Early Morning Workouts

S

shaan

Cathlete
Hello everyone. I have a question for those of you who workout in the early morning, what motivates you to put in an intense workout at 5:00 a.m.?

I ask because I wake up sometimes 1 hr eary to just get myself in the mood to workout. And when I do, I find my energy is pretty low unless I eat a slice of bread or some sort of carbs 30 minutes before I start the workout.

Any tips to save 1 hr in the a.m. and to start working at full (or
higher) intensity would be appreciated.
 
All I can suggest is start with shorter, easier work outs and work your way up to the longer, more intense stuff!

HTH!:)
 
I workout from about 4:50 to 6 am every morning, except on weekends when I do it around 10 or so! I just get up and DO IT! I splash water on my face, sip some water and begin! My motivation is that I will get home from work at 5pm and cook dinner and spend time w/ the kids. Then at 8 or 9 I can watch TV and relax and know that my workout was already done. It also makes me feel fit all day at work and I just have a better day when I have worked out! Sorry if this didn't help!
Good luck, Clarissa ;)
 
If I don't work out in the morning, chances are I won't work out. I know how much better I feel after a workout, so that's my motivation. I do get up an hour before my workout (that's the only "me" time I get), have some tea with soy milk and catch up on the forums and work email. Then I go for it. As I've done it more often, I find it easier. My body is used to working out at that time, so it expects it.
 
i just get up and do it. some days are easier than others. on the hard days it usually takes about 10 min to get into it but i do eventually get into it:) i find that the more i think about how early it is, how i can sleep for another hour-and-a-half or how comfy i am in my bed, the worse it is. i try and focus on how great i feel after it and how i won't have to worry about doing it later in the day when i'm super exhausted. it will take a week or two for your body to adjust to it but once it becomes routine its not so bad. good luck
 
>If I don't work out in the morning, chances are I won't work
>out. I know how much better I feel after a workout, so that's
>my motivation. I do get up an hour before my workout (that's
>the only "me" time I get), have some tea with soy milk and
>catch up on the forums and work email. Then I go for it. As
>I've done it more often, I find it easier. My body is used to
>working out at that time, so it expects it.

Ditto to all of this! I love my "me time" in the early morning when I drink my coffee and read on the forum. After I have gotten all hot and sweaty and know I've done something good for my body, the rest of my day is much much better.

Today, for example, I got up early to shop instead of work out. I had significantly LESS energy thru the day than normal.
 
I need to do this so bad. I got my act together this summer and was really making fitness gains, and then school started. I am already getting up at 5:00 and my days often stretch to 11:00 or 12:00 at night. The only way I am going to get back into the groove is to workout at 4:00. I've been trying,but hit that @@#$$%^&^&&**$%$$##@#$ alarm, and talk myself out of it. Every night I go to bed thinking I'll get it done. Every morning I tell myself I'll work it in that evening. Every day I fail. I am so frustrated. I am so tired. I am so sick of working 24-7. Yes, I am a teacher.
 
I decide the night before which exercise dvds I want to use the next day, put one in my dvd player. I set out all the equipment I will need for it and I also set out my clothes to wear so in the morning I just dress, eat some cereal and go in my all-in-one room and do them.
 
"I am so frustrated. I am so tired. I am so sick of working 24-7. Yes, I am a teacher."

Ditto to that!!!

I love my teaching job, but I hate the hours. Every summer I get myself back in the "fitness groove," only to fall off the wagon every fall. x( I'm up at 5:15 and, like you, get to bed around 11:00. I've toyed with the idea of getting up at 4:00, but I think that would just exacerbate the sleep deprivation. I'm pretty proud of myself so far this fall, though. Yes, I have weeks when I only get 1 or 2 workouts in, but I'd rather do what I CAN rather than not do what I HOPED for. I aim for working out in the late afternoon/early evening when I get home - UNLESS I have a stack of essays to grade, lessons to finish prepping, or reading to catch up on for the next day. For me, the Queen of Procrastination, my workout routine is in much better shape when I make efficient use of my time during the day (although, as you know, our job is never "done" at the end of the work day!).

No, I'm not doing a "hard-core, plateau-busting" rotation, but I feel less stressed with my more relaxed approach to getting (or not getting) workouts in. I often end up saving the extra long videos for the weekend when I can put in 2 hours at a time. I've been focusing more on cardio and circuits (with a few total body endurance workouts thrown in), and I'm liking what I'm seeing! I always wanted to be more of a "weights" person because I love strength-training, but my body seems to prefer more cardio. :p

So far, this routine "seems" to be working, but I'm wondering what's going to happen in the future when/if we have kids???? :eek:
 
>If I don't work out in the morning, chances are I won't work
>out. I know how much better I feel after a workout, so that's
>my motivation. I do get up an hour before my workout (that's
>the only "me" time I get), have some tea with soy milk and
>catch up on the forums and work email. Then I go for it. As
>I've done it more often, I find it easier. My body is used to
>working out at that time, so it expects it.

i totally agree with waking up earlier to get some "me" time bfore (usually on the forums!). i know i won't do it if i don't do it in the morning and i know i feel so much better once it is done. i just don't allow myself not to (unless i am sick or something). it gets me going and i feel so much btter for it. i don't eat before, but i do drink a big jug of water and have a diet pepsi before.
 
So far, this routine "seems" to be working, but I'm wondering what's going to happen in the future when/if we have

Got those, thus contemplating the 4:00 time slot. Maybe two or three times a week at this ungodly hour, and then the weekends. I know I will be lucky to get in 5 workouts in a week. My stress comes from going all day long in 5th gear. I work full out all day with the hope that it will leave some time at the end for me. Doesn't happen. I have to let something drop to get any "me" time in.
 
I use to not be a morning person at all. Then my work hours changed from 6am-2:30 to 9am-6pm that I converted. It was difficult at first. But did get easier with time. Now I get up at about 5:30am and by 5:45 I am in exercise mode. I have learned that this is my only me time also. When I get home at 7pm it is time to cook dinner, check homework and relax. If I wait til the evening to workout it won't get done and then I am unhappy.

My tips that have helped me:
1. I always but a star on my Cathe calander so I know how much I have accomplished.
2. I try to have my workout planned so as to not have any thought process as to what to pick.
3. I have my workout clothes picked out.
4. If I feel exhausted I choose that day as my rest day. And I always pick my rest day for a work day just to get in some xtra sleep.
5. I save longer workouts for my days off.

I also do a load laundry every morning while I work out so I kill 2 birds with one stone.

It does get easier the more you do it. Somedays I wake up before the alarm goes up.

Jenn
 
I don't eat before either, but I do have 2 cups of tea with light vanilla soy milk and raw sugar before I workout. On weekends, I work out about 9AM - of course I sleep in to 6:30! And I have a tough time staying up past 10PM. That's the trade off - I'll still take the AM workouts.
 
Another teacher here. I am generally a morning person, but I do find it hard to work out before work simply because I have to be out the door around 6ish, and like others, I enjoy my "me" time. My ideal w/out time would be 7-8ish, and that's just not possible. I can completely relate to finding my groove in the summertime.

I will get in an AM session when need be, but for the most part, I have adapted to PM workouts. That being said...what helped me tackle the before-the-crack-of-dawn-hour was starting with easy, shorter workouts as Wendy suggested. Also, having the workout clothes laid out the night before so that it's "staring" at me is helpful.

[font face="heather" font color=black size=+2]~Cathy[/font]
[font face="comic sans ms"]http://s228.photobucket.com/albums/ee296/runninteach/th_sunshine.gif
 
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