Working out five to nine... what a way to make a living

Before clocking on at 9am, many young people are squeezing in four hours of everything from fitness to self-help. But the craze could just be more work and no play, says Ellie Muir

- Ellie Muir

I settle at my office desk at 9am and smugly look at my colleagues wiping sleep from their eyes. What they don’t know is that between the hours of 4.45am and 8.30am this morning, I went to the gym, meditated, meal-prepped my lunches, worked on my side hustle, wrote in my gratitude journal and read a chapter of a self-help book. I even listened to a productivity podcast on my commute. I’m fulfilled, energised and comfortably in the swing of my day.

My mornings are typically lazy but not today, because I’m testing the viral “five-to-nine” routine, which sees corporate Gen Z-ers document themselves – either before work from 5am to 9am or after work from 5pm to 9pm – performing an actionpacked step-by-step wellness programme made up of exercise, personal growth work, meal-prepping, skincare and sidehustling.

These routines are regimented and seem strenuous, but they have a huge appeal: the five-to-nine video style has been replicated by thousands of creators online, with the hashtag #5to9routine having 35 million views on TikTok alone. Under this tag, you’ll find thousands of Gen Z workers showing how they reclaim their time – and their personalities – back from their corporate jobs.

Gen Z’s interest in maximising productivity in these four golden hours has taken inspiration from the rise of the “5am club” – a special group of uber-productive superbeings who celebrate the benefits of rising at dawn. Sure, people have always been early risers (famed Vogue editor Anna Wintour, obviously, is one of these people) but the very act of waking before the rest of the world is increasingly common, with celebs including Jennifer Aniston, Mark Zuckerberg and Michelle Obama all claiming to be members of the club.