I don't mind admitting that I'm not a morning person. In fact, it’s been pointed out to me that I don't start talking at work until I've had at least one cup of coffee -- and by then, it's already been a few hours since I first woke up. When it comes to physical activity, the non-morning person mentality definitely holds true here as well. "Why get up early when you can go out in the evening instead?" my brain likes to rationalize.

The advantage, of course, is that early-morning exercisers tend to find less excuses to put off their workout than those who do so later in the day. While I enjoy being flexible with my fitness routine, choosing what I want to do and when I want to do it, there have definitely been times when I put off a workout entirely because I had something going on after work. This is okay for a day or two, but when you have a stretch like I did last week where I had something going on almost every night, the whole working-out-in-the-evening thing tends to suffer.

Motivating yourself to work out in the morning isn't so bad once you get used to it. As long as you don't have to drastically alter your schedule (and go to bed at a decent time the night before), you can train your body (and maybe more importantly, your mind) to exercise in the morning. The reason I know this is because I've successfully been an early-morning exerciser in the past.

When I first started making an effort to work out regularly in the summer of 2007, I was getting on the elliptical machine at the gym almost every morning. I started setting my alarm about an hour earlier than I'd normally get up for work, and regardless of the weather I'd trudge over to my gym (which was only about a five minute walk from where I was living at the time) and put in half an hour of cardio.

I actually did that for a few months before my aversion to 1) indoor exercise machines and 2) early morning exercising (always on an empty stomach, no less) got the better of me. (I tried a few 6am spinning classes during that time, too, but I could never get into it. I think the fact that I'd just woken up, and also that I was trying to spin on a completely empty stomach, were a big part of what did me in. I've been thinking about giving spinning another try in more favorable conditions.)

I think the biggest reason I was able to stick to this early-morning schedule so well in the beginning was because I was afraid that if I didn't get it done in the morning, the activity wouldn't get done at all. Plus, the gym I was going to would get super busy in the evenings, to the point that I might have had to wait my turn for a machine -- and no way was I going to do that.

In the interest of research, I decided I would get up early Monday morning and go for a walk. It’s been a long time since I got up early on a weekday for the express purpose of getting some exercise (in fact, the only time I can recall getting up before 7am in the past year was because I had to take myself or a friend to the airport for a flight).

Yesterday morning I set my alarm for 6:05am, 55 minutes before my normal wake-up time (purposefully set for a few minutes before my roommate’s alarm would go off, to ensure I’d be out of the bathroom before she got up to take a shower). I laid out my clothes, shoes, and mp3 player in advance so I wouldn’t have to search for them in my bleary-eyed state. I even warned my roomie that I’d be getting up early so she wouldn’t wonder what in the world I was doing.

When my alarm went off at 6:05, I seriously contemplated getting out of bed. Then my brain said, "Why are you forcing yourself to get up? It’s not like you’ve never gotten up early to exercise before. You already know what it’s like." So I burrowed back under the covers and slept for another hour. (Also, I place some of the blame for this behavior on the temperature. It’s much harder to get motivated to go outside at 6am when it’s only in the high 20s outside.) I did, however, go jogging that evening after I got home from work.

Consistent early-morning exercisers, I applaud you. You’ve found a time that works for you and you stick to it. As for me, not getting up at 6am is making me very, very happy.

What is your preferred workout time?

Related Reading:

Charlotte (from The Great Fitness Experiment) wrote a great post last month about the ideal time of day to workout.

Except for Mondays and some Thursdays, I workout in the morning because am workouts interfere the least with my children's schedules. I like my a.m. sweat fests. I find I have more energy and patience throughout the day. I worry less about what I eat.

A blogger from Fit Bottomed Girls says she wants to be a morning person, but her body just doesn't function normally at that time of day.

My snooze-loving brain always, always tells me I need more sleep. But my awake brain knows that morning workouts make the most sense. You wake up, get the blood flowing, get sweaty, and then you shower and get ready for your day. When you don't work out in the morning and "get it out of the way," you're stuck with the dilemma of when to get sweaty and enduring another shower. Ay caramba.

Rebecca Pratt, writing for SparkPeople, says you can learn to love exercising in the morning even if you’re not a morning person. She shares her “Top Ten Reasons” for getting up with the early birds (including such things as increased mental acuity, a higher quality of sleep, a jump started metabolism, and appetite regulation).

Barb (from Fun and Fitness for the 40-Something) likes to exercise in the morning, but she cites a study by the American Council on Exercise that says calories burned are calories burned, regardless of the time of day.

MSNBC: Michelle Obama's arms hard-won with exercise. The future first lady used to join a friend at the gym for 430am workouts. (And I complain about getting up at 6am? Arrrggghhh, I'm such a freakin' wuss.)

(Contributing editor Zandria blogs regularly at Zandria.us.)