Science of Muscle Growth, Increasing Strength & Muscular Recovery | Huberman Lab Podcast #22

In this episode I describe how our brain and nervous system control muscle tissue and how to leverage that for muscle maintenance, growth (hypertrophy) and recovery. I explain muscle metabolism and muscle fiber recruitment. I detail protocols for increasing muscular growth and for neuro-muscular recovery. I explain the effects of deliberate cold, anti-inflammatory agents, and anti-histamines on training progress. I describe science-supported protocols using certain weight load ranges, total sets per week, training intensity, frequency, and in-between set activities if one's goal is to increase muscle growth, strength or endurance. I review three foundational compounds and nutrients and three optimization compounds and nutrients that have been shown to improve neuro-muscular performance. Finally, I explain how to leverage exercise and weight training to enhance cognitive function.



#HubermanLab #MuscleGrowth #Exercise



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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:10:58 Protocol For Fat Loss: (Zero-Cost) PDF Available At: thecoldplunge.com

00:12:45 Muscle Is A Slave To the Nervous System

00:16:22 Why We Have A Brain

00:17:38 Flexors, Extensors, & Mutual Inhibition

00:20:00 How Muscles Move, Making & Using Muscle Energy: Making ATP

00:23:29 The “Burn” Is Not Lactic Acid. Lactate: A Buffer (Prevents Acidity), Fuel, & Hormone

00:26:11 Feeling the Burn For 10% of Workouts Is Good For Brain, Heart, Liver

00:27:30 Leveraging Lactate To Enhance Brain Function

00:29:40 Breathing Properly Through “The Burn”— For Sake of Performance & Brain Function

00:30:47 Neurogenesis (New Neurons) & Exercise: Not Much, In Humans… Which Is Good.

00:33:39 How To Contract Muscles, Make Them Bigger and/or Stronger: Henneman’s Principle

00:36:58 A Large Range of Weight (30-80% of One Repetition Maximum) Can Be Used

00:38:58 What Makes Muscles To Grow? Stress, Tension, & Damage; Myosin Balloons

00:45:22 Figuring Out Which of Your Muscles Will Grow & Get Stronger Easily (Or Not)

00:48:11 Getting Stronger Versus Muscle Growth: Distributed Versus Local Effort

00:50:47 How Much Resistance Should (Most) People Use? (30-80% Range) & Specific Goal

00:54:25 How Many Sets Per Week To Maintain Or To Grow Muscle & Get Stronger

00:56:43 10% Of Resistance Training Should Be To “Failure”, the Rest Should End “Near” Failure

00:58:23 Number of Sets: Inversely Related To the Ability to Generate High Force Contractions

01:00:09 How Long Should Weight Training Sessions Last

01:01:35 Training Duration & Volume

01:03:51 Range of Motion & Speed of Movement; The Key Role of (Upper Motor) Neurons

01:08:10 Customizing Training; 1-6 Month Experiments; Key Elements Summarized

01:09:28 Focal Contractions Between Sets To Enhance Hypertrophy, Not Performance

01:11:26 The Optimal Resistance Training Protocol To Optimize Testosterone Release

01:16:00 How Quickly To Complete Repetitions; Interset Rest Times & Activities; Pre-Exhaustion

01:20:43 Tools To Determine If You Have Recovered From Previous Training: Local & Systemic

01:26:33 Carbon Dioxide Tolerance Test For Assessing Recovery

01:32:43 The Way To End Every Training Session. How To Breath Between Sets For Performance

01:34:46 How & When To Use Cold Exposure To Enhance Recovery; When To Avoid Cold

01:36:37 Antihistamines & Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: Can Be Problematic/Prevent Progress

01:38:42 Foundational Supplements For Recovery: EPA, Vitamin D3, Magnesium Malate

01:41:08 Ensuring Proper Nerve-Muscle Firing: Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium

01:45:00 Creatine: Good? How Much? Cognitive Effects. Hormonal Considerations: DHT

01:50:12 Beta-Alanine, Beet Juice; Note About Arginine & Citrulline & Cold Sores

01:52:00 Nutrition: Protein Density: Leucine Thresholds; Meal Frequency

01:55:54 Why Hard Workouts Can Make It Hard To Think/Do Mental Work

01:57:25 Leveraging Weight Training & Rest Days To Optimize Cognitive Work

01:58:58 What Time Of Day Is Best To Resistance Train?

01:59:40 More Information Resources, Subscribing (Zero-Cost) To Support



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Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com