Who is Ashton Hall? A look at the fitness influencer behind the viral 4am morning routine that has been mocked online

He’s a former LA fitness trainer, and the guy behind a viral morning routine video. The 29-year-old posted the clip on February 8, 2025, and it exploded, with 669 million views on X and over six million likes on his Instagram Reel.

Before becoming a fitness instructor, Ashton was gearing up for the NFL. He played as a running back at First Coast High School in Jacksonville, Florida and then signed with the Ravens in 2010.

But after some offseason workouts, the team ended up letting him go. The Colts gave him another chance later that same year, but it didn’t quite pan out as he never made it onto the field for a regular-season game.

Fitness ended up being what got him back on track and that now-viral video is a reflection of that whole journey. After college, Ashton took a break from working out for a year or two, which felt totally off for someone like him.

Mentally, he was struggling with the realization that his football dreams had come to a stop. He pivoted and started working as a personal training director at a gym.

Then Covid hit and he began posting workout videos with no fancy equipment, just bodyweight routines to help people stay fit at home. The gym job quickly lost its shine, especially after management told him he’d have to delete his social media.

What is Ashton Hall’s 4 AM morning routine?

Ashton’s now-viral morning routine kicks off with him dunking his face into a bowl of ice-cold water right after waking up. The video starts at 3:52 am, with Ashton staring into the mirror before peeling tape off his mouth.

Mouth taping is a trending sleep hack some say helps with snoring or mild sleep apnea. After that, he brushes his teeth, downs some bottled water, and jumps straight into a workout around 4:00 am.

By 4:20, he’s already done, and moves on to journaling, watching what looks like a motivational video, and then dunking his head into more ice water. By 6:00 am, Ashton’s dressed in athletic gear and heading to the gym.

The video shows him grinding it out on a treadmill, pushing hard until about 7:30. Ten minutes later, he’s in the pool swimming laps, followed by a quick dip in a plunge pool.

At 8:20 am, he’s back home, showered, snacking on a banana and, in a pretty unexpected twist, rubbing the banana peel on his face. Around 9:00 am, there’s another round of ice-water face dunking, then it’s laptop time at 9:15, getting into work mode. Breakfast is served by someone else just 15 minutes later.

Users on X questioned just how real or sustainable his morning actually is. One person summed it up with a blunt take: “This is not life.”

Another person added: “I am a lot more impressed by the dad of 2+ kids, who meal preps on Sunday and gets to the gym 5-6 days a week while working a full-time job. What you showed me here is a dude with no responsibilities rubbing a banana peel on his face.”