EARLY AM WORKOUTS - HELP!!!

momof4Oneal
momof4Oneal Posts: 18
edited September 27 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello

I am desperately searching for any type of motivation to get up in the early morning to work out. I used to get up almost every weekday morning at 4:30 to hit the gym by 5:00 to work out with my trainer. I was in the best shape of my life then, and I felt GREAT! Well now I have no trainer & I am the heaviest I have ever been. I have 2 school aged children who play sports after school, & I work full time. I know like every other busy mom in the world right.....so obviously I need to get in my workouts before I wake the children for the day. Otherwise it just doesnt happen. Why I am writing is I am continually struggling to get up & acheive the work out. If anyone out there has something to help please let me know. I know all the "you need to really want it, so you must not want it enough" but I need some tips or something to get me to do it!!! PLEASE!!!

Replies

  • sweetiepie31612
    sweetiepie31612 Posts: 240 Member
    Pack a gym bag the night before, put your alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get up to turn it off or hit snooze, and instead of hitting snooze, or maybe even in addition to, turn on your light.
  • bouldert
    bouldert Posts: 225 Member
    good luck ,i have been wanting to do the same thing ,i have even set an alarm clock in the kitchen so that i have to get up and turn it off,but veen after doing that its hard to get my locomotive butt moving.
  • bkruse
    bkruse Posts: 1 Member
    I have struggled with this myself, because it is SO hard to get up that early when you are a busy working Mom! But, I too find that if I can't get my workout in in the morning, most of the time, it just doesn't happen. The best advice that I can give you is to find a friend to go with you. Fortunately, I have a friend that lives close, so one of us will pick the other up on our way to the gym. If I didn't have her to go with me, I would have a hard time making myself get out of bed to go.
  • ladybug1620
    ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
    My best advice to give you is to find a workout that you LOVE, something that you actually look forward to getting up for. I tried several workouts (P90X, 30 Day Shred, jogging, etc) and I could never commit to getting up and doing them after the first few weeks because they just didn't keep me interested. I found TurboFire and I am so in love with this workout, it just feels WRONG when I don't do it every day. Right now is a crazy time for me because my mom is injured, and if I want to workout I would have to get up at 4am. So I am doing it at night instead. But I honestly can't wait to get back to my usual schedule of 5am workouts, and I am not a morning person at all.

    Edit- it's also helped me to have my workout stuff ready to go the night before, that way I have no excuses. I have my workout planned so I know what I will do the following morning also. All I have to do is set my alarm and get out of bed and dressed, no guesswork needed.
  • innerexp
    innerexp Posts: 32 Member
    Go to bed in your workout clothes so when you wake up, you're ready to hit it!
  • fridayjustleft04
    fridayjustleft04 Posts: 851 Member
    Maybe if you build in an incentive..like you get some sort of non-food reward if you get up early to do your workout. I don't know what that would be for you, but for me, it's that if I meet my goals for the whole week (working out for an hour a day, not going over on calories, etc.), I get to buy a new book or DVD or whatever. It has to cost less than $10, but that's just because I'm cheap. Haha..but yeah, that's what I do..maybe it could work for you as well. Good luck!
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    The Y opens at 5:00 am on weekdays and offers classes first thing in the morning. Maybe you will feel some accountability by seeing the same instructor and fellow classmates every week.
    Having kids makes everything a little harder. I didn't get back into working out consistently until my daughter started school.
    Don't think about it. Just do it.
    You can do this!
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
    Are you getting to bed early enough to SUPPORT getting up in the o-dark-thirty? Usually when I don't have to drive to get out of bed, it's because I didn't get INTO bed early enough to make it happen.
  • quishajuice
    quishajuice Posts: 106 Member
    Try sleeping in your gym clothes and having your shoes,towel, and water by the door. Then set the alarm on your phone and put it next to the door also. That way you're already by the door may as well walk out of it to the gym :). it also helps if you're going to a group class like spinning or kickboxing so you have something to look forward to and people who are looking for you to be there :)
  • jen_bersabal
    jen_bersabal Posts: 45
    I have just started doing the Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred and what's great about it is that it's ONLY 20 minutes! You could pop it in, get your workout on, and be done in 20. Hope this was helpful!
  • ashley_jorah
    ashley_jorah Posts: 71 Member
    I can't wake up either. I'm definitely not a morning person!
    Since I live in a basement suites, I find it really hard to wake up without sunlight in the morning.
    So I put a lamp on a timer so that it turns on in the morning. I find it really helps me to wake up.
  • laurapasos
    laurapasos Posts: 7 Member
    Here is a pretty good article on motivation:
    http://zenhabits.net/the-only-two-secrets-to-motivating-yourself-youll-ever-need/

    Use public pressure to be accountable: Make an announcement on your MFP profile page that you will get up early to work out.
    Let your family members know that your goal is to get up early in the morning to exercise, then have them give you support by holding you accountable.

    Hope this helps...
  • tusher2011
    tusher2011 Posts: 201 Member
    Well, I only started working out last week. But in the past and even now, like you if I don't work out first thing in the am, I won't do it. Too many other things going on during the course of the day and I'll find too many excuses not to do it. What has made me (so far) stayed motivated about getting up is....1) the money I am paying monthly to the gym I just joined. We don't have extra money, so this is definately an "indulgence", lol. 2) I am at my heaviest. After having kids, I can't even stand the size of the clothes I wear now. I think I've just hit my "a-ha moment"...and so I'm going to keep going...

    Like someone mentioned, I also have everything ready to go the night before. So I literally get up in the morning, brush my teeth, put in my contacts and I'm out the door.

    Good luck and hope that helps!
  • momof4Oneal
    momof4Oneal Posts: 18
    Thank you all for your posts they were all very helpful! Do not be surprised if you see some posts from me about getting up to workout......I feel like I will start with being publicy accountable! Feel free to keep asking me if I got my workout in, as I will do the same for you if need be!
  • lovetowrite73
    lovetowrite73 Posts: 1,244 Member
    My motivation is me wanting to be healthier and in a better body for life. That's all I need when my alarm goes off at 4:05 every morning.
  • honeywel
    honeywel Posts: 2 Member
    i set mini-goals. i tend to be an all or nothing kind of person, so it helps me to avoid the "ugh i can't do this everyday" thing. i started by just getting an early am workout on mondays (i have class all day and no time to get to gym later). after a couple weeks, i added another day, and so on. now i can't imagine not starting my day without some kind of exercise..even if it is a quick jog with my dog:) best wishes!
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    Thank you all for your posts they were all very helpful! Do not be surprised if you see some posts from me about getting up to workout......I feel like I will start with being publicy accountable! Feel free to keep asking me if I got my workout in, as I will do the same for you if need be!

    How are you doing?
    I got back into the gym after being out for a couple weeks with bronchitis.
    I went on the 20th and 23rd and plan on the 25th and 27th this week too.:smile:
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