No, 5 A.M. May Not Be the Best Time to Wake Up—Here’s Why

We know the saying, “early bird gets the worm,” but an early wake-up call might not be in everyone’s best interest.

Reviewed by Dietitian Kelly Plowe, M.S., RD

Key Points

• Your ideal wake-up time should be consistent, feel natural, and allow you to get adequate sleep.
• Inadequate sleep puts you at risk for metabolic syndrome, heart disease and accelerated aging.
• For an easier wake-up, get regular movement, start your day with light and limit screens at night.

If your social feed has you convinced that successful, healthy people wake up at 5 a.m., you’re not alone. Early rising is often touted as a shortcut to productivity and longevity. But when it comes to your health, the best wake-up time isn’t universal; it’s personal.

What matters far more than the hour on the clock is whether your schedule aligns with your biology and lifestyle and allows you to consistently get enough rest. Sleep experts and physicians share the best time to wake up, why sleep is so important for health and how to make your morning wake-up easier.

The Best Time to Rise and Shine

Your internal clock—known as your circadian rhythm—regulates when you naturally feel alert or sleepy. While social media may make it seem like there’s a best time to wake up by glorifying what you do from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. before your 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., there is no universal wake-up time. Instead, some people are wired to feel sharp at sunrise, while others come into their stride later in the day.

“Some people are naturally ‘morning larks,’ while others are ‘night owls,’ and that tendency is biologically wired to a degree,” says Dr. Lamees Hamdan, MDlongevity expert and integrative medicine doctor.

That biological preference plays a major role in determining your sleep routine. But lifestyle matters too. “You may have a genetic predisposition toward a later wake-up time, but consistent early meetings, late-night scrolling or irregular sleep patterns can override or confuse those signals,” adds Hamdan.

According to Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhDa nutrition scientist and sleep expert, the ideal wake-up time is one that feels natural to your body, allows you to achieve adequate sleep duration and fits within the constraints of your personal and social obligations. In other words, when you wake up should support—not sabotage—your ability to get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

Consistency may matter just as much as sleep duration. Research suggests that day-to-day variability in sleep timing is associated with cardiometabolic risk. “Rather than chasing an arbitrary hour, focus on consistency,” says Dr. Allie Buttarazzi, MD, double board-certified physician in lifestyle and internal medicine. “A consistent anchor point for your morning is far more powerful for your health than waking up at 5:00 am,” Buttarazzi adds.

Risks of Not Getting Enough Sleep

Sufficient sleep is paramount to supporting your health. “The body’s ability to clear oxidative stress build-up during the day is lower if you have not had adequate sleep,” explains St-Onge. This can increase the risk of multiple chronic diseases, she adds.

• Heart disease: Not getting enough sleep amplifies risk factors for heart disease, such as hypertension, and metabolic syndrome.,
• Neurodegenerative diseases: Some research suggests that not getting enough sleep may be a risk factor for dementia. Other research shows that insufficient sleep promotes a build-up of amyloid peptides and tau proteins, and increases oxidative stress, which accelerates neurodegeneration and increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
• Metabolic syndrome: Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of metabolic dysfunction, explains Dr. Simran Malhotra, MD, DipABLM, CHWC. Not sleeping enough promotes inflammation, stress and hormonal dysregulation, which can lead to insulin resistance and a greater risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity and other cardiometabolic health conditions. Even just shifting your sleep schedule by an hour can increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome.
• Appetite changes: Leptin and ghrelin regulate appetite by signaling fullness and hunger, respectively. Sleep deprivation disrupts the normal secretion of leptin and ghrelin, causing appetite dysregulation, explains Hamdan. When you’re sleep-deprived, you experience great food cravings and are more likely to eat more and consume more highly palatable foods. Short sleep duration also changes how your body metabolizes carbohydrates, reducing insulin sensitivity, which impacts blood sugar levels and may further alter food intake and cravings.,
• Changes to mental health: Not getting enough sleep is a significant risk factor for anxiety, emotional dysregulation and depressive symptoms, with these changes worsening as sleep loss accumulates. Sleep deprivation weakens communication between your logical brain and your emotional center, causing poor focus and irritability, adds Buttarazzi. Even modest sleep loss of just one to two hours less than your typical amount can reduce positive emotions and increase anxiety symptoms.
• Accelerated cellular aging: “Poor sleep accelerates telomere shortening and oxidative stress,” explains Hamdan. Telomeres are caps at the ends of chromosomes that protect DNA from damage, and are considered biomarkers of cellular aging. Not getting enough sleep causes inflammation, which increases cell damage that can affect telomeres.,

Tips for an Easier Wake-Up Routine

Genetics play a role in whether you’re a night owl or a morning lark, but they’re not everything. While you can’t change your DNA, you can use environmental cues to nudge your internal clock to support an easier wake-up routine, says Buttarazzi.

• Start with light. Getting bright light within the first hour of waking is the most effective way to signal to your brain that the day has begun, explains Buttarazzi. In the darker months or with poor weather, getting natural light may not be possible. A 10,000 lux light box or sunrise alarm clock can be a great alternative to help mimic dawn and make waking up easier, comments Buttarazzi.,,
• Incorporate movement. “While any movement during the day is great, avoid high-intensity workouts right before bed, as they can hinder your ability to fall asleep,” says Buttarazzi. Still, morning exercise may provide additional sleep benefits by reducing morning cortisol, advancing melatonin onset and improving sleep quality.
• Create a “morning warmup.” Buttarazzi recommends taking a warm shower or doing some light stretching to warm your body temperature and signal that it’s time to be active. This can make the transition out of bed much smoother, she adds.
• Reduce evening light exposure. Exposure to screens or bright lights at night delays melatonin release, making it more challenging to fall asleep. Limit screen use before bedtime, and consider using dim or warm light in the evening to preserve circadian rhythm and improve morning alertness, recommends Hamdan.,
• Sleep enough. “It’s easier to wake up feeling refreshed when you’ve had enough sleep the night before,” says St. Onge. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. St-Onge recommends counting backward from the time you need to wake up, using the amount of sleep you need to feel your best.
• Consider a dawn alarm. Instead of waking to the jarring sound of your alarm clock, consider a dawn-simulation alarm. “Artificial dawn light devices gradually increase light before wake time, mimicking natural sunrise and enhancing alertness at waking without startling alarms,” explains Hamdan.

Our Expert Take

There’s nothing magical about a 5 a.m. wake-up, and waking up early doesn’t automatically make you healthier. A consistent sleep schedule that allows for rest has a greater impact on your health than what you do before your 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Physicians and sleep experts agree that your sleep schedule should remain consistent across weekdays and weekends, and that you should strive for seven to nine hours of sleep nightly.

If waking up feels like a constant struggle, make sure you’re getting enough sleep and consider starting your day with some light exposure or gentle movement. At the end of the day, getting enough sleep matters for supporting heart health, metabolic function, mood and long-term well-being.