The "4 Training Pillars" Men Over 40 Need to Stay Strong

Here are the four things that [music] I believe everyone should be doing every single week in terms of their exercise program. You will of course [music] get benefits as it relates to hypertrophy and strength increases. The first three or four [music] of those cycles feeling pretty good. By the seventh and eighth one, I'm praying. I believe that everybody should include both resistance training, could be body weight, free weights, machines, some combination of those, as well as cardiovascular training each week. and that the cardiovascular training should include both high-intensity interval training at least once per week and some so-called long slow distance training or zone two type training each week. The first thing is to include at least one workout per week that is of a long slow distance nature. So zone 2 type cardio. Maybe you get a little bit up into zone three, but basically jogging, swimming, rowing, any activity that you can carry out consistently for 45 to 75 minutes without getting injured. For me, it's jogging generally or hiking with a weight vest. Those are the things that I enjoy and that I can do without getting injured, but for other people, it's a different exercise. The second thing is to include at least one workout per week that's of the so-called highintensity interval training type. [music] Now, there are a lot of different types of high-intensity interval training out there. In fact, if you're me and you prefer a high-intensity interval training session that is more like a two minutes on as hard as you can go for two minutes and then rest for say 3 to four minutes and then repeat, maybe four times, maybe five times. Well, then do that. [music] I have a high-intensity interval training session that I do when I'm very limited on time, which involves getting on the Airdine bike. I'll hop on there. I'll pedal for about a minute or two, just kind of warm up. And then I'll go all out for a minute, rest for 30 seconds, all out for a minute, rest for 30 seconds. The first three or four of those cycles, feeling pretty good. By the seventh and eighth one, I'm, you know, um, I'm [music] praying. And generally, when one finishes that type of workout, your heart rate is very, very elevated. Now, I don't tend to track my heart rate during exercise. Perhaps I should, but I don't like to get, you know, too weighed down with technology when I exercise. I like to go more on feel. That's just me. I find that my heart rate is extremely high right as I get off that thing. But, you know, five minutes later, it's back to baseline. And I certainly feel energized after doing that to go do some cognitive work, to shower up, and to head to work, that sort of thing. So, pick a high-intensity interval training session that you can do at least once per week and that works for you. And again, it's really important to pick a form of exercise for the high-intensity interval training that you can do without getting injured. This is so important. You know, one way to really limit your brain health and bodily health is to get injured and to not be able to exercise. The first was long slow distance or so-called zone 2. So, we could call that LSD, not the psychedelic, but long slow distance exercise. Second was high-intensity interval training or HIT or HIT. The third would be tut t- t time under tension. If you're doing resistance training, and I do believe everybody should be doing resistance training. There are a near infinite number of different ways to do resistance training as you well know. You can move the weight ballistically. You can control the eentric. You can do any number of different things. But some proportion of the exercises that you do during your resistance training during the week should include time under tension training where you're really emphasizing the contraction of the muscles, the slow lowering of the weight as well as the lifting of the weight, contracting the muscles as hard as you can. And this is really to emphasize the nerve to muscle pathways and the way that time under tension promotes the release of things from muscles into the bloodstream that can positively impact the brain. as well as the way that focusing your brain on exercises such that you're isolating muscles or even if you're not doing a so-called isolation exercise. Maybe you're doing a compound exercise like a dip or a squat or a deadlift, but that really concentrating on the muscles that are supposed to be managing the work and not just moving the weight, but challenging the muscles. This very important thing, challenging the muscles, using the weight, not lifting weights or moving weights. By focusing on time under tension, you will of course get benefits as it relates to hypertrophy and strength increases in particular hypertrophy. And time under tension training is very beneficial for the deployment of the molecules that [music] work both within the body but also within the brain to support brain health and function both in the short term and most particularly in the long term. Okay. So we have long slow distance highintensity interval training and [music] some degree of time under tension training with resistance training. You might be asking, "How many sets? What proportion?" [music] That depends on your goals, right? If you're a powerlifter and you're trying to lift bigger weights or you simply want to get stronger, you're not going to devote a lot of your training to time under tension, most likely you're going to be focusing mostly on the performance of those lifts to move more weight. But in my case, what I do just for sake of example, again, this is just what I happen to do, is I tend to make a full third of my resistance training just focus on time under tension. And so if I do two exercises, typically the first exercise is a compound exercise. So if it's a shoulder press, for instance, I'll do a couple warm-up sets and then the work sets. I try and move the weight. And generally I tend to work [music] pretty heavy in the for me heavy for me in the four to eight repetition range. I'll try and move the weight as quickly as I can on the concentric phase, the lifting phase, and [music] then at least twice as slow on the lowering phase. And then I pause while keeping the muscles under tension. I never really set the weight down at all during a set if I'm doing my job. that is. And then the second exercise that I do, I really focus even more on time under tension. So [music] whether or not it's a compound exercise or an isolation exercise, again, compound exercise, multiple joints moving, isolation exercise, single joints moving, I'll really concentrate on keeping the muscle under tension the entire time. In fact, I'll lift the weight off the stack if it's a machine or if it's a free weight just a little bit. engage the muscles that I'm trying to activate or train and then keep it under tension throughout the concentric, the contraction, and the lowering of that [music] weight. And then never actually set it down until the end of the set, aka increasing the time under [music] tension. And then the fourth category of exercise that I believe everybody should include in their existing workouts or add if you're not currently working out is some sort of explosive jumping and or eccentric [music] landing. Now, the explosive jumping with eccentric landing you could do on a [music] mat, right? Most people won't do it on concrete because they're worried about impact, that sort of thing. But let's say you have some some mats or you're on a lawn or you're on dirt or you're, you know, jumping up onto a box as high as you can and then jumping down and controlling the eentric portion. Again, pick something that you can do safely. Progress slowly, right? If you're going to jump up and off boxes, you want to start with low boxes. I know that many of you can jump quite high. [music] Um, and I'm not one of those people, but if you can jump quite high and then you're going to jump off that box and you're going to do this as a new thing, you'll notice that anytime you add eccentric training to your workout regimen, it tends to increase soreness a lot. And often people get injured by including a new form of movement, in particular, a form of movement that you can fall and or not just falling, but by including a lot of eccentric movements that they hadn't been doing previously. Again, be really safe about this. But that loading of the skeleton through eccentric movement and controlling the descent, super important, not just for your body, not just to avoid falls, not just to improve coordination and a bunch of other great things, but also to get that release of osteocalin, the improvements in BDNF, brain performance, brain health, and so on. And I'm guessing that most of you can probably incorporate these four things. Long, slow distance, high-intensity interval training, some deliberate time under tension training during your resistance training. again could be done with body weight. Doesn't have to even be done with machines or free weights. As well as some explosive and eccentric control training without adding any time to your existing workout regimen [music] simply by incorporating it into whatever workouts you happen to already be doing.

Most men train for appearance, not longevity. They chase numbers, pump sets, and aesthetics while neglecting the systems that keep the body strong, mobile, and sharp into later decades. True longevity training isn’t about punishing workouts—it’s about building a body that performs under pressure, recovers quickly, and resists breakdown over time. In this video, Andrew Huberman breaks down the four essential types of training every man should include each week to stay powerful, functional, and resilient for life. This isn’t bodybuilding, and it’s not about chasing personal records. It’s about the long game: strength that endures, endurance that doesn’t fade, mobility that preserves freedom of movement, and power that keeps you feeling alive. Subscribe to RESPIRE for more science-based health tips: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyNaCRf6Aaljcm9ZWARawXw re·spire (verb) – (1) to breathe (2) to recover hope, courage, or strength 🌟🌟🌟 NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK 🌟🌟🌟 This video is a condensed and highly edited version of the full podcast from @HubermanLab. For more information, follow the podcast. Andrew Huberman is an American neuroscientist and tenured associate professor in the department of neurobiology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Podcast Host: Andrew Huberman YouTube: @HubermanLab Fair Use Disclaimer 1. Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, commenting, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. 2. We do not own the rights to all content. They have, in accordance with fair use, been repurposed with the intent of educating and inspiring others. We must state that in no way, shape or form are we intending to infringe rights of the copyright holder. 3. Content used is strictly for research and education, all under the Fair Use law. #andrewhuberman #hubermanlab #fitness #aginggracefully #longevity #menshealth #healthtips