Morning routines are often held up as a transformative wellness habit, but Arnold Schwarzenegger argues their biggest benefit isn't waking up at 4am or dunking your face in expensive bottled water à la Ashton Hall.
Rather than waking up incredibly early and dunking your face in expensive bottled water a la Ashton Hall, the bodybuilding GOAT explains how devising a routine helps free up energy for more important tasks later on.
Instead, the bodybuilding icon believes a consistent routine helps conserve mental energy for the decisions that actually matter later in the day.
Writing in his Pump Club newsletter, Schwarzenegger explained that operating on ‘autopilot’ each morning removes unnecessary decision-making. It's an approach that has helped him continue training every day at the age of 78.
‘Every day, I do the same thing to start,’ Arnold writes. ‘I wake up, start the coffee, feed the animals, drink the coffee, get on my bike, ride to the gym, work out, then ride to breakfast. There is no thinking. There is no deciding.
‘My body knows the sequence, and it carries me through it before my mind has a chance to argue. Once that first sip of coffee hits, muscle memory kicks in and my body knows the next thing to do is get on the bike.’
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Why Arnold Schwarzenegger Follows the Same Morning Routine Every Day
Schwarzenegger argues there's nothing particularly magical about his routine. The real benefit comes from consistency and removing unnecessary choices.
By establishing a sequence of habits that happens automatically, he avoids wasting energy deciding what to do before the day has even begun. The routine effectively becomes what he calls an 'anchor'.
‘Your energy is limited – you only get so much of it in a day,’ he writes. ‘When you spend it deciding whether to do the things you already know you should do, you have nothing left for the things that actually require thought.
‘Mental processing power is expensive. You have all heard about how much energy Artificial Intelligence requires. What do you think your real intelligence costs?
‘It is a huge use of energy to sit there and figure things out as you go. So do not decide. Build the anchor instead. Pick the sequence that starts your day and run it the same way every time, until your body does it without asking permission.’
Arnold's Advice for Building Better Habits
For Schwarzenegger, the biggest advantage of a fixed morning routine is that it removes negotiation.
He doesn't have to think about whether he feels like training, what he has planned for the day or whether he'd rather stay in bed. The decision has already been made.
His advice is to start small.
‘Start with one thing. For most of us, it is probably coffee,’ Arnold concludes. ‘Decide tonight, not tomorrow morning, what comes after the coffee. Is it the run? Is it the gym? Is it an hour of studying?
‘Whatever it is, lock it in. Build your anchor.’
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Ryan is a Senior Writer at Men’s Health UK with a passion for storytelling, health and fitness. Having graduated from Cardiff University in 2020, and later obtaining his NCTJ qualification, Ryan started his career as a Trainee News Writer for sports titles Golf Monthly, Cycling Weekly and Rugby World before progressing to Staff Writer and subsequently Senior Writer with football magazine FourFourTwo.
During his two-and-a-half years there he wrote news stories for the website and features for the magazine, while he also interviewed names such as Les Ferdinand, Ally McCoist, Jamie Redknapp and Antonio Rudiger, among many others. His standout memory, though, came when getting the opportunity to speak to then-Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher as the club won League One in 2023.
Having grown up a keen footballer and playing for his boyhood side until the age of 16, Ryan got the opportunity to represent Northern Ireland national futsal team eight times, scoring three goals against England, Scotland and Gibraltar. Now past his peak, Ryan prefers to mix weightlifting with running – he achieved a marathon PB of 3:31:49 at Manchester in April 2025, but credits the heat for failing to get below the coveted 3:30 mark…
You can follow Ryan on Instagram @ryan.dabbs or on X @ryandabbs_
