Tricks for getting exercise in early.

Fvaisey

Have you ever thought about doing home workouts instead of going to the gym?

^^^

I'm not sure what type of workouts you favor or how much room you have. Home equipment is likely less expensive than the gym. Unless you are looking for advanced training options you should be able to set yourself up at home and save that prep and commute time. An extra 1/2 hour to sleep can really help your motivation.

PeachyKeene

I get up some mornings to run at 4:00am, I go to bed at 9:00pm most of the time.

It is simple, if the pain of not changing is greater than actually working to make the change, you will make it important to you.

meganbook

Post on MFP or Facebook that you're going to the gym in the morning, or tell somebody that you're going. If you know you can be held accountable, you'll be less likely to back out. I set my gym clothes out ready to go so when 5:45AM hits I have everything ready to get out the door by 6.

And as far as getting out of bed, there's no better tool that "just do it". No excuses, just get out of bed. Simple! You ARE going to work out! So go do it! And if you've been doing it for a while, your results also are your motivation. I've been getting out of bed since November to do Insanity, and I feel my flat abs and say "yep, I'm going to get up!"

Adamanda5

Getting up at about the same time every day helps, even on weekends. I have also started going to bed earlier. I sleep so much better when I stick to a schedule, and the better my sleep is, the easier it is to wake myself up early. Also, I sleep in a sports bra and workout clothes, and set my shoes, hairties, etc. out so that all I have to do is get up and go! I am using the silent alarm function on my fitbit so that I can train myself to stop hitting my regular alarm's snooze button. It's tough at first, but you get used to it!

stephdeeable

I set 10 alarms, they go off 2 minutes apart. My boyfriend really hates me for this but he can suck it.

2011_4mygirls

I have tried going to the gym at 5AM before, I am normally really good for about a week and then I just stop! I have put so much pressure on myself and then I don't sleep very well knowing my alarm is going off at 4:45AM. However, I am trying it again. I am not forcing myself to get up early each and every day --but I have been forcing myself to get up early on the days that I know my afternoons are too busy to make it to the gym. It does feel great to get your workout over and done with before the day actually starts. Plus, it helps me eat healthier throughout the day. My body doesn't crave the sugar it does on the days I do not exercise very first thing. It is harder than hell on some mornings, but I just keep reminding myself that I will not reach my end goal without extra effort!

Things to help!
- go to bed early!
- before bed:
lay out your clothes (including shoes and socks)
have your ipod charged and ready with your workout music
figure out what you are going to do for breakfast (I have to eat something before working out or I get sick)
make your water bottle and put it in the fridge for the morning
write down one positive thing about tomorrow mornings workout!
- set your alarm and say you will!

mollylookalike

I started the year off going to the gym early (4:30am)- and the only way I could do it was to shower before bed, put on my gym clothes (minus shoes / hoodie) and when my alarm went off (my dog starts barking and whining to get out of his crate), so I put my shoes by my bed in the path to his crate. It forced me to nearly trip over my shoes, but also to remind me "Hey!!! Wake up!!! Get your @$$ to the gym!!!"

juliemouse83

I am currently going through this, myself. :flowerforyou:

I KNOW when I do my workouts first thing, I feel a LOT better all day, and then there is that added "I already got it out of the way" unless it's one of the days that I'm doing the C25K program.

It's difficult for me to get up when I'm not thinking about working out and getting up 30 minutes earlier, since the hubs has this involuntary nerve thing going on that keeps him moving around most of the night on many nights, but I really have to get better about it.

atb0821

I get up at 4:50 for my workouts. I have all my gym stuff laid out to make it easier. Just have to remind myself this is how it is and it is worth it. I also am asleep by 9:00 at the latest every night. What am I missing out on, watching TV? I'd rather sleep!

juliemouse83

I have tried going to the gym at 5AM before, I am normally really good for about a week and then I just stop! I have put so much pressure on myself and then I don't sleep very well knowing my alarm is going off at 4:45AM. However, I am trying it again. I am not forcing myself to get up early each and every day --but I have been forcing myself to get up early on the days that I know my afternoons are too busy to make it to the gym. It does feel great to get your workout over and done with before the day actually starts. Plus, it helps me eat healthier throughout the day. My body doesn't crave the sugar it does on the days I do not exercise very first thing. It is harder than hell on some mornings, but I just keep reminding myself that I will not reach my end goal without extra effort!

Things to help!
- go to bed early!
- before bed:
lay out your clothes (including shoes and socks)
have your ipod charged and ready with your workout music
figure out what you are going to do for breakfast (I have to eat something before working out or I get sick)
make your water bottle and put it in the fridge for the morning
write down one positive thing about tomorrow mornings workout!
- set your alarm and say you will!

^^ This ^^ is great!!!!

AbHuntington

I have to be at work some mornings at 430am, so I have a few tricks that help me wake up. Some might be TMI, but here it goes... I'll put my cell phone in my sweat pants pocket and set the alarm for max volume and vibrate. You wake up quick as **** when you think that there are lobsters in your pants trying to take your manhood. Another one is to put the clock on the other side of the room so that you have to get up to turn it off. Also, I find that it helps to have the most epic alarm ringtone possible, think like the song from gladiator or pirates of the caribbean or something like that. I need the soundtrack to get me going. And its kind of mean, but I'll take my dog for a super long run/walk before bed so that she gulps down tons of water when we get back, and then wakes me up at the crack of dawn crossing her legs begging to go pee.

Hope some of these help!

links_slayer

My main reasons for getting up early (~4:45am):

1) Gym is WAY too crowded for my liking after work - I was 1 of 2 people in there this morning. Loved it.
2) It's very nice to come home from work and just relax for a bit before taking care of dinner, housework, etc.

deshawntmd

I do work out DVDs at home. I get up at 4:45 in the morning to get my exercise in before work. My alarm is right next to me. It doesn't beep loud. It's a nice rhythm that wakes me up pretty gently. It generally takes me about half an hour from wake up to actually pushing play on the DVD. It was difficult at first. Like many people have already said, you have to do it several days in a row and it becomes habit. I make sure I get at least 6 hours of sleep every night. So I'm generally in bed by 10pm, sometimes 9pm. I was never a morning person, but my fitness is too important to me. If I don't get it done the first thing in the morning, it's hard to get motivated after a long day of work.

Good luck! Decide, commit, succeed!

bfitnbfab

Do you guys eat before you do your early morning workouts/runs? I've tried to workout early morning on an empty stomach but it doesn't work for me. I get all woozy and light-headed. But if I eat something and then work out right away I feel nauseated. Neither are really conducive to a good work-out.

Someone recommended that I wait 20-30 minutes after eating before I work out, but come on, seriously? Who has time for that in the morning, when time is at a premium to begin with?

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I get up at 4:00 am because I have 5:00 am MMA training sessions. Each night before bed, I put all my workout gear and my hrm on a chair in the dining room. Then I pour my morning dry oatmeal into a bowl on the kitchen counter and place a cup with water in the microwave. I try to get to bed between 8:00 - 10:00 pm. When the alarm goes off in the morning, I get up and turn off the alarm in the bedroom, walk out and turn off my cell phone alarm in the kitchen, press two minutes on the microwave as I'm walking by, and then head into the bathroom to take care of business. Then I come out and make my oatmeal(sometimes I eat an apple too); eating it while I get dressed. By then, its about 4:20 am, I do a little Facebooking, and then head out the door at 4:40 am to get to the studio by 5:00 am.

Yerblonde

I had to laugh so hard at the suggestion to sleep in your work out clothes because that was what I was going to say but then reading it made me lol. It might work though. I workout in my jammies because I do my workout at home and I am SO NOT a morning person but if I try and work out during the day when the kids are up, I can kiss my workout goodbye.
If you have multiple alarm clocks, try that and set them about a min apart and away from you so you have to get out of bed.
Also, I hate how I beat myself up if I don't workout. I had to stop making excuses to not work out (i.e. my friends aren't with me, my kids, I'm tired, drive to gym, child care, I'm on vacation.......) and once I changed my thinking about whose responsible for me (ME!) and that no one else has the power to stop me or bring me down, that really helped. I HATE TO BE THE REASON WHY I"M UPSET!!

The quote that really hit me though was along the lines of
"A year from now, you'll wish you had started today"

That was me, day after day, year after year. Only I control what I eat. Only I control when I don't workout.
It was easy to lie to myself when I looked in the mirror. I dreaded clothes shopping because I didn't want to see what size I went up to...again. Even though my size kept going up, I could still lie to myself in the mirror thinking I looked thinner than the size was telling me. There are not very many pictures of me when I was bigger which is a good thing, but also bad because if I had seen how the pictures came out like they did at my sisters wedding, I might not have gotten as big. Hard to say.

The point is, if you know you want to get fit and go to the gym, don't antagonize over it because that will beat your motivation up more than just getting it over with. And if you don't start today, what will you look like in a year from now?

Good luck.

P.S.
I know it sounds a bit anal and OCD but it will save you in the end if you pick up some organizing traits for awhile. Setting out your, and the kids, clothes the night before, making lunches packed and ready to stuff in backpacks or briefcase, grocery and meal planning for a week at a time, consolidating errands, and even a house cleaning schedule. All these are time savers for me so that when I do hit the snooze button, I'm not stressing later in a frantic frenzy to get a lunch or to run to the store for 1 ingredient.

Kelly_Runs_NC

like NIKE says - Just do it!!

soehlerking

I sleep in my workout shorts, put my gym bag out in the car (so I can't brush my teeth unless I get to the gym), and simply don't let it be a question--when the alarm goes off, I'm tying my sneakers.

I say all that, but take it with a grain of salt...I have NO IDEA how you mothers do it!! I'm 25, no kids, and I'm completely exhausted just from work and the gym!! Props to you!

Hellbent_Heidi

Do you guys eat before you do your early morning workouts/runs? I've tried to workout early morning on an empty stomach but it doesn't work for me. I get all woozy and light-headed. But if I eat something and then work out right away I feel nauseated. Neither are really conducive to a good work-out.

Sometimes I do, sometimes no. If I feel hungry, I'll eat like half a granola bar (just enough to trick my stomach into not growling), then I ALWAYS eat something as soon as possible afterward (which in my case, is after I shower, dress and drive to work from the gym). Sometimes I have a little box of chocolate milk for recovery that I'll have in my car when I leave the gym.

mizzie1980

I've done that. The trick is not to think about it. When the alarm goes off, don't think "ugg, now I have to go to the gym and work out and it's so cold and I'm tired, etc, etc" Just think about the next step.

"Go to the bathroom"
"Now get dressed"
"Now brush your teeth"

And so on until you are at the gym. Or, if that's even too much, force yourself to think about completely unrelated things (what you are doing this weekend or what happened at work yesterday) while you just go through the motions of getting ready and going.

travelgirl77

Thank you for some really, really great suggestions! The baby is finally sleeping through the night, so I feel that it is really time to get to the gym and create the habit. I am blessed to live on a military installation so the gym is free for me to use and I really get motivated by all of the soldiers in there working so hard to get/stay fit!

I cannot wait to put some of these suggestions to use!

Thanks for all of the help!
Sarah