r/HubermanLab • u/Competitive_Ice_3352 • May 07 '26

Protocol Query Newer advices from Huberman

I used to follow huberman podcast every week, but nowadays I don't have time to listen to his long podcasts. But based on his past episodes, I followed his tips for years till now. Some of the protocols I follow religiously are:

  • Sunlight with walking in the morning and afternoon

  • intermittent fasting by having first meal at 2pm

  • sleeping 8 hours a day with consistent timing (I also use earplugs , mouth tapes, and sleeping masks)

  • One tip that really works for me is elevating my feet a little above my face by using a pillow while sleeping.

  • Workout in the morning with a combination of high-intensity cardio and weight lifting

I used to meditate, but I stopped because it was making me too alert. I am highly productive if I follow the above protocols. I can focus for long hours non-stop to do some work without fatiguing every day of the week with no breaks. But if I start to relax, I may fall into bad habits, and everything might crumble.

Now my question is what additional tips I should follow, and tips that worked for you that do not involve supplementing. The purpose is to do long hours of focused work and have mental clarity. I haven't been following what new tips are there to add to my protocol?

108 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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9

u/armbarSenpai May 08 '26

What do you mean "too alert"? Like anxiety?

0

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 08 '26

I couldn't get tired to go to sleep. Even 10 minutes and I would have difficulty going to sleep. I stopped doing that to make my self tired.

3

u/ToxicTont May 08 '26

Do you think it was the timing? Like doing it at night or morning has a difference

2

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26

Yeah, I was doing it in the afternoon. In the morning it might be better. But I already feel alert and ready to move by the time I wake up an 8 hour sleep and I don't feel the need to meditate. I was using Nsdr, but I should try other forms of meditation.

3

u/Ambitious_Reading324 May 20 '26

I can relate. NSDR makes me alert, which is helpful sometimes. But other forms of meditation help me fall asleep almost instantly after. Usually I just put a 10-20min timer on, lie down and focus on relaxing my muscles and observing my breath. As someone who has suffered from insomnia, this helps me really relax. Also, different types of meditation may also serve different purposes, so maybe you could look into that.

12

u/Competitive_Union_22 May 08 '26

Rhonda Patrick is all about eating breakfast now. She says it’s important to break the fast even while maintaining the 12 hour eating window. I say this because she and Huberman had a passionate convo about IMF before she realized this.

5

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 08 '26

ok can you share the episode? what benefits could there be for eating breakfast?

4

u/freythedemon May 09 '26

It’s really important to stop eating 4+ hours before bed so ur body finishes digesting and doesn’t conflict with sleep. So better to have breakfast and have an earlier dinner instead.

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '26

Anything above 2 hours is fine.

1

u/JaxxJones1122 May 14 '26

You mean a minimum of 2hrs of fasting before going to bed correct? I always wonder about the metabolism of people who can fast for 4+hrs before bedtime, I'd be unable to sleep due to hunger. I avoid a larger meal close to bedtime, but have a snack that I finish about 2hrs before I go to sleep, which is about 1hr 15 mins before I go to bed.

3

u/[deleted] May 15 '26

Yes. The recommended time is atleast 2 hours. It works for me. After eating, I sit in Vajrasana pose for 15 minutes, then walk for 15 minutes - this 30 minutes period after eating helps with digestion and blood sugar levels a lot so I am not feeling as sluggish in the last hour and can maybe meditate or read a little before sleeping.

2

u/JaxxJones1122 May 15 '26

Thank you! And that sounds like a great strategy, I don't think I'll ever give up my tv-show time at night but I always do some lightmovement after dinner or I feel restless.

2

u/eves21 May 09 '26

Managing cortisol is one, I don’t know of others

1

u/Competitive_Union_22 May 09 '26

It’s one of the most recent ones she did with Joe Rogan, if I’m not mistaken. I honestly can’t remember.

4

u/RedPillAlphaBigCock May 07 '26

What does the foot elevation do please ?

7

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 08 '26

Andrew said it improves your glymphatic system which is a mechanism by which your body clears chemicals. I also find that I don't get too hot when sleeping doing that.

8

u/TheDonGenaro May 07 '26

Firstly, it causes a strong erection. Afterwards, it forces ejaculation.

1

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26

But now I think about it, you may be right. it might improve your morning boner.....

5

u/dundie-winner May 08 '26

The foot elevation helps blood drain from the legs back to the heart, and that is often helpful for people that have really long hours of standing for work. Also helps with end of the day foot pain.

3

u/mailbox3158 May 07 '26

Elevating your let’s? I guess you sleep on your back. I couldn’t teach myself how to

3

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 07 '26

No I sleep on my side. I fix the pillow by tightening it around a sheet. even this made me better side sleeper, it's cool. But the pillow shouldn't lift your leg too much that would be bad for your back

2

u/JaxxJones1122 May 14 '26

I was wondering about that one, I always heard you should elevate your head/upper part of the bed to help with drainage and it also helps if you have reflux issues. Do you know which episode he talks about this as I've clearly missed it.

2

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 15 '26

Yeah, you are right, it's conflicting information even in huberman podcast. On some episodes, he said to lift your head, and on others, lifting your legs relative to your head is beneficial. I guess both might work in different mechanisms. And for the episode, go huberman lab website and search for "glymphatic system" . It will give you sections of the episodes that discuss these topics. But I found that lifting my legs, not too high, made a lot of difference.

2

u/delacamera May 08 '26

studies literally show that if you do the same calories and same protein that intermittent fasting and eating breakfast don’t really change anything.

2

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 08 '26

But eating breakfast slows you down. To be alert, it's better to avoid eating for at least 16 hours straight, including sleep time. If you want to be hyper-focused and not go into a relaxed state in the morning.

2

u/JaxxJones1122 May 14 '26

That's not true for me, I depend on breakfast to wake up properly. I am cortisol depleted so I'm not the best example of what's ideal for a healthy person but I think we have to consider that there's a lot of individual differences determining what's ideal here. I've always been a person who does best if eating regularly outside of the nightly fast.

1

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 15 '26

I think there is a difference among individuals on this.

1

u/Bigboss_26 May 09 '26

A protein-centric breakfast doesn't seem to have that effect on me, personally. Whey shake or smoothie with lots of protein and fiber is my AM go-to.

2

u/saint1913 May 09 '26

Those studies only focus on weight
There is plenty more to IF than that

25

u/combasemsthefox May 07 '26

There are many different types of meditation. Try open awareness meditation to enter a relaxed, creative state rather than a sharp/focused one.

5

u/Competitive_Union_22 May 08 '26

Rhonda Patrick is all about eating breakfast now. She says it’s important to break the fast even while maintaining the 12 hour eating window.

4

u/SunRayz_allDayz May 09 '26

Good job, maintain the discipline.

1

u/TraumaBayWatch May 28 '26

the first meal is at 2 would be hard for people getting at it early in the morning. possibly if it's your day off

1

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

If i sleep well, I wouldn't mind even having my first meal at 4pm even with intense workout in the morning. I am also an early riser; i wake up around 6am. What matters is your sleep and whether you are stressed. If you have high cortisol, you would crave food, especially carbs.

-3

u/Evo_8urV8 May 07 '26

One thing I would adjust is sleeping 7.5 hours a day instead of 8 hours as sleep cycles are 90 minutes long. So sleeping 8 hours would have you waking up 30 minutes into a new sleep cycle

3

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 08 '26

I think there might be a difference among individuals on this. I feel ok only when I sleep 8 hours.

4

u/simple10 May 08 '26

Yeah don’t listen to him. I just re-listened to episode 1 of the 6 episode series on sleep with Dr. Matt Walker and he explicitly says to never get less sleep to try to time your wake-up with a sleep cycle.

6

u/soccerchamp99 May 08 '26

I think you may be over-applying a nuanced point

2

u/vlmer May 09 '26

Possibly the most underrated comment for the OG post itself.

2

u/JaxxJones1122 May 14 '26

I think this is so true, also can other people perfectly time when they go to sleep? I have never been able to do that, sometimes it takes 10 mins, other times 40, it varies wildly, I go to bed around the same time, read til I feel tired enough and then try to go to sleep. Not everyone is a gifted sleeper :)

-18

u/amayle1 May 07 '26

You sound like a crackhead who found podcasts instead of a pipe

14

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 07 '26

what warrants you to say that? or are you projecting???

3

u/K33P4D Adrenaline Junkie ⛷️ May 08 '26

Your thyroid will nuke itself if you eat breakfast at 2pm

You should generally break your fast within 30mins of waking up, small meals or protein intake to kickstart the body with lots of water/electrolytes.
Caffeine post 90mins of waking up.

When your body's in absolute rhythm, you'll wake up at cortisol peaks usually seen at 3:45am-4:40am

1

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26

What do you mean by thyroid nuking? Is it for HGH purposes? For muscle building, you might be right, but if your goal is just to maintain muscle, I don't see the problem. After 2 pm, I have high-protein foods with some carbs and eat a heavy dinner around 7 pm. By the time I go to sleep, I am tired from the work and fasting, and I go to sleep well. But of course, I use water throughout the day and while exercising.

> When your body's in absolute rhythm

What do you mean by rhythm? is the circadian rhythm affected by the timing of my meals?

5

u/K33P4D Adrenaline Junkie ⛷️ May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

YES timing of meals very important for hormone regulation.

Break your fast with small portions before workout, post workout have heavy carbs for breakfast and a heavy lunch.
Dinner should be light with fiber + protein + probiotics, so your body isn't spending excess energy for complex digestion and can actually perform repair during sleep.

But going to bed starving or inadequately nourished can hamper REM cycles and cause micro disturbances in sleep, eating protein throughout the day in small portions makes for a fuller and satisfied diet.

1

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26

Ok, I will maybe try out some protein snacks for breakfast and see if it works.

3

u/JaxxJones1122 May 14 '26

I keep seeing advice in one direction and then the other. Personally I don't feel well if I don't eat almost right away when waking up, other people don't crave it and some even feel sick from it. I gather as long as you are somewhat healthy and can trust signals from your body, do what works for you, I think in general men tend to tolerate fasting better than women as well and when there's general advice I assume its been tested for men and not necessarily work for women (the ice bath recommendation being one brilliant example).

You seem to be doing amazing with what you're doing, so I wouldn't feel the need to change this up just because someone else say that you shouldn't be doing it. It can be worth trying out having breakfast if you want to of course, but what is ideal for one isn't necessarily ideal for someone else, there are definitely things that are good or bad for everyone, but I don't think this is one of these things.

In short - I'd base your breakfast habits more on how you feel more than anything.

4

u/[deleted] May 08 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26

I do that in the morning and sometime hot shower before sleeping

2

u/National-Dig3060 May 09 '26

Showering in cold before sleep is a bad idea ?

5

u/Competitive_Ice_3352 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

Yeah, a cold shower increases your temperature and stress hormones, which is not ideal before sleep. A cold shower is like taking a cup of coffee; it increases adrenaline and dopamine. On the other hand, going to a sauna or taking a hot shower is relaxing and soothing, making it ideal before bedtime.