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The First and Last 30
How you start and finish your days can have a big impact
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How you start and finish your days can have a big impact on how the proceeding day will go. Something that has paid dividends of late is having a 30 min pre and post sleep routine. I have been ‘practicing’ my routine for nearly 9 months now after over 2 years of trial and error to get it right.
The reason I am a fan of routine is your body and mind enter a state of comfort once you are in them which I think is of particular importance especially before sleep and getting a good start on a productive day. I developed my routine because for the past 2 years, not one week went by that I consistently slept in the same bed (work & study commitments, not the reason you’re thinking of… keep it clean please). I worked out that it largely didn’t matter on the environment I was in or woke up to it was how I felt going to sleep. And, as most people probably know… going to sleep in a comfortable mindset means waking up fresher and more productive.
You need to figure yours out for yourself but I think a good pre sleep routine should involve 4 things.
Limiting blue light, TV, computer phone screen etc… I stop watching any TV or looking at my phone/computer 30 min before I want to sleep, sometimes a full hour.
Emptying the mind. I write down what my following day involves and order it either by time or importance of tasks. This gives my brain one last chance to remember something I have forgotten and ‘switch itself off’ for the night. This also comes back into play for the morning.
Stretching. Personally I use ROM WOD as it varies which stretches you do for each day and has some good calming breath work which I like. Again, you may have a stretch routine you really like to do, just make sure it’s a relaxing one and doesn’t create heat in the muscles.
Reading. Usually the last thing I do before I sleep. I’ve worked out thanks to forgetting my book a fair few times it doesn’t matter what I read I just need to read something. Only thing that hasn’t worked is the room service menu… I now check if I have remembered a book or not and pick something up prior to my 30 min routine window.
Boom, 4 things I need to do and no matter the time or location i’m asleep. I always pack my bag or have things ready the night before which helps with emptying the mind too but I have that done long before bed time. Oh and clean your teeth!
As said earlier, going to sleep with a good mindset means waking up with a good mindset. People who get up on the wrong side of the bed normally get in on the wrong side of the bed. There are still a few things you can do in the first 30 min of a morning though to help set you up for the day.
Mine is ordered pretty much the same everyday but again you need to figure it out for yourself.
Always have an alarm to wake up to. Never, no matter how tempting, hit snooze. Unless you’re willing to have a ‘lazy morning’.
Sit up asap, get up and move. This stops you being tempted to hit snooze.
Drink water. I always have water by my bed and drink at least 500ml straight away.
Toilet. It’s like clockwork…
Measure HRV and fill in wellness scores. This helps you actually reflect on how you are feeling and makes you aware of where your head and body is at.
Review your mind emptying list from the night before.
Crack on with your day!
These 7 steps take me around 5 – 10 min each morning. From there I have 20 min to make coffee/breakfast, drink more water, shower or put my kit on and start my day without feeling rushed or in a state of unproductiveness.
ENGINE
Building those engines with a partner this week, which means higher intensity intervals across the machines.
GYMNASTICS
We continue to focus on the infamous bar muscle and the Handstand push-up in gymnastics. As always, we break down the skills, and these sessions are for all levels!
HYROX
Anything from a half hyrox to a full hyrox depending on your goals. We will change the distance of the runs so that we all finish together.
MOBILITY
Lower mobility/flexibility takes the front seat now. We will retest a few weeks ago to see if we are improving. The finisher will be upper stabilisation drills.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, have some tough bench press cluster sets and then some upper body accessory work on Monday, followed by a chance to progress the loading on the Single Leg work from last week,
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are dialling in positions with a muscle clean and press followed by a heavy clean hang clean and Jerk complex followed by a tough EMOM.
Track Tuesday
This week is descending 400’s, dialling in some pace work ready for testing next week.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Sport City Track
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Wednesday Ride
Back to some hard Vo2max efforts this week. 6 X 4min zone 5!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: BOTS, Al Qudra
Coffee Run
Hill reps! Our monthly hills session. This week we will start from a different location at the same time.
Brief time: 05:54 am Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Start Location (Common Grounds)
Parking is available here (underneath the bridge): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1VEi1knJQncTAopc9
Post run coffees at To the Moon and Back: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZ2guifBnTQZLokMA
IFE Run WA link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/L0P8uWduZeiE7kin64pYfa
Saturday Ride
Our longer group ride, for riders who can avg around 30kph n group rides. We welcome anyone to join us.
Start time: 05:59 am
Monday
Time: 5:59pm ONLY
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
This Monday we will be holding that Tempo pace (7/10 effort) for 10- and 5-minute blocks. Ensure to use the recovery to have the HR come down, if that means walking the recovery that is ok!
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have descending 400s, each with a 40 sec rest. You will start at 10km pace and work down towards 3km pace on these reps. This is a chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance community and coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
Today we have 1km repeats off a 2 min rest. Rest will be standing to ensure the body recoveries after each rep. If you ran hard at Track yesterday, feel free to come along for an easy run.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we have hill repeats. We will meet further up the beach track this week to give us more time on the bridge/hill. Post run coffees at To The Moon and Back.
Sunday
Time: 04:29am
Location: TBC - will be shared in WA
Session: Dubai Run
This will be a fun, social run where we'll stick together, celebrating our passion for running, our community, and the rare chance to go along Sheikh Zayed Road without road rage.
This week at InnerFight, we will start off with some back squats and then leggy conditioning. On Tuesday, we have some gymnastics work followed by a tough EMOM. Wednesday, we will Sumo deadlift, then get into a rowing power clean WOD with ascending weight on the power cleans. Thursday, we focus on some upper body pulling work coupled with some single leg work and then some fast short AMRAPS. Friday, we are snatching, followed by a long continuous mover for Friday therapy.
Monday:
Strength:
Tempo Back Squats & Banded Pull Aparts
Conditioning:
Every 4 mins x 5 sets complete:
2 rounds
8 front squat (50/35)
8 lateral hops over the bar
8 box Jump over
Tuesday:
Strength:
A) Handstand Holds + Hollow Holds + Dual DB Strict Press + Hanging Leg Raises
B) Toes To Bar
Conditioning:
EMOM15
Min 1 - 5 wall walks
Min 2 -10 burpee shuttle runs (5m)
Min 3 -15 TTB
Wednesday:
Strength:
Sumo Deadlifts + DB Lateral Raises
Conditioning:
20 Min amrap
500/400m row
5 Power clean
*Every round build PC weight starts at 60/40kg plus 2.5/5kg
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Pull-Up Complex - Strict / Kippin C2B / Kipping Pull-Ups
B) Dual KB Front Rack Box Step Ups
Conditioning:
3 Rounds
3 min amrap
6 C2B
12/9 cal Ass bike
rest 2 mins
3 min amrap
6 Kb Push Press (2 x 12/16)
12 KB forward lunge
rest 2 mins
Friday:
Strength:
Snatch Complex - Power Snatch / Overhead Squat / Hang Power Snatch
Conditioning:
Its Friday so 30 Rounds of Fun.... Letsss Gooooo!
How you start and finish your days can have a big impact on how the proceeding day will go. Something that has paid dividends of late is having a 30 min pre and post sleep routine. I have been ‘practicing’ my routine for nearly 9 months now after over 2 years of trial and error to get it right.
The reason I am a fan of routine is your body and mind enter a state of comfort once you are in them which I think is of particular importance especially before sleep and getting a good start on a productive day. I developed my routine because for the past 2 years, not one week went by that I consistently slept in the same bed (work & study commitments, not the reason you’re thinking of… keep it clean please). I worked out that it largely didn’t matter on the environment I was in or woke up to it was how I felt going to sleep. And, as most people probably know… going to sleep in a comfortable mindset means waking up fresher and more productive.
You need to figure yours out for yourself but I think a good pre sleep routine should involve 4 things.
Limiting blue light, TV, computer phone screen etc… I stop watching any TV or looking at my phone/computer 30 min before I want to sleep, sometimes a full hour.
Emptying the mind. I write down what my following day involves and order it either by time or importance of tasks. This gives my brain one last chance to remember something I have forgotten and ‘switch itself off’ for the night. This also comes back into play for the morning.
Stretching. Personally I use ROM WOD as it varies which stretches you do for each day and has some good calming breath work which I like. Again, you may have a stretch routine you really like to do, just make sure it’s a relaxing one and doesn’t create heat in the muscles.
Reading. Usually the last thing I do before I sleep. I’ve worked out thanks to forgetting my book a fair few times it doesn’t matter what I read I just need to read something. Only thing that hasn’t worked is the room service menu… I now check if I have remembered a book or not and pick something up prior to my 30 min routine window.
Boom, 4 things I need to do and no matter the time or location i’m asleep. I always pack my bag or have things ready the night before which helps with emptying the mind too but I have that done long before bed time. Oh and clean your teeth!
As said earlier, going to sleep with a good mindset means waking up with a good mindset. People who get up on the wrong side of the bed normally get in on the wrong side of the bed. There are still a few things you can do in the first 30 min of a morning though to help set you up for the day.
Mine is ordered pretty much the same everyday but again you need to figure it out for yourself.
Always have an alarm to wake up to. Never, no matter how tempting, hit snooze. Unless you’re willing to have a ‘lazy morning’.
Sit up asap, get up and move. This stops you being tempted to hit snooze.
Drink water. I always have water by my bed and drink at least 500ml straight away.
Toilet. It’s like clockwork…
Measure HRV and fill in wellness scores. This helps you actually reflect on how you are feeling and makes you aware of where your head and body is at.
Review your mind emptying list from the night before.
Crack on with your day!
These 7 steps take me around 5 – 10 min each morning. From there I have 20 min to make coffee/breakfast, drink more water, shower or put my kit on and start my day without feeling rushed or in a state of unproductiveness.
Track Tuesday
This week is descending 400’s, dialling in some pace work ready for testing next week.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Sport City Track
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Wednesday Ride
Back to some hard Vo2max efforts this week. 6 X 4min zone 5!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: BOTS, Al Qudra
Coffee Run
Hill reps! Our monthly hills session. This week we will start from a different location at the same time.
Brief time: 05:54 am Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Start Location (Common Grounds)
Parking is available here (underneath the bridge): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1VEi1knJQncTAopc9
Post run coffees at To the Moon and Back: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZ2guifBnTQZLokMA
IFE Run WA link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/L0P8uWduZeiE7kin64pYfa
Saturday Ride
Our longer group ride, for riders who can avg around 30kph n group rides. We welcome anyone to join us.
Start time: 05:59 am
Monday
Time: 5:59pm ONLY
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
This Monday we will be holding that Tempo pace (7/10 effort) for 10- and 5-minute blocks. Ensure to use the recovery to have the HR come down, if that means walking the recovery that is ok!
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have descending 400s, each with a 40 sec rest. You will start at 10km pace and work down towards 3km pace on these reps. This is a chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance community and coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
Today we have 1km repeats off a 2 min rest. Rest will be standing to ensure the body recoveries after each rep. If you ran hard at Track yesterday, feel free to come along for an easy run.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we have hill repeats. We will meet further up the beach track this week to give us more time on the bridge/hill. Post run coffees at To The Moon and Back.
Sunday
Time: 04:29am
Location: TBC - will be shared in WA
Session: Dubai Run
This will be a fun, social run where we'll stick together, celebrating our passion for running, our community, and the rare chance to go along Sheikh Zayed Road without road rage.
This week at InnerFight, we will start off with some back squats and then leggy conditioning. On Tuesday, we have some gymnastics work followed by a tough EMOM. Wednesday, we will Sumo deadlift, then get into a rowing power clean WOD with ascending weight on the power cleans. Thursday, we focus on some upper body pulling work coupled with some single leg work and then some fast short AMRAPS. Friday, we are snatching, followed by a long continuous mover for Friday therapy.
Monday:
Strength:
Tempo Back Squats & Banded Pull Aparts
Conditioning:
Every 4 mins x 5 sets complete:
2 rounds
8 front squat (50/35)
8 lateral hops over the bar
8 box Jump over
Tuesday:
Strength:
A) Handstand Holds + Hollow Holds + Dual DB Strict Press + Hanging Leg Raises
B) Toes To Bar
Conditioning:
EMOM15
Min 1 - 5 wall walks
Min 2 -10 burpee shuttle runs (5m)
Min 3 -15 TTB
Wednesday:
Strength:
Sumo Deadlifts + DB Lateral Raises
Conditioning:
20 Min amrap
500/400m row
5 Power clean
*Every round build PC weight starts at 60/40kg plus 2.5/5kg
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Pull-Up Complex - Strict / Kippin C2B / Kipping Pull-Ups
B) Dual KB Front Rack Box Step Ups
Conditioning:
3 Rounds
3 min amrap
6 C2B
12/9 cal Ass bike
rest 2 mins
3 min amrap
6 Kb Push Press (2 x 12/16)
12 KB forward lunge
rest 2 mins
Friday:
Strength:
Snatch Complex - Power Snatch / Overhead Squat / Hang Power Snatch
Conditioning:
Its Friday so 30 Rounds of Fun.... Letsss Gooooo!
ENGINE
Building those engines with a partner this week, which means higher intensity intervals across the machines.
GYMNASTICS
We continue to focus on the infamous bar muscle and the Handstand push-up in gymnastics. As always, we break down the skills, and these sessions are for all levels!
HYROX
Anything from a half hyrox to a full hyrox depending on your goals. We will change the distance of the runs so that we all finish together.
MOBILITY
Lower mobility/flexibility takes the front seat now. We will retest a few weeks ago to see if we are improving. The finisher will be upper stabilisation drills.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, have some tough bench press cluster sets and then some upper body accessory work on Monday, followed by a chance to progress the loading on the Single Leg work from last week,
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are dialling in positions with a muscle clean and press followed by a heavy clean hang clean and Jerk complex followed by a tough EMOM.
How you start and finish your days can have a big impact on how the proceeding day will go. Something that has paid dividends of late is having a 30 min pre and post sleep routine. I have been ‘practicing’ my routine for nearly 9 months now after over 2 years of trial and error to get it right.
The reason I am a fan of routine is your body and mind enter a state of comfort once you are in them which I think is of particular importance especially before sleep and getting a good start on a productive day. I developed my routine because for the past 2 years, not one week went by that I consistently slept in the same bed (work & study commitments, not the reason you’re thinking of… keep it clean please). I worked out that it largely didn’t matter on the environment I was in or woke up to it was how I felt going to sleep. And, as most people probably know… going to sleep in a comfortable mindset means waking up fresher and more productive.
You need to figure yours out for yourself but I think a good pre sleep routine should involve 4 things.
Limiting blue light, TV, computer phone screen etc… I stop watching any TV or looking at my phone/computer 30 min before I want to sleep, sometimes a full hour.
Emptying the mind. I write down what my following day involves and order it either by time or importance of tasks. This gives my brain one last chance to remember something I have forgotten and ‘switch itself off’ for the night. This also comes back into play for the morning.
Stretching. Personally I use ROM WOD as it varies which stretches you do for each day and has some good calming breath work which I like. Again, you may have a stretch routine you really like to do, just make sure it’s a relaxing one and doesn’t create heat in the muscles.
Reading. Usually the last thing I do before I sleep. I’ve worked out thanks to forgetting my book a fair few times it doesn’t matter what I read I just need to read something. Only thing that hasn’t worked is the room service menu… I now check if I have remembered a book or not and pick something up prior to my 30 min routine window.
Boom, 4 things I need to do and no matter the time or location i’m asleep. I always pack my bag or have things ready the night before which helps with emptying the mind too but I have that done long before bed time. Oh and clean your teeth!
As said earlier, going to sleep with a good mindset means waking up with a good mindset. People who get up on the wrong side of the bed normally get in on the wrong side of the bed. There are still a few things you can do in the first 30 min of a morning though to help set you up for the day.
Mine is ordered pretty much the same everyday but again you need to figure it out for yourself.
Always have an alarm to wake up to. Never, no matter how tempting, hit snooze. Unless you’re willing to have a ‘lazy morning’.
Sit up asap, get up and move. This stops you being tempted to hit snooze.
Drink water. I always have water by my bed and drink at least 500ml straight away.
Toilet. It’s like clockwork…
Measure HRV and fill in wellness scores. This helps you actually reflect on how you are feeling and makes you aware of where your head and body is at.
Review your mind emptying list from the night before.
Crack on with your day!
These 7 steps take me around 5 – 10 min each morning. From there I have 20 min to make coffee/breakfast, drink more water, shower or put my kit on and start my day without feeling rushed or in a state of unproductiveness.
Monday
Time: 5:59pm ONLY
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Tempo
This Monday we will be holding that Tempo pace (7/10 effort) for 10- and 5-minute blocks. Ensure to use the recovery to have the HR come down, if that means walking the recovery that is ok!
Tuesday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Sports City
Session: Track Tuesday
This week we have descending 400s, each with a 40 sec rest. You will start at 10km pace and work down towards 3km pace on these reps. This is a chance to run fast with the wider InnerFight Endurance community and coaches.
Wednesday
Time: 5:59am & 5:59pm
Location: InnerFight
Session: Ladies Only Intervals
Today we have 1km repeats off a 2 min rest. Rest will be standing to ensure the body recoveries after each rep. If you ran hard at Track yesterday, feel free to come along for an easy run.
Friday
Time: 5:59am
Location: Kite Beach
Session: The Coffee Run
This week we have hill repeats. We will meet further up the beach track this week to give us more time on the bridge/hill. Post run coffees at To The Moon and Back.
Sunday
Time: 04:29am
Location: TBC - will be shared in WA
Session: Dubai Run
This will be a fun, social run where we'll stick together, celebrating our passion for running, our community, and the rare chance to go along Sheikh Zayed Road without road rage.
This week at InnerFight, we will start off with some back squats and then leggy conditioning. On Tuesday, we have some gymnastics work followed by a tough EMOM. Wednesday, we will Sumo deadlift, then get into a rowing power clean WOD with ascending weight on the power cleans. Thursday, we focus on some upper body pulling work coupled with some single leg work and then some fast short AMRAPS. Friday, we are snatching, followed by a long continuous mover for Friday therapy.
Monday:
Strength:
Tempo Back Squats & Banded Pull Aparts
Conditioning:
Every 4 mins x 5 sets complete:
2 rounds
8 front squat (50/35)
8 lateral hops over the bar
8 box Jump over
Tuesday:
Strength:
A) Handstand Holds + Hollow Holds + Dual DB Strict Press + Hanging Leg Raises
B) Toes To Bar
Conditioning:
EMOM15
Min 1 - 5 wall walks
Min 2 -10 burpee shuttle runs (5m)
Min 3 -15 TTB
Wednesday:
Strength:
Sumo Deadlifts + DB Lateral Raises
Conditioning:
20 Min amrap
500/400m row
5 Power clean
*Every round build PC weight starts at 60/40kg plus 2.5/5kg
Thursday:
Strength:
A) Pull-Up Complex - Strict / Kippin C2B / Kipping Pull-Ups
B) Dual KB Front Rack Box Step Ups
Conditioning:
3 Rounds
3 min amrap
6 C2B
12/9 cal Ass bike
rest 2 mins
3 min amrap
6 Kb Push Press (2 x 12/16)
12 KB forward lunge
rest 2 mins
Friday:
Strength:
Snatch Complex - Power Snatch / Overhead Squat / Hang Power Snatch
Conditioning:
Its Friday so 30 Rounds of Fun.... Letsss Gooooo!
ENGINE
Building those engines with a partner this week, which means higher intensity intervals across the machines.
GYMNASTICS
We continue to focus on the infamous bar muscle and the Handstand push-up in gymnastics. As always, we break down the skills, and these sessions are for all levels!
HYROX
Anything from a half hyrox to a full hyrox depending on your goals. We will change the distance of the runs so that we all finish together.
MOBILITY
Lower mobility/flexibility takes the front seat now. We will retest a few weeks ago to see if we are improving. The finisher will be upper stabilisation drills.
PURE STRENGTH
This week in pure strength, have some tough bench press cluster sets and then some upper body accessory work on Monday, followed by a chance to progress the loading on the Single Leg work from last week,
WEIGHTLIFTING
This week in weightlifting, we are dialling in positions with a muscle clean and press followed by a heavy clean hang clean and Jerk complex followed by a tough EMOM.
Track Tuesday
This week is descending 400’s, dialling in some pace work ready for testing next week.
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Sport City Track
Entrance fee: https://isddubai.com/athletics-venuehire/
Wednesday Ride
Back to some hard Vo2max efforts this week. 6 X 4min zone 5!
Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: BOTS, Al Qudra
Coffee Run
Hill reps! Our monthly hills session. This week we will start from a different location at the same time.
Brief time: 05:54 am Start time: 05:59 am
Session Length: 1.5 hour
Location: Start Location (Common Grounds)
Parking is available here (underneath the bridge): https://maps.app.goo.gl/1VEi1knJQncTAopc9
Post run coffees at To the Moon and Back: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YZ2guifBnTQZLokMA
IFE Run WA link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/L0P8uWduZeiE7kin64pYfa
Saturday Ride
Our longer group ride, for riders who can avg around 30kph n group rides. We welcome anyone to join us.
Start time: 05:59 am
How you start and finish your days can have a big impact on how the proceeding day will go. Something that has paid dividends of late is having a 30 min pre and post sleep routine. I have been ‘practicing’ my routine for nearly 9 months now after over 2 years of trial and error to get it right.
The reason I am a fan of routine is your body and mind enter a state of comfort once you are in them which I think is of particular importance especially before sleep and getting a good start on a productive day. I developed my routine because for the past 2 years, not one week went by that I consistently slept in the same bed (work & study commitments, not the reason you’re thinking of… keep it clean please). I worked out that it largely didn’t matter on the environment I was in or woke up to it was how I felt going to sleep. And, as most people probably know… going to sleep in a comfortable mindset means waking up fresher and more productive.
You need to figure yours out for yourself but I think a good pre sleep routine should involve 4 things.
Limiting blue light, TV, computer phone screen etc… I stop watching any TV or looking at my phone/computer 30 min before I want to sleep, sometimes a full hour.
Emptying the mind. I write down what my following day involves and order it either by time or importance of tasks. This gives my brain one last chance to remember something I have forgotten and ‘switch itself off’ for the night. This also comes back into play for the morning.
Stretching. Personally I use ROM WOD as it varies which stretches you do for each day and has some good calming breath work which I like. Again, you may have a stretch routine you really like to do, just make sure it’s a relaxing one and doesn’t create heat in the muscles.
Reading. Usually the last thing I do before I sleep. I’ve worked out thanks to forgetting my book a fair few times it doesn’t matter what I read I just need to read something. Only thing that hasn’t worked is the room service menu… I now check if I have remembered a book or not and pick something up prior to my 30 min routine window.
Boom, 4 things I need to do and no matter the time or location i’m asleep. I always pack my bag or have things ready the night before which helps with emptying the mind too but I have that done long before bed time. Oh and clean your teeth!
As said earlier, going to sleep with a good mindset means waking up with a good mindset. People who get up on the wrong side of the bed normally get in on the wrong side of the bed. There are still a few things you can do in the first 30 min of a morning though to help set you up for the day.
Mine is ordered pretty much the same everyday but again you need to figure it out for yourself.
Always have an alarm to wake up to. Never, no matter how tempting, hit snooze. Unless you’re willing to have a ‘lazy morning’.
Sit up asap, get up and move. This stops you being tempted to hit snooze.
Drink water. I always have water by my bed and drink at least 500ml straight away.
Toilet. It’s like clockwork…
Measure HRV and fill in wellness scores. This helps you actually reflect on how you are feeling and makes you aware of where your head and body is at.
Review your mind emptying list from the night before.
Crack on with your day!
These 7 steps take me around 5 – 10 min each morning. From there I have 20 min to make coffee/breakfast, drink more water, shower or put my kit on and start my day without feeling rushed or in a state of unproductiveness.
How you start and finish your days can have a big impact on how the proceeding day will go. Something that has paid dividends of late is having a 30 min pre and post sleep routine. I have been ‘practicing’ my routine for nearly 9 months now after over 2 years of trial and error to get it right.
The reason I am a fan of routine is your body and mind enter a state of comfort once you are in them which I think is of particular importance especially before sleep and getting a good start on a productive day. I developed my routine because for the past 2 years, not one week went by that I consistently slept in the same bed (work & study commitments, not the reason you’re thinking of… keep it clean please). I worked out that it largely didn’t matter on the environment I was in or woke up to it was how I felt going to sleep. And, as most people probably know… going to sleep in a comfortable mindset means waking up fresher and more productive.
You need to figure yours out for yourself but I think a good pre sleep routine should involve 4 things.
Limiting blue light, TV, computer phone screen etc… I stop watching any TV or looking at my phone/computer 30 min before I want to sleep, sometimes a full hour.
Emptying the mind. I write down what my following day involves and order it either by time or importance of tasks. This gives my brain one last chance to remember something I have forgotten and ‘switch itself off’ for the night. This also comes back into play for the morning.
Stretching. Personally I use ROM WOD as it varies which stretches you do for each day and has some good calming breath work which I like. Again, you may have a stretch routine you really like to do, just make sure it’s a relaxing one and doesn’t create heat in the muscles.
Reading. Usually the last thing I do before I sleep. I’ve worked out thanks to forgetting my book a fair few times it doesn’t matter what I read I just need to read something. Only thing that hasn’t worked is the room service menu… I now check if I have remembered a book or not and pick something up prior to my 30 min routine window.
Boom, 4 things I need to do and no matter the time or location i’m asleep. I always pack my bag or have things ready the night before which helps with emptying the mind too but I have that done long before bed time. Oh and clean your teeth!
As said earlier, going to sleep with a good mindset means waking up with a good mindset. People who get up on the wrong side of the bed normally get in on the wrong side of the bed. There are still a few things you can do in the first 30 min of a morning though to help set you up for the day.
Mine is ordered pretty much the same everyday but again you need to figure it out for yourself.
Always have an alarm to wake up to. Never, no matter how tempting, hit snooze. Unless you’re willing to have a ‘lazy morning’.
Sit up asap, get up and move. This stops you being tempted to hit snooze.
Drink water. I always have water by my bed and drink at least 500ml straight away.
Toilet. It’s like clockwork…
Measure HRV and fill in wellness scores. This helps you actually reflect on how you are feeling and makes you aware of where your head and body is at.
Review your mind emptying list from the night before.
Crack on with your day!
These 7 steps take me around 5 – 10 min each morning. From there I have 20 min to make coffee/breakfast, drink more water, shower or put my kit on and start my day without feeling rushed or in a state of unproductiveness.
One-Hour Workout: Revving Your Swim Engine
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