All you morning gym-goers...

Also, a little trick I like to do is sleep in my gym clothes (at least a sports bra and pants/shorts) that way when you wake up all you have to do is throw on a shirt and shoes and you're ready to go! I also fill up my water bottle so all I have to do is grab it from the fridge.

The way I see it, if I sleep an hour later and the alarm goes off again, its still not going to be fun to have to get up. So might just as well get it over and done with the first time the alarm goes off!

bump!

It' doesn't get easier.
Getting fat was easy.
Undoing all of that is gonna take work. I get up once the alarm goes off because I know it's what I HAVE to do.

Lay out everything you need the night before. When I wake up, I'm out the door within 7 minutes.

The best thing to do is find someone to go with! A co-worker, a friend, a neighbor.. .someone who will give you the stink eye when you don't show. Peer pressure is a wonderful thing!

I am a morning person but still found it hard to got the the gym. But now that I have been doing it for a few months I actually enjoy it. I find I have more time in the evenings to do what I want and if I eat too much I have time to work it off. You will find it gets easier the more you do it. As other have said get everything ready the night before and place your alarm on the other side of the room so you have to get up anyway. Just tell yourself I have to do it, just like you have to get up to go to work this is your second job.

What had helped me is to set my alarm clock on the other side of the room so I physically have to get up out of bed to turn it off... Then just do it, don't sit and think about it... you will ALWAYS be glad you did.

Smelling salts next to your alarm

So I'm not an early morning person either and I set up this routine which required me to get up at 4:45 AM 4 days a week. It was killing me! When I ended up wearing my mother in laws underwear one day I decided it was over with the early morniongs and cut back to 2 days of 4:45 AM. The rest of the week I work out at lunch time or in the afternoon. Morale of the story try just doing it a couple of days Once you can swing that perhaps you can add more mornings

Dumb questions, to a.m. gym-goers: do you bring your work outfits with you to the gym, and shower there?

If you wear sunscreen, do you put it on both before the gym and after you shower?

To all: What happens with breakfast?

Not dumb questions.
I shower at the gym because my gym opens at 5 and I have to be at work at 7. I have everything packed and it never leaves that bag (shower shoes, toiletries). Expensive first investment, but worth it.
I don't wear sunscreen at work. I work indoors for 12 hours, so I don't feel I need it.
I eat at work. I bring something I can heat and pack it in my lunch bag.

I thought I was not a morning person but I started doing it 2 times a week and I love my energy levels thtough out the day!

I made the switch to morning work outs earlier this year, so here is a few things that I learned.

1. Go to bed an hour earlier than you are now as often as possible. It makes a huge difference. This will get easier as you get in the habit of getting up, because you'll just be tired earlier.
2. Stop thinking it's optional. When you have to get up for work, you don't say "eh I'll just go back to sleep." Your mindset should be the same for your workouts.
3. You will ALWAYS have more energy after your workout, than after getting the extra hour of sleep. Seriously.

It's all about routine. It does get easier, once your body adjusts. I love it now.

Good luck!

It gets easier. The first week is tough. I'm also in the bed by 7pm and hopefully sleep by 9pm. I get up at 4am to work out. I set two alarms. One for 4am and one for 4:10am. It helps. My motivation to get up in the morning and get my workout out of the way is that I know I don't have to do anything else for the rest of the day. I mean as far as exercise goes. LOL!! I like that I can come home in the evenings and give my family my full undivided attention. I love that I can come home in the evening and kick the soccer ball around with my sons if I need too and that I don't have to tell them I don't have time because I'm trying to get my workout in. I just think it's so much better to get it done in the morning.

I'm up at 4am. Getting my workout out on by 4:20am. At 5am I'm getting in the shower and getting ready for the day to include the kids. Drop my son off at daycare at 6:20 and I have to be at work at 7am. I work a regular 8 hour day and I get off at 3:30pm. From 3:30 pm until 7pm I have time to go to grocery store, or get my nails done, or check homework, or make an amazing meal, or pick up dry cleaning, or get a massage, or whatever else I want to do. I love to have my evenings. That's what keeps me motivated to git 'er dun!! Woot!

I can honestly tell you early morning work outs have the very best thing I have done in a very long time. I get up at 5:30 am everyday M- F and work out. This is the first time ever I have done it. Prior, I just worked out in the evening but never got results, since I made the switch, I have lost 69 pounds and several sizes and inches. My reccomendation is start out with group fitness at your local gym and get plugged in. Everything is easier when you have support. More than likely people getting up that early are dedicated and consistant. Make friends, dont be shy. It does get easier. But like any goal, you have to WANT it bad enough for yourself. Go to bed at a decent hour and set 2 or 3 alarms, have coffee pot set and clothes ready. You get to a point where when you dont work out early, your day doesnt even feel the same. There are times even now that when the alarm chimes,,,, I am like OH Lord but I know how it makes me feel and 9 out of 10 times if I say I am gonna do it in the evening I know there is a 50/50 shot of something coming up to interrupt my plans. You can totally do this!!!

Thanks to those who answered my tag-on questions