Bob Harper’s 10-Minute Morning Workout

You’ve seen the Biggest Loser, so you know this guy gets results. Major results. Here, Bob Harper shares his #UpNOut morning routine, including his two favorite turbo moves. Read, sweat, then repeat. 

SELF: What’s your favorite time of day to work out?

Bob Harper: Mornings, definitely. If my work day starts at 7 A.M., I’d rather get up early and exercise at 5 A.M. than going at 5 P.M. If I wait until the end of the day, I’ll find an excuse to skip it. My go-to workout is CrossFit.

Do you eat anything beforehand?

No food. I’m Paleo, and I find that a bulletproof coffee gets me going.

What about afterward?

I like to eat dinner leftovers for breakfast or lunch, right after my workout. I’m really into savory foods; I don’t like sweet stuff. I love the prepared frozen veggies from Trader Joe’s—I’ll cook them in a skillet with chicken or skirt steak and lots of spices. Or I might make a “sloppy joe” with grass-fed beef and an egg on top.

What else gets you #UpNOut?

I’m a numbers guy, and I am loving my Apple Watch Sport for tracking my activity. I have it in space gray. There is nothing like seeing my heart rate flashing in real time to push me to work even harder. Plus, I find that the “Time To Stand!” reminders every hour keep me moving. It’s motivating to see how much extra activity I can rack up throughout the day.

Do you use any other apps on your Apple Watch?

I like all of the apps, but I don’t want my brain to have too many things to think about when I’m exercising. So, I stick to one—the Workout app—to keep it as simple as possible. I select “Other Workout” before CrossFit. If I forget to track a session, it’s like, “Did that workout really happen?”

What’s your best tip for never skipping a morning workout?

Eat something healthy for dinner tonight and you’ll be less likely to press the snooze button tomorrow morning. If you don’t have the right fuel in your body, you’re not going to feel good and you’re not going to want to work out tomorrow morning. So many of us deprive ourselves all day and then eat a huge meal at night. But if you go to bed with a huge, sugary meal in you instead of fueling yourself all day long, you’re going to feel hungover and lethargic tomorrow. When I talk to people about making exercise stick, I talk to them about what they eat. If you’re aware of what you’re eating, you’ll be more inclined to get up and get moving.

I’m running late, and I’ve only got 10 minutes for a turbo workout at home. What should I do?

Here’s a calorie-burning, full-body conditioning EMOM [every minute on the minute] workout you can do at home without any equipment:

Every even minute [0, 2, 4, 6, 8], do push-ups for 30 seconds. Then rest for 30 seconds.

Every odd minute [1, 3, 5, 7, 9], do squat jumps—getting as much air as you can—for 30 seconds. Then rest for 30 seconds.

That’s 10 very hard minutes of exercise for you to start your day with.

Hear Bob Harper talk more about healthy living at the Apple Store in Soho in New York City at 6 P.M. on Tuesday, August 4. 103 Prince Street, New York City.