How to Exercise Early in the Morning

Even if you’re not the early-bird type, you can learn to rise and shine — and even sweat—before your morning coffee. Here is how you can recalibrate your internal clock and get motivated so you can reap the benefits of exercising early.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Alarm clock
• Exercise plan
• Workout gear
• Discipline

1. Choose an alarm clock with a pleasant wake-up call. If your alarm scares the pants off of you every morning, then you might be waking up grouchy and uninspired for a very good reason. Test-drive clocks in the store and look for a sound that suits you.

2. Lay out your workout clothes, gym bag or other gear before you go to bed each night. Include a variety of items in case the weather changes overnight.

3. Wake up at the same time every day (and ban the snooze button). Even if you choose to sit on the couch and read the newspaper instead of exercise, at least you are teaching your body to rise and be semi-alert at this hour.

4. Don’t leave enough time to dilly-dally. The more you are standing around in a dark, cozy house, the less likely you are to leave it. Wake up, get dressed, and get out the door.

5. Experiment with your pre-workout food. Figure out how little you can eat and still fit in a solid workout. Can you run 5 miles on an empty stomach? Can you ONLY run on an empty stomach? Some quick-and-easy foods that are usually gentle on a pre-workout stomach: banana, cereal bar, toast or yogurt. If you are doing an especially tough workout that requires ample fuel, give yourself enough time for your food to digest before exercising.

6. Find a friend or group to keep you accountable and motivated. If you are meeting outside for a walk or bike ride, establish weather-related guidelines. (For example, if the weather drops below X degrees or it’s thundering outside, hit the gym or exercise at home.)

7. Explore different activities, then alternate your workouts to keep things fresh, but consistent.

8. Create an exercise plan or fitness goal so that you know what you’re working toward. Once you start seeing results, you will be more motivated to keep that alarm set on EARLY.

Tips & Warnings

• Although common advice says it takes 21 days to form a habit, that number can vary widely from habit to habit and person to person. Depending on how drastic a change this is for your sleep routine, expect it to take 2 to 8 weeks to feel comfortable with an earlier routine.
• If you are exercising in the dark, wear light-colored clothing or something with reflective details.

[how-to-girl]

on 9/30/2008 These are great tips. Now if only I could actually make this happen. My body just does not like morning exercise.

[TCSongz]

on 9/28/2008 Thanks

[TCSongz]

on 9/28/2008 Thank you so much. I have been struggling with this for months. I am very inconsistent. I am going to use your tips.

[ewmcguire]

on 9/26/2008 mbravo1020...here's one of my articles that may answer your question. Good luck!
http://www.ehow.com/how_2065448_exercise-partner.html

[LynnG3]

on 9/25/2008 Great advice here, i love riding my bicycle now and to me that is great exercise because i feel less depressed, and furthermore, I'm losing weight also!!