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.  Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1 : https://athleticgreens.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab Waking Up: https://www.wakingup.com/huberman 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