Huberman Lab
How to Increase Your Speed, Mobility & Longevity with Plyometrics & Sprinting | Stuart McMillan
17 Mar 2025
My guest is Stuart McMillan, a renowned track and field coach who has trained dozens of Olympic medalists, professional athletes, and team coaches across a diverse range of sports. We discuss how to use plyometric work to improve mobility, strength, posture, and overall health. We emphasize the enormous benefits of skipping—a form of plyometrics—for joint health, aerobic conditioning, and coordination, as well as its advantages for people of all ages and fitness levels. We also explore the expressive nature of human movement, highlighting how certain movements reveal and can evolve one’s unique personality and abilities. Stu explains how resistance training, skipping, and striding can improve movement efficiency in all aspects of life. Anyone who exercises, as well as serious athletes, will benefit immensely from Stu McMillan’s knowledge of human mechanics and the practical tools he generously shares in this discussion. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman Our Place: https://fromourplace.com/huberman Wealthfront**: https://wealthfront.com/huberan Helix Sleep: https://helixsleep.com/huberman Function: https://functionhealth.com/huberman **This experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients of Wealthfront, and there is no guarantee that all clients will have similar experiences. Cash Account is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. The Annual Percentage Yield (“APY”) on cash deposits as of December 27, 2024, is representative, subject to change, and requires no minimum. Funds in the Cash Account are swept to partner banks where they earn the variable APY. Promo terms and FDIC coverage conditions apply. Same-day withdrawal or instant payment transfers may be limited by destination institutions, daily transaction caps, and by participating entities such as Wells Fargo, the RTP® Network, and FedNow® Service. New Cash Account deposits are subject to a 2-4 day holding period before becoming available for transfer. Timestamps 00:00:00 Stuart McMillan 00:02:27 Running, Sprinting, Event Distances 00:09:01 Sponsors: Our Place & Wealthfront 00:12:13 Natural Sprinters, Kids, Sports Specialization 00:17:00 Athletes, Identity, Race Selection 00:23:38 Walking to Sprinting, Gait Patterns, Tool: Flat-Foot Contact 00:30:35 Visual Focus, Body Position, Running, Lifting Weights 00:36:00 Tool: Skipping & Benefits 00:42:18 Sponsors: AG1 & Helix Sleep 00:45:01 Tools: Skipping, Beginners, Jogging Incorporation 00:49:50 Transition Points, Tool: Skipping, Maximum Amplitude 00:53:03 Concentric & Eccentric Phases, Running 00:55:32 Transitioning to Striding, Posture, Center of Mass 01:03:11 Older Adults, Eccentric Control, Tool: Skipping 01:08:00 Naming Importance & Public Health; Skipping, Plyometrics 01:12:18 Sponsor: Function 01:14:06 Cross-Body Coordination, Rotation, Gaits; Phones & Posture 01:22:27 Expression Through Movement, Playfulness, Confidence 01:28:53 Being Yourself, Expression, Essence & Movement 01:36:39 Connecting with Movement, Building Cues, Mood Words 01:45:05 Pressure & Peace; Exercise, Movement & Age 01:51:39 Music, Art, Rhythm, Coaching; Soccer, Greatest Players & Countries 02:00:25 White & Black Athletes, Genetics, Environment 02:08:27 Running Form, Tools: High Knees, Stiff Springs, Hip Extension 02:17:21 Skipping Rope, Aging; Protocols & Rigidity, Principles Alignment 02:22:12 Resistance Training to Improve Movement, Sprinting Kinetics, Individualization 02:32:29 Transferring Weight Room to Track, Staggered Stance, Stretching 02:36:52 Performance-Enhancement, Elite Athletes, Androgen, Reputation 02:46:45 Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), Age; Pharmacology vs. Training 02:52:14 Single Physical Metric & Sprinting; Pressure & Peace 02:58:34 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. My guest today is Stuart McMillan. Stu McMillan is one of the world's most sought after coaches for teaching people how to get stronger, run faster, be more powerful and healthier.
Today, we talk about how to do that using what for most people might seem like a rather unconventional set of methods, but for any serious track athlete will be very familiar. because they do it almost every day, and that's skipping and striding. You heard right.
As you'll soon learn, skipping, what most of us think of as a kid's activity, is actually one of the best plyometric activities that we can all do at any age to build more power, speed, coordination, and to improve our muscle, fascial, and nervous system function.
Stu McMillan has coached over 70 Olympians across nine Olympic games, and he has coached the players and coaches of every major professional sport. He explains how skipping and something called striding are zero cost activities that we all can and should include in our weekly fitness routine.
They not only will have you moving better and having better posture in all your activities, but they also take minimal time and they can help protect you against injuries and improve your longevity. We also talk about the best strides for running at any speed. So if you're into jogging or sprinting, we talk about all the best ways to do that.
We talk about the sport of track, which both Stu and I happen to love, and why certain groups of people excel in different sports due to genetic and environmental reasons. We also have a very direct and open conversation about the use of performance enhancing tools in the athletic and wellness worlds. This is a really special episode.
because if you like or if you don't like things like running, swimming, cycling, or other activities such as weight training or yoga, there's going to be a lot to take away from it that you can apply. Stu McMillan is a true savant of coaching how best to move and how to improve your health. It was an honor and privilege to host him and to learn from him. I'm sure you'll agree.
Before we begin, I'd like to emphasize that this podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford. It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science related tools to the general public. In keeping with that theme, this episode does include sponsors. And now for my discussion with Stu McMillan. Stu McMillan, welcome.
Thank you. Great to be here. We go back a little ways. And you're the guy that they call in to make athletes or pretty much anybody faster, stronger, healthier, and more powerful. And who wouldn't want that? Athletes or otherwise. Let's start by talking about running. You know, I think for a lot of people, they hear running and they're like, oh no, running hurts, running's painful.
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