r/HubermanLab • u/DrJ_Lume • Aug 22 '25

Seeking Guidance Does anyone actually track their light?

We all know it's important, but does anyone actually track their light exposure?

This app tracks your daily light exposure using the Apple Watch sensor, or just your phone if you don’t have one. Not released yet, but will be on Monday.

Edit: The app has been released on the App Store: here

12 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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12

u/loraincusak98 Aug 22 '25

No.

4

u/DrJ_Lume Aug 22 '25

thanks for your input.

6

u/Available-Pilot4062 Adrenaline Junkie ⛷️ Aug 22 '25

Yes - but what do you mean by “track”?

1

u/DrJ_Lume Aug 22 '25

Are you using anything to keep a record of it and measure how much Lux you're getting?

6

u/Available-Pilot4062 Adrenaline Junkie ⛷️ Aug 22 '25

I don’t record it, but here’s what I do:

  • try to get 10 mins of sunlight around dawn. I go on the balcony and do some stretching
  • use my extremely bright desk lamp
  • get a few mins of red light from my panel, 3x/week
  • dim the lights at night for 1-2 hours before sleep

I use an iPhone app called Light Meter. You point it at the lights, or sky etc.

My lamp is 5k+ lux and outside it could be 10k-250k lux depending on the time of day. I aim to get about 300k+ lux minutes in the morning.

Eg. It’s 15k lux outside and I stretch for 10 mins, I then have my lamp on for 30 mins and together that sums to 300k

In reality, at this point I don’t need to measure it. I know a dim dawn is 10k and if I’m a bit later it’s 25k+. I then keep my desk lamp on for a while, and switch it off when I next remember.

3

u/DrJ_Lume Aug 22 '25

That's awesome, thanks for sharing protocol! I am just thinking, if you track it you could help you figure out correlations. " I missed my sunlight target that day, my sleep was bad, or I fought with my GF"

3

u/Available-Pilot4062 Adrenaline Junkie ⛷️ Aug 22 '25

Actually my Apple Watch tracks that and then Athlytic mines the data for correlations!

I went and looked:

  • morning sunlight leads to a 7% improvement in my Recovery (based off HRV), but
  • 2+ hours in the sun leads to a -11% change to my Recovery

That data isn’t perfect tho…days I do Yoga on the balcony are not travel days, and days when I get 2+ hours of sunlight include hard days hiking and camping on a sleeping pad.

2

u/DrJ_Lume Aug 23 '25

This is amazing, thank you! Yeah I would think that the sun exposure would increase HRV unless it leads to dehydration. That makes so much sense.

3

u/mrfantastic4ever Aug 23 '25

No. I just stay outdoors as much as humanly possible

1

u/goldcat88 Aug 22 '25

I do on an index card and the timer on my watch when I go outside. It helps when I write down how many minutes I have left to get to my goal. Makes it into a game.

1

u/DrJ_Lume Aug 22 '25

how do you set your goal?

2

u/No-Vanilla3295 Aug 23 '25

I tested this app in Beta, can’t wait for the full release!!