Essentials: How to Assess & Improve All Aspects of Your Fitness | Dr. Andy Galpin

About this video

Huberman revisits his discussion with Dr. Andy Galpin on assessing fitness. Galpin explains that people usually train for appearance, functionality, or both, for immediate goals and for maintaining health over a long wellness span. He buckets exercise adaptations into nine areas, including skill or technique, speed, power, strength, muscle hypertrophy, and muscular endurance, and argues that assessment should reveal which area most needs work. Galpin describes practical strength tests that need not be a true one-rep maximum: he says repetition-conversion equations can estimate a maximum from a set of under five repetitions, and he describes a goblet or front-squat hold test using about half of body weight for about 45 seconds as an indicator of position, core strength and low-back stability. He cautions against maximum testing without proficient technique. Galpin’s overall message, as Huberman presents it, is to remove severe performance anchors by raising weak areas to at least sufficient, rather than needing to be optimal in everything.

Key takeaways

• Dr. Galpin lists nine exercise adaptations, including skill, speed, power, strength, hypertrophy and muscular endurance.
• Galpin says assessment should identify the area that most limits appearance or functionality goals.
• Galpin describes estimating a one-rep maximum from a submaximal set of under five repetitions.
• Galpin describes a goblet-squat hold as a practical test of position, core strength and stability.
• Galpin advises raising severe weak points to sufficient rather than trying to optimise every area at once.

Episode details: published September 17, 2026 · 144.9K views · 31:31 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

← Previous: The Art of True Happiness | Dr. Arthur Brooks · Next: Best Tools for Gut Health & Weight Loss | Dr. Chris Thompson →

All Andrew Huberman videos · Andrew Huberman profile · Huberman Lab (official site)