We all care about maintaining our health. Part of that is diet, but part of that is also fitness. Fitness can be an intimidating thing to get into because everybody has an opinion on it. Who are you supposed to trust? Of all the options out there, who gives the best advice?
Lucky for you Joe Rogan has had a variety of experts talk about their opinions on fitness. He occasionally has multiple guests on at the same time so that they can debate as well. By listening to these episodes, you can get some valuable advice on how to be fit.
In this article, I will be listing the best episodes of the Joe Rogan Experience that cover fitness. Hopefully, it helps you discover helpful advice that positively impacts your health.
Table of Contents
MMA Show #32 – Firas Zahabi
Firas Zahabi is an MMA coach and fitness instructor. He is also a grappling coach and a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He runs a gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Firas Zahabi is unorthodox in that he thinks that consistency is more important than intensity in athletic training. This is counterintuitive and goes against what you hear a lot of people say. Zahabi believes that you should never be sore.
Zahabi clarifies that total exertion is appropriate if you go to a training camp or something like that. Suppose you are doing personal training; however, you want to maintain your energy levels and ability to work out every day. If you max yourself out on day one, you are not getting consistency.
Zahabi also points out that he is trying to make his training sessions fun so that they are addictive. That means not making them too easy to the point that they are boring or too hard to where they seem insurmountable.
If you want some good training and fitness tips, listen to this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring Firas Zahabi.
Other Episodes With Firas Zahabi
Episode #1399 – Pavel Tsatsouline
Pavel Tsatsouline is a fitness instructor who brought some of the concepts taught by the SPETSNAZ to the American military. He is the chairman of StrongFirst Incorporated.
Pavel is an advocate of CrossFit gyms. He sees a lot of modern gyms as having too many tools and sees it as excessive. Pavel also advocates not letting an injury keep you out of the gym. The trick is just to find what exercises are permitted that will not aggravate the injury.
Pavel is also an odd guest who does not like to focus on or talk about nutrition. He sees nutrition as being hopelessly complicated, which makes Joe laugh. Nutrition needs also vary from body to body, and Pavel prefers to focus on universal concepts.
Pavel says that he sees vegetables as a necessary part of anyone’s diet. He says that there is research that shows that they prevent toxicity. However, he quickly says he is not a nutrition expert and does not recommend anything.
If you are interested in the intersection of nutrition and fitness, then listen to this episode of the Joe Rogan Experience featuring Pavel Tsatsouline.
Episode #1262 – Pat McNamara
Pat McNamara is a former special operative for the United States Military. He now trains people in military, marksmanship, and combat tactics.
Pat McNamara is a proponent of functional fitness and working out with whatever is in your environment. He will work out with a cinderblock, wall, tree, or even a tire! Talk about making good use of your environment.
McNamara knows it looks silly but claims that a lot of research backs up the validity of functional fitness routines. He does one exercise swinging a cinder block that is apparently really good for back and core strength.
Both Joe and McNamara point out that you want your exercises to build strength to help you in tasks you actually do. For that reason, curls really are not a great exercise, in McNamara’s opinion. He says that you should only be doing curls if you are a bodybuilder.
If you want advice on how to be functionally fit from a former U.S. special operative, check out Pat McNamara on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Episode #1080 – David Goggins
David Goggins is an American ultramarathon runner, public speaker, author, triathlete, and frequent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience. He is infamous for his online videos in which he yells at the camera to motivate the viewer with inspiring words.
David Goggins went from being 300 pounds to being a Navy Seal. He credits this incredible accomplishment to his mindset of never giving in and staying the course. Goggins details his incredible journey from being a terrified person to somebody who never gives up.
One of the crazier stories that David Goggins tells is about how he ran 205 miles with a hole in his heart the size of a quarter. Goggins had been a seal and an active person with a bad heart condition that he did not know about. This condition sidelined him and led to depression.
The whole time that Goggins was a seal, he could have died jumping from planes, diving, or running. He would have died if anything had plugged up that hole in his heart. He then went through two surgeries and is still the highly active person we see today. Inspiring stuff.
The Joe Rogan Experience episode with David Goggins is full of really inspiring stories, and I recommend it to anyone interested in fitness.
Other Episodes With David Goggins
Episode #1321 – Robert Oberst
Robert Oberst is an American strongman. He was a finalist in the 2013 and 2018 World’s Strongest Man competitions.
Robert Oberst has a controversial opinion that nobody should do deadlifts unless it is explicitly a part of their participating competition. He says the risk to reward is way too skewed towards the risk to make it at all worth it.
According to Robert Oberst, if you are a great deadlift, you are risking your lower and upper back. Your chances of getting hurt are very high if you are someone who deadlifts all the time, and there are so many small things that could go wrong.
Oberst also says that you are going to want to use a natural grip when lifting. He says this is much better for your chest and upper shoulders. He also says he likes to recharge with peanut butter and honey between lifts.
If you are interested in strongman competitions and how to train for them, you should check out Robert Oberst on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Episode #1624 – Mark Sisson
Mark Sission is an American author and food blogger who is primarily concerned with nutrition and fitness. He is a former triathlete, distance runner, and ironman competitor.
Mark Sisson is an advocate of what he calls “metabolic flexibility,” which is essentially training your body to extract the maximum amount of energy from whatever is available at the time. In Sisson’s opinion, the ketogenic diet is not a way to live your life, but it is a tool that can be used to lose weight.
Sisson does not believe that there is anything wrong with being on the ketogenic diet, but he believes it is not the only way. To him, metabolic flexibility makes it easier for your body to bounce back and forth between fat and carbohydrates without a large gap.
Sisson supports his claims by prompting Joe to imagine early humans. They most likely went through periods where they would eat and then semi-long stretches where they did not. Sisson believes this shows that the body is suited to intermittent fasting.
Mark Sisson is a nutritionist and author who writes about how to achieve your ideal fitness. If that sounds interesting to you, then check out his appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience.
Other Episodes With Mark Sisson
MMA Show #57 – TJ Dillashaw
TJ Dillashaw is a mixed martial artist and the former two-time bantamweight champion of the UFC.
Being a UFC fighter, Dillashaw has insight into what makes a good strength and conditioning program. In this episode, he details how his current trainer has him working with bands to strengthen his shoulders and rotator cuffs.
Apparently, bands are better than cables because of the resistance baked into the band. The further you pull a band out, the harder it makes it, making it ideal for conditioning the shoulders.
A large part of this episode is dedicated to detailing how Sam Calavitta designs the workouts for the fighters he acts as a performance specialist for. If you are interested in the ins and outs of how a UFC fighter conditions their fitness, then this episode is for you.
Other Episodes With TJ Dillashaw
Episode #1166 – Diamond Dallas Page
Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) is into a bit of everything! You may recognize him because he is a former professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer. Since his “retirement” from wrestling, he has been an actor, motivational speaker, and fitness instructor!
DDP spent years abusing his body in the wrestling ring. With injuries like a broken back, he needed a workout that would allow him to live.
DDP says he was a meathead that wouldn’t be caught doing yoga. But when he didn’t even start his career as a wrestler until he was 35 it started taking a toll on his body. Then after an injury and being told he would never wrestle again, he tells Joe he gave it a try because he would do anything to get back in the ring.
He started to feel a difference as soon as he started! Then DDPY was born! Page discusses how yoga “for guys” started and how he created his own Yoga system.
Joe tells DDP he is a big believer in Yoga. Rogan says it is important for body maintenance, spine health, and mobility, especially as a weightlifter.
Episode #1489 – Ronnie Coleman
Ronnie talks to Joe about getting started in bodybuilding. He had the “gift” of strength, so he started powerlifting in High school.
Coleman was an 8-time consecutive winner of Mr. Olympia and 26 titles IFBB professional.
Ronnie was big his entire life but being a bodybuilder was never a dream of his. He tells Joe he did it because the guy offered him a free membership.
The guys discuss a bit of what he eats to be THAT big! He tells Joe how he ate several small meals a day. Sometimes even waking up in the middle of the night to eat. And still maintained a 3% body fat as a HIGH.
Episode #1514 – Joe De Sena
Joe De Sena is the founder and CEO of Spartan and Death Race. He is also a New York Times best-selling author.
Rogan points out the 44-pound kettlebell that Joe De Sena carries around everywhere he goes. It prompts the story of how De Sena helped a 696-pound guy lose weight. He was able to get him down to 265 pounds in 18 months.
Before Spartan Races, Joe De Sena cleaned pools for the Mob while his mom does Yoga. He tells Rogan about some of the words of wisdom he learned from some of the mobsters.
They also discuss how De Sena ran races during the Pandemic.
Episode #1200 – Ross Edgley
Ross Edgley is formerly a professional British water polo player. He works as a model and personal trainer now.
Edgley is a Sunday Times Bestselling Author with The World’s Fittest Book: How to Train for Anything & Everything, Anywhere & Everywhere.
In 2018 Ross Edgley became the first person to swim AROUND Great Britain. He tells Joe what made him decide to make the swim.
He also shares an amazing story about a Whale and a not-so-amazing story about his Jelly Fish sting.
Ross also breaks down some of the science behind how even though he is “built like a tank,” he is able to be an endurance athlete.
Episode #1301 – Laird Hamilton
Laird Hamilton is maybe one of the greatest big wave surfers of all time. He is also a co-inventor of tow-in surfing and founded XPT with his wife, Gabrielle Reece.
Extreme Performance Training (XPT) is how Laird trains and lives. The training involves innovative breathing, moving, and recovery methods.
Laird shares with Joe the wisdom he gave former JRE guest Elon Musk when visiting SpaceX. And how he believes our Universe is designed to struggle.
Laird says, “you can’t hack your way through without suffering.” Joe agrees that to appreciate the good times, you must suffer.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Joe Rogan work out?
Rogan does weightlifting 3 to 4 days a week. He also enjoys hitting up a yoga session twice to three times a week. And to mix it up he does BJJ, Muay Tai, and kickboxing.
How much can Joe Rogan lift?
Joe says he started out deadlifting 225 lbs. He is now up to deadlifting 450 lbs with a hex bar.
