Spornosexuality

I agree with this pretty much word for word. The hardest thing is developing the habit. Now, there's nothing at all difficult about getting up at 4 and working out for me. It's just what I do. People are impressed when I tell them, but there's nothing to really be impressed about. It took about two weeks of willpower and now it runs on its own.

 

Agree on this. Also, as Dick noted, you just have to get to bed early enough. I struggled with that quite a bit until my son was born. Sleep became such a precious commodity that I got out of the habit of staying up until midnight or 1 a.m. to watch a West Coast game and now I'm usually in bed by 10. That makes a 6 a.m. wakeup much easier, and if I have to, I can get up at 5 pretty easily (don't think I'll ever be a 3:30 riser like Dick, though).

But falling asleep earlier was always a challenge for me. I was a night owl for many, many years. Now, I see the sun rise on most days and find that I actually enjoy it.

 

Yeah, that's the other thing, is when I go to bed is determined by the kid's last feeding, and it can be between 9:30-10:30 usually. And then there's the chance of a 2 p.m. or 3:30 feeding. My wife will take one of those but I can't have her do both - that wouldn't be right. So, even if I go to bed at a reasonable hour I'm dog-ass tired in the morning. I like the multiple alarms, though. That'll make it harder to ignore one and just go back to sleep.
My other logistical concern is figuring out how much time I need in the morning to be "awake" enough to start working out. The idea of easing in with news and a diet coke makes sense.
It'd be easier workout buddy to keep me accountable, but all my friends live closer to work - about 40 minutes from where I am in the boonies . So it's all about motivating myself.

 

I will say that the 8:42 p.m. hockey puck drops have not been helping.

 

I don't think I could just pop up and start working out. I have before, but I need to wake up for 20-30 minutes and get a little caffeine injection.

 

Do any SJ dudes currently look like the guy in the Esquire post?

 

Is that a real person?

 

No, but I definitely understand the feeling that the author expresses - that you're some of lazy, undesirable loser if you don't look like that.

A couple years ago, I was with friends tailgating at a sporting event. I had worked hard the few months before to shed some holiday weight - weight maintenance is always going to be a bit of a struggle for me.

I take off my shirt and say something like, "Time for me to get a little sun for the first time in a year."

And a buddy goes, "Probably time for you to work out for the first time in years also."

I know he was kidding, but, damn, that stung, since I was working out. Religiously. And hardly on the wrong side of the obesity line. I know women get a lot of body image pressure, but we do, too.

 

There's a photo of the author near the end of the piece. He looks like a fitness model.