Talk to me about MORNING workouts!

I LOVE morning workouts. I used to be a night owl (and I still kind of am) but morning workouts will definitely help you get to bed earlier. My morning workout are all runs, just to get that out there. I started because of a schedule change that wouldn't allow me to get my runs in during the evenings after work. I still find myself at times wanting to go back to sleep but overall I adjusted pretty much right away as I did not want to miss my run for the day.

I love working out in the morning! I used to workout at night, but I found that I would just make too many excuses or just not have the energy for it. Since my son started school, I have to wake up early anyways to get him on the bus, so I have like an hour- to an hour and a half of time to spare before I have to get ready for work. It does take a bit to get used to, but once you get in the routine, it's a breeze! Good Luck and make sure to drink plenty of water!

The only way I've been able to stick to an exercise routine is by working out in the AM. I LOVE having my evenings back to relax after work or see friends.

I get up at 5:00am to make it to a 6:00am class. Here are my tips:

1) Go to bed! You will need to go to bed earlier - and your household will have to adjust to that.
2) I find that I need time in the morning to get myself together before the gym, so I usually end up packing my lunch and my gym bag in the AM. It helps me wake up. I'm weird though - most people have it set to go the night before.
3) I drink a lot of water at night. By 5, I HAVE to get up.
4) I don't drink alcohol on a night before I plan to go to the gym.
5) If I'm feeling particularly sluggish, I remind myself how nice it is to have my evenings free and be able to eat more :laugh:

If you can do it for 11 days, you've created a habit. Don't be upset with yourself either if you miss a morning. There have definitely been mornings where I've decided I just can't get up. That's ok. Get back at it the following day.

3) I drink a lot of water at night. By 5, I HAVE to get up.

:laugh:

^This is perfect!

I have been contemplating this change as well. I love to see everyone's comments, they are great suggestions. I usually get up with enough time to get myself and the two little ones ready and out the door, at work for 8-10 hours, come home do the dinner, family routine and then have studies to work on until midnight. If I am going to fit it in I have to push for early AM. It is going to be rough but you are right, make it a routine.

I'd much rather work out in the mornings, too. I work nights, usually getting off anywhere from 2:30 am to 4:30 am. When I get off later it's actually easier to do something because I will come home (30 min commute) go ahead and get my workout in at home, fix a little breakfast, get the kids up and off to school and THEN go to bed. When the weather was nicer I'd drop them at school and hit the ball park next to the school and walk, jog and run the bleachers. I was tired, but it still felt great. It's the mornings I get off "too early" that I get lazy and sometimes go to bed instead. Trying to force myself to work out at home more, but I so enjoy walking and working out outside and I fear waking the whole house up jumping around in the living room at 5 am. LOL.

I agree with the suggestions to set a "workout" alarm and drinking lots of water the night before. I use that trick when I know I only have a few hours to sleep and HAVE to be up at a certain time. Ye olde bladder is nature's BEST alarm clock!

You have to get the rhythm going, but you'll work it out.

I love my morning workout. I have my alarm set for 3:45 and I get to the gym at 4 when they open. I never have a problem getting to the equipment I want. all the other people there are very serious about their work out but also very friendy. It gives me a pump that powers me through my day (I only drink 1 cup of coffee a day). Plus when I get home from work/school I have time to relax and decompress before bed.

I get up at 4:30 every morning M-F, eat my breakfast, walk the dogs and hit the gym, then home shower and off to work! I LOVE having it all done so I can spend the rest of the day focusing on everything else in my life. Not to mention the gym is WAY less crowded in the morning. I can't stand it at 5 and 6 when it's all crowded. That's the worst.

Morning workouts suck.

I love it because nothing gets in the way of it, life always happens but rarely at 5:15am.

Get you stuff ready the night before
Have your routine in mind

Your body will adjust to the new time, just like daylight savings time changes. The days of wishing to get more sleep are never going away ..lol ...esp at your stage with a 15month old, but you will feel 10x better rocking yourself than letting go

I love morning workouts.

But honest, it sounds like they aren't right for you. As with anything, if it doesn't fit your lifestyle, it's unlikely to stick long term. Don't overestimate your ability to change your fundamental nature.

My suggestion is don't over think it. If you want to do it, just do it.

When it finally warms up, I am looking forward to running in the morning but right now with sub-zero temps I just can't convince myself to do it. I'm thinking of starting easy with Yoga/fluid stretching in the morning until I get into the habit and then switching to something a little more taxing. My other problem is that my hair is CRAZY (and I"m sorry to any men who just won't understand this). I have super thick, frizzy hair so I normally shower at night because it takes 40 minutes to blow dry and I prefer not to use that, plus unless I wear it up, I need to flat iron it too which is at least another 25 minutes, so to work out in the morning I need to tack on a shower and blow dry at minimum.

I guess I need to JUST DO IT! There's no reason I couldn't do Yoga or a DVD while my little is having breakfast either...

Thank you all! I keep telling myself that as soon as spring hits and it warms up, it'll be easier but honestly i think as soon as I get going and DO IT, it'll be easier!!

Its cold .... your hair ??????

Okay, you caught yourself in the last two paragraph .. you obviously get it ... so take action

Lastly, if you getting up early, make it worth it. Workout at the same intensity as your current level or harder. If your starting out, take it easy but add challenges. It will make it easier to get up and if you are tested.( i.e after active warm up for 8 min ish, see long it takes to do 100 burpees end goal 10 minutes)

Getting psyched for you

I love it and I made the switch!

I recommend the following:

1) Set yourself an alarm for whenever- even if your little one wakes you before it goes off, it will remind you to get on with it!! I have a tag on my alarm (on my phone) that says "have you ever regretted working out? How will you feel if you don't?" I'd pick something that motivates you!

2) Put your workout gear when you can put your hands straight on it. I sleep in my underwear so I have to put something on straight away, and it makes my gym gear the easy option!

3) Decide the night before what you will do, and I'd recommend bodyweight circuits if you work out at home (I have a good one if you want to try it). Circuits are great because you don't get bored and you can do as many/few as your fitness/boredom threshold/baby will allow

4) Put the gym clothes on a radiator at night. I put mine on the heated towel rail, and it's a joy putting them on!

5) Get something healthy handy to refuel, with a mix of healthy carbs and protein

GO GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Great tips! I just changed my alarm clock tag. It now says, "Get up, fat *kitten*! It's time to change your life!" a little harsh, I know...But that is just how I am.

Wow! This is a great thread. I've tried the alarm thing before and it never sunk in. I'm going to give it another go and adding the drinking a lot of water before bed thing

I used to do the whole morning workout thing back when I was taking stim-laden pre-workouts, but I found that even then I just couldn't push as hard as I could later in the day after I had been up for a while and had some food in me. Whether or not morning workouts are ideal, I think, really depends on the person. Not everybody performs as well on an empty stomach, and not everybody performs as well first thing in the morning. If you need some food in you and you need to be up for a while to collect yourself and get your bearings before you can do anything strenuous, there's nothing wrong with waiting until later in the day.

EDIT: Not only that, but knowing I have to be done by a certain time in order to get ready for work really kills my motivation to push hard. I feel like I have to rush, even when I'm making good time.