To see if any seasoned early morning exercisers are about?

I took a day off yesterday on account of a rare Monday night date where several spicy margaritas were drunk 😅

Back on it today - 7am HIIT class done!

I did it ! First home strength workout, not as early as some here but it works with my schedule. Up at 6.45, quick breakfast, on my mat for 7.00. Cup of tea is my reward afterwards!

Morning early risers! I'm having my second cup of tea of the day and then will get myself ready for my 6 a.m gym class. I love the feeling of being home just before 7, still dark outside and I've done my exercise class.

You will! You really will. I remember what it was like (...sort of. There are a few years in there that are a bit fuzzy) and it is awful. Sleep matters. It's OK to prioritise sleep if it's a choice between sleep and exercise and sleep is what you need most.

Thank you for this. Lovely to read.

We're all too hard on ourselves these years when we're in the trenches. Maybe I'll try to stop spinning that early morning plate for now (and, more importantly, stop beating myself up about it) in the hope I can pick it up later on.

Thank you for the insight (and hope, that I will sleep again!!)

Oh and also to PPs asking about breakfast - yes - I would absolutely have to eat first as I would get light headed. Thinking about prepping overnight oats the night before and eating them soon after waking. Don’t like them much but needs must!

Congratulations on your weight loss!!
I am going to try this. My gym is about the same distance away and, lovely as it is, I think the drive home in increasing traffic is going to put me off. I would love to say I’d head out at 6.30 to the gym but honestly I don’t think I could keep it up.
I am clearing a little space in my home office/conservatory as we speak and will aim for one morning workout from
home per week to start. I already go to yoga classes on Fridays and swim on Sundays so looking to add something strength based to my mid week when I’m mainly wfh.
I’m dreading the winter wfh routine as I feel so grotty not getting out at all.
for me it works best to add things one at a time so I don’t knacker myself . Maybe :

mon - garden work
tues - rest
weds - strength workout at home
thu - rest
fri - yoga class
sat - rest
sun - swim

This is me all over. I joined a lovely gym. However there are none within spitting distance and it takes approx 15 mins in the car to get there, but 45 mins to an hour during rush hour
So to go to the gym on a morning i could easy be there for opening time at 630 - do an hour or so and be driving home (as i wfh) during rush hour

That puts me right off

So i thought 'back to basics', - and i got a walking pad and a small set of dumbells, and do an hour or so each morning - before work - of basic dumbbell exercise and walking pad. This probbably sounds ridiculous to some but is the best i can do

so far I've lost 2st doing this

No, I drive to work all sweaty and shower and change when I get there. I have wavy hair that doesn’t need much attention.

Salutations OP. I thought of you when I was knocking out my early morning full bodyweight session 🙂

Honestly, I didn't, when my DC were that small and awful sleepers. I got back into it once things settled a bit. Don't be too hard on yourself in the sleep deprivation era. It passes and you can pick exercise up again.

I'm in awe. I'm working on committing to this.

How does anyone manage it with multiple kids? Especially a BF one that still wakes MANY times a night?? I feel like I'm often still awake at 4/5 without having slept more than 45m in a consecutive chunk. Maybe I just need to push through!

P.S great thread. Thanks for the inspiration 👏

Some great ideas on this thread - thank you. Working out how other people make the routine work is so helpful. I am going to aim for a 5am wake, 5.20ish out the door, 6am back home which will allow for a 6/7k run. Which is plenty to give me energy and feel zingy.

I've always preferred to exercise before work but when I moved to my new job, and I had to be up for 5am just to get ready and leave the house at 6am I decided to move my exercise to after work as I am usually home by 2pm.

Problem being, by the time I got home from work I just couldn't be bothered to go to the gym, and it is far too hot to run, even in the winter (live overseas).

About a year ago I decided to bite the bullet, and I now get up at 3.50am, to be out of the door for a run by 4am 3-4 times a week. There were many early morning arguments with myself the first couple of months, but I soon got into a routine and promised myself if I ever felt too tired to run, I wouldn't force myself.

Consistency, along with being realistic that you're not going to feel it ever time, are the keys to building early morning exercise into your morning routine.

I have a strength and conditioning class at 7:15 tomorrow morning
Today I attended a 7:15 reformer class

I don't keep my phone in the bedroom, it charges downstairs and I set an alarm clock. That way, I don't turn alarm off on my phone and start scrolling.

Though the last 4 years I've had insomnia so I often get up when I wake up

I workout at 5ish whilst my teens are still asleep. YouTube video and decathlon weights in the garage. Could you do that?

When they were little I got to the gym for 6am and then home before DH left for the train at 7.15 and then I'd get the DC up and dressed.

Never did classes though, just warm up and weights routine.

I get up at 5.30 and go for a walk 6 days a week. Day seven I still walk but later on. Normally do 45 min walk. 2 mornings a week I then do 30 mins of weights when I get home. 2 days I do a weights class later in the day at gym. Started walking a year ago and have lost 2.5 stone. Added weights in about 2 months ago. Biggest bonuses to my mental health. Walking outdoors even in the dark has made such an improvement!

oh unless weekends off?

im up early every day. Just my body clock and i am so so grateful. That silent coffee, then either a run or a workout video, dog walk, admin

lovely

tumbleweed from the op this morning 😆

And I go to bed by 9 most nights, book down by 9.30. Can't stay awake past that.

I keep my kit next to the bed. Sit up, jammies off, kit on. No drink or I'd need to wee while exercising.

I just get on with it. I either walk with a headtorch if it's the autumn/winter, workout in the outdoor garage with a headtorch, or do yoga in the study.

Then back in the house, drink two pints water, get DS up for school, get ready for work and leave the house at 6.55.

But I am a morning person and always have been. I consider a walk ruined if anyone else is out at the same time and dawn is my favourite time of the day.

Just a coffee before exercise for me. Then I eat a protein-filled breakfast around 1 hour after the workout.

I try to be asleep by half 9. Because I’ve been doing it for a while, I will likely be naturally awake early anyway so even if I’ve had a bad nights sleep I am probably going to wake at that time. So I do still exercise and although it never feels wonderful to start with, I always feel better at the end. I think exercise after a bad nights sleep makes me feel better than a bad nights sleep by itself, if that makes sense. However, if it was a bad nights sleep because I was unwell then I wouldn’t exercise.