Discussion Board

Why am I always so tired when I get up early to exercise? I'd like to exercise before the difficult day begins, but I've never been able to manage it--whether I get 9 hours of sleep or 6! What tips do you have for being energized come sunrise?

I find if I get up and have a kale smoothie then go about things I have a lot more energy. Might give it a try.

I have the same problem. The truth is that I am in denial about how important it is. The only way is to drag myself to the treadmill no matter how tired I am. After a while I expect I will want to get to sleep earlier and wake up more willing. I can't always wait for drive and desire. The other option is to do it after work hours. Like stopping by the gym on the way home from work. I am best keeping to a schedule and not varying it.

I tried for years to be a morning exerciser and I finally just realized that I am simply not a morning person. I got up and swam for about an hour for a couple of years -- then I realized that I was just going through the motions cuz I was just so tired and had no energy in the morning. But, if i exercise in the afternoon or evening, I am so much more energized and exercise so much better. Are you otherwise someone who is energized and productive in the morning?

Sharon

I am with Sharon. As much sense and as logical as it is to get up and get out and exercise so you have the rest of the day, some of us just aren't wired that way.

Even though my energy is lagging a bit, I exercise as soon as I walk into the house from work. I change - feed the cat - and go out the door. I am on my fifth year of exercising regularly (minus the really cold months I get lazy then) which is a major accomplishment for me.

When I started exercising again after breaking my leg several years ago, it was really difficult to start at square one when i'd been in such good shape (before spending 10 werks in a hospital bed). It helped to get enough sleep, but you are already doing that. I wore my worout clothes to bed. All I had to do was put my socks and shoed on and grab some water. We bought an elliptical and stationary bike because it waa too easy to skip the gym in cold or hot weather.

I generally have no problems popping out of bed to exercise these days unless I haven't slept well. If I'm tempted to hit the snooze, I remind myself how energetic and happy I feel on workout days compared to non-workout days. I don't really enjoy exercise, but I love how it makes me feel.

Thank you!

My best exercise mood happens at about 10 AM - 1 PM, but I don't always have the time in that time frame to go out and exercise. I am even worse at having energy post-afternoon, however...so I thought it might be best to get up at 5 AM or 6 AM and work out!

The problem is that I'm exhausted, even after I've been doing it for three months. In the past, I've tried to exercise at 6 AM, and would snore through the workout for many months, before finally shifting the workout to the afternoon. But unfortunately, my gains in fitness decreased whenever I moved my workouts past 1 PM. Even if I'm not tired in the same way in the afternoon, I just don't have the same levels of energy as I do between 10 AM and 1 PM.

I'll try green smoothies, thanks for the suggestion. I don't know that sleeping in my workout clothes would help me avoid sleeping at my workouts, haha, but thank you.

Sleeping in workout clothes wouldn't help me either.

Do you work outside of the home? What about a lunch time walk? Even if you do it most days, the benefit would show. I'd like to do it earlier too but work outside the home. I do notice that as tired as I am in the evening, my energy does pick up once I just push on through and exercise. I get more done at home too.

MDraine,

Your heart is in the right place with wanting to get your exercise done early in the day - this is when our resolve and motivation have not had a chance yet to be hammered down by the stresses of the day.

Yet as many responders already note, some people just do better putting their activity in at other points.

Perhaps taking the 'all or nothing' out of it will help. It has been shown that 10 minute bits of exercise throughout the day will give you the benefits of that one continuous 30 minute session, and gives you the added benefit of not sitting too much. There are multiple studies on this, such as:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16875724

Another strategy is to tie something you are already doing to a new habit that would increase your connection to exercise. For example, try something like this: as soon as you get home from work, you put on shoes that you would exercise in. That's all you have to do for a few days. Then you can add 5 minutes of activity onto that the next week. Maybe it is another daily occurrence that you tie an active behavior to.

It's also important to be deeply connected to the 'why' of your exercise intention. Just because you 'should' doesn't hold up to the mood shifts of the human condition.

Keep us posted!

Lani

I gave up on the idea of am exercise years ago. It's just not going to happen. I am not a morning person. So I know it will be in the pm after work that it happens. I've also learned that if it's something I don't enjoy, I'll find a way out of it. Do something you like and it will be easier.

I agree that some folks just aren't am exercisers.

I spend about 50 - 70% of the month on the road as a consultant. When I'm on the road, I like to wake up early and get it done! I so like knowing that it's just done. Know what I mean?

When I'm at home, the fam and I go to the Y after they get home from school (Hubby is a teacher). So, we go around 5pm.

Do whatever works for you, and stay flexible in your approach. It's all good!

Since its the only time I can workout consistently I wake and think about my midsent when I get finished working out. Every time I workout I try to remember to think "I am sure glad I got up and worked out today." I rarely think "I am sure glad I slept in"!

That and having something waiting for me when I wake up, fresh coffee, fresh brewed tea, a couple oranges for squeezing into juice ...

I'm not an "exerciser." There's no way I'd get up at 5 to workout. But I will get up at 5 to throw hay or garden or work horses or build something.

I discovered a long time ago that I'm better off getting my fitness movements through lifestyle than through "exercise."

I do stretch and do some yoga, but that's just to eliminate stiffness and prevent injuries.

I know not everyone has that option, but I worked hard for many years to be able to change my life in this way.

Before I'd struggle to get to the gym a few times a week for an hour or so. Now I move and work many hours a day. The only thing that slows that down is when I have to do my desk job (part time from home) or the weather is excessively bad.