Early Morning Training: 4 Common Mistakes & Solutions

In this article, I discuss common issues many people have with early morning workouts and elaborate on some solutions and strategies that I have discovered.

You might cringe at the idea of hitting the gym  before sunrise, yet for many people like myself,  this might be the only time of day to put in the work. Most folks dawning their gym apparel bright and early usually find themselves there out of necessity: they have work commitments, family or an education. Personally, I fell into the practice during my time at university, and like many others, the tradition of lifting or running soon after stumbling out of bed has grown on me. I described my initial attempts at early morning workouts as

“Get Dressed, Drink coffee and get to the gym before I realize what the fuck I’m doing.”

If this is your first time hitting the weights or lacing up the running shoes before dawn; expect it to feel uncomfortable at first. It took me a couple weeks to get into the habit of going to bed earlier, waking up early and moving in the morning rather then lounging around eating oatmeal. It does get better,  your bodies has the ability to adapt to just about anything, just look at Wim Hof  The Ice Man;  5:00 am workouts can feel natural once you get into a rhythm. That being said, there are certainly wrong & right ways of going about your morning workout.

Here are commonly experienced problems associated with morning training and some possible solutions you can take to fix them:

1. You’re jumping too quickly into your workout

If you’ve already attempted the early morning workout, you may have already done this by accident. You woke up early feeling stiff & groggy, stumbled out bed to make yourself a coffee or take a pre-workout mix and within minutes of swigging back your drink of choice you’re on fire. A quick trip to the gym and a couple sets into your workout and it hits you; your body is just plain not ready for this.

Unfortunately, the morning buzz caused by  the natural rise of morning cortisol, which spikes and then sharply dips mid morning. With the potential addition of caffeine, this can lead many to have a false sense of confidence causing them to rush into their workouts and crash. While you might feel psychologically ready, your body physically hasn’t woken up and is likely not ready for intense exercise yet.  There are many reasons for this: throughout the night your body temperature drops, you become  dehydrated and your nervous system shifts to a parasympathetic state (rest& digest); shifting from this state to heavy exertion is far from ideal. Attempting to power through this induced physiological state is usually an exercise in futility: you are more  prone to injury, you’re cold and your nervous is not firing yet.

The solution: Take some time in the morning to wake your body up.

In my experience, as well as in the anecdotes of many others, you want to give yourself at least an hour or two between waking up and performing any high level of activity. Use the extra time to do a proper  warm up, I suggest doing some full body dynamic stretching, blood flow movements and mobility work to wake your muscles up. Prior to getting to the gym, the morning hours can be a great time to be productive, get some work done, read, meditate, journal or  start scheduling your day.  Performing a morning routine is an excellent way to reset, prioritize and build momentum throughout the rest of the day. Advocates of such routines, include high achievers & professional athletes who attribute their success to maximizing this morning period. The point of this time is to not get more shit done per say, its to prepare your body and mind for doing the shit you already have to do better.

Here’s some potential ideas:

• Practice Yoga or Stretching – Try doing a few Sun Salutations
•  Meditate for ~10 minutes – The HeadSpace app is excellent.
•  Journal – I like to write out my daily goals, habits and ideas
• Perform some Breathing exercise – Take a look at The Wim Hof Method
• Read something constructive – start your day off with something to think about.
• Get outside – Let your dog out, stretch and expose yourself to daylight
• Brew good Coffee: use an Aeropress, Pour-over or Frenchpress with a scale.

2. You don’t know how to fuel it properly

There are two types of people in the morning: those who wake up ravenously hungry and those who get sick  as a dog even at the thought of food. Personally, I’ve found that regardless of whether or not you’re hungry; most people are better off skipping breakfast or eating something very light before training.  When you eat anything, your body diverts blood flow away from your muscles to you’re digestive system, making you sluggish, cold and lethargic. Provided you ate properly the day before, your body has more than enough stored energy in the form of muscle glycogen to get you through your workout. Make sure to eat a solid meal consisting of a decent dose of each macro nutrient (Complex Carbs, Protein, Fat)  ~3 hours before bedtime; this will not only hold you off through your workout, you’ll likely sleep better as well.

Often, another area many trainees overlook is the importance of hydration, which critical; especially if you are training first thing in the morning. Throughout the night your body dehydrates via respiration & lack of fluid intake, by waking up and downing a large cup (~500-1000ml) of water, you can save yourself from cognitive impairment, decreased performance and stress tolerance. Unfortunately for you coffee lovers,  while a cup of Joe can be an excellent addition to your morning ritual, it should not count towards your fluid intake. A good rule of thumb, beyond the recommended 8 cups of water per day,  is to simply drink to thirst and aim to consume 1 L of water per hour of exercise.

That being said, the combination of not eating and getting up early can leave people feeling grumpy, slow and  having a sub par training experience. The ideal solution in my opinion is to have your favorite caffeinated drink, preferable one that is hot, to begin warm up the body, increase satiety and performance.

• A cup of Black Coffee – my personal favourite
• Expresso / Americano – For a little extra boost
• Green Tea – Matcha, Sencha, etc (Matcha tends to deliver the highest dos of caffiene)
• Black Tea/ Other Teas- , Earl Grey, Chai, Yerba Mate , Oolong, etc

You can also use your favorite pre-workout supplement, although I do not advocate these products as many of them are loaded with caffeine, useless ingredients and artificial sweeteners. If you feel like you need an extra boost, here are some other additions you might consider taking prior to your workout.

• 30g of Fast Digesting Protein  – Whey, Hemp, etc
• 5g Creatine Monohydrate
• 15g Coconut or MCT oil – Great with Coffee (Bulletproof Coffee)
• 5-10g BCAA – Branched Chain Amino Acids
• L- Theanine
• Citruline
• Tyrosine

3. You didn’t prepare the day before.

When attempting the early morning workout, the most common mistake new gym goers make is lack of planning and preparation. They assume their decision making capabilities will be on point upon waking and they leave it to the morning to figure out all their  necessities for work, gym and food for the day. This is a recipe for disaster; science shows upon waking you are virtually impaired, making your more prone to mistakes, panicking and fucking up the rest of your day. The solution is to simply form a plan, taking into consideration everything you’ll need for success the day  prior to your session. Ask yourself the following  questions: what clothing will I wear during and after? Am I eating before or not? What’s your gym routine like that day? how will you transition to the workplace or classroom? Will I make or buy coffee?

These seemingly mundane tasks & simple decisions become surprisingly difficult to make at the crack of dawn. By taking the initiative  the day before, you can figure out a game plan that saves you from decision fatigue and depletion of  willpower for the rest of the day.

Here’s a couple ways you can make your mornings run a little more smoothly the night before:

• Lay out your gym clothing / Pack a change of clothing
• Set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier than your wake up time
• Go to bed early aim for a minimum of 7 hours sleep
• Have any food for day ready to go in the fridge
• Drink at least 500ml of water upon waking. (resets circadian rhythm)
• Use a simple method of brewing coffee
• Don’t leave your house in mess (dirty dishes, clothing,etc)
• Do NOT Look at you email, Instagram, Facebook, etc
• Go to the washroom before the gym.

4. You’re overworked, stressed and getting too little sleep

Often, the same people willing to try early morning workouts also have a tendency towards having  a Type A personality. Sadly, this go get’em mentality can get folks in trouble sometimes, convincing them they  can  maximize their productivity at some unknown expense to their health, relationships and mental well being.

Getting up early and exercising is adding yet another stress on your body, and  it shouldn’t be an excuse to attempt to pack more into your already overflowing schedule. If your lifestyle is one that requires you to work excessive hours, frequently disrupts your sleep  and has you running constantly on adrenaline & caffeine; throwing an intense morning workout into the mix might be overkill. Even if this strategy works short term, eventually  the continuous strain on your adrenal glands, the hyper-vigilant state and lack of sleep will catch up to you.

Burning yourself out in this manner can even lead to the development of some pretty severe conditions, chronic stress  predisposes you to  autoimmune disease, hormonal dysfunction, metabolic problems, cardiovascular disease and even diabetes; leaving you unable to fulfill any of your previous your lifestyle engagements. I can certainly attest to these consequences, as someone who has fallen into this trap before thinking burnout was a myth; I landed myself in the hospital. Luckily, there are some pre-emptive warning signs you’ll begin experiencing when your overdoing it: like having extreme difficulty waking up in the mornings, losing sex drive, and experiencing midday day crashes.

For these people, if they’re about to embark on a demanding work day I’d rather they spend those early hours practicing yoga, going for a walk or taking advantage of a little extra sleep. If 5:30am is the only time of day you have to fulfill your dream of becoming a high level cross fitter, attaining an amazing physique or is your justification for  yesterdays late night drinks: you need to reset your priorities. Working out in the morning occasionally is a struggle, even for the veteran gym goer, yet when its near impossible to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, let alone underneath a barbell, you are not living a lifestyle conducive to training.

In order to feel well rested and minimize adrenal stress, here are some general recommendations I suggest to clients with a busy schedule:

• Eat a solid meal within 3 hours of falling asleep
• Avoid all electronics or screen time One hour before bedtime
•  Make Evenings a time to “decompress” (socialize, read, learn an instrument, etc)
• Avoid Caffeine and all other stimulants after 2:00pm
• Ensure you get natural sun exposure at some-point in the morning
• Take 5 – Deep Breathes to “reset” before heading out
• Keep workouts short and intense ( Roughly one hour)
• Start a quick meditation practice

Wrapping Things Up

If I’ve inspired you to give morning training a shot, or have made you reconsider your approach; Great! This daily ritual goes far beyond building up your fitness, it’s taught me time management, discipline, preparation and developed plain old grit. Like many other pursuits in self improvement, you cannot sugar coat this process, it ultimately comes down to gradual changes over time, being consistency and putting in the effort. There are mornings you will want to rip the alarm clock off the table and throw it at the wall, spill boiling coffee on yourself or wear your shirt inside out; embrace them. These minor imperfections,failures and mistakes all actually contribute to your growth as an individual, just as tearing your muscles and stressing your heart makes you fit. My suggestion is to challenge yourself, give morning training a try, you might surprise yourself!

Thanks for Moving Forward.

~ Jake Pierce