With daily routines a massive part of the health and wellness sector, Dr. Peter Attia is shedding some light on his go-to system. In a recent YouTube video, Attia detailed the longevity-inspired routine he uses, which centers around optimal sleep, supplementation, eating clean, and limiting alcohol.
Boasting over 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, Dr. Peter Attia has become a beloved member of the fitness community. He offers easy-to-understand information on optimizing health markers, whether it be for the gut microbiome, sleeping quality, or dieting patterns.
Collaborating with esteemed medical professionals such as Dr. Rhonda Patrick, a cell biologist, and Andrew Huberman, an established neuroscientist, Attia’s intellect is held in high regard, and he wields substantial experience trying various diets and fitness trends. Now, he is laying out the secrets to his longevity-based routine, which he follows to the best of his ability daily.
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Dr. Peter Attia Discusses His Sleep Routine, Having 2 Phones, and Supplements
Considering sleep quality remains one of his top priorities, Attia said he prefers to stick with a consistent wake-up and bedtime schedule.
“Let’s start with sleep. I really take my sleep seriously. I’m someone who functions best with a consistent bedtime and wake-up time. So I’m in bed for usually eight hours a night and that’s typically 10 to 6 and that usually results in probably seven and a half hours of sleep.”
He said he used an Eight Sleep mattress cover, which he credits for making an “enormous” difference in his sleep. In addition, Attia avoids stimuli that ‘activate’ him before bed, such as browsing his phone’s email or social media.
“I’m just going to rattle off the names of things I use, I use Eight Sleep as my mattress cover. I love what these guys have done. It’s a fantastic cooling product and it’s made an enormous difference for me.”
“I’m also very particular about what I’m doing before bed and what I’m not doing before bed. I’m not perfect with this. I’m not perfect with any of these things Rhonda. I really go out of my way to look at anything that’s going to activate me. I try not to look at email a couple of hours before bed.”
To limit his screen time at night, Attia uses a second cellphone with limited accessibility that serves as a remote to his TV. The sauna also plays a significant role in Attia’s winding down process at night.
“I have two separate phones. I have like my regular phone that has email, social media, and junk on it and then I have what I call my bat phone that literally has nothing. It’s just, it has like the remote to the TV and it has like a phone and text but only like two people know the number my wife and my daughter.”
“It’s all in the spirit of turning the system down before bed. Even little things, like I’ll brush and floss my teeth before I go in the sauna because I sauna before bed as well. Once I’m done with that sauna and shower, I’m just going straight into bed. For me, that’s also a very productive sleep trick.”
As for supplements taken around bedtime, Attia listed Glycine, Ashwagandha, and Magnesium L-Threonate.
“There’s certain supplements I use to sleep as well. I’m a fan of Glycine, Ashwagandha, Magnesium L-Threonate, and just straight Mag Oxide as well. I don’t use melatonin unless I’m jetlagging. If I’m time zone hopping I’ll use those as well.”
Attia on ‘The Most Important Credo Of’ His Diet: “Pay Attention To Not Eating Junk”
Having tried a wide range of diets from keto, and vegan, to intermittent fasting, Attia said avoiding junk food played the biggest role in his success.
“I’m an omnivore who will probably always struggle with food in the sense that like if left to my own devices I would eat everything and too much of it. So I do need to be mindful of what I eat. What do I pay attention to? I basically pay attention to not eating junk.
That’s the most important credo of my diet I would say and I say this as someone who has done everything. I’ve been vegan, I’ve been keto, I’ve been on the most hardcore fasting, intermittent fasting, and time-restricted eating. There’s no diet I’ve don’t think I’ve done for long periods of time and I have found benefit in one form or another of various aspects of these things.”
As of right now, Attia aims to consume 40-50 grams of protein four times a day and said he stops eating three hours before bed, adding that he likes to feel a little hungry before falling asleep.
“Right now, I’m optimizing around energy balance, staying energy balanced, and protein intake. Most of my conscious effort around my diet goes into making sure I get 40-50 grams of protein four times a day. A lot of times, at least two of those are in meals that are just like venison or just eggs or something where it’s just a protein and there’s not a lot of other stuff in it.”
“I do make sure I stop eating at least three hours before bed, it really makes a difference going back to sleep that I go to bed a little hungry. If I ever go to bed with my belly too too full, it feels nice, but I don’t sleep as well. So I really try to air on the side of going to bed a little hungry,” Dr. Peter Attia shared.
When it comes to alcohol consumption, Attia said as long as he consumes it early, he doesn’t believe it negatively impacts his sleep.
“Functionally, alcohol doesn’t factor into my sleep. I know this because I track all these things and I know how alcohol negatively impacts sleep in me. I know as long as I have that drinking done by six or seven, it doesn’t show up anywhere on any metric that I’m tracking with respect to sleep.”
Attia employs four hours of zone two minutes a week, with one higher intensity workout that’s based on Vo2 max, alongside four strength training sessions a week, which he credits as the ‘foundational pillar’ of his life.
“Four hours of zone two a week with one sort of higher intensity workout that’s geared towards Vo2 max a week and then four strength training a week. So that’s kind of the foundational pillar of everything I do.”
Aside from his latest discussion with Dr. Patrick, Attia also joined Derek of More Plates More Dates recently for a conversation about bodybuilders dying. In light of the evidence presented throughout the years, Derek of MPMD and Attia agree that most deaths in the sport are related to cardiovascular issues.
With daily routines growing in popularity, fans can always take insight and value from Dr. Peter Attia’s discoveries concerning diet, sleep, supplementation, and exercise. He admits he doesn’t follow this routine perfectly and acknowledges wellness and longevity are individualistic by nature.
READ: Stan Efferding Explains Why Sleep Is More Important than Cardio for Weight Loss
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