The "3 by 5" Protocol: How & Why to Build Your Strength | Dr. Andrew Huberman
00:00:00.000 | [silence]
00:00:02.540 | Now, some of you may already be doing
00:00:04.500 | low repetition, pure strength work,
00:00:07.040 | but I believe that most people don't.
00:00:09.760 | Most people who do resistance training
00:00:11.560 | are using either machines or free weights
00:00:13.440 | or some combination of those,
00:00:15.280 | or perhaps are using body weight.
00:00:17.320 | And they tend to focus on repetition ranges
00:00:20.360 | from about five and usually more like six repetitions
00:00:25.360 | out to about 10 and perhaps 15 repetitions.
00:00:29.280 | Now, of course, doing resistance training
00:00:31.120 | in repetition ranges of five to 15 reps per set,
00:00:35.240 | provided it's done at sufficient intensity,
00:00:38.000 | so either to failure or close to failure,
00:00:40.440 | of course, in good form, is tremendously beneficial.
00:00:43.380 | It can help build strength, it can enhance hypertrophy.
00:00:46.280 | There is tremendous value to training
00:00:47.920 | in those repetition ranges.
00:00:49.800 | But when I sat down with Dr. Andy Galpin
00:00:51.900 | to discuss resistance training specifically,
00:00:54.560 | he made it very clear that at least for some portion
00:00:58.120 | of one's yearly training cycle,
00:01:00.600 | so perhaps eight weeks or 10 weeks,
00:01:03.040 | or in the case that I adopted, 12 weeks,
00:01:06.920 | there is tremendous benefit to training
00:01:09.440 | in the three to five repetition range and maybe even lower.
00:01:13.360 | So the second tool of training specifically for strength
00:01:16.120 | in this three to five repetition range
00:01:17.760 | is something that I started to incorporate
00:01:19.800 | after I sat down to record that series.
00:01:22.320 | And I'll just tell you a few of the benefits
00:01:24.440 | that I've experienced,
00:01:25.400 | and then I'll tell you the specific protocol
00:01:27.200 | that makes it very easy to do this.
00:01:29.020 | The most obvious benefit to me was that I got much stronger,
00:01:32.400 | and that that strength persisted
00:01:34.240 | such that when I went back to using higher repetition ranges,
00:01:37.520 | so typically I trained with weights or machines
00:01:39.640 | in the six to 10 repetition range,
00:01:41.560 | sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower,
00:01:43.800 | but never before had I specifically trained
00:01:46.680 | in the three to five repetition range exclusively
00:01:49.480 | for a period of 10 to 12 weeks.
00:01:51.760 | And when I did that, I, of course, gained strength,
00:01:55.160 | but that strength stayed with me
00:01:56.360 | such that when I returned to higher repetition ranges,
00:01:58.720 | I could use more weight in good form,
00:02:00.720 | and that, of course,
00:02:01.560 | enhanced strength and hypertrophy further.
00:02:04.280 | In addition, there was another effect
00:02:06.240 | that was, at least to me, very unexpected,
00:02:08.600 | which was that my cardiovascular training
00:02:11.200 | improved significantly.
00:02:12.920 | Now, why would this be?
00:02:13.760 | Because typically a three to five repetition set
00:02:16.040 | does not elevate the heart rate for long enough
00:02:18.040 | that you would consider it cardiovascular training.
00:02:20.300 | And of course, the rest periods between those sets
00:02:22.160 | is pretty long as well.
00:02:23.340 | So even if heart rate goes up during those heavy sets,
00:02:25.840 | it's going to go down during those long
00:02:27.560 | three to five minute rest periods between those sets.
00:02:30.400 | But what I noticed was that my overall posture
00:02:33.760 | and my ability to maintain cardiovascular output
00:02:36.560 | while using good running form or good rowing form
00:02:40.000 | was also vastly improved.
00:02:42.040 | And the logical interpretation of why that would be
00:02:44.880 | is simply that the muscles got stronger
00:02:48.140 | and those same muscles are being incorporated
00:02:50.080 | into the cardiovascular, let's call it endurance work
00:02:53.760 | that I'm doing on other days,
00:02:55.120 | and therefore I can carry out
00:02:56.940 | those cardiovascular training sessions in better form
00:03:00.120 | for longer periods of time.
00:03:01.280 | I actually felt much stronger
00:03:02.960 | during my cardiovascular training
00:03:04.840 | as I got much stronger moving these heavier weight loads
00:03:07.760 | for low repetition sets.
00:03:09.640 | And then the third specific benefit that I noticed
00:03:12.360 | is that when training heavy
00:03:14.380 | for three to five repetitions per set, I didn't get sore.
00:03:19.200 | And this to me was an incredible benefit
00:03:21.720 | because typically when I train in the six repetition
00:03:24.000 | to 15 repetition range,
00:03:25.560 | and I take those sets to failure or near failure,
00:03:28.480 | I do experience some soreness the next day.
00:03:31.320 | Ordinarily that soreness isn't so intense
00:03:33.600 | that it prevents me from doing
00:03:34.780 | any of the other sorts of workouts that I do.
00:03:36.920 | And for those of you that have visited
00:03:38.440 | that foundational fitness protocol,
00:03:40.200 | you know that I hit each major and minor muscle group
00:03:43.040 | once per week directly,
00:03:44.600 | as well as once per week indirectly.
00:03:47.680 | That's the overall structure of that program.
00:03:50.220 | In order to allow sufficient recovery
00:03:52.280 | between those resistance training workouts
00:03:54.020 | to be able to make continual progress.
00:03:56.360 | Now, by training in this three to five repetition range
00:03:59.320 | that Dr. Andy Galpin suggested,
00:04:00.900 | I was able to improve my strength,
00:04:02.400 | improve my cardiovascular output, reduce soreness.
00:04:05.360 | I also just felt better overall.
00:04:07.080 | I had a lot more energy after those workouts
00:04:09.060 | than I typically do after my resistance training sessions
00:04:12.500 | when I use higher repetition ranges.
00:04:14.520 | There were just a number of different things
00:04:15.880 | that made me feel, wow, this is really a powerful protocol.
00:04:20.160 | And of course, moving heavier weights in the gym
00:04:21.840 | feels good too.
00:04:23.000 | It feels good to get stronger.
00:04:24.180 | At least there's a positive feedback there for me.
00:04:26.440 | And I think for most people.
00:04:28.200 | And I should also mention that for those of you
00:04:30.120 | that are averse to doing heavier resistance training
00:04:32.460 | in this three to five repetition range,
00:04:34.240 | because you fear that it will make you too big or too bulky,
00:04:37.680 | training in the low repetition ranges
00:04:39.400 | is actually more geared towards increasing strength
00:04:42.640 | and is shifting away somewhat
00:04:44.640 | from increasing hypertrophy or muscle size.
00:04:48.100 | So that's a great benefit for those of you
00:04:50.300 | that want to be strong and also want to maintain
00:04:52.600 | cardiovascular fitness,
00:04:54.080 | but you don't want to add muscular size.
00:04:55.960 | And of course, for all of you that want to add muscular size,
00:04:59.220 | it's well-established that increasing your strength
00:05:01.040 | will allow you then to return to patterns
00:05:02.800 | of hypertrophy training that will allow you
00:05:04.320 | to use heavier weights
00:05:05.680 | and therefore induce greater hypertrophy.
00:05:08.480 | So there are oh so many reasons to incorporate
00:05:10.760 | these strength training protocols.
00:05:12.800 | So the way that Dr. Andy Galpin suggested one do it,
00:05:15.640 | and it was the way that I did it,
00:05:16.840 | is to use this three by five protocol.
00:05:19.360 | The three by five protocol is very straightforward.
00:05:22.320 | It involves doing three to five exercises per workout, okay?
00:05:27.240 | So if it's a workout for legs, it's three to five exercises.
00:05:29.920 | If it's a workout for some upper body muscle,
00:05:33.560 | it's three to five exercises.
00:05:35.240 | Three to five exercises for three to five sets per exercise,
00:05:40.240 | three to five repetitions per set,
00:05:44.840 | and three to five minutes of rest between each set.
00:05:49.680 | In addition, he emphasized that one can do those workouts
00:05:53.400 | three to five times per week.
00:05:55.360 | Although I'm going to put an asterisk
00:05:57.360 | next to that last statement,
00:05:59.080 | because I found that I couldn't do the three by five protocol
00:06:02.480 | say for legs specifically, three to five times per week.
00:06:06.160 | I realized that might be possible for some people,
00:06:08.160 | but I'm somebody who, like many of you out there,
00:06:11.160 | either doesn't have the time
00:06:12.960 | or doesn't have the recovery capacity
00:06:15.960 | to train my legs three to five times per week.
00:06:19.160 | Even though I acknowledge
00:06:20.300 | that there are probably ways to do that
00:06:22.120 | that would still allow me to recover,
00:06:23.780 | it just simply starts to impede
00:06:25.220 | into other areas of training.
00:06:27.540 | It starts to impede other areas of life
00:06:29.760 | like work and family and sleep and all the rest.
00:06:33.440 | So what I did and what I'm suggesting you try
00:06:36.740 | is for any existing resistance training that you're doing
00:06:41.040 | to take a period of eight or 10 or ideally 12 weeks
00:06:45.640 | and do the vast majority,
00:06:47.680 | if not all of that resistance training
00:06:49.480 | in the lower repetition range
00:06:51.240 | that's designed specifically to induce strength adaptations
00:06:55.280 | and to not pay attention to whether or not
00:06:56.900 | you're hitting that same muscle group
00:06:58.640 | three to five times per week.
00:07:00.440 | Rather, if you train your legs once or twice per week
00:07:03.280 | to simply do all of the work for your legs
00:07:05.400 | in that three to five repetition range.
00:07:07.520 | If you train an upper body muscle or muscle groups,
00:07:10.160 | chest, shoulders, back once per week or twice per week
00:07:14.320 | to just stay within that three to five repetition range
00:07:17.400 | for those work sets, right?
00:07:19.420 | Warmups can include a few more reps.
00:07:21.480 | And then to adhere to this three to five exercises,
00:07:25.480 | three to five sets per exercise,
00:07:27.720 | three to five repetitions per set
00:07:29.760 | and three to five minutes between sets.
00:07:32.420 | Now, the one exception to this that I incorporated
00:07:35.760 | was that for very small muscle groups.
00:07:37.960 | So for instance, the rear deltoids or for neck work
00:07:41.840 | or for calf work to not rely purely
00:07:46.080 | on three to five repetitions,
00:07:47.520 | but maybe to work in a range of anywhere
00:07:49.640 | from five to eight repetitions.
00:07:51.680 | So still fairly low repetitions,
00:07:53.620 | but not so low that it restricts you
00:07:56.240 | to three to five repetitions.
00:07:57.640 | The reason for that is that I,
00:07:59.760 | and I think a lot of people out there,
00:08:01.080 | find it hard to fatigue those smaller muscle groups
00:08:04.160 | adequately with good form
00:08:05.840 | when restricting oneself to those low repetitions.
00:08:08.760 | However, for big compound movements like presses
00:08:11.080 | and squats and deadlifts and glute ham raises
00:08:13.840 | and things of that sort,
00:08:15.560 | maybe even leg extensions and leg curls,
00:08:18.160 | which are isolation exercises, of course,
00:08:20.480 | to really restrict oneself
00:08:22.120 | to those three to five repetition ranges
00:08:24.240 | that take you to failure or near failure.
00:08:26.760 | I listed off the benefits of doing that that I experienced.
00:08:29.720 | And I'm confident that you will also experience
00:08:32.000 | a lot of benefits.
00:08:33.160 | So just to remind you what some of those benefits are,
00:08:36.380 | you get stronger, which feels great.
00:08:38.760 | That occurs within your weight workouts,
00:08:40.620 | but it also carries over
00:08:42.060 | to your endurance training sessions.
00:08:44.840 | I also noticed that when we're returning
00:08:47.080 | to higher repetitions for resistance training,
00:08:49.600 | so after 12 weeks,
00:08:51.200 | shifting away from three to five repetition ranges
00:08:53.760 | and going back to training
00:08:54.880 | in the six to 10 repetition ranges mainly,
00:08:58.520 | occasionally up to 12 or 15,
00:08:59.820 | but really mainly restricting to six to 10 repetitions,
00:09:03.160 | that you can move much heavier weights in good form
00:09:06.840 | and thereby induce more hypertrophy
00:09:08.640 | while still also continuing to gain some strength.
00:09:12.080 | And another benefit was, again, reduced soreness
00:09:14.920 | compared to when training with higher repetition ranges
00:09:17.640 | and more mental freshness.
00:09:19.640 | It's, I guess, the only way to describe it
00:09:21.400 | when training in those lower repetition ranges.
00:09:24.200 | I don't know about you,
00:09:25.040 | but when I finish a really hard hour-long
00:09:28.000 | resistance training session
00:09:29.160 | done in the six to 12 repetition range,
00:09:32.180 | there's a certain type of mental fatigue
00:09:33.920 | that even if I eat properly afterwards,
00:09:36.000 | even if I hydrate properly,
00:09:37.700 | that it tends to sap a bit of my mental energy
00:09:39.840 | later in the day,
00:09:40.960 | but that the training at the three to five repetition range
00:09:43.560 | did just the opposite.
00:09:44.880 | It actually enhanced my focus and my cognition,
00:09:47.700 | my overall levels of physical energy,
00:09:49.960 | which is great because it allows you to do
00:09:52.120 | all the other things
00:09:52.960 | that we're required to do throughout the day,
00:09:54.560 | and by the way,
00:09:55.680 | it'll also allow you to get more of that zone two cardio.
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