How to become a morning workout-er?

The main trick to getting up is making sure that you're getting enough sleep to begin with. I get up at 4 am every morning to go work out (boot camp workouts or running) and the mornings when I'm really unmotivated are the nights that I didn't get enough sleep. It's REALLY REALLY important. I know you hear about it all the time, but getting enough sleep is really the most important part. That and just straight up commitment.

7AM? Girl, that's sleeping in for me! That's what time I naturally wake up on weekends. When I was in nursing school, I had to be at the hospital by 6AM for clinicals. Lucky you!

When I was in college (after I quit nursing school, hallelujah) and was able to schedule my own classes, I avoided 8AM classes like the plague. For my last two semesters, my classes didn't start until 11AM. It was awesome sleeping until 8 or 9. Getting up early to exercise then would've been easy, but I didn't do it. I usually got home around 4 and was able to work out before my husband got home from work. That is, when I felt like it - many skipped workouts back in those days.

Now, I work from 8:30-5:30 and have to leave the house at 7:45 to get to the office on time. It takes me a solid hour to get ready in the mornings, so I get up at 5AM on lifting days (MWF) now. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I've stuck to it for 3 months and now it's just a habit. At first,, you just have to force it. Don't even think about it - just get your butt up and DO IT.

I still do cardio at night, though. It's only two nights per week, but it allows me to wake up at 6:45, which is good for my sanity. I think I'll eventually switch it and do it in the morning as well. It's so nice getting it over with and being able to relax after work.

I hope this works for you Xjeanie! I started at a gym on the hospital premises - it was great, really cheap and opened at 6 am.

My shifts start at 7:30 am, and I do three a week, and so I go before due on the ward, and yes,.it was hard to get there at first, and for a while stay motivated to get up at 5 am to get there! Especially on the dark winter mornings!
But, I can honestly say that it became easier and easier as I got fitter and more energised. Unfortunately, I stopped going as life got in the way, but I really wish that I had continued and just gone whenI could and did as much as I could have, even though many of the exercises and lifts I'd have had to curtailed or adapted!

I now go to a gym with a swimming pool, as that suits my health better, although it is more expensive and not open at 6am ....boo!... I have built back up to having a fairly good swim and workout over these past few weeks. I am determined, now though,not to ever stop going again, even if I can't do a full workout as I'd like each time!

Go for it Xjeanie as I'm sure you'll start to feel much more energised after a short while!
Also, good luck with your nurse training!

Being awake for me was never the problem, it was getting up and moving. I found that if I had my workout clothes all ready it helped. I have a treadmill in the basement and I head down (sometimes before I'm fully awake). I have found I prefer walking outside, but it's still dark when I get going in the am and I'm not sure I'm up for walking in the dark.

As someone else said, once you get used to it (about 2 weeks) you will find you miss it on the days you have to skip, at least I do.

I've always joked I am a lazy exerciser, I don't want to work out in the pm because it would mean a second shower and that's just too much work!

You just have to force yourself for 2 weeks... after that, it becomes more of a habit and gets easier (though I still dont LIKE it ahahah)

I switched to mornings about 3 months ago. I had a hard time the first few weeks, but it does get easier. I figure I am just as tired if I get up at 5:30 as 6:30, and this way I workout too

I sleep in my workout clothes, I find the less I have to do to get up and going the better.

I also got my husband on board with morning workouts, and having someone to go with helps me, even if we don't workout together once we're at the gym.

I workout in the morning when my son goes down for his nap. I do it to get it out of the way for the day. That's my motivation lol. I'd rather do it then, than when all the kids are in bed and things settle down for the day.

I am a night owl and a teacher. So I started exercising last June when school was out and then when school started in August, I thought how in the world will I exercise?? Well.. I set the alarm for 4:30am and did it almost every day last school year -- 190 days of school! I can't believe it myself. I knew if I didn't do in the morning it might not happen. I have found that during that time I would come up with great ideas and solve problems and felt so much better. There were mornings when I absolutely did not want to get up. But I got up and did it, even though I was half asleep, no matter what, and once I got going I was so happy I did and felt so great. The funny thing is now it is summer and I am back to sleeping late and staying up late, I don't really like exercising later in the morning like I did last summer. So I've been setting the alarm for 7:30 (which is VERY early for me naturally) and getting it done then so that I don't feel like the day is over. I also have read that most people who successfully stick with an exercise program do it in the morning -- so there is another reason to do it then. Good luck - you can do it!

I get up at 5 to make it to my 6:15 class at least 3 times a week. It can be challenging. Here are my tricks:

1. Little to no alcohol the night before.
2. Drink a tall glass of water before bed, that way you will HAVE to get up.
3. Push yourself really hard until it becomes habit and don't let yourself sleep in too late on days you don't work out in the morning.
4. In bed by 9, lights out by 10.
5. Find something you love. I love my gym. What's better than starting out your day with your friends?

Now, I work from 8:30-5:30 and have to leave the house at 7:45 to get to the office on time. It takes me a solid hour to get ready in the mornings, so I get up at 5AM on lifting days (MWF) now. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but I've stuck to it for 3 months and now it's just a habit. At first,, you just have to force it. Don't even think about it - just get your butt up and DO IT.

GFT....and don't hit snooze

When I started going to the gym, I went at 5 pm like clockwork for two years. Then, when I got to my last year of veterinary school, I was looking at 15-17 hour days starting at 6:30 a.m. By then I was doing CrossFit, so my only choice in terms of their class schedule was 6 a.m - and regardless, we'd sometimes be at school until 10 p.m. or midnight, so it was morning or bust. So I set my alarm for 5 (wouldn't have time to shower after), and did it.

I don't have any tips. I knew that was the only time I would be able to work out, so when that alarm went off, I just rolled out of bed and got going. I didn't think of it as optional, so there was rarely any argument in my mind. Just like you have to get up at a certain time to get to work, I had to get up to go to the gym. I suppose it helped that I enjoyed it, and I love the community and friends I made at the gym, which was super motivating. It was also sometimes nice to brag a little to my overworked, sleep deprived colleagues that I'd found a way to work in some exercise.