How to Build Endurance in Your Brain & Body
This episode with Andrew Huberman, a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine, details the four types of endurance training: muscular, long duration, anaerobic HIIT, and aerobic HIIT. It provides specific protocols for each, alongside crucial insights on hydration, breathing, and mental strategies to enhance physical and cognitive performance.
Deep Dive Analysis
17 Topic Outline
Introduction to Endurance Training and Its Importance
Energy Production: ATP and Various Fuel Sources
Limiting Factors of Endurance and the Role of the Nervous System
The Four Distinct Kinds of Endurance Explained
Muscular Endurance: Definition and Training Protocol
Long Duration Endurance: Definition, Benefits, and Capillary Beds
High-Intensity Anaerobic Endurance Training (HIIT)
High-Intensity Aerobic Endurance Training (HIIT)
Cardiovascular Adaptations: Strengthening the Heart and Brain
Optimizing Breathing for Endurance and Performance
Eliminating Side Cramps with Physiological Sighs
Accelerating Through Fatigue by Tapping Alternative Fuel Sources
Optimal Hydration: Importance and the Galpin Equation
Boosting Mitochondrial Density and Accelerating Recovery
Leveraging the Visual System for Effort and Pacing
The Physiological Basis of Your 'Extra Gear' in Effort
Programming Endurance Workouts and Supplement Considerations
9 Key Concepts
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
ATP is the fundamental energy currency required for any effort in the body, whether physical or mental. It is generated from various fuel sources like phosphocreatine, glucose, glycogen, fats, and ketones within cellular organelles called mitochondria.
Central Governor
This is a neural system in the brain, involving neurons that release epinephrine (adrenaline), which dictates whether we should continue or stop an effort. Our willingness to persist or quit is mediated by these neural events.
Muscular Endurance
The ability of specific muscles to perform repeated work over time, with failure primarily due to local muscle fatigue rather than cardiovascular or mental exhaustion. It is built through high-repetition, low-eccentric load exercises.
Long Duration Endurance
Continuous effort lasting 12 minutes or more, typically performed at less than 100% of maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max). This type of training primarily builds mitochondrial density and expands capillary beds within muscles and the brain, improving efficiency and fuel delivery.
Anaerobic Endurance (HIIT)
A type of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) where effort exceeds 100% of VO2 max, pushing heart rate very high. It trains mitochondria to use more oxygen and enhances neural engagement with muscles for repeated short, intense efforts.
Aerobic Endurance (HIIT)
Another type of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that involves working at or near VO2 max with specific work-to-rest ratios. It improves overall energy utilization systems, strengthens the heart's stroke volume, and builds lung capacity.
Stroke Volume
The amount of blood the heart pumps per beat. High-intensity endurance training can increase stroke volume by eccentrically loading and strengthening the heart muscle, allowing more fuel (glucose, oxygen) to be delivered to muscles and the brain per beat.
Panoramic Vision
A relaxed, wide field of view where one is not focused on a single point. This visual state tends to induce states of relaxation and can be used during endurance activities to conserve mental energy.
Vergence Eye Movement
The contraction of the visual window to focus on a specific location or milestone. This action triggers neural circuits in the brain that activate the alertness system, allowing for greater effort generation, but at a higher mental energy cost.
10 Questions Answered
The fundamental energy currency for all effort, whether physical or mental, is ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), which is produced within cells from various fuel sources like carbohydrates, fats, and creatine.
The primary limiting factors for endurance are categorized into five main areas: nerves, muscle, blood (fuel sources), heart, and lungs. Our ability to persist is largely neural, with specific brain neurons determining whether we continue or quit.
Quitting is primarily a neural phenomenon, not purely mental or physical. The decision to quit is mediated by specific neurons in the brain, particularly those involved in releasing epinephrine, which signal an end to effort.
The four distinct types of endurance are muscular endurance, long duration endurance, high-intensity anaerobic endurance, and high-intensity aerobic endurance.
Long duration endurance training is beneficial because it builds capillary beds within muscles and the brain, increasing the delivery of oxygen and nutrients. It also enhances mitochondrial density, improving the efficiency of energy utilization.
HIIT workouts, particularly those involving high heart rates, cause an eccentric loading of the heart's left ventricle. This strengthens the cardiac muscle, increasing its stroke volume, which allows the heart to pump more blood and oxygen per beat.
Proper breathing, including warming up intercostal muscles and the diaphragm, allows for deeper breaths and more efficient oxygen delivery to working muscles and the brain. Nasal breathing is generally preferred, but mouth breathing is incorporated at higher intensities.
Yes, if you're hitting a 'wall' during prolonged effort, accelerating your speed can shift your muscles and nerves to utilize alternative or distinct fuel sources, such as the phosphocreatine system or a different combination of lipids and carbohydrates, revealing untapped energy.
Even a slight degree of dehydration (1-4% body weight loss in water) can lead to a 20-30% reduction in physical and cognitive performance. Proper hydration with adequate electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) is crucial for neuronal firing and overall cellular function.
Focusing your vision on a specific landmark (vergence eye movement) can trigger alertness and increase effort output. Alternating this focused vision with panoramic, relaxed vision can help manage mental fatigue and optimize energy expenditure during long bouts of effort.
25 Actionable Insights
1. Regular Endurance Practice
Engage in regular endurance practice of some sort, as it is vital for the functioning of both body and mind, offers clear longevity benefits, and improves energy utilization across musculature, vascular, and oxygenating systems.
2. Weekly Resistance Training Minimum
Perform at least five sets of resistance training per muscle per week to increase or maintain muscle strength and size, which is vital for immediate and long-term health, including brain health.
3. Hydrate Using Galpin Equation
Use the Galpin equation (body weight in pounds / 30 = ounces per 15 minutes of exercise) as a rule of thumb for fluid intake, ensuring adequate electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium) to prevent 20-30% reductions in work capacity and mental performance due to dehydration.
4. Supplement Vitamin D3 & K2
Supplement with Vitamin D3 and K2, as D3 is essential for various aspects of brain and body health (many are deficient even with sunshine), and K2 is important for regulating cardiovascular function and calcium in the body.
5. Utilize Meditation/NSDR App
Use a meditation app (e.g., Waking Up) for meditation, mindfulness training, yoga nidra, or non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) protocols, as it offers different durations and types of sessions to place the brain and body into various states and restore cognitive and physical energy.
6. Muscular Endurance Training
Train muscular endurance with 3-5 sets of 12-100 repetitions (12-25 reps are more reasonable for most) with 30-180 seconds rest between sets, approaching or reaching failure, focusing mainly on concentric movements without major eccentric loading.
7. Isometric Postural Endurance
Incorporate isometric holds like planks or wall sits into your routine, performing 3-5 sets for 1-2 minutes with 30-180 seconds rest, to build muscular endurance in postural muscles (spinal erectors, abdominals, neck) and improve overall posture.
8. Long Duration Endurance
Engage in one set of continuous effort for 12 minutes or longer (e.g., running, swimming, cycling) at less than 100% of your maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max), focusing on movement efficiency to build mitochondrial density and new capillary beds within muscles.
9. Aerobic HIIT Protocol
Perform 3-12 sets of high-intensity aerobic conditioning with a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio (e.g., run a mile, rest for the same duration, repeat) to build a wide range of energy systems, improve nerve-to-muscle firing, and enhance heart and lung capacity.
10. Anaerobic HIIT Protocol
Perform 3-12 sets of high-intensity anaerobic endurance training with a work-to-rest ratio of 3:1 (e.g., 30 seconds on, 10 seconds off) or 1:5 (e.g., 20 seconds on, 100 seconds off), pushing your system above 100% VO2 max to maximize oxygen utilization and train neurons for intense, repeated efforts.
11. Separate Concurrent Workouts
If combining strength training and endurance training, allow at least 4-6 hours, and ideally 24 hours, between these different types of workouts to optimize adaptations and recovery.
12. Incorporate Weekly Rest Days
Take one to two full rest days per week to allow for systemic recovery, especially if your sympathetic nervous system (stress system) is chronically elevated, leading to better performance and mental well-being.
13. Post-Workout Mellow Out
Immediately after any training, dedicate 5-20 minutes to slow, pure nasal, long-exhale breathing or simply lie down and zone out to accelerate systemic recovery by quieting the sympathetic nervous system.
14. Use CO2 Tolerance Test
Perform the carbon dioxide tolerance test (four breaths in/out, then a big inhale and a slow controlled exhale) to assess recovery; an exhale of 60 seconds or longer indicates good parasympathetic control and systemic recovery.
15. Pre-Workout Breathing Warmup
Before any endurance work, spend about three minutes breathing very deeply, concentrating on raising the chest (intercostals) and expanding the stomach (diaphragm) on inhale, to warm up breathing muscles and enhance oxygen delivery.
16. Nasal Breathe During Endurance
Practice nasal breathing during long duration endurance work, as it scrubs the air of bacteria and viruses, benefits the nasal microbiome, and is a more efficient breathing system.
17. Exhale During Max Effort
During high-intensity training, exhale on the maximum effort part of the movement (concentric phase) and inhale on the less intense part (eccentric phase) to optimize breathing for intense efforts.
18. Double Inhale for Side Stitch
If experiencing a side stitch during exercise, perform a double inhale (deep breath, then sneak in more air) followed by a full exhale, repeating a few times, as this often relieves the discomfort caused by phrenic nerve aggravation.
19. Leverage Visual Focus for Effort
During endurance activities, focus your eyes on a landmark or milestone to generate more effort, but alternate with dilating your field of view for relaxation and efficiency, as visual focus activates neural circuits for alertness and higher energy output.
20. Accelerate to Shift Fuel
If you hit a ‘wall’ or feel fatigued during long duration effort, try increasing your speed (run, pedal, row, swim faster) for a short bout, as this can tap into alternative fuel sources and allow for continued effort.
21. Practice Mid-Workout Hydration
Practice ingesting small amounts of fluid during high-intensity training (above 70% VO2 max) and gradually increase the volume, as this capacity can be trained to ensure crucial hydration during intense efforts.
22. Cold Exposure Post-Endurance
Consider taking ice baths or cold showers after endurance training, as there is some evidence it can improve mitochondrial density and respiration and facilitate recovery, though it remains a controversial area.
23. Magnesium Malate for DOMS
Consider supplementing with magnesium malate, as it has been shown to be useful for reducing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), particularly after novel or high-eccentric load workouts.
24. Caffeine for Performance
Consider using caffeine, as it has been shown to definitely improve endurance work and power output, though there’s some evidence it might inhibit the creatine system.
25. Morning & Exercise Electrolyte Intake
Dissolve one packet of Element in about 16 to 32 ounces of water when you wake up in the morning and during any physical exercise to ensure proper hydration and adequate electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium).
5 Key Quotes
The reason we quit is rarely because our body quits, our mind quits.
Andrew Huberman
It's not 90% mental, 10% physical, it's not 50-50, it's not 70-30, it's 100% nervous system, it's neurons.
Andrew Huberman
Willpower, in part, is the ability to devote resources to things and part of that is making decisions to just either do it or not do it.
Andrew Huberman
Your body is used to using multiple fuel sources. It's only in the, you know, kind of internet age that we think in terms of, oh, well, you're either keto or you're burning sugar or you're, you know, fat adapted or fat fasting or fast fasting or fat fatting.
Andrew Huberman
If you're going to be doing a lot of high intensity interval training of the various kinds I talked about today, or high intensity training of any kind, that hydration is key and learning, or in other words, getting your system to adapt to ingesting fluids in the middle of these workouts is something that seems beneficial.
Andrew Huberman
6 Protocols
Protocol for Building Muscular Endurance
Andrew Huberman- Perform 3 to 5 sets of 12 to 100 repetitions (12-25 reps are more reasonable for most individuals).
- Rest for 30 to 180 seconds between sets.
- Perform repetitions until approaching or reaching muscular failure.
- Ensure movements have no major eccentric (lowering) loading component; focus on concentric (lifting/contracting) movement.
- Examples include push-ups, pull-ups (without slow lowering), planks, wall sits, and kettlebell swings.
Protocol for Long Duration Endurance
Andrew Huberman- Engage in one continuous set of effort lasting 12 minutes or longer (e.g., 30-60 minutes).
- Perform at an intensity less than 100% of your maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max).
- Focus on efficiency of movement rather than high intensity.
Protocol for High-Intensity Anaerobic Endurance (HIIT)
Andrew Huberman- Perform 3 to 12 sets, starting with fewer sets and gradually increasing.
- Utilize a work-to-rest ratio of 3:1 (e.g., 30 seconds of hard effort followed by 10 seconds of rest) or 1:5 (e.g., 20 seconds of hard effort followed by 100 seconds of rest).
- Perform repetitions at a speed that allows for good, safe form; longer rest periods (like 1:5) can help maintain quality with weighted movements.
- Push the system to the point where you are not necessarily psychologically ready for another set, but begin it safely.
Protocol for High-Intensity Aerobic Endurance (HIIT)
Andrew Huberman- Perform 3 to 12 sets, starting with fewer sets and gradually increasing.
- Utilize a work-to-rest ratio of 3:1, 1:5, or a powerful 1:1 ratio.
- For the 1:1 ratio, perform an intense effort (e.g., running a mile) and then rest for an equivalent amount of time before repeating the effort.
- Perform at or near your maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max).
Galpin Equation for Hydration During Exercise
Andrew Huberman (attributing Dr. Andy Galpin)- Calculate your body weight in pounds.
- Divide your body weight by 30.
- The resulting number is the amount of fluid (in ounces) you should drink for every 15 minutes of exercise.
Post-Training Parasympathetic Down-Shift for Accelerated Recovery
Andrew Huberman- Immediately after training, take a minimum of 5 minutes (ideally 10-20 minutes) for a dedicated cool-down.
- During this time, focus on slow, pure nasal breathing with long exhales.
- Lie down or sit quietly and 'zone out' to quiet the nervous system.