The Exercise Rabbit Hole

Huberman

Nerves and Muscles

The brain and nervous system control behavior by lower motor neurons (live in spinal cord and connect to muscle). They do what they are told by central pattern generators (collection of neurons that send info down phrenic nerve). They tell the lower motor neurons to fire and make the muscles contract at specific times.

The upper motor neurons are responsible for sending signals that would allow you to deliberately be involved in specific behavior.

No such thing as muscle memory. It is the neurons that control them.

Exercise alone won’t change your brain

It will maintain motor patterns but not open up plasticity. Needs to be different enough to the behaviors that you already know how to perform.

Clarification About Cold, Heat & Caffeine

Cooling of the palms periodically is good for performance. Hot sauna is good for growth hormone. Do them at separate times.

If you are caffeine adapted you should get greater performance. If not, you’ll affect thermoregulation and perhaps heat up too much.

Tool: How to Quickly Eliminate the Side-Stitch ‘Cramp’ & Boost HRV Entrainment

The phrenic nerve stretches to the diaphragm. If you aren’t breathing deep enough you might get reference pain around the liver area (side stitch). Do the physiological sigh (double inhale and released sigh exhale) to get rid of it.

Protocol For Increasing Limb Range of Motion, Immediately

Much of our flexibility is due to the neural innervation of muscle. Nerves prevent extension of muscles.

As you move through space, your eyes and vestibular system are coordinated. Extend your ROM measuring first, move eyes to far periphery (left and right), retest, you get a 5-10 degree change. The cerebellar change allows more range.

How To Exercise: Types, Effort Level, Sequencing

Heavy weight training (70-95% of max) using high-threshold motor unit recruitment, but not to failure, lead to increased testosterone for about a day to 48 hours. It possibly does this by hard work at the neural and muscular level as well as an effect of working too hard releasing cortisol too much and inhibiting testosterone levels. However, we don’t quite understand why yet.

Cardio/Endurance vs. Resistance Training (First or Last?) Yes, It Matters

Endurance first leads to decreased testosterone during the weight training session and vice versa. HIIT increases testosterone. Training longer than about 60 minutes will likely lower testosterone by increased cortisol. Endurance longer than 75 minutes will result in lower testosterone. However, the intensity matters. Hiking for 3 hours is unlikely to reduce it.

Growth Hormone: What, Why & How

GHRH tells the pituitary to release GH. This goes into the bloodstream and acts on tissues, muscles, bone, etc., to increase metabolism and repair, growth of tissues.

Not enough GH – short in stature. Acromegaly is too much.

Growth Hormone (GH) Changes Across the Lifespan & Risks of GH Therapy

As we age, we release less GH and recover slower. GH, if it is too high from therapy, will act on all tissues non-specifically.

How To Powerfully Increase Growth Hormone: Know the Natural Triggers

SWS and blood insulin to be relatively low. Eating too soon to going to bed will result in low GH. Don’t eat within 2 hours of sleep.

Delta Wave Brain Activity Is the Trigger for Growth Hormone Release

Delta wave activity is correlated with SWS. They trigger the neurons in the brain to release GHRH. During the day there is the potential to release GH by getting into delta wave sleep.

LOW Doses of Melatonin Supplementation for Increasing GH Release

Aiding the transition into delta wave sleep with low supplementation of melatonin (500mcg).

Book: Altered Traits, Binaural Beats? Delta Waves Access

Meditation has two separate lines of effects. States and traits. A meditation program that allows SWS deep wave sleep will assist in GH production.

People who do 20 minutes of sitting meditation seem to improve the GH release.

Specific Types & Duration of Exercise That Stimulate Growth Hormone & Warmups

Weight training or endurance training that is limited to 60 minutes. Get warm (actually warm the body) before working out to accelerate GH response, arginine, high intensity exercise that is not taking to failure.

Keeping Low Blood Glucose & Ensuring A Cool Down for Two Phase GH Release

Blood sugar not too high or low before or during exercise too (similar to sleep conditions). After exercise get the body temperature back down. Like having a second sleep during the day.

Sex Differences for WHEN During Exercise Growth Hormone and IGF-1 Release Occurs: Males Have to Last Longer

IGF-1 triggers improvement in memory and learning after exercise.

Sex dependent effect: Women were able to access the IGF-1 and GH early on in weight training and men later. Women will get the benefit in the first 30 minutes but men need to stick it out.

Supplements That Increase Growth Hormone 100-400% (or more): Arginine, Ornithine

Arginine (3-9g) and ornithine can increase GH levels. The prerequisite is low blood sugar. Arginine is also involved in vasodilation. Increasing arginine levels with the intention of increasing GH will interfere with the exercise induced increase. So, it won’t be synergistic. Might as well just exercise.

L-Citrulline Better for Arginine Than Arginine Itself (?!); & Blood Pressure Caution

L-citrulline has greater effects on vasodilation and is metabolized differently. However, it will lower blood pressure. Power output will increase, fatigue reduced, blood sugar lower, etc.

Growth Hormone Changes Across the Lifespan: No One Escapes

GH levels drop substantially across the board. Recovery is must slower. 2-3-fold decrease into the 30s and 40s.

Heat (& Cold) for Triggering Extremely Large Increases in Growth Hormone

GH all starts in the hypothalamus, which is involved in temperature regulation, sexual behavior, circadian behavior, aggression, etc.

Temperature has a profound effect on GH increase. Increasing temperature with a sauna has a huge effect. You start getting bigger stroke volume, you dilate the blood vessels, etc. Similar to exercise. If you don’t have a sauna, wear plastics/garbage bags to heat up.

GHRH neurons sit very close to the temperature regulation neurons and may be intermixed.

Specific Heat Protocols for Increasing Growth Hormone: Up To 16-Fold (?!)

Somewhere between 176 (80C)-215 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes has been shown to increase GH 16-fold (1600%). Follow the sauna with a cooling period for 3 days in a row and the effects end up resulting in the 1600% increase.

2021 (New) Study: Heat Increases GH, & Lowers Cortisol, No Effects on Testosterone, DHEA Or Prolactin

The cold did affect some of these hormones but the results are mixed.

Prescription Growth Hormone, & Emerging Peptides Therapeutics, Secretagogues Etc.

Most GH that we take have been synthesized. Anything exogenous will shut down your own production. Not a good idea to take anything forever.

Peptides are strings of amino acids. For any substance like GH, it is made up of peptides. These peptide therapies resemble the chosen hormone just enough to get the effects of it. A secretagogue or a mimic. Some peptides can change gene expression and possibly get the body releasing its own again when stopped.

Peptides are in prominent use in the movie industry to peel off body fat quickly.

Variables Impacting Physical Performance

Foundational variables for optimal performance: good night sleep, hydrated, well nourished (whatever that means to you and your personal circumstances).

Temperature Is the Dominant Variable

The most powerful variable for improving physical performance and recovery. Different compartments in your body heat your body differently.

Understanding Mechanism Is Key

Knowing why we should do something (logical framework) is essential before distilling this into specific protocols. This way we can modify them if need be.

Heat: The Enemy of All Performance (& why)

Heating up too much is bad for all tissue health. Killing off neurons is specifically bad as they don’t grow back. We have many mechanisms in us to protect us from being hyperthermic. We also have enzymes in our cells which get modified in the heat. Cells stop functioning and then dying off.

Blood Flow & Sweating & Piloerection

A lot more range to be cold than warm. When you get into cold water you secrete adrenaline. We also vasoconstrict to shuttle blood to the core organs. A hot day or if in a hot sauna you set off heat shock proteins. Blood vessels dilate in the heat and blood is moved to the periphery and we perspire to offload internal heat.

On a humid day, the sweat won’t be able to evaporate off to the atmosphere properly and will build up. Without the evaporation we will be warmer.

Goosebumps are a throwback to when we had fur. Adrenaline activates sympathetic fibers that mechanically bend the hair follicle up, trapping warm air between them and creating an insulated blanket of air.

Heat Is What Limits Effort: Even If You Feel Fine/Motivated

If you get too hot, your ability to contract muscles stops. ATP can only function within a very short temperature range (around 39-40C it drops off).

Your will to exercise further is dependent on the heat of the muscle. Keeping your muscle temperature in range will allow greater performance.

Proper Cooling Can Double, Triple, Quadruple (Or More) Your Ability

Proper cooling of particular body compartments has allowed athletes to greatly exceed their capacity for exercise. Also, to maintain that effect with conditioning.

Heat Induced Confusion & Death

Dietary supplements that were beta-adrenergic agonists (mimicking epinephrine), heated the body up and resulted in people overheating during practice. Clenbuterol is still in use (increases fat loss). Deaths in fighting sports seems more about overheating and dehydration than getting hit in the head. Compounding and creating a synergistic effect.

Drugs that remove your understanding of how warm you are cause you to not take on the appropriate behaviors to prevent overheating. Such as stopping when muscles overheat.

The Three Body Parts Best for Heating & Cooling Your Whole Body

Core of the body (heart lungs, and other organs), the periphery (arms, legs, hands).

Face, Palms, Bottoms of Feet; Glabrous Skin. The arrangement of vasculature is very different here. All mammals have hair on their bodies except for these areas with that vasculature.

Arterio-Venous Anastamoses (AVAs) Are Super Cool(ing)!

Blood moves from arteries, to capillaries, veins, then back to the heart. In these 3 regions (hands, face, and feet) we have arterio-venous-anastomoses (AVAs), which have a special pattern of vasculature. These are direct connections between the small arteries and small veins. Large inner diameter and muscular wall, also gets input from adrenergic neurons. The radius is proportional to the amount of blood that can flow through the “pipe.” Essentially, the AVAs allow more heat to leave the body and to cool the body quicker than other venous capillary beds in the body. Cooling the body as a whole.

Palmar Cooling Can Supercharge Your Athletic Performance

Cooling the palms allowed athletes to run longer, further, and lift more weight, and more sets and reps.

ATP, Pyruvate Kinase & Heat

Enzymes get disrupted when we heat up, resulting in ATP and muscles not working as well. More specifically, pyruvate kinase is the rate limiting step.

Holding a cold tube can allow more heat to be dissipated and transferring that cold temperature to cool the core, as well as helping to work for longer, given it is not so cold that it causes vasoconstriction.

Palmer Cooling Outperforms Anabolic Steroids Several-Fold

Alternatively, cooling the palms after every other set is another way to achieve improved results. Completely outperforming the anabolic steroid group in work per unit time. Excellent performance results and training stimulus that they could recover from.

Increasing Endurance, Willpower & Persistence

Your body heat and willpower are linked in a physiological way. If you are cool, you can go further, if you heat up, you will stop and die. There will always be those individuals that will go too far and injure themselves. However, there is a reflex that shuts the body down when it gets too hot.

Cardiac Drift, & Moving the “I Quit” Point

Increasing the temperature increases the rate of quitting mostly because of cardiac drift. Heat increases heart rate and so does effort.

Cooling the palms can help to protect against hyperthermia, coma, nerve injury, nerve death, and actual death.

Deliberate Heating: Myths and Better Protocols

The AVAs are also for heating as well as cooling the core. For post-surgery and hypothermic patients, you do want to heat the core. Warming the palms, feet, and face can insulate a person’s heat loss.

Protocols For Self-Directed Cooling to Vastly Improve Performance

Do max pullups in your set, for example, then put hands in cool water for 10-30s, then go back and do the next set.

If you’re someone who tends to get cold during the winter, heating/covering the face would be the most effective way.

Take a can of soda or frozen veggies and pass between your hands to prevent vasoconstriction. Or an ice pack to the face, just long enough to cool it down.

You don’t want to cool the core if you want to cool the body, so an ice bath isn’t that effective.

Improves in endurance, strength, explosive movement output.

A way to test this theory is to put a water bucket down for your feet to go in in between sets. Test dip performance.

How To Use Cold to Recover Faster & More Thoroughly

Submerging the body in an ice bath is a terrible way to cool quickly compared to the AVAs. You’ll cause constriction with submersion. Better off splashing the face with cold water or something.

Ice Baths & Cold Showers Can Prevent Training Progress: mTOR, etc.

Getting into an ice bath after training will block important inflammation pathways and also mTOR. Short circuiting hypertrophy effects. Just cool the body down to its resting temperature after training for performance effects.

If you want to increase brown fat thermogenesis or mental resilience it is good. Or for increasing adrenaline.

Alcohol, Caffeine, NSAIDs: Their Temperature Effects Matter

Pre-workout or other caffeine will bring your body temperature up and limit the amount of work you can do. You’ll get energized but will increase core thermogenesis. You only want to warm up enough that your muscles are pliable and active.

Alcohol is a vasodilator, so it can cool you down. Anything ingested after working out that can bring your temperature down will improve recovery. Alcohol is not exactly optimal given the negative health effects though.

Are Stimulants Counter Productive for Performance? It Depends.

There is a fine line between having enough energy for an intense workout and impeding your recovery because of it.

The Caffeine Rule & “Caffeine Adaptation”

If you are adapted to caffeine and your heart rate doesn’t skyrocket you shouldn’t have vasoconstriction until after it wears off, it should vasodilate momentarily. Those who aren’t adapted will have vasoconstriction.

In general, you would be better without caffeine than with, but if you’re adapted to using it you should keep doing it. A 3-week abstinence would be required.

NSAIDs for Training: Performance Enhancements & Risks

These drop body temperature artificially. However, they have effects on the liver and kidneys. Your electrolyte balance is important for performance so it won’t be worth it.

The Best Way to Explore Your Own “Parameter Space”

If you try tools like palmar cooling, you can modify your experience to match your individual requirements. If you take a drug or supplement you are stuck with the effects until they clear. They often have side effects too.

The First Law of Fat Loss

Calories in vs. calories out is the fundamental concept in weight gain and loss. There is evidence that highly processed food can alter the way we utilize food and lead to obesity but caloric intake is still the major rule.

The calories burned portion is influenced by things like hormones, thermogenic milieu, level of metabolism, level of thyroid hormone, and neural innervation of body fat.

Neurons Connect to Fat! (& That Really Matters)

5 Pillars of Metabolism: Sleep, Essential Fatty Acids, Glutamine, Microbiome, Thyroid

Quality sleep, light exposure, circadian timing, etc.

EFAs are vital for health. For antidepressant effects and healthy metabolism, we need EPA above 1000mg a day. Eat fatty fish and grass-fed meat. Otherwise, fish oil.

For sugar cravings you need amino acids, like glutamine. It can also assist with healing a leaky gut.

If your iodine, selenium, and thyroid levels are low your metabolic function won’t be optimal.

Eat fermented foods for the gut microbiome.

Mindset Truly Matters: Amazing Examples of Beliefs on Fat Loss

Simply being told that movement is good for you (can lead to weight loss and CVD health) led to more body fat loss and positive waist to hip ratio changes. As well as improved CVD health. Given the person is doing some sort of movement it will improve results. How we think about a process can change results.

Our Brain Talks to Our Fat

Our neurons can turn up the intensity of fat metabolism by increasing the amount of heat we produce.

The Most Incredible & Dangerous Fat Loss Agent

Dinatrophenol (DNP) is highly fatal is body temperature goes too high. It changes the neurons and how they connect to fat to accelerate fat loss.

Losing Fat Is a Two-Part Process: Mobilization and Oxidation

Lipolysis: moving fat from fat cells and breaking the glycerol backbone from the fatty acids, with the help of lipase, to mobilize fat. So, they can travel and be used for energy (potential fuel).

They need to be moved into mitochondria and then oxidized. If not oxidized it can go back to body fat.

The nervous system can be influenced to increase the mobilization and/or the oxidation of fat.

The Critical Role of Adrenaline/Epinephrine, But NOT from Adrenal Glands

The conversion of fatty acids to ATP is favored by adrenaline. There is mistake in the literature that the adrenal glands and release of adrenaline is what stimulates fat loss and oxidation. The adrenaline that is stimulating fat oxidation is coming from neurons that connect to fat (local process).

Fidgeting & Shivering: A Powerful Science-Supported Method for Fat Loss

One of the most powerful ways to stimulate this adrenaline is by shivering. Subtle forms of movement can greatly increase fat loss too. People who fidgeted tended to be able to overeat without as much weight gain. People who bounce their knee, head bob, those that stand up and down a lot, and pace, burned anywhere between 800-2500 calories more than the control group. Even those that move around really quickly. Staccato movements.

Using this as a weight loss technique seems to work best in those that are already slightly overweight and are averse to exercise.

How Fidgeting Works: Promotes Epinephrine Release into Fat. “N-E-A-T”

Little fidgety movements trigger epinephrine release and the mobilization of fat.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.

“Nervous activities” lead to a considerable caloric burn.

Two Ways of Using Shivering to Accelerate Fat Loss

This is why shivering is one of the strongest movements for fat loss. Those that use cold for fat loss are often using the wrong protocol. Most people use cold showers or an ice bath with mixed goals.

White, Brown & Beige Fat; & Using Cold-Induced Shiver to Burn Fat

White fat is an energy storage site that doesn’t have much mitochondria. Brown fat is brown because of those mitochondria. It is able to take food energy, break it down, and convert it within the cell.

Beige fat is in between. White fat that could be brown fat because of its greater number of mitochondria.

Cold causes the release of adrenaline from the adrenals and epinephrine from the neurons that connect to fat. Exposure can convert beige cells to brown and trigger more thermogenesis in that brown fat by increasing the intensity of the heat.

How To Use Cold Properly to Stimulate Fat Loss: Succinate Release Is Key/Shiver

Shivering itself causes the brown fat to increase the burn rate by triggering the release of succinate. This is what acts on the brown fat to improve brown fat thermogenesis. Over time converting the beige to brown. Without the shiver you won’t get this effect.

Exact Protocols: (1-5X per week); Don’t Adapt! Submerge and Exit “Sets & Reps” Exact Protocols: (1-5X per week); Don’t Adapt! Submerge and Exit “Sets & Reps”

If you want to trigger the shiver you want to get in and out of the cold water, don’t dry off, and then do it again. Don’t get hypothermic.

Getting into water that is too cold can shock your heart. Get into water that is just uncomfortable subjectively, 1-5x per week. Get in until you genuinely shiver, get out for 1-3 minutes, then in to reach the shiver point again. Do it 3 times. he cooling to rewarming point is where shivering effects usually kick in.

thecoldplunge.com see “protocols” tab Cold-Shiver-Fat-Loss Tool (cost free)

Irisin: Underwhelming; Succinate Is the Real Deal

Cold adapted people don’t release as much epinephrine and succinate release.

Brown Fat, Why Babies Can’t Shiver and Becoming a Hotter Furnace, Adding Heat

Heaps of brown fat as babies. The neurons aren’t wired up at sufficient levels to allow shivering. The brown fat gets lost if you aren’t exposed to cold temperatures.

Ice On Back of The Neck, Cold Underpants: Not A Great Idea for Fat Loss

Use the minimal effect of stimulus to promote growth or progress. Going further than that you won’t see the same linear gain. Use cold exposure more sporadically so you don’t adapt.

A Key Paper for the Aficionados: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2826518/

Neural innervation of white adipose tissue and the control of lipolysis.

Spot Reduction: There May Be Hope After All. Targeting Specific Fat Pads.

Fat metabolism happens systemically throughout the body. Actual spot reduction may be beginning to be possible. Exercise that triggers the neurons that innervate fat may increase epinephrine in those fat pads to increase mobilization from those sites.

If you become adapted to patterns of exercise innervation will shut off and stop releasing that epinephrine. Novel forms of exercise may mobilize them again.

Exercising For Fat Loss: What Is Best? High Intensity, Sprinting, Moderate Intensity?

HIIT, sprint intervals, or moderate intensity continuous training.

SIT is all out for 8-30s then walking back. HIIT is submaximal (80-100% of VO2 max) that lasts for 60-240s with brief recovery periods. MICT is steady state cardio (zone 2) for 20-60 minutes at 40-60% of VO2 max or 55-70% max HR.

Exercising Fasted: Does It Truly Accelerate Fat Loss/Oxidation.

Insulin will prevent fat oxidation. However, it doesn’t seem to matter if you gave glucose before training. Studies around fat mobilization and glucose intake are mixed.

The 90 Minute Rule: After 90 Minutes, The Fasted Exercisers Start to Burn More Fat

At a period of 90 minutes of moderate intensity there is a switch over point where the person who ate before exercise will burn less fat.

That’s a lot of exercise. Probably good for hikers but not runners or swimmers.

If High-Intensity Training Is Done First, The Benefits of Fasting Arrive Before 90min.

If one does HIIT or Very HIIT for 20-60 minutes, the switch over is earlier. Then go into zone 2 cardio for fat burning. Depends on glycogen stores and insulin levels dropping.

Post-Exercise Metabolic Increases: How to Bias This Toward Fat Oxidation

HIIT or sprints (anaerobic exercise) taps into glycogen stores quicker than moderate intensity. The % of fat burned after the exercise is greater in those that did HIIT. Those that do low intensity exercise will burn more body fat during and higher glycogen afterwards. HIIT followed by moderate is the most optimal overall.

A Protocol for Exercise-Induced Fat Loss; Adrenalin Is the Effector

3-4 times a week HIIT followed by nothing or moderate to low intensity afterwards.

Big movements deploy more adrenaline/epinephrine from our neurons to signal fat oxidation whereas low intensity doesn’t. Adrenaline is the effector and trigger of fat loss.

Supplements/Compounds for Fat Loss Part: Caffeine Fidgeting, & Caffeine Adaptation

Increasing epinephrine with things like caffeine. If you’re caffeine adapted. If not, you’ll vasoconstrict, lowering performance. Caffeine can be effective for fat burning up to 400mg.

You don’t burn that many calories during a run, but it’s good for the cardiovascular system.

Ephedrine, Fenfluramine: Removed from Market Due to Safety Concerns

People were heating up too much.

GLP1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide 1), Yerba Mate, Guayusa Tea, Semaglutide

GLP1 can be triggered by yerba mate. GLP1 is in the glucagon pathway. Fat is mobilized and oxidized in the mitochondria for ATP. High insulin prevents this process and glucagon facilitates it through increases of GLP1. Ingesting mate prior to exercise will increase fat oxidation. You can reuse the mate tea to extract more of the compounds.

Semaglutide is a GLP1 analogue.

Guayusa tea leaves are sweeter than mate.

Berberine, Metformin: Glucose/Insulin Reduction, Increase Fat Oxidation: But Caution

Berberine and metformin are used for reducing blood glucose. Keeping insulin low facilitates the fat oxidation.

Gardner Lab Results: What You Eat May Not Matter, But Adherence Is Key Tool

If you can’t stick with something it isn’t worthwhile. The most important thing is to keep insulin levels low to be in a position to burn more fat.

examine.com & Enter “Yerba Mate”: Lowers Heart Rate Even Though Is a Stimulant

Slight decrease in heart rate. Good for those that get fidgety with caffeine. A mellow stimulant.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine: Facilitates Fat Oxidation

After fat is mobilized it needs to be oxidized, facilitated by GLP1 and insulin being low. Also, acetyl-l carnitine. Helping convert fatty acids into ATP. It also helps reduce ammonia, CRP levels, reduce glucose, overall cholesterol, modify glucagon pathway, improve rates of pregnancy in both genders, reductions in blood pressure, reduced fatigue.

Muscle Is a Slave to the Nervous System

The nervous system manages movement via upper motor neurons, lower motor neurons, and CPGs. Muscles contract by release of acetylcholine. It’s the nerve to muscle connection that triggers hypertrophy.

Why We Have a Brain

The human brain is so large for dedication to vision and movement – engaging in lots of different movements.

Other animals don’t have as many upper motor neurons to execute an many various functions.

Flexors, Extensors, & Mutual Inhibition

When a flexor is activated, the extensor is inhibited. Reciprocal innovation or mutual inhibition. There are stabilizers too.

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

Muscles usually function by glycolysis. Available sugar resource (glucose) can be broken down into 2 sets of 3 carbons (pyruvates). This generates a little ATP. With sufficient oxygen, it can be brought into mitochondria and 28-30 ATP is created. Movement of muscle is metabolically expensive.

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

Pyruvate is turned into lactate with a hydrogen ion. Lactate buffers acidity (the burn is not lactic acid, it is lactate that is present to suppress the burn), it is also a fuel.

Feeling the Burn For 10% of Workouts Is Good for Brain, Heart, Liver. Every now and then you should work until feeling the burn, as lactate comes in to buffer (allowing more work) and acts as a hormonal signal that influences heart, liver, and brain in a positive way.

Leveraging Lactate to Enhance Brain Function

You can improve the function of neurons, by using lactate to improve the function of astrocytes.

Breathing Properly Through “The Burn”— For Sake of Performance & Brain Function

Lactate acts only if you have oxygen present. Breathing allows lactate to act.

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

Very little evidence for enhanced neurogenesis in humans with exercise. Hormonal signals (like IGF-1) are what is actually beneficial for brain health. Adding new neurons is not necessarily good for longevity.

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

Increasing the size of a muscle almost inevitably increases strength but it is not necessary.

HP: We recruit motor units in a pattern that staircases from a low threshold to a high threshold. Conservation of energy. You recruit more lower motor neurons with an increase in intensity. The more motor units, the greater the potential for muscle growth.

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

Heavy weights can increase size and strength but are not necessary. Unless you want to get really strong.

What Makes Muscles Grow? Stress, Tension, & Damage; Myosin Balloons

Stress, tension, and damage are the stimuli for growth.

Myosin gets thicker and this makes muscles bigger too. The nerve tells the muscle fibers to get stronger and thicker.

Figuring Out Which of Your Muscles Will Grow & Get Stronger Easily (Or not)

Your ability to independently contract muscles to the point of cramping means you probably have good upper motor neuron control and a good ability to improve strength and hypertrophy.

Getting Stronger Versus Muscle Growth: Distributed Versus Local Effort

If you attached weights to your ankles to improve calf strength and hypertrophy, the body would probably take a more efficient path and use hip flexors.

Getting better at compound exercises means avoiding isolating individual muscle contractions.

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

Once you know your rough 1RM with good form, it is most beneficial to use weights between 30-80% with varying rep ranges. Except if you are really trying to bias for strength.

How Many Sets Per Week to Maintain or to Grow Muscle & Get Stronger?

For individuals untrained, the key is to perform enough sets per muscle per week.

2-20 sets per week for strength training. 5 sets per muscle group getting close to failure is what is needed to maintain strength.

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

Number of Sets: Inversely Related to the Ability to Generate High Force Contractions

The number of sets will depend on intensity. The better you can generate a muscular contraction, the fewer sets you’ll need.

How Long Should Weight Training Sessions Last

60 minutes is getting pretty long.

Some individuals are so good at generating force that more volume is less effective.

Training Duration & Volume

If dividing sets across it is important to ensure recovery across muscle groups.

Range of Motion & Speed of Movement; The Key Role of (Upper Motor) Neurons

Learning to move weights as fast as you can under moderate loads may improve speed/explosiveness and most of the effect is from changes in the neurons. The way upper motor neurons communicate with lower motor neurons.

For people who want to get stronger, slowing down the weight as things get harder is a key parameter for recruiting high threshold motor units. Don’t use momentum.

For the sake of hypertrophy, as long as you aren’t moving too quickly, as to distribute load across muscles, it doesn’t really matter.

Customizing Training; 1-6 Month Experiments; Key Elements Summarized

The nervous system changes quickly at the beginning of training. You need sufficient volume, at least 5 sets each muscle group to maintain. Your ability to contract a muscle hard is inversely correlated to the amount of sets you should do.

Focal Contractions Between Sets to Enhance Hypertrophy, Not Performance

In between set contractions, flexing for 30s between sets can build a stronger nerve to muscular connection, improving stress tension and damage, etc. It just won’t help your work set.

The Optimal Resistance Training Protocol to Optimize Testosterone Release

Provided the training is 60 minutes or less there will be testosterone increase. 6 sets of 10 repetitions (compound lifts), even if you have to lighten your weight, with 2-minute rest between sets. Big increases of serum testosterone. 10 sets of 10 resulted in excess cortisol release.

How Quickly to Complete Repetitions; Interset Rest Times & Activities; Pre-Exhaustion

Half second to 8s speed of reps. Doesn’t matter. If your goal if performance, don’t do flexing between sets.

For strength gains, more rest. Use palmer cooling to improve recovery. More reps and sets without dropping the weight.

If you want to target a muscle area for hypertrophy you can pre-exhaust/isolate them. Performance will suffer.

Tools To Determine If You Have Recovered from Previous Training: Local & Systemic

Even if you isolated certain muscles, you can assess systemic recovery with 3 main tests.

HRV at a medium level. Not too high or low.

When you wake up, test grip strength by squeezing your fist or a grip tool. You can also squeeze a floor scale to see how much force you can put out. If you are about 10% lower than normal you may need more recovery.

Carbon Dioxide Tolerance Test for Assessing Recovery

Measures your capacity to engage the PNS and consciously control your diaphragm.

Inhale through the nose as deeply as you can, exhale through the mouth, do this 4 times, then a 5th inhale that expands as much as you can and then set the timer and release the exhale as slowly as you can through your mouth (CO2 blow off). Stop the timer once you run out of air. Don’t lie.

2 minutes would be heroic, 30s, typical, 20s fast. If less than 25-20s you are probably not recovered. 30-60s is the green zone for more work. Your nervous system is fully ready above that. If numbers are starting to drop by 15-20% you are veering in the direction of not recovering.

The Way to End Every Training Session. How To Breath Between Sets for Performance

After your training session, you should deliberately engage in PNS tools, such as the physiological sigh. Some people even use physiological sighs in between sets to recover their nervous systems.

How & When to Use Cold Exposure to Enhance Recovery; When to Avoid Cold

Using cold showers/ice baths less than 4 hours after training may interfere with inflammation pathways.

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

Can prevent benefits of cardiovascular exercises and some of the benefits of resistance training by blocking mast cells. Muscle damage and inflammation is a signal for change.

Pain killers block pain signals, which we need as physiological feedback.

Foundational Supplements for Recovery: EPA, Vitamin D3, Magnesium Malate

Reverie (hypnosis app), physiological sigh.

Use omega 3s, vitamin D3, and magnesium malate (good for DOMs). DOMs are not necessary for muscle growth. Massage, fascial release, etc., can help relieve sore muscles.

Ensuring Proper Nerve-Muscle Firing: Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium

Nerve cells communicate with electricity by using ions (salt). How much salt depends on how much caffeine and water you’re drinking.

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

For a 180-pound person 5g should be sufficient. It’s a fuel source for early bouts of activity (HI). No need to load it. Performance enhancing effective, increase in power output, better hydration, reduces fatigue, improved cognition after TBI. Can increase DHT. Some people have accelerated hair growth.

Beta-Alanine, Beet Juice; Note About Arginine & Citrulline & Cold Sores

Beta alanine supports slightly longer exercise. 2-5g. Mix of anaerobic and aerobic. Improve muscular endurance, anaerobic running, improve fatigue.

Longer duration – arginine, citrulline, beet juice. Can have side effects – herpes cold sores of the mouth. The virus lives on those neurons and arginine and citrulline can lead to an outbreak.

Nutrition: Protein Density: Leucine Thresholds; Meal Frequency

Caloric surplus of 10-15%. To support muscle synthesis, we need 700-3000mg of leucine from whole foods. Animal proteins will have a higher density than plants.

We don’t need to eat 6-7 times a day like the old school plans recommended. Get enough calories and amino acids.

Why Hard Workouts Can Make It Hard to Think/Do Mental Work

Hard bouts of exercise with focused muscular contractions can create a reduction of oxygenation in the brain.

Leveraging Weight Training & Rest Days to Optimize Cognitive Work

Your body and mind predict physical activity so schedule hard mental work during times when your body expects physical training.

What Time of Day Is Best to Resistance Train?

For hypertrophy and strength, it doesn’t really seem to matter when you train. There is evidence for better performance in the afternoon but that doesn’t matter for training.

How To Maintain Muscle

At least 5 sets per muscle group of resistance training per week.

Endurance: It’s Not What You Think, Crossover with Brain Function

Our ability to engage in continuous bouts of exercise. Cardiovascular exercise is vital for tapping into aspects of the brain for deeper focus and learning.

Energy; Many Paths To ATP: Creatine, Glucose, Glycogen, Fat; Ketones

ATP and mitochondria are required for anything that requires energy. We can convert carbs and fatty acids into ATP. Our muscles and neurons use different sources.

Phosphocreatine is used first, for short intense bursts of effort. Then glucose. Then glycogen from the liver. Finally fat stores from body fat.

The Vital Need for Oxygen: But why?

Without oxygen you can’t start a fire. It allows you to burn fuel.

What Allows Us to Endure (Anything)?

Willpower is neuronal fuel utilization in the brain.

The 5 Things That Allow Us to Persist/Endure & What Causes Quitting

Neurons, muscle, blood, heart, and lungs.

Why You Quit: It IS All in Your Mind

There are a class of neurons in the brain where if they are shut off, we quit. The locus coeruleus, which releases epinephrine.

By manipulating the visual environment, you could trick people into believing they are making progress or going nowhere (like being in a current). Progress or futility.

Glia pays attention to how much epinephrine is released and shuts it off when it reaches a threshold. If you could extend the time before glia shut it off, by releasing more epinephrine, you could postpone quitting.

The “90% Mental” Myth

Silly statement as it doesn’t make sense. 100% neural as they aren’t separate and require nervous system function.

The Critical Need for Carbohydrates & Electrolytes (& Sometimes Ketones)

The nerves need glucose (unless keto adapted) and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium). It is also pH dependent. Muscle will use the phosphocreatine system initially.

Phospho-Creatine, Glycogen, pH, Temperature Is Key

The phosphocreatine is short lived and is found in the muscle. Glycogen is stored carbohydrates in the muscle. pH is important and so is temperature for adequate muscular contractions long term.

Using Your Blood, Heart, & Lungs to Go Longer, Further, With More Intensity

Glucose in the blood (unless fasted), fatty acids, oxygen in the blood. The heart will move the blood and oxygen to provide more fuel to the muscles and the brain. Obviously, the lungs are important too then to provide that oxygen.

The liver allows more carbohydrates as a fuel source like a little energy pack.

When we ask what is limiting our performance, we need to see if it is nerves, muscles, blood, heart or lungs. Or what we should be doing with them to allow us to build endurance or with more intensity.

An Excellent Review on the Science of Training Adaptations

http://perspectivesinmedicine.cshlp.org/content/8/6/a029769.full.pdf

The 4 Kinds of Endurance

If we have good energy utilization in our musculature, blood, and cardiovascular system, our brain and body function better.

Muscular Endurance: Powerful for Everyone: Posture, Performance, Resilience

The ability for our muscles to perform work over time. Our failure to continue is due to muscular fatigue, not cardiovascular. At some point a muscle will fatigue with repeated effort.

Improves posture, movements that involve effort, etc. Can perform 12-100 repetitions. Pushups are a good example.

Protocol For Building Muscular Endurance. No Major Eccentric Component

3-5 sets of 12-100 repetitions. 12-25 is more reasonable for most people. 30-180s rest. You can also do a plank, sled, or wall sit to build muscular endurance.

No major eccentric loading component. The eccentric portion is one of the major causes of DOMS. Jumping has a slowing down portion so will not be good for muscular endurance. Kettlebell swings will work.

Muscular endurance can improve our capacity for long bouts of low intensity work. Isometric holds can be good for postural strength and endurance a the same time. Anybody who has poor postural endurance may need to lean against a wall or shift their hips to one side. A good way to fix this is to focus on symmetry and do isometric holds.

How to Make Muscles More Resilient: Mitochondrial Respiration, Neuronal Firing

Improving your muscular endurance builds mitochondrial respiration locally and increasing control of the neurons control the muscles and provide a stimulus for them to contract.

Olympic lifts are not ideal for muscular endurance. After 8-12 reps the form breaks down. Especially if the goal is to push to muscular fatigue, increasing injury risk.

Long Duration Endurance: 12minutes or More, One “Set”, Efficiency of Movement

Builds on fuel utilization in the muscles, CPGs, less than 100% of VO2 max, 1 set. Your ability to continue the effort is dependent on the efficiency of the movement and its fuel utilization.

Glycogen used up first. Your mind will use more energy if you require more willpower. When we ruminate, we are burning neural energy (glucose and epinephrine). Either do something or don’t.

Working on building mitochondrial density and burning less fuel overall while doing the same thing.

Why Everyone Should Train Long Duration Endurance: Capillaries in Muscle & Brain

It builds the capillary beds in muscle and increases mitochondria. When blood arrives to muscles it has oxygen, muscles use it, and deoxygenated blood goes back to the lungs. Bringing more energy to the muscles.

Anaerobic HIIT: 3-12 Sets, Work:Rest Ratio of 3:1 or 1:3; Quality of Repetitions is Key

Reps are performed at whatever speed allows good form. 30s hard pedaling or squats, 10s off. Timing depends on whether the quality of movement is okay. Don’t injure yourself or execute bad movement patterns. Quality is more important if weights are involved.

Maximizing Oxygen Utilization, Heart Rate & Nerve-Muscle Energy Utilization

Anaerobic endurance is taking your system greater than 100% VO2 max. High HR and maximize oxygen utilization systems.

Triggers mitochondrial respiration improvement – so they can use more oxygen. Increase capillary beds and also neuronal engagement with muscle.

The final sets will push the neurons to access more energy for the muscles. The adaptation is the mitochondria’s ability to utilize oxygen. Good for engaging in short bouts of intense work.

Aerobic HIIT; 1:1 Work:Rest Ratio, Tapping into All Energy Utilization Systems

3-12 sets, 3:1 or 1:1. 1:1 can improve all energy systems. Run 7 minutes, rest 7 minutes. Better for practicing to run a marathon than excessive running. Engages nerve to muscle firing, improves ATP and mitochondrial function in muscles, allows blood to deliver more oxygen to the muscle and brain, and heart to deliver more overall.

Only 2-3 times a week because it is intense. At least 24 hours rest between these workouts.

Building A Stronger Heart & Better Brain: Eccentric Loading the Heart: Stroke Volume

If you are breathing hard and the heart is working hard, the blood will circulate faster and oxygen utilization in muscles goes up. Because of the amount of blood returning, it causes additional work and eccentric loading of pushing the left ventricle, thickening the cardiac muscle and can pump stronger as a response. More work per stroke with regular exercise, lowering the heart rate. Cognitive function will improve with greater vasculature and oxygen delivery.

Resistance & Weight Training: Useless for the Brain? What Is Good for the Brain?

Strength and hypertrophy, especially getting into the burn, can have positive effects on the brain.

Not much research on resistance training because it’s hard to make a mouse do it.

Endurance training just has a greater positive effect from oxygenation of the brain.

The Strength-Endurance Tradeoff; How Long to Wait Between Workouts

Just weight training, you’ll get much stronger, but not the oxygenation benefits of cardio. We need at least 1-2 rest days per week to recover. Do the CO2 tolerance test.

Breathing During Endurance, Explosive and Weight Training: Nose, Mouth, Gears

Our ability to deliver oxygen to muscles and brain will determine our physical performance. Nasal breathing is better as it is more efficient. Nasal breathing as much as possible. Mouth breathing is useful for a strong exhale.

Intercostals & Diaphragmatic Breathing: Warming Up Intercostals Is Useful

Warming up the intercostals before endurance work can allow you to breathe in more deeply and get greater oxygenation.

Expanding the chest with breathing can warm them up. Delivering more oxygen to the system.

Eliminating the “Side Cramp” With Physiological Sighs

Sometimes when we breathe shallow, we’ll get a phrenic nerve pain, which you can relieve with a double inhale and then exhale.

Accelerating Through “The Wall”: Accessing Alternative Fuel Sources; Ketone Use

Different muscle fibers use energy differently. Increase your speed to shift muscles to use a different fuel source. If you are completely depleted then this won’t be an option though. A lot of people are ingesting ketones during ketones and carbohydrates instead of purely relying on carbs.

Hydration: Why Hydrate, How to Hydrate, & How Much Fluid to Drink

We need water and electrolytes for our nerves to function. 1-5 pounds of water per hour of training, temperature dependent. Once you lose 1-4% of your body weight in water, your work capacity will decrease by 20-30%. As well as decreased mental function. Urine can give you an indication of hydration. Turn up hydrated.

“The Galpin Equation”; Gastric Emptying Time, Adapting Hydration Mid-Training

Body weight in pounds/30=fluid to drink in ounces every 15 minutes of exercise.

If you’re sweating a lot, you may need more.

Gastric emptying is hindered above 70% of the VO2 max. You can train to relax abdominal muscles to consume fluids while running.

Boosting Mitochondrial Density with Cold; Wait At Least 6 Hours Before Cold/Between Training

Accelerating Recovery with 5 Minute Parasympathetic Down-Shift After Training

NSDR, meditation, breathwork. Slow, pure nasal breathing. Mellow out for 5-20 minutes to improve recovery.

Leveraging The Visual System During Effort, Milestones; Dilation & Contraction; Pacing

The contraction/convergence of the visual window has the impact of triggering neurons in the thalamus to activate alertness systems. Focus on a spot and it should be easier than picking out many milestones. If you have milestones, dilate your vision in between milestones so you can relax the nervous system. Taking less mental/visual effort while running.

The Physiological Basis of Your “Extra Gear”, Accessing Your “Kick”, Steve Prefontaine

When somebody runs to the finish line by using a visual target (focus point) and tapping into a different energy system and epinephrine.

Programming Examples; Concurrent Training

https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-build-endurance-in-your-brain-and-body/

Caffeine, Magnesium Malate to Reduce Soreness, Nitric Oxide, Beta-Alanine

Stimulants like caffeine. May inhibit creatine system. Magnesium malate to reduce DOMS. Good for sleep. Powder and beet juice for NO. Niacin flush from beta alanine.

Protein Consumption & Timing for Muscle

Muscle tissue seems to undergo hypertrophy because of enhanced protein synthesis early in the day, because of the clock regulated BMAL, which regulates a number of different protein synthesis pathways. Such that eating protein early in the day supports muscle tissue maintenance or growth.

So, eat protein early in the day, but still don’t eat within the first hour of waking up. The cut off would be about 10am if you woke up at 7am. It doesn’t matter when the resistance training occurs.

Huberman and Duncan French

How Certain Exercises Increase Testosterone

Mechanical stress response causing the downstream regulation of testosterone at the gonads. Catecholamines can signal the signaling cascade using the HPA axis, releasing cortisol, and influencing the adrenal medulla to release androgens and signaling to the gonads.

Females have testosterone release from the adrenal medulla instead. To a lesser extent than males, but they can also increase their anabolic state by using resistance training as a stressor, resulting in consequent muscle tissue growth. In men, the field is divided as to what extent the adrenal stimuli have with acute responses vs. the longitudinal exposure to elevated basal levels of anabolic testosterone habitual level. Probably both.

Testosterone can also have growth effects on tendons, ligaments, neural tissue, bone, etc. Anywhere where there are androgen receptors.

What Kind of Training Increases Testosterone & Growth Hormone?

Testosterone is stimulated by intensity factor and volume factor, whereas growth hormone is stimulated by intensity factor alone.

6 sets of 10 repetitions at about 80% intensity of 1RM, separated by 2 minutes rest. This really targets the release of testosterone.

A multi joint challenging exercise. Focusing on achieving the 10 reps. If the load was too high, drop the weight.

Intensity: Mechanical Load; Volume: Metabolic Load; Inter-set Rest Periods

Trying to stimulate mechanical strain through intensity, as well as metabolic strain through volume (how much are you driving lactate or glycogenolysis). German volume 10 x 10 seemed too long.

6 sets of 10 is driving up metabolic stimulus vs. 10 sets of 6 meaning you can achieve a higher intensity but not getting the metabolic load – driving lactate release, signaling further anabolic testosterone. If you extend rest too long, you’re influencing the metabolic stimulus, allowing the flushing of the body and the removal of waste products – lactate being removed from the body, reducing the metabolic environment. If the goal was just to increase muscle growth, an athlete getting 3 minutes rest would see less gains.

Training Frequency & Combining Workout Goals

Rest and training frequency will depend on your training age. Although, 80% is still quite intense regardless. 2 times per week if you’re an athlete, more if you’re a bodybuilder.

Muscle growth is a conduit to increased strength, increased power, and increased speed by increasing cross sectional area to produce more force. However, most athletes aren’t looking for pure muscle growth and have other aspects of performance they need to work on (muscular endurance, maximal power, muscle strength, etc.).

A weekend warrior should probably spend 2 times per week doing this 80%, 6 sets x 10 reps workout and other workouts with more of a volume emphasis (reduced intensity and larger rep ranges).

How Stress Can Increase or Decrease Testosterone

Short term, stress can increase testosterone. In those people who were preparing for a daunting workout, epinephrine (which is coupled to testosterone, performance, and adaptation provided it doesn’t go too long) and noradrenaline was already being released 15 minutes prior to the challenging workout. The greater the arousal, the higher the performance.

Using Cold Exposure for Mindset, Anti-Inflammation, Muscle-Growth

Cold clamps down every part of the vasculature system, making it challenging to redistribute circulation. For mindset, however, cold exposure is great because the body doesn’t know the difference between a cold stress response and heavy weight training response. An ice bath will dampen the mTOR pathway and hypertrophic signaling pathway. Meaning the muscle building phase would not benefit much. However, for recovery it may be beneficial during competition periods when quality and performance must be maintained.

Skill Development

For skill development it is about rehearsal of accurate movements. Fatigue will decrease the neuronal potential. Shorter sessions at a higher quality.

Why Hard Exercise Creates Brain Fog: Role of Nutrition

The fueling of the brain and muscles while training can exhaust you, leaving very little for hard mental work later. Skill work can be very taxing.

Low-Carbohydrate Versus All-Macronutrient Diets on Performance

They would never advocate a high intensity athlete to undergo a ketogenic approach to diet.

Ketones & Brain Energy, Offsetting Brain Injury; Spiking Glucose During Ketosis

After the event they sometimes use ketones to refuel the brain and offset damage after head trauma. If you can cycle your ketogenic periods it may lead to better metabolic management and efficiency, while operating at a lower intensity (using lipids and fats).

They often have their high intensity athletes on a ketoish diet, but fuel their sessions with carbohydrates (pre, during, and post).

Metabolic Efficiency, Matching Nutrition to Training, “Needs Based Eating”

Teach the body to use fat at lower intensity and carbohydrates high intensity, so they don’t expend all the glucose stores early. Needs based eating.

Why UFC & MMA (Mixed-Martial Arts) Are So Valuable for Advancing Performance

The degrees of freedom in mixed martial arts are exponential. So much variability. Sometimes people don’t have a schedule of who they are going to fight or when until a month prior. Making training management challenging.

Mental resilience is incredibly high in this field. The fighters are typically good at flicking the switch and recovering when necessary. Type A individuals tend to struggle to excel because they don’t take their time and experiment.

Heat, Getting Better at Sweating, Heat Shock Proteins, Sauna

HSPs are driven by stressful exposure to a change in environment. 15 minutes of exposure in a hot sauna (200F) to start with. If you don’t have a high sweat rate, you’ll have to sit in a sauna longer to drop weight. 8-10 weeks before the fight to build resilience.

Training the body to get better at handling hotter temperatures.

Using Rotating 12-Week Training Programs; Logging Objective & Subjective Data

Regression or progression is determined after a 12-week program. Too short of a training schedule and your results will be hard to determine. Rates of recovery and daily physiological status will vary.