Anyone have trouble getting to the gym in the morning?

_klk_
_klk_ Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm the complete opposite of a morning person, but the morning is the best time in my schedule to go to the gym. I notice that I'm pretty tired after work and am more prone to skipping the gym.

Does anyone else have this same problem?

I'm thinking about making an app that punishes you for not being somewhere that you say you'll be (like the gym) in the morning, just so I can increase my motivation to go. I'd love to chat with anyone else with this problem and hear if/how you've solved it!

Replies

  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 623 Member
    Well, faced with either getting up early and going to the gym or not going at all, I chose to get up early and go no matter how much I hated getting out of bed. For me, it's mainly on my days off work and that means I don't get a sleep in at all but I do get that exercise in. It's taken me all year of getting out of bed at 5.30am on a workday but I wake up early on my days off now too and get straight into gym gear and off to the gym.

    I think though, it helps that I want to exercise. I enjoy it, and I get cranky if I don't get to do it. I had to work at liking exercise, but it's all part of my routine. To start with I forced myself to go, and I really missed the sleep that I could have been getting. Now I'd rather exercise than stay in bed :)
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
    I too am the opposite of a morning person and have given up on working out in the mornings. That's probably not what you wanted to hear, but it's the honest truth haha. Most times I tried, I completely failed to get up (not even consciously - I would turn my alarm off in my sleep). The times I did get up and work out, I felt absolutely terrible after... like, nauseous for hours. This was regardless of what I ate beforehand or if I even ate at all, I experimented with it but it never got better.

    So I just found a little more willpower to go at the end of the day. Yeah it's hard to work out after a long day at work, but easier than working out in the mornings for me personally. Either way it's hard - just gotta choose your hard :ohwell: Good luck!
  • JenniDaisy
    JenniDaisy Posts: 526 Member
    There is no way I'm getting up to exercise in the morning, I'm in work at 7am so I'm up at 5 as it is.
    So I make sure I go after work, no ifs, no buts, no coconuts. I get in, change into my running gear and go. No sitting down, no five minutes rest, nothing, I have to keep myself to a schedule.
    Regardless of what time you go to the gym, it's about making good habits.
  • GothJuice
    GothJuice Posts: 66 Member
    I have a similar issue, I'm really bad at getting myself up and out of bed in the morning and that's without the added earliness I'd need to get up to get to the gym before going to university and work. I also work out the best in the early afternoon than other times. So I have started going to the gym on weekends when it fits around my self motivation issues, and have signed up to some sports like volleyball and wall climbing that meet up on the evenings (usually 7pm as my uni days finish at 6pm), it's easier to motivate yourself when your tired if your in a group of people all doing the same thing.

    I had a friend who used to work ridiculous hours, he'd leave the house at 8am and wouldn't be home til 6-7pm but would then go to a late night football club and spend a couple of hours playing football.

    Why not see if you can find some kind of late night sports or exercise groups? It might make it easier and get rid of the extra early mornings?
  • Danielmarcevans
    Danielmarcevans Posts: 1
    Morning runner here. The two ways I've found that help me get up and get straight out of bed to go run:

    1) Lay all my running gear out the night before so I'm thinking about it before I sleep.
    2) Set a run schedule and make sure I have an end goal. The guilt of missing a morning run when I've got it down on my schedule is a tremendous kick up the *kitten*.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    Ugggggggggg mornings... Boooooo! I'm trying to get to kickboxing once a week for the 9:15am class. This friday would be week 2. It wouldn't be AS bad if I had a car. But the place is an hour bus ride away. Sucks so bad. I'm going to have to motivate myself with sheer stubborn will power.
  • EternallyTom
    EternallyTom Posts: 3 Member
    I'm similar; I have to be in work by about 7:20am, and usually don't get home before 6pm - my other half like to eat when I'm back, and once I've eaten that's me done for the evening! So I have to get up at 5:30am, and get into the gym at about 5:50am, then do 45 minutes and have a quick shower and I can be at work just before 20 past 7.

    I get everything ready the night before: suit, shirt, underwear, plus gym kit and protein shake/lunch in my bag so I just have to grab it and head out.

    Motivation and organisation are your friends!
  • Hell_Flower
    Hell_Flower Posts: 348 Member
    Routine and organisation!

    Make sure you sort everything out the night before so all you need to do in the morning is put your gear on and grab your stuff. If I had to make lunch, decided what to wear for work, pack make up etc and all that malarky, there's no way I'd do it.

    Quick! Get in the habit now before winter sets in and it's still pitch black at 6am!
  • SmangeDiggs
    SmangeDiggs Posts: 238 Member
    Like you my life is not suited to evening gym workouts, i tried persevering to get to the gym before work. I set my alarm for 415am and would either sleep through it, snooze it til 6am (when i had to get up for work anyway) or actually get up but feel like *kitten* cause i spent most of the night tossing and turning worried i was going to miss my alarm.

    So ive admitted defeat on the whole before work gym thing and just go after work, and believe me going to the gym after a 12.5hr shift is the last thing i feel like doing but once i get there i love it and when i do get into bed i actually sleep right through to my 6am alarm. So i guess the early morning gym thing really isn't for everyone.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    Go to bed earlier if you're having trouble waking up.
  • alisonmarie85
    alisonmarie85 Posts: 55 Member
    Oh the good ol' morning gym routine. I can do it, if I really set my mind to it... but bed is so much more relaxing LOL.
    But what I was doing was packing EVERYTHING I'd need for the day, lunch, clothes, makeup, etc. and sleeping in half of my workout stuff, so that when I got up, I would throw on what i needed to (pants, socks, shoes), brush my teeth, grab my lunch and my bag and head out the door before my brain could even realize what I was doing. And you know what? It worked. And I felt GREAT that I was actually up and being active. Sitting at work afterwards thinking "I'm done for the day...when work is over, I can just go home and relax!".

    I should really get back into that routine.
  • Tab122377
    Tab122377 Posts: 81 Member
    I love the gym in the Am it's my time. but days like today when my 2 year old up half night with damn cold coughing I have to pass. Right now I'm in total regret for not going but tomorrow another day.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
    I do 7:00am workouts twice a week but that's as early as I go, as even then I'm waking up at 5:45 to get ready and commute. That said, I love evening workouts after a long day of office work. The trick is to find what works for you.
  • rrabe78
    rrabe78 Posts: 15 Member
    In addition to the great tips of getting everything ready the night before (absolutely required), find something you enjoy doing at the gym. For me that is lifting. I am out the door by about 5:30 because I know that my PR is waiting for me at the gym- I just have to go get it.

    I go to the little gym at my work for a "walk" on the elliptical at lunch and it is Sherlock (TV series) that gets me there. An awesome show that I want to see, but I only watch it while working out.

    Find your reason and make it one that overcomes your excuses, even if you have to bribe yourself (new gear after x number of gym visits), it is worth it. And it gets easier the longer you do it, when I have to skip a gym visit because my daughters annoying band coach schedules early morning practices 4 days in one week, I get grumpy, and then I find another time or another way to work out.
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 368 Member
    I quit trying to convince myself I was a morning person. I started going at my lunch break at work.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,371 Member
    Not a morning person here either but I have no trouble doing my workouts first thing in the morning when my gym is in my basement. I don't have access to a gym anyway so that's my only option.

    I was finding that other stuff always got in the way of trying to work out in the evenings, or I just plain forgot.

    And I like to do my thing and jump in the shower. I've found it even helps me feel less sluggish in the morning.. I used to take a couple hours to get fully alert, but working out seems to blast the cobwebs out of my brain.
  • sjeannot
    sjeannot Posts: 143
    I used to go in the mornign but now I get up later and later and don't usually make it to the gym before work anymore. Mostly because, my days are so long; sometimes 22 hour days and a two hour turnaround. But as long as you get it in there. I do love to workout so make it a priority to do it when I am able.
  • lpeterson
    lpeterson Posts: 36
    My solution to working out in the morning was buying Bowflex dumbbells and a bench so all I have to do is walk into the living room. Once I cut out the drive and got that extra sleep back I was golden.
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  • Raclex
    Raclex Posts: 238
    Can't workout in the morning ta all. I'm already up at 4:50 am. Not going to get up at 4:00 am! Plus, I don't have tons of energy in the am... I like to take my time, my coffee, etc... I workout at night, between 7:30 and 8:30.
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
    I am also not the morning person. I tried it a long time ago to go to the gym before work. It worked for about a week. The weekend smashed that plan real quick though. :( Now that I'm married, I might try it again, but I love sleep so much, snooze buttons are my fave.

    I do lunchtime workouts since I work a desk job. This is a sure-fire way to get the workout in, but I still need organization. I eat lunch at my desk after the workout. I don't feel as guilty about going to the gym when my lunch is a couple minutes away from my desk. I also need snacks before the gym. All of this is packed up and ready to go in the mornings too. So if you truly can't do mornings, just concentrate especially hard on getting your food in order. You'll still lose the weight even without the gym.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    My solution to working out in the morning was buying Bowflex dumbbells and a bench so all I have to do is walk into the living room. Once I cut out the drive and got that extra sleep back I was golden.

    Agreed. Pick up some adjustable dumbbells (my recommendation is Powerblock) and then do it at home.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I used to go in the mornign but now I get up later and later and don't usually make it to the gym before work anymore. Mostly because, my days are so long; sometimes 22 hour days and a two hour turnaround. But as long as you get it in there. I do love to workout so make it a priority to do it when I am able.

    Wow. O.o I'm a pretty dedicated exerciser, but if I worked a 22-hr workday, I'd go home!
  • demetria423
    demetria423 Posts: 25 Member
    I am so not a morning person either! However I know I would rather get up early than to have to work out after I get off work. That is the only thing that pushes me to wake up at 5:00 in the morning. So many times I want to push the snooze button but then I remember that I want to enjoy being able to relax once I get off work.
  • sherambler
    sherambler Posts: 303 Member
    I am in the same pickle. I've been managing to get my workouts in, but each week my available after work time becomes less and less. Working out in the mornings is looking like my only alternative. I'm going to start with getting up earlier on the weekends, just to get my body a little bit more used to it. Then each week I'll get up a little bit earlier and earlier. I'm hoping this will change my weekday sleeping patterns too until I can just make this my main schedule.

    I only have 2 concerns with getting up early to work out: 1) waking up my boyfriend only an hour or so before he has to get up. He has a hard time getting back to sleep. And 2) combating that inital grogginess that makes me feel like I'm not getting/doing a very good workout. I feel like I give it half my energy as I would at night.
  • butterrum13
    butterrum13 Posts: 77 Member
    I'm not a morning person either, but I cannot go to the gym in the mornings on weekdays, and most weekends either. My husband starts work between 2 AM and 6 AM depending on the day and my gym opens at 5:30. 3 of my 4 kids are too young to be left home on their own and the other one isn't responsible enough to watch his brother & sisters yet.

    I either stop on my way home from work, or go after the little kids are in bed (7:30). Not my ideal but it is what it is.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    Nope, I run to the gym at 4:30 AM. When I was younger I hated mornings, now I go to bed early and can wait to go.
  • alcrisp93
    alcrisp93 Posts: 70
    I used to have trouble getting up and working out in the morning too, but I've come up with a routine that has been working for me. I get up in the morning, and the rule is that I'm not allowed to shower or eat breakfast until after I've worked out. I don't go to work until afternoons/evenings, so the temptation to sleep in is really strong for me, but I love to eat! So, knowing that after I've worked out I can shower, eat breakfast, and relax until work motivates me. Plus, I love the feeling I have if I workout in the morning. It's like it starts my whole day off right.

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