Once you become a mom, it’s hard to wake up and do whatever you please. Instead, you wake up and have to go full speed ahead. At least, that was my experience. Every single morning I was playing catch up; I was never able to really get all the things done that I needed to, and my mind was jumbled.
Then, my husband started waking up early to train for an IronMan, and I remember feeling so jealous of him. By the time I woke up, he’d have his workout complete, he’d be showered, he already had his breakfast, and he was ready to start the day. I thought, I should be taking advantage of my early mornings too. So, I decided to make a commitment to myself that I’d wake up every day before my kids and get some exercise in.
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I ended up keeping my promise to myself for an entire year
If you would’ve told me a few years ago that I was going to be waking up at 5:45 am every morning to do my workout, I wouldn’t have believed you. That was just not my style. Even during the busy days of Dancing With The Stars, I was never a morning person.
Because of this, I didn’t think adopting a morning exercise habit was going to come easy, but I really wanted to try. I wanted to be able to start my day where I could focus on me. I thought that if I could do that, I would start the day in a better position. I’d be a better mom. I’d be more patient. I’d be able to work harder and do *all* the things, and I wouldn’t spend the rest of my day trying to find an opportunity to squeeze a workout in.
What I didn’t anticipate? Just how much I would enjoy it. Here’s how the experiment changed my energy, body, mindset, and life.
My only rule was: wake up before your kids and get some movement in
My challenge started off very simple. I’ve been a fitness trainer for almost five years, and my mentality has always been: less is more, and consistency is all that matters. So when I first came up with this goal, I didn’t have a set routine or even guidelines that I was going to follow.
Over time, though, I developed a pretty solid routine. Every single morning started to look like this: Wake up at 5:45 am, get dressed, take my pre-workout, and head to my gym.
The first thing I liked to do—which has shifted a little since I decided to start training for a half marathon—was to hop on my Peloton and ride for 15 to 30 minutes (depending on whether or not I hit snooze—I’m still human!). This gave my mind and body some time to wake up before I start doing more complicated movements.
Then, I spent about 30 to 40 minutes on the mat doing an existing workout from my platform, The Movement Club, or creating and testing out a new one for subscribers. For me, switching up my workouts kept my mind excited. Some of my workouts use my body weight, some incorporate banded exercises, and I started incorporating dumbbells later-on.
I did one to two days with weights, a day with resistance bands, and a day with just body weight, and I tried to space my week out by doing upper body, core, lower body, sculpting, and cardio. But, a lot of it was just guided by how I was feeling that morning and what seemed most fun that day.
After that, I hopped in the sauna for 15 minutes followed by a cold plunge for two minutes (something I had to work my way up to over time), which was a game-changer for my recovery. I didn’t feel sore when I know I should, and that’s because I was taking care of my body.
Building consistency was a challenge, but it got easier faster than I expected
I’m not going to lie, waking up early was hard. There were definitely weeks that were a little bit harder than others. Some mornings I’d work out and I’d still feel crappy after, but I knew that the consistency was going to get me through days that didn’t feel as good.
For the first month, I made sure to get up every single day because I just knew in my heart and my head that’s what it would take to make it become a routine and habit for me. (I eventually changed it to six days a week because I do believe in rest days.)
For the first two, even three weeks, it was so painful to get out of bed. It was literally something I had to force myself to do (My trick: I had a rule that as soon as I heard my alarm, I’d swing my legs out of bed and sit up. I could sit for as long as I wanted, but I couldn’t lay back down. Later on in the process, I saw that once I got myself out of bed and into my closet, the temptation to go back to sleep went away even more). But, after two to three weeks, my hard started to become a little bit more attainable, and every single week after got easier and easier.
By week three or four, I went to bed excited for the next morning and for that time that I got to myself.
Now, it’s been over a year of waking up and moving before my kids are up—and I’ve noticed positive changes both with my mental health and fitness
The mental benefits that I felt from everything that I did in the past year far outweigh any physical benefits. Now, of course, it is so good for us physically to move our bodies to take care of ourselves—and I definitely saw changes in my stamina and strength—but none of it even scratched the surface compared to the mental difference I saw.
I became happier, more patient, and more empathetic. I had more energy, even though I was waking up much earlier, and less stressed, since I wasn’t worrying about when to fit in a workout. With all these mental benefits, I also swear I became a better mom. I had more to give because I was giving more to myself first thing in the morning.
But, I also learned so much about how to move my body—especially after having a baby. Before getting pregnant, the only fitness I knew was dancing. Then, during my first pregnancy, everything changed for me. It was a scary place to be in. My life was changing. I wasn’t dancing anymore, which was my outlet. My body was changing, and I wasn’t sure what was okay to do with my body. I had to really learn and grow in this new area, and by committing to working out every day, I learned how to incorporate fitness into my life as a new mom.
3 tips that made waking up early easier
1. I had to set myself up for success at night. I quickly realised that I had to take care of myself at bedtime in order to wake up early and function. At first, I missed those quiet hours after the kids were sleeping when I would scroll or hang on the couch, but I realised that my time in the morning was so much better. I felt so fulfilled with my morning routine that I didn’t find myself scrolling until midnight every single night looking for a mental escape. Instead, my husband and I would put the girls down, hop in bed, connect on our day, and maybe watch a show if we had something that we were looking forward to, but we made sure to prioritise getting to sleep early.
2. Including my kids was crucial in making this goal obtainable. Over that course of the year, there were a lot of sleepless nights with sick kids or kids with bad dreams who came into the bed and needed to be consoled, or mornings where I’d be in the middle of my workout really getting after it, pre-workout just kicked in … and I would hear my baby cry.
If you are a mum, you understand that inconsistency is consistent. It’s always going to be there, so I learned to just roll with it and not be afraid to include my kids. If my baby woke up early, I’d make her bottle, bring her down into the gym with me, lay her down, let her do the workout with me if she wants, and watch me. Some of my favorite moments from the past year are my girls sitting in the gym with me, taking a resistance band, and trying to figure out how to make it work.
3. I stayed focused on my “why.” For me, my goals were mostly mental. I love a fresh challenge and finding ways to enjoy something I previously thought was too hard, whether it’s waking up early, enduring a cold plunge, or running a half marathon. I don’t remember the last time a fitness kind of physical goal was my driving force. For me, that was never enough.
Going through a pregnancy and having my body and ability change really puts my why into perspective. It was no longer ‘I want to have a six pack,’ or ‘I want to lose a couple pounds.’ My why was ‘I want to be a strong mum.’ ‘I want to be able to be there for my kids.’ ‘I want to take care of my mental health so I can be a strong mum.’ When I had that mental shift, everything changed for me when it came to fitness, and I was really able to stay consistent and motivated in a new way.
