How to get up early to exercise

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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I'm able to get out of bed in the morning because I know the other options are either exercising after work (which I don't like, because I prefer to spend that time with my husband) or not exercising at all. I won't accept either of those two options, so getting up isn't a problem.

    Once you connect with *why* you want to get up early to exercise, it should be easier to do so. That you're asking what the benefits are shows that you don't really know *why* you want to get up early to exercise so spend some time thinking about your personal motivation.

    Once that's done, remove the obstacles. Make sure you get to bed early enough to make a 5 AM wake-up time sustainable. If it helps, lay out everything you need the night before.
  • reversemigration
    reversemigration Posts: 168 Member
    My workout time varies through the week depending on my work/play/etc schedule. I find it much easier if it's built into the routine - i.e., the gym is literally on my way when I'm walking to class or work, so it gets put before or after. On other days, I fit it in where it makes the most sense.

    The point being that, for me, I try to remove as many obstacles as possible and just make it a normal part of the day. I would find it hard to wake up early simply to exercise unless it was the best fit for that day.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    I get up early to do a workout video and it helps me wake up and feel ready for the day. I plan after work exercise as well, but things happen during the day that can derail plans. I do it for fitness, strength, stress release, weight management. Setting a routine really helps. My weekday alarm is 5:15-5:25 and bedtime is lights out at 9:15(this is a new goal I just set a month ago and it's working!!!) Once you set the routine it becomes a part of your day, just like a shower and coffee.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
    Do you need to workout in the morning? Like is that the only time it fits your schedule?

    I’m not a 5AM kind of a girl. I workout after work.
  • E4boys
    E4boys Posts: 15 Member
    Do you have music to listen to or a tv to watch while walking on the treadmill?
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    Is the treadmill at home or at the gym? Why are you comsidering this as an option - that would be your motivation right there.

    I’ve started doing leg days at 6:30 am. This means my alarm goes off at 5:30 - i pack my lunch the night before, wear my gym clothes TO the gym so I don’t have to change wen I get there. I am not a morning person. I don’t do this every day.

    The benefit? The gym is nearly empty at that time. I don’t have to elbow my way to the squat rack. The latter point alone makes the early day worth it. Empty gym means I can get through my workout quicker - I don’t have to wait for anyone else who might be using the weights and/or machines I want.

    Figure out your reason. Is it worth it?
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    Eagles8080 wrote: »
    I want to wake up at 5 am and hit treadmill for walk but I just never feel motivated. What are the benefits of getting up early to exercise. How can I get motivated

    • The memory of the over-packed hell that is the gym in the after-work time slot is my motivation. (I wouldn't weight train in the morning otherwise).
    • Make sure absolutely everything is ready to go the night before (gym clothes laid out, work clothes in bag, breakfast & lunch ready to grab, etc)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    edited February 2019
    Eagles8080 wrote: »
    I want to wake up at 5 am and hit treadmill for walk but I just never feel motivated. What are the benefits of getting up early to exercise. How can I get motivated

    There aren't any inherent benefits other than it's out of the way for the day. The only time I do early morning workouts is in the summer...I usually have 2 road rides during the week and it's too hot when I get home from work. I do my Saturday and Sunday rides mid mornings usually. I'm currently doing the weight room on my lunch break a couple days per week.

    The best time to workout is when you'll actually do it.
  • rosiorama
    rosiorama Posts: 300 Member
    edited February 2019
    Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »
    If you were to list everything that you do in a given weekday, from exercise to work to school to household chores to parenting tasks or whatever other responsibilities you have, how much of that entails being motivated? In my life, pretty much none of it. We recognize that something is important to us, make it a priority, and then find a way to do in as often as necessary.

    This. Especially the bold.
  • emilysusana
    emilysusana Posts: 416 Member
    For me, the coffee maker that could be programmed to brew automatically in the morning was a game changer. When my alarm goes off I can smell the coffee. I love coffee so much that gets me out of bed. I don’t think about the treadmill at that point, only about sitting for 20 minutes reading the digital NYT and that cup of coffee with 2% milk! Running comes after.
  • curlsintherack
    curlsintherack Posts: 465 Member
    When my alarm goes off at 4AM I get up and go like an adult and allow myself 0 excuses.


    Also make friends here an accountability buddy is a good thing.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,253 Member
    I get up early to exercise because I like the exercise I’m doing.
  • Lizakabibbis
    Lizakabibbis Posts: 370 Member
    I didn't want to go after work. That was my motivation. I go 4x a week at 4am. I've been doing it for a little over 2 years. Once I got started it just became a routine. I'll admit since I'm pregnant it's been hard to get up but I still keep trying!
  • leeannewgeorge
    leeannewgeorge Posts: 92 Member
    I have never been an active person for long stretches of time but for 2 1/2 years I have been getting up at 5:00 to go to the gym. Started off with a personal trainer. My motivation was accountability. I couldn't let myself cancel knowing she had gotten up to be there for me. After a year I added a P90X class on the other 2 days. My motivation on those days are the other people in the class. We have developed a community and I don't want to miss seeing them.
  • carlaringuette
    carlaringuette Posts: 158 Member
    corriepelc wrote: »
    For about the past three years, I've consistently gotten up every weekday morning at 5am to get in my workout before work. I run 3 miles on the treadmill three days a week and the other two I strength train.

    At first it was really hard, but I treated it like a doctor's appointment -- it's not something I could just blow off or skip. I set an alarm with no snooze option and I scheduled every workout on my calendar. The first week was hard, but now my body just normally gets up at 5am.

    And I find on those rare occasions I do skip my 5am workout, I have less energy, I don't make the best food choices, and I just feel ...blah. For me, it helped me take off 60 pounds and keep it off. I also like that it gives me some "me time" before I have to go to work and just do normal life stuff. And I personally feel it gets my metabolism going, which helped me lose weight and keep it off.

    If you really want to start working out at 5am, I urge you to do it and stick with it for at least two weeks before you decide if it's not for you or not. That's how long it took me to create the habit, and once formed, it's just part of my everyday routine now.

    Needed this advice and the previous person who goes to bed at 9:30.

    There is a Spin class that I've been wanting to work into my gym schedule but it's at 5 am which means get up at 4:30 then after gym shower, fix breakfast and bring lunch and get out the door to work by 7:30.

    Sometimes we overthink it or as I am guilty of we have all or nothing thinking.

    There's a class tomorrow. Time to "Just do it"

    Thanks to all for your motivation and inspiration.

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