My new morning habit that’s beating caffeine
I’ve been wanting to write this post for a little while – and not only because of the minor alliteration I’ve embedded in the title (which I am embarrassingly proud of). Truthfully, I wanted to write this immediately after I completed my first 6 AM Crossfit class a few weeks ago. I was so fired up from the adrenaline, the enthusiasm and the physical challenge that I wanted to tell the world how amazing my new discovery was (can you imagine being this passionate before 7 AM, because a couple weeks ago, I sure as hell could NOT). But hold on, let’s rewind a bit. At this point, you may be thinking: what drove this crazy 19 year old to be waking up at 5:30 AM every weekday to get her ass to a CrossFit class which is finished before I’ve even had time to hit the snooze button on my alarm?” Well, if you are, I don’t blame you, and a few weeks ago, I was thinking the exact same thing.
I admit it. The concept of waking up an extra 2 hours earlier to exhaust yourself to a point where you are dripping sweat, lying on the floor and staring up at the ceiling praying that you just might be able to walk up stairs like a normal person without flinching in pain due to soreness sounds a litttttttle nuts to any normal lad or lady. However, I am telling you, waking up to do CrossFit before my day even starts has been the best decision I have made, both physically and mentally, in a very long time. Just hear me out before you push away your computer, roll your eyes and mutter something under your breath about another fitness fanatic who is preaching about early morning work outs, because “you just know you’re not a morning person”. Ok, maybe your reaction wasn’t that dramatic, but for the sake of imagery, play along with me here. I know, mornings are TOUGH. They simply are! No matter how you spin it, it is just plain tough to get out of your cozy bed, turn off your alarm and convince yourself that turning on your lights and brushing your teeth is a better decision than crawling back into your warm bed where all is happy and no responsibilities seem to exist (one of the toughest mental conversations I have with myself daily). But alas, we all do fight this mental battle and get up… pretty much every day. What if I told you that doing this just a couple hours earlier would give you significantly more energy and the ability to conquer your day while avoiding the dozy-eyed commute to work or school every morning? Sounds counter-intuitive… Waking up early making you less tired? I thought so too, but after Casey Neistat claimed that despite having no scientific evidence, he believes that one can replace a couple hours of sleep with exercise (go to 0:30 in that video to see what I’m talking about), I started to think a little more seriously about pushing myself to wake up earlier and get my work outs done in the morning. During the year at University, I started waking up earlier (around 6:30 AM), and working out before my 8:30 AM classes. I liked doing this – it gave me the chance to get a work out in before my day started and took out the mental planning and schedule shuffling I would have to do to fit in a work out later in the day. Plus, I felt more awake for my classes and didn’t feel as groggy throughout the day. The problem was that I was extremely inconsistent with these wake ups and would often turn off my 6:30 AM alarm because I just “couldn’t do it that day” or “needed the sleep”. These excuses were almost always not true, and were an easy way for me to justify breaking a commitment I made with myself to get up. When I was only accountable to myself, it was much easier to justify and ignore my slip-ups and write them off as much-needed sleep ins, when in reality I just wasn’t using the mental strength and discipline I needed to get up and stick to my commitment.
I personally am pretty hard on myself when I don’t stick to my commitments and get frustrated when I feel my self-discipline wavering, which is why the concept of a 6 AM CrossFit class intrigued me. I was hesitant at first, because this truly was super early (I had never been someone to wake up and see a 5 on the clock before), but I was willing to try it out and see how my body reacted. I also really liked the idea of going to work out with a group of people, especially when those individuals were regular 6 AM-ers, and were there every day. It provided a sense of accountability for me, which I sometimes struggled to provide for myself independently. So, I took the leap and tried my first 6 AM class. It was amazing. Hard, but amazing. The group of people at the class were shockingly positive and had a burst of energy one does not expect to see from humans when the sun has yet to rise. I watched in awe as each person pushed themselves to their physical limits and cheered each other on loudly and collectively as someone finished their last rep or pushed for a new personal record. I was in love. As a former gymnast myself, I crave those challenging, sweaty work outs where you have a coach pushing you and teammates cheering you on and going all out right next to you, inspiring you to work even harder.
To put it simply, I was craving Crossfit and didn’t even know it.
CrossFit provides the perfect environment for any athlete, blending individual tenacity with a friendly competitive atmosphere. It’s a place where everyone wants to be their best, while using the people around them as a benchmark for where they aspire to be in the future. It’s perfect. You push yourself while striving to achieve the physical accomplishments achieved by those around you (often seasoned CrossFit coaches) who you can see putting in the real, hard work to get there. It’s motivating and makes you a better athlete all around. Though the physical benefits are great (excluding the 5 days of consecutive soreness in your first week… or two), it is the mental side of getting up at 5:30 AM and pushing yourself to your physical limits which is so empowering. Watching the same people roll in at 5 to 6 and stare down the white board which outlines our work out (occasionally referred to as legal torture) for the day helps you push past that mental itch to get back into bed when you’re super tired and “deserve a sleep in”. It is simply not an option. You know people will notice you didn’t come and you know you’re going to regret it for the whole day, wondering about the work out you missed.
Today, I was so close to getting back into bed after my 5:26 alarm belted out J. Cole and Wale’s You Got It (one of my favourite tracks off of Friday Night Lights, otherwise known as the best mixtape of all time), but I persisted and sleepily dragged my feet to my window, pulled up my blinds, stared at the still-dark-sky and resisted the urge to get back in my bed. I have to say it was the best decision I made all day. Today’s work out was challenging and exhausting, and I hit a Personal Record on squat and cleans (a movement which I couldn’t describe or even picture a few weeks ago).
CrossFit has given me a new sense of motivation and a drive to push myself and get stronger every single day. It has been awhile since I have found something that motivates me so naturally. I am genuinely excited for class when I go to sleep at night, which is something I can’t necessarily say was true when I was just going to the gym in the mornings at school. This new morning habit has given me a sense of purpose, tenacity and hunger which I haven’t felt since my gymnastics days, and for that I am truly grateful and excited to see where this will take me. I know 6 AM sounds early – and it is – but just trust me and give it one chance. You won’t believe how alive, energetic and accomplished you will feel before 90% of the people you know are even awake. Whether it’s CrossFit, yoga, a morning run or anything else that gets you moving – just do it. Just wake up and go. It’s an incredible feeling. Better than any feeling a morning coffee will give you. Promise. PS- For anyone wondering, the CrossFit classes I am attending are at All In One Strength and Conditioning, and I have only positive things to say about them. If you’ve never been, your first class is free, so if you can win the 5:30 AM internal mental banter between your bed and brushing your teeth (you can!), feel free to come and join me any day at 6 AM and you might just watch yourself fall in love with a new habit you never thought you would.