Advice on Getting Up for AM Workouts?!?

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cheekyraspberry
cheekyraspberry Posts: 17 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm having such a hard time finding the motivation in the morning to get up and get to the gym or do a workout video! What do other non-morning people do to get motivated and out of your warm bed?!

Always looking for more motivation or accountability so feel free to add me!
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Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I do my workouts in the afternoon, mostly. Unless it's summer and the afternoon temps are 100°+ and then my motivation is that if I don't get my run in before the sun is truly up I won't be able to run at all except on the treadmill and I hate the treadmill.
  • enigmaneo
    enigmaneo Posts: 61 Member
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    I've recently started trying to do cardio in the mornings and lifting in the evenings. Getting up is hard.
  • martinmcneely1
    martinmcneely1 Posts: 17 Member
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    It takes great motivation to do early morning workouts, I have a busy lifestyle and find myself in the gym at 4:30am. You've got to want to do it early, if you set out your training gear the evening before your more likely to get up. Give yourself achievable targets, even if it's as simple as 'x' amount of time in the gym or even 'x' of treadmill or lifting etc. Targets are a good insensible.
    Why do you want to train am? If you don't mind me asking? There is a saying that goes ' I don't have time to train, I make time'.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    Just do it. Once you get in the habit it is easy to keep doing.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,953 Member
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    Going to bed earlier... and making the sun come up earlier!

    I cannot get up if it's still dark except for the fear of getting fired. So... I'm not help!

    Some people suggesting things like this to me:

    1) Don't let yourself hit snooze, tell yourself you either get up and do it before work or you're going to be late for work
    2) Put your workout gear right by the door the night before so you can throw it on and go - or sleep in the gear

    I forgot the rest haha, but if I think of more I'll come back.
  • tazhinshaw
    tazhinshaw Posts: 297 Member
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    I had to buy an actual alarm clock and set it across the room (I would just push snooze on my phone and go back to sleep)
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 528 Member
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    1.) first you have to make the decision to DO it. Take away the option to not do it. Sort of like showering and brushing your teeth daily. You just do it - it isn't a decision you make, because you don't give yourself the option to NOT brush your teeth or shower.
    2.) get to bed early. If you are getting enough sleep, it is easier to get up in the morning.
    3.) get your stuff set out ahead of time. On Sunday, I lay out all my work out clothes for the week. The night before, I get my work clothes packed up (I go to the gym at work.) and my lunch packed, etc. I can't have anything left to give me an excuse in the morning.
    4.) try not to hit snooze. Snooze is the devil.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    Just do it. Once you have been doing it for at least a week you will be used to getting up. Just don't stop because it is too easy to just hit the snooze. Once its done you have the rest of the day open and not the thought of having to do a workout in the afternoon. I just remind myself of all the other times I've slept in and missed my workout and how miserable I felt. That was motivation enough to just get up and do it!
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I only do it on rare occasions, but I never regret it. It's nice to have it out of the way and knowing I can come home from work and do nothing. My mornings are pretty busy, so it doesn't happen often.

    When it HAS happened, I was prepared. Clothes were out the night before and I knew exactly what my workout was going to be. Without a plan, it's easy to talk yourself out of it.
  • F1tnessCh1ck
    F1tnessCh1ck Posts: 39 Member
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    I started doing challenges and I would be accountable in fitness groups. If I didn't do my workout in the morning, I would be exhausted and not be able to complete it after work - I'm like a walking zombie after work. So, I started getting up at 6 for 30 day shred and 21 day fix, then 5:30 for Insanity and now I'm up at 5:50 every morning for Insanity Max 30. Just find accountability somewhere - somewhere you don't want to be seen failing and you'll be motivated to show up, lace up and get it done!
  • loratliff
    loratliff Posts: 283 Member
    edited January 2015
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    tazduffy wrote: »
    I had to buy an actual alarm clock and set it across the room (I would just push snooze on my phone and go back to sleep)

    I'm naughty and will still get up and turn off the alarm and go back to bed!

    Getting enough sleep is crucial. If I've gotten enough sleep, I'll find myself waking up about 15 minutes before my alarm even. If not, there's no dragging me out of bed.

    Program the coffeemaker before going to bed, set out your gear, and go! I will get up, get my cup of coffee and then sip it while I slowly get dressed (a process when you're running in 20 degrees)—that helps me clear up any brain fog. I also find that brushing my teeth first thing or drinking a glass of water immediately upon waking helps refresh me and gives me a little wake-up jolt!

    I'm normally an evening gym/runner-type, so one of my New Year's goals was to shoot for running at least two mornings a week. Runner's World made the good point that just two mornings per week is easier to stomach when you know you have five other mornings to snooze.
  • chriscolh
    chriscolh Posts: 127 Member
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    I've been doing my workouts in the mornings for 6+ years now. The only thing that got me out of bed consistently was having a workout partner. Knowing that someone would be on my doorstep at 5am was enough to get me up and out the door. My first workout buddy no longer works out in the early morning (new baby takes up too much of her morning time!), but the habit has been formed for me. Plus, I've made new friends at the gym that make it more fun to be there... even if it is 3 hours before the sun comes up...
    + Good luck!
  • aphartung
    aphartung Posts: 1 Member
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    I am not a morning person. But my life is so hectic that if I don't get the workout done in the morning, I may not be able to fit it in that day. I put my clothes right by the bed. I do my best not to even think when the clock goes off. If I think, I'll snooze just 5 more minutes and then it goes downhill from there (Snooze IS the devil). I just sit up and change. I don't even go to the bathroom until after I am dressed and ready to workout. Then to the bathroom and straight to the elliptical.
  • homegirl614
    homegirl614 Posts: 93 Member
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    For me, I know if I don't workout in the morning, I'm just not going to do it at all. No matter how many times I tell myself that I will workout when I get off work, it rarely happens. Then I get upset with myself for not working out. So I just get up at 4:30 and do it...
  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,275 Member
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    I am working on this goal too. Just saying " I am going to get up early and exercise" is not enough. I am working on a night routine, shower, do hair, get to bed early, have clothes laid out. Do this for a week. Then add getting up early enough for exercising, but don't go for a week, just work on getting out of bed, putter around house, do plank and squat routine.

    Now, you have established a night routine, and a morning routine. The third week, should be easy to add work out.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,953 Member
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    F1tnessCh1ck wrote: »
    I started doing challenges and I would be accountable in fitness groups. If I didn't do my workout in the morning, I would be exhausted and not be able to complete it after work - I'm like a walking zombie after work. So, I started getting up at 6 for 30 day shred and 21 day fix, then 5:30 for Insanity and now I'm up at 5:50 every morning for Insanity Max 30. Just find accountability somewhere - somewhere you don't want to be seen failing and you'll be motivated to show up, lace up and get it done!

    Maybe this is why I can't do it. I have to get up at 5:45 just to get to work on time. I'd have to get up at 4:15 or 4:30 if I wanted to go to the gym.
  • cshuttb3
    cshuttb3 Posts: 1
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    Get an exercise buddy. If you know someone else is expecting you, its harder to flake out and sleep in. Even if you don't necessarily work out together, if you meet at a designated place to exercise you are more likely to make the effort to go.
  • cheekyraspberry
    cheekyraspberry Posts: 17 Member
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    martinmcneely1 wrote: »
    It takes great motivation to do early morning workouts, I have a busy lifestyle and find myself in the gym at 4:30am. You've got to want to do it early, if you set out your training gear the evening before your more likely to get up. Give yourself achievable targets, even if it's as simple as 'x' amount of time in the gym or even 'x' of treadmill or lifting etc. Targets are a good insensible.
    Why do you want to train am? If you don't mind me asking? There is a saying that goes ' I don't have time to train, I make time'.

    My job often keeps me busy in the evenings with networking events or meetings. My evening schedule is often just too unpredictable to work it in regularly. Also, I have a dog. In the warmer months, I was taking him for a run with me, but now it's just too cold. I feel bad leaving him all day and all evening!

    I know that the best way to work in regular exercise is to do it in the AM, but just having a rough time with it so far.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    VeryKatie wrote: »
    F1tnessCh1ck wrote: »
    I started doing challenges and I would be accountable in fitness groups. If I didn't do my workout in the morning, I would be exhausted and not be able to complete it after work - I'm like a walking zombie after work. So, I started getting up at 6 for 30 day shred and 21 day fix, then 5:30 for Insanity and now I'm up at 5:50 every morning for Insanity Max 30. Just find accountability somewhere - somewhere you don't want to be seen failing and you'll be motivated to show up, lace up and get it done!

    Maybe this is why I can't do it. I have to get up at 5:45 just to get to work on time. I'd have to get up at 4:15 or 4:30 if I wanted to go to the gym.

    Exactly why I work out in the afternoons rather than the mornings.

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