The Science and Art of the Morning RoutineCreated with Peloton
We’ve been students of the morning routine for years. And we’ve learned from the best: scientists, chefs, founders, and the kind of women we want to be more like.
What we’ve gleaned is that no two morning routines look alike; what works is what works for you. But if there are a few levers to pull to set your day right, these are them—endlessly customizable and backed by biology.
LEVER 1: SUNLIGHT IS YOUR CIRCADIAN CHEAT CODE
In as little as 10 to 15 minutes, early morning sunlight helps set your body’s cortisol clock. In a good way—ideally-timed, cortisol doesn’t only wake you up but also regulates your sleep/wake cycle, manages metabolism, supports immune function, and sharpens focus.
As soon as you can, every day. Clear skies or cloud cover, it still works. It’s the highest-leverage, lowest-effort, best-evidenced way to set your brain and body up for success all day long.
“Mornings don’t exactly come easy to me: I'm a night owl historically known to press snooze until the last possible second. So switching from an alarm on my phone to a sunrise alarm clock that mimics natural sunlight has been a huge unlock for getting me out of bed. Then I try to get out of the apartment for a dose of natural sunlight within 30 minutes. Ideally, I'll stroll down to the waterfront park in my neighborhood with coffee so I can get the calming 'blue mind’ effect of the water before I open email or Slack. —Kylie Gilbert, deputy editor”
LEVER 2: YOUR BODY WANTS TO MOVE
Evolutionarily, we’re built to walk and run. The human body is an endurance machine; that’s the point of all the muscles and springy tendons and lung capacity. And a body built around movement tends to run poorly without it.
Morning movement lifts the mood and clears the head for up to eight hours—partially due to elevated body temperature and the rush of adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine it produces. And usually, the discomfort of starting fades once you get into a good rhythm. (Done outdoors or next to a window, this can double as your dose of sunlight.)
While the benefits of morning movement are well established, it all starts with finding workouts you love—and a way to fit them into your busy morning. This is where Peloton has become a go-to.
“I've been an avid Peloton user for over seven years now, and as an Ironman and endurance sports athlete, I love the Tread+. When I have an early-morning run, I can hop on the Tread+ to get my workout in, turn the swivel screen, do a stretching series, and finish with a core class. —Gina Lucania, VP, sales & marketing, wholesale”
LEVER 3: THE CASE FOR MORNING FUEL
Breakfast is rooted in research: Starting with protein and fiber helps keep the body satiated and energy steady through the morning. (And as much science has come out around intermittent fasting, very little of it has been done with women—and there’s some evidence that it can skew hormone balance, including that of metabolism-regulating thyroid hormones.)
Even if you’re not a breakfast person, it might be compelling to think of your morning meal in context of the rest of the day—frontloading with something nutritionally solid gets you on the map. Even if everything else falls off, at least you’ve done that. And if you tend to neglect water, might as well think of that the same way—one easy non-negotiable done before the day takes off.
Also: It’s best to put off caffeine. Caffeine can blunt the morning’s natural cortisol rise; if you can train yourself to wait 90 minutes after wake-up, when cortisol starts to fall again, it helps prevent your coffee from messing with your internal clock.
“I drink the same smoothie every day so it’s guaranteed I’m starting with something healthy: soy milk, two scoops of organic vanilla pea protein powder, almond butter, walnuts, two or three giant handfuls of spinach, and organic blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. —Amy Synnott, editor-in-chief”
LEVER 4: A FEW QUIET MINUTES TO YOURSELF
When you slow down—especially when you slow your breathing—you nudge your body out of low-grade fight-or-flight and shift into a parasympathetic state. That’s not just pleasant now, but has a payoff later: Stillness and slow breath stimulate the vagus nerve, and that vagus activity is linked to steadier focus, better attention, and sharper decision-making later in the day.
A guided meditation certainly counts (we love Peloton's 10-minute morning meditations), as do a few minutes at the table with no phone. Even a few minutes to breathe after you get in the car, before you turn the key. Consistency beats ambition: The benefits of stillness compound in your nervous system, but only if you do it.
“These days, I am a morning person—up early without an alarm whether I want to be or not. My dog, on the other hand: not so much. So after I’ve gotten dressed, I coax him awake (belly rubs), persuade him to come downstairs (promise of treats), and then we sit on the front step in the sunlight for a while before starting our walk. Some days it’s a few minutes; some days it’s longer—I let him decide. I was a teenager once, too, so I know what it’s like. —Aura Davies, copy director”
How to Make It Work
1Know your chronotype.
Whether you're a morning lark or night owl (or if you fall somewhere in the middle) is largely baked into your DNA—not a matter of discipline, that’s a myth. You can nudge your timing with consistent light and wake times, but you can't fully override it.
Build around it instead of fighting it: If you’re a morning person and have hours to give to your morning routine, congrats, go at it. But if you’re a late riser and have to be in the car or in front of a computer within an hour of waking up, give yourself the gift of a late alarm and an abbreviated version of all the above. A perfect morning routine just won’t come with a side of misery.
2Be realistic about time.
If it stresses you out to fit it all in, you might be overthinking and overdoing it. A good pace is doable and energizing, never rushed.
That might mean choosing one or two things you can do consistently on a weekday, and saving the expanded version for weekends. A routine that fits your actual life will always outperform a perfect one you only manage twice a month.
3Leave room for intuition.
Militant adherence is the enemy. (Unless you’re a Capricorn, in which case militant adherence might be your friend.) Let your morning routine breathe. Sometimes it has the capacity for more; sometimes less; sometimes it needs to move fast; sometimes it runs over. And sometimes you need to ditch it all for a cuddle and some extra REM.