Andrew Huberman’s Daily Protocols for Optimizing Energy, Fitness, Health, and Productivity

Andrew Huberman’s System for Optimizing Sleep

Best nootropic: sleep
Best stress relief: sleep
Best trauma release: sleep
Best immune booster: sleep
Best hormone augmentation: sleep
Best emotional stabilizer: sleep

Sleep is the foundation for optimizing your energy levels, health, and productivity. Optimizing sleep starts with what you do from the moment you wake up and continues with what you do throughout the day.

Sunlight Exposure

Start your day by going outside for sunlight within 30-60 minutes of waking up. This regulates your circadian rhythm by providing a wake-up signal, and starting your body’s timer for sleep later that night.

• It’s important to be outside since windows can filter out light even if they’re transparent and you won’t get the same benefits.
• Look in the direction of sunlight withoug staring directly in the sun.
• It’s okay to wear contact lenses or prescription glasses, but sunglasses or hats will reduce the effect.
• Get a bright blue-hued indoor lamp if you wake up before the sun rise (it can be a SAD Lamp or a drawing light box).

Do the same thing just before sunset. It’s helpful to get sunlight exposure in the late afternoon or evening as well. Viewing sunlight when the sun is low in the sky can help improve sleep quality.

How long do you need to be outside?

• Sunny days: 5–10 minutes.
• Cloudy days: 10–15 minutes.
• Overcast days: up to 30 minutes.

Caffeine

• Delay caffeine intake until 90-120 minutes after waking up, unless you are exercising first thing in the morning, to increase alertness throughout the day and avoid an afternoon crash.
• Avoid caffeine 8-10 hours before bedtime, or at least limit intake to under 100 milligrams after 4:00 p.m. Caffeine can disrupt sleep, especially if consumed late in the day

Alcohol

Alcohol is disruptive to sleep. It can feel like it helps you fall asleep, but it disrupts your sleep cycle and you won’t get the restorative sleep you need.

Sleep Environment

• Make your bedroom as dark as possible by using blackout blinds or an eye mask.
• Avoid overhead and bright lights in the evening, especially between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.
• Cool your bedroom to 1-3 degrees lower than usual.

Supplements for Sleep

Andrew Huberman recommends starting with one supplement at a time to see how it affects your sleep before adding another one to your routine. If a supplement doesn’t work well, then remove it. You might find that you sleep best without any supplements at all. Here are some supplements he recommends trying for improving sleep quality (take 30-60 minutes before bed):

• 145mg Magnesium Threonate or 200mg Magnesium Bisglycinate (avoid this if it upsets your stomach).
• 50mg Apigenin.
• 100-400mg Theanine (avoid this if you have overly intense dreams, sleep walk or have night terrors).
• Myo-inositol can be particularly helpful for falling back asleep after waking in the middle of the night. Take 900 milligrams every other night in addition to the sleep stack.

• (3-4 nights per week I also take 2g of Glycine and 100mg GABA.)

Sleep Timing

• Prioritize a consistent sleep schedule, waking up at the same time (+/- 1 hour) each morning, even on days off.
• If you need a nap, try to keep them to 20 minutes or less to avoid sleep inertia. However, if you don’t experience an afternoon dip in energy, or if you tend to feel groggy after a nap, you can skip them altogether.
• Taking a hot bath or using a sauna in the evening can help facilitate sleep.

Devices for Sleep

• Using an Eight Sleep cover can help regulate your sleeping temperature so you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
• Sleep trackers such as the WHOOP strap and the Oura Ring can be used to track your sleep quality, however Andrew Huberman points out that consumer-grade devices are not as accurate as lab-grade sleep tracking devices.

How to Deal With a Bad Night of Sleep

• Wake up at your normal wakeup time so you don’t have trouble falling asleep later on.
• Follow the sunlight exposure protocol as usual.
• Exercise in the morning to get an early cortisol peak and provide an adrenaline boost and increase your focus.
• Use the non-sleep deep rest protocol if you need to recharge in the afternoon.

Andrew Huberman’s System for Optimizing Energy

Diet

• Eat a lower-carb lunch to avoid an afternoon crash.
• Have dinner with some higher-carbohydrate (starchy but complex) foods and protein to promote relaxation and sleep.
• Try to avoid eating anything for 3 hours before bedtime.

Recharge in the afternoon

• If you have a dip in energy in the afternoon you can take a nap for 20 minutes or less to avoid sleep intertia.
• Non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) can be used to increase dopamine and mental energy. Check out these guided sessions on YouTube: 10-minute session and 20-minute session.

Andrew Huberman’s System for Optimizing Fitness

Workout Program

Day 1 (Sunday) — Long Endurance

• At least 30 minutes of zone 2 cardio, ideally 60-75 minutes. You should be breathing faster than normal, but still be able to carry on a conversation.
• Try to breathe through your nose instead of mouth breathing. If it becomes too easy, you can wear a weighted vest or a backpack with some weights in it.
• Exercises: Jogging, rowing, cycling, swimming, hiking, etc.

Day 2 (Monday) — Legs

• 10-minute warmup, 50–60 minutes training.
• Quads: leg extension and hack squats.
• Hamstring: leg curls and glute-ham raises.
• Calves: standing raises and seated raises.
• Alternate between schedule A and B described below on a monthly basis.

Day 3 (Tuesday) — Heat & Cold Exposure

• Sauna (20 minutes) then ice bath/cold shower (5 minutes) — repeat 3-5 times.
• Use this day for recovery.

See the section on heat exposure and cold exposure for more details.

Day 4 (Wednesday) — Torso & Neck

• 10-minute warmup, 50–60 minutes training
• Chest: incline press and cable crossover
• Back: chin-ups or pull-ups and seated rows or dumbbell rows
• Shoulders: shoulder press, lateral raises, and rear deltoid flies
• Neck: see video
• Alternate between schedule A and B described below.

Day 5 (Thursday) — Cardio

• 35-minutes of moderate intensity (75%-80% of maximum effort)
• Exercises: rowing, cycling, jumping jacks, stair-climb, jump rope, etc. – ideally done outside

Day 6 (Friday) — High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

• 20-60 second all-out max effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeat 8-12 times
• Try to reach your max heart rate (approximate max heart rate = 220 - your age)
• Exercises: assault bike, sprinting intervals, rowing, skiing machine, sand sprints, etc.
• Choose an exercise you can do with perfect form so you don’t injure yourself

Day 7 (Saturday) — Arms, Neck, & Calves

• 10-minute warmup, 50–60 minutes training
• Biceps: incline curl and dumbbell curls
• Triceps: overhead extensions and triceps dips or regular dips
• Calves: standing calf raises, seated calf raises, and tibialis raises
• Neck: see video
• Alternate between schedule A and B described below.

Schedule A: ~4-8 repetitions (heavier weights) and 3-4 sets per exercise with 2-4 minutes rest between sets

*Schedule B: ~8-15 repetitions (moderate-lighter weights) and 2-3 sets per exercise with ~90 seconds rest between sets

Supplementation

Andrew Huberman endorses supplements from Momentous

• Alpha-GPC: 300mg, 30-60 minutes before key workouts. Alpha-GPC promotes the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory, attention and skeletal muscle contraction. It has been shown to increase power output in athletes.

• L-Tyrosine: 500mg, 30-60 minutes before key workouts. L-Tyrosine is an amino acid that can increase the production of dopamine and related neurotransmitters that positively impact energy, motivation and mood. Thus, L-Tyrosine is a powerful tool for enhancing exercise performance.

• Creatine: 5g daily. Creatine is a molecule that stores high-energy phosphate groups that ultimately lead to the regeneration of ATP, the primary energy carrier in the body. In thousands of studies, creatine has been shown to effectively increase exercise performance.

• Whey Protein: 40g, 30-60 minutes after workout. Whey protein is a well-absorbed source of protein that is useful for post-workout fueling. Research shows that consuming whey protein benefits muscle gain and fat loss, particularly post workout.

Andrew Huberman’s System for Deliberate Heat and Cold Exposure

Before starting any heat or cold exposure, you should consult your family doctor to see if it’s right for you.

Heat Exposure

Regular sauna usage can improve cardiovascular health, improve mood, stress response and overall health, and stimulate the release of growth hormones. There are separate protocols for each of these benefits.

• Improve cardiovascular health: 5–20 minutes per session at 80–100 °C; 176–212 °F, aiming for 2–3x per week, but could even get up to 7x per week. This can help reduce risk of cardiovascular events and strokes.
• Improve mood, stress response, and overall health: Aim for 1 hour total per week split up into 2–3 sessions at 80–100 °C; 176–212 °F. Dynorphins and endorphins are released by the body as a reaction to the heat from the sauna, which help improve your mood. Cortisol levels decrease from regular sauna use, DNA repair/longevity pathways get activated, and increased activation of heat shock proteins that help repair protein structures within our cells.
• Increase growth hormone release: multiple sessions per day with a cool down period in between sessions. Do 30 minutes in sauna, cool off outside for 5 minutes, then back in the sauna for another 30 minutes. Repeat this a few hours later in the day. Ideally, do this in a semi-fasted state (no food 2–3 hours before the sauna). This increases growth hormones which stimulates muscle growth, strengthens bones, repairs tissues, and increases metabolism.

Some tips on heat exposure:

• Start slowly: start at temperatures that don’t significantly increase your heart rate.
• Stay hydrated: aim for 16 oz of water for every 10 minutes spent in the sauna as you’ll be sweating a lot. LMNT is a great way to replenish your electrolytes as your sweat includes electrolytes.
• Sperm count: applying a cold pack can help avoid sperm count reduction due to heat exposure.
• Heat exposure methods: steam saunas, dry saunas, hot tubs, hot showers, or simply wearing extra clothes during a brief jog are different methods of getting deliberate exposure to heat. Infrared saunas are potentially an option, but they might not reach the temperatures outlined above.

Cold Exposure

• Temperature: it’s hard to specify a temperature as it can depend on your own physiology. The guideline described by Andrew Huberman is to aim for a temperature that evokes the thought ”This is really cold, and I want to get out, BUT I can safely stay in.”. Some people might find 60 °F (15 °C) to be the right temperature, while others might like 40 °F (4 °C).
• How long: the colder the temperature, the less time you need to expose yourself. You’ll build tolerances to colder temperatures just like increasing weights when you work out.
• Timing AM or PM: do it in the morning as cold exposure counterintuitively makes your body heat up. This causes you to wake up, that’s why it’s better to do this in the morning.
• Equipment: most studies use ice baths submerged up to the neck. There are various options from filling up your bathtub with ice, a cold plunge tub, to more advanced cold plunge systems. Cold showers can also work if you don’t have the budget for the other options, but it won’t be as effective.
• Protocol: 11-minutes per week total, NOT PER SESSION. Do 2–4 sessions of 1–5 minutes over the entire week.

Benefits:

• Increases energy and focus: your body will release epinephrine (aka adrenaline) and norepinephrine (aka noradrenaline) in the brain and body which increases energy and focus.
• Build resilience and grit: trains your mind to deal with stress as you have to mentally overcome the discomfort. This skill can carryover to real-world stresses.
• Enhance your mood: ”cold exposure causes the prolonged release of dopamine. Dopamine is a powerful molecule capable of elevating mood, enhancing focus, attention, goal-directed behavior”.
• Increase metabolism: short-term increase to metabolism can help with conversion of white fat to brown fat. The amount of calories burned is not that significant so you probably won’t see any fat loss from this.
• Recovery: < 5 minutes of cold exposure can help with recovery (positive outcomes for muscle power, perceived recovery, and decreased muscle soreness), but it can limit some of the gains in hypertrophy, strength or endurance if done in the 4 hours or so after training. If you only care about recovery (you want to recover after competition and are not trying to get better, stronger, etc.), then it’s fine to do it after a training session, otherwise wait for 6–8 hours after training.

Tips:

• Counting walls: Andrew Huberman describes mental barriers such as ”I really don’t want to do this”, or ”get me out of here” before, or during cold exposure as ”walls”. Every time you have a thought like this, but successfully get past it, you’ve climbed the wall. Aim to get over 3–5 of these walls during your session. This helps you build resilience.
• Shivering and The Søeberg Principle: based on The Søeberg Principle based on deliberate cold researcher Dr. Susanna Søeberg, Andrew Huberman suggests not crossing your arms while in the cold to try to keep warm, and to not towel off when you get out of the cold. Instead, let your body reheat naturally and dry off by itself. This helps enhance your metabolism and activates brown fat thermogenesis.
• Keep moving: if you stay still in cold water, you’ll build a ”thermal layer” around your body. Try to keep moving slightly to break this thermal layer so you keep in contact with the coldest areas of the water.