The value of a solid morning routine – one that eases you out of slumber mode and gears you up for the day – isn’t alien to us. We’ve heard, for years, how combinations of mindfulness practices and movement can both boost our wellbeing and get us feeling motivated to tackle our to-do lists for the day.
The details differ from person to person (one may benefit from 7am workouts over a 5am start, another may prioritise mobility training and meditation, and someone else may prefer to journal and engage in HIIT workouts), but the common thread is the goal to feel our best, in body and mind, and to foster a positive energy that you can carry with you throughout the day. There is, however, one particular morning routine that has been attracting a lot of attention – podcaster and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman’s morning routine.
Huberman is famed for his deep-dives into scientific concepts for the Huberman Lab podcast, which he started in 2021. Details of his morning routine are hotly sought-after, with his millions of followers raking Google for the intricacies (‘does Andrew Huberman workout in the morning?’ ‘What time does Huberman wake up?’‘What does Huberman eat for breakfast?’).
One person who knows is YouTuber and fitness coach Lucy Davis, who put his whole morning routine to the test in a recent vlog. 'Oh my God – Andrew Huberman’s morning routine changed my life and my heart rate, quite potentially,’ was the standout quote from the 12-minute video, after experiencing some surprising effects from following the morning routine. Here's what the routine entails, and everything Davis learnt from trying it.
Andrew Huberman's morning routine
- Task one: hydration
Davis starts bright and early, when her phone alarm buzzes at 5.56am, before getting stuck into task number one: hydrating with two glasses of water and an electrolytes sachet. Grimacing as she sips the salt-tinged water, she makes it clear she won’t be able to drink it all in one go.
'There’s a lot of taste going on,' she says, recoiling every time she takes a gulp. Electrolytes are most commonly used to help rehydrate and replenish electrolyte stores post-physical activity or illness, and sometimes during a workout, if you’re doing endurance training. A balanced and nutritious diet will ensure you meet ideal electrolyte levels otherwise, so we don’t recommend drinking an electrolytes sachet first thing in the morning. Always check with your GP before integrating any supplements into your routine.
- Task two: yoga nidra
Next up, at 6.05am, is yoga nidra, a guided meditation also referred to as “yogic sleep”, as you’re laying flat on your back, in Savasana pose, while you do it. Davis arises, 10 minutes later, feeling somewhat soothed: ‘that was so relaxing,’ she says.
- Task three: sun exposure
At 6.45am, Davis heads outside for a quick walk for the 'sun exposure' part of the routine, where the goal is to get anywhere from two to 10 minutes of natural sunlight.
- Task four: ice bath
Onto the biggest mental challenge at 7am – the ice bath. Unaccustomed to taking a frosty dip so early in the morning, Davis uses deep breaths (and expletives, understandably) to get through the three-minute bath. 'That was so fricken cold,’ she says upon emerging, shivering.
- Task five: exercise
Once dried and dressed at 7.13am, Davis heads back outside – this time, for a 10km run. ‘[Huberman] does endurance training and he also does a lot of hypertrophy work,’ she says mid-strike. 'Because I had a run this morning I thought I’d do his endurance session. I’m doing his heart-rate run – nice, aerobic chilled work.’ She’s not as cold as she thought she’d be after the ice bath, and her WHOOP fitness watch suggests her recovery is currently top tier ('Could it be thanks to this morning’s dip?', she wonders out loud).
- Task six: coffee + food
To conclude the morning routine, she drinks a cup of coffee at 10am, and later makes something to eat. It’s an intense routine – here are seven things she learned from trying it.
7 things I learnt from trying Andrew Huberman’s morning routine
1. It feels good to get your movement in early doors
It’s 7.15am when Davis does up her laces and dashes out the door for her 10KM run. She’s both impressed with how comfortable she feels while running at quite a fast pace, and motivated by the prospect of completing her workout so early in the day. ‘It’s nice to get out really early and just get it done,’ she says as she whizzes through her countryside route.
Research shows that regular exercise helps with stress-reduction and gives us a mood-boost (thanks to the release of happy hormones, endorphins). This means that when we move our bodies early in the day, we're more likely to feel positive and motivated. Plus, the satisfaction of ticking a workout off your to-do list first thing sets the tone for a productive day.
2. An ice bath could make exercise feel easier
Davis is no stranger to cold water therapy – she likes to take a two-minute ice bath before heading to the gym to lift, she says, but usually avoids the practice before running since she doesn’t want to get cold while on her run – fair. She may have had a change of heart, however, after trialling it as part of this morning routine.
The details of Huberman's ice bath timings are vague, she says, but one to three minutes is generally what is recommended for 'resilience'. She opts for a three-minute session, and plunges herself in, taking deep breaths in an attempt to adapt to the cold. 'I feel sick,' she says, while sat shivering in the inflatable bath. 'I’ve gone blue! […] Huberman, I have the utmost respect for you for doing this for three minutes.’
While on her run, a few minutes later, she notices her heart rate is lower than usual during this type of activity and intensity. 'My heart rate it super low for the pace that I am running,’ she says. 'My WHOOP recovery is green – 92%. Is it the ice bath before the run? Who knows!'
She checks the data from her watch after her run, noting her heart rate and pace especially. ‘Oh my god, Andrew Huberman’s morning routine changed my life and my heart rate…. quite potentially,’ she says.
Though Davis felt the benefits, there's not enough science to substantiate the theory that a pre-workout ice bath will help improve your workout performance. In fact, a 2012 review, which explored the effects of ice treatment on athletes, found that it could cause a disadvantage when returning to the sport immediately after icing.
The evidence suggests that speed, power and agility-based running tasks were all negatively impacted by cold therapy immediately before a session, however, two studies found that, with a short period of rewarming, the negative impacts were negated. In short: if you're going to experiment with cold therapy prior to a workout, it would be wise to make sure you give yourself enough time to warm up in-between the two, to avoid injury.
3. Morning sun exposure + a walk could help you manage feelings of anxiety
At 6.45am, Davis pulls on a coat and slips on some green slides to head outside for the 'sun exposure' part of Huberman’s morning routine. She reads out the theory behind its inclusion: 'The simple behaviour that I do believe everybody should adopt is to view, ideally, sunlight, for two to 10 minutes every morning upon waking.
'So, when you get up in the morning, you really want to get bright light into your eyes because it does two things – first of all, it triggers the release of cortisol – a healthy level of cortisol [your stress hormone] – into your system, which acts as a wake-up signal and promotes wakefulness and the ability to focus throughout the day.’
Science doesn't yet fully understand the link between light exposure and cortisol concentration, however, there is some evidence to suggest that bright light exposure triggers raised cortisol levels.
Sunlight, we know, is a mood-booster and an important source of vitamin D, which helps to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. But, research tells us that morning sunlight also encourages melatonin production, a hormone produced by the brain that controls the body's sleep-wake cycle, to take place sooner in the day, allowing us to fall asleep easier at night.
She notes that Huberman also cites melatonin's potential to reduce anxiety levels. 'I am always here for reduced levels of anxiety – what a fantastic thing to do,’she says.
Science certainly stacks up here – research shows that walking can positively impact your mental wellbeing, including reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Experts believe this is because walking encourages blood flow and oxygen to the brain, and triggers the release of feel-good hormones, endorphins and serotonin.
4. Yoga nidra is a great, calming practice
'There is some interesting data published showing that these yoga nidra meditations, if you will, can upregulate some of the neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, that make you prepared for action,’ Davis reads from a phone screen. She's quoting Huberman's words from when he was a guest on My First Million podcast. He doesn't specify where the data is from, but one 2018 study, published by International Journal of Yoga, found that yoga nidra has a positive impact on anxiety and stress.
She struggles not to fall back asleep during the 10-minute guided session – and she’s not mad about it. 'That was so relaxing,’ she says after arising. ‘Nearly drifted off to a peaceful sleep again.’
5. Huberman's morning routine could help you reduce caffeine intake
Per Huberman’s guidelines, Davis avoids caffeine for the first two hours after waking up (though, she notes that she has been reducing her intake over the past few weeks, anyway). At 10am, she’s allowed her first coffee of the day. ‘I can have caffeine,’ she says after checking the time. ‘I don’t really feel like I need it this morning, but I’ll just have a small coffee.’ The routine, it appears, had her feeling awake enough.
6. A 6am wake up doesn’t suit everyone
Complying with the plan, Davis awakes just before 6am. ‘He naturally wakes up between half five and six. I did not,’ she says. She’s sleepy, though doesn’t say that she’s under-rested – a reminder that while many people love an early alarm, other people need to sleep in a little later – and that’s OK.
Read what happened when one YouTuber swapped 5am workouts for 7am workouts.
7. Everyone has different mealtime requirements
While following Huberman’s morning routine, Davis doesn’t eat a meal until 1pm. ‘He usually fasts for 12-16 hours, and has his first meal early afternoon,’ she says of Huberman. ‘I don’t leave it until 1 o'clock ever – that’s too late for me,’ Davis says. 'I am now starving!’ Honestly? We’re not surprised.
Intermittent fasting has garnered a lot of attention in recent years, but it’s not suitable (or realistic) for the vast majority of people, and shouldn’t be trialled without the support of a nutritionist or dietician to ensure it’s being done safely. Studies have also confirmed that intermittent fasting could be associated with an increased risk of developing eating disorder behaviours.
