How to Learn Skills Faster

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 LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Introduction (00:00:31) Sponsors: AG1, LMNT, Thesis, Momentous (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 (0