Any tips for morning workouts?

totem12
totem12 Posts: 194 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm finding I have less and less time to work out in the evenings due to my workload increasing - and frankly I'm getting sick of eating my dinner at 9pm. I was thinking maybe try to split my workouts in half and do some in the morning...

HOWEVER - I am SO not a morning person. Getting up before 8am makes me feel physically sick for the rest of the day, and even when I drag myself out of bed I am such a zombie that I can't even walk effectively, let alone work out.

Is anyone else like this? If I just suck it up and suffer will it go away? Anyone got any magic tricks?
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Replies

  • MooseKnuckle5
    MooseKnuckle5 Posts: 89
    For me, just forcing myself to get up at 4:45 and go kicks myself into gear. Once I'm at the gym and start my routine, I'm fully awake and ready to keep going. Try drinking some water when you first get up to kind of get the body going.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Can't get up before 8am? Here's a magic trick: act like an adult, set your alarm clock, and get up and handle your business.
  • MooseKnuckle5
    MooseKnuckle5 Posts: 89
    Can't get up before 8am? Here's a magic trick: act like an adult, set your alarm clock, and get up and handle your business.

    Haha, that too!
  • mikejholmes
    mikejholmes Posts: 291 Member
    My favourite workout in the morning involves a partner. I find I have little trouble getting... up for it.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    My alarm goes off at 6am every week day morning and up I get to do my workout - if I didn't do it then I wouldn't find the time :) it takes dedication but you know what, ITS SOOO WORTH IT :-D I wake up naturally now looking forward to my WO and I believe that if you persevere you too will find it easier getting out of your nice warm bed too lol (I started my early morning workouts in Jan and I'm still going strong)
  • krissynicole787
    krissynicole787 Posts: 121 Member
    I wake up at 3:50 every morning to be at the gym by 4:30 (I have to be in work by 7). I refuse to work out after work. :yawn:

    You just have to get out of bed. It will be hard the first week or two but then your body gets used to it.
  • mgleason01
    mgleason01 Posts: 78 Member
    I feel you. I am not a morning person either but I know if I don't workout in the morning it won't get done. Go ahead and set your alarm and just do it. It may be a little rough in the beginning but your body will adjust to your new wake up time and you will be glad you did. In the beginning, I would be fine during my workout and then start to feel sluggish on the ride into work 2 hours later but after three weeks my body had adjusted. And now, there are days when I wake up before my alarm goes off at 5:45am.
  • Maedes
    Maedes Posts: 12 Member
    I am not a morning person. AT ALL. My family could not believe I was getting up at 5am to workout. I think they're still in disbelief, almost a year later. I sleep in now till around 5:50 on gym days to make sure I'm there by 6:30.

    What works for me is to have everything packed and laid out the night before. I'll put my workout gear in a pile by the bed, pack my gym bag with my work clothes for the day (I shower at the gym then head straight to work), have my water bottle filled and in the fridge. All I have to do when I get up is change, brush my teeth, grab my stuff and go.

    The less you have to think about the better.

    The first couple weeks are going to suck, but once you get into a routine it won't be hard at all. Especially if you enjoy getting your workouts in! :)
  • Maedes
    Maedes Posts: 12 Member
    It's also good if you can find a workout partner for the mornings too. I find it harder to hit snooze if I know there's someone waiting for me at the gym.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Drink a cup of strong black coffee before exercising. (Just be careful if you are a runner as it may bring on the gingerbread man.)

    http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2010/01000/Efficacy_of_Acute_Caffeine_Ingestion_for.38.aspx
  • jessicadawn1978
    jessicadawn1978 Posts: 45 Member
    Think you have to suck it up for the first week and get into a routine, I get up at 4:45am on weekdays, leave the house at 5am and do the trek to the gym which takes an hour. By that time I'm awake and ready to go.

    Also, get an early night so you can get up. I'm always in bed no later than 9:30pm on weekdays, and I sort out my stuff for the next day the night before, so no lingering around in the morning, as I leave the house still half asleep.

    I also get my sleep hours back on weekends, I love nothing better than a lie-in to 9am on sat/sun, and feel ready to go again on monday.
  • ZenInTexas
    ZenInTexas Posts: 781 Member


    HOWEVER - I am SO not a morning person. Getting up before 8am makes me feel physically sick for the rest of the day, and even when I drag myself out of bed I am such a zombie that I can't even walk effectively, let alone work out.


    What time are you going to bed? I can see if you're going to bed at 4 am then you might feel like this but as long as you're going to bed at a reasonable hour you should have no physical issue getting up at 6 am or earlier. Have your stuff laid out and ready to go. There is no way you can go through a workout and then feel like a zombie for the rest of the day, exercise energizes you and give you endorphins that make you feel good, happy and alive. :smile:
  • celtbell3
    celtbell3 Posts: 738 Member
    My favourite workout in the morning involves a partner. I find I have little trouble getting... up for it.

    Oh my...how quickly the thread sinks...ROFLMAO

    Seriously...my morning workout is always the same. Get up at 5am, do 30-45 minutes of yoga plus some basics: squats, situps, pushups, crunches, and I'm trying to get to a 5 minute plank.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    There's workouts and workouts..... how much do you want to do?

    My alarm goes off at 6, I have a cup of tea (otherwise my eyes stay shut :wink: ) then before anything else I go downstairs and put on one of my exercise DVDs - just 20-25 mins - and do that in the living room in my PJs.

    Then I go and get washed and poshed for work and have my breakfast. I walk to and from work (15 mins each way) and go out 20-25 minutes walking at lunchtime, then when I get home more DVD - 30-45 mins - or some Wii Zumba (20-40 mins - not managed a full class yet!). Then the evening is my own, my exercise is all done!

    I do do one zumba class and walk for longer at weekends but don't belong to a gym at all. So far its working.....

    Final tip - buy a second alarm clock and put it uot of reach. Set it for a few minutes after the one by the bed. You HAVE to get up to turn it off, and while you're up you might as well do some exercise:laugh:
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
    i seriously would roll out of bed when the alarm clock went off and do push ups(granted i do the wussy knee one) and start pushing. splash my face with ice cold water and it worked. I"d even be ready before my husband(the fit one of us two). it's an adjustment but totally worth it..if my fitness classes weren't so addicting i'd go in the AM too.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Here's something specifically about switching to morning *lifting*:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/training/moving-to-morning-training-qa.html
  • NoeHead
    NoeHead Posts: 516 Member
    Final tip - buy a second alarm clock and put it uot of reach. Set it for a few minutes after the one by the bed. You HAVE to get up to turn it off, and while you're up you might as well do some exercise:laugh:

    ahhh.....memories of the good ole college/drinking days ;) haha
  • susiecwhite
    susiecwhite Posts: 2
    I know exactly how you feel .. If I had to choose between that extra 30 minutes in bed or getting up I would take the 30 minutes!

    But I spent a month on a health kick and I forced myself to get up at 6am when the alarm went off.
    After one month of doing that I found I was waking up naturally before my alarm and my body had got used to the routine.

    There is nothing better than getting home from work in the evenings now and knowing I have done my workout for the day and I can relax.

    Keep at it!
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    8am? Really?

    Anyway, there's no magic trick. You just have to do it.

    I'm not a morning person at all, so it was a big change for me to get up at 5am to go workout. Find an exercise you love doing with people who will hold you accountable, pack your bags the night before, drink a large glass of water before bed and get to sleep at a reasonable time. Eventually, it won't be that difficult and you'll wake up naturally.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
    I actually AM a morning person, but i noticed that as i'm getting older (coming up on 53 - yikes!) it's harder for me to get going in the AM. i used to be able to jump out of bed - shower- grab a banana - go. now it's - get out of bed, have coffee, read the newspaper, bathroom... , then shower, and go. i just need a little more time. I was operating under the assumption that it only takes me 15-20 minutes to get out the door. and was wondering why i had so little time at the gym... When i added it all up i realized that i need to get up much earlier, the first few weeks were hard, but now i just get up at 5-5.15 and start moving.

    the best tip is to have EVERYTHING, and i mean EVERYTHING ready the night before. your gym bag, your gym outfit, your coffee (I drink it cold), your lunch for work.
  • lts42uk
    lts42uk Posts: 162 Member
    My alarm goes off at 6am every week day morning and up I get to do my workout - if I didn't do it then I wouldn't find the time :) it takes dedication but you know what, ITS SOOO WORTH IT :-D I wake up naturally now looking forward to my WO and I believe that if you persevere you too will find it easier getting out of your nice warm bed too lol (I started my early morning workouts in Jan and I'm still going strong)

    ^^This. I've been doing early morning workouts for 2 years, 6 days a week. You get to the point you're dressed and doing the warm-up before you really wake up and by then you're doing it! I love it and wouldn't/couldn't have it any other way!!
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    It might also be worth mentioning that exercising shortly before going to bed is not good sleep hygiene... So, OP, you might find that you get a better night's rest and do not feel like crap all day after rising early if you taper off your activities towards the end of the day the night before.
  • totem12
    totem12 Posts: 194 Member
    Can't get up before 8am? Here's a magic trick: act like an adult, set your alarm clock, and get up and handle your business.

    Wow, is there any need for the snark? I'm not a child - please don't speak to me like one.

    I go to bed around 10.30pm (I usually don't get home from work until about 7.30). I am aware that it sounds strange but it is the honest truth - it doesn't really matter how much sleep I get, getting up before that time in the morning makes me nauseous and headachy for the rest of the day.
  • totem12
    totem12 Posts: 194 Member
    p.s Thanks to everyone for your advice!
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I am not a morning person however due to the fact that excuses are easy to come by and therefore will cause me to not workout in the afternoon today is the second day of getting up early to hit the gym. And by early I mean the alarm went off at 4:45 this morning and although I hit snooze once I did not fall back to sleep and basically just laid there and let myself wake up for 9 minutes before I got out of bed.

    What will help you to get up early is to go to bed early. Starting today I am hoping to be in bed at 8:30 and asleep by 9:30.

    It also helps to have a friend who I am currently training who needs to be at the gym at 5:30.

    After a few days or even a week of getting up early you will get used to it.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    Can't get up before 8am? Here's a magic trick: act like an adult, set your alarm clock, and get up and handle your business.

    Wow, is there any need for the snark? I'm not a child - please don't speak to me like one.

    I go to bed around 10.30pm (I usually don't get home from work until about 7.30). I am aware that it sounds strange but it is the honest truth - it doesn't really matter how much sleep I get, getting up before that time in the morning makes me nauseous and headachy for the rest of the day.

    That just sounds ridiculous. I think you have conditioned yourself to feel sick if you get up early in the morning. It also makes a good excuse to sleep in. What time do you normally get up to go to work? If you just do it your body will get used to it.
  • russellbrand69
    russellbrand69 Posts: 132 Member
    Drink a cup of strong black coffee before exercising. (Just be careful if you are a runner as it may bring on the gingerbread man.)
    What does "bring on the gingerbread man" mean?
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Drink a cup of strong black coffee before exercising. (Just be careful if you are a runner as it may bring on the gingerbread man.)
    What does "bring on the gingerbread man" mean?

    I'll let Wikipedia do the talking.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runner's_diarrhea
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
    Can't get up before 8am? Here's a magic trick: act like an adult, set your alarm clock, and get up and handle your business.

    Wow, is there any need for the snark? I'm not a child - please don't speak to me like one.

    I go to bed around 10.30pm (I usually don't get home from work until about 7.30). I am aware that it sounds strange but it is the honest truth - it doesn't really matter how much sleep I get, getting up before that time in the morning makes me nauseous and headachy for the rest of the day.

    That just sounds ridiculous. I think you have conditioned yourself to feel sick if you get up early in the morning. It also makes a good excuse to sleep in. What time do you normally get up to go to work? If you just do it your body will get used to it.

    Oh my.

    Listen guys. I am a morning person. I wake up and I'm ready to go. By 5 pm, I am unable to do anything mentally or physically taxing. But I know that not everyone is like that. I've known enough people who are veritable zombies until about noon, even if they have to be up and about in the wee hours of the morning. Let's not all assume that everyone will be just like us if only they do the things we do, okay?
  • Yooperm35
    Yooperm35 Posts: 787 Member
    I have one cup of coffee and then get to my workout. You will actually find you have more energy working out early :)

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