How do we define focus? Technically, focus is “the center of interest or activity.” When we think about health or fitness goals, we’re really choosing the two or three health markers or fitness capacities we care most about improving. When our goals are clear, our focus is clear and when our focus is clear, we know exactly where to direct our energy and attention.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t have a real understanding of where our focus should be from a health and fitness perspective. We might have a rough idea based on how we look or feel, but I’d argue we need to go a step further. If you’re getting genuinely serious about your health, I recommend starting with three things: blood work, a physical check-up, and a DEXA scan. Together, they give you a clear picture of what areas need a complete overhaul and where your attention will have the biggest payoff.
Let me explain…
The Physical Check-Up
This check-up is standard and usually includes listening to your heart and lungs, checking your reflexes, examining your skin, eyes, and ears, and more. The goal is to establish a baseline and catch potential health issues early.
You can also use this appointment to:
Request specific blood panels
Tell your provider you’re serious about improving your health and fitness
Ask for referrals to personal trainers, physical therapists, registered dietitians, etc.
If you have a history of health issues, you should schedule a physical exam at least every 6 months to get ahead of, or catch up to, any health challenges that are starting to show up.
The Blood Work Tests
Blood work is an extremely useful tool if you care about your health. It gives you objective metrics that help identify how your body is adapting to stressors by measuring various biomarkers and tracking how they change in response to diet, training, and recovery.
Blood work often reveals potential health risks before anything else and is a highly underutilized tool when you’re trying to create clear focus on what needs your attention from a health perspective.
A few basics:
You can request and review labs through your primary care doctor.
If you haven’t done blood work in the past 10 years, you should schedule a deep dive.
Make sure you book a follow-up visit to discuss the results in depth.
If you’re younger and relatively healthy, once per year is usually enough.
If you’re not in a great place health-wise, every 6 months is a smart move so you can track whether your lifestyle changes are actually working.
If you want more detail and customization around your blood work, check out Function Health.
The DEXA Scan
A DEXA scan is a low-dose X-ray that breaks your body into three main buckets: bone, lean tissue, and fat region by region. Instead of guessing from the scale or a random bathroom bioimpedance gadget, you see:
Exactly how much fat you carry
How much muscle you have on each limb
Where you store fat (including visceral fat around your organs)
How dense your bones are
That data makes your health needs a lot harder to ignore:
Low bone density = higher fracture and osteoporosis risk
Low muscle mass = higher risk of sarcopenia and mobility issues down the road
High visceral fat = elevated cardiometabolic risk, even if you “look fine” in clothes
With repeat scans, you can verify whether your training and nutrition are actually moving the needle.
There’s almost always a DEXA option near any major city. If you’re in Los Angeles, check out BodySpec.
Now, you can knock out all three of these. Physical, blood work, and DEXA in 2–3 days if you plan ahead and intentionally block it into your calendar as a “health week.” Once you gather the data, talk with your doctor, a human performance coach like myself, or set aside real time to analyze where your priorities and focus should be.
If you do the above, it will likely be one of the highest-agency decisions you make this year, or at the start of 2026.