Can't get up Early... HELP!

Do you have a smart phone? If so, get the free app, Sleepbot. It has a smart alarm feature that will wake you up when you are naturally in a sleep stage that is closest to wakefulness within half an hour of your alarm. You will feel better and not like a zombie when your alarm goes off. It is much easier to start your day this way.

Also, the Jawbone Up activity tracker offers this feature.

Another sleep trick is to set your alarm for 4 hours after you go to sleep. Wake up and get a glass of water (or drink a protein shake if you are trying to add muscle), stay out of bed for about 5 minutes, then go back to sleep for the rest of the night. This is supposed to have two effects: 1) you will get 20-30% more REM sleep, as it happens shortly after you fall asleep. 2) you will feel more refreshed and alert when you wake up in the morning.

I hope this helps. I'm a life long insomniac learning how to make the most of my sleep time. I'm full of all kinds of body hacks to help get a better night's sleep.

What happens when you can't go back to sleep? I do this alot (not intentionally) then I can't go back to sleep for about an hour or 1/2 then when I do go back to sleep I'm even more tired when my alarm goes off. I'm trying to be an early person too because we stay so busy after work its been really hard to work out.

It may not work for everyone, but when that happens to me I'll do a couple different things to get myself back to sleep:

1. If I'm stressing out about something, I'll write down everything I need to do the next day. Usually getting it out on paper eases my mind enough to fall back to sleep without worrying that I'm going to forget to do something.

2. If I had to engage in exercise in the middle of the night (if the dog has digestive distress and really couldn't wait until morning for her walk), I will do some relaxing yoga stretches to get my body back into sleep mode. I will usually do this next to the dog, so I can assure myself that she is ok for the rest of the night.

3. If I'm in pain, I will take a pain reliever like ibuprofen or acetaminophen. Then I will gently massage the troublesome body part until the pain relievers kick in.

4. If I don't know what is keeping me awake, I will engage in Breath Awareness Meditation. Combined with a relaxing white noise generator, this works like a charm.

I am not a morning person or a morning workout person, so I don't try to force myself into that. Also, I get up around 5:30 because I start work at 7, so for me to get up any earlier is really pushing it! On weekends, I will work out in the morning after I wake up naturally and get caffeinated so that I can have the day free.

Just do it, there is no can't just excuses in this case.

I feel your pain!

Due to sporadic work hours, I kind of have a nocturnal sleep cycle, I usually end up getting up at 6pm, then go to bed around 9am!

On times when I do need to sort my sleep cycle out, I usually take a sleeping pill early on to knock me out, so I awake the next day at a normal hour!

Seriously though, unless you have appointments, kids or other places you HAVE to be during the day, being nocturnal has it's advantages!

I'm not a morning person so I can relate to the sentiment...I force myself to get up at 3:30 a.m. and start my workout. Two things I have incorporated, an alarm clock and discipline.

If it's really important to you then you will find a way.