This ‘lazy’ hack first thing in the morning can wake up your brain and body — and could boost your immunity

Forget snooze buttons and slow starts.

One woman swears that adopting a simple, no-cost habit first thing in the morning has “changed her life” — and it only takes a few seconds.

“I am a lazy person by nature, I always have been,” Kathryn Smith (@kathhrynsmithh), a surgical athletic trainer, admitted in a recent TikTok. “How I’ve gotten to the point I am right now has been [with] very, very, very baby steps.”

There’s one in particular that helps kickstart her day: “The first thing I do when I get out of bed, my feet touch the ground, I jump 50 times,” Smith said.

“[Your] coldest core temperature is two hours before you wake up, so you want to increase that temperature to increase the functions of our body,” she explained.

Turns out, launching into motion first thing in the morning can pack a powerful punch.

“Psychologically, it helps set the tone for a more focused, motivated and productive day, signaling to your body and brain that it’s time to wake up and get started,” Dr. Hazim Moustafa, primary care sports medicine physician at Catholic Health, told The Post. 

“Physiologically, it increases blood flow and oxygen delivery to your brain, which can help you feel more alert,” he added. “Exercise also raises body temperature, which can further increase circulation and help the body transition from a resting state.”

In addition to boosting blood flow and oxygen to the brain, Smith said her morning air-time helps jumpstart her lymphatic system.

This is essential for maintaining fluid balance in the body, flushing out waste, fighting infection and supporting a healthy immune response.

Unlike the heart, the lymphatic system has no pump of its own and depends on external movement to keep fluid flowing. The calf muscles, Smith said, play a crucial role in this process.

Jumping activates those calf muscles, she explained, causing them to contract after hours of lying horizontally in bed during sleep, which helps push lymph fluid upward and prevents stagnation.

Still, don’t expect 50 jumps a day to work miracles; Moustafa said that the boost to lymphatic flow from this move is “just a modest” one.

“The lymphatic system benefits more from consistent movement throughout the day,” he noted.

Smith also touts other perks of jumping, like better bone density, but Moustafa was quick to clarify the science.

“Jumping has been shown in research to increase bone density, but meaningful benefits are typically seen in repeated, structured high-impact jump programs over weeks, not from casual jumping,” he said.

Still, he supports the spirit of the habit.

“While it’s not a magic bullet, it’s a simple, effective step toward building a structured exercise habit,” Moustafa said.

And it’s one many Americans could use.

The CDC recommends that healthy US adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and two days of muscle-strengthening work per week — yet, in 2020, just just 24.2% of Americans 18 and older hit both marks, according to a report by the agency.

While bouncing out of bed won’t replace your full workout, it could be the nudge you need to get moving.

Bonus: Studies show that people who exercise in the morning are more likely to keep that momentum going throughout the day.

“It takes, what, less than a minute? Get up and jump,” Smith said. “If you have the ability to jump, you should be doing that every single day.”