hit the ground running

To begin something energetically and successfully. I'm confident that our new CEO will just hit the ground running once she starts here.

Fig. to start the day very energetically. A decade ago I had a lot more energy. I would wake up, hit the ground running, and never stop until I went to bed again.

Seize an opportunity; begin at full speed. For example, As soon as the front office gave its approval for the new department, we hit the ground running . The origin of this term is disputed. It may come from troops dropped into a combat zone, from stowaways jumping off a freight train as it nears the station, or from Pony Express riders avoiding delay when they changed mounts.

If you hit the ground running, you start a new activity with great energy and enthusiasm, working effectively from the beginning. We need someone who is fully trained and can hit the ground running. She's in excellent shape and in good spirits. She'll hit the ground running when she gets back. Note: The image here may be of soldiers landing by parachute or helicopter in a battle area and moving off quickly as soon as they reach the ground.

To begin a venture with great energy, involvement, and competence.

To seize an opportunity at the earliest possible moment. This expression, which is undoubtedly American and became a cliché in the late 1970s, is of disputed origin. According to New York Times columnist William Safire, some believe it originated in one of several arenas of World War II—as an instruction given to paratroopers (as to what to do when they land), or to soldiers dropped into a combat zone by helicopter, or to naval personnel landing on a beach. Another authority maintains that it comes from hoboes or other stowaways jumping off a freight train as it nears a station in order to escape capture. Still another theory traces the term to horseback riders, first in the Pony Express, when they “hit the ground running” so as to avoid delays when changing mounts, and later in rodeos, when they got up and away quickly after being thrown from a horse that might try to stomp them on the ground.