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Summary of Huberman Lab Podcast Episode: Optimal Protocols for Strength & Muscle Growth with Dr. Andy Galpin (Part 2)

Podcast: Huberman Lab
18 min. read

— Description —

Discover the key to preserving muscle, power, and strength as you age Learn the difference between strength and hypertrophy training and how protein ingestion can help you grow muscle Find out the non-negotiables for any effective training program and the optimal rep cadence for different goals

Whether youre aiming for strength, power, or hypertrophy, this comprehensive guide has got you covered Dont let lifes circumstances hold you back - learn how to manage chaos and achieve your fitness goals in just 30 minutes a day.

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Optimal Protocols for Strength & Muscle Growth with Dr. Andy Galpin (Part 2)

Table of contents

Key Takeaways

Introduction

The Importance Of Training For Strength & Hypertrophy

Differences Between Strength & Hypertrophy Training

Putting Together A Training Program

Dialing In Specificity & When To Go To Failure For Strength Training

Training For Speed, Power, And Strength

How To Approach Warmups

Optimal Repetition Cadence

How To Breathe During Exercise

Exercise Selection

Hypertrophy Training

Recovery Considerations For Hypertrophy Training

Combining Cardio And Hypertrophy

Articles & Other Resources

Key Takeaways

  • The problem with aging isn’t just the preservation of muscle, it’s the preservation of muscle, power, and strength – you want to stand up, catch yourself from a fall, pick things up from the floor, etc.
  • Distinguishing strength and hypertrophy:
    • Strength relates to mechanics, the force capability of muscle, and firing the right muscle group in the right sequence
    • Hypertrophy is simply the size of the muscle (without consideration for function or strength) – hypertrophy training optimizes for muscle size, not muscle strength
  • “Protein ingestion alone is anabolic – it will help you grow muscle, independent of even moving.” – Dr. Andy Galpin
    • If you ingest protein + carbohydrates (fuel) + exercise, the benefits stack to maximize muscle growth
  • It’s important to understand your goal! You can put together a training program for any adaptation you want and avoid the ones you don’t want
  • “Volume is the primary driver in hypertrophy; intensity is the primary driver in speed, power, and strength.” ­– Dr. Andy Galpin
  • Non-negotiables for any training program to work:(1) adherence, (2) progressive overload, (3) individualization, (4) choosing the appropriate target
  • In general, a good rep cadence for strength training is 311 and a good cadence for hypertrophy is 312 (or you could even keep it 311 and manipulate other variables – it’s just a method choice)
  • General exercise breathing protocol: maintain a breath hold during the lowering/eccentric most dangerous part of the movement & exhale on the concentric portion
  • The main difference between a power or strength workout is the load – moderate load is power-based adaptation at high intent (moving fast; 30-70% 1RM); strength training is 70% 1RM or higher
    • For strength, power, and speed: exercise 3-5 days per week, choose 3-5 exercises, and do 3-5 reps per set x 3-5 working sets; you can combine with iso training or hypertrophy training depending on goals
    • To get stronger, do a higher number of sets with lower reps for example 8 sets of 1-2
  • Hypertrophy training is simpler to program – the most important consideration is how many times per week/total volume of muscle group per week you are training a muscle group – target 10 working sets per muscle group, per week (or up to 25 if highly trained)
    • Keep reps between 4-30 per set, stopping about 2 reps short of failure; rest about 2 minutes – to maximize hypertrophy, spend most of your time in the 8-15 reps per set range
  • Chaos management: play with modifiable variables to still hit your goals while adjusting for life’s circumstances (e.g., traveling, short on time, short on sleep, etc.)
  • Your exercises don’t have to be long – you can get a full-body workout in 30 minutes

Introduction

  • Dr. Andy Galpin (@DrAndyGalpin), Professor of Kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton, and one of the foremost experts in the world on the science and application of methods to increase strength, hypertrophy, and endurance performance.
  • In this episode of Huberman Lab, Andrew Huberman and Andy Galpin continue with Part 2 of a 6 part series on all things fitness. Learn optimal protocols for increasing strength and hypertrophy, how to increase speed and power, foundational training principles, selecting the appropriate programming, and so much more. Note, these notes cover the first half of the episode – the second half will be released soon.
  • Host: Andrew Huberman (@hubermanlab)

The Importance Of Training For Strength & Hypertrophy

  • Strength training is not just for athletes or building muscles, just like cardio is not just for weight loss
  • “Resistance exercise and strength training is the number one way to combat neuromuscular aging.” – Dr. Andy Galpin
    • Mechanism: nerves turn on, muscles contract, muscles move bones
  • Engaging in movement is key to independent living
  • You lose about 1% of muscle every year after age 40 – but equally important to consider, you lose about 2-4% of strength and 8-10% of power
  • “Training for strength and hypertrophy is a way to keep your nervous system healthy and young.” – Dr. Andrew Huberman
  • You can start strength training at any age! All hope is not lost if you didn’t start when you were 20
  • You don’t lose functionality purely because of aging, you lose it because of loss of training – you can maintain high-quality muscle
  • A significant fraction of the brain is dedicated to movement
  • Use exercise for three main reasons:
    • Look good – people want to look a certain way
    • Play good – freedom to execute any activity you want
    • Feel good – you want to have energy throughout the day
  • Benefits of strength training: responses happen quickly, with noticeable changes in just 4-6 weeks (the feedback loop makes it more addicting)
    • Fast results are the number one predictor of program adherence

Differences Between Strength & Hypertrophy Training

  • Strength training: creating more force across a muscle, muscle group, or total movement
    • Strength relates to mechanics, the force capability of muscle, and firing the right muscle group in the right sequence
  • Hypertrophy training: increase in the size of muscle (without mention of function; a big muscle isn’t necessarily strong)
    • Hypertrophy is simply how big the muscle is
  • You don’t have to get bigger to get stronger – but you can do both
    • Strength training will improve contractability (fibers can generate more force without changing size)
    • You can increase muscle size without getting stronger (and maybe even lose strength) because of muscle lattice widening which is optimizing for size, not strength
  • Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy: increase in fluid in muscle fiber which allows diameter to get larger but since there are no additional contractile units, no additional force is generated
  • Muscle is the largest organ system in the body (not skin like most people think)
  • There are adaptations to connective tissue in strength training but it’s not as easily measurable as muscle
  • Bones themselves get stronger when we resistance train – start young for maximum benefits and prevention but it’s never too late for improvement
    • Women: training can be impacted by the menstrual cycle if you are experiencing abnormalities – it’s important to seek help if you fall into this category
    • Hormone-based birth control can also impact strength training improvements
  • Everything along the chain of human movement will improve with strength training
  • mTOR pathway is synonymous with cell growth – this is activated with strength training, not cardiovascular exercise, which activates a different energy system (but this concept is a little more nuanced than this)
  • Muscle memory: the body’s ability to remember muscle size; after a period of not training, you will regain muscle faster once you start up again than it took the first time to build
    • Probably because of epigenetic change to nuclei which are programmed to remember muscle size

Putting Together A Training Program

  • You can optimize strength, hypertrophy, or both
  • Non-negotiables for any training program to work: (1) adherence (adherence is the number predictor of outcome), (2) progressive overload (number one mistake people make), (3) individualization (equipment availability, etc.), (4) choosing an appropriate target
  • Too much variation in programming can leave you without enough stimuli to muscle group or movement pattern; too much specificity can increase the likelihood of overuse injury
  • Exercises do not determine adaptation, execution does – a deadlift will not improve strength unless you do it properly
  • The 9 main concepts of training: skill, speed, power (function of speed and strength), strength, hypertrophy (growing muscle mass), muscular endurance, anaerobic power (ability to produce and sustain work in short bursts), VO2 max (max heart rate), long-endurance (30+ minutes with no break)

Dialing In Specificity & When To Go To Failure For Strength Training

  • Specificity training (like training for sports or the Olympics) says the most important thing is spending time training in exactly the same circumstance you’re going to perform
    • If you want to get better at strength, perform that movement at that specific load
  • Check out Prilepin’s Chart for guidelines of rep ranges, sets
  • For strength, you’re going to spend the bulk of your time in 55-65% 1RM each set
  • You don’t have to go to failure to see strength gains
  • It’s helpful for beginners (not day one) to go to failure to see where the line is and provide a guideline – given you can do so with good form, choose an exercise you’re comfortable with

Training For Speed, Power, And Strength

  • Separate speed and power if you’re a high-performance athlete but for most other people, there is not much pure speed training the general public needs
  • 3-5 concept:
    • 3-5 days per week
    • Choose 3-5 exercises
    • Do 3-5 repetitions per set
    • 3-5 working sets
    • Rest 3-5 minutes between each set
    • This can be done in combination with other training such as steady state, hypertrophy, high intensity, etc.
  • Intention is important here – weights will be lighter since moving for speed and power so start moderately in a shoot for 3-5% increase per week (choose smaller increment if needed)
  • Periodization: following a style of training for a block of time (e.g., 6-12 weeks)
    • Linear periodization: train one adaptation at a time
    • Undulating periodization: multiple training styles on the same day or on different days
    • Results are generally the same for either style of periodization
    • Caveat: if your goal is a certain outcome, shift toward specificity and linear periodization
  • True speed work by definition is non-fatiguing – it’s high rest, low fatigue, trying to reach a new velocity

How To Approach Warmups

  • Warmup: there is a lot of variation – some people do better with longer warmups, and some people perform better after shorter warmups
    • In general, warm up should be long enough to get you to peak power when training for strength and power to induce adaptation
    • When training for hypertrophy, you want to warm up long enough to feel ready to work and move through correct positions
  •  Prior to exercise, dynamic warmups involving different planes and ranges of motion are ideal – 5-10 minutes should be sufficient
  • Your first exercise of the day should be the one you prioritize – a full system movement, moving perfectly
  • You don’t need to re-warmup for every exercise unless it’s one you’re particularly bad at

Optimal Repetition Cadence

  • For strength exercises, you are trying to get better through a certain part of the movement with more force – intentionally moving slower will only reduce acceleration (remember, Force=mass x acceleration)
    • Train heavier at faster acceleration
  • Hypertrophy training is about building muscle – cadence doesn’t matter but you can induce hypertrophy by manipulating variables
  • Read rep cadence from start to finish; for example, a squat at 311 means lowering  for 3 seconds, pausing at the bottom for 1 second, and accelerating up 1 second
    • You can follow the same cadence for hypertrophy or change to 312
  • The goal for strength is to make sure reps are under control
  • The goal for hypertrophy is loading enough for volume – a great option if you are limited in the weight range available

How To Breathe During Exercise

  • If you can maintain intramuscular abdominal pressure while breathing, it doesn’t really matter when you breathe – but really a small percentage of people can do this
  • In the middle of a heavy set, blood pressure will get high, and is the problem (and can make you pass out)
  • Take a large inhale through the abdomen, not the shoulders (not elevating clavicles) – bring in air to create a brace of spinal erectors
  • Breathing strategy for one rep max or near: take big inhale prior to the eccentric portion and hold until the rep is complete if working at or near one rep max
  • Breathing strategy for reps: you don’t have to reset breathing and focus on it every rep as that can be energy consuming – if hitting 3-8 reps, every third breathe reset and go

Exercise Selection

  • You can train muscles every day – it comes down to volume
  • Exercise choice is an important variable: if you want to get stronger, think about what muscle groups you want to use more and that will lead you to the exercise you should do
  • When you start, the most important thing is to learn to move correctly and give your body time to develop tissue tolerance
  • Recovery depends on the style of training you choose
  • People change exercises too frequently! Don’t change anything for exercises for 6-12 weeks, then make changes or you won’t see progress – it’ll take about three weeks to find the right load and timing of movements
  • Modifiable variables of strength & power training:
    • Choice (exercise selection): select compound movements for power, speed, and strength – think about movements instead of muscle groups (e.g., think about training hip extension instead of quads)
      • If you select a rotation or hinge, push, or pull, you’d be in good shape
      • Eccentric vs concentric doesn’t matter because it’s a full-body movement
    • Order: stick to the biggest movements, most complex, and complicated movements first;  first don’t do fatiguing exercises (i.e., run, cardio) first
    • Volume & intensity: volume is identical between power & strength – 3-20 sets per workout (but usually 3-5)
      • You can do accessory work with speed and power; if you’re pushing strength, be mindful of fatigue
      • You can superset but there is a modest reduction in strength performance – the question is, would you rather save time or get the slight extra edge
    • Frequency: if you’re pushing max strength, you’ll need time to recover; you can perform power & speed daily if you wanted with the exception of max speed
    • Progression: 3-5x per week with a 3-5% increase in intensity per week; run about 5 weeks then hit de-load week
  • What to do during rests between sets: you can sit, don’t do static stretches between sets (unless particularly stiff or injured but this will cause a little loss in gains; do activation drill prior to set)
  • Exercise ideas and other advanced techniques
    • Power exercises: 30-70% 1RM – try plyo, med ball throws, short sprints, air bike, snatch, clean and jerk, clapping push-ups, jump squats, kettlebell swings
    • Strength exercises should be more toward barbells and dumbbells, working at 70+ 1RM; try farmer carry, yoke carry, bench press, etc.
    • Cluster sets: take a mini break between reps (mostly for compound movements) – do 5 reps but breakup by doing 1 rep, pause 5-10 seconds, 2nd rep, pause 5-10 seconds, etc. – this is effective for strength, power, and hypertrophy
    • Dynamic variable resistance: you are only as strong as you are in the weakest part of your movement; use heavy band or chains on the bar so weight is getting heavier through the full strength curve – the load will be lower because of added band tension
  • Always contract muscles as hard as possible for maximum benefit – exercise quality matters more than all the nuances or training methodology

Hypertrophy Training

  • Hypertrophy training is more straightforward than strength training – you just need stimulus to be strong enough, frequent enough or combination of both
  • Modifiable variables of hypertrophy training:
    • Choice: you can choose by movement pattern or body part for hypertrophy as long as the total amount of working volume balances out over the week
      • Choose a mix of bilateral (e.g., squat both beet on the floor) and unilateral (e.g., rear foot elevated split squat, one leg off the floor)
    • Order: you have more flexibility in order – choose whatever you want first, single joint, isolated, compound
      • One common mistake is thinking the legs are just one muscle group
    • Volume & intensity: 10 working sets per muscle group, per week (can do up to 25 if you are highly trained or very advanced)
      • Reps per set: 4-30 reps, getting close (within about 2 reps) to failure towards the end of the set; failure is useful for safer exercises, often single joint exercises, the last movement of the day
      • Rest 30-90 seconds of rest; you can take 3-5 minutes of rest per set but you will need to preserve load on bar or volume – the sweet spot is about 2 minutes
  • Train hypertrophy about every 48 hours – there isn’t an advantage to waiting much longer or shorter; training less frequently will make it tough to hit the volume 
  • If all the other boxes are checked (sleep, nutrition, low stress, etc.), non-responders and people who hit plateau often just need more volume
  • If your goal is balanced development (e.g., upper & lower body comparable size) but you’re naturally bigger in a certain area: don’t skip an entire muscle group or compound movement but keep volume lower
  • Note about muscle groups: if you do a chin up you are primarily working back but indirectly working biceps you can count it or not towards working set – really depends on goals
    • Lats are hard to activate (unless you swim) versus biceps which everyone can activate
  • Machines are great if you’re early in your exercise journey or have trouble targeting a specific muscle/muscle group with a compound exercise
  • As a general rule, the body part moving farthest from the midline of the body is the one getting the most work
  • Tip: try different sports when you’re younger to develop muscles in different groups
  • Workout splits are possible if you are a workout fanatic but it’s a challenge practically – try 3 days of the total body for better execution and long-term adherence
  • Check out Eric Cressey for great back & shoulder girdle exercises
  • Exercises to avoid hypertrophy: plyometrics, snatch, clean, and jerk – they all have their place but it’s not hypertrophy

Recovery Considerations For Hypertrophy Training

  • The main concern at the local level is damage and injury
  • You want to be at about a 3/10 on the soreness scale; higher than 3, see if you feel better once warmed up; higher than 6, you shouldn’t train
  • Bloodwork to check systemic recovery if you have access: creatine kinase, LDH, myoglobin, ALT AST – this is useful if you’re chronically feeling unable to recover from workouts
  • HRV is sensitive to training-induced overload and helpful metric
  • Mentally, if you simply do not want to train, you might need the rest
  • Try keeping relative perceived exertion low to moderate instead of canning an entire session to hit volume goals without overexertion
  • Deliberate cold exposure: do not get in the ice post-hypertrophy training and not even that same day to avoid blunting of stress signal (which you want for hypertrophy)
    • If you’re in season, you can use it after game because the priority for recovery is higher than the priority for hypertrophy
  • There are times you don’t want to maximize recovery because the whole point of progressive overload is increasing adaptation – if you blunt your ability to respond, you will stunt progress
  • Protein intake for muscle protein synthesis and recovery: you want to take in about 1g/pound of body weight; the question about timing and type is less important than the total threshold
  • Timing of protein intake doesn’t matter (if total intake is right level) but timing of carbohydrates does – 1:1 ratio of protein and carbs pre, mid (via drink), or post-training
    • 4:1 for a really hard workout; 2:1 for a standard difficulty workout
    • For pure hypertrophy training, there is no advantage to not fueling enough
  • Creatine monohydrate supplementation can benefit almost everyone – the general standard is 5g per day but dosing will depend on size; timing of intake doesn’t matter

Combining Cardio And Hypertrophy

  • Interference effect has recently been debated but overblown – zone 2 cardio in and of itself will not blunt strength or hypertrophy – what matters more is your calorie supply and the type of cardio you’re doing; running (constant eccentric pounding) will have a greater consequence than bike riding  
  • Interference effect is not something most of us need to worry about when comparing the benefit of well-roundedness for overall physiologic health
  • Cases endurance exercise blunts hypertrophy: total energy intake or balance is off – in this case, eat more; avoid endurance exercises that work the same muscle groups in eccentric landing (cycling is better than running); consider the total volume of work
  • Tip: if you hit plateaus a lot in hypertrophy training, you might benefit from adding in endurance work

Articles & Other Resources

  • Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy in Skeletal Muscle: A Scientific “Unicorn” or Resistance Training Adaptation? (Exercise Physiology)
  • Towards an improved understanding of proximity-to-failure in resistance training and its influence on skeletal muscle hypertrophy, neuromuscular fatigue, muscle damage, and perceived discomfort: A scoping review (Journal of Sports Sciences)
  • Andy Galpin: Science of Muscle Hypertrophy
  • Prilepin’s Chart
  • Cable Core Rotation
  • Eric Cressey

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