How do you wake up early for exercise?

124

Replies

  • timarii
    timarii Posts: 36 Member
    There's so many great responses, especially the ones that said just DO IT. I'm not a morning person either but I'm learning that working out in the morning is the best for me so I'm in the process of making it a habit. This is what I'm doing:

    ...sleeping in my gym clothes
    ...set an alarm on my phone to start getting ready for bed at 10pm then another on to be in bed at 11pm
    ...cue, routine, reward - something I learned in a book about habits. The Cue will be waking up and going to the bathroom, the routine will be going to the gym obviously and the reward will be reading and/or a protein smoothie after the gym.
  • mlwatts2
    mlwatts2 Posts: 244 Member
    The trick is just do it. That simple. I have learned there is only and excuse if I make one. Yes I do things to help myself ie. get my clothes out the night before along with whatever I will eat prior to my workout, try to go to bed a little earlier, put alarm across the room so I have to get out of my warm bed, and a few other things. I also know though that I feel so much more accomplished if I get my workout in early. It gives me more time for family at the end of the day or even time for another workout :) Do it you won't regret it. We can sleep when we are dead.
  • 1960HikerDude
    1960HikerDude Posts: 215 Member
    You motivate yourself the same way you meet life's other commitments such as work or school. Adopt the mindset, EXERCISE IS NOT OPTIONAL. If you fail to get up on time and go to work consistently, you'll get fired. If you fail to get up on time and exercise consistently, your health will suffer. And, everything else you've worked so hard for in life won't be worth a damn if you aren't healthy.

    As others have suggested, going to be early and laying out your workout clothes and gear the night before helps. But, the most important thing is to throw back those covers and put your feet on the floor when that alarm goes off. No exceptions. No excuses. After a while it becomes part of your routine and becomes much easier.
  • yummymummy65
    yummymummy65 Posts: 86 Member
    I'm not a morning person either... but I guess my desire to be lean is greater than my desire for sleep. I've recently added an additional 10 minutes to my morning cardio. So now, I'm geting up at 5:20am to workout. How do I do this, I set my alarm clock. When it rings, most of the time, I don't want to wake up. But then I trick my mind into thinking how "chubby" I am or how chubby I'm going to be if I don't wake up to work out. (I know I'm not chubby but I tell myself that I am.) This usually gets me going. My biggest motivation right now is my upcoming trip. Having to wear a bikini and wanting to look HOT in it, is a huge motivation. Priorities is what gets me up early for exercise.
  • I have an app on my iPhone that monitors my sleep called "Sleep Cycle" (no I don't have any affiliation with the company). As you sleep you go through cycles of deep sleep and light sleep. Most alarms wake you up whenever. The app waits until you start coming out of your deep sleep to wake you up. Then it starts softly and slowly increases in its annoyance until you have to do something about it. I have been using it for almost a year and I really like it. Even on nights when I don't get the required sleep I feel better than if a standard alarm wakes me. Well worth the money in my opinion.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    throw the blankets off you as if they personally insulted you

    SPIDERS!
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
    I'm not much of a morning person either so I usually just work out in the afternoon or evening. I do however have to be at work waaaay earlier than I'd like to be- so for that I just put my alarm clock across the room so I'm not tempted to just turn it off and go right back to sleep.
  • freezerburn2012
    freezerburn2012 Posts: 273 Member
    www.sleepyti.me

    Use this to enter the time you want to wake up and it will tell you when to go to bed so that you can wake up at that time more easily.
  • beduffbrickie
    beduffbrickie Posts: 642 Member
    *kitten* and coffee mate!
  • deniseblossoms
    deniseblossoms Posts: 373 Member
    i sleep in mine sometimes

    roll out the bed and get my *kitten* moving

    what she said:)
  • kblpn
    kblpn Posts: 32
    I set my alarm on my phone, and then put my phone far enough away that I have to get out of bed to turn it off, then I figure I am already up, may as well get a workout in. You get used to it.
  • kblpn
    kblpn Posts: 32
    i sleep in mine sometimes

    roll out the bed and get my *kitten* moving

    what she said:)

    Agreed as well.. I sleep in my workout clothes, much easier when all you have to do is brush your teeth and throw shoes on.
  • IzzyBooNZ1
    IzzyBooNZ1 Posts: 1,289 Member
    yay I got up early and do my 30Day Shred before work ! woot ! I hope to keep this up. It is my summer and I hate exercising when it gets hot, I get wicked headaches even with all windows/doors open
  • tuttboy
    tuttboy Posts: 13 Member
    Set your alarm. Wake up and decide whether or not to actually get out of the bed. No manual, ebook, or anything else can teach you how to wake up. Period.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    drink water before bed. not alot that you wake up too soon. this works for me and even if i'm a bit off and wake up 30 minutes earlier, it's still good because i can wake up start prepping and get out even earlier

    dont forget to go to make sure you go to sleep in time as well.
  • macdiver
    macdiver Posts: 145 Member
    Early to bed, early to rise.

    Seriously, it just takes time to adjust. I am in bed by 9:30 most nights and up before 5 without an alarm clock. The sucky thing is weekends when I could sleep later I wake up early now (unless I was out past 2 or so.)
  • claritarejoice
    claritarejoice Posts: 461 Member
    Coffee first before anything else can happen.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    Keep a bucket of water next to your bed and fall face first into it when you wake up.

    Refreshing!
  • jayche
    jayche Posts: 1,128 Member
    Hot shower, coffee and jog to the gym instead of driving to get the blood running. By the time I get there (I'm usually there right as it opens at 5) I'm warmed up and ready to go.
  • NBSfit
    NBSfit Posts: 44 Member
    Two things.
    1) Make your protein shake with espresso. For real, son.
    2) See this link...http://pinterest.com/pin/377106168767865050/
  • marikevr
    marikevr Posts: 389 Member
    ...with difficulty. :yawn: But once I am out there it is all worth it.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    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?

    I don't do it. Mornings can suck it.

    I work out in the evenings. :glasses:
  • Gabriall
    Gabriall Posts: 101 Member
    personally, i'm not a morning person but ever since i got a cat that likes to eat at 5.30am its become a lot easier, fury alarm clocks are determined with pointie edges
  • - Have two alarms, one near you and another one across the room that goes off 3-5 minutes after the first.
    - Drink lots of water before bed.
    - Go to bed earlier
    - If you're really lazy sleep in your workout clothes
  • bigjretrac
    bigjretrac Posts: 80 Member
    When I do early morning workouts before work, I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have EVERYTHING packed the night before. I'm super lazy in the mornings, so I don't want to contend with having to get ready and pack my gym bag. Also, since I'm not totally coherent in the mornings, it is imperative for me to pack (nothing worse than dripping with sweat at the gym, going to the shower, and realizing I forgot my towel).

    The key is to have EVERYTHING laid/ready out the night before.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
    What's wrong with working out in the evening? I'm not a morning person either. You would have to threaten me with bodily harm in order to wake me up early to go workout.
  • rob_v
    rob_v Posts: 270 Member
    You put a picture of a giant fat guy next to your alarm clock w/ a note that says if you don't get your *kitten* up - your *kitten* will look like this.

    That and I have the alarm on my phone say "get your *kitten* up and get moving"


    Works for me :)
  • EjaneK11
    EjaneK11 Posts: 209 Member
    Some days I been getting myself up at 5:30 or 6 in the morning to work out but its hard, I am not a morning person. Usually I just have to have my husband turn on the lights and I see my dress that I want to fit in one day and I get up. Some mornings I get on Facebook on my phone and wake up that way. And then there are mornings I can't or don't want to get out of bed until 8:30 but I still work out. My husband on the other hand is such a morning person! I need his energy in the mornings!
  • kazande
    kazande Posts: 1 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 =)

    I could have written this post myself...AND make sure you get your clothes out the night before & get to bed at a reasonable time..

    It's a GREAT way to start the day. You'll ALWAYS feel better for it.
  • ElliInJapan
    ElliInJapan Posts: 286 Member
    I got a dog. I wake up early every morning ever since.