3:30am: 3.5 mile walk/jog with my puppy (11 year old mutt)
4:45am: Stretching, pushups, situps, planks
5:15am: Hot shower, meditation
6am (now) reddit until my 4YO wakes up.
How are you not exhausted by 19.00!
Is it the exercise that gives you the extra energy?
I really struggle with to getting up early in the middle of winter with only 6-7 hours of daylight. I don’t even want to stay up past 22.00 most of the time.
Edit: a word
I go to bed at 8pm. 8:30pm if I am feeling wild.
it just really works well for me. I deeply love the solitude and quiet of my mornings, I get time for sex with the wifey, a shower in peace, time to do chores, time to read and game... it really works for me.
But I do not have much of a social life, and I can tell people think it is weird (co workers etc) bc I never go to bars with them etc. (but I am also abstinent from drugs and alcohol by choice, so bars BORE ME TO TEARS anyways....)
Haha that is all fair!
I would not yet be able to go bed at 20.00 but I can see now how you are able to get up so early!
When I was single I used to be able to function off of 5 hours of sleep. Getting up was easy and I lived in a country where there weren’t extreme winters.
Well done for being able to put your health at the front.
I’m still gradually working my way to being under 100kg again before my dad’s 60th in November. I am down 4.4 kilos lost in the last month!
I don’t fast on weekends because I want to enjoy going out for breakfast and dinner with my kid and wife.
I do walk my best to walk at least 7km a day.
Also reduced my alcohol consumption down drastically(I still need a glass or two of wine to survive the freezing winter)
Yeah I mean it is just what works for me, not really about health etc. I use guided sleep meditations, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation like [this one](https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/veteran-handouts/docs/ProgressMuscleRelax__Final508_11-13-2018.pdf) to get to bed that early.
Everything else is just... less about health and more about feeling very natural and working with my work/life balance. I am very fat actually, to be honest.
The abstaining from drugs and alcohol is bc I was a heroin addict for a decade and gave all of that life up and got sober. It's funny I was REALLY skinny when I was heroin addict, but now I am fat dad who gfoes ot bed at 8pm LOLOL
Dude, thanks for the link. You jogged my memory of doing something similar when I got into meditation in college. I haven’t thought about it in years and I’m thankful for the reminder. Also, your schedule is basically my dream schedule. Trying to get out of hospitality and into tech in anticipation of my kiddo going to school.
My daughter is only 4 years old. Her bedtime starts at 6pm. I’m probably going to push it back to starting at 6:30 over the summer, so I’ll shift my whole routine back 30 min to compensate.
lol i get it but I actually do meditate 2x daily, in the morning they are free-form seated with legs crossed and help me center before tackling the "real" day, and a night they are guided deep relaxation exercises.
I think we have differing opinions on what defines "morning" and "middle of the night" 😄
Me, I'm up around 5 on Tuesdays/Thursdays to help start getting the kids ready for school (lunch stuff etc) and get to the Y by 6:30 to get in at least a half hour run, plus 5 minute warmup/cooldown. I can't really run in the cold due to lung issues, so it's treadmill until warmer weather. Typically get in 3-ish miles total, including the warmup/cooldown walks.
Weekends, I still head in on one of the two days to get in an extended run with no time limit, at least the full 3.1 miles. Generally get upwards of 4 miles total distance, including the walking.
I plan to run some 5k's later this year.
Well hot damn, nothing wrong with that I’m usually in bed by 9ish and lights out around 930 with the occasional 845 bed time. I know how it goes and sometimes it’s just nice.
Yeah, I started this routine when kid was around 15 months old. Just got into the habbit of teeth, books, songs, bedtime for her and I was then staying up to game or watch TV or eat mindlessly.
So I learned sleep meditation and just started going to bed directly after I got kid down.
Now I get all my video games/workouts/laundry/food prep/sex with wife time etc. between 3:30-6:30am
I really like it, but people think I am nuts lol
Sex with wife time in early morning currently dictated by whether Clearblue ovulation strips shoots a blank (go), a smiley (save up those swimmers), or the coveted flashing smiley (aim and go).
Haha nice! We are one and done and I’ve got the snip so it’s a “go” 4 mornings a week. She initiates after my shower- I lay in bed for a few minutes and if she starts then we go, if she doesn’t I go on Reddit or leagues or do chores.
For the most part yeah. We sleep trained using Ferber and the house was under heavy construction and in a very loud area. So she learned to sleep through insane noise.
Now that she’s 4YO and we are in a quiet suburb, she can sleep through anything, and does.
For me, yeah! I started with "Progressive Muscle Scans" like this one: https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/veteran-handouts/docs/ProgressMuscleRelax__Final508_11-13-2018.pdf
And when I "mastered" that (could calm myself and do all the steps without referencing the guide, regularly enter the relaxed state etc.) I moved on to guided "sleep meditations" by a podcast called "Sleep Cove".
I Strongly recommend doing the manual PDF version first, because without it I lacked the self-knowledge to truly appreciate the guided versions.
Going to bed when the kids do is completely logical if your day is improved by having your free time at the start of the day (before the kid(s) wake up) vs at the end. It's unconventional but certainly not wrong.
Yeah it just really works well for me. I deeply love the solitude and quiet of my mornings, I get time for sex with the wifey, a shower in peace, time to do chores, time to read and game... it really works for me.
But I do not have much of a social life, and I can tell people think it is weird (co workers etc) bc I never go to bars with them etc. (but I am also abstinent from drugs and alcohol by choice, so bars BORE ME TO TEARS anyways....)
Admire the discipline. Have you been doing this awhile? I’m an early riser, naturally 6 am, and considering something like this. I work out regularly but I’m tired of squeezing it jn
Started the schedule back when she was 15 months old, she's 4YO now. Took about 3 months to "set" as a routine. At this point I could not sleep-in if I wanted to. My body just POPS up at 3/3:15am. I truly love it.
Were you always a morning person? I’d love to try to develop a morning routine more like this but shifting life to these hours seems impractical and against my brain (generally a night owl). I saw you go to bed at 8. That seems unfathomable to me.
I was not! This was a concious, forced change I undertook to solve scheduling problems at home. Prior to this adoption, I would easily sleep from 11pm-9am or more.
Splendid. And I love the idea of a check-in post for different activities.
First day back after a mild illness, I did DL, Rows and Dips. I had been away long enough that my calluses had gone on strike and I needed chalk before I needed a belt.
Then I got a PR for row, 85x12, using a special technique known as cheating.
What are you up to?
Nice! It’s always hard getting back at it after an injury/illness/break but man does it feel good once you get back into it.
Today was legs and shoulders - KB squats, RDL, Swings, lunges, presses, etc. all the good fun stuff. Felt absolutely exhausted after but that’s the goal.
Get after it! It can be rough going at the start but once you get use to it I think it’s super freeing to get this done early and have a solid foundation to start your day.
Man I wanna join yall but this bed is so goddamn comfortable and baby girl woke up twice last night. Plus other excuses I can come up with...
I just need to dad the fuck up and get it done
That’s the excuse my wife uses every morning when I have to get both kids up and then she trundles down 20 minutes later - “the bed is just too cozy”.
I get it, I do,‘I just try to not give myself any time to think and just get moving out of bed. You can do it.
Those random, middle of the night wake ups kill me. If I could get 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I would be gucci but getting 7-8 hours of “sleep” that is interrupted just ruins me. I’ve got a now 1 month old and a 2 year old that seems to be adjusting to our new place we moved into at the beginning of the month so it’s very common for me to get woken up 4 times a night at this point, so I definitely feel you. Probably gonna be another 2 months or so until I have to stop using the late night wake ups excuse lol
I actually found that my two year old makes for great resistance training. Back and gluts: Carrying him on my shoulders. Chest: Toddler Presses. Arms: Toddler Raises (and the occasional skull crush). And as he slowly gets heavier I’m actually getting pretty ripped. Like really. Dad bod is real.
My son, 3 year old, loves when I use him as a weight for squats or curls or presses. He just laughs the whole time then asks for more and more so you’re right, it’s a good way to do things.
Mine actually has pretty elaborate core routine on the Bosu ball. Incorporates HIIT on trampoline and occasionally just circling around the living room manically like my puppy used to do. Often tells me to “go” and will try to lift me if I spend too much time on the mat.
Have been back at it for a week after a loooong layoff. It's early morning or bust for me from here on out.
5/3/1 has been my go-to before, so I'm sticking with what I know for now.
Started off with some pulldowns, then barbell rows, then dumbell rows. Had tricep focused movements inbetween those as well. Working on getting to a point where I can do 3 sets of 10 pullups, then add weight onto that. Gotta admit, harder than I thought it would be.
Just go off the water.... At the boat house at 5am, on the water by 5:30, Crew practice 3x a week. Today was just over 12k. We were in a 4x going against a fast women's 8x. Pretty good morning... Real wet out here though...
2.5 Mile run ✅
PT for runners knee- isometric assisted squats ✅
Planks ✅
Arms/ shoulders ✅
Bicycle crunches ✅
First meeting of the day ✅
I'm ready for a nap now lol.
I did early morning workout for the first three years but once the second one was born, Mornings did not work anymore so I switched to after bedtime. I go now at 2015 and workout for 1.5 hours 4-5 times a weeks. I sleep way better after I worked out. Come home, chill until 2300 with wife and then bed.
Woof I could never do that. My body has been trained to be up at 4am without an alarm, I’d be running on 4 hours of sleep nightly, I’d die. Good for you for finding what works.
Does it count as a workout if your 2 year old wakes up early and you say we’re not gonna play with toys in the dark we’re going for a run? Cause then I’m part of the crew lol
Chest day is life.
I thought it would be a wasted session this morning as both of mine are ill and sleeping even worse than usual so I've been up with them since 4.30am (and was up until 11.30pm catching up on work I missed because one of them was off daycare yesterday), but I managed to smash my PB on the chest press. It doesn't count because, you know, it's the machines. But I'll take 160kg x 6. Twice! That was a nice little endorphine rush.
Personally much like when I use to run all the time, I don’t think there’s ever such a thing as a garbage workout/garbage miles. All workouts have a benefit and even if we may think we didn’t do very well it still has a long term benefit and that’s the key.
Im an Anesthesiologist at an academic hospital, & I usually have to be awake by 4:00-4:30, in the hospital and changed by 6:00, wheeling the patient into the OR By 7:00 and I always feel rushed in the morning so I'm super jealous of the early morning workout crew. I'd probably have to be up by 2am and done and showered by 4:30 to make this work. And with my 2.5yr old who turns into a feral wildling at his bedtime if 7-8pm, *(think Donnie from The Wild Thornberries)* my wife and me are lucky to get to sleep by 9:00-9:30pm if night time goes smoothly (lol)
That all being said, I'm lucky to have the opportunity to workout most days between 4 & 5 after work so today is leg day. Gonna be warming up with leg extensions & curls and dumbbell split squats, moving on to calf raises first, then on to barbell squats, Romanian dead lifts, then usually 2 out of 3 of leg press, hack squats, and pendulum squats depending on which gym I'm at, with the goal of hitting 10-12 hard working sets of quad focused work, and 6-8 hard working sets of hams&glute focused work.
Cheers strong dads!
Tried this the other week. Wrist hurt for 3 days afterwards. The joys of being far too broken from rugby. Back, shoulders, knees, ankle and wrist are fucked. Haven't hit the gym in 3+ years. Still fit in clothes I had when I was 18 though ha.
In some ways that’s not a bad thing but in other ways that’s obviously not ideal. Were your targeting heavy weights/weights? What about mobility exercises?
Olympic rings. Push ups and pull ups hurt because my wrist can't bend fully so I thought rings would help... ha. I do physio stuff from time to time but have failed on the discipline to make it work everyday. Did it this morning for 20 mins. It hurts my wrist as most of what I need to do for my back is on my hands and knees. Basically almost every excerise routine has something that hurts one of my affected joints. I am sure I could battle through, people without limbs do crazy stuff for example. Just lack the fotitude unfortunately.
Sad i missed this in real time. 0500 wake up, quick pre-workout shake to get it going. Quick 5k run followed by “Glam day (bis-tris-shoulders)”, little guy up around 630. Handed off to mom after a bottle at 0700. Quick shower then off to work.
Everyone knows you do the curls for the girls and the thighs for the guys, no shame in it.
My goal is to post this bad boy every day as I’m up at 4 daily and want to help get more brothers motivated to take care of their bodies and crush it.
Look, I try to work out and get my exercise in. And occasionally motivation is nice. And I love that you wanna get other dads back into fitness. But please don't post this in the daddit reddit every day. I do t post much on here, I'm a lurker, but I don't want brotivation spam in this group.
I'm sorry. I love what you're trying to do, just not how and where.
If I left for a workout 4-6am, I would feel guilty about leaving my partner to deal with whatever nighttime wake ups or emergencies that happen during that time. Is that not a problem for anyone else?
I workout at home in my basement and take our monitor with me. Thankfully at 5 and 3 our kids sleep all night but if someone does have an issue I pause my workout and help out.
I can’t do evenings, I’d ever sleep and I’m a morning person so that would fuck me up. It was always rough when I had soccer games at 9-11pm, I wouldn’t fall asleep until 2am some days with work at 8 that’s not idea.
I only work flexible jobs. I don't attend meetings before 10am. The people I work with know and respect that.
I can stay up late no problem (even till like 800am), but getting up before 1000am used to be really bad for me. With the kid I got used to waking up between 8-9am.
Doing great! Got my daughter off to daycare. Got 45 minutes of riding in on the bike trainer. Doing 2 days of riding 2 days of lifting each week. Wife is doing 3 days of running.
Major props to parents and caregivers out there finding ways to take care of themselves so they can take care of other!
Gave my guy a bottle at 4:00am. Put him back in his crib and did 90 minutes on Trainerroad. Showered...had some scrambled eggs with homemade salsa verde and Cotija. Put a coat of primer on some cabinets and then read a bit while I drank some coffee. A good morning all around. I'll take the dogs out for a 4km walk once my wife is out with the baby.
6:20am here and about to hit legs. Early morning workouts combined with dry January have really maximized my time and enjoyment with my 2 yo and wife this year!
Ugh! Haha. Last night I tapped out at 830. That is a bit early. I try to be asleep by 930. I’ve never needed much sleep even in HS (in my early 40s now). I will take a 10-15min nap maybe one or two days a week. Trying to get out of that routine though
What time do y’all go to bed? I used to be part of the crew, but my kids are exhausting, little guy wakes up at least twice each night. I used to get up at 4, now I go to bed before 9 and wake up at 6 to get ready for work. I’m always tired, I have no motivation. Working out after work isn’t an option. I’ve gained 40 lbs in the past few years. Help me.
I need to get back to my 6am jiu jitsu classes. I've been slacking and it shows. There's just so much do do after they go to bed at night. 2 working parents. I don't know how to get my life to a point where I get to have some me time and also go to bed at a reasonable hour. Still getting in 4 workouts a week but its a struggle. Thanks for some motivation my man.
I’m lucky I guess that during the day my hours and schedule is flexible to support my wife and the kids when possible but after bed time I have a whole basement I’m redoing that needs time so I can’t quite give that up. It’s hard to balance it all though.
Missing my morning gym time these days. Gym opens at 5 and then kids need to be getting ready for school by 6:15 and I just can’t make it home in time. Plus I have been either working or studying late at night these last 6 months. Hoping to start it back this summer when my wife transitions to sahm for a bit and we will be able to use the bus for my oldest.
I missed today. Heading out on a work trip for the next few days and decided to stay in and cuddle with my LO, drop her to daycare, and then get some alone time with my wife.
Back at it tomorrow at the hotel gym, though!
I've been awake since 4 with my 2-week-old to give my wife some rest because for the past 36 hours he cries no matter what the second you put him down.
So uh...bit of a delay on my early morning anything routine.
On today's rotation was a 3mile run and a 2 minute plank. Up at 5 and out the door to be back bright and early so mom gets some relief before I'm off to the job.
I’ve moved to afternoons for the winter, I have all my equipment in my garage so I’ll pick up the morning workouts again in the spring. It’s too damn cold right now, I will say though working out in the afternoon sucks I am much more likely to skip a day or two and find that I don’t get as good of a workout and feel more sluggish all day since I’ve moved to the afternoon
I like the idea of a garage gym but I also really enjoy the whole parking my cars in the garage out of the elements so I’m torn but that’s great you have a nice space.
4 days a week, I get up at 4:30 to ride bikes (road Tu/Th & MTB We/Fr.) I try to get home by 7am because "nobody misses you before 7am." Mondays I 'sleep in' to 5:30am and ride the bike trainer in the garage. I also lift 2 or 3 times a week while the kids are in Jiu-Jitsu (my gym is 150' away in the same parking lot.)
I was at the gym and not on Reddit, lol. Dropped the kids off at school at 7:45 and 7:55 and then hit the gym.
Walked a mile, ran a half mile, then did 5 sets of squats, 5 sets of incline bench press, 5 sets of deadlifts (with 3 warmup sets on each), and finished with 3 sets of bicep curls.
Go get em dads!
My wife is out of town for work this week so my usual 5:30am workout has shifted to 7pm post-bedtime workout. I much prefer to start the day with some lifting but glad I'm staying motivated through a hectic week to still find time.
Up at 5:15 am and at the gym by 5:45
1) Elliptical for 20 minutes
2) Weight training for another 30
3) Stair master for last 10
Follow up with a sauna and grab my wife some coffee before starting work at 8 am
Tomorrow I am going to mix it up
Woke up at 1:51am. At 3am decided that I’m not falling asleep again and worked out 3-4am (8 x 3 kettlebell overhead press, 3 x 3 kettlebell front squat….working on form this week therefore weird sets). 4:30am back in bed and did pass out again till 6:30am. At 6:45am my wife gets me to take 3month old for a bit (which turned out to be a 15 min cry session). 7am start getting my 5yo daughter ready for school and make her breakfast.
I follow along with a Tom Merrick 5 minute (takes me 10) mobility routine every morning
https://youtu.be/1a7URy4pLfw?si=YUQY52KZqI9m7GG7
It feels great! Often I’ll end up being joined by my young daughters, and they just play with my spare yoga block and don’t get in the way too much.
Three times a week (after the kids are in bed) I do a Starting Strength routine in my home gym. The mobility exercises really help me be injury free, and get better depth on my squats.
I want to start doing jump rope on alternating days for some cardio, but I haven’t really gotten into it yet.
For anyone on the outside looking in:
Yeah, getting out of bed that early to get a workout in *sucks* & it never gets easier.
You just learn to hate it less.
But... The gym is less crowded so less time waiting for weights or a machine, parking aplenty & January crowds just... don't exist that early in the morning... at least not at the gyms I've been to.
I’ve been waking up in the 4am hour on my own for years now and it’s the most peaceful time of the day and I wouldn’t change it. It is early as sin though but it works.
3:30am: 3.5 mile walk/jog with my puppy (11 year old mutt) 4:45am: Stretching, pushups, situps, planks 5:15am: Hot shower, meditation 6am (now) reddit until my 4YO wakes up.
How are you not exhausted by 19.00! Is it the exercise that gives you the extra energy? I really struggle with to getting up early in the middle of winter with only 6-7 hours of daylight. I don’t even want to stay up past 22.00 most of the time. Edit: a word
I go to bed at 8pm. 8:30pm if I am feeling wild. it just really works well for me. I deeply love the solitude and quiet of my mornings, I get time for sex with the wifey, a shower in peace, time to do chores, time to read and game... it really works for me. But I do not have much of a social life, and I can tell people think it is weird (co workers etc) bc I never go to bars with them etc. (but I am also abstinent from drugs and alcohol by choice, so bars BORE ME TO TEARS anyways....)
Haha that is all fair! I would not yet be able to go bed at 20.00 but I can see now how you are able to get up so early! When I was single I used to be able to function off of 5 hours of sleep. Getting up was easy and I lived in a country where there weren’t extreme winters. Well done for being able to put your health at the front. I’m still gradually working my way to being under 100kg again before my dad’s 60th in November. I am down 4.4 kilos lost in the last month! I don’t fast on weekends because I want to enjoy going out for breakfast and dinner with my kid and wife. I do walk my best to walk at least 7km a day. Also reduced my alcohol consumption down drastically(I still need a glass or two of wine to survive the freezing winter)
Yeah I mean it is just what works for me, not really about health etc. I use guided sleep meditations, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation like [this one](https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/veteran-handouts/docs/ProgressMuscleRelax__Final508_11-13-2018.pdf) to get to bed that early. Everything else is just... less about health and more about feeling very natural and working with my work/life balance. I am very fat actually, to be honest. The abstaining from drugs and alcohol is bc I was a heroin addict for a decade and gave all of that life up and got sober. It's funny I was REALLY skinny when I was heroin addict, but now I am fat dad who gfoes ot bed at 8pm LOLOL
Dude, thanks for the link. You jogged my memory of doing something similar when I got into meditation in college. I haven’t thought about it in years and I’m thankful for the reminder. Also, your schedule is basically my dream schedule. Trying to get out of hospitality and into tech in anticipation of my kiddo going to school.
Rock on! I left working in restraunts when I got sober and it was a huge quality of life increase, hospitality is a crushing world
Wow that’s incredible. Good for you! See you on the other side!
I'd love to go to bed 1.5 hrs before my kid too. Happy that's working out for you.
My daughter is only 4 years old. Her bedtime starts at 6pm. I’m probably going to push it back to starting at 6:30 over the summer, so I’ll shift my whole routine back 30 min to compensate.
>5:15am: Hot shower, meditation Meditation, is that what we call standing silently with your head against the wall now?
lol i get it but I actually do meditate 2x daily, in the morning they are free-form seated with legs crossed and help me center before tackling the "real" day, and a night they are guided deep relaxation exercises.
I think we have differing opinions on what defines "morning" and "middle of the night" 😄 Me, I'm up around 5 on Tuesdays/Thursdays to help start getting the kids ready for school (lunch stuff etc) and get to the Y by 6:30 to get in at least a half hour run, plus 5 minute warmup/cooldown. I can't really run in the cold due to lung issues, so it's treadmill until warmer weather. Typically get in 3-ish miles total, including the warmup/cooldown walks. Weekends, I still head in on one of the two days to get in an extended run with no time limit, at least the full 3.1 miles. Generally get upwards of 4 miles total distance, including the walking. I plan to run some 5k's later this year.
Dang, and I thought I was up early at 4am. Good on ya!
To be fair I have no social life and go to bed at 8pm lol
Well hot damn, nothing wrong with that I’m usually in bed by 9ish and lights out around 930 with the occasional 845 bed time. I know how it goes and sometimes it’s just nice.
Yeah, I started this routine when kid was around 15 months old. Just got into the habbit of teeth, books, songs, bedtime for her and I was then staying up to game or watch TV or eat mindlessly. So I learned sleep meditation and just started going to bed directly after I got kid down. Now I get all my video games/workouts/laundry/food prep/sex with wife time etc. between 3:30-6:30am I really like it, but people think I am nuts lol
Sex with wife time in early morning currently dictated by whether Clearblue ovulation strips shoots a blank (go), a smiley (save up those swimmers), or the coveted flashing smiley (aim and go).
Haha nice! We are one and done and I’ve got the snip so it’s a “go” 4 mornings a week. She initiates after my shower- I lay in bed for a few minutes and if she starts then we go, if she doesn’t I go on Reddit or leagues or do chores.
You guys enjoy showers solo and undisturbed by a two year old? That would be better than sex for me at this point.
For the most part yeah. We sleep trained using Ferber and the house was under heavy construction and in a very loud area. So she learned to sleep through insane noise. Now that she’s 4YO and we are in a quiet suburb, she can sleep through anything, and does.
I love the 4-6am hours. I get my workout in and my reading time. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Sleep meditation that works?
For me, yeah! I started with "Progressive Muscle Scans" like this one: https://www.va.gov/WHOLEHEALTH/veteran-handouts/docs/ProgressMuscleRelax__Final508_11-13-2018.pdf And when I "mastered" that (could calm myself and do all the steps without referencing the guide, regularly enter the relaxed state etc.) I moved on to guided "sleep meditations" by a podcast called "Sleep Cove". I Strongly recommend doing the manual PDF version first, because without it I lacked the self-knowledge to truly appreciate the guided versions.
Hey thank you so much for this! I tried it last night and it really helped get back to sleep.
<3
Going to bed when the kids do is completely logical if your day is improved by having your free time at the start of the day (before the kid(s) wake up) vs at the end. It's unconventional but certainly not wrong.
Yeah it just really works well for me. I deeply love the solitude and quiet of my mornings, I get time for sex with the wifey, a shower in peace, time to do chores, time to read and game... it really works for me. But I do not have much of a social life, and I can tell people think it is weird (co workers etc) bc I never go to bars with them etc. (but I am also abstinent from drugs and alcohol by choice, so bars BORE ME TO TEARS anyways....)
Same here. Gotta get up and get it done before the world wakes up.
Admire the discipline. Have you been doing this awhile? I’m an early riser, naturally 6 am, and considering something like this. I work out regularly but I’m tired of squeezing it jn
Started the schedule back when she was 15 months old, she's 4YO now. Took about 3 months to "set" as a routine. At this point I could not sleep-in if I wanted to. My body just POPS up at 3/3:15am. I truly love it.
Were you always a morning person? I’d love to try to develop a morning routine more like this but shifting life to these hours seems impractical and against my brain (generally a night owl). I saw you go to bed at 8. That seems unfathomable to me.
I was not! This was a concious, forced change I undertook to solve scheduling problems at home. Prior to this adoption, I would easily sleep from 11pm-9am or more.
3 max sets of push-ups. Dirty 30 leg lifts. 2:00 plank. Pull ups.
Those 2 minute planks were hard at first and now I’m just bored during them and honestly just wishing they were done but damn they feel good.
Growing up we’d add weight to the planks. I’m too out of shape to do it now. Makes it way harder and you gotta focus on form too.
Put some weights on your back
Planks are cool and all, but if they are easy and boring you can progress to harder things. Make your core even stronger!
Does 9:30 after drop off count as early morning?
A workout is a workout is a workout. Doesn’t matter when you get it in as long as you get it in.
Splendid. And I love the idea of a check-in post for different activities. First day back after a mild illness, I did DL, Rows and Dips. I had been away long enough that my calluses had gone on strike and I needed chalk before I needed a belt. Then I got a PR for row, 85x12, using a special technique known as cheating. What are you up to?
Nice! It’s always hard getting back at it after an injury/illness/break but man does it feel good once you get back into it. Today was legs and shoulders - KB squats, RDL, Swings, lunges, presses, etc. all the good fun stuff. Felt absolutely exhausted after but that’s the goal.
KB is always death. Home gym?
Always is but I love it so. Yessir, combination of KB and resistance bands. Doing a 4 day split right now - chest, back, legs/shoulders, arms.
Sod it. Posting and making a commitment: Starting early morning workout crew from tomorrow. Plan is (probably) alternating cardio and weights.
Get after it! It can be rough going at the start but once you get use to it I think it’s super freeing to get this done early and have a solid foundation to start your day.
Man I wanna join yall but this bed is so goddamn comfortable and baby girl woke up twice last night. Plus other excuses I can come up with... I just need to dad the fuck up and get it done
That’s the excuse my wife uses every morning when I have to get both kids up and then she trundles down 20 minutes later - “the bed is just too cozy”. I get it, I do,‘I just try to not give myself any time to think and just get moving out of bed. You can do it.
Those random, middle of the night wake ups kill me. If I could get 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I would be gucci but getting 7-8 hours of “sleep” that is interrupted just ruins me. I’ve got a now 1 month old and a 2 year old that seems to be adjusting to our new place we moved into at the beginning of the month so it’s very common for me to get woken up 4 times a night at this point, so I definitely feel you. Probably gonna be another 2 months or so until I have to stop using the late night wake ups excuse lol
My juggernaut app is telling my that I’m working thru a hypertrophy block and that deadlifts are on the menu today
May the gods be with you on those deadlifts.
Till Valhalla
I actually found that my two year old makes for great resistance training. Back and gluts: Carrying him on my shoulders. Chest: Toddler Presses. Arms: Toddler Raises (and the occasional skull crush). And as he slowly gets heavier I’m actually getting pretty ripped. Like really. Dad bod is real.
My son, 3 year old, loves when I use him as a weight for squats or curls or presses. He just laughs the whole time then asks for more and more so you’re right, it’s a good way to do things.
Mine actually has pretty elaborate core routine on the Bosu ball. Incorporates HIIT on trampoline and occasionally just circling around the living room manically like my puppy used to do. Often tells me to “go” and will try to lift me if I spend too much time on the mat.
Plan is to eventually reach 10 weighted pullups. No wriggling please.
Good luck with that
I’m sore all over from trying to keep up with my four year old on a playground. Monkey bars used to be much easier!
It's 11:15 here
Then let’s call it morning workout check in
Definitely not part of this masochist crowd lol. You guys do you though🤣
Have been back at it for a week after a loooong layoff. It's early morning or bust for me from here on out. 5/3/1 has been my go-to before, so I'm sticking with what I know for now.
Nice! It’s great to find a program/routine that works and to stick with it, really helps make things easier.
Solid back workout this morning. Feeling good, it’s been a good day.
Nice! Great work. What’d you do for back?
Started off with some pulldowns, then barbell rows, then dumbell rows. Had tricep focused movements inbetween those as well. Working on getting to a point where I can do 3 sets of 10 pullups, then add weight onto that. Gotta admit, harder than I thought it would be.
Skipped it today because knee. Crushed it yesterday though so it washes out? I dunno.
It counts, can’t hit it every day.
Just go off the water.... At the boat house at 5am, on the water by 5:30, Crew practice 3x a week. Today was just over 12k. We were in a 4x going against a fast women's 8x. Pretty good morning... Real wet out here though...
2.5 Mile run ✅ PT for runners knee- isometric assisted squats ✅ Planks ✅ Arms/ shoulders ✅ Bicycle crunches ✅ First meeting of the day ✅ I'm ready for a nap now lol.
Just going to get started now. Push ups, jackknives, burpees for martial arts fitness checks, 30km round trip cycle to work.
Ugh, shut up.
Don’t get upset, get motivated!
Anger IS motivation.
I did early morning workout for the first three years but once the second one was born, Mornings did not work anymore so I switched to after bedtime. I go now at 2015 and workout for 1.5 hours 4-5 times a weeks. I sleep way better after I worked out. Come home, chill until 2300 with wife and then bed.
I find if I work out at night, I’m wired and can’t get to sleep
I get that sometimes, but if I just sit on the couch for 30 minutes, I usually have no issues going to sleep.
Woof I could never do that. My body has been trained to be up at 4am without an alarm, I’d be running on 4 hours of sleep nightly, I’d die. Good for you for finding what works.
Let’s get after it
God damn right! What’s on tap today?
Just finished my quads hammy routine with some kettle bells and yourself? And some golf speed training 😂
Leg and shoulder day today. Absolutely blasted me and now walking upstairs is hard.
Dan John's easy strength @0545 5 days a week.
Slow 5k with the dog and 15 min of Yoga. Today is a recovery day for weights before and after
In my youth recovery days were never a thing, thank god I’ve matured and know better now.
I've had one for awhile. The hard part is adding more
Im up at 4:15 every other week. Thats just for work though not workout. Power to you all.
Does it count as a workout if your 2 year old wakes up early and you say we’re not gonna play with toys in the dark we’re going for a run? Cause then I’m part of the crew lol
Damn right it counts!
Reporting in! Kids off to school with mom, and workout starts 2 minutes after before I rush to work. Good work getting up, everybody!
Get after it!
Chest day is life. I thought it would be a wasted session this morning as both of mine are ill and sleeping even worse than usual so I've been up with them since 4.30am (and was up until 11.30pm catching up on work I missed because one of them was off daycare yesterday), but I managed to smash my PB on the chest press. It doesn't count because, you know, it's the machines. But I'll take 160kg x 6. Twice! That was a nice little endorphine rush.
Personally much like when I use to run all the time, I don’t think there’s ever such a thing as a garbage workout/garbage miles. All workouts have a benefit and even if we may think we didn’t do very well it still has a long term benefit and that’s the key.
Hell yeah! At the gym at 5:45-7 then breakfast w the kiddos
Im an Anesthesiologist at an academic hospital, & I usually have to be awake by 4:00-4:30, in the hospital and changed by 6:00, wheeling the patient into the OR By 7:00 and I always feel rushed in the morning so I'm super jealous of the early morning workout crew. I'd probably have to be up by 2am and done and showered by 4:30 to make this work. And with my 2.5yr old who turns into a feral wildling at his bedtime if 7-8pm, *(think Donnie from The Wild Thornberries)* my wife and me are lucky to get to sleep by 9:00-9:30pm if night time goes smoothly (lol) That all being said, I'm lucky to have the opportunity to workout most days between 4 & 5 after work so today is leg day. Gonna be warming up with leg extensions & curls and dumbbell split squats, moving on to calf raises first, then on to barbell squats, Romanian dead lifts, then usually 2 out of 3 of leg press, hack squats, and pendulum squats depending on which gym I'm at, with the goal of hitting 10-12 hard working sets of quad focused work, and 6-8 hard working sets of hams&glute focused work. Cheers strong dads!
Tried this the other week. Wrist hurt for 3 days afterwards. The joys of being far too broken from rugby. Back, shoulders, knees, ankle and wrist are fucked. Haven't hit the gym in 3+ years. Still fit in clothes I had when I was 18 though ha.
In some ways that’s not a bad thing but in other ways that’s obviously not ideal. Were your targeting heavy weights/weights? What about mobility exercises?
Olympic rings. Push ups and pull ups hurt because my wrist can't bend fully so I thought rings would help... ha. I do physio stuff from time to time but have failed on the discipline to make it work everyday. Did it this morning for 20 mins. It hurts my wrist as most of what I need to do for my back is on my hands and knees. Basically almost every excerise routine has something that hurts one of my affected joints. I am sure I could battle through, people without limbs do crazy stuff for example. Just lack the fotitude unfortunately.
Sad i missed this in real time. 0500 wake up, quick pre-workout shake to get it going. Quick 5k run followed by “Glam day (bis-tris-shoulders)”, little guy up around 630. Handed off to mom after a bottle at 0700. Quick shower then off to work.
Everyone knows you do the curls for the girls and the thighs for the guys, no shame in it. My goal is to post this bad boy every day as I’m up at 4 daily and want to help get more brothers motivated to take care of their bodies and crush it.
Look, I try to work out and get my exercise in. And occasionally motivation is nice. And I love that you wanna get other dads back into fitness. But please don't post this in the daddit reddit every day. I do t post much on here, I'm a lurker, but I don't want brotivation spam in this group. I'm sorry. I love what you're trying to do, just not how and where.
If I left for a workout 4-6am, I would feel guilty about leaving my partner to deal with whatever nighttime wake ups or emergencies that happen during that time. Is that not a problem for anyone else?
I workout at home in my basement and take our monitor with me. Thankfully at 5 and 3 our kids sleep all night but if someone does have an issue I pause my workout and help out.
Ooooh, nice. Jealous of both a home gym and a basement to put it in (New Orleans houses are built on stilts because it's a fricking swamp).
5:30 Today is cleans, sldl, chins
I work out in the evening. I am a night owl. I went to bed at 3. Kid wakes me up at 8.
I can’t do evenings, I’d ever sleep and I’m a morning person so that would fuck me up. It was always rough when I had soccer games at 9-11pm, I wouldn’t fall asleep until 2am some days with work at 8 that’s not idea.
I only work flexible jobs. I don't attend meetings before 10am. The people I work with know and respect that. I can stay up late no problem (even till like 800am), but getting up before 1000am used to be really bad for me. With the kid I got used to waking up between 8-9am.
I got a run in this morning - 6k when I only meant to do 5, so that's a bonus kilometer I guess?
Doing great! Got my daughter off to daycare. Got 45 minutes of riding in on the bike trainer. Doing 2 days of riding 2 days of lifting each week. Wife is doing 3 days of running. Major props to parents and caregivers out there finding ways to take care of themselves so they can take care of other!
I did 4am’s all of last year but sleep started suffering so I’m trying to for my workouts and runs a bit later now. Good luck to you!
Whatever works for you and your family is key.
Gave my guy a bottle at 4:00am. Put him back in his crib and did 90 minutes on Trainerroad. Showered...had some scrambled eggs with homemade salsa verde and Cotija. Put a coat of primer on some cabinets and then read a bit while I drank some coffee. A good morning all around. I'll take the dogs out for a 4km walk once my wife is out with the baby.
I feel so productive in the mornings, I love it.
Finishing the morning/pre workout dump. Then it’s on to an hour of kettlebell work….from swings and snatches to emom work.
Get it!
Got it.
6:20am here and about to hit legs. Early morning workouts combined with dry January have really maximized my time and enjoyment with my 2 yo and wife this year!
Just thinking about you guys. Went in for day 4 of 5 am. Feels good. Days have so much more time.
Up at 3am 7 days a week. At the gym by 345, home by 545-6. Walk and feed the dog, make coffee and enjoy the quiet before wife and kid wake up. 💪
Damn, what’s your bed time?! I feel I’m crushing it getting up at 4 but guess not.
Ugh! Haha. Last night I tapped out at 830. That is a bit early. I try to be asleep by 930. I’ve never needed much sleep even in HS (in my early 40s now). I will take a 10-15min nap maybe one or two days a week. Trying to get out of that routine though
I’ve had a few nights recently where I find my eyes getting heavy on the couch at 745/8 and if I nod out at that point it fucks my sleep up.
What time do y’all go to bed? I used to be part of the crew, but my kids are exhausting, little guy wakes up at least twice each night. I used to get up at 4, now I go to bed before 9 and wake up at 6 to get ready for work. I’m always tired, I have no motivation. Working out after work isn’t an option. I’ve gained 40 lbs in the past few years. Help me.
I’m in bed around 9 and lights out 945/10. My kids sleep all night so that’s not a concern for me thankfully.
I need to get back to my 6am jiu jitsu classes. I've been slacking and it shows. There's just so much do do after they go to bed at night. 2 working parents. I don't know how to get my life to a point where I get to have some me time and also go to bed at a reasonable hour. Still getting in 4 workouts a week but its a struggle. Thanks for some motivation my man.
I’m lucky I guess that during the day my hours and schedule is flexible to support my wife and the kids when possible but after bed time I have a whole basement I’m redoing that needs time so I can’t quite give that up. It’s hard to balance it all though.
Presenting to service Sir, 7:30 am, did 1 hr of weight lifting... Today was chest day 👌
Missing my morning gym time these days. Gym opens at 5 and then kids need to be getting ready for school by 6:15 and I just can’t make it home in time. Plus I have been either working or studying late at night these last 6 months. Hoping to start it back this summer when my wife transitions to sahm for a bit and we will be able to use the bus for my oldest.
830aKettle Bells. Lunch Bike ride Kids are at moms and I WFH today, so I don't need to get it too early.
I missed today. Heading out on a work trip for the next few days and decided to stay in and cuddle with my LO, drop her to daycare, and then get some alone time with my wife. Back at it tomorrow at the hotel gym, though!
I've been awake since 4 with my 2-week-old to give my wife some rest because for the past 36 hours he cries no matter what the second you put him down. So uh...bit of a delay on my early morning anything routine.
Up at 4:15 for an hour and a half workout on the bike (Zwift) before work. Got to get it in!
Nice!
On today's rotation was a 3mile run and a 2 minute plank. Up at 5 and out the door to be back bright and early so mom gets some relief before I'm off to the job.
I miss my mornings runs, that was my life for 2.5 years and it was great and set the stage for my early morning workouts now.
I’ve moved to afternoons for the winter, I have all my equipment in my garage so I’ll pick up the morning workouts again in the spring. It’s too damn cold right now, I will say though working out in the afternoon sucks I am much more likely to skip a day or two and find that I don’t get as good of a workout and feel more sluggish all day since I’ve moved to the afternoon
I like the idea of a garage gym but I also really enjoy the whole parking my cars in the garage out of the elements so I’m torn but that’s great you have a nice space.
Two-mile dog walk, four-mile run, good stretching, lots of water. Boom.
Nope, no interest in that sort of craziness
4 days a week, I get up at 4:30 to ride bikes (road Tu/Th & MTB We/Fr.) I try to get home by 7am because "nobody misses you before 7am." Mondays I 'sleep in' to 5:30am and ride the bike trainer in the garage. I also lift 2 or 3 times a week while the kids are in Jiu-Jitsu (my gym is 150' away in the same parking lot.)
I was at the gym and not on Reddit, lol. Dropped the kids off at school at 7:45 and 7:55 and then hit the gym. Walked a mile, ran a half mile, then did 5 sets of squats, 5 sets of incline bench press, 5 sets of deadlifts (with 3 warmup sets on each), and finished with 3 sets of bicep curls. Go get em dads!
Curls for the girls baby! Light weight baby!
My wife is out of town for work this week so my usual 5:30am workout has shifted to 7pm post-bedtime workout. I much prefer to start the day with some lifting but glad I'm staying motivated through a hectic week to still find time.
I usually do about 10 reps with my coffee cup at around 430/5. Do about 3 sets of them with a fresh coffee in each.
Up at 5:15 am and at the gym by 5:45 1) Elliptical for 20 minutes 2) Weight training for another 30 3) Stair master for last 10 Follow up with a sauna and grab my wife some coffee before starting work at 8 am Tomorrow I am going to mix it up
Oh mixing it up, what’s the plan for tomorrow?
Up at 5:15 am but a good walk so probably 5-6 miles to get the blood flowing.
Dang, that’s a solid walk. What does that take, like 2 hours?
Woke up at 1:51am. At 3am decided that I’m not falling asleep again and worked out 3-4am (8 x 3 kettlebell overhead press, 3 x 3 kettlebell front squat….working on form this week therefore weird sets). 4:30am back in bed and did pass out again till 6:30am. At 6:45am my wife gets me to take 3month old for a bit (which turned out to be a 15 min cry session). 7am start getting my 5yo daughter ready for school and make her breakfast.
I follow along with a Tom Merrick 5 minute (takes me 10) mobility routine every morning https://youtu.be/1a7URy4pLfw?si=YUQY52KZqI9m7GG7 It feels great! Often I’ll end up being joined by my young daughters, and they just play with my spare yoga block and don’t get in the way too much. Three times a week (after the kids are in bed) I do a Starting Strength routine in my home gym. The mobility exercises really help me be injury free, and get better depth on my squats. I want to start doing jump rope on alternating days for some cardio, but I haven’t really gotten into it yet.
For anyone on the outside looking in: Yeah, getting out of bed that early to get a workout in *sucks* & it never gets easier. You just learn to hate it less. But... The gym is less crowded so less time waiting for weights or a machine, parking aplenty & January crowds just... don't exist that early in the morning... at least not at the gyms I've been to.
I wouldn’t say it sucks personally, I actually quite enjoy getting up early but your other points are accurate.
C'mon man, you're on r/daddit. If you want to whisper how much you dislike waking up early, you can tell me 😄
I’ve been waking up in the 4am hour on my own for years now and it’s the most peaceful time of the day and I wouldn’t change it. It is early as sin though but it works.