Science of Muscle Growth, Increasing Strength & Muscular Recovery

[00:00] - [Andrew Huberman] Welcome

[00:02] where we discuss science

[00:04] for everyday life.

[00:09] - I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm

[00:12] and Ophthalmology at

[00:15] This podcast is separate

[00:16] from my teaching and

[00:18] It is however, part of

[00:21] to bring zero cost to consumer

[00:23] and science-related tools

[00:26] In keeping with that theme,

[00:27] I'd like to thank the

[00:30] Our first sponsor is InsideTracker.

[00:33] InsideTracker is a

[00:36] that analyzes data from your blood and DNA

[00:38] to help you better understand your body

[00:40] and reach your health goals.

[00:42] I've long been a fan of

[00:44] for the simple reason

[00:47] that impact our immediate

[00:49] can only be analyzed from

[00:52] And now with the advent

[00:55] we can also get insight into things

[00:58] like metabolic factors

[01:00] or not we metabolize caffeine

[01:04] what our fat metabolism genes are like.

[01:07] Things of that sort can only be analyzed

[01:09] from quality blood and DNA tests.

[01:12] In addition, many of the factors

[01:15] our metabolism our brain health,

[01:17] those come back in a blood and DNA test

[01:20] and there are many blood

[01:22] but with InsideTracker, they

[01:26] into what those markers

[01:29] They have this terrific

[01:32] give you the numbers back and tell you

[01:33] if you're higher or low in some factor,

[01:35] but rather it tells you

[01:38] of all those factors and

[01:41] and clear directives of changes

[01:44] changes that you might make

[01:47] or sleep, et cetera in

[01:50] where they ought to be

[01:51] and where you would like them to be

[01:52] in order to optimize yourself.

[01:55] So they make everything

[01:57] They can even come to your home

[01:58] to take the blood and

[02:00] If you'd like to try InsideTracker

[02:02] you can go to insidetracker.com/huberman.

[02:05] And if you do that, you'll get 25% off

[02:07] any of InsideTracker's plans.

[02:09] Use the code Huberman at checkout.

[02:12] Today's podcast is also brought to us

[02:13] by Belcampo Meat Company.

[02:15] Belcampo is a regenerative

[02:18] that raises organic grass fed

[02:20] and finished certified humane meats.

[02:23] While I don't eat a lot of meat, when I do

[02:25] I insist that that meat

[02:28] How the animals were cared for

[02:31] and the life that the animal

[02:34] is very important to me.

[02:36] So the way that I eat I've

[02:38] but very briefly, I basically

[02:41] then I eat a piece of

[02:44] and a salad.

[02:45] So that's basically my lunch.

[02:46] That's what optimizes

[02:48] for work throughout the day.

[02:50] Then in the evening I shift over

[02:52] to eating primarily carbohydrates.

[02:54] That's what allows me to sleep very well.

[02:56] So I'm not eating huge volumes of meat

[02:58] but am eating meat every day.

[03:01] Conventionally raised animals

[03:03] and need to diet of inflammatory grains

[03:05] which is bad for them and it's bad for us

[03:07] when we eat their meat.

[03:09] Belcampo animals graze on open pastures

[03:11] and seasonal grasses resulting in meat

[03:13] that is higher in

[03:15] And I've talked before

[03:17] of omega-3 fatty acids for

[03:20] and Belcampo meats are high

[03:23] The way Belcampo raises its

[03:26] for your health, it also

[03:28] on the environment.

[03:29] It's what's called climate

[03:32] which means good for the

[03:35] My favorite meats from Belcampo

[03:37] are the rib eye and the flank steaks.

[03:39] That's typically what I eat.

[03:40] I think I probably eat about three or four

[03:42] of those across the week

[03:44] on some other days.

[03:46] They're really delicious,

[03:47] and as I mentioned,

[03:49] You can order Belcampo

[03:51] to be delivered straight

[03:53] Huberman at belcampo.com/huberman.

[03:58] If you do that, you'll get

[04:01] That's belcampo.com/huberman

[04:06] Today's episode is also

[04:09] Headspace is a meditation app backed

[04:11] by 25 published studies

[04:13] and has over 600,000 five star reviews.

[04:16] So I've been meditating on and off

[04:18] since I was about 15, 16 years

[04:23] What I found is that I'll sometimes

[04:25] start a meditation practice but

[04:28] And then a few years ago

[04:31] and I started meditating more regularly.

[04:33] In fact, very recently because

[04:37] of work on my plate and

[04:39] than I would like in order

[04:41] I've brought back a regular

[04:45] not just my usual once a day.

[04:47] Headspace makes it really easy.

[04:49] They have so many meditations on there

[04:51] and they guide you into the meditation

[04:52] and out of the meditation in a way

[04:54] that just makes it very simple

[04:56] and makes maintaining the

[04:59] Right now if you want to try Headspace

[05:01] you can go to headspace.com/special offer.

[05:04] And if you do that, you'll

[05:07] So that's totally free

[05:09] with their full library of

[05:12] So there's no meditations

[05:14] to with this offer.

[05:15] You can get access to

[05:17] You just go to

[05:20] You get a free one month trial

[05:22] and hopefully you'll

[05:23] I've found that staying with meditation

[05:25] has been immensely beneficial

[05:29] Today's episode of the Huberman

[05:31] and final episode in this month

[05:33] which is all about skills

[05:37] Now, in a previous episode,

[05:41] in particular neuroscience-based tools

[05:43] for accelerating fat loss.

[05:46] Previous to that, we talked about ways

[05:48] to improve skill learning, motor movements

[05:50] which also included things like music

[05:53] and piano playing not

[05:56] And we've also been

[05:59] of physical performance

[06:02] Today I want to talk about something

[06:03] that is vitally important for

[06:07] but for your entire life and

[06:11] and that's muscle.

[06:13] Now, many of you, when

[06:15] think muscle growth and

[06:18] And while we will touch

[06:20] muscle growth today, and

[06:23] to enhance hypertrophy,

[06:27] about muscle as it relates

[06:30] And I can't emphasize this enough

[06:33] the whole reason why you have a brain is

[06:36] so that you can move.

[06:38] And one of the things that's

[06:41] about the human brain,

[06:44] all sorts of different kinds of movement,

[06:46] different speeds of movement,

[06:48] movement of different durations.

[06:50] We can train our

[06:54] and heavier objects or we

[06:56] to take us further and

[06:59] We can also build smoothness

[07:03] smoothness of movement as

[07:07] suppleness of movement.

[07:09] All of that is governed

[07:13] between the nervous system, neurons

[07:16] and their connections to muscle.

[07:19] So when you hear the science of muscle

[07:21] and muscle hypertrophy,

[07:23] I'm not interested in building muscle

[07:25] but muscle does many critical things.

[07:28] It's important for movement.

[07:30] It's important for metabolism.

[07:32] The more muscle you have

[07:36] but the quality of muscle,

[07:39] the higher your metabolism is,

[07:41] and indeed the healthier you are.

[07:44] It turns out that jumping ability

[07:47] and ability to stand up quickly

[07:49] and to get up off the floor quickly

[07:51] is one of the most

[07:54] and biological aging and no

[07:57] by the brain to muscle connection.

[08:00] In addition, muscle and

[08:05] and we don't talk about posture enough.

[08:08] We all have been told we

[08:10] or stand up straight, but

[08:14] for how the rest of our body works.

[08:17] It's vital to how we breathe.

[08:19] It's actually even vital to

[08:23] So we're going to talk about

[08:26] We also are going to talk about muscle

[08:28] as it relates to aesthetic things.

[08:30] Now, these are all linked.

[08:32] Muscle for metabolism,

[08:35] of course are linked, right?

[08:36] As our posture changes,

[08:38] As our posture and aesthetic

[08:42] And as we improve muscle quality

[08:45] whether or not that's

[08:48] that changes the way

[08:51] not just our nervous system

[08:54] but our immune system and the

[08:57] So today, as always we're going to talk

[08:59] a little bit of mechanism.

[09:01] I'm going to explain how

[09:04] and then we're going to

[09:08] how muscle uses energy.

[09:09] I promise to make all of this very simple.

[09:11] I'm actually going to keep it very brief

[09:14] probably about 10 minutes total.

[09:16] And by the end of that 10

[09:19] about the neuromuscular connection,

[09:21] how your brain and nervous

[09:23] and how those muscles work.

[09:25] Then we are going to talk

[09:29] and can change how they use energy

[09:32] for sake of getting stronger, if you like

[09:35] for also increasing the size

[09:38] and for improving endurance as

[09:43] and how you move generally.

[09:45] We will touch on some nutritional themes

[09:48] and how that relates

[09:50] a specific amino acid that

[09:52] if it's available in your

[09:55] and at sufficient levels,

[09:58] and improve the quality of muscle.

[10:01] And we'll talk about

[10:04] as well as of course, supplementation

[10:07] and things that can enhance

[10:09] neuromuscular performance overall.

[10:12] We are also going to talk about recovery.

[10:14] Recovery as everybody knows,

[10:18] That's when neurons get

[10:23] that's when muscle grows,

[10:24] that's when muscle gets more flexible.

[10:27] None of that actually

[10:29] It happens after training and

[10:32] about how to optimize

[10:35] whether or not you are recovered

[10:38] for another neuromuscular

[10:41] So we'll talk about that as well.

[10:43] Today is going to have a lot of protocols

[10:46] and you're going to come away

[10:48] about how you move, how you work

[10:49] in these incredible organs

[10:54] and the musculature, the

[10:58] Before we dive into today's topic,

[11:00] I want to just take about three minutes

[11:03] and cover some essential

[11:07] In the previous episode,

[11:10] Talked about shiver induced fat loss.

[11:12] We talked about neat non-exercise

[11:16] for increasing caloric

[11:19] And we talked about how

[11:23] to enhance fat loss.

[11:25] I described a protocol

[11:28] of some sort, whether or not

[11:31] some form of cold could

[11:34] if you have access to

[11:37] and then getting out, not

[11:41] but allowing that cold to evaporate

[11:43] off you and continuing to shiver

[11:44] and then getting back into

[11:46] of water or stream or shower, et cetera.

[11:50] All of that is described

[11:51] in a beautifully illustrated protocol

[11:54] that I didn't illustrate.

[11:55] That's why it's beautifully illustrated

[11:57] at the coldplunge.com.

[11:59] They've made that protocol for you

[12:02] and they've made it available

[12:05] So there's no obligation

[12:07] You can go to the coldplunge.com.

[12:10] There's a little tab that says protocols

[12:11] and you can download that

[12:13] I don't know who exactly illustrated it,

[12:16] and you can come away with a PDF

[12:17] of what I described in

[12:18] So I just want to make sure

[12:20] that you are aware of that resource.

[12:22] The other announcement

[12:24] many of you have asked how you

[12:27] And there's a very straightforward

[12:31] And that's to subscribe

[12:33] So if you go to YouTube,

[12:35] if you're not already

[12:37] hits the Subscribe button

[12:40] to get the word out more

[12:43] And we thank you for your support.

[12:45] Most people, when they

[12:47] they just think about strength.

[12:49] But of course muscles are

[12:53] They are involved in speaking,

[12:54] they're involved in

[12:56] they're involved in lifting

[13:00] They are absolutely essential

[13:03] for maintaining how we breathe.

[13:05] They're absolutely essential

[13:09] and for skills of any kind.

[13:11] So when we think about muscle,

[13:14] we don't just want to think about muscle

[13:16] the meat that is muscle, but

[13:20] And no surprise what controls

[13:25] The nervous system does that

[13:26] through three main nodes of

[13:29] And I've talked about these

[13:32] So I will keep this very brief.

[13:34] Basically, we have upper motor

[13:38] So those are in our skull

[13:40] and those are involved

[13:42] So if I decide that I'm

[13:44] up and put it down, which

[13:46] my upper motor neurons were involved

[13:48] in generating that movement.

[13:49] Those upper motor

[13:52] to my spinal cord where there

[13:56] One are the lower motor neurons

[13:58] and those lower motor

[14:01] that we call axons out to our muscles

[14:04] and cause those muscles to contract.

[14:06] They do that by dumping

[14:08] In fact, the chemical is acetylcholine.

[14:12] I've talked before about

[14:15] which is vitally important for focus

[14:17] and actually can gait neuroplasticity,

[14:19] the brain's ability to change

[14:23] But in the neuromuscular system,

[14:25] acetylcholine released from

[14:28] the only way that muscles can contract.

[14:33] Now, there's another category of neurons

[14:35] in the spinal cord called

[14:37] or CPGs.

[14:39] And those are involved

[14:41] Anytime we're walking or doing something

[14:44] where we don't have to think about it

[14:45] to do it deliberately, it's

[14:48] that central pattern

[14:51] Anytime we're doing

[14:53] the top-down control as we call it,

[14:56] from the upper motor neurons comes in

[14:57] and takes control of that system.

[15:00] So it's really simple.

[15:00] You've only got three ingredients.

[15:02] You've got the upper motor

[15:04] and for rhythmic movements

[15:06] you've also got the

[15:08] So it's a terrifically

[15:11] but what we're going to focus on today is

[15:15] how that system can control muscle

[15:18] in ways that make that system better.

[15:21] Now, when I say better, I

[15:24] If your goal is to build larger muscles,

[15:27] there's a way to use your nervous system

[15:30] to trigger hypertrophy

[15:34] of those muscles.

[15:35] And it is indeed controlled

[15:38] So you can forget the idea

[15:41] or that muscles grow in

[15:43] that's just happening within the muscle,

[15:45] it's the nerve to muscle connection

[15:47] that actually creates hypertrophy.

[15:50] I'll talk exactly about how

[15:53] In addition, if you want

[15:55] or improve flexibility or

[15:59] that is all accomplished by the way

[16:02] that the nervous system

[16:05] And so what that means is

[16:08] are we going to take control

[16:10] the central pattern generators,

[16:13] or all three in order

[16:17] of how the nervous system controls muscle.

[16:20] So neurophysiology 101.

[16:23] I'll give you one piece of history

[16:24] because it's important to know.

[16:26] Sherrington, who won the Nobel prize

[16:30] called movement, the final common path.

[16:33] Why did he say that?

[16:34] Well, the whole reason for

[16:38] the whole reason for having a brain is

[16:39] so that we can control our

[16:43] That is one of the reasons,

[16:47] why the human brain is so large.

[16:50] You might think, oh it's

[16:52] and for creativity.

[16:53] Ah, no when you look at

[16:56] in the brain that's devoted

[16:59] it's mainly vision, our ability to see

[17:03] and movement, our ability to engage

[17:05] in lots of different kinds of movements.

[17:07] Slow movements, fast movements,

[17:10] Other animals don't have that ability

[17:14] because they don't have

[17:17] They don't have the neural

[17:20] They have neuromuscular junctions.

[17:22] They have central pattern generators

[17:23] what they don't have

[17:24] are these incredible upper motor neurons

[17:26] that can direct activity the

[17:30] So we can all feel blessed

[17:32] And today I'm going to teach

[17:35] toward particular end points.

[17:37] So if we decide that we are

[17:40] in some particular movement of any kind.

[17:42] Whether or not it's a

[17:44] or whether it's a yoga movement

[17:46] or simply picking up

[17:49] we are engaging flexors and extensors

[17:52] and our body is covered with

[17:55] So for instance, our bicep is a flexor

[17:57] and our tricep is an extensor.

[17:59] Those are what are called

[18:01] They move the limbs in

[18:04] So if you bring your wrist

[18:06] that's flection using your bicep.

[18:08] If you move your wrist further

[18:11] that's extension, using your tricep.

[18:13] And without getting into a lot of detail

[18:15] the way that the nerves and

[18:19] make it such that when

[18:22] when the nerve dumps

[18:26] onto the muscle to activate the biceps,

[18:28] the triceps is inhibited.

[18:31] It's prevented from engaging.

[18:34] There are ways to bypass this

[18:36] but that's the typical mode of action.

[18:39] The converse is also true when

[18:44] when we move our wrist

[18:46] our bicep is inhibited.

[18:48] And we have flexors like

[18:51] And we have extensors in our lower back.

[18:54] Many of you probably know this

[18:55] but some of you probably

[18:57] has flexors to move basically

[19:01] And it has, those are your

[19:04] And you have extensors that

[19:08] like looking up toward the ceiling.

[19:09] And those are your extensors.

[19:11] You have other muscles that

[19:13] and things of that sort

[19:14] but those movements of

[19:17] and the fact that they are

[19:18] what we call reciprocally

[19:22] you hear different language around this

[19:23] is characteristic of most

[19:29] So hamstring and quadriceps,

[19:32] closer back towards the glutes.

[19:35] Basically it's lifting your heel up

[19:38] which is almost always

[19:40] Whereas your quadriceps is the extensor

[19:43] opposite to the hamstrings.

[19:44] So you get the idea.

[19:45] So there's flexors and extensors

[19:47] and it's the neurons that

[19:50] and extensors that allow us

[19:53] So, now you have heard a

[19:57] in its simplest form, but I

[19:59] I want to get just briefly, just briefly

[20:03] into some of the underlying metabolism

[20:05] of how muscles use and create energy.

[20:08] Because in doing that, we

[20:10] to understand all the

[20:13] how to optimize the neuromuscular system

[20:15] for your particular goals.

[20:16] So in the previous episode about fat loss,

[20:18] we talked about lipolysis.

[20:20] The breakdown of fat into fatty acids

[20:22] so it can be used as fuel.

[20:24] And it ended in a step where we got ATP,

[20:27] which is the bottleneck

[20:30] for all energy producing

[20:35] There are other ways but basically ATP

[20:37] is the key element there.

[20:39] Now with muscles, they don't

[20:43] what they are going to function

[20:46] and their ability to do

[20:49] in any way that we want to,

[20:51] is based on a process of glycolysis,

[20:53] the breakdown of things like glycogen

[20:57] and glucose into energy.

[20:59] And it's a very simple process.

[21:01] You don't have to know any chemistry.

[21:03] So if I say the words carbon or hydrogen

[21:05] or something like that, don't freak out.

[21:06] You don't have to

[21:09] But basically what

[21:12] available sugar resource

[21:17] And that's glucose.

[21:18] And that glucose has six carbons

[21:25] That can be broken down into

[21:31] All right.

[21:32] So basically you take

[21:34] into these two little batches of carbons

[21:37] that we call pyruvate.

[21:38] So six divided by two is three.

[21:39] So you get three and three pyruvate.

[21:41] And that generates a

[21:44] but just a little bit.

[21:46] Now, if there's oxygen available,

[21:49] if there's sufficient oxygen there,

[21:52] what can happen is that

[21:56] to the mitochondria and

[21:59] that you probably don't

[22:01] like the electron transport

[22:05] What happens is it's broken

[22:10] which has a lot of ATP.

[22:12] So the only things you need to know,

[22:13] the only things you need

[22:15] is that glucose and glycogen

[22:19] You a little bit of energy from that.

[22:20] And when I say energy, I

[22:23] It's fuel, literally just gets burned up.

[22:26] But if there's oxygen

[22:29] then within the mitochondria,

[22:34] which is a lot of ATP.

[22:36] Now, what does this mean?

[22:37] This means that movement of muscle

[22:40] is metabolically expensive

[22:42] to other tissues compared

[22:46] compared to almost all other

[22:49] muscle is the most metabolically demanding

[22:52] which is why people who

[22:55] to adipose tissue to

[22:58] and they're more of a furnace.

[23:00] They just kind of burn that up.

[23:02] So even if you didn't understand

[23:05] what you probably did hear,

[23:08] is that if you have oxygen

[23:12] from this fuel source that

[23:16] But what if there isn't oxygen around?

[23:18] And what is that like?

[23:20] Well, you've experienced that.

[23:22] I'm not talking about

[23:24] I'm talking about oxygen in the muscle.

[23:26] So if you've ever carried

[23:29] or you're carrying heavy

[23:32] or you're exercising particularly hard

[23:34] and you felt the burn, well, that burning

[23:37] which most people think is

[23:43] by which pyruvate, which as I said before

[23:45] normally could be converted

[23:48] well, if there's not enough oxygen

[23:50] 'cause that muscle is

[23:53] what ends up happening is that

[23:54] a hydrogen molecule comes in there

[23:57] and you get something called lactate.

[23:59] So believe it or not, humans

[24:01] That's another species, we make lactate.

[24:05] And we hear that lactate is bad.

[24:07] We need to buffer the

[24:11] That lactic acid and

[24:14] for performing as well

[24:17] or going as far as we possibly could

[24:20] in an endurance event.

[24:22] Guess what, that's not true at all.

[24:24] Lactate has three functions,

[24:25] all of which are really

[24:28] First of all, it's a

[24:32] You don't want muscle to get too acidic

[24:34] because it can't function.

[24:35] You don't want any body

[24:37] So that burn that you feel is

[24:42] and lactate what most

[24:45] but again, we don't make lactic acid.

[24:46] Lactate is there to buffer that

[24:49] to reduce the amount of burn.

[24:51] So, most people have

[24:54] So when you feel that burn

[24:57] that is lactate that's

[25:02] to suppress acidity.

[25:04] It's also a fuel.

[25:06] When you feel that burn,

[25:08] lactate is shuttled to

[25:11] and there's an actual fuel burning process

[25:14] where in the absence of oxygen

[25:16] you can continue to generate

[25:19] Now, this is informative

[25:21] that burning that acidity that we feel

[25:24] can inhibit the way that our muscles work

[25:27] but that lactate comes

[25:29] to continue to function.

[25:31] So we'll talk a little bit more about

[25:33] what this whole lactate

[25:36] but it's a really important process.

[25:38] And it's amazing to me that

[25:40] in exactly the incorrect way.

[25:42] They think a lactic acid

[25:45] No, it reveals a number

[25:47] are going on with this

[25:50] which can reduce acidity, reduce the burn

[25:53] as well as act as a fuel.

[25:55] Now, here's where it

[25:58] And if you don't have enough

[26:01] based on all the information out there

[26:03] about how it'll make you live longer

[26:05] and make your heart better, et cetera,

[26:07] here's a reason that regardless

[26:10] of what kind of exercise you do,

[26:12] if it's weight training, or

[26:15] that every once in a while,

[26:19] you should exercise to

[26:22] where you start to feel

[26:26] The reason for that is

[26:31] to the site of the burn, so to speak,

[26:34] and it acts as a hormonal

[26:37] of the body in a very positive way.

[26:41] As you may recall, from

[26:43] of the Huberman Lab

[26:45] what a hormone is and how it works.

[26:47] We have lots of different

[26:49] but hormones are chemicals that

[26:52] in the body and travel,

[26:55] of other organs of the body.

[26:57] So when I say that lactate

[27:03] what I mean is that it's in a

[27:06] that are outside of the muscle.

[27:09] And basically it can send signals

[27:13] to the heart, to the

[27:16] and it can have effects

[27:18] and the brain that are very positive.

[27:21] So just to zoom out for a second

[27:23] I promise we won't get any

[27:25] We will get into tools and protocols

[27:27] that are really straightforward

[27:28] but what I'm telling you is that

[27:31] if you feel a burn from a

[27:37] that burn is going to be buffered

[27:40] by this molecule we call lactate.

[27:42] Lactate will then provide additional fuel

[27:44] for additional work.

[27:46] So this is a good incentive

[27:48] to "Work through the burn."

[27:51] That burn acts as a beacon to the lactate

[27:56] which comes in and allows

[27:58] It's not a signal to stop necessarily.

[28:00] I mean, stop if you're

[28:02] but it's a signal that

[28:05] and allow you to continue to do work.

[28:07] And it can act as a hormonal signal.

[28:10] Lactate can then travel to the heart

[28:14] and to the liver and to the brain

[28:16] and can enhance their

[28:18] not just in those moments,

[28:19] but in the period of time that follows.

[28:22] So many people are curious

[28:25] to make their brain better.

[28:27] That's one of the most

[28:29] What I'm telling you is that

[28:34] by engaging the so-called burn

[28:36] which is at a different

[28:39] your hill run will be

[28:41] to generate the burn,

[28:43] but provided you can do that for about 10%

[28:45] of your workouts or of

[28:49] or activity of any kind, you

[28:54] of this lactate based hormonal signal

[28:56] that can improve the function of neurons.

[29:00] And it does that if you want

[29:02] by improving the function

[29:04] called the astrocytes which

[29:07] Which are very involved in clearance

[29:09] of debris from the brain,

[29:10] they're involved in the

[29:12] connections between neurons in the brain.

[29:14] So put simply, if you are an exerciser

[29:18] if you're doing movement of

[29:20] in allocating some of that

[29:24] brain, heart and liver

[29:29] of scientific data that points to the fact

[29:31] that getting a lactate

[29:34] by engaging this burning

[29:39] for the health of those other tissues.

[29:40] So, as I mentioned that burn is present

[29:43] from lack of oxygen being present.

[29:46] And then the hydrogen comes

[29:49] But this process of

[29:52] of fuel and a positive hormonal

[29:56] occurs only if there's oxygen.

[29:59] So if you feel the burn,

[30:03] on your breathing at that point.

[30:05] That would be the time

[30:07] and try and bring more

[30:10] It's definitely not a

[30:12] And if ever you've run to

[30:15] and then you were exercised

[30:17] or on the bike or whatever,

[30:19] and then you held your breath,

[30:20] it feels much more intense.

[30:22] By breathing you bring lactate to the site

[30:26] and you are able to

[30:30] as a buffer, a fuel,

[30:33] And the reason I brought this up today is

[30:35] because as I mentioned so

[30:38] in using exercise not just for sake

[30:40] of improving physical health

[30:43] but also for enhancing their brain.

[30:46] And there are a lot of

[30:49] to the findings that

[30:53] can increase neurogenesis,

[30:57] Well, the unfortunate news is that

[31:00] while that's true in mice,

[31:01] there is very little evidence

[31:05] from exercise or otherwise in humans.

[31:08] There's a little bit,

[31:09] within the brain, such

[31:11] of the hippocampus, which may be involved

[31:13] in the formation of new

[31:16] the dentate gyrus is definitely involved

[31:17] in the formation of new memories,

[31:19] whether or not the new

[31:21] in humans are involved in new memories.

[31:24] The evidence for that

[31:27] whereas an animals the

[31:30] but most of the data points to the fact

[31:32] that hormonal signals,

[31:36] in the blood during exercise

[31:42] and that those signals are

[31:45] in the number of neurons in

[31:49] That it's more about the

[31:51] between the neurons growth

[31:54] things like IGF-1, there's

[31:56] So if you've heard the

[31:59] of neurons in your brain,

[32:01] And that probably is a good thing, frankly

[32:03] because we always hear

[32:06] as if it's a good thing, but

[32:09] with bringing in entirely new elements.

[32:12] It has a hard time negotiating that

[32:14] and making use of those new elements.

[32:16] We know about this from things

[32:19] where deaf people are given a device

[32:20] where they suddenly can hear.

[32:22] Some people really like that,

[32:24] deaf people really like that

[32:26] Other deaf people find

[32:29] That is hard to take an existing

[32:34] and incorporate a lot of

[32:37] So new neurons, as great as that sounds

[32:39] more neurons, more neurons,

[32:40] it actually might not be the best way

[32:42] for the nervous system to

[32:44] and to promote its own longevity.

[32:46] So when I tell you not such great evidence

[32:50] from new neurons past puberty,

[32:52] that's what the data

[32:55] And I sort of knocked back the data

[32:57] on exercise and neurogenesis,

[32:59] don't let that depress you.

[33:00] If you have dementia in your family,

[33:03] don't translate that into necessarily

[33:06] that you will develop dementia.

[33:08] Understand the exercise

[33:10] for the brain and other

[33:13] but that it's going to be doing it

[33:14] through these hormonal signals.

[33:16] Things like IGF-1, things

[33:20] when you experience

[33:22] And again, you don't want to try

[33:23] and get this feeling of a burn

[33:25] throughout the entire episode of exercise,

[33:28] there'll be far too intense and

[33:31] I don't think it'd be good

[33:33] It's only about 10% of your total effort

[33:36] in any one exercise about

[33:38] that's going to give you

[33:40] So now you know how to

[33:42] of your exercise, 10% in

[33:46] to benefit other tissues

[33:48] namely your heart, your

[33:51] I'd now like to shift our attention

[33:53] to how to use specific aspects

[33:57] to improve muscle

[34:00] as well as improving muscle strength.

[34:03] There are a lot of reasons

[34:05] And I should just mention

[34:09] that getting stronger involves

[34:12] There are ways for muscles to get stronger

[34:14] without getting bigger.

[34:16] However, increasing the size of a muscle

[34:19] almost inevitably increases

[34:22] at least to some degree.

[34:24] Reasons why most everyone should want

[34:26] to get their muscles stronger is that

[34:29] muscles are generally

[34:32] across the lifespan.

[34:33] So when I say getting

[34:35] about being able to move increasing mounts

[34:39] of weight in the gym.

[34:40] Although if that's your goal

[34:41] what I'm about to discuss

[34:44] but rather to offset some of

[34:49] and posture and the ability

[34:53] of movement safely, that occurs as we age.

[34:56] As I mentioned at the

[34:57] we just tend to lose function

[35:01] as we get older.

[35:02] And doing things to offset that

[35:04] has been shown again and

[35:07] for the neuromuscular system

[35:11] for enhancing the strength

[35:14] So there are a lot of reasons

[35:18] that extend far beyond just the desire

[35:20] to increase muscle size

[35:23] of you are interested in

[35:25] but many of you are not.

[35:27] So there's an important

[35:30] called the Henneman size principle.

[35:32] And the Henneman size

[35:35] that we recruit what

[35:40] Motor units are just the connections

[35:41] between nerve and muscle from in a pattern

[35:46] that staircases from low

[35:50] What this means is when you

[35:54] you're going to use the

[35:57] to muscle energy in

[36:00] Likewise, when you pick

[36:03] you're going to use the

[36:06] to muscle connectivity and energy

[36:08] in order to move that object.

[36:10] So it's basically a conservation

[36:14] Now, if you continue to

[36:19] what will happen is you will tend

[36:21] to recruit more and more

[36:24] And that process of

[36:27] more lower motor neurons

[36:29] if you recall from the

[36:31] these lower motor neurons

[36:33] and they actually dump a

[36:36] caused the muscles to contract.

[36:38] As you recruit more and

[36:41] these connections between these

[36:43] lower motor neurons and muscle,

[36:44] that's when you start to

[36:48] That's when you open the

[36:52] for the muscles to get

[36:54] if that's what your goal is.

[36:56] And so the way this process works

[37:00] has been badly misunderstood

[37:02] in the kind of online

[37:05] and bodybuilding, and

[37:08] The Henneman size principle is kind of

[37:10] a foundational principle

[37:14] but many people have come

[37:18] that the way to recruit

[37:21] the ones that are hard to get to

[37:23] is to just use heavy weights.

[37:25] And that's actually not the case

[37:27] as we'll talk about the research supports

[37:30] that weights in a very large

[37:36] of your maximum, anywhere from 30% to 80%.

[37:40] So weights that are not very

[37:44] too heavy can cause

[37:47] between nerve and muscle that lead

[37:49] to muscle strength and muscle hypertrophy.

[37:52] Put differently, heavyweights

[37:57] and strength but they are not required.

[37:59] What one has to do is adhere

[38:01] to a certain number of parameters,

[38:03] just a couple of key variables

[38:06] And if you do that, you can greatly

[38:09] increase muscle hypertrophy, muscle size

[38:12] and or muscle strength if

[38:15] And you don't necessarily

[38:18] in order to do that.

[38:19] Now, I'm sure the power lifters

[38:21] and the people that like to

[38:24] will say, no, if you want to get strong

[38:26] you absolutely have to lift heavy weights.

[38:28] And that might be true if

[38:31] but for most people who are interested

[38:33] in supporting their muscular

[38:37] any age related decline in strength,

[38:39] or in increasing hypertrophy

[38:44] there really isn't a need

[38:45] to lie about the Henneman size principle

[38:48] which many people out there are doing

[38:50] and claiming that you absolutely need

[38:52] to use the heaviest weights possible

[38:53] in order to build strength and muscle.

[38:55] So I'm going to explain all

[38:58] So first of all, let's just

[39:02] and what strength changes

[39:05] We can make this very simple as well.

[39:07] If this were a muscle physiology class

[39:09] we would talk all about myofibrils

[39:12] and sarcomeres and all that stuff.

[39:13] We're not going to do that.

[39:14] That's not the purpose

[39:17] If you're interested in that

[39:18] as well as a lot of the other information

[39:20] that I'm going to discuss in more detail,

[39:23] I highly encourage you to

[39:27] and the writings of Dr. Andy Galpin.

[39:30] He's a PhD and a full professor

[39:33] He's extremely knowledgeable

[39:36] of science-based tools for hypertrophy,

[39:39] how strength and hypertrophy really work.

[39:41] His lab does everything

[39:44] working with athletes and

[39:46] A lot of the information

[39:48] from me in the next 15 minutes or so

[39:50] comes from an extensive

[39:53] that he and his colleagues

[39:56] as folks like Brad Schoenfeld,

[39:59] in this whole space of muscle physiology

[40:01] and from a lengthy conversation

[40:05] Dr. Galpin prior to this episode.

[40:08] So if we want to think

[40:11] we have to ask what is changing

[40:13] when muscles get larger or stronger.

[40:15] And there are really just three ways

[40:17] that muscles can be stimulated to change.

[40:20] So let's review those three ways

[40:21] and talk about what

[40:24] So there are three major stimulate

[40:26] for changing the way that muscle works

[40:29] and making muscles stronger,

[40:33] And those are stress, tension, and damage.

[40:38] Those three things don't

[40:42] but stress of some kind has to exist.

[40:44] Something has to be different

[40:46] in the way that the nerve communicates

[40:48] with the muscle and the way

[40:50] or performs that makes

[40:55] So this is very reminiscent of

[40:58] Something needs to happen.

[41:00] Certain chemicals need to be present.

[41:01] Certain processes need to happen

[41:03] or else a tissue simply

[41:06] But if those processes

[41:09] then the tissue has

[41:13] but to change.

[41:14] So muscles move, as I mentioned

[41:17] because nerves dump

[41:20] but they move because they

[41:24] and actin filaments.

[41:25] And if you want to read up on this,

[41:27] you can look on the internet

[41:29] you can put the sliding filament theory

[41:31] of muscle contraction if you

[41:33] that rabbit hole.

[41:34] It's interesting.

[41:35] You can learn about this in

[41:38] But basically, along

[41:41] you have, what's called myosin.

[41:43] And just think of myosin

[41:46] It's like a bunch of beads and wires

[41:49] that extend across the muscle.

[41:51] I think that's the simplest

[41:53] And the myosin is surrounded

[41:55] by these little beads called actin.

[41:58] The way muscles get bigger is

[42:00] that basically the myosin gets thicker.

[42:04] It's a protein and it gets thicker.

[42:07] So put this in your mind

[42:10] or even if you're watching it on YouTube,

[42:12] the way to think about this

[42:13] and thing and muscles

[42:16] that you're holding a bouquet of balloons,

[42:18] a bunch of balloons by their strings

[42:21] except you're not holding the

[42:23] So the bouquet isn't nicely arranged.

[42:25] It's not like some balloons

[42:28] and you're holding the

[42:30] Imagine that one of the

[42:33] to your hand and other one

[42:35] And so this bouquet is very disorganized.

[42:37] In other words, the string

[42:39] the strings rather

[42:41] are all different lengths.

[42:43] And so the balloons

[42:45] That's essentially what myosin

[42:49] And those strings are what

[42:51] and then the myosin head is the balloon.

[42:56] When you stress a muscle properly,

[42:58] or you give it sufficient tension,

[43:00] or you damage the muscle just enough,

[43:04] there's an adaptive

[43:06] where protein is synthesized.

[43:08] And it's a very specific

[43:11] The myosin gets thicker.

[43:12] In other words, the balloons get bigger.

[43:16] So the way to think about muscle growth

[43:18] and the way to think about

[43:22] that those balloons get bigger

[43:26] Now, the question then should be as always

[43:30] how does that happen?

[43:31] I mean, the muscle doesn't

[43:33] about what's happening

[43:36] The way it happens is

[43:39] to tell the muscle to get stronger.

[43:42] And it does that through what

[43:45] It talks to the muscle

[43:47] It doesn't whisper to it or

[43:49] What it does it release

[43:51] that within the muscle,

[43:53] there are certain

[43:55] that make those balloons

[43:57] the myosin get thicker.

[43:59] So let's talk about the

[44:02] And if already in your

[44:04] oh my goodness, these balloons of muscle

[44:06] are going to get thick,

[44:07] and it's just going to

[44:10] don't worry about that.

[44:11] People invest a ton of time and energy

[44:13] into trying to make their muscles larger.

[44:15] It's actually much harder for people to do

[44:17] than you might think.

[44:19] But I do want to give one

[44:22] an important principle of

[44:24] Everybody has imbalances

[44:32] How well muscles can grow, or how poorly,

[44:35] or how challenging it is

[44:37] Now, many people who are afraid

[44:41] for instance, are afraid

[44:43] But I think the research

[44:46] of pretty much every age should be doing

[44:48] some sort of resistance exercise

[44:50] even if that's body weight exercises

[44:52] in order to offset this

[44:55] in muscle contractile ability,

[44:57] muscle strength, et cetera,

[45:00] There's nothing good about

[45:05] And people who invest the effort

[45:07] into doing resistance

[45:10] whether or not it's with

[45:12] or with body weight,

[45:15] at a whole body level at a systemic level

[45:18] as well as in terms of muscle strength.

[45:21] There is a good predictor of how well

[45:25] or how efficient you will

[45:28] and or if you like the

[45:32] And it has everything to do

[45:34] that are involved in

[45:37] You can actually do this test right now.

[45:39] You can just kind of March

[45:42] and see whether or not you

[45:46] or all of your muscles.

[45:48] So for instance, if you

[45:50] or a you're standing,

[45:52] see whether or not you can

[45:55] just using those upper motor

[45:58] and deliberately

[46:01] If you can contract the calf muscle hard

[46:05] to the point where that

[46:07] like it's starting to cramp

[46:08] like it hurts just a little bit,

[46:10] that can be extremely painful

[46:12] nor is it going to have

[46:15] chances are you have very good

[46:17] upper motor neuron to calf control.

[46:20] And chances are, if you can isolate that

[46:23] what they call the brain

[46:26] and you can contract the muscles

[46:27] to the point where it cramps a little bit,

[46:29] that you hold a decent to high potential

[46:33] to change the strength and

[46:36] if you train it properly.

[46:37] Now, if you have a hard time doing that,

[46:40] chances are you won't be able to do that.

[46:43] If for instance, you

[46:47] Like we all have these

[46:50] The latissimus dorsi muscles,

[46:53] in chin ups and things like that,

[46:53] but their function from a more

[46:58] is to move the elbow back behind the body.

[47:01] So it's not about flexing your bicep.

[47:03] It's about moving your

[47:05] If you can do that, mentally

[47:08] or you can do that physical movement

[47:10] of moving your elbow back behind your body

[47:12] and you can contract that muscle hard,

[47:14] chances are that you have the capacity

[47:16] to enhance the strength and or size

[47:19] of that particular muscle

[47:21] because you have the neural

[47:24] This is a key feature of

[47:27] to appreciate as we begin to talk more

[47:30] about specific protocols.

[47:32] Because everything about

[47:36] about stimulating muscle growth is

[47:39] about generating isolated contractions

[47:42] about challenging specific

[47:48] Whereas with strength, it's

[47:51] as a system moving

[47:54] moving the body.

[47:56] The specific goal of hypertrophy is

[47:59] to isolate specific

[48:02] so that you stimulate the chemical

[48:04] and signaling transduction

[48:06] so that those muscles

[48:09] So there's a critical distinction

[48:11] in terms of getting stronger versus trying

[48:13] to get muscles to be

[48:17] And it has to do with how much

[48:21] Muscle isolation is not

[48:24] It's not something that we normally do.

[48:25] When we walk we don't think,

[48:28] left calf contract.

[48:29] No, you just generate

[48:32] And of course, there's no

[48:34] or larger in response to those movements.

[48:36] Let's say you were to do a

[48:39] of attaching 30 pound

[48:41] And you were to do those movements.

[48:43] Well, if you weren't specifically

[48:46] in each step, there's

[48:49] to take on the bulk of the work.

[48:51] And you would distribute that

[48:54] and other aspects of your musculature.

[48:55] Your whole nervous system

[48:58] It seeks to spread out the effort.

[49:01] So you can nest this as

[49:04] which is if you want to get stronger

[49:06] it's really about moving

[49:10] or increasing the amount

[49:13] Whereas if you're specifically interested

[49:15] in generating hypertrophy,

[49:18] to generate those really hard,

[49:20] almost painful localized

[49:24] Now, of course, how much weight you use

[49:25] in order to generate those contractions

[49:27] will also impact hypertrophy.

[49:29] But I think most people

[49:31] the mind muscle connection.

[49:33] It sounds like a great thing,

[49:34] but it's actually one of

[49:37] if your goal is simply

[49:40] or to become stronger.

[49:42] You want to do the movements

[49:45] but it's the opposite of hypertrophy

[49:48] where with hypertrophy

[49:50] that particular muscle

[49:53] do the majority, if not all the work

[49:56] whereas in moving force loads

[49:58] in trying to generate activity of any kind

[50:02] like lifting a bar, doing

[50:04] those so-called compound

[50:06] of muscle groups.

[50:08] If your goal is to be better at those,

[50:10] you want to avoid isolating

[50:14] Now, I know this probably comes across

[50:16] as a kind of obvious duh,

[50:19] who have spent a lot of time in the gym

[50:22] aimed at getting hypertrophy.

[50:24] But I think most people don't appreciate

[50:25] that it's the nerve to muscle connections

[50:27] and the distinction

[50:30] to muscle connections

[50:33] of nerve to muscle connections,

[50:34] that's vital in determining whether or not

[50:36] you generate hypertrophy isolated nerve

[50:39] to muscle contractions versus strength

[50:41] and offsetting strength loss

[50:44] which would be distributed

[50:47] If ever there was an

[50:49] that was very confused,

[50:53] and almost combative at times,

[50:55] it would be this issue

[50:58] I suppose the only thing

[51:01] of a conversation than that

[51:04] Those seem to be the two most common areas

[51:07] of online battle and the

[51:11] has a lot to say about

[51:13] Again, my sources for

[51:16] are Professor Andy Galpin and colleagues.

[51:19] I know there are other

[51:21] in the field, but I really trust his work.

[51:23] He does very controlled studies.

[51:26] He spent a lot of time in this space

[51:27] and what's really exciting is that

[51:29] in just the last three years or so,

[51:31] there's been a tremendous

[51:34] to come out about the practical

[51:37] in order to maximize the benefits

[51:40] of resistance exercise of any kind.

[51:43] So I'm going to talk about those

[51:44] and I'm going to talk about the research.

[51:46] I will provide some links,

[51:49] in-depth tutorials from

[51:53] of the papers that the

[51:55] to tell you stems from.

[51:58] There's a lot of information saying

[52:00] that you need to move

[52:05] of your one rep maximum

[52:07] for three weeks on and then

[52:09] There are a lot of

[52:12] there are a lot of ways to

[52:16] There's a near infinite number of ways

[52:17] to add up different

[52:20] And what's very clear now

[52:22] from all the literature that's transpired

[52:24] and especially from the literature

[52:27] is that once you know roughly

[52:32] the maximum amount of

[52:36] an exercise with for one repetition

[52:38] in good form, full range of motion,

[52:41] that it's very clear that moving weights

[52:46] or using bands or using

[52:51] in the 30% to 80% of one-rep maximum.

[52:54] That is going to be the

[52:57] in terms of muscle

[52:59] So muscle growth and strength.

[53:01] And there will be a bias

[53:04] that are in the 75%, 80% range

[53:07] or maybe even going above that 85 and 90%,

[53:09] you're going to bias your improvements

[53:12] towards strength gains.

[53:13] This is true.

[53:15] And if you use weights that are in the 30%

[53:17] of your one-repetition

[53:20] and doing many more

[53:23] then you are biasing towards hypertrophy

[53:25] and what some people like

[53:27] But that's a little bit

[53:29] because endurance, we almost

[53:33] to running or swimming or

[53:36] So 30% to 80% of one-repetition maximums,

[53:39] it doesn't really seem to matter

[53:41] for sake of hypertrophy,

[53:44] when you're really trying

[53:47] Now, it is clear, however

[53:50] that one needs to perform those sets

[53:54] to failure where you can't

[53:57] in good form again or near to failure.

[54:01] And there's all sorts of

[54:03] that's popping up all over the internet.

[54:05] Some of which is scientific,

[54:07] about how you are supposed to perceive

[54:10] how close you were to failure, et cetera.

[54:13] But there are some very

[54:15] that relate to how the

[54:18] that strongly predict

[54:20] that you're performing will

[54:23] So here's how it goes.

[54:24] For individuals that are untrained

[54:27] meaning they have been

[54:31] for anywhere from zero,

[54:35] although for some people, it

[54:37] but those are the so-called beginners.

[54:39] They're sort of untrained.

[54:41] For those people, the

[54:44] to perform enough sets of a given exercise

[54:47] per muscle per week.

[54:50] The same is also true for

[54:52] for one or two years or more.

[54:54] What differs is how many sets to perform

[54:58] depending on whether or not

[55:00] So let's say you're somebody

[55:00] who's been doing some

[55:03] on and off over the years

[55:07] to get serious about

[55:09] or offsetting age related

[55:12] the range of sets to do in

[55:16] to activate these cascades

[55:20] from two, believe it

[55:23] Again, these are sets per week

[55:25] and they don't necessarily

[55:27] in the same weight training session.

[55:28] I will talk about numbers of sessions.

[55:31] So it appears that five sets

[55:37] of the one repetition maximum range,

[55:40] getting close to failure,

[55:44] going to full muscular

[55:47] full muscular failure, but the inability

[55:49] to generate a contraction of the muscle

[55:51] or move the weight in good form.

[55:53] I'll go deeper into that in a moment.

[55:54] But about five sets per

[55:57] just to maintain your muscle.

[55:58] So think about that.

[55:59] If you're somebody who's kind of averse

[56:01] to resistance training,

[56:03] muscle size and strength.

[56:05] Your metabolism will drop.

[56:06] Your posture will get worse.

[56:08] Everything in the context of nerve

[56:10] to muscle conductivity

[56:13] unless you are generating

[56:19] of this 30% to 80% of your one

[56:24] So what this means is

[56:26] who hasn't done a lot of weight training,

[56:27] you need to do at least

[56:31] Now, that's just to maintain.

[56:33] And then there's this huge range

[56:35] that goes all the way up to 15

[56:36] and in some case, 20 sets per week.

[56:38] Now, how many sets you

[56:41] on the intensity of the

[56:45] This is where it gets a

[56:47] but I think nowadays most people agree

[56:50] and Dr. Galpin confirmed

[56:54] with the 10% we discussed

[56:59] of a given workout or

[57:05] should be of the high-intensity sort

[57:07] where one is actually

[57:09] Now I say not true muscular failure

[57:11] because in theory you

[57:14] which is the kind of

[57:15] and then you have the ecentric portion

[57:17] of muscle contraction,

[57:19] And ecentric movements because of the way

[57:21] that muscle fibers lengthen

[57:25] that we talked about before,

[57:26] you're always stronger

[57:28] than you are in lifting it.

[57:31] But the point being that

[57:34] most of your sets should

[57:38] And the reason for that is it

[57:42] of work without fatiguing

[57:46] and depleting the nerve

[57:48] in ways that are detrimental.

[57:50] So we can make this simple.

[57:52] Perform anywhere from 5 to 15 sets

[57:56] of resistance exercise per week,

[57:59] and that's per muscle, and

[58:03] of what your one-repetition maximum.

[58:05] That seems to be the most

[58:08] of offsetting any decline

[58:12] if you're working in the

[58:14] and in increasing muscle strength

[58:18] when you start to get up

[58:21] Now, the caveat to that is everyone varies

[58:24] and muscles vary in terms

[58:28] Depending on how well you

[58:31] of muscles deliberately.

[58:33] And you can actually figure

[58:36] you might take five minutes

[58:36] and just kind of March across your body

[58:38] and mentally try and

[58:40] of muscles in a very deliberate way

[58:43] to the point where you can

[58:45] And you may have to move a limb

[58:46] in order to do this, by the way.

[58:47] I'm not talking about just

[58:50] without moving your wrist.

[58:51] I'm talking about doing

[58:54] in hand or any band or any resistance.

[58:56] If you can generate a

[58:59] using these upper motor neuron

[59:00] to lower motor neuron pathways to muscle,

[59:04] you might think, well I

[59:09] But actually, the opposite is true.

[59:12] If you can generate high-intensity

[59:15] using your brain, using your neurons,

[59:17] it will take fewer sets in

[59:22] to maintain itself and

[59:25] in order to grow or get stronger.

[59:28] So the more efficient you are

[59:32] remember, Henneman's size principle

[59:34] the recruit men have more motor units

[59:36] which isn't just muscles,

[59:37] it's nerve to muscle connections.

[59:39] The better you are at doing that, the more

[59:41] you will recruit these so-called

[59:43] the ones that are hard to get to,

[59:45] the more you will kick

[59:47] within muscle that stimulate

[59:52] So if you have muscles that

[59:56] it's going to take more sets

[59:58] in order to stimulate the desired effect

[1:00:01] in those muscles not fewer.

[1:00:04] If you have muscles that you are very good

[1:00:06] at generating force within,

[1:00:09] Now, how many sets you are

[1:00:12] it's going to depend for

[1:00:14] like 50% of your one-repetition maximum,

[1:00:17] because you're doing a lot of repetitions,

[1:00:19] you might find that

[1:00:22] will maintain the muscle.

[1:00:24] You might decide to do that once

[1:00:25] at one point in the week

[1:00:28] So if you're going for 10 sets a week

[1:00:29] you can divide that among two sessions.

[1:00:31] You could do that all in one session.

[1:00:33] The data really show it doesn't matter.

[1:00:36] There are some differences in terms of

[1:00:39] whether or not you're trying

[1:00:42] within a workout or whether or not

[1:00:43] you want to spread that out.

[1:00:44] But in general, resistance workouts

[1:00:46] of any kind tend to be best favored

[1:00:48] by workouts that are somewhere

[1:00:50] between 45 minutes and 60 minutes.

[1:00:53] And generally not longer than 60 minutes

[1:00:55] because that's when all

[1:00:58] and some of the inflammatory

[1:01:00] to create a situation in

[1:01:04] that's not so great for you.

[1:01:05] So it's not a hard and fast rule.

[1:01:07] The ax doesn't drop at 60 minutes

[1:01:10] but it's pretty clear

[1:01:12] to 15 sets per week, whether

[1:01:15] or whether that's divided

[1:01:18] is really what's going

[1:01:19] And please do keep in mind

[1:01:22] and the recruitment of motor units.

[1:01:24] And remember the better you are

[1:01:25] at contracting particular muscles

[1:01:27] in an isolating those muscles,

[1:01:28] the fewer sets likely you need to do

[1:01:30] in order to get the desired effect.

[1:01:33] Now, what about people who

[1:01:35] If you're somebody who's been doing

[1:01:36] weight training for a while,

[1:01:40] that more volume can be

[1:01:43] that you are very

[1:01:47] Now, the curve on this, the graph on this

[1:01:50] begins again at about five sets per week

[1:01:52] for maintaining a given muscle group,

[1:01:54] and extends all the way out

[1:01:59] However, there are individuals

[1:02:03] can generate so much force.

[1:02:05] They're so good at training muscles

[1:02:07] that they can generate so

[1:02:10] or six or eight sets that

[1:02:14] of work is actually going

[1:02:16] So everyone needs to

[1:02:19] First of all, how often you're willing

[1:02:20] to do resistance exercise of any kind.

[1:02:23] And again, it doesn't

[1:02:25] or weights or body weight.

[1:02:26] For instance, if you're

[1:02:29] unless you are very strong

[1:02:32] You're just using something

[1:02:34] Or if you're doing pushups,

[1:02:38] in that 30% to 80% of your

[1:02:41] It doesn't necessarily mean

[1:02:42] that you have to be moving

[1:02:46] So the purpose here is to figure out

[1:02:49] what muscles you're trying to train.

[1:02:50] That's an issue that we'll

[1:02:53] And then it does appear that somewhere

[1:02:54] between five and 15 sets

[1:03:00] the thing that's going

[1:03:01] Now, this is based on a

[1:03:03] that was done by Andy

[1:03:05] Brad Schoenfeld and colleagues

[1:03:11] There's a huge group of people

[1:03:13] out there doing exercise

[1:03:16] of them that are linking them

[1:03:20] that don't just pertain to athletes.

[1:03:22] So that's mainly what

[1:03:24] And surely there will be exceptions.

[1:03:26] Now, if you are going to

[1:03:30] you're not going to do

[1:03:32] for a given muscle group in one session,

[1:03:34] then of course, it's imperative

[1:03:36] that the muscles recover

[1:03:38] And we are going to talk about recovery

[1:03:40] both at the systemic level,

[1:03:43] and at the local level the nerve to muscle

[1:03:46] and local even muscle level.

[1:03:47] We'll talk about that in about 10 minutes

[1:03:49] when we talk about recovery.

[1:03:51] I do want to mention

[1:03:53] which is that everything

[1:03:55] it has to do with full range of motion.

[1:03:58] And you might ask, well, what

[1:04:02] This is actually turns out

[1:04:03] to be a really interesting dataset

[1:04:05] for generating explosiveness and speed.

[1:04:08] So for sprinters or throwing sports,

[1:04:10] or for people that want to

[1:04:13] it does appear that

[1:04:16] as fast as you safely can,

[1:04:20] to heavy loads, can increase

[1:04:24] And most of that effect is

[1:04:30] It's not from changes in the muscle.

[1:04:31] It's from changes in the way

[1:04:34] communicate with the lower motor neurons

[1:04:37] and generating a pathway, a

[1:04:41] that is very efficient at

[1:04:44] which are the electricity within neurons

[1:04:46] to trigger the muscle.

[1:04:47] Now, of course there

[1:04:48] from nerve to muscle

[1:04:49] but the takeaway from that

[1:04:53] is that if you want to get faster,

[1:04:56] yes, it can be beneficial to get stronger.

[1:04:59] But if you want to dedicate

[1:05:03] to jumping higher, to running

[1:05:09] and these sorts of things that

[1:05:13] with increasing speed is

[1:05:16] On the flip side of that

[1:05:17] for people that want to get stronger,

[1:05:19] it appears that the

[1:05:22] as things get harder is a key parameter

[1:05:24] in recruiting those high

[1:05:27] So let me phrase that a

[1:05:29] Think about a set in the gym

[1:05:31] or think about a set of

[1:05:33] Initially you can move

[1:05:36] If you want to generate hypertrophy,

[1:05:38] the goal really is not

[1:05:40] but to isolate the muscle

[1:05:41] and therefore not to use momentum rather

[1:05:43] than lift weights, as they

[1:05:46] If you want to get stronger,

[1:05:48] you're going to be

[1:05:49] over more muscles and more

[1:05:52] For generating explosiveness and speed,

[1:05:55] it's very clear that learning

[1:05:59] and to move heavy or

[1:06:03] is going to be beneficial

[1:06:04] that you train the motor neurons.

[1:06:07] And of course changes in the muscle.

[1:06:09] But this could look different

[1:06:12] And obviously you want

[1:06:14] If you're injured, you're

[1:06:15] to train at all for sport

[1:06:19] And so what this would involve

[1:06:23] of a one-repetition maximum,

[1:06:26] moving that as quickly as one

[1:06:30] And certainly not going to failure

[1:06:32] because as you approach failure,

[1:06:33] the inability to move the

[1:06:36] the weight inevitably slows down.

[1:06:38] In fact, there are a lot

[1:06:41] that are focused on informing people

[1:06:43] of how quickly the bar

[1:06:46] I saw an advertisement

[1:06:48] There are things that

[1:06:51] that will literally speak to you

[1:06:52] as you're doing a set and inform you

[1:06:54] whether or not you're moving

[1:06:58] than you were at the beginning.

[1:06:59] And trying to hone in on

[1:07:02] In talking to these experts

[1:07:05] it does appear that for

[1:07:08] as long as you're not

[1:07:11] that you start to distribute the effort

[1:07:12] to lots of other muscles,

[1:07:15] it doesn't really matter

[1:07:20] the motor units that you

[1:07:23] of neurons that you recruit

[1:07:24] and the number of muscle

[1:07:26] these high threshold muscle

[1:07:28] And so it's really only

[1:07:31] that you really need to be concerned about

[1:07:34] how quickly the weight is slowing down.

[1:07:37] However, if you're trying to

[1:07:39] and generate more speed and

[1:07:44] things of that sort, you never

[1:07:47] or get to a portion of the set

[1:07:49] where you're moving the

[1:07:51] And I'm sure as I say that some

[1:07:52] of the exercise physiologists

[1:07:53] and advanced trainers out there will come

[1:07:55] after me with pitchforks, which is fine.

[1:07:57] I'd love to see the literature that shows

[1:07:58] that low gear slow movements

[1:08:01] can indeed improve explosiveness.

[1:08:04] And that may in fact be the case,

[1:08:06] but the data that I was able

[1:08:09] as I described just a moment ago.

[1:08:11] So as you're probably

[1:08:12] to customize a resistance practice

[1:08:16] for your particular needs and goals.

[1:08:18] And I certainly am not

[1:08:21] that people periodize their training.

[1:08:23] That they do things from anywhere

[1:08:24] from one month to six months,

[1:08:26] and to make modifications as they go.

[1:08:29] Because the nervous system in particular

[1:08:31] the neuromuscular system

[1:08:34] at the beginning of training.

[1:08:35] In fact, some of the

[1:08:37] when they first embrace or

[1:08:43] can be very remarkable, but

[1:08:46] So we've talked about a few principles.

[1:08:47] The fact that you need

[1:08:49] you need at least five sets to maintain

[1:08:51] and you probably need about

[1:08:53] in order to improve muscle.

[1:08:55] That moving weights of moderate

[1:08:56] to moderately heavy weight quickly

[1:08:59] is going to be best for explosiveness.

[1:09:00] The isolating muscles and

[1:09:04] something that you can test by just

[1:09:06] when you're outside the training session,

[1:09:08] seeing whether or not you

[1:09:11] will tell you your capacity

[1:09:15] or to engage strength

[1:09:18] That your ability to

[1:09:21] inversely related to the number

[1:09:24] in order to isolate and

[1:09:27] And there are some other

[1:09:30] the whole process of building

[1:09:34] making them more efficient

[1:09:36] more strength and hypertrophy.

[1:09:39] One of them I loath to say I was told

[1:09:43] is in between set contractions.

[1:09:46] The other name for this is the people

[1:09:48] in the gym does typically

[1:09:52] flexing their muscles in between sets.

[1:09:54] And indeed the research supports the fact

[1:09:57] that contractions have about 30 seconds

[1:10:00] in between the actual work sets,

[1:10:02] they're not going to

[1:10:05] on the work sets, if anything

[1:10:06] they're going to compromise them.

[1:10:07] But those hard contractions

[1:10:10] for a variety of reasons related

[1:10:14] as well as what we talked about before

[1:10:16] which are stress, tension, and damage,

[1:10:18] they seem to improve

[1:10:20] and the nerve to muscle contraction

[1:10:22] in ways that facilitate hypertrophy.

[1:10:24] In other words, if you

[1:10:27] in between sets in the gym,

[1:10:28] provided that they're

[1:10:31] and provided it's one that

[1:10:35] not one of these people

[1:10:36] that always skips leg day type of people.

[1:10:38] These people are highly asymmetric

[1:10:40] although that's up to them,

[1:10:42] that process of flexing

[1:10:46] to improve the nerve to muscle connection

[1:10:48] and enhance hypertrophy.

[1:10:51] And I say I was low to say it

[1:10:54] it seems like the end of

[1:10:58] sort of like the 11th rep of every set.

[1:11:00] I like to joke.

[1:11:01] It seems like very few people

[1:11:03] into the gym and doing a workout

[1:11:05] without taking a picture of themselves,

[1:11:07] which I think is fine

[1:11:10] Although I must say that

[1:11:13] and even the recreational

[1:11:15] who seem to get the most

[1:11:17] and who also seem to get the most out

[1:11:19] of other aspects of their life,

[1:11:20] seem to be able to control

[1:11:22] both in the gym and outside of the gym.

[1:11:24] But that's more of an

[1:11:26] In an earlier episode,

[1:11:28] I talked about estrogen and testosterone.

[1:11:30] And during that discussion, I talked about

[1:11:32] the use of resistance

[1:11:35] for increasing testosterone,

[1:11:39] And indeed that is a powerful

[1:11:44] And indeed it's mediated by the

[1:11:48] We talked about that in

[1:11:51] I just want to briefly

[1:11:53] since it's distinctly different

[1:11:54] from the other protocols

[1:11:57] The protocols I've talked

[1:11:59] of explosive movements or of

[1:12:04] provided the training

[1:12:07] will cause increases in serum testosterone

[1:12:10] that's been shown over and over again.

[1:12:12] And if the session extends

[1:12:16] and is of sufficiently

[1:12:19] testosterone levels will start to drop

[1:12:22] and cortisol levels will go up

[1:12:24] in ways that can be

[1:12:26] and the goals of the training.

[1:12:28] But that's different than training

[1:12:31] that's specifically geared

[1:12:34] Duncan French, who's one of the directors

[1:12:36] of the UFC Performance Center,

[1:12:38] when he was a graduate student

[1:12:40] at University of Connecticut

[1:12:43] He and his colleagues found

[1:12:46] for stimulating testosterone release

[1:12:48] which is something that

[1:12:50] for a variety of reasons.

[1:12:52] And that involved doing

[1:12:58] even if it requires lightening the weight

[1:13:02] on one set to the next,

[1:13:06] 120 seconds rest in between sets.

[1:13:08] Which if you think of about

[1:13:12] and is pretty darn hard work.

[1:13:15] Now, what's interesting is that

[1:13:16] there's a very limited threshold

[1:13:18] for increasing testosterone.

[1:13:20] That protocol of six sets

[1:13:25] to these big increases

[1:13:28] But if people did 10 sets of 10

[1:13:29] so just four more repetitions per set,

[1:13:32] then testosterone did not increase.

[1:13:34] In fact, you got more of this

[1:13:35] catabolic cortisol like pathway.

[1:13:37] You get other benefits from this

[1:13:39] so-called 10 sets of 10 protocol,

[1:13:41] but not the testosterone increase

[1:13:43] and maybe even reductions in testosterone.

[1:13:45] Now, it's important to point out that

[1:13:47] that six sets of 10 was done

[1:13:50] So things like squats,

[1:13:53] or things of that sort.

[1:13:54] And those were done as single sessions

[1:13:56] not in concert with a bunch

[1:14:00] if athletes are doing

[1:14:03] why they couldn't also do other types

[1:14:04] of training elsewhere in the week.

[1:14:06] I asked Duncan about this

[1:14:08] that done twice a week

[1:14:11] that anyone could do that

[1:14:14] and still maintain this

[1:14:16] It's a very interesting protocol

[1:14:18] because as a neuroscientist, it's amazing

[1:14:22] to me that six sets of 10

[1:14:28] causes a distinctly different result

[1:14:30] in terms of hormone output

[1:14:32] than 10 sets of 10 of

[1:14:34] And it speaks to the

[1:14:38] to muscle connections

[1:14:42] of your entire system.

[1:14:44] If there's a theme that I really

[1:14:46] is that weight training or

[1:14:50] is really used for

[1:14:53] 10% of training done where

[1:14:56] which means lactate will be present

[1:14:57] and sending signals to your brain,

[1:14:59] and your heart and your

[1:15:01] or isolating muscles

[1:15:05] a kind of a lactate which is

[1:15:10] but that isolation of

[1:15:13] So systemic versus isolated.

[1:15:15] Those are the two general ways

[1:15:17] in which resistance

[1:15:19] So I just wanted to mention

[1:15:21] because it's well supported

[1:15:24] If you were to incorporate that protocol,

[1:15:26] you might ask, well, then can you do any

[1:15:28] other weight training during the week?

[1:15:29] And sure, of course you can

[1:15:32] So let's talk about how you

[1:15:35] How you know if a muscle is recovered

[1:15:37] and how you know if your

[1:15:39] Because recovery is what

[1:15:42] you can come back and do more

[1:15:44] Meaning, I don't know, you

[1:15:48] can you and should you come back

[1:15:49] and do the upper body training day?

[1:15:52] And it dictates whether or

[1:15:55] from session to session at all.

[1:15:57] Before I talk about recovery

[1:15:58] I just want to make sure

[1:16:00] that I was able to extract

[1:16:03] and from my conversation with Dr. Galpin.

[1:16:05] If you're wondering how

[1:16:08] for sake of hypertrophy or strength gains,

[1:16:11] anywhere from a half a

[1:16:14] all the way up to eight

[1:16:16] it doesn't seem to matter.

[1:16:18] Again, if you're thinking

[1:16:20] or building speed, or you're specifically

[1:16:22] using resistance training

[1:16:24] that's a separate matter.

[1:16:25] We talked about explosiveness and speed.

[1:16:27] I'll talk about endurance

[1:16:29] We also talked about in

[1:16:32] the so called selfie effect

[1:16:34] of people flexing a particular muscle,

[1:16:36] isolating a particular

[1:16:39] just want to mention that

[1:16:42] if your goal is performance on sets.

[1:16:44] So moving a particular amount of weight.

[1:16:46] That's actually going to

[1:16:49] that you can move.

[1:16:50] It's going to enhance muscle growth

[1:16:51] and it's going to enhance the nerve

[1:16:53] to muscle isolation of

[1:16:57] So again, that flexing

[1:17:00] to favor hypertrophy, not performance.

[1:17:03] If you're trying to get stronger,

[1:17:06] you're trying to move more weights,

[1:17:07] you're trying to distribute work,

[1:17:09] and you're trying to

[1:17:11] with resistance then flexing between sets

[1:17:13] is absolutely the wrong thing

[1:17:16] you're fatiguing the muscle further.

[1:17:18] Just remaining still or

[1:17:21] has been shown to be beneficial in terms

[1:17:23] of moving some of the

[1:17:25] as well as just recovering between sets.

[1:17:28] Now, how long to recover

[1:17:30] For the testosterone protocol,

[1:17:33] found that it was about

[1:17:35] that really on the clock,

[1:17:38] For hypertrophy and for strength gains,

[1:17:41] it does seem that resting

[1:17:43] or even three or four,

[1:17:47] can be beneficial.

[1:17:48] And if you're interested

[1:17:50] of work that you can do in a given session

[1:17:53] at high capacity at high

[1:17:57] please see the episode that I did

[1:17:58] on cold and performance about

[1:18:02] which is based on the work of my colleague

[1:18:03] Craig Heller in the Biology

[1:18:06] which talks about Palmer Cooling,

[1:18:07] about how you can cool

[1:18:10] through the palms using these

[1:18:14] that are only present in your hands.

[1:18:16] People are now doing this with

[1:18:20] There are a number of

[1:18:21] I talk all about that in that episode.

[1:18:23] It allows you to do more repetitions

[1:18:26] and more work at a given weight over time.

[1:18:29] So rather than getting 10 repetitions

[1:18:31] and then eight and then seven and then six

[1:18:33] through proper use of palmer cooling,

[1:18:35] one can do 10, 10, 10,

[1:18:39] And that's one way that one can accomplish

[1:18:41] higher volume work without having

[1:18:44] to drop the weight considerably.

[1:18:45] So that's where you can

[1:18:48] if that's your goal of getting strong

[1:18:50] and generating some hypertrophy.

[1:18:52] Because as soon as you have

[1:18:56] then you're shifting

[1:18:58] and endurance and less toward

[1:19:01] So check out that episode.

[1:19:03] The last thing besides

[1:19:06] and whether or not

[1:19:08] or whether or not you're really

[1:19:11] is this notion of pre-exhausting muscles.

[1:19:14] It's been shown over and over again

[1:19:16] that for instance, if you

[1:19:20] in a given muscle and really isolate that,

[1:19:22] doing the isolation work

[1:19:25] So this would be leg extensions

[1:19:28] the thing where you sit

[1:19:28] and you extend your toes

[1:19:31] Leg extensions before

[1:19:35] to target that muscle

[1:19:37] And that makes perfectly

[1:19:40] the Henneman's size principle

[1:19:43] It should be obvious why that's the case.

[1:19:44] But of course that's going

[1:19:48] in terms of how much weight you can lift,

[1:19:50] and maybe even the form

[1:19:51] when you move to the

[1:19:53] So you really have to ask

[1:19:56] How good are you at

[1:19:59] Therefore, how many

[1:20:01] How often are you willing to train

[1:20:03] therefore, how many

[1:20:05] in a given session versus

[1:20:07] to distribute across the week?

[1:20:09] Are you aiming for performance?

[1:20:10] Are you going to distribute that work

[1:20:12] across the nervous system and musculature?

[1:20:14] Are you trying to move weights?

[1:20:15] Are you trying to challenge muscles?

[1:20:17] If you're trying to challenge muscles,

[1:20:18] then you really want to focus on things

[1:20:20] like this pre exhausting the isolation

[1:20:22] of a muscle before the compound movement.

[1:20:24] Your performance on compound movements

[1:20:26] will absolutely suffer but your ability

[1:20:29] to isolate that muscle

[1:20:31] through the accumulation of larger myosin,

[1:20:34] those bigger balloons, will benefit.

[1:20:36] And once again, if you're

[1:20:39] than the speed of the

[1:20:42] So how do we know if we've recovered?

[1:20:43] How can we test recovery?

[1:20:45] And this is not just recovery

[1:20:47] this is recovery from running,

[1:20:51] Up until now I've been talking

[1:20:53] more or less in a vacuum.

[1:20:54] I haven't even touched on the fact

[1:20:56] that many people are running

[1:20:57] and they're doing resistance training

[1:20:59] or they're swimming and they're

[1:21:02] It's not simply the case that

[1:21:06] you can just work other muscles.

[1:21:07] Because even if you've

[1:21:11] let's say you have incredible abilities

[1:21:13] to isolate just your

[1:21:17] and you do a workout where

[1:21:19] you do your six sets of intense work

[1:21:21] or maybe use palmer cooling,

[1:21:22] and you're able to do

[1:21:24] and you're done, and that muscle group

[1:21:28] the next day is certainly

[1:21:30] unless you're somebody who's

[1:21:33] or you're enhancing your

[1:21:36] which we'll talk about at the end.

[1:21:38] Well, you can assess systemic recovery

[1:21:41] meaning your nervous system.

[1:21:43] And your nervous system's

[1:21:46] both distributed and isolated

[1:21:51] And fortunately, these

[1:21:54] and two of them are essentially zero cost,

[1:21:57] require no equipment.

[1:21:59] HRV, heart rate variability

[1:22:04] into the forefront of exercise physiology

[1:22:07] and even into the popular discussion.

[1:22:09] I've talked about HRV before.

[1:22:11] How when we exhale, our

[1:22:13] because of the way that our diaphragm

[1:22:14] is connected to our heart and to our brain

[1:22:16] and the way our brain is

[1:22:18] When we inhale our heart rate speeds up

[1:22:21] and that is the basis of

[1:22:24] Heart rate variability is good.

[1:22:26] It means that you're breathing properly,

[1:22:28] and when I say it's good it means

[1:22:30] you want a lot of heart rate variability.

[1:22:32] You don't want a heart rate that is high

[1:22:34] or low consistently over time.

[1:22:37] That might come as a bit

[1:22:39] endurance athletes,

[1:22:41] to accomplish your endurance

[1:22:44] to really hit that nice sweet spot

[1:22:45] where you're breathing rhythmically,

[1:22:47] your heart rate's going rhythmically.

[1:22:48] You're in that steady heart rate,

[1:22:49] and then away from exercise,

[1:22:51] you have a nice low

[1:22:53] Well, nice low heart rate isn't

[1:22:56] Turns out the introducing bouts

[1:22:58] of increasing your heart

[1:23:00] and even through your waking day,

[1:23:02] through stressful events

[1:23:04] is beneficial.

[1:23:06] A good nerve to heart system benefits

[1:23:10] from being able to increase heart rate

[1:23:12] and decrease heart rate.

[1:23:13] Heart rate variability is good.

[1:23:15] So you don't want high heart rate,

[1:23:17] you don't want low

[1:23:20] But heart rate variability is difficult

[1:23:21] for a lot of people to measure.

[1:23:23] There are some devices that

[1:23:25] Various watches and devices.

[1:23:27] There are more devices becoming

[1:23:31] Hopefully soon, some that are integrated

[1:23:32] with your phone that involve no contact

[1:23:34] or anything on your body.

[1:23:36] But those do carry some costs

[1:23:41] The measures of heart rate

[1:23:44] while in movement are still in that phase

[1:23:47] I would say of technology development

[1:23:49] where everyone isn't using

[1:23:52] There are two measures however,

[1:23:53] whether or not you

[1:23:55] first thing in the

[1:23:57] maybe after five, 10 minutes, if you like,

[1:23:59] but ideally right when you wake up

[1:24:02] in order to assess how

[1:24:04] and therefore whether

[1:24:06] your whole system at all that day.

[1:24:09] The first one his grip strength.

[1:24:11] Grip strength, the

[1:24:15] at the level of squeezing the fist

[1:24:17] or squeezing down on something,

[1:24:19] might seem like kind of a trivial way

[1:24:21] to assess recovery but

[1:24:23] to your ability to use

[1:24:26] to control your lower motor neurons

[1:24:28] and to generate isolated force.

[1:24:30] So that's really what you're

[1:24:33] Some people will use

[1:24:37] or Costello has this toy

[1:24:41] and it's this hard rubber.

[1:24:43] And I've tried this before.

[1:24:45] If I've been working really

[1:24:47] or I've been training a lot

[1:24:48] any one or combination of

[1:24:51] I can't actually squeeze that thing down

[1:24:53] as much as I can Costello

[1:24:55] with like a 24 inch neck

[1:24:57] even though he's never touched a weight

[1:24:59] somehow he can just

[1:25:01] and he can turn it into

[1:25:03] and he likes to chuckle while

[1:25:06] But on a good day, I

[1:25:07] so that I eliminate the hole

[1:25:10] You can also take a floor

[1:25:16] and see how much force you can generate.

[1:25:18] I would do that as a baseline to establish

[1:25:20] what you can do when you're well rested.

[1:25:23] And then if you do that in the morning,

[1:25:24] you can see whether or not you're able

[1:25:25] to generate the same amount of force

[1:25:27] or you could use over the

[1:25:29] A lot of this is very subjective

[1:25:30] with a scale you're

[1:25:32] whether or not you can generate

[1:25:35] If you start seeing a 10% or

[1:25:39] that's concerning, it

[1:25:41] your nervous system as a whole

[1:25:43] it's not necessarily

[1:25:46] from nerve to muscle

[1:25:49] of rewiring themselves in

[1:25:52] And you might think, well, I

[1:25:55] Why am I having a hard time doing this

[1:25:56] for a completely different muscle group?

[1:25:58] It doesn't make any sense.

[1:25:59] But there's something about

[1:26:01] to lower motor neuron pathway generally

[1:26:04] that allows you to use

[1:26:06] as a kind of a thermometer, if you will

[1:26:09] of your ability to recover.

[1:26:11] So look for your ability

[1:26:13] when you first wake up.

[1:26:14] It's not going to be as

[1:26:17] after a cup of coffee and a couple meals

[1:26:19] but the point isn't performance overall,

[1:26:22] the point is to assess whether or not

[1:26:24] you're getting better, worse

[1:26:27] The other one that's really terrific

[1:26:28] and the Andy Galpin's group is using.

[1:26:30] And I'm delighted about

[1:26:32] to something that my lab is

[1:26:34] is carbon dioxide tolerance.

[1:26:36] So this is a really interesting tool

[1:26:38] that endurance athletes, strength athletes

[1:26:41] I think can all benefit from.

[1:26:43] In fact athletes and people of all kinds.

[1:26:45] Even if you're not an athlete,

[1:26:46] even if you're not exercising at all,

[1:26:48] there's a good question of

[1:26:50] as a whole is doing okay or not.

[1:26:53] We rely on the thermometer.

[1:26:54] Do we have a fever or not?

[1:26:56] We rely on subjective things.

[1:26:58] Do I feel good or not?

[1:26:59] Am I digesting well or not?

[1:27:00] Those are all subjective.

[1:27:02] The carbon dioxide tolerance test is,

[1:27:06] its objective in that it

[1:27:09] to engage the so-called

[1:27:12] of your nervous system

[1:27:14] of your nervous system.

[1:27:15] And it measures your ability

[1:27:18] a particular skeletal muscle,

[1:27:21] So here's how you do the

[1:27:24] You wake up in the morning.

[1:27:25] If you have to use the

[1:27:27] but try and stay away from your phone.

[1:27:30] If you have your phone,

[1:27:32] go to the timer or use a

[1:27:35] of measuring time, stay off social media

[1:27:39] for just a few seconds.

[1:27:40] It'll be okay.

[1:27:41] And what you're going to do

[1:27:43] through your nose as deeply as you can,

[1:27:45] you can do this lying

[1:27:49] inhale through your nose

[1:27:54] So that's one.

[1:27:54] You're going to repeat that four times.

[1:27:57] So inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale

[1:28:02] inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale four times.

[1:28:05] And ideally you're

[1:28:07] and you're exhaling through the mouth.

[1:28:09] That's just the beginning

[1:28:10] of this carbon dioxide tolerance test.

[1:28:13] Then you take a fifth inhale

[1:28:15] as deep as you can through your nose.

[1:28:17] Fill your lungs as much as you can,

[1:28:19] and if you can try and expand

[1:28:22] make your stomach go

[1:28:23] that means that your

[1:28:26] So you're inhaling as

[1:28:29] Then hit the timer and

[1:28:32] that air as slowly as

[1:28:36] So it looks like you have

[1:28:39] in your mouth and you're letting it go.

[1:28:44] As slowly as you possibly can.

[1:28:47] Measure what we call the

[1:28:50] or discard rate.

[1:28:53] I know you can all sit with lungs empty

[1:28:55] after you eliminate all that

[1:28:59] Don't stop the timer

[1:29:02] with your lungs empty for a while,

[1:29:04] stop the timer when you

[1:29:07] able to exhale any more air.

[1:29:11] So you do inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale,

[1:29:13] inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale slowly.

[1:29:16] I just said it quickly for sake of time

[1:29:18] then you can do this fifth

[1:29:21] and then [deep exhale]

[1:29:24] And I'm not going to do

[1:29:28] And then you're measuring that time.

[1:29:30] Your carbon dioxide discard

[1:29:34] between one second and

[1:29:39] Two minutes would be a heroic

[1:29:43] 30 seconds would be more typical.

[1:29:45] 20 seconds would be fast.

[1:29:47] If your carbon dioxide discard time

[1:29:51] is 20 or 25 seconds or less,

[1:29:55] you are not necessarily recovered

[1:29:58] from your previous days activities.

[1:30:01] There's ways to push through this

[1:30:02] but hold onto that thought for a moment.

[1:30:05] If your carbon oxide

[1:30:07] between about 30 seconds and 60 seconds,

[1:30:12] you are in what we would

[1:30:16] where you are in a position

[1:30:22] And if your carbon dioxide

[1:30:24] between 65 and 120 seconds,

[1:30:28] well then you have almost certainly

[1:30:31] recovered your nervous system.

[1:30:33] I'm not talking about

[1:30:34] but your nervous system is

[1:30:37] And Andy's Lab has great data on this

[1:30:40] as it relates to exercise physiology.

[1:30:41] I think that story should be out

[1:30:43] in the not too distant future.

[1:30:44] My lab has been using

[1:30:47] to look at anxiety and

[1:30:50] So two totally independent projects

[1:30:52] but using the same measure.

[1:30:54] So you've got HRV, which

[1:30:58] You've got grip strength,

[1:30:59] which you can assess subjectively

[1:31:02] or you can use a floor scale

[1:31:04] and now you have carbon dioxide tolerance.

[1:31:06] You want to do this in the

[1:31:09] and keep track just write

[1:31:12] or maybe just keep tracking your mind

[1:31:13] of your carbon oxide discard time.

[1:31:15] If you find that your

[1:31:19] even if they're in the

[1:31:22] but normally you can do

[1:31:26] If they're starting to drop

[1:31:30] you're veering in the

[1:31:33] And I'm really keen on this tool

[1:31:35] because everybody has

[1:31:38] Some people are eating really

[1:31:41] Some people have minimal stress

[1:31:42] or can buffer stress really well.

[1:31:44] Other people they dissolve

[1:31:48] if they read one text message

[1:31:53] And I realize, and I

[1:31:55] I realize people have

[1:31:57] and demand in their life.

[1:31:58] It's just to to prescribe

[1:32:02] that says, okay, yes

[1:32:03] and this is exactly what you should do.

[1:32:05] No, you shouldn't.

[1:32:06] Use carbon dioxide discard rate because a,

[1:32:08] it's valuable, it's informative.

[1:32:10] b, it's zero cost and c,

[1:32:15] it's something you can

[1:32:17] And that's really the key.

[1:32:18] And I'd be remiss if I didn't say

[1:32:21] that what carbon dioxide

[1:32:25] is your ability to mechanically

[1:32:28] certainly that's one aspect of it,

[1:32:30] but that relates in a very

[1:32:33] to put the brake on your stress system.

[1:32:36] To engage the so-called parasympathetic

[1:32:39] or calming arm of your

[1:32:41] And another thing that Andy

[1:32:45] is at the offset of

[1:32:49] after your weight training session,

[1:32:50] maybe even after your plyometrics session,

[1:32:53] we didn't really talk

[1:32:55] and that sort of thing.

[1:32:57] Maybe we'll talk about

[1:32:59] But they and other groups,

[1:33:04] and other groups that are very interested

[1:33:06] in physical performance are using a tool

[1:33:10] where they deliberately disengaged

[1:33:12] for five minutes at the end of training.

[1:33:14] They deliberately engage this

[1:33:18] of the nervous system.

[1:33:19] And you can do that through

[1:33:22] I'm a big fan of respiration tools

[1:33:24] 'cause they're always available to you.

[1:33:25] Your breathing is always there.

[1:33:27] I talk about some of these

[1:33:29] but you could use things like

[1:33:32] at the end of a training session.

[1:33:34] You could do 10 physiological size,

[1:33:37] double inhales through the

[1:33:40] that will definitely engage the

[1:33:41] parasympathetic nervous

[1:33:44] So rather than finish

[1:33:46] and then just hop onto your phone,

[1:33:49] serious athletes and people

[1:33:52] initiate that recovery at the

[1:33:56] and they start to kickstart

[1:34:00] and they measure CO2

[1:34:02] So there are several

[1:34:04] In fact, I know several

[1:34:07] with them that are using

[1:34:11] in order to recover their nervous system

[1:34:12] and maintain nerve to

[1:34:16] Maintain focus throughout

[1:34:18] enhance their focus by doing

[1:34:22] So double inhale, exhale in between sets.

[1:34:25] So they're getting very

[1:34:27] about their strength work

[1:34:29] muscle isolation work during their sets.

[1:34:31] And then in between sets,

[1:34:33] disengaging the nervous system,

[1:34:35] and then they're re-engaging it again.

[1:34:37] So I just wanted to emphasize that.

[1:34:39] So recovery is a complex process.

[1:34:41] It's got a lot of things

[1:34:43] but the CO2 tolerance set

[1:34:46] Now, another tool for recovery

[1:34:47] that people are very excited about

[1:34:49] is the use of cold and the ice bath.

[1:34:51] And this is important.

[1:34:53] If you are somebody who uses

[1:34:56] or ice bath, or jumping

[1:34:59] whatever it is that used to generate cold

[1:35:01] as a recovery tool, you should be aware

[1:35:03] that there are data

[1:35:05] if your goal is recovery

[1:35:09] using cold within the four

[1:35:13] I'm not talking about

[1:35:14] about whole body cooling or

[1:35:17] Yes, it will reduce inflammation.

[1:35:19] Yes, it will reduce the amount

[1:35:21] of delayed on muscle soreness one readout

[1:35:24] of how intense or damaging

[1:35:27] not the only readout,

[1:35:28] but it does seem to interfere with some

[1:35:30] of the things like mTOR pathways,

[1:35:32] the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway

[1:35:34] and other pathways

[1:35:38] that promote muscle

[1:35:41] Remember, stress, tension, and damage

[1:35:43] or the stimulus for nerve to

[1:35:46] and for muscles to get

[1:35:49] And so if you're getting into

[1:35:52] or taking a really cold shower

[1:35:53] after doing resistance training,

[1:35:55] you are likely short-circuiting

[1:35:58] that you're trying to create.

[1:35:59] Now, athletes who are

[1:36:03] so that they can get back

[1:36:06] or let's say you're

[1:36:07] want to gain much strength or hypertrophy

[1:36:12] and you're mainly focused on endurance

[1:36:13] and you want to do more endurance work

[1:36:15] and you've been weight training,

[1:36:16] well then exposing yourself

[1:36:19] but you're not going to

[1:36:21] from the resistance training.

[1:36:23] In other words, cold

[1:36:25] seems to short circuit

[1:36:27] of that resistance training.

[1:36:29] There are some other things

[1:36:30] that can short circuit the benefits

[1:36:31] of resistance training as well.

[1:36:34] One of those is anti-histamines.

[1:36:37] Some interesting data

[1:36:38] I believe it was in

[1:36:41] that showed that

[1:36:46] of the benefits of cardiovascular exercise

[1:36:48] of endurance type work

[1:36:51] of fairly long duration

[1:36:53] as well as inhibit some of

[1:36:56] with resistance training.

[1:36:59] Remember, it resistance

[1:37:01] that's a stimulus for stress

[1:37:04] and the adaptation to that

[1:37:07] That you can run further, faster,

[1:37:08] lift more weight, hypertrophy

[1:37:12] So anti-histamines can be a problem.

[1:37:14] Obviously don't compromise your ability

[1:37:16] to breathe completely, but

[1:37:19] by blocking what are called

[1:37:22] Mast cells are really interesting cells

[1:37:24] that we'll talk about in our

[1:37:27] They travel in the bloodstream

[1:37:29] and these little packets that burst open

[1:37:31] it sites of inflammation.

[1:37:33] Muscle damage and inflammation is a signal

[1:37:36] that something needs to change.

[1:37:37] And so taking it to histamines

[1:37:41] some of that inflammatory process.

[1:37:42] So you actually want inflammation

[1:37:44] during and immediately after a workout,

[1:37:46] then you want to bring

[1:37:48] and I'll mention how to do that.

[1:37:50] The other thing are non-steroid

[1:37:52] you know their trade names.

[1:37:54] These are painkillers

[1:37:56] Those as I've mentioned

[1:37:58] can interfere with the

[1:38:01] and the benefits of resistance training.

[1:38:04] In addition to that,

[1:38:06] and pain is a very good signal

[1:38:09] that you might be doing something wrong.

[1:38:11] And so while nobody likes to be in pain,

[1:38:13] I suppose there are probably

[1:38:14] like to be in pain, but

[1:38:16] but nobody likes to be in pain.

[1:38:18] The non-steroid

[1:38:20] as they're called, and

[1:38:23] to prevent a lot of the gains

[1:38:25] the improvements in

[1:38:28] that people are specifically

[1:38:31] So be cautious about your use

[1:38:33] of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs

[1:38:35] especially within the four hours preceding

[1:38:38] or the four hours following exercise.

[1:38:41] So I hope you're starting

[1:38:43] In order to change the

[1:38:46] in ways that will better serve you,

[1:38:47] you need a stressor

[1:38:51] which particular stressor

[1:38:54] But that stressor is almost always going

[1:38:57] to be associated with inflammation,

[1:38:59] and then after the

[1:39:01] and get into a state of

[1:39:03] And that's why you would

[1:39:07] non sleep depressed which we

[1:39:09] or perhaps you would use the hypnosis app

[1:39:12] that we've talked about before

[1:39:16] There's a great app for

[1:39:20] or the physiological side

[1:39:24] to calm down after training.

[1:39:27] There are also tools that one

[1:39:30] at a kind of foundational

[1:39:33] And these are tools that I've talked

[1:39:35] about many times before, but

[1:39:39] The kind of Golden Three

[1:39:42] and the ones that he recommends are

[1:39:43] sufficient omega-3s again,

[1:39:46] through diet, through whole food intake

[1:39:48] or through supplementation or both.

[1:39:50] So in general, getting

[1:39:52] of EPA per day to keep

[1:39:57] Vitamin D and in some