Why I Built This Guide: Performance Isn’t Just Training

As a college strength and conditioning coach, I’ve always obsessed over the training floor — sets, reps, tempos, bar speed. But over the years, it became obvious: performance isn’t just built under the bar. It’s shaped by what athletes do in the 22 hours they’re not training.

That realization led me down the rabbit hole — diving deep into neuroscience, circadian biology, recovery science, and performance psychology. One of the most impactful resources? The Andrew Huberman Lab Podcast. It’s dense, evidence-based, and full of practical tools — if you know how to translate it into action.

This blog post is a synthesis of MANY episodes, reframed for strength coaches and athletes. I’ve organized it into the four levers that matter most:

• Sleep
• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Light

Each section includes actionable Coaching Notes and real-world Applied examples from the strength and conditioning floor — how we’ve used these insights with college athletes striving for peak performance.

The truth is, elite performance isn’t just about grinding harder. It’s about aligning physiology with training. That’s what this is all about.

Sleep: You Cannot Run from Poor Sleep Habits

Morning sunlight within 30–60 minutes of waking

😴 Coaching Note: Get your athletes in natural light early. It's free performance enhancement.

Applied: Morning light exposure is the body’s most powerful cue to set the internal clock — the circadian rhythm. When light hits the eyes (specifically, the cells in the retina that respond to brightness), it sends a signal to the brain that says “Time to be alert.” This kickstarts cortisol in a healthy, natural way and sets a timer for melatonin to rise later that night.

At Colorado, we had a women’s team go on what we jokingly called the "Sunlight Lap." After early-morning film sessions — when eyes were heavy and energy was lower than the team's deep squat — we’d have the team toss on a hoodie and walk a loop around the facility. No phones. No headphones. Just fresh air and natural light. It only took 8–10 minutes, but it worked like clockwork: athletes returned more awake, less groggy, and more mentally locked in for lifts or skill sessions.

Takeaway: It doesn’t need to be a full workout — a 5–10 minute walk or warm-up circuit outside is enough. If the weather is poor, open a window, stand by a sliding glass door, or turn on bright indoor lights as a fallback. Make it a ritual: hydration, sunlight, movement — all within an hour of waking.

Avoid bright lights (especially overhead) in the evening

😴 Coaching Note: Bright lights at night delay melatonin. Sleep suffers. Recovery suffers.

Applied: The brain treats light as a signal. When it’s bright — especially from overhead sources like ceiling LEDs or fluorescents — the body assumes it’s daytime and puts melatonin production on hold. That’s a problem if your athlete is trying to wind down, recover, and actually feel tired before bed.

We had one athlete who couldn’t fall asleep until after 1am, even on rest days. Her routine looked clean on paper — no caffeine after noon, a solid dinner, stretching before bed. But every night, she was sitting under bright kitchen lights, scrolling her iPad or playing Xbox. After a little convincing (and a minor roast of her “airport runway lighting” at home), we swapped her ceiling lights for a low-watt salt lamp and a $10 desk lamp with a red bulb. She also started wearing blue light blockers after dinner. Within a week, she was asleep by 11 and texting me how she finally woke up feeling rested.

Takeaway: Set a “light curfew.” After 8 or 9pm, switch to floor lamps, red bulbs, or dimmers. Encourage athletes to make their bedrooms feel more like a cave — cool, quiet, and dark. If they’re up watching film or gaming, have them use f.lux (for laptops) or night mode on phones. Small changes in light exposure can lead to massive improvements in sleep latency and recovery.

Keep a consistent sleep schedule — even on weekends

😴 Coaching Note: Don’t let weekends undo your week’s work.

Applied: Sleep is about rhythm, not just total hours. You can’t “catch up” on circadian alignment the same way you catch up on emails. The body doesn’t reset that easily — and late nights followed by weekend sleep-ins can throw off hormone timing, dull mental sharpness, and leave athletes feeling groggy instead of refreshed.

We once had a volleyball athlete who was locked in Monday through Thursday — 10:30pm lights out, 6:30am lifts, never missed. But after every Friday night match, she’d stay up until 2am, sleep till 11, and then wonder why Sunday practice felt like sludge. Her Whoop data looked like a rollercoaster. Once we got her to cap her weekend sleep-in to just an extra hour or so — and keep a consistent wind-down routine post-game — her recovery scores leveled out, and she stopped dragging on Sundays.

Takeaway: After late competitions or travel, give athletes permission to rest — but within reason. A one-hour shift in wake time is fine. Three hours is asking for jet lag. Coach them to build a post-game wind-down ritual: shower, protein + carbs, blue light blockers, and lights low. When sleep timing stays consistent, testosterone, growth hormone, and mood regulation stay on point. No more fighting off a sleep hangover every Monday.

Cool room temperature for sleep (65–68°F)

😴 Coaching Note: Lower body temp = better sleep architecture.

Applied: Sleep quality isn’t just about how long you’re in bed — it’s about how deep your body drops into the regenerative stages of sleep. Core temperature needs to drop slightly for the brain to enter slow-wave and REM sleep efficiently. That’s why cooler rooms promote better recovery, hormone function, and next-day alertness.

We had a former basketball athlete who struggled with waking up groggy, even after eight hours in bed. She'd been sleeping in a stuffy apartment with the heat on full blast during winter (Colorado is a bit colder than her Southern upbringing). After a little education, she turned the thermostat down from 72 to 66 and added a fan for white noise. Within a week, her morning HRV jumped and she stopped pounding caffeine before weights. "I don’t feel like I’m fighting my body to wake up anymore," she told me.

Takeaway: Encourage athletes to shoot for a bedroom temperature between 65–68°F. That might mean cracking a window, ditching heavy blankets, or using tools like a cooling mattress topper (like a chiliPAD or Eight Sleep). Even small changes — like sleeping in breathable clothing or using a fan — can move the needle. Make it part of their nighttime checklist. Cool room = deep sleep = better recovery.

Avoid caffeine within 8–10 hours of bedtime

😴 Coaching Note: Caffeine has a half-life. It lingers — and it steals deep sleep even if you fall asleep.

Applied: Caffeine isn’t just a “feel it or don’t” substance. It’s a molecular block to adenosine — the chemical that builds sleep pressure throughout the day. The half-life of caffeine is roughly 5–6 hours, meaning that an afternoon coffee can still be firing around in the bloodstream well into bedtime. Even if an athlete crashes at night, caffeine can reduce slow-wave sleep by up to 20%, which is the exact stage their body needs for growth, repair, and hormonal reset.

A volleyball athlete we worked with had a routine: class till 3, another pre-lift caffeine drink before the workout at 4:30, lift at 5. She swore it didn’t affect her sleep — “I fall asleep just fine.” But her sleep tracker kept showing 15–20 nighttime disturbances and nearly zero deep sleep. We challenged her to cut the pre-workout and replace it with a banana and electrolytes. Within a week, her sleep scores normalized, and she finally stopped waking up groggy.

Takeaway: For athletes lifting early, draw the line at 2pm. For those training in the late afternoon, 4pm should be the cutoff. Make this a team rule — not a suggestion. Educate them that caffeine doesn’t just delay sleep; it distorts the quality of it. Pre-workouts, energy drinks, even that “one last iced coffee” — they all matter. Help them link alertness the next day to what they drank the night before.

Nutrition: You Become What You Consume

Eat meals on a consistent schedule

🥗 Coaching Note: Rhythm in digestion supports rhythm in energy.

Applied: Most people don’t realize the body has more than one circadian clock — it has many. While the brain’s master clock is set by light, peripheral clocks in the liver, gut, and pancreas are influenced heavily by food timing. Eating at consistent times each day helps those systems sync up. That leads to smoother digestion, more stable blood sugar, and sharper daytime energy.

Athletes who skip breakfast one day, scarf down Chick-fil-A the next, and have dinner at midnight on weekends? They’re confusing their internal systems. One of our freshman basketball athletes complained of grogginess and bloating before early lifts. After tracking her food schedule, we noticed she was eating dinner erratically — sometimes 6pm, other times 10:30pm. A simple intervention: a consistent dinner window (7–7:30pm), a slow-digesting protein shake before bed, and a banana with nut butter first thing in the morning. Within a week, her morning energy was better, her lift numbers started ticking up, and — bonus — her sleep improved too.

Consistency doesn’t have to mean eating the same foods, but it should mean eating at the same times. Think: anchor meals — breakfast, lunch, dinner — that stay within the same 60-minute window daily. The gut loves a schedule. Performance does too.

Protein is critical — aim for 1g/lb of bodyweight

🥗 Coaching Note: Underfueling is silent sabotage.

Applied: Protein intake is the foundation of recovery, muscle repair, and lean mass gains — yet it’s often the most neglected macronutrient in the college athlete diet. Between rushed schedules, skipped breakfasts, and the dining hall’s revolving menu, many athletes are lucky to hit 60–80g/day. But if you're 170 pounds and trying to build or even maintain muscle, that’s a massive shortfall.

A good rule: divide bodyweight in grams of protein across 4–5 meals. For a 150-lb athlete, that’s about 35–40g per meal. That might look like:
• Breakfast: 4 eggs + a cup of Greek yogurt
• Lunch: turkey sandwich + protein shake
• Dinner: grilled chicken bowl with extra beans
• Evening: cottage cheese + scoop of whey

We had a women’s basketball player who hadn’t gained a pound of muscle despite months of consistent training. We ran the numbers — she was getting ~70g of protein on most days. After bumping her to 130–140g with more structured meals and a nightly shake, her lean mass jumped by 5 lbs in six weeks. She wasn’t lifting harder — she was just fueling smarter.

Remind athletes: muscle isn’t built in the weight room alone. It’s built in the hours after — with food. If they’re plateauing in strength or physique, protein intake should be the first audit.

Creatine is one of the few proven, safe, effective supplements

🥗 Coaching Note: Creatine supports cognition, power output, and recovery.

Applied: Creatine isn’t just for bodybuilders or football players chasing size. It’s one of the most well-researched, cost-effective, and versatile supplements out there — and it works just as well for endurance athletes, court sport athletes, and even those in recovery. It improves sprint capacity, helps with repeated efforts, and shortens recovery windows. But perhaps most overlooked: it also supports brain health — making it especially valuable in sports where head trauma is a risk.

The sweet spot: 5g daily, anytime. No need to cycle, no loading phase, no complicated routine. Just a scoop in water or a post-lift shake. It’s tasteless and mixes easily. Athletes won’t feel it overnight, but over weeks, you’ll notice better output and quicker bounce-backs from hard sessions.

We had a women’s volleyball athlete hesitant at first — unsure if it was “for her.” After a simple chat and some reassurance, she started taking it daily. A month later, she reported improved energy during practices, better weight room lifts, and fewer headaches after long travel days. She became the teammate reminding others to get their scoop in.

Don’t overcomplicate it. Creatine is one of the few supplements where the science, price, and payoff all align. It’s low-risk, high-reward — and wildly underused, especially among female athletes.

Avoid high-glycemic carbs alone — especially late at night

🥗 Coaching Note: Blood sugar crashes can wreck sleep.

Applied: Help athletes understand that carbs aren’t the enemy—but fast-digesting ones, eaten solo at night, can mess with sleep stability. Encourage them to pair carbs with some protein or fat to blunt the spike. Post-dinner desserts? Suggest they "buffer the bite" with something like Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or nut butter. One basketball player used to wake up every night at 3 a.m.—starving and foggy. Once he swapped his pre-bed cereal for almond butter on toast, he slept through the night and felt sharper in early lifts. It's not about cutting carbs—it’s about timing and pairing.

Real Life Example: A few seasons ago, one of our volleyball athletes—starter, heavy points played, high output—kept crashing mid-morning after lift. She'd look glassy-eyed, move slow, and fail to hit any of her usual numbers. We tracked her sleep and noticed something: she was waking up 2–3 times a night, usually hungry. When we reviewed her nutrition log, it clicked—she was ending dinner with a solo bowl of sorbet or cereal. Quick carbs, no anchor.

So we made a tiny tweak. Instead of that bowl of sugar, we added Greek yogurt with honey and some walnuts. It felt small—but by the next week, she was sleeping straight through the night, and by week three, she PR’d her vertex max touch. No joke. She even started joking that “Greek yogurt fixed her vertical.”

That’s the kind of change athletes don’t always see coming. It’s not flashy. But in high-output sports, energy management is everything. Sometimes, the fix isn’t more caffeine or hype—it’s stabilizing blood sugar so the engine runs clean when the lights come on.

Exercise: The Mechanism To Influence All Factors

Train in the afternoon if possible

💪 Coaching Note: Body temp and grip strength peak later in the day.

Applied: If your schedule allows flexibility, afternoon training tends to be the sweet spot. Athletes are more neurologically “awake,” body temperature is elevated, and reaction time improves. But we don’t always get to cherry-pick. For early lifts, plan accordingly—longer warm-ups, more gradual ramping, and CNS activators like jumps or med ball throws can help. One volleyball group here at Colorado moved from early morning lifts to a 5:00pm slot and saw noticeable improvements in bar speed, energy, and, frankly, just overall buy-in. They weren’t dragging themselves through the session—they were attacking it.

Training in Action: During a spring block a couple years back, our women’s volleyball team was stuck in a 6:45am training cycle due to scheduling. The effort was there, no question, but it was clear we were leaving something on the table. Bar velocity was inconsistent, especially on Olympic lifts. Jump heights were flat. The enthusiasm? Muted. It wasn’t burnout—it was biology.

So, we pushed hard to snag a few later sessions twice a week. Within two weeks, the difference was hard to ignore. Bar speeds jumped, their jumps improved, and the vibe in the room completely shifted. The same young women who barely spoke before sunrise were now pushing each other between sets.

One athlete—our libero—set a PR on her trap bar jump and said, “I didn’t know I could feel this strong.” She didn’t change her training. Just the timing.

If performance matters—and it always does—timing your lift can be a performance enhancer in disguise. Sometimes, the biggest unlock isn’t a new program. It’s just adjusting the clock.

Zone 2 cardio enhances recovery, mitochondrial function

💪 Coaching Note: Easy work makes hard work possible.

Applied: Zone 2 cardio is the unsung hero of recovery and aerobic development. It’s simple: move at a pace where you can still hold a conversation—nothing crazy, just steady. We usually shoot for 1–2 sessions per week, around 30 to 60 minutes. Favorite options? Treadmill at a 10% incline (apparently it's called a 'Hot Girl Walk'), or an easy spin on the Assault bike with a podcast or audiobook. It’s not social media worthy, but the payoff stacks up over time; like compounding interest. Athletes who were skeptical at first started sleeping better, recovering faster between lifts, and reporting less joint stiffness—even during peak training weeks.

Skepticism to Staple: A few seasons ago, our women’s basketball squad was hitting a wall mid-week—nothing overly dramatic, just lingering fatigue, tight hips, short tempers. We weren’t overtraining, but the engine felt sluggish. Instead of backing off training intensity, we did the opposite of what they expected—we added 30-minute Zone 2 treadmill walks after lift days, 1–2 times a week. No intervals. No heart rate monitors. Just walk, breathe through your nose, and listen to something you enjoy.

Initially, they gave me the side-eye. “You want us to... walk?” But we held the line. By week three, sleep scores were up. Subjective soreness dropped. And one of our power forwards said something I still remember: “I don’t know what that walking thing is doing, but I’m not dragging through practice anymore.”

That’s when I knew we were onto something. Zone 2 didn’t just help their legs—it helped their heads. Their bodies could recover, and their minds could reset. It’s now a locked-in part of our in-season flow.

Don’t underestimate the low gear. When your nervous system has space to recover, everything else—speed, power, even mindset—comes back stronger.

Use resistance training to offset stress and improve mental health

💪 Coaching Note: Strength work isn’t just physical — it’s emotional hygiene.

Applied: During demanding academic stretches — midterms, finals, travel weeks — resistance training shouldn’t be optional. If anything, that hour in the weight room becomes an anchor point in their day. It’s structured. It’s familiar. And unlike most of what gets thrown at student-athletes, it’s something they can control. When things feel chaotic, lifting is the reset button. We don’t chase PRs during those weeks, but we keep them moving. Athletes often tell us that lift sessions are the only time their brain quiets down. One volleyball athlete told me flat out: “Lifting helped me deal with homesickness more than my weekly therapy appointments.”

One Athlete’s Turning Point: A few seasons ago, we had a freshman come in from out of state — big fish in high school, now suddenly navigating a new system, harder classes, and a whole lot of pressure. You could see it wearing on her — not just in performance, but in her body language. Quiet in meetings. Isolated after lifts. She was doing all the “right” things, but the spark was missing.

We sat down during a check-in and talked through it. She admitted she was struggling but said, “The only time I don’t feel overwhelmed is when I’m in the weight room. That’s the only place that still feels like me.”

We doubled down. Kept the lifts consistent. Built in low-pressure wins. Gave her ownership over warm-ups. Three weeks later, the change was obvious. She was laughing more, connecting with teammates, and moving with intent again.

That’s when it clicked — strength work wasn’t just helping her body adapt; it was helping her rebuild her footing. It gave her a place to feel strong again. The barbell isn’t just about the weight on the bar— it’s stability. And for athletes juggling academics, identity, and growing pains, that kind of consistency can be a lifeline.

Light Exposure: In the Mornings and Evenings

Bright light exposure boosts alertness, mood, and learning

☀️ Coaching Note: Light is a performance drug. Dose it daily.

Applied: Morning lifts hit different when the lights are actually on — and I’m not just talking fluorescents. Bright, natural light helps regulate dopamine and cortisol rhythms, which means sharper focus, better moods, and smoother movement patterns. We’ve made it a habit to train near windows, crack open the weight room doors, and, when it makes sense, get athletes into the sunlight early. Even five minutes of real light exposure after waking can shift energy and mood. And when we get buy-in on the science? Even better. I’ll explain that dopamine release in the morning primes focus — suddenly they’re all standing closer to the open bay door during warm-ups.

The Boulder Warm-Up Experiment: During one summer training block, we started warming up outside on the turf behind the facility. Not a huge change, just a 15-minute shift to start each session in the sun. Shoes off, sunlight on skin, that clean mountain air — honestly, it felt like a cheat code.

Within two weeks, the vibe flipped. Morning groups — usually a mix of yawns and going-through-the-motions — were suddenly cracking jokes, running their warm-ups faster, and actually competing in our sprints and agilities.

Coaches were texting me asking what changed. Nothing fancy. Just light.

One of our middles, who’d always started sluggish, told me, “I feel like my brain turns on out there.” That’s when I knew we weren’t just warming up bodies — we were waking up minds.

You don’t need more caffeine. You need more light. Open the doors. Hit the turf. Give your athletes the sun before the squat — and watch the whole session come alive.

Avoid screens 1–2 hours before bed

☀️ Coaching Note: Screens at night = false sunlight = poor sleep.

Applied: We frame it like this: your phone is a tiny sun. And if you’re staring at it at 10:30pm, your brain’s getting the wrong message — “Stay up! Be alert!” That blue light delays melatonin, messes with deep sleep, and leaves athletes feeling foggy the next day. So we talk alternatives: nighttime rituals that don’t require a screen. Journaling, light stretching, a paperback book — even a wind-down playlist (we’ve got one on Spotify called “Team Sleep Mode”). Simple swaps, big wins.

The TikTok Drop-Off: One of our outside hitters — a classic night owl — was dragging during early lifts. Not just sleepy, but slow to adapt to volume, constantly sore, low enthusiasm. We’d adjusted training, checked nutrition… still flat.

Then she mentioned scrolling TikTok in bed. “It’s how I decompress,” she said. Fair — but it was costing her sleep depth. We challenged her: delete it for a week. Just a week. Replace it with a book and her favorite mellow playlist.

Seven days later, her WHOOP score jumped 10 points. Not once — every single night. Her mood changed. She recovered faster. And you know what she said? “I thought I was relaxing with my phone. Turns out I was just keeping my brain awake.”

You don’t have to throw your phone in a lake. But you do have to protect that last hour before bed like it’s part of training. Because it is. Sleep isn’t just a recovery tool — it’s the foundation of consistency. And consistency wins seasons.

Use red light at night if light is needed

☀️ Coaching Note: Red light = minimal circadian disruption.

Applied: Bright, white light at night sends the wrong signal to your brain: “It’s go-time.” That’s a problem if you're up for a quick bathroom trip or digging through your locker. We now recommend red night lights or motion-sensitive red bulbs. They keep melatonin flowing, don’t spike alertness, and make a big difference for athletes sharing tight spaces. One small change — better sleep, faster return to rest.

The Dorm Light Fix: One of our starting point guards used to wake up around 2am to use the bathroom, flipping on her overhead dorm light or using her phone flashlight. Seemed harmless until she started complaining of broken sleep and fatigue creeping into practices. Her HRV numbers were sliding, and she felt it.

We gave her a $9 red nightlight off Amazon and had her plug it in by the door. No phone, no ceiling lights — just soft red glow. Within the week, she told us she was falling back asleep faster. A week later, she said, “I forgot what real sleep felt like. This has been huge.”

For athletes grinding to recover, even tiny environment tweaks matter. And in college housing — where control is limited — something as simple as red light can shift sleep quality from “barely enough” to “game-ready.”

Why It All Matters

Performance isn’t just reps and effort — it’s rhythm, biology, and behavior. When sleep is optimized, nutrition is consistent, training is smart, and light is managed with intent, athletes don’t just recover better — they adapt better. They gain more from the same work. It's a multiplier for performance.

These strategies aren’t complicated. But they require awareness, consistency, and buy-in. That’s where strength and conditioning coaches come in — to lead by example, to educate, and to reinforce the habits that support high performance long-term.

If you’re a strength coach, share this with your staff. If you’re an athlete, pick one or two changes and implement them this week. The return on investment is massive — not just in the weight room, but in how you feel, focus, and show up every day.

Because in the end, the best athletes aren’t just the ones who train the hardest. They’re the ones who recover the smartest.