My first time… trying morning workouts and cold showers for a month

Confession: I've never been a fan of working out, so it's not a surprise that my weight is a lot different from when I ORD-ed 8 years ago. 

In May of 2024, I decided enough was enough after eclipsing the 100kg mark for the first time in my life. It was time to make some, shall we say, big changes.

I switched up my diet easily enough — no more adding rice or noodles to every meal and ordering a kopi C peng siew dai instead of a regular kopi peng.

The real struggle was finding time for exercise. I think a lot of us with full-time jobs face similar issues. I was always too tired after a long day at work to find the motivation to do anything remotely related to work — including working out.

The only opportunity left was before work, in the wee hours of the day. And so I tried it — exercising before heading to the office and sacrificing an hour of sleep to do it. Here's how it went…

The routine - nothing too crazy

As much as possible, I tried to work out three out of the five workdays a week (baby steps, okay?). Often, that was Tuesday to Thursday. I usually WFH on Friday (where my Friday WFH gang at?), so that's when I'd trade a workout to play basketball in the evenings.

I would wake up at 6.45am and do a different workout each of the 3 mornings (this was all DIY — I didn't get or consult a fitness trainer).

On Tuesdays, I focused on strength — push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and such. Wednesdays I would do a basketball workout, which involved some shooting drills and full-court running. And Thursdays I would go for a run around the block, usually 3km, which took me about 25 minutes.

Nothing too crazy, plus changing things up every day kept things a little more fun.

Waking up - consistency is key

Depending on how much you value your sleep, this can be a particularly tough routine to change. To wake up an hour earlier, I had to make sure I went to bed an hour earlier. (I'm a firm believer in a solid night of sleep.)

This definitely affected me as it meant one hour less of Netflix, video games or doomscrolling TikTok in bed. But it needed to be done.

It wasn't easy, but I found that keeping a consistent sleep schedule and making sure that I was getting enough rest helped me feel energised the next day.

Working out - good days, bad days

What I've learnt about working out in the mornings is that there will be good days and bad days. Some days, I'd feel great and be so full of energy. Other days, I could barely open my eyes and my legs felt like a ton of bricks.

For the most part, I would cut myself some slack if a workout didn't feel good. After all, I'd only been doing this for a month, and my body wasn't used to being active that early in the day.

As the time wore on, I felt much more comfortable and energised during my sessions, and the variance in energy levels wasn't as stark as before.

Cold showers - long-lasting refreshment

When I first started working out in the morning, taking cold showers wasn't on my to-do list. Eventually, it became more of a necessity than anything else because of how hot I felt after working out.

I took a warm shower the first morning I worked out and couldn't stop sweating on my way to work. Changing to a cold shower helped cool down my body and made me feel refreshed and revitalised after. Sometimes, this feeling even lasted throughout the day.

The workday after working out - productivity levels up!

While it may seem logical to think that working out before work leaves you tired the rest of the day, my experience was quite the opposite.

On the days that I got some exercise in the morning, I felt lighter at work. Mentally, I was able to focus more, while physically, I felt my body was prepped for the day ahead and I was able to start being a fully functioning human earlier.

Honestly, apart from feeling a little warm following each workout (even after a cold shower) and needing a fan blowing at me for the first 30 minutes at work, I haven't found any cons to my new routine.

One important thing, I might add, is to make sure you eat in the morning. I never used to have breakfast, but now, I get hungry way before lunchtime. To stay well-nutritioned, I have an oatmeal breakfast bar when I get into the office (yes, I store a bunch in my desk drawer).

The results

The good thing is, I've always played sports occasionally and I cycle everywhere thanks to my nifty bike sharing app, so I wasn't completely unfit before starting my new routine a month ago. Now though, I feel a lot healthier.

My morning workouts have helped me stay energised at work, feel less sleepy, and given me a greater ability to focus. While I'm not where I want to be yet on the weighing scale, I'm definitely hopeful that I'll see those numbers soon if I keep this up.

If you're considering trying out morning workouts and cold showers for yourself, here's a pros-and-cons list that may help.

Pros:

• More mentally energised
• Feeling less sleepy throughout the day
• Feeling ‘lighter’
• More consistent sleep schedule
• Getting vitamin D-rich sunlight on your skin
• Weight loss (with a little patience)

Cons:

• Sacrificing leisure activities at night to get enough sleep
• Feeling a little warm for a few hours after exercise

Good luck on your fitness journey and remember to always celebrate the little wins!

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This article was first published in Wonderwall.sg.