Masterclass on Building Strength and Stamina
One of the most valuable podcast episodes I’ve come across
🔑Key Points
This podcast episode is a masterclass on exercise physiology. Listen to it on repeat.
There are 9 adaptations to exercise.
Progressive overload is the term you want to focus on as you listen to the episode.
You can not optimize for every adaptation at the same time. This is why powerlifters and body builders look different, have different training regimens, and different diets.
Choose the adaptations you want to favor wisely and get to work.
📰This Issue
This week I wanted to thank all of you for subscribing to Level UP so I’m going to share my notes on one of the most valuable podcast episodes I’ve come across in the last few years (Linked at the top of this post). In this Huberman Lab Podcast episode, Dr. Andy Galpin gives a master class on strength and stamina training. The episode is so dense that I had to listen to it 3 times to compile these notes. I hope you find them valuable.
💪🏽Physiologic Adaptations to Exercise
The human body undergoes 9 different adaptations in response to exercise:
Skill (like getting better at a sport or learning to deadlift)
Speed
Strength
Power (strength x speed)
Muscle Hypertrophy (Bigger muscles)
Muscle endurance (How many reps per unit of time)
Anaerobic power (Maximal power per unit time during an all-out, very short-term effort <30sec)
VO2Max (maximum rate of O2 consumption)
Long duration endurance (like for marathon runners and stuff like that)
✏️General Notes on the 9 Adaptations
Power is kind of BS because its just the multiplication of two of the other adaptations - strength and speed, so its not reeeaaallly a separate new adaptation, but whatever.
You can’t optimize for everything so you will have to make up your mind about what you want and compromise.
Adaptations come in “families” or “types” so optimizing for one type of adaptation will have detrimental effects in other adaptations, but it will also help similar adaptations within the same family. Example:
If you optimize for hypertrophy, you will increase some strength as a side effect. But technically, optimizing for strength is an entirely different thing - different training program, routine, rest intervals etc... This is why Anatoly is stronger that most of these guys and yet, is way smaller (you should check out all of his posts btw, they are great):
Physiologic adaptations happen in response to stress. The key here is to keep stressing the system after it has adapted. This is done with the objective of avoiding plateaus and halting progress. This concept is called progressive overload.
There are many ways to implement Progressive Overload: more weight, more reps, more sets, or more complex movements (e.g., switching from leg press in a machine to squats).
The complete list of modifiable variables you can play with to implement progressive overload is as follows:
Exercise choice (for example simple to complex)
Intensity (% of max weight, or % of max HR)
Volume (How many reps and sets per week per muscle group are you doing)
Rest intervals (Try decreasing rest intervals during HIIT for maximum suffering)
Progression (Your rate of increase)
Frequency (times per week)
Interestingly, the exercise of choice itself does not determine the type of adaptation you target. But the application of said exercise choice does. For example, you can use bench press for strength, hypertrophy, endurance, power, or even cardio… depending on HOW you use it.
What determines the adaptation you target is the specific combination of the above list of modifiable variables you choose: amount of weight, # of reps, speed, etc.
☝🏽Helpful Tips
For the most benefit across the board most people should target: hypertrophy training and anaerobic conditioning. Unless you have specific reasons to deviate. For examples, some athletes may want to get stronger without getting bigger for tactical or strategic reasons. Regardless, targeting these two will result in a good foundation that can be fine tuned at a later stage.
To determine your max weight for each exercise: never attempt to lift your max because you will get hurt, especially if you are alone or if you are doing a complex exercise. Instead, use conversion charts available online. Click here for one.
Soreness is a horrible metric for workout quality. Being more sore the next day does not mean you had a better workout.
In general, everyone should: Exercise all joints through all ranges of motion throughout every week.
Technically, muscle tissue can only contract - so the distinction between push/pull exercises is kind of silly. In reality, it is more like anatomic front vs anatomic back (biceps vs triceps for example).
Start thinking in terms of anterior chain and posterior chain.
Breathing routine after a workout routine is VERY important because it prevents a crash later. It only takes 5min. The objective is to clamp down the adrenaline for a faster recovery. In general: take deep breaths and exhale twice as long as inhale. You can use the box method used by Navy SEALS or any other method like Wim Hof or whatever.
You can do strength/hypertrophy and LISS on the same day no problem (plenty of data on this).
Max heart rate is not a good proxy for physical fitness. Some pro athletes have a max HR of 175.
You want to hit your max HR at least once a week. But more is better.
If you understand the point of physiological failure when you are exercising, then you understand the adaptation you are targeting.
New data: Despite popular belief, interval training is likely to be complementary to hypertrophy, not detrimental. This is possibly due to effect of lactate. HIIT only interferes with hypertrophy if calories are not accounted for (This is a pain in the ass with IF).
Fast twitch fibers tend to be bigger, glycolytic, and less fatigable. Slow twitch fibers are packed with mitochondria). Each muscle has both.
If you have back pain and/or shoulder pain for example, this may mean that you have weak slow twitch fibers resulting in fast twitch muscle fibers having to pick up the slack - even though they are not very good at doing this job. So sometimes you can fix chronic pain with the right types of exercise.
Too much volume, intensity, or too much complexity gets you hurt because these can result in bad form and position (too much stress got put in a part of the system that can’t handle it yet).
If you get hurt don’t stop moving, go right to threshold for pain and keep moving
Hermetic stressors: short exposure provides a benefit. Hydration works the same way
❓How to target specific adaptations
🏋🏽♂️Strength
You will start seeing changes in a couple of days.
You need to challenge the muscle to produce more force. Not more reps, just a higher load. This process starts with neuro adaptations and that is why results are seen so quickly.
Mechanism: Intensity. The muscle does not need an insult. This is why powerlifters and strongmen can workout the same muscle every day (Body builders can not).
Intensity: Lift above 85% of your one rep max
Volume: 3-5 reps per set, 3 WORKING SETS
Frequency: Can be every day because there is no muscle damage
Rest interval: 2-4 min
Protocol: You need to warm up and work your way up to your WORKING sets. Your warmup does not count. Here is what you do:
10 reps at 50% max weight
8 reps at 60% max weight
6 reps at 70% max weight
Then you do your 3 working sets: 3-5 reps at above 85% max weight
Exercise choice: Work your way to complex exercises: squats, deadlifts, hinges, inclined dumbbell press, military press, etc...
💪🏽Hypertrophy:
You will start seeing changes in 4 weeks because this adaptation requires protein synthesis to make the muscles look bigger and this takes time.
Hedge towards recovery and protein intake. Follow the general 3 to 5 rule to keep it simple: 3-5 muscle groups, 3-5 sets, 3-5 times a week
Mechanism: muscle injury followed by protein synthesis. Protein synthesis takes up to 72hrs, so you should not train the same muscle group daily.
Intensity: 40% to 70% of your max weight.
Volume: You are looking for 5-30 reps per sets and take it to failure. You want 15 to 20 sets per muscle group per week.
Frequency: Muscle groups need 72hr recovery so you work it out.
Rest interval: varies
Protocol: Take the muscle to almost failure without hurting yourself.
🥵Cardiovascular Endurance:
At least once a week get to your max heart rate (better if its repeated bouts 4 -8). Warm up is important (break sweat) can use sauna or hot bath.
Intensity: Maintain conversational pace ( you should be able to talk in short sentences)
Frequency: Can be done daily. Even when training strength and hypertrophy
Volume: 60min to 90min
Exercise Choice: There is some concern about eccentric landing (more chance of muscle damage and soreness because its so repetitive ). start with concentric based exercises: Biking, swimming, rowing, pushing a sled, fireman’s carry, 3min plank, body weight squats
Protocol: Pick 3 and do 20min each back to back to avoid getting bored. Mix them up weekly.
Disclaimer: This content is provided for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Always consult with your primary care physician (PCP) or a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your lifestyle, diet, or exercise routine. The information presented in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results may vary. The author and publisher of this article are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use or application of the information provided. Please use your own discretion and judgment when implementing any suggestions or recommendations.