The Most Effective Weight Training, Cardio & Nutrition for Women | Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple

Normal testosterone range barely affects muscle gains

Within the normal 300-900 ng/dL range, testosterone levels have little impact on muscle growth. Only supraphysiological doses change the equation.

"Not so much because we're talking about those supra-physiological levels, and that's the real game changer. So if we think about even with men, what is the normal range of testosterone, we don't see this relationship between, oh, you know, you're closer to 900 and you are going to respond better to resistance training. So as long as you're within what that However, once we get into those supra-physiological levels and we're taking that exogenous hormone, then yes, we are going to develop levels of muscularity that wouldn't necessarily be possible."

Post-exercise hormone spikes do not drive muscle growth

The acute testosterone and growth hormone spike after exercise is not the driver of long-term muscle growth, contrary to earlier beliefs.

"But what we know now is that response, although acutely, it's not the driver of growth long-term. And so it doesn't really make sense to chase that short-term response because it's not predictive of longer-term adaptation."

Full-body workouts 3x per week build muscle effectively

A Monday-Wednesday-Friday whole body resistance training program with compound movements is an effective framework for muscle growth.

"If we're thinking about muscle growth for overall health, then maybe we're not doing as many accessory-type exercises."

Any rep range builds muscle if you train near failure

Hypertrophy occurs across all rep ranges from heavy singles to high-rep sets, as long as you train close enough to failure.

"If the goal is hypertrophy, we have way more flexibility because we do see similar growth whether you're training in those high load, low rep ranges or the lower load, high rep ranges and anything in between, provided that we train close enough to failure. However, we need to think about overall volume because that's very important for growth. So if we're doing sets of We're going to need to do a lot of sets of three to accomplish the same overall volume that we would get by doing sets of eight or 10. That last point, I'm so grateful you said that. I used to hear the late Charles Polquin say this, that if you're going to use higher repetitions, let's say between eight and 15, which for me seems like high repetitions, you can, I don't want to say get away with, but you could do two or three sets per muscle group."

Do resistance training before cardio, separate by hours

When combining strength and cardio, perform resistance training first and separate sessions by several hours to minimize interference.

"So the concept of kind of the interference effect or issues with concurrent training come from the idea that you have both endurance training goals and resistance training goals, and that if you perform those too close together, that We see that could be true if you're doing very high volume work and you're stacking it very close together. So assuming your hypertrophy or strength is the goal, then we would want to perform that first and if possible, separate them by at least several hours."

Women see best results from consistent lifting programs

Program hopping through fitness fads leaves women disappointed. Sticking to one resistance program long enough produces visible results.

"How do you feel about resistance training? I think it's particularly powerful for women because, and I alluded to this earlier, there is a history of marketing ineffective programs to women or encouraging them to constantly switch it up. Try this new group fitness class or try this new at-home video workout. And they never really see the results that they are hoping to see. And so you're just program hopping and disappointed, and feeling like I'm putting in all this work, I'm doing the thing, and I'm not seeing results. When you stick to a good resistance training program for long enough, not only do you start to see results in the way that your body looks, because muscle growth can change your body composition and can change your physique, but you also have this empowering."

Menopause itself does not accelerate muscle loss

Age-related muscle loss is driven by physical inactivity, not the hormonal changes of menopause. Lean mass does not drop across the transition.

"And so if estrogen is declining with menopause, then that But we don't see that. We see age-related muscle loss that is exacerbated by physical inactivity."

Fasted training neither helps fat loss nor hurts gains

Acute fat oxidation during fasted exercise does not lead to more fat loss long-term, and stored glycogen prevents muscle loss.

"Turns out that acute fat oxidation or fat oxidation post-workout isn't meaningful enough to offset the rest of the metabolism throughout the day such that you don't lose more body fat long term. Now, the pendulum has kind of swung in the other direction, and the argument is that if you're training fasted, you're going to gain."

Do lab resistance training studies replicate the gym?

Huberman questions whether untrained subjects doing leg extensions in lab studies translate well to real-world gym training outcomes.

"Having not come through science through that portal. I'm curious about how experiments are done in terms of resistance training and muscle growth and strength increases."

Walking with a weighted vest is no substitute for lifting

Weighted vests marketed to women as resistance training alternatives do not improve muscle or bone density. Actual lifting is required.

"Walking with a weighted vest is not going to improve muscle or bone. It's not the appropriate stimulus. It's not a substitute for resistance training."