Morning workouts

heidispideymfp

for those of you who have to workout in the morning : how do you motivate yourself to get moving so early??

I'm finding the only time I have for a workout is 5:00 - 5:30 or 6:00 am . I'm struggling though. My brain is foggy before my coffee, and my body is sluggish. How do I get myself up and moving, when the prospect of rather drinking my cup of coffee in peace, before the chaos of family life starts?

scottwheeler75

I have 6:00 am workouts Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. All are swim workouts with a local Masters Swim Team (usms.org). What helps me get moving in the morning is, 1st thing instead of Coffee, get into the shower, that helps wake me up. Second thing that helps is routine, I basically do the same thing each time. 5:00 am, shower, pack my swim bag, leave at 5:30, arrive about 5:45, stretch for a few minutes before, get in the pool at 6. The third thing that helps is the social aspect of the workout. There are usually, 3 to 4 of us in each lane. Getting to know others in and around my lane helps motivate me to be there. I suggest finding people to workout with. Lastly, things like MFP, can help create accountability if you allow it to, tell your MFP friends what your goal is and ask them to check in with you to see if you have accomplished your goal.

I hope this helps! I find that it is much easier to get up on swim days than the off days, even though I am getting up much earlier.

-Scott

Daisies86

I work out at 6:30 three days a week. My main motivation is to have my evenings free to spend with friends or chill out after WOR. I tend to just jump out of bed, put on my friend work out clothes and go to the gym. I prep my meals the night before and get home for a quick shower and coffee before work. I do small group weight lifting classes so the social aspect really helps plus the accountability from the trainer also. But I made the decision for the morning workouts to have my evenings to myself.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

I jump out of bed when the alarm goes off at 4am, without even thinking about it. If I let myself think about how early it is, I'll 9/10 talk myself out of it and go back to sleep.

I also make sure I get to bed early enough so I'm not wearing myself down with sleep deprivation. No later than 10 is my bedtime, and that means IN BED with the lights out.

If all that's not working out, I keep a 5 Hr Energy Shot or similar on my nightstand and take a hoot of that when the alarm rings. I hit 'Snooze' once, and by the time it goes off again, the caffeine has kicked in and I'm ready to party.

scottwheeler75

Another thing, make that morning workout a time that is set aside for yourself. Getting the workout done before family chaos kicks in is easier than trying to do it in the middle of chaos. Once it becomes a habit, you may find that you start waking up before your alarm goes off!

Soulfood77

I would stress the point alloutof_bubblegum made about going to bed on time. It is so much easier to get out of bed after 8 hrs of sleep than it is after 6 hours of sleep.

I know when I do morning workouts I feel so much better all day knowing that I am done with my workout!

palwithme

I get up at 4 a.m. and am on the road by 4:15. I pack my bag the night before so I am ready to go. I work out for 2 hours, then go to work. It took a few weeks to get used to but now it has just become my regular schedule. I stop at the same gas station each day and have a large coffee. If I don't have the coffee my work out blows.

heidispideymfp

Thanks everyone ! I guess I just have to do it . The thing is, I LIKE. working out, I just have to make time for it

47Jacqueline

Drink a cup of coffee before you work out. Research shows that people who drink a cup of coffee before exercising, burn more calories during and and extra almost 100 calories during the day. Also they tend to eat about 100 calories less for the day. It's not a lot, but it could be significant in the long run.

heidispideymfp

47Jacqueline wrote: »

Drink a cup of coffee before you work out. Research shows that people who drink a cup of coffee before exercising, burn more calories during and and extra almost 100 calories during the day. Also they tend to eat about 100 calories less for the day. It's not a lot, but it could be significant in the long run.

Well that's just an awesome fact!!

Shawshankcan

Think less. The more I think about it, the more I hit the snooze button.

Jennloella

I get up at 445 to have time for coffee and workout before all 4 kids wake up

ramdettmer751

Before you workout that early make sure to get in food otherwise youll end up with a headache. You do burn more calories going on an empty stomach but its unhealthy since the body needs food for energy. If I find it hard for me to get out of bed I do a light stretch and then go for 50 pushups to get my blood going then I make a meal high in complex carbs and proteins then workout. I hate getting up early in the morning

dragyou

Try to rest and go to sleep by 9pm.. That way you have gotten 8 hours of sleep by 5am.. This is what I do.. You wake up well rested and ready to go!!

tjcuts339

Love morning work out ,.Putting the day in prospective. GREAT way to start the day!!

mhausler93

I'm having trouble with this too. About 6 months ago, I was in the routine of waking up at 5am to work out M-F. Then, we moved in October. Since then I haven't been able to get back in the habit of working out every morning. For the past couple of weeks I've been trying desperately to get outta bed and just do it. But so far, I haven't. Right now, I'm making excuses. I had open heart surgery 8.5 weeks ago, so I'm in a cardiac rehab program and workout 3x a week after work, so I keep telling myself thats enough. But its not, and I need to do more.

I suppose just building a habit of it is key.

tmoser512

I too share your dilemma as I am used to getting up around 7:30/8am during the week. I'm currently on week 2 of getting up early for a workout and I have found these things help:

1. My husband committed to helping me get out of bed at 5:30 before I even started this program. He's been wonderful!
2. Join some type of group. I have found that if I have to be at a specific place at a specific time, I'm more motivated to get up so I won't be late.
3. It helps to have all of your clothes ready to go.
4. I drink 1-2 cups of coffee between the time I wake up and when I get to my workout at 6:30am.
5. I eat a little something for breakfast. The first day I skipped and had a huge headache after.

I hope it all works out! If you need someone to keep you accountable to morning workouts, shoot me a friend request.

heidispideymfp

Thanks.
I have a few challenges though. My husband works in a different country so he can't watch the children while I workout , that's why I must do it before they wake. Also can't join a group, go elsewhere to workout , for the above mentioned reason. I suppose I'm just gonna have to get up , and get moving .
Thanks everyone for all your tips and advice

MustLoveCats21

I get up at 05.30 to work out. It's habit. I've been doing it for 2 years.

For me it's not much of a challenge because I'm already awake that time of the morning.

kmfc17

For me i either do it in the morning or never because of my kids. So just try to sleep early and dont give yourself a choice.

tjcuts339

If you can do it you will feel ready to challenge all that is brought to you! You have already kicked it. ' Life wil seem somewhat more manageable???