Early morning risers q&a and tips.

Mark_Joseph
Mark_Joseph Posts: 101 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
To those that workout early morning... How are you able to workout early in the morning and why do you do it? Also please give me some tips.

I have been trying to wake up early for the gym but it hasn't really worked out for me. I don't enjoy going towards the late afternoon/night because of how full the gym gets and how much time I end up waiting for certain equipment to free up. I also get a bit anxious lol. Never the less, I am interested in reading stories of those that are able to wake up early to exercise for perspective and possible tips or advice to get up early.
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Replies

  • beerfoamy
    beerfoamy Posts: 1,520 Member
    I know that if I don't get up, have relaxing swim, steam room, free shower and free breakfast, I will get to leave home all of 30mins later in order to miss the traffic, and pay for shower and brekkie. So worth it to get up and go - then if I don't feel like doing anything after work, I don't have to - I have already moved for the day. :)

    Plus I feel grumpy at work if I don't swim.

    It did take me a few days to be able to get up with my alarm rather than snoozing 4 times and going for a very quick swim!
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    Get dogs lol jk but they really do wake up ready to go! My best advice is "just do it". For the first few weeks you truly just have to not think about it and do it because there is no magical trick. Tell yourself I can do it today, just for today and make it happen. It's really worth it!

    Im in FL currently and if I don't wake up early it becomes to hot to walk my dogs which isn't fair to them.

    What ever you do, disable your snooze button and put your alarm clock on a table far enough away that you have to get up to turn it off. Also either sleep in or prepare your gym clothes for the morning. The most important part is making it easy to do. Good luck!
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    edited August 2017
    Force yourself to wake up at that time and just do it. Over time it will become routine. Also - go to bed earlier.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    I used to do morning gym...
    Not getting up early by US standards, but by UK standards. (Surprisingly different in my experience. Really!)

    I could get out of bed at 6am, fall straight into my gym kit, grab my mixed-the-night-before BCAA drink on the way out the door, roll down the hill to the station and be in the gym by 7:15am.
    Smash out a session, shower, grab breakfast to go, and be at my desk by about 8:30am or whatever (then eat breakfast at my desk).
    I managed it through sheer bl00dy mindedness, always having my clothes ready and bag packed the night before, and being willing to leave the house having done nothing more than brushed my teeth and squirted on some deodorant. I never looked good, but it was the only way I could do it.
    I also ALWAYS hit a slump by about 2pm or 3pm and wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

    Then I moved 50 miles out of London, and my commute got a whole lot longer.
    I still belong to the gym near my office because it's AWESOME. But it means I'd have to leave the house at about 5:30am to get there about the same time. Getting up at 5:15am for something other than a flight? Not. A. Chance.
    So now I mostly go at lunchtime, don't need the BCAAs because I've eaten a meal earlier in the day, and don't want to fall asleep by 3pm.

    The morning gym sessions were undoubtedly time efficient, as I could have lunch with colleagues and do things after work as well, but were never what I would call pleasant!
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    I started early morning gym sessions when we had kids. Get up at 4:15 to get ready, get to gym, workout, clean up, 45 mile drive and at work by 7:30.

    I wanted my evenings to be free to do stuff with the family. Unless you have really young kids nobody cares if you work out at 5 AM.
  • oldsoul918
    oldsoul918 Posts: 110 Member
    I work out in the mornings and it was definitely hard at first, but I wouldn't have it any other way at this point. I'm up at 2:50am, out the door by 3am and at the gym by 3:10am. There are only 3 of us at the gym at that hour (imagine that! ha!) I never have to wait for equipment so I can hammer out my workout in 45-55 min. Every gym I've ever been to is packed in the late afternoon/evening and it drives me crazy to waste time waiting around.

    Working out in the morning also really sets the energy level for my day. I'm much more tired if I miss my workout.

    My tips would be no hitting snooze, no "back-up" alarm and, like others have said, have everything ready to go the night before. It takes a little discipline, but it'll become habit if you want it to.
  • rdix333
    rdix333 Posts: 111 Member
    I go on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Wednesday I just leave work a few hours early to miss the crowds. I realize everyone can't do that. I am lucky enough to have a salaried position and my boss is awesome.
    But Friday and Sunday I find the gym to be pretty empty. Maybe try those days and then try to work another day in somewhere.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    oldsoul918 wrote: »
    I work out in the mornings and it was definitely hard at first, but I wouldn't have it any other way at this point. I'm up at 2:50am, out the door by 3am and at the gym by 3:10am.

    This is the kind of thing I could 100% never do.
    Massive respect to anyone who can, but WHAT?!
    London would still be full of people just leaving clubs on the way home at that sort of time!! (Plus, most gyms including mine don't open until 6am at the earliest...)

    Out of interest, what time do you go to sleep to make that work?
    Presumably well before 9pm?
    I need at least 7 hours of sleep, so I'd have to be tucked up before 8pm. But that's before I get home from work a lot of the time...

    In a truly nicely meant and genuinely curious way... HOW?!
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    I'm a morning person, and I enjoy working out, so that all helps. I work out in the morning before work mainly because I will not do it at any other time. The thing that helps me the most is getting everything set out the night before. Gym bag full with work clothes ready and my gym clothes setting on my shoes ready to put on. It still takes me about 30 minutes to leave the house, but I have kitties that need fed and my son's school lunch (prepared the night before) that I have to finish getting ready with the ice packs and what not. And I make a cup of coffee to consume in the car on the way there.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited August 2017
    What do you consider early?

    I personally don't know how the people who do 0dark'30 thing, but on the mornings that I ride I'm up at 5:30 or so...I take about 30 minutes to get ready, have a cup of coffee, and just generally wake up and I'm usually on the road by 6AM. I don't really find that to be tremendously early...5:30 seems pretty normal when you're adulting and whatnot...but yeah, no way I could ever do the 3AM/4AM thing...just not going to happen.

    I ride in the AM during the summer because it's an inferno here in the desert later in the day...In September I will switch things out to ride in the evening when I get home as the mornings will start getting chilly and dark as fall moves in. In the winter I'll mostly be on my indoor trainer, so I'll just ride whenever.

    As the gym goes, I only lift a couple days per week...right after work on Tuesday and then either Friday evening or Sunday morning depending on what I have going on...

  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
    Prepare the night before, go to bed at a reasonable time and set your alarm clock (2 if necessary). I prefer my 6am Crossfit class because it's less people and it's not 100 degrees (FL). I've been exercising 5-7am for 18 years.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    oldsoul918 wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    oldsoul918 wrote: »
    I work out in the mornings and it was definitely hard at first, but I wouldn't have it any other way at this point. I'm up at 2:50am, out the door by 3am and at the gym by 3:10am.

    This is the kind of thing I could 100% never do.
    Massive respect to anyone who can, but WHAT?!
    London would still be full of people just leaving clubs on the way home at that sort of time!! (Plus, most gyms including mine don't open until 6am at the earliest...)

    Out of interest, what time do you go to sleep to make that work?
    Presumably well before 9pm?
    I need at least 7 hours of sleep, so I'd have to be tucked up before 8pm. But that's before I get home from work a lot of the time...

    In a truly nicely meant and genuinely curious way... HOW?!

    I get that question a lot :) I go to bed between 7:30 and 8pm. I get off work at 3:30pm so it works out.

    I have a lot of people warn me to be careful and more alert just because of the greater possibility of drunk drivers. And to be honest, I do see a lot of crazy *kitten* at that hour! :D And a lot of wildlife...just the other day I saw a moose on my way to the gym!

    My gym is open 24 hours...that's obviously a must for me. And I haven't always gone this early. It's only been for the past 4 years or so. I took a job that was farther away and had to adjust. Before that I went at about 4am. There's also about 1/2 an hour built in for what I deem my "morning chill time" when I drink my coffee, catch up on emails and just relax before I start getting ready for work.


    Do you have a significant other that lives with you? That's my hardest part. I'd love to go to bed at 8 or 9pm every night but my DH is a night owl and we have a young child that goes to bed at 8pm. So if we want any adult time whatsoever to watch a rated r movie or tv show, it has to be after 8pm. I usually dose off between 9 and 9:30 but I know he wishes I could stay up later. He works from 8:30 am to 11 pm Friday/Sat/Sun so I do get to go to sleep at my leisure on the weekends!
  • oldsoul918
    oldsoul918 Posts: 110 Member
    MonkeyMel21 wrote: »
    oldsoul918 wrote: »
    cs2thecox wrote: »
    oldsoul918 wrote: »
    I work out in the mornings and it was definitely hard at first, but I wouldn't have it any other way at this point. I'm up at 2:50am, out the door by 3am and at the gym by 3:10am.

    This is the kind of thing I could 100% never do.
    Massive respect to anyone who can, but WHAT?!
    London would still be full of people just leaving clubs on the way home at that sort of time!! (Plus, most gyms including mine don't open until 6am at the earliest...)

    Out of interest, what time do you go to sleep to make that work?
    Presumably well before 9pm?
    I need at least 7 hours of sleep, so I'd have to be tucked up before 8pm. But that's before I get home from work a lot of the time...

    In a truly nicely meant and genuinely curious way... HOW?!

    I get that question a lot :) I go to bed between 7:30 and 8pm. I get off work at 3:30pm so it works out.

    I have a lot of people warn me to be careful and more alert just because of the greater possibility of drunk drivers. And to be honest, I do see a lot of crazy *kitten* at that hour! :D And a lot of wildlife...just the other day I saw a moose on my way to the gym!

    My gym is open 24 hours...that's obviously a must for me. And I haven't always gone this early. It's only been for the past 4 years or so. I took a job that was farther away and had to adjust. Before that I went at about 4am. There's also about 1/2 an hour built in for what I deem my "morning chill time" when I drink my coffee, catch up on emails and just relax before I start getting ready for work.


    Do you have a significant other that lives with you? That's my hardest part. I'd love to go to bed at 8 or 9pm every night but my DH is a night owl and we have a young child that goes to bed at 8pm. So if we want any adult time whatsoever to watch a rated r movie or tv show, it has to be after 8pm. I usually dose off between 9 and 9:30 but I know he wishes I could stay up later. He works from 8:30 am to 11 pm Friday/Sat/Sun so I do get to go to sleep at my leisure on the weekends!

    Yes, I do. He's more of a night owl than me, but on weekdays he goes to bed around 9pm because he goes to the gym at 4:30am. We don't have any children though and he uses that extra hour or so to watch DVR'd shows that I don't watch...like Game of Thrones or Gotham :D
  • PinkyPan1
    PinkyPan1 Posts: 3,018 Member
    I try to golf every morning if I do not have my grandson. Up at 5 am. I feed the cats and clean litter boxes, 2 cups of coffee, unload dishwasher, start a load of laundry and do at least 30 minutes of yoga.. Out the door by 6:30 am and tee off at 7. Most days I golf 27 holes. If I do not tee off early I have to wait until the heat of the afternoon to get my game on. Leagues start at 8 am.

    Mornings that I get my grandson I get up at the same time and do 15 minutes cardio and an hour of yoga. Or go for a walk before sunrise

    I am in bed between 8-9 pm every night.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 597 Member
    I detest getting up early to run, but I do because I can't tolerate the summer heat. I can be up at 3:30am, and out the door by 3:50. I lay all my clothes out the night before and I make sure my alarm is set. And in the morning when I try to talk myself out of getting up, I think about how good it feels to have my run completed before I get to work.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    Oh, yeah, the OP...


    I used to train first thing in the morning. I simply set my alarm early, drank a cup of coffee while farting around on the computer, then went. After a short (as in 2-3 weeks) period of time, it was 2nd nature.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    I'm truly finding this fascinating.
    Obviously there will be exceptions, but I think most Brits would consider anything much before 6:30 or 7am to be early! Something that starts with a 5 is certainly not a normal adulting time here! (Small children aside...)

    Maybe it's because our schools start a bit later than US schools, as far as I know - generally registration at around 8:45am for first lesson at 9am, some may be a bit earlier - so the whole day shifts slightly, starting from the age of 4.

    Standard office hours are still 9-5, which I guess ties in with the schools. Many exceptions in non-office work, shift based, or even office work linked to industry (who can tend to work factory hours).

    Also, our weather's kind of blah year round, so we're not dodging the heat in the mornings.

    I'm not sure I know any adults who routinely go to bed much before 11pm.

    I'd love to find out if anyone's ever collected the data on nationality v wake up time, but it's be super interesting!
  • Mark_Joseph
    Mark_Joseph Posts: 101 Member
    Thank you everyone that took the time to reply to my post. It means alot!
  • naomi8888
    naomi8888 Posts: 519 Member
    Like everyone else has said - it's just habit. I get up at 5.20 most weekdays and I'm at the gym ready for my class to start at 6 am. It's hard at first while your body adjusts but if you can get through the first few weeks you'll be fine. I've done it for a few years now and it just becomes routine.
  • englishmuffinruns
    englishmuffinruns Posts: 70 Member
    It definitely takes some adjustment. I've been doing 5:30am sessions for about three months now and it's finally hitting the "auto-pilot" feeling. Getting your gear together the night before makes things so much easier - last minute scrambles stress me out and make me late.

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