How to Learn Skills Faster

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2021

⏱️ 110 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode I discuss the science and practice of learning physical skills: what it involves at a biological level, and what to focus on during skill learning at each stage to maximize learning speed and depth. I also describe what to do immediately after a training session (note: this is different than the optimal protocol for cognitive skill training) and as you progress to more advanced levels of performance. I also cover the science of skill-based visualization which does have benefits, but only if done correctly and at the correct times. I discuss auto-replay of skill learning in the brain during sleep and the value of adding in post-training ‘deliberately idle’ sessions. I cover how to immediately improve limb-range-of-motion by leveraging cerebellum function, error generation, optimal repetition numbers for learning and more. As always, scientific mechanism, peer-reviewed studies and science-based protocols are discussed. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:06:28) Skill Acquisition: Mental & Physical (00:08:40) Clarification About Cold, Heat & Caffeine (00:12:45) Tool: How To Quickly Eliminate the Side-Stitch ‘Cramp’ & BoostHRV Entrainment (00:16:08) Physical Skills: Open-Loop Versus Closed-Loop (00:18:50) Three Key Components To Any Skill (00:21:00) Sources of Control for Movement: 1) CPGs Govern Rhythmic Learned Behavior (00:23:30) Upper Motor Neurons for Deliberate Movement & Learning (00:25:00) Lower Motor Neurons Control Action Execution (00:25:26) What To Focus On While Learning (00:27:10) The Reality of Skill Learning & the 10,000 Hours Myth (00:28:30) Repetitions & The Super Mario Effect: Error Signals vs. Error Signals + Punishment (00:34:00) Learning To Win, Every Time (00:39:26) Errors Solve the Problem of What Focus On While Trying to Learn Skills (00:43:00) Why Increasing Baseline Levels of Dopamine Prior To Learning Is Bad (00:44:40) The Framing Effect (& Protocol Defined) (00:46:10) A Note & Warning To Coaches (00:48:30) What To Do Immediately After Your Physical Skill Learning Practice (00:53:48) Leveraging Uncertainty (00:56:59) What to Pay Attention To While Striving To Improve (01:04:45) Protocol Synthesis Part One (01:07:10) Super-Slow-Motion Learning Training: Only Useful After Some Proficiency Is Attained (01:11:06) How To Move From Intermediate To Advanced Skill Execution faster: Metronomes (01:16:44) Increasing Speed Even If It Means More Errors: Training Central Pattern Generators (01:19:12) Integrated Learning: Leveraging Your Cerebellum (“Mini-Brain”) (01:22:02) Protocol For Increasing Limb Range of Motion, Immediately (01:28:30) Visualization/Mental Rehearsal: How To Do It Correctly (01:33:50) Results From 15 Minutes Per Day, 5 Days Per Week Visualization (vs. Actual Training) (01:35:34) Imagining Something Is Very Different Than Actually Experiencing It (01:37:58) Cadence Training & Learning “Carryover” (01:39:00) Ingestible Compounds That Support Skill Learning: Motivation, Repetitions, Alpha-GPC (01:43:39) Summary & Sequencing Tools: Reps, Fails, Idle Time, Sleep, Metronome, Visualization (01:46:20) Density Training: Comparing Ultradian- & Non-Ultradian Training Sessions (01:49:24) Cost-Free Ways to Support Us, Sponsors & Alternate Channels, Closing Remarks Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Huberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:09.0	I'm Andrew Huberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
0:15.0	This podcast is separate from my teaching and research roles at Stanford.
0:19.0	It is, however, part of my desire and effort to bring zero cost to consumer information about science and science-related tools to the general public.
0:27.0	In keeping with that theme, I'd like to thank the sponsors of today's podcast.
0:31.0	Our first sponsor is Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is an all-in-one vitamin mineral probiotic drink.
0:37.0	I've been taking Athletic Greens since 2012, so I'm delighted that they're sponsoring the podcast.
0:42.0	The reason I started taking Athletic Greens and the reason I still take Athletic Greens once or twice today is that it helps me cover all of my basic nutritional needs.
0:50.0	It makes up for any deficiencies that I might have.
0:52.0	In addition, it has probiotics, which are vital for microbiome health.
0:57.0	I've done a couple of episodes now on the so-called gut microbiome and the ways in which the microbiome interacts with your immune system, with your brain to regulate mood, and essentially with every biological system relevant to health throughout your brain and body.
1:11.0	With Athletic Greens, I get the vitamins I need, the minerals I need, and the probiotics to support my microbiome.
1:17.0	If you'd like to try Athletic Greens, you can go to AthleticGreens.com slash Huberman and claim a special offer.
1:23.0	They'll give you five free travel packs plus a year supply of vitamin D3K2.
1:28.0	There are a ton of data now showing that vitamin D3 is essential for various aspects of our brain and body health, even if we're getting a lot of sunshine.
1:35.0	Many of us are still deficient in vitamin D3.
1:38.0	And K2 is also important because it regulates things like cardiovascular function, calcium in the body, and so on.
1:44.0	Again, go to AthleticGreens.com slash Huberman to claim the special offer of the five free travel packs and the year supply of vitamin D3K2.
1:52.0	Today's episode is also brought to us by Inside Tracker.
1:55.0	Inside Tracker is a personalized nutrition platform that analyzes data from your blood and DNA to help you better understand your body and help you reach your health goals.
2:03.0	I am a big fan of getting regular blood work done, and I've been trying to do it as much as I can afford for years.
2:09.0	The reason is that many of the factors that impact our immediate and long-term health can only be discovered from a quality blood test.
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