In his new book “PUSH,” sports medicine physician Dr. Jordan Metzl explores the science of fitness motivation and the ways to achieve sustained habits for healthy longevity. He’s is hosting a speaking engagement on Thursday night with the Vail Symposium.
Vail Symposium/Courtesy photo
The wellness industry is booming, yet many people continue to struggle to sustain their fitness goals. By 2028, an estimated $6.3 trillion will be spent on wellness and longevity, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors of the U.S. economy. At the same time, technological advances have dramatically reduced how much we move in daily life. On Feb. 12 at Eagle River Presbyterian Church, award-winning sports medicine physician Dr. Jordan D. Metzl, author of “PUSH: Unlock the Science of Fitness Motivation to Embrace Health and Longevity” will share his learnings, including the fact that the biggest barrier to physical activity isn’t time, access or discipline: It’s motivation.
“We live in a very active community and, for many of us, being able to do what we love for as long as we can is very important,” says Vail Symposium Executive Director James Kenly. “To have Dr. Metzel — who not only talks the talk but walks the walk—come and share his learnings will be of benefit to everyone who attends.”
The good news is that motivation isn’t something you either have or don’t have. It’s a skill that can be learned, strengthened and sustained when we rethink how we approach movement, mindset and behavior change. In fact, new research published in eClinicalMedicine found that small, achievable improvements in sleep, movement and nutrition, measured in minutes per day, not hours, were associated with longer life and more years lived free of chronic disease. For people with the poorest health habits, just a few extra minutes of daily physical activity, modest sleep gains, or small dietary improvements were linked to meaningful increases in lifespan and health span, underscoring Metzl’s central argument that progress, not perfection, drives healthy longevity.
Dr. Metzl is a longtime sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery and has spent more than 25 years prescribing movement as medicine. In the exam room and in everyday life, he has seen the same pattern repeat: People know exercise is good for them, but struggle to maintain it consistently over time. In “PUSH,” Metzl reframes exercise not as punishment or obligation, but as a prescription for healthy longevity — one grounded in motivation science, not guilt, fear or fitness fads.
“We’ve spent decades telling people that exercise improves health,” Metzl says. “It does. The real problem is that most people can’t sustain daily movement over years. ‘PUSH’ is about learning how your motivation works, so movement becomes something you want to do — not something you feel guilty for avoiding.”
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Metzl introduces a critical reframe: The goal isn’t chasing longevity — it’s building healthy longevity. Drawing on decades of patient care, cutting-edge motivation research and real-world case studies, Metzl will discuss the ways that movement, motivation and muscle are the keys to healthy longevity, while trying to help audience members better separate medical accuracy from hype. He will also provide methods to better assess and enhance healthy longevity through the science of fitness motivation.
