The Code: A Guide to Health and Human Performance

209. How to Maintain Routine and Have Fun While Traveling

Fitness does not fall apart when routines change but it does reveal whether your habits are built on consistency or convenience.
 
Traveling has a way of exposing what really supports fitness and weight loss when normal routines disappear. This episode of The Code looks at how movement, food choices, and daily habits hold up when life feels full and unpredictable. Dr. Andrew Fix draws from a recent family trip to show how disrupted schedules tend to reveal weak points in routines rather than undo progress. Travel becomes a useful lens for understanding which habits still matter when time, energy, and predictability are limited.
 
The conversation clears up common misconceptions around fat loss and exercise, including the belief that working a specific body part leads to targeted weight loss. Andrew explains why full-body strength work, consistent movement, sleep, recovery, and food choices shape body composition far more than isolated exercises. He also challenges gym comfort zones and repetitive routines, then shares practical ways to maintain fitness while traveling through shorter workouts, smarter timing around meals and drinks, and realistic expectations. The takeaway is simple: fitness and weight loss depend on habits that hold steady even when routines feel optional.
 
Quotes
“We don't lose fat in a spot treatment type of way. We lose fat throughout our entire body.” (03:56 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“When it comes to strength training, we want to use multi-joint exercises that move the majority of the body, the majority of the time, as opposed to focusing on small accessory, single joint movements.” (04:38 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If nothing changes, then nothing changes, right? And what I mean by that is if you go to the gym and you just continue to frequent the exact same machines, the exact same exercises all the time, then you're not going to likely have a nice well-rounded training of your entire body.” (07:53 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If this is part of your routine, if this is something that you're doing for yourself to help you look better, feel better, perform and function better, then I encourage you to keep it in your routine.” (16:59 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Consistency is typically the lever that's gonna win out more than any of the other ones.” (17:25 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
 
Links
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

208. Fueling for Peak Performance | Katie Hardie

If you want more energy, faster recovery, and better performance in the gym and in daily life, the way you fuel your body deserves as much attention as the way you train it.
 
This conversation looks at nutrition through a performance lens, with insights that apply whether you are training for the gym, long workdays, or full days of skiing in the mountains. Dr. Andrew Fix is joined by Katie Hardie, a board-certified holistic nutritionist and functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, to talk about how food choices shape energy, recovery, focus, and consistency, and why many people struggle to see results even when they believe they are eating well. The discussion moves beyond calorie counts and into how digestion, stress, and food quality quietly influence how your body shows up day after day.
 
Katie shares a grounded approach to performance nutrition that prioritizes meals you can repeat and enjoy. They explore why food has to taste good to be sustainable, how to learn what balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates works best for your body, and why lingering soreness or low motivation can be signs of under-fueling rather than overtraining. What changes when you start listening to how your body responds instead of following rigid rules? How might your workouts improve if recovery and fueling finally support each other?
 
This episode reframes nutrition as a practical performance tool that supports strength, stamina, and clarity, with ideas you can apply immediately without turning food into another source of stress.
 
Quotes
“If you don't love the food, the taste of it, or worse yet, it doesn't even contain the building blocks, you're behind the eight ball.” (13:03 | Katie Hardie)
“We got sold the story of calories in calories out. It's not incorrect. It's just incomplete.” (13:49 | Katie Hardie)
“Each skipped meal is a missed opportunity for repairing or building.” (22:40 | Katie Hardie)
“Nutrition is what we eat and it's also what we digest and absorb. That piece gets missed.”(25:31 | Katie Hardie)
“When people talk about sports nutrition, so many people think sports nutrition is game day nutrition. Sports nutrition is the whole season, just like trainings the whole season.” (51:56 | Katie Hardie)
Connect with Katie Hardie:Visit the My Peak 365's Website
Follow Katie on Instagram
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

207. Navigating Life’s Curveballs in 2026

When life blows up your routine with sickness, sleepless nights, and missed workouts, this episode reframes resolutions and habits as practical commitments you protect on your calendar rather than promises you hope to keep.
 
Dr. Andrew Fix shares a simple truth most people avoid. Consistency does not come from perfect conditions or endless motivation. It comes from deciding what matters and building habits that can survive real life. When routines fall apart, the answer is not guilt or starting over. It is choosing structure that works even when things feel messy.
 
Why do healthy habits disappear when life gets busy? What changes when your resolutions stop living in your head and start living on your schedule? The episode challenges the idea that routines need to look impressive to work and makes the case for habits that fit the season you are actually in.
 
If you are tired of feeling off track every time life gets chaotic, this episode offers a grounded way forward. Decide what matters, put it on the calendar, and keep moving without waiting for everything to calm down first.
 
Quotes
“How do we get back on track? Well, I'm a big believer in putting things on the calendar that are priorities for you.” (05:01 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“It doesn't matter what it is. It just matters that it happens and that you're prioritizing it for yourself, that you are making a point to make it important to you, important enough to put it on the calendar” (05:56 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“We are so used to conquering and overcoming hard things because of the physical training that we do that we can do that in the other areas of our life as well.” (08:28 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“You need to find the routine. You need to find the cadence that works for you.” (09:29 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“If you want something to be accomplished, if you want to reach the goals that you have set for yourself, if something is important to you, it will be important enough to hold a place on your calendar.” (09:54 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

206. Clear: Rethinking Alcohol and the Power of an Alcohol-Free Life | James Swanwick

Many high performers blame stress or burnout for feeling off when the real drain on their sleep focus and relationships is hiding in plain sight inside their nightly drinking habits and the broader lifestyle choices tied to alcohol.
 
James Swanwick joins Dr. Andrew Fix to question the belief that alcohol only becomes an issue at the extreme. He reflects on years of socially acceptable drinking that slowly eroded his energy clarity and presence until the cost could no longer be ignored and a lasting shift felt necessary.
 
The conversation explores what alcohol does beneath the surface, starting with sleep and rippling into mood focus cravings and connection at home. When recovery suffers everything else follows. How often do we point to work pressure or discipline when the issue starts the night before? What changes when rest, clarity and patience return?
 
Rather than prescribing rigid rules Swanwick encourages awareness, experimentation and choice. Track the data. Notice the patterns. Pay attention to how you show up with the people who matter most. This episode invites listeners to stop normalizing feeling less than their best and to consider what becomes possible when alcohol no longer compromises daily life.
 
Quotes
“Drinking is just attractively packaged poison.” (15:05 | James Swanwick)
“You’ve just clocked out of a day’s work from your job, the moment that you put your head on the pillow, you’ve just clocked in for a whole night’s additional work, the moment that you chose to drink that red wine or that beer or that seemingly innocent gin and tonic or vodka at the end of the night.”  (19:08 | James Swanwick)
“We're positioning alcohol as the fun and the reward, and not drinking alcohol is the pain and the suffering. It's ridiculous. It should be the other way around.” (28:17 | James Swanwick)
“If you could have reduced or quit alcohol on your own, you would have. You haven't, so you probably can't. So try a different way.” (54:46 | James Swanwick)
“I’ve had a life with alcohol and a life without and without as far superior.” (58:00 | James Swanwick)
Connect with James Swanwick:Visit Alcohol-Free Lifestyle
CLEAR by James Swanwick
 
James Bio
James Swanwick is an Australian-American investor, entrepreneur, and speaker, and a former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN. He is the founder of Alcohol Free Lifestyle, a company that helps high achievers change their relationship with alcohol, and the host of the Alcohol Free Lifestyle podcast. James is also the creator of Project 90, a neuroscience-based program designed to help high performers gain lasting control over alcohol, and the founder of Swanwick Sleep, maker of Swannies blue-light blocking glasses to support better sleep. Over the course of his career, he has interviewed notable figures including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Kobe Bryant, David Beckham, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
 
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

205. The 7 Movement Patterns Every Program Should Be Built On

Most exercise and fitness plans fail the moment real life gets in the way, but training around how the body is built to move creates strength that holds up no matter how busy the gym or unpredictable your schedule becomes.
 
Better results in training do not come from more complicated programs or chasing the perfect lifting routine. They come from understanding how the body is meant to move and training those patterns with consistency. When squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling, carrying, rotating, and absorbing force become the focus, workouts stop feeling fragile and start working in the context of real life.
 
The perspective here is long-term. Smart lifting and strength work support bone health, muscle mass, energy, and the ability to respond when life demands quick or unexpected movement. What gets lost when those capacities are no longer trained? What quietly fades when movement becomes narrow or cautious?
 
The takeaway is steady and practical. When plans fall apart, the answer is not starting over or doing more. It is returning to the fundamentals and letting them guide your choices. That shift turns training into something you can sustain across seasons, schedules, and decades.
 
Quotes
“I want to help you not become one of those numbers of the statistics where you start something and you fall off the wagon just a few weeks into the new year.” (01:55 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Continue to live a healthy, active life, regardless of how old you are and as you age, continue to be that way.”  (02:59 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Focus on the movement pattern, not on the exact exercise.” (17:16 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“You can easily replace a squat with a leg press, a leg press with a squat. You can do the same movement a different way because exercises are just ways that you accomplish movement patterns, not the other way around.” (17:28 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“We definitely think more about the movement patterns as it relates to the function of our own bodies and being able to continue to move and do things for years and years in the future.” (17:43 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
 
Links
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

204. Take Care of Yourself While You Still Have the Chance

Waiting for the new year to take your health seriously is a quiet gamble with your future that too many people make without realizing what it costs.
 
This conversation challenges the way we think about health, resolution culture, and the pressure to set big goals tied to a date on the calendar. Dr. Andrew Fix makes a clear case for starting now rather than postponing meaningful health decisions until January. When resolutions become delays, even the best goals lose their power before they ever begin.
 
The episode reframes health through the lens of health span rather than longevity alone. What does it mean to stay capable and clear for as many years as possible? How do small choices around sleep, movement, and nutrition shape that outcome? The focus stays practical and realistic without extreme plans or rigid routines.
 
At its core, this episode links personal health to the people who matter most. Taking care of yourself protects your ability to show up for your family and your life. If your health determines how much time you get to be present, why wait to choose it?
 
Quotes
“We shouldn’t wait for the new year or for a date on the calendar to do something that we want to do or to do something that we know we should do or need to do.” ( 00:59 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“Take care of yourself now while you still have the chance.” ( 01:59  | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“All of us are going to age. All of us are going to have our health decline. We want to fight that off as long as we can. And that's what we call health span.” ( 03:06 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“You’ll either choose to pay for your wellness now, or you’ll be forced to pay for your sickness later.” ( 04:28 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
“What is a better gift that you could give them than you taking care of yourself so that you can provide for them and gift them more of that time for as many years as you possibly can. That is the gift that they want. That is the gift that's going to keep on giving.” ( 08:03 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
Links
https://www.netflix.com › Kevin Hart: Acting My Age
 
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

203. Health Score Revolution — Building Culturally Conscious Wellness with bEHR | Kwame Terra

Walking can become a cultural force for better health when the Black community is given tools that make prevention visible, shared, and rooted in daily life.
 
Dr. Andrew Fix sits down with Kwame Terra, founder of bEHR Health, for a conversation that reframes health as something you can understand, track, and take ownership of in real time. Kwame shares why bEHR Health was built around a live health score, how health literacy shapes long-term outcomes, and why prevention has to feel relevant to everyday life rather than abstract medical advice. The discussion moves beyond individual behavior to examine how access, stress, and environment quietly shape health over decades, especially within the Black community.
 
Walking becomes an unexpected centerpiece of the episode, both as a practical entry point to better health and as a catalyst for connection and culture change. Kwame reflects on setting a world record for steps in a month and what surprised him most about the physical and mental impact. How does something so simple shift behavior at scale? Why does community matter more than motivation alone? And what changes when health becomes something people do together rather than something they are told to manage alone?
 
The conversation challenges the idea that health progress requires extreme solutions. Instead, it points to a more durable path forward, one where walking, shared accountability, and clearer health signals help people reconnect with their bodies, their communities, and a stronger sense of purpose.
 
Quotes
“60 % of black people have low health literacy. Most of us aren't aware of our current health status, or the short and long-term implications of our lifestyles, and the consequences that obviously come with that.”  (08:27 | Kwame Terra)
“The cool thing about the score is that as you change, so does your score.” (09:20 | Kwame Terra)
“We don't want health to feel like this additional chore that people have to do to be healthy. Like how do we design their life to where it creates health?” (47:46 | Kwame Terra)
“Public health is the art and science of prolonging life. That's the definition of public health.I've added a mental health component to my definition of public health, which is now the art and science of prolonging the desire to live.” (01:08:38 | Kwame Terra)
“If you aren't all that you can be, You suffer more than you have to. And so does everyone else.” (01:13:14 | Kwame Terra)
 
Links
Connect with Kwame Terra:
Visit bEHR Health Systems
Instagram
Follow Kwame on Instagram
 
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

202. Navigating Back Pain While Training

Training only moves forward when you know how to pivot on the days your body feels off, and smart adjustments matter more than any single heavy lift.
 
Dr. Andrew Fix uses a real morning in the gym to unpack a familiar question for anyone who follows a training plan: what do you do when back pain or tightness shows up right as you’re trying to stay consistent with your fitness goals? He talks through judgment calls that keep progress intact without forcing painful reps or drifting into avoidance.
 
The message lands on a simple truth. Consistency wins. One perfect session never matches the value of showing up again tomorrow. So how do you decide when to scale or swap movements or shift the intention of the work you planned? How do you stay honest about discomfort without letting it take over the whole day?
 
Andrew brings a grounded mindset that supports long-term training and everyday life. The reminder sits at the core of his story. Movement still matters on the days that feel inconvenient, and the athletes who grow are the ones who adjust with purpose rather than force.
 
Quotes
"I'm not going to avoid the movement, but I'm going to modify how I'm implementing it, and how I'm performing the workout." (04:34 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"If you're just haphazardly doing random workouts at random times on random days of the week, you're likely going to get random results.” (06:30| Dr. Andrew Fix)
"The most important lever we can pull when it comes to making progress is consistency." (07:38 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"If something's bothering you, don't skip it, modify it. Listen to what your body's telling you to do and adjust accordingly." (07:58 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"Doing something is always better than doing nothing." (10:24 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
Links
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

201. What to Do When You're In Pain

That first jolt of pain can throw anyone off, and knowing where to start can be the difference between a quick fix and a lingering problem.
 
Dr. Andrew Fix takes a closer look at what really happens in that early moment of pain and how a thoughtful approach to injury can shift everything. He explains why your own observations often hold the first clues and how simple steps can help you understand whether the issue needs light attention or a more structured plan. What can the timing of the discomfort tell you? How often do we focus on the sore spot when the real problem sits somewhere else entirely?
 
Andrew also talks about the value of asking the people who see you move every week since they often notice patterns you miss. And when discomfort refuses to fade, he makes a strong case for getting help from someone who understands true management of movement and load rather than relying on quick fixes that never reach the root. The episode centers on one idea: pay attention early and seek guidance that actually supports how your body is designed to work.
 
Quotes
“How do you know where to start? When you have all these options, there's so much information out there. You could watch YouTube videos, you could go on the internet, you could go to your physical therapist, physician's office, chiropractic office, I mean, you name it, the list is endless, but it's extremely long, right? There's a lot of options of things you could do. But what should you do? (03:38 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"Sometimes we have symptoms in an area where that area is not the actual root cause of the problem.” (05:30 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"That doesn't do anything. That does not fix your musculoskeletal problem that you're dealing with. And we're in the business of trying to help people fix issues, not mask symptoms." (07:38 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"This is the time where you need to get that extra set of eyes from somebody that really knows what they're doing and knows how to help you rectify this, not tell you to go RICE it (rest, ice, compress, elevate).” (09:22 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
"We do not wanna get to the point where pain starts to become more irritating, more debilitating, causing you to modify your function, causing you to compensate, causing you to avoid things, causing you to skip the activities that you love to do with the people that you love to do them because something hurts." (12:30 | Dr. Andrew Fix)
 
Links
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

200. Women's Health & Hormone Replacement Therapy in Menopause | Dr. Mona Fahoum

Midlife health takes on a whole new meaning as Dr. Mona Fahoum breaks down what really happens to women’s hormones and how to stay strong, clear headed and resilient through every shift.
 
Dr. Mona joins Dr. Andrew Fix for a grounded conversation on Menopause and the years leading up to it, shedding light on symptoms that often feel confusing or disconnected. She explains how Naturopathic Medicine gives women a fuller view of hormone health, linking estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to the energy dips, sleep changes and joint issues so many women struggle to name. The question that sits underneath much of the episode: how do you stay rooted in your life when your body keeps shifting the rules?
 
They talk through her “three legged stool” of nutrition, movement and hormone support as a steady framework for long term strength. Mona also breaks down Hormone Replacement Therapy in a clear, non-sensational way so women can understand where bioidentical hormones fit and when other approaches make more sense. The result is a practical, reassuring look at midlife health that encourages women to ask what this stage could feel like with the right tools, the right conversations and the right care.
 
Quotes
“We are going to live a long time. We don't want chronic disease…So we have to shift that focus into how we are going to live well in these older years postmenopause? Because we're probably going to spend 40 % of our lives in postmenopause now.” (19:36 | Dr. Mona Fahoum)
“Our hormones are helping us with our fertility…Menstrual cycle, fertility, that's what they're there for. But estrogen and testosterone both also support the immune system. They support energy production in the cell. They support tissue recovery. They support collagen production.” (26:46 | Dr. Mona Fahoum)
"I love to say there's kind of a three legged stool and you got to have all of it: the nutrition, the exercise, and the hormone optimization." (29:40 | Dr. Mona Fahoum)
“Our bodies are healthy. Their baseline is healthy and they know how to fix themselves. They are resilient if we give them the right tools.” (56:09 | Dr. Mona Fahoum)
“There is nothing wrong with us in menopause and in our forties. It is a normal process…I love that we're all talking about this more, but there's this push to pathologize it too. And I don't want any gal thinking that there's something wrong with her. Your hormones are doing what they're supposed to do.” (56:17 | Dr. Mona Fahoum)
 
Connect with Dr. Mona Fahoum:
Visit Dr. Mona Fahoum’s Website
Links
SideKick Tool
 
Movemate: Award-Winning Active Standing Board
15% off Promo Code: DRA15
 
RAD Roller
 
Revogreen
 
HYDRAGUN 
 
Athletic Brewing
20% off: ANDREWF20
 
 
Connect with Physio Room:
Visit the Physio Room Website
Follow Physio Room on Instagram
Follow Physio Room on Facebook
Andrew’s Personal Instagram
Andrew’s Personal Facebook
 
 
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm