For many adults, fitness is a visible commitment—early morning workouts, step counts logged, meal prep plans carefully followed. But even those who prioritize fitness may be overlooking one of the most important components of long-term health: an annual wellness exam with a primary care provider.
“Yearly wellness exams are best for everyone,” said Brendon McCollom, DO, a family medicine provider with SSM Health Medical Group in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “We need someone else to evaluate and see where we have weaknesses. Even the top athletes need that. Tiger Woods always had a golf coach.”
An annual wellness exam goes far beyond stepping on a scale or calculating body mass index (BMI). While those measures have long been standard in traditional medicine, McCollom emphasizes they only tell part of the story.
“It’s important to look at body fat percentages and muscle mass percentages to hit optimal goals,” he said. “The plan isn’t just to be healthy today, but to continue to be healthy 10 to 20 years from now.”
During an exam, providers can assess key indicators such as blood chemistry, complete blood count (CBC), and increasingly, body composition. These insights help create a more personalized and realistic roadmap for health—one that evolves as a person ages.
For example, as men age, declining testosterone levels can shift body composition from muscle to fat. Women, who naturally carry higher body fat percentages, have different nutritional and fitness needs that also change over time. An annual visit helps ensure those changes are accounted for and managed effectively.
Many patients arrive at appointments with general goals—“I need to eat better” or “I need to exercise more”—but struggle to define what those statements actually mean.
“Everyone uses generic terms, but they don’t really know what they mean,” McCollom said.
That’s where a primary care provider can make a critical difference. By assessing a patient’s current habits and health data, providers can help set clear, measurable goals, such as daily protein and fiber intake, or realistic fitness benchmarks.
For most adults, McCollom recommends about one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day—more for those who are highly active—along with 20–30 grams of fiber. These individualized goals are often established and refined during annual exams.
One of the most common mistakes adults make when beginning or restarting a fitness routine is jumping in too quickly—often trying to replicate workouts from their younger years.
“When you’re 40 or 50 years old, it’s not uncommon to try to work out like when you were 18,” McCollom said. “I encourage my patients to start with the core, then build up to more intense workouts.”
Instead of immediately joining a gym or hiring a trainer, he encourages patients to build foundational strength at home. He recommends starting with four basic core exercises—squats, pushups, hip bridges, and knees-to-chest movements—progressing gradually toward a goal of 50 repetitions of each.
“Start low,” he said. “The more you move, the better you’ll feel. Motion is lotion.”
From there, patients can safely add walking or other cardiovascular activity. The key is progression—meeting the body where it is, not where it used to be.
Annual wellness exams also provide an opportunity to track progress over time. Tools such as body composition scans can offer a clearer picture of improvements that may not show up on a scale.
“The big deal is to find their body fat percentages,” McCollom said. “That number is usually a lot different than people think it is.”
By reassessing every year—and sometimes at shorter intervals when needed—patients and providers can adjust goals, celebrate progress and address concerns before they become serious health issues.
Preventive care isn’t just about identifying problems—it’s also about avoiding unnecessary treatments. McCollom says modern healthcare can sometimes prioritize prescribing medications over addressing root causes.
“The goal should be to get off medications, not get more,” he said. “Any medication you start should have a plan for how you’re going to get off of it.”
Through consistent monitoring and lifestyle guidance, annual exams can help patients manage conditions naturally whenever possible, supporting long-term health and independence.
An often-overlooked part of preventive care is the relationship between patient and provider. McCollom encourages patients to seek out a primary care provider whose approach aligns with their own health goals.
“If you’re looking for a PCP, ask what they are doing or what their goals are,” he said. “That will help you determine if they’re a good fit for you.”
Ultimately, the annual wellness exam is more than a routine appointment—it’s a personalized checkpoint, a planning session and a chance to invest in your future health.
Even for those who feel strong and active today, that yearly visit could be the difference between simply staying fit and truly staying well.
To help you find a primary care provider near you, go to getcare.ssmhealth.com/find-a-doctor.
