My Morning Supplement Stack

I'm a bit of an anomaly in the fitness community when it comes to morning routines. Most coaches will try to set you off on an elaborate morning routine to make sure you seize the day, hone your elite mindset and life the athlete lifestyle. I'm more of the school of prepare yourself the night before and spend more time in bed sleeping because, you know, sleeping is great. So my morning routines are quite lean and simple. I want to prioritise time in bed, and just doing what I have to before a need to leave the house to coach. But one thing I do every morning without fail is take my morning supplement stack. It helps me seize the day, hone my elite mindset and build my athlete lifestyle... just kidding. I need a drink in the morning anyway so it adds 2 seconds to that process. But these supplements are genuinely helpful in the morning. Let me share with you what they are, and why taking them in the morning is a good idea. 1. Creatine Creatine is among the most researched and effective supplements out there according to examine.com (a great site to visit if you're ever wondering if a supplement is effective or not). It's main benefits are related to notable improvements in strength and power when resistance training, moderate improvements in lean muscle mass, and small improvements in endurance. That's a lot of performance benefits from one supplement for starters. Creatine also has some less researched but still suggested cognitive benefits, including reducing mental fatigue and improving working memory in people who are naturally low in it to start with. There is no evidence to suggest that there is any difference in when you take your creatine. It will be just as effective pre or post workout. You do however need to take it daily to get the best benefits, even on non-training days. Which is why I take it in the morning, to make sure I take it daily rather than attaching it to a post-workout drink for example which sometimes I wouldn't have. I'll always have a drink upon waking to rehydrate (more on that in a second), so adding creatine to my morning drink ensures I take it daily. I take one serving of Strength by Awesome Supplements each morning, and if you use the code IWOOD05, you get 5% off at checkout.

2. Electrolytes

The second supplement I take every morning is an electrolyte blend. You lose a surprisingly large amount of water overnight while sleeping, in some cases as much as 200-400ml, which is a big part of the reason you will weight less in the morning compared to the evening. You'll lose a lot of this water through breathing and sweating, and because you're sleeping, you won't be replacing that water for 7-8 hours. This is why I take an electrolyte blend in the morning. It kick-starts that rehydration process, ensures I start the day with a good electrolyte balance (the minerals you lose alongside the water when you sweat). Being properly hydrated will help you feel less tired and fatigued, and perform better when training. I take on serving of Awesome Supplements Hydrate every morning, and again you can get 5% off at checkout with the code IWOOD05.

3. Caffeine

My final morning supplement is caffeine, which I enjoy in the form of a nice morning coffee. You may not think of this as a supplement, but it's a proven stimulant which will be added to energy drinks and pre-workout supplements you would take. It just so happens to be in a delicious morning coffee. We all know that a coffee can help to give you a little kick up the arse in the morning when you're feeling a bit flat, and you can do the same pre-workout, allowing 20-30 minutes for it kick on. I usually coach 7-10am in the mornings, then train at 10:30/11am, so I'll have one first thing in the morning to switch me on for coaching, and another at 10am-ish to give me a boost pre-training. The one consideration is to stop your caffeine intake 8 hours before sleep, so for me my cut-off time is 2pm if I'm aiming to get to sleep at 10am. This is because the half-life of caffeine is around 8 hours, so any caffeine ingested after that 8 hour cutoff will still be in your system as a stimulant when you go to bed, and it WILL affect your sleep (and therefore recovery and performance the next day).

Routine and Dosage

I'll take these supplements as follows. Wake up, make my way downstairs and immediately mix up 500ml of water with one scoop (8.3g)of Awesome Hydrate, and one scoop (5g) of Awesome Strength and drink that alongside breakfast. As I work through my seize the day, elite mindset morning routine of basic hygiene and getting dressed, I'll also make myself a double shot coffee to take to work with me. It's simple, it's easy, it helps me be at my best at work and when training in the morning, and I can do it all without getting up any earlier than I need to #TeamSleep. Ian.