Korey Rowe is the new star instructor on Chris Hemsworth's Centr fitness app. A celebrity trainer in his own right, he specializes in helping people to move better, feel stronger and discover how to instill resilience—both mentally and physically—for the long term.
That's the life he encourages his 1.2 million followers on Instagram to lead, but how does he stay fit, healthy and train for longevity?
"Longevity for me is about mastering the fundamentals and playing the long game," he tells Fit&Well from a hotel room in Aspen, Colorado.
It's about "microdosing wellness" he continues. That means staying hydrated, following good sleep hygiene, prioritizing whole food nutrition from best-in-class sources, and developing good strength, mobility and endurance. "All those things are very practicable and actionable," he adds.
Distilling that advice further, Rowe boils it down to two things: movement and saying no to "disruptors of wellness". "Before you get very prescriptive on what specific type of movement or modality, we want to simply enter the category of movement," he says.
"Move more and say no to disruptors"
Korey Rowe
"For some people that could be hitting 10,000 steps [per day], it could be going to a yoga class, doing my Strength in Motion program on the Centr app. It could be going to your local CrossFit gym or doing a HYROX race."
What's important, Rowe says, is that it gets you excited and serves your goal. "It will look different for everyone depending on your ability, your intensity and the time you have available, but never disregard the opportunity [to move] because it will compound over time," he says.
"The complementary approach would be keeping at bay those negative things that would disrupt that," Rowe continues. "Say no to excess consumption, excess alcohol, poor sleep hygiene, or just not being kind to yourself and your mental health. Those behaviours disrupt and somewhat cancel out the microdose," he adds.
To maintain and gradually improve your health and fitness, Rowe says you need to keep at bay those negative disruptors and say yes to the net positive habits. "That combination normally puts us in a very good place."
"It doesn't have to look like running a marathon"
Korey Rowe
For Rowe, who was travelling from Chicago to Aspen to promote his partnership with Centr, microdosing wellness while on the move meant sticking to the basics and making the most of his new surroundings to stay active.
"I'm sitting here with a big bottle of water, staying hydrated," he tells me, holding his drink aloft.
"I've been traveling for the last two days and haven't had the chance to work out like I typically would, so I took the opportunity to walk around Aspen sightseeing. I deliberately didn't hop in an Uber—I pushed my travel bag and walked everywhere."
As soon as he landed, Rowe says he also prioritized finding the healthiest place he could eat, then once settled in his hotel room, calibrated the conditions for a good night's sleep and checked in with his young family.
"Last night I made sure that my room was perfect for sleep, I had my mouth tape on, the room temperature was set perfectly at 79˚F for my sleep and, given I'm away from family and my emotional wellbeing is super important, I made sure to hop on a call with my wife and talk to my son," he says.
That, for Rowe, was what training for longevity looks like in practice. "It didn't look like running a marathon. It didn't look like what my typical day looks like from a workout standpoint. But that was me microdosing wellness and it did enough to carry me over until I could get back to my usual routine."
