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Cozy up with a warm cup of [morning beverage of choice] and get your day started with a nice newsletter! ☕️ 

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📠 Do you need this type of audit??

Sometimes our friends just know us better. They can see things we can’t. Other times, a therapist provides the professional eyes and ears we need in our life to gain new perspective and resolve to enact a refined approach going forward. That’s what today’s article is about.

2024 is officially very wrapped. We’re now three weeks removed, and I honestly don’t even remember any of it. (Jk, my word of the year was savor, and I really did :)) 

The new year is a time for a fresh start. It’s a great marker in time to evaluate yourself and your daily life. There’s a decent chance you went on autopilot through the end of last year. Sometimes we just have to put our head down and grind when the world is swirling around us. When we get a chance to look up, we may have veered off course.

Just as the new year marks a good time for a financial audit (e.g. revisiting your budget, planning for taxes, making goals, etc.), it’s also a great time for a health & fitness audit! 

Many people set health-related goals or resolutions at the start of a new year. You may have signed up for something new or started exercising for the first time in a long time. 

Many others of us may have some habits we’ve fallen into that once worked for us, but now are just a default setting we fear moving on from. 

What once worked for you in your exercise routine or diet may no longer be serving you or your present-day goals.

Maybe your only experience with a structured “exercise” program was what you remember from high school PE, football offseason training, or what your big brother taught you in a garage gym. 

A lot of adults float into their third, fourth, fifth decades of life with little to no exercise education beyond what they got in school. It’s great that you’ve got some background, and some muscle memory will benefit you forever. However, Average Joe who’s now 38 with two kids and a desk job probably doesn’t need to be training like his high school self who was hoping for a state championship trophy. 

I can’t blame you for training like you used to! It’s what you learned when you had coaches, supervision, and structure. As a busy adult with a million other concerns, it’s understandable not to make time to learn new ways of training or hire professionals to guide you. 

• “If it worked for me back then, I guess it’s probably gonna work fine for me now,” is a perfectly reasonable mentality to have. 

Unfortunately, approaching your training regimen—or diet—this way may not be serving you like you hoped. Throw in some back pain, a tighter schedule, weaker muscles here and there, a couple dozen more pounds on the torso, and a few injuries picked up along the way, and you may be moving in a very different body than you used to.

Let’s take a closer look

That’s where a proper fitness audit comes in!

I understand the hesitancy to go all in and hire a coach or trainer. While often very beneficial, it can be a heavy lift financially, time-wise, and even mentally.

• If you’re anything like me, you like having the freedom and independence to approach your exercise program with autonomy and control, able to pivot and make adjustments as you see fit.

• Or maybe you just don’t wanna be told by some muscular 22-year-old to fling battle ropes mercilessly for ten minutes. All valid.

Even if you like structured programs or guided workouts and have been following some, it would still serve you to evaluate whether these are leading you closer to your goals, or if they just make you move and sweat and feel productive, but haven’t really induced much progress or growth.

What I’m saying here is that you may be leaving a lot of juice in the lemon left unsqueezed. 

The answer: A fitness audit.

If you’ve got knowledge, skills, and time, perhaps you could do this yourself. Sit down and reflect. Everyone’s goals are different, but some principles are pretty universal if you want to live in a healthy body. Here are some examples of boxes you probably want to ensure you’re checking:

• A minimum daily amount of movement (e.g. 10,000 steps or a similar metric)

• Strength/resistance training at least a couple times per week

• Moderate to vigorous cardiovascular exercise at least a few times a week

• Progression built into your training so you’re improving, not staying stagnant

• A healthy sleep schedule + recovery & stress-mitigation strategies

• A diet built around whole foods, protein, and fiber

• Adequate micronutrition, supplementation, and addressing any unique health concerns

• Community, relationships, & fulfillment

• Action steps that actively progress you toward your goals

You may be able to look at this list above and say, “Ya know what? I’m pretty good on some of these, but could use work on others. Let me make some adjustments here so I’m covering all my bases for a healthy life.” If you have the knowledge & ability, I encourage you to do just that.

If, on the other hand, you’re like, “Yeah, that sounds great, but how? I don’t know where to start or how to change what I’m doing. What even are my goals?” then I’ve got some good news for you:

I’d be happy to conduct your fitness audit! 

This is something new I’m getting into. Just like someone would review your resume and provide professional, constructive refinement and feedback, I’m starting to do the same for people’s diet and training programs!

I’ve got some academic credentials, I’ve got some experience, and I’ve got plenty of up-to-date background knowledge in the field, so I want to be able to start serving people with it at a more individually tailored level than I am able to through a newsletter.

I’m going to be offering a few levels of service: 

1. A basic, digital-based review tier ($29.99)

2. An hour-long conversational review co-developing your plan ($89)

3. A comprehensive, three-appointment, holistic approach ($199)

If you’d like to get in on the ground floor, simply answer the poll below to connect today!

IMPORTANT: PLEASE share your preferred contact info in the “Additional Feedback” comment box after you make a selection. (This is my first poll, so I’m not sure how to contact you yet since I’m new to this lol)

• Feel free to leave other notes to help me understand what you’re looking for as well.

• This does NOT lock you into a commitment. It’s a FREE SCREENING. I will reach out to discuss with you before you commit to anything!

That’s all for this week! I hope to hear from many of you soon. It will be my honor to take a look at your current routine and provide as much constructive feedback as I can serve you with. 

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Perform your own simple fitness audit. Refine your goals and make sure your daily and weekly habits are progressing you toward them.

Level 2: Sign up for a fitness audit with me!

Level 3: After you complete an audit, put that thing into practice! Commit to a select program for at least a couple months, but then always remember to pause, evaluate if it’s working for you, and make adjustments where you want.

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• More expert advice: 35 simple tips that health experts recommend (ignore the dude who says he doesn’t worry about protein and gets enough from lentils 🙄)

• Drink?: Derek Thompson investigates the truth about alcohol and your health

  • Fun fact spoiler: One drink takes about 5 minutes off your life. One minute of exercise adds about five minutes.

If you have any interest at all, please answer the survey above about a fitness audit and leave me your preferred contact method! I’m excited to see where this can go. And as always, if you enjoyed this newsletter, copy the link below to share with a friend. 🤝 

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).