My 4 step approach to becoming a morning exerciser.

by

(This is the time I grab my coffee. It’s also *after* my morning meditation. Im a lark.)

I haven’t always been a morning person (AKA slept like a toddler), but Ive certainly never been a night owl.

I pulled no all-nighters in college (be it for studying or in other more liquid hedonistic pursuits) & always knew I’d be better off finishing whatever needed to be “finished” (see above parenthetical) at the crack of dawn versus late night.

I stumbled onto my healthy-living path in the 90’s.

Step aerobics/classes in general were all the rage and somehow I let myself get talked into signing up for a series of 4pm classes.

I went (usually), but it was always an effort to convince myself to get changed & go.

In addition, I quickly discovered my natural energy levels were lower in the afternoon.

Once I switched my workouts to the morning I found both lost the excuse of “life just got in the way!” for skipping them *and* I actually looked forward to starting my day with some sweat!

I don’t believe morning workouts are the way to go for everyone (although studies show morning exercisers as less likely to miss workouts due to ‘life intrusions’) Ive been asked frequently enough how I shifted my routine Ive formulated a four step process.

These steps are what worked for me and what I know can work for you.

  1. Make the decision and tell your accountability partners (AKA friends & family).
  2. Plan and practice your workout routine.
  3. Wake up and dont workout!
  4. Go go go!

(video snippet below)

 

Are you already a morning exerciser? Why does this work for you?

Are you a night owl for your workout routine? Do you ever find, as I did, your energy levels lagging?

Wanna meet me for coffee at 445a?

 

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Comments

  1. I’m not a morning exerciser but since being out of work, I’m turning into one, albeit not early morning. I’m making exercise a part of my routine and if I get up, get ready and go, it gets my days moving and I’m less likely to sit around and mope in my PJs all day.

    That said, when I rejoin the ranks of the employed, that may be harder to do than it is now.

    • Excellent blog! One of the best I’ve seen on a gradual transition to becoming a morning exerciser, and hence, more of a morning person.

  5. I exercise every day now, but at night. I signed up for a boot cp that starts tomorrow morning at 5:30 am. Oh boy. I’ll let you know. Grand success or epic fail. I don’t know.

  6. Yes I am your lone male reader LOL

    I am heading to the office this morning after not doing a planned workout.
    Thanks to your video I know I am just on step 3 of 4.

    Great vid, Carla

  7. Intriguing message about planning and practicing.
    I can’t really practice running though, can I?LOL

  8. Id say great goooogly moogly you are all up early except with the child still on vacation from school Ive been up and am ready to go workout now or it’s not happening : )

    Ill be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak. (please to read like old school ahhnold)

  9. Thanks for all the great information. I tried these
    Diet Drops. From what I have seen on average, you can expect to loose 1-2 pounds a day, some users have even reported loosing a staggering 4 pounds a day! Just what Iā€™m going to need to do just after Christmas šŸ™‚

  10. This is sort of what I did Mizzy.

    I got my friends together a few years ago and made them promise to yell at me if I did not start running in the mornings.
    I would always plan to run at night, but if I had to work late or if the girls were going out for drinks I would skip it.

    ACCOUNTABILITY all the way!!!

  11. I’m a morning person and would happily workout (@ 6:00 not 4:00) but my partner in crime aka the poodle snores until at least 10:00 so therefore we go later

  12. OK in a very not gay way (not that there’s anything wrong with that LOL my sleeping boyfriend would just be disappointed) I can not get what you say in the videos the first time as I ruminate on how I want your arms.

  13. I am a total morning exerciser. Most of the time, if I don’t get my workout done right away, it feels like pulling teeth to get it done. I love the sense of accomplishment I feel, knowing that by 7:00am, I’ve already sweated my face off!
    And I will have coffee with you at 4:45am ANY time. šŸ˜‰

  14. I want to do it šŸ™‚ but I can’t yet.

    I haven’t yet.
    It’s 730 and I’m not awake enought yet. I’m an owl I guess.

    Can I be nothing??

  15. I am also an am crazy bird! Getting a good night’s sleep is the most important thing by far! I hate that hungover feeling of not enough sleep – it makes me cranky and not in the mood for anything, let alone exercise! Also, if you have a trainer to go see, or a class to attend in the early morning, you are 10x more likely to go (that is not a scientific fact).Then, once I am in the car, even if I don’t want to do it, I actually get there and then I do it – so it works, even if I don’t want it. Then congratulate yourself on how badass you are

    1. Get enough sleep
    2. Have a scheduled/planned workout/program
    3. Show up
    4. You’re a machine!!! Go you!!

  17. I’ve always been a morning person so that part is easy. I’m also a procrastinator and I put off exercise until I finish this or that. My husband goes back to work tomorrow and I have a new exercise video to begin. I can do this! Thank you. šŸ™‚

  18. Love the morning workout! It’s the only time I workout. I just need to practice practicing more šŸ˜‰

    Although it has been better of late.

    Have a rockin’ week!


    • I’m in bed early which is definitely why I don’t think everyone needs to workout in the morning.

      I’m asleep by 10p (Ill let than sink in and then await your mocking ;-)) though id be asleep by then regardless.

  20. Just watched the vlog and in my opinion your strongest tip for morning or night is practicing and planning.

    I’m an owl and always exercise at night after the kids are asleep.

    It’s the same challenge then, too, if I don’t plan out my exact workout it is quite easy to skip.

  21. I plan to get a workout in morning AND evening. Life inevitably interferes with one of them, but even if I sleep through my alarm one morning, I’m covered because I can do something in the evening instead.

    Should note that a big part of why this works for me is that I can work out at night and go straight to bed after, which I know most people can’t do.

  22. Good tips Carla!
    I am a morning exerciser – it takes dedication to get up for swimming on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7am, but I love it šŸ™‚
    Planning it in is key for me!

  23. love it and I go both ways! lol
    I stay up ti 1 a.m-ish and get up naturally no later than 5 a.m. no matter what time I go to bed.

    no coffee for me (probably only almost 44 yr old who’s never tasted coffee) I’ll have some juice w/you though šŸ˜‰

  24. This can all depend on your definition of morning LOL

    You workout in the middle of the night by my defintion.

    Love ya Miz!!

  25. I might be able to do this with the added week of waking up, but not exercising yet.

    Good tip.

  26. I exercise in the morning just to get it done and feel good for the day. I didn’t use to exercise in the morning, but when I was running – it got too hot to do that any time but morning. Then I realized I liked that LOL.

    Exerise is also more convenient to do before work rather than thinking about having to do it later.

  27. What was the old Army advertisement on TV?

    We get more done before 8am than most people do in a day? Something like that.

    I live that šŸ˜‰ as even if my whole day goes in the crapper at least I worked out. I love m morning workouts.

  28. I am flexible. I can do either morning or night. I have done both when short on time. A quick cardio in the morning and a quick round of weights in the evening. I just want to exercise – however it works.

  29. HEARTTTTTTTTTTTTT working out in the morning. Teaching Pump at 545 is my absolute fav. I get up, take care of Kay (feed/change) and put her back to bed, have a quick nibble and then head out the door. I can’t do coffee before…I think my tummy would explode. I’m jealous of those who can.

  30. I would have mocked your 10 pm bedtime before kids.

    Now I’m jealous.

    Coffee with u IF you will workout with me once at night!

    Iowa isn’t too far….

  31. Great tips! I used to be a morning exerciser—until my daughter was born. And then I fell out of the groove- Especially since I leave for work at 7:00. The truth is that I know it is the only time of day that I can carve out to workout where it does not impact anyone but me, and therefore is my best chance at getting a great workout in. I have committed to making it a routine again- my alarm is already set for tomorrow morning!

    • (I think she forgot the “outside the home” part. All parents work. Not all parents are social media professionals, though. šŸ˜‰

  33. I used to be a morning exerciser back in the 90’s. After about ten years of NOT exercising regularly, I’m easing back in slowly. Part of that means I will work out during naptime or in the evenings until I get in the zone. When I start to get energy from exercise, then I will move my workouts to morning.

    In the meantime, I’m still up about 5:30 because I like to savor that coffee before my kids wake up. šŸ™‚

  34. Well…..you know me! šŸ˜‰ I have always been a morn person, for workouts & thinking – like you, the mind wonders off in the later afternoon. ALTHOUGH, when I was working Corp. & no 24 hour gyms, I was stuck gong after work… my workouts are so much better in the morn & I am more awake & less to get in the way… Even though some would not call my workouts now, morn ones, I do – they are to me!

    I could so meet you if we lived near each other!!!

    I think this is a matter of preference though & some will never adjust to morn workouts & others feel great later. Me, I just feel UGH later in the day both physically & mentally….and with work, my mind is fired by end of day so in the morn, my mind is not encumbered by stress crap from the day.

  35. I love working out in the morning. When I started my workout routine, I tried doing it at night, because I had always been a night owl. But with working a 9-5 job it just wasn’t for me. I found by switching my workouts to mornings and getting them in before I went off to work, I had more energy!! Plus, like you said, I had no excuse to not workout. And I suddenly became a morning person.

  37. I, like you, never pulled an all nighter in college. I like my sleep. But, I NOT like you, do not like to get up early in the morning. I’m not a morning person, I’m not a night owl…..high noon is my good time. šŸ™‚

    Unfortunately I can’t work out then since I work outside of the house.

    Getting up early enough to exercise is just not something I’m going to do. I do my kettlebell classes usually at 9:00 am (two days a week). If I’m going to run outside, I can usually only fit that in mornings on Saturdays (get home too late at night so it’s dark). I’m also one of the lucky ones that can work out at night (run on the treadmill) and then go right to bed. That is how I did most of my running last year

    And coffee – no coffee for me. I’ve never liked it and I haven’t had caffeine in about 13 years. šŸ™‚

  38. Yup, I’m a morning person, and I have to get my sweat on in the mornings. It’s as much a part of my routine as brushing my teeth. If I wait until the evening, my energy and willpower dips significantly.

  40. Most of my swim/bike/run happens in the morning, but I like to hit the gym in late afternoon for the community support aspect of it. Step 5 for becoming a morning workout person is GO TO BED EARLIER!! That makes all the difference!

    By the way your arms look amazing!!

  41. I have to exercise in the morning. It is the only time I can reliably carve out for myself. My tips — plan your workout the day before so you know what you are going to do. Otherwise I will lounge in bed debating if I should do weights, or a DVD, or go for a run, or a walk …. and then it’s time to get ready for work. Also, put out your workout clothes and get changed right away, even if you’re not going to workout right away. For me, though, working out right away is key. Otherwise I get sidetracked and run out of time again. Plus, if I get started before I’m awake enough to question what I am doing I won’t have time to come up with an excuse. šŸ™‚

  42. The planning reminds me of when I signed up for my gym – I completed the paperwork, had the tour, and then the trainer lady asked me if I was ready to start…I said heck no, this was enough for one day! I prefer to exercise in the morning, although my version of morning is vastly different from yours!

  43. Another tip is not to read blogs (sorry :)) or emails until after workouts.

    I get easily distracted and never workout!

  44. I’m a morning exerciser, even in the weekends. I switched all my workouts to the morning a few months ago because I noticed I had excuses too often if I had to workout after work. And I have a dog who loves to walk. If I exercise in the morning, I have time for her to walk her after work or after dinner.

    I always get up at 5.15 am and start my exercise at 5.30 am. I have flexible hours at work so it doesn’t matter how long my workout takes. If I start work later, I just work a little longer.

  45. I use to be a morning exerciser in college but that was when the gym was right across the street. Wake up and run in the snow but now the gyms are so far away in my mind that it’s such a hassle. I need to start that again lost 35 pounds but I’ve yo yoed since settling with 20 pounds being put back on. It’s a mental game that you have to win at, at least that’s what I’ve discovered.

  46. I am a night owl and treat it the same way.

    1. I tell friends I can’t hang till I’m done with my workout.
    2. I always have a plan.
    3. I won’t go to sleep till I have completed it.

  48. I love the part about telling people how they can help you. So important to communicate what we need! #Imlearning
    I had strayed from my morning workouts during the holidays, but I’m back to it today! As a mom it’s just a must for me. The main trick, beating the fam out of bed in time to get it done.

    • that is the trick too. although Im so NOT mom of the year Ive told Tornado since she was tiny and had no idea what I was saying:

      MAMA NEEDS TO TAKE CARE OF MAMA FIRST SO SHE CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU AND DADDY. OK?

      She can come into the room where Im working out and we talk etc but she knows that 30 minutes is mine (read it would need to be an emergency for me to stop) and then Im all hers.

  49. I am in awe of morning exercisers, but try as I might, I just can’t do it.

    Ideally, my dream schedule would allow me to work out around noon (and that is the time I exercise when not at work). But during the week, I find my body likes for me to exercise in the evening before bed. I don’t know why; it just works for me. I LOVE everything about the idea of morning exercise, but when I get up in the morning, no matter how much I psyched myself up the night before, I just can’t get a good workout in. Even when I stumble my way through it, I just don’t ever feel like I’ve gotten as good as when I work out at night.

    I do want to say thank you very sincerely for stating that exercising at any time of day is all that matters. Trial and error has shown me that morning workouts are not the way to go for me. šŸ™

    • I did! My first few workouts were meh—I won’t lie ;-)—but I kept at it and found my am grooooove

  51. I don’t love the mornings. I can work out much harder after work because I’m already warmed up from being UP and DOING all day and usually have pent up stress to take out on the gym. However, my job hours are unpredictable, so it’s best for me to work out in the mornings, so I try to do that most days (though 630 wakeups are as crack-o-dawn as I go, and even that’s rare). Switching myself to being a morning person just took DOING it for two weeks and then I just got used to it (which I’ll need to do again come tomorrow as 9am has become EARRRRRLLLYYY for me this vacation).

  52. I’ve gone back and fourth on working out in the mornings. I find that one it takes me awhile to wake my sleepy ass up and that the gym is always packed. I like to go in the early mid after-noon when hardly anyone is there. I do feel that though working out in the morning really helps put the day in order.

  54. My body usually tells me when it is time to exercise. Now I need to listen to my body and respect what it is saying. My body knows best, I know nothing, so I best listen to my body.

  56. I want to become a morning exerciser so thanks for the advice! After work, I take the dog for a walk and that’s it. I need more šŸ™‚

  57. I am soooo a morning person with everything! Exercise. Cleaning house. Blog writing. Everything. But I also find that a little walk in the afternoon peps me up when I’m dragging:)

  59. If it’s going to get done at all, it will have to be in the morning! By the end of the day I am just not up for it. Having said that, it takes discipline to get up early, but I recognize that the commitment starts the previous evening when I have to make sure that I get to bed at the correct hour (5 minutes from now!).

  61. I find your comment above interesting and helpful.
    I like how you explained to your daughter you need to take care of you first.
    Great role modeling too.

  62. I might have to give this a try! I currently get my exercise in the evening, but can definitely see the benefits of getting it out of the way in the morning. Thanks for the tips!

  63. Time of day doesn’t really matter much to me. Currently, I go to the gym mid-morning, since it’s less crowded then. I’m all about comfort while pushing myself to exhaustion. šŸ™‚

    (Side note to answer your question on my blog: No $$$ for Blissdom this year, and if I win the lottery, I’m thinking Nashville in winter isn’t going to make the cut. šŸ™‚ Do hate I’m going to miss the fun, though.)

  64. Am I a morning exerciser? That would depend on your definition of morning. If you’re like my bestie Chris who defines a morning workout as 4 AM, then no. Sometimes I workout at 11 AM, sometimes 8 AM, almost always by noon.

  65. Yes, i’m a morning person. Always have been.

    Yes, i would meet you at 4:45am for coffee.

    Yes, i exercise early, i have to.

    For natural born night owls, you have my sympathy. My Sweetie and all four kids are that. How i lost that battle so thoroughly i do not know.

  66. I find that physically I’m able to work out in the morning, and it’s the mental part that makes it difficult. I usually wake up and check some things on the computer like email, or maybe some news. Once my mind is awake, I’m ready to go.

  67. I am already a morning exerciser, just not as early in the morning as you!

    I wait until 9 when the kids have gone to school. If I woke up at 4:30, my youngest child would also get up then (small house, light sleeper) and that’s not a pretty thing come dinner time…

    Great post with lots of useful suggestions!

  68. Started my fitness quest in 1970- and haven’t slept (much) past 5 a.m. since then- running, cycling (that’s 4 a.m. in the summer here) and swimming and lifting gets me ready for teaching all day!

  70. I love that idea of waking up early even if you aren’t going to workout – clever. I have never thought of this. I only ever get up early on workout days and look at the other days as sleep-ins, but maybe that is why I can’t get into the morning workout routine 100%.

    Thanks so much for the tip and thanks for popping in and leaving me a comment.

  71. The only exercise I enjoy first thing is a mild yoga session – I just don’t have the inclination to do anything more strenuous. I’ve often wondered why I’m raring to go mid afternoon and although some say it’s to do with hormonal balance which differs during certain times of the day I think it’s because I have eaten two meals and a snack already giving me the energy to commit to my work-out.

  74. The very early morning is very good time to do daily exercises. You will be so energized at work after your morning exercise.

  76. I probably function better in the morning, but I still have a hard time getting up in the morning. I’ve always been the type of person that I just need a lot of sleep. Even if I go to bed early, it still is hard for me to get up in the morning (though coffee really helps that). I don’t have a garage, and I think that makes it harder to get up in the morning when it’s cold, b/c I have to warm up my car. Probably not a good excuse, but that has been my reason for not working out once it got cold!

  77. I am NOT a morning person, and NOT an exerciser. Therefore I kicked off my New Year by starting P90, at 6:15 this morning. So far, it sucks! I look forward to it getting better šŸ™‚ Thanks for the post!

  78. I used to be a morning exerciser, 5am, between two full time jobs. And I loved it. But now… not-so-much. Now I am an evening exerciser!

    I do it as soon as I get home from work.

    I would prefer the mornings, (I like to think, anyway) but it just doesn’t work out that way!

  79. I love the morning like you do I just don’t love to exercise.

    I liked in the video when you said to tell friends and family about it. I tend toward blanket statements not speicifics of “I am starting to workout in the mornings. Please encourage me.”

  80. I’m a morning exermacizer fo sho! 5:30 wake up call is the only time people in the house don’t be bothering the Yum Yucky. And besides, my evenings aren’t for working out. They’re for couch-azzing (after I get done the 54,723 things I need to get done every evening). BOOM!

  81. I am a morning person, but I get up at 5:30 to get ready for work. I just can’t bring myself to wake up any earlier to exercise. Excuses do seem a lot easier to come up with in the afternoon though!

  82. I am sooooo not a morning person. I crawl out of bed in the morning fuzzy headed, uncoordinated, and heavy limbed. After a good nights sleep even. I come by it honestly (my mom is also not a morning person). I did try morning exercise at one point and I did it for about 6 months. I gave it a fair shake but I hated it. After work is better for me, or midday to early afternoon on the weekend.

  83. I’m trying to become a morning-exerciser, and so far I have the “whack the alarm into oblivion at 5:00 AM” part down pat. And 5:15, and 5:30, and 5:45… until I’m up at 6 for the day. I got my iPod, so my excuse for having nothing to listen to is gone.

    Now I just have to actually get OUT of the bed and get going.

    If I could get away with continuing to exercise in the evenings, I totally would. I’m a night owl, given my ‘druthers. But I haven’t had those since 1999, when #1 Son was born. And now my younger son’s math homework has become 10x more intense in 3rd grade, so my evenings are now going to homework duty. Which leaves me with… 5:00 AM.

  85. I am very much a morning exerciser. As long as everything for the day is ready the night before, it’s all good. Happy new year Carla!!! Wishing you a healthy, happy 2012.

  86. Holy crap,I’m close to the hundredth comment!

    I’m a morning exerciser… the problem is I’m a morning everything. Finding productive stuff to do later in the day is problematic; other than napping and eating, it all feels more like a chore.

    Though I’ve discovered a weird 2nd wave of energy for after dinner walks recently; I suspect it’s a combo of hormones and my new mp3 playlist.

    And happy new year! (a few days late…)

  87. Happy New Year to you & yours, Miz!

    I like getting workouts done first thing in the morning. It’s funny-I sometimes think I don’t have enough time in the morning, but I think what’s really going on is that I have too many other perceived windows–mostly lunchtime, sometimes evening if I don’t catch that one–that I’m not forced to use early morning.

    One thing I used to do when I didn’t have the gym available at lunch was to do my cardio in the morning (20-30 minutes) then strength (15 minutes) at night. That actually worked pretty well. I’m trying out doing things a little differently now that school is back in session, getting the workout done in the morning, at least most of it.

  89. I’m too much of a night owl to be a morning person. šŸ™‚ And in the winter, there is no chance in h@ll I will leave my warm bed before I have to. šŸ˜‰

  91. You know what. I’ve got Steps 1-3 down. PAT! I’ve even made it (mostly) a habit to get up at 5:30am. Unbelievably, though, I still don’t work out. UGH! I putz around, I hop on the computer, I tell myself I should eat, and then I don’t eat, so how can I run/bike/lift with nothing in my system? Or if I do eat, I tell myself that I need to wait 60 minutes so I don’t have stomach issues. By the time all THAT happens, the kids are up. And I haven’t worked out. Then life gets in the way.

    It’s quite frustrating. I get into my own head too much.

  92. Oooh mornings are my FAVE time to exercise. If I could pick any time it would be 5 a.m. but sadly that’s not an option right now due to my husband’s schedule. And so I go as soon as I get the kids off to school. Which I have to admit is still really awesome. I’m a morning person. I’m happiest then and get the most done then. (And yet I’m often on the Internet so late at night… fail. Haha.)

  93. Do you eat breakfast before or after exercise? I’m always hungry when I wake up in the morning. I do love the idea of getting my exercise out of the way first thing!

    • great question. 99% of the time I don’t only because my body prefers cardio on empty stomach HOWEVER if I git life-derailed and my cardio is after 6a then I eat. That’s too empty šŸ˜‰

  96. I am barely alive in the morning. I get up really early to get ym kids ready for school. Since we moved, it takes me 2 hours to take the kids to school and get home again. I get them ready, bus and walk them to school, then come home, usually walking for a couple of miles rather than taking the second bus. Then I have a coffee and unwind for about 30 minutes. THEN I do my workout – about 90 minutes on the elliptical crosstrainer. If for some reason I am unable to fit this workout in at my normal time, then I workout at 7pm when my younger kids go to bed for the night, but I prefer working out either at 10am or 11am at the latest.

  97. I ABSOLUTELY have to get my workout in first thing in the morning. It wakes me up, it makes me energized for the day and it’s my own “me” time before work and all the responsibilities of the day. If I don’t work out in the morning, it most likely won’t happen after work, because I have other responsibilities but also I just want to wind down. Have some dinner, a glass of wine, snuggle up for a movie with my boyfriend — There just isn’t enough time between work and bed to squeeze in a quality workout. Sometimes, if I’m feeling great after work I will squeeze in a SECOND sweat session, but I don’t ever count on it. Morning or bust!

  98. Great tips and I have practiced the alarm thing for a week and today is the day that I start my 30 workout before work. I amniue a morning person but know how more effective i am when I do workout in the morning .I know that this is something that I need to break my plateau and rev up my metabolism. Here is today!

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