The Viral Ashton Hall 3:52 AM Routine—and Why It Pissed So Many People Off

As of this writing, uber-jacked fitness influencer Ashton Hall has been going SUPER viral for his morning routine.

If you haven’t seen it, check it out below:

This has prompted all sorts of reactions and for good reason.

The routine–peculiar.

The regime–structured.

The wake up time–dead of night.

The memes–endless.

In this article, I’ll offer my take on it as someone who has been doing purposeful self-improvement work for the last 14 years and how to move forward in your own life.

The Giant Mirror Into the Psyche

I’ve always been of the opinion that everything we interact with in life is a giant mirror that reflects us who we are back at ourselves.

Whether it be war, politics, other people’s actions, technological developments, our reactions to these events show our mindset at any given time.

Sure, there are things that we would prefer over than things we do not, but on the whole these are all things we cannot control.

The Stoics would refer these indirectly as “externals”.

And this is the giant unlock.

How does this relate to this video?

There are many people who were legitimately TrIgGeReD by this video.

Legions of people spilling ink in comment threads, Reddit posts, op-eds, and all other sorts of online media.

While there have been many who have a neutral, even slightly aspirational stance – many others have been overtly antagonistic.

It’s these latter people who are the most interesting.

Why This Video Triggered Millions

The world and as a result, the Internet is filled with all sorts of people.

Unfortunately, many of these people are not into self-improvement of any kind.

Many of these people also:

• Are lazy and apathetic
• Have addictions to various things
• Have no internal drive or motivation
• Take no responsibility for their actions
• Have low self-esteem and self-confidence
• Are quick to blame and finger point at others
• Have given up on themselves and life in general

And what happens when a polarizing video like this pops up on their feed out of nowhere interrupting their string of mind-numbing and general narcotizing content?

They freak the fuck out.

And as a result, they react by how they conditioned to react.

One person could give it a nice laugh and go about his day while another has to write a long screed on how this is the epitome of “toxic masculinity”.

Again, we don’t see the world as it is, we see it as we are.

When I Saw My Own Self-Doubt Reflected Back at Me

I was not immune to this either.

Many years ago, when I was starting my own self-development journey as an adolescent and seeking inspiration, there would be versions of guys who seemed to “just have it all together”.

This was early, early social media so there wasn’t as much flexing out there like there is now.

I knew comparison wasn’t fair – I was still a young college student at that point and I hadn’t even started life yet…

But it still got to me.

I’d see guys like this—fit, disciplined, looking like they had their life together—and I’d feel that internal sting because I’d compare it to where I was at the time.

It was amplified even more when there were guys that I knew personally who had some or many of these traits – like a micro-sized version of the larger success.

Guys I knew who were further ahead in their physique/bodybuilding journey than I was–these were guys who started working out at 15/16 rather than 20 going on 21 like I was.

Guys I knew who effortlessly had women flocking around them–I had some game back then but it wasn’t refined.

These were even the guys who seemed to be doing great internships for multinational countries in world cities (New York, LA, Miami, Barcelona, Paris, etc.) over their summers – I spent my summers working at 4am shift at Target to scrounge up money for the coming semesters.

It wasn’t disgust.

It wasn’t hatred.

It wasn’t even full-blown envy.

It was that uncomfortable tension between admiration and inadequacy. Like “damn“.

Part of me respected it.

Another part felt like I was being reminded of everything I wasn’t doing.

As a naturally competitive person, it lit a fire.

And instead of blaming the guy in the video or post or picture or whatever medium…It stirred a question in me:

What’s this reaction trying to teach me about myself?

And that’s when the unlock came of life being a mirror. That was an early

In addition, that’s when the other, other unlock came.

Beyond it being a mirror…

Many of these guys were just showing off and exaggerating.

“Any publicity is good publicity”

“I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.“ – P.T. Barnum

And as someone who is involved in online marketing, I have a natural detector for what this is.

This is the TikTok/Instagram equivalent of a shitpost.

It is designed to go viral in a world with low attention spans. It is short, has a hook, and most of all–it is absurd.

He could have started off the video with a time stamp of 4:00 am, but instead it starts at 3:52 am.

He does a lot of “upper crust bougie biohacker-esque” type things in the video (multiple ice water face dunks, micro meditation after doing partial push ups, banana peel on face).

He has multiple faceless servants offscreen hand him items (in other videos as well).

A fucking 4 MINUTE dive…LOL.

The scenes themselves are very orchestrated (he has a “just stepped off the jet” look at 4 am…).

This is viral bait. He (and his team) knew this would take off.

I don’t know this guy and never heard of him before now but in the grand scheme of it all, this is just harmless entertainment.

Yet, many people are crucifying this guy like he is the scum of the earth.

How crazy is that?

But the crazier part is how much money and attention this got him within a short period of time.

He already had a large following and was already popping before this but on Instagram alone, he has gained almost 6 MILLION followers in just the past 30 days alone as of the time of me writing this:

That is not a small number.

How many of those people ended up (and will end up) becoming:

• Clients
• Sponsorships
• Business Partners
• People who will spread his message even further

In a world where people react to surface level information and generally want to be entertained to death, this is a certified bullseye. You couldn’t pay for those types of numbers.

How to Move Forward for YOU

Despite there not seemingly being a lesson in something like this, there is value to be gained, especially if you are someone who is in the position of looking up at someone like this and viewing them as “oh my God, I guess I have to wake up at 3:52 am if I want to be successful too”.

Here’s what you can learn from this.

Treat videos like this as humor, not as a model

Videos like these are good for the lols. They are not meant to tell you that you have to get up at 3:52 am in order to be successful.

If you feel that another man making a video is exerting pressure on you to do the exact same thing and live your life the same exact way, it probably means that you are a follower.

Think for yourself.

Use this as a way to be like “damn, I need to step my game up”, not “damn, I need to live my life like this guy or I’m a loser”.

You need be realistic

Following from the last point…

You probably shouldn’t wake up at 3:52 am. It isn’t feasible for most people and will probably do more harm than good.

I suggest getting up early…but not absurdly early.

Set up a routine

I do think every person should have some type of routine they go throughout in their day.

It helps keep you focused, balanced, and organized at times when life can become crazy (which we all know it can).

Make one, stick to it, edit when necessary.

Conclusion + Wrapping Up

I view this video as a reflection of the society we live in.

I don’t know Ashton Hall, have never heard of him before this video, and probably will never meet him in real life.

He seems to be a pretty successful influencer based on raw numbers before this alone but I highly doubt that his real morning routine is 5 hours.

Will he publicly admit this? Probably not, because it breaks the illusion.

Again, the truth lies somewhere within the middle. Take what you can/want, leave the rest.

Enjoy it for what it is, don’t take it too seriously. But at the same time, use it as a reflection, like I mentioned in the opening.

Guys like this all over the world are getting up early, taking life by the horns, and adding value to the world.

Every time you see a guy going hard, remember—it’s not about copying him. It’s about rising to your own standard.

So the real question is: When are you going to get serious?”

If you really liked this article, your next read should be about how to sharpen your self-management skills.