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.  For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Dr. Duncan French  (00:02:27) Sponsors (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