Early Morning Workouts

plainjane0415 · January 2015

To those of you that get up and workout before work, what are some of your tips and tricks? I used to be able to do this with no problem, as I didn't have to be at work until 9am. Now, I have to be at work at 7:30am, and my gym opens at 5am, so I would have time to do it, it's just kicking myself in the butt to get out of bed that early in the morning. I love to work out in the morning because I don't have to worry about doing it after work, but I really fear the struggle of getting out of bed at 4:30am.

morewineplease · January 2015

So I make sure everything I need for the next morning it ready to go before bed to avoid thinking about it. Then I make sure my alarm is going off before FI to make sure I don't wake him up. Otherwise I would snooze till i missed the gym. If they have early classes I would sign up for that because I feel more accountable if someone is expecting me to be there.

People say it takes 2 weeks for it to become a habit… It takes much less time for slacking off to be a habit though. Getting back into this after the holidays has sucked but I am almost back to not thinking about it and just getting up and moving at a god awful hour of the morning. The more days a week you get up early the easier it is too stick to getting up.

charcoalandblush · January 2015

Two things:

I sleep in my workout clothes, so literally all I have to do is roll out of bed, lace up my shoes and go.

I hired a personal trainer. She comes to our apartment building gym twice a week at 5:30am. It costs $60 a session, so I know that I'm stuck paying whether I go or not. I would also feel guilty if she got up at the ass crack of dawn to meet me and I bailed. She has a 24 hour cancellation policy, so if I'm legitimately sick or out of town or whatever I can cancel, but "my bed is too comfortable" is not a viable excuse.

climbingsingle · January 2015

I used to do this. I always made sure that everything was ready the night before. I'd have my clothes laid out so I could just get up and go. If you're worried about snoozing, make sure to place your alarm somewhere that forces you to get up.

plainjane0415 · January 2015

charcoalandblush said:

Two things:

I sleep in my workout clothes, so literally all I have to do is roll out of bed, lace up my shoes and go.

I hired a personal trainer. She comes to our apartment building gym twice a week at 5:30am. It costs $60 a session, so I know that I'm stuck paying whether I go or not. I would also feel guilty if she got up at the ass crack of dawn to meet me and I bailed. She has a 24 hour cancellation policy, so if I'm legitimately sick or out of town or whatever I can cancel, but "my bed is too comfortable" is not a viable excuse.

I wish I could have a personal trainer! We just don't have that option here in my small town

larrygaga · January 2015

I put my phone all the way across the room so I have to physically get out of bed and turn the light on to stop the noise

NowIamMrsKlein · January 2015

I am the worst morning person ever. But i have to admit its so nice to be done working out first thing so that when I get home from work I don't have to make time to do it.

I workout at home, so the night before I set up my yoga mat and weights in front of the TV and have my DVD in the system ready to go. And have my workout wear out and ready too. I also make sure my lunch is made the night before as well as have my work clothes picked out. This way I can still sleep in as late as I can, and get everything accomplished. I don't waste any time choosing outfits, making food etc.

Also for me, FI is my biggest motivator. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he gets up for work an hour before me. So usually now those are my workout days. He gets up, has a shower and then comes and wakes me up to do my workout. Its so much easier to get out of bed when there isnt a warm snuggly man laying in bed next to you.

KatieinBkln · January 2015

Oof. I get up twice a week to workout before work, but I'm a 9-am-er so that means the alarm goes off at 6, not 4:30. That does sound like a beast.

My best tips are similar to the above: get everything ready before you go to bed, enforce a strict "bedtime" on nights before you're going to get up, outsource as many "morning chores" as you can to someone else (in my case I have Fi walk the dog on days I work out).

Also, if you struggle to wake up in the dark, consider a wake-up lamp. Mine sort of gently simulates sunrise, and then gets to its peak brightness (which you can control! I set it too bright at first and gave myself a headache) and an alarm goes off. It helped me immensely.

My only other tip is kind of weird, but: keep the bedroom a bit chilly. I find it much, much easier to get out of bed when things aren't too warm and snuggly. I throw the blanket off when the alarm goes off, and pretty much the second the cool air hits me I have to pee, so that helps get me out of bed.

princessleia22 · January 2015

KatieinBkln said:

Oof. I get up twice a week to workout before work, but I'm a 9-am-er so that means the alarm goes off at 6, not 4:30. That does sound like a beast.

My best tips are similar to the above: get everything ready before you go to bed, enforce a strict "bedtime" on nights before you're going to get up, outsource as many "morning chores" as you can to someone else (in my case I have Fi walk the dog on days I work out).

Also, if you struggle to wake up in the dark, consider a wake-up lamp. Mine sort of gently simulates sunrise, and then gets to its peak brightness (which you can control! I set it too bright at first and gave myself a headache) and an alarm goes off. It helped me immensely.

My only other tip is kind of weird, but: keep the bedroom a bit chilly. I find it much, much easier to get out of bed when things aren't too warm and snuggly. I throw the blanket off when the alarm goes off, and pretty much the second the cool air hits me I have to pee, so that helps get me out of bed.

Those sunrise alarm are awesome, especially when you have to wake up when it's still dark. It tricks your brain into thinking it's later than it really is.

I am so not a morning person, so I currently prefer to do my workouts after work. It also helps that DH gets home 1-2 hours after me in the evenings, so that works perfect for my workout time before he gets home.

JennyColada · January 2015

charcoalandblush said:
I sleep in my workout clothes, so literally all I have to do is roll out of bed, lace up my shoes and go.

That is genius!

Fran1985 · January 2015

I convince myself that the extra sleep burns calories..

levioosa · January 2015

I don't do mornings. I tried to do the whole "wake up at 4:30, gym from 5-6:30 thing" and it made me into a cranky, exhausted bitch, even if I went to bed at like 8:30. I need my sleep. I do much better going straight after work. However, when I did go, it helped to sleep in my work out clothes, have my gym bag all set to go, and my phone across the room.

plainjane0415 · January 2015

I am a morning person, so I think once I get into a routine of it then I will be good to go. I'm thinking these first few times are going to be trying. But worth it. My first dress fitting is on March 7th. My dress fits me perfect (aside from the hem) right now, but I do have a bit of back fat going on that I'm not too comfortable with. Also, arms. They need work.

atlastmrsg · January 2015

Pack everything ahead of time. If you have a garage, put your gym bag in the car with a granola bar to eat on the way there. It'll save lots of time. If you're going straight from gym to work, pack your lunch ahead of time so you can literally grab and go, or take something to work for a few days at a time.

As far as the actual motivation, find what makes you go. Is it so you're not last in your age group at an upcoming 5K? Is it because you don't want to look the way you do now on your wedding day? Is it because the fab dress for your upcoming reunion was only available in a size smaller than you wear now, so you want to fit into that dress? Is it because you're going to the beach soon? Then think of what happens if you don't accomplish it. You won't get to wear the awesome dress. You'll be last at the 5K. You won't want to take pics in your swimsuit on the beach. Whatever it is. That's always enough to keep me moving. I tend to be best motivated by fear/fear of failure.

plainjane0415 · January 2015

atlastmrsg said:

Pack everything ahead of time. If you have a garage, put your gym bag in the car with a granola bar to eat on the way there. It'll save lots of time. If you're going straight from gym to work, pack your lunch ahead of time so you can literally grab and go, or take something to work for a few days at a time.

As far as the actual motivation, find what makes you go. Is it so you're not last in your age group at an upcoming 5K? Is it because you don't want to look the way you do now on your wedding day? Is it because the fab dress for your upcoming reunion was only available in a size smaller than you wear now, so you want to fit into that dress? Is it because you're going to the beach soon? Then think of what happens if you don't accomplish it. You won't get to wear the awesome dress. You'll be last at the 5K. You won't want to take pics in your swimsuit on the beach. Whatever it is. That's always enough to keep me moving. I tend to be best motivated by fear/fear of failure.

Thank you @atlastmrsg these tips are super helpful!

kat1114 · January 2015

I think PPs have great suggestions. I would also add that since you are crunched for time, it would be sensible to work out smarter, not longer. Do some sprints and high intensity interval training to help maximize your work out without having to spend so much time at the gym. I would spend maybe like 30, 45 minutes tops at the gym.

If you have a fridge at work, it might be a good idea to leave some breakfast there so you can have still have a solid breakfast after the gym. I have to eat eggs and some kind of protein in the morning, especially if I workout. Sometimes I make a frittata Sunday night, and eat it all week. If you did something similar and left it at work, it would just be one less thing to worry about in the morning.

plainjane0415 · January 2015

kat1114 said:

I think PPs have great suggestions. I would also add that since you are crunched for time, it would be sensible to work out smarter, not longer. Do some sprints and high intensity interval training to help maximize your work out without having to spend so much time at the gym. I would spend maybe like 30, 45 minutes tops at the gym.

If you have a fridge at work, it might be a good idea to leave some breakfast there so you can have still have a solid breakfast after the gym. I have to eat eggs and some kind of protein in the morning, especially if I workout. Sometimes I make a frittata Sunday night, and eat it all week. If you did something similar and left it at work, it would just be one less thing to worry about in the morning.

Love this suggestion as well. We have a full kitchen at my job, so I could literally buy some groceries to keep here and fix breakfast. I do this with lunch a lot of times as far as like sandwiches and such.

ETA: Just ignore my grammar mistakes.

redheadbride15 · January 2015

Ugh, not a morning person here... I've never in my entire life been able to get up for anything until the very last possible moment. My workday start time is flexible but generally on the later side (9-10 many days) but I still shower at night and wake up 10 min before I have to leave - just the right amount of time to throw on clothes and drink a cup of coffee. The chances of me being able to haul myself out of bed by 4:30am to go to the gym are approximately 0%. Even if I were successful then I'd be cranky and exhausted all day. However, I have embraced this aspect of my being. I do all my workouts in the evenings, even at 10pm if I need to. I guess it's important to know yourself

lc07 · January 2015

I sleep with workout clothes on, too, and have everything laid out and ready to go the night before - lunch packed, breakfast packed, shoes set out, work clothes packed etc. The key is not having to "work" to go work out. If you will hear your alarm, set all of those things out in the living room and have your alarm physically on top of all of it. It will take a lot to turn off the alarm and walk away from your gym bag when you're already dressed to go and standing in front of your bag.

For the first two weeks give yourself a "light" workout if you need to. Like, you only need to go and run for 20 minutes. That's it. Once it's a habit or once you're there you will likely work out longer anyway.

Give yourself a non-food related reward. Like if you go every day that week you get an extra $20 in your spending budget for the week or whatever.

amelisha · January 2015

Question for you ladies with the light alarms - how do you manage to not wake up your SOs? I would LOVE to have one but I wake up before FI and I don't know how it would work without driving him crazy.

teddygirl9 · January 2015

Just to give a different perspective - now that you start earlier, I assume you are off earlier too? Which means you'll have more time in the afternoon/evening if you choose to workout then.

Before I moved (uhh like last april/may) I was working out in the morning. I just workout at home, and was doing 20-30 minutes. After I moved I just couldn't do it! I'm not sure why. Anyways, now SO doesn't get home until 9pm on weekdays, so I have lots of time to workout after work.

I have no tips for morning workouts really haha. But I applaud all you early fit birds!

plainjane0415 · January 2015

@teddygirl9, yes I get off at 4:30 now, but I still for whatever reason like to have my evenings free to do whatever I want... (i. e. sitting on the couch doing nothing)

blabla89 · January 2015

I do pilates, on a yoga mat, on my bedroom floor. If I can get myself to move those 5 feet from laying in bed to laying on the floor, the rest comes easily.

JennyColada · January 2015

blabla89 said:

I do pilates, on a yoga mat, on my bedroom floor. If I can get myself to move those 5 feet from laying in bed to laying on the floor, the rest comes easily.

Me too! (Well downstairs in the den, but close enough!)

For me, part of it is just coordinating my shower. I've been out of work for a few weeks and I HATE having to take two showers in the day, so if I shower in the morning (like if DH is eager to go out to breakfast or something) then that will just be a "rest" day. That was part of my problem: I got so used to getting in the shower to wake me up. I've been trying to spend less AM time in bed on the phone and encourage myself to get downstairs to have coffee with DH. Once I'm up it's easy enough to just flip on a pilates video and go from there. It's just the getting up (before I need to get in the shower) part that I struggle with.

But I've been good this past week and a half! Now just to keep it going once I get a job...

WinstonsGirl · January 2015

amelisha said:

Question for you ladies with the light alarms - how do you manage to not wake up your SOs? I would LOVE to have one but I wake up before FI and I don't know how it would work without driving him crazy.

I'm lucky in that DH gets up before me, so no issues. I also use my fitbit which has a silent alarm, though with him being up earlier, again it's not an issue. I'd try keeping in on your side, maybe lower down so that you can see the light but the bed (and you) blocks it a bit for your SO.

OP - I can't help. I love morning workouts, cos I feel great for the rest of the day but I have trouble getting out of bed for 7:30. 6:30 to get in a workout isn't going to happen for me. I'd have some quick snacks ready for an easy breakfast (banana, yogurt) that you can just grab and go, and then have a better breakfast after.

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