Is There Any Exercise That Can Sustainably Improve Physical Function Without Tanking Metabolism?

[Collden]

Question is in the title. What have you found works for you?

I'm pondering whether some kind of Yoga or an Ido Portal-like movement routine could be the ticket.

 

[SOMO]

Lifting weights
Walking
Swimming
Stationary Bike (sprints or short sessions)

 

[charlie]

Walking in beautiful scenery.

 

[ExCarniv]

Peat says lifting with light weights helps with maintain and build/tone some muscle.

I like bodyweight exercises in short sessions (10-15 minutes), like push ups, squats, planks and pull ups.

And light cardiovascular work like skipping rope won't build lactic acid.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Walking in beautiful scenery.

Amen to that

 

[Cirion]

Even just walking is taxing when you're heavily overweight, sadly. I can only do about 15 minutes of walking before stress hormones build up. Sad, I know lol.

Eventually I plan to play with making my own lifting routine, but a similar thing applies here if you're not fit at all. I am thinking that you can just do a handful of exercises and maybe even just one set at a moderately challenging weight and call it a day in like 15 minutes with lifting also and that's likely enough to stimulate muscles and androgens without decreasing T3 or increasing cortisol.

I think the answer should not be "how much can I get away with" but should be "how much do I NEED to do" or "how much would actually benefit me". I think the answer to the latter is less than most people think. I historically have answered the former question, which is why I've always flirted with overtraining in the past lol. In my experience the benefit of exercise vs. time has a steep slope upwards in just a few minutes, and then after that the benefits are not much and then quickly fall off a cliff so it's (IMO) not worth flirting with the high end of activity or you very easily risk tanking the metabolic rate.

 

[ExCarniv]

"In the resting state, muscles consume mainly fats, so maintaining a relatively large muscle is important for preventing the accumulation of fats"

Ray Peat.

 

[Lizb]

Get rid of all chairs in your home. Read and listen to Katy Bowman's work. Walk. Use her aligned and well programme.
Gentle weights daily.

 

[Tarmander]

Watch cross fit videos, power lifting, and ninja sport thingys. Then do the opposite

 

[Arnold Grape]

Legit: how many people here are doing simple walking and staying looking great? Meanwhile: it does not seem like zero/ low starch lends itself to intense activity like lifting weights. For example, I just completed about a fifty minute exercise consisting of >10 minutes on a stationary bicycle and lifting weights. Before I exercised, I ate cottage cheese w/ berries + coffee/ coconut oil, then had 2 eggs cooked in butter, with a bit of orange juice and 1 Red Bull. About thirty five minutes through lifting weights I became mildly fatigued and somewhat hungry. On the drive home, I considered what to eat in relation to my activity. I tend to eat whatever I want within a specific subset: If I feel like chugging chocolate milk after exercise, I will do that. As I considered my options today, I realized that what I was being drawn to was some type of protein and possibly a gigantic bowl of rice, which is sometimes problems for me. I had something else, for lack of, but I’m at 6’4/ 183, which I’m trying to change. I have probably consumed around 1000 cals and it’s the lunch hour.

 

[ExCarniv]

Watch cross fit videos, power lifting, and ninja sport thingys. Then do the opposite

Lol, so true

 

[Cirion]

Watch cross fit videos, power lifting, and ninja sport thingys. Then do the opposite

Way to shatter my dreams of breaking David Goggin's world record of number of pullups in one day (> 2000) or # of total lbs squatted in 24 hrs (1 million pounds) =(

 

[Collden]

Legit: how many people here are doing simple walking and staying looking great?

Yeah this is the issue, I walk plenty but am still in bad shape. There are so many potential upsides to being in good shape like better insulin sensitivity, better liver function, better cognition and mental health, etc. I know very few people who are truly healthy who are not also physically fit.

Its gotta be possible to do exercise in a way that it actually makes you stronger and healthier over time rather than more worn out. I mean we are not machines, we are living organisms that have evolved to adapt and grow stronger when challenged. I'm not sure its only about the type of exercise but more about how you exercise and how you recover, but I still haven't found that magic balance despite years of trying lol. Every time I try to get into an exercise routine it always somehow bites me in the ass a few weeks or months later.

 

[ecstatichamster]

i think thyroid should be improved before workouts begin.

Walking is good in the meantime. But working out is bad for people who wake up at 96F.

 

[ecstatichamster]

when I walk, after an hour my T3 falls and my temps fall. This is normal. But it shows that you want to be at a higher place to begin with or you are jeopardizing your health even with lengthy walks.

 

[lampofred]

I think biking would be a really good way to get only concentric movement as Dr. Peat recommends.

 

[CLASH]

If your generally a bit fatigued then I’d suggest bodybuilding 3x per week for 45min, skip squats (use leg press), skip deadlifts (use hip thrust and lying hamstring curls), skip barbell bench (use machine presses and cables), skip pull ups/ chin ups (use lat pull down and row machines), essentially skip all the heavy exercises and use more isolation exercises and machines.

The most taxing exercises are the barbell exercises, some of the dumbbell exercises and bodyweight variation exercises like dips and chins (especially with weight added). Also, these are unneccesary to build general muscle mass for well being and to look good. Its much easier to just use machines and cables overall. Less risk of injury for most people, very small learning curve, and easy to stick to overtime.

Here are some other principles to help:

-3x per week depending on how you feel, even 2x works, just be consistent

-skip cardio its a massive waste of time for most people, just eat well

-stick to 8-12 reps per set

-8-12 sets/ week per major muscle groups (chest, back, hamstrings, quads, glutes)

-4-6 sets/ week per minor muscle groups (bicep, tricep, calves, abs, front delt, side delt, rear delt)

-it takes time for the body to adjust to volume so gradually build up, if you cant handle what i suggested even after awhile then just do what your capable of.

-atleast 1 min rest in between sets, up to 3 minutes depending on how taxing (leg press is going to need more rest than bicep curls obviously)

 

[mimmo123]

do concentric only to restore the mitochondria
you can do deadlifts and drop the weight
chinups with a chair underneath the bar
push the sled or push against the wall or something

 

[gaze]

do fun sports like snowboarding, basketball, surfing , etc, and don’t look at it like “exercise”. Eat more food to keep up ur energy levels and stop overthinking it. Measuring body temp after every single workout and everything is a waste of time. Go outside and feel good and live in the moment. Avoiding fun activities because it’s “stressful” in terms of physical output is BS. If you feel like crap after a few weeks of normal physical activity it means you aren't eating enough food to keep up with your energy usage. it’s as simple as that.

 

[Cirion]

If you feel like crap after a few weeks of normal physical activity it means you aren't eating enough food to keep up with your energy usage. it’s as simple as that.

No, it's not as simple as that. If your digestion is messed up, if your energy production is messed up, you can eat food all day long and still be in a functional energy deficit if the cells are not getting the CO2 they need. That's the problem with hypothyroidism/diabetes/etc.