Form & Function MD

Form & Function MD Orthopaedic surgeon. 27 years in practice. Evidence Over Ego — no hype, no hacks, just the science.

Movement, longevity, and myth-busting for people who want real answers.

09/08/2026

Four systems decline separately after 40 — strength, aerobic capacity, peak effort, and balance. Most people train one and ignore the other three.

**Strength** predicts mortality better than blood pressure. It’s what keeps you independent at 80, not just strong at 45.

**Aerobic capacity** (cardiorespiratory fitness) is the single strongest predictor of how long you live — outperforming smoking status in some studies.

**Peak capacity** is your ceiling, and it falls fastest of the four. Short, hard intervals are the only thing that defends it.

**Balance** is the cheapest insurance you’re not buying. Adults over 50 who couldn’t hold a 10-second single-leg stand had nearly double the mortality risk over the next 7 years.

Here’s the week that trains all four, about 4 hours total:

Mon — Strength, full body (40 min)
Tue — Easy walk (40 min)
Wed — Intervals (20 min)
Thu — Walk + 5 min single-leg balance
Fri — Strength, full body (40 min)
Sat — Long easy movement, ideally with someone (60-90 min)
Sun — Rest and mobility (20 min)

Not one heroic session. Not a January reset. A week you repeat 200 times.

Comment PLAN and I’ll send you exactly how I structure the strength days.

09/04/2026

Your body wasn’t built to sit 8+ hours a day — and it’s telling you.

1. Forward head posture — your head drifts forward, adding up to 30+ lbs of effective load on your cervical spine.
2. Rounded upper back — sustained flexion reshapes your thoracic curve over time.
3. Tight hip flexors — hours in hip flexion shortens these muscles, pulling your pelvis and lower back out of alignment.
4. “Glute amnesia” — your glutes stop firing properly when they’re rarely loaded, shifting work to your lower back.
5. Disc dehydration — spinal discs rehydrate with movement; prolonged sitting starves them of that exchange.

None of this is permanent. It’s positional — and reversible with the right habits.

Comment RESET and I’ll send you the 3 things I actually do at my own desk to counter this.”

09/01/2026

5 causes of finger numbness 🖐️
Comment “NUMB” for the breakdown.

08/24/2026

What medications do a doctor and nurse pack for foreign or adventure travel?

1️⃣ All travel (prescription): antibiotic for traveler’s diarrhea (azithromycin or ciprofloxacin), anti-nausea (ondansetron), anti-diarrheal backup (loperamide), allergy backup (prednisone/epi-pen if needed)

2️⃣ High altitude: acetazolamide (Diamox) for AMS

3️⃣ Malaria-endemic areas: atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine — depends on region/resistance

4️⃣ Long-haul flights: melatonin or zolpidem (Ambien) — depends on flight length and how quickly you need to reset your clock
5️⃣ Non-prescription/OTC: oral rehydration salts, electrolyte tablets, antihistamine (cetirizine), ibuprofen/acetaminophen, hydrocortisone cream, antiseptic wipes/ointment, motion sickness tablets

The specific choice and dosing should always be made by your doctor based on your health history and destination.

We’ve packed this same kit for clinical mission work and our own trips abroad. 🌍

Comment “TRAVEL” for our full pre-trip checklist.

08/21/2026

Estrogen protects bone. When it drops at menopause, bone loss speeds up — often years before a woman feels anything.

In a controlled trial, postmenopausal women with already-thinning bones trained heavy, twice a week, 30 minutes. Eight months later: bone density up at the spine and hip, while the control group lost ground. (Watson et al., LIFTMOR, JBMR 2018.)
Worth knowing: participants were carefully screened and supervised before starting heavy compound lifts. Not a program to freelance if you’re new to lifting or have risk factors — get guidance first.

If you’re postmenopausal and have never had a DEXA scan, you don’t know where you stand. ~$45–65 at scan-focused clinics — cheap information for a decision this important.

Comment DEXA and I’ll tell you what the scan actually shows you.

08/18/2026

Calcium gets the credit, but dietary calcium isn’t strongly linked to lower fracture risk, and calcium supplements have a mixed record — one well-known analysis found a cardiovascular signal when women supplemented calcium with D. Food sources (sardines, yoghurt, kale, tofu, tahini) are the better calcium lever.

THE STACK:
— Vitamin D3: 2,000–4,000 IU (verify with a 25-OH-D blood test)
— Magnesium glycinate: 300–400mg
— Creatine: 5g daily

Some research suggests pairing D3 with vitamin K2 may improve how the body uses it — the clinical evidence is still mixed, but the biochemistry is reasonable enough that I take them together.

Comment STACK for the exact doses and brands I use.

08/12/2026

5 Foods to Avoid to Protect Your Joints 🦴
1️⃣ Sugar-sweetened beverages — soda, sweet tea, energy drinks. Sugar spikes insulin, and insulin resistance is independently inflammatory — separate from any weight gain it causes.

2️⃣ Processed meats — bacon, hot dogs, deli meat, sausage. High in AGEs (advanced glycation end-products) that directly stress cartilage cells, plus sodium and preservatives that compound the load.

3️⃣ Fried foods — repeated high-heat oil exposure generates oxidized fats that activate MMPs, the enzymes that break down cartilage matrix.

4️⃣ Refined carbs — white bread, white pasta, pastries, sugary cereal. Rapid blood sugar spikes drive the same insulin-inflammation pathway as #1, just slower.
5️⃣ Omega-6 seed oils — corn oil, soybean oil, canola oil, most bottled dressings. Skews your omega-6:omega-3 ratio, and that ratio is one of the more consistent inflammatory markers in the literature.

If I had to eliminate just one first? #1. Easiest swap, biggest impact.

These don’t just cause generic “inflammation” — several act directly on cartilage cells and the enzymes that break them down. Comment SCIENCE and I’ll go deeper on the mechanisms.

evidenceovereg o antiinflammatorydiet

08/05/2026

I worry about four muscles nobody tests — because they predict how you age better than any lab value on your chart.

Here’s why.

🤚 GRIP — lose 11 lbs of grip strength, your death risk climbs 16%. It’s a stronger predictor of mortality than blood pressure. Test: hang from a bar. Men

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2214 Braxton Edge Road
Fayetteville, NC
28312

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+19106354314

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