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.

Andrew Huberman and Any Galpin take a deep dive into the fundamental principles of strength and hypertrophy training and building endurance. They review the science and provide practical tips to optimize training and recovery, hydration, supplements, sleep, nutrition – and everything between.  

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)

There are a handful of things you have to do in order to make all of the main concepts work, but you will not see changes in any domain without progressive overload

If you do the same exercises over time, you will plateau – progressive overload could be in the form of adding weights, adding repetitions, increasing frequency, varying complexity of movement

Modifiable variables: the things that will change the outcome of movements or exercises, namely choice, intensity, volume, rest intervals, progression, frequency

The exercise itself does not determine the adaptation – for example, if you do the wrong rep or set range in a bench press you might get muscular endurance but won’t actually get strength adaptation

“The first thing you should think about if you want to get stronger or add muscle is not the exercise choice, it is the application of the exercise – what are the sets, rest, rep range you’re using.” – Dr. Any Galpin

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

If you are a novice or don’t have a coach, select exercises that are technically easier to handle – goblet squat, split squat, machine exercises – where risk is low and benefit is high

“In general, soreness is a terrible proxy for exercise quality. It’s a really bad way to estimate whether it was a good or bad workout.” – Dr. Andy Galpin

Stress is required for adaptation: you want to feel like you worked but on a scale of 1-10 soreness you want to spend most of your time around a 3 post-exercise between workouts

For starters: (1)choose exercises that will take you through the full range of motion; (2) choose exercises you feel stable and comfortable with; (3) priority is to maintain good form; (4) balance between movement areas

If you were choosing exercises for a single workout: pick one from each category – upper body press, upper body pull, lower body hinge, lower body press

If you want to get better at the strength you need to generate more force – you have to impose strength (not repetitions) working close to 85%

A classic recipe for strength training: warm-up set of 10 at 50%, set of 8 at 60%, set of 8 at 70%, set of 5 at 75% – then go into 2-3 working sets at 85%; typical rest should be 2-4 minutes unless doing supersets

Supersets will slightly reduce strength gains but work well for the average person who isn’t trying to set records and wants to finish their workouts a bit faster

If training for hypertrophy: err on the side of greater recovery – towards 3 days for the same muscle group – because you want to allow protein synthesis to occur (takes 48-72 hrs)

Hypertrophy training is more straightforward than strength training – the main considerations are working to a muscular failure somewhere between 5-30 reps and resting 48-72 hours

If training for strength, speed, or power: you need greater stimulus and shouldn’t really be sore – frequency can be as high as you want, you could even train the same muscle groups daily

All muscle contraction is a combination of three areas: (1) starts with a nervous system signal; (2) muscular contraction; (3)connective tissue signals

The only distinction between power and strength is intensity – if you want strength shoot for 85% of 1RM; if you want power, move lighter and hover around 40-70% 1RM

• Power = strength x speed

Bent row example: you might think you’re doing a great row because you’re bending your elbows and pulling the bar up – but unless you are activating your lats, you’re not getting back development

Coaching contraction: you have to build awareness of the muscle group you are working – it can be helpful to have someone actually touch the muscle and you practice contracting that muscle

A lifting belt can help enhance sensory feedback and support greater core activation than otherwise because it’s giving you proprioceptive feedback

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

General exercise breathing protocol: maintain a breath-hold during the lowering/eccentric most dangerous part of the movement & exhale on the concentric portion

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

Breathing and an effective breathing strategy for recovery and a huge opportunity for improvement – try the physiologic sigh after exercise, double inhale through the nose followed by long exhale through the mouth for 3-5 minutes

Do not: jump into an activity with a lot of eccentric landing right off the bat (e.g., running 30+ minutes, box jumps) – this is a recipe for soreness and injury

The interference effect is not something most of us need to worry about when comparing the benefit of well-roundedness for overall physiologic health

You want to get to max heart rate once per week: all systems benefit by being challenged to the max because stress increases adaptation – these exercises can be daunting, even once every other week is ok (don’t forget to warm up well!)

Slow-twitch fibers tend to be smaller, more packed with mitochondria, generally better at burning fat as fuel, contract at lower velocity

Exercising for pain: with things like low back pain, there’s not usually damage, it’s hypersensitization of pain signals – train right below the signal and desensitize it

Galpin equation for fluid replenishment during exercise or demanding activity: start exercise hydrated with electrolytes (not just water) then every 15 minutes consume (in ounces) your body weight (in pounds) / 30

Identify whether you’re high sodium or low sodium sweater to determine sodium needs: check out Levelen, Gatorade Gx sweat patch, wear a hat or headband – is the sweat a white band or clear?

Getting into an ice bath immediately after a hypertrophy session negates the benefits so much, you might as well not do the session – it’s about 10% attenuation

Sauna (or hot bath) increases blood flow and augments strength & hypertrophy – but now you need to seriously consider proper hydration

Anytime total stress load outpaces recovery capacity, you’re either going backward in physical ability or reducing adaptability – options: reduce stress intake or increase recovery capacity

Incredible sleep optimization tool coming soon (Absolute Rest) that doesn’t just dive into what your numbers are, but why they are like that – and can actually come to your home and build out the ideal environment for you