Dr. Andrew Huberman — Peptides, Performance, and Protocols (#876)

Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., (IG: @hubermanlab) is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Departments of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he runs the Huberman Lab. His research spans brain development, visual perception and repair from blinding diseases, the neuroscience of stress and resilience, and neural plasticity. He has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles in top journals including Nature, Science, Cell, and Neuron, and his honors include the Cogan Award, the McKnight Neuroscience Scholar Award, and the Pew Biomedical Scholar Award.

In 2021, he launched the Huberman Lab podcast, which became and remains the most popular health and science podcast in the world. Dr. Huberman is the co-founder of Scicomm Media, the company behind the podcasts Huberman Lab, Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin, and David Senra.

He is the author of Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body.

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Transcripts

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Show Notes

Connect with Dr. Andrew Huberman

Website | The Huberman Lab Podcast | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Previous Appearances on The Tim Ferriss Show

• Dr. Andrew Huberman — The Foundations of Physical and Mental Performance, Core Supplements, Sexual Health and Fertility, Sleep Optimization, Psychedelics, and More | The Tim Ferriss Show #660
• Dr. Andrew Huberman — A Neurobiologist on Optimizing Sleep, Enhancing Performance, Reducing Anxiety, Increasing Testosterone, and Using the Body to Control the Mind | The Tim Ferriss Show #521

Films, Shows, and Books

• Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body by Andrew D. Huberman, Ph.D. | Amazon
• Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks by Ben Goldacre | Amazon
• Bigger, Stronger, Faster* | Prime Video
• The Dark Wizard | Prime Video
• The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other by James Hollis | Amazon
• The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman by Tim Ferriss | Amazon
• Principles of Neural Science by Eric R. Kandel, John D. Koester, Sarah H. Mack, and Steven A. Siegelbaum | Amazon
• Riding Giants | Prime Video
• Under Saturn’s Shadow: The Wounding and Healing of Men by James Hollis | Amazon

People

• Canelo Álvarez
• Marc Andreessen
• Abud Bakri
• Martha Beck
• Chris Bell
• Mark Bell
• Hafthór “Thor” Björnsson
• Helen Blau
• Robin Carhart-Harris
• Jeff Cavaliere
• Edward Chang
• Ed Coan
• Paul Conti
• Gül Dölen
• Jonathan Downar
• Dan Gable
• Ben Goldacre
• Jennifer Groh
• Laird Hamilton
• James Hollis
• Alex Honnold
• Shelby Houlihan
• James Schwartz
• Thomas Jessell
• Arthur Jones
• Eric Kandel
• James Magnussen
• Christopher McCurdy
• Mike Mentzer
• Rob Mohr
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Ivan Pavlov
• Dean Potter
• Rick Rubin
• Brad Schoenfeld
• James Schwartz
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Andy Stumpf
• Casey Viator
• Matthew Walker
• Nolan Williams
• Dorian Yates

Training with Dorian Yates

• American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews | Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
• Dorian Yates on High Intensity Training, Injury Prevention, and Building Maximum Muscle | The Tim Ferriss Show #235
• Dose-Response Relationship between Weekly Resistance Training Volume and Increases in Muscle Mass: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Journal of Sports Sciences
• Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men | Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
• Effects of Resistance Training Performed to Repetition Failure or Non-Failure on Muscular Strength and Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Journal of Sport and Health Science
• How Many Times per Week Should a Muscle Be Trained to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Studies Examining the Effects of Resistance Training Frequency | Journal of Sports Sciences
• Strength and Hypertrophy Adaptations between Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis | Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Equipment and Protocols

• American-Made Strength Equipment | Rogue Fitness
• AssaultBike Classic | Assault Fitness
• Custom Strength & Exercise Equipment | Sorinex
• Hammer Strength Plate-Loaded Four-Way Neck | Life Fitness
• Jeff Cavaliere: Build Muscle, Great Posture & Resilience to Injury | Huberman Lab
• Pit Shark Belt Squat | Rogue Fitness
• Schwinn AirDyne AD7 | Schwinn Fitness
• Science-Based Workouts & Supplements | ATHLEAN-X

Psychedelics, Critical Periods, and Neuroplasticity

• Acquisition of Transcend Therapeutics | Otsuka
• Acute Effects of MDMA Co-Administration on the Response to Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects | ClinicalTrials.gov
• Complete Response Letter for Midomafetamine/MDMA | FDA
• Guidance for Psychedelic-Drug Clinical Investigations | FDA
• MAPP2, the Phase 3 Trial of MDMA-Assisted Therapy for PTSD | MAPS
• MDMA-Assisted Therapy for Moderate to Severe PTSD: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase 3 Trial | Nature Medicine
• Psilocybin and MDMA for PTSD | ClinicalTrials.gov
• Psychedelics Reopen the Social Reward Learning Critical Period | Nature

Accelerated TMS and D-cycloserine

• A Randomized, Double-Blind Controlled Comparison of NRX-101 vs. Placebo for Adults Being Treated With Robotic Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression: The SPARC-TMS Trial | ClinicalTrials.gov
• Efficacy of Adjunctive D-Cycloserine to Intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation for Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial | JAMA Psychiatry
• Experimental Depression Treatment Is Nearly 80% Effective in Controlled Study | Stanford Medicine
• Neuroplasticity-Enhanced TMS Therapy | Ampa Health
• Single-Day Tms Regimens with Pharmacological Augmentation of Plasticity: Five Cases | Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Cortisol Timing, Light, Exercise, and Sleep

• The Circadian System Modulates the Cortisol Awakening Response in Humans | Frontiers in Neuroscience
• The Effects of Post-Awakening Light Exposure on the Cortisol Awakening Response in Healthy Male Individuals | Psychoneuroendocrinology
• Light Affects Morning Salivary Cortisol in Humans | The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
• Transition from Dim to Bright Light in the Morning Induces an Immediate Elevation of Cortisol Levels | The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Peptides and Metabolic Drugs

• Certain Bulk Drug Substances for Use in Compounding that May Present Significant Safety Risks | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Compounding and the FDA: Questions and Answers | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Effects of Retatrutide on Body Composition in People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Substudy of a Phase 2, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group, Placebo-Controlled, Randomised Trial | The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
• Egrifta (Tesamorelin for Injection) Prescribing Information | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• FDA BPC-157 Briefing Document (2026) | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• FDA’s Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs Used for Weight Loss | U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including retatrutide
• Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) Prescribing Information | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Safety of Intravenous Infusion of BPC157 in Humans: A Pilot Study | Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine
• The 2026 Prohibited List | World Anti-Doping Agency
• Vyleesi (Bremelanotide Injection) Prescribing Information | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• What to Know about Retatrutide | Eli Lilly and Company, and the Phase 3 update: Lilly’s Triple Agonist, Retatrutide, Delivered Powerful Weight Loss in Pivotal Phase 3 Obesity Trial | Eli Lilly and Company

Sleep, DORAs, Meditation, and Vestibular Stimulation

• A Method to Soothe and Promote Sleep in Crying Infants Utilizing the Transport Response | Current Biology
• Effects of Thermal Environment on Sleep and Circadian Rhythm | Journal of Physiological Anthropology
• Neurofluid Circulation Changes during a Focused Attention Style of Mindfulness Meditation | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Quviviq (Daridorexant) Prescribing Information | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Smart Ring for Sleep & Health | Oura
• Suvorexant Acutely Decreases Tau Phosphorylation and A? in the Human CNS | Annals of Neurology
• Unlock Human Performance & Healthspan | WHOOP
• Whole-Night Continuous Rocking Entrains Spontaneous Neural Oscillations with Benefits for Sleep and Memory | Current Biology
• Eye-movement sleep mask information | Nocturnal

Regenerative Medicine, Cartilage, and Kratom Research

• Important Patient and Consumer Information About Regenerative Medicine Therapies | U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• Inhibiting a Master Regulator of Aging Regenerates Joint Cartilage in Mice | Stanford Medicine
• Kratom Resources | University of Florida College of Pharmacy

Long-Wavelength Light, Outdoor Time, and Multilingualism

• Multilingualism Protects against Accelerated Aging in Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses of 27 European Countries | Nature Aging
• Photobiomodulation—Underlying Mechanism and Clinical Applications | Journal of Clinical Medicine
• Protective Effect of Bilingualism on Aging, MCI, and Dementia: A Community-Based Study | Alzheimer’s & Dementia
• Review of Light Parameters and Photobiomodulation Efficacy: Dive into Complexity | Journal of Biomedical Optics
• Time Spent in Outdoor Activities in Relation to Myopia Prevention and Control: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review | Acta Ophthalmologica

Enhanced Games and Anti-Doping Cases

• An Olympic Hopeful Blames A Burrito For Her Positive Drug Test | NPR
• Athletics: Modafinil Is Drug of Choice, Says IAAF Chief | The Independent
• Australian Swimmer James Magnussen Says He’ll ‘Juice to the Gills’ to Win $1.5m Prize in Enhanced Games | The Guardian
• Gkolomeev Claims $1M Bonus for 50 Metres Freestyle at Enhanced Games | Reuters
• Performance-Enhanced Sports Competition | Enhanced Games
• The Prohibited List | World Anti-Doping Agency
• Reasoned CAS Award in the Shelby Houlihan Nandrolone Case | Court of Arbitration for Sport

Timestamps

• [00:00:00] Who is Dr. Andrew Huberman?
• [00:02:03] Dean Potter, The Dark Wizard, and the physics of raw energy.
• [00:04:11] Why competition destroys performance.
• [00:05:45] Laird Hamilton, tow-in surfing, and the lure of big waves.
• [00:06:27] Training with Dorian Yates.
• [00:18:29] The full weekly split that keeps building strength at 50.
• [00:21:00] Neck training.
• [00:25:56] AssaultBike vs. Airdyne.
• [00:31:12] Revisiting MDMA and psychedelics.
• [00:48:06] Inducing plasticity is only half the job.
• [00:53:17] The one-day protocol that cut my anxiety by 90%.
• [01:00:27] Cortisol as the master key.
• [01:03:26] Peptides demystified: GLP-1s, growth hormone, and BPC-157.
• [01:14:44] The Enhanced Games, the Deca burrito, and the honesty problem.
• [01:17:56] Pinealon, epitalon, and the hunt for more REM sleep.
• [01:25:02] Why women, not gym bros, are the real peptide market.
• [01:35:52] Why “no reported side effects” is a trap.
• [01:43:48] Stem cells, cartilage regrowth, and mining the body for medicine.
• [01:46:37] AI, wearables, and the race to write to the nervous system.
• [01:54:12] The MIT mask that puts you to sleep in six minutes.
• [01:56:09] Inside Andrew’s new operating manual, Protocols.
• [02:03:30] Navigating grief and remapping loss.
• [02:04:40] Shut up, suit up, show up.
• [02:08:03] Parting thoughts.

Dr. Andrew Huberman Quotes from the Interview

“But what is failure? If somebody really put a gun to your head and said, ‘Curl that bar one more time or I’m going to kill your family,’ you’d curl the bar.”

— Dr. Andrew Huberman

“Not only am I not going to run for office, I’m running from office.”

— Dr. Andrew Huberman

“If the anterior mid-cingulate cortex or the posterior insula gets 10% thicker, great. But if you’re not making better decisions, frankly, who gives a shit?”

— Dr. Andrew Huberman

“There does seem to be something almost spiritual about whether or not we’re funneling energy into things that really reflect us at our best … versus competition. Competition, it turns out, is what destroys people.”

— Dr. Andrew Huberman

“It’s as if I was dying of thirst and I’m trying to reach for this and I can’t get it. That’s what grief really is.”

— Dr. Andrew Huberman

Want to hear another episode with someone who built a legendary physique on brutally minimalist training? Listen to my conversation with six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, in which we discussed high-intensity training and going to failure, his relationship to pain, how he warms up, specific workouts, common mistakes and misconceptions, self-talk, his favorite books, and much more.

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