Not a morning person? Don’t force yourself to become one in the name of triathlon

Just because you prefer sleeping in and training later in the day doesn't mean you're lazy

Ben Snider-McGrath December 5, 2024

As a society, we view people who wake up early as motivated and disciplined, while people who sleep in are seen as lazy and careless. Because of this stigma toward non-early risers, you might feel guilty if you struggle to wake up for morning workouts and push them to a later hour in the day. The thing is, you shouldn’t feel obligated to work out in the morning, and forcing yourself to do so might actually be detrimental to your training.

The Mark Wahlberg Effect

A few years ago, actor Mark Wahlberg shared his daily schedule on Instagram, and the Internet couldn’t believe how disciplined he is. He claims to wake up at 2:30 a.m. every day, work out multiple times, and go to bed by 7:30 p.m. This is remarkable, right? It takes a unique breed of person to wake up at 2:30 every morning, doesn’t it? Well, sure if you were going to bed at 10:30 or 11 every night, a daily 2:30 a.m. wake-up call is something to be marvelled at, but Wahlberg’s 7:30 p.m. bedtime means he’s regularly getting seven hours of sleep.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by OfficialSeanPenn (@officialseanpenn)

Nothing against Wahlberg, as he certainly is a disciplined person, but his act of simply waking up early shouldn’t be the impressive feat. What the Internet should be impressed with is what he does throughout the day, as he follows a very strict schedule.

It’s the same with you, a triathlete who doesn’t like waking up before sunrise to work out. If you go to bed bed at 1 a.m. and get up at 9:30 a.m., you’re spending the same amount of time awake as someone who goes to bed at 9 p.m. and wakes up at 5:30 a.m. Also, just because someone is up four hours earlier than you doesn’t mean they’re completing better or more effective training sessions than you are. The emphasis shouldn’t be placed on when you wake up, but rather on how you put your waking hours to use.

Potential negatives of waking up early

We’re not here to say that waking up early is bad. That’s not the case at all, and if you enjoy (or don’t mind) an early-morning workout, then that’s great. We simply want to remind any night owl triathletes out there that they’re allowed to work out whenever they like.

If you hate waking up early, a few things might happen. Firstly, you might experience sleep anxiety and spend hours watching the clock and calculating how much (or how little) sleep you can fit in before your alarm rings at 6 a.m. Then, when the time comes to work out in the morning, your body won’t be properly rested (and it will potentially not have recovered well from the previous day’s exercise). This could lead to a poor workout, which will only make you hate morning training sessions even more.

This can lead to a negative cycle in which you force yourself to get up and work out, only to underperform and do it all over the next day. It won’t take long for the combination of your lack of sleep and increased poor performances to turn into burnout, which will create a real speed bump in your training journey.

The alternative is to wake up when you want and fit your training into the rest of your day. This might be easier said than done if you have strict working hours, children, and other responsibilities, but if you can find a way to train without it negatively impacting your sleep schedule, then you will set yourself up for success. Forget about anyone who says morning workouts are the way to go and focus on what works for you. You’ll be much better off because of it.