Getting up early to exercise... how do you do it?
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I get up at 4:00am for work anyway; with a 40 minute commute, I am at work by 6:00am. I tried to get up earlier before and go to the gym (open 24 hours during the week), workout, and just shower there, but I had a really hard time getting up at 2:45-3:00am to do it. I just called it quits on that and go after I pick my daughter up from school. I can be at the gym by 4:30pm and when I get home, my husband has dinner just about ready.... lucky me!! The only problem I face now is that my daughter's dance schedule changed, so I am still working on getting a new schedule together
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I have a running buddy that helps keep me accountable 4 days a week. I make sure the coffee timer has been set so it is easier to get dressed and go. No time for hair or anything but when you hit the pavement at 5:30 it doesn't even matter. As far as motivation it comes down to keeping your eye on the goal. Before long it will be a habit and come naturally.0
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I woke up at 730 after going to bed around 1am and went for a 20 minute jog this morning. I feel great... besides still wheezing lol. I'm so out of shape. More insentive to keep at it a few times a week at least!
Also, I slept in my workout clothes AND drank water... although I had to get up every 2 hours to pee.0 -
I tried. I HATED it. I mean REALLY HATED it. I was tired and cranky and ready for bed at 8pm. I decided that it wasn't the kind of life I wanted. I switched to two afternoon workouts (long lunches to take a break from work) and 2 after work workouts. If something happens and I can't get there in the day, I can still go after work. It seems to be working better for me than forcing myself out of bed. It's hard enough to do that on normal days! LOL0
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Christimarie87 wrote: »just straight up force my *kitten* out of bed early and just do it?
That's basically what I do.
I'm SO not a morning person. But as a chronic insomniac, I've read over and over again that exercising at night can cause difficulty falling asleep, so better for me to avoid that possibility.
Working out first thing in the morning usually helps to blow the cobwebs out of my brain anyway.
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I get up every morning, 7 days a week, between 3:45 and 4 a.m. I run outside every other day and hit the gym for SL 5X5 and a treadmill run on the off days. I am back at the house and in the hot tub by 6 or so for some stretching and then it is shower and off to work. I used to get up way at 6 then made it 5 then 4:30 and finally 4. After you have done this for a while it gets easier - most days I wake naturally before the alarm goes off. Of course I corespondingly go to sleep earlier in the evening but I figure it is a good trade off - early morning exercise vs. late evening/night TV..... With the kids grown my wife and I have both become very accustomed to this life style. (BTW I might sleep in a bit on the weekends and get up between 4:30 and 5.)0
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1) dont have a backup emergency get the *** out of bed alarm. NO matter how much you try, knowing it is there makes it too easy to ignore the first alarms. Panic that you are late is a great motivator for getting out of bed
2) I set my first alarm 15-30 min before I want to get up. I put it across the room. When I get up to go turn it off (it has to be really obnoxious or I will let it go), I swing by the kitchen and slam a few swallows of Mtn Dew (coffee, whatever) or take a pre-workout pill, then head back to bed. By the time the "real" alarm goes off, my heart is racing a little and its easy to get up.
3) set out your clothes in the night before - everything, shoes and all. Set out whatever workout equipment you will be using, prep the DVD player right to the point you start, whatever you can do in advance so when you get up there is no stalling! Put your clothes in the bathroom - when the second alarm goes off, get up and go pee - change clothes while in there!
Good luck 0 -
It gets easier once you make it a habit. I started going to bed earlier, laying my workout clothes, and packing my bag the night before. That way, I just get up and go! The first week or two is painful but after that you start to get used to it 0
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I went straight to it. No easing into it. Took a month or so to adjust, but now it's pretty easy to be up by 0445. I also try to go to bed early. That helps a lot. 0
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I'm not a morning person. I am a natural night owl. I Do work out in the am. Its what has worked best. I do DVD series workouts. I just started a combo of PiYo and P90X3. I wasn't consistent enough with X3 alone, so I needed to switch it up.
I "Should" be up by 5:30 to start... its often a bit later. I do 30 minute workouts, it helps a lot.
Then I need to shower, and husband gets kids going the most but I have to fill in with a bunch of misc. and get everyone moving and out the door by 7:15. (kids are 5 and 7)
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Christimarie87 wrote: »
My question is this: Do you think it would be better to ease myself into the schedule change or just straight up force my *kitten* out of bed early and just do it?
Also, what are some of your personal favorite morning routines? Not just with working out but how do your mornings usually go before work?
My morning routine starts at night. I pack my gym bag, make lunches if I'm working the next day, and get to bed by 9pm absolute. That makes me very boring, yes. I'm old and an empty nester and I'm ALLOWED!
I'm up at 5am, make my bed, brush my teeth, weigh, get into my bathing suit and all that smack so that we're out the door by about 5:20 to get to the gym by 5:30. (I highly recommend a gym close to the house or on the way to work!)
I'm a swimmer, so hubby and I part, him for his thing, me for the pool. Swim 35-40 minutes, shower, do my hair (this takes forever. I have long hair) and am back out of the gym by quarter to seven or so. We go back home for breakfast and coffee and leave about a half an hour later to get to work.
We do find we have to goad each other a little bit to do this, but not too much.
I am a morning person, but the real reason we work out in the morning is that we haven't the time or energy to think up excuses. If I tried to work out after work, I'd have all day to come up with GREAT ones!
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lol That's a good point. I'm too brain dead in the morning to even realize how ridiculous it seems to get up and run that early. I made it outside about 5 minutes this morning before I thought to myself, "Damn it's cold." It was in the 50's here this morning and it's been in the high 80s for a while. I wasn't expecting that.
Either way, I'm super excited that I did it and I actually had fun with it like I used to. It was a little rough after because I was wheezing so horribly. Between being out of shape, smoking and being so cold with asthma... I don't know. I had forgotten about how hard it was to start out again. I'm looking forward to being able to run 45 minutes or more like I used to then just skipping around after like nothing ever happened instead of dragging myself inside about to puke.0 -
I also work from home and HATE getting up early to workout. So here's what I do... I don't. First thing in the morning, I put on my workout clothes, make some coffee, work a bit and THEN workout. I find for me working out early is like starting a restrictive diet. I might be able to do it for 2-3 weeks, but then I inevitably fail. GL whatever you do.0
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For me, I had to do it "cold turkey" and force myself out of bed at 5:30am when my alarm went off. The biggest thing in keeping me on that schedule was going to bed earlier. That was also the hardest in some ways (I miss some of my favorite TV shows but DVR them, don't have time to do as much around the house in the evenings) and the easiest in others (I am EXHAUSTED earlier and fall right to sleep at an earlier hour).
My morning is out of bed at 5:30/5:40am, throw on workout clothes, to the basement for a workout video (30 DS most recently) or a treadmill run (usually about 3 miles). Back upstairs to the kitchen for breakfast so I can cool down a bit, in the shower by about 6:45am. Out the door sometime between 7:15am and 7:45am, depending on if I am doing daycare drop-off that day. My morning workouts are generally 30-40 mins. I'd be hard pressed to do a longer one without getting up at 5:00am.0 -
I'm up at 4:45 to work out - for awhile I was setting the coffeemaker and having a cuppa before working out, but now I save the coffee for my post-workout reward. Mostly I get up by remembering how much I'd like to eat that day.0
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I have more energy in the Am than the PM. So I set my alarm for 4:45 and try to be out the door in 20min or so. I walk 3 miles or an hour...whichever comes first. Anyway, I exercise in the morning because of two reasons: 1. I walk right outside so I can't talk myself out of it, and 2. I am usually too tired in the evening to do much exercise.
I try to move before my brain realizes what's happening. Then I drink water and have a yogurt with oatmeal in it.0 -
SuckerPunch77 wrote: »Up at 4.30am, work at 8, home by 6 and lots of time to prep a good, healthy meal and spend some q-time with the hubby. Maybe even another workout.
Yup--and I have a preschooler to get ready in the morning/take care of at night.
Up at 4:30, gym at 5, home at 5:45 (husband leaves early for work), get myself and kid ready for day, out the door by 7:30. Must be nice to be able to sleep in until the middle of the morning. I don't have that kind of luxury.
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Christimarie87 wrote: »I work from home and changed my work schedule to be 9am-5pm where it was 11am-7pm. I want to start getting up early to work out in the mornings but I'm finding it really hard to even drag myself out of bed 2 hours earlier. It's only been 2 days of this new schedule and I've been resetting my alarm sort of like hitting the snooze button.
My question is this: Do you think it would be better to ease myself into the schedule change or just straight up force my *kitten* out of bed early and just do it?
Also, what are some of your personal favorite morning routines? Not just with working out but how do your mornings usually go before work?
I happen to be a morning person so it's not hard for me. My oldest son on the other hand..lol, he hates morning exercise. He hits the gym after work (10pm) and says it works great for him. Plus, the gym is less crowded. Are you able to exercise after work instead of before?
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I've tried and failed many times on this front. Getting up early in the morning has always been a chore and nearly impossible to do.
Until recently. I joined a gym that I love and now have workouts that I actually look forward to. In the past couple weeks, I have been waking up well ahead of my alarm and have been eager to get up and start the day.
Find something that excites you and hopefully it will get easier. Good luck!0 -
Force yourself out of bed, your body will adjust. There is never anything to get in the way of a workout from 5:30 -6:30-7am ( no kids activities, staff meeting runovers, stuck in traffic, tired after a long day). You can count on it, it will give you energy. I have done it for years and I still like sleeping in, but I get up anyway and never regret. You may miss late night Pawn Star reruns/ Discovery ID shows, but thats it :-) You can do it0
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Only time I've ever been able to get up and workout in the morning is when I had to, like REALLY had to...in college (military school) and the Army. Now I work crazy hours, as a paramedic, usually 24 hour shifts. My work out time tends to be 2200-2300, or even later sometimes. I don't mind doing it late at night, I just come home, enjoy a hot shower and a high protein snack and go to bed. No way will I get out of bed to work out, as habit. That being said, one of the things that brought me back to MFP is that I vacation with a friend at the end of summer every year. Each morning he brings me coffee and breakfast in bed, then he goes out for a run while I laze. I promised him that next year's vacation would find me running with him in the morning. Ugh! I'm working on it!!!0
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