Septuagenarian CrossFit coach Mike Suhadolnik had an idea to challenge doctors to set a better example for their patients and communities.
Suhadolnik started a program called Doctors Get Fit at CrossFit Instinct in Springfield, Illinois, and he contacted Dr. Craig Backs. The coach asked the doctor for 90 days, and Backs was up for the task.
“I might as well have been sitting there with a cigarette and a glass of whiskey telling (people) to quit smoking and drinking,” Backs says.
In three months, the doctor lost 40 lb. And he changed the way he practices medicine.
Our current health-care and health-insurance systems are ineffective, he says, suggesting they should be called “Sick Care” and “Sickness Insurance.”
Backs and Suhadolnik believe CrossFit encourages people to focus on health and wellness before they get sick.
“It’s starting to dawn on people that our system currently isn’t about health; it’s about taking care of sickness,” Backs says.
Originally published – Jan. 2017.
Dr. Backs to the Future: Changing Healthcare