"CrossFit has ... allowed me to say focused for longer without making mistakes." ~Dr. Randy Katz, Trauma Surgeon
Surgeons are always busy improving, saving and changing lives. Three surgeons from Florida are keen on improving their own lives through CrossFit.
Dr. Randy Katz, Dr. Omar Llaguna and Dr. Richard Harrison all own their own practices in the South East Region. They say CrossFit has made them better at what they do — not only in the operating room, but also in how they consult with patients and how they tend to their personal health.
However, long hours spent in the operating room make it difficult to carve out time to get to the gym.
Dr. Randy Katz, Emergency Trauma Surgeon
“Getting out of bed at 6 a.m. for a WOD is probably the most difficult part about it with my 80-hour work week, but I somehow manage to find myself in the gym at CrossFit North Miami Beach four to five times a week, and I love it — the adrenaline rush, the accomplishment, the muscle ache — it’s great,” Katz says.
Katz works at Memorial Regional Trauma Center and the Joe Dimaggio Children’s Hospital in Miami. The 39-year-old has been CrossFitting for a year-and-a-half and says he’s never felt better.
“I had always been an athlete (mostly basketball and football), but never did significant weight training. I was having hip problems with sports and gaining weight, hitting 235 pounds at my heaviest, and I just felt run down,” he says. “A friend of mine recommended CrossFit and the first WOD was impossible. I was only able to do two pull-ups. However, I decided to stick with it, and after two to three months, my hip pain disappeared and I felt great.”
CrossFit has helped him remember to take care of himself, he says.
“I was always active, but never disciplined until CrossFit,” he says. “Since I’ve been CrossFitting, I changed my diet — including more protein and less carbs. I also started taking vitamins and protein after my workouts. I have noticed such a difference in my energy and ability to move. I am more functional and require less sleep.”
As for his 12- to 16-hour days in the operating room, Katz says, “CrossFit has definitely made me more productive and improved my performance significantly. It also has allowed me to stay focused longer without making mistakes. Fatigue is less of a factor throughout a busy day.”
Dr. Omar Llaguna, Oncology Surgeon
Llaguna, works at Baptist South Miami Hospital and West Kendall Baptist Hospital. CrossFit has proved beneficial to him, as well.
“I genuinely feel more energized. I'm not as worn down after a long day like I used to be back in my pre-CrossFit days,” Llaguna says.
Typically putting in at least 11-hour days, five days per week, Llaguna finds himself looking forward to his 7 p.m. workout at his box, Peak 360 CrossFit, alongside his wife. He calls it is his “rehab” at the end of the day.
“CrossFitting has completely changed my workouts. Prior to medical school, I was an orthopedic physical therapist and I remember planning rehab programs around functional movements,” Llaguna recalls. “When I started reading about CrossFit and its principles, I had an ‘aha’ moment. I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is just like rehab.’”
Llaguna says CrossFit improves the social aspect of work.
“CrossFit is a main source of conversation around the operating room with other physicians and physician assistants who CrossFit. Most of the anesthesiologists first ask me what kind of anesthesia I need for the surgery, the second question is ‘What was your WOD today?’” he says.
The support from the CrossFit community makes it easier to keep on track with healthy living, Llaguna says.
“You have no idea how many times one of my CrossFitting colleagues has seen me in the doctor’s lounge eying a bagel and have very quickly reminded me, ‘Hey, that's not paleo.’ I obviously did not eat the bagel,” Llaguna laughs.
CrossFit has motivated him to enlighten his patients, often prescribing a different kind of treatment outside the medical books — CrossFit.
“I encourage all my patients to take charge of their health,” Llaguna says. “While we don't choose to have cancer, we can choose how we live our lives and how we fight the disease. I talk about the positive effects of healthy eating and exercise on the immune system, as well as the sense of overall well being that can be achieved. I've encouraged many patients to try CrossFit knowing that it will help them maintain their physical strength and stamina, something very important for those dealing with functional decline after a large operation, as well as post-operative chemotherapy and radiation therapy.”
Dr. Richard Harrison, Orthopedic Surgeon
Harrison specializes in everything musculoskeletal-related — from shoulders, to hips to knees. In his CrossFit community in Melbourne, Fla., he writes his name on the whiteboard as “Bones.”
Since starting a year-and-a-half ago at Harbor City CrossFit, Harrison finds himself busy at his orthopedic practice at Viera Hospital and Cape Canaveral Hospital, as well as with his service as a doctor in the U.S. Army Reserve as more fellow CrossFitters seek out his guidance in order to get back to their sport quicker from an injury or tweak.
“The neat thing about being a CrossFitter myself and working with CrossFitters, is that I understand their sport, and their mentality and I can help my patients with their rehab from an injury in relation to CrossFit,” Harrison says. “The most common injuries I see are tears around the soft tissues of joints and overuse injuries. For instance, I have a girl right now recovering from an ACL tear. I can tell her how long it will be before she can box jump again and before she can start going for PRs.”
Harrison remembers his first CrossFit experience in March 2011.
“I’ll never forget it — Fight Gone Bad was my first WOD. I did it while I was stationed over in Afghanistan with my friend who was really into CrossFit, and I threw up afterward,” he says. “My buddy was all excited when he saw me on the floor, gasping for air, and told me, ‘You see, that’s how hard you should work out!’ Since then, I’ve been hooked.”
Harrison juggles a busy schedule between 5:30 a.m. workouts, 11- to 12-hour workdays, monthly training with the Army and spending time with his family — his wife, Valerie, and 3-year-old son, Xavier.
“Honestly, the most difficult part of it all — CrossFit coupled with long days at the hospitals — is getting enough sleep,” he says. “If I don’t make a point to get in bed by 9:30, it’s rough.”
The other members from his affiliate hold him accountable for getting in the gym, he says.
“I’ve always been athletic, always been big on health and of course did a lot of training for the Army, but there’s just nothing like CrossFit. I never look ahead to see what the WOD is going to be. I just show up, know I am going to get a great workout and just do it,” Harrison says.
Harrison is spreading the news to anyone interested in learning about CrossFit. He’s even started giving lectures on how to avoid injuries for beginners.
He came up with some basic principles for starting CrossFit the smart way:
1. Initially, decrease the amount of weight you use.
2. Scale your reps for your met-cons as you build your conditioning.
3. Focus on learning correct form and maintaining that form.
4. Do core strength daily, at least in your warm-up. Do GHD sit-ups, back extensions, ring dips, etc.
5. Modify gymnastics movements until you get the basic movements down first.
6. Stretch to increase flexibility, particularly in you pectoralis minor.
Harrison says this is only the beginning as he unites his passion for CrossFit, medicine and inspiring others to CrossFit.