Morning People

medicinemantoo

so here's the deal from the "new" sleep study (sorry, can't find it online, but i've been doing it for 3 months and it works like a charm):

your body/mind goes thru a 90 minute cycle of light to deep and back to light sleep. seems most people need 4 to 6 of the cycles. yes, could be less or more, up to you to figure out.

so work backwards from when you want to get up.

i love it, at bed at 9 and up at 4:30 and running by 5.

for me i found the routine of a regular bed time and rise time works best, but variations work well too.

hope that helps.

(qualifier, i am a morning person and a former marine. HOWEVER, i do find the 90 minute cycle to work great!)

Halcyon3608

How's this for unfortunate - I am a natural morning person, and can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 3 a.m. if I need to be. And, frequently, I do need to be up this early for work (wildlife surveys). What's even more of a miracle is that I do not consume any caffeine to speak of.

BUT - though my mind may be up and raring to go, I have tried and tried to go for a run right away in the morning, and without fail I always feel awful. I stumble, I wheeze... there is an ever-present hitch in my giddy-up. I just can't do it. But, when I run at night (I leave with enough time to get back home by dark), I feel AMAZING - it's not effortless because I'm still an out-of-shape chunker, but it's soooo much more enjoyable than trying to run in the morning.

Yes, it would be much more convenient for my schedule if I could run before going to work, but it's so much harder on my morale that it's not worth it.

Jalyst79

Not a morning person, but I get up at 4:15, don't hit snooze, don't think about what you need to do, just do it. I joined a class that helps keeps me motivated and is fun. We meet 6 times a week. My alarm didn't go off this morning so I missed class. Working out before work helps keep me focused and on task with my eating.

MSeel1984

I am SO not a morning person. I need to be...I'm just not. My best sleep seems to come riiiight after I hit snooze. I would love to get my workouts in early in the am so I don't have an opportunity to blow it off later in the day. SO, for the morning people.....who of you were able to "convert" yourself into a morning person even though you weren't to begin with. And how the crap did you do it?

It started this past winter. I was getting too lazy after work to get to the gym. I'd make excuses "I have to pack lunches...I have to start dinner...I need to hit the grocery store."

The solution I came up with was to go to the gym at 5:00AM before I go to work. Then after work i have plenty of time to get other household things done. It freed up my schedule and I have more energy...also sleeping better at night because 1.) I'm up earlier and 2.) I'm getting my workout in regularly.

Now even on weekends I don't sleep in as much and I feel like I get more done. It wasn't easy the first week, but after that it feels good.

fitnessGETZeasy

Thanks for the tips, guys! Some day....it WILL happen. I WILL be a morning person. Just need to crawl my tired, grumpy butt out of bed and DO IT!.

Thank you.