advice for getting up early to work out

Umm setting an alarm? Sorting & pre preparing all clothes/foods needed ahead of time for the next day. Going to bed earlier so you still get a full sleep?

1. Get up early
2. Work out
3. Repeat until habit is formed
4. Profit

Set an alarm or two?

I have to change my sleep schedule. Get up at the same time every morning, no matter what time I went to bed. took me about 2 weeks to change my sleep schedule. Getting the actual motivation to workout.... pending :laugh:

I'm a total night owl, too. I'm trying the get up early and work out thing, too. I'm aiming for 20 minutes of moderate intensity like someone else said. I'll be half asleep, so I'm not going to be going full blast! ;-) No kids here, but I have a haaaard time waking up in the morning anyway. I plan to have my clothes ready to go, coffee pot set to turn on afterwards! Good luck!

-Set more than one alarm. I use my smart phone and I have it set to Kayne's The New Workout Plan and flashes " You'll feel better after's over" instead of "alarm."

This is the best answer. I love how I feel at the end of a workout. I don't remember the last time I didn't.

You probably should, but I don't. I get plenty of water. Just can't eat before 9:00 a.m.

if I do it after my son goes to bed I am up all night

I have to work so staying up all night is not really a good thing for me

What you said.

1. Get up early
2. Work out
3. Repeat until habit is formed
4. Profit

Do you eat anything before workout?

Nope. Eating slows me down. YMMV

if youre not a morning person, its very hard to convert.
i am though and this is what i usually do most mornings

* I drink a coupla glasses of water before i go to bed (when i get up, im dying to go, and sometimes to the point it wakes me up to go)
* set up multiple alarms (iphone and ipad) iphone close by, ipad is far away (and usually about 15 mins after the iphone)
* have workout clothes nearby ready to go
* if i get up before the alarm (most cases) ill hop onto facebook and check out some of the fitness page motivational thingys
* after im up and changed, ill drink another glass of water (but not too much)

and thats it.

I am already in the habit of getting up early just because I got myself into the habit of waking up extremely early but there are some useful tips in this thread to make it easier!
I listen to music to help me wake up and start off with lots of stretching

I get up at 5am each morning to get to the gym before work. I'm also a night owl. Here's how I do it: get everything organised the night before to make getting up as painless as possible. Before you go to bed, make sure the DVD's in the player. Clear space to work out so you're not having to move furniture around. Have your workout gear laid out (down to pants and socks if needs be!) ready, or sleep in your workout gear. Get breakfast ready as much as possible and on the countertop/in the fridge waiting.

Also, if you're like me and enjoy sleeping in a little - plan for it. Set your alarm for 15 minutes before you need to get up, so that you wake up and get 15 minutes of lazy waking up time before you need to actually get out of bed.

Another thing - make sure you're getting enough sleep. It's easy to think "oh, it's just an hour" but those hours build up into a large sleep deficit, which will only make you tireder and less inclined to get out of bed.

Ultimately, the biggest thing you need to do is have the inner motivation to do it - all the tips and tricks in the world won't help if you *really* don't want to get out of bed in the morning.

I put my phone (which I use as an alarm) across the room on mornings I want to go work out, so I actually have to physically get out of bed to turn it off.

Wow! A real sleep junkie. (smile)