Lately, I have been reminded of how Reg Park would wake at unholy o’clock every morning to train.
In the words of the immortal Arnold Schwarzenegger from regpark dot net:
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I had finally met and worked out with my boyhood hero, and then he invites me to come stay with him and his family. This was as big a thrill to me as making my Terminator movies. Hanging out with Reg, my boyhood idol’it was surreal. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
I realized very fast that I was not dreaming because Reg didn’t let me sleep. He woke me up every morning at 4:30 for breakfast so we could get to the gym by 5 for our first two-hour workout of the day. I will never forget those 1,000-pound calve raises he made me do first thing in the morning.
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Why the rediscovered interest in early mornings?
December is a somewhat busy time of year for us. For example, Jess’ birthday and Jesus’ birthday are a shade under a week apart. So naturally we end up doing more “out of routine” things than we normally would.
The worst part of this are the late nights (defined as us still being awake after 8.30pm).
Yet, no matter how late we go to bed (the other night we were up until 10pm – terrible, I know), we still rise with our two adorable and perfectly behaved cherubim at 5am sharp.
The reason?
It ensures we always have bountiful time to:
1) Eat a proper breakfast (made from scratch by Yours Baldly), and,
2) Get our daily walks in (Jess goes first while I look after the kiddos and do jobs then we swap).
In other words, start the day in a manner conducive to maintaining the rest of our (simple and unobtrusive) exercise regime.
I am not saying you need to join the 5am crew.
I am saying that you should try to get up at the same time every day (even weekends and holidays) and follow the same basic routine (which should probably include some form of exercise), irrespective of whatever else is going on in your life.
If you are not prepared to do this then you are unlikely to benefit from any of my Very Expensive Books which are on sale for a 50% discount until Christmas Eve (24th) at 23:59 – because good sleep hygiene is necessary to get results commensurate with your efforts in the gym and on the road.
There is but one exception.
That being if sleeping and waking at roughly the same time every day is genuinely impossible for you because you work shifts, in which case I recommend you purchase and read a copy of “Shift” because it mansplains how to stay on the straight and narrow under these circumstances.
To learn more about Shift and the other books are on offer, visit the below-linked page and read it carefully:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/sale
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman