Morning Gym People

I'm trying to get into the groove of being an early morning riser and go to the gym. I've made several attempts and just can't get out of bed.

What tips do you offer on getting your lazy *kitten* out of bed? May I add, I work some nights, so I come home late at night and don't go to bed closer to 11pm.
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Replies

  • schmenge55
    schmenge55 Posts: 745 Member
    I used to put my alarm on the other side of the room so I had to get out of bed to shut it off. :)
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    Get up early enough to eat a good breakfast.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    No tips, I just get up....
  • dexfatpants
    dexfatpants Posts: 55 Member
    No tips, I just get up....

    Yep.....just have to make yourself do it! It gets easier once your body is used to that schedule, at least it did for me & trust me I have never been a morning person...before anyways :wink:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?
  • bostongeek
    bostongeek Posts: 80 Member
    I know if I don't do it first thing before work, I won't go to they gym--so easy to make excuses at the end of the day, when you're tired or have other responsibilities. I try not to think when my alarm goes off at 6, I just GO, but if I do wake up enough to think I remind myself that if I'm going to do it today it has to be NOW.

    The only "trick" I use is that I pile all my clothes and things in the kitchen so I can just roll out of bed and get moving without waking up the BF. That's more a trick for his benefit than mine, though.
  • ChristyRunStarr
    ChristyRunStarr Posts: 1,600 Member
    No tips, I just get up....

    I don't have any tips either...I set my alarm the night before, put my clothes out and once the alarm goes off, I'm up, changing and out the door
  • For me, knowing the sooner I get up and get moving to the gym, the sooner I can go about with the rest of my day knowing my workout is complete! Puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day and makes me feel good about myself. I work way too early (4am) during the week to make it in the mornings, but on the weekends I am anxious to get down to the gym and get my early morning workout in!
  • Scarlett_S
    Scarlett_S Posts: 467 Member
    I have been a morning gym person for the lat 18 months or so. I have to get up at 4:40 to get to the gym by five, and be back at my house by 6:15 or so to get kids moving out of bed and to various schools and practices...

    Its hard. I will say that once you are there, and working out, you are always glad you did it. I will also say that if I forgo the morning workout and say I'll go in the afternoon or after work, 50% of the time that never happens because I get derailed by life - kids/work, activities etc. Then I'll say I'm going to go run after the kids go to bed, and that doesn't happen either. So it really is the best option for someone like me. I am usually not in bed until 11 pm either so I understand that.

    I like the idea of having the alarm across the room. I'll also say that once you do it for a week or two it gets easier.
  • Nysie5
    Nysie5 Posts: 215 Member
    If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?

    THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU
  • LeenaRuns
    LeenaRuns Posts: 1,309 Member
    Do it gradually! I started last November getting up 15 minutes early and doing Tony Horton's 10-Minute Trainer. Once that became routine, I got up 30 minutes early and did Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred or Ripped in 30. Now, I'm getting up an hour and a half early lifting, running, etc.
  • Scarlett_S
    Scarlett_S Posts: 467 Member
    If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?

    LOVE it! Going to tell myself that the next time I try to hit the snooze button.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
    I'm up between 5am-5:30am and I go to bed usually after 11pm as well. I set my alarm, when it goes off, I get out of bed. It's a mental game.
  • get up as soon as your alarm goes off, don't close your eyes again, or do the 5 more mins thing.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
    If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?

    THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
  • rjmwx81
    rjmwx81 Posts: 259 Member
    Arnold Schwarzenegger said it best: " None of my rules, by the way, of success, will work unless you do. I've always figured out that there 24 hours a day. You sleep six hours and have 18 hours left. Now, I know there are some of you out there that say well, wait a minute, I sleep eight hours or nine hours. Well, then, just sleep faster, I would recommend."
  • sin485
    sin485 Posts: 125 Member
    I used to put my alarm on the other side of the room so I had to get out of bed to shut it off. :)

    WOW thats a good one wish id have thought of that :P seriously
  • No tips, I just get up....

    Yeah, pretty much. You kind of have to force yourself to do it. I'm not a morning person at all (and I usually go to bed at midnight or later), but I always hit up the gym first thing in the morning before work.
  • Timmyttt418
    Timmyttt418 Posts: 103 Member
    The only tip that I have is to put all of my gym clothes in the car the night before, that way all I have to do is head for the door in the morning! Than just do it!
  • Jerry1001
    Jerry1001 Posts: 43 Member
    I work evening 3 till 11.30 p.m., get to bed about 1 am, alarm set at 7:20 a.m. at the gym by 8 just a habit now.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    I gave up trying to be a morning person years ago. If you can't get to the gym in the morning, find another time to do it. It doesn't matter when you work out, just as long as you do it.

    Being happy is obviously more important in my mind, than kicking myself to do something that makes me miserable.
  • misskariw
    misskariw Posts: 171 Member
    Make yourself a schedule (I love google calendar) and use it. We're getting up at 7 a.m. and Lights Out in our house is at 1 a.m. And that's ON OUR SCHEDULE!! Anything you need or want to get done has to be on the schedule or you will never do it. My roomie and I had a LONG chat about this phenomenon just last night. Before we made our schedules...we would sleep til we had to get up to get ready for work, go to work, come home, eat terrible food while watching tv, then go to bed...lather, rinse, repeat. You can see how that gets nothing accomplished....but the all powerful schedule! We're up, we eat a healthy breakfast, we get our workouts in, the kitchen gets cleaned up multiple times a day, the clutter gets put away, there's time to devote to learning new things and self improvement...and then work comes. It's not easy, but you set up your schedule and you set those multiple alarms on your phone and off you go! You can do it!!!!
  • 1258936
    1258936 Posts: 115 Member
    All great advice. It's all about mindset attitude. Instead of trying to force yourself, just accept it. Learning to accept the difficult is the only way I was ablet to get up at 5 am daily for the last 5 years. Best of luck!
  • HelloDan
    HelloDan Posts: 712 Member
    Mainly the self motivation thing. I just get up, and go to the gym, I've done it so often, it's now completely normal.

    Having said that, recently I've been messing around with apps that monitor sleep cycles, based on body movement during the night. It's really interesting that sometimes waking up earlier, because you're in a light sleep cycle, leaves you feeling more refreshed than waking up 30mins later in the middle of a deep sleep cycle.

    If you've made the first step of wanting to and committing to training, it's well worth giving something like this a go.
  • Jem_Girl
    Jem_Girl Posts: 102 Member
    The only thing that worked for me was being forced into it. I used to haphazardly go after work until my husband and I had to carpool for almost a month since our other vehicle was in and out of the mechanic's a few times. Since my husband has to have a vehicle at work to get to the different buildings he supports [and all I have to do is sit on my *kitten* and use a computer], he had to drop me off at work before getting to his on time. That meant I was at work about 1.5 hours before I really needed to be. I ended up changing my work schedule to start a half hour earlier so he didn't have to wait for me so long after he left work, but I still had an hour of extra time. My gym is in the same complex as my office (that's why I chose that gym), so I just got dropped off at their door and would walk over to work after a 30 or 45 minute workout (and refreshing and changing). It's not quite so easy to drag myself there now that I have my car back, but I'm still doing it.

    #1 motivation... having my gym extremely close to my work place. Whether going before or after work, I'm not going to go out of my way for it. I find getting to the gym is enough of an obstacle... why make extra ones like 30 additional minutes of travel?

    #2 motivation... The gym is practically deserted at 7:30am. It's awesome. If I want to just lay in bed in the morning, I remind myself that in the evening I'm going to have to share with a bunch of other sweaty people and possibly wait my turn to use equipment. Plus I want the fewest people possible staring at my jiggly butt in sweatpants.
  • karensoxfan
    karensoxfan Posts: 902 Member
    If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?

    Amen!!! :happy:
  • trospert
    trospert Posts: 22 Member
    I agree! It is SO hard for me to get up early & go work out! I am NOT a morning person...BUT, that being said...
    1. I started my "get up early" with not every day. Two days a week I try & get up early. Change isn't done overnight & it's silly to expect that you will stick to something if you burn yourself out on it, so maybe try to commit to just a few days at a time. :)
    2. In the beginning, it's easier for ME to get up if I know someone else will be there or they are counting on me. See if you know anyone you can meet there, or may want to carpool so you have an accountability partner.
    3. Go to bed at a decent hour the night before. I am SO bad that I literally have to set morning AND "bedtime" alarms. I set a bedtime alarm for 10 minutes before I should be in bed to remind me that I need to wash my face, etc & get to bed. I know it sounds silly but I feel like it forces me to remember what I am working toward.

    Hope this helps!
    Good luck!
  • jcoco
    jcoco Posts: 138 Member
    Don't think about it, I talk myself out of it then. When your alarm goes off don't turn it off & think oh I'm so cozy, I can workout later, etc...just jump out of bed right when it goes off & have your gym clothes ready!
  • If there was a million dollars waiting at the gym for you, but you had to get up at 5am to get it, would you set your alarm clock, wake up and go?

    If a loved one was being held for ransom, and to get them back you had to be at the game before 6am, would you be there on time?

    If your boss offered you a promotion where you made double the moolah in half the hours and could work from home most days, but you had to show up at the office 3x per week at 5:30am, would you tell him to get stuffed?

    These are silly examples, but for each one the gain is important enough that you'd never wake up late, you'd never hit snooze, you'd always get out the door on time. It's your life. You need to decide if it's important enough for you to get up. Just that simple. If it's not, then don't bother looking for tips and tricks. If it is, you will get up, put your shoes on and go.

    Everything worth doing is hard and requires sacrifice. We all have a list of excuses as long as our arm. The people that get stuff done are the ones that simply decided it was worth doing. What's your decision?
    THANK YOU! :flowerforyou: I am going to try and think this way from now on. I to cannot get up for the life of me! I set my clothes out , i have slept in my clothes so all i had to do was get up and go straight to the car! Nothing has worked, I can not sleep at night so i toss and turn all night when i am not gettin up to pee (tmi) :bigsmile: So the amount of sleep i get is very little and probably just fall asleep 2 hours before the alarm goes off so i am extremely exhausted in the mornings and yawn all day at work ( 10 hour days). So i am hoping the mentality of a "million dollars" waiting for me might get me moving. I think i can! i think i can! :happy:
  • I'm a morning gym person...makes the whole day great. When the alarm goes off at 5:00, I lay in bed and visualize what I have to do (get up, get gym clothes on, poor cup of coffee, grab my stuff).

    Somehow running the script thru my mind a couple of times makes doing it easy. Also, I have everything laid out night before so I grab a go, after a while it's a good habit!