In the 70s, smoking and sugar were all we needed for good health. So we were told.
These days it’s wearables, cold plunges, continuous glucose monitors, biohacking, protein, and personalised supplement regimes. Something more to sell?
The wellness industry generates billions and profits from the idea that getting healthy is complicated.
It isn’t.
I’m old enough now to have watched hundreds of patients and friends move from their fifties to their eighties, and feel reasonably well placed to comment on what actually seems to work. Those who do it well keep it simple. They resist the fads.
And almost without exception, they’ve worked out — consciously or not — what the philosopher Alan Watts meant when he said life isn’t a journey to be optimised. It’s a dance. The point isn’t to reach the end. It’s to enjoy the dancing.
So what keeps us dancing? The evidence, it turns out, is fairly straightforward.
Walk regularly. 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day is associated with significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia. You don’t need a complex programme. You just need to go outside, every day, and move.
Lift something you find difficult, twice a week. Resistance training preserves muscle, protects joints, and is one of the most reliable predictors of how well you age. A gym helps but isn’t required. Push-ups, squats, bands or weights at home will do the job.
Do something more energetic, twice a week. Twenty to thirty minutes with your heart rate up – cycling, swimming, rowing, hiking the Surrey hills, joining your local Parkrun, tennis. It matters less what it is than whether you enjoy it.
Spend time with people, preferably those you like, doing things you like. Social isolation carries roughly the same mortality risk as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. One of our patients retired in his early sixties. Turns out his wife had become fond of him being at work. So he got back in touch with an old friend he’d lost contact with over the years, and they learnt to sail together. It’s a decade later. They’re still at it.
95% of health benefits come from being active, spending time with people you like, and lifting some difficult things a couple of times a week. The smart watch, the supplements, the extra protein – that’s 5%.
The health industry would rather you didn’t notice. It was never complicated.
If you are being held back by pain or injury, or know someone that is, we’re here to help. Book in with one of the team – Online, by email, or on 02079371628.
Keep moving,
Cameron
Last updated: 2nd October 2026
