Exercise in the morning

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lvllt
lvllt Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How does anyone get up to exercise before work? I keep trying but just end up going back to sleep!
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  • Carla1962Shaw2015
    Carla1962Shaw2015 Posts: 31 Member
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    Lol, well I'm a morning person to begin with, so that helps. Can you set coffee pot on timer so you wake up to the smell? If your a coffee person that is. Or find a workout buddy. Neither wants to be the one not showing up! I just know if I don't go in the morning, chance of me getting my workout in goes way down. Too many things come up or too many excuses. Not too many excuses first thing in morning. And start going to bed a bit earlier to see if that helps. Even 15-30 mins can make a difference.
    Good luck!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Nope, I am up early enough as it is, I exercise after work on weekdays.
  • hoppnerk
    hoppnerk Posts: 1 Member
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    I can relate completely but the only way I could get a workout in was if I went early in the morning before I started my workday! Every morning when I want to go back to sleep I think about how important this is to me and I normally grab my phone so the light wakes me up once I'm out of bed I don't get back in it and then once I'm at the gym I really start to enjoy my morning. It is really hard at first but after about a week it just became habit to wake up at six and get right into my workout! Hope this helps with motivation a little good luck!!
  • Hell_Flower
    Hell_Flower Posts: 348 Member
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    You have to force yourself to build the habit (it takes about 3 weeks to build a routine, so stick with it)

    I dont like GETTING up early, but I like BEING up early.

    I hate going to the gym in the evenings...too damn busy.

    The trick to morning workouts is to have all your stuff ready to go, so you can roll out of bed, into your clothes, grab your bag and out the door. Oh and to get an early night.

    I can never be bothered to make coffee or any of that first thing, so I make a mug of coffee the night before and stick it in the fridge with some ice, so I can have an (melted) iced coffee just before leaving ha.

    It's all worth it when you can just go straight home after work!
  • SunnyDuckling
    SunnyDuckling Posts: 204 Member
    edited April 2016
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    It's all about building it into routine.
    I am NOT a morning person. I naturally stay up to 2am or later. BUT I agree with other posters who talk about if they don't exercise in the morning, it won't get done later.
    I'm currently trying to get myself back into morning exercising again too. Having clothes prepped the night before, and turning on the overhead light as soon as I get up are two things that help me get into the habit of going for a morning walk everyday.

    P.S. I don't know how well this will work for you, but I also try to make sure I have a LOT of water before bedtime, so that I don't have a choice, I NEED to get out of bed in the mornings! :D
    Hell_Flower wrote: »
    I dont like GETTING up early, but I like BEING up early.
    I agree with this too!
  • RWClary
    RWClary Posts: 192 Member
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    lvllt wrote: »
    How does anyone get up to exercise before work? I keep trying but just end up going back to sleep!
    Step one...join the USMC....
    That's it!
    B)
    Seriously, some of us are just wired to be sleeping by 930p....and up at 4am.
    You just do it, and it time, your body and mind adapt and make this normal.

  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    They do it by having too much time on their hands....
  • SarahPeters3
    SarahPeters3 Posts: 100 Member
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    Try putting your alarm clock across the room and turn the volume all the way up so you have to get up every time it goes off!
  • MNLittleFinn
    MNLittleFinn Posts: 4,271 Member
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    On the nights before run mornings, I can't sleep, I'm often waking up every 15-30 minutes for a couple hours before my alarm is set to go off...waking up isn't a problem, getting enough sleep is.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    edited April 2016
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    I do, because that's the only time I consistently have available with nobody asking me for anything.

    M-6am yoga class
    T-5:30am run
    W-6am yoga class
    Th-5:30 run and weights
    F-6am yoga class

    Then if possible I add these:

    T-6pm power yoga
    F-6pm power yoga
    Sat-recovery run, and weights if I feel like it.

    My mom always said "get up when you need to get up, whether you feel like it or not. The going to sleep part will adjust itself over time."

    And @eldamiano, no. Not too much time on my hands. Still 2 kids on the tail end of a large group of siblings and steps, full time job and more, working out in the morning is BECAUSE I do not have time at the end of the day. I go from 5:30a to 9pm without stopping most days.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    I just do it. Simple as that.
  • workout_junkee
    workout_junkee Posts: 473 Member
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    If you want it bad enough you will make it happen. I have two very active kids so I have no time in the evening to workout. My a learn goes off at 4:30 and I get up nowing I do it then or it does not happen. Does it suck.... Yes especially when I am heading outside to run in crappy weather. In the end I am always glad I did it:).
  • howekaren
    howekaren Posts: 159 Member
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    I have no idea how anyone gets up early for exercise. I have a hard time getting out of bed at 7am to get to work. However, I'm not in any way a morning person. For a while, I tried doing an 9:30am Saturday session, and I didn't even have the energy for that. I'd be halfway through the workout before I even woke up. I'm very low energy in the mornings, so I typically do my workouts in the evening. It's now a routine, and I don't even think about it most days.
  • aub6689
    aub6689 Posts: 351 Member
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    I started by getting a friend (in another state oddly enough) on board and had to be up to call and give her 4am wakeup calls. Unfortunately it is easier for me to get out of bed because of a commitment to someone else, but knowing that, I used it. Then I got used to it. Realized how much I love the gym in the morning and how much better my days are with it.
  • Berry
    Berry Posts: 1 Member
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    When i switched my workouts to mornings I had a little trouble myself. It's soo hard to get up that early. What helped me was wearing my workout clothes to bed. All I had to do in the morning was brush my teeth, splash my face with cold water and throw my sneakers on. It felt weird at first and I would get to the gym with fuzzy's from my sheets :) but it helped. Good Luck!
  • wonko221
    wonko221 Posts: 292 Member
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    I'm not a morning person at all. Often i am up too late in the evenings, even though i recognize that i'm simply putting off going to bed with silly things that don't need to be keeping me up.

    I've started the c25k running program though, and in my area of south texas, running in the mornings is way better than running after the sun came up.

    Whereas i've failed countless times to kick myself into a habit of getting up early to go walk, or to go to the gym, i've been sticking with c25k surprisingly well. I think the difference is that while i'm laying in bed debating whether or not to get up, c25k gives me structure: I know exactly what i need to do to "succeed" at my workout, and i know exactly where i am in the overall program.

    My recommendation would be to know exactly what your exercise goals for the morning will be. Distance/time/sets & reps whatever it is, when you're lying in bed, have a concrete picture of what you want to accomplish, and let that focus help you get to it.

    Beyond that, i echo the folks that talk about having everything ready the night before. You don't want to lie in bed dreading having to dig out gear, search for a clean towel, etc. Get as little between you and the gym/track as possible, and good luck!
  • billutzman
    billutzman Posts: 74 Member
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    First is it takes a couple weeks to get into a routine. But the most important is when you first wake up, TURN ON THE LIGHTS". I read that your brain wakes up faster and your body goes into wake up mode faster. Everything is "mental" right? If you leave lights off it is sooo easy to hit snoze.

  • AlphaCajun
    AlphaCajun Posts: 290 Member
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    4:30a for me. First step is move alarm clock AWAY from your bed. Across the room. Set two, a few minutes apart. It's gonna suck at first but now I'm up at the same time even if I forget the alarm and wouldn't change it for anything. Love my am workouts, especially because when people ask how I got so fit I can respond "well I was in the gym while you were arguing with your snooze button for the past six months.."
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,135 Member
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    @eldamiano , I work out in the AM almost exclusively, and its not because I have idle time. I have 3 kids, a full-time job that I work 50 hours a week, and I volunteer to coach little league in the evenings. I have to make time to exercise in the morning or else it won't happen at all. I wake up at 5:00AM so I can try to be done before the kids get up and help get them ready and dressed, along with myself.

    So for me, it's the only option. If it's important OP, you will make time for it whether it's in the AM or PM. For me, I enjoy waking up, starting my day with an invigorating workout, and then hitting the rest of my day knowing that I already got my workout in. There are some good hints above for making that happen, such as getting your clothes out the night before (check), set your alarm (check), or even review your workout the night before (this gets me excited to wake up and go after it!).

    But, to each their own. Que sera sera. C'est la vie.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
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    I work out at lunch or after work. Hate mornings.

    Something that helps when I DO have to workout mornings...have all my workout clothes all ready and laid out so I just have to get up, get dressed and go with very little thought or dawdling around.

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