Dec. 17, 2025
Fitness and beyond
Join host Ron Aaron as he sits down with Dr. Rajay Seudath to explore the connection between fitness and overall health. They dive into practical tips for staying active, the science behind exercise, and how movement impacts both body and mind. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or just starting your wellness journey, this conversation offers expert insights to help you go beyond the basics and achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Docs in a Pod focuses on health issues affecting adults. Clinicians and partners discuss stories, topics and tips to help you live healthier.
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Show transcript
Podcast transcript
INTRO
Welcome to Docs in a Pod, presented by WellMed. Over the next half hour, Docs in a Pod will educate you about the health and wellness of adults everywhere. Co-hosts Dr. Rajay Seudath and award winning veteran broadcaster Ron Aaron will share information to improve your health and well-being. And now here are Ron Aaron and Dr. Rajay Seudath.
RON AARON
Hello everybody, and welcome to the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron, and we come to you every week with a look at a variety of health and wellness issues affecting folks, primarily 65 and older, but not all. We're delighted to have you with us. Our co-host is our guest today as well, Dr. Rajay Seudath. Dr. Seudath is a board certified family medicine physician. He's a Tampa native and a lead physician for Optum. Dr. Seudath is at the University location in Tampa. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. Dr. Seudath has a passion for primary care and guiding his patients to meet their health care goals while maintaining their values. He also enjoys educating patients and caregivers. That's exactly what we're going to do today when talking about fitness for those 65 and older, wearable apps and all kinds of stuff. Dr. Seudath, pump some iron for us. How are you?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
I'm doing good. This is a topic that comes up every single day when we're seeing patients. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Everybody knows exercise is good for them. There are so many benefits for doing exercise. We often get that that one hurdle of starting the exercise. Where do I start? How do I start? That's kind of one of the things that I get for my patients often is, well, I've never exercised for the last 50 years. Why do I have to start now? So, we go through the reasons for it like cardiovascular, keeping your sugars down, giving you more energy, itÕs good for your mental health. When people are exercising, almost everything in their body is improved.
RON AARON
The question is, what works best for people and for those who are absolutely born and bred couch potatoes, how do you take that first step, Dr. Seudath?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
I think the first thing is to have a mindset. A mindset of why am I doing this? If we start a project with the goal in mind. Whether that goal is I want to lose weight. Whether that goal is I want to be healthier. I want to see my kids graduate from college. I want to see my granddaughter have her marriage or go to her wedding. I want to dance at her wedding. Whatever that goal is, let that be the guiding light that gets you to that first step. Now, what's that first step? If you're a lifelong couch potato, then I would say start in the living room where that couch is. If you're watching TV, you start exercising on the commercials. Every commercial break you can do something, whether it's you simply stand up and sit down, whether it's you're using one of those pedaling machines that are at the edge of your sofa where your feet are. Starting anything is the way to begin.
RON AARON
Now, you mentioned sitting up and getting off the couch. Those turn into squats, which are pretty good for you, aren't they?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes, they are. You don't even have to go all the way down. YouÕre not doing them with 100-pound weights on your back. You can do half squats. So, you can use your sofa, you can use your recliner to brace yourself as you go half of a foot down and then half a foot up. Also, most people have smart TVs, or they have their phones and they can get YouTube on their phones, and there are free videos for living room exercises. In fact, I was showing a patient just today who is in their 90s, we typed in senior couch exercises. There were multiple videos that came up, and she was very surprised that all that stuff is free. It's just like and subscribe. But really there's so much that's there that a person can use to get ideas to follow along.
RON AARON
So, what's the best advice to overcome that inertia to do nothing?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Another thing is looking at what resources are available. So, let's say you made that first step, or you're still contemplating making that first step. Sometimes a little bit of planning goes a long way. I just don't have time, or I'm so busy with the kids and the grandkids and this and that, and I've got to go meet the girls. Oftentimes it's just creating that time. It's not I'm not going to find time. I'm going to make time for my health. That's the way you have to think about it. I am making the time for my health.
RON AARON
Does it help to put that in your calendar so you lock it in?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Absolutely. One of the ways that I've gotten patients to really lock in a specific time is if they have a hospital visit. Let's say they had pneumonia. Let's say they had a really bad infection on their leg or somewhere and they needed antibiotics. So, they're coming out, they're a little bit weaker, and physical therapy is coming to their house. Everybody knows, hey, from 11 to 12, physical therapy is there, don't bother me. Well, three weeks later, physical therapy was over. Well, what do we do? I say you keep that time. Everybody knows physical therapy Pop-PopÕs got physical therapy from 11 to 12. Whether there's a physical therapist coming or not, that's protected time for my health. I think that's what's important.
RON AARON
Hold that thought. We're going to come right back to you. I want to let folks know who may have just joined us, you're listening to the award-winning Docs in a Pod. Our podcast is available wherever you watch and listen to your podcasts. We're also on the radio in several cities in Texas and Florida as well. I'm Ron Aaron and our co-host, Dr. Rajay Seudath, is with us. He is also our guest today talking about a topic he talks with his patients about probably multiple times a day. Fitness, the tech that's available, wearables and apps but more importantly, what you can do to get back in shape.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Absolutely. The title of it, the wearable, what are we talking about when we talk about wearable tech? We're talking about the wrist watches, the bracelets, the rings. We have all these smart devices. The things that those things are able to do for us is they're able to track your progress, and that's what's really the key thing. It's one thing to go out and do some exercise, but are you staying accountable? Are you showing any improvement? Are we tracking your progress? These kinds of wearable techs can do that. Some of them, whether it's Fitbits or the Apple Watch or the rings, all of them have capabilities to track your calorie content. They can see what your target heart rate going up to. They can see how long you did your walking. How many steps you got of the day. There are even ways that on your phone, they can attach to them, and you can make your own exercise routine and see how that affects your vital signs and your weight and things like that. So, there's a lot of interconnectivities. For some folks that may be a little overwhelming. They say, I'm not going to start this thing until my grandkids are coming to visit me to show me how to do this. In that case, yes, younger people are a resource, but we can also use them just for the simpler things like continuous vital signs. They can check your blood pressures, and they can log your blood pressures over a long period of time. If a person has heart disease and they're having high blood pressures, we can see, hey, my blood pressures are coming from the 160s or 150s, which is high, and they're coming down to the 130s and 120s, and I haven't changed my medicines. It's just my lifestyle. There's one of the things I say to my patients all the time, all these medicines are poison, right? At the wrong dose, all these things are poison, and at the right dose, all poisons become medicine. So, if I can have your blood pressure and I can have you be healthier by changing your diet, by doing exercise, that's a victory. Absolutely.
RON AARON
I wear an Apple Watch, and the other night, I was sitting and talking to my daughter, and she said to me, dad, your watch is telling you to stand up. So, stand up.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes. I had one gentleman who was tell me, oh, yeah, my second wife is just always nagging me. I was like, oh, when did Nancy pass? You got married again? HeÕs like, no, no, I'm talking about this lady on my watch. This Siri girl. She's just always nagging me. Do this, do that. Stand up. Your heart's not beating. I said, what do you mean your heart's not beating right? And he said, yeah, it shows my heart's not beating right. So, we did an EKG and he was in AFib.
RON AARON
Yeah. The watch knows.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes. Some people criticize them. They say it's not a 12 lead EKG. It's only a one-lead EKG. But to be honest, having that early suspicion that something could be going wrong, the wearable technology is very good. It's very, very good.
RON AARON
For those who don't know, you mentioned AFib. What is it?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
AFib is when your heart is beating out of sync. Apple Watches, some of the other wearable technology, can show your heart is not beating in a safe rhythm. If your heart's not beating in a safe rhythm, we need to sometimes do something about that. For AFib, it can be dangerous. That means that we need to do something more quickly than not quickly. Again, some people can feel AFib, or atrial fibrillation. They can feel that they're having palpitations, and some people can feel absolutely normal. They say, I have nothing wrong with me. I don't know what you're talking about, doc. And I'm seeing their heart just pacing away as fast as it can, and I'm like, how are you still standing?
RON AARON
So, the answer is?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
The answer is yes. Atrial fibrillation is an abnormal heart rhythm. That's one of the things for people who have atrial fibrillation. We want them to tone their heart. We want them to tone their body so that their body can become a little more efficient in the use of blood flow. So, that's what's an important thing. Another thing that when we talk about exercise in general, we don't often touch upon the benefits outside of just blood pressure and weight. It can also help with falls. If you think about it, when you're walking and you fall or you're going to fall, you trip on something. If your muscles are toned, you have a higher chance of writing yourself down before you fall. You can basically catch yourself before you actually fall and impact the ground. That's toning your muscles.
RON AARON
Falls are a huge risk, especially for people 65 and older.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Absolutely. I can't remember the exact study, but there's a rule of four, and it comes from one out of four people who have a fall and break a hip. So, if you break a hip, one out of four will be fine. They'll get back to normal. One out of four will walk with an assistive device for the rest of their lives. One out of four will be bedbound. One out of four will die within a year. Those are pretty grim statistics.
RON AARON
They are grim. Stay with us. We're going to come right back to you. I want to talk about what you recommend is a regimen for exercise, and should you include weights, cardio, what should it be about? We'll find out as we talk with Dr. Rajay Seudath on the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron, and we'll catch you back in just a moment.
AD
WellMed and you can rely on WellMed and Optum doctors to care for and understand the health needs of older adults. Our commitment to quality is why the Institute of Health Care Improvement recently designated WellMed and Optum as an Age-Friendly Health System. This means WellMed and Optum care teams provide reliable, evidence based, high quality care to older adults. To get the benefits of an Age-Friendly care team, go to wellmedhealthcare.com to find a doctor near you.
RON AARON
We're so pleased you're staying with us right here on the award winning Docs in a Pod. I'm Ron Aaron and our co-host, Dr. Rajay Seudath, is with us. He's also our guest today. We're talking about fitness, exercise, wearables, apps and all the kind of stuff that goes with building a fitness program. You can do all this really without spending much money, which is a key for a whole lot of folks. Dr. Seudath, what would be a regimen that you would recommend for your patients, and what's the ideal minutes a week should we be doing something?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
The ideal is about 90 minutes a week. That's moderate exercise. That's an exercise where you can't have a conversation. If you're able to talk and joke, that's not exactly moderate. It's physical and intense enough that you're not really having a conversation. You're focusing on that. If it's not going to be moderate, then it could be 45 minutes of mild exercise. So, 45 minutes of walking at a regular pace. You can have a conversation while do that. So, 135 minutes. That would be the way that I've told my patients. That's doable. When it comes to the composition of what I should be doing. Should I be doing cardio? Should I be doing resistance? I typically tell my patients I like them to do some stretching beforehand, then their resistance training and then their cardio. I feel that patients should have a combination of the two for two reasons. One, resistance training is important to tone your muscles and to keep you strong. Also, for ladies who are over the age of 65 that are menopausal, that helps to decrease the risk of osteoporosis. Brittle bones. So, resistance training when you are using your bones against weight, that's hardening them. That's making them denser.
RON AARON
What are some examples of resistance training?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
As we talked earlier, just getting up from the couch and doing a half squat. That is resistance training using your body weight. You could do leg presses. You could do leg extensions. You could use your arms. Any of those machines that are allowing you to do resistance training or weight training at a safe amount that's not too strenuous for you, those will help to harden your bones.
RON AARON
But if you're at home and don't have a machine, what would it be resistance training.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
If you're at home, there are different ways of doing that. You could put a ball against the wall and you could use squats with your back against that ball to allow you to move up and down a little bit easier. You could do arm exercises with Zephyrhills bottles, working your way up to maybe 1- or 2-pound exercise bells. You can do exercises on your bed. Notice I don't say on the ground because for some patients, as they get on the ground, they have to call the fire department to get them up. So, I tell people, if you're doing exercises on your back, do them on your bed. You already lay down there. Even just leg lifts, you know, lifting your legs up and down, that is a resistance exercise because you're using the weight of your body. So, any of those can be safe and doable at home.
RON AARON
You mentioned difficulty getting up off the ground. Isn't that something, especially if you live alone, you should learn to do?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes. I've had patients who are very unsteady on their feet. They have an ataxia gait, which means their gait is very abnormal. Or if I see that they're cruising in my office. What's cruising? Cruising is they're using the wall to help them be steady. They're using the desk to be steady, and they're cruising from piece of furniture to piece of furniture. That person is ripe for a fall.
RON AARON
So, youÕve seen me walk?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
I guess so. Am I describing you, Ron?
RON AARON
I like that. Cruising. I hadn't thought about it. I thought it was just dusting.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
No, no, that's cruising it. Sometimes I'll play the Smokey Robinson song. You know, I love it when we're cruising together. Yeah, because you're cruising for a fall. When you fall, I fall, too because I'm the one who must take care of you.
RON AARON
If you do fall, which is all too common, as we were saying earlier. How do you get up? How do you get up off that floor?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
There are proven ways to do that. Getting yourself up on your hands and knees first, finding yourself a handhold to try and get from your hands and knees to your knees, and then trying to help pull yourself up. Physical therapy can go through those exercises as part of their regimen for you. So, as I've had people going through physical therapy to improve their gait, to improve their balance, to strengthen their body, to prevent falls, that can be one of the things they teach you. We're going to have you sit on the floor and have you learn to get back up. And that can be very, very helpful.
RON AARON
In the regimen that you want to go through, you were mentioning resistance. What would be cardio?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Cardio is going to be anything that gets your heart kind of pumping up to an ideal heart rate. Those can be calculated based on your age, but really, truly I like the seated bicycle if possible. Light walking or brisk walking around your home or in your neighborhood if the weather's permitting. That can be cardio. Jogging or running can also be cardio. But in the 65 and up crowd, I'm a little leerier for that because around that time, people usually have arthritis in their knees and bashing your thighbone and your shinbone together, that can cause more issues than help in the long run. So, I would rather have a stationary bicycle, elliptical machine or brisk walking. Again, walking where you're not able to hold a conversation.
RON AARON
And you're not cruising.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
And you're not cruising. That's right. Now, that brings us up to assistive devices. A walker, which is a four-prong walker, a four-prong cane, or my favorite, which is the rollator. The rollator has four wheels, a seat, a basket, and handbrakes. That thing I have found patients feel more safe when they use that. And because they feel safe, they tend to be more active and then their muscles are more toned and they cause less falls, or they survive more falls.
RON AARON
For a lot of people, Dr. Seudath, and I know you know this, they feel that they stick out when they're using a walke and that somehow it automatically labels them as infirm. My mother-in-law is a pretty good example. She has a walker and never has it with her. I'll say to her, Virginia, where's the walker? Oh, it's in the hall. It's doing great.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
That is true. Part of that is winning hearts and minds. Sometimes you have to really try to get to the why instead of the what or the how. The why is, I don't want you to get harmed. I want you to be as active as possible through your 70s, 80s and 90s, and this can help you to do that. The other thing is sometimes you encourage them to make that piece of equipment their own. I had a guy who was 100% against it. He never wanted it. His granddaughter came to visit him, and she painted it with markers and put stickers on it. Suddenly, he's that's the proudest guy ever. He got the fuzzy dice, and he hung it from it. He painted the bottom with flames and that's his hot rod. His joke is any time he comes to the to the clinic and he sees somebody else saying, hey, buddy, you want to race? So, sometimes it just takes that change in your thought process. Someone says, I think it's going to make me seem like an old man. I say, you're not old until you feel old. Your situation and your body is not what makes you old. Sometimes, the wife chimes in like, Bob, you're old. Use the walker. Sometimes it's different perspectives to try and get a person to embrace it. But I will tell you, when it comes to rollators, which is the four wheel walker with the handbrakes and the seat and the brakes, those prevent falls.
RON AARON
Are they covered by Medicare, do you know?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes. They are covered as a DME.
RON AARON
DME is?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Durable medical equipment referral. Whatever companies in your area are connected to your insurance, your provider can put in a referral, and they can get that covered. Again, if it's Medicare, it's usually Medicare covers 80%. You're on the hook for 20%. If you have Medicaid, Medicaid covers for the extra 20%. Sometimes there are nonprofits in the area where they may be able to do repairs or even give you one if you've already had a piece of equipment. So, those are things that social workers and things can help to kind of bridge those gaps. The key thing is canes do not prevent falls. Walkers and rollators do prevent falls.
RON AARON
I said to my mother-in-law what I tell my kids when I we got them to wear seatbelts in the car, that after the accident, it's too late to put the seatbelt on.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Absolutely.
RON AARON
Virginia, it's too late to grab the walker.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Yes. That's true. That kind of leads me to one of my favorite sayings in medicine. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of response. If you can get someone to believe that, if you can get someone to understand that and take it to heart that I'm here for you throughout your lifetime. It's not just a weekend thing here. I'm here for us till death do we part. I want to make you as healthy as possible for the longest amount. I think getting them to understand that is the best way to do it.
RON AARON
We have about a minute left, and before we could bail out of here, Dr. Seudath, how important is it to have a buddy to exercise with if you can find one?
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
An exercise buddy is great. I will tell you having them motivate you and having you motivate them is priceless. If you know they're waiting for you, you'll be there.
RON AARON
That's a good point. Also, there are senior centers in a lot of communities. Often, they have folks who can teach you how to use the equipment and opportunities for you to participate in classes. You name it, you can do it there.
DR. RAJAY SEUDATH
Absolutely. Those are people who are willing to show you. There are also paid personal trainers. There are also group fitness classes. So, whether it's at a gym that's through your insurance, whether it's the YMCA, whether it's a private insurance or a private gym or just a fitness facility where you live. Absolutely. All those things are great.
RON AARON
Dr. Seudath, thank you. Fitness. Now you can start. I'm Ron Aaron and you've been listening to the award winning Docs in a Pod.
OUTRO
Executive producer for Docs in a Pod is Dan Calderon. The producer is Cherese Pendleton. Thank you for listening to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed. Be sure and listen next week to Docs in a Pod presented by WellMed.
DISCLAIMER
This transcript is generated using a podcast editing tool; there may be small differences between this transcript and the recorded audio content.
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