(This is cross-posted at BlogHer.)
I don’t mind admitting that I’m not a morning person. In fact, it’s been pointed out to me that I don’t start talking at work until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee — and by then, it’s already been a few hours since I first woke up. When it comes to physical activity, the non-morning person mentality definitely holds true here as well. “Why get up early when you can go out in the evening instead?” my brain likes to rationalize.
The advantage, of course, is that early-morning exercisers tend to find less excuses to put off their workout than those who do so later in the day. While I enjoy being flexible with my fitness routine, choosing what I want to do and when I want to do it, there have definitely been times when I put off a workout entirely because I had something going on after work. This is okay for a day or two, but when you have a stretch like I did last week where I had something going on almost every night, the whole working-out-in-the-evening thing tends to suffer.
Motivating yourself to work out in the morning isn’t so bad once you get used to it. As long as you don’t have to drastically alter your schedule (and go to bed at a decent time the night before), you can train your body (and maybe more importantly, your mind) to exercise in the morning. The reason I know this is because I’ve successfully been an early-morning exerciser in the past.
When I first started making an effort to work out regularly in the summer of 2007, I was getting on the elliptical machine at the gym almost every morning. I started setting my alarm about an hour earlier than I’d normally get up for work, and regardless of the weather I’d trudge over to my gym (which was only about a five minute walk from where I was living at the time) and put in half an hour of cardio.
I actually did that for a few months before my aversion to 1) indoor exercise machines and 2) early morning exercising (always on an empty stomach, no less) got the better of me. (I tried a few 6am spinning classes during that time, too, but I could never get into it. I think the fact that I’d just woken up, and also that I was trying to spin on a completely empty stomach, were a big part of what did me in. I’ve been thinking about giving spinning another try in more favorable conditions.)
I think the biggest reason I was able to stick to this early-morning schedule so well in the beginning was because I was afraid that if I didn’t get it done in the morning, the activity wouldn’t get done at all. Plus, the gym I was going to would get super busy in the evenings, to the point that I might have had to wait my turn for a machine — and no way was I going to do that.
In the interest of research, I decided I would get up early Monday morning and go for a walk. It’s been a long time since I got up early on a weekday for the express purpose of getting some exercise (in fact, the only time I can recall getting up before 7am in the past year was because I had to take myself or a friend to the airport for a flight).
Yesterday morning I set my alarm for 6:05am, 55 minutes before my normal wake-up time (purposefully set for a few minutes before my roommate’s alarm would go off, to ensure I’d be out of the bathroom before she got up to take a shower). I laid out my clothes, shoes, and mp3 player in advance so I wouldn’t have to search for them in my bleary-eyed state. I even warned my roomie that I’d be getting up early so she wouldn’t wonder what in the world I was doing.
When my alarm went off at 6:05, I seriously contemplated getting out of bed. Then my brain said, “Why are you forcing yourself to get up? It’s not like you’ve never gotten up early to exercise before. You already know what it’s like.” So I burrowed back under the covers and slept for another hour. (Also, I place some of the blame for this behavior on the temperature. It’s much harder to get motivated to go outside at 6am when it’s only in the high 20s outside.) I did, however, go jogging that evening after I got home from work.
Consistent early-morning exercisers, I applaud you. You’ve found a time that works for you and you stick to it. As for me, not getting up at 6am is making me very, very happy.
What is your preferred workout time?
Related Reading:
Charlotte (from The Great Fitness Experiment) wrote a great post last month about the ideal time of day to workout.
Except for Mondays and some Thursdays, I workout in the morning because am workouts interfere the least with my children’s schedules. I like my a.m. sweat fests. I find I have more energy and patience throughout the day. I worry less about what I eat.
A blogger from Fit Bottomed Girls says she wants to be a morning person, but her body just doesn’t function normally at that time of day.
My snooze-loving brain always, always tells me I need more sleep. But my awake brain knows that morning workouts make the most sense. You wake up, get the blood flowing, get sweaty, and then you shower and get ready for your day. When you don’t work out in the morning and “get it out of the way,” you’re stuck with the dilemma of when to get sweaty and enduring another shower. Ay caramba.
Rebecca Pratt, writing for SparkPeople, says you can learn to love exercising in the morning even if you’re not a morning person. She shares her “Top Ten Reasons” for getting up with the early birds (including such things as increased mental acuity, a higher quality of sleep, a jump started metabolism, and appetite regulation).
Barb (from Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something) likes to exercise in the morning, but she cites a study by the American Council on Exercise that says calories burned are calories burned, regardless of the time of day.
MSNBC: Michelle Obama’s arms hard-won with exercise. The future first lady used to join a friend at the gym for 430am workouts. (And I complain about getting up at 6am? Arrrggghhh, I’m such a freakin’ wuss.)
24 Comments
i’m not a morning exerciser either. i used to teach a 6:00 am group fitness class. it was hell. not only are you waking up early and exercising, you have to be coherent enough to lead the class.
I used to be a morning exerciser as well. I did the same thing this morning – set my alarm for five and decided ‘maybe tomorrow morning’ though it is in the plans to go out to a class [joined a gym; whoa] this evening.
I actually had a friend ask me to join her this week in getting up at 4L30 am and meeting at they gym. Well as of today I have meet her zero times – I really should do it but I actually like going to the gym in the evenings by the time I get off from work I really need it. Great post!
Mara
http://24stepstogo.blogspot.com/
I used to be a morning exerciser, but I can’t get my butt out of bed early anymore. But I don’t have a night where I am free before 9:30 and I go to bed around 10/10:30, so I am thinking I really need to start back on my morning routine soon!
I can’t exercise in the morning, however when at the academy it is when I wanted to PT because Georgia is so freaking hot and muggy, it was cooler in the morning.
the only problem I am having working out at night – is I can’t fall asleep – ha
I am definitely a workout in the morning or it won’t happen person. If I don’t work out in the morning, I will always find something else to do during the day, and then the workout never happens!
I can only work out in the morning when there’s enough light out for me to get rolling. Working out in morning dark just doesn’t float my boat. But I don’t feel bad about it, as I consciously make room in my schedule for evening and weekend workouts. I just go after work and before I get dinner. I’ve managed to go half the days in the month, so I’m not complaining.
Maybe I’ll go back to working out in the morning when it gets light out . . . maybe.
Weekends!
But seriously… right after work. Like, don’t even go home and have the chance to lounge on the couch right after work.
I would LOVE to be a morning runner. I need to become one because running when i get home just isn’t working – i don’t get home from work till almost 7, by the time i get done running it’s almost 8 then cook dinner it’s nearly 9. which is way too late to be eating dinner.
So come february i will make the attempt to become a morning runner. again. my problem is for the longest time i’ve set my alarm for an hour before i’m supposed to be awake, i snooze the alarm for an hour. it’s a gradual process but i’m usually fully awake by the time i get out of bed. setting the alarm for 530 so i can be out of bed by 630? Well…i don’t think fiancé would like that much :X
Am definitely going to try though!
I have worked out in the morning and it can definitely be motivating to leave the gym at 8 AM, the sun rising, and your workout is done for the day. It’s much harder to do in the winter I find. Too hard to roll out of bed into sub-zero temperatures!
I’m also an afternoon/evening exerciser. At several points in my life I have been able to do mornings, but only when necessary (e.g., training for a 1/2 marathon in the middle of sweltering NYC summer), only for short stretches of time and usually aided by a running partner to motivate me to actually get out of bed. But I enjoy the run/workout much more when I recognize my natural rhythms and workout later in the day.
When I started running consistently 5 year ago, I was an early morning exerciser. I got up at 5 am and went for a nice run because the rest of my day was filled with work and classes. Once I started grad school and got a regular office job, I started using the two or three weeknights off to run longer (I only had time for 3 mile runs in the mornings). Over the past 6 months, something happened to me and I’m no longer a morning person. Now that I’m done with grad school, I have plenty of time to run long distances after work, but I miss the energy boost that my early morning runs gave me, so I’m working on getting up earlier for a short run before work and a long run after.
Hi Zandria,
My preferred workout time is…whenever I can fit it in. I try for mornings (I am an early riser!) – yet sometimes other activities eat up that time (blogging…). So then, it’s the evenings, usually after 8 PM, when things begin to settle down. I just hope I’m not too tired by that time (or maybe I just need more coffee – can I put protein powder in coffee??). So – what’s it all say – I’m all over the board… How’s that for consistency??
I prefer early morning exercising for the reason that you’ve stated- if I don’t do it first thing, there’s too good of a chance that I just won’t do it at all! So I’ve got to say, I applaud YOU for being able to get yourself to exercise at the end of the day. In the morning I’m still half asleep so I don’t really notice that I’m exercising hehe.
I am most definitely a morning exerciser, I get up between 5 and 6 every morning to work out and walk the dog before breakfast and classes. Then again I am an early bird by nature, I can’t remember that last time I slept past 7:30, even without an alarm. I usually have classes/work in the afternoon and evening, and by the time I get home I am worn out from walking to/from/around campus, so I try to get as much of my exercise done BEFORE I leave as possible. If I am crunched for time in the morning, though, I usually have a second wind of energy around 9 pm that I use to finish up what I’d planned to accomplish for the day in terms of working out.
Woah — 4:30? Michelle’s serious!
it’s getting hard for me too. in fact, those 6am swims i was doing all summer and fall and pretty much up until xmas? no more. i’ll do it when ironman training kicks in…..when i have no choice. :)
i don’t do the morning exercise thing.. i get up at 4:45am.. to catch a 5:50 MARC train :P (any later and there are no prime parking spots – plus i don’t think my neighbors would appreciate the noise of my treadmill and blaring TV, that early) instead i run first thing when i get home … 2-3 days per week (usually around 5:30pm)
you know Im an early am’er.
but I was NOT until life made me that way.
in my 20s 9 was early.
in my early 30s 7 was the crack of dawn.
now? 430 Im up and at em.
here’s hoping I swing BACK the other way in the 40′s
:)
I also used to be an early morning gal, but my schedule’s changed so I have a longer morning and evening commute… and luckily enough, my work schedule shifted so I now have some downtime in the early afternoon. Heading to the gym around 2 or 3 is terrific because you miss the lunch rush AND the post-work crowds! I’m hooked, let’s just hope it stays this way.
I am a HUGE fan of the lunch hour. I can’t get up early, and I can’t BEAR to do anything other than GET THE EFF OUT after work, so lunch hour it is. 5 minutes to chance, 40 on the elliptical/treadmill, 15 to shower, and I am good to go.
I also walk 2 miles each way to work, which DEFINITELY helps.
i used to be so good about waking up early and driving over to the gym to work out, but then i just lost it. lately i’ve decided that waking up earlyish and going to my living room to play with the wii is a lot more enjoyable and cost efficient, haha.
I’m at the gym at 5am 3 times a week. I get up at 4:35am. Every morning between 4:30-4:35 its torture contemplating the pros and cons. The pain fades by 4:37 (once I’m standing up and moving) and I’m ok after that.
The only times I’ve been able to workout consistently in the morning are when my shifts were 11:30 to 8 or 2 to 10. I just don’t wake up early enough or easily enough. The spin classes I go to and my group runs are at night anyways so couple that with needing to work off the workday stress, and you have a combo that works for me.