Unlike traditional exercise models that isolate movement patterns, minimize variability, or prioritize predictability, CrossFit is intentionally designed around constantly varied, functional movements performed at relative intensity. This structure repeatedly exposes athletes to changing task demands, movement sequences, and fatigue states, requiring continual recalibration of motor strategies.
For deconditioned individuals or those recovering from illness or injury, this makes CrossFit particularly powerful. Progressive agility training — delivered through simple but functional transitions — can interrupt the cycle of movement avoidance, progressive deconditioning, and increased injury risk by restoring neuromuscular efficiency, rebuilding confidence, and reducing fear of movement. Even modest improvements in reactive balance and stepping ability have been shown to meaningfully reduce fall risk in older populations.
CrossFit does more than train fitness — it cultivates adaptability. By preparing individuals to move safely and confidently through changing and unpredictable demands, CrossFit directly supports the physical competence, confidence, and resilience that underpin long-term health and quality of life.
Know Your Numbers. Use Your Benefits.
If you are a CommunityCare member, you have lab benefits sitting in your account right now. Most people don't use them until something goes wrong. That is the old model. This is the new one.
Annual Lab Panel — $199 Fully Funded
Every CommunityCare member receives $199 in annual lab funding. This covers the Basic CommunityCare Panel in full — or you can apply it toward any higher-tier panel on the Biomarker Hub.
CommunityCare Panel: $199 — fully covered
Foundations Panel: $250 — pay $51 out of pocket
Male or Female Elite Panel: $499 — pay $300 out of pocket
New: GI Effects Comprehensive Microbiome Profile — $450
The gut doesn't just process food. It regulates immunity, produces neurotransmitters, manages inflammation, and communicates bidirectionally with the brain via the gut-brain axis. For athletes and active individuals, gut health is performance health — and most people have never had a real look at what is living in their microbiome.
On April 1, GI Effects Comprehensive Microbiome Profile by Genova Diagnostics will be available in the CFMS Biomarker Hub. This is the gold standard in functional gut testing — a comprehensive stool analysis that examines the full ecology of the gut rather than looking for a single pathogen.
What it measures:
Gut microbiome diversity and the balance of commensal bacterial populations
Short-chain fatty acid production — a marker of microbial fermentation and colonocyte health
Intestinal inflammation via calprotectin and eosinophil protein X
Digestive function markers including pancreatic elastase and fat absorption
Intestinal immune function via secretory IgA
Presence of opportunistic pathogens, parasites, and dysbiotic overgrowth
Intestinal permeability indicators and mucus layer integrity
For anyone dealing with chronic inflammation, unexplained fatigue, poor recovery, GI discomfort, mood dysregulation, or metabolic dysfunction — this test provides a view of the underlying terrain that standard panels miss entirely.
$450 — CommunityCare members receive $100 in funding toward this test.
All labs are ordered through the CFMS Biomarker Hub via a HIPAA-compliant platform. Requisitions are delivered within 48 hours of purchase.
The Science of Resilience: CFMS at the Forging Youth Resilience Summit
On April 18th, Jenn Pishko and Tom McCoy will be at One8 Denver for an exclusive session hosted by Forging Youth Resilience — a deep dive into the intersection of functional fitness, mental health, and physical resilience, with a direct focus on translating clinical evidence into programs that actually get funded and scaled.
This is not a panel discussion about the potential of CrossFit. This is a working session for coaches, nonprofit leaders, and healthcare professionals who are already in the fight and need the science and the strategy to back what they are doing.
The team at FYR has opened up our sessions to local affiliate owners and coaches to attend. If you're in the area and would like to send some time with us and the groups doing the work with Forging Youth Resilience we'd love to have you.
The Evidence — The latest research validating how functional fitness serves as a biological shield for mental and physical health. Not talking points. Peer-reviewed data you can put in front of funders, administrators, and skeptics.
The Strategy — How to translate clinical evidence into program designs that successfully attract funding, grants, and community support. The gap between knowing the science and securing the resources is operational. We will close it.
The Outcome — A tangible Impact Toolkit and the resources needed to engage supporters and scale your mission. You will leave with something in your hands.
📅 Saturday, April 18 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM 📍 One8 Denver 🥗 Lunch at 12:30 PM + networking with local leaders and affiliates
Whether you are a coach, a nonprofit leader, or a healthcare professional, this seminar provides the scientific "why" and the strategic "how" to elevate your programming and secure the resources your community deserves.
Health Integration Summits: The Work Continues. Pick Your City.
The Health Integration Summit is not a conference. It is a working session — two days of education, application, and direct access to the frameworks, tools, and community you need to build a functioning Health Hub inside your affiliate. Every seat is intentional. Every room is capped.
Boston — Registration is nearly closed. If you have been on the fence, now is the time.
Denver — June 13–14 at Koda CrossFit. Use code "earlybird" to secure your spot at the discounted rate.
Charlotte — November 7–8 at CrossFit Charlotte. Use code "earlybird" for the discounted rate.
Each Summit is intentionally capped. We are not interested in hosting massive conferences where connection gets diluted. You will leave with frameworks, operational clarity, and a blueprint for building or refining your Health Hub inside your affiliate.
We will also be at the Owners and Coaches Conference in San Jose ahead of the CrossFit Games. If you are going to be there, find us. The conversation around health integration is gaining traction, and we intend to keep pushing it forward.
Pick your city. Commit to the work. Join us.
Have something to say? Email us at info@crossfitmedicalsociety.com
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