Shed Challenge: Be a Morning Exerciser

Good morning! I hope you are feeling bright and sunny this Monday morning.

If you aren’t, it may be because you aren’t a morning person. But…why don’t you become one?

Morning exercisers have a huge advantage: studies show they are more likely to stick with their routine. It’s not that it’s so hard to plan to work out later in the day…it’s just that it’s so easy not to actually do it. Stuff comes up! Happy hour. Bad day. Tired. Busy. Headache. Stuck in traffic. Forgot your shoes. The excuses are endless. But there aren’t as many excuses first thing in the morning. And by 10 AM when you’d normally be planning how to skip your workout, you’re already done with it!

Morning exercisers also sleep better, make better food choices, and have more energy. This is a pretty good deal all around! But…I know it’s tough.

You may be a definite night owl and really hit your stride around 11:00 at night. But if you’re one of those people who is kind of on the fence…if you don’t choose to get up at 8 AM on a day off but it doesn’t kill you when you do…why not give it a shot?

Getting up early is empowering. There’s something amazing about coming home from the gym before your roommate’s alarm has even gone off, or being on the treadmill in time for “The Today Show” (oh heyyyy, Matt Lauer!). How many of the other people in line with you at Starbucks can say they’ve already run four miles?

I used to exercise every night at 10:00 PM. That was when I had the most energy, so I’d go to the gym and exhaust myself and then come home and pass out. It felt pretty good and it worked for me. I became a morning exerciser two years ago, when I was an intern in NYC. I never knew when I’d be home each night (sometimes 7:00, sometimes 9:30), and having a workout hanging over my head during an already stressful day would have been too much. So, I sucked it up and committed. I started going to bed earlier and making myself go in the morning. And, I found, I loved it. When I got home, my body had a new natural rhythm and I had no reason to change it. Even at school, I could have easily exercised in the afternoon, but I just loved being the first one up in my house every day, completing my workout before my 10:20 class. I remember one day I was walking home from the gym at 8:00 and I came across a girl doing the walk of shame. I didn’t intentionally smirk, but she gave me a really dirty look anyway. But yeah, I felt a little sweet at life.

I stuck with the morning thing throughout senior year, and at ELLE, we liked to joke around that the night shift started at 7 PM; the editors were gone, and we’d put on Britney spears and get down to business. There was just no time for evening workouts.

There’s really no better time to make the switch than summer. You’re at a huge advantage because the sun will be up when you get up! It sends  a “Morning has brooooooooken!” message as soon as you open your eyes. And it’s warm outside. This winter, I was getting up at 5:30 AM to go run outside and train for the half marathon. It was so dark and so cold, and yeah, that was pretty brutal, but I will say that by the time I had gotten out of the shower and the sun was coming up two hours later, I felt like I could do anything. It also helped my stress levels. My job gave me enough anxiety that I’d often wake up freaking out…starting the day with 45 minutes Blackberry free always made me feel focused and ready to take on the day.

The best advice I can give you is to pick three days this week and simply do it. Pick three days when you don’t have much going on the night before. The key is to get enough sleep the night before. Don’t do it on a day when you’re already tired and cranky. Maybe say tonight you’ll go to bed at 11:00 since there is nothing on TV and you’ll do it tomorrow!

I lay out everything I need the night before so I don’t have to waste much time in the morning. This also allows me to sleep until the last possible minute. Bra, socks, shoes–get it all ready so you’re not hunting for underwear in the dark.

Set your alarm for your new workout time. (It may seem pretty early when you factor in the commute and whatnot; don’t be afraid. This is normal!) You might want to put it across the room so you have to get up to turn it off. There’s a reason this is the oldest trick in the book–it works. I also read about a guy who would set two alarms; one is his room to wake him up, and another in the living room (for five minutes later) where it would be loud enough to wake his kids. He knew if he didn’t get up for the first alarm, he’d have to deal with wide-awake children. So perhaps put a second alarm where it’s going to piss someone else off if you don’t get to it in time!

I have had many “false starts” in my morning exercise career. I’d wake up to the alarm, turn on the light, look outside, see rain, and get back in bed. Then, within three minutes, I’d  realize I’m already awake, and guilt is going to prevent be from going back to sleep. So…the light comes back on. I get dressed. I go. I conquer.

Don’t bother to hit snooze. What’s the point? You’re either going or you’re not. And you’re going.

If you can do this with a buddy, it helps a lot. I had one in NYC for those 5:45 winter workouts, and we probably would have crashed and burned without each other!

Some people have trouble deciding what to eat before a morning workout. “They” say you should have something small, like a piece of fruit and some protein (yogurt and an orange, peanut butter and banana, toast and cottage cheese, etc) and a small “other half” of your breakfast after. I say, do what works for you! Now I choose to go to the gym at 9:00, so I am fine to get up at 7:30 and have a full breakfast before I go. I went through a period where I didn’t eat before my workout. I was literally out the door, running to the gym, within 10 minutes of my alarm going off. It worked fine for me, but pay attention to your body and don’t do this if it makes you feel faint or lightheaded. On the first few days, try the fruit/protein combo. It’s unlikely to weigh you down, but you won’t feel as weak.

Give yourself a break as well. If I made it to the gym on one of those mornings I really didn’t want to go, I gave myself a free pass. As long as I made it there, I could do what I wanted. Sometimes the thought of running would make me stay in bed, but the thought of the elliptical was totally manageable. Compromise with the lazy part of you that wants to stay in bed.

The first few mornings will not be easy, but the feeling of accomplishment should really help. You’ll feel stronger all day (and more energetic, provided you got enough sleep the night before). When you’ve started your day with good habits (gym! eating breakfast!) you’ve got this sense of “I’m a Healthy Person” in the back of your mind.  You are not going to be too keen to ruin it with an order of deep dish and a chocolate shake at lunch.

Your morning will set the tone for your afternoon and evening. Waking up and doing something positive and healthy is a challenge worth taking on! And it helps you enjoy your evenings more. You don’t have to lug your gym stuff to work and wonder if you’ll make it tonight. And with a workout off the calendar, you might be able to hit happy hour with coworkers or, hell, just catch Oprah more often. (And, in all honesty, booze and Oprah are reason enough for me.)

Tagged as: Exercise, morning