Behaviors

Used as part of strength and power assessment, including jumping off a box.

Exercise regularly for brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention; meaningful benefit requires more than minimal public-health recommendations. In the discussed context, increasing activity from sedentary to about 15 MET-hours per week—roughly three 1-hour brisk walks per week—was associated with about a 50% lower risk.

Attia prefers yearly endometrial ultrasound in women on HRT to monitor uterine lining.

Attia says women on HRT should be having a pap smear every year.

Attia sometimes has men cycle testosterone on and off; one example protocol given is 8 weeks on testosterone, then 8 weeks on HCG, alternating endogenous and exogenous support.

Do the real prehab and rehab work rather than relying on shortcuts. After shoulder surgery, dedicate about 1 hour to shoulder rehab 3–4 days per week.

To enable an earlier morning work block or add a third ultradian block, wake earlier and use hydration, caffeine, brief high-intensity exercise, and light exposure to shift the cortisol pulse earlier. Example exercise options given were 10-15 minutes of skipping rope, jumping jacks, or a brief jog. In his example, this could mean waking around 5:30 a.m.; if doing this consistently, also go to sleep earlier.

For bilingualism or trilingualism, earlier is better, ideally before age 12 if one hopes to avoid an accent later. Learning improves with more intense, immersive exposure over longer periods, but early exposure must be maintained or it can be lost. Real human interaction is preferred over passive recordings alone.

Better to address stuttering early in life when neuroplasticity is robust. Therapy is described as the typical route, including working through the problem and using strategies to create conditions that help words come out, especially for initiation-related stuttering involving difficulty starting the initial vowel or consonant.

Running or swimming are given as examples. The exercise is framed primarily as beneficial for mental state rather than physical reasons; missing it for even a day or two affects mood, performance, and interactions with others.

Nicotine is generally a bad idea before workouts or for enhancing physical performance because it impairs the neuromuscular state needed for coordinated movement.

A specific clinical hypnosis protocol can be used for smoking cessation; one session was described as producing complete cessation in about 23% of people.

Use one nicotine replacement method for about a week, then switch to another for about a week, then another; intended to vary nicotine absorption kinetics and reduce expectation of a fixed dopamine pattern.

The first week after quitting smoking or vaping is the critical period; use supports such as deliberate cold exposure, exercise, and positive social interactions to offset the dopamine drop and improve the odds of maintaining cessation.

Use positive social interactions as a healthy way to increase dopamine during the first week after quitting nicotine.

After quitting smoking, vaping, snuffing, or dipping, do hypnosis regularly about once a month or even once a week to reinforce the neural circuits supporting abstinence.

For resistance training, generally choose two exercises per muscle group; possibly three maximum if training all legs and calves in one day.

For each muscle group, include one exercise that places the muscle into a weighted stretch or larger range of motion, and another emphasizing contraction in the shortened or peak-contraction position.

Use a separate day to train biceps, triceps, calves, and neck directly, while also indirectly stimulating torso muscles. Include some sort of dip movement and a pulling movement such as chin-ups. Ensure at least one hard arm session each week, and include calf training in the weekly plan.

If sleep was poor to terrible, generally skip training the next day and focus on recovery rather than forcing the workout.

Grip the dumbbell, bar, or handle very tightly during lifting to facilitate force production. In unilateral movements, also grip the opposite dumbbell or handle tightly, even if that side is stationary, to enhance force output. To generate maximal force, contract the core and even fill the body with air while gripping tightly.

If you want to relax, use long exhales or physiological sighs and consciously relax the core and fists.

After time off from training, take 1–2 weeks to ramp back up to full workout duration and intensity rather than jumping straight back in.

Apply through bsl.stanford.edu for clinical trials for depression and other mood disorders.

Choose a meditation style based on your specific goal and current state, such as focus, mood, sleep, or performance, rather than treating meditation as one generic practice. Assess whether you are more internally focused or externally distracted, and generally choose the style that trains against your default bias.

For many meditation practices, stop moving and either sit or lie down before beginning. In most cases, close your eyes to shift perception toward interoception, although eyes-open meditation is also valid depending on the practice.

Before each meditation session, assess whether attention naturally goes inward or gets pulled outward. One simple test is to sit or lie down, close your eyes, and notice whether attention flees to external sounds/events or stays on the internal landscape; then open your eyes, focus on something external, and evaluate how well you can disengage from internal sensations.

Choose the meditation style that is harder for you in that moment rather than the one that comes naturally, because challenge drives neuroplasticity. If internal focus comes easily, use exteroceptive meditation; if external distractions dominate, use interoceptive meditation.

Use a 3-minute meditation session as a practical minimum; evidence suggests even 3 minutes can benefit focus and anxiety management.

Use a timer if helpful when doing meditation sessions.