Dr. Duncan French: How to Exercise for Strength Gains & Hormone Optimization

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Duncan French, Ph.D., the Vice President of Performance at the UFC Performance Institute and a world-class performance specialist. We discuss specific resistance (weight) training regimens for increasing testosterone in men and women and how to vary mechanical loads and rest between sets and workouts to optimize hormone output and training results. We also discuss how stress-induced "catecholamines" can increase testosterone or decrease it, depending on duration and mindset. And we discuss specific cold- and heat- therapies for increasing resilience, reducing inflammation, heat shock proteins and more. We discuss nutrition for training and how to match nutrition to training goals and metabolic flexibility. We discuss mental focus and how long to train for skill development. Finally, we discuss how mixed martial arts and the UFC Performance Institute are a template for exploring human performance more generally. This episode is intended for anyone interested in athletic and mental performance: athletes, students, and recreational exercisers and includes both science and many practical tools people can apply in their own training. 

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Dr. Duncan French  

00:02:44 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:05:44 Duncan’s Background in Exercise Science  

00:11:45 How Certain Exercises Increase Testosterone  

00:16:22 What Kind of Training Increases Testosterone & Growth Hormone?  

00:20:19 Intensity: Mechanical Load; Volume: Metabolic Load; Inter-set Rest Periods  

00:25:25 Training Frequency & Combining Workout Goals  

00:29:35 How Stress Can Increase or Decrease Testosterone  

00:36:55 Using Cold Exposure for Mindset, Anti-Inflammation, Muscle-Growth  

00:46:55 Skill Development  

00:50:05 Why Hard Exercise Creates Brain Fog: Role of Nutrition  

00:53:55 Low-Carbohydrate Versus All-Macronutrient Diets on Performance  

00:56:15 Ketones & Brain Energy, Offsetting Brain Injury; Spiking Glucose During Ketosis  

00:59:13 Metabolic Efficiency, Matching Nutrition to Training, “Needs Based Eating”  

01:05:00 Duncan’s Work with Olympic Athletes, NCAA, UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)  

01:08:00 Why UFC & MMA (Mixed-Martial Arts) Are So Valuable for Advancing Performance  

01:12:40 Voluntarily Switching Between Different States of Arousal  

01:14:30 Heat, Getting Better at Sweating, Heat Shock Proteins, Sauna  

01:20:12 Using Rotating 12-Week Training Programs; Logging Objective & Subjective Data  

01:24:07 Surprising & Unknown Aspects of The UFC and UFC Performance Institute  

01:27:45 Conclusions, Zero-Cost Support, Sponsors, Supplements, Instagram  

Disclaimer & Disclosures