TikTok is an app that—much like Taylor Swift—is all about eras. Pre-pandemic TikTok was marked by dancing montages and voiceovers. Mid-pandemic TikTok gave way to good soup and hot girl walks. And now we’re in an era where morning workout routine content is all the rage.
Morning workout routine videos—exemplified by trends like ‘5 to 9, before my 9 to 5’ and GRWM: morning workout edition—are about more than exercise. In addition to showcasing ultra-long workouts, these routines usually include clips of bed making, powdered green drinking, Michelin-esque morning meal making, showering, and a lot of face painting. While there’s no question that these morning workout videos are entertaining, they are a bit misleading.
“Your morning workout and accompanying routine don’t need to mirror what you see on your feed for them to make great use of morning hours,” says Alena Luciani, MSc, CSCS, strength and conditioning specialist and founder of Training2xl.
Ahead, are the nine steps to a perfect morning replete with exercise, good eats, and a cup (or two) of joe. The routine below may lend itself to viral video content, but you can trust it will help you work toward your health and fitness goals one morning at a time.
Consider Why You Want To Work Out In The Morning
There are benefits to exercising in the morning. One of the biggest is that there is less of a risk of that time getting taken over any other responsibilities, obligations, or plans, says Luciani. A morning workout is unlikely to get scrubbed in favor of cocktails with co-workers, for example.
Exercising in the morning also allows you to start your day by doing something for yourself, says Luciani. This can start a chain reaction, where you feel the momentum to take other health-minded steps, like packing lunch for work, parking further from the entrance, taking the stairs, and snacking on a pear (rather than potato chips) when hunger calls.
One study found that people who exercised in the morning were less likely to eat junk food and were more active throughout the day than those who skipped working out altogether. And, of course, if you’re an aspiring content creator, there is the added benefit of being able to brag (er, post) about it on the internet. But—and this is important—working out in the morning isn’t “better” from a health standpoint than exercising any other time of day.
“Whether you workout in the morning, mid-day, or at lunch, you’re going to reap the health benefits of exercising so long as you work out consistently,” says Luciani. To name a few—deeper sleep, improved body composition, stronger muscles and bones, better balance, and improved health markers like cholesterol and blood pressure.
“Ultimately, the best time of day to work out is the time that fits into your overall life routine,” says Jake Harcoff, CSCS, certified strength and conditioning specialist, head coach, and owner of AIM Athletic.
Make sure you want to exercise in the morning and that your interest doesn’t stem from the myth that morning workouts are elite popularized by TikTok influencers.
Set Your Alarm Up Across The Room
If you’re trying to cram a sweat sesh, shower, and snack in before clocking into work or dropping the kiddos off at school, you don’t have time to snooze. Beyond being a time-suck, snoozing disrupts your body’s natural wake-up process, leaving you feeling groggier and even more tired than you would be after a single wake-up, says sleep psychologist Shelby Harris PsyD, director of sleep health at Sleepopolis.
She says snoozing has the opposite of its intended effect because those 10 tacked-on minutes in Dreamland just aren’t long enough for you to go through the full four stages of the natural sleep cycle, which is necessary to achieve optimal restfulness. One 2022 study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that repeat snoozers deal with more sleep inertia— essentially, low mood and reduced reaction time—than those who woke up immediately.
Dr. Harris suggests setting your clock across the room to encourage yourself to get up with your first alarm. “This forces you to physically get out of bed, which can break that strong urge to hit snooze.”
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
Even if you don’t have a dry mouth, you’re likely still dehydrated when your alarm goes off. For starters, says Brooke Alpert, MS, RD, CDN, a registered dietitian and nutrition advisor with Cure. “At that point, you’ve gone the entire night without hydrating. Most people slow down on drinking fluids before bedtime.”
Alpert says taking certain medications before bed, snoring, sweating, and breathing through your mouth while you sleep can cause you to lose moisture and exacerbate the effect.
The issue? Being dehydrated can cause several unsavory symptoms, such as fatigue, dry mouth, and sunken eyes. Plus, exercising while dehydrated can be especially troublesome. Sweating can worsen dehydration and lead to dizziness and lightheadedness, which can be especially dangerous when running, lifting, or moving.
The solution is to drink eight to 16 ounces of water when you first wake up to combat that dehydration, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, a registered dietitian and author of Read It Before You Eat It. This will start your day on a better foot overall and set you up for success at the gym. “Being hydrated helps regulate your body temperature and lubricates your joints.”
Better yet? Drink a glass of water with an electrolyte powder packet mixed in. The added electrolytes will help your body absorb the water you’re drinking, which combats dehydration to a greater extent, explains Alpert. “The sodium and potassium can reduce muscle cramps and prevent post-workout slumps caused by dehydration.”
Caffeinate (Optional)
Let the official record show that there is nothing wrong with drinking coffee in the morning before a workout, says Alpert. Some data suggests that doing so could improve your performance by increasing energy and alertness.
To reap the performance-boosting benefits alongside the energy-spiking ones, drink one to two cups of coffee before hitting the gym—ideally, a full hour before the meat of your workout. Taub-Dix says the amount of coffee you drink will depend on your sensitivity to caffeine. “Some people get too jittery after a single cup, while others get the perfect jolt from drinking two.”
If drinking coffee on an empty stomach causes you gastrointestinal issues, she suggests you also have a bite to eat. But more on that ahead.
Have a Proper Pre- and Post-Workout Snack
It’s a common conundrum among morning exercisers—to eat breakfast before or after working out. According to Taub-Dix, the answer is both.
“Having something small before your workout with carbohydrates and protein—like Greek yogurt with fruit, banana with nut butter, or cottage cheese with fruit—can help give you the fuel you need for your forthcoming workout,” she says.
The key word? Small. “Eating a gourmet-sized breakfast is likely going to upset your stomach once you start exercising,” says Taub-Dix.
Those who know through trial and error that eating even a small pre-workout snack shortly before exercise causes GI issues (i.e. runner’s trots) are the exception. Here, fasted cardio is indicated. Your post-workout breakfast should be the meat and potatoes of your morning food intake.
“This is where you want to consume a combination of whole grain carbohydrates, healthy fats, and proteins, which work together to give you sustenance for the coming day and help your muscles re-coop, rebuild, and recover,” says Taub-Dix.
Oatmeal with protein powder or almond butter, eggs with turkey sausage, and a smoothie with protein powder are all good options.
Warm-Up Properly
Whether you’re hitting the gym at 6 a.m., 6 p.m., or somewhere in between, warming up ahead of exercising is essential for prepping your body and mind for the work to come. However, a proper warm-up is also essential says Harcoff.
“When you sleep, your body is immobile for hours, and your core body temperature drops, which are two things that can lead to stiffness in your muscles and joints,” he says.
Besides just making you feel like the Tin Man, he says that exercising with stiff muscles and joints can interfere with your movement patterns. It also can cause you to shorten the full range of motion and exercise with poor form.
“A proper warm-up before your morning workout will help lubricate the joints, increase circulation, and gradually raise core and muscle temperature,” says Harcoff. “These things make your connective tissues more pliable and allow you to move more safely and effectively.”
Luciani says the makeup of your warm-up will dictate your forthcoming workout. “You’ll want to start with some general movement that gets your heart rate pumping and your body re-acquainted with moving.”
Three to five minutes on a stationary bike or rower, jogging around the building or block, or jumping jacks or rope will suffice. From there, Luciani says it’s essential to wake up the muscles you’ll be using in your workout.
If you plan to walk on the treadmill at an incline, stretch your calves. If you will be deadlifting, do a few good mornings or incorporate lightweight Romanian deadlifts.
Walk It Out
If there is one thing fitness TikTok loves, it’s a treadmill walking workout. Need proof? The 12-3-20 workout was born on the platform, and TikTokkers are partly to thank for the new-found popularity of walking pads.
Walking on the treadmill is an excellent exercise at any time of day and is an underrated form of exercise, says Luciani. One of the most beginner-friendly forms of exercise, she says walking is a low-impact way to move your leg muscles, boost endorphins, and strengthen your joints.
For beginners, Luciani suggests walking at a comfortable speed and incline. Gradually increase the incline angle as your body adapts and you get fitter. However, if you have been working out consistently, Harcoff suggests adding some intensity to your strut-a-thon by upping resistance, speed, or incline. One way to determine if your treadmill workout is challenging enough is to wear a heart rate monitor.
“The trend around treadmill walking often relies on the misconception that lower-intensity cardio burns more fat by keeping you in a fat-burning heart rate zone (AKA zone 2),” says Harcoff.
Fat is a primary fuel source for lower-intensity activities, but the body doesn’t ever rely on a single energy pathway, he says. Plus, exercising at a higher intensity will result in greater body composition changes over time.
Wearing a fitness tracker lets you know where you are at the moment. It also can ensure you’re sometimes in Zone 3 or Zone 4.
Lift Things and Put Them Down
Strutting on the treadmill might be fun—especially when you’re doing it to the viral Taylor Swift treadmill playlist—but walking alone won’t help you meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines of strength training at least twice per week. For that, hit up the weight room.
“Challenging your joints and muscles through strength training is important for women of all ages,” says Luciani.
More lower-impact than running on pavement or plyometrics, she says strength training (with good form) is a joint-friendly way to improve muscle strength, bone strength, joint health, and cartilage health. Plus, you can’t discount the mental and emotional benefits of strength training.
“Strength training consistently gives you the experience of watching yourself achieve things you couldn’t before,” explains Luciani.
She says watching yourself become stronger and more capable in the gym can lead to more confidence, resilience, and a better body image outside the gym.
Harcoff adds that the key to lifting, whether you do it while the sun rises or sets, is having a plan. “Whether it’s a routine you find online or one a trainer has customized for you, having a structured approach based on the time you have will keep you focused and efficient. Start by deciding how many days a week you’ll be strength training.”
If you train fewer than three days a week, he says simple full-body workouts that include push-ups, pull-ups, leg exercises, and core work are best. For example, create a circuit with push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and V-ups.
If you’re training more than three days per week, focus on just two to three body parts per session so that by the end of the week, you’ll hit all major groups, he says. (This is known as workout splits).
On the first day, you might perform two push and two squat movements. Then, during the next workout, you’ll hit the opposing muscle groups by doing pull and hinge movements, Harcoff explains. “This approach saves time and ensures you get an effective, balanced workout each morning.”
Know When You Need To Skip
Before toggling your early bird alarm and setting your clock out of reach, Dr. Harris suggests you take inventory of your overall well-being. “Sometimes it is better to skip the gym and focus on sleep, especially if you’re set to get under six hours or feel wiped out. If you feel achy or rundown, that’s a clear sign that your body needs rest and recovery more than a workout.”
It may sound counterintuitive, but Dr. Harris says a rest day may benefit your long-term fitness goals. “Prioritizing sleep this one day can give you the energy you need for a good workout the next.”
Ultimately, she says this will help you inch closer to your health and fitness goals than exercising on fumes. Not to mention, there is a higher risk of injuring yourself when you’re half-there, which can sideline you far longer than skipping just one morning would.
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