Waking up early for the gym.. What works for you??

micheleb15

There are no tricks. You do it - whether you want to or not. I dread thinking about it every night, but I am at the gym at 6am every morning.

Here are my tricks - get out of bed, go to the bathroom, eat banana, brush teeth, put hair in pony tail, change clothes, put on shoes, fill up water bottle, grab phone/gloves/keys and walk out the door within 10 minutes of getting out of bed.

geerunz

Wow! What great comments.

1) Set clothes out before bed
2) go to bed EARLY... for me most nights it about 8:30
3) Snooze if you have to, but get up....I've never regretted a work out
4) Feed dogs, wash face and brush teeth and get the heck out (don't chek emails, facebook, etc)
5) M-F I give myself one "free" day that if I choose to sleep in and not go I can as long as I
go the other four days
6) Most days I'm at the gym by 4:30, makes for a long day but oh that feeling of knowing my run
or work out is already done

It is a hard pattern to get into, but once you start you will be so glad you did. :happy:

teamAmelia

I just make sure that I get rest the night before. Or, maybe it's because I'm so motivated to workout.

davidcade

I have to walk the dog I did not want (kids and wife pushed for it 2 yrs ago) and then I have a conf. call every morning @ 7 am for work. . . . so I get up at 5, walk the mutt, and then workout at home. so far, so good.

aelphabawest

One more tip: get everything ready to go the night before. I wake up, brush my teeth, throw my gym clothes on, grab my backpack with my work clothes, grab my lunch from the fridge, and I'm out the door in under ten-fifteen minutes. It makes it easier to get up-and-go.

reneeb816

Going to bed early is the best thing for me. Also, DON"T THINK when the alarm goes off. I literally just roll right out of bed, put my clothes on (laid out the night before) and GO. If you stop to think about how tired you are, or how heavy your eyelids feel, how cold it is etc. that is what is going to put the doubt in your head.

I enjoy the day more know all I've already accomplished and it does feel great at night knowing I can do whatever I want and not stress about getting a workout in. However, getting myself to that great feeling is just too difficult when I first wake up.

Good luck!

sidney7305

I am up at 4:30 in the morning and at the gym by 5:00. I do almost everything that everyone has mentioned and it works. But one thing that I want to add is to be careful how late you eat the night before. I typically get to bed around 8:30pm so I have a light dinner no later than 6. If I eat a heavy meal or too close to bedtime then I will have to fight myself to get out if bed.

indarican

wow these are some great tips!!! Im going to try going to sleep in my gym clothes... at least Ill be ready to go...lol

Redrider713

I wake up for work at 4:30 AM 4 times a week. The first few times were the toughest to get through. After that it all boils down to motivation. I had lost +/- 20 lbs. I took them for granted and gained 10 back due to lack of motivation. One good tip: look at your entire self in the mirror and if you're happy and feel healthy, do nothing. If you are not happy, that should help your motivation.

auddii

Get everything ready that you will need the night before. If you are going to work right from the gym make sure you pack all your shower gear, make up, and clothes. I make sure my breakfast, lunch and water bottles are ready to throw in a bag.
The biggest motivator for me is knowing that after work I can go straight home and do whatever I want and not feel guilty about not working out. I get up at 5:30 four days a week and get in about an hour work out.

This is the biggest thing for me. Then I can just wake up, throw on clothes and walk out the door, so I don't have to waste time (and get up earlier) trying to get everything together. And since I walked out the door without a lot of stuff, apparently I need to do this even when I don't work out in the morning.

Also, I set my alarm, and it's across the room. I have to get out of bed to turn it off, and then I just start getting ready. If I ever get back in the bed, it's over.

Loulady

For me, I just can't think about it. Just decide to do it, and get the hell out of bed when the alarm goes off.
Don't look at is as an option. You don't really want to get up and go to work every morning, do you? And yet you make that happen since you consider it non-negotiable.

There is no hope once I lay there waiting for motivation or trying to reason with myself - that's not happening. At that moment there is no drive stronger than staying in my nice cozy bed.

QuirkyD

The only thing that works for me is meeting a group of people. I cycle through morning bootcamps and right now I have a running/walking group at work in the mornings. I cannot get there on my own and I learned to not beat myself up about it. Signed, night owl.

Chevy_Quest

All the tips here are great! If you can succeed in doing this even 2-3 times per week then you are ahead of 98% of the population!

I am about 20 lbs in to an estimated 50 lbs weight loss. I am losing slowly 1-2 lbs per month and I refuse to go hungry. That means I gross over 2200 calories per day. The only way I can do this and still lose weight is that I have to burn about 4000 calories a week in exercise. My family and I talked and we all came to the conclusion that the early AM was the best time.

I made it a game:

My contest with myself is to see how many weekdays (I sleep in on the weekends) I can get up between 5:15-5:30 and be out the door by 6:00. It doesn't matter what I do, go to the gym, run, walk... as long as I do something. It seems to work.. I just completed a stretch of 26 weekdays in a row.

I will be dead honest.. I like to eat pizza, ice cream, chips etc. - To do that I need a little "wiggle" room" in my calorie budget and the best way to make a deposit in that account is to do it early!

And.. you just have to want to do it! :drinker:

quellybelly

I love my early morning workouts! I get up around 6-6:30am to get to the gym before work.

What works for me:
1. Setting an alarm 10 min before I have to "actually" wake up
2. Getting my gym bag/lunch/etc ready the night before

It just takes time to make it a habit. And like someone said - you either want it, or you don't! So it's ultimately up to you to get that extra push to get you out of bed!

Benson1127

2 things work for me. First, get enough sleep. Its a lot easier to get up early if you have gotten 8 hours of sleep instead of 5-6. Second, I get up and force myself to turn several bright lights on immediately after my alarm goes off. The longer you lay in bed in the dark, the more miserable it is going to seem.

Ultimately, its hard for a week or two but you get used to it. At this point, its harder for me to stay up past midnight on Saturday night than it is to get up at 5:15 on Monday morning.

Stoshew71

Once you do it a few times, your body will adjust and waking up will be easier. I also noticed when I wake up sooner, I am ready for bed sooner. In the beginning, just do it. Push yourself. No other advise I can give than sheer will power. I don't think about the 10-15 min jog until I actually step on the tredmill. And by then, I let the music in my ear phones get me going. I push myself to do a mile in 10 minutes and to be honest it sucks right now but getting easier and easier as I progress. I just think about all the benefits doing this will be for me.

Jennloella

I have not tricks, I guess. I get up at 4:15 M-Th and 5 on Friday.

IMHO, either you want it, or you don't.

this. If you're struggling to get up, look at your bedtime.

_EndGame_

I go to the gym and swimming towards the end of the day, that way I don't have to cut my sessions short for other things.

hmjohnson25

I get up at 4 on workout days. The key for me is going to bed on time and having everything laid out the night before. My alarm goes off and I get out of bed before I can start to talk myself out of it. Momentum!

jess135177

I set everything out the night before. And put my alarm clock in the bathroom. I'm a light sleeper so I wake up and have to go turn it off! I found after a few weeks it got much much easier.
ETA: I also go to bed around 9 or 9:30 on weekdays!