Andrew Huberman and his optimal morning routine
Why your sleep is mostly influenced by what you do when you wake up
For those of you who have 16 minutes to spare don’t read this post and watch the video. Do it now!
If you, for some weird reason, prefer to keep on reading, here are the key takeaways from the video:
Get natural sunlight into your eyes as soon as possible after waking up
Avoid caffeine in the 90min after waking up
Exercising early in the morning can help you to be more alert throughout the day, and fall asleep faster at night
Who is Andrew Hubermann and why should you listen to a word he has to say?
Andrew Huberman, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and tenured Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has made numerous significant contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function and neural plasticity, which is the ability of our nervous system to rewire and learn new behaviors, skills and cognitive functioning.
Huberman is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Cogan Award in 2017, given to the scientist making the most significant discoveries in the study of vision. His lab’s most recent work focuses on the influence of vision and respiration on human performance and brain states such as fear and courage. He also works on neural regeneration and directs a clinical trial to promote visual restoration in diseases that cause blindness. Huberman is also actively involved in developing tools now in use by the elite military in the U.S. and Canada, athletes, and technology industries to optimize performance in high stress environments, enhance neural plasticity, mitigate stress, and optimize sleep.
Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford School of Medicine has been published in top journals including Nature, Science, and Cell and has been featured in TIME, BBC, Scientific American, Discover, and other top media outlets.
In 2021, Dr. Huberman launched the Huberman Lab Podcast. The podcast is frequently ranked in the Top 25 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness.
Alright, enough advertisement now let’s take a look at the optimal morning routine.
It consists of three major elements:
Note: Take care of your personal hygiene and whatever it is you need to do in the morning.
Sunlight (light): It is important to get 10 minutes of natural sunlight into your eyes in the first hour after you wake up.
This will have multiple benefits but most importantly it will give you a cortisol boost in the morning and sync your circadian rhythm. Ever found yourself wide awake at night wondering why you can’t fall asleep? By viewing sunlight early in the day you will get sleepy in the evening.
If you happen to live in a place far up north (e.g. Scandinavia) you can get special SAD or daylight lamps (>10.000lux). However - even if there are clouds- natural light will have the upper hand over artificial lights. There are just more photons coming from the sun than from your special-offer LED lamp you purchased on black Friday.
In addition to cortisol, Sunlight will stimulate dopamine. Dopamine's main role is to drive motivation. It is your body's currency to do anything.
I know it sounds hard and horrible to wake up, jump out of bed, and a couple of minutes later find yourself outside. If you have a garden or a balcony it might be easier. If you live in an apartment (I feel you) why not grab a to-go cup, put on your walking shoes, and just walk around the block? It will be hard at first but once the habit is established it will come naturally to you.
Now the next one is going to hurt some of you and I can assure you that I am one of you.
Caffeine: Avoid drinking caffeine in the 60-90min after waking.
There, I said it. Don’t kill the messenger. It sounds impossible, right? For years my first steps out of bed were passing the coffee machine on the way to the bathroom. I just love everything about that morning cup of coffee. The smell, the warmth, its taste, the way it makes me feel… That's why I still drink it. Wait - what?
Yes, I didn’t give up my morning cup of coffee but I switched to decaf. I’m fully aware that this might not be the optimal solution but a man needs his indulgences and it is definitely better than a real coffee or tea with a high concentration of caffeine.
But why does coffee in the morning influence your sleep at night?
During the day a molecule called adenosine is building up in your body. When you sleep it gets cleared out again as you can see by the illustration below. Caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine which is why you feel more alert and motivated. But unfortunately, it also prohibits adenosine from being cleared from your system. It will build up during the day and cause that dreadful afternoon crash that so many of us know just too well.
The delay of coffee or tea in the morning allows your body to fully clear out the remaining adenosine.
ProTip: If it's hard for you to give up your morning coffee and the decaf is just not doing the trick, try delaying your cup of coffee a couple of minutes more each day. Start a stopwatch on your phone right after waking up and try to beat your personal best until you hit that magic window of 60-90min effortlessly.
Another way to clear out adenosine is exercise, which brings us to the next element.
Exercise: shortly after waking up and before your caffeine boost.
Don’t worry, you don't need to jump out of bed and head to the gym. Although if you can do that don't let me stop you. As you can see by the beautiful illustration above adenosine might not be fully cleared after waking. Therefore avoiding caffeine early in the day can help mitigate that afternoon crash. Another helpful way is exercising shortly after waking up and before your caffeine boost. Jogging or riding your bike in the morning kills two birds with one stone. You will get natural sunlight in your eyes and clear out that remaining adenosine.
Try implementing at least one of the mentioned elements into your daily routine and notice the effects. The sunlight exposure and the delaying of caffeine had the biggest effect on my motivation and alertness throughout the day.
There is so much more to each element we discussed and there will be future posts on them. In the meantime, I can highly recommend the Huberman lab youtube channel or the book by Dr. Anna Lembke Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence.
With that, I’m leaving you for today.
Have a successful day
GNF
Bonus: If you need something quick to get you motivated try a cold shower! Nothing (natural) will cause a bigger spike in adrenaline and dopamine.