Early Morning Workouts: The Joy of Exercising Without an Audience in an Empty Weight Room

I try to make it to the weight room in the early morning hours, even before Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts inaugurate the day. Logic tells me that if I roll out of bed, drive to the sports center, and plop down at the leg press machine prior to that first cup of coffee, my body won't even realize that it's engaged in hard labor at such an ungodly hour. Before I know it, I'll have made my last sad attempt at the bench press and be tossing a sweat-soaked towel in the hamper. Workout over, day begins.

Logic is one thing, intimidation is another. I like to think that it is my discipline propelling me toward an early morning fitness regime, but I'll be honest, there's more to it than that. Anyone who lacks a high school varsity letter feels some degree of inferiority. That tangible proof of athletic achievement is not available as an internal motivational mechanism, nor as that biographical nugget you can offer to your fellow workout enthusiasts for an instant ego boost. We, the folks who just want to undo last night's ice cream gorge fest or achieve some upper body strength, have to devise our own strategies for success.

I am a female, a rare sight in a weight room anywhere. Somehow most women seem to think that they'll bulk up into Mr. Universe if they hoist a ten pound weight twice a week. I am evidence to the contrary. I prefer the morning workouts because my company, if any, in my university weight room consists of middle-aged professors and the occasional nondescript student. I live in a region where the climate necessitates minimal clothing coverage for a good chunk of the year. Image is important. Male Adonises prance around the athletic fields in games of touch football while their female counterparts challenge the bare minimum of inseam measurements.

The weight room is a frenzied experience on an ill-advised afternoon visit. Young men in sweat-resistant, clingy tops pace around their chosen machines, their ipods spouting techno babble as they psych themselves up for another round. Others flex in front of the mirror and talk "reps" and "sets" like seasoned pros. On the few occasions that I've been to the sports center for a dreaded four o'clock workout, I spent most of my time waiting while these bodybuilding tag teams monopolized the equipment. I felt irritated, anxious, and out of my league.

That's all the more reason to set the alarm a little earlier. I'm content to know that my workout is complete when I stroll past the sports center mid afternoon. On the other side of those green doors, the sweat is dripping and the gossip mill flowing. Personally, I'd rather hear two aging professors hash out department politics at six in the morning.