By Connor Martin | CrossFit Winnebago
If you have been following along with our emails or social media over the past few months, you know I have shared personal stories about members at CFW reducing or eliminating medication use through consistent training. I have been open about my own experience with this as well.
Today I want to put some research behind those stories.
The Study
This week I am breaking down a peer reviewed article published in Integrative and Complementary Medicine: CrossFit Participation and Medication Use: Observations from a UK Population Survey.
The study surveyed 1,211 UK residents ranging in age from roughly 20 to 60 years old, with the bulk of participants falling in the 30 to 49 range. This is not a fringe demographic. These are working adults, parents, professionals — people who look a lot like the members we work with every day at CFW.
Participants reported a wide range of medications including antidepressants (29%), asthma inhalers (26%), and painkillers for various conditions (16%).
What the Data Found
Of the 280 participants who reported regular medication use, the results were striking.
- 36% reported no change
- 10% did not complete the study
- 29% reported a reduction in medication use by more than half
- 25% reported eliminating their medication use entirely
Two correlations stood out that are worth paying attention to.
Age mattered. Participants aged 20 to 29 and 40 to 49 showed the highest rates of successful medication reduction.
Frequency mattered more. The more consistently someone trained, the more likely they were to see a reduction in overall medication use. Consistency was the variable that made the biggest difference.
What This Really Means
I want to be clear about something. This data is not saying CrossFit is a replacement for medical care or that anyone should make changes to their medications without talking to their doctor first.
What it is saying is that consistent, intentional training has the potential to produce meaningful, life-changing outcomes that extend well beyond fitness.
My take is that it is not even specifically CrossFit that drives these results. It is consistent training, with consistent people, done regularly over time. That combination has a power that goes well beyond what shows up on the scale or on the whiteboard.
What I See Every Day at CFW
The research reinforces what we observe in our gym on a daily basis.
The members who have the most consistent routine — both in how many sessions they attend per week and in the specific class times they come to — see the greatest impact on their training and on their connection to the people around them.
That connection is the piece most people underestimate.
It is not the programming that keeps you coming back on the days when life gets hard and the routine wants to fall apart. It is the people who are expecting you to walk through the door.
Community is not a bonus feature. It is the mechanism.
What You Can Do With This
The formula is not complicated.
Build a routine that is consistent and repeatable, and that actually fits your life. Get connected with people who have similar interests and goals. Show up as often as you can.
That is it. Done over a long enough period of time, it just might change your life.
If you want help building that routine, we would love to have that conversation. A No Sweat Intro is a free, no pressure meeting where we figure out where you are and build a path forward together.
Book your No Sweat Intro here.
Source: Redwood-Mills A, Scott T, Morris M, Wilson J. CrossFit Participation and Medication Use: Observations from a UK Population Survey. OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine 2024; 9(4): 066. Read the full article.
