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    Can you exercise in the morning?

    Posts: 583 Member
    edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
    I really can't!

    I work full time and live right next to my work so I always go to the gym in the evenings. Even during holidays I tend to stick to this but since there are no good classes on a Friday night I went this morning. Not even early - a 9am class.

    But still, I literally feel like death. I'd booked two classes but have come out after the first. There's no way I could do anything else, I was dizzy, sweaty and felt sick. I even took low options and I generally consider myself to be above average fitness.

    I have been in the mornings before and often feel like this or, at best, lethargic and not on full form.

    Does anybody else have a time of the day when their body just won't perform properly?

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    Replies

    • Posts: 534 Member
      I always do cardio early. Are you definitely getting enough sleep and drinking water to hydrate when you get out of bed, before attempting exercise?
    • Posts: 235 Member
      I have to do it first thing in the morning. My body can't function after work!!
    • Posts: 246 Member
      I get up at 5.30am six days a week to train and am at it by 5.45. I have a cup of coffee and that is it. I think I am conditioned to it now as I have been doing this for about 15 years! I also run at lunchtime about 3 - 4 times a week.

      If, by chance, on a Sunday I train in the late afternoon, I find the food in belly feels awful!

      You just have to do what works for you!

      Donna
    • Posts: 341 Member
      Going on an empty stomach?
      That can cause what you're describing - or at least it does in me, so I drink a protein drink beforehand.

      Mind you its a STRUGGLE to go to the gym in the morning - usually avereage 5 hours of sleep per night during the week, but its also the least intrusive time because I can't study in the mornings so I may as well go to the gym, then study after classes.
    • Posts: 208 Member
      I always excercise early. that is the only time I really feel motivated. I get up super early though, so I have about 4-5 cups of coffee before I excercise. Also, I MUST have some type of Carb in my stomach before I exercise, otherwise I start to feel super sick. I usually bring a protein bar with me.. just in case that feeling hits, and eat a portion of it , if needed. I cannot work out at night. Just not a Night Owl.. :)
    • Posts: 884 Member
      I always do either a walk video or Zumba first thing in the morning! Sometimes I have a lot more energy into it in the morning than others. But, I always feel better afterwards. I am not a morning person. I feel more awake and alert.
    • Posts: 377 Member
      It must be just that ppl are all different because I HATE exersizing in the evenings! Its much easier fo me to wake up at 4 or 5am and exersize before work than to try and do it at the end of a long day.

      The other issue I have is that if I exersize with any food in my stomach I'll be ill so its harder in the afternoon because I have to ensure I don't eat for at least 3-4hrs beforehand... Definitely can't exersize after dinner so if I must exersize in the evening then I have to skip dinner altogether!

      And my final issue... If I do skip dinner and exersize in the evening, I need to allow 3-4hrs to wind down before I can sleep so if generally means a late night!

      Yep - definitely a morning person here... It's the only option I have! :D
    • Posts: 70 Member
      Yup! I am up at 3:15 each morning to get my cardio in. If I don't, I won't get it done. I'm too lazy after work.
    • Posts: 583 Member
      Interesting how different people are isn't it!

      Yes, i did drink water throughout the class (but didn't drink before I went). Had 7 hours sleep and did eat breakfast (though I only have fruit and yogurt for breakfast so maybe cope better after having had starchy carbs and protein later in the day). Stomach wasn't empty though.

      Weird. maybe it's psychological. I dread doing it, feel tired and morning-ish and therefore convince my body it won't work properly?
    • Posts: 583 Member
      wow, I am in awe of some of you morning people - 3.15am?!?! Some nights, I haven't gone to bed yet at that time.
    • Posts: 1,186 Member
      Yea I get up at 3am and I am usualluy in the gym by around 3.20am.. It takes me 90 minutes to get to work... So if i get stuck at work, but the time a get home I am rooted and wont go to the gym
    • Posts: 142 Member
      Yea I get up at 3am and I am usualluy in the gym by around 3.20am.. It takes me 90 minutes to get to work... So if i get stuck at work, but the time a get home I am rooted and wont go to the gym

      Up at 3am! wow thats amazing. This is giving me the kick start to get back to my morning routine. I used to workout at 6.30am but I started to feel sorry for myself and started to sleep on. its amazing how easy it is to convince yourself that its too hard to get up. Now I'm motivated again.
    • Posts: 471 Member
      Hi,

      I wake up 6am 5 days/week to exercise.
      Weekends I wake up at 8am.

      It's impossible for me to exercise after work....i'm simply dead by then :frown:

      Do what you feel better for you.

      Kisses,
      ATR
    • Posts: 179 Member
      I always feel like I am at my most active during the evening. Mornings for me just won't do and if I can train better and much longer in the evenings, why change it?
    • Posts: 583 Member
      Yea I get up at 3am and I am usualluy in the gym by around 3.20am.. It takes me 90 minutes to get to work... So if i get stuck at work, but the time a get home I am rooted and wont go to the gym

      Your gym is open at 3am?!

      I would actually find one like that useful - but for late night insomnia induced work outs rather than fresh faced morning enthusiasm!
    • Posts: 114 Member
      im there at 5am and love it, if i dont go i am cranky, its like my coffee!! lol. i was working out at 10-11 pm (i have a little boy and full time job, so i try to not take his time) and couldnt get out of bed the next morning. so started in the morning and i actually love it. just go when you can. good luck to you!!!
    • Posts: 223 Member
      show previous quotes

      Your gym is open at 3am?!

      I would actually find one like that useful - but for late night insomnia induced work outs rather than fresh faced morning enthusiasm!

      No 24 hour gyms in your area?
    • Posts: 49 Member
      I get up at 7am every morning, doing the shred by 7:15, out the house by half 8 after having a nice shower and have breakfast when I get to work.

      I find it's best to just get up and get it out of the way (I don't like exercise!) xxx
    • Posts: 35
      Usually for me after I get my 5 boys off to school. :). I would say no later than 9 am.
    • Posts: 409 Member
      I'm up every morning at 4:00 am on the weekdays and usually by 6:00 am on the weekends. I've been doing a lighter workout in the evenings as well but I definitely prefer my morning workout! Not only does it get me going and set the course for the day but the calories burned help me plan my day better! Traffic can be a pain in the butt for me at night and I never know when I'm going to get stuck late in the office so getting the workout done in the mornings doesn't leave me any excuses NOT to do it!
    • Posts: 368 Member
      For whatever reason, if I workout in the morning, I'm done for the day! Working out after supper is best for me.
    • Posts: 1,531 Member
      I'm not a morning person at all.. it's much better now though but I still don't like doing anything in the morning. I do all my working out in the evening.
    • Posts: 159 Member
      I'm a morning person. I love getting in a workout before going to work where I sit at a desk all day. It also gives me the evenings free to do other things (like sing in a choir).
    • Posts: 4,089 Member
      I have to do it in the morning, or I have too many excuses or I run out of time, or I am too beat after a day at work and chasing around my boys.
    • Posts: 811 Member
      I prefer it, but now being pregnant, I have to find the energy to do it at all, and usually now it's AFTER work... I cannot get up at 4:30 anymore....
    • Posts: 1,227 Member
      NO i have to be at work by 5..pretty impossible
    • Posts: 113
      I try to exercise in the morning but at 7 AM (when I need to get up if I'm going to do it) I find myself unable to pry myself out of bed. I am more active in the evening so it just seems more natural for me to work out in the evening.
    • Posts: 302 Member
      I excercise after work which is about 5:30. Even when I was on vacation I did not excercise until 2 in the afternoon. I am not a morning person. My boss swims every morning at 5am.
    • Posts: 1,649 Member
      Exercise requires consciousness. So, no..
    • Posts: 119 Member
      I'm not a morning person, but I am a morning workout person. If I wait until after work, something comes up, or I talk myself out of it, or whatever. If I get up and get it done, then its done and I feel a sense of accomplishment. At the gym this morning at 6:30 for my boxing class. Now I'm done for the day except for walking my little buddy tonight.
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