About this video

• Video Title: Build Your Ideal Physique | Dr. Bret Contreras
• Channel: Andrew Huberman
• Speakers: Andrew Huberman, Bret Contreras
• Duration: 03:03:57

Overview

This video features Dr. Bret Contreras, a sports scientist known as "The Glute Guy," discussing resistance training principles. The conversation covers training frequency, sets, progressive overload, recovery, exercise selection, and how to tailor programs for specific aesthetic and performance goals, with a particular emphasis on glute development.

Key takeaways

• Training Frequency: For most individuals new to resistance training, hitting each muscle group twice a week is recommended for optimal gains, though some evidence suggests three times a week can be beneficial if managed properly.
• Progressive Overload: The core principle for muscle growth and strength is consistently increasing the demands placed on the muscles over time, whether through increased weight, reps, or improved form and mind-muscle connection.
• Volume and Intensity: While higher volume can be beneficial, especially for lagging muscle groups, it's crucial to manage it with recovery. Focusing on making the final reps of each set as challenging as possible is a key strategy.
• Exercise Variety and Recovery: Using a variety of exercises that target muscles from different vectors and planes of motion can help manage recovery and prevent overuse injuries. Not all exercises need to be performed to failure, especially when training frequently.
• Individualization and Sustainability: The most effective training program is one that aligns with an individual's recovery capacity, lifestyle, and enjoyment, ensuring long-term adherence and progress. This includes adjusting volume and intensity based on how one feels.
• Glute Training Specifics: The glutes perform hip extension, abduction, and external rotation. Training them effectively involves exercises that hit these functions from different angles (vertical, horizontal, and lateral vectors) and prioritizing hypertrophy-specific training.
• Muscle Memory: The ability to regain lost muscle and strength quickly after a layoff is attributed to muscle memory, which has epigenetic and myonuclear components.

To gain muscle as fast as possible, Dr. Contreras emphasizes several key principles discussed in the video:

• Progressive Overload: This is the most critical factor. You need to consistently challenge your muscles by gradually increasing the weight, repetitions, or sets over time. Tracking your progress is essential for this.
• Training Frequency: Hitting each muscle group approximately twice a week appears to be a sweet spot for muscle growth for most people. While some can benefit from three times a week, recovery needs to be carefully managed.
• Compound and Isolation Movements: A well-rounded program should include both compound exercises (like squats, deadlifts, presses, rows, chin-ups) that work multiple muscle groups, and isolation exercises that target specific muscles (like bicep curls, triceps extensions, and for glutes, hip thrusts, kickbacks, and abductions).
• Exercise Selection: Focus on movements that allow you to lift progressively heavier weights and stimulate the muscles effectively. For glutes, this involves exercises targeting hip extension, abduction, and external rotation.
• Proper Form and Mind-Muscle Connection: Ensure you are performing exercises with good technique to maximize muscle activation and prevent injury. Being able to consciously contract the target muscle is crucial.
• Sufficient Volume: While there's a concept of Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV), pushing yourself with adequate sets and reps, particularly focusing on making the final reps of each set very challenging, is key.
• Recovery: Adequate sleep, nutrition, and managing overall stress are vital for muscle repair and growth. Taking planned, short layoffs (deloads) can also prevent burnout and injury, paradoxically aiding long-term progress.
• Nutrition: While not a primary focus of this specific discussion, consuming sufficient protein (around 1 gram per pound of body weight) is fundamental for muscle synthesis.

Dr. Contreras also highlights that "most people don't have really good genetics" for muscle growth, suggesting that optimizing training and nutrition is key to maximizing potential. He also touches on the idea of "recomping" (body recomposition), where individuals can gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously, especially if they are relatively new to training or have room for body fat reduction.

If you're not making progress, Dr. Contreras suggests looking at several potential areas and making adjustments:

• Are you truly applying Progressive Overload? This is the most likely culprit. You need to be tracking your workouts (weight, reps, sets) and ensuring you are challenging yourself to do more over time. If you're doing the same thing every week, your body has no reason to adapt.
• Are your workouts sufficiently intense? Are you pushing yourself, especially in the final reps of your sets? Simply going through the motions without a high level of effort won't yield significant results.
• Is your training frequency optimal? While more isn't always better, most muscles benefit from being trained at least twice a week. If you're only training a muscle group once a week, you might not be providing enough stimulus.
• Are you managing your recovery? Overtraining or insufficient recovery (due to lack of sleep, high stress, or poor nutrition) can stall progress. Ensure you're getting enough rest and managing life stressors.
• Is your exercise selection effective? Are you using exercises that are actually challenging the target muscles and allowing you to progress in terms of weight or reps? Sometimes, switching up exercises or variations can be beneficial.
• Are you being consistent? Progress takes time. If you're frequently missing workouts or changing your routine drastically week-to-week, it's hard to establish a consistent stimulus for growth.
• Are you stuck in a rut with your programming? Dr. Contreras mentions cycling focus on different lifts or movement patterns. If you're always doing the exact same exercises with the exact same rep ranges, it might be time to introduce some variation.
• Are you paying attention to form? Sometimes, in the pursuit of progressive overload, form can degrade, which can lead to injury and hinder progress. Ensuring good form and control, especially during the eccentric (lowering) phase, is important.

Dr. Contreras also suggests that if you're consistently doing the same thing and not progressing, it might be time to reassess your approach, potentially by increasing the intensity of your sets (getting closer to or to failure on your work sets) or incorporating more volume (more sets), while being mindful of recovery. He also advises listening to your body and making adjustments, such as taking easier sessions or switching exercises if you feel beat up or pain arises.