Former Navy SEAL DJ Shipley knows a thing or two about discipline after 17 years of military service. But speaking on the Mulligan Brothers podcast, Shipley explained that better fitness doesn’t necessarily come from joining the hustle-culture ‘5am club’. Instead, he believes long-term progress is built on simple habits you can realistically repeat.
‘I’ve been on the same morning routine since 2004,’ Shipley says. ‘Wake up at the same time, go to the gym at the same time.’
Rather than chasing extreme transformations, Shipley believes consistency comes from stacking small ‘micro wins’ throughout the day.
‘There’s something you can do just for you that makes you exponentially better without a lot of effort,’ he says. ‘And a lot of it is micro wins.’
One of the simplest habits he recommends is walking.
‘The average person can walk a mile in 20 minutes,’ says Shipley. ‘I do that three times a day – 3 miles a day, 21 miles a week. Anybody can do that.’
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He recently told Men's Health: ‘Wake up 30 minutes early, walk out of your house and take a left. If you have to pace up and down outside your house for 20 consecutive minutes, do it.’
‘If you commit to walking once in the morning as soon as you get up and once after dinner, and do that for a week, it will change your life,’ he says. ‘If you do it for a month, you’ll never stop doing it.’
When it comes to diet, Shipley applies the same philosophy.
‘The best diet in the world is the one you’ll actually stick to,’ he says. ‘No different from that morning routine.’
DJ Shipley’s Daily Routine
According to Shipley, his routine has stayed largely unchanged for years because it’s sustainable and easy to repeat:
- Wake up at the same time every day
- Train at the same time each day
- Eat mostly the same meals, centred around protein
- Complete a 20-minute walk in the morning
- Add extra walks throughout the day
- Use cold plunges as part of recovery
- Build ‘micro wins’ before 10am to create momentum
- Go to bed at a consistent time
- Structure the day around repeatable habits
- Adjust the routine around work schedules when needed
‘I’m trying to stack up as many micro wins as humanly possible,’ Shipley says. ‘Did I wake up at the same time I was supposed to? Yep. Did I get my training in? Yep. Get a cold plunge in? Yep. 20-minute walk? Yep.’
His point is simple: consistently repeating small habits can compound into meaningful long-term results – without relying on unsustainable lifestyle overhauls.
Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.
