Essentials: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size & Endurance | Dr. Andy Galpin

April 2, 2026·39 min·2 clips

Andrew Huberman reveals the only three people he trusts to modify his exercise protocols, starting with Dr. Andy Galpin.

Strength training starts with a clear adaptation target. Galpin separates exercise outcomes into categories like skill, speed, power, strength, and other trainable qualities, because each one needs a different signal. For strength, that signal is intensity. Volume matters, but the work still has to stay heavy enough to keep the intended stimulus intact. Once fatigue forces the lifter to cut repetitions or lower intensity, the session has started drifting away from the strength goal. Rest is part of the work here, even if it feels like standing around. Galpin uses the example of a bench press set of five repetitions at 85%, then roughly two to four minutes before returning to the same lift. That pause protects output quality. It gives the lifter enough recovery to produce force again instead of just stacking tired reps on top of tired reps. Supersets are the useful compromise. While the chest recovers after bench press, another muscle group can be trained, such as deadlifts in the same rest window. That can save a lot of time. The tradeoff is small but real: Galpin says work from his lab suggests supersets can reduce strength gains by a tiny amount. For most people, the time savings are probably worth it. For someone chasing a world record in weightlifting or powerlifting, every margin matters, so supersets make less sense. Huberman keeps pulling the conversation back to usable principles. He asks Galpin to explain rules that carry across strength, hypertrophy, power, and related categories, then notes how much information Galpin compresses into practical protocols. The point is broad by design. One protocol will not fit everyone, but useful rules can work for roughly 75% of people, 75% of the time. The frame is simple: match the training variable to the adaptation, then do not let convenience blur the signal.

As heard by us

A practical strength-training framework that can change how you approach a workout.

Huberman and Andy Galpin give listeners a workable training map: what skill, speed, power, strength, and hypertrophy ask of the body, and how the program shifts when the goal changes.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a serious breakdown of how to organize training around strength, power, speed, skill, and hypertrophy, start here.

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