What Exercise Does Dr Peat Recommend?

[Jib]

I don't know what Peat recommends, but I feel best with bodyweight exercises.

I also agree with @mrchibbs that being completely sedentary is very damaging. I've been extremely sedentary, and my health sucks. After getting back on milk, and a lot of it, my energy has come back enough to where I can tolerate some bodyweight exercise.

I highly, highly recommend gymnastics rings if you can find or make a space to hang them up.

My personal favorite are "Happy Fat Rings." They're extra wide and are much easier on the hands, while providing greater muscle stimulation. You can work out every single part of your upper body with rings. There are countless variations and greater difficulty than most people could ever imagine.

If you have a floor and a wall, you can do pushups, bodyweight squats and pistol squats, and handstands/handstand pushups.

My nervous system is pretty sensitive. I cannot handle deadlifts and squats with a bar, even with light weight. It just fries me too much. Some people feel great with heavy loaded exercises, but I think each individual has to take their physiological responses to various stimuli into consideration.

For me, bodyweight strength training is well-tolerated. I respond best when I actually feel like exercising. I'm not so sure that forcing yourself to work out when you feel tired is a good idea. Better to get plenty of good nutrition first, and build up your spontaneous desire to exercise. For me, that's been taking close to a half gallon of milk per day, in addition to plenty of fruit, and some meat, to start getting to that level.

Pullups are an intense compound exercise, but I don't find them anywhere near as draining/fatiguing as weighted squats/deadlifts. If you poke around online, you can read about "Kin Shi Hai Do," or "weightlifting without weights." You can mimic deadlifting by just doing the motion, and imagining that you're lifting a very heavy weight, without actually lifting a heavy weight. You can do this with any exercise.

It's fiercely contracting your muscles, with no risk of injury from a mishandled weight, or the intense fatigue that comes with it. I'm not arguing that you're gonna put on mass like you would with weights, or build as much strength. But it's stimulating and invigorating, and I think much, much less prone to frying the nervous system. It's fun to experiment with.

 

[mrchibbs]

I don't know what Peat recommends, but I feel best with bodyweight exercises.

I also agree with @mrchibbs that being completely sedentary is very damaging. I've been extremely sedentary, and my health sucks. After getting back on milk, and a lot of it, my energy has come back enough to where I can tolerate some bodyweight exercise.

I highly, highly recommend gymnastics rings if you can find or make a space to hang them up.

Rings are great. For most people simple calisthenics/DBs and walking is already a lot.

I also remember loving deadlifts when I was younger (around 18-20 years old). They made me feel very good.

I think slowly increasing CNS stimulation over several months can be a powerful part of recovery.

Things like Deadlifts and Sprints and Plyometrics are very stimulating and could be very powerful, but typically 1x a week is really all most people can withstand because they're so taxing.

 

[Jib]

@mrchibbs

Sounds right to me. I think keeping those super intense exercises to 1x a week is a very good idea.

Gymnastics training is a good example. They don't train to failure, and generally "leave enough in the tank" to keep training almost daily for extended periods of time. They need to be able to perform at a moment's notice, and always have to be in top form. If you absolutely crush yourself during a workout, to the point where you need at least a few days off to recover, that's no good for an Olympic athlete. At least from what I've heard as far as gymnastics go.

I've been doing skin the cat and front lever tuck holds for months now. It's a slow build. They're extremely intense, but not CNS frying for some reason. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to do all this stuff, but it isn't anywhere near as taxing as weightlifting. Not sure why, but just how my body responds.

It's also fun for me. I think that's one of the most important factors. If it isn't fun, you're not gonna stick with it. The rings are a whole lot of fun to me.

I used to sprint all the time when I was younger. Extremely invigorating. Kept to a minimum per week, I think it's great exercise if you can find a space to do it. I used to go to my old high school and sprint on the track. Hard to think of anything more stimulating!

 

[Lizb]

Chopping and sawing wood.

 

[Hans]

Gymnastics training is a good example. They don't train to failure, and generally "leave enough in the tank" to keep training almost daily for extended periods of time. They need to be able to perform at a moment's notice, and always have to be in top form. If you absolutely crush yourself during a workout, to the point where you need at least a few days off to recover, that's no good for an Olympic athlete. At least from what I've heard as far as gymnastics go.

Yes great point. Most gym junkies do too many sets and go too hard and this leads to excessive stiffness and a reduction in functionality. I've noticed that I feel much better since doing lower volume and not trying to crush each workout in the sense of going to hardcore failure.

 

[SuperStressed]

Lol are you kidding? He certainly isn’t against walking with your dog. In fact I’m pretty sure he would see it as a very pleasurable and relaxed activity. I think you’re taking things too literally.

I emailed him about it. He considers the obligation of having to walk a dog to be stressful.

"In a city where a dog needs to be walked, it’s an obligation, takes over your life."

 

[mrchibbs]

Again, it’s about your perspective. Of course if you view the activity as stressful, it will be stressful.
If you like your dog and you view it as an opportunity to get fresh air and a walk, it will be super positive.
It can give you a reason to walk, and walking activates digestion. (And Ray has talked about this).

I emailed him about it. He considers the obligation of having to walk a dog to be stressful.

"In a city where a dog needs to be walked, it’s an obligation, takes over your life."

 

[SuperStressed]

Again, it’s about your perspective. Of course if you view the activity as stressful, it will be stressful.
If you like your dog and you view it as an opportunity to get fresh air and a walk, it will be super positive.
It can give you a reason to walk, and walking activates digestion. (And Ray has talked about this).

Ray doesn't recommend long walks with a dog, I never said he was against it, he doesn't recommend it. The obligation to do a walk, on a familiar path is stressful because the only meaning of the walk is the walk itself. Its not the type of exercise that he recommends.

 

[mrchibbs]

Ray doesn't recommend long walks with a dog, I never said he was against it, he doesn't recommend it. The obligation to do a walk, on a familiar path is stressful because the only meaning of the walk is the walk itself. Its not the type of exercise that he recommends.

You missed my point entirely.

 

[Inaut]

So i lift weights and recently discovered gymnastic rings... I want to do more training on the rings but I buggered my shoulder doing some ring dips and static holds incorrectly... I really want to continue with my training as I really enjoy it but fear I will do damage if I keep messing with the rings. Any suggestions for repairing and strengthening the shoulder (without having to quick rings)?

 

[AgentPeatzaHead]

So i lift weights and recently discovered gymnastic rings... I want to do more training on the rings but I buggered my shoulder doing some ring dips and static holds incorrectly... I really want to continue with my training as I really enjoy it but fear I will do damage if I keep messing with the rings. Any suggestions for repairing and strengthening the shoulder (without having to quick rings)?

Gym rings are probably one of the worst exercises for shoulders as it's very easy to injury yourself as you have discovered. Only do them if you are a gymnast. Stick to your weight routine.

 

[GelatinGoblin]

Painting and making carrot salads.

 

[GelatinGoblin]

Lots of walking

 

[Homo Consumericus]

So i lift weights and recently discovered gymnastic rings... I want to do more training on the rings but I buggered my shoulder doing some ring dips and static holds incorrectly... I really want to continue with my training as I really enjoy it but fear I will do damage if I keep messing with the rings. Any suggestions for repairing and strengthening the shoulder (without having to quick rings)?

Get some bands, Inaut. Get light light, medium light, heavy light, light medium, medium medium, and heavy medium for starters. Start doing regular pullapparts, external rotation variations, Y raises, T raises, W raises, etc. For these types of movements the different ranges of heavy bands and monster bands are not necessary (or even possible).

Bands were highly underrated before the lockdowns, but now they're increasingly getting the attention they deserve. You can find tons of videos for inspiration.

Do a lot of volume from a lot of angles. Build some size and strength before going back to the rings. Then see if you can do ring pushups and rows pain free for a lot of higher rep sets before going back to movements like dips and skin-the-cat which involve extreme bodyweight stretches.

 

[mrchibbs]

So i lift weights and recently discovered gymnastic rings... I want to do more training on the rings but I buggered my shoulder doing some ring dips and static holds incorrectly... I really want to continue with my training as I really enjoy it but fear I will do damage if I keep messing with the rings. Any suggestions for repairing and strengthening the shoulder (without having to quick rings)?

Not surprised. Ring dips are a very advanced movement.

Just be very gentle and progressive.

 

[windinthepines]

He often brings up the study of old people that showed that concentric-only exercise resulted in a return of healthy mitochondria. It's surprisingly hard to find a way to do concentric only exercise. It's hard for me to find a place to drop my weights without tearing up the grass.

I lift weights everyday, following a modified "easy strength" approach. There's a book by Pavel T and Dan John called Easy Strength. My sessions never go above 20 min, unless I'm resting a lot and let it go to 30 min. They're fun and I enjoy it. Is it super healthy? I don't know. Peat would probably consider it excessive. He's talked about a "program" of body weight squats and quickly-lifted dumbells for a total of 10 reps. He's occasionally mentioned weight amounts of 10 lbs. On the other hand, I'm using kettlebells that weigh 35, 53, and 70 lbs. Mainly I use the 53 lbs one. The main lifts in my program are: goblet squats, one arm overhead press, and dead half snatches (from the ground each time). Exercise people would probably consider what I do excessively easy or light, even for an easy strength approach, which typically seems to work better with barbells.

 

[Homo Consumericus]

He often brings up the study of old people that showed that concentric-only exercise resulted in a return of healthy mitochondria. It's surprisingly hard to find a way to do concentric only exercise. It's hard for me to find a place to drop my weights without tearing up the grass.

I lift weights everyday, following a modified "easy strength" approach. There's a book by Pavel T and Dan John called Easy Strength. My sessions never go above 20 min, unless I'm resting a lot and let it go to 30 min. They're fun and I enjoy it. Is it super healthy? I don't know. Peat would probably consider it excessive. He's talked about a "program" of body weight squats and quickly-lifted dumbells for a total of 10 reps. He's occasionally mentioned weight amounts of 10 lbs. On the other hand, I'm using kettlebells that weigh 35, 53, and 70 lbs. Mainly I use the 53 lbs one. The main lifts in my program are: goblet squats, one arm overhead press, and dead half snatches (from the ground each time). Exercise people would probably consider what I do excessively easy or light, even for an easy strength approach, which typically seems to work better with barbells.

An ex-Tnationer, pleasure to meet :) Does me good to read Dan John and Pavel being mentioned. Coach Thib taught me more than I even realize.

Welcome to (our interpretation of) Peat world.

 

[supercoolguy]

Painting and making carrot salads.

Thats what im talkin about right there. Livin the dream.

 

[Austin Resch]

Gym rings are probably one of the worst exercises for shoulders as it's very easy to injury yourself as you have discovered. Only do them if you are a gymnast. Stick to your weight routine.

Why would rings be the worst exercise for shoulders? I would imagine they are incredibly aligned with the most innate biomechanical range of motions of shoulders, and how humans shoulders have evolved for overhead mobility (i.e. throwing/hanging)? Of course, incorrect movement patterns, incorrect movement/intensity progression, etc. would invariably lead to injury in the case of any form of activity/exercise?

 

[windinthepines]

@Homo Consumericus thank you for the warm welcome! However I should say that I am relatively new to strength training. I started reading about it just a year or two ago. I guess I gravitated towards the Easy Strength program because the title appealed to my laziness :) Really, I was looking around for things that fit with what Peat had been saying. If I had my own yard, I'd probably only do concentric-only dead snatches and clean and presses. I'd try it just with kettlebells for another year or so, and then if that wasn't enough weight, move on to barbells, sandbags, big rocks, or whatever. It's fun reading about strength training. I don't know Coach Thib but I will look for him. Anyone else you would recommend?