Most people already know exercise is good for them.
The harder question is why so many of us struggle to sustain it, and who actually has the conditions to make it possible.
In Episode 5 of Sick Society, Dr Alexis Paton and Sir Andrew “Bod” Goddard are joined by Dr Jon Houghton, a sports and exercise physician whose work spans military rehabilitation, NHS practice, and elite professional sport. His clinical focus is helping people remain active when age, injury, illness, or circumstance intervene.
Rather than offering a programme to follow, this episode asks a more durable question:
If the goal is to remain capable, not simply alive, decades from now, what does that require today?
Together, they explore:
- Why “just move more” sounds straightforward but often isn’t
- Whether weight loss has become too narrow a measure of health
- The rise of longevity culture, and what it clarifies or distorts
- Why resistance training is having a resurgence, and what the evidence actually supports
- How wearables and performance data shape behaviour, for better and for worse
- The reality that access to movement is structured by income, geography, and policy
- Whether governments can justify investing in prevention when the return may be decades away
- What it would mean to treat exercise as social infrastructure rather than personal virtue
What is Sick Society?
Sick Society is a celebrity doctor talk show examining how social, political, and economic forces shape our health beyond the clinic.
Featuring leading doctors, journalists, and experts, the series explores misinformation, inequality, climate and health, food systems, and public health crises.
The show is produced by Haunted Mouse Productions, an independent podcast network creating journalism-forward and culture-led audio series.