Andrew Huberman on Focus, Energy, and Performing at Your Best
Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman joins the a16z show to walk through one full day of his routine, from morning light and training to supplements and sleep. He also shares his top habits for health and focus for founders.
The gist
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Huberman starts each day with a 5-minute breathing meditation, then sunlight in his eyes, using a 10,000 lux light if he wakes before sunrise.
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His 35-year routine: three weight days weekly with two all-out sets to failure, plus Airdyne bike sprints of 20 seconds on, 10 off, eight times.
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Huberman drinks yerba mate right away on workout days, stops caffeine around 2 p.m., and takes Lovaza to get over a gram of EPA daily.
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Short on sleep, he does 10 to 30 minutes of afternoon yoga nidra, which he says restores energy without a nap's grogginess.
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For founders, he advises protecting peak focus windows (his are 9:30 to 12:30 and late afternoon) and resetting once a week.
Andrew Huberman uses it
"If I wake up long before the sun is out, I have a 10,000 lux artificial light, and I'll get in front of that thing just as I make coffee in the morning or do my thing."
▶ Play at 6:50
Andrew Huberman recommends it
"Morning bright light, ideally from sunlight. So that would be in the first 30 to 60 minutes after waking. If you can't get it from sunlight, get a 10,000 lux artificial light, then get some sunlight if and when you can. So that's number one."
▶ Play at 32:59
Andrew Huberman uses it
"I picked things that felt right to me. Cycling doesn't feel good to me. Running and the Airdyne bike do."
▶ Play at 8:272 creators recommend it, including Joe Rogan.
See all on the Airdyne Bike page
Andrew Huberman uses it
"If I'm going to exercise, I need caffeine, so I'm not waiting even 30 minutes. I'm going to drink caffeine, so I drink yerba mate, which is my preferred source of caffeine, for a long time now."
▶ Play at 7:103 creators recommend it, including John Coogan and TBPN.
See all on the Yerba Mate page
Andrew Huberman uses it
"These days I find the most efficient way to get above a gram of EPA per day, and not just above a gram of fish oil, is to take Lovaza, which is a prescription omega-3. All the heavy metals have been extracted, so you don't have to worry about that. And there are generic versio..."
▶ Play at 24:29
Andrew Huberman recommends it
"I do a 10- to 30-minute non-sleep deep rest yoga nidra in the afternoon. I think it's a wonderful thing to restore mental and physical vigor without generating sleep inertia... It's not a nap. It doesn't induce sleep inertia. It's better than a nap. It teaches you to fall back..."
▶ Play at 17:47What they recommend · 19 picks
Health & fitness
7 picks · Andrew Huberman ·Andrew's health & fitness →
"I do a 10- to 30-minute non-sleep deep rest yoga nidra in the afternoon. I think it's a wonderful thing to restore mental and physical vigor without generating sleep inertia... ..."
"Morning bright light, ideally from sunlight. So that would be in the first 30 to 60 minutes after waking. If you can't get it from sunlight, get a 10,000 lux artificial light, t..."
"Learn how to close your eyes, and this sounds so kooky, but it's grounded in what we understand about the underlying circuitry. Moving your eyes back and forth and up and down w..."
Supplements
6 picks · Andrew Huberman ·Andrew's supplements →
"These days I find the most efficient way to get above a gram of EPA per day, and not just above a gram of fish oil, is to take Lovaza, which is a prescription omega-3. All the h..."
"I actually believe in some of the herbal supplements, just based on my blood work. I take 400 mg of something called Tongkat Ali... it's known to help the unbinding of sex hormo..."
"I take N-acetylcysteine, 600 mg a day. It's a glutathione precursor... there's a really nice study showing that N-acetylcysteine 600 to 900 mg taken three times per day can redu..."
Gear & hardware
3 picks · Andrew Huberman ·Andrew's gear & hardware →
"I recently moved X and Instagram to a separate phone so that if people send me things I can't open it. And then I keep that phone in a lock box so that I say, okay, for an hour ..."
"If I wake up long before the sun is out, I have a 10,000 lux artificial light, and I'll get in front of that thing just as I make coffee in the morning or do my thing."
"I picked things that felt right to me. Cycling doesn't feel good to me. Running and the Airdyne bike do."
Food & drink
2 picks · Andrew Huberman ·Andrew's food & drink →
"On the East Coast, in New York, I'll get a slice at just any kind of walk-in place. On the West Coast, Arizmendi's pizza in the East Bay is pretty much the only thing that meets..."
"If I'm going to exercise, I need caffeine, so I'm not waiting even 30 minutes. I'm going to drink caffeine, so I drink yerba mate, which is my preferred source of caffeine, for ..."
Other picks
1 pick · Andrew Huberman
"First one is know when your windows of high cognitive capacity are... For me it's 9:30 to 12:30. That's one key window... protecting those times as if they were the most importa..."
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