Morning Gym Tips for a Total Sleepyhead

cvstokke · December 2016

Hi everyone - as a New Years Resolution (I like them, okay?), I want to start working to become a morning gym person. I fluctuate widely with my evening gym habits. I have all the best intentions, but plans come up and I miss my goals. Becoming a morning gym person would ensure I've already done my workout in case things come up.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM - I am THE WORST at waking up in the morning. I've missed flights. I've been late to work. I can talk myself into ANYTHING at 6:30 AM (yeah, take an Uber this morning, $22 is totally reasonable, you deserve it). What are your best tips for waking up early in general and for becoming a morning gym person specifically?

Thanks in advance!

Tacklewasher · December 2016

Get dogs. Damn things won't let you sleep in. Mine were whining before 5 this morning.

trigden1991 · December 2016

If you have missed flights because you "can't" get up, trying to persuade yourself to go to the gym is not going to happen.

cvstokke · December 2016

@trigden1991 sweet, thanks for the awesome tip!

.... if you don't have anything helpful to say, don't bother posting.

TavistockToad · December 2016

Work out in the evening... You're not a morning person.

cvstokke · December 2016

@Tacklewasher god, I wish! unfortunately, I can't with my roommate situation. maybe I wake myself up with puppy videos? haha

Carlos_421 · December 2016

You're not the worst. I am.
I've tried the morning workout thing and not only did my workouts suffer from my lack of energy but it was impossible for me to stick with.
I think a more realistic resolution would be developing habits for your evening routine so the "stuff that comes up" isn't as likely to get in the way and, if it does from time to time, you get right back on track the next day.
Maybe start some things like packing a gym bag to work with you so you can go to the gym right after work before you go home.

emdeesea · December 2016

I wouldn't.

Look, I'm pragmatic. I am not a morning person and I'm old enough now to know that will never change. So there's no point in me making some lofty resolution that I know I won't maintain.

If you want change to stick you need to be realistic with yourself. And if that means admitting that you really just aren't into the morning thing, that's perfectly okay. Just make a commitment to something you have a better chance of actually doing.

cvstokke · December 2016

@Carlos_421 thanks for the idea. I do actually bring a gym bag to work and am pretty good about going on my way home (gym is between my metro stop and home). However, things will come up like dinner with a family member or a work event. I want to find a balance in having a life and being healthy. Even if I could just gym in the morning once or twice a week, I think it would help.

Jules_farmgirl · December 2016

Have kids... lol! Ok but in all seriousness, I actually had this issue too. I would get home and by the time I had everything done and kids to bed I would be falling asleep standing up and never got to the workout. I found out that my one friend gets up at 4:15am every morning to do her workout. So I have her call me when she finishes to make sure I get out of bed at 5am to start my workout!

cvstokke · December 2016

@Jules_farmgirl that's a good idea. I have a coworker friend that morning gyms so I'm thinking about asking her to do something like that.

Carlos_421 · December 2016

cvstokke wrote: »

@trigden1991 sweet, thanks for the awesome tip!

.... if you don't have anything helpful to say, don't bother posting.

I think his point was that if a flight is not enough motivation to get you up in the morning, a resolution won't be either and you'll likely be more successful by finding other solutions that don't involve early mornings.
Some people just aren't wired to function well in the morning. Others aren't wired to function well late at night.
In my experience, it's better to figure out how to work with how you're set up rather than constantly struggle to do things in ways that work fine for other people but not for you.

Ben_there_done_that · December 2016

Hmm. Maybe go to bed much earlier than you currently are and sleep in your workout clothes. Or keep an energy drink on your nightstand for when you wake up. Then there's no chance for you go to back to sleep even if you wanted. I think you just have to do it enough times for it to be a habit and then it'll be no problem. Good luck!

Carlos_421 · December 2016

cvstokke wrote: »

@Tacklewasher god, I wish! unfortunately, I can't with my roommate situation. maybe I wake myself up with puppy videos? haha

How does a roommate have power over your schedule?

cvstokke · December 2016

@Carlos_421 I was replying to a post about getting a dog

TrueBeautyDanielle · December 2016

@cvstokke I am right there with you. Too bad you can't get a dog. That was great advice. My advice is to prepare for the day the night before. Going to bed earlier, preparing lunch, and attire ready. (hypocritical, cause I need to get better at this

) My husband has his phone away from the bed so he has to get up to turn off the alarm and once he is up he is up......maybe I should do this too???? lol Anyways, you are not alone.

Carlos_421 · December 2016

cvstokke wrote: »

@Carlos_421 thanks for the idea. I do actually bring a gym bag to work and am pretty good about going on my way home (gym is between my metro stop and home). However, things will come up like dinner with a family member or a work event. I want to find a balance in having a life and being healthy. Even if I could just gym in the morning once or twice a week, I think it would help.

I think hitting the gym on the regular while making exceptions for things like family dinners and events is the definition of balance.
If you know in advance about the events or dinners and want to hit the gym early that day that's great but I don't think you need to change the way you live your "every day" in order to accommodate the "now and then."

Carlos_421 · December 2016

cvstokke wrote: »

@Carlos_421 I was replying to a post about getting a dog

Oh well that makes more sense. Lol

cvstokke · December 2016

@Carlos_421 yeah agreed, i don't need to do it every day. but i would like to be able to motivate myself to morning gym when I know I have an evening activity and I really struggle with that. which was the whole point of this thread, not 12 people telling me to not bother.

sorry, this isn't to hate on you as I appreciate your suggestions. it's just frustrating when you post on MFP and a bunch of people jump down your throat about your idea being stupid.

cvstokke · December 2016

@TrueBeautyDanielle the phone idea is good. My issue with it is always not wanting my roommate to hear it and wake her up, but I guess that gives me even more incentive to not hit snooze. I like the idea of laying out my workout clothes. I'm sure that would help a little. Thanks!

janejellyroll · December 2016

I thought for years that I wanted to work out in the AM and I wasn't able to do it. It turns out I didn't *really* want to because once I really wanted to do it, it became relatively easy. Once I realized how much more I enjoyed my day when I didn't have to squeeze in a workout between work and dinner, it was easy to find the motivation to work out early.

My suggestion: begin waking up earlier to do something that you enjoy without reservation (favorite website, read a novel, make an incredible breakfast, watch a TV show, whatever). It may feel weird to do something fun right after waking up, but go with it. Get into the habit of waking up earlier without tying it to something that you might need to motivate yourself to do even if you were awake. Once you have the habit of waking up earlier, it will be much easier to get right to the workout. This is what I did to become an early riser -- I wake up with something fun and then I exercise. Once I got in the habit of exercising, I was able to just do the fun thing for a few minutes.

Morning Gym Tips for a Total Sleepyhead

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