Hi all. Quick post today. After two weeks of sporadically following my morning routine because of travel and the subsequent need for rest after a vacation, I’m back on my routine. I took a little vacation for the Labor Day weekend. Nothing big just got to visit and hangout with family.
Then last week came back and just couldn’t get my sleep routine back on track. So I’d wake up really exhausted. I think it was the heat. It kept waking me up in the middle of the night so I didn’t get that high quality deep sleep to rest, recover, and replenish myself. That’s one thing about having a fitness tracker you can actually see that there are physiological reasons why we feel exhausted some mornings and completely revitalized other mornings.
I decided to get some magnesium supplements because I remember that it helped me in the past with alleviating soreness and also to sleep better. I took that last night with dinner and I did notice this morning that I had much more deep sleep according to my fitness tracker than I had last week. I’ll see if that continues.
Anyway, followed my routine this morning. Up at 5:15, hit the gym and now I’m back. Drinking a nice cup of (decaf) coffee and a slice of sourdough toast with pesto and a slice of lox. So delicious! Time to get ready for work.
In August I set out to create an early morning workout routine that I could make a permanent part of my everyday life. Over the 31 days of August I followed a daily routine and created a set of habits to ensure that waking up at 5am and getting in a good workout became integrated as part of my morning ritual. I worked out pretty much every single day that month. Even on my rest days (i.e. weekends), I stayed pretty active.
What were my results? And what can I share with others hoping to create their own workout routine, new healthy habits, or a daily ritual for self-improvement? I’m going to share all that with you. But let me start at the beginning.
Like many people, I gained a lot of weight during the COVID lockdown. Not just because of the lockdown, but also because I had gotten several repetitive stress injuries. I had tendonitis (or carpal tunnel syndrome, not sure which) in my wrist from typing, severe hip and ankle tightness-pain from sitting for extended periods of time, and rotator cuff pain in my shoulder. All those injuries kept me from working out. The pain was so bad, I couldn’t even do push ups or a slow jog. My only exercise was walking my dog.
At the beginning of July, I decided that enough was enough. I was tired of being out of shape. I was tired of being tired all the time. I wanted my clothes to fit again. I came up with two goals for myself: 1) I wanted to get in good shape, 2) I wanted to be healthy.
But, I had to start by rehabbing all my injuries using exercises that I’d learned before from physical therapy or that I noticed made the pain go away through trial and error. I made rehab the fourth thing I did after waking up, drinking a glass of water, and using the restroom. I did that religiously, every day. After a few weeks all my pains were gone. I was able to do a few push ups and jog slowly without pain.
In the meantime, I wrote down several lagging or lag measures, which would signal that I’m in good shape and healthy. First, I wanted to drop to 170 lbs. Second, I wanted to be able to run a mile in under 7 minutes. Third, I wanted to be able to keep that pace up for about 15 miles. Fourth, I wanted to get my six pack abs back. Fifth, I wanted to be able to do 60 push ups non-stop.
I didn’t jump right in to try to accomplish my lag measures. Lagging measures are hard to focus on because they are long-term outcomes. Instead, I identified and focused on my lead measures. Lead measures are short-term activities that lead to the outcome we want. In other words, daily repetition of lead behaviors/activities predict success for achieving our lag measures and ultimately our goals.
As July came to an end I formulated my plan. I wrote out the small things that I would have to repeat on a daily basis over and over again in order to accomplish my goals (i.e., going to the gym, lift weights, run, sit-ups, core-abs, rehab, and stretching). These are my lead measures, because if I did them repeatedly their compound effect would lead to the outcome that I wanted.
If I was going to get serious about working out early in the morning, I would have to be up really early to be able to get to work by 8am. My goal was get up at 4:30 or 5am so that I could get to the gym by 5 or 530am. So the first thing I had to do was figure out a way to wake up that early and not just go back to sleep.
I knew that drinking water, washing my face, putting on workout clothes, and drinking coffee were all effective ways of boosting my energy that early in the morning. If I did those 4 things, the probability that I would go to the gym was really high. I also told myself that If I did those things and still wanted to go back to sleep then I could. For whatever reason, knowing that and saying that to myself helped me get up, especially on the really tough days. But most important of all, I found that I need at least 7 hours of sleep per night to function optimally. So I made going to sleep early the night before a top priority.
That became my routine.
Once I got to the gym I would alternate between doing cardio (elliptical machine, stationary bike, and treadmill) and strength training (i.e., weight lifting, resistance bands), and core work (sit ups and planks). Usually an hour of cardio and an hour of weight lifting. It didn’t start out that much, but slowly and surely over time it kept increasing. I did that 5 days per week, and rested on Sat. and Sunday.
So what were my results…
Well, I hit almost all of my lead behaviors. I did cardio, strength and resistance band training, sit ups, and planks pretty much every day. I was very consistent about the habits I had stacked together to help me wake up early and it worked for me. It wasn’t easy. A lot of days it was tough. But by the second half of the month my morning routine was pretty much a morning ritual that I run through even on the days that I don’t go to the gym.
As you can see from my before and after picture, I also had good results physically. I dropped from 220 lbs at the start of the month to 201 lbs, on Aug 31. I was able to run a mile in under 10 minutes. But, I can only keep that pace up for about half an hour. I still don’t have washboard abs, but I don’t have a keg anymore either.
So even though I’m not close to my running goal and still got a long way to go to reach my lag measures, I’m proud of all that I was able to accomplish in 31 days. Plus, I have a new morning ritual that has become easy to do. As long as I keep it up I should be able to reach my goals by the end of the year!
DONE!! One month of creating a new morning routine. Thirty-one days of repeating a set of habits over and over again that allowed me to consistently get up early to workout and start my day right!
Over the next few days I’ll share more about my results. I’ll also share what I learned, and some thoughts on what may be helpful to others. But today I’m going to finish off this set of posts by running through my routine (and specifically what I did today).
So I have to be honest, I got a little bit of a late start today. Yesterday, we had a huge win for one of our clients! Afterwards I went with a few colleagues to celebrate. It was low key but it definitely kept me up past my bedtime. I was really tired when my alarm went off and I gave in to that little voice of weakness and hit the snooze button. Twice. Ugh! Tough to admit but yeah that’s the truth.
Finally, got up at 5:30am. Ran through my routine. Turned off the alarm. Wanted to snooze it again, but thankfully found the strength and determination to power through. Sat up. Turned on the lights. Put on my slides. Walked to the kitchen Opened the fridge and pulled out cold water. Poured it into a 16 oz glass. Poured a teaspoon of apple-cider vinegar into it. Checked the electric kettle. It was full. Turned it on. Grabbed a coffee filter. Put it into the pour over cone (sieve). Here’s a picture of what I’m talking about…
Put a tablespoon of decaf coffee and a tablespoon of regular coffee. This morning I needed a little bit of caffeine. I’ve been pretty good at not needing it all month.
Drank my cold water. Walked to the restroom. Washed my face. Gently splashed water into my eyes. Dried my face. Walked back to the kitchen. The water had finished boiling. I poured the hot water over the coffee and just waited to breathe in the rich aroma of the coffee. Mmmmm, so delicious!
Went back to my room to put on workout clothes. Did a set of sit ups. Came back for my coffee. Today it just tasted a little bit more delicious. Or maybe I just appreciated it a little bit more.
Grabbed my keys, phone, and ID. Headed out the door. Usually when I walk into the gym it’s still pitch dark out. But today I got to the gym at about 5:57. Unlike most of the previous days this month, the sun almost caught me. I’ll take it though, because my reward for these 31 days was that I got to see the beginnings of a beautiful sunrise…
Easy workout today. Elastic band rehab to start. Shoulder rehab next. Then jumped onto the elliptical for 30 minutes. Then hit weights. Chest and shoulders. In between each exercise I did 1 or 2 sets of sit ups. I’ll be back in the gym for lunch to put in a more serious weight session.
Walked back home. Drank another big glass of water to make sure I don’t get dehydrated. Shaved. Showered. Got dressed for work. Now writing this and it’s time to go.
Have a great day or night depending on when you read this!! 🙂
I hope you’ve enjoyed the series. Either way, please let me know what you’ve thought about my Early Morning Workout Routine series in the comments section below.
Back on it! 5am wake up. Feeling a little tired and sluggish. But I think to myself, “Just run through my routine and everything else will take care of itself.” That helps me get moving. Then it’s the actual process of running through my steps that wakes me up.
So what are the steps? Easy. Here you go…
Alarm goes off and I silence it. Turn on the lights. Sit up and put my feet into my slippers (I find that helps trigger my brain to wake up. I think it’s because I can’t get back in bed without taking them off, plus it’s a life-long cue that the day has started).
Walk to the kitchen. Turn on the lights. Pour a cold glass of water, about 16 oz. Add at least a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to it. Check the electric kettle for water. Fill it and/or turn it on. Grab a coffee filter. Put it in the pour-over thing. Grab the coffee, almost always decaf (except on those days I absolutely need the caffeine). I usually use two tablespoons because I like the strong bitter taste. A sprinkle of cinnamon.
Drink my water.
Walk to and use the restroom. Wash my hands. Then wash my face. I make sure to gently splash nice cold water into my eyes. I find that refreshing. Dry my face. If I’m still tired, I wash and dry my face again. Usually that’s enough to wake me up even on the toughest days. I’ve only had one day when I’ve needed a third face wash, lol.
Walk back to the kitchen. Hot water has boiled by then. I pour the hot water over the coffee. Fill it all the way to the top so that I get a nice full cup of fresh coffee. The smell alone triggers me to wake up a little more. But it’s way too hot to drink right away.
So I walk back to my room and get dressed. (Side note: Always, always have your workout clothes out. Make it so that’s the easiest thing to put on.) Once I have my workout clothes on it’s game over for sleepiness. (Side note: Yesterday, was the only day I missed since I started this routine. That was the one difference. I put on jeans and a t-shirt instead of workout clothes, so I couldn’t go straight to the gym.)
Here’s where my routine gets hard for me and I’ve struggled. I’m supposed to do at least one set of sit ups right after putting on my workout clothes. More times than not I’ve missed on this step. But I’m still trying. I won’t give up on it. By the time I’m done with my sit ups my coffee has cooled just enough to drink. Lately, I haven’t even been drinking the coffee. I just head out to the gym and I drink it when I get back.
Once I drink my coffee or decide I can do without it, I grab my keys, phone, and ID. Walk out the door and head to the gym.
That’s pretty much it. I’ve done some version of this over and over again now for a few months (since June). But I’ve been doing it as an early morning (4 am or 5 am) and writing about it 22 days straight. I find that writing it out explicitly reinforces it and systematizes it. It helps make the process closer to automatic.
The only exception is that I always take Sat & Sun as my rest days. I think that’s important for recovery. That doesn’t mean that I don’t work out those days. I just try to switch things up or at least be more flexible with myself. If I’m tired, I sleep in. If I want to lay around until noon, no problem.
That way when Monday comes back around I want to get back on my routine. And I’m consistent from Monday through Friday. By Friday, my body is tired and it’s asking for a recovery. Finishing that last Friday workout feels GOOD!
So that’s my early morning wake up routine.
Once I’m at the gym I alternate and combine cardio exercise (Treadmill, elliptical, bike) with strength and resistance training (free weights, body weight, resistance bands). Yoga (trying to do more of this) and walking or hiking on weekends.
Today I ran 30 minutes on treadmill, 20 minutes on the elliptical, and rode 10 minutes on the bike. That’s all. I barely got through it. It was a tough session.
Think I might have been a bit dehydrated. That’s another thing I’ve learned staying hydrated gives you more energy. Being dehydrated zaps your energy like nothing else and makes you lethargic.
Gonna drink a big glass of water and get ready for work. Shave. Shower. Get dressed and head back out the door. Ready to fight for justice. I love working in Public Defense!
So today was the first day since I started my new routine that I actually didn’t follow through on my early morning workout. I was just too tired. I didn’t go to sleep until past 11pm yesterday.
But I still woke up at 4am and went through my morning routine. Except… I had to move my car. I ended up finding parking about a mile away. So at least I got a good mile walk. But I knew I needed at least 2 more hours of sleep to be functional at work.
So that’s what I did. I came back and fell asleep for a couple more hours. Then got ready and went to work.
But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t work out. I just made it up at lunch. Cardio day today. Ten minutes on the bike. Started a nice sweat. Twenty minutes on the elliptical. Then 30 minutes on the treadmill. About 4.5 mph the whole time. Got it done.
Another great rest day! No running or weight lifting. Up late, 8am. Ran through the first part of my routine as usual. Drank water. Made coffee. Used the restroom, washed my face. Got dressed. Except instead of hitting the gym, I worked on a personal project. Then around 11:30 headed over to pick up my friend and her son for breakfast. What do we eat when we hang out? Salvadoran food of course (she’s Salvadoran too)! YUMMY!!! If you’ve never had Salvadoran food YOU ARE MISSING OUT!!! TRY IT NOW!!! Here are just a few to choose from…
Sopa de res (beef soup), pupusas (corn tortillas stuffed with cheese, meat and/or beans), bistek (steak), huevos con frijoles, platanos, y crema (eggs w fried plantains, beans, and sourcream), mojarra frita (fried fish).
The picture below is the dish we ordered. It’s a Salvadoran sampler platter. It has a little bit of everything. It’s like an All-Star lineup of many of the top favorite dishes Salvadoran cuisine has to offer all-in-one. It takes a while for the food to get to us because they are packed for brunch. But when it does… Life is good!
After eating, we all agree that we need to get moving or we’ll go into a food coma. We decide to go paddle boarding. I’ve never done it before. My friend and her son are vets. They’ve done it a bunch. She’s been telling me about it for years. I’m excited to try. But I can’t lie. I was afraid. Especially because we were going to do it on the ocean, not at a lake. And there were a bunch of boats around leaving trails of waves in their wake.
But I’m not the type to let fear stop me from doing something adventurous like this. I actually love what it feels like to conquer my fear. It’s feels like the adrenaline rush of winning a competition.
When we started out in the shallows, I quickly lost my balance. I realized it was going to be even harder than I thought. So I decided to start off by paddling out on my knees. I would then stand up once I felt more confident.
In the meantime, my friend and her son were off! They seemed like pros with a well-practiced routine. He sat in the front and she stood in the back and paddled. Soon they were way out on the water. Cruising past the pillars of an enormous bridge overhead.
I tried to keep up. Once I got my balance I started getting more confidence. I realized I could make the paddle board go really fast once I figured out the rowing. Soon I caught up to them.
Then I started getting the urge to stand up. It grew as I got further out and felt that I could control the paddle board better. My courage started growing too. Finally, I thought to myself… go for it! So I did. At first cautiously. I tried standing with my left foot first, but that didn’t go so well. So I stopped. I tried my right foot and I was able to stay steady. “Okay, we’re onto something” I thought. “I can do this. Go for it.” I say to myself. So I did. Next thing you know I was standing up!! 🙂
Cool. Over the next few minutes, I literally get my sea legs under me. Engage my core and thighs to steady myself. Now I start maneuvering and going faster. I’m keeping up with my friend and her son. Yes! I’m starting to feel good. Like I have this thing under full control. Can you guess what happened next?
Laughing at myself after falling into the water 😀
Yeah. I fell in.
But it’s all good. I’m a decent swimmer and was able to get back on the paddle board without losing hold of my paddle. I got back on. Stood back up and kept at it. It was easier this time.
Fell again a few minutes later. Got back up and it was even easier. Finally, we made it to the beach on the other side of the island, which was our destination.
We decided to switch things up. My friend wanted to let her son stand up and paddle. So she decided to try to come on my board. She sat in the front and I tried to stand on the back. What ensued was comedy! 😀 Good thing we were still in the shallows because we could not keep the thing balanced and we had to jump off.
In the meantime her son was off and heading back. Far ahead of us. So I decided to kneel as she sat in front and paddle that way. We caught our rhythm and started cruising. We quickly caught up to her son and she jumped back on his board because we realized we had to return the boards in half hour.
We raced back. Not literally. We just had to hurry. The cool thing was I did the whole rest of the return trip standing up and without falling in a single time! That’s improvement. I’ll take it.
I can’t wait to try this again! It’s a good workout. A great, healthy way to spend a lazy weekend, while still staying active and continuing the process of getting healthier.
Okay, time to go to sleep. Back to my early morning routine tomorrow. Starting week four! Day 22 coming up. See you bright and early.
Rest day. A break from the usual routine. Up at 6:30am. Went for a long hike at a mountain lake with a friend and her son. 4000+ foot elevation. I’d estimate it to be about a 3 to 4 mile hike. Sunny and hot. Picnic afterwards. Picked a few delicious apples growing by the edge of the lake. Sweet.
Great way to get some active recovery and a few extra hours of sleep. 🙂
Today I woke up at 4:00am. I wasn’t sleepy or tired. But I wasn’t high energy either. I end up laying in bed and looking at apps on my phone for about 30 minutes. Ugh! Definitely not part of my routine. But this happens every once in a while. Just got to keep it to a minimum. Finally, realize that I’m just mindlessly scrolling through random info that doesn’t help me, and I check myself. Force myself to get out of bed and be purposeful.
Run through my daily routine. Poured cold water into a glass and added a teaspoon of vinegar. I do this to make sure that I’m not dehydrated and because I found that it gives me a boost of energy.
Then I checked the electric kettle to make sure it had water. It did. So I turned it on. Next I pour a teaspoon of decaf coffee and one of regular coffee into my cup. Probably should’ve stuck with the decaf because I don’t want to start relying on caffeine to jumpstart my energy for the day again. I find that caffeine is really addictive. Not sure if you feel the same way. But I love coffee, regular coffee and I don’t want to end up drinking too much of it daily or becoming dependent on it. That’s why I do the decaf.
Go to the bathroom, wash my face. Dry my face. Come back to the kitchen and drink my glass of water. Pour the hot water over the coffee and go get dressed. I put on my gym clothes and drink a little bit of my coffee. And head out the door. Again when I run late, I don’t do my sit ups, argh! Even though I know I’ll do them in the gym, it bothers me to skip them. Especially because I know this is the weak link in my routine.
Weights first. My legs are sore from yesterday’s squats and lunges. Today I focus on arms and lats, with sets of sit ups in between sets. Not too hard because I’m lifting again at noon. Cardio next. 10 hard minutes on the bike. Got a decent sweat going. Then 30 minutes on the elliptical. Now I’m really sweating. Finish up with 12 minutes on the treadmill, at incline. I run at about 4.5 to 6.1 mph. By the time I get off the machine, I’m drenched. Good workout.
Weigh myself. Today is the first day that I’m under 205 lbs, yes! I weighed 204. One pound less than yesterday, lol. Got to keep pushing. I know that today it’s probably just water weight. But over time my real weight keeps dropping. I know I’ve been keeping a weekly log (I’ll post that in a later blog). Even better my clothes tell me. My shirts are fitting a lot looser and my belt is down a notch, pushing a second one.
See it’s a simple and easy process. It’s just hard to do.
I’m glad I made the decision to do take on this challenge. Hopefully, this will inspire others seeking to get healthier, build daily exercise habits, strong morning routines, change body composition, or lose weight.
Quick post today. Have to get to work soon. Got up at 4am. Meditated for 15 minutes. Ran through my routine. Water. Coffee. Restroom. Wash face. Put on workout clothes. Drink coffee. But needed to work on a pending project. Did that for about 45 minutes. Out the door. Still dark outside.
Hit the gym at about 5:15am. Band work for rehab. Sit ups. Weights. Then cardio. 30 minutes on the treadmill at about 4.5 to 5mph. I was drenched. Then 10 minutes on the elliptical. Completely soaked in sweat now. Change tank top for T-shirt. Stretch. Walk back. Shave. Shower. Get dressed. Wrote this up. Now I’m out the door.
Sorry this was a short post. In a hurry but didn’t want to end my streak. I’m on a roll!
4:45am start today. Earlier than usual. But not as early as I had planned. I set my alarm for 4:15am. But for the first time since I started my routine, I consciously hit the snooze button. 2x. So not happy with myself for that. Still I know why and I know how to overcome that. I went to sleep too late. Tonight I will go to sleep on time and tomorrow no excuses I’ll be up at 4am.
The good thing is that at 4:45am I ran through my routine. Cold water with vinegar. Boil water in the electric kettle. Pour coffee (decaf) in the filter. Drink my water. Go to the restroom. Wash my face. Get dressed. And grab my stuff to head out the door. I didn’t even pour the hot water over the coffee. I just left it there and took off.
Got to the gym by 5:02am. My earliest start so far! Today was supposed to be a lifting day. It kinda was. I ran through shoulder rehab. Then ran through about 40 minutes of sets for my chest, shoulders, lats, and legs. With sets of sit ups and side bends in between to rest.
Finished off with cardio. 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. It was still pretty dark outside as I looked out the window (the elliptical machine and treadmills face out the window). Then a mile on the treadmill. Easy pace about 4.5mph to about 5mph. Got a light sweat. Definitely not drenched like yesterday. Took me about 12 minutes to finish the mile. And done. Not too worried that it was a light workout, because I’m planning to workout again at lunch.
Decided to jog back home. Not really decided. Just started jogging and kept doing it. That got me sweating a little bit more. Sit ups. Shave. Shower. Get dressed.
Now it’s time to drink my coffee and finish writing my daily blog post. 🙂
Hector Perla.com 