I DO THIS EVERY MORNING…
It doesn’t matter whether you have a morning workout planned for the day or not, you are going to want to do this effective morning routine every single day!
It only takes 2 minutes and 30 seconds…
But this daily morning routine will change your posture, improve the appearance of your abs and even works your grip strength!
These morning habits are so simple.
But they work!
There’s actually another hidden benefit to what I’m going to show you … It could completely change the workout you had scheduled for the day!
Just wait until you feel how well this daily routine works – even after just a few days.
This takes almost no time to do, so let’s start the day!
HYDRATION STATION
ELAPSED TIME: 30 SECONDS
After 6 to 8 hours of sleep you are pretty dehydrated, and it can be easy to forget how important it is to start your day off by rehydrating.
We often just get up and start our morning rituals without making a concerted effort to replenish the water that we have lost and not taken in while asleep.
Instead of reaching for that morning cup of coffee, I reach for a glass of water instead.
At least 20 to 24 ounces or a 1/2 liter of water!
Morning is the perfect time of day to start drinking water, to set yourself up to carry out this healthy habit all day long.
REHYDRATION
Make it part of your nightly routine to place a bottle of water on your nightstand or at the bathroom sink.
Room temperature water is easier to drink than cold water, so just guzzle it down!
This is one of the morning habits that can have a dramatic impact on the energy levels and productivity we have for the rest of the day, our ability to focus and the amount of strength we can output when we hit the gym for our workout.
BENEFITS OF MORNING REHYDRATION
- Replenishes water lost and not taken in during 6-8 hours of sleep
- Improves energy levels, productivity and focus
- Improves strength output during the day’s workout
HANG OUT ON (NOT AT) THE BAR
ELAPSED TIME: 2 MINUTES
The next two minutes of this perfect morning routine are going to help you with your posture, your abs and your grip strength.
They’ll also help you gauge whether you’ve been overtraining and if you may need additional recovery time or sleep.
Let me show you what I mean.
After I’ve chugged my quantity of water I walk towards my closet, but not to start picking out my clothes!
In fact, you don’t even need workout clothes for this exercise.
Before heading for a healthy breakfast, make a pit stop at the pullup bar that you’ve installed over the doorway.
This is one of my favorite daily habits – decompressing my spine for one minute by hanging from the bar.
This helps stretch out the spinal column and improve blood flow.
MINUTE 1: DECOMPRESSION HANG
To do this, grab the bar, hang from it and drop your pelvis with your toes lightly in contact with the ground. As the weight of the pelvis drops, you can actually feel those spinal segments decompress and you’ll also get a stretch through the hips.
We can also use this bar hang to address the lack of thoracic extension and the mid-back stiffness that we get by being in a slumped posture throughout much of the day. We have this problem even at night when our heads are propped up on a pillow.
To fix this you can try to reach your head through to get as much extension as possible in that area. Take a couple of deep breaths here and enjoy the stretch.
Before we move on, let’s talk about grip strength for a moment.
Obviously, gripping the bar for one minute is going to have the cumulative effect of working on our forearm and grip strength.
However, you can also use this as a tool to gauge your level of fatigue and necessity for recovery or additional sleep.
If when you’re doing the bar hang you find that your grip strength is not where it needs to be, and you start to lose strength during these two, one minute sessions, it’s probably an indicator that you’re in need of some added recovery.
This is your central nervous system telling you it’s time to dial it back a little bit on your training, at least for today.
From here, we’re immediately going to move into the second minute of the bar hangs exercise, but this time we’re going to turn it into an ab exercise.
MINUTE 2: HANGING ABS
For this last minute of your new daily morning routine, all you need to do is hang with your feet lifted off the ground, and then hollow out the lower abs and hold.
Instead of just hanging there, pull down and engage the shoulder blades to get some scapular stability.
BENEFITS OF THE MORNING BAR HANG
- First minute decompresses the spinal vertebrae
- Additional stretch through the hips as you drop the pelvis
- Pushing forward of the head gives a thoracic and mid-back stretch
- Improves forearm and grip strength
- Lack of grip strength is an indicator that additional recovery or sleep is needed
- Second minute improves abdominal strength
- Engaging the shoulder blades assists with scapular stability
As you can see we’ve accomplished a lot with this ideal morning routine in 2 minutes and 30 seconds! This is such a quick and effective routine with so many benefits that there’s no reason not to do it every day. Best of all, since it doesn’t take much effort, you don’t have to be a morning person to do this!
It’s an easy way to set yourself up for sticking to a consistent routine and feeling a huge sense of accomplishment.
Starting your morning by getting hydrated first thing will help with morning energy, productivity, focus and a clear mind for the rest of the day.
The cumulative effective of the two one-minute holds each day is going to help you improve posture, core strength, forearm strength and give you an indicator of where you might be in your training.
If you’re looking to get off on the right track with good long term daily habits and create positive changes in your body, check out our ATHLEAN-X programs. I literally lay it out step by step, so you don’t miss anything!
As you can see we’ve accomplished a lot with this ideal morning routine in 2 minutes and 30 seconds! This is such a quick and effective routine with so many benefits that there’s no reason not to do it every day. Best of all, since it doesn’t take much effort, you don’t have to be a morning person to do this!
It’s an easy way to set yourself up for sticking to a consistent routine and feeling a huge sense of accomplishment.
Starting your morning by getting hydrated first thing will help with morning energy, productivity, focus and a clear mind for the rest of the day.
The cumulative effective of the two one-minute holds each day is going to help you improve posture, core strength, forearm strength and give you an indicator of where you might be in your training.
If you’re looking to get off on the right track with good long term daily habits and create positive changes in your body, check out our ATHLEAN-X programs. I literally lay it out step by step, so you don’t miss anything!
Program Selector ==> See which program best fits your goals
AX1 ==> Train at Home With Dumbbells and Minimal Equipment
XERO ==> Train at Home With No Equipment
- After 6 to 8 hours of sleep we are pretty dehydrated, so it’s important to start off the day drinking 20-24 ounces of room temperature water before you even eat breakfast!
- Next for your healthy morning routine, I recommend doing two one-minute bar hangs every day regardless of whether you’re planning to work out or not. Each minute has a distinct purpose.
- The first minute of bar hang helps decompress the spine and stretches the hips, thoracic and mid-back areas.
- The second minute of bar hang is used to work the abs and scapular stability.
- Bar hangs are great for working forearm and grip strength.
- If your grip strength feels weak during these bar hangs, it is likely a signal that your system is fatigued and you could benefit from additional recovery and sleep.
- Instead of hitting that snooze button, add these daily routines to your morning schedule to prepare yourself to be productive all day, including in your workout!
Jeff Cavaliere M.S.P.T, CSCS
Jeff Cavaliere is a Physical Therapist, Strength Coach and creator of the ATHLEAN-X Training Programs and ATHLEAN-Rx Supplements. He has a Masters in Physical Therapy (MSPT) and has worked as Head Physical Therapist for the New York Mets, as well as training many elite professional athletes in Major League Baseball, NFL, MMA and professional wrestling. His programs produce “next level” achievements in muscle size, strength and performance for professional athletes and anyone looking to build a muscular athletic physique.
