How working out in the morning completely changed my routine and helped me regain motivation.
By: Abigail Nibblett
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It had been such a long day. A long week, really. I’d gotten up at 6 a.m. to study for a test, sat in three back-to-back, hour and fifteen-minute classes, and gone to a meeting for my club. I still had to work on two projects and a paper after class, but was so tired that I practically fell asleep on the walk home. For the past week, my schedule had been packed with classes, meetings, and dance rehearsals, so I figured I could really use a workout, even though all I wanted was a nap. After getting back from class, I changed into yoga capris and my favorite navy blue Under Armour tank top, hoping it would motivate me to get out the door. Instead, I sank down on the couch to rest for just for a minute, or so I told myself. Then my roommate came home and started watching my favorite show, The Blacklist, on Netflix. How was I supposed to get up now? I told myself that I’d leave after the episode was over, but as I reached for a grey fuzzy blanket, I happily settled in and decided to work out tomorrow.
The next morning, after contemplating my failure to do any sort of physical activity the day before, I realized that I always work out in the evenings, when there are other things that compete for my attention or when I am too wiped out from the day to even think about doing any kind of physical activity. Why would I go to the gym when I can bake cookies with my roommates instead? It used to make sense to head to the gym after I’d taken care of the majority of my chores and homework. But, I decided to try something new for a week. I began an experiment in which I’d work out in the mornings to see how it affects me academically, physically, and personally. I want to see if changing the time of day that I work out will make it easier to find the motivation to get there.
The rules:
1. I had to work out every morning before class for a straight week.
2. I had to do it by myself, I wanted to find my own source of motivation.
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The first day, my heart was pounding in my ears. I had decided to go for a run this morning and it was relatively cool, which helped, but not that much. I was sweating profusely, and while the Pop and Hip Hop Power Workout Radio station on Pandora was helping to keep up my pace, I was feeling extremely dizzy and lightheaded, which was no different than a usual cardio workout for me. I went as far as I could without vomiting, about two miles, and when I made it back to the house, I plopped onto my bed, soaked, blood-red, and shaking, and passed out for a good twenty minutes. Even though I can’t stand cardio, this week, I am trying to make friends with it because it’s the quickest way to get a solid full-body workout in. After I got up and went to class, I noticed how tired I was throughout the day. However, I still had to force myself to push through and get things done because I still had the responsibilities of the day facing me, even though every fiber in my body fought against it. Miraculously, I did manage to get a lot done, but I was definitely glad when the day was over and I got to crawl into my soft bed.
That was just the first day. By day two, I was feeling really good about myself. Two days in a row I had stuck to the plan and not let my friends tempt me into meeting them for coffee instead. I rearranged the furniture in our living room so that there was enough space for me to move around, keeping a kitchen chair as my sole piece of workout equipment. I used it for dips, step-ups, and incline pushups, alternating those with cardio exercises, including the dreaded burpees. These are my least favorite exercise, but I did three sets of 25 just to prove to myself that I could. After I was done, I grabbed a white lacrosse ball and rolled it over my les to break up the lactic acid from yesterday’s run. I came to the conclusion that on the days when it was hard to convince myself to get out of bed, I could work out at home because it requires less getting-ready time and no drive time, meaning that I could still get in a workout and sleep in an extra ten minutes. This became my backup plan. I wasn’t as tired the rest of the day, which was promising because I took it as a sign that my body was starting to get adjusted. This made me optimistic and excited to see how the rest of the experiment would go.
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By day four of seven, I was getting worn out. When my alarm started blaring, I rolled over, so warm and cozy, and hit snooze. Then, three minutes into the 20-minute snooze button, I started feeling incredibly guilty, like I was cheating on the gym. So, I made myself get up, take quick shower, and head to the gym. When I arrived, it was silent. There was not a soul there, reminding me that it was too early to be doing this to my body and challenging my self-motivation. Perhaps the biggest downside of working out in the morning is that there are no group fitness classes, which means I’ve had to put my creativity to the test and come up with my own challenging workouts. I dragged myself to the rowing machine, did some abs and legwork, and then headed back home to get ready for class. Surprisingly, my body was getting used to this routine and I enjoyed having the free time in the evenings to catch up on homework or hang out with friends. Now, when I came home from class, I didn’t have to turn around and leave again. I could catch up on work, tidy my house, and take care of chores. I could even indulge in The Blacklist without the nagging feeling that I wasn’t doing what was best for me. When a friend called later that day and invited me to dinner, I was happy to accept without the overhanging guilt that I was skipping another workout. I also didn’t feel guilty about getting pasta, I justified the carbs with the amount of calories I had burned so far this week.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!” I jumped up from finishing my last set of squats, glad that this morning’s workout was over. I was feeling good, it was the seventh and last day of the week of my morning workout experiment and overall, it had gone better than I anticipated. As I started to head down the stairs to stretch, I realized just how cramped my legs were. They locked up on me, and I had to actually pick my leg up with my arms to get it moving again. Luckily, no one was there to see it. Even though physical soreness is a slight side effect of becoming a dedicated gym-goer, I’ve started noticing other changes that make up for it. Academically, I’ve noticed that I have been focusing a lot better in class and retaining a lot more information while I’m studying, which may also partially result from the vast amounts of water that I have been drinking that my body requires post-workout. My attention span has become longer, perhaps because I am trying to keep myself from giving into being tired. The best part? I can’t use the excuse that “I’ve had too hard a day, no gym for me.” By not putting it off, I can’t come up with mental excuses to get me out of it.
Corefirst Human Performance Center, my home gym, located in Salisbury, MD.
I’ve noticed a lot of positive changes simply resulting from switching to morning workouts. In addition to the academic benefits, there was a lot of self-confidence and pride that resulted from finding my own motivation. I’ve seen that pride spilling into other behaviors and areas of my life. I ate a lot better simply because I didn’t want to put crap in my body when I had just worked so hard in the gym. I was also much more thankful to sit down in class. I’ve been using my time a lot more efficiently. Surprisingly, working out earlier in the day actually had a huge impact on me mentally, physically, and personally. I learned so much from this experiment that I’ve decided to stick to it; I am now a permanent morning gym-goer and would encourage anyone struggling with the same thing to try it. It’s taught me how important it is to take care of my body even if my mind is telling me I’m too busy. There’s a special pride that comes from overcoming your mental obstacles and discovering for yourself how good it feels to keep up a physical routine.