Early Morning Workout Advice (What works for you?)

I've recently (within the past month) moved my workouts (F1 + H1) to mornings which i'm enjoying due to the fact that when i get home from work in the afternoons i have plenty more time to devote to my family (Wife + 3 kids).  Only i'm finding that the early morning workouts seem much harder.

My main issue, besides being slightly tired is more of an issue of being stiff  .  I've tried lightly stretching during my warm up but it doesn't seem to be enough.  And being stiff is actually beginning to slow my progress.  When i worked out in the evenings i didn't have this issue. 

So, what do ya'll do to get yourselves going in the mornings to have a good workout?

I find that warming up a little longer helps; if you have sweatpants and a sweatshirt to really get your body temperature up, that helped me, too. 

Also, have you asked if your wife and/or kids want to work out with you? 

The reason it is harder is because you don't have as much energy as you would in the evening. Your muscles are also a lot stiffer in the mornings so make sure you warm up!

 1. A lot of research out there shows that it is more optimal for the body to train 2-4 hours after waking.

 2. Eventually you will get used to it. Spend a bit more time getting your body to warmup. Not so much of an issue if you are in a warmer climate.

Good advice above: Layer up, even if it is warm, & warm up slowly and more gently than in the evenings. Massage of some joints works well too (knees, wrists, ankles); massage of some tendons too (Achilles).

There is nothing like coming home at 06:30 with super high energy after a good training session while everybody else is still sleeping, or tentatively shaking up the last remnants of their dreams...

lnick1975 said:

I've recently (within the past month) moved my workouts (F1 + H1) to mornings which i'm enjoying due to the fact that when i get home from work in the afternoons i have plenty more time to devote to my family (Wife + 3 kids).  Only i'm finding that the early morning workouts seem much harder.

 

My main issue, besides being slightly tired is more of an issue of being stiff  .  I've tried lightly stretching during my warm up but it doesn't seem to be enough.  And being stiff is actually beginning to slow my progress.  When i worked out in the evenings i didn't have this issue. 

 

So, what do ya'll do to get yourselves going in the mornings to have a good workout?

I´m in the same situation as you. 3 kids, wife, dog, part owner in a small comapany. I found out that morning trains was my possibility to manage everything in life.  I was feeling the same as you but after a couple of months of consistancy my brain and body got used to it and know it feels like the most natural thing in the world. So dont give up!

A few things that helped me:

Be consistant, dont skip any of your morning trains. Especially the first few months.

Get to bed in on time the night before.

Get up on time. I´m up at least 1 hour before I actually start to train.

I find that having a hot bath with a coffee gets me ready for an early morning session. (We don't have a shower and I don't think a shower would be as effective)

I'm getting up at 5 a.m. and after shaving and brushing my teeth I'm drinking a glass of hot water with lemonjuice and do some joint mobility drills. After that my body temperature has already risen. Then I put on my long sweat pant and my sweatshirt and start my warmup (running in place, some kettlebell swings and a shoulder routine. At 5.30 I' m ready to go for the Foundation 1 workout til 6.30. After that I'm starting Handstand 1 till 7 a.m.

Then I do some stretching an foamrolling or an MWOD by Kelly Starrett.

By 7.30 I take a hot shower and my after workout breakfast.
 

I do this now for 6 weeks and it feels great. At work I'm totally energized (it's better as beeing on dope ;-)

and the evenings are totally free for whatever I wish to do.

My morning workout feels quite strong. For me there is no difference between morning or evening.
I'm really enjoying this new lifestyle.

Joshua Slocum said:

Also, have you asked if your wife and/or kids want to work out with you? 

 

• Yes, i have a 12yr old daughter who wants to start working out with me, I am going to start her off with F1 from the very beginning, but I prefer to do my main workout alone.  I can go at my own pace, clear headed and focused with no one bothering me.  Its sorta like having a meditation session along with a workout.  I will train along with her but it will not be my main workout.  My other 2 kids are 3 yrs and 1 month. My 3yr old mimics me as much as he can.  He loves swinging on the rings. 

Blairbob said:

 1. A lot of research out there shows that it is more optimal for the body to train 2-4 hours after waking.

 

 2. Eventually you will get used to it. Spend a bit more time getting your body to warmup. Not so much of an issue if you are in a warmer climate.

 

• I'd like to wake up earlier but I'm still working on all that.  I tend to get to sleep anywhere between 10p.m. to midnight. on average and at the moment i'm waking at 5.  I'm taking small steps towards a huge changes.
• I dont know about warmer climates but I do know a lot about hot and humid.  

 

Mats Trane, on 05 Jun 2013 - 01:10 AM, said:

A few things that helped me:

Be consistant, dont skip any of your morning trains. Especially the first few months.

Get to bed in on time the night before.

Get up on time. I´m up at least 1 hour before I actually start to train.

 

• Thanks, I'm working on it.

LateStarter@46 said:

I find that having a hot bath with a coffee gets me ready for an early morning session. (We don't have a shower and I don't think a shower would be as effective)

 

• A hot shower or bath was something I thought about.  I think I'll give it a try.

Markus Klein said:

I'm getting up at 5 a.m. and after shaving and brushing my teeth I'm drinking a glass of hot water with lemonjuice and do some joint mobility drills. After that my body temperature has already risen. Then I put on my long sweat pant and my sweatshirt and start my warmup (running in place, some kettlebell swings and a shoulder routine. At 5.30 I' m ready to go for the Foundation 1 workout til 6.30. After that I'm starting Handstand 1 till 7 a.m.

Then I do some stretching an foamrolling or an MWOD by Kelly Starrett.

By 7.30 I take a hot shower and my after workout breakfast.

 

• I've been getting up at 5 am., warming up for about 10 mins. & then working out.  I have to get out of the house around 6:50 so i can get to work on time.  So, I know at this point the latter weeks of F1 take me about 1 1/2 hrs to accomplish. so after seeing all you've been doing i know i really need to work on getting to bed earlier waking up a little bit earlier & spending more time warming up.

   

 

instant coffee, starting my warm up around 30 minutes before I expect to do my first work set, and having some kind of protein + carb shake to sip on.

I'm a morning person have been for years, I always train better in the early hours. Coffee and a hot breakfast usually oats work well for me. You'll adjust over time just let your body get used to it. In the winter I have to admit that liniment has made a showing from time to time on my injured joints to warm them up faster.

Joshua Naterman said:

instant coffee, starting my warm up around 30 minutes before I expect to do my first work set, and having some kind of protein + carb shake to sip on.

I will pepper you for one minor important detail....how much carbs and protein? I usually wait until after my workout to have some poptarts or a meal, but i'll eat some grapes during my warm up/workout to wake me up and have something in my stomach until breakfast. 

would it be enough protein to fulfill a serving(in my case 25-38g of protein) (60-80g of carbs)

edit: as a note, i wake up, drink my shake, prepare my workout space with all the necessary gadgets(timer, music, yoga mat, dumb bells if needed) then begin my warm up until it's time to actually get to work(after the 30 minute's of the first protein shake)

In this scenario, I personally find that 30g of protein is good for me. I usually mix this in salted water with the instant coffee. I also tend to prefer a form of fast carbs. Could be jelly beans, corn syrup (not HFCS), glucose powder, whatever I have. I sometimes also have low fat milk (or a smaller amount of whole milk) with my shake for flavor.

I have also just taken ~16 oz of 2% milk, mixed a scoop of protein and instant coffee into it, and then used jelly beans or marshmallows between each set.

I find that I tend to prefer a more constant intake vs one large single serving. This usually means I'll drink all the milk and then snack on the carb source separately. If I use powder, it will be as a glucose/protein mix in water. I usually have 15g of protein and 30-40g of glucose in ~1L of water.

I haven't been particular about this in the past few months, but with my internship hours I am going to have to start doing all this again to get good workouts.

Joshua Naterman said:

In this scenario, I personally find that 30g of protein is good for me. I usually mix this in salted water with the instant coffee. I also tend to prefer a form of fast carbs. Could be jelly beans, corn syrup (not HFCS), glucose powder, whatever I have. I sometimes also have low fat milk (or a smaller amount of whole milk) with my shake for flavor.

 

I have also just taken ~16 oz of 2% milk, mixed a scoop of protein and instant coffee into it, and then used jelly beans or marshmallows between each set.

 

I find that I tend to prefer a more constant intake vs one large single serving. This usually means I'll drink all the milk and then snack on the carb source separately. If I use powder, it will be as a glucose/protein mix in water. I usually have 15g of protein and 30-40g of glucose in ~1L of water.

 

I haven't been particular about this in the past few months, but with my internship hours I am going to have to start doing all this again to get good workouts.

what I'm understanding looks something like this: pre-workout protein(to my linking, including: protein, lemon juice, a bit of glucose powder)

and as the workout progresses the water(1.5L in my case, it's getting unbearably hot/humid here) with all the add on's

workout complete, protein shake or breakfast(I assume correctly that breakfast sans the shake would be recommended)

I'm double checking since due to my schedule i'm placing my workouts in the mornings now and my timing seems a little off with the fact of waking up and needing a meal in me(love breakfast) but if this can help with leaning out, super.  

I wake up every day at 4:30 and start training with the team at 5:30, but we do quite a bit of warm-up to get ourselves going, too. I found it's mostly just about getting used to being up that early.

I personally train in the morning in a fasted state, and start eating at 2pm (still getting the same quality/quantity of food the day). I actually feel much stronger this way, and have set a lot of new PRs lately. Definitely very different to most people. I find that if I eat before exercise, I feel sluggish.