The #1 Exercise to Kickstart Your Day

Health-and-fitness expert extraordinaire Jack Hanrahan is here to give us his singular most important exercise you can do to start the day. Fear not! It’s nothing strenuous or challenging. Like, at all. Literally anyone can do it, even if you don’t know a Peloton from a pterodactyl. –NPH

Everyone loves morning routines — so it’s nice to refresh your own with some new ideas on how to improve it. I’m Jack Hanrahan, and I’ve been a personal trainer and coach for 15 years. I’ve got a go-to morning exercise that’ll help you feel great and set the tone for the rest of the day.

Now, there are loads of different exercises you can do each morning. Strength exercises like squats or pushups are great, but what I think every single human being, regardless of age, fitness level or even time constraints, could benefit from is a mobility exercise. In particular, one that I do every morning called joint circles.

The actual name of this exercise is “controlled articular rotation,” and it’s when you work your joints through a circular motion, through their full range of motion. After you’ve been completely static in bed for 8 hours, these exercises will get your blood flowing, which lubricates the joints and provides them with nutrients. In addition to feeling really good, they stave off stiffness, improve flexibility and maintain strength.

This exercise is unbelievably simple to do and incorporate into your daily routine — you can knock it out even before your morning coffee. Joint circles are exercises that are good for your whole body, but I love to start with the shoulders: the idea is to move your shoulders through a big, circular motion. In doing so, you actively stretch the chest and lats, which opens up your posture.

(For the full video demo of this exercise and more, click here!)

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HOW TO DO DOUBLE-ARM JOINT CIRCLES

1. Start with your arms by your sides, palms facing inward. You can do this while kneeling, or standing up.
2. Lift your hands up in front of your body and reach up to the sky.
3. Turn the palms away from your body, reach back and roll the arms inward until they reach your hips.
4. Reverse this motion by pushing the hands back, turning the palms up to the sky and lifting your arms overhead and back down to your sides.
5. Repeat two to three times.

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Tips!

• Keep your glutes squeezed and abs tight.
• Keep your arms and back straight.
• Go slow.
• Keep breathing.
• Only move through pain-free ranges — if something hurts, stop.

Don’t stop with your shoulders! Try it with your neck, then wrists, then back, then hips, then ankles — simply rotate each body part in 360-degree circles. You can do your whole body in 5 minutes! It’s a great way to start your day.