The Power of Mental Rehearsal

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. 

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction  

00:00:31 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up  

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’ & Boost HRV 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 To 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  

Disclaimer & Disclosures