The 5 Stages of Grief: Waking Up for An Early Morning Workout
A 5:00 a.m workout always sounds like a great idea at 8:00 p.m the night before, but as soon as the alarm rings, the reality of the situation sets in. Half asleep you must decide, are the gains worth leaving the warmth of bed?
Stage 1: Denial
“There is no way I’m the same person who set that alarm yesterday”. But alas, you are. “There’s no way it’s already 5:00 am”. But alas, it is.
So what do you do? You turn off the alarm. But, ‘8:00 p.m-you’ knows you too well. At 5:02 another alarm goes off, and then another at 5:05, and another at 5:07… There’s no denying you must get up.
Stage 2: Anger
If the tiredness isn’t enough to ignite morning rage, the 15 agitating alarm sounds will do the trick. Extra rage points if you live with a morning person. Their cheerfulness and excitement to take on the day is like nails on a chalkboard. WIthout caffeine, there’s no reason to be smiling yet.
Stage 3: Bargaining
If I just skip my lunch break I could workout then, and get some extra sleep now. I’ll just workout at 10:00 p.m after my day is over. I’m feeling a little bit of soreness in my left calf. I should probably just take a rest day… Sound familiar?
Stage 4: Depression
If you are a morning person you can’t comprehend the morning sadness night people feel when the sun starts to rise. Leaving bed some mornings feels like breaking up with the love of your life.
Stage 5: Acceptance
You finally come to your senses, shut off the negative self-talk, rip the bandaid off, and pull the covers off your body. You’re already awake, might as well get up and get going. The only thing making it bearable is knowing in a few hours you’ll be fully caffeinated, and accomplished.
BEFORE YOU GO…
If you’re not a morning person, don’t worry it’s not entirely your fault. Sleep schedules vary by person, and cortisol levels are most elevated when we wake up– adding to the irritability you may feel. Tips for making the morning workout more do-able: lay your workout clothes out before you go to bed the night before, have caffeine ready to go, and set your alarm in another room so you have to get up to turn it off.
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