How to become a morning exerciser?!?

iluvprettyshoes

You can do it. Just go to bed early. The first couple weeks are hard but you'll adjust. And you'll have your workout over & better equipped to deal with the day!

My son and I are both up at 4 am. He goes to swim team practice and I head to gym after dropping him off. It's hard but you feel really good after getting it done!

debussyschild

willpower/dedication. You've either got it or you don't. If you want to work out in the morning get your *kitten* up and do it. If not....wait and exercise at night. There is no magic workout time.

HAHAHAHA. So true. I used to beat myself up for not getting up early in the morning to workout because I thought I should. Turns out, working out at noon-2 p.m. time frame works great for me. And even THAT'S a big jump from when I used to like to workout (8-9 p.m. ish). You've got to want it, but making sure you get enough sleep in before waking up so early is pretty important. No need to start the day off with exercise AND lack of sleep.

kms1104

Thanks for this post! As a teacher, this is our first teacher work day, and I'm worried about "losing" the exercise progress I've made... I have NEVER been a morning person, I've thought to myself if I just "pop" out of bed at 5, I'll be able to be done with a 45 min workout by 6, out of the shower by 6:20, and on the road at 6:30... I just HATE mornings. I usually hit snooze 3-4 times every morning... this is kind of inspiring me. I KNOW it's just a 'practice' thing, but it's SO hard the times I've tried

debussyschild

Having read this thread I have decided to take the plunge and set the alarm early tomorrow. I've been thinking about it for a while and with the weather not being too bad here it's the perfect opportunity! Thanks for the push guys!

Ditto.

Bubbles99207

As I am getting older I have notticed that sleeping in is really not an issue anymore. No matter what day it is I am always up at 5:30 and now that I dont have to be at work until 8:30 that means I have a lot of time to kill. I know that if I dont hit my treadmill in the morning it wont happen after I get home from work that's a given. I know me better then that. Now as for getting in the spirit of it - there is really no happy go lucky - YOU JUST HAVE TO DO IT :-)
I have fallen of the wagon recently and I am having to start allover again. Gained 20 of my almost 35 pounds back - every day is a challenge. :-) We can do it together.

weightloss12345678

Will check this later

risak

Get a dog. They like waking up early. At least mine does.

stellarcanicula

Go to bed early!!!

That was my key. And in the beginning. I set my alarm clock for the early time, even if I DIDN'T make it out the door to exercise. The fact that the alarm was continuously waking me up conditioned my body and my brain to get up at that time. Now I wake up before my alarm clock.

Plus, i just have a better day all around if I get my morning cardio in.

wisebadger53

I prefer to get up and have a cup of coffee, watch the morning news, and then get ready for work. Then I hit the gym on the way home in the evening. So I do that during the week.

My weekends on the other hand are for riding the Harley, getting the chores done around the house, and the occassional picnic or dinner out with friends. So Saturday and Sunday mornings at 5:30 or 6:00 I drag my sorry butt out of bed, get dressed in my running gear, grab my music, headphones, and a stick of chewing gum, and turn on the coffee maker as I head out the door for a run. When I get back I toss down a couple of cups of coffee, grab some breakfast and/or a protein shake, shower, and off I go to get the most out of my day. I have to admit that I feel totally energized after these morning runs, and the rest of the day is generally pretty awesome!

It's all a matter of wanting to do it bad enough that you get over the "don't feel like it" mindset and just do it!

Good luck!

cheryl5115

Bump

ILoveTheBrowns

started it few months ago love it....i lift every morning then by the time i get done sitting at work all day i feel the need to move and go home and get a good run in....where if i didnt lift in morning id just be lifting after work...seems to net good results and get a good morning burn and evening burn before bed

ColtyHan

Question for the morning excercisers - Do you get up at the same time every day, or just get up early on the days you work out?

Neicey78

I consider myself lucky as I'm able to power walk the 4 miles to work every morning, I HAVE to get to work otherwise I'd probably lig in bed then have to catch the bus <<<<<<<<<<shudder>>>>>>>>
I can shower at work which is a blessing and a real motivator. On a beautiful morning, whatever the season it really sets me up for the day and if I don't walk I feel minging.

misslegz

I never used to be a morning a person but it just worked better into my schedule to get part of my workout in the morning. I get up at 5am during the work week and do my circuit training with weights and various other excercises. After work I get my running in which takes up about another 60-90 minutes but with the morning routine done is saves me time in the evening. It is just something I got used to doing. Your body and mind will get used to getting up and then you will find the need to get up.

OllyBooBoo

I set my alarm really loud and put it on the other side of my bedroom. You have no choice but to get up to turn it off.
I always make sure my clothes and shoes are out the night before. I put my water bottle, towel and keys right by door so I can get up, get dressed and go!

ILoveTheBrowns

Question for the morning excercisers - Do you get up at the same time every day, or just get up early on the days you work out?

everyday...nothing better then a run on a sunday morning at 7am while the weak sleep....ha

kstone70

First, while I had babies (and I mean BABIES- waking up every 2 hours), I was NOT a morning person. Now, however, I am up at 4:30 am each day except for Sunday. Do I choose this out of necessity? Yes. Not only because several of the days I have to leave for work at 6:30, but the other days I LOVE being finished by 6. My BIGGEST piece of advice is: Go with someone! I didn't think anyone would be crazy enough to want to run in the pitch black with me. Guess what.... after talking to friends etc, there are 3 others who wanted to also! I know that my friend(s) will be waiting for me, so I get out of bed no matter what, because I will not "stand them up". I lay out my running clothes the night before, get out my headlamp, GPS and HRM, and I am running by 5. I have been doing this for about a year, and it is a total habit now. Like other posts, I am in bed no later than 10 on most nights. I find that I have less food cravings, more energy and a much better attitude when I get up and get it done. Amazingly, my body wakes up now minutes before my alarm sounds. I will never go back. I tried exercising in the evenings, and it didn't work for me. Too much time during the day for either something "more important" to come up, or too many excuses why I shouldn't do it. I don't have time to make an excuse in the morning- I have to go meet my friends!!

astrylian

I have always enjoyed being awake with the early risers, and watching the sun rise. I usually set my alarm and flip the light as soon as it goes off, so that I am forced to wake up. The best way to get started is just to -get up- and start walking around, go to the bathroom, anything.

wheezybreezy

Great tips here! Saving for that extra push

JNick77

So my question is....are you a morning exerciser? Are you naturally that way or did you have to become one because of your schedule?

Really for me it just came down to getting to bed at a decent time every night or at least the nights you plan on waking up early. You need your sleep or you will burn out quickly. For me I wouldn't have it any other way though.

Edwiner

Just a quote I once read and fits perfectly to this topic, " You'll get a lot more compliments for working out than for sleeping in"

kms1104

I know I'm not the OP, but thanks to reading this post, I DID IT! I woke up at 5:15 and worked out!

I need to get into practice, because it WAS hard (I did not "pop" out of bed like I need to at 5. I hit snooze twice but got up before it went off the 3rd time).

I'm a teacher, and it's teacher work week, so I have a little practice room (since I don't have to be at work until an hour later than when the kids come back)... but I realized I can still get a good 30 minute (I usually do 45) workout in with varying the intensity of the elliptical or other machine I'm on. It was a "harder" workout, but I feel a lot more awake than I would if I just drank my coffee, watched the news and checked facebook (and MFP).

All the responses that mentioned turning lights on probably helped the most, usually I'm "anti" lights in the a.m. just the little light over my stove on.

Thanks guys!

follmer20

I have no choice but to get up early as my 3 year old doesn't take naps during the day. Im a stay at home mom so I made myself get up at 4 for a 5 am workout. I've been going back to sleep though so I'm not dead tired in the afternoon. It was rough at first because I was used to sleeping in with the kids. But anymore, the alarm goes off, I get up. No snooze button for me. Takes me about 19 minutes to fully function but I'm up the first alarm! Your body gets used to it just like it gets used to eating healthy, drinking water and anything else you want to change. Make yourself do it for a week and you should be good! :-)

kgb6days

I am not and never have been a morning person, but I make myself do my runs in the morning before work. I set my clock, get up and go to the gym and run on the track. There just isn't anywhere safe for me to run outside at 0500. After I'm done, I really feel good and my exercise for that day is done. I do Zumba in the afternoons after work, and strength training is after work, but running I do in the morning. The good part - by the time I'm really awake - it's over!!!!

FitGirl329

I DID IT TOO! I got up at 5:30 this morning to work out! I didn't even want to bang my head against the wall when I got up. I think I had told myself so many times last night at I was going to do it, that it just happened. Now, to see what time I'll start crashing this afternoon or this evening! LOL!

deadbeatsummer

Ok so after his thread, I did it today - it was great! I used a sleep calculator and got up at 5:30am and ran 5k before breakfast. I did start to feel sick but it was honestly fine!

FitGirl329

Two days in a row. I could have gone back to sleep. But then I thought about how great it was to have my evening (that ended up being packed with activities from work up until bedtime) free. I got right out of bed.

Is it OK if we use this thread as a daily update/motivational thread too?

ColtyHan

I have had a sick toddler, so I haven't made it out in the morning yet, but I got an alarm clock app for my phone that makes me do math problems before I can shut it off. I will see if that makes me get out of bed tomorrow.

RougeIllusion

I am a naturally a morning person, I'm usually up by 8 without an alarm but I wanted to start getting up at 5:45 to go to the gym. One of the biggest things that helped me was going to bed earlier the first couple weeks. I was in bed by 9:30 some nights and it really helps to feel rested when getting up early. I'm use to it now so I usually go to bed around 11 or 11:30.

Good Luck

Cmonnowguys

I used to hate working out in the morning, but once or week or so I have to (I'm in the military) and now I find it pretty refreshing. It helps if you wake up an hour or so before you actually start. Makes the transition a little smoother!