In this video (‘Best Exercises for Overall Health & Longevity | Dr. Peter Attia & Dr. Andrew Huberman’), “‘neuroscientist and tenured associate professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology and, by courtesy, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine who has made contributions to the fields of brain development, brain plasticity, and neural regeneration and repair” Andrew Hubeman coined Attia’s rule, named after Peter Attia, a “physician known for his medical practice that focuses on the science of longevity.”
Attia’s rule
The exact phrasing of his words that lead up to formulating the rule are as follows:
“I can’t get enough of the machinating and arguing about this supplement versus that supplement. I feel like you shouldn’t be having those arguments until you’re having your exercise house in order. You shouldn’t be arguing about this nuance of your carnivore diet versus that nuance of your paleo diet versus this nuance of your vegan diet, like, until you can deadlift your bodyweight for 10 reps.”
We can rephrase this concisely as:
You shouldn’t be arguing about supplements and diets before you have your exercise house in order.
So, now the question is: “when do you have your exercise house in order?” Attia names a few exercises that he says define the lower limit of what a healthy human being should be able to do.
Exercises you should be able to do
In the video, Attia is a little bit uncertain about the exact duration of the exercises that he says ensure that you have your exercise house in order, but here they are as he guesstimates them live:
- Deadhang:
40 yo female: deadhang for 1,5 minutes
40 yo male: deadhang for 2 minutes - Straight squat / air squat:
40 yo female/male: straight squat / air squat at 90° for 2 minutes - Farmer carry:
Female: farmer carry 75% of your bodyweight for 2 minutes (that’s 37,5% of your body weight in each hand).
Male: farmer carry your bodyweight for 2 minutes (that’s half your body weight in each hand).
About deadlifting your bodyweight x 10
Attia says: “I just made that one up. That’s not one that we include.” Then Huberman asks if they use something like that, and Attia answers that they use farmer carries (see Farmer’s walk in this Wiki-link and rule 3 above).