Dr. Chet’s Health Memos
If it’s in the health news today, I’ll be writing about it as soon as I read the research, both old and new. With my email Health Memos, you’ll know more about making lifestyle choices that will help you get and keep good health. These free, concise updates on health are emailed to subscribers twice a week. Subscribe today and get a free MP3, in English or Spanish, of Dr. Chet’s Top Ten Tips—Small Changes for a Healthier Life.
Your Heart: Tone
If you live to 80, your heart will beat an average of three billion times. That’s right—billion with a b. Faster when you exercise, slower when you’re at rest, it does its job 24 hours a day, seven days a week. What’s even more amazing about your heart rate is how it’s controlled by the […]
Your Heart: Autorhythmicity
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 […]
Your Heart: Syncytium
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 […]
Physics and Movement
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 […]
Get a Grip!
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, […]
Stronger Shoulders
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, […]
Strengthening Your Core
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 […]
Fitness: The Basics
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. […]
New Learning Opportunities for 2026
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 […]
Weight Loss Myth Busted
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, […]
