Mastering The Morning Routine
What comes to mind when I say morning routine?
A 4am alarm? Saying your daily affirmations in the mirror?
Or does the idea of having any kind of routine in the morning feel like an impossibility.
For me… as a health & fitness coach…
A morning routine is an opportunity to set ourselves up for a healthier and more positive day.
It doesn’t have to be extravagant, long or unrealistic…
But I believe there a few basic principles that if we can capitalise on … can set ourselves up for a day where we are in control!
Reactive vs Proactive
Fundamentally, I believe there are 2 types of morning.
Proactive and Reactive.
Many of us have a tendency to start our day off in a reactive way.
This is where our morning dictates to us what we do or how we feel.
Sometimes we have no control over this… Life can force us to wake up in a reactive state.
(Kids, Pets and Emergencies happen)
But often we do have control…
The goal of every morning should be for us to be PROACTIVE…
Where we dictate how the morning goes, and what it consists of, in order to set us up for the type of day that WE want.
Here are a few ways you could consider to have a proactive morning!
The Night Before
I believe a good morning routine starts the night before.
We want to make sure that we are sleeping well.
If you’re trying to have a routine in the morning to make you feel good… But you’ve hardly slept, it becomes an uphill battle.
I’ve covered in detail the importance of sleep (episode 3) and how to improve your sleep (episode 18)
Because even with the most polished morning routine in the world. We can’t compensate for a lack of sleep.
Another important feature of the night before, is to do any necessary prep to help your morning go smoothly.
I think of one particular client I train who loves Overnight Oats.
She prepares her Oats the night before so that she can save time in the morning.
This just takes one more thing off her plate and allows her to have a proactive start to the day, with less of a rush trying to prepare breakfast.
Light Exposure
This is a personal game changer for myself.
I often feel really drowsy waking up in a morning. I am definitely a sucker for hitting the snooze button.
But, I’ve seen HUGE improvements by using a ‘daylight alarm clock’.
Light exposure first thing in the morning is important for waking ourselves up.
I’ve found that waking up to light is much less jarring than waking up to an alarm.
There are scientific benefits to this too…
When we expose ourselves to light, our body produces serotonin, which improves our mood and reduces fatigue.
Increasing Serotonin in the morning is a pre-curser to later production of melatonin in the evening… which is a hormone that helps to increase our desire to sleep.
So not only do we wake up feeling better, it’s easier to fall asleep at night.
I’d highly recommend considering a daylight alarm clock… or at least moving to a well lit room soon after waking up.
Hydrate —> Caffeinate
Another great thing to do first thing in the morning is to hydrate ourselves.
We tend to get dehydrated during sleep.
So drinking plenty of water within the first 30 mins of being awake helps to get us re-hydrated again.
This has numerous health benefits and is something I recommend everyone to start doing right away.
The temptation for a lot us is to exclusively drink coffee in the morning.
If you are going to drink caffeine… The morning is definitely the best time to do it.
… As drinking coffee into the afternoon / evening will likely affect our sleep, which will have a knock on effect to the next day as well.
And interestingly caffeine in the morning has some potential health benefits as well (ep 26)
My advice is to drink water first to get rehydrated and then move onto coffee.
Move / Exercise
Many people become overly-concerned about the “optimal time” of day to train.
And my response is always “the time of day that you’ll be most consistent”
Whether you train first thing in the morning or last thing at night… the most important thing is that you’re exercising!
That being said…
Making an effort to move in the morning … Even if it's light stretching, mobility or a short walk can be very beneficial.
It helps to get your blood pumping a bit, your joints mobilised after a night’s sleep and can help you feel more alert.
As I say… it doesn’t have to be much…
For example,
One of my clients has recently taken to stretching in the morning.
Every day when he makes a pot of coffee he does a small mobility routine.
This takes him roughly 2 mins, whilst his coffee brews.
Overtime this practice will pay dividends for his movement quality and continue to reduce his risk of injury.
The key is that he has made it a consistent part of his routine, by anchoring it to a habit that he already had!
Since implementing this habit a few months ago, he has hardly missed a day.
Another huge benefit to moving in the morning is what it does for your mental state… which nicely moves us into the next section.
Mindset
I don’t profess to be a mental health expert.
But I can assure you that proper sleep, hydration, light exposure and exercise will make massive improvements to your mood and your mental health.
The morning routine is also an opportunity to address our mindset for the day.
I think that this is going to be a totally individual thing…
But a few practices that personally have worked for me are:
Journaling
Avoiding social media
Listening to podcasts
I’ve been keeping a daily journal for the last 2 years and it serves 2 main purposes.
Firstly, to help me schedule and organise my day so I’m more productive.
And secondly to write down what I’m grateful for and what I can do that day to show appreciation for someone else.
Perhaps this isn’t really your thing.
But I believe having some form of scheduling and something to put you into a positive mindset is worth considering.
I also try to filter out any negative information, by waiting to look at social media until later in the day… and I fill the silence with a podcast which again, helps to put me in a good mindset
Really all of this boils down to control and exposure.
Try to set some barriers between you and things that could disturb your morning.
And try to focus on filling your morning with things that will compliment your day.
In summary
Morning routines will vary from person to person.
I don’t believe there is a perfect morning routine that exists.
But principally… there a few things we can do to set up a great day!
Get a good nights sleep
Expose yourself to light.
Hydrate then Caffeinate (if you’d like to)
Move.
Get into a frame of mind that will make your day better.
In essence, we want to have a PROACTIVE morning not a REACTIVE one.
I’d like to end on a quote I heard recently… That is,
“what you don’t change, you choose”
Many people dread getting up in the morning, because they feel tired, and stressed out at the idea of a long day ahead.
And although making a morning routine might sound a bit forced, or potentially a bit fluffy.
It’s an opportunity to physiologically and psychologically set ourselves up for a day where we feel good…
And this will make us fitter, healthier and ultimately happier too.
Yours in coaching,
Harry