Rise And Shine

"Hi, my name is Matt, and I suck at waking up in the morning."

Wow, that felt kinda good to get out there. I am soooo not a morning person. Coffee seems to help a little, but it does me absolutely no good if I don't make it past the snooze button (which, by the way, is on my list of the top 10 worst most detrimental inventions of all time). With a semester full of morning classes fast approaching, and with a valuable life skill just waiting to be learned, I was trying to come up with some different strategies for making my mornings seem a little less early. Here's what my research has yielded...

1. Saying is believing: The power of the human mind should not be overlooked. Before you turn in for the night, tell yourself that you will wake up in the morning at (insert time here). And for gosh sakes, say it like you mean it! You gotta believe every word coming out of your mouth in order for this one to have a fighting chance.
2. Have a purpose: Before you fall asleep, run through your schedule for the coming day. Classes, group meetings, 5 hour shift at work... whatever you have on your plate, make sure that you're brain knows that it's on a purposeful mission, and that the first step to completing that mission is to get up like you mean it.
3. Infectious Smile: Never underestimate the power of a big ol' smile =D. See? Even on the computer screen, you can feel the smilepower at work. Talk to someone on the phone. You can literally hear the difference between things they say while smiling and things they say without a smile. Like yawning, smiling is also ridiculously contagious. So, when you wake up, think of a pack of golden retriever puppies tackling you into the new day. The smile that reflexively forms on your face will make you feel much better about getting on with your day.
4. Make it someone else's problem: If you have trouble getting out of bed for yourself, do it for someone else. Make early morning commitments that cannot be cancelled/pushed back. By doing this, you're doubling the accountability you feel when you're jolted into consciousness every morning.
5. Be sleepy: Go to bed when you're tired. It sounds kind of like common sense, but it's important to throw on here. Some tips I've come across have suggested trying to go to sleep at the same time every night, and waking up at the same time every morning. While this is definitely an idea worth trying (30 days, for example), going to bed when you aren't necessarily tired does you no good. Sure, if you're contemplating painting your ceiling, by all means hop in bed and lie there for 2 hours. But for the rest of us, when you're tired, call it quits; when you're not, don't. It really is that easy.
6. Pick out your clothes: Before you go to bed, pick out what you're going to wear for the next day. It's almost like starting your day 8 hours early. By getting this mental edge on the coming morning, you make it that much easier to get up (because waking up is no longer the first thing you do in the morning).
7. Coffee!: Program your coffee maker to be your alarm clock. Most of us completely forget about the other senses and how they can contribute to a successful morning wake-up. Program some wicked strong java to start brewing in conjunction with your normal alarm clock. You'll be surprised how much easier (and probably more pleasant) waking up in the morning is when you bring in your other senses.
8. Vitamin D: This isn't always an option for everyone, but if you have an east-facing window on your apartment/dorm/house/room, keep the shades open at night and let the sun wake you up au natural. By letting the sun wake you, you're bringing in some of your other senses into the equation (sight and a little bit of touch via the sun hitting your skin and warming you up). Also, the Vitamin D style is a surprisingly peaceful way to welcome the new day.
9. Make your morning person work for it: Morning people can set their alarm clocks right next to their beds. Other people (like yours truly) can't always get away with that. Try setting your alarm clock somewhere where you can't reach it without getting OUT of bed. Please note the emphasis on getting OUT of bed. I've found ways to reach my alarm clock in the morning without actually sitting up/standing that would put MacGyver to shame. Make your morning self wake up, sit up, stand up, and hike across the room to turn off the alarm.
10. H20: Immediately upon waking up in the morning, have yourself a nice big glass of ice cold water. The colder the better. Not only does it jumpstart your metabolism and give you more energy during the morning/rest of your day, but it get's your body thinking, "hey, there's stuff coming into my system, it must be time to wake up now". This is just my personal hypothesis and opinion, but cold water wakes you up much better than warm water, because its more of a contrast to your body's temperature (which rises during your sleeping hours). Personally, out of all of the tips in this post, this one has probably worked the best.
11. Early morning workout: Once you get up, do something with a little bit of activity. (Note: this does not involve going on a run; this means doing something in your room/dorm/house). My college roommate at UWO did a bunch of sit-ups and dips. I get up every morning and do 55 push-ups first thing in the morning (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1), followed by my stretch of the day, courtesy of Dr. Starrett's MobilityWod. Sometimes I'll throw in some overhead presses with my barbell, and maybe a few kettlebell snatches. All of this takes under 15 minutes to do, and it definitely gets the job done of getting and keeping me awake. Whether its yoga or deadlifting 300#, find your own activity in the morning and give it a shot.

Hopefully, these tips help a little bit. I know a few of them have helped me already, and a few more probably will in the near future. And kudos to this article from Mark's Daily Apple, and this article from Wired.com (I got most of these tips from these two articles). If you need more tips, just try googling "tips for waking up", and you'll have more information that you'll know what to do with.

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FIRST WORKOUT OF THE FALL SEMESTER

TUESDAY, AUGUST 31st

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Lo Fidelity All Stars - Battle Flag

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WOD 100828 Saturday

Warm-up

S/S: Work on Squat Clean technique, 20 minutes.

WOD: Complete 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 rep rounds for time of:

-Squat Clean (75/45#)

-SDLHP (75/45#)

Finish: Plank Progression.