The Science of Sleep and Recovery w/ Dr. Allison Brager, Anders Varner, Travis Mash and Doug Larson #821
Barbell Shrugged
Doug Larson
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 29 October 2025
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, neuroscientist and U.S. Army sleep expert Dr. Allison Brager joins Anders Varner, Doug Larson, and Travis Mash to explore the real science behind sleep, recovery, and wearable technology. They discuss which devices actually deliver useful data, such as the Oura Ring for sleep tracking and Garmin for cardiovascular measurements, and why being consistent with one tool is more important than chasing perfect accuracy. Dr. Brager explains how wearables are now being used in place of sleep labs in both clinical and military settings to help athletes and operators make better recovery decisions.
The conversation dives into practical ways to improve sleep and recovery for anyone pushing performance limits. Dr. Brager describes how sleep apnea can affect even lean, muscular athletes, with studies showing that more than half of Division I football players meet criteria for sleep apnea or insomnia. Just three nights of only five hours of sleep can cut testosterone levels in half. The group also discusses how vagus nerve stimulation, infrared light therapy, and temperature-controlled mattresses such as Eight Sleep can help the body relax, lower stress, and improve sleep quality, especially when used before bed or after long travel.
They close by breaking down real-world strategies for recovery and training. Short 20- to 30-minute naps during the afternoon improve alertness, and caffeine can be used strategically during travel to reduce fatigue. Training is most effective when aligned with the body's circadian rhythm, with evening workouts often producing better strength results, while morning training can work after a few months of adjustment. Whether you are a soldier, athlete, or business leader, this episode is about using data, structure, and recovery habits to perform better and stay healthy over the long term.
Outside of the laboratory, Allison was a two-time CrossFit Games (team) athlete, a two-time CrossFit Regionals (individual) athlete, and a four-year varsity NCAA Division I athlete in track and field. Dr. Brager has an Sc.B. in Psychology from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Physiology from Kent State University
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Bob Elstrug. I'm Anders Warner, Doug Larson. Dr. Allison Brigger, she's got an aura ring right there. |
| 0:05.5 | We're going to be talking about neuro technology, brain and science, all the things, all in one. |
| 0:11.2 | Plus, I'm holding my aura ring. I'm sure this thing's going to tell me. You're a sleep doc up at West Point. |
| 0:17.1 | Do you want to hear my weirdest thing why I haven't charged my orring in at least three months? |
| 0:21.9 | Why? |
| 0:22.6 | Because I really believe, God, audience is going to love this. |
| 0:27.2 | I have a real belief that what you see on your screen is like 4% of what 8 sleep and aura and Fitbit and all these things are actually tracking. |
| 0:42.5 | What I think is actually tracking is they have the most global or at least national database |
| 0:49.7 | of like human sex lives, like all of these like really weird things that like nobody talks |
| 0:58.8 | about but you could go to any of these companies and be like well that guy's heart rate uh got |
| 1:05.9 | really weird there for like eight seconds but there was no one next to him in bed now we know a lot of |
| 1:10.8 | things about that person there's an enormous amount of data that like there for like eight seconds, but there was no one next to him in bed. Now we know a lot of things |
| 1:11.0 | about that person. There's an enormous amount of data that like nobody talks about and isn't |
| 1:17.1 | on your dashboard, but they know. Oh, they know. I think Woop has though. I remember seeing a post on |
| 1:23.0 | whoop. It was like five or six months ago about, right, their user data of like having sex or I don't |
| 1:29.9 | know if they like logged it into their journal or not, but then they looked at like, you know, |
| 1:34.7 | post-coital sleep after after sex and how it was better. |
| 1:38.6 | They don't publish that. |
| 1:40.0 | If I remember correctly, I could be wrong about this, but I think they said after sex, |
| 1:43.8 | people slept better, but after masturbation, they didn't. It was something like that. There was some unique nuance there that I was like, oh, this is, this is kind of, this is great data. Well, I mean, that makes sense psychologically too, right? Like, everyone wants a real thing, you know, I'm just saying. Oh, Mash is coming in at the, at the perfect time here. |
| 2:02.0 | Oh, |
| 2:02.3 | Masch, |
... |
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