Essentials: Optimize Your Exercise Program with Science-Based Tools | Jeff Cavaliere

Andrew Huberman opens the conversation by noting that one of Jeff Cavaliere's mantras is "if you want to look like an athlete, train like an athlete," and asks what a basic program anyone could start from looks like. (The transcript's speaker labels are reversed relative to the content: the speaker who introduces himself as Andrew Huberman is labeled "Jeff Cavaliere," and the answers come from the guest. This article attributes the remarks by content.)

Cavaliere proposes "a 60/40 split," weighted toward weight training and strength, with conditioning at about 40%. Over a training week, he suggests five days, either in a gym or at home: three days of strength training (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and two days of conditioning (Tuesday, Thursday). He cautions that this shifts a lot depending on training and aesthetic goals. He presents it as "probably the effective dose" for both strength and conditioning "at the bare minimum level" for someone who wants the benefits of each.

On session length, he aims for an hour or less where possible. A total-body split simply requires more work in a given amount of time, but when the focus is overall health rather than a single attribute, he says the work can be done in under an hour. He adds a second principle to his athlete mantra:

you can either train long or you can train hard, but you can't do both.

He argues that with age, workout length causes more problems than intensity, "particularly if you're warmed up properly." Speaking from his own experience, he says his warm-up has had to become a more integral part of his workout than ever before.

Huberman defines a split as which body parts are trained on which days. He mentions three-day whole-body routines and push/pull/legs rotations, and asks what should govern the choice.

Cavaliere's first rule is whether you will stick to it. He says he personally doesn't particularly like full-body splits. He acknowledges that per-muscle volume comes down in them, but they can leave people dreading their workouts, feeling too fatigued by the end, or unable to fit the somewhat longer sessions into their schedules. His conclusion: "I don't care how effective the split is, a split not done is not effective."

As alternatives, he describes several push/pull/legs arrangements:

One cycle per week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Two cycles per week, training six times, with a rest day either between the two three-day blocks or after all six days. Rest day between the blocks: this gives an extra recovery day, but the day off shifts every week, which disrupts people who chose a seven-day schedule for convenience. Fixed rest day (for example, Sunday) after six consecutive training days: predictable, so some people prefer it.