Reset Yourself to an Early Workout Schedule

Published on 9:00 am by in Self Care

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Bomba alarm clock by Dutch designer Will Vanden Vos

The biggest, most consistent challenge for the endurance athlete is finding time to actually workout.

I never really appreciated this fact until my wife and I were blessed with two beautiful girls (now 29months and 9 months). In our house, unless your workout is done in the morning the odds of it getting done are about as good as our littlest changing her own diaper (read: not good).

It took a while, but we were able to both reset to early morning workout schedules and the results have been amazing. Less pressure during the day. Only one shower a day (AM post workout).  More evening time together as a family. No rushed lunches (or sweaty post-lunch workout meetings).

Here are the key rules of our house that make the early morning schedule doable, 7 days a week.

#1 — Get To Bed on Time
Most people  focus on waking up, but the real key is making sure that you are ready to truly sleep at a good time. I personally don’t need a lot of wind-down time, but I have found that taking 5-10′ to plan the next day and then reading for 30-minutes really helps me let go of my day. About seven hours of sleep is recommended, so work backwards from your ideal wake up time (not the snooze part) and draw a very firm line. Then work back from _that_ point to factor in your required down time.

#2 — Have Your Gear All Ready To Go
Morning time is fleeting and precious. The last thing you want to do in the morning is waste 15′ looking for a pair of bike shorts in the dark. Do yourself a favor and know not only what your workout will be, but have your clothing and other related stuff ready to go the day before. A large part of this is simply making sure that you put everything where it should go when you END the previous workout, but let’s start small first!

#3 — Pre-Workout Ritual Set
This is third on the list, but is the most critical part for me. Regardless of how well I sleep, my ritual makes sure that I am ready to rock n’ roll when I suit up. Everyone has their own flavor…do your best to identify your own personal process and you’ll be an early AM workout monster before you know it. My personal routine involves a big cup of coffee (timer set night before), toast with some all-natural peanut butter and a bit of honey (add a banana if going longer than an hour), a glass of water, and a review of my schedule. This insures I am mentally, nutritionally and psychologically ready to workout.

One final thought…take it easy on yourself! The transition to 100% early AM workouts isn’t easy. I suggest you implement this incrementally, perhaps targeting 1 or 2 days a week as test periods where you can begin to sort out the key steps above. Good luck and see you in the morning!

Comments: If you have your own routine, please share it below in the comments section…thanks!

Other Links & Resources

Sleep Hacks:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/01/27/relax-like-a-pro-5-steps-to-hacking-your-sleep/

Sleep & Improved Athletic Performance:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080609071106.htm
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/news/20070613/more-sleep-boosts-athletic-performance

Napping:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_nap: 8en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_nap
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027172903.htm
http://www.dreamdoctor.com/better/improve/nap.shtml

  • http://ironman.lindapatch.com Linda P

    I have been a crack o’ dawn athlete for more than 20 years. Now it’s just a way of life. Literally hundreds of times I have been so thankful that the workout was out of the way as the day gobbled up my time. Even now though my kids are older, it remains the only real clear time of day that insures I have the time to fit in the training.

    I couldn’t agree more with the night before prep. You just have to slide your sleepy body in to the clothes you have set out. No thinking required!

    I need to get better about factoring in the down time, and shutting the lights off ON TIME. I also need a good 50′ after getting up before working out, so I factor that into my planning. I just can’t get going sooner than that, so I let myself wake up gently and then move on.

    I can’t drink coffee in the morning before workouts because it makes my stomach nauseous, so I have become a HUGE Zippfizz Liquid Shot addict. There’s a ton of B12 in it, and some caffeine. Within 15′, I feel much more energized without coffee jitters and tummy trouble. I love the stuff.

    Great post that is making me revisit my routine and shore it up a bit!

  • http://www.optojumpusa.com endurance athlete performance

    Hi, 

    Its wonderful post guys, I liked it. 

    Thanks for it.