{"id":39565,"date":"2025-08-01T14:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/39565\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T14:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:43:08","slug":"veteran-navy-seal-shares-longevity-morning-routine-salt-water-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/39565\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Navy SEAL Shares Longevity Morning Routine: Salt Water, Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not so long ago, Brian Valenza woke up at 4:30 a.m. every morning to tackle the day head-on, a habit he inherited from his years of service with the Navy SEALs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At 48, he’s sleeping in.<\/p>\n

Valenza, the CEO of a security firm and co-host of a network of longevity retreats said he still keeps a disciplined routine<\/a>, but he has changed up his lifestyle with a goal of extending his lifespan. Now, he prioritizes recovery, a healthy social life, and stress management more than ever.<\/p>\n

“As I get older, I realize the importance of sleep for me. Our kids stay up a little late, we want to spend time with them before they go to college, so we find ourselves sleeping in a little bit later,” he told Business Insider.<\/p>\n

For a veteran SEAL, sleeping in means waking up between 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., usually to swim for a few miles before starting his day.<\/p>\n

Exercise is a core part of his day. He trains every year for the Navy SEAL Foundation NYC SEAL Swim<\/a>, a test of endurance involving open-water swimming in the Hudson River with rounds of push-ups and pull-ups to honor veterans. To keep his heart in shape year-round, he logs hours of low-intensity cardio<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

Valenza shared his morning routine with Business Insider \u2014 stacked with healthy habits<\/a> like fasting, hydrating, and meditation to help him maintain peak performance and focus as he gets older.<\/p>\n

Morning routine: Fasting, exercise, and sunlight<\/p>\n

Morning is a crucial time to set the tone for a successful day, Valenza said.<\/p>\n

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His typical day includes:<\/p>\n

Wake up between 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. \u2014 depending on how late Valenza stayed up to spend time with his family, he aims to get a full night’s sleep<\/a> even if it means a later start to the day by SEAL standards.Journaling and meditation \u2014 Valenza starts each day with a gratitude practice, writing down or mentally reviewing what he’s grateful for, and often meditating<\/a>.Get some sun and time in nature \u2014 he swears by seeing sunlight early in the morning<\/a> to enhance energy and focus.Hydrate with water and a pinch of sea salt \u2014 drinking enough water<\/a> improves physical and mental performance, and salt helps to replenish electrolytes lost to sweat during exercise.Swim \u2014 Valenza swims several miles or about 45 minutes several days a week.\u00a0Swimming is a great exercise<\/a>\u00a0for cardiovascular health and is also a low-impact way to strengthen multiple muscle groups, such as the back, core, and legs.Start the workday around 8 a.m. \u2014 after a cup of coffee, Valenza said he’s ready to start work, but takes periodic breaks to stretch and move around to avoid sitting for too long<\/a>.Eat the first meal of the day around noon \u2014 Valenza practices intermittent fasting<\/a>, abstaining from food for 14-18 hours a day to give his digestive system a rest. Research suggests some types of fasting may have some benefits for longevity by reducing inflammation and supporting metabolic health.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, Valenza makes time for relaxation and social connection. Every day after dinner, he takes a long walk with his wife. Low-intensity cardio like walking is a great way to maintain health and fitness and reduce stress.<\/p>\n

These days, he said, lower-intensity exercise and time for recovery are more important than ever.<\/p>\n

“If you asked me 10 years ago, I was still trying to beat the 18-year-old,” he said. “As you get older, you really have to calculate the long game.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not so long ago, Brian Valenza woke up at 4:30 a.m. every morning to tackle the day head-on,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[28566,8623,49,48,3698,28565,408,407,28569,84,28572,8624,28568,28567,28571,13656,7479,28570,2552],"class_list":{"0":"post-39565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-brian-valenza","9":"tag-business-insider","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-ceo","13":"tag-day-head-on","14":"tag-exercise","15":"tag-fitness","16":"tag-habit","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-hudson-river","19":"tag-longevity","20":"tag-low-intensity-cardio","21":"tag-morning-routine","22":"tag-salt-water","23":"tag-stress-management","24":"tag-time","25":"tag-veteran-seal","26":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}