Fitting in a Workout is one of the essential steps to health, right? This is mentioned to us every time we turn a corner. Working out is important for cardiovascular health, allows your body to produce endorphins, clears and rejuvenates your mind.

Some of the most creative people in the world get their ideas during their work out – whether that be going for a walk, lifting weights, yoga, or even meditation.

Recently I was able to stick to a workout routine successfully for a full 16 week program. It was challenging to keep up with and I did have to vary the schedule ( I even had to take a 1 week hiatus!), but overall, I did the training.

I’ve never been able to stick to anything except my marriage. Workouts were my nemesis.

Discovering the Joy in it

Only recently have I discovered quite a bit of joy in working out. A video type aerobic exercise, some simple moves with weights, a walk or run outside, or even yoga – the type of workout doesn’t matter.

But in each of these, I’ve found that not only am I getting physical benefits, but I get a ton of mental benefits as well! I noticed I really do make it through my day with more clarity, less “spacing” or mind wandering (I check Facebook less), I’m more focused on my priorities, and the strangest one of all… I have more energy!

You’d figure from waking up early and expressing all your energy during a workout, you’d be exhausted and less likely to get things done. I found my reaction to be quite the opposite.

Now that I’ve discovered how positively my days are changed from exercise, I look forward to that motivated, go-getter, clear thinking version of myself, which makes it easier to plan to work out as well.

 Looking forward to that good mood, feeling of accomplishment, and sustained energy is one thing, but actually doing the workout was still a challenge.

Adjustment Needed

I noticed quickly that a few things had to change for me to actually follow through with the plan to exercise. Something always came up.

The kids had a rough night and I’d been up checking on them at 2am, I stayed up too late watching Netflix, I didn’t know where my workout clothes or tennis shoes were and didn’t want to wake up the hubby by rustling around trying to find things… excuses abound.

My 5am brain is really good at making excuses and convincing my body to roll over and go back to sleep.

However, here’s another funny thing… on the days where I set an alarm to wake up at 5am, intending to work out, and promptly rolled over to continue sleeping, I wound up more tired, zombie like, unfocused, and exhausted than I was if I had just gotten up.

There’s something that happens when your sleep is disturbed and you go back to sleep only to be wok up by an alarm an hour later, and the rest of the day reflects that disconnection in your rest. I even felt “lost” those days because of that interrupted sleep pattern and then the lack of endorphins and cardiovascular activity, my body just muddled through the day.

When I did this 5am-alarm-but-go-back-to-sleep routine, I found that my planning skills were horrible, I forgot things like my lunch, I was grumpy, I was sleepy and more likely to depend on coffee all day. There were multiple negative things that I felt or experienced that have taught me not to go back to sleep after an early alarm like that.

So I got to a point where I planned to do a workout every day or every other day (giving myself grace to be flexible). I discovered it almost never happened unless I was ultra-determined and prepared through several steps prior to ensure my success.

Let’s be honest, waking up and deciding to go for a jog or spend 30 minutes doing aerobics is never going to happen without determination and planning. We have to plan for things if we want to get them done, and luckily, planning is my strong suit.

Plan and Implement

Over the years I’ve discovered 5 things that help me actually make that workout happen. Without these 5 ideas set in motion, I’m destined to a life of flab.

1. Go to bed early

First thing is first, how can you expect to wake up with energy, motivation, and actually make it through your day if you stayed up to 11pm or midnight?

My husband and I both work and have to be on our way around 7am. I need an hour to get ready, plus we have 2 little ones to get dressed and out the door with us. So it’s hard to function, regardless of a work out if I stay up too late.

I’ve decided my bedtime needs to be around 9pm and I can stay up until 10pm occasionally and still be able to wake up refreshed. Anytime I stay up past that, I know that I cannot plan a workout the next morning.

2. Wake up early

As explained above, our family routine, work obligations, etc demand that we be awake at 6am getting ready for the day. This isn’t the time to exercise.

We’ve found that the 6-7 am window for us is ONLY for showers, getting dressed, packing lunch, fixing hair, waking up the kids,  getting them ready, etc. so that we can all be out the door around 7.

So, you guessed it, my alarm needs to ring even earlier for me to work out. Remember what I said above how it seems crazy and that you’ll be more tired, but it’s actually quite the opposite. So, I discovered I need to wake up at 5am for my exercise.

3. Implement a specific plan

So you’re up at 5am. Good job, but now what? What are you going to wear? Where is that headband? Where is your fitbit? I thought I took it off over here…

The bigger question comes up, what do I want to do right now? Should I find a good YouTube workout? Should I go running?

OK, I’m going to stop you right there. Asking yourself these questions and aimlessly wandering around trying to find your things at 5am is just setting yourself up for disappointment. You’re wasting precious workout time!

This is where I always plan the night before, or even better, plan the whole week of exercise routines in advance. I found that I did best when I woke up already knowing how many miles to run, that it was a cross-training day, or to lift weights.

Any time I planned on a video workout of some sort, I’d already rifled through my collection and picked out the DVD the night before. YouTube is the same way, if you research and watch some videos ahead of time, you can have it already pulled up, or at least know what you’re looking for ahead of time.

4. Lay out things the night before or even sleep in your gym clothes

This was a big “ah-ha!” for me. If I laid out my sports bra, yoga capris, running belt, socks, tennis shoes, Fitbit, headband, etc. the night before in a convenient location, I found that it was easier to get up and get dressed quickly.

This allowed me to make less excuses, get ready quicker, and have more time to work out. The other suggestion I’ve heard is to just sleep in your gym clothes. This obviously supports the underlying principle of pre-planning the night before.

No matter your method, if you plan what you’re wearing and get things together the night before, you have less decisions to make at 5am.

5. Be creative- lunch break?

Remember I mentioned those 10pm and 11pm nights? Well, they happen occasionally. Or maybe you had a rough one with the baby or something that kept your mind churning all night so you didn’t rest well.

Don’t fret, it happens to the rest of us too. This is where the 5am thing just isn’t going to be possible on that particular day. This is where you have to get creative. I managed to find a nice paved trail at a park near my office, so I started taking walks there on my lunch break.

The open air and little bit of movement really boosts my energy for the afternoon. Plus I look forward to that walk at lunch time all morning.

Maybe the hubs can take care of dinner while you just step out for 20 minutes? Or my kids love “playtime”, which is their free time to play with legos or whatever they are into that day. So I can pop in a 15 minute workout during their playtime before we get dinner going.

A Lovely Morning

I’ve learned that waking up early is my best bet because that’s the only time that I’m not “needed” elsewhere. At 5am my kids are asleep, the phone isn’t buzzing, and there are no other commitments.

My world is quiet and beautiful. I’ve found that when I wake up early, plan ahead, wake up not having to think, and not allowing my brain to question the situation or the time to talk me out of it, I’m exponentially more successful at any morning routine I’m implementing.

Here’s to you and I, and the changes we’re making to actually fit in a workout- no matter how busy the rest of life is.