Tips for working out first thing in the morning?

[kingshellie]

I just started a very intense masters program that has 12 non-stop hours working days, from mon-fri.

For the past 3 years I’ve been consistently working out 5-6 days a week, for about 1-1.5 hours each day (I count is as 2 including commute and showering). Not only because I love it, but also because when I don’t I feel shit physically (I suffer from IBS and scoliosis, so working out helps me stretch and debloat).

I’m a night owl. I used to work out as late as possible (8-9pm. One summer I joined a 24hr gym in another city and I’d go around 11pm-12. It was wonderful). But because of the pandemic, everything closes by 10, the same time I get out of school.

This means I’ve been having to wake up at 6am to hit the gym by 7 and be back home around 8:45 so I can get ready and be at school by 9:50. Today was the 4th day in a week that I just couldn’t get my ass to the gym.

TL;DR: How can a not-morning person manage 7am workouts without dying in the process? I really want to try and get 5 workouts a week. Weekends are no issue, it’s the week (specially Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) that I’m having issues with...

Also, I live 10 mins from my gym and 5 from school, so technically I should have time to shower and get ready at home. It’s more the waking up and working out fasted that I’m struggling with!

 

[theo2020]

@kingshellie I used to workout in the evening and have been working out in the AM for a few years. The transition was rough, but some things that helped were:

• Sleeping in my (comfy) gym clothes for the initial week or two. It reduced the time needed to get out the door. If I didn't get up, then there's more ownership because I literally only had to put on my shoes.
• When I had a coffee pot, I'd set it to be ready when I woke up. Smell of coffee was great, and then the extra caffeine helped.
• Setting my alarm on my phone to wake me up to my own Pandora or Spotify gym playlist. Usually something like Britney Spears or Beyoncé where I know I will sing along
• Planning my hard days effectively. Sometimes my leg days are on Mondays because I can get it out of the way. Sometimes they aren't because I know it'll be rough.
• If you need a pre-workout or snack, pick one you are excited to eat or drink. I used to be so excited for protein coffee (it was like a mocha)

After awhile, your body gets used to waking up early.

 

[faithfamily]

@kingshellie As someone who gets up at 5:30 to exercise, the only thing that works for me is starting to get ready for bed at 8, and being actually in bed by 9. I have an 8pm timer on my phone, and when that goes off, I stop what I'm doing, whether that's cleaning or browsing reddit. I set out my clothes and my water for the next day (in the hallway, so I don't have to turn on the light while my husband sleeps), and put my glasses, hair tie, and vitamins in the bathroom.

It helps that there's a pandemic on and I don't have to go anywhere in the evenings. But there's no way I can get up that early without either going to bed early or feeling like crap.

 

[elev8]

@kingshellie Sugar free Redbull in the morning? Or an Nespresso machine and pop a couple espressos before working out? Also better sleeping patterns? About sleeping, not meaning more sleeping per se if added hours aren't possible but better sleeping in general, such as contoured pillow, cool gel mattress pad, opening a window (proven that cooler temps equal better sleeping), stuff like that so you're fresher when you wake.

Another idea is different exercises. When I go early in the morning, I focus on cable workouts because they seem to be easier on me physically without the strain of heavy free weights but still gives me a good workout and sweat. Another idea is a scoop of creatine in the morning. That can help boost your workout.

 

[mags1234]

@kingshellie

1. Become the weekend warrior.
2. I am also a night owl but have made it work. There’s no secret other than it sucks for a while and it takes time to adjust so don’t be too hard on yourself concerning performance for the first couple of weeks, just get in there and do your best with the resources you have available during that session (which is pretty much what all training is).
3. Consider caffeine/preworkout. I haven’t used this strategy but it seems like a popular one.
4. Get some cold water down ASAP when you wake up. Sip water during workout.
5. You didn’t mention eating being an issue but if it is oats, whey (sometimes together in a shaker) is a good fast and complete meal. If that’s too much the EAAs and Karbolyn

 

[deborah137]

@kingshellie I wake up and roll out. No giving myself time to waffle about - if I do that, I get comfy and end up having to push my workout until after work and no one wants that (my husband likes to ogle. Working out in the morning helps me avoid that). I get everything ready the night before so all I have to do is pee, get dressed and get out Edit: or to my living room, as the case is right now.

 

[hope3]

@kingshellie Something that helps me is a sunrise simulation alarm clock (full disclaimer though, I’m used to waking up early). Makes me feel like I am waking up naturally instead of just being scared awake by an alarm. Here’s the one I use:

HeimVision Sunrise Alarm Clock, Smart Wake up Light Sleep Aid Digital Alarm Clock with Sunset Simulation and FM Radio, 4 Alarms /7 Alarm Sounds/Snooze https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZ2WFLJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_AlHzAxOx8WwyO

Edit to add: I am fully in the swing of waking up at 5 during the week to hit the gym before work, so in addition to this, making sure my bedtime is consistent has been really helpful as well.

 

[dmit5487ivan]

@kingshellie You’ve already got plenty of great replies but i’ll add my 2 cents anyway since i’m really missing the gym haha

1. Don’t give yourself a chance to psyc yourself out! I love laying in bed before actually getting up so if I really can’t ‘just roll out of bed’ and end up on my phone, i’ll make myself watch fitness videos instead of mindlessly scroll on socials.
2. Right out of bed i’ll put on my gym clothes and shoot back some pre-workout. If the caffeine’s already in me, I definitely can’t get back to sleep lol. Also, part of my gym clothes is an unnecessarily large puffy jacket that makes it feel like i’m still in bed haha
3. Have a quick snack while doing light stretches.
4. Blast music on the drive there!! I put on music i can’t help but sing along to so i’m awake and hyped. Preworkout is probably kicking in by now as well lol

Getting up might always be a drag but you just gotta turn off your brain and get your body where it needs to be

 

[gojira323]

@kingshellie Can you start with 'fun' workouts that you are excited to get out of bed for? Then after your routine is established, move toward whatever your goal-oriented/less enticing workouts are?

As an example, you wouldn't have to twist my arm to wake up at 5AM for endurance swimming. But I'd curse you out if you tried to get me up at 5AM to lift or do HIIT. But I wonder if I got used to waking up at 5AM to swim for a few weeks, if I would be more apt to do the same for a workout I don't love?

 

[rafael_]

@kingshellie My one suggestion I tell everyone is - get out of bed immediately. Do not linger. Do not hit snooze. Get. Out. Of. Bed. Once you're up and moving around, it definitely helps. Not sure how you are about caffeine, but I am a proponent of pre-workouts, or even just a cup of coffee 15-20 minutes before exercising. This helps me wake up a bit more.

 

[joseph2013]

@kingshellie I had the same problem. The way I was able to adjust was:

1. Have pre-workout immediately as I wake up
2. Try to force yourself to sleep earlier and allocate 7 hours at least

At the end of the day it's something that takes time. I felt awful for months but my body has adjusted and now I prefer the morning to the evening, mainly because I fall asleep faster since I had pre-workout earlier in the day.

 

[serpentofdoom]

@kingshellie Get. Enough. Sleep.

If you’re waking up at 7am, be in bed by 10pm. That will give you 8 uninterrupted hours with enough time to also fall asleep and get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. If you’re doing this, getting up won’t be a problem.

 

[patrickjc]

@kingshellie During my masters I woke up at 6 and left the house at 7:20 for 9 am class and returned at 9:50 at night (I had 4 days a week like this). I switched to shorter workouts 12 min-30 min on long days. I found focusing on short workouts made it a habit instead of losing sleep or eating into my homework time. Know it is temporary and you will get through it.

 

[leonnass]

@kingshellie Some advice that may not be what you want to hear: sleep is more important than formal workouts right now and you may need to adjust your expectations. I worked FT and was a FT student during my last year of undergrad so basically didn't have time to sleep, but I still forced myself to wake up super early to work out. As a result, I jacked up my cortisol, totally effed up my metabolism and hormones and ended up gaining weight that took a lot of time to take off. Also have IBS and for me, stress and not sleeping are also major triggers.

My advice would be not to push it too much, and just find ways to get in more movement throughout the week. Maybe instead of a formal gym workout in the mornings, you aim to go for a long walk or do a workout video at home. Maybe you walk up and down your apartment stairs a few times and do some push-ups. Maybe you walk to class or take the stairs instead of the elevator. And then focus on formal strength training on the weekends. Just a thought!

 

[heavenboundgurl]

@kingshellie Hi! Master’s student with the same issue here. Honestly, and this may not work for you—I gave up on the 6 am sessions. I just couldn’t put a shitload of weight on myself that early. I tried getting up at 5 and eating, coffee, “waking up” before going but ultimately realized my body didn’t really get going until a few hours later. I now start work at 7:30 and take a gym break midday at the university gym (heavily restricted hours and capacity for COVID, and I also find this to be the time when only about 2 other people are in the gym) sometimes listening to a lecture in my headphones if I need to/can focus. It has helped me tremendously, you just need to be strict about your start/end times or the day WILL slip away from you. Good luck, I feel your pain.

 

[dmm]

@kingshellie sleep in your gym clothes or have them right next to you. get as much sleep as possible. have everything for school ready and packed to go so you can sleep as late as possible. most importantly- preworkout.

 

[stewart01]

@kingshellie If you live 10 min from your gym, why is it taking an hr to get there? Set your gym clothes by the bed, get up with alarm, get dressed, chug a pre-workout on the way and go. Aim to get to the gym within 20 min max.
Then, like another user said, get ready for school at the gym & go from there would create even more time.

 

[louisianianka]

@kingshellie I've been training myself to be a morning person and a morning worker-outter for 7 years and it still takes discipline! Here are some things that have helped me:

• Put it on your calendar
• Just get it done M-F. Yes the weekend takes 2 days, but if you let yourself be "lax" for 2 of the weekdays, you will struggle with making it a habit because you won't have a consistent wake-up time.
• If you have the iPhone, set up your bedtime and morning wake-up alarm for the same day every day (except weekends)
• Do you have someone you know who is a committed morning gym person, too? If y'all can text each other the "i'm up and getting moving" text every morning, it will make a huge difference
• Give yourself grace for the first couple of weeks until you acclimate but DO commit to getting up and moving, even if you hit snooze a couple of times.
• Prep all your clothes and your gym bag before bed - lay the clothes out next to your feet where you wake up (or sleep in them if you're me)
• Prep your preworkout and water and put it in the fridge before bed
• (basically prep EVERYTHING for grab and go in the morning - you need to reduce any prep and decisionmaking)
• You don't have to work out fasted but if you want to, you'll eventually get there. It's just a period of acclimation. You could eat a spoonful of peanut or nut butter and/or a piece of peanut butter toast before you go. I used to until I started doing keto/IF and then I just slowly acclimated to it. Since the pandemic I don't really do keto/IF but can still do fasted workouts every day because I'm used to it.
• Have your bag loaded with your "get ready" stuff and get ready at the gym if you can - shower, etc. Go to school from there!

 

[chinyere]

@kingshellie Make it a routine! I love podcasts so as soon as I wake up I hit play on my daily morning podcast and listen while I get up and get ready. I also drink preworkout right when I wake up so I have to work out within 20-30 minutes haha. Routines are the most helpful

 

[tuffthegamer]

@kingshellie My biggest tip is just get straight out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off. Don’t give your self a chance to doubt yourself. Plus I find if I go back to sleep I always feel way more groggy when I wake up again! Plus it helps that if you do it often enough you will start to wake up at that time every day anyway