Hey monkiis,

I have made it a rule to do some form of exercise every morning. It could be all monkii-ing, it could be yoga, it could be going for a run, or it could be a few Squats before I have to jet out the door. The point is, something is better than nothing and even if you only have time for a few reps, it all adds up. Anecdotally speaking, I just feel better after I have started my day with some movement. It could be a full-on workout or just a few reps, but either way, I feel successful for having obeyed my self directed rule. On this particular morning, I was feeling a more core-centric workout. I did 2 sets of the following:
10 Pikes
10 Side Tucks
8 Body Saws
30-second Forearm Plank

I moved through each exercise as if I was moving through honey. Each rep was slow and smooth. This slow movement is especially important first thing in the morning when your body is still cold. It's important to allow yourself ample time to warmup sufficiently before you get too wild. Not only will this produce better movement quality, but you will also significantly reduce your chance of injury. I added a pause at the top and bottom of each rep when doing the Pikes and Side Tucks. This meant that for the Pikes, I paused at the point of maximal hip flexion (imagine trying to fold yourself in half) and also at the point at which I was back in a plank. For the Side Tucks I added a pause at the point at which my knee touched my elbow and also at the starting plank position. It is possible to take advantage of momentum and swing your legs to the other side, however, you miss out on the opportunity to overcome the inertia created by pausing. I tend to do Planks last in a workout. I like being a little bit pre-fatigued when doing this particular exercise. It would be worth reversing the order of exercises just to see how it feels. You can add variety in many ways. The obvious way is to simply try out a new exercise. You can also create variety by changing your exercise order to make your muscles work in a state of fatigue they may not be accustomed to. That is the beauty of bodyweight training. There are an infinite amount of ways in which you can train and create a new stimulus for which your body must adapt. 

Let us know how it goes and feel free to send us a note if you have a morning routine you'd like to share with the monkii family.

In the monkii state-of-mind,
-monkii Dan

10 Pikes

10 Side Tucks

8 Body Saws

30-second Forearm Plank