Protocols / PERFORMANCE

Morning Protocol

Win the first 90 minutes of your day.

The first hour sets up your day and your night. This protocol covers getting bright light early, a cold-shower progression based on the largest trial, two short breathing drills, and caffeine timed so it doesn't cost you sleep, with safety notes throughout.

€7 · one-time payment · instant PDF · by Anthony Falcone

What's included

  • Morning light routine with the expert light targets
  • Cold-shower progression from the largest trial (30-90 s)
  • Cyclic sighing and box breathing (5 min)
  • Caffeine limits and the 6-hour cut-off
  • Safety notes: heart, light box, pregnancy
  • 12 peer-reviewed references

Built for

More Energy · Better Focus · Peak Performance

Inside the PDF: 6 chapters

  1. Before You Start: Everything in this routine is low-risk for healthy adults. A few conditions call for a doctor's OK first, mostly for the cold water and the light box.
  2. Morning Light: Light reaching your eyes is the main signal that sets your body clock. Morning light moves it earlier, which helps you feel alert in the day and sleepy at a sensible time at night. This chapter takes over the morning-light material from our former Blue Light protocol.
  3. Cold Shower (Optional): A cold finish to your shower is a wake-up for many people. The evidence is modest, so treat it as an optional habit, not a health treatment.
  4. Five Minutes of Breathing: Five minutes of slow, exhale-focused breathing is an easy way to start the day calmer. It needs no equipment and fits in after the shower or on your morning walk.
  5. Caffeine, Timed Right: Caffeine improves alertness and attention (Haskell et al., 2008), and most of the morning advice about it is about timing and amount. The one rule with strong evidence is to keep it well away from bedtime.
  6. Your Morning Routine: Put it together. The order is our suggestion; the times are a guide. The only fixed point is getting up at the same time every day, which helps your body clock more than any single habit.

Safety notes

  • Never look directly at the sun, with or without sunglasses. Morning light works through normal outdoor brightness reaching your eyes, not by staring at a light source.
  • Cold water: start in the shower, never alone in open water, and stop if you feel chest pain, dizziness or numbness that doesn't pass quickly.
  • Don't use cold water straight after strength training if you want to build muscle. In a 12-week study, 10 minutes of cold-water immersion after each session led to smaller gains in strength and muscle than an active cool-down (Roberts et al., 2015). Keep the cold shower for mornings, apart from your lifting sessions.
  • Fast, forced breathing can make you dizzy or faint. Never practise breathing exercises in water, while driving or anywhere a fall could hurt you.

References (12)

  1. Shattock, M.J. & Tipton, M.J. (2012). 'Autonomic conflict': a different way to die during cold water immersion? The Journal of Physiology, 590(14), 3219-3230. doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2012.229864
  2. Khalsa, S.B.S. et al. (2003). A Phase Response Curve to Single Bright Light Pulses in Human Subjects. The Journal of Physiology, 549(3), 945-952. doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2003.040477
  3. Wright, K.P. et al. (2013). Entrainment of the Human Circadian Clock to the Natural Light-Dark Cycle. Current Biology, 23(16), 1554-1558. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.039
  4. Brown, T.M. et al. (2022). Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology, 20(3), e3001571. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001571
  5. Pjrek, E. et al. (2020). The Efficacy of Light Therapy in the Treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 89(1), 17-24. doi.org/10.1159/000502891
  6. Buijze, G.A. et al. (2016). The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work: A Randomized Controlled Trial. PLOS ONE, 11(9), e0161749. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0161749
  7. Šrámek, P. et al. (2000). Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 81(5), 436-442. doi.org/10.1007/s004210050065
  8. Roberts, L.A. et al. (2015). Post-exercise cold water immersion attenuates acute anabolic signalling and long-term adaptations in muscle to strength training. The Journal of Physiology, 593(18), 4285-4301. doi.org/10.1113/jp270570
  9. Balban, M.Y. et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895. doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100895
  10. EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (2015). Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal, 13(5), 4102. doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4102
  11. Drake, C. et al. (2013). Caffeine Effects on Sleep Taken 0, 3, or 6 Hours before Going to Bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 9(11), 1195-1200. doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3170
  12. Haskell, C.F. et al. (2008). The effects of l-theanine, caffeine and their combination on cognition and mood. Biological Psychology, 77(2), 113-122. doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.09.008

Also in

General education, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, take medication, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before you start.