We’re coming up on the annual daylight saving time switch. Unlike the dreaded springtime change, in November we get to “fall back” and essentially gain an hour. If you’ve always wished to become a morning person, rejoice—this is the time you can use to jumpstart your morning routine.

It’s been proven that getting moving as soon as you wake up can help your day be more productive, create healthy sleep patterns, and more. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect morning jolt. You want to wake up and get energized to attack the day—but how do people do it?

We talked to some of Baltimore’s top fitness instructors to hear about their favorite, energizing morning routines:

Elyza Dolby of Yoga with Elyza, Movement Lab, and M. Power Yoga
Dolby starts the day with intention, both literally and figuratively. She keeps a journal under her pillow so the first thing she does in the morning—and last thing she does at night—is write. “Depending on the day, I either scribble out my dreams, gratitudes, morning pages [random thoughts] or all of the above,” she says. After that, she hangs with her (adorable) pup Beamer, and makes herself a celery juice. “After celery, I sip on a warm cacao for heart-opening,” she says. “Then I meditate, pull tarot and set an intention for my day ahead.” Once the necessities are out of the way, she’s ready for whatever craziness is to come.

Esther Collinetti of Rev Cycle Studio
Collinetti’s morning actually starts the night before. “I am someone that strives on structure in order to stay in integrity with my dreams.” Depending on the day, her alarms are set at different times and they are all labeled with things that inspire her. For example, 4 a.m. is labeled “One Life”, 5 a.m. is “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone”, 6 a.m. is “Do Epic Shit”, and 7 a.m. is “Remember You’re a Badass.” After waking up to an amazingly inspiring alarm, she jump-starts each morning with a sweat workout—either leading a class at REV or training for her next (yes, next!) Ironman. “Sweating gets me started for the day in order to get my system roaring in a higher state of mind, body, and heat connection,” she says.

Jami Crist of Rev Cycle Studio and Solid Core
Crist wakes up super early because, like many of us, she loves having a little time to herself before the day gets crazy. “I get up around 4:45 a.m., drink a glass of water to help flush out my system and I start the coffee ASAP,” she says. After a quick walk with the dog, she does mediation for 5-10 minutes with some light stretching. During this time, she sets her intention or looks at her horoscope to help guide her for the day, making sure to write it down. “I feel like this helps me to start my day with new fresh energy.” From there, it’s on to prep time. She reviews and prepares, so that she knows exactly what needs to be tackled that day. To get in one final wake-up push, she often adds in a pre-work workout which helps her set her body up for a successful, energetic day.

Jason Williams of Charm City PT and M. Power Yoga
Williams’ morning ritual keeps it simple—”Hydrate, Meditate, Caffein-ate.”

KG Spencer of BeachFit Baltimore
“Life with a new baby means no two mornings are ever the same,” says Spencer. That said, even seemingly mundane consistencies help this new mama keep her sanity. Every day, Spencer wakes up and immediately makes the bed. Then brushes her teeth. Then brushes her hair. “Always these three things—always in this order,” she says. It may not seem like much, but she says kickstarting her mornings this way means, no matter what chaos the day inevitably brings, she at least has a tidy room, clean teeth, and brushed hair.

Maddison Rowles of FX Studios and Rev Cycle Studio
Rowles is out of bed and out the door by 4:30 a.m. Aside from her typical morning routine, she says there are two steps she can never forget—coffee and podcasts. On her hour commute to work, she fuels up with her favorite donut shop coffee blend with almond milk, a coconut Lara Bar, and her favorite dynamic podcast duo Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark in My Favorite Murder. “If you don’t know about this podcast, now you do,” she says. “There is no better way to get my morning started.”

Marissa Walch of Yogaworks, FX Studios, and Marissa Walch YouTube
Walch and her four-legged partner, Minnie, start every morning together. “I like to sit quietly and drink my coffee with Minnie on the couch,” she says. “I purposely wake up earlier than I need to to make sure I have this bit of time to be quiet, drink slowly, and share some smiles with Minnie before starting a day where I don’t normally have time to sit down.” She always has her workouts pre-planned and typed into a Google calendar, but she doesn’t lay her clothes out like many people do. “It forces me to wake up and make decisions early in my day,” she says. “It turns my brain on so I can figure out if I need yoga pants, workouts tops, etc.”

Mimi Nguyen Washington of Seya Wellness
Before Nguyen gets out of bed each morning, she takes a few minutes to journal in her Five Minute Journal, and do a quick 7-10 minute guided mediation on gratitude. “The Five Minute Journal is also gratitude based,” she says. “While its hard to love getting out of bed when its dark out, instead of thinking, ‘I have to leave my warm bed to go to work,’ I try to shift the focus to, ‘I’m grateful I have a job to go to and a purpose to wake up.'” As often as possible she uses breakfast as a no-tech time, leaving her phone upstairs and enjoying breakfast without the distraction of emails, texts, or social media. “When was the last time any of us really stopped to savor the food we’re tasting and the flavor in our morning coffee?”

Oksana Koval of Fitness by Oxy and BeachFit Baltimore
Oksana starts the day at 5 a.m., so there’s little time to dilly-dally. She begins with an intention-setting practice accompanied by a glass of warm water with lemon. “It’s important to stretch before leaving the house,” she says. With a day full of classes, starting early and often ending late, she makes sure to take care of her body inside and out.

Reese Ashe of Reflex Fitness
Reese reminds us that, “No matter who you are, motivation always comes from within, so ‘find your why.’” While we see gyms and instructors all over town, it’s always been his goal to offer the fitness industry in Baltimore something unique, while providing for his family at the same time. When that alarm goes off every morning, he knows his job is to get others inspired and motivated. He reminds himself of his goal—and why he set it in the first place—and makes that his main focus. “Family and fitness are my why.”

Looking for a good workout with an even better playlist? Then you might want to head over to REV Cycle Studio for one of Sean Sanders’ classes. This high energy instructor will make you work hard while trying to restrain your body from all out dancing in his fun 45 minute class offered at both the Brewers Hill and Locust point locations. We caught up with Sanders to discuss his time at REV, how he creates his dynamite playlists, and what he would be doing if he wasn’t a spin instructor.

When do you start teaching spin and how did you get involved with REV?
I’m originally from Knoxville, TN, and I moved here about four years ago, and decided to do an internship with FX Studios, which is how I met the Rick who is a co-owner of REV and it just kind of went from there. I started working at the front desk of the studio in Locust Point, but I have always been very passionate about fitness. I had been working there close to a year and I only took maybe three classes, just because I didn’t feel like spin was for me. But I saw how it impacted a lot of different people and our customers daily and that made me want to be part of it. After that, I decided to become an instructor. 

How has spin has impacted your life?  
Physically, I feel that I have gotten a lot stronger, faster, and my endurance has definitely gone up. I’ve always been a people person, but ever since I started spin the way I talk to others has changed and I feel like I am more engaging. It’s also impacted me by being very rewarding. I love that I’m helping people. I had a lady come up to me the other day and tell me about all the weight she lost taking the class and it made me feel good. The classes can also benefit your mental health by taking 45 minutes to really focus on yourself. 

How many classes do you teach a week?
I teach 8-10 classes a week and I teach at both studios. I was actually the first full-time instructor at REV.

What do you think makes REV stand out from other gyms?
Oh man, a lot! It’s the way we impact the community. There is always an outreach program and charity rides for people in need. It’s also very personal. If it’s your birthday, we acknowledge that and might put something on your bike.

How do you go about picking music for your classes?
I have to admit, it’s a lot of work. I work with Soundcloud and Spotify to put it into a 45-minute mix. There are some instructors that play strictly hip-hip or some that just play pop. I feel like I’m in between. Sometime I’ll go from an EDM song to a hip-hop song to rock and roll. 

What’s your favorite song to spin to?
It’s probably ‘Take It All Back’ by Judah and the Lion. It’s a mix between country and alternative and then it picks up at the end. It’s just one of those songs I had on my very first playlist I ever made and I still play and see everyone go nuts.

What would you say is your favorite fitness trend?
I’m currently training for an Ironman triathlon on May 20. So I’d have to say racing.

If you were not a fitness instructor what would you be?
Honestly, it probably would be something to do with fitness, like personal training. I am also a year away from my degree in information systems, so maybe even doing something with cyber security.

What would you tell people that haven’t been to REV before, that might be a little intimidated to take a class? 
I would tell them not to be scared. It can be intimidating to try something new. I have clients that never want to sit in the front row because they feel like people are looking at them or judging them if they aren’t doing the right thing. I always tell my clients the same thing and that is to do what you can. The minute you step through the door, it’s a judgement-free zone. 

Ever gotten to know one of your fitness instructors so well that your conversations spill over into lunch or even happy hour?

That’s not out of the ordinary at REV Cycle Studio in Locust Point, according to barre instructor Annie Truax. The boutique spin studio, which is set to open a second space in Canton later this year, prides itself on the details, such as complimentary cycling shoe rentals, individual showers, and small class sizes, which allow guests and instructors to not only know each other on a fitness level but on a personal one as well.

As everything becomes more customized, boutique gyms—or personalized fitness studios—are popping up all over town. Whether it’s for yoga, barre, pilates, or spin, fitness fanatics are flocking to them for a customized workout experience.

“One of the biggest advantages of choosing a boutique gym is the personal attention,” says Melanie Pipkin Kozel, owner of The Dailey Method in Towson. “The instructors know your name, your injuries, and your potential.”

While the workouts at these studios are tailored to your specific needs, a lot of people turn to them for the social aspect. Clients are able to establish relationships and encourage each other both inside and outside of their fitness journeys, says Kate Rowe, instructor at BeachFit in Fells Point.

“These people are there for you like a second—albeit much sweatier—family.” Jason Herd of M. Power Yoga in Canton agrees. “It sort of becomes a clubhouse for fitness junkies.” And that clubhouse sense extends to the instructors. “This isn’t just a job for us,” he says. “This is our family.”

After the birth of her third child, Lisa Quigley struggled to get back into shape. “The normal routine of jumping on the treadmill or lifting some weights just wasn’t working,” says the runner from Havre de Grace. In search of variety, she tried group fitness and loved it, but found the times inconvenient, the classes often full, and attending too expensive.

That was when she came up with the idea for Real Flexi, a monthly membership plan that allows users to pay a flat rate and reserve space in classes at various gyms around town. “Currently, we offer 250 classes a week at numerous locations in Baltimore and Harford County. By the end of the year I estimate thousands of classes including the beltway areas—like Timonium and Columbia—and Ocean City and Delaware,” she says.

Just a few months after Real Flexi launched in November 2014, ClassPass arrived in Baltimore with a similar membership model. “The boutique fitness space is really blowing up in Baltimore,” says ClassPass CEO and co-founder Payal Kadakia, noting that clients love the convenience and variety of classes.

Both programs do have similar challenges, though: Popular classes can sell out, and some find the monthly fee hefty—$99 for ClassPass and $69 and up for Real Flexi—especially since most people are taking boutique classes in addition to their regular gym membership. Real Flexi addresses that problem by including studios with traditional gym equipment, where you can workout as part of your class allotment.

For studios, the benefits of membership (fuller classes, new clients) outweigh the drawbacks (both companies take a percentage of the cut). By signing on as a ClassPass partner studio, Rick Zambrano, owner of REV Cycle Studio in Locust Point, hopes to gain exposure to a broader audience. “People now want the flexibility of being able to take a variety of classes and enjoy several different types of workouts as opposed to going to the [big] box gym down the street.”