Over the past few years, Stanford University professor Andrew Huberman has established himself as the online authority on maximizing human performance. His insights on optimizing your day by day routine, brain power (with human cognitive functioning explained for the layman), and workouts have been literally life-changing for listeners to his Huberman Lab podcasts and YouTube videos.
Dr. Huberman is a neuroscientist who has made significant contributions to brain development and neuroplasticity. He’s a tenured professor on the Stanford School of Medicine’s Department of Neurobiology. Andrew’s online popularity is resulting from a mixture of his cutting-edge insights and the undeniable fact that he walks the walk, clearly practicing what he preaches when it comes to understanding and implementing his day by day life hacks.
Dr. Huberman puts a variety of emphasis on what you do within the first few hours of the day. In actual fact, his morning routine has gone viral, with people the world over claiming that it has been transformative for them. As a private trainer, I’ve had various clients asking in the event that they should adopt it. So, I made a decision to search out out for myself.
I attempted Andrew Huberman’s morning routine for a month to search out out whether all of the hype was justified. Is that this value changing your morning habits over or simply one other load of substance-free web bloviating? Read on to get the facts.
Table of Contents:
- Overview of Huberman’s Morning Routine
- The Remainder of The Day
- Preparation
- Week By Week Breakdown
- Results Summary
- Challenges Summary
- Expert Insights With Scientific Backing
- Others Experiences
- Conclusion
Overview of Andrew Huberman’s Morning Routine
Dr Huberman’s morning routine is a component of his day by day plan, which has three phases:
- Morning: 6 am-10 am
- Linear: 10 am-2 pm
- Non-linear: 2 pm-10 pm
The morning routine consists of the next elements:
- Immediately getting natural light exposure.
- Drinking water infused with salt.
- A chilly shower or cold plunge.
- Delay caffeine intake for 2 hours after waking.
- Workout.
Let’s break down the rationale for every of those elements:
1. Natural Light
After we get up within the morning, our body temperature starts to increase. This results in a rise within the release of cortisol, boosting your immune system, mental focus, and metabolism. So, enhancing cortisol early within the day is definitely a good thing.
In keeping with Huberman, getting early exposure to natural light also can improve sleep quality and reinforce the body’s sleep-wake cycle.
The proper technique to optimize cortisol early is to get out under natural light as quickly as you’ll be able to. Dr. Huberman recommends doing this inside 30-60 minutes of waking.
In an August 2022 podcast, he advised, “Whether or not you reside in a cloudy place or a sunny place, whether or not there’s cloud cover that day, you need to really strive to get brilliant light in your eyes, ideally from sunlight, inside 30-60 minutes after waking. The explanation for that could be very easy: you ought to trigger that cortisol increase to occur very early in your day, and you do not need that cortisol peak to occur later, which is what is going to occur in the event you wait to get outside and see sunlight.”¹
If it’s the center of winter where you’re or it is a cloudy day, Dr. Huberman recommends that you simply simulate natural light exposure with UV light.
2. Water with Salt
Dr. Huberman recommends adding salt to your water very first thing within the morning. This can help replace any sodium lost through normal bodily processes. Individuals who drink a variety of caffeine are also more likely to be low in sodium. Adding a teaspoon of sea salt (or regular table salt) to your first glass of water within the morning will fix the low sodium problem. It might also help alleviate gut health problems.
3. Cold Shower or Plunge
Dr. Huberman is a large advocate of cold exposure for health advantages and peak performance. He recommends taking an early morning cold shower after exercise. If you’ve access to 1, a chilly plunge is even higher (just like the ones found here).
Cold exposure has been found to extend blood flow and metabolism and boost the discharge of dopamine, the molecule that promotes motivation, pleasure, and satisfaction, by as much as 250 percent. Dr Huberman also explains that cold exposure helps construct resilience; “People use cold exposure specifically to shift their body state as a technique to train their mental state in order that they’ll higher address stress in real life…”²
4. Delay Caffeine
Andrew Huberman advocates delaying your caffeine intake by a couple of hours after waking. We all know that caffeine suppresses adenosine, which makes us feel alert. In a 2022 podcast, Dr. Huberman explained that ‘in the event you ingest caffeine immediately on waking, the signal to the adrenals to release cortisol, and the suppression of adenosine that happens after we come out of sleep … in the event you ingest caffeine too early there is a mechanism by which the adenosine compete for the receptors in order that you’ve a mid-morning crash.”³
By delaying caffeine intake for a few hours, you’re capable of optimize the neural circuit that exists between the circadian clock and the cortisol released by the adrenals. You will also avoid that dreaded energy crash later within the day.
5. Workout
Dr. Huberman has found that exercising early within the morning is good for matching rising body temperature to mental alertness. It also triggers the discharge of such hormones as epinephrine together with neuromodulators that promote heightened levels of arousal and mental acuity. All of this primes you for productivity so that you simply’re geared for ‘deep work’ in the course of the next phase of your day.
Andrew recommends performing some light exercise, resembling walking while you first get out in sunlight. This will only take ten minutes or so if there isn’t any cloud cover. He personally then spends about an hour performing some reading or relatively easy work before he gets caffeine into his system.
The caffeine acts as a pre-workout for Dr. Huberman. His exercise routine consists of 45-60 minutes of weight training every other day on a push-pull-legs program. On his non-weight training days, he does some type of cardio. This will consist of skipping, running, or some type of high-intensity interval training.
Andrew keeps his phone out of his workout area, focusing totally on the working muscles. He also listens to loud, fast music while training.
Dr. Huberman has also spoken in regards to the advantages of delaying your social media and email checking so long as possible. And, in the event you’re wondering about when he eats during his morning routine, the reply is that he doesn’t. Andrew follows an intermittent fasting protocol that sees his first meal being served at around 12 pm.
Let’s now review what Andrew Huberman’s morning routine looks like in real-time:
- Rise up between 6 and 6:30 am.
- Have a glass of salty water
- Walk under direct sunlight for ten minutes
- Do 90 minutes of non-taxing work
- Drink caffeine
- Have a workout
- Cold Exposure
The Other Phases Of The Day
Through the linear phase, you deal with the deep work of your day. Dr. Huberman recommends doing 90 minutes of intense work followed by a twenty-minute rest period. Repeat this to finish your ‘heavy’ analytical work tasks for the day.
The non-linear phase, from 2 pm onwards, is while you switch your attention to creative tasks. Dr. Huberman also advocates 10- quarter-hour of non-sleep rest during this phase to chill out and focus the body throughout the day.
Preparation For Trying Huberman’s Routine
Implementing Andrew Huberman’s morning routine required some adjustments for me. I have been getting up between 7 am and seven:30 am, while Dr. Huberman’s routine works best with an earlier rising time. So, within the week leading as much as my morning routine experiment, I progressively set my alarm clock earlier in order that on Day One, I heard it buzz at 5:50. That may give me ten minutes to get right into a state where I used to be ready for feet on the ground at six.
I also began delaying my first coffee. Again, I did this incrementally. Per week out, I had my first coffee at 6:30, then prolonged it by quarter-hour per day, replacing it with water.
Finally, I started making my early morning shower colder. This was the toughest step for me. I like my warm showers, so it was a matter of simply gritting my teeth and jumping under the cold spray. I made myself stay under for 30 seconds, which was about all I could handle.
Before I share my experience with Andrew Huberman’s morning routine, let me say that not everyone has the liberty to make the routine work. If you happen to don’t work for yourself and/or have kids to rush off to highschool or other commitments, you most likely won’t have the posh of waiting 90 minutes after getting up before having caffeine and exercising. So, all of us could have to make adjustments to make it work.
Week by Week Breakdown
Week One
Spending the prep time adjusting to the routine was really helpful. But still, disciplining myself to get to bed by 10:30pm so I got enough quality sleep was a challenge for me. I discovered that on the times that I stayed up till 11pm or later, I used to be feeling really groggy when the alarm went off, and it was hard to stand up at six.
On those days, I also found myself hanging out for that early caffeine fix. So, holding off for 90 minutes was pretty excruciating. As I work for myself, the 90 minutes of labor time was easy to implement. Nevertheless, my natural inclination is to get into my workout as soon as I stand up, so I discovered myself anticipating the workout during that enforced wait time.
During those first few days, it was difficult to inform whether I used to be actually seeing advantages from the changes or whether it was psychosomatic. But by Day Five, it was clear that my workout focus was greater than what it had been the week before. The cold shower effects were also kicking in, and I used to be feeling hyped to leap into the deep work phase of my day.
Week Two
By the beginning of week two, I’d managed to make a few adaptations in order that the routine was more practical for me. The very first thing I did was ditch the water with salt. I hated the taste, so I made a decision to purchase some electrolyte sachets that combined sodium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphate. That turned something I dreaded into a pleasing morning beverage.
The opposite change I made was to bring my workout back to my normal time, which is to go to the gym half-hour after I stand up. I actually began walking the quarter-hour to the gym, which also took care of the morning sunlight requirement. As a substitute of caffeine as a pre-workout, I purchased a non-stimulant pre-workout.
With these changes in place, I used to be capable of notice some real advantages from Andrew Huberman’s morning routine. The natural sunlight, combined with the caffeine delay and cold showers, provided a noticeable energy boost as I moved into the deep work phase of my day. Moreover, I wasn’t feeling the necessity for a mid-afternoon nap, which was something that previously happened after I had a heavy weight training session within the morning.
Week Three
By week three, I used to be rocking with this routine. I used to be experiencing noticeable improvements in my productivity and well-being. All the discomfort of delaying caffeine and waking up earlier was behind me, and the Huberman morning routine was becoming habitual.
My energy levels were greater than before during my workout, although I used to be now not having pre-workout caffeine. I put this all the way down to the improved sleep quality and the advantages of natural sunlight. The greater focus I experienced during my deep-focus work time was also becoming increasingly evident.
Week 4
Into the last week of this little experiment, I used to be sold on the Huberman morning routine. Having given the routine a full month, there isn’t a doubt that my mental clarity had improved significantly. I used to be also having fun with improved sleep quality. By the beginning of week 4, I used to be actually waking at 5:45 (five minutes before the alarm), feeling wide awake and raring to go. I even have NEVER felt that way before!
Results Summary
I made sure to rigorously document my experience with Andrew Huberman’s morning routine. Looking back on my journal notes, I can categorically state that I saw significant improvements in the next:
- Improved mental clarity and focus
- Greater productivity
- Not feeling drained mid-afternoon
- More workout energy
Challenges Summary
It took me every week or so to make the adjustments in order that the Andrew Huberman morning routine was workable for me. These changes involved:
- Ditching the water with salt in favor of a more palatable electrolyte sachet so as to add to my water.
- Walking the quarter-hour to the gym at 6:15 to get in my natural sunlight and light-weight exercise.
- Doing my workout half-hour after rising slightly than 90-120 minutes after I’ve had my caffeine fix.
- Having a non-stimulant pre-workout before my workout.
Expert Insights With Scientific Backing
Dr. Andrew Huberman is undoubtedly an authority expert on optimized human performance. Nevertheless, let’s not only take his word for it. Here’s the research that supports his morning routine:
The experts agree that early morning sunlight is crucial for optimized productivity. Dr. Jacob Liberman, OD, PhD, relates that when sunlight enters the eyes, ‘your complete brain lights up.’ It sends a wake-up signal to the pituitary gland, which then stimulates the discharge of hormones that suppress melatonin and increase cortisol.
A 2013 study published in PLOSONE showed that early morning exposure to sunlight can increase weight reduction.⁴
A 2022 study focused on the advantages of cold exposure for body composition. The researchers found that cold exposure reduced adipose tissue, which also lowers insulin resistance and improves insulin sensitivity.⁵ Other studies have identified the cognitive advantages of voluntary cold exposure.⁶
A research paper published within the journal Psychosomatic Medicine discusses the effect that caffeine has in increasing cortisol secretion and supports Dr. Huberman’s contention that delaying consumption by 90-120 minutes when waking will increase productivity and forestall an energy slump later within the day.⁷
Insights from Others Who Are Doing Huberman’s Routine
Having shared some expert validation of Dr. Huberman’s morning routine, let’s discover what average Joes and Jills such as you and I believe of it. Here’s a round-up of actual user experiences and observations:
Reddit poster credits the Huberman morning routine because the catalyst for major life improvements:
“So as of impact on quality of life
- Quit Alcohol
- Drastically reduced mindless dopamine activities (phone is a silent soul killer)
- get up earlier to light and exercise
- cold showers – the longer and colder the higher
- Delayed Caffeine – Yerba Mate
Began in January 2023 and it has been an absolute game changer. I’m 42 and feel higher than I can ever remember. I feel like I woke up out of a 20 12 months slump and have a zest and pleasure in life that is been missing for many years. Stressful events are inevitable but I’m so rather more capable of handle them. I feel more present and alert.
5) Sleep cocktail – Magnesium, theinine, apagenin.
Works great for deep restful sleep, awesome dreams! Feel groggy and out of it your complete next day. I won’t be continuing this
So grateful for Huberman’s teachings”
Fellow Reddit commenter has benefited from a partial application of the routine:
“Doing just 1-3 [waking up early, water with salt, natural sunlight] has greatly helped me. Before I might scroll my phone or directly get on to the pc after waking up for 30 mins or so after which brush my teeth etc. I did notice generally higher energy and higher mood after going outside as soon as possible after waking up.”
has found that simply delaying caffeine intake has made a giant difference:
“Drinking coffee 1-2 hours after waking up as a substitute of immediately drinking coffee.
I definitely noticed that I sleep higher at night, and the caffeine effect lasts longer with no crash.”
Meanwhile, one other Reddit user, , makes some interesting comments in regards to the practicality of morning routines like that espoused by Huberman for on a regular basis folks:
“I mean that is all standard stuff, but it surely’s also a pain within the ass to need to undergo ten things every morning only for a morning routine.
I watched a youtube video recently, I believe it was Mark Manson or simular, but identified that a variety of ultra successful people aren’t ones which have crazy morning routines or also what some productivity youtuber is saying and I like that.
It’s great to optimise these things, I suppose, but additionally a little bit bit crazy, I might say perhaps it’s good to choose and select a number of things from here, but then really crucial thing is simply to work in your most vital thing and do as much of that as possible.”
Conclusion
Dr. Andrew Huberman’s morning routine includes some research-supported gems that may significantly increase your productivity, boost your energy, improve your sleep quality, and help prevent the mid-afternoon energy slump. Most individuals, though, could have to regulate the routine in order that it’s workable for them.
For me, the 2 key adjustments were to search out an alternative choice to the off-putting taste of salt and water and produce my workout time back to simply half-hour after getting up. That required me to change from a stimulant-based to a non-stim pre-workout as a way to keep on with the delayed caffeine consumption that this routine requires.
The increased productivity and energy you will get from adopting Andrew Huberman’s morning routine are well definitely worth the effort. I wholeheartedly recommend that you simply follow my lead and provides it a four-week trial, adapting to make it workable for you.
Keep a journal and record how your body and mind react to the routine. If it makes you a more productive, happier, and energetic person, keep on with it. If not, not less than you will understand it’s not for you!
References
