There are morning people and there are night owls. The truth is the best time to work out is whenever you are going to work out. That being said I went to the gym religiously at 5 PM with...everyone else. Fought for weights, box jumps, and spin bikes, with everyone else. I got home around 6:30 or 7 PM, struggled to put dinner together/pack lunch, re-pack my gym back and repeat the never ending Groundhog Day that was my life. Don't ask me to go out for dinner after work. You're possibly screwing up spinning, tabata, a lactic acid thresh hold workout from hell, or leg day. But Tuesday of this past week was going to be different. I had a Groupon spa treatment and I wanted to work out. So I packed my gym bag with shower shoes ($2 at Target, find a favorite color), work clothes, deodorant/soap, etc. The alarm went off at 5:15 AM. I believe I called it something offensive then stumbled to the coffee maker. Somehow I managed to do a Jillian Michaels'
Making The Cut workout and I felt like a champ for most of the day. I've kept the momentum going and have been able to taper the caffeine but here is a rundown of how to make AM workouts work before work.
- Wear your gym clothes to bed, you won't want to change this early.
- Pack everything the night before, this is non-negotiable.
- Have your workout planned.
- Get enough sleep. If this doesn't work, a nap in your backseat at lunch time is fine...your office probably not so much.
- Have your lunch packed and ready to go
Basically, give yourself every reason to be successful. I've converted to this because I now know that I have from 5 PM until 10 PM to have a life and a healthy and active one too.
