Exercise in the morning

You have to force yourself to build the habit (it takes about 3 weeks to build a routine, so stick with it)

I dont like GETTING up early, but I like BEING up early.

I hate going to the gym in the evenings...too damn busy.

The trick to morning workouts is to have all your stuff ready to go, so you can roll out of bed, into your clothes, grab your bag and out the door. Oh and to get an early night.

I can never be bothered to make coffee or any of that first thing, so I make a mug of coffee the night before and stick it in the fridge with some ice, so I can have an (melted) iced coffee just before leaving ha.

It's all worth it when you can just go straight home after work!

lvllt wrote: »

How does anyone get up to exercise before work? I keep trying but just end up going back to sleep!

Step one...join the USMC....
That's it!

Seriously, some of us are just wired to be sleeping by 930p....and up at 4am.
You just do it, and it time, your body and mind adapt and make this normal.

Try putting your alarm clock across the room and turn the volume all the way up so you have to get up every time it goes off!

I do, because that's the only time I consistently have available with nobody asking me for anything.

M-6am yoga class
T-5:30am run
W-6am yoga class
Th-5:30 run and weights
F-6am yoga class

Then if possible I add these:

T-6pm power yoga
F-6pm power yoga
Sat-recovery run, and weights if I feel like it.

My mom always said "get up when you need to get up, whether you feel like it or not. The going to sleep part will adjust itself over time."

And @eldamiano, no. Not too much time on my hands. Still 2 kids on the tail end of a large group of siblings and steps, full time job and more, working out in the morning is BECAUSE I do not have time at the end of the day. I go from 5:30a to 9pm without stopping most days.

If you want it bad enough you will make it happen. I have two very active kids so I have no time in the evening to workout. My a learn goes off at 4:30 and I get up nowing I do it then or it does not happen. Does it suck.... Yes especially when I am heading outside to run in crappy weather. In the end I am always glad I did it:).

I started by getting a friend (in another state oddly enough) on board and had to be up to call and give her 4am wakeup calls. Unfortunately it is easier for me to get out of bed because of a commitment to someone else, but knowing that, I used it. Then I got used to it. Realized how much I love the gym in the morning and how much better my days are with it.

I'm not a morning person at all. Often i am up too late in the evenings, even though i recognize that i'm simply putting off going to bed with silly things that don't need to be keeping me up.

I've started the c25k running program though, and in my area of south texas, running in the mornings is way better than running after the sun came up.

Whereas i've failed countless times to kick myself into a habit of getting up early to go walk, or to go to the gym, i've been sticking with c25k surprisingly well. I think the difference is that while i'm laying in bed debating whether or not to get up, c25k gives me structure: I know exactly what i need to do to "succeed" at my workout, and i know exactly where i am in the overall program.

My recommendation would be to know exactly what your exercise goals for the morning will be. Distance/time/sets & reps whatever it is, when you're lying in bed, have a concrete picture of what you want to accomplish, and let that focus help you get to it.

Beyond that, i echo the folks that talk about having everything ready the night before. You don't want to lie in bed dreading having to dig out gear, search for a clean towel, etc. Get as little between you and the gym/track as possible, and good luck!

4:30a for me. First step is move alarm clock AWAY from your bed. Across the room. Set two, a few minutes apart. It's gonna suck at first but now I'm up at the same time even if I forget the alarm and wouldn't change it for anything. Love my am workouts, especially because when people ask how I got so fit I can respond "well I was in the gym while you were arguing with your snooze button for the past six months.."

I work out at lunch or after work. Hate mornings.

Something that helps when I DO have to workout mornings...have all my workout clothes all ready and laid out so I just have to get up, get dressed and go with very little thought or dawdling around.

I'm a leisurely morning person, but I've recently found getting up early to workout works well for me. I warm up and do a quick set of bodyweight exercises for about 40 minutes, shower, and then I have a whole hour to myself to mill about and have my breakfast while I contemplate life. I find that I'm motivated to get up early because that extra leisurely period after my workout feels amazing (warm & fuzzy from being freshly showered, feel-good endorphins from working out).

lvllt wrote: »

How does anyone get up to exercise before work? I keep trying but just end up going back to sleep!

You just set an alarm and jump like you're gonna attack a bear before it attacks you. But really after you get a good workout in a few mornings, you'll realize how awesome you felt all thru the day that you'll start to crave it more and more and once you feel like crud if you miss that workout, you'll go back. It's like the best drug without adverse bad side effects or hangovers. Only good will come of this addiction I promise.

Yeah, lots of people work out in the morning because it's their only real option and not because it's "easier." Personally I love working out right after work, which gets rid of the stress from the work day and energizes me for the rest of the evening. I am thankful that I do not have family or other commitments at this point in my life, that evening workouts are an option for me.

Ok up, coffee in, heading for a walk now, see that easy and it feels GOOOOOOOD.