Early morning working out - Need motivation

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  • tanishabearr
    tanishabearr Posts: 15 Member
    I actually wake up at 5 to workout. I go to bed in my workout clothes, set up about 10 alarms, usually have a pre-made breakfast, and when I wake up it's difficult. I have to get people in my house awake, feed the 9 animals etc. But I'm doing my strength and basic workout by 6 and then I get with my partner of the day and do a 5 mile ride. Having a need to be up at 5 am helps- my chores, animals, and buddy relying on me make it a necessity. But after a few weeks, I'm awake on my first alarm and ready to go. Work, college, and my afternoon/evening ride are so much easier to do with the energy from working out! It really does get easier! :)
  • sherambler
    sherambler Posts: 303 Member
    I primarily work out in the evenings, but I do try to sneak some 5 or 6am workouts in when I feel I need to. I have done a few different things to get myself up:

    1.My alarm is right beside me bed. When I turn on my side to shut it off, I face the side of my bookshelf on which the alarm rests. There, right in front of my face, I'll stick some reminder, which changes. Once it was the number 595,000 which equals the number of calories I need to burn to lose my weight. Other times it's a cut-out picture of some fit woman jogging.

    2. I have also kept my alarm on the other side of the room so I have to get up and shut it off. By that time, I'm already up and it's easier to convince myself to get on the elliptical than it is when I'm laying down, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets.

    3. When I plan to workout in the morning several days in a row, I'll start off by getting up super early. Taking an extra 10-15 minutes or more to "wake up". I do that for a couple of days and then the third day I don't take those extra minutes and I sort of trick myself into thinking that I'm sleeping in, which makes it easier to get up at my originally planned time slot.
  • ThatMouse
    ThatMouse Posts: 229 Member
    Working out in the morning is my therapy. I'm a nasty piece of work without it the rest of the day.

    My mornings look like this:
    6AM wake up
    640AM catch the bus
    715 start the work out
    820 finish the work out, cross the street and get to work
    830 start work

    I've started changing into my workout clothes in the morning before heading out to the bus and keeping my work clothes in my gym bag. It saves me 10 minutes right off the bat and, now that it's nicer out, I can meander around the bus stop in my shorts.

    As for how I get myself out of bed, a lot of it is thinking of two things: how much free time I'll have if I get it done earlier, and how awesome it'll feel to have a work out done before work even starts.

    I'm not sure the best way to balance it with two little ones, though. I'm far from that point. If your partner is alright with making sure they're alright for the morning, maybe you could find some motivation in using your early morning workouts as your "me time" and to make sure you claim the day, so to speak?

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