Trying to be a Morning-Exerciser

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  • VTRutz
    VTRutz Posts: 52 Member
    I set the most aggravating alarm I can on the table across the bedroom so I HAVE to get up to turn it off, then I set another one for a minute after the first in the kitchen so when I get up to turn off the one in my room, the one down the hall goes off. Once I'm down the hall my dogs get up too and want to go out and at that point- I'm up for good. lol
  • teemama2
    teemama2 Posts: 72 Member
    best advice i can give is lose the snooze button, it only makes you want to procrastinate getting out of bed more and more. if you have to, put your alarm clock far enough from your bed that you are forced to get out to shut it off
    [/quote

    ^^once you are up it would be hard to hit the snooze.

    I have found that exercising in the morning has helped to boost my metabolism and has jumped started my weight loss after a long plateau. I wake at 5 a.m. and exercise for 45-60 minutes before getting ready for work. I leave home at 6:30 for an hour drive to work. It can be done! This has tremendously helped give me energy throughout my day. Tips: Prepare as much as possible the night before; pack lunch, have clothes ready for work, have workout clothes laid out so when the alarm sounds you are ready to get moving!
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    I used to refuse to get up early to work out, but now I'm up at 5AM Monday-Friday without fail to get my workout in. I wouldn't say I'm a "morning person." At first, the motivation was that I would not have to do it after work, which I consider a huge pain in my butt. That was enough for awhile and, when I started to get lazy, I just took on the Nike mentality - "Just do it." I didn't think about it or ponder getting in a few minutes of sleep. When that alarm goes off, my butt is off that bed and into the bathroom to change into my workout clothes and throw my hair up. I lift at home, so I don't have to trek to the gym or anything, which is preferable for me. Now it's a habit, and something I look forward to. I usually wake up before the alarm goes off these days. Working out in the morning gets my day off right and it's such a relief to do it early and not worry about doing it at 8PM after dinner. When I get home, I want to cook, eat, and relax with my husband and dog, or maybe take a little evening walk, and then hit the sack by 9.

    People I know think I'm absolutely nuts for getting up at 5 to work out, though. :)

    Same :) In my head I just make it imperative to get to it as fast as possible, so I don't have time to make any excuses or procrastinate.
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    I am more or less a morning person... been having to catch a 6am train to work for long enough that I naturally am up pretty early. BUT once the kids sports are going I have to get up at 4am so I can workout before that train. What seems to help me is packing my gym bag before time and having a defined workout set. When I really need a boost I ask my MFP friends to push me, that accountability to friends is always a big push.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
    I set the most aggravating alarm I can on the table across the bedroom so I HAVE to get up to turn it off, then I set another one for a minute after the first in the kitchen so when I get up to turn off the one in my room, the one down the hall goes off. Once I'm down the hall my dogs get up too and want to go out and at that point- I'm up for good. lol

    BAHAHAHAHA awesome!!
  • eggomylegos
    eggomylegos Posts: 146 Member
    Morning workouts are my favorite. I get out of bed immediately after the alarm goes off, get dressed, and walk to the gym right away. By the time I totally wake up the workout is over. Basically, I am too sleepy to talk myself out of it.
  • HarleyQuinn26
    HarleyQuinn26 Posts: 158 Member
    I am a morning exerciser but I am also a morning person. I get up at 2:15, without an alarm, so I can work out.

    I agree with previous posters to get rid of the snooze button. Also, working out in the morning does take some getting used to.

    The only reason I work out in the morning is because that is when I have more energy. I recommend working out when you have the most energy to actually do the workout. I found myself struggling with afternoon workouts and missed so many of them.

    Hope this helps :)
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    I'm not a morning person either, but unlike so many, I prefer to workout fasted. The only thing I have before I go is coffee. Anything else and I feel nauseous.

    Like everyone else said....have as much prepared the night before. Lunch, clothes, etc. etc. Then "just do it". You may have to really talk yourself into it the first little while, but I find that it feels amazing to get up and get it done. Then the rest of the day is mine! No worrying about whether I will be able to fit it in later or not. :)

    Give it a shot and see. If it doesn't workout, fit it in somewhere else.
  • shireeniebeanie
    shireeniebeanie Posts: 293 Member
    I set the most aggravating alarm I can on the table across the bedroom so I HAVE to get up to turn it off, then I set another one for a minute after the first in the kitchen so when I get up to turn off the one in my room, the one down the hall goes off. Once I'm down the hall my dogs get up too and want to go out and at that point- I'm up for good. lol

    Brilliant--that's it!
    I'll set an alarm on the other side of the house. And get a dog.
    :happy:
  • SrMaggalicious
    SrMaggalicious Posts: 495 Member
    I used to refuse to get up early to work out, but now I'm up at 5AM Monday-Friday without fail to get my workout in. I wouldn't say I'm a "morning person." At first, the motivation was that I would not have to do it after work, which I consider a huge pain in my butt. That was enough for awhile and, when I started to get lazy, I just took on the Nike mentality - "Just do it." I didn't think about it or ponder getting in a few minutes of sleep. When that alarm goes off, my butt is off that bed and into the bathroom to change into my workout clothes and throw my hair up. I lift at home, so I don't have to trek to the gym or anything, which is preferable for me. Now it's a habit, and something I look forward to. I usually wake up before the alarm goes off these days. Working out in the morning gets my day off right and it's such a relief to do it early and not worry about doing it at 8PM after dinner. When I get home, I want to cook, eat, and relax with my husband and dog, or maybe take a little evening walk, and then hit the sack by 9.

    People I know think I'm absolutely nuts for getting up at 5 to work out, though. :)

    I could have written this. It's done before my body realizes its awake, and I have the time after work to hang out with friends, get things done, etc. I love it. I also wake before the alarm now, even on weekends. I'm def a morning person. love being one of the only ones out and about first thing in the morning.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    One thing I want to add: Morning workouts aren't for everyone. Some people are just naturally way too groggy and disoriented when they wake up for a while to be able to do anything that would constitute higher intensity exercise. Don't force yourself to do it if you're just fine doing it in the afternoon. I know I tried it for a while and even after being up for 30-45 minutes AND popping a pre-workout I was still way too out of it to be able to safely do anything movement-intensive without tripping over myself. My form for strength exercises was shoddy.
  • Azexas
    Azexas Posts: 4,334 Member
    I work out at 5am before work. It was rough trying to make the transition to rising early. Having a friend who will text me to make sure my butt is up and on my way to the gym helps. Once I've gotten into the routine of waking up at 4:30, it isn't that bad. I find I have more energy throughout the day. It's nice getting to the gym when there are very few people there.
  • LastMinuteMama
    LastMinuteMama Posts: 590 Member
    Even with all of those tricks - Preparing everything the night before (sometimes even wearing my workout clothes to bed), setting the alarm clock in the hallway and going downstairs to let the cat out, I have still crawled back into bed instead of working out. I find the mornings super tough.

    The one thing that has worked to get me out of bed early is to make a "workout date". I walk with my neighbor before work several times a week and on the weekends I run with my runner friends. I won't stand up a friend...just myself.... sad, I know.


    My main problem is that I don't go to bed earlier enough. It's all good though, I have no problem starting a workout at 9:30 at night!
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  • FitWarrior7
    FitWarrior7 Posts: 332 Member
    I like working out in the morning because it gets my workout out of the way, and typically it's the same dedicated group of people day in and day out. Not to say that I care who goes to the gym, but it's not a bunch of young guys and girls trying to impress one another jamming up all the equipment. Plus my gym is a mob scene anytime after 4 p.m. Mornings it is for me.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    I am NOT a morning person. I am becoming one because I decided to become one. First and foremost, get to sleep early. Not 'get to bed,' but get to SLEEP. This may mean going to bed MEGA early a few nights to get the habit of falling asleep early. No playing on the phone or watching tv. SLEEEEP. I took melatonin supplements at first. There is some question to their effectiveness in clinical studies, so the jury is out on whether it helped me.

    Lay out your workout clothes the night before. This includes hair restraint devices (hair ties, etc), heart rate monitor, water bottle, etc.

    I find I feel better if I wash my face first thing. I know the grapefruit face wash commercials are cheesy (Wake up with a burst of Citrus Fruit In your FACE!), but I do find myself more awake and less gritty feeling after. A swig of ice cold water can also help. Turning on all of the lights could help as well.

    Turn off the snooze feature. It is no longer an option.
  • bootssowhite
    bootssowhite Posts: 93 Member
    I'm not normally a morning person, but this summer I've been getting up at 5:00 to run because of the heat (113 today, all my cries). Things that have helped me:

    - Enjoy what you're doing. There is zero chance I will get up that early to go to the gym and lift weights because I hate strength training and have to psych myself up for that, but I enjoy running, which helps propel me out of bed.
    - Have everything you need ready in advance. Have your clothes laid out. If you're packing a gym bag, do it the night before. If you want to eat before you go, have that prepared.
    - My alarm is my running playlist, which makes me want to move. Instead of turning my alarm off the second it goes off, I listen for a little bit until my toes are twitching and going for a run instead of sleeping doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world.
    - If you can, don't keep your alarm right next to your bed. I'm way more likely to stay up once I actually get out of bed.
    - Find some way to make yourself accountable. See if you have a friend who wants to meet you, go to a class you have to pay for in advance (if you can find one that early), etc. Anything that you can set up the day before when waking up early still seems like a good idea. And be creative. My best friend lives five timezones away and is a night owl, which means she's usually still awake when I get back at 6:00, so I set up Skype dates with her on mornings that I plan on running.
    - Revel in feeling smug and self satisfied all day long because you woke up early to work out, or maybe that's just me.
  • foodequalshappy
    foodequalshappy Posts: 31 Member
    I am NOT a morning person. Not sure if I like waking up in the afternoons either to be fair. I started T25 4 weeks ago and the only way I could do it was to wake up at 6:30. It is painful, it's hard in the beginning but what gets me up is the fact that it;s 25 minutes. Even if I go back to bed, it's only for 25 minutes of extra sleep. Not worth it, so I get up.
    I also lay out my clothes the night before. I make sure to include socks, towel and bottle. (The little things that throw me off.)
    I give myself 5 minutes to scroll through facebook on my phone, the light wakes me up.
    5 minutes to use the bathroom and dress up. 5 minutes to set up dvd and actually get started.
    Some mornings are better than others.
    Some mornings I would rather not, so I step on the scale and I am quickly reminded why I need to do it!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I had a lot of success switching to morning exercise. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I started out of necessity in late winter/early spring when a combination of changing jobs, short days and bad weather made it much harder for me to get my run in after work. I started by gradually getting up a bit earlier and a bit earlier without running for a couple of weeks until I was getting up at 6. It's just habit really. I still want to turn over and go back to sleep, but to be honest, I want to do that if I get up at 8 too!

    I still wouldn't classify myself as a morning person, but as others have said, it's just a matter of habit. I find that I'm quite productive in those couple of hours before work, even if it's a rest day. I have to go to bed earlier to feel properly rested, but that's only a problem if I have a late night planned. Those kinds of nights I view as occasional blips in my routine, same as with my food. I enjoy the productivity, and I enjoy the quiet of the morning, before everyone else has got up. I love the feeling of going to work having either run several km, or been to the gym, and having had time to check my emails, catch up on the news, read my book or do a bit of some hobby or other It makes me feel like I've experienced some "real" life before the work day has even begun. Even if I'm not at work (work in education - lots of holidays) I still end up getting up early and getting my run in. I now find that if I ever try to leave it til the afternoon/evening, I'm too tired and don't enjoy it as much.

    I would say, just do it. Make yourself get up a bit earlier and a bit earlier and force yourself out of the door to exercise for a few weeks. Either it'll quickly become habit or you'll hate it so much you'll just decide to find another way.
  • itsjustmish
    itsjustmish Posts: 107 Member
    I'm always super tired in the evenings and can't be bothered to exercise when I get home from work, so I've had to get into the habit of getting up early and getting it out of the way before work. I get up at 5.15am during the week, and as I work out at home its literally a case of pressing 'play' on the DVD player, throwing some workout clothes on, grabbing some water, and getting the job done. It was hard to begin with, but it's part of my daily routine now and I don't even think about it anymore.
    Things that help me are making sure I'm in bed by 10pm at the latest and setting out any equipment that I need the night before. Other than that, its just a case of getting out of bed when the alarm goes off!

    The only downside to this is that I find it impossible to sleep later than 6.30-7am even on a weekend now (regardless of what time I go to bed!), which is kind of annoying.
  • Craigtp91
    Craigtp91 Posts: 15 Member
    i did this last year,

    only way i could make myself get up early enough was to put my alarm the other side of the bedroom and with at least 4 timers set on it 5 minutes apart.

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