Hello athletes, welcome and thank you for tuning into the Coach Katie Danger Podcast recorded live from Omaha, Nebraska. I'm your host, Coach Katie Danger, U S army veteran, fitness coach and founder of Red H Nutrition. Here's a fact for you, 99% of us are not elite athletes. We're individuals from all backgrounds, juggling life priorities, including jobs, our families, their needs, and trying to find time to take care of ourselves every single week. When you tune in, I'll be discussing clear, concise and actionable strategies you can use to get the most from your fitness, nutrition, and mindset. So you can optimize your life without compromising your time. So athletes settle in and get comfortable. I'm here to educate, inspire, empower, and entertain you to help you enjoy the unique fitness journey that you are on.
(00:58): Hey, again, athletes, it's Katie danger. Welcome to episode number 54. And however, you're listening to episode number 54, whether you're watching on our YouTube channel or you're listening to another audio version of it on one of our streaming platforms, podcasts, Spotify, whatever, welcome today, I'm going to be talking to you about how awesome it is to have a morning routine. And this is even if you're not a morning person. So, you know, I'm not sure if I've always considered myself a morning person, but when I was younger, my dad was always up early. He would get up away before my mom way before my sister and I, and he would do his hygiene routine and like, thinking back on it, it's kind of weird because he like, doesn't have a lot of hair, but he always spent so much time in the morning, brushing his teeth, doing his hair, like even to this day, as he's lost even more here, like he had five strands of hair back in the nineties and now somehow he still has these five strands of hair left.
(01:48): Right. And dad, if you're listening, you know, I'm just kidding. I love you. But, so he does his hair. He spends all this time in the bathroom and he hogged it the whole time before we could get ready. So yes, at the time we only had one bathroom in the house and it was really difficult and I further reflect on it and I'm like, how on earth did we survive? Just the four of us with one bathroom. And interestingly enough side note, when I moved out and went to college, my dad actually finished the basement bathroom. And so now we have two. So whenever I go home, we have to, but Hey, like I guess Katie's out of the nest. Let's finish it up. But I was essentially a morning person because my dad was a morning person because he was up and he was making noise and it was right across from my bedroom.
(02:32): I was up. So that was my earliest earliest memory of being a morning person. And I would get up at the same time as my dad. And obviously I couldn't use the bathroom, but I would go and I'd make breakfast. Like I have an awesome gigantic bowl of sugary cereal, fruity pebbles, cocoa pebbles, cinnamon toast crunch. And then I also play some video games before I could finally get in the bathroom. So that was my first morning routine was getting up, eating a bowl of sugary cereal and playing video games. And I guess, you know, for a kid that's really not too bad, then shifting gears is something that's probably less fun. I was also a morning person when I was in the military. And if you have ever gone to basic training, if anybody out there is listening or watching and knows, there has been to basic training, you know exactly what I'm going to say here.
(03:20): There is no other wake up call that when a drill Sergeant bust through the barracks door at 4:00 AM and yells tow the line, total, the line privates, tow the line. And he just, he or she, we had our fair share of female drill sergeants that were very loud. You just don't know what that's like. I don't know if that's, you can call it a morning routine, but it's just something you have to do. And that gives me some flashbacks too, but Hey, okay. So full circle. I'm 35 now I've got my own morning routine. I'm wiser and I'm setting myself up for success and I'm in complete control of my morning routine. But my morning routine hasn't always been the same. It kind of seems to change slightly depending on what my goals and what I need more of in my life. But there are definitely three, three things that are always part of my routine.
(04:06): And I'm gonna elaborate on those and hopefully it gives you. So what I want you to get from this podcast, this episode is I want you to have the tools, these three things I'm gonna share with you, these tools to set your morning up your day up your foundation for success. So you can start your day off, right? And this is even if you don't get up at the butt crack of Dawn, whatever time you wake up, if you work night shift, work, day shift, whatever time you get up, I want you to start your day like this. But before I dive into my morning routine, I wanted to note that there are lots and lots of books out there. And there's lots of gurus who talk about morning routines. I'm just going to be another one to add to the mix. The idea though, is that I want you to differentiate between they're all saying that routines are important.
(04:51): You don't necessarily have to do these things in the morning, but having this routine matters. So I agree on all of the talk about how habits are important. I do agree with that, but the thing that I don't agree on is doesn't have to be in the morning. You don't have to get up at 4:00 AM to be successful. You can get up at whatever the hell time you want to get up. And when your body's had enough rest, that's when you start your day. But I do sincerely believe in the importance of a foundation of a routine that sets your day up for success and gets you started on the right foot. Now, if you can find a way to cut out distractions, when you wake up and do a few little TLC things for yourself, treat yourself first, you're going to have a full cup when you start your day.
(05:30): And I know you've heard this before, this isn't going to be the first time you've heard it, but I'm just gonna reiterate it when drill it in your brain, fill your cup first, do the things that promote your well-being first, because if you've taken care of yourself, you're able to give more, okay. If you're constantly running empty, if your cup is half full, not even close to full, you just can't give what you don't have the others. Okay. So find a way to cut out distractions. And that's why when I wake up, I like to start slow. And I like to, on my routine, it is my prep for the day. I am doing my duty to myself and to others, putting my body and my mind and my soul in a position to succeed and be ready for any of the unknowns of the day will bring.
(06:09): But I do know that I have my routine and that in itself is very comforting to know because we don't know what our days are ultimately going to bring. Most of us are going to do the same thing over and over every single day, without really much of a shock. But every now and then something comes in and throws us off. And if we have this foundation, our morning habits, our routine, our daily routine, we're going to be better prepared for the day. So currently my morning routine is about one hour long. Sometimes it's shorter. Some days it's longer. It kind of just kinda depends on what time I wake up. And when I decide to get moving day, it also depends on how my body is feeling. Usually usually I get up between 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM. If I'm really feeling it, you might even see me up at 5:00 AM, but on average, it's usually six to 7:00 AM.
(06:51): And the first thing that I do when I wake up is I go to the bathroom and then I make myself lemon juice. So for almost an entire year now I've been juicing, a fresh lemon, one lemon. If it's just myself, if I'm making it for Sammy two, I'll do two lemons, but I'd use a fresh lemon. And I mix it up with 16 ounces of room, temperature, water. I do that every single day and I do it because I'm giving my body really important hydration, right? When I wake up and I'm also getting vitamin C and lemon juice has been said in lots of studies to help with digestive, the digestive process in the morning and regular bowel movements, which is really, really important. And after we sleep for six, seven, eight hours, our bodies go into a state of dehydration. So it's really important that we give ourselves that hydration in the morning, get it going.
(07:34): Then the next parts of my morning are kind of dynamics. So I mean the lemon water always comes first. I always am hydrating. Very first thing. I kind of like found myself that I'm thirsty anyways, right when I wake up. So I got to drink. But the next part is that I'm going to tell you about the next parts are dynamic. Some days I do them in a different order, but the point is, I'm always doing them. I'm always doing them. The order isn't as important as getting them done. Generally, after I get done making my lemon water, I'll take my heart rate variability, which I've done a podcast on in the past. And I can't quite remember the episode. However, I'm sure if you look through my podcast, episodes, heart rate, variability, look for that. If you want to know more about it, but I'll take my heart rate variability and I'll determine if my body's in a sympathetic or parasympathetic state.
(08:16): This is basically just telling me how recovered, how stressed my body, my nervous system currently is. And right now I open my app just a little bit ago before we started recording and I'm on 160 day street. So I've taken my HRV heart rate variability for 160 days straight. So I've got a lot of data to analyze. The next thing I do is I use my red light. I have a red light in my house. I got it last year, right before, before quarantine COVID became a thing, but I use my red light for five minutes. So I've drank my lemon juice. I've taken my HRV and then I'll go on a red light. Then I'll jump on my rebounder for at least five minutes. And I use the last, generally the last part of my morning routine for some stretching and mobility. And I do that for at least five minutes.
(08:56): Now, the theme that you're going to find is I'm generally, if I'm doing something I'm doing it for at least five minutes, I feel like that's the least effective dose to see a result, to see a change, you know, albeit small, there's still a change, a positive impact and change going on in my body. I red light in the morning and I do this soon after waking up because it helps improve my mood right away. There's no more getting up on the wrong side of the bed. For me, I'm always waking up. I love to do my red light cause it boost my mood and there are studies shown that light exposure through our eyes right away in the morning can increase dopamine production. And if you know what dopamine is, it's a neurotransmitter and it is responsible for those fuel good pleasurable feelings that we get.
(09:38): So having more dopamine in your body, it makes you feel good. And the effective dose is really quick. You can do this in just five minutes and I've also done an entire podcast on the benefits of red light. It's called the benefits of red light therapy. So you can go ahead, go to my website, coach Katie linder.com and search in the search bar for that as well. If you want to get more details on what red light can do for you. And of course why I included every day in my routine. All right. So lemon juice taking my HRV, my heart rate variability. I've gotten my red light in now. It's do I feel I get on the rebounder? I feel like get on my little fitness trampoline or do I feel like stretching some days if like I've worked out hard the day before, I feel like I need to stretch first before I move, but I go and I get on my rebounder and all a rebounder is it's a small indoor fitness trampoline, and rebounding is great for boosting lymph and blood flow, which all detoxifies the body.
(10:28): So if you've, you know, your body's hydrated now it's flushing toxins out of yourselves and your tissues. And then you start rebounding getting the blood flowing, the limp flow, moving. You're really just flushing out and every day, starting fresh with your body, with your processes, with your physiology and it boosts immunity too. And all you need is five minutes just jumping for five minutes. And you know, I've talked a little bit more about this, about rebounding and my routine in my Instagram feed that also I did a podcast on this too. And it was the 10 things I learned in 2020 that you should know too. So you're getting the idea here is I'm bringing lots of pieces together from my lifestyle and I'm incorporating them very quickly in my morning routine to set me up for success. Like all of these things matter. So the rebounder I've got my blood flow and I've got my lift moving. And even some days, if I'm feeling like I'm in an afternoon slump, like, you know, maybe I need to go to my cup of coffee. I'll hop on the rebounder for five minutes. It gets the oxygen flowing in. My body gets to my brain.
(11:24): So you're back to work. Hey, I know. And you know that, I talk a lot about using supplements on your fitness journey and reaching your full potential, how I believe they're integral pieces of the puzzle to reaching your best self and best fitness results. But do you know how supplements fit into your plan? Do you know what to take for your goals and how much of a supplement you should take if you've ever had any of those questions and you want to know how supplements can work for you and your goals, go to your fitness supplements.com and take the free free, free three point personalized supplement assessment. And with just a few questions, you'll have a complete personalized supplement recommendation in less than 60 seconds. You'll know more about how supplements fit into your fitness goals, what's safe and what's effective and perfect for you. So type in your fitness supplements.com in your internet browser, take the free assessment and get on the fast track to your best fitness results. And rebounders are really good for getting some cardio into I
(12:26): Monitor on my watch. So it's constantly monitoring where my heart rate is at. And when I jumped, even for five minutes, it gets my heart rate up to about 60 to 70% of my max. And that gives me a little bit of cardio benefits too. So it's good for your heart. It's just great to wake up and do right. Move your body just a little bit low impact, nothing in intensity. And the last thing I'm going to do is I'm going to stretch. And like I said, this part of my morning is dynamic. I might stretch first and rebound, but I know I'm stretching. And usually I have a few, like either like to do upper body or lower body, you know, like I do my hips or my back, but I really don't have a plan other than I just let my body, it just let my body tell me what it needs.
(13:02): Almost always though, I do a saddle stretch. So sit on the floor, stretch my legs out. Like I was going to try and do as wide of a split as I can. And then for two minutes, I'll just gradually lower myself down and gets my lower back. It's my groin gets my thighs bods calves, just a really good overall global stretch to do, right? And then some days I'll focus more on my lower body, some on my upper body, how I do keep time. And to keep myself honest, I have a Tabata timer on my phone and it's Louis called Tabata timer app. And I set that up for eight, two minute intervals and with 15 to 25 seconds rest in between. So I can kind of shake it out. If I've stretched, we stretch for two minutes. Sometimes you need a little bit before you move into the next stretch, but that way I stay on task and the alerts, the timer, it literally reminds me like, Hey, it's time to switch up.
(13:46): And then I move on to the next stretch. Then the last part of my morning routine, and this almost always comes last. So we've got the bookends, right? Like I always have my lemon water. And then I do a few things in between there a red light I stretch. And then I rebound. And then this is the end of my routine and it's with my gratitude. So it's very, very simple. All I do is I write down, I have a notebook. I write down three things that I'm grateful for for the day. That's it just three. And for me, this works, I've tried a lot of other methods of gratitude as some have been a lot longer and more in depth than intensive a process, but I just couldn't stick with them. I don't know. My mind just couldn't focus for a lot longer than that, especially since this is at the end of my routine.
(14:27): I do this at the end for me personally, because I'm awake. I'm refreshed. My mind is awake. You know, I've had my red light, I've jumped. So I've got some oxygen to my brain. I feel hydrated. So I like this because I just have a lot of clarity at this point. I've had time to think through the day. This is like the cherry on top of my day. It reminds myself be grateful if you happen to be in a pinch in the morning and you don't have time to write, or maybe don't have a writing utensil or a book, then at the very least just stop, take a second, get present and reflect on three very specific things that you're grateful for today. And there you go, athletes. It's not really fancy, but it's my morning routine. I wake up, I drink lemon water. I red light.
(15:07): I rebound, I stretch. And then I show gratitude. And usually all this takes me as an hour. You know, if I'm lucky though, I can take even more sweet time with it. And maybe I stretch for 20, 30 minutes. Maybe do a little bit more gratitude work. Maybe I rebound a little bit more. Sometimes I put on sports center in the morning and I'll rebound for 15 to 20 minutes and really get some good cardio in, in the morning. But five minutes spend five minutes on each of these things. That's all you need. I mean, you put all this together and you're looking at less than 10 minutes, really? Of course the next part of my morning, if you happen to be watching this on YouTube right now is I've got my coffee with me. So I get into my coffee routine and I have been into pour over coffee lately.
(15:45): It has changed my life maybe a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago. Now I posted something in our athlete group about my morning routine and I do a French press. And somebody said, I hadn't experienced coffee yet without doing, pour over method. So what do you know? I went on Amazon. I bought all the things you need for pour over. And I'm like a barista now or something. Coach Katie danger barista coming at ya. But for real, so that's like the next part of my morning routine is coffee. Coffee always comes off after all of that, I've got my hydration. I've stretched. And I like reward myself with a delicious cup of coffee. Now, athletes don't get discouraged. If this sounds like way too much to take on right now for morning team, I get it. I have had a lot of time and practice and finding my perfect morning routine.
(16:26): I also don't have children. I'm self-employed I do have a lot of freedom and how I structure my day. But that doesn't mean that you out there listening right now with kids, with a spouse, with a typical nine to five or eight to six, you know, whatever, maybe you, whatever corporate job you might work, a more blue collar work include at least three things in your morning. And you're going to see amazing results in how you feel. I want you to trust me on this. It takes a lot of time, but when you focus on three things, so I gave you a lot of things, but other things I told you about my morning routine, whether I'm on vacation or I don't feel good, I'm always going to do three things. I'm gonna hydrate. I'm going to stretch mobilize, and I'm going to show gratitude and you can do those three things.
(17:12): You can drink 16 ounces of water. You can put in five minutes of stretching and a couple of minutes of showing gratitude. Just three things to reflect on. You can do that all in less than 10 minutes. So I would suggest if you're looking for a place to start and set yourself up for success, do those three things. I just mentioned, drink water, do some stretching, five minutes, then stop, get present and reflect on three things you're grateful for and get it all done in less than 10 minutes. Here's another bit of advice that I suggest and it's might actually be the hardest one to implement because you already know this. I know this and I still succumb to it. When you get up in the morning, don't check your phone, don't check your email. Don't check your social media right away. I know that sometimes we have to write like something has occurred the night before we've got to get up.
(17:55): Maybe something exciting is coming down the pipe, whatever it is, I get it. But if you don't have to wait to plug yourself in for the day, don't hit, go on the internet. Wait as long as you can. It can be really hard to get refocused on taking care of yourself when you've already got a lot of distractions coming in. So it's another way to set yourself up for successes. Don't log on until you've taken care of yourself until you've at least drink some water, at least five minutes to stretch and reflected on what you're grateful for. Another thing I want to go back to the beginning when I was talking about gurus and how they all talk about having a morning routine is what sets you up for success at it? I don't want you to get too caught up in the word morning.
(18:34): If you're listening to this, you've gotten to this point. I want you to, it's just a word and words are arbitrary. Humans just have to use them to communicate. We like to use time and intervals to communicate when things need to be done. But for this purpose, time is arbitrary. Time is personal to you. What morning means what habits and a foundation of the beginning of your day means to you is what it means to you. So, however you start your day, just start off with a three things and I'm gonna repeat it another time because it's that important, hydrate, mobilize and show gratitude. It's really simple. And at this point you don't have any excuses matter who you are. Doesn't matter how many kids you have. Doesn't matter what job you are. Doesn't matter what part of the world that you live in and what time of day your clock reads when you start, but hydrate, mobilize and show some gratitude.
(19:22): It's so simple and you have no excuse to not get started immediately tomorrow. Maybe even do it. Maybe even start today. Your day day's already started. Maybe you start tonight before you go to bed to unwind. So athletes, I really hope that now you understand how important a foundation routine is for setting you up for success. Let me just ask you this question. Do you think it's easier to hit the day hard to adapt to what life is going to throw at you? If you're in a good mood and you're ready for the day and you feel good about yourself, or do you think it's easier to cope when you feel bad and you don't feel confident and you're tired. If you're awake and ready and confident and ready to take on anything, world's gonna throw at you. You're going to have a better day.
(20:01): And that's what this foundational routine is all about, setting you up so you can take on anything and you feel in control and you feel strong. I can tell you from my experience that if I'm sad or I have not confident, it's really hard for me to achieve my goals. There have been very few times in the past year that I have missed my routine. I have missed those three basic things, but when I do, I pay the price, I pay the price in my day for lack of accomplishing the things that I've set out for myself. I've paid the price in my discipline. I've paid the price in my recovery or my workouts. So don't pay the price. Pay yourself first. Yes. It's just another analogy. Pay yourself first. Take care of yourself. First. Fill your cup up first. However, I need to communicate it to you.
(20:41): Do these three things in the morning. Okay? Set your mind to it. A good routine means good habits are habits. These tiny little daily things that we do all the time. They mean everything and athletes, the small things are the big things. Everything is everything. Now, if you're looking for a mobility routine to start implementing, I have got you covered. I always got you covered. I want you to head over to mobility, warrior.com, mobility warrior.com. And you can download my free 15 minute mobility program. It includes a total body stretching and mobility routine. It's going to set you up for the day and it only takes 15 minutes. I'm going to guide you through everything. It's even got videos. You can get the free program at mobility, warrior.com as always. Thank you guys so much for joining me for this episode. I look forward to chatting with you again next week. And remember, let me know what your morning routines are. I want you to email me. I want to hear from you. You might have a cool part of your morning routine that I haven't considered yet, and I would love to hear it. So email me, katie@coachkatiedanger.com. If I get any really, really awesome tidbits, I'll even share them in some upcoming episodes. But in the meantime for now though, athletes, this is coach KDD, episode number 54, over and out.
(21:47): This is ThePodcastFactory.com.
