These are the protocols we use at Eirloom to build energy on purpose. Each one is short, specific and grounded in research. Find the moment you're in, from waking up to landing after a long flight, and choose one or two to start tomorrow. Small inputs, repeated daily, compound into lasting capacity.
What to do
Get outside within 30 minutes of waking, with your eyes uncovered: 5 to 10 minutes on a clear day, 15 to 20 when it's cloudy.
Why it works
Morning light reaches specialized cells in the eye that set your body clock. It strengthens your natural morning cortisol rise, which makes you alert now and helps you sleep deeply tonight.
What to do
A large glass of water with a pinch of sea salt or electrolytes.
Why it works
You lose fluid overnight. Losing just 1.4% of body water worsened mood, fatigue and concentration in healthy young women.
What to do
5 to 10 minutes of walking, mobility work or light exercise.
Why it works
Movement raises your heart rate and core temperature and sends more blood to the brain, clearing morning grogginess quickly.
What to do
30 to 40 g of protein.
Why it works
Protein keeps blood sugar steady and provides tyrosine, the building block of dopamine and noradrenaline, the chemicals of drive and focus.
What to do
Have your first coffee 60 to 90 minutes after waking.
Why it works
Cortisol naturally peaks 30 to 45 minutes after you wake. Having caffeine as that wave eases stretches your alertness across the morning.
What to do
Play upbeat, fast tempo music you love while you get ready.
Why it works
Tonight you tasted how sound changes perception. Fast tempo music measurably raises arousal and positive mood.
What to do
Before opening email or messages, write down the one thing that matters most today and why.
Why it works
Research from Columbia University shows the energy producing machinery in our cells responds to psychological state. Positive mood was linked to healthier mitochondria the next morning.
What to do
End your shower with 30 to 90 seconds of cold water.
Why it works
Cold sharply raises noradrenaline, the neurotransmitter of alertness. In a Dutch trial of 3,000 people, those who ended their showers cold took 29% fewer sick days.
What to do
At lunch, eat the vegetables and protein before the carbs.
Why it works
Eating in this order lowered the blood sugar spike after meals by roughly a third in clinical research, which means a smaller afternoon crash.
What to do
10 minutes of easy walking after eating.
Why it works
Working muscles pull sugar from the blood. Short walks after meals reliably flatten the glucose curve.
What to do
10 minutes of easy stair climbing.
Why it works
In one study, 10 minutes of stair walking energized people more than a caffeine dose equal to a can of soda.
What to do
Step outside or sit by a window for 10 minutes.
Why it works
Bright light suppresses the brain's sleep signal and reduces the natural dip in alertness after lunch.
What to do
10 to 20 minutes of guided deep rest (Yoga Nidra), lying down with your eyes closed.
Why it works
A brain imaging study found Yoga Nidra raised dopamine release by 65%. You get up restored, with your focus reset.
What to do
10 to 20 minutes, set an alarm, and finish before 15:00.
Why it works
NASA found a short nap improved pilots' alertness by 54% and performance by 34%. Keeping it short means you wake before deep sleep.
What to do
A double inhale through the nose, then a long, slow exhale through the mouth. Repeat twice.
Why it works
A long exhale activates the calming branch of the nervous system. Five minutes a day of this breathing improved mood more than mindfulness meditation.
What to do
Stand up and move to two songs that lift you.
Why it works
Music and movement together raise heart rate and positive emotion within minutes.
What to do
Switch to water or herbal tea after early afternoon.
Why it works
Caffeine taken six hours before bed cut sleep by more than an hour, and good sleep tonight is tomorrow's energy.
What to do
Work on one task for up to 90 minutes, then take a 10 minute break.
Why it works
The brain runs in roughly 90 minute cycles of high and low alertness. Elite performers work in focused blocks of about this length.
What to do
Leave your phone in a different room during deep work.
Why it works
Researchers found that when phones were in another room, people had measurably more cognitive capacity available.
What to do
Look at trees, plants or a green view for 40 seconds between tasks.
Why it works
A 40 second view of greenery measurably restored attention and reduced errors.
What to do
Before a presentation or big conversation, tell yourself "I am excited."
Why it works
Nerves and excitement share the same physical signature. Reframing nerves as excitement improved performance in public speaking and under pressure.
What to do
Three physiological sighs before you walk in.
Why it works
The long exhale slows your heart rate and settles the nervous system quickly.
What to do
Seated, take 25 to 30 deep, quick breaths, then a relaxed exhale hold.
Why it works
Fast breathing raises adrenaline and alertness on demand.
What to do
Take a problem for a walk, ideally outdoors.
Why it works
Walking raised creative output by about 60% compared with sitting in Stanford research.
What to do
After working hard on a problem, switch to an easy task like cooking, tidying or a shower.
Why it works
People who did an undemanding task during a break solved creative problems better when they returned.
What to do
A 15 minute weekly walk where you look for something vast or beautiful.
Why it works
Eight weeks of weekly awe walks increased joy and positive emotions in a University of California study.
What to do
Keep your notepad from tonight close and write ideas down immediately.
Why it works
Writing ideas down frees working memory, so more energy goes into the next idea.
What to do
Each week, schedule time with the people who leave you feeling more alive.
Why it works
Energy spreads through relationships. Network research shows energizers raise the performance of everyone around them.
What to do
Do one thing each day that is clearly aligned with what matters most to you.
Why it works
Our cells' energy production responds to our psychological state. Wellbeing is associated with more energy producing proteins in the brain.
What to do
Have a real exchange with a barista, a neighbour or a stranger.
Why it works
Even brief social interactions with strangers raised people's positive mood and sense of belonging.
What to do
Help someone or spend a little money on someone else.
Why it works
Spending on others made people measurably happier than spending on themselves.
What to do
Write, and ideally read aloud, a letter to someone who shaped you.
Why it works
A single gratitude visit raised happiness for a full month in a University of Pennsylvania study.
What to do
A protein and carb snack 30 to 60 minutes before, like yogurt with fruit.
Why it works
Having fuel available keeps intensity high and protects muscle.
What to do
3 mg per kg of body weight about 60 minutes before, roughly two to three espressos for 70 kg.
Why it works
Caffeine reliably improves endurance, strength and power, according to the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
What to do
Fast tempo music you love, 120 beats per minute or more.
Why it works
Music lowers perceived effort and raises performance. The workout feels easier, so you push harder.
What to do
5 to 10 minutes of movement that builds gradually.
Why it works
Warm muscles contract faster and more forcefully. Warming up improved performance in most studies reviewed.
What to do
30 to 40 g within about 45 minutes.
Why it works
Training opens a window when muscles are especially ready to rebuild.
What to do
Water with electrolytes, especially after sweating.
Why it works
Replacing sodium helps you actually hold on to the fluid you drink.
What to do
15 to 20 minutes, then electrolytes.
Why it works
Heat improves cardiovascular fitness. In a large Finnish study, men who used a sauna 4 to 7 times a week had 40% lower mortality than those who went once a week.
What to do
Save cold plunges for rest days, or at least 6 hours after strength training.
Why it works
Cold straight after lifting blunts the signals that build muscle. Timed well, you get the energy boost and keep your gains.
Tomorrow's energy starts tonight.
What to do
After sunset, switch to low, warm lamps and dim your screens.
Why it works
Ordinary room light before bed suppressed melatonin and delayed its release by about 90 minutes.
What to do
A warm shower or bath 1 to 2 hours before bed, then a bedroom around 18°C.
Why it works
Warming up and then cooling down triggers the drop in core temperature that starts sleep. A warm bath helped people fall asleep about 10 minutes faster.
What to do
Spend 5 minutes writing tomorrow's to do list.
Why it works
People who wrote a to do list before bed fell asleep faster. The list takes the planning out of your head.
What to do
Finish dinner early in the evening.
Why it works
Digestion raises body temperature and heart rate, both of which work against deep sleep.
What to do
Save alcohol for occasions, and keep it earlier in the evening.
Why it works
Alcohol fragments sleep in the second half of the night and reduces REM sleep, which restores mood and learning.
What to do
Get up at the same time every day, weekends included.
Why it works
Sleep regularity predicted lifespan more strongly than sleep duration in a study of 60,000 people.
What to do
Get bright light in the morning at your destination and keep evenings dim. Consider 0.5 to 3 mg of melatonin at local bedtime for the first few nights.
Why it works
Morning light moves your body clock earlier, which is the direction you need after flying east.
What to do
Get light in the late afternoon and stay up until local bedtime.
Why it works
Evening light moves your body clock later, matching the new time zone.
What to do
Eat meals at local times from the first day.
Why it works
Meal timing resets the clocks in your liver and gut alongside your brain.
What to do
About 250 ml of water per flight hour.
Why it works
Cabin air is extremely dry, and dehydration amplifies travel fatigue.
What to do
Walk outside within a few hours of landing.
Why it works
Daylight and movement together are the strongest signals to reset your clock.
What to do
Naps of 20 minutes or less.
Why it works
Short naps restore alertness and protect the sleep you need that night.
What to do
Symptoms above the neck only: light movement is fine. With fever, chest symptoms or body aches: rest fully.
Why it works
Your body needs its full energy to fight whole body illness, and rest shortens recovery.
What to do
Come back at half your usual intensity and build up over a week.
Why it works
A gradual return rebuilds capacity while protecting your immune system.
What to do
If you feel worse the next day, return to the previous level.
Why it works
Fatigue after a virus responds to steady pacing.
What to do
Extra sleep, protein at every meal, and a daily walk outdoors.
Why it works
Repair runs on sleep and protein, and daylight resets the body clock that illness disrupts.
What to do
Full body sessions with progressive load.
Why it works
Muscle is your largest metabolic organ and a reservoir of energy and resilience.
What to do
Exercise at a conversational pace.
Why it works
This builds mitochondria, the power plants of your cells.
What to do
Short, hard efforts with recovery in between.
Why it works
Interval training raised mitochondrial capacity by 49% in younger adults and 69% in older adults.
What to do
Weekly totals, spread across several short sessions.
Why it works
These are the weekly doses linked to better metabolic health and energy in a Danish study.
What to do
120 minutes a week, in any combination.
Why it works
People who spent at least 120 minutes a week in nature reported significantly better health and wellbeing.
What to do
Rate your energy from 1 to 10 each evening.
Why it works
What you measure, you can improve, just as you did tonight.
What to do
15 g of protein before strength training, plus about 30 g of carbs before cardio.
Why it works
Women's bodies respond to training stress more sensitively. Eating first keeps stress hormones balanced and protects muscle.
What to do
35 g of protein after training.
Why it works
This supports muscle repair while your body is most responsive.
What to do
Strength training 3 times a week, 1 to 2 sprint sessions, and a few minutes of jumps daily.
Why it works
These three stresses build muscle, metabolic health and bone density more effectively than long, moderate cardio.
What to do
Ask for an iron and ferritin test.
Why it works
Low iron stores are a leading hidden cause of fatigue in women. In a clinical trial, iron supplements cut fatigue by nearly half in women with low ferritin.
What to do
Push hardest: heavy lifts and high intensity.
Why it works
Rising estrogen supports strength gains, recovery and blood sugar control.
What to do
More protein and carbs, extra fluids with sodium, a cooler bedroom, and intensity matched to how you feel.
Why it works
Progesterone raises core temperature and increases protein breakdown, so your body needs more fuel, fluid and cooling.
What to do
3 to 6 reps, 2 to 4 sets of squats and deadlifts.
Why it works
Falling estrogen speeds muscle and bone loss. Heavy loads are the strongest signal to rebuild both.
What to do
Sprints 1 to 2 times a week, plus 2 to 5 minutes of jumps daily.
Why it works
Sprints improve insulin sensitivity and reduce belly fat, and impact builds bone.
What to do
35 to 40 g per meal, and 40 to 60 g after training.
Why it works
Muscles become less responsive to protein with age, so they need a larger dose per meal.
What to do
3 to 5 g daily.
Why it works
Creatine supports strength, mood and cognition, all of which are sensitive to hormonal change.
What to do
Have caffeine alongside a meal.
Why it works
This keeps blood sugar steadier during a phase when sensitivity to caffeine rises.
What to do
Sauna regularly. Keep cold to around 13°C.
Why it works
Heat eases hot flashes and supports mood. Moderate cold suits women's physiology better.
What to do
Maintain intensity, with more recovery between sessions.
Why it works
Strength is the strongest defense against frailty.
What to do
Explosive movements plus yoga.
Why it works
Power declines fastest with age, and training it keeps you quick, balanced and confident.
What to do
Daily.
Why it works
Together they support muscle, brain, bone and inflammation balance.
What to do
Count vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, herbs and spices.
Why it works
Eating 30 or more different plants a week is linked to a more diverse gut microbiome.
What to do
Group sessions or a training partner.
Why it works
Social training raises consistency, and connection is energy.
Check with your doctor before starting new supplements or intense training if you have a medical condition.