The Surprising 5-Minute Morning Routine To Eliminate Aches, Pains, And Boost Energy 2x More Than Coffee

📖 DEEP DIVE

In today’s issue, I’ll show you how a straightforward 5-minute morning routine can transform you from stiff, sore and tired to a ninja warrior of movement.

If you commit to this routine, you’ll enjoy a few immediate benefits: 

• Fewer aches and pains

• Enhanced mobility and freedom of movement

• Increased energy

• Reduced stress

By following the step-by-step process below, you’re more likely to stay consistent and make this a lasting habit.

Unfortunately, many people resign themselves to living with pain FOREVER because they focus on all the wrong things. This pain restricts your movement, leading to more aches, pains, health issues, and life passing you by.

The biggest mistake? Focusing only on the painful area.

Pain is tricky; discomfort in your shoulder, for example, doesn't necessarily mean the issue is in the shoulder—it could be your hip, spine, or anything else.

Instead of always chasing the site of pain, it’s better to adopt a full-body approach to discover your “magic bullet” movements that make YOU feel the best.

Today, I'll show you how to fend off joint pain and unlock lifelong mobility, energy, and strength in just 5 minutes per day with something I call the “Morning Recharge.”

How To Build A Successful Morning Recharge Habit 

The key to this entire process is making it a habit. Start small—just 5 minutes—to make it manageable.

Habits are best developed by following a simple process:

• Trigger

• Habit

• Reward

Link your new habit (your recharge) to something you already do (trigger), then reward yourself to reinforce it.

For example, your morning routine could look like this:

• Trigger = Wake up

• Habit = Morning Recharge

• Reward = Feeling accomplished, better movement, and a tall glass of water for hydration

Mornings are the often the "magic time" for this routine, when you're most likely to follow through before distractions hit.

My routine: Brew coffee (trigger) > Do Recharge (habit) > Enjoy my coffee & hydrate (reward)

This grounds my day in quality movement, keeping my body feeling great while boosting my energy and productivity.

Now that you understand how to establish this habit, let's explore the foundational movements that make this routine so effective. 

The Foundations

So many people struggle with fitness because they lack a foundation of frequent, quality movement. Building a strong foundation of movement reduces aches & pains while improving athleticism and mobility so you can do cool stuff like rough house with the kids without tweaking your lower back.

That's why the Recharge starts by nailing the basics - joint health, mobility, flexibility and movement control. With solid foundational movement, you can safely layer on more intense activity.

Start by learning how to move each joint independently using controlled articular rotations (CARs):

Spine Routine

Upper Body Routine

Lower Body Routine

If you’re new to this, spend a few days just practicing your CARs before moving on to more compound movement flows. I recommend starting with the spine routine. It’s the simplest, and it’s the most bang for your movement buck.

Now let's supercharge your progress by tuning into another crucial element: your breath.

The Surprising Pain Reliever In Your Chest

You might be surprised to learn that simple breathing can significantly relieve pain. When we're stressed, in pain, or exerting ourselves, our breathing tends to become shallow and restricted.

The diaphragm, the primary muscle used in breathing, is often overlooked when it comes to pain relief. When we breathe shallowly, the diaphragm doesn't fully engage, which contributes to muscular tension, tightness and pain.

We take about 20,000 breaths per day, which can either reinforce these muscular problems or aid in recovery and boosting energy. Breathing engages many muscles, and poor breathing patterns can pull certain joints out of position, especially affecting the neck, shoulders, and lower back.

By incorporating deep belly breaths into your Morning Recharge, you’ll experience reduced muscle tension, improved oxygen flow, and a calmer nervous system, leading to less pain, more focus, and a better start to your day.

Try the drill below to get the hang of better breathing. It’s a great way to retrain diaphragmatic breathing, which helps alleviate pain & tension and is where I always start with clients in pain. Just practice for 1-2 minutes to get the feel:

Breathing To Close The Front Ribs

Once you’ve mastered that, the next step is to practice integrateing your breathing into your Recharge. The best way I’ve found to do that is by holding water in your mouth, which forces you to breathe through your nose during your recharge.

How To Recharge

Move continuously for 5 minutes each morning, gently pushing your mobility limits but never pushing into pain. As you gain experience, improvise and have fun with different movement flows instead of scripting every rep.

Pay extra attention to your neck, spine and hips - keeping these mobile provides maximum benefits since they affect the entire body.

Here’s a few sample 5-Minute Recharges to take inspiration from:

• Beginner Focus

• Low Back Special

• Hips + Low Back

• Full Body Wake-up 

Pro Tips:

1. Do it first thing after your alarm

2. Have equipment like a mat ready

3. Start with 4-5 deep breaths to get started

Just move in a way that feels good and is fun for you! 

Reward yourself after with refreshing hydration (and coffee if you'd like).

COMMIT to 30 days of this 5-minute Recharge. No excuses - it's just 5 minutes and a glass of water. This lays the foundation for a pain-free, active lifestyle for decades.

That said, sometimes life happens and missing a day here and there is inevitable.

And that’s okay.

But whenever you miss a day, get right back on track the next day – and NEVER miss twice.  

Report back on any changes you notice after 30 days. Did you sleep better? Move easier? Have more energy? I’d love to hear about it!

TL;DR: 5 minutes a day keeps the aches away…

We were built to move; not sit in a chair and look at our digital dopamine devices all day. Let this daily five-minute dose of movement be a nudge towards a more active, pain-free lifestyle—each and every day.

You have one body - and it’s worth taking care of so you can still play actively with your kids, grandkids and enjoy life. A small habit, but just 5 extra minutes of movement per day adds up to over 30 extra hours of movement per year!

Bottom line: With this sustainable routine, you'll unlock more energy, less achiness, better sleep and the vitality to enjoy an active life for years to come. Just 5 minutes a day to change everything!

That’s all for today!

Keep moving,

Dr. Matt Longfellow PT, DPT, SCS, SFG II