Everyone has the protocols. Nobody knows why they're using them. I'm Dr. Mark Heisig. I help dudes and dads filter through the mess of health info, the biohacking, the manosphere noise, the unnecessary fluff, keeping it practical for real work and family life. Healthy on purpose — that's the standard.
I grew up an athlete on horse properties and played ice hockey into the ACHA. Since 2012, I've been in the fitness and health world, eventually earning my doctorate in naturopathic medicine with extra training in cardiometabolic health, neurology, and movement.
If you want to filter the noise, show up for your family, and age into being a fit grandpa, you're in the right place.
*All content is for informational purposes only and should not be used as medical or healthcare advice. Consult your provider before making changes. Licensed ND in AZ & WA.
Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
Your reference ranges were set by studying a population where a significant portion of men your age have some degree of metabolic dysfunction. That's the bar you cleared.
"Normal" doesn't mean healthy. It means average. And average, given the state of men's metabolic health, is not a meaningful benchmark for how you should feel or perform.
Standard panels screen for overt disease. They weren't designed to investigate why you feel flat, why your recovery is slower, or why the effort you're putting in isn't translating. That requires different markers, different context, and someone who reads the whole picture — not just what's outside the bolded range.
I break down what the standard panel misses — and what to look at instead — in a free webinar on June 24th, 6pm MST.
drheisig.myflodesk.com/june26-webinar-labs
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
I’m at Sky Harbor airport heading to Seattle to visit some close friends. Sitting outside PHX Beer Co in Terminal 3, watching the gate fill up, and I can’t unsee what I’m about to tell you.
A study just published in Nature Communications tracked metabolic syndrome in men from 2000 to 2023. In North America, nearly 1 in 2 men qualify. The highest global burden? Men aged 35 to 39. Not 60-year-olds. The guys who still think of themselves as athletes. The guys who look basically fine.
The guys who look like the ones sitting around me right now.
Most of them have no idea. Their labs “aren’t a problem yet.” Their doctor said we’ll check again next time. And in the meantime, the cluster quietly builds — blood pressure a little high, waistline a little wider, blood sugar trending up — none of it dramatic enough to set off an alarm, all of it adding up to something that will.
That’s kind of the problem.
I’m running a free webinar on June 24th called “Your Labs Are Normal. So Why Do You Feel This Way?” — and I’ll walk you through exactly what I look at when someone comes to me feeling like garbage with a clean bill of health.
Register here: drheisig.myflodesk.com/june26-webinar-labs
Healthy… on purpose. 🤙
1 week ago | [YT] | 3
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
Your doctor said "keep it up." You still feel like garbage by 2pm. Both of those things can be true at the same time.
"Normal" on a lab report means you cleared a bar set by population averages. Not a bar set by what optimal looks like for you. And the population those averages came from includes a lot of people who are metabolically compromised.
The standard panel was built to catch disease — not to explain why a still-active guy in his late 30s feels off, recovers slower, and can't quite name what shifted. Those are different questions. The system wasn't designed to ask them.
I'm covering exactly why this happens — and what a real investigation looks like — in a free webinar on June 24th, 6pm MST.
drheisig.myflodesk.com/june26-webinar-labs
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
I made a post saying to save 1-4 reps in the tank when you lift. This advice was not for power lifters or body builders. This advice was for dads and dudes trying to get a lift in before the family wakes up, midday work breaks, or after the work day ends.
For the “bean soup” crowd:
• All-or-Nothing (max or nothing) is ridiculous. Let me explain…
• Saving 1 rep? That’s damn near maxing your effort for the set. If you want to crank it out, go for it. I’m not your dad.
• Saving 4 reps? That’s for the morning your kid was sick and you were up with them through the night but still want to hit something.
• I never said to drop the weight. I said to save the reps. This is still different from max effort/PR work.
• Can you still work in max reps and max weights? For sure. I do and I recommend it regularly, not daily.
• Do I recommend guys who are at
capacity from family and work and life demands go HEAVY AS POSSIBLE every lift? Nope. You’re going to crash, dude. It won’t be acute but the day will come and you’ll think “I just need TRT.”
My background: athlete (ice hockey through ACHA 2012), exercise physiology undergrad (BS Biomedical Science), NASM-CPT, CES (2012-2020), Pn1 (2013-present), licensed doctor working with folks on nutrition, movement, mindset (2019-present). I help people move better and get their sh** together to become a healthy, fit, reliable grandpa (not a fragile furniture ornament).
Healthy on purpose. 🤙
1 month ago | [YT] | 1
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
As I'm settling into this new chapter as the Healthy on Purpose doc, I wanted to point folks to the 52 (and counting) posts growing in the Substack archive.
Short posts, LOOONG posts, videos with Dr. Ashok Bandhari, and solo "Coffee w/ Dr. Mark" ramblings. You will get metaphorically slapped in the face, and you'll always walk away with something actionable — if you choose to use it.
Come see what you've been missing 👇
drmarkheisig.substack.com/archive
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
November Gratitude 13/30:
I’m feeling grateful for the mess of this stage of life. In a very cliché, rite of passage way - but grateful nonetheless.
Early 30s. Married with a young child. First few years of home ownership. Balancing DIY home projects between school drop-off, gymnastics, and jujitsu classes. Squeezing in my own personal care between patients and father-husband life. Trying to maintain and build new family traditions. And so on. My nose is always just barely above the water line.
Being fried after a day of cognitively and emotionally complex patients, messing up my fourth attempt at mitered hallway trim, and then having my 4yo latch on to my leg and saying, “Appa! Freeze! You’re frozen now!” because she has no idea how much I “need” to get done…
It's (wonderfully) exhausting, and I know that I will miss this someday.
7 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
November Gratitude 12/30:
I’m grateful for my legs.
A 13-year career in ice hockey. A running hobby. BJJ mobility. Every morning, my feet hit the floor, and my legs take over for the day.
Functional legs and feet are a gift we can take for granted.
7 months ago | [YT] | 2
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
November Gratitude 10/30:
I’m grateful for my kidneys — in a sort of awe and wonder way. Underrated organ system, for sure. They just do that little nothing job of filtering & titrating your blood at all hours. But we think, “they just make pee, right?” (If we even think about them at all). Boggling!
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
November Gratitude 9/30:
(Pulling from the “mind” category today.) I’m grateful for my grit. It wasn’t fun acquiring it, but I’m glad to have it.
From 4 to 20 years old on horse properties - horses, dogs, chickens, rabbits, a garden - and all the associated chores. Splitting wood with my brother to keep the home warm in Idaho. My first official job (at 15 years old) was as a landscaper pulling 13-14-hour days in Wisconsin. My next job was as a “proofreader & delivery boy” for my mom’s deposition transcripts (she was a court reporter). Thirteen years of ice hockey as a smaller player, a stint as a student athlete in college. Grad school for naturopathic medicine. Then, the bigger picture in the background of all of that: 15 years estranged from my father, and then four divorces with my mother.
“Grit” got me through lots of therapy, meditation, and big choices. Grit has allowed me to remain mostly “soft-hearted” and not grumpy or angry. For that, I’m grateful.
7 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Dr. Mark Heisig | Healthy On Purpose
November Gratitude 7/30:
Grocery stores, folks. Sprouts. Safeway. Aldi’s. Costco. Pick your store. Amazing!
I’m grateful for the fact that I can buy foods from all over the world in one location (i.e., a grocery store) quite predictably… and my biggest concern? Commute, parking, and egg prices. But did I raise those chickens? Harvest the grapes? Process the grains? Come on, folks! This is nearly miraculous.
(Photo context: Toor and urad dal in Costco, in Phoenix, AZ! Bulk ingredients for South Indian cooking… in Phoenix, AZ. Awesome!)
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