Why you need a proper morning fitness routine – Scott Laidler

Working in the fitness industry has taught me that an individual’s habits over time will more often than not be the determining factor in their success. Not only that, habits leave clues.

Perhaps this is most profound in my world, where merely glancing at a person gives you a feel for what their exercise and eating regimes look like, but our habits and routines say a lot about us all.

After reading Mason Currey’s book Daily Rituals I realised that many of the world’s most successful people had very deliberate morning routines that set them up perfectly for the challenges of the day ahead. Show me your morning routine and I’ll show you your future!

I’ve set about sharing what I believe is the perfect morning routine. I realise that there all types of work, relationship and parenting set-ups that could make the logistics of this regime difficult to follow, but let's establish it as a framework and go from there.

Tip: The truly great morning regime starts the night before. There are some tasks you simply need to get done the previous evening to set yourself up with the greatest chance of success the following morning. For many of us, if we watched our first ten minutes or so upon rising we could be fooled into believing we were watching a clip from the Night of the Living Dead, so let's stack the chips in our favour. Here’s how:

Gym kit : Whether you train at home or at a gym, pack your bag the night before, this makes things much smoother in the morning and overrides the need for “I was running late" type excuses for not training.

Meal prep: Whenever possible, bulk buy (saving time and money) and batch cook your meals, have them ready in a portable cooler bag ready to go in the morning.

To-do list: Each night, take ten minutes to set out what you need to get done the next day, identify your primary objective, the task that must get done above all others, and you will be far more likely to achieve it. Remember that if you do not have a plan of action, other people will give you one, and theirs will seldom lead to you achieving the greatest expression of yourself.

Training

As a general rule of health and fitness, I recommend that 20 minutes of exercise first thing in the morning in a fasted state. Firstly, because this helps you shift body fat, raises energy levels and gets your body and mind ready for the day ahead. Scheduling your exercise in the morning also helps guarantee that you actually get the work done, too much gets in the way between morning and the end of the day, causing evening workouts to suffer.

There are several morning training options, I recommend that you cycle between the following:

Brisk walk: The easiest way to get active in the morning is to go for a 20 minute brisk walk around your local area. You’ll want to keep your heart rate at 105-120 BPM; this helps you burn the most amount of fat (proportionately) without a significant strain on your system. Not only that, a simple walk like this will add years to your life, reducing your risk factor on almost all of our modern health concerns. Honestly, if you follow no other fitness advice in your life, please follow this.

A regular walk could add years to your life

Escalating density training: If you want to go hardcore, you can get this workout in the bag in as little as 10 minutes, all you need to do is pair two opposing resistance training exercises (eg barbell squat vs bench press), set a rep range (let’s say 10), and set a 10-minute timer. Then just do as many reps as you possibly can as the timer counts down. This is an extremely challenging workout, not for the feint of heart, but you can use it to strip body fat, massively increase your fitness and build muscle.

Continuous circuit: If you don’t have equipment at home, a 10-minute continuous body weight circuit is another great option for getting your training in the bag in the morning. The protocol is to set a timer and move from exercise to exercise, spending one minute on each for 60 seconds with no break.

Try this circuit: Bodyweight squats vs plank vs jumping jacks vs Superman (L&R) vs press-up vs reverse lunge vs tricep dips vs shadow boxing vs burpee

Nutrition

The quality of your breakfast is going to effect the quality of your day, in terms of how good you feel and your levels of concentration and performance as a whole. To address what time to eat breakfast, I’m a big advocate of 16/8 intermittent fasting, so let's go back to the ancient Greek definition of ‘breaking the fast’, meaning the introduction of food for the first time in the day, whatever that may mean for you.

What To eat: A quality breakfast will include a high quality source of protein, i.e eggs, salmon, nuts (avoid poor quality red meats). Combined with a quality low GI carbohydrate such as oats, quinoa, pearl barley (avoid cereals) + some healthy sources of fats, for example avocado, seeds and again nuts. Avoiding drinking low-quality juices, however a cold pressed juice combo (such as spinach, carrot, apple, ginger, lemon juice and celery) will make a welcome addition to your breakfast and bring forth a whole host of health benefits.

The mind

The most neglected part of the morning routine is the element related to the mind. Taking just a few minutes to focus on your mind can massively help alleviate stress, prevent overwhelm and offer the kind of clarity with which to negotiate your day.

Read your goals: Somewhere in your home or on your devices you should have a list of your top goals in life. Re-read these a few times every day to keep them fresh in your mind and to remind yourself what you are working toward.

Mindfulness: Whether you have an established meditative process or not, taking ten minutes per day in the morning to reflect, quiet your mind and express gratitude will give you a great sense of calm and, just like a brisk walk, could add years to your life.

Applying these simple guidelines to your morning routine can massively enhance your health, productivity, home life and success. I recommend you try to implement these tips on a one month trial and see how much of an effect it has on your life. And it should take you no more than 60 minutes each day.