How do you wake up early for exercise?

BurtHuttz
BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have never been a morning person. I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed early unless the house is actually on fire.

I'm looking for advice or tips from similarly disposed folks, on how to drag ones' carcass out of bed at oh dark thirty to do physical exercise.

It isn't a question of motivation - - I've been dedicated to my goals and been meeting them - - it's more of a search for tricks, because morning is the optimal time for me to be doing my do.

Do you lay out your gym clothes the night before? Go to bed extra early before work-out days? Drink one gallon of water so you wake up with a crazy, urgent need to hose down the porcelain?

HOW DO YOU DO IT?
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Replies

  • jono2970
    jono2970 Posts: 71
    I think morning people are morning people, evening people the same. It's really hard to shift that.

    Me? I like a lie-in. But if I have a goal, like I simply need to get up, I will do it.

    That's my mentality. This week has been good so far. Ask my again in six months and if I kept this up, the results will show!

    My advice? Simply **simply?** commit to getting up and out and busy in the morning.

    I accept that is not advice as such - but I feel you just got to do it, and that's all!
  • y0mbo
    y0mbo Posts: 43 Member
    How to become a morning person:
    http://michaelhyatt.com/how-to-become-a-morning-person.html
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I do lay my clothes out the night before, but a lot of it is just in your mind - you have to decide that you're going to do it, no excuses. If you tend to hit the snooze button on the alarm, move your clock or phone across the room so you have to get out of bed to make it stop. It's rough at first, but it becomes habit eventually. :smile:

    I get up at 5am & workout at home - if I don't get up and do it before my family is out of bed, it doesn't happen, and I hate that feeling of regret later in the day for having missed the workout. So I suppose that's part of my motivation for getting up early.
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    shot of espresso as soon as you wake up, you arent going back to sleep after that!
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I used to do it because that was literally the ONLY time I could fit in my exercise. I would get up at 4:30 most days and head off to the fitness room at work to do Insanity or P90X with a friend.

    Since my life routine has changed (husband got a new job and I have fewer commitments), I just don't have the motivation to do that anymore. And since most of my cardio is from running now, I don't have to go anywhere but out my front door. So, I very rarely work out in the mornings now.

    I guess it's just a matter of deciding that you have to do it so you will.
  • sportyredhead01
    sportyredhead01 Posts: 482 Member
    You can borrow my cat, Peanut, who is 150% convinced that 4:30 a.m. is an acceptable feeding time.:happy:

    Seriously though, I set EVERYTHING out the night before. Even the food I'm going to eat (if I can). I'm also in bed by 9 p.m.. I find since I've started getting up at 4:30, I have no trouble getting to bed early.

    I'm not a morning person at all but, my schedule just forces me to be.
    I wish I had a magical formula for ya but for me it's all boring pre-planning. :yawn:
  • Beckyloo80
    Beckyloo80 Posts: 1,088 Member
    i just do it because I know I have to. I work all day plus have a family to tend to, so early mornings is MY time. I know that I will not want to work out after work or after the kids go to bed PLUS it gives me energy all day and makes me feel great. I never was a morning person but doing the early morning work outs has made me one and i much prefer it. I have been doing them for 14 months now =)
  • rmhand
    rmhand Posts: 1,067 Member
    I go to bed early.
  • clarkeje1
    clarkeje1 Posts: 1,641 Member
    Get the "I cant wake up" app for your phone. It really helps me typically. Also I have everything ready for me on the desk by my bed the night before (water bottle, granola bar, energy shot, HRM, clothes).
  • TheWinman
    TheWinman Posts: 684 Member
    I couldn't do it when I was younger, but it's no problem now.

    You just have to just do it. After a few times, it will get easier as your body adjusts to the change.

    I wake up, have a peanut butter / banana smoothie and then off to the gym

    I get home, have my coffee and a good breakfast. I drink tons of water while working out and when I get back home to offset the loss of fluids of exercise and to offset the coffee.
  • RainbootsToBikinis
    RainbootsToBikinis Posts: 465 Member
    I get up get dressed and take a pre workout to boost my energy. Once you start doing it every day it becomes habit, even if it still sucks lol. I get up at 5 and I'm at the gym by 5:30.
  • Fvaisey
    Fvaisey Posts: 5,506 Member
    I set my alarm a bit early and stretch my glutes and massage my feet and calves. That seems to get the blood moving and wakes me enough so that I don't just pull the covers back up and go back to sleep. Plus it loosens my legs and warms them up.
  • elgray26
    elgray26 Posts: 212 Member
    My problem is just actually getting out of bed.... I love that snooze button. You just have to force yourself to do it. Im not gonna lie sometimes I just dont wake up to run. It much harder to get out of that warm bed to go running in 30 degree weather. My trick... waking up, getting up and getting dressed. Once I am dressed in my workout clothes, its kinda silly not to go work out.
  • LovelyLifter
    LovelyLifter Posts: 560 Member
    i sleep in mine sometimes

    roll out the bed and get my *kitten* moving
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
    Set alarm night before, when it goes off, turn it off, get out of bed and get ready to get moving, simples!
  • SlimT05
    SlimT05 Posts: 19 Member
    I hate getting up early, but I love working out in the morning and freeing up my evening. That is part of my motivation. My other and biggest motivation is my husband. He definitely helps me get up. We get up at 5:45 every Wednesday & Thursday and go to the gym. Get a buddy or someone that will help you be accountable. Once he is up, I drag myself out and am still groggy all the way to the gym, but I make it there and once I'm there, I'm good to go.
  • squirrelythegreat
    squirrelythegreat Posts: 158 Member
    Willpower. Train it like a muscle. Though working 3rd shift means I can workout with the sunrise with no inconvenience.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
    As soon as the alarm goes off, I jump out of bed and start beating myself in the chest while screaming ,"IT'S GO TIME, LET'S DO THIS!!"

    My children need therapy, but at least I get my workout in.
  • SlimT05
    SlimT05 Posts: 19 Member
    That is a good boost. Sleeping in your clothes or having them right next to you when you wake up. Less to do in the morning.
  • TheWinman
    TheWinman Posts: 684 Member
    My problem is just actually getting out of bed.... I love that snooze button. You just have to force yourself to do it. Im not gonna lie sometimes I just dont wake up to run. It much harder to get out of that warm bed to go running in 30 degree weather. My trick... waking up, getting up and getting dressed. Once I am dressed in my workout clothes, its kinda silly not to go work out.

    worst invention - snooze button lol

    Don't use it ever.
  • laurie62ann
    laurie62ann Posts: 433 Member
    I had to make the change to morning workouts this past September. Tips:

    Set your alarm away from my bed so you have to physical get out of bed to turn it off.
    Make sure your clothes are out and ready to go, that means sneakers too.
    Be sure to have a huge class of water to get you body moving; I don't understand why but this helps me!

    It took me 3-4 weeks before it was just routine. Now if I don't get that morning workout in, I feel like crap all day.

    Good Luck!
  • Syndri
    Syndri Posts: 46 Member
    As soon as the alarm goes off, I jump out of bed and start beating myself in the chest while screaming ,"IT'S GO TIME, LET'S DO THIS!!"

    My children need therapy, but at least I get my workout in.

    Ha ha love this!!
  • bellydancer124
    bellydancer124 Posts: 248
    I set out my gym clothes the night before, so that's one less thing I have to think about. I'm pretty much a zombie before 10 a.m., so I work out on automatic pilot at 6:30.

    With that said, I LOVE non workout days when i can sleep later. :smooched:
  • PrincessNikkiBoo
    PrincessNikkiBoo Posts: 330 Member
    I lay everything out ready for working out the night before. I also set my alarm to go off 10 mins earlier than usual because I know I'll hit the snooze button once. It makes me feel like I've had a little bit of a sleep in!
  • yourenotmine
    yourenotmine Posts: 645 Member
    shot of espresso as soon as you wake up, you arent going back to sleep after that!

    That's what you think! lol

    I believe that like so many other things, it's a decision. If it's what you want, you just have to do it. It'll probably get easier over time. It might help to sleep in your workout clothes, or to set your coffee pot to start brewing just before you want to wake up.
  • dantrick
    dantrick Posts: 369 Member
    set the alarm for 5am, never hit snooze just get up. first week is hard after that you start going to bed earlier. so getting up at 5am isn't that hard. think of it as just adjusting your awake hours. think of someone who works graveyard shifts, they sleep at weird times to the rest of the world. after a little bit you get used to it and it isn't an issue.
  • LeenaRuns
    LeenaRuns Posts: 1,309 Member
    I get up at 3:45 to work out. I just do it.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    When I started off, I wore my workout clothes to bed - everything but the shoes. I felt extra awful if I didn't get up when I was already dressed. After a week or so it just became habit and I stopped wearing my clothes to bed.
  • Bolthouse26
    Bolthouse26 Posts: 70 Member
    I usually plan it out in the beginning of the week and I keep 2 morning and 4 evenings for exercise, that's what has been my schedule for the past 2 months. I am a good bookkeeper and I follow my planner like a holy book so I think that helps me plus I give myself a bigger treat every morning day and a slightly smaller treat for evening day. Next year I am hoping to do a 3 and 3 schedule. Nonetheless, it does take a lot of determination especially in cold winters of upper peninsula when it's pitch dark at 6 am.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    My alarm clock music is something motivating. Right now it's Eye of the Tiger.

    Also, i know myself. I can't sleep until 5:55am and walk out the door ready to exercise five minutes later. My gym opens at 6am. I wake up at 5:30 and have coffee and watch the news. By six I'm getting dressed and starting to head out the door.

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