My real 5am workout: 30 to 45 minutes, no big gym

People assume a mom-of-four workout means a gym membership and a two-hour block of free time. Mine means none of that. It happens at 5am, usually from my own basement and my phone, and it runs 30 to 45 minutes — five or six days a week. Here's exactly what I do, with zero expert fluff.

If you've read my morning routine, you know I protect an hour before the house wakes. The workout is the first brick in that hour. By the time the first kid wanders downstairs, I've already done something hard that was just for me — so the rest of the day starts from strong, not from behind. It's not vanity. It's fuel.

And I'll be honest — 5am sounds like the heroic flex everyone dreads, but it only works because we're always in bed before 9:30 or 10 the night before. The alarm at 5:30 doesn't hurt when you're genuinely rested. Early isn't a punishment here; it's just a trade — long quiet mornings for early nights, and I'll take that deal every time.

What 30 to 45 minutes usually looks like

A quick warm-up and some stretching to wake the body up, then I mix it between a few things I actually enjoy:

• Regular rides on the Peloton app, on my bike. This is my most reliable move — crank up a ride, done.
• Strength workouts and treadmill runs through the app on my phone. Lately I've been leaning into strength training more — it's the piece that makes everything else feel strong and capable as life gets busy. I don't need a fancy setup; the program is on my phone and I follow along at home.
• Air squats. Simple, no equipment, and you can do them anywhere — a handful of rounds gets the heart going fast.
• Kettlebells with my fiancé. Some mornings, when our schedules line up, we run a few sets together before his day takes off. It's our little version of team practice.

I change it up on purpose

I train five to six days a week, but I don't repeat the same workout two days in a row. The variety isn't just to keep from getting bored (though that's real) — it's to keep my body surprised. Your body adapts fast; if you feed it the same thing every day, it stops working as hard. Mixing rides, strength, treadmill and squats keeps it honest and keeps every session worthwhile.

You don't need my setup to start

Before anything else, strength training and a consistent habit beat gear. If you're just beginning, you can start tonight with absolutely nothing: some stretching, a few rounds of air squats, and a 20-minute walk or bike ride. The equipment I love (and you can find on my Gym Must-Haves list) is nice, but the habit is the whole game. Consistency over intensity, every single time. Done beats perfect.