Early Risers

For years I've been reading articles and listening to podcasts that tout the benefits of waking up early.  They've said early risers earn more money, are more productive, workout more, enjoy more "me" time, are better planers, more optimistic, better at anticipating problems and sleep better.  Really the lists are endless.  I've never felt like a morning person, never been one to get up early unless I had to because I needed to be somewhere early.  So, can I become a morning person, an early riser? Will I see the benefits? I'm all about experimenting on myself so, of course, I'm going to give it a try.  

I have been working on my cortisol levels and circadian rhythm for a couple of years now and the biggest takeaway from all of that work is that the early I go to bed the more restorative my sleep is and therefore the less I actually sleep.  So part of my motivation to try being an early riser is to go to bed earlier in order to sleep better.  Sleep is ever so important!  

Another important aspect of my life is Barbell Club, an Olympic Weightlifting workout at the CrossFit box I'm a member of.  I usually go to Barbell Club at 10am, which has started to cut valuable time out of my mornings.  The only solution I saw was to start going to Barbell Club at 6am, because I don't want to give it up or workout in the evenings (that really wrecks my sleep).  Barbell Club only meets at 6am, 10am and 7pm, so my options are limited.

Other motivating factors for this experiment are to get more done, to be done with what needs to be done earlier so I'm not eating dinner at 8pm and to start blogging daily.  Okay, probably more like most days (which will help all of you, you know I'm always looking out for you).  

How is going so far? Pretty well! I made a protein smoothie last night so I could hit the gym running this morning.  I went to bed earlier than I usually do and slept great. I thought my workout would suffer from not being awake and moving around as long as I usually am before I worked out, but I felt really good and lifted some heavy weight.  It's about 9:30am now and I'm not going to lie, I may need a nap today.  But, I've gotten a lot done already today, I wrote this blog post (you're welcome) and I feel very accomplished (even optimistic).  I think I'll keep this early riser thing going.  Want to join me? Try it and let me know how it goes for you in the comments section.  I'd love to hear how you're doing.

Until next time!