How to Wake Up Early to Work Out

Happy Friday, friends! I am thrilled you are here with me to kick off the weekend. Today on the blog we are talking about tips to wake up early to work out. I know it's hard. It is something that I personally struggle with on and off.

I've been getting back on that early morning workout train. The 5am train. You know the one. It comes barreling down the tracks, waking you up out of a deep sleep. Your alarm clock is like an air horn at an intersection. Morning workouts can be like jumping on a moving train, but once you are rolling steadily on those tracks, it's well worth the effort. 

To the people that know me best, I may seem grossly unqualified to share tips on how to get up early. As a teenager, I would often sleep through my blaring radio alarm clock...and smoke alarms. Getting up early was non-existent in my early life, it was quite a miracle if I managed to get up in time to make it to the school bus. To say that I’ve never been a morning person is the understatement of the year.

As I got older I had more responsibilities that hinged on me getting places on time, for example, my first real job. I would somehow manage to get up on time, but would never get up one second earlier than was required. I would hit hit snooze on the alarm for an hour and a half (that bad habit promptly ended once I got married) before finally rolling out of bed. I often would negotiate with myself for more sleep.

• If I don’t wash my hair today, I can sleep for an extra 30 minutes.
• If I skip breakfast, I can sleep for 15 more minutes
• Speed limit? What speed limit?

I’m just kidding about that last one.

So how did I, a self-proclaimed sleeping queen, transition from a night owl to a morning bird? I'll tell you what works for me, but before we get started let's discuss the potential benefits of early morning workouts. 

The Benefits of Early Morning Workouts

When you workout first thing in the morning you have less of a chance that something will come up that takes priority. How many times have you had a workout planned for the evening but then something came up at work, with your kids or family and you had to miss it? That sort of thing rarely happens at 5am.

You start the day on a positive note. No matter how stressful your day may turn out to be, it is a great feeling to have that workout behind you. It is one less thing to think about during the day. Working out in the morning often leads to a better mood and clearer thinking throughout the day. 

You free up time in the evening to tend to other responsibilities or enjoyable activities. I love to workout, but I love a lot of other things too. I like to have my evenings free to spend time with my husband or teach my exercise classes. 

There's a certain feeling of peace in those early morning hours. My phone is not ringing, no one is demanding my time, the world is still asleep. I love the quiet time to myself.

It's important to note that there is no best time to workout. If you prefer evening workouts, if that is what works best for your preferences and schedule, then by all means, keep doing what you are doing! If you have established a workout habit, you are doing everything right. This post is for people who want to workout in the morning, but are struggling to wake up to do it.

There are plenty of acceptable reasons to sleep in: It is your rest day, you slept considerably less than 7 hours the night before, your baby spent the better part of the night decorating the walls with vomit. “I don’t feel like it,” is not a good reason.

To Get up or Not to Get up, That is NOT the Question

Stop thinking of getting up early as a choice. If you are anything like me, you probably have to work a day job. I haven’t found anyone yet willing to pay me a decent salary to write and run all day, so I will likely punch the proverbial time clock until my blog starts to make millions (read: for the rest of my adult life). There are many mornings when the alarm goes off and I think, “I don’t feel like going to work today.” But I do it anyway, because like most people, I have to. I don’t have a choice. My boss wouldn’t take too kindly with me staying home from work every time I didn’t feel like going into the office. In fact, I would probably never go to the office if I only based my decision on how I felt.

I go to work because I need the money. The job requires me to arrive at a certain hour. You can apply the same principle to getting up early to work out. Working out isn’t a choice. It is for your health. It is for your body. It is for your mental sanity. It’s for you. 
 

Don’t Lose Sleep Over it

Shoot for 7-8 hours of sleep. If you are going to bed at midnight and getting up at 5am every day, you are not doing yourself any favors. Losing precious sleep to get up early to work out is counterproductive. The more rested you are, the easier it will be to get up early. One of the first things you need to do is get used to going to bed early at the exact same time every night. 
 

Don’t Negotiate with the Enemy

You are probably your own worst enemy. Only you can talk yourself out of getting out of bed. Stop the negotiating. I have learned to turn my brain on autopilot. Don’t think about it, just do it. If you listen to your thoughts at 5am, you almost will always go back to bed. Sometimes I turn on my headphones to upbeat music shortly after waking to distract from my own self-sabotaging thoughts.
 

Be Prepared

I learned in the Girl Scouts many moons ago that Thin Mints are delicious and also to be prepared. Wait. Isn't that the Boy Scout's Motto? Regardless, the best way to ensure success in the mornings is to be prepared. If you are fighting dust bunnies under your bed in the dark, scrambling for your missing running shoe, all while trying unsuccessfully not to wake your spouse, you’re more likely to get frustrated and go back to bed.

To ensure that no brain power will be required in the wee hours of the morning, lay out your workout clothes the night before. I’ve even heard people say that they sleep in their workout clothes so that in the morning, they just have to slip on their shoes and they are out the door. 

Plan your workout the night before. Know exactly what you want to accomplish. Write it down. Don’t rely on your 5am brain to think clearly enough to come up with a workout.

Waking up is Hard to Do

Isn’t that a song? Waking Up is Hard to Do? Oh no, that is breaking up. Well, getting up is hard too. Getting out of bed is often the hardest part. Once I’m up, I usually feel fine enough to keep going. Try setting the alarm clock in another room so that when it goes off, you have to get up and turn it off. You’re up, you might as well stay up. Don’t talk yourself out of it. 
 

If You Snooze, You Lose

I was the snoozing queen until I got married. Turns out hubby didn’t really enjoy waking up every nine minutes for no apparent reason, who knew? That snooze button isn’t helping. You will never be more rested from nine more minutes of sleep. The interrupted sleep actually makes it worse. Just get up. 
 

Love it or Leave it

I am willing to bet that most kids don’t have any trouble waking up super early on Christmas morning. They are genuinely excited about starting their day. I’m not suggesting that the gym is like Christmas morning to an 8 year old, I’m just saying that it is all perspective. If you are generally happy to get up and do something you enjoy, you are more likely to do it. 

Do you dread the treadmill? Well, by no means should you drag yourself out of bed to run for an hour on the treadmill, especially not in the beginning while you are still adjusting. Find something that you genuinely enjoy to do while you are making the transition into an early bird.
 

Misery Loves Company

Getting up in the morning doesn’t have to be miserable, but if you are going to be miserable, it is better to do it with good company. I have found that having an early morning running partner got me up and going every time. It is not right, but we often feel more accountable to others than we do ourselves. 

I'm lucky that my husband wants to run or workout early with me. He is the one hopping out of bed before the alarm and standing in the street waiting for me while I'm still tying my shoes. It really helps to have an accountability partner. I know he would be disappointed in me if I left him out there to run alone. 

If you don’t have a friend crazy or motivated enough to want to get up before the sun to work out, try joining a morning spin class, boot camp, or run club. Other members and trainers will keep you accountable, plus nothing is more motivating than knowing that if you sleep in and miss a class you are flushing perfectly good money down the toilet.
 

Fake it ‘til You Make it

You hate the mornings? Keep telling yourself that and you it will always be hard for you. The trick is to lie to yourself. Tell yourself how much you love to work out in the morning. Get an index card and try writing down some positive thoughts, even if you don’t believe them at first.
 

• I love to get up early to work out.
• Morning workouts set the tone for my whole day.
• I totally rock!
• While most people are sleeping, I am making myself a better person, inside and out.
• I love the time to myself in the mornings.
• I can’t wait to get my workout started today.
• I will feel so amazing when I am done.

Put your index card by your alarm clock. When the alarm goes off, read your positive thoughts, even say them out loud. Since I can’t rely on my brain at 5am to remember anything positive, it helps to have them written down. Your mind believes what you tell it, so if you tell yourself you are tired, miserable, and you hate morning workouts, that will always be true for you. If you tell yourself repeatedly that you love morning workouts, you also eventually will believe it. It becomes true! So much of this is a mental battle. It may sound a little hokey, but it really works for me.
 

Tell me Lies (Tell Me Sweet Little Lies)

I tell myself a series of lies every morning to get myself out of bed and it works like a charm.

• The first lie is I tell myself I just have to get up, that's all I have to do. No workout. Just get up. 
• Then once I'm up, I tell myself I only have to do my warm up and if I am really not feeling it, then I can quit when the warmup is done. 
• After I warm up, I tell myself I can just do an abbreviated workout, maybe just 15-20 minutes.

99.9% of the time, once I am in my workout, I don't want to stop early. It works like a charm. I always get up and I hardly ever quit after the warmup. What about those off days, where you really do want to quit after 15 minutes? Don't be too hard on yourself, as these days are likely few and far between, and a 15 minute workout is still better than a zero minute workout.

Consistency is Key

Working at consistency is the single most important thing you can do to transition to morning workouts. At first it might be hard while you are adjusting, but you have to be consistent with your new habit. Make an effort to go to bed at the same time every night. Get up the same time each morning, even if you are not working out. Maybe Thursday is your rest day or you would normally sleep later on the weekends. Stay on schedule by getting up early anyway to get a head start on your day. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish while everyone else is sleeping. You could spend the time to get caught up on personal bills, paperwork, a cleaning project, school assignment, or a blog post. Maybe you just want to spend some alone time reading, relaxing, or meditating before the kids get up. The idea is that you get used to getting up early, even when it is not to workout. The more routine it is, the easier it becomes. The goal is to establish morning workouts as part of your everyday routine. 
 

Remember the 99% Rule

I can tell you that no matter how crappy I feel when I get out of bed, 99% of the time I feel better once I get going. 100% of the time, when it is over, I am glad I did it. That feeling you get after completing a morning workout is way better than the feeling you get from sleeping an extra hour. 

Are you ready to do this? What time is your alarm set for tomorrow? What works for you? Do you have any tips to share?

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Coach Lea

I am a NASM personal trainer and RRCA adult distance running coach that specializes in strength training for runners. I offer in-person training in the Shredshed, as well as online training. If you are interested in a more in-depth running or strength training plan, please contact me. Have questions? I'd love to help. 

While I am a certified personal trainer, I am not your personal trainer. Since I don't know your exercise abilities, injury background or medical history, please see your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.

The Courage to Show Up

I walked into a large meeting room in the convention center which was already buzzing with my fellow fitness professionals preparing for a seminar on partner workouts. My heart started racing, I felt nervous and intimidated. I looked around the room and there were already more than 50 people and everyone seemed paired off. We were going to learn and perform partner programming. Who would be my partner? Would he/she be fitter than me? Could I keep up? My fight or flight response kicked in and I really wanted to run. What was I thinking? Why did I sign up for this? There were a lot of people in the room. Would I embarrass myself? How would I measure up against other fitness professionals? It felt downright scary. 

Then it hit me. This is how the new people that show up at my bootcamp must feel. I teach a beginner bootcamp on Tuesday nights. When a new person walks in that door for the first time, I can sometimes sense the apprehension. I go out of my way to make them feel welcome and encourage them that we are going to have a great class. But I somehow forgot what it was like to feel that fear because I already know the Tuesday night workout will be fun and we'll maybe even have a few laughs. I know for a fact they'll be able to keep up (we do modifications, if necessary). I know they'll push themselves more than usual and it will feel hard, but I also know that they will likely walk out of those studio doors feeling like they accomplished something great. It was easy for me to forget the courage it takes to just show up, how much they might have had to overcome just to walk through those doors. 

I know it can be a challenge to pick yourself up off the couch after a long day at work or school when a glass of wine or a Netflix marathon seems more enticing. It takes strength to ignore those butterflies in your stomach as you enter the new studio address into your GPS, avoiding the feeling of wanting to turn around at the next red light. It takes a certain level of determination to join a group of strangers in a room to sweat together. I forgot about the fear that other people might be judging or critiquing you. 

But it all came back. That day in the conference room, I remembered it all. And it all felt real scary. Then a friendly girl tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to be her partner. The instructor began his lesson/workout and the next hour and a half flew by. All my fears were unfounded. The workouts were challenging and fun. I finished the session with some fresh ideas and a sense of accomplishment for learning something new and not letting a feeling of uncertainty stop me from trying something great.

The lesson I learned at that seminar was less about partner programming and more about understanding and having compassion for my new students in class. 

I get that it is hard. It can be scary and intimidating, but most of the time the hardest part is just showing up (except burpees. hah). Just get yourself out there with the expectation of having fun. Have the courage to show up and see what happens. You may be rewarded with new friends, a sense of community, and a kick-ass workout (not to mention healthy body & mind). 

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5 Exercise Excuses Debunked

There are a lot of legitimate reasons not to workout. Maybe your doctor told you not to, maybe you needed your sleep, maybe you have an injury or you're sick. The key is to be honest with yourself so you can determine when you miss a workout if you are making excuses or you legitimately need to rest. As the saying goes, "The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bull$hit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it." Maybe a nicer way of saying that is that sometimes we need to get out of our own way. We make these excuses why we can't workout, then we believe them. It all starts in our heads. Believe you can do it first. Then do it. 

"I don't have time"

This one is easy to debunk because it really doesn't take a lot of time to fit in exercise in your life. Maybe you legitimately don't have an hour a day to workout but fitting in 20-30 minutes a day is all you need. Try getting up 30 minutes earlier in the morning or squeezing in three separate ten minutes workouts through out the day. Yes, that counts. Take your dog for a walk. Do pushups during commercials of Game of Thrones or lunges while you're waiting for the microwave to ding. It doesn't have to be structured and scheduled. Move your body. Check out my workout archive for plenty of quick workouts that are 4-15 minutes long. Something is always better than nothing. 

"I can't afford a gym membership"

A gym membership may sound like the ideal workout environment with a 24 hour schedule, a pool, sauna and treadmills for all. But a gym can also be crowded, expensive and intimidating. While it may be nice to have the convenience of gym, it simply is not necessary to get in shape. If you can't afford a gym membership you can do workouts at home with DVDs, look up free workouts on You-Tube or follow my workouts every Wednesday for #workoutwednesday. There a ton of free resources on the internet and you can get an effective full body workout with no equipment except your own bodyweight. No gym membership needed.

"I'm too Old or OVERWEIGHT"

I recommend speaking with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program, but using your age or current weight as an excuse not to exercise is just a cop out. Once your doctor gives you clearance to workout this excuse is debunked. A fitness professional can help develop a safe and effective program for any age or fitness level. Not everyone needs to join CrossFit to get in shape, there are plenty of low-impact workout plans that will be effective for you at your current fitness level. If you are not sure where to start, work with a professional to help you reach your goals. 

"I hate to exercise"

Exercise is physical movement with the purpose to improve health and fitness. Maybe you hate running. Maybe someone dragged you to a fitness boot camp once and you almost died (jokes!). That's OK. There are plenty of ways to move your body. The key is to find the thing that you enjoy and stick with it. Some people like walking, some people like tennis. My dog loves to run so I indulge him. There are many paths to fitness. There is no need to follow the traditional route. It may take some experimenting, but try some fitness classes, round up some friends for a hike or jump on a bike with your kids. There is something out there for everyone. 

"I don't have child care." "My kids keep interrupting me." "I have to drive my kids to...."

I get it. No matter what their age, kids keep you busy. Sometimes (OK most of the time) they need your attention. You can barely use the bathroom without them pounding down the door, let alone get away for an hour to workout. But kids can be a great motivator to exercise. You want to be healthy so you can keep up with them and be around for them for years to come. Whether they are 5 or 15, getting them involved in exercise is a great way to lead by example and be a role model for a healthy lifestyle. Maybe it's a family bike ride, hike or tag football in backyard. Teaching your kids that exercise can be fun, is a good way to remind yourself. 

There's one thing that always sticks with me when I catch myself making excuses as to why I can't do something. I think it's human nature, we rationalize our bad decisions. I once told my sister that I can't get myself out of bed to workout in the morning anymore and she said, "It's not that you can't, it's that you choose not to." It's true, if I turn off the alarm and roll over to go back to bed instead of working out, I made a choice. Works towards making the choices that bring you closer to your goals, rather than making excuses that set you further behind.

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Coach Lea

7 Fitness Mistakes that Can Kill Your Results

You've been working out and eating healthfully but not seeing the results that you expected. What's going on? It can be frustrating when you've been working hard but feeling like it's not getting you closer to achieving your goals. Are you making one of these seven fitness mistakes?

Rushing the Process 

The truth is that fitness progress takes time. Any program that promises results in nine weeks or 90 days is using a marketing ploy to entice you with a quick fix. Yes, you can make progress in that amount of time, but fitness is a life-long commitment, not a three month challenge. 

A lot of people start a new workout program, remain consistent for three or four weeks and then get frustrated and quit when the results aren't there as quickly as they hoped or expected. It took you much longer to get out of shape, so you can't expect to turn everything around in a few short weeks. The good news is that after three weeks you are on the right track to building a fitness habit. It is a great start. The difference between those who fail and those who succeed is that the successful people don't quit.

Consistency is the key. Put in the work. Give it time. Make it a habit. You will get there. 

Focusing on scale weight

The scale doesn't tell the whole story. It is important to remember that when looking to lose weight, you should be focusing solely on fat loss, not weight loss. 

A scale can show weight loss that is mostly water or muscle (bad) instead of fat, but you still may walk away feeling happy that you "lost" three pounds. Losing three pounds of muscle is not good, but the scale can't tell you that.

On the other hand, the scale may not budge a lot when you are losing fat and gaining muscle because muscle is more dense than fat and takes up less space in your body. That is why your clothes may fit looser but your body weight stays the same.

Focus on non-scale victories. How do you feel? How do your clothes fit? How are your energy levels? A scale is one tool to use in your fitness journey, not the end-all-be-all. Don't give it too much power, as it doesn't tell you the whole story.

Skipping Strength Training

It can be easy to fall into a all-cardio-all-the-time routine when on a mission to lose fat. While cardio plays an important role in fat loss and heart health, it shouldn't be the only thing you do to improve your fitness. 

Strength training or resistance training can be the missing link to successful fat loss. It helps you maintain and build lean muscle. You want to make sure you are preserving your muscle mass while you lose weight. The more muscle you have on your body the more calories you burn, even at rest.

Some women don't want to lift weights because they worry about getting too bulky or masculine looking, but this fear is unfounded. The women that look like that work extremely hard to achieve that look over years of dedicated training for that specific goal. Unless you are specifically training and eating to look like a bodybuilder over a long period of time, you won't look like one. I promise.  

You don't need to spend hours in the gym. Carve out 30 minutes three times a week for strength training to build lean muscle for a well-rounded fitness routine.

Eating too much or too little

Nutrition is tricky. Some people think that because they are working hard at the gym that gives them a free pass to eat whatever they want. While I am a big proponent of balance, eating fast food after your daily workouts isn't going to get you the results that you desire. I limit my indulgence meals to once or twice a week. What you do occasionally does not impact what you do consistently. I make healthy choices most of the time so that when I want to eat pizza, sushi or drink wine, I have room for it in my diet. It's an occasional treat, not an everyday occurrence.

On the other end of the spectrum is the problem of eating too little. We know that in order to lose weight we need to create a calorie deficit, which means to eat fewer calories than we burn. Seems simple enough, eat less to lose weight, eat even less to lose more weight, right? Not so fast. Everyone's calories needs are different so I can't put an exact calorie count on it, but when a very active adult woman is not eating and wondering why she is not getting the results she desires, the answer is probably in her calorie intake. You can't thrive on kale and tuna.

Under eating can sabotage your results as much as over eating. Without proper fuel you won't have the energy to give your workout the intensity you need for results. Under eating can damage your metabolism, cause you to lose muscle, kill your results and put you at risk for malnutrition, resulting in unhealthy weight loss and possible nutrient deficiencies.

A person with an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating may be suffering from a disorder called orthorexia nervosa, a term which means fixation on righteous eating. 

The key is to be like Goldilocks, not too much, not too little. If you need help determining what that means for you, I recommend working with a registered Dietitian for professional guidance. 

Working out too much

Sometimes working out is like make up, less is more. When working out becomes an unhealthy obsession it can be harmful. Some people think that doubling or tripling their time in the gym will double or triple their results, but this is simply not true. Spending needless hours in the gym can increase your chance of injury, cause burnout, fatigue, irritability, possibly raise cortisol levels (the stress hormone) to unhealthy levels and hurt your metabolism. Overtraining causes the benefits of exercise to diminish. 

Moderate amounts of exercise of 30-60 minutes most days of the week is best way to go. Remember Goldilocks? 

Not resting

This goes hand in hand with working out too much, but even when exercising a moderate amount of 30-60 minutes a day, we still need our rest and recovery in between workouts. It is during rest that the body adapts to the stress of exercise and rebuilds. If you never rest, you won't see the results because you never give your muscles a chance to repair. Continuous workouts without rest will make you weaker, not stronger. Allow yourself one or two full rest days a week and never work the same muscle groups two days in a row. 

Not getting enough Sleep

If it came down to the choice of one hour of working out or one hour of sleep, how do you think the experts would advise you to spend your time? If you are not getting the 7-9 hours a sleep that your body needs, the answer would be sleep, every single time. Going to bed at midnight and setting your alarm for 5am to workout is not doing your body any favors. 

Not getting enough sleep, less than seven hours of sleep per night, can reduce the benefits of healthy eating and exercise. Lack of sleep can cause you feel unfocused, hungry and, despite efforts in the gym, not achieve results. When you don't get enough sleep, your cortisol (stress hormone) levels can rise, which can be associated with fat gain. 

Aim for 7-9 hours a sleep a night to maximize your efforts with nutrition and in the gym.

Have you ever made any of these fitness mistakes? I can write with confidence about these, because I personally have made most of them myself. Over the last decade on my fitness journey, I have grown by making a lot of mistakes and then learning from them. My aim is to help you not make the same mistakes I did, so you can be healthy, strong and see amazing results from your fitness efforts. 

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