Essentials: Supercharge Exercise Performance & Recovery with Cooling

Huberman Lab · 2025-03-20

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I discuss the critical role of temperature regulation in optimizing athletic and physical performance.I explain why overheating can hinder performance and endurance and how techniques like palmar cooling can help extend physical effort by aiding temperature regulation. I also highlight how specific body areas, such as the palms and face, are key targets for regulating temperature, allowing heat to dissipate efficiently. Lastly, I discuss how temperature can support training recovery while cautioning that extreme cold, such as ice baths immediately after training, can block adaptations.Huberman Lab Essentials are short episodes—approximately 30 minutes—focused on essential science and protocol takeaways from past Huberman Lab episodes. Essentials will be released every Thursday, and our full-length episodes will still be released every Monday.Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.Thank you to our sponsorsAG1: https://drinkag1.com/hubermanEight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/hubermanFunction: https://functionhealth.com/hubermanTimestamps00:00:00 Huberman Lab Essentials; Physical Performance & Skills, Temperature00:03:03 Sponsor: AG100:04:07 Temperature Homeostasis, Vasoconstriction & Vasodilation00:06:42 Elevated Heat & Performance Barrier00:08:26 Regulating Temperature, Glabrous Skin, “AVAs”00:12:20 Sponsor: Eight Sleep00:13:49 Strength Training & Heat Effects, Tool: Palmar Cooling00:17:21 Endurance, Temperature & Willpower00:20:54 Tool: Resistance Training, Running, Palmar Cooling & Water Temperature00:24:23 Sponsor: Function00:26:09 Ice Bath & Blocking Training Adaptations; Tool: Glabrous Skin & Recovery00:29:31 NSAIDs (Tylenol) & Training00:31:56 Recap & Key TakeawaysDisclaimer & DisclosuresLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Huberman Lab

The Huberman Lab podcast is hosted by Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the department of neurobiology, and by courtesy, psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. The podcast discusses neuroscience and science-based tools, including how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health, as well as existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works.
Huberman has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function, and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills, and cognitive functioning. He is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision, in 2017.
Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals, including Nature, Science, and Cell, and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover, and other top media outlets.
In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the top 10 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.

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