For the past 5 years, I’ve been working out at the weeee hours of 5am.
Ok that clock doesn’t say 5:00 but I couldn’t find one that did 
People often look at me like I’m crazy when I tell them that I got to the gym from 5:30 to 6:30am. But judging by the number of people that are also there at that hour, I’m not the only one! I teach class on Mondays and Tuesdays and do my own thing on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Sometimes I switch it up for evening workouts, but generally I’m a morning person.
So, maybe you’ve thought about starting a morning workout routine. Here are 10 practical tips to get you started off on the right foot!
1. Set out your workout clothes the night before. If you’re anything like me, you don’t have a whole lot of brain power at 4:45am. Do yourself a favor and think through the details the night before. Also, while you’re at it, charge your iPod and fill up your water bottle and put it in the fridge so it’s nice and cold. If you are going to the gym and plan on showering at the gym, make sure to pack all your toiletries and towel and clothes for the day the night before. If you wait until the morning, you’re likely to forget something important! It also helps to have an entire second set of toiletries that never leaves your gym bag.
2. Be realistic about how much time you have before you leave for work/school/etc. If it truly takes you 45 minutes to shower and get ready to go, then plan ahead for that much time. Count the clock backwards from when you have to leave in order to make sure you fit in your whole routine. It would be a pity to get up so early and only have time to do a 20 minute workout in! (but more on that later!)
3. When you do get up, don’t snooze your alarm. Get up immediately. The more you allow yourself to snooze, the less time you have to do your whole routine. Getting into the habit of getting up immediately with the alarm is just like building any other habit! Just practice it.
4. Turn on the lights when you get up. This tells your brain that sleep time is over! If you have the opportunity to turn the lights on, then do it. If you share a bedroom and don’t want to wake up your roommate/spouse/etc., then turn the bathroom lights or some other non-intrusive lights on to jog your brain awake.
5. Speaking of roommates & spouses (and family!) make sure they are aware of your plan to get up early. If they’re aware of your schedule then they’re more likely to accept it. Be steadfast in your commitment to use these early hours for yourself. Also ask them to be mindful of when you go to bed and see if they can choose quiet activities after these hours, if they themselves are not yet in bed.
6. That being said, make sure to get to bed at a reasonable hour. It’s mighty hard to get up at 4:45 if you only went to bed at midnight! Make sure you’re getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night otherwise you’ll run yourself down. You will need your energy for your morning workout!
7. Make sure to eat a decent dinner. If you find that your dinner consists of Oreo cookies and white wine (guilty, once upon a time!) then you’re not going to want to get out of bed before the sun. Eat a balanced meal of lean protein, vegetables and whole grains to fuel up your energy stores for the a.m.
8. Keep your workout routine simple. Trying to use too much brain power in the morning is not a good thing. Plan out your run/biking route, go to a group class at the gym, plan your workout ahead of time so that you don’t have to think too hard first thing in the morning. Just get up and start moving. And be honest with yourself about how much you can accomplish in the morning. As I mentioned earlier, if all you can really swing is a 20 minute workout, then go for it! Anything is always better than nothing. Depending on the exercise you do, you can still burn hundreds of calories in 20 minutes!
9. And speaking of classes, find a morning workout buddy or join in an early morning class. When you have someone waiting for you, or you have a specific time to be somewhere (there are lots of gyms with a variety of 6am classes!) then you’re more likely to actually make it there. Just get your feet through the door of the gym, or to the meet up place with a friend and you’ll be fine. Sometimes just getting there is the hardest part!
10. And last but not least, don’t kill yourself. What I mean is that if you’re exhausted, then take a day off. Get some rest and jump back in the next day. Listen to your body.
Are you a morning worker-outer? What do you do to make sure you stick to your routine?
Happy Tuesday everyone!
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Love this! I’ve been trying to get into a morning workout routine (normally I’m an evening runner) and am having trouble keeping it up. These tips are a big help – I especially like the water bottle and “lights on” ideas. Hopefully they can help me jumpstart my a.m. routine!
Great! I wish you lots of luck! I find that I really like having my evenings free, plus the morning workout has me more awake by time I get to work, so I’m more productive earlier. (well, when I’m not fussing with my blog, that is
)
Adding on to your “lights on” idea, I’ve seen alarm clocks that sort of simulate the sun rising by getting brighter and brighter in the half hour before your alarm is set. Seems like a neat idea! Maybe not so neat if your spouse doesn’t want to get up at the same time…but lucky (?) for me Erik can sleep through pretty much anything.
And I totally agree about getting the people that you live with on board! Erik is a morning person and I am not…at all. So I make sure he knows what time I want to get up and he makes it happen! It’s easy to hit snooze a million times, but it’s not so easy to hit Erik while he’s tickling me, making the cats attack my feet, and jumping on the bed to wake me up! …well, ok, I DO swing at him while he’s doing these things, but he doesn’t give up as easily as my alarm does!
Yes the lights on does help! And yes pets help too! Miss Callie is very helpful in getting my butt out of bed early because once she hears the alarm, she’s up and at ‘em! I should look into those sunrise alarm clocks!
I literally decided today that I was going to try to start doing a morning workout tomorrow!! Then I saw your post
With the girls, the only times I have to work out are morning, a small naptime window in the afternoon, or at night. By night, when we get them down for bed, all I want to do is relax!! Great ideas for the morning…I’ll let you know how I do!! One question–what do you do for food? Do you have anything beforehand or just eat something afterwards? I can’t imagine having anything beforehand, which is why I guess you say to have a good dinner!!
I have a lot of friends who are moms and this is truly the only time they have to workout! Because once everyone gets up and gets going, forget it! For food, it all depends on how your body feels about food in the morning. I don’t eat beforehand but if you’re someone who has to eat something as soon as you get up, I’d recommend a half a banana and a half piece of bread with a little bit of peanut butter on it. Something like that has all the fuel components to get your metabolism going without weighing you down!
Chase, what is your recommendation for people like me? You know, wake up at 4:45 get on a train to DC at your desk by 7. Leave work at 4:30 get home at 7:30, just in time to make dinner and hit the sack. You know the deal. What did you do when you lived at home and were working downtown?
I know exactly how you feel. I had to either do it at lunch (I could steal away for an hour) or I’d have to have dinner already prepared so I could do it as soon as I got home, and then eat when I was done without a lot of prep time. Because otherwise there’s no time to fit it in. Getting up at 4:45 just to get to work is hard enough! But then again, there’s always getting up at 4:15 and squeezing in a half hour of anything … which is better than nothing! Especially because if you’re like me, you’re whooped by time you get home.
Good for you for being able to get up that early!
I aways leave my running clothes and work clothes out the night before. I also plan my breakfast and do as much prep as I can.
I wish I could get to bed early enough to get up for 5 am – some nights I don’t even get home from work or school until 10 pm.
I’ve been working out in the AM for 5-6 years now. I pack my gym bag, lunch, water bottle, and layout my workout clothes the night before. When the clock goes off, at 4:30 am, I’m up and out the door in 15-20 min. I’m at the gym no later than 5:00 or 5:05. I workout until 6:00. I’m dressed and headed to work by 6:35.
I love working out in the AM. It gets my day going! I don’t have a partner,and find I don’t need one. I’m motivated to go as I want to lead a healthy lifestyle.
I’ve tried to go to the gym after work, and I can’t get motivated to do so. Generally, I come up with excuses as to why I can’t go. I don’t have an excuse for those AM workouts.
Oh, and I’m in bed no later than 9:30!
You sound just like me! Definitely in bed by 9:30 or I’m regretting it the next day!
Wow that’s awesome you have been a morning workout queen for so long, way to go!
I like working out at night because it gives me something to do, but I have also been thinking of trying to do early AM workouts, especially w. summer and fun summer evening activities coming up. I’ll have to keep these tips in mind!
You know, some people are just not morning-worker-outers. And that’s ok! I think when I move and stop this crazy 2 hour one way commute, I’ll get back into evening workouts too. I do like the feeling of leaving work, sweating it out at the gym and arriving home having already sweated out all that stress of the day!
Hi Chase! Love all of your suggested tips. I like working out in the AM to avoid having to take a second shower. Way hard to get to bed early enough, though! And the pool water seems extra cold at 6:00 am but it’s nice to have one thing done for the day despite how the rest of it goes… I like to eat Fiber One bars before morning workouts – just enough to have some energy and not too much (like a Cliff Bar or an Odwalla bar) to fill you up entirely. Loving your blog! ~Kristin
Glad you’re enjoying the blog! The fiber one bars are pretty good! And tasty! And low cal! I agree that they’re not too much like other bars can be. PS I’m excited to be moving to Arlington next month and would love to get together for a bike or run sometime!
So excited to hear that you’re moving to Arlington soon! Would love to join athletic forces sometime
There are great trails around here. We’ll have to have you and Jeff over for a Welcome to Arlington dinner when you’re settled 