How To Build Endurance In Your Brain & Body

Key Takeaways

• Endurance exercise enhances the ability of the brain and body to work for longer periods of time

• High intensity and long duration endurance training improves brain function by oxygenating the brain and delivering more nutrients to neurons

• “The reason we quit is rarely because our body quits; our mind quits.” – Dr. Andrew Huberman

• Five main drivers of effort in the body: neurons, muscle, heart, blood, and lungs

• The source of energy in the body depends on the duration of activity – if you hit a wall, try increasing the pace to tap into other fuel sources

• Endurance training seems to improve brain function more than strength or hypertrophy training

• Muscular endurance training protocol: 3-5 sets of 12-100 repetitions (but 12-25 is reasonable for most people) with a rest period between 30-180 seconds

• For muscular endurance, try isometric holds, compound exercise, kettlebell swings – but no eccentric loading

• Long duration endurance training protocol: one set of anything longer than 12 minutes

• Anaerobic HIIT endurance protocol: 3-12 sets with a ratio of work to rest at 3:1 (e.g., 30 seconds work: 10 seconds rest) – or – a ratio of 1:5 (e.g., 20 seconds hard work: 100 seconds rest)

• Aerobic HIIT endurance protocol: 3-12 sets with 3:1 ratio (e.g., 30 seconds work: 10 seconds rest) – or 1:1 ratio (e.g., 30 seconds work: 30 seconds rest)

Biology Of Endurance & Energy In Brain And Body

• To maintain or increase muscle: perform 5 sets of resistance training per muscle, per week

• Endurance: ability to engage in continuous bouts of exercise, movement, or effort

• Endurance involves biological crossover relating to how our body and brain use fuels, and which fuels our body and the brain uses

• We convert almost anything to ATP (energy for the body) within cells

• You need energy and oxygen to endure brain (e.g., studying or cognitive function) and body (e.g., exercise)

• Body and brain function better if we have good energy utilization

What Allows Us To Engage In Effort?

• Five main drivers of effort: (1) neurons/nerves; (2) muscle; (3) blood; (4) heart; (5) lungs

• Quitting is mental, not physical – there’s a class of neurons that release excess epinephrine (readiness signal) until glia shuts the system down

• Quitting is 100% neural

• Unless you are completely ketogenic and fat-adapted, neurons need glucose and electrolytes for energy and fuel

• Sources of energy in the body in the presence of oxygen:

• Short bursts: Phosphocreatine (found in the body)

• Mid-range: Glucose (carbohydrate in the blood)

• Long-range: Glycogen (stored fuel from the liver)

• Fats stored in adipose tissue release fatty acids for energy converted to ATP

• The heart moves blood and oxygen for fuel of muscles and the brain

Endurance Type 1: Muscular Endurance

• Muscular endurance: refers to the ability of muscles to perform work overtime; failure to continue is due to muscular fatigue (e.g., performing pushups or plank until can no longer continue)

• Muscular endurance training protocol: 3-5 sets of 12-100 repetitions (but 12-25 is reasonable for most people) with a rest period between 30-180 seconds

• Muscular endurance relies on nerves and muscles (not blood, heart, lungs)

• Being able to perform the same movement repeatedly will enhance performance

• A major component of muscular endurance: no eccentric loading (want eccentric to be light and fast)

• Movements for muscular endurance: isometric holds, compound exercises, kettlebell swings – don’t use Olympic lifts to build muscular endurance

• Benefits of muscular endurance: increasing muscular endurance builds the ability of mitochondria to use oxygen to generate energy

• Can be combined with strict hypertrophy or strength training but be mindful that most people need 1-2 full days of rest

Endurance Type 2: Long Duration Endurance

• Long duration endurance: long run, swim, bike ride lasting 12 minutes – 8-9 hours

• Less than 100% of maximum oxygen intake (VO2 max)

• Builds on fuel utilization in muscles, the activity of neurons in the brain to engage in regular motion

• Long duration endurance training protocol: one set of anything longer than 12 minutes (not counting steps, pulls on the rower, etc.)

• Relies on regular repeated effort and ability to maintain the efficiency of movement

• The goal of training is to build mitochondrial density to be able to repeat while burning less fuel and becoming more efficient

• Strike a balance between the generation of muscular requirement and fuel utilization

• Uses glycogen for slow-twitch muscles to contract

• Causes of failure: mental stamina (i.e., you are dreading the run and burning energy just ruminating) or improper fueling

• Benefits of long duration endurance: build capillary beds within the muscle, increases mitochondria, increases the delivery of oxygen to muscles

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) For Endurance: Anaerobic

• Anaerobic HIIT endurance protocol: 3-12 sets with a ratio of work to rest at 3:1 (e.g., 30 seconds work: 10 seconds rest) – or – a ratio of 1:5 (e.g., 20 seconds hard work: 100 seconds rest)

• Work: rest ratio depends on the desired quality of movement – for example, you can go all out a bike safer so can work longer and rest shorter; if using a barbell or kettlebells you can perform more quality reps overtime working shorter and resting longer

• Muscles generate a high output of work in the short term

• Takes breathing and system beyond 100% of VO2 max

• Build up the number of sets overtime to increase anaerobic endurance

• Reps performed at any speed with good, safe form

• Causes of failure in anaerobic endurance: fatigue of oxygen utilization systems

• Benefits of anaerobic endurance: increase capillary beds, increase the ability of neurons to access more energy, build capacity to engage short bursts of intense work

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) For Endurance: Aerobic

• Aerobic HIIT endurance protocol: 3-12 sets with a 3:1 ratio (e.g., 30 seconds work: 10 seconds rest) – or 1:1 ratio (e.g., 30 seconds work: 30 seconds rest)

• Work periods should be 8-12 minutes and done 2-3 times per week

• 1:1 ratio improves most of the energy systems (nerve, muscle, blood, heart, lungs)

• Benefits of aerobic endurance: builds up energy utilization systems, improves ATP and mitochondrial function, improves oxygen utilization of muscles and brain, enhances lung capacity

Improvements In Brain Function

• Brain and heart are the most important systems to take care of

• Breathing hard with high heart rate: blood circulates faster, oxygen utilization in muscles go up, capillary beds expand, the blood returned to the heart causes eccentric loading of cardiac muscle (improving stroke volume and work capacity)

• An increase in the vasculature that comes from endurance training improves brain function in better ways than strength and hypertrophy training

Breathing

• Breathe to bring oxygen into our system and remove carbon dioxide

• The ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles and brain is important to generate muscular effort and think

• Two main sources of air for the body: (1) nasal breathing and (2) mouth breathing

• In general, nasal breathing is more efficient and better for us and scrubs the air of bacteria and viruses

• For long-duration work try all nasal breathing; as you increase intensity you will need to incorporate mouth

• Mouth breathing is less efficient and makes us more prone to infection – but it can be helpful to exhale through the mouth with an all-out effort

• Other sources of respiration: (1) ribs and (2) diaphragm

• Warm-up intercostal muscles (breathe deeply, expanding chest) before exercise can help breathe deeper and deliver more oxygen, increasing efficiency

• Side ache that happens during exercise sometimes can be relieved by doing a few rounds of double inhale-exhale: two quick breaths in and longer exhale

Tips & Tools

• When you hit the wall: increase speed to shift muscles to access different fuel source – note, this won’t work if you are completely depleted of glycogen and stores

• Remember, neurons need water and electrolytes to fire

• We lose 1-5 pounds of water per hour which can impact mental capacity and physical performance

• Start exercise hydrated (with electrolytes, not just water)

• The formula for hydration: bodyweight (in pounds) /30 = ounces of fluid you should drink every 15 minutes

• An ice bath can improve mitochondrial density and respiration

• Wait 6-24 hours between workouts, rest 1-2 full days

• Optimize sleep for performance and recovery

• Take 5-10 minutes after exercise to focus on breathing or lie down and mellow out after training to assist in recovery

• Where you place vision allows you to generate more effort

• You can intermittently focus attention on landmark you want to run (bike, swim, etc.) to – but use wisely – if you do this mile after mile, you will be more mentally fatigued

• Caffeine & stimulants will improve energy and power output

• Magnesium malate can reduce soreness

• Beet powder and juices increase vasodilation

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