Morning Exercise

[bananagrama]

I need a bit of help with pushing myself to exercise more. I’m active and like exercise, but I’m a bit random with it.

I’d just like to know, especially for those who are motivated to start their day with early morning exercise, what actually goes through your head in order to do it?

Is it - for example - “I really need to do this so that I feel good all day” or “I really don’t want to but I have to” or “I’m training for x event so need to do it” or is it just automatic and you don’t even think about it?

What about when you feel tired. Do you push yourself anyway or not stress about having a day off? I’m pretty sure I underestimate my capability, and often when I’m tired, if I do push myself, it’s usually fine, I get into it and can do it anyway (even if not full energy).

I don’t think about anything, at 5:30 my brain isn’t making good decisions. The thinking happens the night before when I decide what I’m doing and sort out what I need for it. Then it’s just autopilot.

I will only run or swim first thing though so I can just zone out. Anything that needs me to pay attention has to happen later.

I know I feel better for it afterwards, it’s as much about mental as physical health. Habit is everything, so I try to always go. Even if in the winter I sometimes turn round after 10 minutes 😆. It’s not making me feel better if I beat myself up over it.

I have to put it in my calendar ahead of time so I see it every time I add anything to my week - really cements that it’s something I am definitely going to do. If I wake up and still don’t feel like it, I just push through - it’s only 30 minutes of my life, I’ll feel really satisfied when I’m done. I also give myself permission to only go for a very short run if I’m not feeling it, and more often than not find that once I’m out and going I just carry on as planned anyway.

The only times I don’t push myself to go is if I’ve woken up feeling ill or have had a particularly bad night’s sleep.

I always want to exercise first thing to ‘get it over with’ then I can shower and get on with my day. If I don’t then it just doesn’t happen.

When I exercised regularly (not anymore as I've lost the motivation unfortunately) I made sure I did something I enjoyed. At first you have to push yourself but if you enjoy it I found after a while you want to do it and I think that's the key. It made me feel good to and if I didn't do it I knew I'd feel shit later. That also motivated me.

For me it’s routine and consistency and that all adage “the only workout you regret is the one you didn’t do” eg on Thursdays I usually run but I was tired so instead I walked - I still moved my body so I take that as a win. Makes me feel great to know anything extra I do that day is a bonus, means I’m consistently hitting my 10k steps and smashing my move ring on my watch every day. And the difference to my body and mind is absolutely immense.

and I say this as someone who literally never exercised before and thought people who said this kind of stuff above were deranged, sad, obsessive and had some gene that I didn’t have. I was wrong!

Planning.
Know what/ where you're doing it.
Get the stuff ready the night before.
For running, I used guided run podcasts that keep me timed and know what routes fit with my time allowence.

It's not easy for me, and my body prefers moving when it's fed and warmed up, but it's good to get it done and not have to psych up after work when I'm tired.

It is much easier in the lighter half of the year though!