Making changes, the first step is to look within and set out a plan for the routines I will take on a daily/weekly basis. I am summarising Andrew Huberman's routine and tailoring it to my own benefit:
Daily Routine:
Waking Up - Wake up between the time of 5:00am to 6:00am and stick to that rhythm. To achieve that, aim to sleep from 9:00pm to 10:00pm
Hydration - Drink 2 glasses of water first thing in the morning, instead of picking up the mobile phone to doom scroll on social media.
Blended Greens - Early in the day, blend a cup of fruits and vegetables (cucumber, apple, celery, banana, spinach, berries, carrot, nuts or whatever)
Sun Exposure - Head out as soon as possible in the daytime and get 10 minutes of sunlight while walking to generate visual optic flow (walk outside or to work in the morning, as soon as possible)
Caffeine - Consume coffee 2 hours after waking up for adenosine regulation, after getting sunlight and movement. Stop caffeine intake after 2pm STRICTLY.
Meal - Eat a strong low-carb meal packed with fruits and vegetables, STRICTLY NO fried foods, NO raw foods, NO processed foods.
Intermittent Fasting - Eating meals within the 11:00 am to 7:00 pm window and fasting outside of that time, only taking supplements outside of that time.
Dim Warm Lighting - Switch to candlelight or warm lights at night and stay away from phone and computer screens before sleeping
Reading - Do bedtime reading, between 10-30 minutes to relax the mind and get into a state of rest
Supplementation - Daily supplementation stack containing multivitamins, fish oil, zinc, saw palmetto, stinging nettle, pumpkin seed oil, lycopene, maca, ashwagandha, tongkat ali and biotin
Weekly Routine:
Hypertrophy Training - Shoulders, Arms, Chest, Back with Legs and Abs every session keeping within 1.5 hours each session with total sets of 16-20 and total reps of 8-12 (total of 4-5 workout days per week)
Cardiovascular Training - Running or High-Intensity Interval Training (twice a week)
Contrast Therapy - Cycling between heat exposure via sauna/onsen (15 mins), then cold exposure by ice bath (3 mins), and repeat back and forth for 3-5 times (once a week)
Physiologic Sighs - Taking two consecutive inhales (first inhale and second pull more inhale) and then one full exhale and do this deliberate slow breathing for about 5 minutes
Active Recuperation - Ensure every day of the week meets fitness and health criteria as a means of active recovery. Varying between hypertrophy workouts (4x a week), cardiovascular training (2x a week) and
Non-Sleep Deep Rest - Practice Yoga Nidra for 10 mins each night lying down and making a mindful scan of all parts of the body and imagine sinking and relaxing into the earth
An acronym NEWSTART to help keep at it:
nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperament, air, rest, tenacity