How short can a morning workout be and still be worth doing?

Ten minutes is genuinely enough, provided you do it consistently. A short routine repeated daily will serve you far better than a longer one you only manage once a week.

Can overnight oats be made in advance for the whole week?

Yes — four to five jars made on Sunday will keep well in the fridge until Thursday. Add any fresh toppings the night before or on the morning itself.

Is the morning move routine suitable if I have a bad back?

Cat-cow and gentle hip hinges are often recommended as back-friendly movements, but if you have an existing injury or specific concern, check with a professional before starting — Alessia offers one-to-one sessions where this can be worked through properly.

The Reset · Edition 02 · 6 June 2026

The Morning That Actually Sticks

Name: Overnight oats three ways
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: Rolled oats (not instant); Milk of your choice; A small pot of natural yogurt; Chia seeds (optional, but they thicken it beautifully); For version 1: sliced banana and a spoonful of almond butter; For version 2: a handful of frozen berries (left on top overnight, they defrost and bleed into the oats); For version 3: a grated apple, a pinch of cinnamon, a few raisins

On why a ten-minute routine you repeat every day is worth more than the perfect session you do once.

If you only do one thing this week: ten minutes, before the house wakes up, on your mat or the bedroom floor. No kit, no app, no mirror. The move section below is exactly that — a gentle full-body sequence that takes less time than the kettle-to-cup routine. It works because you'll repeat it, and repetition is the whole point.

Consistency beats intensity every single time. The most rigorous programme in the world does nothing if it lives on a Monday and nowhere else. A short routine that fits inside a real Tuesday — school bags at the door, someone needing breakfast, your phone already buzzing — is the one that actually changes anything.

This week's edition is built around that idea: the 10-minute morning that survives. A move sequence, an overnight oats recipe the whole family will eat without complaint, a calm spot in Brompton Cross for when you get a rare hour to yourself, and one small note about the night before.

Nothing here asks for more than you have. That's the whole brief.

The move — 10 minutes, no kit

A full-body sequence done gently and consistently does more than an intense session done sporadically — and this one asks nothing of you except floor space.

01Cat-cow: start on all fours. Inhale as you drop your belly and lift your gaze; exhale as you round your spine toward the ceiling. 8 slow rounds.
02Hip hinge: stand, feet hip-width apart. Soft bend in the knees, hinge forward from the hips — not the waist — until you feel a gentle pull in the backs of your legs. Return tall. 10 reps.
03Wall press: face a wall, hands flat at shoulder height, about an arm's length away. Lower your chest toward the wall with control, push back. 10 reps. Slower than you think necessary.
04Calf raises: feet hip-width, rise onto your toes with control, lower slowly. Use the wall for balance if you need it. 15 reps.
05Repeat the full sequence once more, then take 60 seconds lying flat — just breathe.

The plate

Overnight oats three ways

One base, three variations, made the night before so breakfast on a school morning is literally opening the fridge. The kids eat it. You eat it. Done.

·Rolled oats (not instant)
·Milk of your choice
·A small pot of natural yogurt
·Chia seeds (optional, but they thicken it beautifully)
·For version 1: sliced banana and a spoonful of almond butter
·For version 2: a handful of frozen berries (left on top overnight, they defrost and bleed into the oats)
·For version 3: a grated apple, a pinch of cinnamon, a few raisins

The shortcut: Make four or five jars on Sunday night and they'll keep in the fridge until Thursday — mornings from Monday to Thursday are sorted in one go.

Where we eat

Daylesford Organic, Brompton Cross

Daylesford Organic at Brompton Cross is the kind of place that earns its reputation quietly. The produce is farm-to-table and genuinely good — you can tell the difference in the ingredients they stock. It's calm in a way that feels deliberate rather than designed, and it's one of the few spots in the area where you can bring the whole family without a single round of negotiation about where to sit or what's on offer. Worth knowing about for a slower Saturday morning when you actually have one.

The note

The night before, lay out your kit. Leggings, top, socks — on the floor next to the bed. It takes thirty seconds and it removes the single biggest obstacle to a morning routine: the moment you stand in the dark thinking, "I don't even know where my trainers are." Friction is the enemy of mornings. Reduce it wherever you can, and the rest follows.

Train with Barone

Sessions are 60 minutes, one-to-one, at home or in-studio — no gym membership required. The 20-session block works out at £110 a session and is where most clients land.

Book a session →

Good to know

How short can a morning workout be and still be worth doing?: Ten minutes is genuinely enough, provided you do it consistently. A short routine repeated daily will serve you far better than a longer one you only manage once a week.
Can overnight oats be made in advance for the whole week?: Yes — four to five jars made on Sunday will keep well in the fridge until Thursday. Add any fresh toppings the night before or on the morning itself.
Is the morning move routine suitable if I have a bad back?: Cat-cow and gentle hip hinges are often recommended as back-friendly movements, but if you have an existing injury or specific concern, check with a professional before starting — Alessia offers one-to-one sessions where this can be worked through properly.

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