Exercise as Medicine: Rethinking Fitness for Metabolic Health | Peter Cummings MHP, NNP - E435

Mar 23, 2026

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Peter Cummings is a preventive health practitioner and endurance sports coach with more than 30 years of experience helping people improve metabolic health through exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle change. A Metabolic Health Practitioner (MHP) and Nutrition Network Practitioner (NNP), he specializes in therapeutic carbohydrate reduction, cardiorespiratory fitness, and personalized exercise prescription. Cummings has authored peer-reviewed research in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine – FOCUS and has helped train health professionals to integrate fitness and lifestyle interventions into clinical care. In addition to his work in preventive medicine, he has coached athletes to multiple national and state championship titles, bringing a data-driven approach to both human performance and chronic disease prevention.

In this episode, Dr. Tro, Dr. Brian and Peter talk about…

(00:00) Intro
(01:56) VOT Max
(04:19) Health Ballistics (Peter's new book!)
(10:00) Bridging the gap between medicine and exercise
(16:59) Berberine and Metformin
(19:45) Helping people turn their health around and reverse diabetes
(29:12) Cardiac rehab
(34:43) Interval training
(39:21) Carbs and exercise
(42:56) Conflicts of interest in exercise science
(45:45) The biggest barriers to systemic change in the fields of exercise science and nutrition
(48:07) Tim Noakes' Central Governor Theory
(55:09) Exercise physiology and fat burning
(01:04:51) Peter's new book, Health Ballistics
(01:09:35) Outro

For more information, please see the links below. Thank you for listening!

Links:

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.lowcarbmd.com/

Peter Cummings:

Plan 2 Peak: https://www.plan2peak.com/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/coachcumm/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/plan2peak?

Dr. Brian Lenzkes:

Website: https://arizonametabolichealth.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianLenzkes?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

Dr. Tro Kalayjian:

Website: https://toward.health
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DoctorTro
IG: https://www.instagram.com/doctortro/

Toward Health App

Join a growing community of individuals who are improving their metabolic health; together.

Get started at your own pace with a self-guided curriculum developed by Dr. Tro and his care team, community chat, weekly meetings, courses, challenges, message boards and more.

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/doctor-tro/id1588693888

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.disciplemedia.doctortro&hl=en_US&gl=US

Learn more: https://toward.health/community/