In honor of Men’s Health Month, for the month of June, Healthtrax will be highlighting the importance of physical activity for men of all ages. While everyone can benefit from a healthier way of life, men, like women, have unique health needs. It’s important to encourage young boys to stay active and play outside, as well as adult males to practice healthy habits that will prolong their life and increase the quality of wellbeing.

Men's Preventive Health Screenings and Tips to Staying Healthy!

What can we do, both as men and as the women who care about them, to be more proactive?

• Get regular exercise – Getting active is key to living longer. But you don’t have to go out and run a marathon. It can be as simple as keeping a pair of comfortable running shoes in your car and jumping on the treadmill after work. Bored or hit a plateau with exercise? work with a personal trainer to design a fitness routine personalized to fit your needs and interests. Not ready for a gym experience? Healthtrax offers virtual fitness classes you can do from your home, your backyard or even on the beach this summer!

• Know your Numbers - Book a complimentary HealthyStart assessment with a Trax Trainer at Healthtrax who will review your InBody body composition with feedback ranging from muscle to fat ratio and even muscular imbalances. This charts a personal course of action to take to improve your health and fitness stats and gives you a benchmark to celebrate your accomplishments as you go!

• Eat real food – Processed foods, especially ones that contain sugar, have been proven to affect every system in the body. A better choice, especially when you are hungry, is to only eat real foods. A great way to start is to have at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal, and don’t skip breakfast!

• Go to the doctor – plan for at least two preventative doctor’s visits per year, one at your general primary care doctor, and then work with your doctor to schedule any specialists, for example, a GI or heart checkup if needed.

• Go to the dentist – Teeth issues have a direct correlation between body health in general. Get those pearly whites cleaned and looked at every six months.                       

A few enlightening facts about men’s health:

• Think there aren’t health disparities between men & women? Men die five years faster than women on average.

• 41% of men over the age of 20 are considered obese, according to the CDC.

• Testosterone is linked to elevations of LDL, the bad cholesterol, and declines in HDL, the good cholesterol.

• 30% of men experience depression, yet only 1 in 4 actually talk about it.

• Men have fewer infection fighting T-cells than women.

• 1 in 2 men get cancer in their lifetime.

• According to the CDC, 15% of men over the age of 18 are considered to be in poor health.

• 31% of men over the age of 18 claim to have five or more drinks in one day more than once in the past year.

• The leading causes of death in males are heart disease, cancer, and accidental injury.

Explore more men’s health facts from the CDC.