Who gets up early to go to the gym?

I go to bed at 10:00 p.m. every night. I cannot fall asleep for at least an hour. No matter what I do. I have lots of anxiety and racing thoughts. I've tried anti-anxiety medication but it doesn't help much.

Yoga right before bed. Focusing on breathing and relaxation. But it is very important that you go directly from the floor to the bed. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. If you make a stop to use the potty, have a drink of water, brush your teeth, it will ruin the effect. This helps me, I've been plagued with stress related sleep issues since childhood.

I despise mornings, but if I don't workout in the morn, it too often doesn't get done. Gym days, I am drinking a cup of coffee on the road (20 min drive from home to gym). If I am hitting the weights in my garage, lately its been drinking a pre-workout (I am liking C4 at the moment) as soon as I climb out of bed. By the time I get dressed, stumble into the garage, and get warmed up, I am pretty well woken up.

I actually don't have to, because the gym doesn't open until 7h30 ;-). And I go swimming at 7h once a week. Only work 80% so I go to work later on those mornings.

I haven't found a way to get up before 5h45 to workout.... Some people just don't tick that way.

Good luck finding your routine!

It is all in the preparation

No caffeine after lunch

1. 8:15 pm... Get ready for the morning. Turn off computer, television, radio, etc, pack gym stuff (HRM, swim suit, shoes, towel, whatever)
2. 8:30 pm... brush teeth, take out dog, change into pajamas, lock up house, finish logging for the day
3. 9:00 pm... Lights out
4. 9:05 pm... I'm asleep
5. 4:30 am... Turn off alarm, get out of bed, get dressed. NO SNOOZE BUTTON ALLOWED unless I am physically ill or injured
6. 5:00 am... Leave for the gym
7. 5:15 am... Start workout
8. 6:15 am... Workout is done. I feel great and no fretting about my workout because... Yep, it's done. And if I feel up for a second workout in the afternoon. WOOHOO!! Go me!

Even after 7 years of getting up at 5 or 5:15am, my body has yet to 'embrace' this as a habit. Every time the alarm goes off, my first thought is to shut it off and go back to bed. However, as others have said, it's a force of habit at this point. I just get up and go. The first five or ten minutes are kind of rough but then once i'm actually awake, it's fine. I love getting it out of the way in the AM!

I get all my stuff together the night before, lunch, gym bag, work clothes...etc. I am up at 3:00 AM and after a few glasses of water I hit the door! Once you get into the habit of it, it's easy cheesy! It's tough at first, but its awesome to know that you kicked *kitten* first thing in the morning! Good Luck!

I can't go to the gym in the morning (single mom) but I do get up at 4:40AM and workout in my basement. The first 2 weeks were a killer but now I'm used to it and get right up and ready. I do make sure I have everything laid out the night before. It looks like you've got a good plan. Good Luck. It's really a great way to start your day off!

I get up at 5:30AM-ish six days a week to work out and have done so for the past 8 years (barring a week here and there, of course). I set two alarms: one for 5:30 AM and one for 5 mins later so if I hit snooze on one, the other will go off 5 mins later. I also make sure my alarm clock is on NPR...for some reason it's harder to ignore that than it is a beeping sound. I make sure I set out my exercise clothes and pack my gym bag the night before so it's easier to get out of the door in the morning. Going to sleep early is often hard for me but no matter how late I get to bed, I make sure I'm up at 5:30 AM. I try not to do this too many days in a row though, 'cos it's a quick road to burnout city.

I used to be an after work exerciser but found it was just too easy for me to blow it off because I was tired. I was so resistant to making the change but now that I have, I'm a convert. I'm not a coffee drinker so working out early gets me energized and ready for the day. Plus, like others have said, I like having the gym mostly to myself...I do have to share with some of the other morning exercisers sometimes but it's nowhere near as bad as it gets when the post-work chaos hits at 5 PM. I've worked out after work a handful of times since making the switch and now can't imagine going back to that; I hope I'm lucky enough to always have a short enough commute that I can squeeze in morning workouts.

If you try it, know that it'll be hard at first but you'll likely get used to it with time. And if you don't, work out whenever works best for you...don't force it.

I occasionally go to the 5AM Orange Theory class. As long as I go to bed early enough to get 8 hours, it doesn't matter what time I get up. You have to be careful with caffeine and stimulation the night before though so you aren't just tossing and turning and dreading the morning.

Me. I do. I love it. I'm biologically predisposed to getting up early, so I can't help it.

OP - I think you can see the trend for us morning work-outers. Prep the night before, get up, put on exercise clothes, work out. Just like losing weight, there is no magic secret formula that we're all hiding. If morning is when working out fits into your life, and you are committed to working out, you just get up and do it.

Set an alarm and get up early for 21 days straight and your body will catch on and you will awaken on your own, so long as you are getting enough real rest and sleep.

There is not a soul in my home that is a morning person - with that said - I have been getting but at 4:30 - out the door at 4:45 and to the gym by 5. I work out for an entire hour - I do this at least 5 days a week. I can honestly say that I am much more alert and ready for the day when I do this. Not to say that by 6:30 I am not tired but I feel much better during the day. My evenings are too busy with kids and their activities so if I don't get it done in the am then it won't get done. Set your alarm and move it across the room so that you have to get up to turn it off. This has helped me. Good luck!

This is easy (I mean the 'how to do it' is easy, the doing it....not so much). You simply set your alarm for 4:00 or 5:00 or whatever it that you need and then get up. You will be tired as all hell because you did not get enough sleep and you will get up anyhow. You then carry on with your day and you do it again the next night, and the next night, and the next night. Over a perios of days to maybe 2 weeks you will start realizing that you are falling asleep earlier and pretty soon you will have a new schedule. I like to go to bed at 8 and wake up at 4. That hurts every Monday morning...believe me!

There's a lot of great advice on here!

I recently transitioned to waking up early and exercising at home and I completely understand you. I have done it in the past, so I already know that doing so has a great effect on the rest of my day. I have some sleeping issues; I get terrifying nightmares, I wake up very easily (a half-decibel louder snore from my husband, for example, will jolt me awake for 20 minutes), and tend to have anxiety that can keep me awake for a while. However, I found I was pretty quickly able to start waking up early once I set my mind to it. I do have to set my alarm for at least a half-hour before I wake up, and some days I lay in bed for that half-hour talking myself into getting up. My brain usually wins with "think how much better you'll feel when you finish your workout."

I think you'll find that, once you're used to it, you'll have more energy throughout the day. Then you are free to be more spontaneous after work because you already got your exercise out of the way! I have also seen an improvement in my ability to fall asleep AND sleep more soundly. Amazing what that little change did for me. The snoring still wakes me up, though

Good luck with starting this new routine! If you're finding it very difficult, maybe try doing it gradually by setting your alarm earlier in 15 minute increments. I did that for a few days before jumping into the hour early routine.