Jolt of Dedication Needed

[Dane.H]

Hey All,

 

This is my first post on the boards here. I've been a somewhat regular exerciser for years now, and I've made some good progress. I was recently looking through my old training journals, and found that across 4 lifts (Squat, Bench, Deadlift, and Bent-over Row), my lifts have gone up 312 total pounds in just short of 2 years. My squat went up 142 pounds in that time, from 243 up to 385. Also, in this time frame, I've run a half marathon, and 3 different obstacle course races over 8 miles each.

 

But, as is typical of me, I take 3 steps forward and then 2-3 back. I've now been wildly inconsistent for about 2 months - maybe getting in somewhere between 1-3 workouts per week. I'm being generous.... I usually stray more towards 1, and it's usually Monday, and I'm like "yeah, I can do this!". I struggle with working out, in that I don't typically exercise unless i do it right away in the morning before work. Sleep has been a big struggle lately and that damn snooze button with a half-awake mind have been plotting against me. I set my alarm in a completely different room, and end up hitting snooze and plop on the couch and sleep for another hour. 

 

I need that re-jolt of dedication of just friggin waking up and staying up, so I can workout. I always feel so much better if I workout in the morning, but that half-awake mind is a real lazy jerk. My plan is to start moving my wake up time slowly but surely. Even if my workout is just a quick 5  minutes - or even a 5 minute meditation - i can be a better me that day, and that in turn means I can be a better father and husband that day.

 

 

[Igaduma]

On the days I have to run, I get up and immediately get dressed and immediately go running.  Showering, brushing teeth, combing hair... that's all for when I get back from running.  I have to be out the door within 15 minutes of the alarm clock going of (no small feat for me; I'm the type of person for whom waking up is a gradual process that may take up to an hour if I'm in a hurry, could take longer if not).

I'm still half asleep when I start running.  You can take that quite literally, I was once "so awake" I only noticed after two streets that I was barefoot.

I *never* feel happy about starting to run.  All I want to do at that moment is crawl back into bed.

I wake up during the running though.  And by the time I get back home, I'm fully awake.  Counter-intuitively, even though I get up earlier on running days, I'm actually less tired during the day on those days.

 

Two things that help with getting out of bed:

- sleep long enough (count on 8 hours; really, 8 hours)

- sleep better

The sleeping better part you can accomplish by setting up a ritual

- go to bed around the same time each day

- get ready for bed in the same way each and every day (I undress and wash, go to the toilet and then smoke one last cigarette in the bathroom while I listen to a podcast or whatever - never anything too interesting because I don't want to be all excited about it, finally I crawl into bed while listening to the rest of whatever I was listening to; usually something that last about an hour, I rarely make it to the end)

You'll body will "learn" this ritual.  So when I start undressing, my body says "aha, sleepy time!" and starts shutting down for the night.  So by the time I get into bed, I'm ready for sleeping.  That is much better than crawling into bed and then waiting for your body to catch on to the plan.  You'll lose time, and during that time you're resting.  The more rested you are, the harder it is to fall asleep.

 

Also: bedroom is for sleeping and sleeping only.  That helps your body know that if you go to the bedroom, you're going there to sleep.