Andrew Huberman's daily routine

Dr. Huberman on Yoga Nidra (Non-Sleep Deep Rest)

“There are some interesting data published showing that these yoga nidra meditations, if you will, can upregulate some of the neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, that make you prepared for action.”

‍“There was this lore in the yoga nidra community that 30 minutes of yoga nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. Frankly, I don’t think there’s any evidence for that specific statement. But when I started doing this practice and exploring it, I found that I would come out of a 30-minute yoga nidra session feeling like I slept 5, 6 hours or longer.”
Read Dr. Huberman's Extensive coverage of NSDR and sleep optimization here.

Yoga Nidra and it's benefits

Yoga nidra, also known as "yogic sleep," is a type of relaxation practice involving guided body scans and visualizations. It aims to bring the mind and body into a deep relaxation state akin to the state between wakefulness and sleep. Some studies suggest that it may improve sleep quality, reduce insomnia symptoms, and alleviate stress and anxiety. Despite its potential benefits, it's crucial to remember that yoga nidra should not replace medical treatment for sleep disorders.

Dr. Andrew Huberman on the Benefits of Morning Sunlight

“View morning sunlight!” is one of my common refrains. Viewing sunlight within the first hours of waking (as soon as you can, even if through cloud cover) increases early-day cortisol release (the ideal time for elevated cortisol) and prepares the body for sleep later that night. A morning spike in cortisol will also positively influence your immune system, metabolism and ability to focus during the day.

"The single best thing you can do for your sleep your energy your mood your wakefulness your metabolism is to get natural light in your eyes early in the day. This is grounded in the core of our physiology. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of quality peer-reviewed papers showing that light viewing early in the day is the most powerful stimulus for wakefulness throughout the day and it has a powerful, positive impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep at night. So this is really the foundational power tool for ensuring a great night's sleep and for feeling more awake during the day."
‍
On Alternative Lighting
“If you wake up before the sun rises, flip on as many lights as you can in your space if you want to be awake in your artificial light environment. And then, once the sun is out, go outside.”

On Optic Flow
“There are now at least half a dozen quality papers published in quality peer-reviewed journals that show that forward ambulation — walking or biking or running — and generating optic flow in particular has this incredible property of lowering activity in the amygdala and thereby reducing levels of anxiety.”

Dr. Huberman's Fitness Toolkit

For Huberman's hypertrophy protocol, perform 3-4 sets of 5-8 reps with heavy weight for 3-4 weeks, resting for 2-4 minutes between sets.
‍
The next month, switch to lighter weight and do 8-15 reps with 2-3 sets per exercise, resting for 90 seconds between sets. To optimize your resistance training, choose two exercises for each muscle group – one that involves maximal contraction at the end of the movement (e.g., bent row) and another that involves a stretch or full range of motion at the beginning of the movement (e.g., pull up).

To lower your heart rate between sets, practice physiologic sighs by taking two full inhales through your nose followed by one full exhale of all the air through your mouth. Keep in mind that the mind-muscle connection is important – certain muscles will grow bigger and stronger based on your ability to contract them without any load.

After each training session, take 3-5 minutes to do some deliberately slow breathing to relax your mind and body and downshift your nervous system.

Find detailed information on Dr. Huberman's podcast on his Fitness Toolkit.

Dr. Huberman's Fitness Routine

Sunday: Endurance – at least 30 minutes of cardio, ideally 60-75 minutes of zone 2 cardio such as jogging or hiking. Tip: use a weight vest for an extra challenge on shorter workouts.

Monday: Legs – Quads, Hamstrings, Calves. Why legs on Mondays? Training the largest muscle group when you're fresher sets off metabolic processes that elevate metabolism & amplify hormonal events. Get the hardest workout out of the way and move on.

Tuesday: Heat/cold cycling – ideally, hot sauna (20 minutes) + ice bath (5 minutes) x 5 rounds. Check out the notes for best practices and the benefits of heat or cold.

Wednesday: Torso – Push/Pull. Working push/pull enhances strength and joint integrity, and amplifies hormonal effects. Sample exercises: shoulder press, chin-ups. Important tip: don't forget to train your neck safely to reduce shoulder risk of injury and discomfort.

Thursday: Brief Cardio at 75-80% Effort – 35 minutes of running / rowing / cycling / stairs / jump rope, deeper than zone 2 but not all-out effort.

Friday: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) – goal is to get heart rate way up and tap into strength & hypertrophy training for legs without weights.
Sample exercise: intervals on bike 20-30 second all-out sprint + 10 seconds rest x 8-12 rounds. For most people, max heart rate = 220-age. Only do all-out movements with perfect form.

Saturday: Arms, Calves, Neck – Indirect training for torso. Sample exercise: triceps dip, chin up, dumbbell curls, incline curls, triceps kickback. Tweak the routine and shift to personalize but keep the broad goals – the specific days of each workout aren’t critical but the exact spacing is.

Huberman does a hack squat, leg extensions, seated calf raises, leg curls, glute hamstring raise, etc. Huberman does not do squats or deadlifts.

Potential Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dietary pattern in which you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. There are many different forms of intermittent fasting, but one common method involves eating all of your daily calories within a 6-8 hour window and fasting for the remaining 14-16 hours. Some people believe that intermittent fasting has a number of potential health benefits, including weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity, and reduced inflammation. It may also help to improve heart health, increase longevity, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

Dr. Huberman's in-depth podcast on Fasting and Time-restricted Feeding.

Athletic Greens

Athletic Greens is a dietary supplement that contains a blend of ingredients that the manufacturer claims to have a range of health benefits, such as improved energy levels and athletic performance, support for immune health, improved digestion and gut health, improved skin health, and support for mental clarity and cognitive function.

“I’ve been using Athletic Greens since 2012 because it’s the simplest, most straightforward way for me to get my basis of important vitamins, minerals, and probiotics.”
- Andrew Huberman
Buy AG1 by Athletic Greens

Dr. Huberman's approach to his evening meal

Andrew focuses on starch for his last meal of the day, as it helps him sleep better. Starchy carbohydrates like pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. can decrease the time it takes to fall asleep and increase serotonin and tryptophan levels. Serotonin is a mood stabilizer that promotes good sleep quality, and tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is a precursor for several hormones, including melatonin and serotonin. Andrew also includes vegetables and sometimes lean protein like tuna or salmon, and if he's not training as much, he reduces the carbohydrate intake by half. He notes that eating too much meat before sleep can negatively affect his sleep quality and that meat has a long gastric clearance time, which may contribute to poorer sleep.

Detriments of Blue Light in the evening

Exposure to blue light, particularly in the evening hours, can have negative effects on sleep. Blue light is a type of light with a short wavelength that is found in natural sunlight. It has been shown to suppress the production of the hormone melatonin, which is involved in the body's sleep-wake cycle. When we are exposed to blue light at night, it can disrupt the body's natural sleep-wake cycle, making it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Research has shown that exposure to blue light in the evening can disrupt the body's natural circadian rhythms, causing a delay in the release of melatonin and making it harder to fall asleep. In addition, blue light has been found to reduce the amount of deep sleep that people get, which is important for physical and mental restoration.

To help minimize the negative effects of blue light on sleep, it is recommended to reduce exposure to screens (such as phones, tablets, and computers) in the hours leading up to bedtime, and to use screens that have a blue light filter or to use blue light blocking glasses. It is also recommended to avoid bright lights and to use dimmer lighting in the evenings, as this can help to promote the production of melatonin and improve sleep quality.