Build Muscle Size, Increase Strength & Improve Recovery

00:00:00.000 | Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials,

00:00:02.260 | where we revisit past episodes

00:00:04.080 | for the most potent and actionable science-based tools

00:00:07.260 | for mental health, physical health, and performance.

00:00:09.940 | I'm Andrew Huberman,

00:00:12.600 | and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology

00:00:15.480 | at Stanford School of Medicine.

00:00:16.980 | This podcast is separate from my teaching

00:00:19.340 | and research roles at Stanford.

00:00:20.640 | It is, however, part of my desire and effort

00:00:23.200 | to bring zero cost to consumer information

00:00:25.260 | about science and science-related tools

00:00:27.360 | to the general public.

00:00:28.980 | Today, I want to talk about something

00:00:30.960 | that is vitally important

00:00:32.460 | for not just athletic performance,

00:00:34.640 | but for your entire life and indeed for your longevity,

00:00:38.160 | and that's muscle.

00:00:39.780 | And one of the things that's exquisite

00:00:42.260 | and fantastic about the human brain

00:00:45.060 | is that it can direct all sorts

00:00:47.240 | of different kinds of movement,

00:00:48.760 | different speeds of movement,

00:00:50.540 | movement of different durations.

00:00:52.480 | All of that is governed by the relationship

00:00:57.180 | between the nervous system, neurons,

00:00:59.560 | and their connections to muscle.

00:01:01.920 | So today, as always,

00:01:03.940 | we're going to talk a little bit of mechanism.

00:01:06.020 | I'm going to explain how neurons control muscle.

00:01:09.240 | We will touch on some nutritional themes

00:01:11.440 | and how that relates to muscle,

00:01:13.180 | in particular, a specific amino acid

00:01:15.480 | that if it's available in your bloodstream frequently enough

00:01:18.780 | and at sufficient levels can help you build

00:01:22.300 | and improve the quality of muscle.

00:01:24.780 | We are also going to talk about recovery.

00:01:27.620 | That's when muscle grows.

00:01:29.260 | That's when muscle gets more flexible.

00:01:31.280 | None of that actually happens during training.

00:01:33.740 | It happens after training.

00:01:35.560 | Most people, when they hear the word muscle,

00:01:37.440 | they just think about strength.

00:01:39.080 | But of course, muscles are involved

00:01:41.140 | in everything that we do.

00:01:42.960 | They are involved in speaking.

00:01:44.280 | They're involved in sitting and standing up.

00:01:46.460 | They're involved in lifting objects,

00:01:48.220 | including ourselves.

00:01:49.680 | They are absolutely essential

00:01:52.560 | for maintaining how we breathe.

00:01:55.240 | They're absolutely essential for ambulation,

00:01:57.960 | for moving and for skills of any kind.

00:02:01.320 | So when we think about muscle,

00:02:04.200 | we don't just want to think about muscle,

00:02:06.520 | the meat that is muscle,

00:02:08.000 | but what controls that muscle.

00:02:09.860 | And no surprise,

00:02:11.360 | what controls muscle is the nervous system.

00:02:14.680 | The nervous system does that

00:02:16.620 | through three main nodes of control.

00:02:18.880 | Basically, we have upper motor neurons

00:02:21.700 | in our motor cortex.

00:02:22.780 | So those are in our skull.

00:02:24.960 | And those are involved in deliberate movement.

00:02:26.840 | Those upper motor neurons send signals

00:02:28.860 | down to my spinal cord,

00:02:30.200 | where there are two categories of neurons.

00:02:32.220 | One are the lower motor neurons.

00:02:35.420 | And those lower motor neurons send little wires

00:02:38.760 | that we call axons out to our muscles

00:02:40.980 | and cause those muscles to contract.

00:02:43.260 | They do that by dumping chemicals onto the muscle.

00:02:45.540 | In fact, the chemical is acetylcholine.

00:02:48.400 | Now there's another category of neurons

00:02:51.120 | in the spinal cord called central pattern generators

00:02:53.320 | or CPGs.

00:02:54.680 | And those are involved in rhythmic movements.

00:02:56.580 | Anytime we're walking or doing something

00:02:59.480 | where we don't have to think about it

00:03:00.980 | to do it deliberately,

00:03:02.260 | it's just happening reflexively

00:03:04.340 | that central pattern generators and motor neurons.

00:03:06.760 | Anytime we're doing something deliberately,

00:03:08.560 | that the top-down control, as we call it,

00:03:11.460 | from the upper motor neurons comes in

00:03:13.400 | and takes control of that system.

00:03:15.160 | So it's really simple.

00:03:16.360 | You've only got three ingredients.

00:03:17.580 | You got the upper motor neurons,

00:03:18.680 | the lower motor neurons,

00:03:19.700 | and for rhythmic movements that are reflexive,

00:03:21.880 | you've also got the central pattern generators.

00:03:23.780 | I'd now like to shift our attention

00:03:25.580 | to how to use specific aspects of muscular contraction

00:03:29.400 | to improve muscle hypertrophy, muscle growth,

00:03:32.700 | as well as improving muscle strength.

00:03:35.280 | There are a lot of reasons to want to get stronger.

00:03:37.880 | And I should just mention that it's not always the case

00:03:41.580 | that getting stronger involves muscles getting bigger.

00:03:44.840 | There are ways for muscles to get stronger

00:03:46.860 | without getting bigger.

00:03:47.820 | However, increasing the size of a muscle

00:03:51.720 | almost inevitably increases the strength of that muscle,

00:03:54.760 | at least to some degree.

00:03:56.000 | Reasons why most everyone should want

00:03:59.260 | to get their muscles stronger

00:04:00.780 | is that muscles are generally getting progressively weaker

00:04:04.260 | across the lifespan.

00:04:05.560 | So when I say getting stronger,

00:04:07.420 | it's not necessarily about being able to move

00:04:09.580 | increasing amounts of weight in the gym,

00:04:12.640 | but rather to offset some of the normal decline

00:04:17.080 | in strength and posture

00:04:19.580 | and the ability to generate a large range of movement safely

00:04:22.940 | that occurs as we age.

00:04:24.380 | So there's an important principle of muscle physiology

00:04:26.920 | called the Henneman size principle.

00:04:29.060 | And the Henneman size principle essentially says

00:04:32.180 | that we recruit what are called motor units.

00:04:36.260 | Motor units are just the connections

00:04:38.640 | between nerve and muscle in a pattern

00:04:43.020 | that staircases from low threshold to high threshold.

00:04:47.060 | What this means is when you pick up something that is light,

00:04:51.360 | you're going to use the minimum amount

00:04:53.600 | of nerve to muscle energy in order to move that thing.

00:04:56.580 | Likewise, when you pick up an object that's heavy,

00:04:59.780 | you're going to use the minimum amount

00:05:02.360 | of nerve to muscle connectivity and energy

00:05:04.800 | in order to move that object.

00:05:07.180 | So it's basically a conservation of energy principle.

00:05:10.880 | Now, if you continue to exert effort of movement,

00:05:15.680 | what will happen is you will tend to recruit

00:05:18.560 | more and more motor units with time.

00:05:21.540 | As you recruit more and more of these motor units,

00:05:24.780 | these connections between these lower motor neurons

00:05:27.480 | and muscle,

00:05:28.180 | that's when you start to get changes in the muscle.

00:05:31.800 | That's when you open the gate for the potential

00:05:35.320 | for the muscles to get stronger and to get larger.

00:05:38.200 | And so the way this process works

00:05:40.980 | has been badly misunderstood

00:05:43.520 | in the kind of online literature of weight training

00:05:46.460 | and bodybuilding,

00:05:47.280 | and even in sports physiology.

00:05:48.820 | The Henneman size principle

00:05:50.740 | is kind of a foundational principle

00:05:54.000 | within muscle physiology.

00:05:55.520 | But many people have come to interpret it

00:05:58.340 | by saying that the way to recruit

00:06:01.300 | high threshold motor units,

00:06:03.060 | the ones that are hard to get to,

00:06:04.580 | is to just use heavy weights.

00:06:06.740 | And that's actually not the case.

00:06:09.320 | As we'll talk about,

00:06:10.160 | the research supports

00:06:11.220 | that weights in a very large range

00:06:14.440 | of sort of percentage of your maximum,

00:06:18.560 | anywhere from 30 to 80%.

00:06:21.300 | So weights that are not very light,

00:06:23.860 | but are moderately light,

00:06:25.260 | too heavy,

00:06:26.340 | can cause changes in the connections

00:06:29.020 | between nerve and muscle

00:06:30.000 | that lead to muscle strength

00:06:31.620 | and muscle hypertrophy.

00:06:33.480 | Put differently,

00:06:34.640 | heavy weights can help build muscle and strength,

00:06:39.400 | but they are not required.

00:06:40.720 | What one has to do

00:06:42.260 | is adhere to a certain number of parameters,

00:06:44.640 | just a couple of key variables

00:06:46.500 | that I'll spell out for you.

00:06:47.980 | And if you do that,

00:06:48.940 | you can greatly increase muscle hypertrophy,

00:06:52.220 | muscle size,

00:06:53.140 | and or muscle strength

00:06:55.040 | if that's what you want to do.

00:06:57.020 | And you don't necessarily have to use heavy weights

00:06:59.980 | in order to do that.

00:07:00.960 | Now, I'm sure the power lifters

00:07:02.480 | and the people that like to move heavy weights around

00:07:05.080 | will say,

00:07:06.300 | no, if you want to get strong,

00:07:07.860 | you absolutely have to lift heavy weights.

00:07:09.960 | And that might be true

00:07:11.020 | if you want to get very strong,

00:07:12.920 | but for most people

00:07:14.060 | who are interested in supporting their muscular

00:07:17.360 | such that they offset

00:07:18.600 | any age-related decline in strength

00:07:20.840 | or in increasing hypertrophy

00:07:22.980 | and strength to some degree,

00:07:25.020 | there really isn't a need

00:07:26.840 | to use the heaviest weights possible

00:07:28.340 | in order to build strength and muscle.

00:07:29.700 | So there are three major stimuli

00:07:31.820 | for changing the way that muscle works

00:07:34.920 | and making muscles stronger,

00:07:36.720 | larger,

00:07:37.320 | or better in some way.

00:07:38.940 | And those are stress,

00:07:40.580 | tension,

00:07:41.920 | and damage.

00:07:43.220 | Those three things

00:07:45.560 | don't necessarily all have to be present,

00:07:47.740 | but stress of some kind has to exist.

00:07:50.180 | So this is very reminiscent

00:07:51.680 | of neuroplasticity in the brain.

00:07:53.180 | There is a good predictor

00:07:55.000 | of how well

00:07:56.140 | or how efficient you will be

00:07:58.580 | in building the strength

00:07:59.980 | and or if you like

00:08:01.120 | the size of a given muscle.

00:08:02.940 | And it has everything to do

00:08:04.740 | with those upper motor neurons

00:08:06.180 | that are involved

00:08:06.820 | in deliberate control of muscle.

00:08:08.280 | You can actually do this test right now.

00:08:10.400 | You can just kind of march

00:08:12.100 | across your body mentally

00:08:13.600 | and see whether or not

00:08:15.380 | you can independently contract

00:08:17.340 | any or all of your muscles.

00:08:19.680 | Because everything

00:08:21.520 | about muscle hypertrophy,

00:08:23.060 | about stimulating muscle growth

00:08:25.540 | is about generating

00:08:27.800 | isolated contractions,

00:08:29.600 | about challenging specific muscles

00:08:31.660 | in a very unnatural way.

00:08:34.480 | Whereas with strength,

00:08:36.880 | it's about using musculature

00:08:38.380 | as a system,

00:08:39.220 | moving weights,

00:08:40.820 | moving resistance,

00:08:41.680 | moving the body.

00:08:42.760 | The specific goal of hypertrophy

00:08:45.420 | is to isolate specific nerve

00:08:48.420 | to muscle pathways

00:08:49.360 | so that you stimulate

00:08:50.600 | the chemical

00:08:51.300 | and signaling transduction events

00:08:53.240 | in muscles

00:08:53.800 | so that those muscles respond

00:08:55.080 | by getting larger.

00:08:56.160 | So there's a critical distinction

00:08:58.200 | in terms of getting stronger

00:08:59.660 | versus trying to get muscles

00:09:02.300 | to be larger hypertrophy per se.

00:09:04.960 | And it has to do

00:09:06.140 | with how much you isolate those muscles.

00:09:08.300 | So you can nest this

00:09:11.000 | as a principle for yourself,

00:09:12.340 | which is if you want to get stronger,

00:09:14.280 | it's really about moving

00:09:15.760 | progressively greater loads

00:09:18.100 | or increasing the amount

00:09:19.380 | of weight that you move.

00:09:20.520 | Whereas if you're specifically interested

00:09:22.480 | in generating hypertrophy,

00:09:24.600 | it's all about trying

00:09:26.220 | to generate those really hard,

00:09:27.940 | almost painful,

00:09:29.260 | localized contractions of muscle.

00:09:31.440 | If ever there was an area

00:09:32.960 | of practical science

00:09:34.000 | that was very confused,

00:09:35.860 | very controversial,

00:09:36.800 | and almost combative at times,

00:09:39.740 | it would be this issue

00:09:40.660 | of how best to train.

00:09:42.160 | I suppose the only thing

00:09:43.280 | that's even more barbed wire

00:09:45.160 | of a conversation than that

00:09:46.340 | is how best to eat for health.

00:09:48.240 | Those seem to be the two most common areas

00:09:51.320 | of online battle.

00:09:52.920 | What's very clear now

00:09:54.520 | from all the literature

00:09:56.140 | is that once you know roughly

00:09:59.400 | your one repetition maximum,

00:10:01.180 | the maximum amount of weight

00:10:03.600 | that you can perform an exercise with

00:10:06.680 | for one repetition in good form,

00:10:08.780 | full range of motion,

00:10:10.200 | that it's very clear

00:10:12.580 | that moving weights

00:10:14.980 | or using bands

00:10:16.880 | or using body weight,

00:10:18.500 | for instance,

00:10:19.280 | in the 30 to 80%

00:10:21.980 | of one rep maximum,

00:10:23.200 | that is going to be

00:10:24.780 | the most beneficial range

00:10:26.480 | in terms of muscle hypertrophy

00:10:27.940 | and strength.

00:10:28.720 | So muscle growth and strength.

00:10:29.880 | So let's say you're somebody

00:10:31.040 | who's been doing

00:10:32.120 | some resistance exercise

00:10:33.660 | kind of on and off

00:10:34.720 | over the years

00:10:36.240 | and you decide

00:10:37.160 | you want to get serious

00:10:37.940 | about that for sake of sport

00:10:39.240 | or offsetting age-related

00:10:40.480 | declines in strength.

00:10:41.800 | The range of sets to do

00:10:44.940 | in order to improve strength

00:10:46.840 | ranges anywhere from two,

00:10:48.400 | believe it or not,

00:10:49.460 | to 20 per week.

00:10:51.000 | Again, these are sets per week

00:10:52.580 | and they don't necessarily

00:10:53.660 | all have to be performed

00:10:54.700 | in the same weight training session.

00:10:56.540 | It appears that five sets per week

00:10:59.060 | in this 30% to 80%

00:11:01.880 | of the one repetition maximum range

00:11:04.060 | is what's required

00:11:04.920 | just to maintain your muscle.

00:11:06.680 | So think about that.

00:11:07.500 | If you're somebody

00:11:08.220 | who's kind of averse

00:11:09.000 | to resistance training,

00:11:09.960 | you are going to lose

00:11:11.480 | muscle size and strength.

00:11:13.060 | Your metabolism will drop.

00:11:14.260 | Your posture will get worse.

00:11:15.580 | Everything in the context

00:11:17.620 | of nerve to muscle connectivity

00:11:18.920 | will get worse over time

00:11:20.600 | unless you are generating

00:11:22.920 | five sets

00:11:24.280 | or more

00:11:26.500 | of this 30% to 80%

00:11:28.860 | of your one repetition

00:11:29.760 | maximum per week.

00:11:31.180 | Okay?

00:11:31.840 | So what this means is

00:11:33.040 | for the typical person

00:11:34.120 | who hasn't done

00:11:34.600 | a lot of weight training,

00:11:35.460 | you need to do at least

00:11:36.480 | five sets per muscle group.

00:11:38.720 | Now, that's just to maintain

00:11:40.860 | and then there's this huge range

00:11:42.860 | that goes all the way up to 15

00:11:44.160 | and in some case

00:11:44.800 | 20 sets per week.

00:11:45.920 | Now, how many sets you perform

00:11:48.320 | is going to depend on

00:11:49.940 | the intensity of the work

00:11:51.500 | that you perform.

00:11:52.140 | This is where it gets

00:11:53.580 | a little bit controversial,

00:11:54.760 | but I think nowadays

00:11:55.960 | most people agree

00:11:57.660 | that 10% of the sets

00:12:01.160 | of a given workout

00:12:03.420 | or 10% of workouts overall

00:12:06.200 | should be of the high intensity sort

00:12:08.920 | where one is actually working

00:12:10.080 | to muscular failure.

00:12:11.140 | But the point being

00:12:13.020 | that most of your training,

00:12:14.620 | most of your sets

00:12:15.700 | should be not to failure.

00:12:18.180 | And the reason for that

00:12:19.960 | is it allows you

00:12:20.760 | to do more volume of work.

00:12:23.480 | So we can make this simple,

00:12:25.280 | perform anywhere from

00:12:26.880 | five to 15 sets

00:12:28.540 | of resistance exercise

00:12:30.400 | per week

00:12:31.100 | and that's per muscle

00:12:33.860 | and that's in this

00:12:35.400 | 30 to 80%

00:12:36.780 | of what your one

00:12:37.520 | repetition maximum.

00:12:38.460 | That seems to be

00:12:39.420 | the most scientifically

00:12:40.860 | supported way

00:12:41.760 | of offsetting

00:12:43.200 | any decline

00:12:44.220 | in muscle strength

00:12:45.140 | if you're working

00:12:46.080 | in the kind of five set range

00:12:47.200 | and in increasing

00:12:49.140 | muscle strength

00:12:49.980 | when you start

00:12:51.000 | to get up

00:12:51.580 | into the 10

00:12:52.100 | and 15 set range.

00:12:53.400 | But it's pretty clear

00:12:54.540 | that performing

00:12:55.360 | this five to 15 sets

00:12:56.940 | per week,

00:12:57.440 | whether or not

00:12:58.160 | it's in one workout

00:12:59.040 | or whether it's divided

00:12:59.940 | up across multiple workouts

00:13:01.180 | is really what's

00:13:02.040 | going to be most beneficial.

00:13:02.880 | And please do keep in mind

00:13:04.000 | Henneman's size principle

00:13:06.120 | and the recruitment

00:13:06.760 | of motor units

00:13:07.500 | and remember

00:13:07.980 | the better you are

00:13:09.120 | at contracting

00:13:09.700 | particular muscles

00:13:10.540 | and isolating those muscles,

00:13:11.920 | the fewer sets

00:13:12.960 | likely you need to do

00:13:14.300 | in order to get

00:13:15.040 | the desired effect.

00:13:16.040 | What about people

00:13:16.820 | who have been

00:13:17.260 | training for a while?

00:13:18.220 | If you're somebody

00:13:18.740 | who's been doing

00:13:19.500 | weight training

00:13:19.940 | for a while,

00:13:20.500 | the data point

00:13:22.740 | to the fact

00:13:23.240 | that more volume

00:13:24.700 | can be beneficial

00:13:25.640 | even for muscles

00:13:26.640 | that you are very

00:13:27.440 | efficient at contracting.

00:13:29.400 | Now, the curve on this,

00:13:31.820 | the graph on this

00:13:32.700 | begins again

00:13:34.060 | at about five sets

00:13:35.060 | per week

00:13:35.560 | for maintaining

00:13:36.280 | a given muscle group

00:13:37.220 | and extends

00:13:38.060 | all the way out

00:13:38.640 | to 25 or 30 sets

00:13:40.980 | per week.

00:13:41.480 | However,

00:13:42.460 | there are individuals

00:13:45.000 | who for whatever reason

00:13:46.440 | can generate

00:13:47.020 | can generate

00:13:47.040 | so much force.

00:13:48.040 | They're so good

00:13:48.940 | at training muscles

00:13:50.140 | that they can generate

00:13:51.420 | so much force

00:13:52.360 | in just four

00:13:53.740 | or six

00:13:54.280 | or eight sets

00:13:55.160 | that doing this

00:13:56.240 | large volume of work

00:13:57.260 | is actually going

00:13:57.840 | to be counterproductive.

00:13:58.900 | So everyone needs

00:14:00.480 | to figure out

00:14:01.120 | for themselves,

00:14:01.780 | first of all,

00:14:02.580 | how often you're willing

00:14:03.460 | to do resistance

00:14:04.340 | exercise of any kind.

00:14:05.760 | And then it does appear

00:14:06.960 | that somewhere

00:14:07.360 | between five

00:14:08.760 | and 15 sets

00:14:10.700 | per week

00:14:11.200 | is going to be

00:14:12.120 | what's the thing

00:14:13.120 | that's going to work

00:14:13.660 | for most people.

00:14:14.420 | Now this is based

00:14:15.200 | on a tremendous

00:14:15.880 | amount of work

00:14:16.520 | that was done

00:14:17.020 | by Andy Galpin

00:14:17.820 | and colleagues,

00:14:18.260 | Brad Schoenfield

00:14:19.060 | and colleagues,

00:14:19.600 | Mike Roberts.

00:14:20.520 | There's a huge group

00:14:22.080 | of people out there

00:14:23.380 | doing exercise physiology

00:14:24.740 | and a small subset

00:14:26.080 | of them

00:14:26.480 | that are linking

00:14:27.300 | them back

00:14:28.020 | to real world protocols

00:14:29.420 | that don't just

00:14:30.620 | pertain to athletes.

00:14:31.480 | So that's mainly

00:14:32.100 | what I'm focusing

00:14:32.780 | on today

00:14:33.280 | and surely

00:14:33.800 | there will be

00:14:34.340 | exceptions.

00:14:34.860 | Now,

00:14:35.840 | if you are going

00:14:37.220 | to divide the sets

00:14:38.360 | across the week,

00:14:39.840 | you're not going

00:14:40.400 | to do all 10 sets

00:14:41.380 | for instance

00:14:41.840 | for a given muscle group

00:14:42.760 | in one session,

00:14:43.440 | then of course

00:14:44.580 | it's imperative

00:14:45.380 | that the muscles

00:14:46.120 | recover in between sessions.

00:14:47.520 | You might ask,

00:14:48.320 | well,

00:14:48.600 | what about the speeds

00:14:49.940 | of movements?

00:14:50.480 | This actually turns out

00:14:51.560 | to be a really

00:14:52.140 | interesting data set.

00:14:53.360 | For generating

00:14:54.720 | explosiveness

00:14:55.900 | and speed,

00:14:56.940 | it's very clear

00:14:58.180 | that learning

00:14:58.800 | to generate forces

00:15:00.140 | quickly

00:15:00.680 | and to move

00:15:01.560 | heavy or moderately

00:15:02.960 | heavy loads

00:15:03.500 | quickly

00:15:04.020 | is going to be

00:15:05.280 | beneficial

00:15:05.720 | because of the way

00:15:06.480 | that you train

00:15:07.120 | the motor neurons

00:15:08.340 | and of course

00:15:09.440 | changes in the muscle

00:15:10.360 | and so what this

00:15:11.340 | would involve

00:15:11.820 | is something

00:15:13.000 | like 60 to 75%

00:15:14.660 | of a one repetition

00:15:15.460 | maximum

00:15:15.940 | and then in a

00:15:16.660 | controlled way

00:15:17.400 | moving that

00:15:18.220 | as quickly

00:15:18.880 | as one can

00:15:19.900 | throughout the entire

00:15:20.880 | set

00:15:21.280 | and certainly

00:15:21.760 | not going

00:15:22.380 | to failure

00:15:23.440 | because as you

00:15:24.080 | approach failure

00:15:24.960 | the inability

00:15:25.520 | to move the weight

00:15:26.220 | with good form

00:15:26.920 | the weight

00:15:27.720 | inevitably slows down.

00:15:29.180 | So as you're

00:15:29.860 | probably starting

00:15:30.440 | to realize

00:15:30.880 | you need to

00:15:31.380 | customize

00:15:32.000 | a resistance

00:15:33.200 | practice

00:15:34.480 | for your

00:15:35.440 | particular

00:15:35.820 | needs

00:15:36.180 | and goals.

00:15:36.640 | So we've

00:15:37.100 | talked about

00:15:37.460 | a few principles

00:15:38.160 | the fact

00:15:38.540 | that you need

00:15:38.960 | to get

00:15:39.220 | sufficient volume

00:15:40.040 | you need

00:15:40.460 | at least

00:15:40.720 | five sets

00:15:41.220 | to maintain

00:15:41.760 | and you

00:15:42.000 | probably need

00:15:42.400 | about 10

00:15:42.800 | sets per

00:15:43.180 | muscle group

00:15:43.660 | in order

00:15:44.280 | to improve

00:15:44.900 | muscle

00:15:45.320 | that moving

00:15:46.320 | weights

00:15:46.660 | of moderate

00:15:47.180 | to moderately

00:15:48.500 | heavy weight

00:15:49.000 | quickly is going

00:15:49.780 | to be best

00:15:50.160 | for explosiveness

00:15:50.900 | that isolating

00:15:51.800 | muscles

00:15:52.300 | and really

00:15:53.400 | contracting

00:15:53.920 | muscles

00:15:54.320 | hard

00:15:54.720 | something

00:15:55.000 | that you

00:15:55.260 | can test

00:15:55.820 | by just

00:15:56.740 | when you're

00:15:57.280 | outside the

00:15:57.860 | training session

00:15:58.500 | seeing whether

00:15:58.860 | or not

00:15:59.000 | you can cramp

00:15:59.420 | the muscle

00:15:59.740 | hard

00:15:59.980 | will really

00:16:00.440 | tell you

00:16:02.400 | your capacity

00:16:03.420 | to improve

00:16:04.240 | hypertrophy

00:16:05.320 | or to engage

00:16:06.340 | strength changes

00:16:07.160 | in that muscle

00:16:07.920 | that your ability

00:16:10.040 | to contract

00:16:10.580 | a muscle

00:16:10.860 | hard

00:16:11.160 | is inversely

00:16:12.040 | related to

00:16:12.660 | the number

00:16:13.000 | of sets

00:16:13.360 | that you

00:16:13.860 | should do

00:16:14.420 | in order

00:16:14.780 | to isolate

00:16:15.400 | and stimulate

00:16:16.520 | that muscle.

00:16:17.180 | Now how long

00:16:18.460 | to recover

00:16:18.900 | between sets

00:16:19.540 | there's a question

00:16:20.200 | for the testosterone

00:16:21.100 | protocol

00:16:21.760 | Duncan French

00:16:22.660 | and colleagues

00:16:23.120 | found that

00:16:23.520 | it was about

00:16:23.900 | two minutes

00:16:24.520 | keeping that

00:16:25.000 | really on the

00:16:25.700 | clock

00:16:25.940 | two minutes

00:16:26.520 | not longer

00:16:27.520 | for hypertrophy

00:16:28.980 | and for strength

00:16:29.600 | gains

00:16:29.920 | it does seem

00:16:31.360 | that resting

00:16:31.820 | anywhere from

00:16:32.480 | two minutes

00:16:33.060 | or even

00:16:33.800 | three

00:16:34.380 | or four

00:16:34.960 | or even

00:16:35.260 | five

00:16:35.580 | or six

00:16:36.000 | minutes

00:16:36.400 | can be

00:16:36.980 | beneficial

00:16:37.400 | so how do

00:16:38.140 | we know

00:16:38.380 | if we've

00:16:38.720 | recovered

00:16:39.140 | how can

00:16:39.560 | we test

00:16:40.160 | recovery

00:16:40.720 | and this

00:16:41.180 | is not

00:16:41.500 | just recovery

00:16:42.060 | from resistance

00:16:42.720 | training

00:16:43.120 | this is recovery

00:16:43.920 | from running

00:16:44.880 | recovery

00:16:45.320 | from swimming

00:16:45.960 | up until now

00:16:47.080 | I've been talking

00:16:47.560 | about resistance

00:16:48.120 | training more

00:16:48.660 | or less

00:16:48.880 | in a vacuum

00:16:49.600 | I haven't

00:16:50.880 | even touched

00:16:51.520 | on the fact

00:16:51.980 | that many people

00:16:52.540 | are running

00:16:53.120 | and they're

00:16:53.600 | doing resistance

00:16:54.200 | training

00:16:54.640 | or they're

00:16:55.020 | swimming

00:16:55.320 | and they're

00:16:55.780 | doing resistance

00:16:56.340 | training

00:16:56.740 | well

00:16:57.380 | you can

00:16:58.380 | assess

00:16:59.020 | systemic

00:16:59.820 | recovery

00:17:00.480 | meaning

00:17:00.940 | your nervous

00:17:01.720 | system

00:17:02.180 | and your

00:17:03.180 | nervous

00:17:03.500 | system's

00:17:03.860 | ability

00:17:04.160 | to generate

00:17:04.980 | force

00:17:05.680 | both distributed

00:17:06.740 | and isolated

00:17:07.460 | through three

00:17:08.800 | main tests

00:17:10.060 | and fortunately

00:17:10.940 | these tests

00:17:11.580 | are very simple

00:17:12.520 | and two of them

00:17:14.600 | are essentially

00:17:15.780 | zero cost

00:17:16.480 | require no

00:17:17.100 | equipment

00:17:17.580 | HRV

00:17:19.580 | heart rate

00:17:20.260 | variability

00:17:20.820 | has made

00:17:22.580 | its way

00:17:23.020 | finally

00:17:23.540 | into the

00:17:24.460 | forefront

00:17:24.820 | of exercise

00:17:25.500 | physiology

00:17:26.080 | and even

00:17:26.640 | into the

00:17:27.060 | popular

00:17:27.360 | discussion

00:17:27.900 | I've talked

00:17:28.880 | about HRV

00:17:29.620 | before

00:17:30.040 | how when we

00:17:30.920 | exhale our

00:17:31.480 | heart rate

00:17:31.840 | slows down

00:17:32.460 | because of the

00:17:32.900 | way that our

00:17:33.260 | diaphragm is

00:17:33.860 | connected to

00:17:34.360 | our heart

00:17:34.820 | and to our

00:17:35.220 | brain

00:17:35.480 | and the way

00:17:35.800 | our brain

00:17:36.100 | is connected

00:17:36.500 | to our

00:17:36.780 | heart

00:17:36.980 | when we

00:17:37.620 | inhale

00:17:38.200 | our heart

00:17:38.740 | rate

00:17:38.900 | speeds up

00:17:39.560 | and that

00:17:40.020 | is the

00:17:40.320 | basis

00:17:40.600 | of heart

00:17:41.040 | rate

00:17:41.220 | variability

00:17:41.760 | heart rate

00:17:42.920 | variability

00:17:43.400 | is good

00:17:44.280 | but heart

00:17:45.480 | rate variability

00:17:46.060 | is difficult

00:17:46.780 | for a lot

00:17:47.300 | of people

00:17:47.580 | to measure

00:17:47.980 | there are

00:17:48.540 | two

00:17:48.720 | measures

00:17:49.100 | however

00:17:49.400 | whether or

00:17:49.840 | not you

00:17:50.040 | recovered

00:17:50.460 | that you

00:17:50.980 | can use

00:17:51.380 | first thing

00:17:51.840 | in the

00:17:52.060 | morning

00:17:52.380 | when you

00:17:52.740 | wake up

00:17:53.720 | in order

00:17:54.140 | to assess

00:17:54.840 | how well

00:17:55.820 | recovered

00:17:56.200 | you are

00:17:56.520 | and therefore

00:17:56.860 | whether or

00:17:57.240 | not you

00:17:57.540 | should train

00:17:58.120 | your whole

00:17:58.900 | system at

00:17:59.500 | all that

00:18:00.100 | day

00:18:00.380 | the first

00:18:01.220 | one is

00:18:02.260 | grip strength

00:18:03.040 | grip strength

00:18:04.880 | the ability

00:18:06.200 | to generate

00:18:06.780 | force at the

00:18:07.480 | level of

00:18:07.880 | squeezing the

00:18:08.520 | fist

00:18:08.900 | or you know

00:18:09.800 | squeezing down

00:18:10.420 | on something

00:18:10.960 | might seem

00:18:11.680 | like kind

00:18:12.060 | of a trivial

00:18:12.820 | way to assess

00:18:13.720 | recovery

00:18:14.240 | but it's

00:18:14.680 | not because

00:18:15.180 | it relates

00:18:15.680 | to your

00:18:16.100 | ability

00:18:16.500 | to use

00:18:17.280 | your upper

00:18:17.720 | motor neurons

00:18:18.420 | to control

00:18:18.920 | your lower

00:18:19.380 | motor neurons

00:18:19.980 | and to

00:18:20.340 | generate

00:18:20.820 | isolated

00:18:21.500 | force

00:18:22.140 | so that's

00:18:22.860 | really what

00:18:23.160 | you're assessing

00:18:23.680 | when you

00:18:24.460 | do that

00:18:24.920 | some people

00:18:25.860 | will use

00:18:26.800 | you know

00:18:27.300 | one of these

00:18:27.780 | grip tools

00:18:28.860 | if I've been

00:18:29.680 | working really

00:18:30.520 | hard not sleeping

00:18:31.340 | very well

00:18:31.820 | or I've been

00:18:32.180 | training a lot

00:18:32.880 | any one or

00:18:33.540 | combination of

00:18:34.080 | those things

00:18:34.500 | my grip

00:18:35.260 | suffers

00:18:35.640 | I can't

00:18:36.120 | actually squeeze

00:18:36.760 | that thing

00:18:37.120 | down as much

00:18:37.740 | as I can

00:18:38.080 | but on a

00:18:38.580 | good day

00:18:38.860 | I can

00:18:39.120 | squeeze

00:18:39.420 | this thing

00:18:39.800 | so that I

00:18:40.220 | eliminate

00:18:40.560 | the hole

00:18:41.060 | in the

00:18:41.320 | donut

00:18:41.560 | so to

00:18:41.920 | speak

00:18:42.120 | you can

00:18:42.640 | also take

00:18:43.100 | a floor

00:18:43.460 | scale

00:18:44.060 | and squeeze

00:18:45.040 | the scale

00:18:45.640 | and see

00:18:46.020 | how much

00:18:46.320 | force

00:18:46.620 | you can

00:18:46.900 | generate

00:18:47.320 | I would

00:18:48.080 | do that

00:18:48.360 | as a

00:18:48.640 | baseline

00:18:49.080 | to establish

00:18:49.800 | what you

00:18:50.520 | can do

00:18:50.880 | when you're

00:18:51.240 | well rested

00:18:51.840 | and then if

00:18:52.700 | you do that

00:18:53.080 | in the morning

00:18:53.500 | you can see

00:18:54.000 | whether or not

00:18:54.500 | you're able

00:18:54.960 | to generate

00:18:55.420 | the same

00:18:55.780 | amount of

00:18:56.160 | force

00:18:56.500 | a lot

00:18:57.120 | of this

00:18:57.340 | is very

00:18:57.600 | subjective

00:18:58.060 | with the

00:18:58.440 | scale

00:18:58.780 | you're really

00:18:59.480 | trying to

00:18:59.800 | assess

00:19:00.100 | whether or not

00:19:00.520 | you can

00:19:00.860 | generate

00:19:01.180 | the same

00:19:01.500 | amount

00:19:01.720 | of force

00:19:02.180 | if you

00:19:02.680 | start

00:19:02.940 | seeing

00:19:03.140 | a 10%

00:19:03.860 | or 20%

00:19:04.620 | certainly

00:19:05.040 | reduction

00:19:05.540 | in that

00:19:05.980 | that's

00:19:06.720 | concerning

00:19:07.140 | it means

00:19:07.500 | that your

00:19:07.760 | system

00:19:08.360 | your nervous

00:19:09.440 | system

00:19:09.740 | as a whole

00:19:10.160 | it's not

00:19:10.960 | necessarily

00:19:11.500 | fatigued

00:19:12.460 | it's that

00:19:13.160 | the pathways

00:19:13.860 | from nerve

00:19:14.520 | to muscle

00:19:15.060 | are still

00:19:16.280 | in the process

00:19:16.900 | of rewiring

00:19:17.660 | themselves

00:19:18.200 | in order

00:19:18.840 | to generate

00:19:19.400 | force

00:19:19.960 | and you

00:19:20.280 | might think

00:19:20.640 | well

00:19:20.860 | I trained

00:19:21.480 | one muscle

00:19:21.960 | group

00:19:22.180 | one day

00:19:22.460 | why am I

00:19:22.900 | having a hard

00:19:23.400 | time doing

00:19:23.740 | this for a

00:19:24.160 | completely

00:19:24.420 | different

00:19:24.760 | muscle

00:19:25.020 | group

00:19:25.320 | doesn't

00:19:25.740 | make any

00:19:26.100 | sense

00:19:26.400 | but there's

00:19:27.100 | something

00:19:27.360 | about the

00:19:27.880 | upper

00:19:28.120 | motor neuron

00:19:28.760 | to lower

00:19:29.180 | motor neuron

00:19:29.620 | pathway

00:19:29.980 | generally

00:19:30.520 | that

00:19:31.700 | allows you

00:19:32.400 | to use

00:19:32.720 | something

00:19:32.960 | like grip

00:19:33.380 | strength

00:19:33.700 | as a

00:19:34.040 | kind

00:19:34.240 | of a

00:19:34.660 | thermometer

00:19:35.600 | if you

00:19:36.140 | will

00:19:36.400 | of

00:19:37.400 | your

00:19:37.600 | ability

00:19:37.880 | to

00:19:38.040 | recover

00:19:38.380 | so look

00:19:38.820 | for your

00:19:39.100 | ability

00:19:39.360 | to generate

00:19:39.880 | force

00:19:40.340 | and grip

00:19:40.860 | when you

00:19:41.160 | first wake

00:19:41.740 | up

00:19:41.960 | it's not

00:19:42.540 | going to be

00:19:42.780 | as good

00:19:43.080 | as it is

00:19:43.560 | at 3 p.m.

00:19:44.700 | after a cup

00:19:45.160 | of coffee

00:19:45.640 | and a couple

00:19:46.620 | meals

00:19:47.000 | but the

00:19:47.540 | point isn't

00:19:48.180 | performance

00:19:49.340 | overall

00:19:49.920 | the point

00:19:50.400 | is to

00:19:50.700 | assess

00:19:51.040 | whether or

00:19:51.340 | not

00:19:51.420 | you're

00:19:51.600 | getting

00:19:51.820 | better

00:19:52.240 | worse

00:19:52.600 | or the

00:19:52.920 | same

00:19:53.180 | from day

00:19:53.660 | to day

00:19:54.080 | the other

00:19:54.860 | one

00:19:55.020 | that's

00:19:55.200 | really

00:19:55.400 | terrific

00:19:55.800 | is

00:19:56.160 | carbon

00:19:56.500 | dioxide

00:19:56.960 | tolerance

00:19:57.640 | so this

00:19:58.280 | is a

00:19:58.600 | really

00:19:58.900 | interesting

00:19:59.320 | tool

00:19:59.680 | that

00:19:59.900 | endurance

00:20:00.500 | athletes

00:20:01.020 | strength

00:20:01.620 | athletes

00:20:02.120 | I think

00:20:03.020 | can all

00:20:03.400 | benefit

00:20:03.760 | from

00:20:04.080 | so here's

00:20:04.600 | how you

00:20:04.840 | do the

00:20:05.180 | carbon

00:20:05.380 | dioxide

00:20:05.700 | tolerance

00:20:06.200 | test

00:20:06.560 | you wake

00:20:07.140 | up in

00:20:07.320 | the morning

00:20:07.640 | and what

00:20:08.400 | you're going

00:20:08.700 | to do

00:20:08.920 | is you're

00:20:09.160 | going to

00:20:09.540 | inhale

00:20:09.940 | through your

00:20:10.480 | nose

00:20:10.780 | as deeply

00:20:11.300 | as you

00:20:11.620 | can

00:20:11.940 | you do

00:20:12.260 | this lying

00:20:12.620 | down

00:20:12.900 | you know

00:20:14.060 | sitting

00:20:14.540 | whatever

00:20:14.960 | inhale

00:20:15.780 | through your

00:20:16.160 | nose

00:20:16.400 | and then

00:20:17.760 | exhale

00:20:18.100 | all the

00:20:18.500 | way

00:20:18.720 | so that's

00:20:20.540 | one

00:20:20.880 | you're going

00:20:21.340 | to repeat

00:20:21.740 | that four

00:20:22.420 | times

00:20:23.020 | then

00:20:24.200 | you take

00:20:24.840 | a fifth

00:20:25.400 | inhale

00:20:25.900 | as deep

00:20:26.440 | as you

00:20:26.700 | can

00:20:26.940 | through

00:20:27.120 | your

00:20:27.260 | nose

00:20:27.440 | fill

00:20:27.980 | your

00:20:28.180 | lungs

00:20:28.440 | as much

00:20:28.960 | as you

00:20:29.200 | can

00:20:29.460 | and if

00:20:30.080 | you can

00:20:30.380 | try and

00:20:30.940 | expand

00:20:31.620 | your

00:20:32.240 | make your

00:20:33.000 | stomach

00:20:33.180 | go out

00:20:33.580 | while you

00:20:33.900 | do that

00:20:34.220 | that means

00:20:34.680 | that your

00:20:34.960 | diaphragm

00:20:35.460 | is really

00:20:35.820 | engaged

00:20:36.320 | so you're

00:20:36.660 | inhaling

00:20:37.080 | as much

00:20:37.420 | as you

00:20:37.640 | possibly

00:20:38.080 | can

00:20:38.440 | then

00:20:39.780 | hit

00:20:40.160 | the

00:20:40.380 | timer

00:20:40.780 | and your

00:20:41.760 | goal

00:20:42.240 | is to

00:20:42.740 | release

00:20:43.200 | that air

00:20:43.780 | as slowly

00:20:44.600 | as possible

00:20:45.460 | through your

00:20:46.900 | mouth

00:20:47.220 | so it

00:20:47.680 | looks like

00:20:48.360 | you have

00:20:48.580 | a tiny

00:20:48.960 | tiny

00:20:49.200 | little

00:20:49.480 | straw

00:20:49.880 | in your

00:20:50.120 | mouth

00:20:50.340 | and you're

00:20:50.600 | letting

00:20:50.800 | it go

00:20:51.160 | as slowly

00:20:55.440 | as you

00:20:55.940 | possibly

00:20:56.380 | can

00:20:56.800 | measure

00:20:57.840 | what we

00:20:58.500 | call

00:20:58.780 | the

00:20:59.180 | carbon

00:20:59.440 | dioxide

00:20:59.980 | blow-off

00:21:00.740 | time

00:21:01.060 | or

00:21:01.220 | discard

00:21:01.780 | rate

00:21:02.200 | I know

00:21:04.460 | you can

00:21:04.780 | all sit

00:21:05.160 | with lungs

00:21:05.620 | empty

00:21:05.980 | after you

00:21:06.540 | eliminate

00:21:06.840 | all that

00:21:07.360 | air

00:21:07.660 | but don't

00:21:08.780 | lie to

00:21:09.760 | yourself

00:21:10.160 | don't

00:21:10.680 | stop the

00:21:11.480 | timer

00:21:11.780 | when you've

00:21:12.500 | been sitting

00:21:12.900 | with your

00:21:13.300 | lungs

00:21:13.700 | empty

00:21:14.000 | for a while

00:21:14.400 | stop the

00:21:15.040 | timer

00:21:15.300 | when you

00:21:15.760 | are

00:21:15.920 | finally

00:21:16.620 | no longer

00:21:17.700 | able

00:21:18.080 | to exhale

00:21:18.920 | any more

00:21:19.700 | air

00:21:20.080 | your

00:21:20.700 | carbon

00:21:21.220 | dioxide

00:21:21.660 | discard

00:21:22.300 | rate

00:21:22.700 | will

00:21:23.060 | be

00:21:23.920 | somewhere

00:21:24.420 | between

00:21:25.060 | one

00:21:25.760 | second

00:21:26.220 | and

00:21:27.300 | presumably

00:21:28.160 | two

00:21:28.720 | minutes

00:21:29.080 | two minutes

00:21:29.660 | would be a

00:21:30.120 | heroic

00:21:30.560 | carbon

00:21:30.960 | dioxide

00:21:31.300 | discard

00:21:31.880 | time

00:21:32.300 | 30 seconds

00:21:34.000 | would be

00:21:34.280 | more typical

00:21:34.860 | 20 seconds

00:21:35.900 | would be

00:21:36.200 | fast

00:21:36.700 | if your

00:21:38.120 | carbon

00:21:38.400 | dioxide

00:21:38.760 | discard

00:21:39.320 | time

00:21:40.520 | is

00:21:41.420 | 20

00:21:42.280 | or 25

00:21:43.160 | seconds

00:21:43.680 | or less

00:21:44.400 | you are

00:21:45.920 | not

00:21:46.920 | necessarily

00:21:47.720 | recovered

00:21:48.340 | from

00:21:48.680 | from

00:21:48.680 | your

00:21:48.840 | previous

00:21:49.220 | days

00:21:49.580 | activities

00:21:50.240 | if

00:21:51.060 | your

00:21:51.220 | carbon

00:21:51.460 | dioxide

00:21:51.800 | discard

00:21:52.360 | time

00:21:53.060 | is

00:21:53.260 | somewhere

00:21:53.480 | between

00:21:54.000 | about

00:21:55.080 | 30

00:21:55.560 | seconds

00:21:56.080 | and 60

00:21:56.880 | seconds

00:21:57.440 | you are

00:21:59.360 | in what

00:22:00.040 | we would

00:22:00.280 | call

00:22:00.520 | kind of

00:22:00.980 | the

00:22:01.180 | green

00:22:01.960 | zone

00:22:02.400 | where

00:22:02.680 | you are

00:22:03.200 | in

00:22:03.600 | a position

00:22:04.860 | to do

00:22:05.440 | more

00:22:05.780 | physical

00:22:06.160 | work

00:22:06.660 | and if

00:22:08.020 | your

00:22:08.160 | carbon

00:22:08.380 | dioxide

00:22:08.720 | discard

00:22:09.120 | time

00:22:09.620 | is

00:22:09.960 | somewhere

00:22:10.200 | between

00:22:10.720 | 65

00:22:11.560 | and 120

00:22:12.780 | seconds

00:22:13.460 | well then

00:22:14.700 | you have

00:22:15.580 | almost

00:22:15.960 | certainly

00:22:16.500 | recovered

00:22:17.400 | your

00:22:17.940 | nervous

00:22:18.360 | system

00:22:18.760 | I'm not

00:22:19.160 | talking about

00:22:19.460 | the individual

00:22:19.860 | muscles

00:22:20.240 | but your

00:22:20.600 | nervous

00:22:21.020 | system

00:22:21.400 | is prepared

00:22:22.380 | to do

00:22:22.720 | more work

00:22:23.340 | I'm really

00:22:24.080 | keen on

00:22:24.540 | this tool

00:22:24.920 | because

00:22:25.180 | everybody

00:22:25.720 | has different

00:22:26.400 | recovery

00:22:27.220 | abilities

00:22:27.740 | I realize

00:22:28.260 | people have

00:22:28.600 | varying levels

00:22:29.100 | of stress

00:22:29.660 | and demand

00:22:30.200 | in their

00:22:30.480 | life

00:22:30.760 | it's just

00:22:31.300 | impossible

00:22:31.780 | to prescribe

00:22:33.060 | an entire

00:22:33.840 | protocol

00:22:34.640 | that says

00:22:35.160 | okay

00:22:35.460 | yes you should

00:22:36.160 | train today

00:22:36.660 | and this is

00:22:37.080 | exactly what

00:22:37.620 | you should

00:22:37.840 | do

00:22:37.960 | no you

00:22:38.300 | shouldn't

00:22:38.660 | use

00:22:39.060 | carbon dioxide

00:22:39.780 | discard rate

00:22:40.640 | because

00:22:40.920 | A it's

00:22:41.640 | valuable

00:22:42.220 | it's

00:22:42.680 | informative

00:22:43.080 | B

00:22:43.720 | it's

00:22:45.300 | zero cost

00:22:46.560 | and C

00:22:47.160 | it's something

00:22:47.900 | you can track

00:22:48.540 | objectively

00:22:49.060 | over time

00:22:49.880 | and that's

00:22:50.260 | really the

00:22:50.660 | key

00:22:50.920 | so recovery

00:22:51.800 | is a complex

00:22:52.540 | process

00:22:53.020 | it's got

00:22:53.500 | a lot

00:22:53.800 | of things

00:22:54.220 | but the

00:22:55.300 | CO2

00:22:55.600 | tolerance

00:22:55.960 | should be

00:22:56.360 | a valuable

00:22:56.820 | tool

00:22:57.220 | now another

00:22:58.500 | tool for

00:22:58.960 | recovery

00:22:59.320 | that people

00:22:59.740 | are very

00:23:00.080 | excited about

00:23:00.860 | is the

00:23:01.440 | use of

00:23:01.780 | cold

00:23:02.160 | and the

00:23:02.480 | ice bath

00:23:03.000 | and this

00:23:03.620 | is important

00:23:04.400 | yes it

00:23:05.700 | will reduce

00:23:06.180 | inflammation

00:23:06.700 | yes it

00:23:07.740 | will reduce

00:23:08.500 | the amount

00:23:08.920 | of delayed

00:23:09.380 | onset

00:23:09.720 | muscle

00:23:10.140 | soreness

00:23:10.680 | but it

00:23:11.820 | does seem

00:23:12.360 | to interfere

00:23:12.900 | with some

00:23:13.300 | of the

00:23:13.500 | things like

00:23:14.020 | mTOR

00:23:14.480 | pathways

00:23:15.020 | the

00:23:15.200 | mammalian

00:23:15.680 | target

00:23:15.920 | rapamycin

00:23:16.560 | pathway

00:23:17.020 | and other

00:23:17.900 | pathways

00:23:18.780 | related to

00:23:19.480 | inflammation

00:23:20.180 | that promote

00:23:21.180 | muscle repair

00:23:22.020 | remember

00:23:22.520 | and muscle

00:23:23.280 | growth

00:23:23.660 | remember

00:23:24.240 | stress

00:23:25.160 | tension

00:23:25.600 | and damage

00:23:26.240 | are the

00:23:26.740 | stimulus

00:23:27.100 | for nerve

00:23:27.840 | to muscle

00:23:28.220 | connections

00:23:28.640 | to change

00:23:29.160 | and for

00:23:29.400 | muscles

00:23:29.620 | to get

00:23:29.920 | bigger

00:23:30.240 | stronger

00:23:30.640 | and better

00:23:31.300 | and so

00:23:32.100 | if you're

00:23:32.480 | getting into

00:23:33.140 | the ice

00:23:33.540 | bath

00:23:33.800 | after doing

00:23:34.260 | resistance

00:23:34.680 | training

00:23:35.120 | you are

00:23:35.940 | likely

00:23:36.320 | short

00:23:36.740 | circuiting

00:23:37.360 | the improvements

00:23:38.120 | that you're

00:23:38.540 | trying to

00:23:38.900 | create

00:23:39.320 | the other

00:23:40.040 | thing are

00:23:40.300 | non-steroid

00:23:40.980 | anti-inflammatory

00:23:41.840 | drugs

00:23:42.200 | you know

00:23:42.760 | their trade

00:23:43.180 | names

00:23:43.480 | these are

00:23:44.040 | painkillers

00:23:44.680 | that many

00:23:45.020 | people take

00:23:45.560 | those as i've

00:23:46.460 | mentioned in a

00:23:46.900 | previous episode

00:23:47.540 | seem to prevent

00:23:48.480 | a lot of the

00:23:49.100 | gains

00:23:49.600 | the improvements

00:23:50.660 | in endurance

00:23:51.880 | strength and size

00:23:52.880 | that people are

00:23:53.580 | specifically using

00:23:54.740 | exercise for

00:23:55.940 | so be cautious

00:23:56.880 | about your use

00:23:57.760 | of non-steroid

00:23:58.900 | anti-inflammatory

00:23:59.740 | drugs

00:24:00.440 | especially within

00:24:01.580 | the four hours

00:24:02.420 | preceding or the

00:24:03.360 | four hours

00:24:03.860 | following

00:24:04.500 | exercise

00:24:05.500 | let's talk

00:24:06.260 | about some

00:24:06.640 | of the

00:24:06.820 | things that

00:24:07.380 | seem to

00:24:08.080 | work across

00:24:08.860 | the board

00:24:09.420 | to improve

00:24:10.320 | strength

00:24:10.840 | improve

00:24:11.720 | hypertrophy

00:24:12.960 | and improve

00:24:13.880 | nerve to

00:24:14.480 | muscle

00:24:14.760 | communication

00:24:15.620 | and performance

00:24:16.420 | the first

00:24:17.000 | thing that's

00:24:17.540 | absolutely key

00:24:18.480 | for nerve to

00:24:19.280 | muscle

00:24:19.560 | communication

00:24:20.160 | and physical

00:24:21.320 | performance

00:24:21.760 | of any

00:24:22.120 | kind

00:24:22.480 | might not

00:24:23.460 | sound that

00:24:23.840 | exciting to

00:24:24.380 | you but it

00:24:24.880 | is very

00:24:25.540 | exciting

00:24:26.020 | and that's

00:24:27.260 | salt

00:24:27.700 | nerves

00:24:29.080 | nerve cells

00:24:29.900 | neurons

00:24:30.440 | communicate with

00:24:32.100 | each other

00:24:32.460 | and communicate

00:24:32.900 | with muscle

00:24:33.460 | by electricity

00:24:35.060 | but that

00:24:36.080 | electricity is

00:24:36.860 | generated by

00:24:37.520 | particular ions

00:24:38.760 | moving into

00:24:39.740 | and out of

00:24:40.200 | the neuron

00:24:40.640 | and the

00:24:41.460 | rushing in

00:24:42.680 | of a particular

00:24:44.020 | ion

00:24:44.580 | sodium

00:24:45.220 | salt

00:24:45.840 | is what

00:24:46.700 | allows nerve

00:24:47.540 | cells to fire

00:24:48.300 | if you don't

00:24:49.360 | have enough

00:24:49.840 | salt in your

00:24:50.820 | system

00:24:51.180 | your neurons

00:24:52.460 | and your brain

00:24:53.160 | and your nerve

00:24:53.640 | to muscle

00:24:54.180 | communication

00:24:54.720 | will be

00:24:55.720 | terrible

00:24:56.220 | if you have

00:24:56.940 | sufficient

00:24:57.340 | salt

00:24:57.900 | it will be

00:24:58.860 | excellent

00:24:59.300 | how much

00:25:00.080 | salt will depend

00:25:00.700 | on how much

00:25:01.120 | water you're

00:25:01.480 | drinking

00:25:01.780 | how much

00:25:02.540 | caffeine

00:25:02.940 | you're

00:25:03.140 | drinking

00:25:03.420 | and how

00:25:03.780 | much

00:25:03.940 | food

00:25:04.380 | you're

00:25:04.660 | ingesting

00:25:05.180 | so and

00:25:06.400 | whether or

00:25:06.640 | not you're

00:25:06.820 | taking any

00:25:07.260 | diuretics

00:25:07.880 | how hot

00:25:08.280 | it is

00:25:08.580 | etc

00:25:08.860 | how much

00:25:09.200 | you're

00:25:09.340 | sweating

00:25:09.620 | so you

00:25:10.500 | want to

00:25:10.740 | make sure

00:25:10.980 | that you

00:25:11.180 | have enough

00:25:11.520 | salt

00:25:11.880 | potassium

00:25:12.400 | and magnesium

00:25:13.100 | in your

00:25:13.600 | system

00:25:13.940 | if you

00:25:14.340 | want to

00:25:14.580 | perform

00:25:14.840 | well

00:25:15.160 | the other

00:25:16.180 | thing

00:25:16.400 | that's

00:25:16.660 | been shown

00:25:17.240 | over and

00:25:17.660 | over again

00:25:18.180 | numerous

00:25:19.780 | well-controlled

00:25:20.680 | studies to

00:25:21.280 | improve

00:25:21.840 | muscle

00:25:22.560 | performance

00:25:23.060 | is

00:25:23.380 | creatine

00:25:24.000 | how much

00:25:24.880 | creatine

00:25:25.320 | well I

00:25:25.700 | asked the

00:25:26.220 | experts

00:25:26.760 | and they

00:25:28.180 | tell me

00:25:28.560 | that for

00:25:29.080 | somebody who's

00:25:29.640 | about

00:25:29.880 | 180

00:25:30.700 | pounds

00:25:31.620 | five grams

00:25:32.640 | a day

00:25:33.020 | should be

00:25:33.580 | sufficient

00:25:34.040 | or so

00:25:34.840 | creatine

00:25:35.840 | seems to

00:25:36.400 | have a

00:25:36.860 | performance

00:25:37.340 | enhancing

00:25:37.820 | effect

00:25:38.300 | there are

00:25:38.720 | 66

00:25:39.200 | studies

00:25:39.880 | 66

00:25:40.640 | showing

00:25:41.580 | that

00:25:42.080 | power

00:25:42.600 | output

00:25:43.020 | is

00:25:43.640 | greatly

00:25:44.020 | increased

00:25:44.640 | anywhere

00:25:45.040 | from

00:25:45.520 | 12 to

00:25:46.180 | 20 percent

00:25:46.980 | and this

00:25:48.320 | is sprinting

00:25:49.000 | and running

00:25:49.360 | and jumping

00:25:49.860 | as well

00:25:50.260 | as weight

00:25:50.560 | lifting

00:25:50.820 | by

00:25:51.480 | creatine

00:25:52.060 | the ability

00:25:52.980 | to hydrate

00:25:55.140 | your body

00:25:55.720 | is improved

00:25:56.320 | by creatine

00:25:56.900 | because of

00:25:57.280 | the way

00:25:57.540 | that it

00:25:57.840 | brings

00:25:58.180 | more

00:25:58.680 | water

00:25:59.780 | into cells

00:26:00.760 | of various

00:26:01.180 | kinds

00:26:01.600 | it reduces

00:26:02.820 | fatigue

00:26:03.380 | when it

00:26:03.920 | comes to

00:26:04.740 | supporting

00:26:06.420 | muscle

00:26:06.880 | it does

00:26:07.480 | seem

00:26:07.920 | that

00:26:08.360 | ingesting

00:26:09.420 | 700 to

00:26:10.540 | 3,000

00:26:11.140 | milligrams

00:26:11.520 | of the

00:26:12.120 | essential

00:26:12.460 | amino acid

00:26:13.080 | leucine

00:26:13.740 | with each

00:26:14.440 | meal

00:26:14.720 | is

00:26:14.960 | important

00:26:15.300 | now

00:26:15.460 | that

00:26:15.620 | does

00:26:15.820 | not

00:26:16.220 | necessarily

00:26:16.840 | mean

00:26:17.220 | from

00:26:17.520 | supplements

00:26:18.040 | in

00:26:18.720 | fact

00:26:19.020 | most

00:26:20.420 | people

00:26:20.660 | recommend

00:26:21.140 | that

00:26:21.400 | you

00:26:21.540 | get

00:26:21.760 | your

00:26:22.180 | protein

00:26:23.160 | you

00:26:23.500 | get

00:26:23.680 | your

00:26:24.020 | amino

00:26:24.380 | acids

00:26:24.720 | including

00:26:25.160 | your

00:26:25.580 | essential

00:26:25.900 | amino

00:26:26.200 | acids

00:26:26.480 | and

00:26:26.640 | your

00:26:26.780 | leucine

00:26:27.120 | from

00:26:27.320 | whole

00:26:27.640 | foods

00:26:28.080 | high

00:26:28.660 | quality

00:26:29.360 | proteins

00:26:30.200 | high

00:26:30.700 | density

00:26:31.320 | proteins

00:26:31.880 | what do

00:26:32.120 | you mean

00:26:32.300 | by that

00:26:32.700 | well

00:26:32.940 | it is

00:26:33.480 | true

00:26:33.800 | that

00:26:34.060 | a lot

00:26:34.400 | of

00:26:34.540 | sources

00:26:34.940 | of

00:26:35.140 | protein

00:26:35.520 | are

00:26:36.100 | found

00:26:36.580 | in

00:26:36.980 | things

00:26:37.700 | like

00:26:37.920 | beans

00:26:38.280 | and nuts

00:26:38.700 | and things

00:26:39.000 | like

00:26:39.160 | that

00:26:39.320 | that

00:26:39.460 | all

00:26:39.680 | the

00:26:39.840 | essential

00:26:40.160 | amino

00:26:40.400 | acids

00:26:40.680 | can

00:26:41.020 | be

00:26:41.220 | found

00:26:41.600 | there

00:26:41.980 | but

00:26:42.740 | per

00:26:43.420 | unit

00:26:43.820 | calorie

00:26:44.480 | if

00:26:45.900 | it's

00:26:46.080 | in

00:26:46.220 | your

00:26:46.420 | practice

00:26:46.940 | if

00:26:47.300 | it's

00:26:47.840 | in

00:26:47.940 | your

00:26:48.060 | ethics

00:26:48.440 | to

00:26:48.620 | ingest

00:26:48.980 | animal

00:26:49.340 | proteins

00:26:49.740 | it's

00:26:50.060 | true

00:26:50.360 | that

00:26:50.660 | for

00:26:51.040 | instance

00:26:51.340 | 200

00:26:51.980 | calories

00:26:53.260 | of

00:26:53.500 | steak

00:26:53.840 | or

00:26:54.000 | chicken

00:26:54.280 | or

00:26:54.480 | fish

00:26:54.740 | or

00:26:54.920 | eggs

00:26:55.300 | will

00:26:56.280 | have

00:26:56.460 | a

00:26:56.580 | higher

00:26:56.820 | density

00:26:57.400 | of

00:26:57.680 | essential

00:26:58.040 | amino

00:26:58.320 | acids

00:26:58.720 | than

00:26:58.960 | the

00:26:59.120 | equivalent

00:26:59.480 | amount

00:26:59.900 | of

00:27:00.060 | calories

00:27:00.440 | from

00:27:00.900 | nuts

00:27:01.520 | or

00:27:01.760 | plants

00:27:02.140 | so

00:27:02.700 | I'm

00:27:02.800 | not

00:27:03.000 | for

00:27:03.220 | the

00:27:03.380 | vegans

00:27:03.660 | and

00:27:03.800 | vegetarians

00:27:04.300 | I'm

00:27:04.480 | certainly

00:27:04.820 | not

00:27:05.820 | saying

00:27:06.060 | there's

00:27:06.260 | no

00:27:06.400 | way

00:27:06.520 | that

00:27:06.700 | you

00:27:06.860 | can

00:27:07.120 | support

00:27:07.720 | muscle

00:27:07.980 | growth

00:27:08.180 | you

00:27:08.300 | absolutely

00:27:08.680 | can

00:27:09.140 | I

00:27:09.680 | encourage

00:27:09.940 | you

00:27:10.060 | to

00:27:10.220 | think

00:27:10.480 | about

00:27:10.720 | this

00:27:11.000 | protein

00:27:11.680 | density

00:27:12.200 | issue

00:27:12.640 | and

00:27:13.840 | whether

00:27:14.180 | or

00:27:14.300 | not

00:27:14.400 | you're

00:27:14.540 | getting

00:27:14.780 | sufficient

00:27:15.480 | essential

00:27:16.400 | amino

00:27:16.680 | acids

00:27:17.140 | especially

00:27:18.440 | leucine

00:27:19.140 | but I

00:27:19.880 | think

00:27:20.000 | the

00:27:20.140 | simple

00:27:20.360 | takeaway

00:27:20.720 | from

00:27:21.400 | the

00:27:21.540 | literature

00:27:21.760 | that

00:27:21.980 | I

00:27:22.120 | was

00:27:22.240 | able

00:27:22.380 | to

00:27:22.560 | extract

00:27:23.080 | eating

00:27:23.480 | two

00:27:23.760 | to

00:27:23.880 | four

00:27:24.020 | times

00:27:24.320 | a

00:27:24.440 | day

00:27:24.620 | making

00:27:24.880 | sure

00:27:25.060 | you're

00:27:25.220 | getting

00:27:25.400 | sufficient

00:27:25.880 | amino

00:27:26.480 | acids

00:27:26.860 | in

00:27:27.860 | a

00:27:27.960 | way

00:27:28.080 | that's

00:27:28.300 | compatible

00:27:28.720 | with

00:27:29.140 | your

00:27:29.360 | ethics

00:27:29.740 | and

00:27:29.920 | with

00:27:30.080 | your

00:27:30.260 | nutritional

00:27:30.680 | regimen

00:27:31.080 | is

00:27:31.580 | going

00:27:31.780 | to

00:27:31.960 | support

00:27:32.460 | muscle

00:27:33.700 | repair

00:27:34.220 | muscle

00:27:34.640 | growth

00:27:35.080 | strength

00:27:35.500 | improvements

00:27:36.040 | etc

00:27:36.640 | just

00:27:37.200 | fine

00:27:37.560 | last

00:27:38.240 | but not

00:27:38.580 | least

00:27:38.840 | I

00:27:39.040 | want

00:27:39.220 | to

00:27:39.340 | thank

00:27:39.580 | you

00:27:39.680 | for

00:27:39.800 | your

00:27:39.940 | time

00:27:40.160 | and

00:27:40.280 | attention

00:27:40.600 | today

00:27:40.980 | and

00:27:41.300 | as

00:27:41.580 | always

00:27:41.920 | thank

00:27:42.480 | you

00:27:42.580 | for

00:27:42.700 | your

00:27:42.860 | interest

00:27:43.180 | in

00:27:43.360 | science

00:27:43.780 | you

00:27:45.840 | you

00:27:46.340 | you

Build Muscle Size, Increase Strength & Improve Recovery | Huberman Lab Essentials

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