Daylight Saving Time TipsI slowly open my eyes to look for the clock. The room is still dark. I feel like it is time to wake up, but I am so tired. As I look at the clock I have a sense of panic. It is much later than I usually wake up and I can’t figure out how I slept in so long. Then it hit me: Today we changed the clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time.

I like to wake up early. I like to drink coffee, read, pray, and just have peace and quiet in the morning. When I sleep in later than usual I have a sense of rush and hurry instead of peace and quiet. Although the Daylight Saving Time only pushes us ahead an hour, it can be very disruptive.

Last week I finally switched back to working out in the morning. I try to wake up as close to 5:00am as possible to go through my morning routine, workout, then get ready for work. Now, with Daylight Saving Time in affect, I will need to plan ahead in order to stay on track with my morning workouts. Here are a few tips to help you do so:

5 Tips To Help Your Morning Workout Routine During The Daylight Saving Time Switch

  1. Get up 30 minutes earlier than usual – What?! Yes. I know this sounds strange, but we sleep on roughly 90 minute sleep cycles. Disrupting an hour lands you right in the middle of a sleep cycle. If you wake up 30 minutes earlier you won’t start that next sleep cycle and wake up more refreshed.
  2. Go to sleep earlier – this is tricky because you won’t be tired, but if you start waking up earlier as suggested above, then eventually you will be tired enough to call it quits earlier at night.
  3. Have everything ready – Plan your workout, your attire, your snacks, your protein shake, everything the night before. If you are fully ready then all you have to do is jump out of bed and get to your workout.
  4. Distance your alarm clock – Put your alarm clock (or cell phone for most of us these days) across the room. If you have to get out of bed to turn it off, then there is no need to crawl back in bed.
  5. Motivate yourself – Know why you are working out in the first place. If you have a strong desire to make a change in your life and working out is a means to the end, stay focused and use that desire to keep you motivated. Don’t let anything get in your way, especially not Daylight Saving Time!!

There you have it, stay focused and adjust accordingly. If you let Daylight Saving Time affect you mentally, then it will definitely affect you physically. Plan ahead, stay positive, and enjoy these extra hours of daylight in the evenings.

Dr Spencer Charlet
Mooresville Chiropractor
704-663-7625