We tried an Olympic Athletes 5 Step Morning Routine and were Surprised with our Results

How do you typically start your mornings? If you’re anything like me do you hit the snooze button on your alarm multiple times only to stumble out of bed with a puffy face that’s dazed, and confused- yikes! We are no stranger to caffeine, but let’s face it sometimes a cup of coffee in the morning just doesn’t do it for us. Imagine a morning routine that increases your energy levels, and helps you wake up feeling motivated and ready to take on the day- sign us up please!

We completed an online experience with Canadian Olympian, Liz Gleadle, who is no stranger to this type of energizing morning routine. In fact she walked us through the 5 step routine via zoom chat, and we can honestly say after putting it to the test for a week we were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Our anxiety levels decreased, and that oh so familiar brain fog we felt in the am was abolished. If implementing an Olympic javelin thrower’s morning routine into our lives means we can start the day well hydrated and energized especially when some of us are finding it tough working from home then we certainly couldn’t resist sharing this beneficial information with you.

Below is Liz’s 5 Step Morning Routine:

1. Step 1: Hydrate 

According to Gleadle, the lime- salt water has many beneficial ingredients for our hormones, and adrenal gland activations. The alkaline properties of the lime help to detoxify the liver, and the pink Himalayan salt adds quality minerals and electrolytes to our bodies. This concoction tastes like a virgin Margarita and we don’t hate it!

Step 2: Movement

Activate your body with gentle movement to get the blood flowing. We started off with lightly bouncing and shaking our arms (this may feel weird at first but trust me the result will leave you feeling like a million bucks afterwards). According to Gleadle, these movements help flush the lymphatic system. After we moved on to 90 seconds of squats. Liz’s targeted muscle group of the day was gluts; however, she notes you can switch up the exercises. Some of the benefits of adding movement into your morning routine consist of  mood improvement and metabolic increase.

Step 3: Journaling

Activate a positive mindset through gratitude journaling.  “Writing down your positive affirmations for the day can help us see a clear path to a goal for anything including relationships, health and career,” says Liz.  If you need help getting started, try downloading the five minute journal app on your smartphone.

Step 4: Meditation

Next Liz walked us through a short but highly effective guided meditation. We are not strangers to meditation, but often find ourselves daunted by the thought of allotting more than 15 minutes to this practise. Liz suggests focusing less on fulfilling a certain amount of time doing a meditation, but instead bringing our attention to the action of returning to the breath or inward focus. If you want to give meditation a go, try the guided meditation app: Calm.

Step 5: Cold Exposure

The final step to this supercharged routine is a 40 second cold shower. I know this sounds absolutely banana’s but think about it this way you can’t even get through humming your favorite Justin Bieber track in that amount of time. Submerging your body into a cold shower not only boosts your alertness but it also increases your happiness hormones, according to Liz.

Below are some of the tactics Liz suggests using while taking a cold shower:

1. Control & focus on the breath– After the initial sharp intake of breath, try to make the exhale last as long as possible. Inhaling accelerates heart rate, exhaling decelerates heart rate.
2. Choose not to panic.
3. Be curious and pay attention to the experience of being cold

Elizabeth Gleadle is an Olympic athlete who has represented the Canadian team in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

We are oozing with energy and can’t wait for you to try this routine at home. If you decide to give it a whirl let us know what your favorite step is from the routine in the comments below.