Exercising first thing in the morning!!

[realtreegirl]

I've attempted exercising in the evenings before. With working full time as a teacher and raising three children at home, it doesn't work. By the time I get home from work, make supper and help kids with homework I am just exhausted and dont feel like working out! I need to wake up by 4:45 or 5am before work to get it done. EVERY morning I set my alarm. EVERY morning I hit the snooze and just cant seem to get our of bed! What is wrong with me! How can I make myself get up?!?! I'm usually asleep by around 9:30-10pm on weeknights. Will it get easier to get up after I've done it for a week or two? 

[Stephen1227]

Ah, yes.  I'm a teacher too, and finding the time to exercise at the end of the day is challenging at best.  I also understand how hard is to get up early, but remember--and as teachers we know this--that "hope springs eternal!"  Don't give up trying, and I won't either.  As one of the posters on the boards said, you can "Chase the sunrise!"  Great time of day--so peaceful and usually cool weather.  My wife is always trying to encourage me get up and out for early morning walks or jogs.  Tomorrow we both have another chance!

Do you teach during the summer?   What grade (s) do you teach?  My goal is to be so in the routine of daily exercise, that by the time the school year starts, I will insist on it!  Now, if I could only become an early morning person....In the words of Winston Churchill....."Never, never quit."  So let's keep trying and a new habit will be born. 

Stephen 

[RJV100]

I'm a former teacher, now teaching college and supervising student teachers, so I still go to the schools.  I exercise with friends (we have DVD's and old tapes) for an hour first thing in the morning. We try to support each other going then. In the summer, I'd love to sleep in, however, they are there at 7:30 so I am too!  This is our third year!  There are a few teachers in some of the schools I visit who meet before or after school and walk around inside the school, or out, together.  I think that is the key - working together. Maybe you can form a group and two times a week have a group after school, two times before school and one day off for good behavior! 

[Maxit]

There is nothing wrong with you!  You are stretched thin, and barely getting enough sleep as it is.  Do you have an idea of what your workout will be?  Something you can do at home or something you need to go out to?  Make it simple, start in smaller increments (i.e., 30 minutes, not an hour),  start on the weekend so you get a rhythm going.

[Algenon]

I feel your pain as I am a teacher too.  I have to be at work at 7:00 am which leaves little room to exercise before work.    I would try dividing up the work out to a little in the morning, walking on your lunch break and then finishing in the afternoon.  I also walk around a LOT during class (checks for understanding the content).  This seems to work for me.  

[tonymaxx]

Studies show that short high intense workouts are the most effective.  Perhaps trying short high intense workouts in the evening may be the solution to the problem.  Google 7 min. workout as well as Max workouts. 

[christina12]

I'm a student with 8 a.m. classes, so we may have somewhat similar morning routines. I've recently started working out in the mornings; trying to get to the gym in the evenings just wasn't cutting it for me. Here's what I can tell you based on my experience so far:

-Working out in the morning has actually allowed me to have more energy and better focus in classes.

-Getting my heart rate up early has made it possible to cut out my morning caffeine, which is a great bonus that I never anticipated.

-There's a great sense of accomplishment that I carry with me throughout the rest of the day once I've completed my workout.

-Hitting my step goal during the a.m. hours makes me happy.

-Based on my experience, it definitely gets easier to get up after the first couple of times.

-On the days that I'm not necessarily working out, I can still walk around and accomplish other things (or sometimes even just take a little bit of time to relax and enjoy a crossword puzzle on a rest day).

-And last but not least, I set the following rule for myself: If I get up every day I'm supposed to during the week, I get to sleep in on the weekends. If not, I will get up at the same time that I would have gotten up during the week. I haven't needed to use that yet, but when it happens (I say when because, let's be realistic, I'm sure it will) I'm going to stick to that. Even if it's my only day off for the week.

For years, I thought that hitting the gym in the afternoon was the way to go. But working out in the morning has been an awesome option for me. At the risk of sounding corny, you won't what the best option is for you until you find it!

[MeikeD]

I have the same problem. I leave the house for work by 7AM and get home around 4:30PM (on a good day). I then babysit my nephews for a couple of hours, make dinner, and by the time the kitchen is cleaned up, the dishes are in the dishwasher, coffeemaker is prepped, and lunch is made for the next workday, it's usually 7:30-8PM. What I have started doing is setting my alarm for twenty minutes earlier than I used to get up. I take a twenty minute walk around my neighborhood or I do an exercise video (if it's too humid out or raining). I hope to eventually be able to get up about 45 minutes earlier than I used to so that I can go to the gym before work in the fall and winter. The twenty minutes is a good way to get my mind and body acclimated to the earlier wake up time.

[realtreegirl]

Hi there, thanks for the words of encouragement! I teach Kindergarten 🙂 I dont teach in the summer but do work part time at the schools cleaning! I to am hoping that I can get mysefl into an early morning exercise routine before school starts which is in 4 weeks YEEEKK! I have heard that it takes at least 3 weeks for your body to get used to a routine so I need to get hoping! I did exercise four days last week but not in the morning and I really had to push myself to workout! I really want to get it done and over with first thing in the morning! To do that I would have to be up by 4:45 so I can make sure I am exercising from 5-6am! I have done it in the past so I know it is possible! I LOVE walking in the mornings, like you said so peaceful, its just getting going that I am struggling with! I am not going to give up and am going to go out right now, its Sunday 6:37am and walk! Thanks so much for the motivation! I so need it! Hope you are having a wonderful summer! When do you start back up with school? We start August 25th! I am not ready for the summer to be over 🙂 

Angela 

"Why Choose to Fail, When Success is an Option?" - Jillian Michaels 

[MeikeD]

Hi, I am not a teacher (but my dad taught HS for 40+ years). I work at an office and love my hours (7:30 AM-4PM) Monday-Friday. I have been getting up at 5:25AM so that I can exercise for at least 30 minutes in the morning. Then, at lunch time, I try to walk at least 15-20 minutes and then again in the evening. Some days, it just does not work. But on those days, I just try to walk as many steps as I can and start over the next day. I hope to move my wake up time next week to 5:15 AM and then, in September, move my wake up time to 5 AM. That would give me an hour or so in the gym in the morning before work. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can do it! As for school - my nephews start here at the beginning of September.

[Stephen1227]

Sounds like you are on the right track.?

[Stephen1227]

Out for a 6:37 Sunday morning walk!  Good for you, Angela!    That's the way to start a great new routine!  I teach first grade, and go back late this year with the kids returning September 8.  Usually we start in August, but they are building a new site and it won't be ready until then.  This however will make the year end much later for us in order to get to 180 days.  I'm going to send you a friend request. 

Stephen

[katiewallace]

One thing you may not have thought about is how hitting snooze (as you put it in your first post) is affecting you. I have noticed on the mornings that I hit snooze 3, 4 (ok 12) times, I am much more tired and groggy. It is never easy, but start to make yourself get up and moving at your first alarm. There are sleep studies verifying this; once you hit snooze your body goes back into sleep mode, making it progressively harder and harder to wake each time.  So what I do is: use your fitbit's silent alarm to go off one minute before your phone alarm, then set the most obnoxious phone alarm you can, put the phone alarm somewhere in  your room where you must get out of bed to turn it off (not bedside table, across the room), once your feet hit the floor GET UP PERMANENTLY and go brush your teeth and start jogging in place to wake up more. Have your workout clothes in the bathroom so whatever you do, don't go back into the tempting bedroom! Immediately then get out of the house (I take my dog for a walk) to get moving.  It will be hard to start but you will have much better energy once you do this a couple times.  Hope that helps! Snoozing is a major problem!

[Stephen1227]

Great post!

[gmurtie]

I've always preferred working out in the evening because I am not a morning person.  Unfortunately there were too many things preventing me from working out and sometimes I just had no energy left.  About 6 months ago I made a decision to get up at 5:30 and workout.  My legs felt like cement blocks and it was awful for about 30 days.  After that I felt better and realized that I was working out 6 days a week with no conflicts.  On weekends I will work out in the afternoon or evening but for the work week mornings work best for me.  It does get easier.  I actually enjoy my morning run. 

[Stephen1227]

George,

Great--encouraging post. God knows I and others need to hear success stories like yours.  There is hope for even the most allergic to morning among us!

[StarZ-X]

I've had a similar problem in the past. After trying a few things out I found what worked for me. The first thing I did was set a couple alarms. If it's not an issue. One was on my Fitbit, and the other was on my phone, set to go off 3 minutes after my first alarm. The next thing I did was take a long note tab, wrote a small inspiring message on it and stuck it to the screen of my phone. All it says on it is "Rise and Shine". Maybe it'll work for others too?

[Tcup]

I have to do the same thing! I set about 4 alarms on my phone, all within 15 minutes of each other. By the 4th alarm, I KNOW it's time to get up!

Also working out in the morning really does set a positive, healthy precedent for the rest of the day, which makes sticking to your calorie goal that much easier 

[MeikeD]

I had a near run in with some coyotes in my backyard this past Wednesday and that was the motivation I needed to set my alarm for 4:55 AM so I can get to the gym and walkon the treadmill for 35-45 minutes and get in at least 5300 steps. I can honestly say it was really hard getting up Thursday but once I was at the gym and walking on the treadmill, I felt great! And it was even easier getting up on Friday and heading to the gym. I met a couple of folks who also are using fitbits to track their steps. Plus I was so energized last night that even though I ended up working some overtime, I went for a stroll after dinner and racked up 1400 more steps. My total steps walked was over 11,300.

[mistymo]

I was doing really great there for a while working out in the morning at 0430 for 30 minutes every week day.  I love being able to throw in a DVD, get a great workout, then get ready for work in my own bathroom!  Howver, I got off my schedule and am also having a hard time getting back to getting up early.  This week I will be successful!!  I also set at least 2 alarms so that I can get up.  It usually only takes me about a week to get used to it, but the first few days are always the hardest!  I do know that I feel better knowing that I got one workout out of the way, that way if I want to motivate my hubby to workout after work, I can do that also.  I also feel better and have more energy throughout the day.  You can do it!