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Jason Henriques clearly remembers what his 3-year-old son, Wyatt, said one day. “We were sitting on the dining room floor playing and he said, ‘Daddy, when I get big like you, I want a big tummy like you,’” Henriques tells TODAY.com.
At the time, Henriques was a 37-year-old with obesity, and his weight and diet were affecting his health. His asthma was so bad he was hospitalized to treat it about once a year. He had allergies, herniated discs, torn ligaments in his knees and gastrointestinal problems like colitis, gastritis and gallbladder issues. And Wyatt’s comment made him realize he needed to be a better role model for his children.
For Henriques, a comment from his son about the size of his stomach was his motivation to make a lifestyle change.Source Jason Henriques
He started his fitness journey by walking and rowing
“I got up the next day, put Wyatt in a stroller, and started walking. From that day on, for months, we walked three to 12 miles a day. My mindset was, ‘I have to do this. I have to be a better parent. I have to be a better role model. I completely changed my mindset and went all-in,” he says.
When Henriques started walking, he was self-employed as a photographer. “I had my own schedule, and I made the time. Walking was my number one priority in the morning. I pushed everything else to the side for a little while,” he says.
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While walking worked well for him for a few months, when the winter weather started to set in near his Monroe, Conn., home, he wanted to find a new way to improve his fitness. So, he joined a gym and took advantage of a free personal training session they offered.
The trainer asked him to row 1,000 meters on a rowing machine. He was hesitant at first. “It was new, it was challenging and I was in a routine of walking, jogging and cycling. Rowing shook it up, and change is hard sometimes. But I loved it because it didn’t have the impact of running or cycling on my joints. I felt great,” he says. He kept working out with the trainer, and he also joined a CrossFit gym. Rowing was often part of his workouts.
Looking for a challenge, he ran a turkey trot 5k that Thanksgiving. That got him even more interested in running and exercise. “I just fell in love with the whole world of fitness and how I felt afterwards,” he says.
He loved how rowing and running balanced each other: “Rowing is the perfect counterpart to running because you can build your endurance on the rower without the impact. And once you hit the streets, you can use rowing as recovery from your running.”
At 37 years old Henriques struggled with obesity, asthma, herniated discs and gastrointestinal issues.Source Jason Henriques
He inspired his whole family to find their competitive streak
It’s exciting to be into fitness as a family, and it strengthens our bond, too.
Jason Henriques
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As his fitness improved, he and his wife Maggie started competing in obstacle-filled Spartan races along with their children, Wyatt, now 11, Presley, 8, and Hudson, 3. Last year, his two oldest children finished a triathlon. “It was so cool watching that. It’s exciting to be into fitness as a family, and it strengthens our bond, too,” he says.
Henriques did his first triathlon on his own, running and biking near his home and swimming in a nearby lake. “I didn’t care if anybody knew about it. I just wanted to do it for me. That was something never in my life I thought I would do,” he says.
He recently did a 48-mile row, rowing four miles every four hours for 48 hours. He also pushed himself to run a half-marathon on his own, and eventually, he would like to run a full marathon.
Since shifting his mindset and prioritizing his health, Henriques has lost 160 pounds.Source Jason Henriques
He cleaned up his diet with a food journal and growing his own food
When Henriques started exercising, he and his wife also got rid of all the junk food in the house. He realized he needed to learn what his body needed and what triggered his asthma and allergies.
Tracking his macronutrients and keeping a food diary helped. He discovered that his body doesn’t like dairy, refined sugar or processed carbs, and onions make his gastrointestinal issues worse. He didn’t think he was an emotional eater, but he found he was turning to food when he was bored. These insights helped him eat in tune with his body.
He also started to pay more attention to where his food comes from. He and his wife recently bought a historic home that they are renovating. “We cleared a quarter-acre of land we’re going to use as a garden. We built a huge chicken coop, and we have 19 chickens so far. We’re basically starting a homestead,” he says.
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They plan to grow a lot of their own food, and they also buy meat and produce from area farms. He acknowledges that buying fresh, local food can be expensive compared to the packaged and processed food he was eating before, but he feels it’s worth it: “I’m investing in my health now versus having to spend the money on healthcare later. I’m investing in the quality of my life.”
He and his family now prioritize meals together. “We sit at the table together to eat. We cook together a lot of the time. It has strengthened our family bond,” he says.
After losing 160 pounds, Henriques no longer struggles with asthma or joint pain.Source Jason Henriques
He’s seen huge improvements in his health
In the first year after his mindset change, Henriques lost 160 pounds, and he’s maintained his weight since then. Between his weight loss and his diet changes, he no longer has gastrointestinal issues. His asthma has mostly cleared up, his allergies are much better and most of his joint pain is gone. He still has herniated discs, but strengthening his core has helped protect his spine.
At one point, a friend who is a gastroenterologist suggested that Henriques might want weight-loss surgery. But after four months of focusing on his health, he had lost 60 pounds, and he no longer qualified for the procedure — they told him if he wanted to have it, he would need to gain some weight: “I walked out of that office and never went back. That was all the motivation I needed to keep going.”
And now? “I feel better at 44 than I did when I was 24,” he says.
Henriques became a coach and eventually a general manager at Row House.Source Jason Henriques
His health changes led to a new career
With his focus on rowing, Henriques caught the attention of the team at Row House in Monroe, Conn. They invited him to audition as a coach, and he got approved and started coaching in the mornings before work. He says, “I got even stronger as a rower, and I had the potential to help other people who might be going through something I’ve been through. What’s better than that?”
He feels that his health struggles make him a better coach. “I can relate to people who have them, and I can be more strict on form because I know being out of alignment the tiniest bit can aggravate some injuries,” he says.
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When he coaches, he shares stories about his life and his struggles. “Somebody else in that room might be going through something similar. They can relate. I really like to build those connections,” he says.
When the general manager position at Row House opened up, he decided to make a career change: “It was a little bit scary, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”
Looking back, he appreciates how an innocent comment from his son put him on a new path. “That moment is what changed not just my health and fitness, but the whole trajectory of my life,” he says. “And my three kids look at me in a whole different light. Now I’m doing this parenting thing right.”
In March 2025, in a preprint uploaded to biorxiv.org, Mansuy and colleagues reported that EVs in mice can transport certain RNAs, metabolites and lipids linked to early-life stress from circulating blood to sperm, with consequences for offspring. The offspring produced by these sperm cells had stress-related metabolic dysfunction as adults and bore the stress signatures in their own sperm RNA. “These changes imply a mechanistic link between sperm RNA modifications and phenotypic features in the offspring,” Mansuy’s team concluded in their paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Phenotypic Translation
Perhaps the trickiest step to understand is how sperm-borne molecules could influence an adult’s observable traits. In one form of experiment, researchers extract all the sperm RNA from mice that have been raised under stressful or health-altering conditions. Those isolated RNAs are then injected into a zygote. Pups that emerge usually “get the dad’s phenotypes,” Conine said, suggesting that the RNAs alone confer traits from dad to offspring.
But how? During early development, epigenetic processes reign. As one fertilized cell divides into two, and those cells divide again, and so on, one set of DNA instructions is dynamically and repeatedly reprogrammed. The growing body specializes into different cell types and is sculpted into a sequence of increasingly complex forms. It’s possible, then, that early epigenetic alterations to the genome could have significant downstream effects on an adult.
Research out of Conine’s lab, published in 2024, showed that sperm microRNAs alter gene expression in mouse embryos. Experiments like these, he said, support the idea that offspring can inherit paternal traits via the transfer of non-DNA molecular stowaways in sperm.
The recent Cell Metabolism paper took this idea a step further by tracing a mechanism by which this can happen. A team of more than two dozen Chinese researchers focused on the epigenetic transmission of exercise benefits, homing in on a set of microRNAs that reprogram gene expression in the early embryo. These changes ultimately result in skeletal muscle adaptations in adult offspring that enhance exercise endurance. The researchers found that well-exercised mice had more of these microRNAs in their sperm than sedentary mice did. When these microRNAs were transferred into zygotes, the adults they grew into were more physically fit, with more mitochondria in skeletal muscle and higher endurance.
But how did the molecules generate the exercise-positive phenotype? In experiments, the researchers found that the microRNAs suppressed a particular protein, which had the effect of boosting genes related to mitochondrial activity and metabolism.
Intriguingly, the sperm of physically trained male humans also hosted higher levels of many of the same microRNAs than those of untrained cohorts. “This cross-species conservation suggests a potential role for these sperm mi[cro]RNAs in intergenerational exercise adaptations in humans,” the researchers wrote.
The First Draft
The notion that a father’s lived experience can become recorded by his body, transmitted to his gametes and relayed to his offspring is no longer as outlandish as it once seemed. Many researchers in the field are willing to float speculative visions of what could be going on, even as they acknowledge that gaps remain.
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“Our hypothesis is that the epididymis ‘sees’ the world and alters the small RNAs it produces in response,” Rando said. “These RNAs are then delivered to the zygote upon fertilization and control early gene regulation and development to shape offspring health and disease.”
Conine speculates that once certain RNAs make their way into the egg, they trigger “a cascade of changes in developmental gene expression that then leads to these phenotypes” of the father showing up in the next generation. Remarkably, this unfolds even though the sheer volume of the sperm’s contents is so much less than an egg’s contents, including the relative amounts of RNA.
The full picture of how paternal experience and behavior might epigenetically influence offspring is not nearly in hand. Researchers are currently piecing the story together, one experiment at a time, rather than proving out every step sequentially in the same set of organisms. One of the gaps is in the characterization of what RNA and perhaps other epigenetic factors do in the zygote to modify genomic activity as it unfolds during development, Mansuy said.
“We are still blind men describing for the first time different parts of the same elephant,” Chen said. “The underlying mechanism is almost certainly an orchestra of a sperm RNA code and factors beyond that.”
Confirming the findings in humans would take enormous effort, but it would be key to turning these findings in mice into “informed medical advice,” Chen said. This would require well-controlled experiments following multiple generations, tracking diet, exercise, aging and environmental exposures, while also using advanced tools to decode sperm-packaged molecules — and then looking for strong correlations between the molecular and phenotypic data.
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Even amid the uncertainties, researchers are cautiously moving forward as they learn to believe the results of their own experiments. If they’re right, they will have discovered a new fact of life, Rando said. When he thinks about his two boys, he wonders what he might have done differently when he was younger, before they were born, that might have tweaked his RNA profile in ways that would affect them today.
“We don’t know enough yet to develop guidance like that,” Rando said. “Maybe we will get there.”
As the year winds down, many people take time to reflect on what has happened over the last 12 months. You might think about your accomplishments, the challenges you faced, the things you wish had gone differently, and the changes you hope to make in the coming year. It is a natural rhythm as the calendar turns over – and with it often comes the desire for a fresh start.
But one thing people rarely reflect on (or often ignore altogether) is their musculoskeletal health. We tend to focus on appearance, weight loss, and the goals we can measure on a scale or in a mirror. What often gets overlooked, however, are the subtle physical signals that something is not quite right.
Nagging back pain is a perfect example. It is easy to brush off – easy to label as normal – and even easier to assume it will go away on its own. Back pain can slowly become something you adapt to without realizing it. Suddenly you’re adjusting how you bend. You avoid certain activities. You modify how you sit or sleep. Back pain – if you’re not careful – can quickly blend into the backdrop of your daily life.
So if there’s one thing worth leaving behind as the year closes – it’s the back pain that has been following you around for months or even decades. Despite what you may have been told – you do not have to carry this year’s pain into the next one. And when you understand how back pain actually works – you may begin to see that addressing it is one of the most important steps you can take for your overall health as you move into a new year.
Back pain rarely arrives ‘out of nowhere’
Back pain might feel sudden, but there is almost always a history behind it. Most back problems develop gradually – from months or years of poor bending habits, long hours of sitting, repetitive strain, or small compensations your body has been making without your awareness.
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Until one day you sneeze, lean forward, or twist just a little too far – and suddenly you’ve “hurt your back”. People often blame the moment – but the true cause is usually what has been building underneath the surface.
The holidays (and other busy seasons) tend to make all of this worse. There is more sitting while traveling, more lifting and preparing, and more time spent on soft couches or unfamiliar beds while visiting family. The body is already managing the stress of daily life, and the extra demands of this season push it beyond what it can comfortably tolerate.
The good news? Once you understand that back pain is rarely the result of a single event “out of nowhere” – but rather the conclusion of small, repetitive microhabits over time – you can start to correct these. Small adjustments in how you bend, sit, lift, and move can make a remarkable difference.
Before you know it – not only will you have less back pain – but you’ll have far more control over it. And that kind of control changes everything.
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Back pain doesn’t just ‘go away’
It is easy to assume that once the holidays are over, life will settle down and so will your pain. But pain that lingers into the new year rarely behaves that way. When your back is aggravated from mechanical or movement problems – time alone does not fix it. Rest may help temporarily, but the root issue remains. Without addressing the way you move, sit, bend, or load your spine – the pain simply returns – and sometimes for the worse.
This is also why so many people begin January full of enthusiasm only to be sidelined by February or March. They unknowingly bring unresolved back pain into their new routines. Although exercise is one of the best medicines for back pain – it’s not quite that simple.
When you don’t have any back pain – exercise is excellent prevention. But when you’re already suffering – you need very specific exercises designed to correct underlying mechanical faults before jumping into generalized strengthening.
When your foundation is not solid – even the best fitness plan can falter. Back pain influences everything. It affects how you walk, lift, twist, and breathe. It interferes with sleep, dampens motivation, and makes you cautious without realizing why.
Don’t wait for back pain to “go away” on its own – and be cautious of quick-fix New Year’s programs where you risk layering new problems on top of old ones. Ignoring what your back is telling you now could leave you worse off in 2026 than you planned.
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Most back pain has a mechanical cause and a natural fix
The encouraging news is that most back pain (80%) can be resolved naturally when you understand its mechanical origins. The spine is incredibly resilient. It is designed to move, adapt, and support you through decades of life – even with arthritis or bulging discs are part of the equation.
When pain appears, it is usually signaling that something about your movement pattern needs attention. The body gives clear clues. Certain movements will feel better, others worse. How your symptoms behave throughout the day tells a more accurate story than any X-ray or MRI ever could. And once your story is fully realized – meaningful change and lasting relief become possible.
A new year is the perfect time to leave old movement patterns behind. You do not have to accept stiffness when you wake up – brace every time you bend to put on shoes – or avoid activities you enjoy because you fear making your back worse.
Small, strategic changes can make a big difference. And you don’t have to go at it alone. If leaving back pain in 2025 is one of your goals for 2026 – consider consulting with a mechanical back pain specialist who can help you sort through everything you’ve just read here. Or reach out to me personally – I’m always happy to help my loyal readers.
Dr. Carrie Jose, Physical Therapy Specialist and Mechanical Pain Expert, owns CJ Physical Therapy & Pilates in Portsmouth and writes for Seacoast Media Group. For a copy of her free self-help guide for back pain – or to get in touch – visit www.cjphysicaltherapy.com or call 603-380-7902.
With 2026 just a week away, millions of Britons are wondering how to make it their healthiest year ever—including fitness guru Joe Wicks.
The 40-year-old became a household name during the coronavirus lockdowns when he became the ‘Nation’s PE Teacher’ by sharing daily workout videos which got the whole family moving.
But despite his association with—and love of—exercise, his top wellness recommendation for next year is at the other end of the scale… it’s sleep.
Speaking to PA, ‘We often don’t think about how important sleep is.
‘We have routines where we stay up late and we don’t get enough sleep, and so everything feels a bit harder.
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‘I think the first thing anyone should really focus on, regardless of your age, is really getting a good sleep routine.
‘Because that allows you the next day to wake up with energy, to exercise, with a bit more willpower with the food and discipline around that.’
The NHS recommends on average adults should get seven to nine hours sleep per night, children should get nine to 13 hours and toddlers and babies should get 12 to 17 hours.
Leading fitness guru Joe Wicks says his first tip for 2026 is making sure you get enough sleep
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Consistently failing to get enough shuteye has long been shown to raise the risk of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Meanwhile, getting enough sleep has been shown to boost the immune system, lower stress and improve attention.
It was one of ‘three pillars’ that he said are the most important things to focus on which also included exercise and nutrition.
After you’ve established a good sleep routine, then you can go about building a realistic fitness plan, he said.
‘You don’t have to train five days a week for an hour a day,’ he said.
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‘You could do three days a week for 20 minutes and that can be perfect for you, just to kind of keep your mental health in check and keep yourself fit and strong.
He added: ‘And with your food, you don’t have to ban every single ultra processed food and sugar and treat and thing you love to get results.
‘But you do need to focus on home cooking a bit more.
Joe Wicks with two of his four children
Joe shares four children with his wife Rosie, Indie, seven, Marley, six, Leni, three, and baby son Dusty, who is 15 months.
‘So, get in the kitchen, plan your meals, do your cooking, and they’re the things you’ve got to do in January, February, March, all the way through the year.
‘Because unless you can do it consistently, you’re never going to transform or reach your goal.’
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He asked, as a father, how can parents with busy schedules can prioritise their health and fitness.
‘You’ve just got to keep drawing yourself back to those key messages,’ he said.
‘If I eat well today and if I exercise, I’m going to sleep better, I’m going to wake up with energy.
‘I’m not going to be irritable with the kids and snappy because I’m really grumpy and I haven’t eaten well and I’m knackered.
‘They’re the mental health benefits you’ve got to keep drawing yourself back to.’
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However, he added that while things can go wrong that disrupt your routine, exercise can help you get through it.
‘You are always going to have challenges, there’s going to be stress, kids are going to get ill, you’re going to have redundancies, you might get fired, you might have a relationship breakdown,’ he said.
‘But you’ve always got to remember that exercise can help you through those times. We know it can because it’s an amazing antidepressant. Use it, lean on it.
‘It’s not a thing you have to do, but it is essential for health and happiness, it’s not just about body image.’
The fitness guru will be trying to help inspire people to start 2026 off the right way, in a one-off special on ITV on January 1, Joe Wick’s New Year’s Day.
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It will feature quick fire workouts to get people on their feet, recipes and exert wellness and motivation advice.
