It may seem counterintuitive but waking up at 5:15AM, being at camp at 5:30AM and gettin’ my workout done by 7AM actually gives me more energy for the day. I’ve started thinking of boot camp as the pre-party to the rest of my day. And fools don’t even bring that “you’re a morning person, I’m not” garbage to me because if you had told the JoJo of yesteryear that I would be getting up early for years she, nor her family, would have believed you. In fact, there’s a family story of me in grade 4 grumpily getting out of bed after my mom had been calling me to do so many times-my brother was already dressed and eating breakfast-and thinking she couldn’t see me I gave her the finger. Now the reason this is a family story is OF COURSE she saw me and I immediately locked myself in the bathroom with the fear of God in my little soul that I would never live to see another day. So no, I wouldn’t classify myself as having always been a morning lark. How did I go from a smarmy sailor mouthed little girl into the enthusiastic lady you see at 5:45AM? Experience.
After my first month of boot camp, I was all-in on the early rising. Getting my workout on early gets me focused for the day and makes me more patient. It’s like working out before the rest of my day starts sets my heartbeat to a slower pace allowing me to observe and take my time. I feel like everyone else is trying to catch up, but when you’ve started before they’ve gotten up you’re always ahead of the game. Plus, there’s science to back up the awesomeness of the early am workout. There’s no arguing science.
Also, the world is mine from 5-7AM. Really, every street is clear, all four way stops are one way-my way, baby. I get to witness the start of Atlanta’s day as the sun rises over our last stretches. It’s this precious little time that’s mine to wake up slow.
It wasn’t easy those first few weeks. When you’re just starting getting up early it’s a mind game and you kind of have to treat yourself like a 5 year old: ”I know you don’t feel tired yet, but it’s 10:00PM and you have to go to bed.” And you also have to suck it up a little and force it the first week. Set yourself up for success putting an index card with your goal next the the alarm clock or put your alarm away from your bed in your bathroom. Or if you really have a hard time use the Sleep if U Can app-it makes you take a picture of something in your house before it will stop ringing. Whatever it takes commit to it so you’ll have no reason not to get your workout in and stick to your fitness goals. After a while you’ll retract that middle finger and turn it into a high five.
Source: Decatur – Tips
