Andrew Huberman’s System for Optimizing Sleep

Sunlight Exposure

Get outside for sunlight within 30-60 minutes of waking up. This helps to set your circadian rhythm and helps to regulate your sleep-wake cycle so you can fall asleep more easily at night.

• It’s important to be outside since windows can filter out light even if they’re transparent.
• Look in the direction of sunlight. (Don’t stare directly in the sun)
• Get a bright blue-hued indoor lamp if you can’t get outside immediately it can be a SAD Lamp or a drawing light box

Do the same thing just before sunset.

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
• Avoid caffeine 8-10 hours before bedtime

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

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)

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

Sleep Tracking

Andrew Huberman’s System for Optimizing Energy

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.
• Exercises: Jogging, rowing, cycling, swimming, hiking, etc.

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.

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

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-up or pull-up and seated row or dumbbell row
• Shoulders: shoulder press and lateral raises, and rear deltoid flies
• Neck: see video

Day 5 (Thursday) — Cardio

• 35-minutes of moderate intensity (75%-80% of maximum effort)

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
• 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 and seated calf raises, and tibialis raises
• Neck: see video

The goal is to get your heart rate up and keep it up for a long time. This is a great way to build endurance and stamina.

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

Heat Exposure

Before

Cold Exposure