The sweltering days of summer make everyone lethargic, relaxed and – after a day of working in a refrigerated office building – too lazy to work out at 5 p.m., or any time after that. Forget it. A crushed-ice mojito sounds so much better than plodding away on the treadmill after focusing mentally all day at the job. But consider the alternative: dragging yourself out of bed before dawn to sweat it out at the gym? That's a categorical nightmare … or is it?
Four years ago, I decided on a whim to train for my first triathlon. Please. An athlete I'm not, and on top of that, a mother of two with a full-time job that includes lots of travel I *am.* How the hell was I going to train for the New York City Olympic-distance triathlon? (For those of you unfamiliar with the torture known as a triathlon, the Olympic distance races entail a 1-mile swim followed by a 26-mile bike ride capped off by a 10K run. I know. Why?)
But I was bitten by the bug of the idea and committed to racing with the Fox Business team. In strategizing how I'd tackle the challenge, I asked CEOs who looked like they were in good shape when they found time to workout. A good 75 percent of them told me they subscribed to the early morning workout concept. Well, forget that, I thought. But then I took a good, hard look at my Outlook calendar. Every minute during the day and often at night, I had swaths of time inked out with work, interviews, speeches, and school events for my two children. The only blank space every single day was from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Oy. Really? Yes, really. I figured I'd try it. I dubbed it "My 5:30 a.m. Workout" because I wasn't in a creative mood. I'm never in a creative mood at 5:30 a.m. and I'm suspicious of anyone who leaps out of bed at that hour saying "hello, world!" with a big smile.
I was already in decent shape from years of doing the Jane Fonda Workout (yes, I wore a thong leotard back in the day; I'm from L.A., sue me) and had attended a million aerobics classes at various gyms in Columbus, Cleveland and Boston during my climb up the local TV news ladder.
But never – NEVER – had I worked out at 5:30 a.m.
The first week was painful. I set my alarm for 5:15 a.m. First of all, it happened to be January, so it was freezing and dark outside. On top of that, I live in New Jersey, so I had that going against me. New Jersey at 5:30 a.m. Lovely. I'd throw on my workout clothes with snow pants over them, along with a parka, and drive to the CanDo Gym in Edgewater. By 5:30 a.m., I was on the machines. One day I tried a spin class and paired it with another 20 minutes on the elliptical, followed by weights. Another day, I did the stationary bike for an hour. Those early days were agonizing, but a funny thing happened the third week in. I started to automatically open my eyes 30 seconds before the alarm went off. I also found that the more I worked out early in the morning, the later I could go at night. I had more energy for the daily journey. I became more alert on the job. I really only spent a total of about an hour and 10 minutes working out, so I was done by 6:50 a.m., hit the local Dunkin' Donuts for a large coffee at 7 a.m. and was back at home by 7:15 a.m. just as the kids were waking up.
I started thinking smugly that, because I was done with my workout by 7 a.m., I was already “ahead of the game” in both the rat race and the battle for good health. Before I knew it, the weather turned and soon I didn't look like the Michelin Man all wrapped up every time I walked out to the car to head to the gym. Seven months later, I completed the triathlon with a totally respectable time and I wasn't sore after.
In the beginning when I was so tired, I thought, "I can't wait ‘til the triathlon is done so I can stop this meshugennah effort." But you know where I'm going with this: I never stopped. To this day, four years and two more triathlons under my belt, I'm still waking up 30 seconds before that clock radio goes off. I've altered the workout a bit. I recommend shaking it up and finding out what works best for you. I take a 6 a.m. spin class at Flywheel two to three times a week, and on the other three days, I’ll do 50 minutes on the elliptical machine and then a series of weights for another 10 minutes. Done by 7 a.m. -- don't forget the Dunkin’ – and then I’m so good to go all day long with a metabolism that’s kicked up to a higher level. It’s an extremely efficient way to get your workout in. I know that some of you might say, "This isn't ground-breaking. A lot of people workout in the morning.” But I've found that in the working world, when I tell people I get up at 5:30 a.m., a lot of them say, "I could NEVER do that." I guess all I'm trying to say here is yes, you can. If I can, you can.
I can see why you might be hesitant. But if you can pull this off, you can ramp up your mental acuity and your muscles to win your own personal race. Good luck, and have a healthy summer!
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