DocHQ’s expert personal trainer Harry Bevan explains common morning routine mistakes – and how to fix them
1) You look at your phone as soon as you wake up
Looking at your phone as soon as you wake is terrible for your circadian rhythm, which has evolved over millions of years to be exposed to gradual increases of light in the morning (sun rise) and not an immediate high intensity level of stimulus such as artificial light from your phone. This can trigger your ‘flight or fight’ response, causing you to be consciously or unconsciously stressed. Continue this cycle over a period of time and it can result in headaches, fatigue, foggy brain, low mood, anxiety, insomnia and high blood pressure, as your body simply doesn’t know how to switch off!
Instead, try waiting 30-60 minutes before exposing yourself to artificial light after you wake up. Draw the blinds and get some natural rays from the sun, or go out for a walk – without your phone.
2) Your wake-up time is all over the place
Again, our circadian rhythm likes consistency. If you set a consistent wake and sleep time, you’ll develop a finely-tuned rhythm and get your ‘body clock’ in sync. This will look different for different people, which is why the recommended sleep time is 7-9 hours – how you structure this is up to you, but ensure that regardless of what you do, you keep the same waking time. Even at weekends try not to let this differ by more than an hour, to keep your physiological processes of wakefulness and sleepiness very happy.
3) You head straight to your desk
Our circadian rhythm has been designed to be in sync with the 24 hour light/dark cycle of the earth; over the course of millions of years, our ancestors woke up to gradual sunlight and went to sleep with gradual darkness. If you work from home as so many people do these days, you may find yourself commuting 2 minutes to your desk. So it’s a great idea – if you can find time – to go for a short walk every morning before you hit your desk. Getting that natural sunlight also gives us that important vitamin D, as well as ensuring a healthy circadian rhythm to also ensure we feel sleepy for bed in the evening.
4) You hit snooze – more than once.
We’ve all done it – hit snooze to get that extra 30 minutes in bed instead of getting in a morning walk, run or workout. Inactivity not only has a physical impact but also a psychological impact on our motivation and willingness to start the day.
If you’ve just spent the last 7-9 hours sedentary in bed, further inactivity can lead to tight muscles, reduced mobility and increased chances of injury. Neglect movement in the morning and you’re asking for low back pain, knee pain, tight shoulders and more. Even a gentle 5-10 minute stretch in the morning can make the world of difference.
DocHQ Personal Trainer has a free ‘Get Up and Go’ workout free for anyone to use – it’s only 8 minutes and is great for getting the joints moving.
5) You beeline for the coffee machine
Consuming caffeine as soon as you wake up with also trigger your fight or flight response, because caffeine is a stimulant. Although this can trigger better focus and alertness, over time it can cause long-term symptoms that might negatively affect our health. Instead, allow your body to gradually wake up and wait a minimum of an hour (preferably 2-3 hours) to allow our bodies to naturally adjust to wakefulness before ordering that flat white.
Caffeine also thickens the blood and causes dehydration, so if you love your coffee in the morning then I would wait a few hours and drink a litre or more of water before diving in.
Harry Bevan is an elite coach with DocHQ. You can train with Harry 1:1 and get more great lifestyle tips and advice – click here to book in your free consultation with any personal training package with Harry.
