Behaviors

When using velocity-based monitoring, use the same movement and same load every time.

Use a standardized medicine ball throw as a simple performance/recovery test.

Keep stretching consistent before performance tests because acute static stretching directly affects power production.

Establish your own baseline and normal variation for biomarkers/performance metrics before acting on deviations.

Consider action when metrics are outside your normal range consistently for roughly 3-5 days or more, not after a single off reading.

General philosophy: avoid unnecessary supplementation and use targeted compounds only when there is a clear need.

Blood markers like hemoglobin, hematocrit, sodium, potassium, albumin can help assess acute and chronic hydration status.

WUT = weight, urine, thirst; use body weight, urine color, and thirst together to estimate hydration status.

If salty foods taste extremely salty, stores may be adequate; if craving extra salt, that may indicate deficiency. Also monitor blood pressure, especially if increasing sodium intake or if hypertension risk is present.

Practice the foods, carb amounts, sodium amounts, and fluid amounts in training before using them in competition. Start low and increase gradually to avoid GI distress.

Use compounds like alpha-GPC selectively before sparring, pitch-command work, shot practice, swing work, or other cognitively demanding sessions; not every day and not with every person.

Supplements should sit on top of strong fundamentals rather than replace them.

If needed, use supplements temporarily to get through a hump, but simultaneously address the underlying issue.

Recommended because allergens accumulating on sheets can impair sleep.

Recommended for sleep quality, especially if sleep issues may involve allergens/dander; certainly keep them off the bed.

Environmental sleep optimization should include these factors because they can disrupt sleep stages.

Cycling cooling devices can knock you out of sleep stages.

Huberman recommends increasing negative ion concentration in the sleeping environment as a near-zero-cost sleep aid based on circadian/sleep research.

He states sleeping with a partner is generally not ideal for sleep quality; offered as an effectiveness-first recommendation.

To reduce orthosomnia and anticipatory dopamine-driven sleep disruption from wearables.

Breathwork is endorsed as a tool to reconnect with physiology and support sleep rather than relying only on substances.

Used sparingly; if a small unresolved task or idea is what is keeping you awake, sometimes getting up and doing it is better than lying awake all night, especially if it would take only 10–15 minutes.

If training hard and not seeing results, first consider reducing fatigue via taper/deload before adding supplements. General taper guideline: reduce training volume by about 50% for about a week to a week and a half while maintaining intensity and roughly maintaining frequency.

In the seconds-to-hours post-training inflammatory window, avoid anti-inflammatory interventions because inflammation is part of the adaptation process.

Before a reading, sit doing nothing for 5 minutes; waiting room time does not count if you then walk to the exam room.

If an automated cuff gives a potentially suspect result, back it up with a manual measurement.

Huberman explicitly adds this recommendation; if nicotine or cannabis is desired, use other delivery methods instead of vaping.

Keep triglycerides below 100 mg/dL; no more than 2x HDL cholesterol, and ideally at or below HDL cholesterol. Lowering them is said to be most easily accomplished through carbohydrate restriction, with energy restriction as a first-order strategy as well.

Weight loss was given as a first-line non-pharmacologic strategy before blood pressure medication; example given was losing 10 pounds. Also framed as correcting overnourishment.

Recommended over relying heavily on creatinine because cystatin C is said to be more accurate.