During an Andrew Huberman interview with Andy Galpin (link), they discussed a protocol by fitness trainer Kenny Kane.
It’s a form of high intensity interval training. Andy describes the prerequisites as:
- Exercise type – you need to do this protocol in such a way that you can measure distance. So this could be running, cycling, rowing or the air bike. It’s also important that whatever modality you choose, it’s something you can do safely at high intensity. So for example, it might be safer on a stationary bike than on a road bike.
- Duration – Andy likes to use 2 minute blocks, but you can choose another duration if you prefer.
Once you’ve chosen your exercise type and duration, you’re ready to start. Andy describes the rounds as:
- Warmup – before you begin, you’ll want to warm up your body for 5 minutes or so, with something like jogging or skipping rope.
- Round 1 – to begin, you want to try and cover the maximum distance you can in the time period you chose – so for Andy this would be 2 minutes. You make a note of the distance covered.
- Rest – Andy then gives himself 2 minutes to recover.
- Round 2 – You’re now going to cover the same distance that you covered in round 1, but this time, Galpin says it doesn’t matter how long it takes you. It may take you slightly longer than round 1 because you’re a little bit fatigued. This time you make a note of the time it took you.
Authors Note: whilst Galpin says it doesn’t matter how long it takes, it actually does to some extent. As the longer you take, the easier round #3 becomes. - Rest – Again, you’d take another 2 minutes to recover.
- Round 3 – You’re now going to run for the same duration you ran in round 2, however this time you’re going to try and cover more distance than you did in round 1.
Progression
Andy suggests the way to progress with this protocol is to either:
- Try and add more distance over the same duration in round 1
- Or, add more rounds.
If you were to add a 4th round, you might switch back to the round 2 method of simply trying to cover the distance you covered in round 3, without worrying about the time. You’d then note down the total time taken.
Then, if you add a 5th round, you might try and run for the same duration as round 4, however this time trying to run further than round 3.
Benefits of the Protocol
- VO2 max – assuming you go all out, and practice this a few times, you’re likely to improve your VO2 max
- Gamification – the protocol pits you against yourself as the rounds progress, and this competition can help you forget you’re working out.
- Tracking – if you make notes of your performance once you complete the rounds, you have a nice benchmark to compare against in the future.
Further Reading
If you found this post interesting, you may also enjoy:
- The Galpin Equation – For optimizing hydration around intense exercise
- Andy Galpin Supplements List – For Sports Performance & Recovery
- Andrew Huberman Supplements – A list of the supplements Huberman uses and discusses
