Wellness manager Justin Nedelman wakes up every morning promptly at 4:15 a.m. – and without the ringing of an alarm clock.
“I am a conscious early riser,” says Nedelman, who lives in Los Angeles Assets. “I have been getting up before sunrise for 20 years or more.”
Nedelman, CEO of Pressed Juicery, a cold-pressed juice shop and wellness brand, loves being awake within the murky morning hours when the remainder of the world stands still. “The mornings are just magical to me. You own the town,” he says.
It allows him to enjoy a 5-ounce Americano, a glass of water, a five-minute meditation and, most significantly, a very good workout. All of this has been a staple of the 48-year-old’s morning routine for many of his adult life, something he attributes to his good health and entrepreneurial success – not to say that it helped him reach the summit of Guatemala’s 4,000-meter Acatenango volcano on foot and by mountain bike last 12 months.
“I don’t know how you could run a wellness brand without striving for wellness every day – mental, physical, spiritual, whatever that may be,” he says.
Getting up early for the morning sweat
Having loads of time to work out is a big advantage of getting up early. His morning sweat, which Nedelman includes strength training, a weight vest and a jump rope, is non-negotiable for him.
There’s an argument that the early bird catches the worm. Waking early may give people time to exercise, eat a nutritious breakfast and relieve the stress that comes with rushing out the door – all pillars of an extended, healthy life. It gives Nedelman time to set a goal for the day – a habit that may boost confidence and performance.
Although most adults need at the very least seven hours of sleep an evening to guard their physical and mental health, Nedelman goes to bed between 10 and 11 p.m., giving him about six hours of sleep. However, he admits that he naturally wakes up throughout the 4 a.m. hour, even when he gets home after midnight from an overnight flight or an extended night of labor.
“If I only have three hours, then I have three hours. Sometimes I have six or seven,” he says, adding that he can “sleep in” until 5:30 a.m. about every two to a few weeks.
He says he doesn’t seem to want as much sleep as the typical person, whether because he follows a “clean diet,” exercises each day or is just lucky. Nedelman also limits himself to a cup of coffee at 4:45 a.m., which can have a positive effect on his sleep quality, or how well he falls asleep and stays asleep.
Nedelman doesn’t forego all social plans to maintain a strict bedtime. When he began his profession in business, he stayed out late, went to business lunches and sacrificed some sleep. Today, as a father of two, he admits he thinks quite a bit more about balancing work, family and wellness and encourages others to take into consideration optimizing their time.
“Since I started my professional career, it was always impossible to stay fit, work really hard and have a social life unless you were super disciplined with your time,” he says. “When I realised all this, I had to join the 5am club in the gym and I had to be intentional about when I was going to be out for really long hours because I knew the impact it would have.”
While it will not be attractive or feasible for all high achievers, some type of Nedelman’s routine could be helpful, equivalent to setting aside enough time for a morning routine.
Routines are individual for a reason, and never everyone can get up at midnight feeling on fire. However, Nedelman desires to spread the message that wellness is greater than only a job—it’s more of a passion to delay your health.
“I hope to be like this for my whole life,” he says. “It’s kind of a ‘live long, die fast’ mentality, as opposed to ‘live long and die slow’ for the last 10 years, which would have been really challenging.”
