HEALTH
A Physical Therapist’s Perspective
There’s no debate: if you want to live a long healthy life, exercise must be a part of the equation. The human body and all of its various systems, rely on regular, intentional stress to maintain or improve its capacity.
If you have ever been to physical therapy (PT), you may have heard the phrase, “if you don’t use it, you lose!” Spend just a few weeks in bed, and your muscles will start to shrink. As we age, our muscle mass and bone density decrease. Everyday tasks like getting out of the car, walking up or down the stairs, or taking in the groceries become challenging. So how do we protect ourselves from the inevitable decline and losses that come with inactivity and age.
The answer is simple:
Exercise.
But with so many options available — Walking, running, biking, golf, pickleball, swimming, weight lifting — how do you choose the right one? How do you ensure you are training all the systems needed for lifelong health and wellness? How do you ensure you are doing enough of the “the right stuff?”
As a PT, my recommendation is simple and straightforward:
Prioritize exercise that challenges your body in as many ways as possible for 30-60 minutes a day.
Why Variety Matters
Varied movement develops and maintains varied abilities.
Want to carry a heavy box up from the basement? You need Strength.
Want to catch your connecting flight without getting as winded? You need Cardiovascular Endurance
Want to play sports with your kids or grandkids? You need Agility, Balance, and Coordination.
There is no such thing as a perfect form of exercise, especially one form of exercise with enough variety. The exercise you do should reflect the demands of your life. And there is one form of exercise that consistently checks all of these boxes.
CrossFit.
CrossFit began as a grassroots movement that caught attention for the ridiculous things the professional athletes were doing in the early 2000s, but has since evolved into one of the most adaptable, community-driven, and research-supported exercise methodologies in the world. Here is what it is all about:
1. Functional Training that Mirrors Real Life
CrossFit focuses on functional movements — Squatting, lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying. These are movements humans perform every day, and training them improves real-life capability and capacity. You should not look at exercise as just burning calories, but preparing for life
2. Constantly Varied Workouts that Keep Your Body Adapting
CrossFit’s programming is designed around constant variation, which:
● Prevents plateaus
● Reduces risk of overuse injuries
● Keeps training interesting
● Challenges the body across multiple energy systems
This keeps you improving your fitness in new ways, every week.
3. Scalable for Every Age, Ability, and Fitness Level
CrossFit is often misunderstood as “too intense,” but in reality, the intensity is infinitely scalable. In fact, the programming is often modifiable enough to meet every person where they are in their ability level so they can move at tolerable intensity levels, and still get better along with everyone else.
Every workout can be adjusted for:
● Load
● Repetitions
● Movement variations
● Skill level
● Mobility limitations
This makes CrossFit accessible to:
● Kids and teens
● Older adults
● Beginners
● Pregnant and Post-Partum athletes
● Adaptive athletes
● Weekend Warriors
● High-level competitors and athletes
4. A Blend of Strength, Cardio, and Mobility in One Workout Method
CrossFit uniquely blends multiple fitness domains every workout, including:
● Strength
● Cardiovascular endurance
● Power
● Speed
● Agility
● Mobility
● Balance
● Coordination
Most exercise programs emphasize one or two, while CrossFit uniquely helps people adapt all of them, efficiently.
5. A Community That Makes Fitness Sustainable
People join a CrossFit gym for the workouts, but they stay for the community. In fact, community is one of the sport’s primary advantages.
The class-based structure provided:
● Accountability
● Support
● Encouragement
● Shared accomplishment
Research shows that people stick with exercise longer when in community settings — and CrossFit gyms thrive on connection, teamwork, and positive pressure.
6. Training for Longevity and Healthy Age
CrossFit helps improve key markers of long-term health including:
● Bone density
● Lean muscle mass
● Balance and mobility
● Cardiovascular health
● Metabolic function
● Cognitive sharpness through skill-based work
As a PT, I see CrossFit as one of the most effective tools to maintain independence and quality of life as we age.
7. Measurable Progress that Keeps you Motivated
CrossFit uses benchmarks, data tracking, and repeat workouts to quantify improvements. This approach is useful for:
● Building motivation
● Encouraging goal-setting
● Providing tangible evidence of progress.
With this, you don’t have to wonder if you are improving, because you can see the results.
8. Training With Purpose: Living Better Outside the Gym
CrossFit as a mode of exercise, reframes fitness as something that helps you live better. CrossFit defines health as work capacity across broad time and modal domains, across the years of life. It is a form of exercise that can help you:
● Carry groceries effortlessly
● Climb stairs with less fatigue
● Lift kids or grandkids safely
● Enjoy recreational sports more fully
● Maintain independence well into advanced stages of life
CrossFit’s unique blend of functional movement, scalability, variety, community, and measurable progress makes it one of the most effective training methodologies for long-term health. It’s not about being the fittest person in the room. It’s about being the most capable version of yourself — at any age. If you want a training program that evolves with you, challenges you, and supports your physical and mental health for decades, CrossFit is one of the best choices you can make.
