The Huberman Lab Podcast discusses neuroscience: how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health. We also discuss existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works. Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. His laboratory studies neural regeneration, neuroplasticity, and brain states such as stress, focus, fear, and optimal performance. For more than 20 years, Dr. Huberman has consistently published original research findings and review articles in top-level peer-reviewed journals, including Nature, Science, Cell, Neuron, and Current Biology. He is a regular member of several National Institutes of Health review panels and a Fellow of the McKnight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Dr. Huberman regularly consults for technology development companies, professional athletic organizations, and various units of U.S. and Canadian Special Operations.
Dr. Craig Heller: Using Temperature To Optimize Performance, Brain & Body Health | Episode 40
This episode I am joined by Dr. Craig Heller, Professor of Biology at Stanford University and world expert on the science of temperature regulation. We discuss how the body and brain maintain temperature under different conditions and how most everyone uses the wrong approach to cool off or heat up. Dr. Heller teaches us the best ways and in doing so, explains how to offset hyperthermia and hypothermia. He also explains how we can use the precise timing and location of cooling on our body to greatly enhance endurance and weight training performance. He describes how cooling technology discovered and engineered in his laboratory has led to a tripling of anaerobic (weight training) performance and allowed endurance athletes to run further and faster, as well as to eliminate delayed onset muscle soreness. Dr. Heller explains how heat impairs muscular and mental performance, and how to cool the brain to reduce inflammation and to enhance sleep and cognition. We discuss how anyone can apply these principles for themselves, even their dogs! Our conversation includes both many practical tools and mechanistic science.
Thank you to our sponsors:
- ROKA - https://www.roka.com -- code "huberman"
- InsideTracker - https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman
- Athletic Greens - https://www.athleticgreens.com/huberman
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Our Patreon page:
Supplements from Thorne:
Links:
- Dr. Heller's Website - https://profiles.stanford.edu/h-craig-heller
- CoolMitt Technology - https://www.coolmitt.com
Timestamps:
- 00:00:00 Introducing Dr. Craig Heller, Physiology & Performance
- 00:02:00 Sponsors: Roka, Inside Tracker, Athletic Greens
- 00:06:45 Cold Showers, Ice Baths, Cryotherapy
- 00:10:45 Boundary Layers
- 00:11:55 Cooling Before Aerobic Activity to Enhance Performance
- 00:14:45 Anaerobic Activity Locally Increases Muscle Heat
- 00:16:45 Temperature Gates Our Energy Use
- 00:19:00 Local Versus Systemic Fatigue: Heat Is Why We Fail
- 00:22:10 Cooling Off: Most Methods are Counterproductive
- 00:26:43 Exercise-Induced Brain Fog
- 00:27:45 Hyperthermia
- 00:31:50 Best Body Sites for Cooling: Palms, Foot Pads, Upper Face
- 00:38:00 Cooling Your Brain via The Upper Face; Concussion
- 00:41:25 Extraordinary (Tripling!) Performance by Cooling the Palms
- 00:45:35 Enhancing Recovery, Eliminating Soreness w/Intra-workout Cooling
- 00:50:00 Multiple Sclerosis: Heat Sensitivity & Amelioration with Cooling
- 00:51:00 Enhancing Endurance with Proper Cooling
- 00:53:00 Cool Mitt, Ice-Cold Is Too Cold, 3 Minutes Cooling
- 00:58:20 How You Can Use Palmer Cooling to Enhance Performance
- 01:01:15 Radiation, Convection, Heat-Transfer, Role of Surface Area
- 01:04:40 Hypothermia Story, Ideal Re-Heating Strategy
- 01:11:40 Paw-lmer Cooling for Dog Health & Performance
- 01:12:45 Warming Up, & Varying Temperature Around the Body
- 01:17:35 Cooling-Enhanced Performance Is Permanent
- 01:19:55 Anabolic Steroids versus Palmer Cooling
- 01:24:00 Female Athletic Performance
- 01:25:18 Shivering & Cold, Metabolism
- 01:26:55 Studies of Bears & Hibernation, Brown Fat
- 01:31:10 Brown Fat Distribution & Activation In Humans
- 01:34:18 Brain Freeze, Ice Headache: Blood Pressure, Headache
- 01:37:50 Fidgeters, Non-Exercise Induced Thermogenesis
- 01:39:44 How Pre-Workout Drinks, & Caffeine May Inhibit Performance
- 01:43:42 Sleep, Cold, Warm Baths, Screens, & Socks
- 01:48:44 Synthesis
- 01:49:30 Supporting the Podcast & Scientific Research