I came across this article from Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS of AthleanX and it completely resonated with me. At Core Results we are all about small changes that have big impacts on our health. This content is so relevant for us all, I had to share with the Core Results community!
Best Morning Routine!!!
Start each morning off right with this simple, yet extremely effective way to change posture, improve the appearance of your abs, and prepare your body for the day!
It only takes 2 minutes and 30 seconds…
These morning habits are so simple.
But they work!
Just wait until you feel how well this daily routine works – even after just a few days.
It takes almost no time to do, so let’s start the day!
HYDRATION!!
Most people don’t realize that spending 6 to 8 hours sleeping with leave your body pretty dehydrated. Dehydration leads to excess feeling of tiredness, headaches, decreased concentration, as well as constipation.
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, reach for a glass of water instead.
At least 20 to 24 ounces!
Morning is the perfect time of day to start drinking water, to set yourself up to carry out this healthy habit all day long.
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.
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!
Before heading for a healthy breakfast, make a pit stop at the pull-up bar that you’ve installed over the doorway of your closet.
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.
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.
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.
To find out more great tips on small changes you can make that will have a great impact on your health, contact us today!
