What’s the “Best” Exercise?: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast

Stephen J. Dubner
01/02/2014 | 9:32 am

(Photo: Tulane Public Relations)

Our latest podcast is called “What’s the ‘Best’ Exercise?” (You can subscribe to the podcast at iTunes, get the RSS feed, or listen via the media player above. You can also read the transcript; it includes credits for the music you’ll hear in the episode.) Exercise is always on a lot of people’s minds around this time of year, what with all those resolutions just waiting to be broken …
By “best,” we really mean “most efficient,” since people who don’t exercise — and that’s roughly 80 percent of us – often blame lack of time. (The American College of Sports Medicine recommends about thirty minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week; here are its guidelines.)

We solicit advise from three wise souls in the exercise realm: Gretchen Reynolds, “Phys Ed” columnist for The New York Times and author of The First 20 Minutes; David Meltzer, a physician/economist at the University of Chicago and co-author of “The Economics of Intense Exercise”; and Peter Attia, a physician, co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative, and a fitness freak whose workout includes flipping a 450-pound tractor tire “and other fun things you can do without carbs”:

During the podcast, we discuss exercise commitment devices and cost-effectiveness; and we come up with a three-point checklist to help you out. We call it “The Three I’s”: Intensity, Individualization, and “I Like to Do It.” If you’re searching for activities that you might like but haven’t thought about before, check out the CDC’s rather extensive list.

This episode features the introduction of a new friend, Jasmine (brought to life by Cepstral), and was inspired by a question from a listener named Scott Hechinger – thanks, Scott!