Motivation to get up earlier and exercise!

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  • cbstewart88
    cbstewart88 Posts: 453 Member
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    I am a morning person. Always have been. So maybe I have a bit of a leg up when it comes to early morning workouts. But I am a big advocate of those. I can't make any excuses for NOT doing it, 'cause I'm up and I may as well. It gets it out of the way for the entire day - and I don't have to think about it again. The gym is empty. I feel better all day long. Only downside - I go to bed pretty early, kind of a party-pooper :(
  • SweatsOnSunday
    SweatsOnSunday Posts: 514 Member
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    rainbow198 wrote: »
    When I started working out in the early mornings I made a number of changes...

    - I prepped the night before. I laid out my workout gear and had my workout sessions all planned out.

    - Started getting more sleep and going to bed earlier.

    - I did different workouts to see what I enjoyed which made me stick to it.

    - What I found motivating is know that my workout was done for the day before the day got started. Too many times I got distracted in the evenings or something came up and I couldn't work out.

    - Lastly, I wanted it badly (fitness and weight loss) so visualize how I wanted my body to look and it gave me motivation to just do it.

    After a couple of weeks it became a habit and now I really enjoy and look forward to my early workouts.

    How bad do it want it????

    Perfectly said. :)
  • Sedu1906
    Sedu1906 Posts: 145 Member
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    you have to want to workout. I have a very difficult time to wake up early to do weights or t25. but I'm a cyclist and during the summer I wake up early so that I can get in a good 3-4 hour ride and still be home while everyone is sleep. But because I LOVE being on my bike, I pop out of the bed a 4:30 without blinking. That's only because I LOVE doing it.
  • 2011rocket3touring
    2011rocket3touring Posts: 1,346 Member
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    I get up at 4am. One of the things that got me started was a saying I saw some time ago that said:
    "do something today that tomorrow you'll be grateful for"
    So exercise was a no brainer. Get it done in the morning and BAM mentally coast the rest of the day...
  • TheCupcakeCounter
    TheCupcakeCounter Posts: 606 Member
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    I have two things that help get my butt out of bed at 5am:
    1. I love all those crappy Bravo reality shows so the only time I let myself watch them is if I am on the treadmill
    2. My hubby will quite literally push me out of bed when the alarm goes off if I don't get up quick enough (at my request but I think he is having more fun with it than I intended)
  • TheCupcakeCounter
    TheCupcakeCounter Posts: 606 Member
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    Feel free to friend me as a fellow morning mover
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    I'm often a contrary voice on these discussions. For years I thought that I had to get up and exercise in the morning. And that worked great until something came along and disrupted my schedule, I missed going to the gym because I needed to sleep, and my whole plan fell apart.

    I have embraced my inner night owl now and don't worry about getting up early. I go over lunch. Plus I don't have to, as Mrs Jruzer says, "Got to bed at 8 like a baby."
  • nicola1141
    nicola1141 Posts: 613 Member
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    In the past getting up early has worked for me, but not anymore. I took a good, hard look at my life and where I could fit in exercise in a sustainable way. I just never enjoyed getting up early, was always looking for an excuse to sleep in instead, often wussed out on my workouts in the morning because I just wasn't feeling it, etc.

    For me, what is working is Saturdays while my daughter is at dance class (instead of me sitting outside her class, I now go to the gym a few doors down), Sundays (sometimes it is while my other daughter is at dance, sometimes it is something less structured like a run on my own time, a hike with the kids, etc.), and one day a week at lunch.
  • marlysgirl
    marlysgirl Posts: 16 Member
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    I have a mixed schedule, so I either get up at 5am (which is not easy) or come home after work and eat dinner and chill and then go to the gym at 8pm (which is not easy either). Sometimes both. Just pick what works. And unless its totally raining outside, I do a quick 20 min walk at lunch.
  • jbirdgreen
    jbirdgreen Posts: 569 Member
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    Personally, I am not at a mental place where I can get up on my own to workout. I have to have an appointment for accountability. At first it was a spin class at my local gym. There were only two other regular spinners that would show up so early in the morning, and I started showing up because I wanted to be a regular too. Then I noticed that they would notice when I wasn't there, so that helped me go too.

    Now, I have an appointment with my personal trainer twice a week. I pay for my sessions in advance and I have to cancel 24 hours before our meeting in order for it not to count. The thought of lost money definitely keeps me from hitting the snooze button!
  • mrswiggum
    mrswiggum Posts: 17 Member
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    Echoing a few others. If morning workouts are difficult, then do them in the evening, or whenever is most convenient for you.

    I will say, I love getting a workout done early. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something right away, it wakes me up for the day, makes me feel great and invigorated, and once I'm done, I don't have to worry about doing it anymore.

    And like somebody else said, when you make something into a routine or a habit, it's just something you do, and something you will hopefully ENJOY doing.

    Good luck!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,931 Member
    edited February 2017
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    The only thing I can think of is to go to bed earlier. And it might take more than the equivalent amount of time. If I wanted to get up at 5:00 instead of 6:00, I'd probably have to go to bed at 8:30 instead of 10:00 if that makes sense. And I would probably have to go to bed earlier for a month or so before it actually started helping me feel awake enough in the morning to exercise.

    But I am a sleepy morning person... and I yawn so much if I exercise in the morning that I feel like I can't breathe and will pass out hahaha. So my personal preference would be not to exercise in the morning (aka before work) no matter how well rested. But that's just me. I also find exercising in the AM tires my brain out for work. Not sure why. It does the opposite for so many people.

    Other tips you can try:
    - Set up your exercise clothes the night before - you could even wear them to bed if they're comfy enough.
    - Have your exercise plan set up (dvd in the player, weights on the bar, whatever if you do it at home)
    - Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room so you have to get up to turn it off.
    - Drink too much water before bed? Lol
  • KatieBaack
    KatieBaack Posts: 97 Member
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    I want to start doing this as well! Could definitely use some accountability friends there! It's hard for me to workout in the evenings because I teach karate 2 nights/week so I don't get home until 9pm and the nights that I don't my 14month old goes to bed within an hour of me getting home, by the time she's in bed dinner's ready and I'm really not a fan of working out right after dinner (I'm not up long enough after dinner to give a decent digestion break between eating & working out). But half the time I wake up to my hubby getting up (almost an hour before I need to) & I just lay in bed and try to get a few minutes more sleep (which pretty much never happens).
  • hapa11
    hapa11 Posts: 182 Member
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    Seeing the sunrise and already being done with your workout--best feeling in the world.
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
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    I am a night owl and I need more than 7 hours of sleep, so 4 or 5 in the morning would never happen for me. I tried getting up early to go walk with a friend who wanted to walk in the mornings last summer. She felt if she walked in the evenings she wouldn't be able to sleep. I did the morning thing for about 3 weeks, and finally had to quit. I was so tired I couldn't hardly walk that early. It takes me at least an hour to wake up fully. I work out in the middle of the day and if the weather is nice, I walk in the evenings.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited February 2017
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    I got started getting up at 4:15 to hit the gym before work when my kids were little. After work was reserved for being with the family, school, sports and other activities. My kids are in their 20's now and my job has been eliminated due to corporate restructuring, but I still get up early to workout. I am however now sleeping in to 5:00 AM since I'm not working.

    Very few things interrupt your workout when most of your time zone is still sleeping.
  • Hiker_Rob
    Hiker_Rob Posts: 5,547 Member
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    I am not a morning person by any means and if I there is any reason to not workout in the morning I will find it lol. Having said that, I will say that I go through phases, I do it for a while then I stop for a short bit. I am a runner, and do races up to half marathons from spring to fall, in the late spring through to early fall i force myself to get up at 5am to run for an hour because the heat of the afternoon is too warm, and particularly tiring after a long day at work - this is just discipline for the sport i love. During the winter, when I can run outdoors I do, but it is in the afternoons or my best time is on weekends around mid morning as that is my peak running time of the day.

    If you don't like working out in the mornings and have no drivers (like my need to run early to avoid heat) then it is tough to keep with it. If you can develop the discipline for it then great, go for it! I just tell my self now that it is a bonus on the days I manage it but I have stopped beating myself up about it if I don't get it done. My afternoon workouts however (P90X or Bike or Weights), it gets done without question, 6 days a week.

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