Your Heart: Autorhythmicity

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Your heart can beat over 200 times per minute during maximal exercise, depending on your age, yet every beat is a succinct event made up of many steps with every one of those beats controlled by the electrical system of the heart. While that’s incredible in and of itself, the real story is one of the most amazing features of your heart called autorhythmicity.

Your heart has a special area in one chamber that stimulates it to beat. It’s called the sino-atrial node (SA node) or the pacemaker. Think of that as the command center: it takes information coming from your body and sets the pace of your heart rate.

What you might not know is that some cells of the heart can stimulate themselves to beat. If something goes wrong with the electrical system for some reason, your heart can go right on beating because of the muscle make-up we talked about in Saturday’s Memo on syncytium. It lends itself to this autorhythmic feature. Think of it as the ultimate fail-safe system—makes you sleep a little easier, doesn’t it?

One more cool feature I’ll talk about on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Your Heart: Syncytium

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The next few Memos were from 2016 and are still relevant today! This is why your heart is special. Let’s begin American Heart Month with some facts you probably didn’t know about your heart. Your heart is unique in many ways, and you’re going to learn about a few of them.

The heart muscle is similar to skeletal muscle in the way it contracts, but that’s where the similarity ends. While skeletal muscle is laid out in parallel fashion and independent of one another, the heart muscle splits and connects to other fibers. In that way, every heart muscle cell connects to every other heart muscle cell, and that allows signals to be transferred very quickly. It’s referred to as a syncytium (pronounced sinˈsiSHəm) because it can act as a single unit.

But the heart must contract in specific locations at the correct time in order for blood to be pumped. The heart has to contract at the upper chambers first, the atria, and then the bottom of the lower chambers called the ventricles. That allows the blood to be pumped from the upper chambers to the lower, then from the lower chambers through arteries to the body.

Pretty cool, isn’t it? Wait until you read Tuesday’s Memo about the electrical system of the heart.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Physics and Movement

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Did you know that in the ancient games held when the Olympics began, long jumpers were allowed to carry one-kilogram rocks in each hand? That gave them extra momentum as they leapt into the air while thrusting their arms forward. Then they thrust their arms backward before landing to gain extra distance as they pushed off the rocks. While the distances they leapt may have been embellished, they did jump farther by using physics to help movement.

Have you ever rocked backward before trying to stand up, especially from a deep chair? Using momentum to do curl-ups or trying to do one more repetition in a bicep curl by swinging the weight slightly backward before forward is also okay. You’re using physics to gain an advantage as you gain strength, and that allows you to train at a higher level than you otherwise could. It’s not illegal because this is life, not the Olympics.

Updates

You can still purchase The Keys to Weight Loss webinar or the rebroadcast. For those of you who have already purchased it, the link will be sent by email when it’s ready. An update video will be coming later this week for everyone who purchased the webinar.

After Thursday, Paula will be recovering from getting her shoulder replaced, so we’ll be running some of my favorite Memos from the past for the next couple of weeks.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Get a Grip!

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Did you know that people in the lowest 20% of grip strength have an increased risk of mortality—a 350% increase in all-cause mortality? That’s true for both men and women. On a more practical level, ever have trouble opening the tops of bottles or other simple things that require grip strength? I know I have, and believe me, I’m not happy about it.

The simplest exercise you can perform to increase grip strength is to squeeze a ball that has some give to it; I use a pleather ball Riley had when he was a toddler. I’m working up to a spongy baseball. You can also use Play-Doh or clay, but that would require washing your hands afterward as you’ll retain some of the oils. Rhythmically squeeze the ball and relax for a minute, then switch to the other hand. After that, squeeze the ball as hard as you can for 5 to 10 seconds; switch to the other hand, and repeat 10 times. That’s it. You can do that while you’re sitting. I can see it now: “Are you watching TV?” “No, I’m exercising.”

Obviously, that’s a beginning. When you can lift heavier weights, your grip strength will increase. Be a baller; get started on increasing your grip strength today.

The Keys to Weight Loss

The Keys to Weight Loss webinar is tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration for the live webinar will end at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning; after that, you can purchase the rebroadcast for $17.95. Either way, Members and Insiders get their discounts as long as they log in first to drchet.com.

Here’s a little taste of what you’ll learn. I’m going to cover the most researched supplements that address the five areas related to weight loss: appetite, hunger, cravings, carbohydrate metabolism, and overall metabolism. The supplement no one thinks of using regularly is digestive enzymes. It may help at least two of the areas I mentioned; I’ll cover why in the webinar.

Whether you’re on a weight loss program or even using one of the weight loss medications, you’ll learn how to increase your odds of losing weight. Don’t wait; sign up today!

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Stronger Shoulders

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This week we’re continuing with the theme of basic exercises: what are the exercises that everyone can do at home with minimal equipment to improve or at least maintain fitness?

Our focus today is on your shoulders. That can include the muscles of the chest, the back, the shoulder cap or more precisely the deltoids, the upper arms, and lower arms. The exercise that works a majority of those muscles is the push-up. That can be challenging for many of us, including me. I’ve torn both my biceps muscles, so that limits my ability to lower my body more than a quarter of the way. But I’ve improved my shoulder strength a couple of ways.

Wall Push-ups

Just like it reads, stand two to three feet away from a wall, depending on your height, with your body straight; if your behind is sticking up, you’re too far from the wall (like the woman in black). Lower your body toward the wall, and then push back up again. It’s critical that you have on shoes that won’t slip and you don’t do it on a throw rug! You don’t need a trip to the dentist.

Another way of doing the same movement is to use the stairs. Always start on the floor and use the step that is most in line with your arms at 90 degrees. Lower yourself down and push back up. As you get stronger, you can move your arms down a step which will increase the resistance.

Finally, if you can get up and down easily, start with push-ups from your knees. Just lower yourself enough so you can push back up. As you get stronger, you can go lower and lower.

Counter Push-ups

If you have a kitchen island or a countertop, you can do counter push-ups, either in addition or instead of wall push-ups. It’s especially important you wear shoes that will not slip and no moveable carpets. I use these to focus on my triceps muscles by keeping my elbows tight against my side and letting those muscles do the work.

The same logic applies to all these exercises. Begin with the number you can do and work up to 25. Then add more sets until you can get to 100 total. When you get there, try to increase the resistance by moving down a step or doing push-ups on the floor.

Another note: as the woman on the right is doing, you can use your desk as your counter. This would be a great action to use when you need to get up from your desk and give your eyes a break from the computer, which none of us probably do often enough.

Webinar on Sunday

Don’t forget The Keys to Weight Loss webinar; there are still slots open for the live webinar on Sunday afternoon. If you sign-up, and you have questions you’d like me to answer during the webinar, send them to drchet@drchet.com. Here’s one tip. While there are strategies that can help with cravings, the best way is to not bring them in the house. I’ll cover the others in the webinar.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Strengthening Your Core

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The most common source of pain for Americans is lower back pain, and your core muscles are the key to avoiding that achy feeling.

Does this sound familiar? You sneeze or you’re bending over a sink brushing your teeth, and you feel a twinge that incapacitates you for the next few days. Yes, you could have ruptured a disc, but more than likely, you’ve strained your lower back muscles. Stretching and strengthening your core can help with that. There are dozens of exercises you can do, but here’s where to begin.

Strengthen the Abdominals

The abdominal muscles get weaker as we get older unless they are trained regularly. While the exercise is often criticized, the old-fashioned curl-ups, also known as crunches, can strengthen most of those muscles. There are two keys to the exercise. First, bend your knees; that forces your lower back into the floor, which helps stretch those tiny muscles in the lower back. Second, with your arms folded across your chest, raise up just enough so your shoulder blades lift off the floor. That’s all the movement you need.

The problem for many people will be two-fold. Your belly may get in the way. Second, you may not be able to get down and up again off the floor. If either of those happen, begin by sitting in a hardback chair. Force your back into the chair and contract your abdominal muscles, sort of like you’re sucking your belly in for a photo. Hold for 2–3 seconds, then relax. You’ll also be contracting the muscles within the pelvis, which is also good for the abs.

Work up to 25 reps and start adding more sets until you can do 100 total. Do them over the course of the day or all at once.

Stretch the Hips and Back

I originally wrote this to deal with hip pain caused by the piriformis muscle, but it’s a basic hip-back stretch. This one is simple—you can do it sitting down. Sit in a straight-backed chair with both feet on the ground. Take your right foot and place it on your left knee. If you viewed it from above, it would look like a figure 4. What if you can’t get your foot on top of your knee because you’re not flexible enough? Cross it anywhere along the lower leg that works, even if you just cross your ankles.

Slowly lean forward until you feel the stretch in your butt and lower back. No bouncing! Just lean forward, gently but firmly, and hold for 15–30 seconds. Then with your hands on your thighs, push your upper body upright; that relieves the pressure on your lower back. Repeat with the other foot to knee. Do that 2–3 times per day, every day until you work up to 10 reps. That will loosen up that piriformis muscle as well as other hip flexors, but most important, it will stretch your lower back.

The Bottom Line

All this seems pretty simple. There are dozens more exercises you can do, but your legs and your core help you move, help with balance, and improve posture. Start here until you can do them five days a week. When you can do more, such as modified planks or leg lifts, that’s great, but you have to start somewhere and this is the start.

Don’t forget to sign up for next Sunday’s webinar on The Keys to Weight Loss. I address the five big concerns that people need help with when using a non-pharmaceutical attempt to lose weight. You don’t want to miss it!

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Fitness: The Basics

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Paula asked me a great question the other day: what are the exercises that everyone can do at home with minimal equipment to improve, or at least maintain, fitness? For all ages? Yes, okay. I can do that. It also helps that I recently started a routine that I do every morning for that purpose. Because, let’s face it, sometimes it’s not very appealing—or even possible—to leave the house. (That’s not our backyard in the photo, but ours looks just like that.)

The first exercise benefits legs: can you “cop a squat” to “pop a squat”? It’s the reason leg strength is important at every age. You may not understand those phrases, so let me explain it another way you may relate to better.

The next time you go into a bathroom to do your thing, you have to sit down. That’s the “cop a squat” part—sitting down. “Pop a squat” generally refers to the act of eliminating waste. All well and good and natural. Then comes the part that requires leg strength: you have to stand up again. That’s the minimal amount of leg strength you need to keep your bathroom visits private. If you can’t do that, you have to rely on someone to assist you.

So, if you value your privacy, work on keeping your legs strong enough to stand up. Simplest way? Stand up and sit down from a solid chair with arms, keeping your legs about a shoulder width apart. You may need to use the arms of the chair or a walker to start pushing yourself up in the beginning, but the goal is to stand without holding anything. Work up to 25 reps where you can sit and stand up straight again. Start adding more sets until you can do 100 total. You can do them over the course of the day or all at once.

No fancy equipment needed to train to cop a squat to pop a squat. Saturday, the complement to leg strength is core strength, and we’ll cover the basics of your core. What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

New Learning Opportunities for 2026

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The new year brings new opportunities for me to teach and for you to learn. As I said in Tuesday’s Memo, the first webinar of the year will be Weight Loss Supplements. But there’s more—here’s what’s happening.

New Member Benefits

Since the radio station changed the format of my radio show to short podcasts, the Straight Talk on Health podcast is free to anyone who wants to find it on Spotify or the like. As a benefit for Members and Insiders, I’m going to replace it with a combination of expanded segments of past Memos and the podcasts themselves. There’s always more to say, and now I get to give you an unrestricted, bottom-line approach to health research and news. Check out the benefits of membership at drchet.com. The prices remain the same, but the benefits will continue to grow.

Super Bowl Webinar

Continuing with the theme of Aging with a Vengeance, this webinar on February 8 will be an in-depth look at the three supplements necessary to gaining muscle at any age. What does each do in the body for muscle and other functions? How much do you really need? Most important, what are the potential hazards of each or when used together? Taking Back Your Muscle, Part 2 looks at the most recent research to update and go more in depth on the building blocks of muscle. Whether the Buffalo Bills reach the game (my eternal hope) or not, you’ll learn more about nutrition for muscle strength for any age.

The Bottom Line

This is where we begin 2026. When the new webinars are ready for sale, I’ll send a special Memo announcing it. There is so much more to come; 2026 is a journey and you’re invited along for the ride.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Weight Loss Myth Busted

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There’s been so much written about weight loss, no wonder it’s so hard to know what really works. But there’s one weight loss myth that has been busted. You may have heard experts and gurus say, “It’s not about the calories!” They have blamed junk food and renamed it ultra-processed food; they condemned sugar intake, seed oils, and a whole host of other things, but it’s not about the specific foods.

One fact that the increased use of GLP-1 receptor agonists has clearly demonstrated is that when people use the medication, they eat less. The biochemistry allows the body to do what the body is supposed to do when we’ve eaten enough calories: it makes us feel full, slows the stomach from emptying food, and decreases our appetite. That’s supposed to happen naturally, but we’ve allowed our body to ignore it and thus, we’ve eaten way more calories than we’ve needed; that’s why 70% of us are overweight. But at the end of the day, taking the medication forces us to eat fewer calories or suffer the consequences (which are rumored to be quite unpleasant).

Weight loss always was, still is, and always will be about the calories.

That myth is busted.

While we know that GLP-1 agonists work, are there any ways to help lose weight without medications? You’ll learn all about them when I update the Weight Loss Supplements webinar; it’s been 14 years since I originally did that webinar, and a lot has changed in the supplement world. Some are gone; remember hoodia? Some have stuck around, but new ones are on the scene. What has enough science to be a contender? Find out on January 24—more information to come.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Anticipate Roadblocks

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As the new year approaches, I’m sure that you’re thinking about and planning for what you want to accomplish in 2026. We set goals for many aspects of our lives; although they could apply to any goal you set, I’ll keep my comments related to health goals.

Plenty of books, videos, and on-line groups discuss how to set goals, how to execute your plan, and how to construct your day to achieve those goals. The one they often miss, especially related to health, is what do you do when something goes wrong. You can make up the best schedule to accomplish your goals, but what do you do when something you planned gets changed and is beyond your ability to control?

Anticipate that there will be problems and have a back-up plan in place, both for a short-term, one-day thing or something that may last longer. Here are a couple of examples.

  • Have a back-up breakfast, lunch, or dinner if your schedule is interrupted. It could be something simple like always having a meal bar with you, finding a healthy fast-food choice, choosing the healthiest meal at a diner, or keeping a healthy meal in the freezer.
  • You forgot your workout gear on a day when you only have a specific time to work out. Don’t waste that time; there are exercises you can perform at work during a break. If you need ideas, check out the Bit Fills exercises and stretches in the Health Info section of drchet.com.
  • How about slipping on the ice and dislocating your shoulder? That takes time to heal. Look for a piece of cardio equipment you can sit on, such as a recumbent bike at a fitness facility that doesn’t require a long-term commitment.

There are hundreds of things that interfere with your health goals. As you plan, think about what you will do if something comes up that interferes with your plan.

Be safe New Years Eve.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet