Well, I did it. I NEVER in a million years thought that I, Mandi, would become a morning workout person. I committed to one week of waking up between 5:30-6:30am and getting an hour lift in before heading off to work.
I committed to an entire week because I knew that doing it only once or twice would not help me adapt to the schedule and therefore, I wouldn’t really know whether or not I truly did like morning workouts. Of course, I experienced both pros and cons about these AM sessions, but overall, I think I do prefer to workout in the morning and will continue on this way as long as it works with my schedule.
Pros:
I felt energized the whole work day following my workout.
My digestion was on-freaking-point.
I was in a better mood throughout the day, especially in the morning.
It felt good to spend the whole day knowing that I already knocked out my workout and that I didn’t have obligations after work.
I liked that I could spend my nights doing whatever I wanted to.
I liked how easy it was to fall asleep early each night.
Cons:
I felt hungry all day long, more than usual.
I felt tired AF after work so sometimes I didn’t do anything but watch TV all night.
I didn’t have the best workouts. I felt pretty weak during my training sessions. I definitely would never get a PR in the morning. This lack of energy during the workouts probably has a lot to do with the fact that they’re fasted workouts being so early in the morning. Maybe after time my body would get used to working out fasted.
I couldn’t stay up past 9pm.
Sometimes at night I felt lazy after work because I didn’t go to the gym (even though I already went to the gym that morning), but I think this is probably more of a Mandi problem than anything else.
You’re on a tighter schedule when you workout in the morning because you have to be at work at a certain time.
Since I feel like I've accomplished the impossible, I know that the things that helped me will definitely help you too!
Know that waking up early gets easier! Whatever you do, though, do not hit snooze because it’ll make it way harder to get up.
Lay out your workout clothes the night before so you can literally get up and go.
Have a room temperature glass of water ready to chug upon waking up.
Have a friend for accountability. I was lucky enough to have a friend to workout with ⅗ days.
Go to a workout class as opposed to just the gym. I find I push myself much more in the morning if I attend a class. Also, if your class starts at 5:30am and your alarm goes off at 5:15am, you know you need to hustle!
Perhaps allow yourself enough time for a quick snack before hitting the gym to help with energy.
Do something as simple as go for a walk in the morning instead of hitting the gym. You'll be amazed at how much positive energy you'l have throughout the day.
I hope you enjoyed following me on my little experiment. If I can become a morning person, I promise you can too!
Mandi.