"WHO MICROWAVES BACON" — Ashton Hall's 2018 morning routine leaves the internet in bits after his present routine went viral

Ashton Hall recently recreated his morning routine from 2018, weeks after his present morning routine went viral on X on March 20. The fitness influencer first posted the viral routine on his Instagram page in February 2025. However, the video gained traction after it was reshared on X by user @tipsformenx, having garnered over 774 million views at the time of this article.

On April 2, 2025, Hall uploaded his supposed 2018 morning routine, captioned "2018 morning routine was different." The influencer's day started at 8:00 am, with him brushing his beard, trimming his hair, and washing his face. Hall then prepared his breakfast, microwaving some bacon strips while getting ready for a workout.

He left his house at 8:10 am, picking up a friend along the way before going to Planet Fitness for his workout. He then changed and headed to his job at LA Fitness at 9:30 am, telling someone on the phone that he was clocking in for 12 hours.

He further offered advice to one of the gym members, telling him he could gain 20 pounds of muscle in 30 days if he woke up at 3:50 am and followed Hall's routine, a seeming reference to his now-viral routine. The video ended with the timestamp of 1:01 pm, after Ashton Hall grabbed lunch at McDonald's.

Ashton Hall's 2018 morning routine video, which has gained over 2.9 million views at the time of this article, was met with hilarious reactions on X, with one user commenting:

"WHO MICROWAVES BACON."

Several netizens echoed this sentiment, claiming microwaved bacon was "diabolical" and a "wild activity."

"Microwaving bacon is DIABOLICAL under any circumstances," one person tweeted.

"Rookie Bacon Mistake. You wrap them entirely on a baking sheet. Less mess," someone else commented.

"Putting Boars Head bacon in the microwave is wild activity," another user said.

"Did you just microwave bacon? Yo wtf like do you toast your steaks too?" one netizen questioned.

Some users questioned the other things in Ashton Hall's video, like his McDonald's order and his workplace. One person claimed the fitness guru did more in 15 minutes than they did in 40 minutes every morning.

"20lbs of muscle in 30 days... not a single person mentioning this?" one person asked.

"Why you putting barbecue sauce on a McDonald’s fish filet?" another user added.

"From Planet Fitness to LA Fitness??? This guy can’t be serious," someone else commented.

"In 15 minutes he did as much as I did in 40 every morning," one netizen wrote.

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Ashton Hall's morning routine became a viral trend online, spurring questions about its benefits

Ashton Hall's viral 3:50 am morning routine—which included dunking his face in ice, rubbing a banana peel on his face, and using multiple bottles of Saratoga water—became a trend online and was recreated by many, including the Duolingo bird and Mr. Beast.

The viral video also spurred the question of whether Ashton Hall's morning routine, especially his ice plunges, had any real benefits. In a conversation with USA Today on April 2, board-certified dermatologist Dr. Alexis Stephens said ice plunges can help reduce puffiness in the face, adding:

“There can be some temporary benefits to plunging your face into ice water: it may help reduce puffiness, wake up the skin, and create a tightening effect by constricting blood vessels. As long as someone doesn’t have conditions like rosacea or extremely sensitive skin, doing it daily is usually fine—but always in moderation.”

However, Stephens emphasized that ice plunges should be done in moderation, as overdoing them can cause "redness, broken capillaries, and irritation" in the face. She also asked that people avoid squeezing a lemon into the ice plunge, as Ashton Hall had done in his viral video, because the acidic nature of lemon could cause potential eye or skin irritation.

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Ashton Hall currently has 11.3 million followers on Instagram.