Buzz
I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one who has actually given the Sugarcane workout a try. It's something you hear about everywhere: an Andrew Huberman podcast gave it a major boost online, and tons of blogs explain the method. Fitness TikTok is full of clips with Huberman praising it. Yet, unlike other popular routines like the Norwegian 4x4 or the 12-3-30, I couldn’t find many people claiming they’ve actually *done* the Sugarcane workout, let alone enjoyed it or seen results. So, I decided to try it out myself.
What exactly is the Sugarcane (or Sugar Kane) workout?
The Sugarcane workout consists of a series of intervals introduced by Andy Galpin (on Huberman's podcast). He mentions he learned it from trainer Kenny Kane, which led Huberman to dub it the Sugarcane (or Sugar Kane?) workout. Here’s the clip where Galpin first explains the workout.
The Sugarcane workout is often referred to as a HIIT or VO2max workout, though Galpin doesn't label it with either term. It *is* an interval workout, consisting of short, high-intensity segments, followed by rest periods.
Galpin explains that the workout can be done with intervals of any length, but he only provides an example using two-minute intervals. This workout doesn’t appear to have been published elsewhere, so we mainly rely on this brief interview clip. Here's how he explains it in the podcast:
Round 1: Run (or bike, row, etc.) as far as possible in two minutes. Record the distance you covered.
Rest for two minutes
Round 2: Run (or bike, row, etc.) for the same distance as in round 1. Expect this to take slightly longer than round 1.
Rest for two minutes
Round 3
: Run (or bike, row, etc.) for the same time as round 2. Try to exceed your initial distance from round 1.
For example, if you covered 400 meters (one lap of the track) in round 1, you may take 2:05 to cover the same distance in round 2. Then, in round 3, you’ll run for 2:05, aiming to cover 401 meters or more.
How it went when I gave it a try
I decided to tackle this challenge on foot, running along a flat gravel path. It seemed simple enough at first—just a relaxing evening of interval running. But, of course, I quickly encountered a few issues.
There was no straightforward way to set this up on an app or watch.
My initial issue was that there was no simple method for programming the workout on my phone or watch. In the Garmin Connect app, I can easily set up time-based or distance-based intervals, so the first two-minute round was fine. But I can’t program the second interval based on distance, since I don’t know the distance in advance. And I can’t use a time-based setting for the third interval, either, as I can’t predict the time beforehand!
This workout might actually be easier with an old-school 1980s-style wristwatch, but no matter how you approach it, you'll need to track both the time and the distance for each interval as you go—like pressing the lap button on your watch while also keeping track of the tree you’re passing. I’m not sure I’d have enough brainpower for all of that after a tough effort, but I’m sure someone could manage.
I decided to go ahead and program it into the Garmin anyway. I set the first interval for 2 minutes, each recovery for 2 minutes, and the remaining two work intervals as ‘until lap button press.’ I also set up a data screen to display both the previous lap’s time and distance alongside the current lap’s time and distance. Ready to go! Let’s do this!
It seems like a lot of effort for three intervals that are quite alike.
I realized that it would be easy to cheat this workout and not get the full benefit. Galpin mentions, ‘if you slack, you make the next round harder,’ but I didn’t find that to be the case—more on that later. I decided I wouldn’t slack off. I aimed to push myself and run each interval with near-maximal effort. Here are my splits:
Round 1, two minutes: 0.27 miles
Round 2, 0.27 miles: 2:06 minutes
Round 3, 2:06: …I’m not entirely sure. I tried to stop my watch at 2:06 but ended up stopping it at 2:07. Nevertheless, I hit the 0.27-mile target, which is about 434 meters.
I’d give myself an A+ for pacing. For comparison, Galpin mentioned that if you run 400 meters in round 1, you might hit the same 400 meters in 2:05 or 2:10, and in the third round, you’d aim for 405 or 410 meters. Since my watch doesn’t register increments of 5 or 10 meters, I did the best I could in the circumstances.
For heaven’s sake, just stick to regular intervals.
I wrapped up this workout wondering, what was the point? I could have gotten almost the same benefits from a traditional runner’s workout with either time-based or distance-based intervals, each with a target pace or heart rate.
For instance, I could have gone with '3x400 @ interval pace,' where 'interval pace' means a pace that feels challenging for that distance but still allows me to complete each interval in roughly the same time. Not only is this a common practice among runners (no need to reinvent the wheel), but you can even use a vdot calculator like this one to figure out exactly what pace to aim for. I entered a recent race time, and the calculator suggested a target of 2:04 for 400-meter intervals, which is nearly identical to my average pace for the three Sugarcane intervals. So, why didn’t I just go with that?
Another way to structure intervals is to base them on time: two minutes hard, two minutes recovery, repeat. If you have a running watch, you can also set a target pace. In my case, my two-minute interval pace is nearly the same as my 400-meter pace. For faster or slower runners, it might differ slightly, but you can either calculate a target pace or rely on effort or heart rate. My heart rate averaged around 85% of max during those intervals, which should give you an idea of the intensity to aim for.
This conventional method also helps you practice pacing: rather than going all-out on the first interval and then slowing down on the later ones because you pushed too hard, you run the first interval with the knowledge that you'll need to match it for the next several rounds, with just two minutes of recovery in between.
How do you progress the Sugarcane workout?
Here’s a bit of confusion. In the interview, after the Sugarcane workout is introduced and named, Huberman asks Galpin how to progress the workouts he’s been discussing. Galpin suggests adding more work or additional rounds, but his answer doesn’t seem to apply to the Sugarcane workout at all. He mentions published research (which doesn’t include the Sugarcane workout as far as I could find) and talks about using a 2:1 rest-to-work ratio, while the Sugarcane workout as described uses a 1:1 ratio.
The Sugarcane workout is presented as a one-time challenge, a fun little game you can enjoy while working out. It’s not a research-backed routine nor something you’re meant to repeat multiple times a week (unlike, for example, the Norwegian 4x4). It doesn’t come with a built-in progression model, and it seems to fall apart if you don’t push yourself during every round.
In contrast, if you’re doing traditional runner’s intervals (like 400s, 600s, or two-minute intervals), progression is straightforward. Just add a round each time you perform the workout until you’re hitting about eight rounds. At that point, you might want to switch to a different routine (e.g., 800s instead of 400s or hill repeats in place of track intervals) depending on your specific training objectives.
How often should I do the Sugarcane workout?
Galpin doesn’t specify. Huberman suggests doing it once every two to four weeks due to its intensity, but that doesn’t quite make sense—three two-minute intervals, even if you go all-out in the first one, wouldn’t require weeks of recovery.
In more traditional running or cardio programs, you would typically do intervals like these once or twice a week, but you wouldn’t repeat the same workout every time. For instance, you might have a tough workout day every Wednesday, alternating between track intervals, tempo runs, and hill repeats.
If you really want to give the Sugarcane workout a try—and I think you should, if for no other reason than I did it and misery loves company—you could do it once a week. Or, even better, do it once in your lifetime and then move on to normal intervals.
How does the Sugarcane workout ensure that you push yourself?
That’s the thing—it doesn’t really. Galpin mentions that if you slack off during any round, the next one will be harder, but I don’t see how that works unless you’re actively pushing yourself to run as hard as you can each time, in which case, you’re not slacking at all. For example, after completing 400 meters in the first round, you could simply walk 400 meters in round two. Let’s say that takes five minutes. In round three, you’d only need to walk slightly faster to cover 401 meters in five minutes. That’s not three tough intervals, that’s one hard interval and two easy walks.
Once again, regular intervals would be a better approach. Give yourself three two-minute rounds of 'run as hard as you can while saving enough energy to do it again,' and you’ve eliminated any temptation to slack off.
What frustrates me the most about this workout is that it assumes you need to turn it into a game to push yourself, but the game’s rules don’t actually require any real effort. The only thing holding you accountable is your own desire to complete three challenging intervals, in which case, you should simply focus on running three hard intervals.
