Do you feel exhausted? Michael Breus, otherwise known as The Sleep Doctor. Stacey Griffith (fitness expert) has joined forces to provide you with the solution: A custom-made way to eat and exercise that is right for you needs. Read on – and prepare to supercharge the way you live!

Living out of tune with your circadian rhythms or chronotypes can often lead to exhaustion.
When the two of us – the Sleep Doctor and the Fitness Expert – started talking about our lives and our vocations, namely, educating people about sleep and movement, we discovered that the biggest complaint among our patients and clients was: ‘Why am I always so exhausted?’
When we did interviews together, this question was the number one topic. Everyone seemed to be slogging their way through the day, sleeping poorly at night and being in an extremely low energy state.
Michael had been studying and teaching the science of sleep for decades, and he knew that exhaustion was often the result of living out of sync with one’s circadian rhythms, the inner clocks that dictate the ebb and flow of hormones, body temperature and blood pressure.
If you live against your natural rhythms – for example, your body wants you to go to sleep at 9pm, but you force yourself to stay up later – you are at high risk for sleep deprivation, chronic stress, mood disorders, lowered immunity and compromised overall health.
When you’re out of sync with the master clocks in your brain (specifically, in your hypothalamus), all your energy goes towards waging battles within. You can still live in harmony with your circadian rhythms and not fight against your natural nature.
And it’s not just about sleep. We discovered that living against your genetically predetermined chronotype – your body’s natural disposition to be awake or asleep at certain times – is the reason you’re so tired all the time.
We’ve devised four different chronotypes based on the sleeping and waking habits of our animal counterparts, and each one has a different inner schedule based on your genes: Lion (early riser), Wolf (late riser), Bear (in between) and Dolphin (insomniac).
You will find renewed energy when you follow a consistent daily routine. This is like having new batteries. You’ll stop saying, ‘I’m so exhausted!’ and start feeling the power to move your personal mountains.
This means that there is not one size fits all energising program. However, there are programs that can be tailored for your particular chronotype. Our two areas of expertise – circadian timing and movement – have come together to create a whole new concept of how to improve people’s health and feel more of what we all desperately crave: energy.
Take the quiz below to discover what chronotype you are…
QUIZ – Find out your energy chronotypE
For the following ten statements, please circle T for true or F for false
1. Even the smallest sound or light can make me feel awake. T/F
2. I don’t love food as much as you do. T/F
3. I wake up often before my alarm rings. T/F
4.I can’t sleep well on planes, even with an eye mask and earplugs T/F
5. I’m often irritable due to fatigue T/F
6. Inordinate amounts of small things worry me T/F
7. I was diagnosed as an insomniac by either a physician or myself. T/F
8. My grades were always a concern in school. T/F
9. My mind wanders through the past, imagining what the future might hold. I spend my nights worrying about the possibilities. T/F
10. I’m a perfectionist T/F
A Dolphin is someone who marks T for True on at least seven of the ten above-mentioned questions. Continue to part 2 (below).
After each of the answer options, you’ll find a Number in brackets Please keep These numbers are compiled in a list. Get your final score
If there was nothing else to do, you could always go the next day. If you could sleep in for as many hours as you wanted, how would you get up when you awoke?
1. Before 6.30am
2. From 6.30am to 8.45am
3. After 8.45am
Do you set an alarm to wake you up at a specific time?
1.No need. 1.No need.
2.Yes. And one or two more snoozes
3.Yes. With a backup alarm system and multiple snoozes
What time do you get up in the morning?
1. The same time during the week
It takes between 2.45 and 90 minutes longer than the average week.
3.The week ends more than 90 minutes earlier
Is jet lag something you can experience?
1. You struggle
2. The adjustment takes 48 hours
3. You adapt quickly when you travel west
What’s your favourite meal? Instead of focusing on the meal, think about the times.
1.Breakfast
2.Lunch
3.Dinner
It would be great if you could return to school to study.Take an exam once more. When would you like to take the test again? Concentration and focus?
1.Early Morning
2.Afternoon
3.Mid afternoon
You could do a intense workout at any hour of the day. But when?
1.Before 8am
2. Between 8am and 4pm
3.After 4pm
Which time of the day are you at your alertest?
1.1 to 2 hours after waking up
2.Two-four hours following wake up
4.4 to 6 hours following wake up
Which block of consecutive hours would it be if you had the option to choose your five-hour workday?
Between 1.4am and 9am
2.9am to 2pm
3.45pm to 9.pm
Do you consider yourself…
1.Left-brained – a strategic and analytical thinker
2. A balanced thinker
3. Right-brained – a creative and insightful thinker
Do you nap?
1.Never
2.Sometimes on the weekends
3.If you took a nap, you’d be up all night
How long would it take to move furniture and chopping wood for two hours?
From 1.8am until 10am
From 2.11 to 1 p.m.
Hours: 3.6pm-8pm
For your general health Which statement sound like you?
1.‘I work out a lot, eat well and avoid the bad stuff’
2.‘I try to do the right things. Sometimes I succeed’
3.‘I hate exercise and love food, and that’s not going to change’
What’s your comfort level with taking risks?
1.Low
2.Medium
3.High
Which are you most proud of?
1.Future-oriented, with clear goals and big plans
2. Affirmation of the past and optimism about the future.
3.Present oriented. It’s all about what feels good now
What would your definition of “characteristic” be? You are a student?
1.Brilliant
2.Solid
3.Slacker
The first time you wake up is when it’s your first morning. Are you…
1.Bright-eyed
2. Be confused but not confused
2.Cement-based eyelids that are groggy and irritated
What would be your best description of your appetite in a matter of minutes?
1.Very hungry
2.Hungry
3. Not at all starving
Do you experience insomnia?
1.Rarely when you adjust to a different time zone
2.When you are going through difficult times or feeling stressed.
3.Chronically. It’s available in waves
What would be your description of yourself? Overall life satisfaction
1.High
2.Good
3.Low
Scoring
The following are your options:
19-32: Lion
Bear, 33-47
48 to 61: Wolf
Lion
The human Lions are hungry in the morning and full of energy until mid-afternoon. Their cognitive clarity is at its peak in the early hours of the morning when many others still wake up. But around five o’clock, they start to lose energy. They force themselves to go to social events at night – ideally, they’d be in bed by 9pm. They prioritize health and exercise, as well as eating healthy. Their BMI is the lowest of any chronotype. Lions have a positive outlook, are ambitious and emotionally stable. They also possess a high level of confidence, fearlessness, and drive. They set goals, solve problems and create lists.
Wolf
Human Wolves, like wild ones, are most alert at sundown and don’t tire until midnight or later. Mornings pass with brains half-asleep. Most Wolves aren’t hungry at breakfast but will drink lots of coffee to clear brain fog. By afternoon they’re ravenous so have a big dinner and then snack. Exercise? Wolves would rather drink wine, eat cheese and debate until late. They have the highest BMI of all chronotypes and are impulsive, creative and happiest trying new things. While they spark with ideas all day they only concentrate well after 2pm. Morning moodiness can be challenging, but they won’t shy away from an issue.
Bear
The most common chronotype, human Bears, just like their animal counterparts, are diurnal – active by day, restful by night. Waking is a long process but by mid-morning, Bears are alert. Energy plummets in the afternoon, rising again in the evening (their peak social energy conveniently coincides with happy hour) before slowly declining until bed. They love food, so often have an above-average BMI. As extroverts, Bears think and work best in groups. In relationships, they avoid conflict, and their moods reflect their circumstances: when things are good, Bears feel good; when things are bad, they get depressed.
Dolphin
In nature, Dolphins are unihemispheric sleepers – one half of their brain sleeps while the other stays alert. Their human equivalents are insomniacs who can relate to feeling half-awake and half-asleep 24/7. Their BMI tends to be lower than average but not because of obsessive exercise; instead calories are burnt by fidgeting and worrying. Dolphins tend to be caring and attentive parents and partners. But they’re so conflict-averse, small issues grow to big problems. They hit their creative peak mid-morning and their thinking peak in the evening. They’re often too wound up at night to relax before bed.
SLEEP FOR ENERGY

According to the Sleep Doctor’s research, the populations consists of: 10% Dolphin, 20% Lion, 20%Wolf and 50% Bear
A major cause of sleep deprivation is living against your chronotype. Waking and going to bed according to your circadian rhythm is the best way to optimise your sleep so that even if you get fewer hours than you’d like, the quality of sleep will improve.
The key is to go to bed when your body wants you to, which is about an hour or two after the melatonin (the sleep hormone) secretions start flowing. And the most important factor for a strong, health-promoting routine for all types is a consistent waking time, both on weekdays and weekends.
Time for Bed?
Lions: 10pm Your body starts secreting melatonin around mid evening and screams at you to get in bed at 9pm. If you force yourself to stay awake until midnight, when your internal alarm goes off at 5am you will feel exhausted the next day.
Bears: 11pm Most of us are forced to live on a Bear’s schedule – it makes sense, since half the population are Bears. If you’re a Bear, your pineal gland [a pea-shaped gland in the brain] starts secreting melatonin around 10pm, signalling to the body that it’s time to shut down.
Wolves: 12.30am If you’re aWolf and got into bed at 11pm, you’d wind up lying awake for hours until your internal clock signalled sleep readiness. Wolves are usually wide awake then because their melatonin release is delayed for an hour or two. Getting into bed too early and not sleeping can trigger anxiety, which makes it even harder to shut down.
Dolphins: 12 midnight A hard rule for insomniacs is ‘Don’t go to bed unless you’re sleepy’, but for tired and wired Dolphins, wired often dominates tired, and you don’t feel sleepy at bedtime. Avoiding falling asleep immediately after you get to bed can cause anxiety and insomnia that could keep you awake all night.
Rise and Shine
In the early hours of the morning, your body stops secreting melatonin and starts releasing the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which trigger a rise in heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. Each chronotype’s ideal wake time is one to two hours after this. Bears are recommended to wake up at 7am; Lions, at 6am; and Wolves, at 8am. The Dolphin’s ideal wake time is harder to gauge; according to their biology, they are not designed to have deep, continuous sleep, but if they are able to pass out by 1am, their recommended wake time is 7am.
Do Naps Boost Energy?
It is okay to take a restorative 45-60 minute nap between 1pm and 2 pm (for Lions and Bears), which will be accompanied by a decrease in cortisol levels and dipping in blood sugar. Although wolves can take a nap, they are limited to a maximum of 20 minutes. Dolphins – no naps. EVER.
Energise Your Waking Brain
While melatonin secretions taper off for most of us by 5am, for Wolves it’s still going at 6am, which suppresses stimulating cortisol. To help reduce the groggy feeling when your body is fighting waking, all chronotypes should try these…
20 minutes of direct sunlight tells the pineal gland it’s daytime. After waking, go outside and open your eyes (don’t look directly into the sun and don’t wear sunglasses).
It’s cloudy. Get outside and drink water, instead of wandering. Each night we drink at most one litre less water.
A cold shower can increase oxygen, circulatory health, immunity, heart function, and blood pressure. It will also increase your feel-good endorphins – adrenaline and dopamine – by up to 500 per cent. Begin with a regular-temperature water shower. Next, turn the temperature down to 30 degrees. Then stand for 30 seconds under the water. Do this three more times.
EXERCISE TO ENERGY
The World Health Organization recommends that all adults aged between 18 and 64 should get between 150 and 300 minutes per week of any combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic physical activity. Also, we should move less while sitting down and substitute sedentary activity with some light exercise. You will reach these benchmarks if you follow our program.
Our daily 5×5 plan (see box, above right) provides energy gains and health benefits for everyone but your chronotype will dictate the best time to do them. By moving throughout the day, every day, you’ll boost your energy and speed your metabolism.
Stretch Try simple yoga stretches such as: Child’s pose: kneel down with knees wide apart, keeping your big toes touching and your buttocks resting on your heels. Place your head on the ground and fold forward. Next, place your arms in front of your face, with your palms facing downward.
Cat-cow: sit on all fours. Inhale and lower your abdomen. Lift your head upwards. Arch your back as you inhale. Then, drop your head down like a cat. Your breath should be moving through the ten rounds.
ShakeYour body fluids stagnate after sitting for over an hour. Blood flow also slows down. The antidote is shaking. Shaking sends oxygen to the hips, neck, shoulders and lower back. Try these exercises to get that shaking effect:
To loosen the neck, slowly rotate your head to one side. Rotations of the arms: Stand with your legs extended and your elbows straight out. Do 10 circles clockwise, and 10 circles anticlockwise. Stand straight up and place your feet shoulder width apart. You can place all your weight onto your right leg. Then, swing the left leg around like a pendulum. Switch to the opposite side, and then repeat.
BounceYou can jump for 5 minutes after you start to feel tired. This has the same effects as taking a cup of coffee or going on a power nap. It unleashes feel-good dopamine, serotonin and energising adrenaline. Bouncing can also increase heart rate and blood circulation, boost your metabolism, provide fresh oxygen to the body, help you burn calories, enhance coordination and strengthen bones. According to a recent study, jumping for just ten minutes each day has the same cardiovascular benefits as walking for three times. Do burpees (jump jacks), skipping, or jumping jacks.
ConstructionThe average loss of muscle mass between the ages 30 and 35 is three to eight percent per decade. We have a greater risk of injuries, disabilities, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and other conditions like heart disease. To build muscles, try squats, crunches or this triceps dip…
Lay your feet flat on the floor and sit down at the edge of the chair. With your fingertips facing out, place your palms on the chair’s edge. Move your feet and hands forward, supporting your body weight by moving your lower back. Slowly lower your bottom until it’s six inches from the floor. You can raise your bottom by pressing your fingers into your palms.
BalanceBalance improves coordination and helps you sleep better at night. Try simple yoga poses, such as the tree pose…
Stand straight up and shift your weight towards your left foot. Place your right foot onto your left ankle, or your inner thigh. Keep your hands folded in prayer and your eyes fixed on the wall. Next, switch your legs.
Combine balance poses with deep breaths – inhale for a count of four, hold for four, and exhale for four – to stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from your neck all the way down into your intestines. This nerve stimulates your rest-and digest parasympathetic nervous systems and turns off your fight or flight nervous system. It reduces the cortisol stress hormone, which in turn increases serotonin release to increase the sleep-inducing properties of melatonin.
Exercise when it is most convenient
Five times a day are best to move in order to keep your blood flowing. A short movement break – for example, taking a walk, doing 20 jumping jacks, stretching – doesn’t require the body to use up a significant amount of energy to signal the hormones that control alertness to ‘wake up’.
Everybody should start the day with Stretch, and finish it with Balance. Otherwise, your Shake, Bounce and Build schedule depends on your chronotype…
Lions
Wake up and stretch
Shake mid-morning
Build in the afternoon
As your energy falls off a cliff in the evening, you should Bounce to create a second wind
Before you go to bed, balance.
Bears
Wake up, Stretch!
Mix well in the middle of the morning
Bounce to reset in the afternoon
Build your muscles in the evening
Balance one hour before bed.
Wolves
Wake up, Stretch!
To clear brain fog, bounce mid-morning
Shake in the afternoon when you fall into the concentration zone and
Don’t forget to move.
Build later in the evening when you feel your most energetic Do Balance moments before bed to quiet your active mind.
Dolphins
Wake up, Stretch!
Bounce mid-morning to jolt the half of your brain that’s still sleeping awake
When your energy is at its peak, build in the afternoon
To calm nervous energy, shake in the evening
To prepare for bed, Balance will help you finish the day.
EATS FOR ENERGY

If you make only one change in your eating habits for huge energy gains… Don’t snack after your last meal of the day!
The key to eating for more energy is to eat in tune with the rhythm for your chronotype.
What you eat matters more than how much.
This is because a full stomach can cause high blood sugar levels and other problems. It also disrupts your sleep, which in turn has a detrimental effect on quality sleep.
To make sure you get your ‘last bite’ at the best time for you, subtract three or four hours from your bedtime…
Lions are at bedtime between 10 and 7 pm.
Bears bedtime is at 11pm. Your last bite should not be after 8pm.
Wolves are bedtime at 12.30am. You should eat your last bite no later than 8:30 pm. Your health is best if you stop eating as soon as possible.
Dolphins go to bed at midnight. Last bites should take place no later than 8:30pm.
All chronotypes are possible Boost their battery powerR
1. On a regular basis, eat two meals and one snack
Our metabolism is stuck in neutral when we eat – meaning we’re not burning fat. A reduction in the number of meals per day to just two, coupled with an occasional snack, has many positive health effects. It can help with inflammation and improve circadian rhythmicity, which means more sleep, better energy, and cellular repair and renewal (prevention and treatment).
2. Change your eating habits
Traditionally, we eat the biggest meal of the day at the end of the day, but it’s actually healthier and more energy-boosting to do the reverse. Recent research showed that people who had substantial breakfasts were more likely to have stable blood sugar levels in the afternoons and evenings than those who didn’t.
3.Choose high-quality food ‘fuel’
Fuel is what powers our bodies. Food is food. Just like how much petrol is used in cars, the quality of fuel will determine the performance of your system. Choose high quality ‘fuel’ – plants (think fruit, vegetables, nuts, wholegrains) and lean proteins to keep your engine clean. On the other side, sugary grains and cereals can block our engines and make our energy systems less efficient.
4.Stay pH neutral
You must have a balance of acidity and alkalinity in your body. Your body will be more inclined to crave sugary and acidic foods like coffee, tea, wine, beer, maple syrup and vinegar. Instead, opt for leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, avocados, coconut oil, lentils and beans – which help balance your body and reduce sugar cravings.
- This is an edited extract from Energize!: Go From Shattered to Smashing It in 30 Days by Dr Michael Breus and Stacey Griffith, which is published by Random House, priced £14.99 to order a copy for £13.49 until 16 January, go to mailshop.co.uk/booksCall 020 3176 297. Free UK delivery on orders over £20.